‘Scottie Pippen, Tim Duncan’ is ‘an ode to the streets,’ MC tells Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman, with reporting by James Smith Pill Photo: Warner Bros. Mixtape Daily Main Pick Artists : Pill and DJ Scream Representing : Atlanta Mixtape : The Diagnosis Real Spit : Pill has already proven he’s sicker than the average MC. After causing a stir with his pair of breakout 2009 mixtapes 4180: The Prescription and 4075: The Refill, the Atlanta rap rookie garnered all sorts of attention that would boil over when he appeared on the cover of XXL magazine’s 2010 Freshmen cover . Pill followed up with 1140: The Overdose and then made a power move earlier this year when he signed with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group and appeared on the label’s Self Made Vol. 1 compilation. Pill’s latest mixtape, The Diagnosis, is anchored by the hustle-focused, basketball-inspired single “Scottie Pippen, Tim Duncan,” on which he linked with DJ Scream to tell tales from the bottom. On “Send One Down,” Pill worked with Trae Tha Truth for a God-calling mellow tune. When it comes to Young Pillionaire’s music, it isn’t necessarily thugging for the sake of thugging; more often than not, there is a message behind the bullying bars. If judged by the title alone, one would think that “New Clothes and New Shoes” would be filled with empty rap rhetoric and boasts of overpriced diamonds and exaggerated shopping sprees. Pill goes another route: Instead of glorifying his drug sales, he explains the reason behind his hustle. On “One of These Days,” the rapper ponders his dreams, wondering when they will actually come true. With The Diagnosis, it seems that Young Pill is that much closer to realizing his dreams. Joint to Check For
MC opens up to Mixtape Daily about rumors that G-Unit mogul has been ‘blackballing’ him because of his association with Chaz ‘Slim’ Williams. By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Rob Markman Grafh Photo: MTV News Celebrity Favorites: Grafh Grafh just wants to spread the love. But the Jamaica, Queens, rapper’s longtime affiliation with Black Hand Entertainment has spawned rumors that he was being blackballed by 50 Cent due to the G-Unit honcho’s rift with Black Hand’s Chaz “Slim” Williams. Grafh recently left the Black Hand fold, but insisted it’s still all good between him and Williams. “We have a mutual respect for each other, we’re like family,” Grafh told Mixtape Daily of his and Chaz’s decision to separate on the business front. “It was never a thing where he don’t want to see me succeed. I have his blessing. He was like, ‘Go make your money, do what you do.’ Really, if he can’t do what I need done, then he’s like, ‘Go get it done.’ ” As for 50’s role in the mix, Chaz was the “In Da Club” rapper’s manager back when he was signed to Columbia Records. But Fif left shortly after he was infamously shot nine times in 2000. Since then, the two have not been on the friendliest of terms. “I can’t really speak on the situation too much ’cause I was young,” Grafh said. “I was around but not in they business. I know Chaz was managing 50 before he was managing me. After the shooting, when 50 got shot, I guess he felt Chaz could have stopped that maybe ’cause Chaz got a lot of power in the ‘hood. However Chaz involvement may have been, I don’t even want to speak on none of that ’cause that ain’t any of my business.” The “power” in the ‘hood that Grafh alluded to is Williams’ reputation as an OG on the streets. Williams’ former life as a bank robber was the subject of an episode of “Notorious” on the Biography channel. In 50’s street classic “Many Men,” he refers directly to what he believes is a betrayal by his ex-manager: “Slim switched sides on me, let n—as ride on me/ I thought we was cool, why you want me to die, homey?” Despite 50 and Williams falling out, Grafh insisted that the latter still has respect for 50. Grafh just hopes that their lingering issues won’t pose a problem for his own hip-hop ambitions. “All I know is Chaz’s part, and Chaz speaks very highly of that man,” Grafh insisted. “He’s a fan of [50’s] music and a fan of 50 Cent and speaks highly of his character. Whatever feelings they may have ain’t got to do with me ’cause I wasn’t around for that [conflict]. So if any blackballing is occurring, I’m like, ‘Easy, bro. Easy, Joe, just let me get my money. I ain’t got nothing to do with nothing.’ [That’s] why I don’t even want to entertain that in the interview, if there is any blackballing going on — which it feels like that ’cause every record I got, it’s shot out the goddamn sky — then pick it up, so I can eat,” the rapper said of the tendency of his records to lose steam after gaining street buzz. Grafh also told Mixtape Daily he would be down to work with 50 Cent if the opportunity presented itself. Despite any Black Hand vs. G-Unit drama, the former Epic Records artist said he is above any beef since he knows plenty of Unit members, including Lloyd Banks, having personally come up with them in Queens too. In fact, at one point, Grafh was so tired of all the blackballing rumors that he dropped in for an impromptu meeting with 50 at the mogul’s New York City offices. “The tension is thick in the room,” Grafh recalled, describing what it was like waiting in the lobby of the G-Unit offices to see whether 50 would take a meeting with him. “I see them looking out the window, they treating me like I got a bomb on me. I’m like, ‘It’s love on my side, homey. I just want to holla at the homey and let him know it’s love, and I want it to be love, if it can be.’ “They did what they supposed to do. His man came at me like, ‘What you doing up here, young?’ ” Grafh said he responded, ” ‘I just want to holla at the homey. It’s love and it’s no problem.’ If I could talk to him, I would like to ’cause he was there.” However, 50 never did accept Grafh’s offer to chat that day. “I was hoping he was going to come out and holla at me, but he didn’t,” he said. “So if you see this interview, holla at your boy.” Grafh’s EP, The Rule, features a collaboration with Joe Budden and is set to drop soon. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists Graph 50 Cent
‘I wish I could sing sometimes, but I can’t,’ Cash Money rapper says. By Rob Markman Glasses Malone Photo: MTV News Celebrity Favorites: Glasses Malone Life must be good on Cash Money Records. Just ask California rapper Glasses Malone who is set to drop his debut album, Beach Cruiser, on the Birdman-helmed label in August. The label’s roster boasts Baby himself, Lil Wayne and Bow Wow, and then there’s label subsidiary Young Money, which houses Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga. “Hell, yeah, it’s competitive,” Glasses said when asked about the amount of talent on the two labels. “Let’s face it, Drake is probably one of the most, if not the most talented artist right now. This dude can be into a nice verse and kick some singin’ sh–, after being into a nice verse. Not an all right verse, he’ll be into a nice verse and then start singin’ and hold a great pitch. And then you look at Nicki Minaj, it’s success stories.” G. Malone is such a fan of Drizzy’s crooning that he sometimes wishes that he himself could hold a tune, but by the same token, he is aware of his own fanbase, which looks to him for harder, street-bred material. “I wish I could sing sometimes, but I can’t, so what I try to do is keep carving my niche at this gangsta sh–,” he told Mixtape Daily. “I figure, I can’t top Drake doin’ what he’s doin’. Drake is that n—a, he got it together. Wayne is that n—a, but I could make them n—as like, ‘Man that n—a G’s sh– hard.’ And once you do that, you win.” For Glasses, Cash Money and Young Money’s talented roster ultimately fuels his drive. “I use their situation as inspiration to know that the sky’s the limit,” he said. One of the perks to having such high-profile labelmates is the potential for good features. But on Beach Cruiser, Malone refused to force the issue. He has already recorded with Birdman and Wayne for his album and a number of other Cash Money artists on various side projects. When it comes to Drake, however, Glasses would rather wait until the time and the vibe is right. “Me and Drake, we talked a couple of times. We barely finna do somethin’ now. I just couldn’t figure out a song for Drake. I don’t talk about girls,” the Watts rapper said about his and Drizzy’s respective styles. “My songs wouldn’t be the right songs. He really appreciates women. I have to find the right niche.” For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists Glasses Malone Drake
Aussie twins tell MTV News they haven’t strayed from dance music roots in spite of ‘amazing’ Femme Fatale Tour experience. By Akshay Bhansali Nervo Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images With Britney Spears ‘ flashy Femme Fatale Tour closing out its remaining North American dates later this month, it’s fair to say that many of Ms. Spears’ concert-going fans have gotten to know Olivia and Miriam Nervo pretty well. In fact, when Brit first announced her Femme Fatale lineup back in April, promising on her website, “Nervo will get everyone on the dancefloor,” dance music fans were ecstatic about the inclusion of the DJ/producer twins whose writing credits include a song for Spears and David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s “When Love Takes Over.” MTV News recently caught up with the Australian sisters (and former models), and they told us that bussing across the States and sharing the stage with Nicki Minaj, Jessie and the Toy Boys, and Brit herself, has been a stellar opportunity. “We’ve definitely seen both the girls, [Britney and Nicki], and we interact with them,” Miriam, a.k.a. Mim, told us. “You are traveling to each city and you see the same people every day and it really becomes a family. So it’s been an amazing experience.” “It’s an amazing show,” Liv added. “The girls, the lineup really works well together. You’ve got Britney, who I think is looking the best she’s looked in a really long time and who really gives it her all on this tour. And then you’ve got Nicki, who definitely brings her edge to it. I’d never seen Nicki live, and I’m just so blown away. The girl can sing, rap — total respect to her!” As the Femme Fatale Tour winds down Stateside before heading to Europe, Nervo are now looking to expand the fanbase they’ve built in the U.S. But while Liv and Mim have been a part of what might be considered the mother of all pop music tours, the duo insist that they intend to remain true to their dance music and DJ roots. “When we signed the record deal, it was really important to us that we could take our DJing seriously and release club records,” Liv explained of their Astralwerks label. “Yeah, we want to be DJ artists,” Mim added. “That’s what we love so, luckily, we can release some club records alongside our Astralwerks album,” Liv said. “It just so happens that the Astralwerks single that we’re coming out with is with two major club guys: Afrojack and Steve Aoki . It’s called ‘We’re All No One.’ We love it!” While Liv and Mim do the singing on “No One,” the beats are delivered by hard-hitting EDM producer Aoki and David Guetta prot
LOX partners Jadakiss and Sheek Louch will be featured on release, the Ghost tells Mixtape Daily . By Rob Markman Jadakiss and Styles P Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/ WireImage Don’t Sleep: Necessary Notables
LOX partners Jadakiss and Sheek Louch will be featured on release, the Ghost tells Mixtape Daily . By Rob Markman Jadakiss and Styles P Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/ WireImage Don’t Sleep: Necessary Notables
‘[It’s] just more inspiration for him to make more hit records,’ Khaled tells Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman DJ Khaled Photo: MTV News Celebrity Favorites: DJ Khaled “Fat” Joe is no more. The Bronx, New York, rapper has recently been dropping pounds like he drops hit records, losing more than 80 pounds to date. No word yet as to whether he will consider a name change, but his friend and frequent collaborator DJ Khaled is in full support and astonished by his buddy’s new physique. “Joe lost so much weight that I can’t believe it,” Khaled told Mixtape Daily. “I was just on the phone with him and he was like, ‘Khaled I wear a 1X. I walk into Bal Harbour, go to Gucci and whatever.’ ” Shopping in the ritzy North Miami Beach neighborhood is not the only perk to being lighter. According to Khaled, Joe’s diet has also reinvigorated his artistic muscle. “Now he goes into any store and buys a 1X. He said he feels the best he ever felt and he’s back in the studio working,” the We the Best Forever DJ said. “I think by him losing all this weight, it just inspired him, just more inspiration for him to make more hit records.” Back in June, Joe revealed to the New York Daily News that he went on a diet following the deaths of a number of his close friends. “I always loved being fat, obviously. I’m Fat Joe,” the rapper told the newspaper. “If I could gain 1,000 pounds and be healthy, I would love to do that. The biggest killer of people is food. It kills more people than AIDS or gun violence or war, anything you can name. “Everybody keep catching strokes and heart attacks, and what happened to me was, like seven of my friends passed last year from heart attacks, and they were all 32, 34 years old, 35. And I said, ‘I got kids, I can’t leave ’em like that.’ This world is too hard for me to leave my kids, without me supervising and being there for them.” For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists DJ Khaled Fat Joe
MC opens up about his EP, getting love in NYC and why a white rapper with a booming voice shouldn’t shock you. By Steven Roberts New York MC Soul Khan Photo: Soul Khan Fire Starter: Soul Khan Every MC can rap. Certainly some better than others, but for the most part, anyone calling themselves a rapper can rhyme words to tell a tale in their own unique way. But every once in a while, an MC comes along who’s blessed with a booming voice that commands attention. Soul Khan’s voice is probably his most distinguishing feature, which is not to take anything away from the former battle rapper’s skills, but his deep delivery catches your ear. “I wish I could say I had something to do with it, but that’s all nature,” Khan joked to Mixtape Daily. “I decided I wanted to make rap a career after I graduated college,” Khan continued. “I mean, with a voice like mine, you could either go into politics, [be] a voice for ‘Final Fantasy’ characters or you could be a rapper,” he laughed. A native of Los Angeles’ West Valley, Khan said he was initially “kind of annoyed” that people were frequently surprised to discover that he was the one spitting after hearing his music. In 2011, a white rapper shouldn’t shock people, he thought. “I’ve been rapping for, I guess now, 14 years,” Khan said. “For a good amount of time, I wasn’t very good at it — as I think most people [are not] when they start something. Eventually, [I] developed into a serviceable artist, and I just started rapping because it seemed like the most viable and vital means of communicating with listeners.” Although his style may scream Brooklyn, the L.A. rapper came to New York because he needed a challenge, and the city has embraced him wholeheartedly. “It’s tough to impress people, and if you’re willing to go that extra mile, if you’re willing to give credit to [New Yorkers’] cynicism and say, ‘I’m willing to overpower that,’ then when you do, you get love on a scale you couldn’t imagine. If you win over a New York crowd, you’re the best.” Khan’s ready now to take on the rest of the world with the release of his Acknowledgment EP, one of three that he hopes to release this summer in the lead-up to his album, Soul Like Khan. The Acknowledgement EP was produced by DJ Element (who is also Khan’s stage DJ), and the rapper described Element’s production style as far more lively and uptempo than what he’s used to. And that contrast motivated Khan to try something different. “I made four songs that generally consider the subject of self-worth in some way, whether it was explicitly stated or just the mood, theme,” Khan said. “I don’t want to say motivation music, ’cause now the word ‘motivation’ is actually a hip-hop clich
Self-Made is loaded with street references and gun-toting anthems, in Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman Gunplay Photo: Triple C’s Rick Ross ‘ Maybach Music Group has become a hotbed for rap talent. Not only is there Meek Mill, Wale and Pill, who are all prominently featured on the recently released MMG-compilation Self-Made, day-one Maybach fam like Miami rapper Gunplay continues to hold it down for the streets. On his latest, DJ P-Cutta-hosted mixtape, Off Safety, GP keeps it extra-grimy. Anchored by Gunplay’s street single “Rollin’,” which features Ross and Waka Flocka, Off Safety is drenched with drug references and gun-toting anthems. On “No Arm and Hammer,” Gunplay employs some humorous wordplay on the song’s hook when he shouts, “No arm and hammer in my Hannah Montana,” using the Miley Cyrus character’s name as newfangled slang for cocaine (or “white girl” as the drug is so often called). “Mask On” is another murderous track. On it, producer Lil Lody uses a gun’s click and clack as a sound effect within the beat. Gunplay means business with his booming voice and hard-hitting flow as he raps, “Looking like I’m about to hold the whole world hostage.” Sounds like it too. The Carol City, Miami, rapper slows things down on “Skrate Up Menace” as he contemplates his standing with God after doing so much dirt in the streets. The island-tinged “Herbalist” is a marijuana ode with a twist. Starting out with a reggae sample, the Kino Beats-produced track is then peppered with kinetic drums that raise the song’s energy as GP spits his verses. Lil Wayne prot
Band plays U.S., then the world in support of Liquid Zoo . By Christina Garibaldi 100 Monkeys Photo: MTV News Jackson Rathbone has been keeping himself very busy since wrapping up “Breaking Dawn” earlier this year. The “Twilight” star is currently on the road with his band, 100 Monkeys , hitting towns all across the U.S. before taking their act overseas later this year . The band, which recently released its second full-length studio album, Liquid Zoo, stopped by the MTV Newsroom to give us a sneak peek at what fans can expect from its usually unexpected live shows. “It’s a raucous, theatrical live set, constantly switching instruments and singers and jumping and running around onstage, very interactive with the audience,” Ben Graupner said. “We pull ideas from the crowd and make up a song on the spot. People will come out of nowhere and start rapping. You really don’t know what to expect except for a smile and a good time.” 100 Monkeys, who are pretty confident they have never played the same set twice, are constantly thinking up new ways to keep their fans entertained. “We always just have fun with it,” Rathbone said. “At the end of the day, the thing we do with 100 Monkeys is we play with our audience. It’s just a fun time. They came out to see us and we came there to see them. That’s what makes us a great live band. We love playing.” Next up, they are taking on New York City with a show at the Gramercy Theatre on Saturday, but don’t ask them what they will be playing. They still have no idea. “We write our set lists 30 minutes to an hour before our show,” Rathbone revealed. “We always write the set list, sometimes it gets a lot of doodles. It’s fun. The best set list we ever had was from a sticker book.” So, is life on the road as glamorous as it looks? Well, not for these guys. “We are on a red, smelly bus,” Rathbone joked. “It wasn’t as smelly before we got on, but it definitely had some residue. It’s actually from the 1992 Metallica tour; it’s got a little Metallica vibe to it.” Are you going to see 100 Monkeys on tour? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists 100 Monkeys
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