bigted

It's about time people support a good artist

NBA superstar-turned-rapper Shaquille O'Neal recently opened up about the 1997 fatal shooting of The Notorious B.I.G. and discusses how he could have possible saved him from death. Shaq said his night time plans to link with B.I.G. were nixed after falling asleep shortly before the shooting. Shaq recently talked with ESPN's "Outside the Lines" about his friendship with the man born Christopher Wallace, which began when Shaq heard Biggie reference him and a song, and eventually included a collaboration on the song "Can't Stop the Reign." And he detailed how he made plans to go to Biggie's party the night he was shot, but never made it...something he understandably still thinks about. According to Shaq, he simply fell asleep that night, only to wake up to a phone call informing him his friend was shot. Shaq later wondered in his autobiography if his presence could have made a difference, which Biggie's cousin Lil Cease (who was present at the time of the shooting) believes it would have. (Sports Grid) The super star also believes he could have prevented B.I.G.'s death. If O'Neal had been with Biggie, he believes that with his bodyguard, Uncle Jerome, the two could have made a difference. "I've always been a person that's always been aware of my surroundings," Shaq explained. "Thank God for Uncle Jerome from law enforcement. He sees everything. He sees everything. He taught me that. He's always taught me that." (NESN) A few weeks ago, the Notorious B.I.G. 1997 murder case received a new lead. Eight years later in 2005, a civil trial brought by the Wallace family against the city of Los Angeles exposed evidence hidden by the LAPD that suggests two rogue police officers David Mack and Rafael Perez may have been involved in the murder of the rapper also known as "Biggie Smalls". According to a newly-revealed court record, Perez's cellmate told investigators "Perez and Mack were involved in Death Row Records. Perez got involved in Death Row through Mack.." "Perez was working security. Perez had a cell phone. Perez said he called over to Mack, David Mack on his cell phone. Perez told Mack that Biggie Smalls was in his truck. Perez never said that he set up Biggie Smalls but I have heard that he...had something to do with that murder," according to the inmate. (CBS News) Last January, the B.I.G. murder case's revival became public. A task force made up of local and federal law enforcement agencies is actively pursuing leads into the 1997 slaying of hip hop artist Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G., according to two sources familiar with the investigation. According to one law enforcement source, the investigation into the 13-year-old unsolved case was "reinvigorated" months ago as a result of new information, but the source would not elaborate further because of the ongoing investigation that includes the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. County District Attorney's Office and the FBI. (CNN)

Thanks for the happy birthday shoutouts, the years seem to be going by fast...

The Outlawz are a corny group? I never heard anybody say that before.... I don't think that 2Pac is the most skilled mc but like Kool G Rap said he put a lot of emotion in his music like Marvin Gaye did, that's something a lot of so called mcs don't do anymore, except from a handful of them like Game, Rhymefest, and Lupe there isn't much classic music out these days...

Kool G Rap is back spitting that raw again, hell yeah baby! I've been bumping this Snoop Dogg "PuffPuffPassTuesdays" mixtape lately, the west coast king is back: http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/13228/snoop_dogg_puffpuffpasstuesdays.html

Here's a couple more of my favorite tracks with Da Brat: Mariah Feat. Da Brat and Missy "Heartbreaker"(remix) Keith Sweat Feat. Da Brat "I Put You On" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq7dI_LpGuM

I was wondering what happened to Da Brat myself, the "I Think They Like Me" remix was probably the only Da Franchise Boyz song that I liked and Da Brat was one of the reasons why, she's had some good features and some good albums so hopefully she could come back strong again, this is my favorite joint from her, "Da B Side" from the Bad Boys soundtrack with JD and Biggie: I also like "What'chu" like with Tyrese a lot too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCS0rqMN63A

I find it odd that an artist actually says that he don't like his own album, but you gotta respect the honesty, oppose to when an artist usually says "my new album's a classic" and you find out it only has 2 good songs on it

Blackstreet "Don't Leave Me", there's not too much soulful tracks like this anymore:

Rap veteran Kool G Rap recently gave his opinion on the late Tupac Shakur and compared the renowned emcee to iconic message-driven singer Marvin Gaye. Kool G credited Pac's love and passion for music as a driving force to his legacy. "I agreed with what [Jay-Z] was saying about Pac [in a past Charlie Rose interview]. It's not that Pac was so crazy lyrically, but it was his passion. Tupac, to me, was like the hip-hop Marvin Gaye. That's the best example, because he was the artist of the time, and so was Pac." (Baller Status) Last November, Jay-Z talked to media personality Charlie Rose about his admiration toward Pac. "I guess I would choose B.I.G. [as one of my favorites] because of his ability to tell stories to be humorous, to be dead serious, he just had it all," Jay said. "Just [b.I.G.'s] voice alone. I would choose Pac because his fire will overcome, what he doesn't have in technical skills will be overcome by passion. If you listen to that 'Tunnel' [freestyle] verse where B.I.G. is saying 'MC Hammer and them 357 women' and then you hear how [Pac] comes on, he just screams on the track, his passion could put a lot of guys to sleep. I guess Kool G Rap and KRS-One would be on there. I need more emcees. Y'all got Eminem and Nas..." (Charlie Rose) Earlier this week, the late Pac received a huge accolade from rap star 50 Cent. "2 pac RT @Crazy4_KStew: @50cent if u could collaborate with any rapper that has died and make a song who would it be?," 50tweeted Monday (February 28). (50 Cent's Twitter) A Pac biopic is reportedly going into production. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in late Spring/early Summer on the biopic "TUPAC," it was announced today (February 10) James G. Robinson, Co-Chairman/CEO, and Rick Nicita, Co-Chairman/COO, of Morgan Creek Productions. Directed by Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day," "Brooklyn's Finest"), the film will be shot on location in Los Angeles, New York, Georgia and Las Vegas and is currently being cast. (Deadline)

Public Enemy "Harder Than You Think"

New York rapper Ja Rule recently discussed his emphasis on respecting women with his upcoming Renaissance LP and making "grown-up" music. Click to learn more... Admitting the album is near completion, Rule discussed maturing with his music. "We in Miami doing it, putting the finishing touches on the [Renaissance] project," Rule said in an interview. "Finishing that up and we're getting started on [Pain Is Love 2]. Yeah, Pain Is Love 2. Yeah, it's about to go down. The Renaissance Project, it's got a real soulful vibe, a real music vibe. It's rider music. When you listen to the album, it'll put you in a different zone -- I dealt with the women on the album, you know, different than what you're used to. It's kind of like grown-up conversation. When you're young and you're making records towards the ladies, sometimes they can be rather derogatory. 'B*tch, h*e this, B*tch, that.' So you know, with some of the records on this album, they're more on an intellectual level when I'm talking to the ladies. It's more of a relationship that we've been in for a long time that we know how to talk to each other verbally..." (Rule York) After initially titling the album Venni Vetti Vecci 2, Rule explained his motivation behind killing a follow-up to his 1999 debut. "It's gonna be called The Renaissance Project," Rule told Mikey T The Movie Star, referring to his upcoming album. "I didn't scrap Venni Vetti Vecci 2. I still got a lot of songs from Venni Vetti Vecci 2 but I'm feeling like everybody's doing the sequel album and you know, I didn't want to keep the cliche sh*t going. I'm dropping. That's what they need to know. I'm coming heavy with records in the next few weeks. I'm about to start dropping some records. 'Man Down' is out right now. It's getting a lot of love, getting a lot of response from a lot of deejays and sh*t. But you know, we about to start dropping records heavy. The game is different, it changed a lot. I understand the game is about dropping music even if it's not good material. So [my record label] MPire's getting ready to drop a lot of material in the next few weeks." (Movie Star Status DVD) Rule broke the news on his latest album title in September. "I changed the name of my album from Venni Vetti Vecci 2010, first of all, Venni Vetti Vecci was my baby, that was my first album," Rule explained in an interview speaking on his 1999 debut. "You can never duplicate that era in time. That was my whole life's work in that album up until that time. And then number two, I went to Africa -- it took on a hold of me, when I was doing my album and the whole project, what I was going through right now, with the new beginning, I'm not with Murder Inc. anymore, but they're still the family. I'm on my own venture, so it was a sign of a new beginning, new ambitions, new everything. They built this statue out there, it's called The Renaissance and it's a statue of a man holding his baby on his shoulders with his wife in his arms, pointing to the heavens. To me, it just symbolized what I'm about right now and just the word -- fresh start, I said that's what I want to call my project, The Renaissance Project and it represents what I'm about..." (XXL Mag) Last spring, Rule updated fans on the status of his delayed project. "It's been a good ride, you know what I'm sayin'? It's been a wild ride, but it's been fun. With this album I feel like I've conquered all those little obstacles that I had to get around, and now I'm ready to get this product out to the world again...I worked with a lot of different producers on this album. Some new guys, some veterans. The album's put together really well. It just has an overall feel to it, the sound is vintage Ja Rule, but then it's different, I've been playing with this new sound that I've been trying to develop." (Dubcnn)

Well Eddy Curry hasn't played since he's out of shape and the other centers they traded aren't that good either, lack of size has been their problem but that's a problem most teams have these days, that's why there's only a few teams that're championship contenders, I see what you're saying, adding Carmelo and Chauncey probably clinched them going to the playoffs but without the quality big man they probably won't go too far

I remember a couple years ago when the Nuggets made the Western Conference Finals, Chauncey Billips was more of the MVP for them that year than Melo was, not to mention how he was clutch all those years for the Pistons, especially when they won it all in 2004, people don't give him that much credit but he's a key piece in this trade, now I think that the Knicks have a great chance to win a lot of games at the end of the regular season and make a run for the eastern conference finals if they end up with the right matchups, as a Bulls fan I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs now...

Alicia Keys "If I Ain't Got You"

Mostly sports from ESPN and MSG Network like the NBA, College Hoops, NHL, NFL, MLB, there's no good hip hop music video show on these days so I watch music videos on my TV from DVDs that I have besides watching the videos on youtube like everyone on the computer does these days, among the current shows I like Two and a Half Men, House Of Payne, NCIS: Los Angeles, and the Cleveland Show, I like the classic shows like Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Bernie Mac Show, The Cosby Show, Samford & Son, I've also been recently getting classic cartoons on DVD like the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Underdog, and Tom & Jerry, I've been watching christian programs from Dr. Charles Stanley, Joel Osteen, and Creflo Dollar for inspiration, and I've been watching some of my favorite movies on dvd like Martin Lawrence classic comedies "Big Momma's House" and "Blue Streak", disney animated movies like "Toy Story" and "Up", and of course the Big Willie classics like "Bad Boys" and "Men In Black"

Yeah Grammies are wack, mainstream hip hop is dead at this point

J. Cole "Blow Up", "Friday Night Lights" is better than a lot of albums out: B.O.B. "Beast Mode", he spazzed out on this track:

There was a lot of quality rap out and popular in the mid-90s, that's why he didn't stay retired for long when he came out with "Big Willie Style" a year later, that quote could actually be more directed towards the rap game of today than back then, btw this a great interview, never saw it before, fresh prince dropping some knowledge...

yeah i have no problem when an artist goes against the grain and speaks their mind, i like the song too, lupe's one of the few in hip hop that i check for these days

Of course this song right here is a favorite on this board Will's "Tell Me Why" Featuring Mary J. Blige Nas Feat. Olu Dara "Bridging The Gap"

Well especially the second half of the 2000s decade like you mentioned the good stuff didn't get much recognition, I bet I could come up with a list of the 100 most slept on songs of the 2000s and they'd be better than most of what's mentioned here Here's a few of my favorites that weren't mentioned: Common "The People" LL Cool J "Ill Bomb"

KS's like Skillz 'cause he's written quite a bit of songs for popular rappers out there, he probably got more checks coming in from those hits than a lot of rappers get for putting out albums, and let's be clear when Jay-Z started promoting the wack rappers like Rick Ross over the great rappers like LL Cool J he lost a lot of respect from hip hop heads

Well obviously to say that they're being pimped and exploited is going too far but I don't agree that it's healthy for the Smith children at such a young age have to be in the spotlight, they should be given more time to work on their talents so that way when they're a lil' bit older they could be successful, in other words they should be spend more time having fun being kids rather than dealing with the pressures of the entertainment industry.... And I don't think that having Jay-Z work with Willow is a smart move either...

Happy B-Day!