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Well if LL Cool J and Beastie Boys don't make it then JJFP won't, I don't think there's gonna be that many hip hop artists in the Rock & Roll hall of fame, Public Enemy will probably get in when their 25 year anniversary comes since their music is more rock driven

Grammy-nominated rapper Nas will reportedly link with hip-hop veteran Pete Rock for his upcoming Lost Tapes 2 album. Writing via Twitter, Rock broke the news to his followers. "LOOK OUT FOR NEW NAS AND PETE ROCK COMING ON LOST TAPES 2!!," he tweeted this week. "'FINALLY' AFTER 18 SUM ODD YEARS ITS NAS AND PETE ROCK AGAIN!! LETS GO!!" (Pete Rock's Twitter) Last week, Nas said his new compilation will drop December 14th. "I'm unloading records I want the streets to hear," the Queens rapper said in an e-mail. "Cleaning out my hard drives. Gonna do this [Lost Tapes 2], then start fresh. I'm dropping my solo LP before the summer of 2011. I love the energy the world has been giving me over the last two years. But now it's time to focus on owning the streets again." (MTV) Earlier this month, Nas tweeted about the compilation being in the works. "It's coming... LOST TAPES VOLUME TWO!!!," he wrote Wednesday (September 15). (Nas' Twitter) The original compilation disc dropped on September 24, 2002. Several of the tracks touch on many personal issues as I Am... was supposed to be an autobiography. Examples include "Poppa Was a Playa" a song which was ghost-produced by a young Kanye West for then-mentor Deric Angelettie. It's a record where Nas recounts childhood memories of his father Olu Dara's self-indulgent lifestyle. Another personal track is "Fetus" where Nas recounts his experience while inside his mother's womb before birth. Other notable songs include the social commentaries "Purple", "Black Zombie" and "Drunk By Myself"---a song that ventures into the tragic mind of an alcoholic. The Lost Tapes, along with Stillmatic, and to a lesser extent, God's Son, revived the underground credibility that Nas seemed to have lost over the years while breaking into the mainstream. Gaining notable critical acclaim upon its release, the album is said to have some of his most artistically developed work ever. (Wikipedia)

Yep, JJFP for 2011 Hall of Fame!

LL Cool J loves his family and he recently did a unique interview for REDBOOK magazine with his biggest little fan. Find out more plus read the actual interview when you go inside... LL Cool J's ten year old daughter Nina claims to be the rapper/actor's biggest fan. She interviewed her father about his show 'NCIS', their favorites movies, and asked about her reward for getting all A's on her report cards: Nina: Daddy, I love Miley Cyrus. What's your favorite song of hers? LL: "Party in the USA." It's a real fun song. I just wish my name were in it. Nina: I love to watch you on TV. Do you ever get scared to do that action stuff on NCIS? LL: I actually enjoy it — you just can't be Mr. Macho. I do about 90 percent of my own stunts, and the things I can't do for insurance reasons, like swinging out of a flying helicopter, I wouldn't want to do anyway. Nina: So what's your favorite movie? LL: Star Wars. Nina: My favorite movie right now is Dinner for Schmucks. LL: I can't believe it. I can't believe my daughter is saying schmucks. Nina: If I get all A's on my report card this year, do I get a present? LL: I expect you to get all A's. Why would I get you a present? Nina: Daaaad, that's my question — you're supposed to answer it! I'd like an iPad, a new phone, or a puppy. So what would it be? LL: I think it's obvious we grew up in different neighborhoods. I would take you out for ice cream. Cute. LL Cool J has two other kids as well, Najee who is 21, and Italia who is 20. Since Willow Smith is beginning her singing career at 9, it may be time for his reporter/daughter Nina to start her future career also....

If I listened to what all my friends said about music I'd be missing out on some great stuff, "Nastradamous" has some very good songs on it, check for songs like "New World", "God Loves Us", "Project Windows", and "Life We Chose" on youtube and if you like them you could always get a used copy of the CD for under $1 on amazon, personally though when that album dropped there in late '99 there wasn't really that many people hating on it until Jay-Z dissed Nas

Well where was Lloyd Banks mentioned when we named over 100 rappers for who's the best rapper of all time tournament we had here? That's not to say that he's wack but clearly he ain't one of the greatest

Months after the passing of rap pioneer Guru, an ex-member of his Jazzmatazz band has come forward to speak out against the legend's producer, Solar, and accuse him of physical abuse. Based on an archived interview, trumpet player Brownman recalled a past altercation involving Solar and Guru. "To be honest, I didn't feel any fear about Solar until I actually saw him punch Guru in the face. Solar didn't know I had seen this go down. It happened in a back alley behind a club after a gig in Europe. I was heading back to the hotel post-gig, cutting through the backalley of the club as a shortcut. After a gig Guru and Solar often stayed behind, and the rest of the group would head back to the hotel. So I'm walking down the alley heading to the hotel, and suddenly the back door of the club flies open and Guru comes stumbling out like he had been shoved, Solar right on his heels yelling at him like a little boy. By now, this was a fairly common occurrence for me to see, but what happened next left me paralyzed. Guru seemed to be quietly arguing back. Clearly he felt that whatever had happened didn't merit such a response from Solar, and it seemed like he was trying to explain himself." (F*ck Solar) Brownman elaborated and said Guru denied being abused by Solar. "Solar swung on him... hit him in the mouth. And then again in the head. I was frozen. Far enough away that they couldn't see me, but frozen in my tracks. I took a step forward, but I didn't know what to do. And then Guru seemed to sort of shrug it off. Until that last year of his life, he was a tough, well-built guy, but I did think it was weird he didn't fight back. And I'm pretty much a peace-loving pacifist... not a fighter... and none of this was my business. I was hired as the Jazzmatazz trumpet player, not as the Jazzmatazz judge and jury - so I swallowed hard and left, disturbed by what I'd seen. The next day, in a moment when Guru and I were alone, I quietly asked him, "hey G... what happened to your mouth man?"... just to see what he'd say. He looked me right in the eye and said "aw, I dropped some weights in the gym. I gotta be more careful, right son?"... and he smiled and gently poked me in the ribs saying "skinny bookworm like you don't know nuffin 'bout the gym, right?" (I was always reading while on tour, and read about 3 books a week on average). He then winked at me and walked away... and if I hadn't seen what I'd seen, that charming response would have made perfect sense. But instead I felt sick. Sick that this man - one of my heros - had been abused... and now felt the need to lie to me about it... to cover-up the incident and protect his attacker. It was awful." (F*ck Solar) Earlier this year, Brownman spoke on Solar verbally attacking Guru. "It was like an abused wife relationship and he made all the same excuses: 'Why does he talk to you like that? It's my fault, Brown, he helps me get in shape.' He rationalized it." The trumpeter recalled times when Solar would "yell at Guru like a little boy" and physically strike Guru. (Birthplace Mag) Following Guru's passing last April from medical complications, Solar denied claims of being romantically linked to the late emcee. "That's untrue, completely unfounded," he said. "Guru is a familyman, I'm a family man. I don't want to say anything against anybody living a certain type of lifestyle -- everybody is free to live their life how they choose to live it -- but that's not my lifestyle or Guru's lifestyle. We're straight men. He dealt with women and family. I dealt with women and family. There's never been any blurring of the lines whatsoever." (MTV) Brownman reportedly linked with Guru in 2006 and was his Jazzmatazz trumpet player through January 2010 and left due to internal issues with Solar

Nas Feat. Ronald Isley "Project Windows", that "Nastradamous" album gets hated on too much, it had some nice songs on it, it's better than anything Rick Ross or Lil' Wayne could ever make in their lifetime

They both deserve to get in, Beastie Boys opened the doors for white rappers like Eminem and Vanilla Ice to have success, Ad Rock is probably one of the most underrated emcees ever, and we know LL's career is the longest and strongest ever as a hip hop GOAT...

Too many people hate on Lloyd Banks 'cause he's in G-Unit, from time to time he could spit some hot rhymes but on the other hand he ain't close to being a top 5 hip hop legend, hell to n-izzo, he ain't even top 100, Nas and Kanye should collaborate with real rappers like Kel Spencer instead of commercial rappers like Lloyd Banks, in fact I think Kel should write some rhymes for Kanye since most of his rhymes been weak the past few years... But the main point of this article which is about the G-Unit beefing with Nas and other rappers they know they have to squash their beefs 'cause the public has grown tired of them doing it, they need to get back to making good music again, in the early 2000s G-Unit was dope, it's hard to believe that but you can't sleep on what they did back then but once they started acting like children their music and career went downhill and they lost respect from the streets....

G-Unit's Lloyd Banks and rap veteran Nas will reportedly have their differences placed aside to exchange bars on an upcoming collaboration track. According to the "Punch Line King," Kanye West is aiming to bring them together on wax. Lloyd Banks came up to the XXL offices this afternoon as the latest guest on our weekly Wednesday UStream show, Spotlight, and during the engaging interview he spoke on the possibility of he and 50 Cent rival Nas appearing together on one of Kanye West's upcoming G.O.O.D. Friday tracks. Banks said that he was in the studio with our October cover star two nights ago, along with John Legend and Kid Cudi and worked on two cuts--one for The Hunger for More 2 and one for 'Ye's upcoming, still unnamed LP. "The record I had did for Kanye, he was saying he was putting Nas on it, so you may be seeing that in the future," The Punchline King told XXLMag.com. (XXL Mag) In addition to dissing Nas on "Piggy Bank," 50 Cent previously spoke on his issues with the fellow Queens, New York rapper. "You know what, me and Nas, we was cool, we used to be good," Fif said in a 2005 interview. "I didn't understand his actions. The first thing that started feeling a little off with him was the Jennifer Lopez sh*t. I had done a record on the Jennifer Lopez album right and this after I got shot this is the first thing I'm doing trying to come back out. Irv [Gotti] was running around calling everybody and saying don't do business with these guys you do business with him we are not f*cking with you. At the time they were selling records so people weigh there value by what you can do for them and they were leaning towards Irv and them and they actually took me off the record and put Nas on the record cause she was on Columbia and Nas is on Columbia." (Six Shot) Last year, G-Unit producer DJ Whoo Kid said Nas used 50 Cent as an excuse to avoid being interviewed. "I respect Nas and all the sh*t he's done," Kid explained. "But personally, what he did to me was p*ssy. It was a p*ssy thing. But I was telling [Rick Ross' baby's mother] Tia that, but the [online video footage] kept that. He refused to come on my show because of 50 Cent and he told my boy that. And my boy, I had my boy, I could understand if your A&R is playing around with me like 'I don't want to come to your show blah blah blah' but I had my boy personally go ask him and he personally said 'Nah I can't do it man, I just can't do it.' Well you know everybody on my show, I really wanted Nas on my show. I was with him even before the It Was Written and crap like, when he was beefing with Jay-Z I was there. I bought him the bean pie and all that stuff. If it wasn't for that beef with Jay-Z, he would not be who he is today. That was the personal anger that I had to put out there. But other than that, I'm not dissing Nas." (True Stories TV) Aside from the possible Nas and Banks mash-up, West recently complimented the G-Unit rapper. "Yo man Loyd Banks prolly the most underrated MC in the game... Man he deserve to be top 5 at least!," West tweeted Wednesday (September 8) night. (Kanye West's Twitter)

I read online that his new album is gonna sell between 24-27K the first week which is not bad considering that he's independent but that's sad that legends like him can't get promoted properly on major labels so they won't have to go independent, the wack rappers should be in the minor leagues, with such a low buzz for real hip hop these days I wonder how long the real artists are gonna keep recording, it seems like hip hop's dying more everyday... Cube's right that hip hop has returned to being underground 'cause what the radio plays sure ain't hip hop, I feel like I'm the one of few people out there alive these days that knows what hip hop is, even the majority of my friends seem to be brainwashed by what's out there these days, lol, that's why forums like this is like therapy to vent on...

I didn't say he's doing great but I'm just saying that he's still in the game after 24 years, it ain't like he just quit, the problems he has musically really has more to do with the way the music industry has thrown away veteran artists like himself and others from the golden era of hip hop,(other than Dr. Dre really 'cause he surrounded himself with wack pop rappers so the industry could still like him, look at how Def Jam basically gave up on LL Cool J and he's the GOAT) it ain't really his fault why his career's not further along than it is, he's doing his best to his ability to keep going here....Hammer has over a million people following him on Twitter so you're right that if he gets his music out there they'll check for it, I think when he was promoting his reality show he said that he's working on a new album, a lot of people talking about him again right at this moment too, Jigga actually did him a favor if you think about it, lol... More artists these days are releasing their music through the internet, Hammer does too, but damn these ipods, I'm with you AJ I like to buy CDs, all this digital stuff is ruining the game in a sense that you can't get a physical copy of music so frequently...

MC Hammer "Sleeping On A Master Plan", when rappers ran their mouth about him they brought out a sleeping giant, "The Funky Headhunter" album is one of the most underrated albums in hip hop history

So we stopped having interest in KS here? Lately I've been listening a lot to "The Definition" and wondering how the hell can people sleep on this lyrical flame spitter, and whenever I feel down about something I go read those "Weekly Breads" and they lift my spirit up, real recognizes real

STATEMENT FROM WYCLEF JEAN GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN WYCLEF JEAN OFFICIALLY WITHDRAWS FROM HAITI PRESIDENTIAL RUN AND APPEAL The Singer-Activist Will Continue to Work for the Haitian People, But Will Resume Focus on His Legendary Music Career NEW YORK—Sept. 21, 2010—Grammy-winning Haitian artist Wyclef Jean, dropped several weeks ago from the ballot for the upcoming November elections in his home country, now says he has officially withdrawn his candidacy. “After weeks of quiet but painstaking reflection with my wife and daughter, I have chosen to end my bid for the presidency of Haiti,” said Jean. “This was not an easy conclusion to reach; but it is one that was thoughtfully made, taking into account many, many competing factors and weighing the course that will best advance the healing of the country and help it find the quickest path to recovery.” When Haiti’s Provincial Electoral Council released its list on Aug. 20 of whom it deemed qualified to run in this year’s elections, 15 of the 34 who had filed the papers to enter the race for presidency had been dropped from the ballot. Jean, one of those disqualified, accepted the council’s decision, in efforts to respect the rule of law and in order to ensure that his supporters would remain peaceful and law-abiding in the aftermath of the announcement. Simultaneously, Jean and his representatives filed a legal appeal against the ruling of the council, due to perceived irregularities in the council’s operations. At the time, the singer and his advisers gave as their rationale the desire to ensure that the council was being held accountable and that its processes were made transparent. Not withstanding his interest in a sound, just and fair governance process, Jean is choosing instead to revert his attention and focus to his music. Jean’s new album “If I Were President, the Haitian Experience” is scheduled for release in February 2011, followed by the summer 2011 kickoff of his worldwide tour “The Haitian Experience.” “Some battles are best fought off the field, and that is where we take this now. Our ultimate goal in continuing the appeal was to further the people’s opportunity to freely participate in a free and fair democratic process,” said Jean. “In that regard, the appeal was meant to improve the electoral process for all, candidates and voters alike. It is one way that I hope to bring light to the functioning of a government that is often ranked as one of the most corrupt on the planet, resulting in a country that is by most measures the poorest in the Western world. It’s not about my candidacy—this appeal was meant to address the shortcomings of the process for every Haitian. Though my run for the presidency was cut short, in this way, I feel it was not in vain; it’s something we can use to improve conditions for my Haitian brothers and sisters.” Haiti’s presidential election was originally scheduled for earlier this year, but was delayed due to the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January. The quake was particularly destructive in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where many government buildings, including the presidential palace, were left unusable; while many government workers are estimated to have died in the disaster and election materials lost. (END) Marian Salzman President Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America 200 Madison Avenue, 2nd floor New York, New York 10016 http://www.eurorscgpr.com

That's exactly what Kool Moe Dee mentioned in that article, Fresh Prince takes on many roles as an mc, he's on the same level Tupac and LL when it comes to versatility Kool Moe Dee put quite a bit of lists of hip hop greats in his book and the Fresh Prince is listed on most of them: Kool Moe Dee's True 50 Greatest Emcees (Sports Equivalent): 1-Melle Mel(Jackie Robinson/Bill Russell) 2-Rakim(Hank Aaron/Michael Jordan) 3-KRS-ONE(Kareem Abdul-Jabar) 4-Big Daddy Kane(Dominique Wilkins) 5-Kool Moe Dee(Dr. J) 6-Grandmaster Caz(Wilt Chamberlin) 7-LL Cool J(Evander Holyfield/Magic Johnson) 8-Chuck D(Muhammad Ali/Charles Barkley) 9-Notorious BIG(Mike Tyson/ Patrick Ewing) 10-Lauryn Hill(Lisa Leslie) 11-Nas(Kobe Bryant) 12-Queen Latifah(Sheryl Swoops) 13-Tupac Shakur(Allen Iverson/Ken Griffey Jr.) 14-Kool G Rap(Bernard King/Dave Winfield) 15-Jay-Z(Shaq/Donovan Mcnabb) 16-Treach Of Naughty By Nature(Chris Webber) 17-Method Man(Tracy Mcgrady/Derek Jeter) 18-Ice Cube(Karl Malone/Mo Vaughn) 19-MC Lyte(Teresa Witherspoon) 20-Redman(Scottie Pippen/Jerome Bettis) 21-Ras Kass(Jason Kidd) 22-GZA(Kevin Garnett) 23-Will Smith AKA Fresh Prince(Rickey Henderson) 24-Busta Rhymes(Latrell Sprewell) 25-Heavy D(Isiah Thomas) 26-Xzibit(Steve Francis) 27-Common(Eddie Jones) 28-Pharoahe Monch(Vince Carter) 29-Black Thought(Jerry Stackhouse) 30-Scarface(Robert Horry) 31-Kurtis Blow(Walt Frasier) 32-Run Of Run-Dmc(Larry Bird) 33-Snoop Dogg(Lamar Odom) 34-Guru(Ray Allen) 35-Ice-T(Dennis Rodman) 36-Doug E. Fresh(Reggie Miller) 37-Keith Murray(Jalen Rose) 38-Mystical(Antonio Davis) 39-Kurupt (Rasheed Wallace) 40-Slick Rick(Earl Monroe) 41-Big Pun (Larry Johnson) 42-Lil' Kim (Chamique Holdsclaw) 43-MC Shan (Ralph Sampson) 44-Craig Mack (Penny Hardaway) 45-Jeru The Damaja (Charles Oakley) 46-Fat Joe (Anthony Mason) 47-Spoonie Gee (George Gervin) 48-Foxy Brown (Nicky Mccray) 49-Mack 10 (Malik Rose) 50-Just-Ice (Moses Malone) 50 Greatest Rappers Spittin On Wax: 1-Rakim 2-KRS-One 3-Notorious B.I.G. 4-Big Daddy Kane 5-LL Cool J 6-Tupac Shakur 7-Slick Rick 8-DMX 9-Eminem 10-Jay-Z 11-Melle Mel 12-Lauryn Hill 13-Chuck D 14-MC Lyte 15-Nas 16-Method Man 17-Kool Moe Dee 18-Queen Latifah 19-Ice Cube 20-Kool G Rap 21-Grandmaster Caz 22-Treach 23-Busta Rhymes 24-Redman 25-Run 26-Snoop Dogg 27-Heavy D 28-Kurtis Blow 29-Will Smith AKA Fresh Prince 30-Lil' Kim 31-Guru 32-MC Shan 33-Eve 34-Black Thought 35-Xzibit 36-Keith Murray 37-Craig Mack 38-Foxy Brown 39-Doug E. Fresh 40-Ras Kass 41-Kurupt 42-Common 43-Mystikal 44-Dana Dane 45-Fat Joe 46-Scarface 47-Ice-T 48-D-Nice 49-Special Ed 50-The D.O.C. 50 Greatest Solo Artists: 1-Tupac Shakur 2-Will Smith AKA Fresh Prince 3-LL Cool J 4-Queen Latifah 5-Notorious BIG 6-Jay-Z 7-Lauryn Hill 8-Ice Cube 9-Eminem 10-Snoop Dogg 11-Missy Elliot 12-MC Hammer 13-Wyclef Jean 14-Busta Rhymes 15-Chuck D 16-Ice-T 17-Nas 18-Rakim 19-KRS-ONE 20-Puffy 21-Method Man 22-Redman 23-Treach 24-Heavy D 25-Kool Moe Dee 26-Melle Mel 27-Kurtis Blow 28-Big Daddy Kane 29-Ja Rule 30-MC Lyte 31-Coolio 32-Tone Loc 33-Speech 34-Doug E. Fresh 35-Slick Rick 36-Nelly 37-Lil' Kim 38-Kool G Rap 39-Eve 40-Master P 41-Guru 42-Da Brat 43-Luke Skywalker 44-Black Thought 45-Common 46-Scarface 47-Young MC 48-Baby 49-Eazy-E 50-Too Short 10 Comic Artists: 1-Flava Flav 2-Biz Markie 3-O.D.B. 4-Busta Rhymes 5-J.D.L. 6-Slick Rick 7-Dana Dane 8-Will Smith AKA Fresh Prince 9-Chubb Rock 10-Grand Puba 10 Hip-Hop Pop Kings: 1-Will Smith AKA Fresh Prince 2-MC Hammer 3-Kurtis Blow 4-Puffy 5-Tone Loc 6-Wyclef Jean 7-Coolio 8-Young MC 9-Sir Mix-Alot 10-Nelly/Vanilla Ice/Ja Rule 10 Best Storytellers: 1-Slick Rick 2-Biggie 3-Scarface 4-Nas 5-Ice Cube 10 Slept On Emcees: 1-Brother J 2-Kam 3-King Sun 4-CL Smooth 5-Paris 6-Intelligent Hoodlum 7-Chill Rob G 8-Lin Q 9-Lakim Shabazz 10-Nonchalent 11 Lyrical Secrets: 1-T-LA Rock 2-Raheim 3-Special K 4-Tito 5-Twista 6-Craig G 7-Lord Finesse 8-DLB 9-Def Jef 10-Tracey Lee 11-Del The Funky Homosapien 6-Will Smith 7-LA Sunshine 8-Kid Creole 9-Dana Dane 10-Biz Markie

http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/icecube-sept2010/ Since Ice Cube is dropping his new album "I Am The West" on September 28th, it's only right that he connected with the West Coast News Network, dubcnn, for an exclusive interview to discuss the project. We met with Cube on the set of his video shoot to "Too West Coast" with WC and Young Maylay and he tells us about the making of the album, differences to his last one "Raw Footage" and his expectations. We also speak about the artist-fan relationship, which has completely changed with the digital age where artists are in direct contact with their audience. Cube tells us about the planned Dr. Dre tracks that didn't make the album, the E-A Ski and DJ Quik collaborations and why sometimes things do not go as originally planned when recording an album. He tells us why he never tried to stop his sons Doughboy and OMG (who are also featured on two songs on the album) from rapping, and what made him want to feature Young Maylay on the album. Check out all that and much more in our exclusive video interview with Ice Cube. As ever, you can read this exclusive interview below and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to contact@dubcnn.com. Dubcnn is right here in Los Angeles with Ice Cube at his video shoot. You're shooting a couple of videos right now… Ice Cube: Yeah we shot one yesterday and we're shooting two today. We shot "She Couldn't Make It On Her Own" featuring OMG and Doughboy, now we're shooting "Too West Coast" with WC and Young Maylay and then other song I did with my sons (OMG & Doughboy), WC and Maylay called "Ya'll Know How I Am". Dubcnn: How different was your approach for this album compared to "Raw Footage"? Ice Cube: With "Raw Footage" I felt that we were in a critical year. This was before Obama was elected, so we didn't really know where the country was going, Bush had ****ed everything up, we didn't know if McCain was about to come in and continue it. So that record to me was trying to get us to recognize where we're at and how we can change some of the conditions that we're in, here in America. So it was a record that to me was trying to go back to the old formula of trying to use the records as street knowledge, to get across messages that I thought people needed to hear. So that was the focus on "Raw Footage". This record is just fun, it's just Hip-Hop, B-Boy ****. It ain't big on political commentary or nothing, it's just big on rhymes, dope beats and celebrating who we are. Dubcnn: You were a superstar in the old analog music world and you're doing it now in the digital world. Something that's changed is that artists are in direct contact with their fans. You've been doing that through your website icecube.com, talking to your people and blogging. How has that changed the way you market your music? Ice Cube: It's good. I'm just now getting into it full force. Artists of my era resisted to computers for a while because it changed the game. No doubt, the computer definitely changed the game. But since Hip-Hop is more underground now, like it was when I first came out - it was underground before N.W.A. came out - and that's kind of where it's returned. So what's cool now is, it's not just underground but we can talk to the fans. You can hear from them, the good and the bad on what they think of what you're doing, which is cool. I listen to them sometimes - most of them times I'm on my own page. But for the most, it's good to hear some feedback, positive and negative, from fans. Dubcnn: So you do feel that you should be accessible as an artist in 2010 for your fans to reach out to? Ice Cube: Somewhat. I don't think you should be too accessible… It might take away from why people like you. My friend got a saying "no matter how good somebody looks, it's somebody in the world that's tired of they ass." A woman, no matter how fine she is, it's somebody in the world that's tired of her ass. It's kind of that scenario. I think too much access ain't good, because fans sometimes wanna participate in your decision making and that to me takes out the surprise in what you're doing and it takes out the anticipation of what you're doing. Some people have been waiting for this record "I Am The West" and when they hear it they're going to love it! Some people when they hear it they're gonna be like "Damn, I wish it was something else." But all that is a part of it, to me. If they know what they're going to get every time and they know everything about every move as I make it, how excited are they going to be to get it? Dubcnn: It also makes it harder to adapt to change. Like I remember on one of your blogs you had announced that Dr. Dre would be on the album and later you said that he wouldn't be. People were like "What's going on? Why isn't Dre on there?" Ice Cube: Well you know, when you first start working on music, you feel like some of it is going to make it here and some of it is going to make it there. We never got a chance to finish the music, and if we didn't get a chance to finish it, then it's just a track that's sitting there, half done. So we've got 2 or 3 tracks that's sitting there like half done! When he calls, I'll finish it. It won't make my record, not this one, but you know… I think people will take a Ice Cube and Dr. Dre record any chance that they get. Dubcnn: What was the last one, "Hello"? Ice Cube: Yeah the last one was "Hello". Dubcnn: That's 10 years ago! Ice Cube: I'd take it when I can get it, but that is one thing about being accessible. You let the fans know something and then it don't come to fruition. But that's part of it, welcome to Hip-Hop! What you thought was going to happen in January might not be popping in June or in September, that's the kind of way that we ride. Dubcnn: We posted the album sampler on the site a few days ago and people were wondering what had happened to the DJ Quik and E-A Ski beats that you were supposed to get? Ice Cube: Yeah I got stuff from them too. The songs really didn't fit this album. E-A Ski's track is going to be released on iTunes, it's called "Pros vs Joes" and that's going to be released as a bonus track on iTunes. I put together albums, I don't put together producer lists. I wouldn't care if I did get a beat from Dre or any of the top producers, if it didn't fit the album it's not going on the album! That don't mean it ain't never going to come out, but it just didn't fit this record. Dubcnn: Last time we talked, we had a conversation about up and coming West Coast artist. At that time I mentioned Young Maylay to you and you said you were feeling him. Now he's on your new record on two songs I believe. What made you want to have him on there? Ice Cube: He's dope. He's been paying his dues in a lot of ways, he's been with Dub as his right hand man in a lot of ways. It's just his time, to me. He's right, he's seasoned enough, lyrics are right, he's got one of the bombest verses on the record, so to me it was only smart to put him on. He's going to become a West Coast staple like all the other people that you're hearing when you think of straight West Coast. Dubcnn: You also feature your sons on the album, OMG and Doughboy. Did you ever try to convince them not to rap? Ice Cube: Nah, cause they have fun with it, it's cool. What I like about my sons is, they don't need me to make a record. They're going to make their own records and mixtapes. They're having fun with it like I used to when I first came out. It ain't all serious, it ain't no pressure on them at all to make a lot of money. The only pressure on them is to be hot, to be dope, spit, have fun with it and be ferocious. As long as they do that, they can be in the game! If they feel that they don't wanna do that, then they'll probably just stay fans. Dubcnn: You've been in the game for over two decades, you've accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the music industry. What's your personal goal when you put out this new album? Are you looking for commercial success, are you looking to just satisfy your own drive to make music? Ice Cube: Just doing the record satisfies my drive to make music, which is THE drive, that's the only drive. I have no expectations of this record, I just hope that my fans, Ice Cube West Coast hard core music lovers, love the record. If they don't, I'll be a little disappointed, but right now I don't expect no commercial success because we're independent and we're just not playing their game. I'm not about to pay people to play my music or none of that bull****. My **** is going to be like either you find it or you don't. That's the beauty of it because to me it's pure Hip-Hop. Dubcnn: Apart from music, what's next for you career wise? Ice Cube: Me, I ain't thinking bout nothing but music man. I've got a record coming out September 28th, so to me that's all that matters right now. We're in awareness mode so we just want the fans to know it's coming, it's there. When you're done with dubcnn, go to icecube.com see what else I got going on, then you can come back to dubcnn, you know what I mean? *laughs* Dubcnn: Alright man before we go is there anything else you want to let everybody know? Ice Cube: Much love to dubcnn, always putting the West Coast first. We're on an island out here when it comes to Hip-Hop. It's good to see that somebody recognizes and throws out some smoke signals every now and then. That's some cool ****.

Happy B-Day Fresh Prince!!!

LL Cool J "Ringtone Murder", I don't know how rappers like Jay-Z could run their mouth when LL still bringing that heat!!

Rap pioneers LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys have both been nominated, yet again, to be inducted for the new class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Both acts were on the ballot in the past, but failed to make it in. In order to become eligible, the artist’s debut album or single had to be released at least 25 years ago. Then a list of 500 musicians and industry professionals make the final decision, set to be announced in December. Also on this year’s ballot is Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Donovan, Laura Nyro, Dr. John, the J. Geils Band, Donna Summer, Chic, Darlene Love, Joe Tex and Chuck Willis. The 26th annual induction ceremony will take place on March 14 at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. So far the only hip-hop acts to be inducted into the Hall was Run D.M.C. in 2009 and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 2007. —Elan Mancini

Yeah welcome back Turntable! Now on this topic that sure don't sound like a compliment Jigga gave to Hammer with that line, really it's unnecessary to say something like that, it just shows that he hasn't grown up as much as you'd think he would, there was a while where I was starting to gain more respect for him after he squashed the beef with Nas but he started talking greasy about LL in Rolling Stone and now he's dissing Hammer in his song there, is he gonna diss FP next? Wouldn't surprise me 'cause they're all easy targets since they ain't popular as they used to be but like they say once a rat always a rat, 2Pac saw that when Jigga came out and he's still the same damn way, a lot like Jigga jumped on 2Pac's balls after he died but they need to recognise that Hammer was one of Pac's homies as well... I think hr's letting the success get to his head he needs to show respect to the legends that paved the way for him...

Nice find Jim!!! "Code Red" is probably my most scratched up CD that I own, I gotta get a new copy soon, lol, even though I think "He's The DJ.." is their greatest album, with "Big Willie Style" and "Willenium" coming coming close, I love "The Return Of The Magnificent" too which is a shame that FP didn't spit on it since it'd made it even more of the perfect album, all the haters need to read an article like this and this would give them a brighter perspective on the legendary career of JJFP.... It's a surprise that Jeff's rating is so down with "Code Red" 'cause they always perform "I Wanna Rock" at their shows and FP still remembers the lyrics to a B-side on the album "From Da South".... Ultimately though "Code Red" is right there with LL Cool J's "14 Shots...", MC Hammer's "The Funky Headhunter", and Nas' "Nastradomous" album as the most underrated album in hip hop history, it's funny how some albums are so slept on that even the artists themselves underrate 'em...

LOL, but all seriousness congrats to Jazzy!

Exactly Visqo! Ignorant rap fans are the reason why Jigga's having success today, they don't know hip hop's history 'cause if they did he wouldn't be thought of so highly and the more original artists would be getting their due, if you compare him to the garbage radio rappers yes he sounds like he's the best, I'd buy his albums over Lil' Waynes and Drakes of the world but that don't mean he's the greatest ever....