HIP-HOP / RAP NEWZ

[JumpinJack AJ]

NEW EDITION

One Love But Two Sounds: Classic New Edition And '04 BBD Flow

11.08.2004 5:37 PM EST

Disc is veteran R&B group's first for P. Diddy's Bad Boy label.

New Edition (file)

Photo: Bad Boy

As a group, New Edition have been together longer than plenty of marriages, so it made perfect sense for the group to engage in nuptials together.

Ricky Bell and his fiancee recently tied the knot alongside Ralph Tresvant and the leading lady of his life with a double wedding. The remaining members of New Edition — Michael Bivens, Johnny Gill and Ronnie DeVoe — also participated.

"It was the best experience of my life," Bell said. "Me and Ralph were best friends, we were engaged at the same time. It was actually his idea. We figured, hey, rather than have a whole month or a couple weeks of planning for two weddings — and we wanted each other involved in our wedding ceremony, along with the rest of the guys in the group — we said, 'Why not? Let's make it an event and do it together.' It worked out nice. The best part about it was to have everybody in the group involved in it. Mike was my best man. Johnny and Ron were groomsmen."

A little over a year ago, New Edition engaged in a different type of marriage ceremony with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. They signed a contract with Bad Boy, and their first release on Diddy's label, One Love, drops Tuesday. The single "Hot2Nite" is out now.

"It feels good to be able to put out some new music," Bivens said. "We've been on tour and doing shows since the summer of 2002. And finally we got a chance to put out a new record and help the concerts, 'cause that's what we do all year long. Walking around, seeing the faces recognizing us from being on TV, that's kind of special. It's a younger audience, and they connected to the 'Hot2Nite' video. With all the hard work we been putting in for these 25 years, it's paying off. The tours are doing well, and we don't have to worry about the record label taking all our money, 'cause we make our money on the road. Our fans love to see us."

"Being on Bad Boy is like any other label," Bell said. "The upside is that Puff is enthusiastic about the project. He gives a lot of energy. We've learned a lot in the business since the 20 years we've been in. We know our image and we know the way we like to be seen and marketed. He's given us the other side. It's a balance of re-establishing ourselves in the business with the fans that have grown up with New Edition and introducing us to a whole new audience. Puff is defiantly bringing it to the table and just mixing the old and the new, giving us a whole new sound."

Not entirely. Songs like "All on You" find DeVoe and Bivens bringing the BBD flow up to date, but on "That's Why I Lied," the vintage New Edition sound shines through.

"It's no kisses for you when I'm leaving in the morning," a remorseful Tresvant sings. "It's no roses for you when I know I've hurt your feelings/ I don't know what happened to us, I never saw it coming." Later on in the track, he tells his wife he was late: He was working, but it wasn't at his office — it was in a suite in the Marriott.

Gill came up with the concept for the song. " 'That's Why I Lied' is talking about a situation with a man talking about the reason he lied [to his wife]. It's to protect his home and her," Gill explained. "Sometimes in our relationships we do things we may not necessarily be proud of and we have to work with it the best way we can. There's some consequences behind our actions. With this song, it doesn't justify a person lying, but it justifies why he did what he did."

Gill takes the lead on another ballad, "Come Home With Me," which the fellas say should go over with the ladies on tour. "I'm standing here all alone, this night's about to end," Gill sings. "I'm looking for somebody to wild out with me, sexually."

"It's like you're trying to pick somebody out of the audience," Tresvant said. "It's a perfect concert song."

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis check in on "Come Home With Me" and "Newness," on which the guys sing about the constant rekindling of a flame.

"It's a relationship song," Bell said. "A guy is saying to his girl, 'Every time I see you, it's new all over again. Just like the first time we met. I get that same feeling of falling in love with you all over again. Every time we miss each and I see your face again, it's new again.' And we're New Edition, so we're always trying to bring the newness."

For now, there are no plans in place to add a new edition to New Edition, though there has been talk of founding member Bobby Brown rejoining his crew for a song or performance.

"It's been expected," Bell said. "It's not annoying. We expect people to ask about Bobby. 'Is he gonna be a part of it at some point?' Like we tell anyone else, Bobby has an open door to New Edition. ... As far as Bobby being in the group and coming and being down for the duration of New Edition, that probably won't happen. As far as him coming in and doing a song here or there, it's just a matter of when the time permits and when he feels like he wants to be down. That door is always open."

Whether or not Bob gets up with his homies from Beantown is still up in the air, but New Edition have been talking to other icons from the '80s and '90s about hitting the road. They have 20 U.S. tour dates coming up in December, and names that have been floating around to join them include Guy and Jodeci.

Besides Jam and Lewis, other One Love producers include P. Diddy, Mario Winans, Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, and Ron "Neff-U" Feemster.

— Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Bridget Bland'

________________________________________________

2PAC

Thugs Get Lonely Too,' Tupac Says On Eminem-Produced Track

11.05.2004

Song is first single from late rapper's Loyal to the Game.

Tupac Shakur (file)

Photo: Death Row

Thugs get their money, they've been known to start the occasional brawl, get chased by the police and yes, as the ultimate thug declares on his latest posthumous track, they need the company of women.

A new Tupac Shakur song called "Thugs Get Lonely Too" has just surfaced, and on the record Pac struggles with wondering if his girl is faithful to him while he's on the road. His lady love is no more secure; she has misgivings about him staying true.

"It ain't easy being me/ Life of a celebrity is less than heavenly," Pac rhymes before going on to say he was leery about his best friend at his house trying to "mack" his wife while he's on the road.

Hook-singing specialist Nate Dogg comes in on the chorus, singing, "I'm rolling out on tour today/ You getting sad I'm going away/ Chickenheads wanna play with me/ You getting mad 'cause you think I'mma sway/ ... I'll still be getting lonely for you/ I'm coming home soon as I make this pay."

Pac's emotions later switch to anger. His girl must be sweating him too hard, because he unloads by saying, "It seems to me like you're jealous 'cause I'm hustling and making money with the fellas/ ... If you wanna be real with me, be real with me/ If you wanna be fake, move on to the next one."

"Thugs Get Lonely Too" is the first single off Pac's December 14 album, Loyal to the Game, executive-produced by his mother, Afeni Shakur, and Eminem. Em was originally approached several months ago by Ms. Shakur to be one of several A-list producers contributing tracks to the album (see "Eminem Signs On For Another 'New' Tupac Album"). According to his label, as Em dove deeper into the project, more of the reins were handed to him and he ended up producing 13 songs, including the first single.

Raphael Saadiq, Red Spyda, DJ Quik and Scott Storch contribute remixes of four Shady-produced cuts. Eminem rhymes on two hooks, and other guests include Jadakiss, Obie Trice, the Outlawz and the G-Unit.

Last year Em helped produce the soundtrack to "Tupac Resurrection" (see "Eminem: Reconstructing Tupac").

— Shaheem Reid

____________________________________________________________

EMINEM

Eminem Album Preview: Has Success Spoiled Shady?

11.09.2004 12:41 PM EST

Will Encore find the MC slipping into the spot where so many have fallen before: the comfort zone?

Eminem (file)

Photo: Anthony Malder

Eminem has built his career rapping about his hard-knock life, displaying such hellacious humor and skills that even the leeriest of skeptics and top-flank MCs — from Nas to Jay-Z to 50 Cent — have had to pay homage. No MC has sold more

records and a small few have reached his level of lyrical ingenuity and acuteness.

So now that he's caked up, saluted for his efforts on the mic, behind the boards (he just finished producing an album's worth of Tupac songs) and in the boardroom (Shady Records is moving units, G), Eminem is taking an Encore. But the question now is, will all the praise catch up with him? Will he slip into the spot where so many have fallen before: the comfort zone?

On Encore, he weaves in and out of it, sometimes laughing aloud at jokes only he might get; at other points, he's impassioned, opening up about recent events that struck chords in his heart and conscience.

By now, the whole world has caught wind of Em's formula when dropping an album. He'll put out the gleefully ig-nant first single, referencing several pop icons to get everyone's attention — stir the pot, if you will — then drop the hard-hitting second offering just to show you how dope he is.

That's why no one flinched — give or take a King of Pop here or a Source magazine owner there — when "Just Lose It" came out and Em rapped with an extra I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-you'll-love-it air. Nobody in their right mind thought that the song would be the best track on Encore, and they were right: "Mosh," the second single (with its controversial animated video), was nothing short of a spectacle.

But how does the rest of Encore — which drops this Friday — stack up?

Like his other albums, Encore shows different sides of Marshall Mathers, with the Motor City madman revisiting his issues with his family — society and even the Man of Steel.

Even a person with the kookiest sense of humor may find it difficult to crack a smile at the references to the late Christopher Reeve in "Rain Man." "I killed Superman, I killed Super ... man," he raps with an almost robotic flow after lamenting about people who find his lyrics offensive. "I say you're all just all too goddamn sensitive," he continues. "It's censorship and it's downright blasphemous ... I won't stand for this, and Christopher Reeve won't stand for this, neither."

The second verse finds Em switching up his flow and cadence, acting as a Southerner questioning hetero- and homosexuality and morals. Em then gives a big wink at the end of the track, saying, "I just did a whole song and I didn't say sh--."

On "Ass Like That," Em switches up his cadences again, this time managing to sound like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in his verses. On the chorus, he practically chants the words, "The way you shake it, I can't believe it/ I ain't never seen an ass like that," before launching into a juvenile description of his body's reaction.

He goes on to praise certain celebrities' booties, with comments about Jessica Simpson and Gwen Stefani as well as a certain pair of famous sisters. "Mary-Kate and Ashley used to be so wholesome," he says. "Now they're getting older, they're starting to grow bum-bums."

Encore does have some sobering moments, where Em raps with resounding clarity and insight. "Like Toy Soldiers" uses a sample of Martika's "Toy Soldiers" and breaks down, in detail, his recent beefs with the Inc. and The Source magazine.

As the drumline beats, Em begins rhyming — but not with the take-no-prisoners approach that we heard on mixtape freestyles like "Hail Mary," where he (with 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes in tow) attacked Ja Rule: "You ain't no killa, you a pu---," he rapped. "That ecstasy done got you all emotional and mushy/ Bitches wearing rags in photos, Ja's words being quoted/ In The Source, stealin' 'Pac's sh-- like he just wrote it."

But here, Eminem is reflective and remorseful as he tells why the battles started and why he wishes they hadn't occurred. "Even though the battle was won, I feel like we lost it/ I spent so much energy on it, honestly, I'm exhausted ... This ain't what I'm in hip-hop for, it's not why I got in it."

Shady goes on to admit he's cognizant of the fact that when a war on wax gets ugly — with barbs even thrown at a particular party's kids — things could get physical. "It was never my object for someone to get killed/ Why would I want to destroy something I helped build?"

However, the relationship he built with the mother of his daughter, Kim Mathers, seems to be totally in shambles on "Puke." The record actually starts with the sound of Em vomiting in the toilet bowl.

"You make me f---ing sick to my stomach/ Every time that I think of you, I puke," he sings in a whiney voice over some slow G-funk mixed with his own thunderous Detroit claps and drum-thumps. He comes off like a rock and roll singer, putting his acclaimed flow in park for four minutes to rant and rave about the woman he calls a "slut" and wishes could stick a needle in her eye.

Love, however cannot be mistaken on "Mockingbird." That song plays out almost like Em reading a letter to his daughter and niece as he tries to explain his strife with his wife and missing time with them while he handles his celebrity duties. The piano plays as he conversates in a fleet, bouncing flow. "Two little beautiful girls looking puzzled, in a daze/ Daddy's always on the move, momma's always on the news/ I tried to keep you sheltered from it, but somehow it seems/ Like the more I try to do it, the more it backfires on me."

Once again, Em tried to give his album a standard Tuesday release date (November 16), but was thwarted due to bootlegging. Encore has already made its way onto the 'Net and into bootleggers' hands, and thus has been moved up to November 12.

Although the album's title track, which features Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, has been released on vinyl to DJs, there hasn't been an official choice for a single and video to follow up "Mosh."

To hear the album, check out the Leak: Eminem Encore on MTV.com.

— Shaheem Reid

____________________________________________________

MURPHY LEE

Murphy Lee Arrested On Drug Charges

11.09.2004 10:16 AM EST

MC was pulled over for expired license plate.

Murphy Lee (file)

Photo: Getty Images

Murphy Lee was arrested on Halloween on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs.

The rapper and St. Lunatics member had been pulled over on October 31 near St. Louis for an expired license plate when police found marijuana in his Mercedes, according to The Associated Press.

Lee was arrested for possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana and driving under the influence of drugs after Sheriff's deputies allegedly smelled marijuana in his car. He is expected to appear in court next month.

An attorney for Lee, born Tohri Harper, told the AP that the rapper expects to plead not guilty.

— Alyssa Rashbaum

________________________________________

FOXY BROWN

Foxy Brown Planning Comeback With Help From Jay-Z, Shyne

11.05.2004 8:34 PM EST

Luther Vandross, Dido also on her upcoming Black Roses.

Foxy Brown (file)

Photo: Def Jam

If you saw Jay-Z's "Fade to Black" over the weekend, or were lucky enough to cop tickets to his "farewell" concert at Madison Square Garden last November, then you saw the show that not only spurred a reunion for him and R. Kelly, but the historic show that instigated Hov and Foxy Brown to start rolling like Bonnie and Clyde again.

"I think that sparked the whole, 'Oh my God, they love us,' " Foxy said during a recent mixtape shopping spree in New York. " 'Cause we didn't [do anything together] for a couple of years, it was so unexpected. He kept saying, 'I got Kells coming out, I got Beyoncé,' they never expected Foxy. I tell you, I never saw 30,000 mutha----as roar like that in my life."

If you ask Foxy, she'll tell you she's signed to Jay's S. Carter Records and that together, she and the Jiggaman will be unstoppable in 2005. (Jay says nothing is solidified on the business end.) "It's '96 again," she boasted, referring to the year she and Jay dropped their first albums.

"This is a rebuilding process for me," she continued. "The streets are begging for me to come back. They gotta listen to these bullsh-- female artists right now. They just gotta settle right now, and I don't think hip-hop should have to settle. They had a great teacher, but mommy's home right now. When I come back, it's a problem. I'm so back. I'm knocking out five joints a night — I'm a complete beast right now."

Foxy said ever since she left Def Jam last year in the wake of what she called mishandling of her never released Ill Nana 2: The Fever (see "Foxy Brown Claims She's Misunderstood, Collaborates With Lauryn Hill On New LP"), she's been wooed by everyone from 50 Cent to Shyne to Jay-Z.

"I sat down with every [label] president. They are like, 'Boogie, what do you need? You know how to make a hit record.' That's the bottom line. We been doing that since '95. It's a formula. You know me, I thrive off of controversy. I thrive off n---as talking. I get a kick out of that. Whatever I make has to be so serious, it has to be ridiculous. I gotta shake New York up."

And to do so, Foxy has a new album mapped out. She plans on calling it Black Roses and has guest appearances lined up from Luther Vandross, Dido, Jay-Z, Mos Def and Shyne (see "Foxy Brown Stays Tight With Shyne, Wants Jay-Z For Hip-Hop-Reviving Trio").

"My best friend Barrington Levy has a song called 'Black Roses,' " she explained. "He's been traveling all over the world and never seen a black rose in no other garden. When he found his black rose, he knew that sh-- was special. Y'all n---as can have all the female rappers in the world, but there's only one black rose. I feel that's me.

"I make my best records in pain," she added. "When I'm happy, you're getting the party joints. When I'm bleeding, you're getting the 'Open Book,' the 'Broken Silence.' You're getting the real grimy dark records. The Black Roses album, when I tell you it's a monster, Black Roses is a problem. Luther sings 'The Letter' over. Me and Dido are crying like, 'Give me one more chance, one more kiss.' I got Barrington Levy, Hov, Mos Def. I'm bleeding on this album. I do the reggae sh-- on this album. I'm bleeding, it's crazy."

There is still no release date for Foxy's project.

— Shaheem Reid

Edited November 9, 2004 by JumpinJack AJ

[bigted]

How much material did 2Pac make? :dunno: I thought there wasn't anymore unreleased material left, I'm starting to get the feeling that he's alive still 'cause he's releasing more material than mcs alive are! :lolsign: I can't wait to hear some new material from Foxy Brown, she's a dope female mc. :clap:

[JumpinJack AJ]

2Pac has tons of material laying around. There waz alot of stuff he recorded during the Thug Life / Me Against The World era which made up most of "R U Still Down (Remember Me?). When he 1st got on Deathrow, he recorded a huge amount of material. Then, when he wanted 2 get off the label, he recorded albums worth of stuff just 2 fulfill his contract and get off the label. The bad thing about that is, alot of the material comin' out wazn't 2 the level of quality u would expect from 2Pac. Listen 2 Me Against The World, his most personal album. Then listen 2 Until The End of Time and Better Dayz. There are some stand-out tracks, but the albums aren't full. The newly produced music put under his vocals aren't on a production level he would have them meet. Alot of the better trax like "My Block" are just remixed versions of songs he already put out. There's also a tons of trax he did 4 other people's albums that never got alot of attention that can be remixed and re-released. Check albums but Nate Dogg, Too Short, MC Breed, Spice 1, Richie Rich, Smooth, and so on. These trax aren't new in anyway. I went thru' a phase between 1996 thru 1999 where i bougth all kinds of 2Pac bootlegs and much of the material being released is on all those old bootlegs.

I wanna hear some new stuff from Foxy Brown. She waz ill when she 1st came out. Her debut album waz dope. Her 1st big appearance waz on LL's "I Shot Ya (Remix)"...i couldn't believe the stuff she waz spitting along side the likes of LL, Keith Murray, Fat Joe, and all them. I think her Chyna White album waz kinda wack tho',...she sounded like Lil' Kim (who i think has no talent) and the lyrics just didn't impress me. I heard half of Broken Silence and liked it and anticipated Ill Na Na 2: The Fever but Def Jam screwed the up the way they screwed up Montell Jordan's self-titled 2002 album which is incredible (but never released in the US). I hope she breaks out with some good stuff this time around. Of all the newer female emcees, her, Queen Pen, and Eve are the only ones i respect. Trina, Lil' Kim, Remy...i can't even bare 2 listen 2 their stuff.