hiphoplifeandtimes

According to Erick Sermon, “nobody’s grittier than Sheek Louch,” and “the nicest underrated rapper is Joell Ortiz.” These are just couple of the reasons why he made sure to enlist his fellow New York lyricists on his single “Make Room,” from his anticipated new solo album ‘E.S.P.’ which drops in August.

While at the video shoot which went down in the Bronx, the Green-Eyed Bandit conveyed the story of how DJ Desue encouraged him to use the beat for the track. Erick immediately knew it was “hard as hell,” and held an organic New York sentiment.

The EPMD frontman then spoke on his thoughts on New York City MCs, saying, “At the end of the day, when it comes down to New York City, there’s nobody to represent New York City [other] than these MCs, and this is our city. They got to stop fronting on us. They got to stop fronting on us making records how we want to make them.”

He continues to challenge his contemporary and emerging rappers, saying, “So what, we want to rhyme. What’s bad about us wanting to emcee, and have some drums on our sh*t; what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with the Hip-Hop? That’s why I came, and that’s why I called them for that, because I wanted to show them n****s like, ‘Yo, New York is here and we ain’t playing.”

After showing respect to A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, Troy Ave, Action Bronson, and Flatbush Zombies, the “Music” MC contends that New York’s proven wordsmiths like Fabolous, Jadakiss, and Jay Z are still at the genre’s forefront. “It’s just all the OGs still, no new people. They ain’t letting nobody else in,” he says.

The LOX member Sheek Louch wasted no time promoting his “Silverback Gorilla Pt. 2 [album] coming September 18th” when he spoke to VladTV this past weekend during his shoot for Erick Sermon’s “Make Room” featuring him and Joell Ortiz. “It’s crazy, man,” he tells us about his upcoming collective.

Sheek – who Erick Sermon says “did one of the best verses of his career” on their new track together – talked to us about Meek Mill’s comments on going back to the hood after you reach a certain point in your career and how he feels about the 2015 XXL Freshman Class. After asking that Vlad not “twist his words” about the up and comers, Sheek says that he’s “a fan of some of them.” Others, not so much, but only because he wasn’t even aware they existed. “Some I don’t know who the f*** you are – but I’m pretty sure somebody does.” In the end, however, he says it really doesn’t matter who’s on the cover as “long as you keepin’ it hip-hop.”

When asked about Meek Mill’s statement following the death of Chinx, Sheek Louch’s opinion differed from Joell Ortiz’s, who we’d also asked while on set of their music video. “Some n***** still wanna stay and make a zillion dollars right then and there. Sometimes, you gotta count that s*** up and say ‘Yo, let’s pack up.” Joell on the other hand felt he never left the hood, whereas Sheek feels as if “motherf***ers don’t know when to get out.”

Listen to hear more on his stance on the topic in this exclusive clip.

Over the weekend VladTV caught up Slaughterhouse emcee Joell Ortiz as he linked with hip-hop heavyweights Erick Sermon and Sheek Louch to shoot the music video for their new single “Make Room.” While there we spoke to him about the the new XXL Freshmen cover, the death of Queens rapper Chinx, and Chet Haze’s N-word usage. “People probably gon’ be mad at me, but if we can say it everybody can say it, to me,” Ortiz admits.

“As long as he didn’t mean n****r, it ain’t offensive to me,” he continues on saying, adding that he uses the word on a daily basis in conversation but never means anything by it. “I ain’t gon’ be the guy to start waving a flag when White people say it.”

Joell – who is currently working on his upcoming album “Human” – also gave his two cents on Meek Mill’s comments regarding rappers not going back to the hood after they make it big — this Brooklyn native wholeheartedly disagrees. “As far as going back to the hood, I stay in the hood [so] I gotta disagree with that a little bit because I don’t even feel like I go back to my hood — I feel like I never left my hood,” he stated. “I moved though, but I’m still hood, if that makes any sense.”

Watch on as he speaks on the latest XXL Freshmen cover (which he’s heard “is interesting” due to its “absence of lyricism,” and find out how the legendary Erick Sermon made his day after placing Ortiz on his own personal hip-hop pedestal above.

The official “Music For My Friends” album sampler, complete with snippets of all 15 tracks off of the retail version of the upcoming album. Features from and production by Jadakiss, Black Thought, Bilal, !llmind, Apollo Brown, Jahlil Beats and more. In stores and online June 23rd via First Generation Rich Inc./Empire and can be pre-ordered here: smarturl.it/MFMF

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LeFrak City, Queens native Nore has put about 18 years of his life into the rap game, and doing so earned him a platinum album and several gold ones. To put how the times have changed into perspective, Antoine Dodson’s “Bed Intruder Song” went platinum, and as vastly different as these two artists may be, Nore understands that these “lucky-famous” celebrities are just doing what they can to stretch their mere 15 minutes of fame.

“At the end of the day G-d bless them, and get money whichever way you can” he says to acts like WelvenDaGreat and Dodson. Nore was shocked to find out that most of the comedic “entertainers” people laugh at on social media are actually mentally disabled citizens, which makes him feel that the jokes are no longer funny. He applauds them, however, for having the last laugh in the situation, as Instagram celebrities such as Welven make up to $4,500 just to appear at a venue. “They’re in on the joke, whereas opposed to back in the day when they were in school they were probably the butt of the joke,” Nore explains.

His advice to all the new guys? “Save your money” and “make it into an enterprise” – and don’t wear all those Jordans from your connect, because you may have to sell them one day.

Watch above to hear more.

Pete Rock was raised in Mount Vernon, but his face belongs on Mount Rushmore. The Chocolate Boy Wonder perfected an art form, inspired millions, and soundtracked a generation. By contrast, Teddy Roosevelt seems like a chump.

This is the man who Dilla told, “I wanted to be like you.” Kanye once called himself the “new Pete Rock.” But the original Pete Rock remains permanently vital. The evidence bangs in his latest opus, Petestrumentals 2, the sequel to the 2001 classic that helped define the hip-hop instrumental record. It marks the legend’s first album on Mello Music Group, a fitting union between the author of the boom-bap blueprint and the label that’s expanded upon his legacy.

Describing Pete Rock’s productions do them little justice. They resonate in your gut, heart, and brain. The title of one of these beats says it all: “Makes Me Feel Like.” You fill in the blanks based on your personal experience and current mood.

Petestrumentals 2 conjures memories of BBQ cookouts and 70s Blaxploitation scores, rattling summer jeep cruises and blunted Jamaican vacations. There’s a gorgeous requiem to Dilla (“Dilla Bounce (R.I.P),” where the originator pays tribute to the prodigy. You see the full range of Rock’s gifts on display: the meticulously chopped horns, unquantized drums, and air raid sirens. It contains the emotion of a thousand eulogies.

No record can’t be resurrected. There’s no sub-genre or era that can’t be converted into Rock’s singular brand of soul. His music is the closest thing we’ll ever get to a time-traveling DeLorean, effortlessly shifting between past, present, and future.

For the last 20 years, hip-hop heads have argued over the best Pete Rock original productions and remixes. Is it “They Reminisce Over You” or the “Shut ‘Em Down Remix?” Do you prefer Soul Survivor or the first Petestrumentals, his work with INI or the UN? His catalogue can’t be compressed into a bio; you need a book.

This is the latest chapter—an even 20 slaps and rhythmic levitations. It’s Pete Rock at his best, accelerating and kicking cosmic slop, extending wishes, hope, love, gritty drums and eternal wonder.
credits

releases 23 June 2015

produced by Pete Rock

mastered by Joe LaPorta @ Sterling Sound
executive produced by Peter Phillips & Michael Tolle
http://mellomusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/petestrumentals-2