So What Exactly Is Real Hip-Hop? Allow Me To Explain...

After Peter Rosenberg dissed Nicki Minaj's song "Starships" as not real hip-hop, people have been talking. A lot of people are wondering, just what is real hip-hop?

Hip-hop is love. 

After Peter Rosenberg dissed Nicki Minaj's song "Starships" as not real hip-hop, people have been talking. A lot of people are wondering, just what is real hip-hop?

Well, real hip-hop is love. 

I fell in love with hip-hop as a small kid after hearing LL Cool J's "Rock The Bells" blasting from my mother's radio and watching the older kids break dance. Since then, I was hooked!

I practiced pop locking to Run DMC, I crafted the illest bubble letter words all over my notebook, and popped numerous cassette tapes trying to "dub" a song off the radio. Long story short, I'm a hip-hop head and I'll straight up tell that you real hip-hop is love. 

I say love not only because I love the culture, but because if you ask a million people 'What is love?' you'll get a million different answers. 

BLOG: Hip Hop Has The Right & Responsibility To Evolve

I believe that real hip-hop is as simple as a dope lyric over a hard beat. Real hip-hop is from the heart, and no matter how hard I try, I could never be able to define what is real hip-hop. No one can.

Hip-hop is in you, me and all of us. Hip-hop is a beat banged out in a stairwell and a group of friends spitting rhymes about the things they know. Real hip-hop is a white boy who picked up an Eminem CD and decided that he doesn't want to be an engineer like his pops. 

Real hip-hop is endless hours in the studio, only to perform to crowds of 15 people who don't give a damn what's being said. They're just waiting to see the rapper who got three songs in rotation on local radio.

Real hip-hop is also the rapper who did 14 interviews in one hour, while his stylist kept adjusting his iced out chain to make sure it was showing through his Givenchy button up.

One thing I know is that real hip-hop is more than covering yourself up with tattoos, smoking weed, rhyming about drugs and getting shot. 

Sure, certain bubblegum extra soft songs make some of us want to holla sometimes and throw your hands up, but if it's real to them, who are we to judge? Hip-hop is love. 

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/entertainment/what-is-real-hip-hop-explained-blog#ixzz1wy3QaBAp 

Well, real hip-hop is love. 

I fell in love with hip-hop as a small kid after hearing LL Cool J's "Rock The Bells" blasting from my mother's radio and watching the older kids break dance. Since then, I was hooked!

I practiced pop locking to Run DMC, I crafted the illest bubble letter words all over my notebook, and popped numerous cassette tapes trying to "dub" a song off the radio. Long story short, I'm a hip-hop head and I'll straight up tell that you real hip-hop is love. 

I say love not only because I love the culture, but because if you ask a million people 'What is love?' you'll get a million different answers. 

BLOG: Hip Hop Has The Right & Responsibility To Evolve

I believe that real hip-hop is as simple as a dope lyric over a hard beat. Real hip-hop is from the heart, and no matter how hard I try, I could never be able to define what is real hip-hop. No one can.

Hip-hop is in you, me and all of us. Hip-hop is a beat banged out in a stairwell and a group of friends spitting rhymes about the things they know. Real hip-hop is a white boy who picked up an Eminem CD and decided that he doesn't want to be an engineer like his pops. 

Real hip-hop is endless hours in the studio, only to perform to crowds of 15 people who don't give a damn what's being said. They're just waiting to see the rapper who got three songs in rotation on local radio.

Real hip-hop is also the rapper who did 14 interviews in one hour, while his stylist kept adjusting his iced out chain to make sure it was showing through his Givenchy button up.

One thing I know is that real hip-hop is more than covering yourself up with tattoos, smoking weed, rhyming about drugs and getting shot. 

Sure, certain bubblegum extra soft songs make some of us want to holla sometimes and throw your hands up, but if it's real to them, who are we to judge? Hip-hop is love. 

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/entertainment/what-is-real-hip-hop-explained-blog#ixzz1wy3QaBAp

Foo Fighters Drummer Scores Iggy Pop Role in 'CBGB'

The upcoming rock 'n roll film "CBGB" has added several cast members, including Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who will play rock icon Iggy Pop; "The Big Bang Theory's" Johnny Galecki as music manager Terry Ork and The Borgias actress Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith.

CBGB

The film is a look at New York's punk rock music scene and is centered on CBGB, the seminal club where acts such as Talking Heads, Ramones and Television got their start and honed their craft. The club, which was owned by Hilly Kristal, closed in 2008.

Alan Rickman to Play CBGB Founder in Biopic

Also joining the cast are Steven Schub ("Chicago 8") as DeeDee Ramone; Evan Alex Cole ("She's Outta My League") as Richard Hell; Peter Vack ("I Just Want My Pants Back") as Legs McNeil; and Kerry Bische ("Red State") as Mary Harron.

"CBGB," which features a previously announced cast of Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Joel David Moore, Stana Katic and Rupert Grint, is being directed by Randall Miller ("Bottle Shock"), who co-wrote the script with Jody Savin.

Miller and Savin's Unclaimed Freight Productions will produce. Former senior vp of Warner-Chappell Music-turned-producer Brad Rosenberger will also produce. Kristal's daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, who controls her late father's estate, is on board as a co-producer of the film.

CBGB Music Festival & Conference Coming to NYC

The story centers on Kristal (Rickman) and his efforts to turn a tiny club into a groundbreaking rock 'n roll venue where the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers played. The venue started out as a home to country, bluegrass and blues musicians, but when those acts became tough to book, Kristal turned to local artists.

Production is slated to begin June 25 in Savannah, Ga., before moving to New York.

Ice-T: 'The Art of Rap' Will Be More Than Just a Movie

As he prepares for the June 15 theatrical opening of his documentary "Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap," Ice-T promises that the campaign "won't end with this film." 

"We've got a DVD. We have a television show. We have a soundtrack album," the rapper told Billboard.com before a suburban Detroit screening of the film, which was attended by fellow MCs Chuck D of Public Enemy (who Ice-T had joined on stage the previous night at the Movement Electronic Music Festival), D-12's Denaun Porter and Trick Trick. "I've got 52 (MCs) in this movie, and I have at least an hour to an hour and a half of in-depth interviews. I've got, like, two hours with KRS-One. So the film will just be the first embodiment of 'The Art of Rap,' but I don't want to promote our secondary plans and take away from the film. I want people to see it on the big screen, hear it with the big speakers and take that ride."

Ice-T spent two years working on "Something From Nothing," chatting with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kanye West, Grandmaster Melle Mel and scores of others about the actual crafts of rapping, rhyming, composing and sound generation. "In my 25 years of rapping, no one ever asked me how I did it," explained Ice-T, who licensed more than 400 songs for the film and commissioned Smooth Hustla to compose the original track "109 MCs." "People would always be more concerned with the beefs, the cars, the girls, the celebrity side of it, but not how it's done. To me that meant people thought you just s*** it out. There's no creative process. There's nothing to it... But some of these cats, it's like very intricate wordplay, and they have their own ways to do it. I tried to get people who spoke on all the different styles of rap -- the underground battle rappers or the conscious rappers. There's lots of different styles."

Exclusive: Watch Ice-T Discuss His 'Art of Rap' Documentary

In addition to a list of 15 standard questions, Ice-T also asked each of his subjects to bust an original rhyme for the cameras, yielding stunning, off-the cuff performances whose lyrics often reflect on the craft and on what rap means to them. "What made this movie so special is Ice is alongside the person he's interview, so he's navigating the audience and he's navigating the artists and the rappers and he's doing a great job on both sides of the coin," Chuck D noted. And Ice-T said his friendships with the subjects allowed him to cut deeper than the standard interviewer.

"By me knowing each one of these artists I had the ability to get, like, that Barbara Walters interview," he explained. "I could get them into a place where I'm like, 'That's bulls***, man. Come on! I was there.' 'Ohhh...You want the REAL?' and they start giving it up. Some of the best stuff is just wild stories -- you would've never expected the KRS story about [how] he started rapping, or Run telling me what it's like being on the top. It's crazy."

"Something From Nothing's" official premieres will take place June 5 in Los Angeles and June 12 in New York. Ice-T predicted that "this is going to be a word-of-mouth film. We're promoting it like a record rather than a film like...'The Avengers,'" but he's counting on a substantial hip-hop fan base and a cross-generation appeal to bring people to the theaters.

"Almost every artist in this movie sold a million records, so in the hip-hop community we haven't gotten one bad review," he said. "I believe there's a huge adult hip-hop audience that's dormant, that wants to show their kids what they went through and wants to take them back and say, 'This is when we wore Adidas.' I'm hopeful those people will bring their kids. I really think this could do a Michael Moore thing. This could just swell and be bigger than a normal documentary. That could really happen."

Meanwhile, the "Something From Nothing" official soundtrack is set to hit stores on June 12, with 23 tracks set to include live acapella performances from KRS-One, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass and Ice-T himself.

MASE CLAIMS KANYE WEST OFFERED HIM A NEW DEAL?

It turned out to be a G.O.O.D. day for Mase after the platinum-selling rapper-turned-pastor tweeted an offer from Kanye West's label.

MA$E

"Wow... I just got a G.O.O.D. offer!!!," @saintmason posted Tuesday.

Mase has been working on making his second musical comeback after making a surprising appearance on the remix of Wale's song "Slight Work." Only God can tell if this will be the right move for the former Bad Boy.

HIP-HOP MOGUL "JIMMY HENCHMAN" FOUND GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES

New York hip-hop mogul James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond was found guilty by a jury of all 13 charges.

Henchmen

The former Czar Entertainment CEO lost against federal prosecutors in Brooklyn on all indictments, including cocaine distribution, conspiracy, money laundering, firearms possession and witness tampering. Rosemond was allegedly using his management company as a multi-billion bi-coastal drug-trafficking ring.

“I am very disappointed by the verdict,” Rosemond’s defense attorney Gerald Shargel told AllHipHop.com. “There were a lot of reasons to doubt the government’s case.” Rosemond was dealt the life sentence in prison.

His clientele included a large number of hip-hop and R&B music makers including Brandy, Gucci Mane, Salt-N-Pepa and Akon.

Lauryn Hill Defends Nicki Minaj

Despite the slew of conflicts and not-so subtly deployed insults generated by Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg's comments of Nicki Minaj's "Starships," it is nice to know that yesterday's (Sun., Jun 3) Summer Jam fostered at least one inter-artist friendship. 

Nicki

Lauryn Hill, who stepped up to fill the deserted slot with a phenomenal surprise performance alongside, Nas, took to Twitter in the aftermath of the show to clear up scheduling rumors and lend her support to the fellow Young Money rapstress's decision to walk away with integrity.

" No disrespect to Nicki, but I need to clear up an inaccuracy. I was not scheduled to be a special guest on her set at Summer Jam, I was invited by Nas to perform with him. I don't have details on exactly what transpired between the station and the artists, but I do support artists standing by their beliefs, and walking with integrity. We have to find a better way to commercially exploit music, while giving artists their proper respect. This cannot be done while taking their contributions for granted, or trying to control the scope of their growth and power through threats and fear tactics. We can do better than this, there is a better way, or else 'we' (the proverbial we) find ourselves in danger of being hypocrites!!!

Ms. Lauryn Hill "

Minaj quickly took to Twitter to touch on Hill's words. "Thank u Lauryn. Nas was coming out on my set, u were coming out 2 perform w/him. That was within my set that was going to 2 continue w/foxy." Minaj tweeted. "Coming from Lauryn it means the world. No one deserves this treatment. We're all out here working. Have respect for your guests. #thatisall"

Although audiences praised stellar performances by J. Cole, Waka Flocka Flame, Young Jeezy and others, the most deafening roar at this year's Summer Jam came from the echoing silence of Nicki's absence.

Herb Reed, Platters Founder, Dies at 83

Last Surviving Original Member Coined Vocal Group's Name, Sang Bass on Iconic Hits Including 'The Great Pretender,' 'Only You'

Platters

Reed came up with the group's name, inspired by '50s disc jockeys who called their records platters.

The group underwent several lineup changes, even adding a woman singer to become a quintet, before signing their first major recording contract in 1955.

Reed sang bass on the group's four No. 1 hits, including "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

The Platters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Their recordings are in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The group's popularity reached across racial lines and genres, "achieving success in a crooning, middle-of-the-road style that put a soulful coat of uptown polish on pop-oriented, harmony-rich material," according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website.

Reed credited his survival in the music industry to the poverty he experienced as a child in Kansas City. While other members of the group spent frivolously, he used his first big royalty check to buy a house.

"I never thought that it would keep going, and I never wanted to assume we'd keep getting checks," he said earlier this year.

Reed also waged long legal battles with other artists who performed and recorded under the name the Platters. He finally won a court decision in Nevada last year giving him rights to the name. He called the court victory every bit as big as the gold and platinum records he had earned, Balboni said.

Reed had homes in Atlanta and Miami but had called the Boston area home since the 1970s "because the people were always so nice to me," he told a biographer. He had most recently living in Arlington.

Reed was the only member of the group to appear on all of their nearly 400 recordings. He continued touring, performing up to 200 shows per year, until last year, often performing with younger singers under the name Herb Reed and the Platters or Herb Reed's Platters.