Emcee’s around the world are competing for the “top crown” again this year, sending in their hardest 16’s for consideration by rap legends and a live audience.
The competition began on April 17th and stopped taking submissions on April 21st. During the contest entry period, participants were asked to upload their best rap performance video using the “Shook Ones” instrumental to Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook with one of the hashtags #ShookOnesChallenge, #Hot97Contest or #TopShelfFreestyle. In phase one, their raps were judged by battle rap phenom Loaded Lux and chosen finalists advanced to the next round. Freestyles were judged based on criteria of lyrical delivery and wordplay, originality, and quality of performance.
Tonight, the four finalists selected have been invited to compete in a live stream competition on Instagram at 9 pm. Rappers will have to present entirely new material over the “Shook Ones” instrumental beat. The public — YOU — can vote for your favorite cypher and score the same earlier criteria as Loaded Lux in phase one. Voting opens immediately after the live stream event!
The grand prize winner will receive a prize of $500 and will be announced by Loaded Lux on Saturday, April 25th.
Sony Music is commemorating the 25th anniversary of Mobb Deep’s The Infamous with a digital-only expanded edition of the groundbreaking East Coast rap masterpiece available online Friday, April 24. The Infamous – 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition includes bonus tracks “Shook Ones, Part I” (Original Version), and Infamous Sessions Mixes of “The Money (Version 2)” and “Lifestyles Of The Infamous,” now available digitally for the first time. A deluxe 12″ vinyl 25th-anniversary edition will be available later this year featuring the original album in its entirety and a variety of rare mixes, alternate takes and unreleased tracks recorded in 1994 during the making of the album.
Caffeine, a new broadcast company focused on the creation and distribution of live, interactive content, also just announced that it will host a celebration of the 25th anniversary in a special live stream on Saturday, April 25 at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST, the exact date of the album’s original release 25 years ago.
The event, in media partnership with The Source, will be hosted by Havoc, one half of the legendary Mobb Deep, who will celebrate and commemorate the album with his friends and fans. The broadcast will be streamed live from Havoc’s New York City apartment.
“When Prodigy and I started on The Infamous album, all we wanted to do is to make good music— give the world a glimpse of our lives — put out an audible image of Queensbridge so that people could hear what we see every day. I guess we were successful because 25 years later, many believe that this record is one of the greatest hip-hop records of all times. So to celebrate this occasion with Caffeine is not only exciting because it’s one of the best platforms for hip-hop and content streaming, but revolutionary. Their agreeing to work with a classic act like Mobb Deep and celebrate our legacy speaks to their commitment to bridging generations through technology in a way many have missed the boat. It is also bittersweet because I don’t have P next to me,” Havoc said.
During the anniversary stream, fans can ask questions in the chat, participate in Mobb Deep trivia, and join Havoc on a journey through the album’s history and impact it had on hip-hop culture. Havoc will invite collaborators and producers of The Infamous to share anecdotes about working on the album. Additionally, the stream will feature surprise appearances, a preview of the upcoming Mobb Deep documentary, a performance by Mobb Deep on tour, and a tribute to the late Prodigy.
KXNG Crooked has always been nice on the mic, but he’s not above paying respects to the greats who shaped his style. The SlaughterhouseMC formerly known as Crooked I just released a freestyle that would make Mobb Deep proud. Titled “Halfway Me,” the song is an homage to the Queensbridge duo’s “Shook Ones, Pt. II.” With its chorus line about “halfway crooks,” it is a thematic tribute over a beat that honors the Havoc-produced classic. The bars on this thing are just as noteworthy too.
“I move with some O.G. menaces / Crip-walking like O.T. Genasis,” the Circle Of Bosses head opens the track with. “Don’t sleep ’cause Long Beach infamous / Blow heat at the police witnesses / Don’t speak, we don’t need sentences / Both feat in the cold streets, pimp a h*e at the liquor store and we low-key / Yeah, ni**a rolled out agigolo but we so deep.”
Interestingly, Crooked had a short-lived beef with Prodigy when the Mobb MC was still in prison. A decade ago, in 2009, P took issue with Vibe magazine’s “Best Rapper Alive” feature, which mentioned Crooked. “Vibe says 920,000 people voted for it. I would personally b*tch-slap all 920,000 of these voters if given the opportunity,” Prodigywrote in a letter from prison, which was subsequently posted online. “Who in the f*ck picked Crooked I, Flo Rida and Rich Boy? How did Vibe approve this?” Crooked, after seeing the letter, challenged Prodigy to a fight after he would get out of prison. The two would squash their differences shortly after Prodigy was released. KXNG Crooked would also later make an Instagram tribute post to Prodigy after learning of his passing.
“Halfway Me” is the second installment of KXNG Crooked’s revived “Hip Hop Weekly” series. In 2007, the artist who was then in a period between Death Row Records and the formation of Slaughterhouse fed the digital masses on sites and blogs. He did so with a series of bars named after the magazine that lasted until early 2008. That plethora of free music ultimately set the veteran MC on a course that would lead him to a Shady Records deal and the top real estate on the charts.
#BonusBeat: Last week, Crook paid respects to Reasonable Doubt-era JAY-Z with “96 GS”:
KXNG Crooked has always been nice on the mic, but he’s not above paying respects to the greats who shaped his style. The SlaughterhouseMC formerly known as Crooked I just released a freestyle that would make Mobb Deep proud. Titled “Halfway Me,” the song is an homage to the Queensbridge duo’s “Shook Ones, Pt. II.” With its chorus line about “halfway crooks,” it is a thematic tribute over a beat that honors the Havoc-produced classic. The bars on this thing are just as noteworthy too.
“I move with some O.G. menaces / Crip-walking like O.T. Genasis,” the Circle Of Bosses head opens the track with. “Don’t sleep ’cause Long Beach infamous / Blow heat at the police witnesses / Don’t speak, we don’t need sentences / Both feat in the cold streets, pimp a h*e at the liquor store and we low-key / Yeah, ni**a rolled out agigolo but we so deep.”
Interestingly, Crooked had a short-lived beef with Prodigy when the Mobb MC was still in prison. A decade ago, in 2009, P took issue with Vibe magazine’s “Best Rapper Alive” feature, which mentioned Crooked. “Vibe says 920,000 people voted for it. I would personally b*tch-slap all 920,000 of these voters if given the opportunity,” Prodigywrote in a letter from prison, which was subsequently posted online. “Who in the f*ck picked Crooked I, Flo Rida and Rich Boy? How did Vibe approve this?” Crooked, after seeing the letter, challenged Prodigy to a fight after he would get out of prison. The two would squash their differences shortly after Prodigy was released. KXNG Crooked would also later make an Instagram tribute post to Prodigy after learning of his passing.
“Halfway Me” is the second installment of KXNG Crooked’s revived “Hip Hop Weekly” series. In 2007, the artist who was then in a period between Death Row Records and the formation of Slaughterhouse fed the digital masses on sites and blogs. He did so with a series of bars named after the magazine that lasted until early 2008. That plethora of free music ultimately set the veteran MC on a course that would lead him to a Shady Records deal and the top real estate on the charts.
#BonusBeat: Last week, Crook paid respects to Reasonable Doubt-era JAY-Z with “96 GS”:
Pre-save now. Link in bio #Infamous25 #RIPProdigy
