Last Saturday night (January 25), Diddy made an impassioned speech ahead of the 62nd annual Grammy Awards. The Bad Boy Records founder and veteran artist/producer threatened to boycott the televised event if things do not change in the next 365 days. He asked others to do the same. “In the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘we are artists; we are sensitive about our sh*t.’ We are passionate. For most of us, this is all we got. This is our only hope. Truth be told, Hip-Hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys,” declared the speaker, who received the Icon Award at an official pre-Grammy gala event. Diddy Blasts The Grammys For Not Respecting Hip-Hop & Calls For A Boycott (Video) A few moments later, Puff stated, “I’m officially starting the clock: y’all got 365 days to get this sh*t together. We need the artists to take back the control. We need transparency. We need diversity. This is the room that has the power to make a change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us. [The Recording Academy] is a non-profit organization that is supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. That [is] the mission statement.” Suggesting an organized boycott on the horizon, Puffy reminded those in the crowd of their ability to prompt change. “We have the power. We decide what’s hot. If we don’t go, nobody goes. If we don’t support, nobody supports. We control what’s cool, we control what’s hot, we control what your kids listen to, what they dance to, we control what’s in video games, we control how they wear their pants.” JAY-Z, Swizz Beatz, and others in attendance gave Puff Daddy a standing ovation during and after his remarks at Beverly Hills, California. Ma$e, one of Bad Boy’s former stars and a onetime protege of Diddy, was among the performers at the same event. Today (January 31), Mason Betha has publicly reacted to the newsworthy speech. He did so by calling out Diddy and asking for a different kind of action. In an Instagram post the Harlem MC accused Puff on “unfair” business practices. Tagging Puff in the post, Ma$e writes, “I heard your Grammy speech about how you are now for the artist, and about how the artist must take back control. So I will be the first to take that initiative. Also, before we ask of other ethnicities to do us right, we should do us, as Black people, better—especially the creators.” The Harlem World creator urged Diddy to walk it like he is talking it.
De La Soul Are Fighting To Own The Music They Created (Video) Ma$e argues that Puffy gave him $20,000 for his publishing 24 years ago, in 1996. That was the same year that Murda Ma$e’s career started to boom, following an appearance alongside The Notorious B.I.G. on 112’s “Only You” remix. Ma$e wrote, who likened the deal to robbery, called it “a horrendous business model.” The onetime pastor added that he felt “forced” to perform. In recent years, he joined 112, The LOX, and others on a Bad Boy reunion tour. Ma$e feels as though the ’90s and 2000s business messed up several careers. “So many great moments and [artists’] lives in music were lost. But again, I rode with you in the face of death, without flinching, and you still wouldn’t do right. I never said anything, because I wanted to wait until I was financially great.” The rapper continues, “To add insult, you keep screaming ‘Black Excellence,’ and ‘love,’ but I know love isn’t free.” Ma$e adds that he recently tried to acquire his publishing with a seven-figure offer on the table. “So I offered you [$2 million] in cash just a few days ago to sell me back my publishing.” Bad Boy’s Hitmen Justify Taking Hits From The ‘80s & Making ‘Em Feel So Good (Audio)Calling himself Bad Boy’s biggest living artist, Ma$e says it was a tribute to the opportunity. “[I wanted to] show you respect for you giving me an opportunity at 19 years old.” Ma$e alleges that Puffy asked the former artist to increase his offer to match another interested party, reportedly a European man. He also says that the publishing will revert back to him in approximately 30 more years. “You bought it for about [$20,000] and I offered you [$2 million] in cash. This is not Black Excellence at all when your own race is enslaving you.” He ended the post with a resolution: “Give your artists back their [so] that they can take care of their families.” As an image to the Instagram post, Ma$e used Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper Meek Mill. In a quote, Meek brought up “slave contracts” offered to Black artists in the music business by people of other races. The rapper also cited Roc Nation and his Dreamchasers imprint as companies that combat that trend. Ma$e is not the first Bad Boy artist to call out the label’s founder. In the mid-2000s, The LOX appeared on The Angie Martinez Show. As Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch vented their frustrations with the trio’s former label, Diddy called in. The two parties argued on air. As recently as this month, Jada’ has insisted that he and Puffy are on great terms today. LL Cool J Discusses The Importance Of Owning All Of His Music (Video) Another trio, De La Soul, has been battling with former label Tommy Boy Entertainment over the publishing and masters to the group’s first six albums. Using social media, De La called for a boycott in 2019. Negotiation attempts have reportedly ended in a stalemate. Those six albums remain unreleased to popular streaming platforms. This week, veteran Brooklyn, New York MCSauce Money also responded to Diddy’s remark as well as JAY-Z. Having worked with both mogul, the former Priority Records artist criticized Puff and Jay:
Just watched @Diddy Icon acceptance speech at the @RecordingAcad and I can honestly say I respect the message, just not coming from him. He practices the same backdoor politics against his own people. Him and his friend Jay Z. If the Grammys on the clock, then y’all are too!
Twelve years ago, JAY-Z projected that he would “see about a billion” in a guest verse on Freeway’s “Roc-A-Fella Billionaires.” At the time, the head of Def Jam Records was speculating on the maturation of his real estate portfolio and other assets. In 2019, Forbes reports that the net worth of Shawn Carter is “conservatively” at $1 billion. By this count, JAY-Z becomes the first Hip-Hop artist to reach this milestone, in a longstanding race that involved Dr. Dre and Puff Daddy. Forbes‘ Zack O’Malley Greenburg accounts that Jay has amassed $500 million in pre-tax earnings over the last decade. The estimate also mentions Rocawear’s $204 million sale to Iconix in 2007, and points to significant stakes in Tidal, D’Ussé cognac, and Armand de Brignac champagne. JAY-Z Celebrates Nipsey Hussle With A Freestyle About Self-Empowerment (Video) In particular, the report accounts for more than $300 million in the “Ace Of Spades” bubbly, $70 million in value from a 2013 investment in Uber, and $100 million from D’Ussé, which has grown nearly 80% annually. In addition to eight and nine-figure draws from Roc Nation and Tidal, respectively, the report estimates that Hov’s music catalog is worth $75 million. Jay famously negotiated to own almost all of his master recordings and publishing in a solo Rap recording career that dates back nearly 25 years. Moreover, Jay has an eye for value. The creator of 2013’s “Picasso Baby” has an art collection that Forbes estimates at $70 million. That art is valued $20 million more than the real estate of Jay (and wife Beyoncé), which has properties in Manhattan, Bel Air, and Long Island’s East Hampton. This climb comes from Forbes‘ early 2018’s estimate of Jay’s net worth at $900 million. At the time, that was $75 million above friend and collaborator, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs. Ever See JAY-Z, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie & Jaz-O Freestyle On The Same Stage? (Video) In May of 2014, Dr. Dre (who has worked with JAY-Z) anointed himself “the first billionaire in Hip-Hop” following Apple’s acquisition of Beats. However, in 2015, Forbes’ Zack O’Malley Greenburg reported why that statement was not factual. Instead, they estimated Andre Young to be at approximately $700 million. Dre later expressed regret for the 2014 video, which singer/actor Tyrese posted online, igniting the news cycle. Two years ago this month, JAY-Z’s 4:44 admitted some of that investment ethos and admitted past money mismanagement. However, by this count, no one can knock the hustle of Shawn Carter.
In the last two weeks, the three members of De La Soul have been at the center of a discussion surrounding ownership of catalog and the fairness of record label contracts. That discourse stems from the trio of Dave, Maseo, and Posdnuos notifying fans on social media that they are unhappy with former label, Tommy Boy Music. The home of De La Soul from the late 1980s into the early 2000s planned to release the trio’s first six albums digitally, for the first time. That celebratory news was marred with dissatisfaction from the group. The artists alleged that they were told that they would receive 10% of the royalties from streams and digital sales. Several social media posts, along with a revealing Sway In The Morning interview rallied peers and fans. JAY-Z, Nas, Questlove, Jarobi White, and Masta Ace are just some of the artists who called for action against the nearly 40-year-old label. Tidal responded by declining to host the six albums until a satisfying contract was in place. Subsequently, Tommy Boy responded by postponing its plans, in hopes to reach such an agreement. Joe Budden Breaks Down In Tears Discussing De La Soul’s Economic Plight (Video) As of March 9, no settlement has been reached. 1989’s 3 Feet High AndRising, 1991’s De La Soul Is Dead, 1993’s Buhloone-Mindstate, 1996’s Stakes Is High, 2000’s Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, and 2001’s AOI: Bionix all remain off of digital retailers and streaming platforms. However, all three members of De La Soul appeared on Drink Champs to discuss the matters with hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. Notably, N.O.R.E. has firsthand experience with Tommy Boy and its namesake founder, Tom Silverman. In a partnership with Penalty Records, Tommy Boy released Capone-N-Noreaga’s seminal debut, 1997’s The War Report as well as the host’s solo debut, 1998’s N.O.R.E. Both efforts are certified gold. However, N.O.R.E. alleges that he was always told that neither album recouped from its budget. Last month, De La Soul spoke about a “phantom $2 million debt” that their former label has cited. Like De La, N.O.R.E. said that he unsuccessfully tried to buy back his early releases in years past. Tommy Boy Has Agreed To Negotiate Better Terms With De La Soul For Their Music In an exclusive segment of De La’s Drink Champs episode, the group spoke about where they are right now. Together, two former Tommy Boy acts discuss the renewed focus of ownership in 2019. “We had a few record exec people reach out behind the scenes,” Posdnuos reveals, surrounding the status of De La Soul’s Tommy Boy catalog. “Big up to Steve Stoute; he reached out,” Maseo adds ahead of the 7:00 mark, referring to a veteran manager and UnitedMasters founder whose career is closely tied to Nas, JAY-Z, and Will Smith. De La Soul Speak In Detail About What Went Wrong With Their Record Company N.O.R.E. responds, “It’s kinda fly now to own your masters. Like back [when we signed our first contracts], we wasn’t really thinkin’ like that. I’m speaking for myself, not you guys—like I was thinking about an advance, gettin’ some jewelry [and other material goods]. Now, it’s fly to actually own your material because we want to leave something to [our] children. You ever seen a person that lives in the projects for 30 years? They don’t own [the apartment], but it’s their house! That’s what it feels like!” The group affirms the statement as N.O.R.E. says he has family members who can relate to that declaration. “A good thing for [the housing authority] to do is to say, ‘You know what? You should own that.’ Tom Silverman, if you’re listening—’cause I know you are—this is the best time for you to lead the pack! You lead the way and say, you know what, I’m gonna stop doin’ business in this way. You could take this, Tom, and you could flip this whole sh*t, and you could be the winner! You could say, you know what? I’ma give them 50% of their sh*t so everybody [can make money].” N.O.R.E. adds that other former acts from Tommy Boy’s legendary run such as Queen Latifah, Naughty By Nature could benefit and celebrate. Maseo responds claiming that he wants to give people the opportunity to “change because we have been given the opportunity to change.” “I think he has an opportunity to lead the way,” N.O.R.E. echoes at 27:00. “‘Cause there’s a lot of people who need these albums—beyond wanting, need these albums. That is a part of Hip-Hop [and this] is a piece missing in Hip-Hop. You can’t tell the story of Hip-Hop and then not have that there,” the host charges. “There’s dual value; The value is in the culture and the history, as well as your pocket. And if you’ve only got a concept of one [idea], that’s where the problem lies,” Dave responds. T.I. Joins Roc Nation, Announces Part Ownership In Tidal While N.O.R.E. suggests a 50% partnership, the group says, in no uncertain terms, that they seek ownership. The host asks the Native Tongues co-founders, “what is your [desired] end result?” At 11:30, Plug 3 says, “At this point, ownership. Owning my catalog, that would make a world of difference. That’d make it easy to show up for work and do what we need to do.” N.O.R.E. embraces the DJ/producer as the live studio audience applauds. The Queens, New York MC-turned-host proclaims, “It’s time to make that right. I feel y’all so much.” Maseo adds that since 2002, De La Soul has exclusively done partnerships. That includes releases with Sanctuary Urban, Nike, a crowd-sourced album, and an upcoming DJ Premier and Pete Rock-produced release in conjunction with Nas’ Mass Appeal Records imprint. Maseo adds that following a Super Bowl Halftime performance, he understands that Missy Elliott sold more than a million downloads of catalog hit “Work It.” Thus, he feels that following President Obama’s 2016 personal request to perform on The White House lawn, De La Soul could have made significant revenue from the now-30-year-old “Me, Myself & I.” However, the song was digitally unavailable. Despite hurdles such as this, 3 Feet High… has reached The Library Of Congress archives and achieved other esteemed feats. Xzibit Explains Why Pimp My Ride Was Profitable For Everyone But Him At 13:30, the interview broaches what De La Soul seeks in negotiation. “What can the fans do?” DJ EFN asks the Grammy Award-winning trio. “I would sincerely ask in support of the fans and the culture, yo, don’t press play. If [the catalog] actually comes up online, don’t press play until we give it a go—’til we actually say, ‘Yo, we’re happy. Thumbs up, guys. Let’s rock. We kissed; we made up.’ Until we say [that], do not press play. If anything, you can get The Grind Date [as well as] and the Anonymous Nobody…; you can get those two [albums].” DJ EFN suggests that fans are still hungry to hear the music. “At the end of the day, it’s your choice,” responds Mase’. “I want [fans] to have it; I really do. But sh*t ain’t right. Period. So let’s get it right. And if you want to support, don’t press play.” N.O.R.E. likens the fans’ struggle with the NFL boycott surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s protests. Maseo, whose son, Tre Mason, was in the NFL for several years, agrees. “Absolutely. Because you’re a fan of players out there, you know people out there that’s playin’, you’re connected to the game your whole life, it’s America’s thing. Just like Hip-Hop. It’s America’s thing, the world’s thing, an international thing. Yeah, and we ain’t really still playin’ it fair.” The Man Who Guided Nas’ Career Has $70 Million To Help Hip-Hop Artists Keep Their Masters At 26:30, N.O.R.E. reveals that through a third-party, Tom Silverman was invited to participate in the episode discussion. Silverman, who founded his label in the early 1980s, reportedly declined in effort to progress with negotiations. “That’s all we’re trying to do: We just want to find a happy place with all this, man” Dave notes, after acknowledging that reported decision. Pos’ adds that many people have had a constructive dialogue with the group during the last two weeks. He suggests people that know Tom Silverman and the label staff do the same in hopes of reaching an agreement or understanding. N.O.R.E. speaks about his former employer near the close of the clip. “It’s his chance to say, you know what? These are kids that I signed, these are kids that I was part of their career, and now they’re grown men. Let me do business with them as such.” The group harmonizes the last two words in the statement with the Drink Champs host. “This is your turn to do that, and you can lead the way.” DJ EFN adds that such a move would “revamp the way business is done.” N.O.R.E. interjects, “You can rectify the situation and say, [let us] be business partners from here on out. ‘Partners’ is the keyword.” The host asserts that in addition to De La Soul and Tommy Boy, Hip-Hop is now at the negotiation table. Kendrick Lamar Is Now A Part Owner Of His Record Company
The full De La SoulDrink Champs episode premieres on March 28 on Revolt and March 29 digitally.
In just a few hours (January 18), Season 1 of Trigger Warning With Killer Mike will be available. One of the most consistent Hip-Hop artists of the last decade and a leading activist within the culture takes his charisma, his ability to ask hard questions, and his courage to television, by way of Netflix. The Atlanta, Georgia rapper-turned-businessman born Michael Render co-created the series, and admits that he spent the last 10 years refining it into something worthy of his standards.
“We tried, and it became better and better with each version,” he tells Ambrosia ForHeads‘ founder Reggie Williams while in New York City last night (January 16). “From our hypothesis of what [Trigger Warning] could be, from our first demo version that we did [years ago until] now, it became better each time. So again, when you sit down and say to me, ‘it’s the most dangerous show on television,’ I’m almost overwhelmed because that’s what I wanted to do. But 10 years ago, I couldn’t have promised you it would’ve been the same show. I wasn’t the same Michael. One of my best friends in the world wasn’t a white guy who’s the best producer/rapper in the world. I wasn’t forced to be in a culture that mixed me with everyone. I had to grow. And because I grew, I came with a product that was better.” A decade ago, Killer Mike and El-P had not yet crossed paths to make the acclaimed R.A.P. Music and subsequently form Run The Jewels. One of the most successful artists to ever come from under OutKast’s wing and the Dungeon Family was enjoying an impressive level of independent success.
Trigger Warning is the latest component in a 20-year-career that keeps reaching new highs. He describes the series to AFH TV as “If anarchists got to set the status-quo.” Mike, who was honored by the Georgia State Senate in 2017, continues, “[Trigger Warning is] about educating yourself individually, freeing yourself of the [selfish] mentality, and really individually taking in the world. It’s about understanding that the only potential we have is infinite. And because your potential is infinite, you don’t have to accept boxed-in [ideas]. You don’t have to accept ‘these are the two polar opposite arguments that we have and allowing for cluttered confusion in the middle.’ Noam Chomsky talks about it [as] you’re given two viewpoints and just this wide array of arguments in the middle. You don’t have to do it; you can come up with these same arguments that we have in the barbershop.” He points to a popular meme online. “‘If you can lead a gang, you can lead a business.’ We took it, and we applied it in the real world, and the results are what you’ll see.”
However, in doing things like sleeping on a bench, attempting to exclusively spend his money at Black businesses, and help launch a Crip-backed cola company, Mike says things went differently than expected. “The episodes didn’t turn out as I thought they would. I thought I was going in to tear [televangelist] Creflo [Dollar] down [and] destroy the mega-church, kill the image of ‘white Jesus.’ But Creflo isn’t as big of a problem as the real church; the real church is the Catholic Church.” Mike says he saw bigger forces at play. “The Catholic Church has essentially spread a Westernized version of Christianity the world over. So they’ve taken ‘white Jesus’ everywhere. They’ve taken ‘white Jesus’ and candy and Bibles and Western politics [across the globe]. So we have to start saying to our self, ‘Are we really in this to change the game for real? Or are we selective?’ So [Trigger Warning] forced me to have to deal with some of my bigotry and prejudices.”
Similarly, Mike discusses what he took from making an episode where he produced educational videos which use adult entertainment as a way of better engaging viewers, and which featured same sex intercourse. “I’m a guy; I like women. So I was not as progressive when it came to homosexuality years ago. I grew. I had two gay uncles who were great to me. I grew up understanding that gay people are here. So when given the opportunity to make pornography, it was important to us that we made all kinds of pornography. [Laughs] Something for everyone. That was me having to face my own prejudices. Now, I didn’t stick around for any of the porno scenes, but I made sure I hired a sex-positive therapist who was a Black woman to come and oversee and make sure it was all-the-way-around good for all people, no matter what [type of sex] they like.” Mike enjoys his comfort zone being challenged. “It forced me, though. That’s what good television does, and I want to make good TV.”
Mike wants his viewers to feel the same way. He hopes that Trigger Warning opens minds and boxes in a this-or-that world. “[People] are stuck with the narratives they’re being told. If CNN and Fox [News] formulate an opinion, and they give it to you on Monday, by Friday your friends are gonna be on either side of that opinion. They’re gonna say the same trigger words. If you say ‘Bernie Sanders,’ they say ‘socialist.’” After talking about the man he calls his “O.G.” who happens to be a Vermont US Senator, Mike continues, “I think people are given opinions…you’re never allowed to step out of a box, or there’s a tertiary thing—a third way of looking at [things]. You aren’t allowed to stand up and play chess and look [down] at the board. You have to play from your side. I think that’s how you lose.”
The episode where Mike leads Crip members to create and market a soda is especially powerful. “If you can cook crack, you can make a soda. I refuse to think that the things that we’ve learned in the streets are only limited to the streets,” he says. Killer Mike looks at his own education beyond his Morehouse College experience. “I learned how to do business selling cocaine; I didn’t go to business school. And I learned some very hard lessons, and that’s not to [glamorize] or glorify. That’s just to say I learned, very practically, you buy a $50 slab—if you try to cut it into 10 rocks, that’s gonna be too small. So the competition on the block next to you is gonna eat you up. So you better cut it to seven or eight [pieces]. [You will] make your profit quick. Turn around, buy you a $100 slab. Same thing.”
While Mike regularly lists authors, thinkers, and Civil Rights figures in his answers, he says that most of the show’s concepts are rooted in experiences we all share. “It’s all barbershop stuff. It’s stuff we’ve heard [argued] in barbershops our whole life,” he says, owning the SWAG Barbershop, which has a satellite location at the Atlanta Hawks’ Philips Arena. “It’s the workingman’s voice. I view my show as that. Everything else is too contrived, too calculated, too full of bullsh*t. No one else is really hitting the ground.” Partly-inspired by the early days of broadcast journalists like Geraldo Rivera, Mike says he doesn’t mind upsetting people with his persistence. However, he pledges to do so with his personality. “I think we needed a nice obnoxious guy. I’m gonna push the line, but I’m gonna do it with a smile. But I want us to get uncomfortable.”
While speaking to AFH TV last night, Mike also offered a promising update on his first album in more than a year. “I absolutely think El-P is the best rapper/producer in the world, ’cause I see him write his own raps, and I know he makes his own beats,” he says of his partner. “[As] for Run The Jewels 4, you can expect some kick-your-ass, punch-you-in-your-face hardcore f*cking Hip-Hop.”
In just a few hours (January 18), Season 1 of Trigger Warning With Killer Mike will be available. One of the most consistent Hip-Hop artists of the last decade and a leading activist within the culture takes his charisma, his ability to ask hard questions, and his courage to television, by way of Netflix. The Atlanta, Georgia rapper-turned-businessman born Michael Render co-created the series, and admits that he spent the last 10 years refining it into something worthy of his standards.
“We tried, and it became better and better with each version,” he tells Ambrosia ForHeads‘ founder Reggie Williams while in New York City last night (January 16). “From our hypothesis of what [Trigger Warning] could be, from our first demo version that we did [years ago until] now, it became better each time. So again, when you sit down and say to me, ‘it’s the most dangerous show on television,’ I’m almost overwhelmed because that’s what I wanted to do. But 10 years ago, I couldn’t have promised you it would’ve been the same show. I wasn’t the same Michael. One of my best friends in the world wasn’t a white guy who’s the best producer/rapper in the world. I wasn’t forced to be in a culture that mixed me with everyone. I had to grow. And because I grew, I came with a product that was better.” A decade ago, Killer Mike and El-P had not yet crossed paths to make the acclaimed R.A.P. Music and subsequently form Run The Jewels. One of the most successful artists to ever come from under OutKast’s wing and the Dungeon Family was enjoying an impressive level of independent success.
Trigger Warning is the latest component in a 20-year-career that keeps reaching new highs. He describes the series to AFH TV as “If anarchists got to set the status-quo.” Mike, who was honored by the Georgia State Senate in 2017, continues, “[Trigger Warning is] about educating yourself individually, freeing yourself of the [selfish] mentality, and really individually taking in the world. It’s about understanding that the only potential we have is infinite. And because your potential is infinite, you don’t have to accept boxed-in [ideas]. You don’t have to accept ‘these are the two polar opposite arguments that we have and allowing for cluttered confusion in the middle.’ Noam Chomsky talks about it [as] you’re given two viewpoints and just this wide array of arguments in the middle. You don’t have to do it; you can come up with these same arguments that we have in the barbershop.” He points to a popular meme online. “‘If you can lead a gang, you can lead a business.’ We took it, and we applied it in the real world, and the results are what you’ll see.”
However, in doing things like sleeping on a bench, attempting to exclusively spend his money at Black businesses, and help launch a Crip-backed cola company, Mike says things went differently than expected. “The episodes didn’t turn out as I thought they would. I thought I was going in to tear [televangelist] Creflo [Dollar] down [and] destroy the mega-church, kill the image of ‘white Jesus.’ But Creflo isn’t as big of a problem as the real church; the real church is the Catholic Church.” Mike says he saw bigger forces at play. “The Catholic Church has essentially spread a Westernized version of Christianity the world over. So they’ve taken ‘white Jesus’ everywhere. They’ve taken ‘white Jesus’ and candy and Bibles and Western politics [across the globe]. So we have to start saying to our self, ‘Are we really in this to change the game for real? Or are we selective?’ So [Trigger Warning] forced me to have to deal with some of my bigotry and prejudices.”
Similarly, Mike discusses what he took from making an episode where he produced educational videos which use adult entertainment as a way of better engaging viewers, and which featured same sex intercourse. “I’m a guy; I like women. So I was not as progressive when it came to homosexuality years ago. I grew. I had two gay uncles who were great to me. I grew up understanding that gay people are here. So when given the opportunity to make pornography, it was important to us that we made all kinds of pornography. [Laughs] Something for everyone. That was me having to face my own prejudices. Now, I didn’t stick around for any of the porno scenes, but I made sure I hired a sex-positive therapist who was a Black woman to come and oversee and make sure it was all-the-way-around good for all people, no matter what [type of sex] they like.” Mike enjoys his comfort zone being challenged. “It forced me, though. That’s what good television does, and I want to make good TV.”
Mike wants his viewers to feel the same way. He hopes that Trigger Warning opens minds and boxes in a this-or-that world. “[People] are stuck with the narratives they’re being told. If CNN and Fox [News] formulate an opinion, and they give it to you on Monday, by Friday your friends are gonna be on either side of that opinion. They’re gonna say the same trigger words. If you say ‘Bernie Sanders,’ they say ‘socialist.’” After talking about the man he calls his “O.G.” who happens to be a Vermont US Senator, Mike continues, “I think people are given opinions…you’re never allowed to step out of a box, or there’s a tertiary thing—a third way of looking at [things]. You aren’t allowed to stand up and play chess and look [down] at the board. You have to play from your side. I think that’s how you lose.”
The episode where Mike leads Crip members to create and market a soda is especially powerful. “If you can cook crack, you can make a soda. I refuse to think that the things that we’ve learned in the streets are only limited to the streets,” he says. Killer Mike looks at his own education beyond his Morehouse College experience. “I learned how to do business selling cocaine; I didn’t go to business school. And I learned some very hard lessons, and that’s not to [glamorize] or glorify. That’s just to say I learned, very practically, you buy a $50 slab—if you try to cut it into 10 rocks, that’s gonna be too small. So the competition on the block next to you is gonna eat you up. So you better cut it to seven or eight [pieces]. [You will] make your profit quick. Turn around, buy you a $100 slab. Same thing.”
While Mike regularly lists authors, thinkers, and Civil Rights figures in his answers, he says that most of the show’s concepts are rooted in experiences we all share. “It’s all barbershop stuff. It’s stuff we’ve heard [argued] in barbershops our whole life,” he says, owning the SWAG Barbershop, which has a satellite location at the Atlanta Hawks’ Philips Arena. “It’s the workingman’s voice. I view my show as that. Everything else is too contrived, too calculated, too full of bullsh*t. No one else is really hitting the ground.” Partly-inspired by the early days of broadcast journalists like Geraldo Rivera, Mike says he doesn’t mind upsetting people with his persistence. However, he pledges to do so with his personality. “I think we needed a nice obnoxious guy. I’m gonna push the line, but I’m gonna do it with a smile. But I want us to get uncomfortable.”
While speaking to AFH TV last night, Mike also offered a promising update on his first album in more than a year. “I absolutely think El-P is the best rapper/producer in the world, ’cause I see him write his own raps, and I know he makes his own beats,” he says of his partner. “[As] for Run The Jewels 4, you can expect some kick-your-ass, punch-you-in-your-face hardcore f*cking Hip-Hop.”
Twenty years ago, E-40 named his album, Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint Of A Self-Made Millionaire. While the moniker and subtitle may have been accurate at the time, the founder of Sick Wid It Records has seemingly lived up to that statement ever since.
As 40 Water’s career has been going strong for nearly 30 years, the Vallejo, California native has become a beacon for investing as a key figure within Rap landscape. Like Too Short, JT The Bigga Figga, and others early on, 40 showed artists far beyond the Bay the values in independent music hustling. The Click member later held several franchises of Fat Burger, which he mentioned in interviews and on wax. His expansive portfolio now includes a Wing Stop, being a spokesperson for Landy Cognac, and starting his own brand of energy drink called “40 Water.”
E-40 thrives in wine and spirits now, most notably in the form of his Earl Stevens wine label. However, one of Rap’s vino devotees for decades also makes sure that his product is quality. 40 heads should know the rapper’s been passionate about wine since his earliest days of rapping, name dropping Carlo Rossi with his crew, The Click, on the song “Let’s Get Drunk,” and then later dedicating an entireFederal track to the drink alongside B-Legit.
In a recent interview with Adelle Platon for Tidal’s Side Hustle, E-40 explains his interest in wine, and how he chose to pursue a business venture within the industry. “When I was a young mustache, you know, I’d sneak in my mama’s Carlo Rossi,” he says. “I started liking wine like that. That’s all I talk about – getting drunk off of wine in my lyrics. I always paid attention to how to do things; I was always an observer. I felt like, if there’s a Robert Mondavi, a Kendall-Jackson, a Rodney Strong, why couldn’t there be an Earl Stevens wine?” Instead of running from his name, which Rap fans knew, E-40 proudly stamped it right on his product labels.
“I treated this adult beverage business like I did my Rap career – I came in independent; I did everything myself. I started off selling wine online, and then demand became so big, it came to the point where I needed a distributor,” he recalls on site at his warehouse. “So the distributor that I met when I was with Landy Cognac – I stayed cool with them. They ordered like 10 cases. Next thing you know, one store posted it up on their social media and the word got out. Everybody – I’m talking about everybody, all the stores started asking for it.”
Earl Stevens’ wine became a huge hit with retailers across the nation, and as E-40 points out, “[there] wasn’t no rappers doin’ wine.” 40 was truly one of the firsts, if not, the first. Furthermore, he points out an important factor some contemporaries and potential entrepreneurs might be slacking out on: securing licenses. 40 ensured he had a license to distribute and sell his wine before embarking on developing other alcoholic beverages, such as his tequila E. Cuarenta, and his mixed cocktail drink, Sluricane, which also draws from vintage Vallejo lyrics.
Platon also asked 40 how he enters business meetings for potential investments, to which he explains that code-switching is not the way. “The best thing to always do for that: don’t be phony,” he offers. “I’m not gonna switch my voice up because I’m on a professional platform or something, I’ma be me.” In the conversation, E-40 also reveals that he and Chamillionaire are in a syndicate together for start-up companies. “[Chamillionaire] is a seasoned vet in it. He’s hit a few times. We were [involved] with The Ring deal, but we got in like three months before Ring sold to Amazon; they sold for $1 billion. But you know, we made some cool paper off of it real quick. [It was] three months. But if we was there from the beginning, it would’ve been beautiful.” Nas was an early investor, which helped land him on a recent Forbes list, for the first time in his career. One 2018 report estimated that Nas could have made as much as $40 million from the acquisition.
#BonusBeat: Learn about Young Jeezy’s steakhouse business in Side Hustle:
Twenty years ago, E-40 named his album, Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint Of A Self-Made Millionaire. While the moniker and subtitle may have been accurate at the time, the founder of Sick Wid It Records has seemingly lived up to that statement ever since.
As 40 Water’s career has been going strong for nearly 30 years, the Vallejo, California native has become a beacon for investing as a key figure within Rap landscape. Like Too Short, JT The Bigga Figga, and others early on, 40 showed artists far beyond the Bay the values in independent music hustling. The Click member later held several franchises of Fat Burger, which he mentioned in interviews and on wax. His expansive portfolio now includes a Wing Stop, being a spokesperson for Landy Cognac, and starting his own brand of energy drink called “40 Water.”
E-40 thrives in wine and spirits now, most notably in the form of his Earl Stevens wine label. However, one of Rap’s vino devotees for decades also makes sure that his product is quality. 40 heads should know the rapper’s been passionate about wine since his earliest days of rapping, name dropping Carlo Rossi with his crew, The Click, on the song “Let’s Get Drunk,” and then later dedicating an entireFederal track to the drink alongside B-Legit.
In a recent interview with Adelle Platon for Tidal’s Side Hustle, E-40 explains his interest in wine, and how he chose to pursue a business venture within the industry. “When I was a young mustache, you know, I’d sneak in my mama’s Carlo Rossi,” he says. “I started liking wine like that. That’s all I talk about – getting drunk off of wine in my lyrics. I always paid attention to how to do things; I was always an observer. I felt like, if there’s a Robert Mondavi, a Kendall-Jackson, a Rodney Strong, why couldn’t there be an Earl Stevens wine?” Instead of running from his name, which Rap fans knew, E-40 proudly stamped it right on his product labels.
“I treated this adult beverage business like I did my Rap career – I came in independent; I did everything myself. I started off selling wine online, and then demand became so big, it came to the point where I needed a distributor,” he recalls on site at his warehouse. “So the distributor that I met when I was with Landy Cognac – I stayed cool with them. They ordered like 10 cases. Next thing you know, one store posted it up on their social media and the word got out. Everybody – I’m talking about everybody, all the stores started asking for it.”
Earl Stevens’ wine became a huge hit with retailers across the nation, and as E-40 points out, “[there] wasn’t no rappers doin’ wine.” 40 was truly one of the firsts, if not, the first. Furthermore, he points out an important factor some contemporaries and potential entrepreneurs might be slacking out on: securing licenses. 40 ensured he had a license to distribute and sell his wine before embarking on developing other alcoholic beverages, such as his tequila E. Cuarenta, and his mixed cocktail drink, Sluricane, which also draws from vintage Vallejo lyrics.
Platon also asked 40 how he enters business meetings for potential investments, to which he explains that code-switching is not the way. “The best thing to always do for that: don’t be phony,” he offers. “I’m not gonna switch my voice up because I’m on a professional platform or something, I’ma be me.” In the conversation, E-40 also reveals that he and Chamillionaire are in a syndicate together for start-up companies. “[Chamillionaire] is a seasoned vet in it. He’s hit a few times. We were [involved] with The Ring deal, but we got in like three months before Ring sold to Amazon; they sold for $1 billion. But you know, we made some cool paper off of it real quick. [It was] three months. But if we was there from the beginning, it would’ve been beautiful.” Nas was an early investor, which helped land him on a recent Forbes list, for the first time in his career. One 2018 report estimated that Nas could have made as much as $40 million from the acquisition.
Members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Migos are at odds. At the center of the developing tension are Layzie Bone and Offset. Twice this year, and most recently in an XXL interview, the Migos member declared that his trio is “the greatest group in the world to ever exist.” Previously, he had made similar claims, specifying that it was true of all genres of music. The Atlanta, Georgia rapper’s bold words come in a year when the YRN threesome achieved their second straight #1 album on the charts.
Layzie took umbrage with the claims and used several Instagram posts tagging Migos and its three members to let them know that they are no match for the legacy of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. “Nah homies, y’all ni**as [are] lil’ ni**as compared to [us],” said the Grammy Award-winning veteran MC out of Cleveland, Ohio. He added, “Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, we still all five live — Krayzie, Bizzy, Wish, Flesh and myself Layzie Bone — we the best, you dig?”
Offset responded, belittling L-Burna that he is incapable of putting serious money where his mouth is. The Quality Control/Capitol Records superstar joked that Layzie lacked a million dollars to make the wager.
Layzie has responded to Offset in the comments, calling him out as well as others like him, who put bills above skills. “Naw, ni**a, that’s what’s wrong with y’all ni**as: y’all think money equals respect. It doesn’t. This is a skills challenge: me against you, and my group against yours,” dubbing it the “Best Group Ever Challenge.” He urged, “Get [your] bars up, youngin’. You gone’ need that bread for early retirement, boy.”
As the social media war over “the king of R&B” pushes along, a very real debate and potential Rap Battle surrounding the greatest groups may be taking shape.
Members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Migos are at odds. At the center of the developing tension are Layzie Bone and Offset. Twice this year, and most recently in an XXL interview, the Migos member declared that his trio is “the greatest group in the world to ever exist.” Previously, he had made similar claims, specifying that it was true of all genres of music. The Atlanta, Georgia rapper’s bold words come in a year when the YRN threesome achieved their second straight #1 album on the charts.
Layzie took umbrage with the claims and used several Instagram posts tagging Migos and its three members to let them know that they are no match for the legacy of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. “Nah homies, y’all ni**as [are] lil’ ni**as compared to [us],” said the Grammy Award-winning veteran MC out of Cleveland, Ohio. He added, “Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, we still all five live — Krayzie, Bizzy, Wish, Flesh and myself Layzie Bone — we the best, you dig?”
Offset responded, belittling L-Burna that he is incapable of putting serious money where his mouth is. The Quality Control/Capitol Records superstar joked that Layzie lacked a million dollars to make the wager.
Layzie has responded to Offset in the comments, calling him out as well as others like him, who put bills above skills. “Naw, ni**a, that’s what’s wrong with y’all ni**as: y’all think money equals respect. It doesn’t. This is a skills challenge: me against you, and my group against yours,” dubbing it the “Best Group Ever Challenge.” He urged, “Get [your] bars up, youngin’. You gone’ need that bread for early retirement, boy.”
As the social media war over “the king of R&B” pushes along, a very real debate and potential Rap Battle surrounding the greatest groups may be taking shape.
Less than one week ago, Swizz Beatz released his first album in more than a decade. The arrival of POISON has the hit-maker for DMX, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, T.I., and Styles P promoting the Epic Records LP. However, few interviews in Swizzy’s 20-plus-year career are as engaging as his second sit-down with Drink Champs. Speaking with hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, Swizz (who is later joined by The Breakfast Club co-host and podcaster Angela Yee) discuss what the Bronx, New Yorker learned while he attended Harvard University. The man born Kasseem Dean emphatically reflects on some of the jewels he learned at the Ivy League college, including a powerful illustrative story from one professor.
“You know what we need in Hip-Hop? We need to know that we can do it all [and] we need to know that we [already] have it all. When I was in school, they taught me,” begins Swizz just after the 2:00:00 mark. N.O.R.E. asks, “Harvard?” Swizz responds, “That one; the H. I was in class one day. My professor at Harvard said, ‘You want them to feel like they win, make them feel like they own something.'” Swizz admits that he may get banned from his alma mater for sharing this knowledge but that he does not care. “What does that mean? They’re literally teaching people how to take advantage of us.”
He makes an extended analogy to share the wisdom. “You have $2 in your budget. You know who your superstar is, and your superstar knows who he is. He comes to the meeting [and you make him feel that his position is gone]. You take the spot away from him; it’s done. The superstar no longer thinks that he’s a superstar because you told him that the position was done. But you know that you’ve got $2 in your budget,” proposes Swizz to illustrate the lesson. “So you took the power away from the superstar [who says], ‘Whatever you need me to do I’m willing to do. Call me tomorrow.’ They call the guy tomorrow–I’m telling you what they taught me—you call the guy tomorrow, ‘Yo, they gave me a good report on you. They said you really, really should’ve got this job instead of this other guy. I don’t have $2 to pay you like you [wanted]; I have $1.’ You give this guy $1. ‘You gotta work more than the guy that’s getting $2, but I’ma give you $1 because I’m not even supposed to have you here, because we got who we wanted’ [which] f*cks with your mental. You give this guy $1; he’s working so hard. Hard. He’s grinding his life off because he doesn’t feel that he’s in that position that he was supposed to be in so he’s going hard. He’s not even sleeping. You walk up to him in the grass while he’s cutting it and say, ‘Man, you did all this? You cut all this grass?’ [He says], ‘Yes. That’s me. That’s my work. I’m me.’ [You say], ‘Wow. I knew that you was one of my special guys. You know what? Don’t tell nobody, let me give you another dollar.’ But you had $2 to start with. You made him a slave now because he only thought $1 was involved. He wasn’t qualified. But you knew that he was your target this entire time. You played him. You gave him a dollar to start with and another dollar to enhance his influence. So now you’ve got this guy working for you on a nonstop condition because he thinks you really care about him. But you never cared about him. You been had $2 for him [and played him].” DJ EFN says, “He thinks he’s indebted to you.” “Facts,” responds Swizz. “F*ck that sh*t! Know your worth. Know what you hold. Know you’ll withstand. Don’t play those games.” Swizz says he has applied that logic to offers of label deals and other industry maneuvers throughout his career.
Earlier in the extensive chat, Swizz also speaks to the principles of negotiation. “We’re too emotional that we don’t handle business,” begins the producer/DJ/investor at 1:16:00. “We get in front of a person that’s higher ranking; what do we tell them? They wanna do a big deal with us,” asks Swizz, before warning, “We do sh*t like this as a culture and we gotta to stop it.” He explains “We get in front of this big guy, this big f*ckin’ tycoon and we know he’s the biggest guy – billion dollars, whatever the f*ck the money is. [You are sitting] next to the [boss]; hee’s worth a billion dollars or she’s worth a billion dollars [pointing at guest Angela Yee]. You’re on her boat, she paid for you to fly out here on a plane, and they want to do a deal with you. You know that what you have is a good product. You know why people want to meet with you? You know why people have meetings at dinner? The reason why [is that] they want to know how much they can take advantage of you,” declares Swizz.
“When they sit down and have an out-of-office meeting with you,” “–they want to read your body language,” interrupts EFN. “F*ck your body-language; they want to read your mind language,” Swizz states. “They might have $100 million dollars on that table, but you might leave out justifying $10 million based off of your conversation that night [because they sized you up].” Swizz explains that the powers that be may brag about their education, whereas you could make up the fact that you acquired your wisdom from the streets. Stressing that “knowledge is power,” he continues, “At that meeting, they’re assessing how they should handle you going forward, and we gotta know that. When we sitting down, I need to be able to tell you more about your company then you f*ckin’ know.”
Swizz says that having that insight gives you, as the possible partner, greater negotiating power. “You gotta flex on these mothaf*ckas, man! Let’s stop being sitting ducks that’s waiting to get shot. We just so happy to be in position that we f*ckin’ ignorant about the position! If they talk to you, they need you. Y’understand? No, when a person comes to you they already know how they can take advantage of you. We gotta stop being the sitting duck that’s waiting to get taken advantage of and we gotta know our worth. If Angela Yee is $10 million, then f*ck it, it’s $10 million!”
Swizz elaborates on why he chose to study in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “The reason I went to Harvard is because I was doing mergers and acquisitions [of companies].” As N.O.R.E. says he should go to Harvard to smart, Swizz corrects him. “Let me not mislead the people. You don’t need an Ivy League school to be educated. I went to Harvard as a challenge to myself. It was a wall that I wanted to knock down. But everything that I learned in school you could learn online.”
At 1:27:00, Swizz says, “This is the realest sh*t I’ma say tonight: you can’t pay for time. You can’t exchange cash for time. Most people get this money and think that means something. The time that you put in with your kids is more valuable than the f*ckin’ currency. The currency of time, and talking, and education, and father-time, and mom time with your kid is the most valuable thing that you could ever do in life. There’s no payoff of that. I don’t give a f*ck if you get them a Bugatti, they’ll crash that sh*t and you’ll still be the deadbeat dad. You understand? F*ck that! Put your time in with your kids. Educate them, and give them freedom too, ’cause they can’t be saved from this world. What’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Let them have their freedom but give them the goals to understand the meaning of why they’re here. Give them the blueprint to start to discover why they’re here. Because life is a discovery.”
