Archive for May, 2009

The streets (internet) have been waiting for this one! The mega group Slaughterhouse, consisting of Crooked I, Royce The 5′9″, Joe Budden, and Joell Ortiz, is finally dropping an official album and we have an official release date.

Production will be handled by the likes of Streetrunner, DJ Khalil and The Alchemist, and the as yet untitled album will be released July 7th on E1 Music, the label formally known as Koch Records.

Royce also has a new solo album coming out called StreetHop. Real original there Royce, where’s our shout out and interview?

Rumors have been flying wild recently that Jay-Z has left Def Jam, the label that made him an artist and a president.

Jay reached out to RapRadar.com, the site owned by YN, one time editor of XXL, to let fans know what the story is.

“I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. I’ve been in the family for almost my entire career.

Doug and I spoke directly and had one of the most unique “negotiations” ever. Doug won the toss but, we both won in the end..

I thank him for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music.”

YN: What is this coin toss about?

Hov: That takes a phone conversation, I’ll save it for our interview… classic.

Based on first hour and first day sales, music retailer BestBuys is predicting that Eminem will sell close to 300,000 copies of his Relapse album by the end of the week — in their stores alone.

That is just ONE retailer.

This thing is going to sell crazy huge, like we didn’t know already!

Did i like the album? It was good. Im still holding out that Relapse 2, out later this year, will be a return to a more serious Em, without the accents.

So, what do you predict total first week sales will be? Let us know below.

Redman’s album with his partner in rap (and smoke) Method Man, Blackout 2, has just hit stores this week and he’s already talking with NY magazine about part 3!

“Shit, I’ma tell you — we need to just do it anyways. Because we need to get that bread. I need that bread. Plus we need to keep it going — these windows in rap are not as open as they were in the nineties. You gonna hear another Blackout!, who knows when, but it’s coming.”

Slip-N-Slide Records, one of the top independent labels in the industry founded by Ted Lucas, is gearing up for another ground-breaking and exciting year with the signing of Grammy nominated and chart-topping R&B super group Jagged Edge. The group is in the studio now working on new material for their upcoming album scheduled for release on Slip-N-Slide Records in 2010.

Says Ted Lucas, “I’m excited to welcome Jagged Edge to the Slip-N-Slide Records family. They are one of the preeminent R&B groups of our time. They are going to pick up right where they left off and bring their fans some great new hit songs.”

Says Brian and Brandon Casey of Jagged Edge, “We are happy to embark on our collaboration between 581 Muzik Group and Slip-N-Slide Records.

They have been a dominating force in rap music and we have been a driving force in R&B Music. Together Ted Lucas and Jagged Edge will make for a groundbreaking 2010! “Look out for our new album in 2010.”

Jagged Edge (made up of twin lead singers Brian Casey, Brandon Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo) began their mainstream recording career in 1998 with the album A Jagged Era which went gold and featured the hit singles, “I Gotta Be” (which reached #11 on the R&B charts and #23 on the Hot 100) and “The Way That You Talk.”

Following their debut album, Jagged Edge released their breakthrough album J.E. Heartbreak in 2000. The album went double platinum and featured the hit singles “Let’s Get Married,” “He Can’t Love You” and the #1 hit single “Promise.” The group’s platinum selling third release Jagged Little Thrill was released in 2001 and included the #1 hit single, “Where The Party At.” Jagged Edge’s fourth album Hard, was released in 2003. The gold-selling album featured the hit single, “Walked Outta Heaven.” Their fifth album Jagged Edge was released in 2006. The album went gold and featured the hit single, “Good Luck Charm.”

Jagged Edge has been nominated for several American Music Awards, BET Awards, Grammy Awards and won two Soul Train Awards in 2001 for Best R&B / Soul Album for J.E. Heartbreak and Best R&B / Soul single for “Let’s Get Married.”

Rukas just sent me through this video of him with The Outlawz in Sydney as they launch Outlaw Recordz Australia together.

During the little video shout out Young Noble also shouts out StreetHop.com and tells you all to “support the real!”

The song played at the end is “It Aint Easy” by The Outlawz featuring Rukas & Blaze off of the upcoming Outlaw Culture Vol 2 album so make sure to check that out when it drops.