Reading Festival as always brought hoards of festival goers over to the Richfield site. Still clinging onto to it’s Rock roots, the festival now also caters to pretty much all music tastes from Grime to Hip-Hop, Indie, House and Drum & Bass, it’s a festival where no one can adhere to one genre.
Arriving quite late on the Friday, we managed to catch a bit of Sub Focus, Shy FX and Mist over at the NME, Dance Stage and BBC Radio 1Xtra stages. Sub Focus had the stage packed dropping their own classics such as ‘Endorphins,’ whilst Shy FX as always impressed with his D&B sounds playing his own classic bangers including ‘Feelings,’ and Congo Natty’s ‘Junglist.’ Mist smashed his performance full force with his hit single ‘Karla’s Back’ amongst others.
Saturday began in the BBC Radio 1Xtra tent watching South London artist Cadet who hyped the crowd up with his DJ first then exploded onto the stage with a mad energy. 67 were up next and the crowd seemed to know all of the lyrics to the Brixton Hill rap crew’s tracks.
The highlight though of Saturday night had to be Major Lazer on the main stage and of course Eminem. Major Lazer brought a pure carnival theme to their set for everyone who was missing out the fun at Nottinghill over the weekend. As darkness descended we were treated to their full electronic party sound, which had all of the fields of the outdoor Main Stage dancing whilst the lights flashed across us. The dancers on the stage gave festival goers extra ammunition to party harder too.
Around 80,000 people flooded to the Main Stage to watch Eminem the headliner of Saturday night. He got everyone to chant ‘Fuck Trump’ before playing a quite large set list including ‘White America,’ ‘Solider,’ ‘Real Slim Shady,’ ‘Stan,’ and much more. He walked off stage and some people left, whilst others are crying for him to reappear which he did ending his set on ‘Lose Yourself.’ The rap icon will never disappoint.
Sunday began with Birmingham Grime emcee Jaykae at the BBC Radio 1Xtra stage who impressed us with his energy and passion at his early set of 1.30pm. He performed his well-known tracks ‘Pull Up,’ and ‘Toothache,’ which was recently featured on TV show Power.
The king of Sunday had to be Giggs though who performed on the Main Stage at 5.30pm. He opened with ‘3 Wheel Ups’ spitting his verse of the Kano tune and JME’s ‘Man Don’t Care’ getting the crowd really buzzing. Then out jumped Drake for ‘KMT’ and more people had run across the field to catch the Canadian star. It was a big moment, but Drake hopped off the stage letting the main man Giggs take care of his set that led onto his old skool tracks ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’ and ‘Talkin The Hardest.’
Head of Shady Records Eminem has started to work on a new LP, whilst also working on Slaughterhouse’s debut album welcome to: Our House.
“I actually started my album,” he told Channel 955 in Detroit. “But I haven’t fully went in yet because I’ve been finishing up this Slaughterhouse record. I’ve kind of been really hands-on with this album for the past year. This has kinda been a pet project for me. I’ve kind of been executive producing, producing, co-producing, mixing—very hands-on with it and just really involved. We’re actually finishing up today. We’re handing the album in today.”
There is no release date for Eminem’s new project, but he stated that he has had ‘fun’ listening to other emcees on the Shady roster such as Slaughter and Yelawolf liking their technical work.
However, he also had time to look back at his work with 50 Cent.
“Ever since we started making music with Fif, it was always like a mutual respect thing and we became friends outside of the music,” Shady shared. “50 is very big on the business aspects of his career. I would consider him a smart businessman. Not saying that I’m not, but I don’t get into as much of the technical aspect in the business sense. I have no idea what’s going on—ever. I don’t even know where I’m at right now.”
Here is the first release off 50 Cent’s new album Street King Immortal. The track originally released by Alicia Keys and produced by Swizz Beatz, is made into the G Unit’s general’s own thanks to Dr. Dre and mixing courtesy of Eminem.
Last night saw the European premiere of Ice-T’s highly anticipated documentary, Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap. The event was not one to be missed for any hip-hop heads and lovers of wordplay. UK rappers we saw there included Sway, Wretch 32, Jehst, K. Koke and Exo…
Contributing founder of gangster rap Ice-T enlisted legends of the hip-hop scene to talk us through their thought-processes, favourite rap lyrics and how they started out in the game.
An impressive amount of artists were featured, including Chuck D, Immortal Technique, Nas, Run-DMC, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dougie Fresh, Grandmaster Caz, Dr Dre, Kanye West, Rakim, Joe Budden, Melle Mel, Common and more.
We were taken right back to the basics, with New York back-drops heavily featured in the visuals, reminding us of hip-hop’s place of birth. Ice-T then took us through to Detroit and of course, to his turf – the West Coast. Interestingly enough, the south was not featured, leaving out some key players.
The film was quite fast-paced for a documentary film, which would keep some people entertained; however I found the quick transitions quite overwhelming at times.
Regardless, the film was informative and funny. Ice-T ensured there were many moments of humour, which made the film for me. Hip-hop is known to be an egotistical form of art, so it was refreshing to see lyricists discuss their most vulnerable moments.
One cringe-worthy revelation ironically came from Kanye West. As he was interviewed, he told us about his first rap battle, which went miserably wrong when his opponent delivered the line, ‘wassup, my name is Chris and let me tell you one thing, you smell like p***’ – obviously he lost that battle!
Snoop had his normal banter in check, saying his ‘main inspiration was having two women by his side.’
Ice-T asked the rappers to spontaneously spit their favourite lyrics of all time, and of course, they had to deliver. As expected, Ice-T knew every rhyme they presented to him and often rapped along.
When talking rap essentials, a lot of the rappers agreed that their voice and delivery was an important part. Chuck D said: ‘you had to have a strong voice to cut through the systems.’ Ice-T later praised Cypress Hill for their delivery of rhymes, saying: ‘When you came out, the vocal delivery was so real.’
Salt n Pepa and MC Lyte were the only females in the film, which was a bit disappointing as I felt others could have gotten involved, such as Lauryn Hill.
Overall, the docufilm delved into interesting subjects, thankfully neglecting the money, women and bling side of 21st century rap and concerning itself more with the technicalities of the art form and the business.
As the film finished, we were treated to phenomenal performances by Melle Mel, Chuck D, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Ice-T; it was a tremendous showcase of linguistic skill which left me simply mesmerised.
The intro to this video feels like the old Slim Shady videos, witty and crazy. It includes baby polar bears, dinosaurs, spandex and guns. Cee-Lo assists Slaughterhouse for their video My Life.
Hit Boy’s doing a Kanye on us, and goes from producer to rapper. The famed producer known for his tracks for Jay Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne and more debuts his first track Jay Z Interview with G.O.O.D. Music.
Ice-T takes us on an intimate journey into the heart and soul of hip-hop with the legends of rap music. This performance documentary goes beyond the stardom and the bling, to explore what goes on inside the minds, and erupts from the lips, of the grandmasters of rap. Recognized as the godfather of Gangsta rap, Ice-T is granted unparalleled access to the personal lives of the masters of this artform that he credits for saving his life. Interspersed with the performer’s insightful, touching, and often funny revelations are classic raps, freestyle rhymes, and never before heard a cappellas straight from the mouths of the creators. What emerges is a better understanding of, and a tribute to, an original American art form that brought poetry to a new generation.
50 Cent serves up his long awaited Gangsta Grillz mixtape hosted by DJ Drama. The Lost Tape is as can be expected from 50, street. A 15 track project including features from Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Jeremih, Kidd Kidd and more. The Lost Tape is something to keep the fans entertained as they wait for his fifth studio album out later this year.
Obie Trice has released a new 16-track album; ‘Bottoms Up’ that will be the first since 2006 and the first since leaving Shady Records in 2008. He will be releasing it from his independent label Black Market Entertainment. Many people will remember Obie Trice from his cameo on Eminem’s single ‘Without Me,’ and his two album releases on Shady Records, ‘Cheers,’ and ‘Second Round’s On Me,’ which featured 50 Cent, Akon, Trey Songz and Nate Dogg.
The album will represent a fresh start for Obie, but that doesn’t mean he is leaving his roots in the past. Dr. Dre produces the intro ‘Bottoms Up,’ with heavy keys and thanks from Obie to Shady Records and Eminem for backing him. The beat is one of the best on the album, and personally I think should have not have been the intro. The second track ‘Going No Where,’ is produced by Eminem, and shows the intensity the MC is known for. The fifth track ‘Richard’ produced by Statik Selektah shows Eminem lending a verse, and from this we can see he is still one of the best wordsmiths.
The first single set for release is ‘Battle Cry,’ with marching solider beats and the smooth vocals of Adrian Reeza, it exemplifies the resilience Trice has exposed throughout his life. The second single lined up is ‘Spend The Day,’ which is a funky West Coast sounding beat with sensual vocals from Drey Skoni, providing an ultimate backdrop for the track where Trice gives the ladies a glimpse into what spending a day with him would be like. This album is not single heavy, where only his single releases are worth a listen. Every track on this album is.
Thematically Trice talks about his personal ups and downs, the block and women. Overall the album is definitely a good listen with melancholy keys, thumping beats with some West Coast and old school hip hop bump to it. Stand out tracks include ‘Richard,’ ‘Going Nowhere,’ and ‘Crazy.’ ‘Bottoms Up,’ proves Trice has the same wit, force and delivery to his lyrics.
Obie Trice is the rapper from Detroit, who Eminem introduced to the world on his single ‘Without Me,’ by saying “Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks.” He was the first rapper signed to Shady Records, but as we reveal in this interview left due to problems with Interscope. Now after a six year hiatus, Obie Trice is back with his own label Black Market Entertainment, and his new album ‘Bottoms Up.’ Shireen Fenner speaks to the Obie about the shooting which killed Proof from D12, his own shooting thus the reason for taking a break from music, working with Eminem and Dr. Dre on his new material and more.
You have become involved in trying to increase the opportunities and possibilities for young people in Detroit to pursue music. What was available to you when you were starting out?
For me it was just the hip hop shop in Detroit, Maurice Malone was a clothing designer here in Detroit, and we had this cypher that we used to used to go and perform and do our thing in this little boutique clothing store, with hardwood floors and print t-shirts with prints on them insinuating different things hanging on the walls. There was a DJ booth a DJ would be there scratching and putting on instrumentals for people. There would be guys from all over Detroit, who would come here on a Saturday afternoon just to showcase their skills. That was defiantly one of the places where I started.
What makes a Detroit rapper stand out from other American rappers? What is it about being shaped by Detroit that is unique?
It’s the mid-west we don’t only take in West Coast music, or South music, or East Coast music, we feed off it all. They have always been in the public eye as far as hip hop is concerned, so we have a diverse sound here, because we haven’t been in the public eye. That’s what differentiates us from other places.
How does being shot in the head change your perspective on life?
Yes it did, it told me to sit my ass down (laughs) and stop hanging out so damn much. It definitely changed my perspective, I almost died from that situation, and the bullet is still lodged in my head. Three months later, Proof got a bullet to the back of his head but he didn’t make it. It definitely was a very eerie and morbid and overwhelming for me. I had to take a break from the media and being in the public eye. I just had to do what I had to do, that was one of the reasons for my hiatus. I always created music and I never stopped working in the studio making music it just wasn’t in the public eye. Then I wanted to establish my own company being that Interscope didn’t want to further an Obie Trice project
How different do you imagine your situation would be if you had not met Proof and been supported by him?
That’s kind of a hard question to answer. I met Proof at the hip hop shop but not as far as hanging out at that time. Our relationship got close when I was signed to Shady, but we did know each other. He was the one that told me to use Obie Trice as my name back in the day, I do love him and he loved me. I always put out music, back to the first question I put out music through a company called Buzz and a company called Landspeed and they distributed my music internationally. That was the outlet for me back then, and Eminem got wind of it and Proof was like I remember that dude, and that’s how things came about. Our relationship just really grew when we were on Shady together.
You have strong links with both Dr. Dre and Eminem. How would you best describe your relationship with the two artists?
Me and Eminem are brothers, we always make music together. It’s just a great relationship, we always have been close. It was a personal when we made ‘Richard’ and it was fun and hilarious in retrospective. Dr Dre is definitely on the same level, he sent me the beat, and I wasn’t actually in the studio with him when I made that record but he wanted to see me succeed and he knows that he has the sound that I like so I’m sure that we will continue to make music together.
What was the reason that you left your previous label and set up Black Market Entertainment?
It wasn’t a split up with Shady; it had more to do with Interscope and Jimmy Iovine. We kind of bumped heads and we couldn’t come to an agreement on furthering the business opportunity. It wasn’t feasible for the both of us and my people at the same time, this is Eminem’s boss, so Shady had nothing to do with that. It was an Interscope and Obie Trice thing. There’s no bad blood with Interscope or Jimmy Iovine, that’s what I kind of explain in some of the songs on ‘Bottoms Up.’ Shady was always supportive and will be my family forever.
How has the reaction been so far to your latest mixtape ‘Watch the Chrome?’
The reaction was pretty good, it was a good look. I definitely wanted to warm up my fans and the people that have been waiting for a long time, and let them no I apologise for the hiatus and things like that. It was to let them know I’m still here with the music, I never really left, and that was basically it.
Why did you call the mixtape ‘Watch the Chrome?’ Is there a story behind it?
I appreciated the ‘Watch The Throne’ album that Kanye and Jay Z made.’ Watch The Chrome’ is the environment that I come from; I wanted to incorporate how things are in my neighborhood and my upbringing where everyone carries a pistol. The chrome is the coating on a gun. I wanted to put that in there and change it up a little bit. I’m definitely still a fan of ‘Watch The Throne’ and that’s where the inspiration came from.
What can we expect from your forthcoming album ‘Bottoms Up?’
I had to pull Eminem’s tooth to produce a record on the album because he doesn’t produce records anymore, he doesn’t go on the beat machine anymore. I wanted to have that old feel also as well for my fans, and then with the Dr Dre joint I wanted to have some of Dre’s influence on the record as well. I got up and coming producers from Detroit on the records that are very talented. It’s like vintage oldie, you can ride to it, and it’s definitely a breath of fresh air from where hip-hop is right now. I believe a lot of people will enjoy it.
How does it differ from your older material?
I never really left so I’m always working, I’m just not in the media, and I’m always in the studio. I guess its just gradual development. I just continue to do what I do, and the records that feel good to me is the ones that I use.
What does Bottoms Up mean to you?
‘Bottoms Up’ was supposed to come out on Shady Interscope and I was going to name it Debt. The situation had changed. ‘Bottoms Up’ for me now is a fresh start for me and it’s a celebration being because that I’m putting out an album on my own imprint, which is Black Market Entertainment. My mother had just passed from breast cancer last year, and she has this picture of me as a baby above her bed in her room so I took that and I was going through all the things and getting her stuff together all her photo albums when she passed away. I came across that photo and thought this is where it all began from, so I just wanted to use this photo as the album cover. ‘Bottoms Up’ I’m a drinker as well, so it all fits.
Sunday began with Birmingham Grime emcee Jaykae at the BBC Radio 1Xtra stage who impressed us with his energy and passion at his early set of 1.30pm. He performed his well-known tracks ‘Pull Up,’ and ‘Toothache,’ which was recently featured on TV show Power.
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