Eminem, Reflection Eternal

Eminem has been making a lot of noise these past couple weeks as he prepares to drop his newest album, Relapse. He also released a brand new video, “We Made You”, the second single off of the project. Em took time to do a rare interview with Shade45’s Angela Yee in which he talked about the status of Hip Hop, current artists in the game, and of course, his upcoming album

“For a while it seemed like Hip Hop was not really in a good place,” he said.“For like a good three or four years it seemed like all anybody really cared about was having a dope beat and making a good hook, and there was kind of no substance. And [Hip Hop] seems to be coming back…with artists like Lil Wayne, artists like T.I., Kanye [West], I like Kanye a lot too. It just seems like it’s getting back to being in a good place again.”

Eminem has already finished shooting the video for “3 A.M.,” the third single off the album [click to read], and he shared a bit about what else to expect from Relapse.

“[Dr.] Dre made all the tracks. He produced the whole album. So it gave me a chance to step away from the drum machine and step away from trying to make tracks myself.”

Em also talks about his reaction to Vibe readers crowning him the best rapper alive, how he keeps his music from leaking, and the status on Relapse 2.

The album drops on May 19.

In other news, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek (together dubbed Reflection Eternal) announced on Thisis50.com that they are planning on releasing an album together this summer. Having released an album back in 2000 called Train of Thought, the album will be the duo’s second project together in nine years.

“The record right now sounds beautiful,” said Kweli. “Anybody who’s a fan of the first Reflection album know how me and Tek get down. They know how much work we put in, how passionate we are. They know that the sound that we create has been missing for some time.”

The duo will go on tour with Rock The Bells this year, but have not chosen a name for their upcoming album.

Lil’ Wayne Appears in Court

Lil Wayne appeared in front of a Manhattan Superior Court Judge yesterday (April 23) for a gun possession charge stemming from a 2007 arrest.

According to MTV News, Wayne did not speak during the hearing, as his lawyer filed a motion for additional discovery, which will have the officer who made the arrest in court next month.

The motion is the result of a possible inconsistency between the officer’s account and a detective that filed the police report.

The testimony in court of the exchange between Wayne and the officer on Weezy’s tour bus differed from what was entered into the police report. Police say they smelled marijuana before they stopped Wayne’s bus and entered it, upon which they found an illegal gun. The rapper’s lawyers say that the police did not smell the marijuana before stopping the bus, and therefore had no reason to search it.

In addition to the motion, an affidavit was filed to question DNA testing used to prove that the gun belonged to Lil Wayne and not legally registered to his manager, Cortez Byrant.

Wayne, the arresting officer and the detective who filled out the police report are scheduled to appear on May 20. The rapper’s attorney was instructed by Judge Charles Solomon to call any additional witnesses on that day as well.

Cash Money label heads Bryan “Baby” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams arrived 10 minutes after Wayne to offer their support.

News Bites: April 24th 2009

XXL magazine’s latest issue features Eminem as the cover artist, who spoke on the topic of Asher Roth in his interview.

While stating he hasn’t really gotten a chance to sit down and thoroughly listen to the Pennsylvania emcee, Em did acknowledge the whispers of their supposed comparisons. “There was talk about people saying he sounded like me, and he was doing this and that and, you know, trying to take what I do and do it…The stuff that I’ve heard from him honestly, which certainly isn’t enough for me to make my own opinion and say, ‘Yeah, he does sound like me’ or ‘No, he doesn’t.’ But the couple of songs I’ve heard, I don’t really think he does. You know what I mean?”

Showing admiration for the up-and-comer rapper, Eminem had nothing but love. “He’s doing his own thing. I can respect it, too, because at the end of the day, I think he’s dope.”

The new issue of XXL will be available on newsstands May 5.

In other news, Kanye West tested his claim of toning down his ego in public when the video for “Amazing” was premiered on BET’s “106 & Park” yesterday.

After answering a few questions about his recent work though, he confessed, “You know what I attempted to do in this interview? I attempted to do this interview with no ego or anything. It’s so hard cause I just wanna stunt!” Continuing, Ye’ let out what the crowd wanted to hear. “I have to let the ego out the cage. I’ve been holding it back for too long… I’m the hottest producer; I’m the hottest rapper in the game!”

Throwing in some dry sarcasm, he said, “Naw, I’ll reel it back. Everybody else is better than me.” Then, realizing he had confused hosts Terrance and Rocsi, Ye’ playfully quipped, “I was just joking with you.”

Meth and Red Talk Blackout 2 and How High Sequel

Redman released his debut, Whut? Thee Album in 1992, while his partner in rhyme, Method Man, dropped Tical two years later. Well aware of how much things can change over the course of 15 plus years, the duo talked about appealing to a generation of fans who might have been infants when they first debuted.

“We’re maturing,” Redman recently told the New York Daily News. “We evolved and learned a lot more from when we dropped the first album. And the shit we did in the 90’s we can’t do now.”

Red described Blackout 2, which drops May 19, as a blend of old and new school. After releasing the singles “Ayo” and “Mrs. International,” Method Man expressed his hopes for the group’s sophomore effort.

“Honestly, I just want this

to be heard,” Method Man explained. “That’s all. If you listen to the song that we’re doing for the video right now, it’s like, ‘Is this a Redman and Method Man song?’ It doesn’t seem like we would ever make a song like this.”

Despite having his feathers ruffled by an earlier Daily News report that he got high and forgot to pay his taxes, Meth says he and his partner also have plans to move forward with a follow up to the movie How High.

“We’re pressing forward with ‘How High 2,’” Redman said. “We shot the first one way under budget. We gave them money back and shot extra scenes! And the movie made money! So I don’t know why they ain’t giving us another shot. I’m about to go get $20 more million and shoot it myself.”

SHURM Opening For Saigon and J the S May 2nd 2009!

A week from this Saturday, SHURM is going to be opening for Saigon at Harpers Ferry. It will be the release party for the new Saigon and Statik Selektah CD. The flyer above pretty much states it all. Tickets will be $17 in advance and $20 at the door. Get at me for an advance ticket. I will be linking the flyer to the website to buy some tickets online soon. Ill see you all there!

Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 4/5/2008

Country’s Keith Urban took this week’s pole position with his Defying Gravity. Hip Hop favorite Prince came close behind though, with his Target-exclusive three-album set, LOtUSFLOW3R independent project.

As predicted at mid-week, UGK did earn a Top 10 debut with UGK 4 Life. Pimp C’s posthumous group album with Bun B outsold its high predictions of 75,000 units, and just as Underground Kingz did in 2007, placed the southern Hip Hop icons in the elite company of top artists – this time without the same strong radio backing. The group outsold discs from younger artists, both Flo Rida’s R.O.O.T.S., and Bow Wow’s New Jack City Part 2.

Between Flo and Bow, Interscope feature queen Keri Hilson’s In A Perfect World… returned for a second strong week, surpassing predictions.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
2	Prince	LOtUSFLOW3R	168,420	168,458
6	UGK	UGK 4 Life	76,419	76,600
8	Flo Rida	R.O.O.T.S.	55,285	55,356
11	Keri Hilson	In A Perfect World…	37,030	131,527
16	Bow Wow	New Jack City Part II	30,851	30,944

The second week for Boss Of All Bosses, saw Slim Thug outsell Sony Records flagship artist Jim Jones and his Pray IV Reign. Although Jones has more overall units scanned, the two artists surprise many with that close range competition.

Bad Boy Records’s Gorilla Zoe slid just below the Top 50 with his sophomore Don’t Feed Da Animals. The Boyz N The Hood front-man moved over 50,000 overall units.

Lil Wayne sold just under 10,000 copies of Tha Carter III , his usual sum from recent weeks.

DOOM (formerly MF DOOM and Zevlove X of KMD) fell considerably on the charts with his BORN INTO THIS release, selling a third of his first week units, and descending nearly 100 spots. iTunes offers an exclusive Radiohead remix to one of the album’s tunes, making it a release to watch.

Other Notables

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
32	Slim Thug	Boss Of All Bosses	16,891	49,612
40	Jim Jones	Pray IV Reign	13,704	56,686
55	Gorilla Zoe	Don’t Feed Da Animals	10,862	57,685
62	Lil Wayne	Tha Carter III	9,964	3,102,399
139	DOOM	BORN LIKE THIS	4,516	15,411

Can Jadakiss debut #1 for his Def Jam debut?

Nas & Damian Marley Provide More Details On Album

After providing some brief details on their upcoming collaborative album last month, representatives for Nas and Damian Marley issued a press release to explain the final details of their musical partnership. The pair, who say they have shared a mutual respect since meeting in 1996, will release the album, Distant Relatives on June 23. While both artists are the offspring of musicians who were quite successful in their own right, they say the title refers to the bond of their African ancestry.

“Africa is the backbone of the world and the foundation of everything and Africans are in a situation where they need help more than anywhere else,” Marley stated via the press release. “We know there are dire situations here in America but when you look at America—with public libraries and free education—these are not opportunities most Africans have. It’s a completely different scale of trying to help people. As human beings, we’re part of a human family.”

Since their initial meeting, Nas and Damian Marley have recorded the song “Road To Zion” together, and they are scheduled to headline at this years Rock The Bells festival.

“As an American, we have so much even in a so-called recession that a neighborhood like Queensbridge or Red Hook is Beverly Hills compared to the way people are living in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ghana,” Nas added. “So obviously if we making records with that theme, there’s gonna be things I want to build on. I think Africa has a lot to teach us.”

Rock the Bells 2009 Lineup Announced!

For those Hip Hop fans that have been waiting in anticipation for this years Rock the Bells festival, Guerilla Union has finally announced the lineup!

Headlined by Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley; The Roots, Common, Big Boi, KRS-One, Reflectional Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek), Slaughterhouse, M.O.P., Sage Francis and many more will be rocking stages across the U.S. & Canada.

Although the dates and venues have yet to be announced; you can expect the tour to come through Chicago, Washington, Boston, New York, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami; as well as Toronto & Vancouver.

Lil Scrappy Goes To DTP

Disturbing Tha Peace is adding a member. The label, home to Ludacris, is now boasting a roster that includes Atlanta native Lil Scrappy. This is surprising news for many fans of DTP and Scrap, but nevertheless, it is his new home. Scrappy also takes his G’s Up imprint with him.

Before he does that, reports indicate that he will be hitting the big screen. When Scrappy spoke to HipHopDX in January, he let us know a bit about those plans.

“It’s better then a lot of this stuff,” he said of acting. “I want to be able to do everything. I’m a talented dude, I think.” He continued, “I’ve got a some movies on the table, but I’m just gonna keep it under wraps till they hit commercials.”

In February, Lil Scrappy released a compilation, Silence & Secrecy on Philadelphia’s Good Hands Records. Previously, Lil Scrappy had been signed to Warner Brothers Records, with joint ventures from Lil Jon and 50 Cent.

Lack of Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few weeks. We’ve been hard at work in the studio finishing up Stealths new mixtape, Massholes. We are also just finishing up SHURMs first LP, which is still untitled at this moment. Coming up on May 2nd, SHURM will be performing with Saigon at Harpers Ferry in Alston, MA. Ticket info and stuff like that will be available as soon as we get word from the promoter. It is likely 18+ and around $20. If you want more info on getting tickets in advance email me at vitalsine@vitalsinerecords.com and we can work something out. We will be opening our online store soon as well where you can purchase MP3s, merch, and hard copy CD’s. Keep a look out for that. Im going to be getting back on track with the news, so check back often. New tracks will be uploaded to the player in the next couple days…

ALSO! If all the songs dont appear to be in the player, and you just see the first track, just click the next button and it will go to the next song. They are there, there is just a problem with the player and some versions of flash!

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