A Tribe Called Quest Edition of GUE Radio

Check the rhime, y'all

It's finally here!

I was inspired to make Gangstas Use Emoticons Radio, Vol. 5 a tribute to A Tribe Called Quest after viewing their documentary.  Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest portrayed honestly and artistically the paths that brought Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi Brown together, kept them together, and split them apart. Just learning the story behind my favorite ATCQ songs inspired me to listen to their entire discography, and to dedicate Vol. 5 to them.  

If you're familiar with them, sit back and reminisce.  If not, learn a bit and discover the main influence of today's biggest artists and producers.  I also encourage you to visit RapGenius to get deeper into the lyrics and to contribute your knowledge.

Listen below and hit the jump for the tracklisting!

[Music Video] Otis (Watch the Throne)

If you missed the premiere a few minutes ago on EVERY MTV network, here it is!  #WatchTheThrone

[Music Video] Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes & Adam Levine

Here are the visuals for Gym Class Heroes's first single off of The Papercut Chronicles II, Stereo Hearts.

Props to 2dopeboyz.

Download Stereo Hearts after the jump.

Intervention: R&B Singers with Rapping Tendencies

In case you were wondering, no this isn't a promo for A&E and you will not see this man. Sorry in advance.  

As a lover of both R&B and rap, I feel like I need to point out the elephant in the room.  

With artists like Lil' B who both makes Rap music seem like a joke due to his lack of talent, I can see why most singers think that they can rap better than most rappers.  With the foolishness that was (is?) Cassie, I understand why some tone deaf rappers thought they could take a stab at singing.  Sure there are some artists who are versatile enough to be amazing or at least pretty decent at both (Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Cee Lo, Mos Def, Andre 3000), but singing/rapping is not for everybody.

Have you ever heard anyone say, "Hell I need to make a rap song. If he can rap, shhhhit, I can too,"? I know I've said it before.  Maybe that's the mentality of today's R&B & Pop singers like Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Justin Beiber and Trey Songz.  

Does the fact that most popular R&B singers think that they can rap and put out full rap mixtapes mean that the future of rap and hip hop is doomed? Is this the same for R&B when rappers like Drake and Kanye West croon full length songs? Or is this a positive move for music in general? Let me know.

Hit the jump and listen to some examples of recent crossovers.

New Music: Wale's Ocean Drive

Seems like Maybach Music is hard at work.  Here's a new track by Wale called Ocean Drive featuring MMG Reggae singer Magazeen, Tre & Black Cobain.

Listen/DL below and hit the jump for Teedra Moses' remix of Another Luvr.



Props to 2dopeboyz

New Music: Meek Mill x Young Chris: House Party

Got a double dose of Philly tonight.  Meek Mill, one of the newer additions to Maybach Music Group's dream team is about to release his mixtape Dreamchasers hosted by DJ Drama tomorrow. Be sure to download it tomorrow on Dat Piff or Band Camp.

On "House Party" Meek Mill enlists fellow Philly rapper Young Chris and provides me with another one to put in rotation when I step out.

Listen/DL Below:


Props to College DJ

Hit the jump to listen & download Meek Mill's "Lay Low" f/ Young Chris & Freeway

Game's R.E.D. Album x Tracklisting

You've probably already sensed that Game's nowhere near my favorite rapper, and that I suspect he needs a few prescriptions in his life.  I can't deny that some of his stuff bangs and I can vibe to it when I don't think about all of the foolishness that goes on outside of the music.

His album artwork and track list has been revealed, and I am intrigued because it contains features from artists I respect like Kendrick, Rick Ross, Drake & Nelly Furtado.  How do you think the album will fare  when it drops Aug. 23rd?

01. Dr. Dre Intro
02. The City (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
03. Drug Test (Feat. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg & Sly)
04. Martians Vs Goblins (Feat. Tyler, The Creator & Lil Wayne)
05. Red Nation (Feat. Lil Wayne)
06. Dr. Dre 1
07. Good Girls Go Bad (Feat. Drake)
08. Ricky
09. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
10. Heavy Artillery (Feat. Rick Ross & Beanie Sigel)
11. Paramedics (Feat. Young Jeezy)
12. Speakers On Blast (Feat. E-40 & Big Boi)
13. Hello (Feat. Lloyd)
14. All The Way Gone (Feat. Mario & Wale)
15. Pot Of Gold (Feat. Chris Brown)
16. Dr. Dre 2
17. All I Know (Feat. Lu Breeze)
18. Born In The Trap
19. Mama Knows (Feat. Nelly Furtado)
20. California Dream
21. Dr. Dre Outro

Shouts to GowhereHipHop for putting me on this.

Hit the jump to see Game dunk in a recent charity basketball game.

Forbes Hip Hop List 2011

Golddiggers grip your knock offs!

Forbes has once again released the list of Hip Hop's Cash Kings-- the rappers and hip hop moguls who have surpassed their peers in earnings.

This year, Jay-Z topped off the list earning $37 million within the past year.  Second to Jigga was Mr. Take That, Take That Combs himself with $35 million.  Kanye rounded out the top 3 with $16 mil.

Guess Jay can still rap "...really you got Baby money..." because Birdman and Lil Wayne both racked in at #4 with $15 million.  Either there's a lot of undocumented cash floating around, or Weezy was exaggerating when he said, "Last year I made a 100 million dollars flat" in Young Jeezy's Ballin'.  Either way, we understand.

Congrats to Nicki Minaj who is the first female MC to ever make the list as she earned the #15 spot with $6.5 million.

To read the entire Forbes list click here.

As a bonus, hit the jump to watch the Top Cash King Jay-Z in a teaser promoting the upcoming Otis music video.  The full video will premiere on Thursday at 8:56 ET on MTV, .

Coming Soon: Gangstas Use Emoticons Radio, Vol. 5: A Tribe Called Quest Edition

Check the rhime y'all

Coming this Friday.

Call me Bonita Applebum

New Music Video: Cee Lo: Cry Baby

New music video from Cee Lo Green's The Lady Killer. This one is for the album's 6th (yes, 6th) single "Cry Baby." The video stars Jaleel White best known in the hearts of 90's children/adults as Urkel from Family Matters.

Hopefully a video for Fool For You w/ Melanie Fiona drops soon too.

Hit the jump to listen/download Fool For You w/ Melanie.