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REASONABLE DOUBT: a critical round-up of the week's hip hop headlines
RUSSELL MYRIE returns to ruminate on the rumint of the past seven days in the hip hop universe
Published: March 28, 2009
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LUPE: Lasers not LupEND, we're happy to report
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| Photo © Paul Hampartsoumian) |
Once again, sad news kicks off the round-up. Trick Daddy, Miami's number one former acter-upper, a man who has managed to include the word "thug" in all but one of his seven album titles, has secretly been battling Lupus for 12 years. The disease that took J Dilla away is an incurable autoimmune ailment that often causes a noticeable change in a sufferer's appearance. Remember how weak and frail Dilla looked in the last days? It's a real shame to think of one of the liveliest personalities in hip hop being afflicted in this way. On the bright side, Trick Daddy's been upbeat and personable throughout the time that he kept his condition quiet, and you know he ain't about to let it stop his hustle. The announcement was made while Trick Daddy Dollars was promoting his forthcoming autobiography Magic City: Trials of a Native Son on a Miami radio station. A film which reportedly features several faces you'll recognise from The Wire alongside Trick begins shooting real soon. He's also cooking up his eighth album, Finally Famous: Born a Thug Die a Thug. Don't ask about release dates 'cos I don't know.
Jim Jones has a new album, Pray IV Reign, out. I mean Jim Jones has tried to make peace with Cam'ron... I joke I joke, I kid I kid. But this is definitely good news. To be fair to the Dip Set Capo he did come clean about "bs-ing" when Funkmaster Flex questioned him about his denials concerning the recent phone call with Killa Cam that marked the first occasion they spoke in a veeeeeeeeeeery long time. Jones is easily the biggest member of the Harlem collective right now and there's no doubt that the rest of the set will benefit from his buzz if Diplomatic Immunity 3 ever sees the light of day. Of course, Killa has always had a massive fan base and will do just fine regardless of whatever happens. His album, Crime Pays, is sure to do good independent business for him when it drops. But the very ill Hell Rell and the possibly even iller JR Writer (whose Writer's Block mixtape series is among the best Diplomats material ever recorded) could benefit greatly from a reunited crew. Getting Juelz Santana on board may not be easy though: he seemed pretty heated at Cam'ron's allegations of sizzurp use and abuse. Whether it's true or not, the biggest obstacle to a reunited Uptown massive seems the relationship between the two emcees who made Dipset Anthem a club classic for life. Whichever way it needs to be done, let's hope it gets done. It's been happening to me for years and I'm sick of seeing good groups break up. EPMD. Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Tribe. Gang Starr. Little Brother. And of course the Fat Boys. We know you have your own lives but WE NEED ALBUMS!!!
Is the recession affecting Ticallion Stallion aka Mr. Meth aka Johnny Blaze? Or did the man with the most aliases in hip hop simply forget to fill out his tax return? Be it the former or the latter, the IRS saw fit to repossess his Jeep, a Lincoln Navigator no less, because he apparently owes just over $50,000 in income taxes. True, his last album 4:21...The Day After didn't sell millions but he must have made some nice, um, cheddar playing Cheese in The Wire. With that in mind, I really wish Cheese hadn't merked Prop Joe. That was his uncle and shit. But I digress. Also, haven't Wu just been on a World tour? If he is indeed in financial trouble - and I don't think he really is; he probably just forgot, like he forgets to get up in time for interviews, or how he forgot to go to the set that day when he was on Oz and when he finally showed up it was to find out they'd written a new scene in which his character dies - Meth has some good paydays coming up in the not too distant future. Firstly, he and fellow skyhighatrist Redman (officially the best rapper in the world!) are making a sequel to their stoner comedy How High. Even better, the duo behind the posse cut that inspired the film are reportedly finished with Blackout 2, the follow-up to their 1999 collabo album. Pete Rock and longtime homies like Rockwilder and Erick Sermon will be on deck. It's meant to be dropping at the end of April but let's just wait and see: the music is done so it shouldn't be too long. All together now: "spent bank loans on homegrown, suckers break lilke Turbo and Ozone..." Can't wait for some more of that good shit.
Meth and Red ain't the only duo reuniting for a new album. Once again, i'm not going to get into release dates and t'ing but keep 'em peeled for the still-untitled sequel to Train of Thought, Reflection Eternal's classic, classic album. Yes it does deserve two "classic"s. In other upcoming release news, the juggernauts of this rap shit, Dre, Em and 50, have been in Vegas shooting the video for the jump-off single to Em's Relapse; Lupe Fiasco has ditched the quit plans and is in the studio working on a new album called Lasers (does that mean he's scrapped all of LupEND, so we'll have to wait even longer?); and Cormega is getting ready to drop Born and Raised in April.
Remember that incident a few weeks ago when it was reported that one of Akon's boys had got into it with Suge Knight in an LA club? Even if you don't remember, it still happened: Akon's manager was arrested for knocking Suge out at a party on the Left Coast. Well, it seems it ain't over. During the early hours of March 25th five tooled-up goons broke into the house of Akon's producer Detail and took items reportedly worth £300,000. This is one to watch as new developments arise but hopefully things will be resolved in a peaceful way. To Akon's credit he isn't trying to throw fuel on the fire: he's saying him and Suge have always been cool, he just needs to chat to Detail to get the skinny on what went down and if he really does owe the most feared man in hip hop some coldcashmoney. Everyone can get got and regardless of whatever happens, you'd still have to be daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn crazy to want beef with Suge Knight. If I ever found myself on the wrong side of Suge (and I don't plan to anytime soon), I'd change my name, have plastic surgery and hide under a rock in Siberia 'til shit died down again. And then I'd probably decide to go back under the rock for a bit longer. Just in case.
And finally, not that we want to end on a downbeat note, but damn: we just learnt this week of the passing of Eddie Bo. That might not be a name every hip hop fan recognises, but if you know beats you'll know Eddie Bo as the creator of The Creator - his 1960s 45 From This Day On was the joint Pete Rock sampled to make the best song in rap history that had a DJ rhyming on it (believe). Eddie was also the author of the classic funk 45 Hook and Sling (comped on the Ultimates back in the day) and he produced, wrote and performed a huge number of New Orleans classics that have provided sample fodder for everyone from NWA and Fat Joe (remember Watch the Sound? That dirty guitar lick was from Eddie's Lover and a Friend) to Coldcut and DJ Shadow. There's a memorial service, and celebration of his life and work, taking place next Wednesday (April 1) at the old Rock 'n' Bowl, 4133, South Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans from 2pm to 5pm. You know we'd be there if we could.
If you missed last week's news, catch up HERE.
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