RAEKWON - THE WILD

Everything you love about American popular culture is Quincy Jones. As an artist and impresario Quincy Jones has been the creative catalyst for over 60 years of American cultural phenomena orchestrating the sounds of Frank Sinatra, setting the ambiance for Steven Spielberg, cultivating the talent of Michael Jackson, and introducing to the world Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith - to name a few. The Complete Quincy Jones examines the diverse virtuosity of Quincy Jones, celebrating his prolific contribution to American art and culture. Comprised of personal interviews and recollections with Jones, this collection peers behind the veil of celebrity, with extraordinary access to his creative inspirations and labors. Through private notebooks, correspondence, and photographs Jones offers unprecedented introspection into the depths of his creativity and the histories of his ventures. From the volumes of his memorabilia, Jones emerges as a contemplative and dynamic maestro, thriving on intuition and ceaselessly pursuing the soul of his art.

Mike Stoan Presents - In the Booth Part 3 - COMING SOON!!! Check out Mike Stoans mix tape below

bad guy

molecules/showbiz featuring money ray

This is certainly the summer for Hip Hop. New albums from Jay – Z, Raekwon, KRS ONE, Kool G Rap, Public Enemy, Showbiz & AG, Camp Low & Planet Asia. Two albums that are a must listen would be Group Home – Forever & O.C. Same Moon Same Sun. Other albums to look out for would be by Blaq Poet – The Most Dangerous as well as Molecules & Showbiz – A Bronx Tale. A few other artists that have albums out that definitely are worth checking out would be Kenyattah Black – Aggressive but Selective, Kasim Allah – R.O.T.G.E. as well as Thirsty McGurk – Lift Off.

KOOL G RAP - RETURN OF THE DON

O.C.

SAME MOON SAME SUN

Real vibez

rawtyraw featuring mic gutz

Tabernacle

Royce da 5'9"

Royce da 5′9″, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He is best known for his longtime association with Eminem as well as his solo career, recording primarily with producers Carlos "6 July" Broady and DJ Premier, as well as ghostwriting for the likes of Diddy and Dr. Dre. Royce is one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with Eminem, one quarter of the hip hop group Slaughterhouse with Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Crooked I, and one half of the hip hop group PRhyme with DJ Premier. The editors of About.com ranked him No. 30 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007).

In an interview with DJ Vlad on YouTube, Royce stated that his only early stage name prior to the "Royce" nickname was R-Dog, which "didn't even last a year". He moved to Oak Park, Michigan when he was 10 years old, later acquiring the nickname "Royce" during high school after wearing a Turkish link chain with an R pendant resembling the Rolls Royce symbol. Royce's name comes from his height, 5 feet 9 inches. However, the numbers have been in his life numerous times as he "found his calling" as a rapper in 1995 and in his song "Tabernacle" he discusses his grandmother dying on the fifth floor of a hospital and his first son being born on the ninth. Similar instances suggest that his name has numerous meanings besides his height. He started rapping at age 18, influenced mainly by Ras Kass, Redman, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Esham, Detroit's Most Wanted, and N.W.A.

He signed his first deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records, the label offering him $1 million compared to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, who offered him $250,000 and unlimited beats—what Royce expressed as his "biggest regret" in a March 2016 interview with Complex. After Tommy Boy Records shut down, he signed a deal with Columbia and Game Recordings where he started recording an album called Rock City, referring to Detroit's former status as home to Motown Records. When the project was heavily bootlegged, Royce left the label for Koch to re-record some of the album, eventually releasing it in 2002 as Rock City (Version 2.0). While the album did not sell very well, the DJ Premier-produced single "Boom" gained Royce some underground recognition and eventually resulted in the two working together more closely.

Through his manager Kino Childrey, Royce was introduced to Eminem on December 29, 1997 at a concert, and the two formed a working relationship; they formed up as a duo, Bad Meets Evil, and released several tracks together. Royce appeared on Eminem's major-label debut studio album The Slim Shady LP, in which he was featured on a song called "Bad Meets Evil". However, many of the CD's pressed and released did not have this song on them. Royce and Eminem also released a track called "Renegades", from which Royce's vocals would later be replaced with Jay-Z's on the latter's The Blueprint.

Through Eminem, Royce would also be introduced to both Dr. Dre and execs at Game Recordings. After Royce's manager Kino stated: "I’ve seen Em' sit Dre down like a pupil and coach him on rhymes." on a phone interview, Dr. Dre requested that Royce cut ties with Kino. Royce refused to fire his manager Kino, thus Royce's relationship with Dre ended.

Royce had a falling out with D12, including mutual friend and group member Proof. This resulted in a drawn-out, public rivalry between the rapper and five of the six members, with Royce releasing three diss tracks aimed at the group. The first diss track, "Shit on You", was recorded over the instrumental of D12's song with the same name and mainly attacked group member Bizarre. "Malcolm X" was the second diss track, which featured Tré Little. D12 responded with "Smack Down" which was recorded over 50 Cent's "Back Down" instrumental. Proof also recorded a diss track entitled "Many Men". This was recorded over 50 Cent's "Many Men (Wish Death)" instrumental. Proof later released another diss with The Purple Gang called "Beef Is Ova". Royce responded with his third diss track, which was recorded over 50 Cent's "In Da Club" instrumental titled "Death Day".

In the summer of 2003, D12 member Proof confronted Royce outside a club in Detroit. Violence erupted between the rappers' entourage, leading to the Police being called, and Proof and Royce's arrest. The two were detained overnight in adjacent cells where they talked out their differences and ended the feud. A few years later Royce released "Malcolm X" in 2007 off his "Bar Exam" mixtape which reignited the feud briefly (and was also a diss towards 50 Cent). The feud officially ended in 2008 when Royce was featured in a mixtape of D12 called Return of the Dozen. They also went on tour in Europe and Canada together around that time. Royce has since been featured on D12's 2015 "The Devil's Night Mixtape".

Royce signed with Game Recordings, for whom he had recorded several tracks for the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001. The in-game radio station, Game Radio FM, prominently featured Royce's "I'm the King" and The Alchemist-produced solo track, which (along with the publicized beef) helped elevate Royce's name beyond his association with Eminem. In 2001, Royce was featured on pop singer Willa Ford's song "I Wanna Be Bad". In 2004, he released his second and most critically successful album to date, Death Is Certain, charting with another Premier-produced single, "Hip-Hop".

After the relative success of his sophomore effort, Royce put out a third solo project, Independent's Day, in 2005. This was met with less acclaim than either of his previous releases. During this time, the rivalry between Royce and former friend Proof reached a boiling point in the streets of Detroit, on an occasion where the two rappers drew guns; they were subsequently arrested and left to work out their differences while spending the night in neighboring cells in jail. The time spent in jail led to the artists ending their feud and subsequently embarking on two overseas tours together. Though Royce had planned other projects involving Nottz and his former crew, D-Elite, these were cut short after a sentencing to one year in prison for a DUI. On August 9, 2011, Royce released his fifth album Success Is Certain. The album title serves as a play on words from his second release, Death Is Certain.

After his release in 2007, Royce with DJ Premier and Statik Selektah released the mixtape The Bar Exam. He also announced an album with Premier; in an interview with Elemental Magazine, Royce stated that, contrary to rumors, Premier would not be producing the entirety of his upcoming album, but will be overseeing the project as executive producer, handpicking all of the beats. Following The Bar Exam, Royce wrote the single for Diddy's album Press Play, "Tell Me". Following this, the producer expressed interest in signing the lyricist to Bad Boy. Nas has also stated that he would like to sign Royce to his Def Jam imprint, The Jones Experience. Neither of these deals, however, materialized.

In early 2008 Royce confirmed that he had officially resolved misunderstandings between himself and Eminem. He released The Bar Exam 2 with DJ Green Lantern later in the year, as well as a retail version of the mixtape The Album; the projects featured production from Green Lantern, 9th Wonder, DJ Premier and 6 July, among others. Later worked on his Premier-assisted retail release, Street Hop, the lead single of which was "Shake This", also produced by DJ Premier. The video to the song circulated the internet, and the project was released October 20, 2009.

Joe Budden collaborated with Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5′9″ and Nino Bless on a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on his digital release, Halfway House. Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a super group, minus Nino Bless, and named it after the first song they made together.[15] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, building a buzz for their self-titled album, which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.[16] The album features production from DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter and The Alchemist, plus guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K. Young and The New Royales. The group signed with Shady Records on January 12, 2011. On August 28, 2012 Slaughterhouse released their second studio album, Welcome to: Our House. As of November 23, 2012, it has sold 146,000 copies in the United States. In June 2013, the group began recording their second album with Shady Records. Super producer Just Blaze has been tapped to be Executive Producer of the project. The album was set to be released in 2016 but has since been delayed.

After Royce reconciled with Eminem, the duo started working again on new music and released the album Hell: The Sequel on June 14, 2011 with Eminem's label Shady Records. Two singles from the EP were released: "Fast Lane" and "Lighters" featuring Bruno Mars. This is considered Royce's biggest breakthrough into mainstream hip-hop as both singles received regular radio play. Also, many songs were featured on the soundtrack to the mega-hit comedy, The Hangover 2. The album would be certified Gold by the RIAA. Bad Meets Evil would reunite again for the albums "Shady XV" and "Southpaw", the soundtrack to the film of the same name.

In 2014, Royce da 5′9″ and DJ Premier announced that they would release a collaborative album as the duo PRhyme. In September 2014, Royce da 5′9″ and DJ Premier spoke about the album, saying: "I want people to appreciate the fact that we didn’t compromise in lieu of the environment. In order to try to change the way that people digest music, we had to take a leap of faith," says Royce. DJ Premier adds, "The bar has to be high. For this album to be another body of work and another chapter for both of our lives." Enlisting the music composing skills of Adrian Younge, DJ Premier went out of his comfort zone and sampled only Younge's music for the album's production. On November 24, 2015, PRhyme released the single "Highs & Lows" ft MF Doom and Phonte of Little Brother to promote their upcoming PRhyme Deluxe Edition release. On December 11, the deluxe edition was released which included the original PRhyme Album with four bonus songs featuring The Roots, Black Thought, Joey Bada$$ and Logic featured on an extended version of the song "Mode".

In May 2017, Royce confirmed on his Instagram account that he and DJ Premier are working on the sequel to their debut album, PRhyme 2. He released a set of videos with one in particular featuring DJ Premier scratching on the turntables and making a instrumental.

Months after the release of the deluxe version of PRhyme, Royce announced his sixth studio album Layers is slated to be released on April 15, 2016. He released the single "Tabernacle" to positive reception from fans and critics, and then released "Dead President Heads". On March 29, the free pre-album Trust The Shooter EP on the mixtape website Datpiff was released to positive critical consensus.

In July 2015, Royce collaborated with Lazarus and was featured on the single Underdog which was released under Russell Simmons' All Def Digital channel. The music video of the single was released in February 2016.

While in high school, Royce da 5′9″ was generally a good student in class. He recalls in an interview by saying, "In high school I would usually excel in class depending on the teacher, I will admit I did have a bit of attention issues but actually I was a well appreciated student." Royce has two sons, James and Trenton. He also has three daughters. He is a recovering alcoholic, being sober since September 11, 2012. One of the main reasons for his choice of sobriety was his son saying "I love my dad I think he's Superman but I don't really know him". Royce is also married. "I met my wife in Oak Park High School, we had Spanish class together. She was in the 10th grade and I was in the 9th grade. We didn’t become a couple until around 1995, when I was supposed to graduate."

Group Home is a hip hop duo, composed of members Lil' Dap and Melachi the Nutcracker. They came to prominence as members of the Gang Starr Foundation. Lil' Dap made his rhyming debut on Gang Starr's 1992 classic Daily Operation on the song "I'm the Man". Both members appeared on Gang Starr's critically acclaimed 1994 effort Hard to Earn, on the tracks "Speak Ya Clout" and "Words from the Nutcracker". In 1995, the group released its debut album, Livin' Proof. The album was very well received, mainly due to DJ Premier's advanced production work, described by Allmusic as "rhythmic masterpieces". A second album A Tear for the Ghetto was released in 1999, this time with only one track produced by DJ Premier.

Since then, little has been heard of the group. Lil' Dap released a solo single, "Brooklyn Zone", in 2001, and guested on several other releases. As of 2007, Lil' Dap is an independent artist, He released in 2008 solo album called I.A.Dap He was featured on Large Professor's 2008 album Main Source. Nas referred to Group Home on the track "Where are They Now?" from his album Hip Hop Is Dead. There were a few singles such as Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal a Tribute to Rap legend Guru from Gang Starr as well Code of Silence which appears on their new album “Group Home Forever” Forever is one of the best Hip Hop albums of 2017.

flight (Energy)

dres from black sheep featuring jaleel shaw

GROUP HOME - FOREVER

ROYCE da 5'9"

BOOK OF RYAN

KRS ONE - THE WORLD IS MIND

O.C. - SAME MOON SAME SUN

bang ya head

ruste juxx

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BLAC POET - THE MOST DANGEROUS

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SHOWBIZ & A.G. - TAKE IT BACK

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Mike Stoan Presents - In the Booth Part 2 - featuring: Righteous, Eliggah, PJ Lucid, King Kimbit, Sapphire Steamy and Lingo Starr

PLANET ASIA -VELOUR PORTRAITS

By Quincy Jones

O.C. is a member of the group D.I.T.C., who has been involved with several renowned underground hip hop groups: Crooklyn Dodgers '95, Luv NY, Perestroika. Omar was born in Brooklyn, and raised in the Bushwick section. O.C. cites legends like Kool G. Rap, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick as his main influences. In 1991, he made his recording debut on Organized Konfusion's "Fudge Pudge",. One year later he made an appearance on the remix of MC Serch's "Back to the Grill" (which also features a very young Nas) after meeting Serch on the inaugural Source tour. Following the tour, O.C. signed with Wild Pitch Records in 1994 where Serch was vice president. O.C. also met Lord Finesse and Buckwild on the first Source tour, marking his introduction to the D.I.T.C crew. After the tour he connected with Buckwild and started recording a demo that would become his debut album Word...Life.

By 1994, he finished the album Word...Life, which included everything from his demo, along with "Time's Up," the song that would go on to be his most notable single. "Time's up" was initially a record for Pharoahe Monch from Organized Konfusion. Beyond a quick outro from Prince Po, Word...Life does not have any guest appearances. This was not by design, however, as Nas was supposed to be on the album but never showed up to the studio for the recording session. The album was critically acclaimed and remains beloved in hip-hop circles.

In 1996, Credle appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine.

In 1997, O.C. signed to Pay Day Records, where he released his second album Jewelz, featuring collaborations with DJ Premier, Da Beatminerz and Freddie Foxxx. The single "Far From Yours" peaked at #81 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his highest charting single to date. By this time, he was a part of the underground hip hop act known as Diggin' in The Crates together with Lord Finesse, Fat Joe, Showbiz & A.G., Diamond D, Buckwild and Big L. In 2000 the crew released their self-titled debut album through Tommy Boy Records on which O.C. featured on the majority of the songs. In 1998, O.C. was featured on Pete Rock's "Respect Mine" from Pete Rock's 1998 solo debut album Soul Survivor.

The 2001 release of Bon Appetit was met with very mixed reviews; the negative accused O.C. of selling out with a polished, shining and toned-down sound. This was although Buckwild produced the large bulk of the album with the only help coming from Lord Finesse and Ahmed (pretty much the same formula that made Word...Life a success). After the disappointing release O.C. disappeared from the scene until 2005, when he released his fourth album with Grit Records; Starchild which only dropped as a very limited Japanese/European import and was met with great acclaim. Later that year, he signed with Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings and teamed up with Bronx-native producer Mike Loe, and dropped Smoke and Mirrors.

O.C. is also known for his feature on the Clockers soundtrack as part of the Crooklyn Dodgers, which also featured rappers Chubb Rock and Jeru the Damaja on the now classic DJ Premier produced "Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers". This is however the only time the group has ever collaborated.

O.C. collaborated with fellow D.I.T.C. member A.G. for an album entitled Oasis. The bulk of the album was produced by French beatsmith E-Blaze with additional tracks supplied by Lord Finesse, Statik Selektah and Showbiz who also acts as the executive producer of the album. May 2012 saw the release of a new collaborative album with Detroit-based producer Apollo Brown entitled Trophies on the Mello Music Group label. The first single was "Prove Me Wrong". The vinyl version of that album has also been repressed several times over. With Ray West in 2014 O.C. has curated a more laid back and purposefully smooth affair. Besides flowing freely from track-to-track with the help of atmospheric interludes, Ray’s Cafe is noticeably and gratifyingly short at nine tracks long as well. Ray's Cafe was released on Red Apples 45, a small label co-founded by A.G. and West. While the cover-art and some of the subject-matter place the listener squarely in a hazy Jazz cafe from the 1970s, most songs aren’t tethered to the idea too closely. O.C. joined D.I.T.C. for their 2016 release Sessions which was preceded by the lead single "Rock Shyt". O. C.’s new album Same Moon Same Sun is one of the best Hip Hop albums of 2017