“Ready or Not”
The Fugees

Here it is:

I don’t really know why I just like his style of singing I think he has a UK Trey Songz style of singing not to mention he’s easy on the eye!

Hope you all enjoy listening
Peace and Love to you all!

Ay of Leoa xx

The Fugees – Killing Me Softly

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”  ~Eric Hoffer,The Passionate State of Mind, 1954

The minute I saw this cover, I smiled.
If you know me, you know I love Biggie.
I’m so lucky to have been a tween and teenager during his heyday.
I remember when I first heard his voice and I’ll never forget when his hearse made a victory lap around Brooklyn.

Although my love affair with hip-hop has waned tremendously, deep inside I’m still that girl that’s looking for a beat to break ma neck.

After reading the article, I became nostalgic for the days of Yo! MTV raps and Rap City (BET). The days when I would get home from school and wait for the new videos so I could record them on VHS.
I continued reminiscing and came up with 32 songs that molded my hip-hop heart. I’m sure there are more but these are the ones that came to me pretty quickly. Looking over my list cracks me up. I would say 98% of my list is songs from the 90′s. Early 90′s hip hop = classic!
I’ve listed these in no particular order with the exception of the first song being my all time favorite.

(*** song is one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time)

Playlist found here.

Heeeeere we go…

1. T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You) – Pete Rock & CL Smooth***
Sick beat with insightful lyrics. This one made Rolling Stones’ list as one of the all time best hip hop songs and to this day, 22 years later, very few songs can touch this one. From the very first note off those horns, you’re transported to when rappers actually had something to say. All time favorite!

2. Shook Ones, Part II – Mobb Deep***
A very close second favorite song of all time. I can remember rapping along with Prodigy but changing the lyric to match my age “I’m only 14 but my mind is older”. Crazy that I’m still rapping word for word 19 years later. This beat has to be one of the most infamous (pun intended). Mariah Carey, Jordan Knight, and more have sampled it. Never gets old (and yes, Rolling Stone agrees with me).

3. Let Me Ride – Dr. Dre
Back in the early 90′s there was that whole East Coast/West Coast thing. While I definitely loved the boom-bap of the East, the West had many songs that mesmorized me and this was one of them.

4. U.N.I.T.Y. – Queen Latifah
I was only 12/13 but I remember getting riled up with the Queen when this one was released. How dare guys disrespect us?! Girl Power before the phrase was coined. Queen Latifah has done so many amazing things in the entertainment field, but she’ll always be the fierce female rapper in my eyes.

5. Keep Ya Head Up – Tupac
Tupac was a man of many different personas but the man of the insightful lyrics, the man that lifted up his community, the man with the eloquent voice is the man that I choose to be a fan of. One of hip-hop’s greatest poets.

6. It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock***
I was 7 years old when this came out. I still remember sitting on my grandmother’s stoop and silently jamming out to this since this music wasn’t allowed in her house. Thank God for neighbors that blast their music.

7. Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets
I thought Ladybug was the coolest woman on the planet. This came out when everyone was doing the jazzy beats but this song really honored the jazz traditions. Their rapping was almost like scatting. I loved this one. Still gets me dancing.

8. Notorious Thugs – Notorious B.I.G feat. Bone Thugs N Harmony
This blew my mind. Biggie flowing like Bone?! Insane! Lyrics are stupid (drugs, guns, etc) but this has to be one of my fav Biggie beats. I played this song on a loop in my room. Who knew this would be his last album?

9. Bring the Pain, Method Man
I think Meth was the man that defined swagger before it was this pop culture thing. You’re in a crew that’s 50 deep yet your flow, your mannerisms, and your character cause you to steal the spotlight. That’s swag! Little 14/15 year old me LOVED Method Man. I hated this video because of the crazy contacts (done years before Gaga) but this one was pure fire.

10. Dead Presidents, Part II – Jay-Z
I got Reasonable Doubt for my 16th birthday. I remember buying this CD with my then boyfriend and he asked me why I would choose this new guy’s CD over Nas’ It Was Written. I told him that I really liked Dead Presidents and there’s something about this guy that I really liked. Here we are so many years later and I think everyone in the world knows Mr. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. This isn’t the best track off Reasonable Doubt but it’s the one that introduced me to one of the greatest.

11. If I Ruled the World – Nas feat. Lauryn Hill
I ended up getting It Was Written from another friend at my Sweet 16 and no question, this song is one of the stand outs. Take Nas’ lyrics, the Friends sample, and Lauryn’s beautiful voice and you have a hip hop masterpiece. This song was HUGE the summer of ’96.

12. You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo – Yo-Yo
Before U.N.I.T.Y., there was Yo-yo telling men that you couldn’t play her out. This was my musical introduction to female empowerment. I wish you could have seen me rapping along and dancing to this. I was 10/11 years old telling imaginary men off. Actually, I don’t wish you could have seen that. LOL! Still love this one.

13. Runnin’ – Pharcyde
I can still picture myself jamming to this on the school bus. Runnin’ was my favorite for a very long time. Loved what the guys were saying. Still holds one of my all time favorite lyrics, “I let the bullshit blow in the breeze…”

14. Can It Be All So Simple – Wu-Tang Clan
Many don’t know, and I even forgot, that I was a massive Wu-Tang fan. Those boys from the Island were innovators. I didn’t relate to what they were saying but they were different, confident, and crazy. This track showed that even “grimy” men can yearn for better.

15. Venus vs. Mars – Jay-Z
This song proves that the elder statesman of hip-hop can still rap circles around any of these younguns. Love the wordplay and the story he tells. One of my favs off The Blueprint 3.

16. I Get Around – Tupac
Tweleve years old and I’m rapping along “trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents”. My naive mind thought it was about being a good financial planner and making your money last. Little did I know….LOL! I must admit that now I don’t appreciate the misogynistic lyrics but, if I’m being honest, this was my JAM back in the day. To this day, I still (mentally) hear Pac saying “put a little twist in her hips cause I’m watching” whenever I’m wearing heels. LOL!!

17. Mic Check – Aceyalone
Back when this came out, hip-hop lines were clearly drawn. You had the drum driven “East Coast” and the “gangster rap” of the “West Coast”. This guy from LA, that was so not “gangster”, saying witticisms with a laidback flow blew me away. It really opened my eyes that rap was not what the media was presenting to me. Aceyalone was totally different and I loved him.

18. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik – OutKast
Another taste of something new. Like I said before, the lines were clearly drawn and OutKast didn’t fit anywhere in those lines. They were actually booed at The Source Awards. Ridiculous because I loved these guys. Their groove and their flow were like butter. Smooth. And yes, I did do the Butterfly to this song like the girls in the video.

19. Juicy – The Notorious B.I.G.***
Juicy is as relevant and important today as it was back then. I still remember the first time I heard this song. I was at a house party and all the boys started rapping right along with Big when he said “Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke, man, I couldn’t picture this”. This is definitely one of the greatest and one of my all time favorites.

20. Fugeela – Fugees
I spent 1995 Christmas break in New York. When I came back home, I was singing the hook (Ooh, la la la is the way that we rock when we doing our thing) and no one knew what the heck I was talking about. Finally, a month later it came out. Then everyone knew why I couldn’t stop singing this one. Lauryn murders this and the video is awesome. Classic!

21. It Ain’t Hard to Tell – Nas
I first loved this one for the Human Nature sample. But the more I heard it, the more I loved this kid’s voice and the way he flowed over the beat. Who knew Nas would become one of the smartest lyricists ever.

22. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
Even if you had no ties to NY, you fell in love with this song. Empire State of Mind honors the city and its people in such a timeless way. Like Frank’s song, this one will become synonymous with the greatest city in the world. Makes me love NY a little more with each listen.

23. Electric Relaxation – A Tribe Called Quest
Another all time favorite. Like Tip says, this is one of the best examples of street poetry. A jazzy cool vibe for a more chilled out mode. Tribe introduced me to my favorite kind of music – midtempo, moody, and cool. Still hot after so many years.

24. The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World – Keith Murray
To me, this song signifies my high school years. It’s hip-hop melancholy. It’s my teen years, my love affair with rap, and more wrapped up in 3 minutes. Definitely has a special place in my heart.

25. Thieves in the Night – Blackstar
The Blackstar album was a breath of fresh air, a shot of adrenaline. At this point, I was already getting bored with commercialized rap. Out of nowhere, these 2 MC’s from Brooklyn demanded attention with incredible production and even better lyrics. They were intelligent, funny, and confident. It was music to my ears, literally. Still one of my all time favorite albums.

26. Sky’s The Limit – The Notorious B.I.G.
I see this song as Juicy’s companion. Juicy spoke about the struggle while Sky’s the Limit celebrates his arrival and encourages others through their struggle. A truly positive outlook to the future before he was taken.

27. Nuthin’ But a G Thang – Dr. Dre feat Snoop Dogg***
I would not be a child of the 90′s if I didn’t include this one. I would have to turn in my birth certificate and live in a cave. LOL! One of the best! This is truly a hip-hop classic.

28. Speed Law – Mos Def
You know I was all over Mos Def’s first solo effort after Blackstar. While everyone was all about Ms. Fat Booty (I do like that one but…), I was in love with Speed Law. This song sounds better than most crappy rappy on the radio and it’s 14 years old!

29. Flava In Your Ear (Remix) – Craig Mack feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Rampage, LL Cool J, and Busta Rhymes***
When I first heard those bottles clicking I knew I was in for something different. This remix was an insane collaboration with many fierce MCs all trying to one up each other. The result is pure hip-hop fire!

30. So Many Tears – Tupac
Even if you don’t love hip-hop, you have to acknowledge Pac’s beautiful honesty in this song. Everything about this song breaks your heart. From his lyrics, the midtempo beat, to Stevie Wonder’s harmonica. It’s moments like this that remind me of Pac’s intelligence. Another that was taken before he was able to get through his valley.

31. I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By (Remix) – Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige
One of the all time best hip-hop/R&B collaborations ever. (Won the Grammy in 1996.) My man, Meth, and my all time favorite singer, Mary. It’s like a hip-hop love letter. So good!

32. 93 til Infinity – Souls of Mischief
93 til Infinity heralds an East Oakland crew of witty MCs, with very different flows, rhyming over a ridiculously unique beat. I loved this one back then simply because each time I heard it, I smiled…and I still do.

This is how [I] chill, from ’93 til…

Here are Tupac and Snoop in the top of the Empire State Building. This is a fragment of my small tribute to the old school rap.

The Brothers

Courtesy of Getglue

I have to admit the first time I saw the poster for this film in the theaters, I wondered what the film would be about because I could think about was the Fugees song. Brad Pitt stars in this Neo-noir crime drama as a hitman for hire who has to track down three guys that just recently pulled off a robbery at a card game. Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta)is the proprietor of an illegal gambling ring in New Orleans. Markie was a bad boy for the fact that he had a robbery planned for the game the first time he was in control of it. So, Squirrel (Vincent Curatola) gets wind and he decides to pull off a heist hoping that it’ll get blamed on Markie. So, he hires two guys, one is an Aussie junkie (Ben Mendelsohn) and the other is a former business associate named Frankie (Scoot McNairy). They manage to pull off the heist, but the junkie is so high that he blabbers everything to a guy close to Pitt’s character. So, the journey begins as people get hired, they don’t end up doing the job, and Pitt has to play clean up.

The film has a very dark tone to it as it matches the grittiness of the streets of NOLA. The acting is terrific from all parties as the film also features James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Vincent Curatola (The Sopranos), Max Casella (The Sopranos), Slaine (The Town), and Sam Sheppard (Black Hawk Down) to name a few. Instead of a steady soundtrack, the film used tons of soundbites of Barrack Obama and George W. Bush giving speeches before Barrack became president. It’s fitting though considering a brilliant line from Pitt toward the end of the movie. He is in the bar going to collect his money when he overhears Obama saying that we are one nation and one people. Pitt’s character strongly disagrees with what Obama is saying and he tells a story of Thomas Jefferson’s one people created equally speech and how it’s a bunch of BS. He says at the end that we are not untied because we are America and it’s a business “so fuckin pay me.” I thought that was brilliant on the part of the writers of the film. One of my favorite scenes in the film is the slow motion kill scene, I thought that was really cool. I felt that the movie was pretty good, it’s not Brad’s best film ever, but his acting grab’s your attention. I give the film a B, check it out.

Our RATING outa 5

VIDEO: 5
FLOW: 5
BEAT: 5

We really appreciate real music that inspires thought and emotion..ROCK WIT IT

2. Lebanon P.A. Soundtrack
Matt Pond writes and performanced much of the soundtrack to this little pleasant and thoughtful indie. The soundtrack gives this movie a sailing emotional depth. “Ante Song” is my favorite, along with “Someone’s Daughter”. Ante gives the film’s final scene a lush quality.
“Someone’s Daughter” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmDefMSUJ94
(find “Ante Song” on Spotify!)

3. Rainer Marie Rile and “Letters to a Young Poet”
Pretty much all the advice a creative soul needs to fully live. Endlessly quotable.

Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.
Rainer Maria Rilke

I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.
Rainer Maria Rilke

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

“It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed: it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope. But only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical will live the relation to another as something alive.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

4. Allison Krauss and Robert Plant Pandora channel
BLUEGRASS! and random flights into groups like Mazzy Star. Cool.

5. TUMBLR
This year i discovered the mystical world of Tumblr. I found a world that understands that characters can be beautiful and its okay to get a little obsessed! Its okay to go down with your ship! And all attractive people are unbelievable stupid idiots. I cant even. ASHKBFKDSABFHSDKVSD.
shireens.tumblr.com
hintretro.tumblr.com
etc!

6. Nashville
Fav new show on TV. A great sudsy drama with gorgeous country/bluegrass music, romance, and intrigue.
heart hitting scene with the song “No One Will Ever Love You” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk4TRWHh3Ws

7. Five season of Mad Men
Damn, its still got it. Lane Pryce will break your heart. Don with still intrigue you. This show remains authentic and never ever predictable. Best show on television? Its consistency makes it stand apart.

8. The Fugees
I dont listen to a variety of music. So I’m trying. The album The Score is my brilliant favorite.
sample of greatness, “Ready or Not” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePMM28uGIjI
full album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z13jjkXENoY

9. Clapping At The End of Movies
Something so joyous, wholesome, appreciative, and communal about the pointless but enjoyable decision made by moviewatchers…fuck it! I’m clapping at the end of this movie!

10. John Mulaney’s comedic story “Best Meal I Ever Had”
The most hilarious, delightful, and unique bit of stand up I’ve heard for awhile! (its not really about food)

11. A ridiculous year in cinema
Damn what a outstanding collection of films this year. I know yall want them Oscars so it makes sense to release them ALL AT THE DAMN SAME TIME, but couldn’t you have spread these films over the year? I can’t watch eight good movies in a month! Perks of Being A Wallflower, Skyfall, Argo, Lincoln were the ones I saw. Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, etc were missed. overwhelmingly great year in film.

12. Perks of Being A Wallflower
Transcendent and pure. This film will go down through the years and be remembered tenderly and exurbertantly. Gosh, I already did a review of it.

13. The Health NPR Blog Shots
A Concise, informative, fascinating blog that constantly invigorates my interest in the health field.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/

14. Albert Brooks circa “Broadcast News”
Ohhh what a hunk of smarty man. Forget William Hurt you pretty boy. Albert has chest hair. What is this?!?!?!

15. Michelle Dockery
I have a huge crush on her. She is so beautiful and regal and perfect. The only one more perfect that Mary Crawley is Michelle Dockery.
As Javerts nicely tags, everyone else can go home http://javerts.tumblr.com/tagged/michelle-dockery

http://clawsandfangs.tumblr.com/tagged/michelle-dockery

16. The Hour returns
The Hour, an atmospheric chilling mysterious BBC drama set in the TV newsroom of the fifties. Preferred the first season overall, but second season had its enlightened additions, particularly Peter Capaldi, completely tranformed from his acidic cursing monster in In the Loop. MORE BEN WHISHAW AS WELL.

17. In My Own Country
A memoir that is a personal, touching, human drama written by an Indian doctor (grew up in Ethiopia, working in America), facing the AIDs epidemic in a small Tennessee town in the eighties that he comes to see as a home. Harrowing.

18. Travelling the Countryside of Scotland
The Isle of May and Highlands were pretty much the most lush majestic places I’ve ever seen. Magical life experiences.

19. Key and Peele
WATCH THEM ALL. These guys are varied, clever, incisive, silly, and really weird.

20. Kate McGill
I had a few weeks when I only listened to this girl. A ridiculously talented non industry youtube singer-songwriter. Lovely voice!

21. Jason Mraz concert
I think it was a combination of Jason Mraz being born for live performance and the concert being filmed by Fuse tv, but this was the best concert of my life. The effects, the rambunctious band (THE HORNS oh the horns), and Mraz’s voice beautiful and personal. What a fabulous musician and man, with a fabulous crew giving a fab concert.

22. These random stills from Blade Runner

http://wednesdaydreams.tumblr.com/post/34965481538/more-human-than-human-is-our-motto

23. Brain Pickings Newsletter
Great place to feed your philosophical creative soul. To think for a few moments a day outside the humdrum.

http://www.brainpickings.org/

24. New Socks
Best Gift Ever. For me anyway. I am wearing grey socks with red polka dots and they make me feel happy.

25. NPR.org
The news website for real human news.

26. Farscape
Throwback Sci-Fi! Weird and cheesy and then randomly very very good. Abed knows whats up with Farscape.
Abed discusses the joys of Farscape with a guy hitting on him LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z7GyFhjd9o

27. Finally understanding why Fringe is great
For me, Fringe has always been interesting. I never understood why it was so great though. Maybe because I had only seen teh first season. Then I started obsessively watching it. At first it almost seemed like a sci-fi procedural, but the turning point of greatness for me was the episode “August”, S2E8. I was moved and in awe. Then I felt it was becoming moving and beautiful and grand. And once the alternate universe came into the picture with alternate Olivia, forget, I watched like eight episodes in one day. I could not stop.
MAJOR SPOILER END SCENE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8Da3lrC2w

28. My family and I being winos over my holiday break.
YES.

EDIT!

HOW THE F DID I FORGET TWO AMAZING THINGS. I dedicated full entries to these fools! (check them out!)
29. The Newsroom…so excited for the next season, whih I suspect will be even better. This is about to go from very good to great.
30. Bright Star…ethereal, lovely, heart soars and eyes burn kind of film.

I truly enjoyed this really open and laidback interview with Amplify Dot. She has an eclectic creative mind as well as a mature assured vibe in her musical journey. Her talent and personality are infectious and it’s easy to see why a major label like Virgin Records/EMI were happy to snap her up on their roster. As we had such a lovely chat which touched on various topics and surprising musical influences, I had to post the full unedited version to give you a more well-rounded view of A.Dot! A wonderfully attractive artist with a bright future! Enjoy! – Kamran Assadi

What made you get into music?
I was just a music fan first. I’ve been a music fan from really young. And I used to just copy everyone that I liked like Salt N Pepa, Left Eye, Missy (Elliott) – I used to channel them in the mirror and mimic what they did. And as I got older, I realised that I wanted to actually do my own versions of everybody that I was copying, and not just be in the mirror putting on an American accent. Yeah I just started to find my own voice. So yeah as I said, music fan first. Love music so much and then thought “I wanna be doing this”.

Who inspired you whilst growing up?
Growing up, I listened to a lot of Lauryn Hill and The Fugees. Before that, before the whole Lauryn Hill “phase”, I listened to a lot of Salt N Pepa. Salt N Pepa were one of the first rap groups I ever really listened to, and I listened to that when I was five. My uncle has a VHS and there was a Salt N Pepa video, and when he used to babysit me, that was his version of babysitting me like I will just put on the video and make her sit and watch it. But by the time I was six, you know when you learn all the words to a movie, when I was six, I knew all the words to Salt N Pepa songs. So they were a massive influence on me. But yeah Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, even a lot of reggae music I listen to – Gregory Issacs and Freddie McGregor, all kinds of genres really. In my household, it was a lot of music, a lot of vinyl, I broke a lot of needles and got licks for it. But all kinds of music growing up back to reggae. Even The Carpenters, I rate the Carpenters.

Which artists do you look up to?
I don’t think I’ve ever looked at anybody in terms of “Can I be like them?”, but in terms of wordplay, Eminem. I was listening to Eminem when I was definitely too young to be listening to Eminem. Like The Slim Shady LP, I think I was about ten so I was really young to be listening to it. But even from listening to something like that, it was a different level of wordplay. I think he’s got storytelling and comedy on smash and not a lot of people can do it. In terms of wordplay, Eminem and Jay-Z are on top for me.

What inspires your creativity?
I’m inspired by all kinds of things. My music touches on a lot of different things. I hate repetitive music or you know MCs where you know they’re gonna be talking about their chains or bad bitches on a song. So I try to find inspiration in everything just to keep the topics as broad as possible.

What does success mean to you?
Success for me will be… what I really want is to have that seminal breakthrough album, that album that will stand the test of time. That’s what success is to me. When you’ve got that musically, that album that goes down as a masterpiece for you like Lauryn Hill had with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill or Dizzee (Rascal) had with Boy In Da Corner. That album that stands the test of time and no matter how much music you release, if you release eight albums, that album that stood the test of time, that you’ll always remember and be known for. I’d love to have an album like that. Then I will feel like I’ve been successful.

How did it feel to sign to Virgin Records/EMI as a creative artist?
It was crazy! I’ve done music independently for quite a few years and I’m talking getting up, going to work doing a 9-5, 5pm go to studio, work through the night, and then go to work the next day and it’s really hard when you’re trying to, because a lot of people they do the music thing but realistically “are you getting paid off it?”. You’re kind of doing it, kind of plodding along, you’re getting money from shows and you’re doing it for the love of it but it’s not really a viable career choice when you’re really doing it underground. You’re doing it for the love of it, a lot of people don’t care to admit that but it comes down to “really though, is it paying your bills?”. So once I got a deal, it was like “wow this is my career” and that’s what was amazing to me. I don’t have to do these jobs no more. I’ve worked in Waitrose, I’ve worked in JD Sports, it’s like I don’t have to do that – my love is my job. What I love is what’s gonna pay my bills. And that was the most amazing thing. That side of things like I could actually say this is more than a hobby and it’s the most amazing feeling to get paid to do what you love. And when you’re independent, everything is on you – with the video, you need to work out how you’re gonna fund that video. Then you gotta get someone to shoot that video. Then if you want to promote it, you gotta promote it yourself. If you gotta press up CDs, you gotta press up CDs. You’ve gotta find artwork. When you’re independent, you’re your A&R or essentially your own manager, your own radio plugger, your own street team, you are the one-man band. No matter how many people you have helping you, when you’re underground – nobody is going to have the same passion about you that you have. So when you get a major label that says you know what, the passion you have about you do, we want to help you achieve your vision – it’s a crazy feeling, it’s still sinking in.

Tell us about current single Get Down?
Get Down isn’t really a single, it’s more a present to the fans and supporters. It’s free, it’s a free download as part of the Spare Parts mixtape. So I wouldn’t call it a single but it’s the first thing I’ve done in a while, it’s the first thing I’ve done since being signed. I think it’s the first proper music video I’ve put out this year, so I just wanted to remind people that I’m here. When you work on an album, you shut yourself away in the studio and you’re just constantly trying to make the best music – you live in this music-making bubble about the outside world. Even though your fans do accept that you are working to give them something, you do need to just keep that relationship going by saying you know what, here’s something.

What inspired the title and concept of your mixtape Spare Parts?
It was inspired by it being a collection of songs that didn’t make the first cut on the album. I’m quite deep into the album, I’m more than halfway in terms of tracks that have definitely made it. So we did a first cut, we sat down with the label every few weeks with music that I’d been recording, and they would say these are great songs but in terms of the other songs we have, these songs are right up here. These songs are probably better than anything I’ve done before but not where I’m gonna be when I’m putting the album out because I know how much strong material we’ve got, so these songs were the ones that weren’t album quality but they were songs that I didn’t want to just be unheard. Otherwise they would have been missing songs that no one would have never known about and you put a part of yourself in every song that you do, so effectively those twelve songs would have been twelve parts of me that I just would have lost forever. So I said to the label “Look, can I put a little free mixtape out? These are songs that you’ve got no use for. I’m not gonna do anything with them. I’m in the middle of recording an album, nothing’s going to happen with these songs. Instead of wasting them, can I give them out as a little thank you to my supporters who have helped me get to this point where I’m able to make an album?” And they were all for it. So yeah Spare Parts is exactly that, they’re the spare parts.

What can we expect from your major label debut?
Hopefully from listening to my mixtape, people will realise that by signing a major label deal didn’t make me do this complete 180 on my sound, it’s still very much the A.Dot that people have been listening to, I think now it’s just more polished, a more polished version of me. The production values just go up on everything. The videos are sicker, the producers you’re working with are sicker, but what I like is that I’m not changing who I am – it’s still going to be the same me but the context of it is going to change so I’m really looking forward to that. I’m really looking forward to not turning round and making pop music because a lot of people kinda go that way, they go and they make pop music – I wanna make my music popular and I’m hoping that’s what next year brings for me.

Which collaboration are you most proud of?
On a personal level, I’ve done a lot of collaborations. I’ve worked with pretty much all the other female MCs in the game in some form or another. I’ve worked with Kano, I’ve worked with Ms Dynamite, but I think for me the biggest personal achievement was – and it’s tough because Ms Dynamite and Kano were massive for me growing up so to be in a studio with people I used to watch on TV is crazy – but for me, my song with Gyptian from my first mixtape is special to me because one, we recorded it in Jamaica and it was nice to do something with a reggae artist I loved, and what I liked about that song is that it’s the only song that I can let my grandma listen to. Everything else is like I’d have to cover her ears for the whole song but that song is a song that all my family love, and it’s a reggae song with a reggae artist that I love. The only rapper that Gyptian had worked with before me was Nicki Minaj, so to be able to do that song with Gyptian when I was an unsigned artist coming through, it was a big moment for me. And to do it in Jamaica, it was just surreal. That was for me, my favourite collaboration but they’ve all been a pleasure.

Who would you love to collaborate with?
Loads of people I’d love to collaborate with. I’d love to work with Jay-Z one day. Lauryn Hill is just someone I just love, I’d love to work with someone like her, just timeless. Producer-wise, I’d love to work with Timbaland. I think he’s my favourite producer of all-time, so artists aside, he’s someone that I’d love to work with or get a chance to.

What has been your biggest achievement?
I think it would have to be signing my deal, it would have to be my biggest achievement. It’s something that, as an emerging artist, you kind of dream of and you think one day it could happen but in reality, you never think I’m gonna get signed one day. In reality, you think that the chances of it happening are like the lottery, because there’s so many artists, so many amazing artists. So to be almost picked out of this pond of amazing fish is an amazing feeling. So I think that’s my biggest achievement to date and will be the start of more achievements. Fingers crossed!

Which track was your favourite to record and write?
I’ve recorded so many, but I had so much fun recording Semantics featuring Kano and for a lot of people, it was the first thing that they’d seen me do. They’d seen me do things like Game Over – Female Takeover but this was the first time, it was like ok this is her song, her video. It’s kind of like for me, Semantics is one of my classic songs now. Like if I do a set, no matter how many things I’ve done since then, Semantics is what the people wanna hear and what people remember. It’s a sick beat, it’s a beat I made with, my best friend made the beat, a guy called Shay, so it was really personal, just a really nice moment for me because it was very early on and to get Kano on top of that, what more can you ask for.

What artists are you into currently?
I listen to a lot of Soul music. When you’re in the studio and you hear Rap beats all day, it’s nice when you can go home to take yourself away. So I listen to a singer named Jhene Aiko who I love, Miguel, Frank Ocean, I like stuff that I can just go to another place with. And that’s why I don’t listen to as much rap as everybody thinks. As much as I love it and love making it, in my own zone I like to just go to some place completely different.

Any other creative projects lined up?
Well, I have my clothing line that I started before I signed my deal called Quiffheads and it was t-shirts and jumpers, and it was one of the things that the label really liked which was the merchandise side of it. I’ve actually been working behind the scenes with the label now on a little rebrand of Quiffheads and we got a new logo that we’ve been looking through designs and stuff. That’s going to be an equally exciting thing for me next year is the Quiffheads clothing line. Yeah and EMI developed Disturbing London (Tinie Tempah’s clothing line) clothing side of things with Tinie so the fact that they’ve done that makes me excited about what they can do with Quiffheads.

What advice would you give to budding artists?
The best advice that I can give – which is the same advice that Ms Dynamite gave me – which was always be you. Don’t look at it like in order to be successful you have to do what this person’s doing or this sound is working for that person, I’m gonna try and emulate that sound. And you hear so much copycat music these days like if something does well, people just suddenly think I’m just gonna try and do that. And I think the best thing you can do, whether you’re starting out or have been doing it for years and are just trying to make a breakthrough is to keep doing you. It’s better really to fail being you than to be someone else.

Questions and Interview conducted by Kamran Assadi
Words by Amplify Dot

During an interview at radio show Big Boy In The Neighborhood, Clef stated, “I’m sure he definitely blame me. And if you go back to the old articles one time, you know where Pras was like, ”Clef is the cancer of the Fugees.’ You remember when he said that? At the time, you’ve gotta understand his frustration though. It was more like, I really wanted this thing to work and you shouldn’t have messed with the girl. Matter of fact, didn’t I warn you about messing with the girl?’”

Wyclef did take responsibility for the rammifications of his actions. “”Now, as a man and looking back, definitely take blame in the sense of having fell for Lauryn at the time. It was important that I explained it in the sense of vulnerability, meaning not as ‘feel sorry for me’ type of dude but as human beings,” he explained.  “At times, we lust and for me, it was not even lust at that time because it was spending too much time anyway. In the book, I describe at that time, it was more of a muse type of relationship.”

Listen to the candid interview below.

[ione_embed src=http://www.youtube.com/embed/C2oZrZBUtRw service=youtube width=560 height=315 type=iframe]
Source

READ MORE HOT MUSIC COVERAGE AT THEURBANDAILY.COM:

Fat Joe Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

Irv Gotti Joining Lyor Cohen Managent Firm [RUMOR]

Gucci Mane Warned To Cancel Concert Or Die

[ione_media_gallery id="598082" src="http://theurbandaily.com"]
 

During an interview at radio show Big Boy In The Neighborhood, Clef stated, “I’m sure he definitely blame me. And if you go back to the old articles one time, you know where Pras was like, ”Clef is the cancer of the Fugees.’ You remember when he said that? At the time, you’ve gotta understand his frustration though. It was more like, I really wanted this thing to work and you shouldn’t have messed with the girl. Matter of fact, didn’t I warn you about messing with the girl?’”

Wyclef did take responsibility for the rammifications of his actions. “”Now, as a man and looking back, definitely take blame in the sense of having fell for Lauryn at the time. It was important that I explained it in the sense of vulnerability, meaning not as ‘feel sorry for me’ type of dude but as human beings,” he explained.  “At times, we lust and for me, it was not even lust at that time because it was spending too much time anyway. In the book, I describe at that time, it was more of a muse type of relationship.”

Listen to the candid interview below.

[ione_embed src=http://www.youtube.com/embed/C2oZrZBUtRw service=youtube width=560 height=315 type=iframe]
Source

READ MORE HOT MUSIC COVERAGE AT THEURBANDAILY.COM:

Fat Joe Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

Irv Gotti Joining Lyor Cohen Managent Firm [RUMOR]

Gucci Mane Warned To Cancel Concert Or Die

[ione_media_gallery id="598082" src="http://theurbandaily.com"]
 

During an interview at radio show Big Boy In The Neighborhood, Clef stated, “I’m sure he definitely blame me. And if you go back to the old articles one time, you know where Pras was like, ”Clef is the cancer of the Fugees.’ You remember when he said that? At the time, you’ve gotta understand his frustration though. It was more like, I really wanted this thing to work and you shouldn’t have messed with the girl. Matter of fact, didn’t I warn you about messing with the girl?’”

Wyclef did take responsibility for the rammifications of his actions. “”Now, as a man and looking back, definitely take blame in the sense of having fell for Lauryn at the time. It was important that I explained it in the sense of vulnerability, meaning not as ‘feel sorry for me’ type of dude but as human beings,” he explained.  “At times, we lust and for me, it was not even lust at that time because it was spending too much time anyway. In the book, I describe at that time, it was more of a muse type of relationship.”

Listen to the candid interview below.

[ione_embed src=http://www.youtube.com/embed/C2oZrZBUtRw service=youtube width=560 height=315 type=iframe]
Source

READ MORE HOT MUSIC COVERAGE AT THEURBANDAILY.COM:

Fat Joe Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

Irv Gotti Joining Lyor Cohen Managent Firm [RUMOR]

Gucci Mane Warned To Cancel Concert Or Die

[ione_media_gallery id="598082" src="http://theurbandaily.com"]
 

90′s love from the Fugees.

@MsLaurynHill  @john_forte  @wyclef  Pras

1. 50 Cent loses Best New Artist to Evanesence in 2004:

You know a snub is bad when a relatively unknown Kanye West said you were robbed in a category that he wasn’t even nominated in at the time. There might never be a debut in music history like Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson had in 2003. After his milestone debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin, went 6x times platinum, his single “In Da Club” broke the most-listened to song in radio history billboard record in a week, and his G-Unit records launched the successful careers of his G-Unit soldiers, 50 thought it was pretty safe to assume that he had 2004’s Best New Artist reward in the bag. So when he walked off the stage with his head low after realizing the rock band Evanescense had won the award, it was pretty safe to say that the Grammys had taught 50 and the music world their own lessons on “How To Rob”.

2. Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” loses Song of the Year to John Mayer’s “Daughters” in 2005:

It was a hit. It was a classic. And it was about Jesus. “Jesus Walks” wasn’t exactly Christian rap, but it seemed like it could have parted the Red Sea with the way it blessed airwaves and walked on top of charts in 2004. West’s reverse psychology of having people question why Jesus was such a taboo subject in mainstream Hip-Hop launched his career as musical artist who only needed to praise God to get G points. The Grammys committed an unforgivable sin when they gave John Mayer’s “Daughters” the Song of the Year award over “Jesus Walks”, but Mayer would make amends by working with Kanye on Common’s erotic track, “Go”. Now there’s some Common Ground.

3. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” loses Record of the Year to Coldplay’s “Clocks” in 2004:

If you had one shot. Or one opportunity. To seize all the credibility you ever wanted. In one moment. Would you capture? Or just let it slip…like the Grammys did when they snubbed Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” for Coldplay’s “Clocks” in 2004? Slim Shady’s multi-syllabic ode to the MC’s struggle with failure, fame, and frustration proved to strike a chord with anyone who struggled to pursue a dream, since it broke the Guinness World Record for the longest run at number one for a rap song. Even the Oscars awarded Mr. Mathers for Best Original Song that year. Too bad the Grammys slept on Em like he slept while his name was being called to receive his Oscar.

4. Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter lll loses Album of the Year to Robert Plant and Alison Krause’s Raising Sand 2009:

Robert and Alison who??? Hate it or love it, there was not a more influential album than Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter lll in 2009. After selling “Amilli” in its first week, the album went on to become the best selling album of 2009, even after it leaked a week before it dropped. Sure, Wayne’s appeal to mainstream had him taking some unrewarding risk on “Lollipop” and “Get Money”, but putting out “Amilli”, a musically simple but ravenous word-play exercise, challenged even the most lyrically lazy rappers to try their best to “go in”.

5. The Fugees’ The Score loses Album of the Year to Celine Dion’s Falling Into You in 1997:

Creating a classic by covering another artist’s song is almost like trying to take credit for a project that your best friend, did but when you have a musical genius like Wyclef Jean and soulful lyricist like Lauryn Hill remaking your song, it is more like a privilege. Laced with laid-back lyrics about social issues that were uplifted by hopeful, Reggae undertones, The Score still remains as one of the most influential albums in any genre. Wyclef, Pras, and Lauryn definitely looked like refugees in a strange land at the 1997 Grammys, but Ms. Hill would return two years later to settle The Score with her masterpiece, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.