Str8NYC’s own VivaSkool & Lucas were in the building last night at SOB’s for Pac DIV x Killer Mike x Young Dro x Dee-1. It was such an amazing night for Hip-Hop.  Each emcee brought an essence of raw energy, superb street intelligent and highly conscious lyricism blended neatly over heavy bass lines that controlled the impulses and energy of an eclectic crowd of New Yorkers.  First to blaze the stage unexpectedly was the newly signed Mayback Music Group label mates Wale and Meek Mills with rhyme-heavy lyrical delivery performing street bangers like Tupac Back, I’m A Boss, 600 Benz, Moment For Life freestlye and 100 Hunnit.  One of my favorite lines from Meek Mill in his blabbery flow on the 100 Hunnit track is: ‘Get your money back, fire all your artistes/we’re burning everything, they label us arsonists.‘  Undeniably these artists have bars on bars on bars on bars, so it is apparent why Rick Ross made one of the most strategic moves by signing these artists to build the bulk of his label.

Next up was Dee-1 who represents a new breed of New Orleans rappers with his sultry southern drawl, swagger like Weezy, and conscious lyrics comparable to that of Common and Lupe Fiasco. Yes, you read that correctly. As many of you know, New York has to be one of the toughest crowds to rock hands down, especially for Southern acts.  We all remember what happened to one of my favorite artists Big K.R.I.T when New Yorkers boo’ed him onstage last year. (-_-) When Dee-1 first began performing the crowd was non-responsive and pretty tough to crack, but by the 2^nd song he switched up his style and demanded their attention and respect. He was able to capture the crowd so much by the end he performed a non-traditional concert song entitled ‘Jay, 50, and Weezy’ off his I hope They Hear Me Vol 2 Mixtape. At that point everyone was vibin’ to the well-written and stylistic lyrics that demanded artists in positions of power to take more responsibility to ignite social and political change, and to bring Hip-Hop back to its roots. He demanded that ‘Every rapper lose they deal and earn it back,’ and I FEEL him. After the show I was able to chat with Dee-1 and he was ecstatic that he was able to do his thing. Real kind dude.

Killer Mike was the next act to hit the stage at full speed with the energy and momentum of 10 rappers put together, and the Southern swag that had the whole crowd doing the Body Rock!!! I have been a huge fan of the Grammy-Award winner since I was a kid, I’m only 21, and last night’s performance and chill-session after the show definitely soldified him on my top-five list of rappers.  Killer Mike has recently changed his name to Mike Bigga as he has grown tremendously professionally and personally as an artist becoming a highly-conscious lyrical assassin spitting flows about police brutality, urban violence and plight, and real life issues. He spoke about the Oscar Grant case, and demanded that those repressed in America need to “BURN THE CITY DOWN!” and those charged words set the crowd ablaze. His energy was at maximum level throughout his entire performance, jumping in and out of the crowd, dancing and doing his dougie on stage, and demanding that everyone did the same. If not, he stopped the music and shouted: “Southern Music in its essence is about MOVEMENT, so DANCE!!!!” It was one of my most memorable experiences as a blogger and Hip-Hop goer to witness and meet someone so vibrant and powerful.  Be on the look out for his new album Pl3DGE set for release on May 17^th!

Pacific Division better known as Pac Div, one of the most versatile groups in the game today came onstage next and literally ripped it a part! As a Los Angeles native, I have been a fan of Pac Div since high school, and I am glad that they are realizing the success and getting due recognition they rightly deserve. They performed a wide array of tracks like ‘Shine’ and ‘Broccoli’ and ‘Anti Freeze” mostly from their most recent mixtape Mania hosted by Don Cannon and former releases Don’t Mention It and Church League Champions. I was able to chat with these dudes after the show to discuss their upcoming able set for summer, and the collaboration with Don Cannon to be expansive and broaden their base. They were super chill dudes! If you have not listened to their music, you are completely doing yourself a disservice. These boys are seriously a force to be reckoned with for everyone in the game, so take note. Hopping on and off stage, dancing in the crowd, and showing out and throwing water to cool us off because their oh so cool Cali swag was not enough to do the job.

Last to perform was one of T.I.’s protégées out of the Grand Hustle crew, Young Dro, also known as the Best Thang Smokin’. He hopped up on stage in all Ralph Lauren Polo to bring his smooth speedy Atlanta Southern sounds to the people.  He performed his new single “Polo Down” and the crowd went ape sh*t and bananas. He paid tribute to T.I. who is currently behind bars by performing their hit single “Top Back” and having the crowd scream “Free T.I.P!” He used his set to spit ridiculous bars acapella, and I must say I was impressed.

Needless to say, it was a wonderful night for Hip-Hop. Shout out to SOB’s and Kozza for hooking us up. Check out more pics from the crowd below…overall an #EPIC night!

Follow: Vivalaskool, FarFetchedFuture, Str8NYC, LexAve

In the October/November issue of Complex magazine, rapper Kid Cudi kept it really funky in his interview when discussing his dislike for D.C. rapper Wale. According to Cudi, he doesn’t have any beef with Wale, but he just doesn’t like dude’s vibe. Check out what he had to say…

Complex: Where did the whole attitude shift towards Wale stem from?

Kid Cudi: I really don’t understand what’s up with this guy, but he’s just somebody I don’t click with anymore. I started making changes in my life and started to realize positive energy around me, and he never really had a good energy. I never felt like he wanted to see me prosper, it was just one of those niggas that was envious rather than happy for a nigga. I could be reading it wrong, but I’m not making beef and rearranging my life. It’s pretty obvious he feels some type of way about it. I’m not into peer mediation and working things out, I’m just trying to provide for my daughter and my family and making music for my fans. I vibe with certain people and some people I don’t.

Complex: Last September you shot a page for GQ’s Man of the Year issue with him and Drake; was everything cool then?

Kid Cudi: The whole time me and him and Drake were doing the GQ shoot,Wale was bitching and being aggravated that clothes weren’t in his size, just really not cooperating and being difficult, and just being a diva. The photographer was like, “Wale, c’mon, smile a bit” and he was like, “Man, I don’t smile, let these other guys smile.” I was like, what kind of shit is that? In my head I’m thinking “man, this is GQ. If these niggas want you to smile, smile. We just got picked for “Men of the Year” that shit is awesome. It’s wack to be on that shit when you’re at a photoshoot, he shouldn’t be getting all riled up. There was tension throughout the whole shoot. Me and Drake have a rapport, we’re cool. We were automatically hitting it off, and kicking it, and just Wale was not trying to be in the situation. He was trying to be too cool. He was acting like he’s too good for the situation, and that’s how he always is. He always acts like he’s bigger than what he is, and I don’t fuck with that at all.

And Kid Cudi isn’t lying…’cause according to a few snitches Wale can be an asshole!

Check out a few flicks and some footage from Kid Cudi’s dope photoshoot!

Yesterday, rude gyal Rihanna sang her heart out…at least it looks like she did at Day two of Radio 1’s “Big Weekend” in the UK. The pop star showed off her Caribbean pride by rockin’ a leather ensemble decked out with Rastafarian colors.

Sidebar: RiRi looks all burnt out, but why?! Her a$$ barely did anything on stage!

While Rihanna worked up a sweat, rappers Fabolous and Wale shut Miami down on Saturday with the help of Heneiken.

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/24/str8-fresh-flicks-rihannas-a-rude-gyal-heneiken-inspires-fabolous-wale/feed/ 0 http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/20/jay-z-to-battle-beyonce-2010-bet-awards/ http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/20/jay-z-to-battle-beyonce-2010-bet-awards/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 14:08:24 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=38358 Tweet

On Tuesday, BET announced the list of nominees for its 2010 BET Awards. Don’t even get me started about this year’s nominees. Anywhoo, Hip-hop’s royal couple Jay-Z and Beyonce will be battling it out in three categories at this year. I’m guessing BET did that on purpose so that people will actually tune-in– this just might be the closest thing to a fit that you’ll ever get from the Carters anyway. The two are nominated for “Video of the Year”, “Best Collaboration” and “Viewers Choice”. Jay-Z is also up against one of our favorite songstresses Melanie Fiona and rap newcomer B.o.B in video of the year as well. Ya already know Jay “runs this town”, but he’s also running this year’s nominations as he’s in the lead with five, including “Best Male Hip-hop Artist”. While wifey Beyonce and Swizz Beatz’ boo Alicia Keys vying for “Best R&B Female Artist”. Young Money’s Drake and Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and Diddy will be taking the stage as confirmed performers. Let just hope Nicki doesn’t perform “Massive Attack” ’cause that would definitely be a massive failure…well it already is. Queen Latifah is set to host the awards ceremony which takes place Sunday, June 27th.

Peep pics from the announcement conference

Brace yourself for the full list of nominees…definitely a shocker! Trust and believe it’s not in a good way either.

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/20/jay-z-to-battle-beyonce-2010-bet-awards/feed/ 6 http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/03/new-video-wale-diary/ http://str8nyc.com/2010/05/03/new-video-wale-diary/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 14:21:59 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=37635 Tweet

DMV representer Wale drops a new video for his new single “Diary” off his debut album Attention Deficit. The video was shot in “do or die” Bed Stuy, Brooklyn and directed by Rik Cordero. Rik recently explained to MTV News the concept of the video.

“What he wanted to do was kind of show that we, as men, when we approach a girl, we don’t always know exactly what her past was. Whether she was angry or felt a sort of way because another dude made a mistake that we have to pay for, that was the message Wale wanted to get across in this video.”

ON DECK or OFF DECK?!

Sidebar: Ladies, don’t front ’cause everything Wale spits in the track is totally true. But, can he blame us for acting the way we do especially when we come across a$$holes on a daily basis?! I say, blame the trifling brothas for the reason chicks act the way they do. Fellas,  if you approach me in the street, I’m going to keep it moving…one less trifling n*gga I gotta deal with. #Imjustsayin