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You see the title. There’s no beating around the bush here. Any true marijuana lover will tell you 4/20 is a great day, but it’s not the say-all, end-all be-all as it relates to intake. Young Lace and Cashout Kidd prove this theory. Here it is the dead of winter and they’re running through enough blunts to make the weather outside basically irrelevant.

If you haven’t been paying attention to the situation in Egypt, I suggest now would be the start. To summarize it  in a sentence, the people are demanding that government officials step down or continue to watch these riots take place. The turmoil and uprising taking place over there is beyond real and even Anderson Cooper has been attacked twice in the streets. Thankfully, he made it out virtually unscathed, but change is occuring before the world’s eyes in that country. And change isn’t always peaceful. Believe it or not, what happens in Egypt affects what happens in America from legislation to the way President Obama engages with the rest of the world even to those who have ties to the area.

Freeway’s manager, Amir Abbassy, is an Egyptian-American, so of course he has kept himself updated by the minute with the latest happenings across the pond. He released a personal statement  regarding his feelings and reactions on what has become the #1 news story in the world. In his own words:

Just imagine if you were forced to listen to the same hip-hop album for 29 years with no other choices…

The Egyptian president has been sitting in power since a little before the release of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message”.  Now, the Egyptian people have spoken and they have have their own “message” (pun intended ) for the government to either step down or be stepped on.  The frustration of Egyptians piggybacks on the same sentiment that Grandmaster Flash rapped about when he talked about poverty, corruption, and police brutality.  On top of that, Egypt’s unemployment rate among the youth is around 30%, add another 15% among the adult population and you’ll understand why the Egyptian people have taken to the streets.

Egypt’s government added more fuel to the frustration by cutting all access to the internet and mobile devices, leaving only landlines as a form of communication to the outside world.  Yes, ladies and gentleman that means no VIBE.com, Twitter, Facebook, text messages, and BBM chat.  That in itself would cause me to protest in the streets anywhere in the world.  My own grandmother, who doesn’t have a violent bone in her body urged everyone one of my cousins to take to the streets, to speak as loud as they can and stay as long as it takes to bring back the power where it belongs—to the people.

(Keep reading…)

Lil Wayne appeared on ESPN’s 1st & 10 this morning to discuss his “Green And Yellow” remix, a tribuate to the Green Bay Packers.

Earlier this week my homie Terry Kennedy invited me to be one of the models for his Fly Society look book for Spring/Fall 2011. The shoot took place in downtown Los Angeles at The Social Trust and it was a great time, to say the least. Expect to see some great pieces from Terry in the near future. It was great to see the new pieces T.K. and his people had been working on. But what was just as fulfilling was the other people who came to support the Fly Society movement aside from myself. Other models included:

• Tristan Wilds (Actor; The Wire and Beverly Hills 90210 )
• The Cataracs (David Benjamin, Niles Hollowell-Dhar and DEV)
• 12th Planet (Producer/DJ)
• The Professor (And 1 Basketball player)
• Levi Maestro (Maestro Knows)
• Jimmy Gorecki (Skateboarder)
• Brayden Syzfranski (Skateboarder)
• Ben Baller (World renowned jeweler, IF & Co.)

Also be sure to checkout Ben’s account of the entire experience over at his site. Also Thanks to Terry’s Brand Manager Nino & his 3rd generation ipod for putting together a great shoot! #BTBG

See, Taylor Swift doesn’t have any hard feelings towards Hip Hop. The pop/country megastar visited Nashville’s 107.5. When you’re someone of her stature people just throw jobs in your direction and for a brief point, Swift was unofficially named the station’s program director and allowed to play any song she wanted. Coming from left field, she chose Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” and even admitted to being a big fan of Pink Friday.

The ante was upped when she was challenged to rap a few bars from the song, which she easily obliged.

After having the number two overall album on Billboard in September, and releasing a mixtape a few months later, Tremaine shows no signs of slowing down. Recently he spoke with Billboard about possibly putting out another album by the end of the year. Below is what Tremaine had to say:

“I want to release an album this year,” the Atlanta-based R&B singer tells Billboard.com. “We’re starting in the studio now. I’m always thinking about music. I’m in the studio whenever I can be. I’m not pressed or in a rush to make an album right now, but I always have a need to make music.”
“I’m feeling very creative, though, so it may be something I’ve never done before. There’s always a certain amount of pressure there, but I like that. With every album, I definitely want to grow my audience as well as myself.”

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Look at the timeline.

2007-2008 – Lil Wayne elevates Hip-Hop’s elite; sells a milli in a week with C3.

2009 – Drake releases So Far Gone. The rest is history.

2010 – Nicki Minaj becomes a househould name; Nicki and Drake go platinum

In 2011, Tyga looks to be the next artist YM/CM attempts to push. His Careless World album is due later this year and since last fall, several tracks with Pharrell have been released. The latest also features his co-Californians Game and Snoop Dogg. It’s boastful with enough horns to make a college band envious. It should be interesting to see if this is pushed as a single.

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Juelz Santana calls into Hot 97′s The Angie Martinez Show to clear up speculation about his recent arrest.

Download:

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