ENTERTAINMENT THE CIVIL WAY!

You have to give respect when it’s due. Complex has been on a roll recently. Their cover story with KiD CuDi was the talk of the weekend and they follow up with current Hip-Hop covergirl (pun intended) Nicki Minaj for their October/November issue. Toshitaka Kondo sat down with one of the game’s most talked about artists about a list of pertinent topics including her friendship with Drake, being celibate, not responding to beef and using “pause” and “no homo.”

Speaking of Young Money, did your labelmate Drake tell you he’d be mentioning wanting to marry you on his verse for “Miss Me” before you heard it?

Nicki Minaj: He told me he said something about me on a verse, but I didn’t think it would be anything like that. He let me hear it for the first time when we did Jay’s show at Madison Square Garden, the day before Wayne had to go to jail—that night he let me hear it on the headphones. But you know what else he told me he wrote for me? The Alicia Keys song “I’m Ready.” I happen to love the song. I never told anyone that, I hope he won’t get mad that I said that.

Then you have Wayne calling you his future wife.

Nicki Minaj: [Laughs.]

You’re gonna have Drake and Wayne fighting over you.

Nicki Minaj: You have no idea how much I love them. We joke around. That’s the thing about Young Money, we will say a lot of crazy shit in the press but we will get around each other and start cracking up laughing like brothers and sisters. Drake is a playboy. He probably told mad bitches he wrote them songs for ‘em.

Do the guys in Young Money ask you for dating advice?

I’m still regretting I don’t have HBO to see Entourage. While yet to see one second of any episode this season, it’s unfortunate to hear Vinnie Chase is having one of the most epic downfalls in TV history. It’s just a TV show, but a reenactment of what probably goes on way more often than many would care to realize. Drugs + fame usually equal a triumphant high only to be followed by a tragic low.

Don’t wanna sell narcotics, I wanna live out my dreams
Don’t corner me on the corner and end it without a means
Understand what I’m saying and listen to every word
In order for me to live, I gotta let Donny die

That being said, one of my favorite songs of 2010 is Eminem’s “Going Through Changes” from his latest album Recovery. It’s one of those dark, personal, honest records I’ve come to grow and appreciate from Em and one he opened up about the demons of his life in recent years. Add Donny Goines to the mix. D.G. continues to revamp current records and opens up about his life and the pressures that come with the music industry over Marshall’s original.

DL: Donny Goines – “Larva (Rehit)”

You may know Play Cloths thanks to their famous endorsers – the Clipse. The company is one that happens to be growing with each day. To celebrate their recent collaboration with Pro-Keds, take this promo trailer for the Play Cloths 69er Hi.

The founder of LTD Magazine, Hawaii Mike, takes a few moments out of his time to speak about the shoe.

While the majority of  us were counting down the hours until the weekend started, Rozay, Chrisette Michele and Drake were in Miami yesterday shooting the video for “Aston Martin Music.” Of course, if it’s pictures, Derick G. had it covered. Below are a few of the pics from the set. Head over to his site to see the rest.

By now, everyone knows Drake is set to embark on his The Light Dreams & Nightmares Tour. The campaign kicks off with two sold out shows in Miami on September 20 – 21, 2010, at the James L. Knight Center and will wrap up on November 6, 2010 at the The Joint in Las Vegas, NV. However, the tour has added incentive to it as well – a charitable partner. From the SickKids Foundation:

We are excited to announce that Drake’s charitable partner for The Light Dreams & Nightmares Tour dates will be SickKids Foundation, with a portion of proceeds from from every concert ticket sold going to the Friends of Music Therapy Endowment Fund at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada. This fund supports the delivery of the Music Therapy Program at SickKids to its most critically ill patients including children being treated for cancer and organ transplant, and those in palliative care. Fans who would like to make additional donations to the program can do so by visiting www.sickkidsfoundation.com/drake.

Complex’s Joe La Puma recently caught up with KiD CuDi for what resulted in a potent and revealing interview. In it, the two speak on Cudder’s life and the drastic changes he’s endured over the past year, the new baby girl he helped bring into the world, his cocaine usage and a list of other topics. Arguably the topic sparking the biggest debate is when he sheds light on Wale. I’ll let Joe and Mr. Rager take it from here.

You’re big on not having your music compared to anyone else’s.

Kid Cudi: Did you see that Wale interview that he just did, comparing us to sports? Let me clear this up: I’m incomparable to anybody. I don’t care how people take that. No one can compete with me. I’m unfuckwittable; no one can knock me off my shit. I’m an unstoppable force, I’m a bullet. My trajectory is to the sky. Niggas got to do something really spectacular to fuck with me and my realm, and niggas be so bitter that you hear it in their voice.

Speaking of Wale, when you hit that fan at your show last December, he came out with a line about it ["Throwin' 'round wallets like the dude that Kid Cudi hit," from "Thank You Freestyle"].

Kid Cudi: It wasn’t a shot, it’s just a simple-ass rhyme by a simple-ass rapper. You can’t let that shit faze you. That’s one of those raps that just shows the world that you wack. Why would you even use that as a metaphor? Everybody think they Hov. Niggas ain’t got the magic like they think they do; there’s only a couple of wizards in this game. I’m a wizard and I know it.

It’s not everyday an understudy stands side-by-side to artist who put him/her on. For whatever reasons, it has never presented itself as a regularity in rap. But it does happen on occasions, see Waka Flocka Flame, for example. While he may or may not be on the level as his Brick Squad cohort Gucci Mane, it’d be hard to say New York native/ATL trapper hasn’t created a lane for himself. Granted, it is a controversial one ranging from the quality of his lyrics to image his music unabatedly speaks on. Yet and still, it’s him. Waka Flocka Flame.

The other day I had the moment to sit down with the man who is preparing to his debut project Flockaveli on October 5.  What you see in the music is what you see in real life. No faking, no fronting, none of that. He’s just a guy who is enjoying his time in the spotlight and trying to make as much money as he can before the attention fades away. Our list of topics included:

* His updated relationship with Gucci Mane

* What it’s like having his mother as his manager as opposed to a “regular” manager

To see the tracklist for Waka’s upcoming album, head over to Rap Radar.

Photos taken & edited by Bully of REBELIPHOTO@GMAIL.COM

Twitter expedites everything. Earlier this week, I had no clue who Jon Connor was – aside from the guy from The Terminator. But here am I writing about the young man from Flint, Michigan, who, off this one track, has my attention. Found on his  Jon Connor As Vinnie Chase Vol. 1 mixtape, “Epic” features fast paced beat only complimented by J.C.’s flow of equal pace. It’s not some straight braggadocious rap either. He’s actually spitting.

And to think, the only thing I knew about Flint, Michigan, before this was the fact they’re always on First 48 and Semi Pro was based there. That’s not being ignorant either, it’s the truth. But now I can associate Hip-Hop with Flint and I’ll definitely have to give his tape a spin whenever I get my hands on it.

DL: Jon Connor – “Epic” (prod by Optiks For Opvizion)