ENTERTAINMENT THE CIVIL WAY!

Two gold albums. And one is well on its way to platinum status. These are the type of stats that ATF frontman Drake is boasting at the current moment. The EP of his uber-successful mixtape So Far Gone recently reached eclipsed the 500,000 sold plateau this week. Thank Me Later passed that mark in its second week of retail existence and should be kicking down the door of platinum status in the coming weeks. Even with plans in motion to start his second album (and while raving about Trey Songz’s new album), he’s still making sure TML is in rotation for at least the rest of the summer. Yesterday, with the assistance of Anthony Mandler, the video for his Lil Wayne assisted “Miss Me” was shot in Atlanta. Today, the video for “Fancy” is set to go down alongside T.I. and Swizz Beatz.

But the time between now and the new album has to be filled up somehow, right? The first offering from No More Thank Yous an unofficial mixtape that dropped today. I was able to obtain the CDQ for track one entitled “Do It All.”

Gettin’ stupid paid, off of smart decisions/I’m the man now, I guess that part’s a given/Someone please tell me the problem with my competition/I ask wassup, and they just always say the cost of livin’….

The record harbors the same formula which Drake has used to propel himself near the top of Hip-Hop’s elite. With success comes its trappings, benefits and the appeal of the fast life – all of which Drake has become accustomed to throughout his rise to fame. The Rob Holladay produced track allows him to speak on all of these and more. Combining this with his recent showing on “Paris Morton Music,” NMTY appears to be heading in the right direction.

The mixtape also features a new tracked produced by Polow Da Don titled “To The Floor” featuring RichBoy & Lloyd.

Download: Drake – “Do It All” (Prod. by Rob Holladay)

Young Money continues to keep the ship afloat while the captain is away. Nearly seven months after hitting stores, the label’s compilation project, We Are Young Money, has officially reached gold status by pushing 504,217 copies. The LP was fueled by the chart topping singles “Every Girl” and “Bedrock” and the also successful “Roger That.”

One of the album’s more acclaimed tracks, the video for Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane’s collaboration, “Steady Mobbin,’” was also recently released. The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 charts.

At this very moment, I’m not completely sold on Trey’s first single “Bottoms Up” from the forthcoming album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure. It sounded like Songz was attempting to create a “Say Ahh” part two. What do I know though? Only time will tell if the latter mimics the success of the former. On the same accord, however, I was intrigued and entertained by Nicki Minaj’s guest verse. A few months ago I spoke on how I came to believe the hype that was the Queens HBIC. Since then, her buzz has increased tenfold and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon capping off with a November 23 album release.

Trey obviously saw the same thing and tapped YM’s leading lady during BET Awards weekend.

The Entertainer’s Basketball Classic (EBC) — the most recognizable streetball tournament in the world — taped NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens (T.O.) as celebrity guest coaches yesterdat at Harlem’s renowned Rucker Park.  Sprite, Nike Basketball, VH1 and Power Balance have come on board to support the EBC as title sponsors for this year’s tournament.

The EBC, well known for bringing in the hottest celebrities during its summer streetball tournament, continues to live up to its reputation by bringing in two of NFL’s biggest names — Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens — who took off their cleats and go toe-to-toe on the court as celebrity guest coaches during its Monday night streetball game.  Both athletes star in their own VH1 reality shows, “Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch” and “The T.O. Show Season 2” both premiering on Sunday, July 11th at 9 PM ET/PT and 10:30 PM ET/PT, respectively. Donating their time and names to guest coach the tournament is the ultimate gift of giving back to their fans and the community and mirrors the community service efforts of the EBC and its overall mission of community support.

Thanks to Kamye West of www.smileforthekam.com for the photos.

Hello world… I’m good. Counting the days and still smiling. Most of those smiles come from hearing my kids’ voices over the phone. The others come from reading fan mail. Let me just say that I have the best fans in the world! The devotion, dedication, support, love, and most of all, prayers are simply the best. I never imagined that I could have such an impact on people’s lives. Because of this, I vow to be a bit more careful of what I say.

So I’ve been writing and let me be the first to tell you that the lyrics that I’m writing are… well there’s no word that I can think of that properly defines them. Amazing would be too typical and perfect would be unfair. I listen to the radio sometimes, emphasis on sometimes, and I hear the new music. I like some. I applaud my Young Money family for what they’re doing. As I’m not surprised. This is what we’re supposed to do. Congrats to Drake and Nicki for all their recent success. Those 2 are going to have me retiring early. I love my team. Much love to Tez and Mack. I know that people are inquisitive of what I do all day, so here goes. I wake up around 11AM. Have some coffee. Call my kids, and my wonderful mother. I then shower up. Read fan mail. Have lunch. Back on the phone. Read a book or write some thoughts down. Have dinner. Phone. Pushups. Then I listen to ESPN on the radio. Read the bible, then sleep. That’s my day.

I’ll end this letter, but never my love. I’m gone. Oh, and how ‘bout dem Lakers!?!

P.S. I thank my fans for appreciating me the way you do.

Tunechi.

This is actually the second B.G. “Catalog Catch Up” in recent weeks, but this is well deserved. At least, I believe so. Leave it to the internet to show its value at the drop of a hat. I consider myself a respectable B.G. fan. Not the most diehard in a sense, but I am the owner of a nice catalog from the New Orleans O.G. The other day, my homie Dre from DGB uploaded a “Duffle Bag” worth of rare B-Gizzle records that most people do not have in their possession. Myself included.

In 1995, Cash Money Records was in its infant stages – still three years away from making a mainstream impact. B.G., who actually was a ‘baby gangsta’ at the time, released True Story. One of the records was the bouncy, yet rugged “From The 13th To Tha 17th” which featured a young N’awlins upstart, Baby D.

After a short break…Asher Roth is back in action and preparing to release his second studio album The Spaghetti Tree. The first single “G.R.I.N.D.” (Get Ready Its a New Day) was produced by 1500 or Nothin and  is shaping up to be a summer anthem. In an attempt to keep his fans involved, Asher’s created an opportunity for fans to create the visual for his single. For contest details, watch the video below.

DL: Asher Roth – “G.R.I.N.D.”

The only competition, at least in recent memory, for premiere club anthem is probably Waka’s “O Let’s Do It.” At this point, I’m not even sure Ross intended for this song to be as big as it has. It’s safe to say that unless some other song blows up within the next two weeks or so, “B.M.F.” will go down as the summer song of 2010. And it may not even be close. Taking advantage of the momentum, Ross shot a video to create even more anticipation for the release of Teflon Don – which is a mere eight days away at this point.