Rap Radar

HHO put the ATL Brave to work at a recent visit as he performs his biggest record. Do remember: Fashionably Late is available here.

Not only did Aubrey deliver some impressive first week numbers, but half of Thank Me Later has landed on this week’s Billboard Hot 100. Even the iTunes bonus is in the top 60. Read ‘em and weep. More and more hits.

#5 “Find Your Love”
#32 “Over”
#63 “Miss Me” Ft. Lil Wayne

Debuts:
#49 “Up All Night” Ft. Nicki Minaj
#57 “9AM in Dallas”
#71 “Fireworks,” Ft. Alicia Keys
#87″ Fancy” Ft. T.I. & Swizz Beatz

Yesterday, 2Pac’s “Dear Mama” was inducted into the National Recording Registry. The late honoree’s mother, Afeni Shakur spoke on her son’s behalf. You are appreciated.

“I’m incredibly touched.  It could have been any song, but I’m honored they chose ‘Dear Mama’ in particular. It is a song that spoke not just to me, but every mother that has been in that situation, and there have been millions of us. Tupac recognized our struggle, and he is still our hero.”

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Spitta and Def Jam’s latest recruit, Big K.R.I.T. perform one of Pilot Talk‘s tracks live on the set with MTV. Livin’ the Jet life.

Step inside the booth with Black Rob as he lays down some lyrics for the Blackstar Line: Close To My Roots project. Lyrically, Black always represents.

showyaskills

Can you say sold out? Looks like one Detroit (9/2) and one New York (9/13) show weren’t good enough. The dynamic duo have added on to their history-making Home and Home concert series. Sources confirm an additional show will go down in the D on 9/3 and in the BX on 9/14. Tickets on sale tomorrow morning at 10 am. Wow!

We should’ve known this wasn’t the final version. Oh well, let’s do it again. Here is the real deal. What a bust.

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Here’s an early look at some of Jay-Z and Eminem’s appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman. The full episode and performances air tomorrow at 11:35 PM EST.

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Tat-tat-tatted up! Snoop Dogg recently commissioned Mr. Cartoon to a tattoo a picture of his wife, Shante a.k.a. Boss Lady on his arm. Meanwhile, Capone got his and Noreaga’s names inked on his forearm. Tat’s all folks.

The folks at Creative Loafing rounded up 3 Stacks, Big Boi, Organized Noize, and others to reflect on ‘Kast’s 12 year old masterpiece. Read up here and peep an excerpt on “Rosa Parks” below.

Andre 3000: I actually submitted that beat to [Diddy’s old group] Total — ’cause I was going with Keisha from Total around that time — but they couldn’t use it, so we ended up using it.

By the time Aquemini came, I was stretching out as a producer. Big Boi was the family man. He had just had another kid, so he would come hang out at the studio and listen to the beats and make these big hooks. So it was a cool combination.

Big Boi: I took the beat home and I remember I was in my bedroom, and I was like, ‘I got the hook!’ I was playing the music loud as hell and I was just singing the hook: ‘Aah-haah, hush that fuss!’ Like, that’s it, we need to lay it down. So then, you know how we use these metaphors, [so we named it] Rosa Parks. Boom. We always do stuff like that and shit just falls into place.

mg