Rap Radar

With locking in last year’s top rap and R&B albums, K-Dot and Miguel point the fingers on VIBE‘s upcoming “Big List” issue. Peep the excerpt below and their individual covers after the jump.

You’re both carrying the torch as the leaders of the new generation. How do you define musical genius?
KENDRICK: Somebody that don’t really have any boundaries, that’s not confined to the traditional structure of a song or traditional sounds. When you listen to “Adorn,” it feels like he’s not even trying to structure a radio joint. He just felt the music, felt the instrumentation and wrote the track.
MIGUEL: Good looks, bro. My favorite artists always took whatever they loved out of music and made it their own. It was their take on it. Kendrick is one of those people where I can hear Ice Cube’s first two albums’ influence. I get the street edge, but then I hear like the poetic player, smoothness, creativity and smart street savvy of Andre on Aquemini. That juxtaposition is what I hear in Kendrick, but it’s his own take. If you listen to my shit, you’re gonna hear Prince, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin or a little bit of the Beatles. That’s where I’m pulling from.

(more…)

It’s crazy when you think about it, but it’s been 10 years since the release of Eminem’s semi-biopic 8 Mile. And to celebrate its anniversary, Eminem returns to the cover of VIBE. Peruse the entire feature here.

How were the battle scenes written?
Eminem: I think Curtis had a lot of the guys write their own things, and then I would see what they were going to say. I might sit there with some of the guys and be like, “What if you changed this?” The hardest thing for me was trying to figure out what that last [rhyme] was going to be. As I was going back and forth with the other guys about what they were going to say—“Okay, if you’re going to say that, then I’ll write this”—the last one was [challenging] because I didn’t have anything to respond off of. So I had to write it myself, off what somebody could say to me.
Mackie: I’ve gotta give it to Curtis, because he challenged us. It wasn’t just, “Okay, bring us what you’ve got.” He kept you on edge, like, is this enough? Am I giving enough?
Eminem: That’s the other thing, too, with the battle scenes. I remember him saying, “This shit has gotta be flawless. [Then] Curtis would say, “Is this good enough?” I went back and rewrote a couple of lines. Curtis definitely, definitely pushed us.

How’s this for left field? For VIBE’s annual JUICE issue, MMG split cover duties with Azealia Banks and Diplo. Issue hits newsstands next week.

Welcome to the all-white affair. VIBE takes us on the set and gives us a look on how their upcoming cover transpired.

UPDATE: Part 2

Wale, Meek, and Rozay make their collective cover debut on VIBE’s annual Juice issue. It kinda resembles G.O.O.D Music’s cover a few years back. The full read by John Kennedy is available here. Gatefold after the jump.

(more…)

That crown is definitely for the taking. Nicki returns to the cover of VIBE for their February/March issue. Mag hits stands next week, but below is an excerpt.

You were heavy on the fashion scene last year around Fashion Week with Anna Wintour. Do you feel like you’ve been accepted by the fashion world?
Yeah, I realized more recently that even if it’s for a fashion magazine, I’m not gonna change who I am. When I was doing photo shoots last year, I kept on being told, “This is what we want your hair to look like and this is what we want you to look like,” and it really, really stifled my creativity. So the other day I was talking to a photographer, and he said, “You know what, I like your everyday looks so much better than when you do photo shoots for magazines.” And I was like, “So do I, you’re absolutely right.” I’d been getting more and more frustrated for a while.

But I’ve made up my mind that when you see a Nicki Minaj magazine cover from now on, it’s really going to reflect me and it’s going to be something that I creatively had a hand in, because I don’t have to do it anymore. I don’t have to do things just to please people. It’s okay to do what I love because what I love, my fans love. And they’re really the only ones that should matter. The fashion world will have to come to Nicki Minaj, as opposed to Nicki Minaj trying to go to the fashion world.

T.I.’s VIBE cover story hasn’t even hit the newsstands yet, but 50 already has something to say about it. In the interview, T.I. reacts to Fif’s comments about his recent case. Fif got wind of the article and voiced his concerns via Twitter.

Man I just saw something T.I said in VIBE about a tweet I wrote when he caught his drug case. He just got out a jam and caught a new one. Any other time a nigga done. Get caught with 10 machine gun an silencer then catch a drug charge. You will f**k around and get natural life. This boy got a get outta jail FREE card .

Don’t get emotional over your lady. It a get you in some sh*t you don’t want to be in. If U can get 5 years easy 4 some sh*t and I’m the support of my family. Why would it be wrong if ya lady had to take probation? Shit she ballin to lol

UPDATE: The Kang responds.

UPDATE 2: 50 the day after.

Look how much you fools have been tweeting about me and @tip I spoke to him last night you sh*t heads should be tweeting about streetking. You know I try to do the right thing. I’m starting to feel like good guys finish last. You talk more about sh*t then can go bad then positive things. Streetking help support me feeding a billion people in need. Instead of supporting nonsense Like the streetking page on face book.

For the year-end issue, T.I. returns and splits the cover of VIBE. Mag hits newsstands on December 6th, but below you can take a look at an excerpt from the cover story below.

T.I. on people criticizing Tiny for not taking the drug charge
I’ma tell you, 50 Cent and anybody else, we not gonn’a  have no discussion about what my ole lady should’a, would’a, couda done for anything as it pertains to me,” begins his rant. “We ain’t gonn’a do that. I’m the only one in my family that’s gonna take a lick when it pertains to the legal system. Since me, none of my other family members have seen a jail cell. Nobody. I’m the last one. The buck stops here. I feel that a person that stands behind [his woman for a criminal charge] is a coward anyway.”

I doubt she would have gotten any time.
She wasn’t gonna catch it period, ’cause I’m there. That wasn’t even a consideration. Even if she asked me to I would’ve been like, “Nah, you trippin’. “

So you didn’t feel you were more valuable to your family, employees and business partners on the street?
That’s a discussion between me and another man. Not with the mother of my children. Not with the nurturer of my household.

Eminem and Yelawolf took to an abanded Detroit automobile plant for their VIBE shoot. Issue on newsstands December 6. Radioactive in stores next Monday.

Now that’s white power. VIBE closes out the year with two of Shady’s most wanted. Issue hits newsstands on December 6, but peep the excerpts of their interview with Erik Parker below.

Eminem, what advice do you offer, if any, on being scrutinized for being a white rapper. Do you guys ever talk about race in that way?  

Eminem: We make jokes about it, but I don’t think we talk about it in depth. As I was listening to his music, I am not even thinking about any of that shit. It’s just the music. That’s one of the things that’s great about it. I’m not even thinking about it when I hear the music.

Yelawolf: We do poke fun of it because it’s funny. Like, he calls me White Dog. 

 

Oh, you called him that on the BET Awards Cypher. I didn’t realize it was an ongoing joke?
EM: Yeah, or Beige Sheep. [Laughs]
YW: Cracker Nuts. Whatever, I think it’s kinda unspoken.
EM: We deal with it enough as it is. So now, let’s make music.
YW: Let’s make great records. At the end of the day, that’s all there is to do.