As hot as 50 Cent and G-Unit were back in the early 2000’s, Rick Ross and his MMG family are the 2012 equivalent; everything they touch, whether it be albums, mixtapes or guest verses, seems to light up like the fourth of July. Enter Ricky Rozay’s latest mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah.
The Warner Music stable Maybach Music Group may very well be the next great powerhouse in Hip Hop to be acknowledged alongside the likes of Roc-A-Fella, Bad Boy and Death Row. The reason for this isn't the magnitude of hype/output that its leader Rick Ross possesses, its the crew's supporting cast who potentially will bring more than a few numbers to the table when history recalls MMG's glories.
Arguably one of the breakout star of 2011, Meek Mill jumped at the chance to establish himself as a mainstay in Hip Hop, delivering verbal beatdowns as a featured artist and on his own impressive Dreamchasers mixtape, as the 23-year-old Philly young gunner delivers a sequel with more abrasive, young-wild-and-free narrations.
Los Angeles hailing singer/songwriter Jhene Aiko [pronounced juh-nay ahh-ee-ko], 23, first emerged on the R&B scene at a young age whilst signed to Epic Records alongside the likes of B2K and Omarion, whom she met at elementary school. “LA is a city of entertainment, so everybody ends up meeting each other so you run into everybody. I think the entertainment business is like a high school,” she says.
Rather than taking a break after being on the scene for over ten years, Mary J Blige shows no signs of slowing down collaborating with DJ Khaled and Diddy Dirty Money earlier on in the year. The queen of R&B went back into the studio to create a few more tear-jerking ballads and foot-moving jams for her tenth studio album My Life II: The Journey Continues - the sequel to her album My Life released in 1994.
On August 14 2000, the UK music industry laid witness to an album which would not only find major success at the time, but would also help to shape the future sound of Black British Music as well as Contemporary Pop Music. Craig Ashley David, at the age of 19, released his debut album Born To Do It; a 12 track LP which fully captured the sounds of the then new and thriving Garage scene, as well as providing some mature R&B and soul which created an unforgettable project which many still reference today.
There are rappers, there are artists and then there are superstars. If the progression from the former to the latter takes numerous years, then 25 year old Aubrey 'Drake' Graham is arguably on course to shattering the record for the quickest rise to the highest musical echelon. With his previous 'mixtape buzz' quickly passed by the meteoric heights of the buildup to his debut album, Thank Me Later culminated in the birth of arguably a new breed of rapper - that whose vulnerability, narcissism and questionable obsessions was on display for all to admire or even deride. Drake's ascendance to a headline act has been aided not only by his allegiance to the Young Money camp but also for pushing the envelope with his hybrid rapper-meets-R&B singer style, which has enamoured the female following and encouraged sensitivity amongst the male population of listeners (to some degree).
But what good is the popularity and the plaudits without the end product? The past and present legends all produced enthralling, timeless bodies of work over a space of time. If the Canadian is to emulate or even better his idols (and in more recent times, his rivals) Take Care is the ideal platform to lay down the marker as the best that his generation has to offer.
Releasing music at an astounding rate Dwayne Carter, better known as Lil Wayne, has achieved renowned worldwide success; even mentioned by American President Barack Obama himself. Prior to his incarceration in Rikers Island on March 2010, Weezy F was undoubtedly at the top of his game. Having released Tha Carter III (which sold more than a million copies in its first week), spawned Drake and Nicki Minaj and even dabbled in a little bit of rock with his album Rebirth, it seemed Weezy was set to (or had already) taken over the world.
It was with very, very high expectations therefore that the world awaited his release from Rikers Island in November of 2010. But when sell-out after sell-out track made their way from the interwebs into our over-excited ears, disappointment began to settle, and an ominous feeling… Has Lil Wayne lost it? Where is his sizzurp at? And like Popeye and his spinach, does he really need it to be able to perform at the level we have come to expect from him? Carter IV however, as his first studio album since his release, is what the Young Money rhymer will be judged on. And in a nutshell, it is good, but the question is, how good?
Abel Tesfaye, better known as the Weeknd, single handedly won over a multitude of hearts (he didn’t need to steal them, they were happily handed over) with his debut House of Balloons mixtape. Heavily backed by the likes of Drake, the initially enigmatic The Weeknd shot to fame this year with his throwback to actually good R&B. In a world of slanted mirrors and overcompensation, it is easy to see why the world loves Tesfaye and his “downcast” sound which strongly contrasts with the subject matter of more commercial tracks. Praised by an aggregation of critics - the likes of the Guardian, which commended House of Balloons for its “command of mood” among many other things - we have been eagerly awaiting his next venture.
It's become almost mandatory that every rapper, DJ and so forth claim that he or she is the best in their field. But when making it a slogan for your team or set, that's when the naysayers will multiply in abundance. Just ask Miami DJ Khaled, whose continuous hollering of 'We The Best' has put him under the firing line by many. But for every doubter, there's an abundance of supporters, including some heavyweight talent which goes from Miami all the way to NYC. So how will an album fare from a DJ who (fortunately) does very little rapping? This is the question that We The Best Forever will hope to answer.
Wearing nothing more elaborate than an oversized plain white t-shirt, baggy denim jeans, baseball cap and thick dark stubble, Häzel looks nothing like what you’d expect from an ‘industry figure.’ Despite the viral success of his mixtape The Lost Tapes and his production credits on records by the likes of Drake, Onra and Slakah the Beatchild, the quiet natured 27-year-old French producer is firmly dedicated to one thing only- perfecting the craft of “beat-making.”
Born in Brazil to a French mother and Brazilian father, Häzel has lived in France for over 10 years. Within that time he has built a name for himself on the both the Parisian and international Hip Hop scene, alongside his best friend and fellow beatsmith Onra.
It was whilst working in Canada with Slakah the Beatchild that his music first came to the attention of the-then up and coming Toronto MC, Drake. Although neither musician knew it at the time, their collaboration on 2007’s Comeback Season mixtape was to become a turning point in both of their careers.
Following their collaboration, the musicians’ lives could not have followed more separate paths. Whilst Drake exploded into mainstream consciousness in a journey that has been well documented by the blogosphere, Häzel resisted requests from music labels to take ownership of his career. He remained unsigned up until a few months ago, when he finally broke his unsigned run to team-up with his buddy Onra’s new imprint, Catblock Records.
Today, Häzel takes time out of his schedule to grant Soul Culture a rare interview. Relaxing into the lounge chair of a quiet Parisian diner, he seems grateful for, if not yet entirely comfortable with, the rush of attention that his music has brought. However he soon eases into conversation when he speaks of his love of music.