Villain Radio

I’ve been tellin’ these muthafuckas for years that Gibbs was the truth and would eventually take the game over, so what did I do, I put one of his joints on the first compilation album I ever put out. That was in 2004.

Fast forward to the present day where the industry, whether it’s mainstream, or underground knows his name.

With high profile articles in The New Yorker, and L.A. Weekly within the last few months, and a rumored cover spot on XXL’s Freshman of 2010 edition, it’s not surprising to me that I woke up today and seen him on MTV.

Behold, in all it’s glory…..G.I. Stand Up:

Words of wisdom from Freddie “Gibbs” Kipton: “It ain’t no 401K plan for no drug dealer or no robber. You gotta get something solid in your life.”

The Gary, Indiana, native admits that he was lost for a long time in his life — as recent as last year he was facing jail time. Freddie graduated from high school in 2000 and went to Ball State University on a football scholarship, but was eventually kicked out due to poor grades. Back on the streets, Gibbs (his stage name was inspired by the badass Gibbs family in the classic film “Black Caesar”) caught a gun charge (the first of two in his life) and was forced to go to the military as part of a pretrial diversion agreement. Freddie was soon discharged after he was caught smoking marijuana.

“That was another learning experience in my life,” the 27 year-old MC said. “When that was over with I was kicked out of school, kicked out of the army — having that ain’t gonna get you nowhere.”

Gibbs started making mixtapes in 2003 and, taking a cue from 50 Cent’s hustle game, he passed the tapes out for free. Ironically, one of his early tapes made it into the hands of an executive from 50’s label, Interscope, in late 2005 — Gibbs was signed within four months. The company moved him to Los Angeles where he started recording … and recording … and recording. However, not much came from his two-plus years in the studio except experience.

“I locked myself on the fourth floor of Interscope — there wasn’t no development, there was nobody telling me what to do, how to write hooks. Every lyric came from me, every concept, just a depiction on my life,” he explained. “There was no telling me how to do this, proper etiquette — there was no artist development at all. That was something I had to take upon myself and do on my own. My time over there wasn’t a total waste; it made me a smarter businessman.”

Gibbs was released from Interscope in October 2007. Although he doesn’t have a new deal yet, he’s keeping his name alive on the blogs and streets with his mixtapes. The DJ Skee-hosted Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik is his latest and the follow-up to The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs. A compilation of his underground greatest hits, The Labels Tryin To Kill Me, was released at the end of last year.

“I respect everything about the L.A. culture,” said Gibbs, who splits time between his hometown and Cali. “I’m trying to model my career after Ice Cube — that’s one of my favorite rappers. You gotta respect the whole West Coast movement. Me moving out there was just by faith. Interscope signed me, I moved out there and went there and saw I could establish myself because L.A. actually had a scene. Nipsey Hussle, Jay Rock — those are he two dudes pushing that movement out there. I respect them dudes, but really I’m trying to put the Midwest on the map. Show we got a voice, show we got music too.

“A lot of people in Gary work hard to try and get out,” he added. “It’s a depressed city, a depressed economy. It’s still my home. I still live there. I got family, friends there. I feel like me putting this street music out, it’s gonna shed some light on the bad parts so maybe they can be fixed. Plus, it’s no music scene in Gary — we don’t even have our own radio situation. Everything we got is up under Chicago. I gotta go and create the scene. Being the first dude to come out the city in the rap game is a lot of pressure. For one, people hear Gary, Indiana, and think I’m some hick from the farm. But I’m from the bricks. This is the ghetto. This ain’t no cornfield.”

Source: MTV

I’ve always been about WestCoast Rap music, but I have to admit, I really slacked on the San Fran/ Oakland area for the most part, then I got an advance copy of DaVinci’s The Day The Turf Stood Still from my Twitter homie @Al_Jieh and I can honestly say this DaVinci cat is the truth. There’s not many things that find their way into my rotation, but this particular album has been on  constant repeat for 4 days now.

Here’s a teaser trailer for what’s to come on 3/09/2010

R&B singer Ashanti recently joined Dr. Dre and Game for a studio session in Los Angeles.

While not specifically saying what the threesome were up to, Shanti did post a photo of them in a recording studio.

“On the way 2 the lab!!! flyin dwn santa monica I think we took like 3 red lights lol!!! ( U guys dnt do tht tho) lol!!!,” she wrote Wednesday (January 27). “@only1NOTTZ heyyyyyy!!!!! Wz crackin!! We gotta link up I’m in LA now jus leavin the lab!!!! Awwwwwww sh*t its a problem!!!!! Me DR. DRE & GAME in the lab ohhhhhhh booooooy this is a SMMMMIZAAASHHH!!!!! http://tweetphoto.com/9709437 & @ihategame jus debo’d my cup of tea!!!!! Smh!!! Lol!!! & of course @LTHUTTON is in the mothaf*#kin buildin!!! Hollaaa!!!” (Ashanti’s Twitter)

What cha’ll think about this collabo? Hit or miss?

January 27, 2010 (CHICAGO) — Police are searching one of Northwestern University’s buildings in downtown Chicago after a man was reportedly spotted with a gun.

The report, which was posted on the Northwestern University website, indicates that at approximately 10 a.m. a man with a gun in his waistband was seen on the 11th floor of the Rubloff Building, 375 East Chicago Ave., on the Chicago campus.

No injuries or threats have been reported, police said.

The building is on lockdown. Police said all should stay in their offices with their door locked.

The man with the gun is described as a white male in his 20s, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, brown-blonde hair, wearing a button-down shirt, blue jean and a black jacket

Chicago and university police are working together to search the building.

Source: WLS Chicago

Grammy-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco said his long-awaited Lasers album was turned in to Atlantic Records for review today.
Click here to find out more!

Speaking on DJ Green Lantern’s radio show last night (January 25), Lupe also said he hoped the project would come out before the summertime.

“I’m actually going in to turn [Lasers] into the label in the morning,” Lupe told a caller. “I was actually supposed to turn it in tonight. I’m just keeping it crispy with the fans…I’m turning it into the label tomorrow, they gonna go through they process, see what they need to do and pick whatever single they want to do and I’m hoping before the summer, you know. That’s just what it is. Stay tuned, stay tuned.”

Last November, Lupe said he had four more albums left for his Atlantic Records contract.

“The last six months, it’s been like, ‘I gotta really, really go out there and show that I’m nicer than all of them,’ ” Lupe explained in an interview. “It’s like, ‘All right, so be it. If it takes three more albums to do it, then so be it.’ That’s what I got left with Atlantic. Three more after Lasers. I’m already done with two. The mixtape is coming Thanksgiving. It’ll be another mixtape after that and an album after that. It’s really to get that status and lock it in and [and have people] be like, ‘Look at this positive dude, the underdog. The positive one who came and murdered all these dudes. And he’s there, and he’s good.’ I’m finnin’ to house every single mode and arena I can get into. If y’all had somewhere where it’s live performances, I’m finnin to have the best live performances. If it’s mixtapes, I’m finnin’ to have the best mixtapes. If it’s albums again, it’s gonna be the best verse. If it’s the best dressed, I’m going hard as well.” (MTV)

What? You thought after the year he had in 2009 that Freddie Gibbs would just ::poof:: and disappear? Nope, don’t think so.

To kick 2010 off right, Gangsta Gibbs and Mikkey Halsted have joined forces on a joint from the upcoming album The Break Out that Fake Shore Drive and Chicago Area producer Maja 7th are about to release to the masses.

Shot in, and  Gary, IN, and Chicago the flick was directed by Brandon Riley for N2ition Productions and features Freddie, and Mikkey painting pictures with their words about their own respective hoods.

Enjoy……….

For those of you, if there are any out there, who do not know who Charlamagne The God, or Lil Duval is by now, go jump out of a window. As a matter a fact, let me open this window for you, and give ya a lil’ shove.

Let me break it down for you. Charlamagne gained a national attention as the  no holds barred, say anything co-host of the the Wendy Williams Show, and has since blazed a trail of his own.

Lil Duval has been on the stand up comedy scene for a hot minute. You may have seen him on tour with Cedric The Entertainer or on B.E.T.’s Comic View, wherever you may have seen him, one things for sure, and that is you left laughin’ your ass off.

Well somewhere along the line, these two cats got together, and decided to give us something to look forward to. And that my friends is the Hood State of The Union.

One part hood newscast, and one part shit talking, Charlamagne, and Lil Duval go in on shit that’s poppin’ off in a hood near you, and they’re good at tackling Twitter’s trending topics like there ain’t nothin’ to it

And with no further ado, here are all the episodes, including the bonus footage joint….enjoy. Continue Reading…

Let the countdown to Str8 Killa No Filla begin.

And you haters thought Freddie Gibb’s buzz would die down in 2010, but think again.

After releasing two of 2009’s best mixtapes with The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and MidwestGangstaBoxframeCadillacMuzik, and a best of release in The Label’s Tryin’ To Kill Me, Gangsta Gibbs is making sure he picks up where he left off.

All you rappers run and hide…..the realness is back

The following is a article that ran as a special feature in this past Sunday’s Post-Tribune:

Gary Rapper a throwback to 1990s’ heyday of gangsta rap

The landmarks of rising gangsta rap star Freddie Gibbs’ youth rise bleakly against a gray December sky:

Here is the house where Gibbs was raised, and the burned-out crack house next door; worn-out looking Washington Park, where Gibbs climbed on the jungle gym and shot baskets; the cracked, weed-strewn concrete pad on Virginia Street that was a Dairy Queen; a few blocks away is the liquor store where his cousin was shot dead.

Gary is apparently fertile ground for rap, to judge the acclaim for Gibbs’ Gary-centric mix tapes — including “Live From Gary, Indiana.”

Gibbs has not signed to any record label since he was dropped from a development deal with Interscope Records two years ago, but has built a following on the Internet that includes critics from The New Yorker, LA Weekly and the music Web site Pitchfork, who praise his gruff, staccato delivery of stories bleak, violent and, in the strange nostalgia of gangsta rap, sentimental.

The New Yorker dubbed him the future of hip-hop music. Pitchfork’s review of one of Gibbs’ online record releases ends: “Guys like Freddie Gibbs are saving rap.”

By all accounts, Gibbs is on the way to something big. Record companies have come calling again.

“They’re all coming around, offering the same deal, a $250,000 advance,” Gibbs said. “I’m holding out for at least $1 million. I can make $250,000 on my own, doing what I’m doing.”

If Gibbs seems to hold outsize hopes for his future, keep in mind, he already has caught more breaks than most 27-year-olds from Gary. He clearly is expecting another.

“When I get there, I’d like to do something with that park,” he says as he turns past Washington Park, motes of gray snow serpentining across frozen brown grass. “Maybe they’ll name it after me.”

If the day ever comes when the city considers a Gibbs Park, there may be more debate than when city leaders were begging Michael Jackson and his family to locate a museum in Gary.

While Michael had courtroom baggage and died of drug-related causes, he never, as Gibbs does in nearly every one of his videos, smoked marijuana on camera. And Gibbs’ hit “Murder On My Mind” is unlikely to have the same toe-tapping, multigenerational appeal as Jackson’s “Thriller.”

Freddie Gibbs is not, in fact, his name. Gibbs’ real name, confirmed by Gary Police Vice Squad detectives, is Freddie Tipton.

As Freddie Tipton, he starred as a wide receiver at West Side High School and made the team at Ball State University. Gibbs was the alias he gave to police throughout his youth, to avoid embarrassing his father, a Gary police officer who moonlighted as a singer.

Freddie Tipton was arrested more than six years ago for gun possession in Tolleston Park in what he admits was an obvious, late-night marijuana deal.

Gibbs’ parents were mortified at the arrest. At a court hearing, Gibbs refused to tell the judge where he’d gotten the gun, and said he found it at the park.

“And she (the judge) said, ‘You mean to tell me if I go to Tolleston Park, I’ll find a gun lying there?’ And Freddie said, ‘Maybe you will and maybe you won’t,’ ” said his mother, Linda. “I would have locked him up.”

Gibbs, who said he was kicked out of Ball State after his freshman year, got and lost a succession of minimum-wage jobs. When he was charged again with drug possession, he was given the chance to avoid jail time by enlisting in the Army.

He finished boot camp and managed to almost immediately earn a dishonorable discharge by regularly smoking weed. He made his way into music when he went to a Gary recording studio to sell drugs to aspiring rappers.

All of this is no longer news to Linda Tipton, who has read about Gibbs’ street life in magazine profiles and heard about it in her son’s lyrics. But it remains a mystery to her.

Gibbs’ younger sister is a graduate student in environmental science. His younger brother graduated from Notre Dame and is applying to medical school.

“We are all hoping he turns his rap around for Jesus,” Linda Tipton said, shortly after she is handed a copy of LA Weekly with her oldest son glowering on the cover.

Asked, after his mother has left, about his plans for a Christian rap career, Gibbs said, “That ain’t gonna happen.”

Throwback to earlier rap era

Gibbs’ musical stylings are a throwback to the 1990s’ heyday of gangsta, when Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur shocked audiences with violent images of life as a young black man in a blighted city.

The scene for much of the West Coast gangsta rap were locales like South Central Los Angeles or Compton, Calif., areas about Gary’s size, with a comparable murder rates.

“The stuff I rap about, that’s just what it is. It’s like being a journalist,” he said. “Even when I was selling drugs, it was just to get a little something, a pair of shoes, a girlfriend. I never saw myself becoming a big player.”

Gibbs said he works eight-hour days — his mixtape “The Labels Tryin to Kill Me!” has 81 tracks — with producers from his Interscope days.

His income comes from live shows and he’s finding himself in demand and bigger venues thanks to the Web and critical buzz. This time, he’s made his own break.

He left Gary to avoid the fate of former Gary rap groups that achieved regional fame when Gibbs was in high school, like MCA and The Grind Family — which broke up after key members of the groups were convicted in massive drug conspiracies. Gibbs regularly talks to Grind Family member and current federal inmate Will Scrilla.

For Gibbs’ part, he is serving probation for a second gun charge in California and he avoids trouble.

“My music doesn’t tell people to go out and do the things I’ve done,” Gibbs said. “Those guys that have $5 million in the bank and get caught with a gun? That won’t be me.

“I was carrying because I needed to be carrying then. When I’ve got $10 million, I’ll have security.”

My prayer’s go out to the Johnson family, and Tila Tequila at this time, their time of need.

TMZ & MSNBC alike have “confirmed” that Casey Johnson, who was only 30, and heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, Tila Tequila’s fiance, has died in Los Angeles. Her father Woody Johnson is the owner of the New York Jets.

The cause of death is unknown. TMZ reports her body was found this morning in L.A.

Source: TMZ & MSNBC