Mary J. Blige - "Stronger" (from LeBron James' upcoming film 'More Than A Game')

Damn, Mary is never going to stop! I trust my man JESSE IS HEAVYWEIGHT when he tells me that life is about circles. I used to come inside after a long, sweaty day pursuing NBA stardom, and my sister, Cachet Ivey, would be banging "411" or "All I Need" from her room. So it's only right that Mary's RFM debut is a collab with the NBA's next Global Icon, LeBron 'King' James. Peace to Cachet (catch her in the dance flick Step Up 3 this fall), Lynda Lloyd, Chantay Thompson & all future leaders of the global community.

LMFAO -"La La La"!

CLICK TITLE 2 PEEP The Vid (Lamo's @ Youtube won't let me embed).

MIKE TV's intro to LMFAO came via MTV's REAL WORLD Cancun ('09), so he's not surprised that the beautiful, flirty Jonna Mannion is in LMFAO's new vid for "La La La;" she gets in where she fits in. MIKE TV also understands that LMAO represents an intriguing part of Will.I.Am's journey in the music biz (LMFAO is signed to Interscope through Will). How do you go from 'underground' hip hop cult leader (BEP) to Coca-Cola popping-pop-stadium-status-band leader? Did Will simply stay true to himself & grind it out? Did Will's sessions w/MJ play a part in the dreaded, energetic emcee's rise to power @ Interscope Records? These are all great questions; hopefully MIKE's diligent friends @ THINKTANK MARKETING & Interscope will help him get the answers.

NIKE HYPERIZERS Are So Hip Hop

Shout out to DJ QUIK; he produced the score for this slamming commercial (people don't show QUIK enough respect). I'd say NIKE is light years ahead of most 'major' record companies as far as getting creative minds to capture a fun, unfiltered slice of hip hop life.



I think the HYPERIZERS spot is inspired by THE JAMES GANG's '08-'09 pre-game antics. Peace to FOG RAW, LOL, aka Mo Williams. He has a future in the entertainment biz if he keeps energetic, innovative minds around him. Kevin Durant's character rides right by rocking the African medallion, plus he delivers the best verse. However, I must bestow the most props on Philly's own new A.I. aka CHIEF BLOCKA aka DON'T CRITICIZE; the fro-hawk is so in order, LOL. Later for the old A.I. - he's a quitter & his rhymes & taste in artists suck! LOL.

P.S. - The HYPERIZERS spot is extra cool, but it's not like NIKE is doing anything cutting edge. QUIK & the other studio workers are the key factors. NIKE just provided the budget & gathered a nice group of the illest young gunners in the NBA.

Myspace Fashion Presents THE FIT w/JORDIN SPARKS

Jordin Sparks


CLICK TITLE 2 VIEW JORDIN's SMASH HIT "BATTLEFIELD."

What can we say? She's gorgeous; her music is hot. And MIKE TV is getting back on his MYSPACE grind. People just gravitate to his page over there.

Digital Girl Remix w/ Jamie Foxx, Drake, The Dream & Kanye West

If Kanye can wear a pink sweater then I can use a pink border! lol. Sidebar: I hate the perception that rainbows & certain colors like pink & purple are considered gay or exclusively feminine.

I can't help but think that Jamie views this whole music game as one big In Living Color skit. It's like his songs are almost spoofs...he has talent for miles and his singles always have that current feel (recruiting the hottest rapper, the hottest singer/songwriter & the hottest rapper/producer doesn't hurt the freshness either).

LeBRON JAMES Presents 'MORE THAN A GAME' w/The Original Akron, Ohio JAMES GANG

CLICK TITLE 2 PREVIEW MTAG Soundtrack (due out 9/22) & Link to FB & TWITTER.

The human (as opposed to the puppet) version of His Highness King James finally makes RFM! We don't believe in accidents or coincidences; it's fitting that James' first RFM appearance is due to his new film. MIKE TV will review MORE THAN A GAME @ a private screening or on 10/2 upon release to selected screens.

Special thx to BRIAN SCULLY, THINKTANK MARKETING & all parties involved in crafting what promises to be an affective, dynamic documentary. Look below for the MTAG trailer & "Stronger" music video which features Mary J. Blige's enduring vocals.



Synopsis:

Five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio star in this remarkable true-life coming of age story about uncommon friendship in the face all too common adversities. Coached by a charismatic but inexperienced player’s father, and led by future NBA superstar LeBron James, the “Fab Five’s” improbable seven-year journey leads them from a decrepit inner-city gym to the doorstep of a national high school championship. Along the way, the close-knit team is repeatedly tested—both on and off the court—as James’ exploding worldwide celebrity threatens to destroy everything they’ve set out to achieve together. MORE THAN A GAME combines a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos and personal family photographs to bring this heart-warming and wholly American story to life.

MORE THAN A GAME - Music Video


Lionsgate and Harvey Mason Media in association with Interscope Records present a Harvey Mason Media Production in association with Galley Boy and Spring Hill Productions a film by Kristopher Belman. MORE THAN A GAME is written by Kristopher Belman & Brad Hogan and directed by Kristopher Belman. The film features LeBron James, Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, Romeo Travis and Coach Dru Joyce II.

Renowned Producer !LLMIND Releases Official Remix Album

CLICK TITLE 2 DOWNLOAD ALBUM.

There's nothing like a really tight remix album. RFM loves em! The emergence of the remix album is truly a sign of the times in the new rap game where you can showcase your skills to the world on the backs of other artists' hits. The key is you must add new flavor to the great songs you choose to remix as well as simultaneously market your own movement.

!LLMIND freaks new versions of "99 Problems" (JAY-Z), "You Don't Know My Name" (ALICIA KEYS), "Conflict" (MASTA ACE & GURU), & some untitled EN VOGUE joint.



FORTILIVE, !LLMIND's hip hop group, also blesses this remix album; look out for "THE COMEUP" & "GOIN THRU IT." !LLMIND is cooking up some serious food. Digest it then read more about MYX MUSIC LABEL, the company behind FORTILIVE & the new !LLMIND REMIX ALBUM. Peace 2 MICHELLE, AUDIBLE TREATS & DJ ICEWATER (of PHARCYDE) on the mix.

MYX Music Label was founded in 2007 by industry veteran Karim Panni of the Boom Bap Project (Rhymesayers Entertainment). MYX Music Label is under the umbrella of MYX TV, which is the only music and lifestyle channel dedicated to the Asian American community. Distributed nationally, MYX TV showcases the hottest major label and independent content as well as dynamic original programming that fuses fashion, comedy, and culture. MYX Music Label integrates the newest technology while developing innovative digital distribution and promotion strategies to service their artists. The MYX Music Label was created for the sole purpose of using the MYX TV visual network platform to promote the finest independent hip-hop and urban music. MYX Music Label's ambitious release schedule for 2009 includes groundbreaking works from production duo Keelay & Zaire, D.Black, Jern Eye, and Kam Moye aka Supastition. Also, adding to their versatility as a label, MYX Music Label DVD releases include The Nutshack, Built From Skratch, Str8 Laced and Slanted Comedy, which features today's top Asian American comedians For more information on MYX Music Label, please visit http://www.myxmusiclabel.com

'Little Miss Blackout' ALBUM by UPSTATE ESCAPE

CLICK TITLE 2 STREAM 'LITTLE MISS BLACKOUT'

Don't you know how like Jay-Z, Biggie & Busta Rhymes went to the same HS? Well a similar kind of VH1-ish back-story to greatness is building here as MIKE TV (Central HS of Phila. Alum) offers you UPSTATE ESCAPE.

The cutting edge band is helmed by lead singer/guitarist (Central HS of Phila. Alum) JOHN NORWOOD. Months ago JOHN sent me UPSTATE ESCAPE's 'THE BALLS TIGHT EP,' lmao (don't worry; there's a chick on the back cover wearing a 'Balls Tight' tee, lol). The EP is fire & from what I've heard so far, musically & lyrically 'LITTLE MISS BLACKOUT' is a progressive step up. Listen to it. UPSTATE ESCAPE interview coming to RFM soon!

DORROUGH INTERVIEW: 'LIVE TO GET IT'

RFM caught up with Dorrough post west coast trip. He was fresh from The Bay Area where his lead singles, "Ice Cream Paint Job" & "Walk That Walk" off 'Dorrough Music,' initially attracted their biggest followings.

By August 12 'Dorrough Music' officially tops the Billboard Indie Chart & it ranks #3 on the Billboard Hip Hop Chart. On the eve of his album's retail release Dorrough opened up to RFM about what drives him to disregard old parameters in order to be successful & elevate his hometown, Dallas, TX.

Mike TV: What type of whip you pushing now that the singles are bubbling & the album is out?

Dorrough: We stay lacked up where I’m from – got a couple lacks; that’s the way we role right now.

Mike TV: What’s your favorite color ride?

Dorrough: My favorite color one is my all black one with black & chrome things.

Mike TV: Your record broke first in San Fran; have you been out there since it got popping? Is it like a world away from D Town?

Dorrough: It was crazy. I had never been out to the Bay or to California for it to be big out there, and they showing a lot of love to a southern artist; it’s hard to break in that west coast market.

Mike TV: Have you been out there since it started popping?

Dorrough: Yeah I was out there yesterday; we did a video shoot for another song I did with a artist out there. I go out there a couple times a month actually.

Mike TV: Who’s on it?

Dorrough: Young Lot.

Mike TV: Does San Fran feel like a world away from D Town where you’re from?

Dorrough: Yeah it’s different, but at the end of the day a lot of places be so different but so the same. It’s a whole different scene, but I like it out there.

Mike TV: Why’d you choose to sign a deal with E1? I’m sure some other labels were hollering.

Dorrough: They just came with the best situation for me at the end of the day.

Mike TV: Do you pay attn to the charts & crazy ringtone stats your doing?

Dorrough: My people around me keep me in tact with it a lil bit, but at the end of the day I stay too busy; I just don’t really have time to keep up with it. I just keep doing my thing and my people around me keep me informed and I just hope and wish for the best – tryna to continue to make stuff pop.



August 12, 2009
EMERGING STAR HAS GARNERED OVER 500,000 DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS TO DATE!

(New York, NY) – Leading independent E1 Entertainment announced today that Dallas hip hop artist Dorrough’s new debut album, “Dorrough Music,” has debuted at #1on the Billboard Independent Chart. The album sold over 12, 000 copies and also debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hip Hop Chart. This release is E1 Entertainment’s 195th album to debut at #1 on the Independent Chart through its music label, E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records).

Mike TV: Of course.

Dorrough: We anticipating a lot of singles coming off the album. We got a couple of em that’s already hitting radio right now – one of em, featuring Slim Thug called “Chain Swang,” and it’s doing real good – produced by DJ Monty; he produced a lot of big records. Then I got a song called “…To the Beat;” it’s pretty big; it’s produced by Too Much who produced “Ice Cream Paint Job.” We anticipate even more singles than that to come out. At the end of the day I feel like it’s gon be a classic album.

Mike TV: You feel like it will have a nice run for months through the winter.

Dorrough: Yeah. It’s one of them albums that’s timeless, so you could jam it – I feel like people gon be jamming it for at least a year after it drops.

Mike TV: Do you think that admitting you went to college is a symptom of the new rap game? Maybe 9 years ago it wouldn’t have been cool to say I’m a rapper who went to Prairie View.

Dorrough: At the end of the day you get it how you get it. If they ignorant enough to not know you can get it anywhere…to be honest I feel like had I not went down there I wouldn’t even be doing…I wouldn’t have even had success like I’ve been having because a lot of my success came from the college market. People don’t look at it like that; that’s like one of the number one ways to break records – one of the number one ways to cater to different people; you get so much exposure. I took advantage of that whole lil college market, so at the end of the day…it is a new generation; you see people coming up through the Internet and people coming up through all type of ways. Me, it’s kind of like I found it out; I was fortunate enough to go to school cause I was a baler; I played basketball. I took advantage of the whole lil music thing and I was in the street at the same time grinding, so I just did it all. Nowadays I feel like you kinda gotta be like everywhere.

Mike TV: I go to Howard in DC, so I totally know what you mean, 100%.

Dorrough: Yeah yeah yeah. Nowadays I don’t do no tripping about that – however I got it that’s how I got it.

Mike TV: How is the feeling of hip hop now different from the vibes you grew up on?

Dorrough: I grew up on all kinds of hip hop – from the west coast, east coast, Tupac, Biggie. But I was really influenced by the southern movement we had: UGK, Swishahouse, Lil Flip – all that; Master P, you know what I’m talking bout? Hip hop is hip hop only because it changes. If it don’t ever change that’s when hip hop…people talk about hip hop dying; that’s when it’s dead – when it don’t change or evolve in some type of way. So now you can’t blame people for coming up the way they coming up; people can’t help if they grew up in the era of the Internet; people can’t control that, so at the end of the day, how can you judge a man for grinding it out off the way he know. I feel like a lot of new artists such as myself should be getting way more respect than a lot of even the other rappers because most of the new artists staying in they lane. I feel like it’s all about staying in your lane and not tryna…you do get people that step out they lane and try to do other stuff and be on some other stuff, but most of the time most of the new artists staying in they lane. A lot of people stepping out tryna say they doing this and doing that and tryna do this and that – tryna create a image. And they really kinda hindering themselves.

Mike TV: What’s your outlook on the Dallas rap scene? It seems like people such as Jesse Is Heavyweight & Lil Will are making the city stand out.

Dorrough: Everybody out here tryna get it. I feel like the Dallas scene has been tremendously overlooked the last couple years. Even right now I feel like we still in the early stage, but we at a stage where we get recognized; people looking at us; we influencing the whole southern region right now. If we keep coming with it we might hit the muthafuckin world in a couple years. We more advanced than where we was a couple of years ago. We got our own style; we got our own swag; we got our own thing, so you can’t knock that either.

Mike TV: How do you see your lane in the game?

Dorrough: I do music. I’m an artist. And when you hear my album you gon see that this dude right here is creative. I don’t really try to stick with one style. I just vibe with music, so at the end of the day staying in my lane is doing what I do best – putting out good music. I got songs that’s lyrical then I got songs where I’m just kind of riding the track. You gotta know how to vibe with music to put out good music; people so one-sided… a lot of these artists so one-sided that they don’t understand that you can be the best rapper in the world – the best lyricist – but you still gotta have the ability to create a song; just cause somebody can spit, that don’t mean you can create a song. And I feel like that’s the biggest rappers. You can go on the street and find some of the best, most talented spitters or lyricists – they can’t put together a song. So at the end of the day it don’t make you [very] talented if you can’t put together a song. I feel like that’s one of my strongest points – I can put together a song. You might put together a concept then a hook; you might put the lyrics into it…it’s about everything connecting with each other. The best artists can really make songs that people can relate to and feel. I feel like that’s what I’m good at; that’s what I’m bringing to the industry right now. I see the bigger picture when it comes to music.

JABARI & NICKI w/Artist Advice

She's speaking real trap yo. (I'd rather c NICKI & AMBER @ the bottom of the page though, LOL). Peace 2 my man Jabari & everyone on their job getting it.

BLUE SCHOLARS DEBUT "HI-808" MUSIC VIDEO ON MTVU

Oh OK, if they're actually from there then it's not on some Ye ish. (BTW, MTVU...I'm coming homies! :)

F.O.E Entertainment (FOE GANG) New Video - "Mic Check"

Verse Simmonds - 'The Sextape Chronicles Mixtape'

CLICK TITLE & Check Out VERSE. Peace 2 Jewelz & CLOUD 9.

New Video: Fashawn “Sunny California”

CLICK TITLE 2 HEAR Fashawns' new single, "LIFE AS A SHORTY." He's quickly becoming an RFM favorite; peep...

http://rentfoodmusic.blogspot.com/2009/06/fashawn-uses-pac-term-4-new-anthem.html
http://rentfoodmusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/fashawns-la-listening-experience.html


Peace 2 Kim & THE ORCHARD.

Messiah - "In The AM"

CLICK TITLE 2 VISIT 528 PRODUCTIONS' YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Great Stuff over there.

Who better to follow a BUCKSHOT post than another independent minded Brooklynite making major moves. MESSIAH is the emcee/poet; RON & DON BRODIE are the talented young film makers who bring the song alive visually. RFM is all about dope editing and "In The AM" has it.

P.S. - It's no accident that the extras in the video infuse a really spirited dynamic into the shots; MESSIAH is not only a tight lyricist; as a part time teacher & community activist he is indeed a man of the people. Peep the kid with him during the second verse; doesn't he give the video that "HARD KNOCK..." feel, LOL?

BUCKSHOT INTERVIEW: 'Say Something'

(CLICK TITLE 2 READ GENERAL STEELE of SMIF N WESSUN Interview @ THE LIBERATOR BLOG)


In a hip hop era where Eminem battles Mariah (again) and young gunners fight with old rappers for air space and relevance, Boot Camp Clicks’ independent minded leader Buckshot could care less about anything outside of his label Duck Down Records. He has seen and done way too much to still be labeled ‘underground,’ but it is what it is, and industry politics go down on Main Street. Buckshot and hip hop pioneer KRS-ONE will release ‘Survival Skills’ on 9/15 precisely because rappers need staying power to deal with being subjugated by concert promoters and underappreciated by the next hip hop generation.

Mike TV spoke with Buckshot following his scathing rant about supposed mismanagement of the star studded, annual Rock the Bells Tour. Buckshot clarifies his points but doesn’t back away from his original premise. He also runs down the all star team of ‘Survival Skills’ producers, explains the idea behind My.DuckDown.com, tells why he can never be stopped by corporations, and claims that Fantastic is bigger than Jay-Z.

MIKE TV: In your opinion, what percentage of hip hop artists can really put on a great show?

BUCKSHOT: 30, LOL. I probably would say bout 30.

MIKE TV: I listened to your interview about Rock The Bells; when it comes to RTB do you know there to be a major difference between the actual checks for rocking the main stage & rocking the paid dues stage?

BUCKSHOT: I don’t know what everybody – aaaaw shit! I see that I just turned this until a whole thing.

MIKE TV: LOL, you definitely did.

BUCKSHOT: Nah-nah-nah, it’s all good. I don’t know what people get individually, but like I said Chang has a hard a job. I think they should be a little bit more informative. You know how you send out a flyer and people say ‘you didn’t let anybody know!’ And you say ‘yes I did – I sent out flyers;’ well those ain’t good enough. Stop thinking that everybody know because you sent something out; you think everybody got the picture. You can’t do that. You can’t say ‘I told everybody they can’t wear shoes. I sent out a letter; you didn’t get the letter?’ No! And you didn’t put it in the billboard and you didn’t make it apparently known.

MIKE TV: You’re saying they should have been more specific that there would be two stages simultaneously?

BUCKSHOT: Of course! I had a lot of people who did not know that they missed Buckshot; I had a lot of fans that came to the RTB show and was like ‘what you mean you went on?’ I’m like ‘I went on already;’ they like ‘I was over there watching such and such; I didn’t even know it was going down like that.’ You can miss your group that you paid to see!

MIKE TV: Do you think your rant about RTB hurts your chances to make the tour next summer? Do you even care?

BUCKSHOT: You know what? I really – to be honest with you – and that maybe makes them upset; maybe it’ll hurt my chances of doing that, but anytime anybody make me think that I gotta apologize or fear – and they didn’t do this; I’m just saying if it becomes a case of what you just said - if anybody takes a strike at me, all I know how to do is take a strike back. You know what I’m trying to say to you? I don’t got no drama with RTB, but at the same time, if anybody act funny to me I’m gonna speak on it. And there was nothing specific like that besides the fact that a lot of my fans didn’t know that it was a split stage, so I’m just explaining that and expressing that and then right away it becomes, ‘Oh you’re expressing something?! Oh Buck ain’t happy!’ If you jeopardize me being on RTB because of personal issues then the public will know about that. I’m not there – Chang ain’t paying his money to see me, the public is.

MIKE TV: So you don’t think it’ll hurt you to miss the tour next year?

BUCKSHOT: I’m saying…I’ma tell you that you don’t seem to realize who you’re dealing with man; I’m the only person on this earth like me, so that means if you kick me off something…say if you kick me out the same way the industry did – kick me out the circle; I’ma just be right outside the circle bussing my same rhymes. You can say ‘You not allowed to come in this little square with the orange.’ Aight, I’ma go outside of this square with the orange and I’ma be rapping for the people in the street. And they gon be like ‘We reppin for Buckshot; we watching Buckshot in the street right now.’ Nobody’s gonna say that if I’m not on that tour next year it’s gonna have an impact on the fans knowing Buckshot; at the same time, if you kick me off that tour or if you have something to say to me because I’m making an expression…that’s capitalism…I mean that’s communism. That shit is wrong! We not living in a communist state; this is a state of freedom. I can express the fact that people expressed to me that they were confused about the back & forth stuff; I may have known about it but they didn’t know about it.

MIKE TV: You said ‘Fuck Live Nation!’ What’s your problem with Live Nation?

BUCKSHOT: I said that because I never was the dude to be in school and be quiet because the principle said so man. Word up! If I got something to say I’ma say it and everybody else gon be like ‘Oooooow. You bought to get kicked outta the school now.’ That’s my whole life man!

MIKE TV: My question is what’s your motivation behind saying that?

BUCKSHOT: The fact that…I think something was said like if you guys take that attitude, ‘We the muthafuckin corporate whoop-dee-whoop, and we’re the ones that are gonna dictate how shit go! So Buckshot is saying he has a complaint…we have a complaint in section D25 sir with a guy named Buckshot. Really? Fuck em! Get rid of em!’ And I’m like yo if you think it’s gon be that easy, it ain’t gon be that easy. And if you think people are afraid of you because you control every and any place where people can perform at…I don’t care. Like I said, hip hop started on the street corners; you just taking me back to the beginning stages when they wouldn’t even let us – when they wouldn’t let Run-DMC and certain people into the opera house.

MIKE TV: So you’re saying it’s the same theme dressed up differently.

BUCKSHOT: It’s just dressed up differently. If you don’t allow me to perform in the Hammerstein Ballroom or the House Of Blues because some interview said Buckshot was like ‘Fuck that; I’m not the one and if you think I’m the one then fuck you,’ then I’ll go outside the House Of Blues and have a cipher right outside of there, word to my mother. If police come and it be a riot because Buckshot performing and the fans love the action and they love the excitement of this whole shit going down - it’s damn near like the show outside is better than the one inside - then they can go to hell. I’m the one for that; I’m the Sean O’Conner. I’m down to set it off man. I don’t care about no corporate company; I’m not afraid of them; I never was.



MIKE TV: Why are you confident that a collab album with a hip hop veteran & pioneer like KRS-ONE will make a serious impact in 2009?

BUCKSHOT: Because when we get on that stage we gonna show other people that emceeing means to master the ceremony; we taking hip hop back to the very beginning where people used to be like ‘Get outta here with that shit!’ You know how hard it is to fight through that? Then we got to the point where we got comfortable; then we got to the point where we felt like ‘Y’all better know what hip hop is!’ And once that happened our skills started to fall off – our integrity, our discipline, our patience, our style, our creativity – everything started to fall off. We started feeling like ‘We got this.’ But then we saw that we didn’t have this, so me and KRS-ONE said we gonna take it to the point where…if you don’t know me when I do that stage show, I’m here for those that don’t know me; I’m here for the ones that’s like ‘Make me smile duke!’ Those are the ones I perform for.

MIKE TV: Who are some producers you hired for ‘Survival Skills?’

BUCKSHOT: Black Milk. Coptic Sounds. It’s an incredible team. 9th Wonder. Illmind. Havoc from Mobb Deep. Everybody that I hired – anybody that I brought together to form a team - all got the same criteria and the same respect and love for hip hop and the boom bap in they own way. It’s a collaboration of all the producers that respect the game – not disrespect it like ‘That game ain’t nothing; let me make a million dollars and then suck off.’ That’s not respect.


MIKE TV: Why have a contest which requires producers to remix old classics? Is the strategy to re-introduce your hit songs as Duck Down picks up newer, younger followers?

BUCKSHOT: Two things: to get the followers or fans to know about the history of yesterday and at the same time getting them involved and being a part of the project today. See it’s about making the people apart of the project and making them apart of hip hop. Go watch Breaking one and two [or] Beat Street and see how we used to all be a part of one. We all was one; we all was a part of this community, and now it’s almost like you gotta have permission to knock on a nigga door or it’s gonna be a problem. So me and Kris is just saying, ‘Look, let’s take it back because we already going forward; you came from ’86; you was there with Rakim; you was there with Slick Rick; you battled MC Shan. Buckshot came out with Wu-Tang; I struggled and made a spot for New York City with an independent label when Snoop Dogg had Interscope and Death Row – the most majorest system in the whole world at the time. So it never was an easy fight for me or Kris.

MIKE TV: We’re definitely right in the middle of the digital age of hip hop distribution & promotion; as an innovator & experienced artist & business man, what do you think will be the next effective way to take advantage of hip hop’s global appeal?

BUCKSHOT: The fact that I’m gonna show the young people how to network society. It’s all about the network in society, and the young people are the network because, while older people are so busy doing jobs and working and lifting boxes and moving tables and having conferences, younger people are talking to each other, chilling, hanging out, getting involved. So it’s all about them and it’s all about capturing them. So when you go to My.DuckDown.com it’s a way for my fans, fans who don’t know me – kids all across the world, kids in Africa, kids in Asia – it’s a way to give them a voice; they don’t have to wait for anybody anymore. If you have good content all you have to do is upload it on My.DuckDown.com; my fans will see that and other fans will see that and when they start to say ‘Who’s this guy?’ Then it dictates how you move on the Duck Down ladder. So if I’m looking at My Duck Down and some guy named Mr. Spears, or whatever, is starting to get a lot of attention then I need to look at that because the Internet represents the people; the people gotta log on and be interested, so you can’t really fake too much of that. If I see a big interest from somebody on My Duck Down I’ma move em up to Duck Down.

MIKE TV: That’s similar to what Steele tells me he’s doing with Bucktown USA.

BUCKSHOT: We’re all one unit, so anytime one of us speak…we’re all in the same room –the same platoon at that – especially Steele; me and him work side by side with each other on the regular, everyday, so Steele is establishing Bucktown in a way that I’m just super proud of because he’s doing it. Anything you see with Bucktown it’s strictly Steele; they’re leading the charge on that. I like when people get involved; if you’re not interactive then what are you doing? Don’t be stuck up and don’t try to be like a lot of these fifty year old rappers that are out of tune with the hood, so they gotta steal from people that’s in the hood. They gotta go out and send what they call “feelers” to be like ‘What’s poppin right now? Well we got this and that. Oh word, word?!’

MIKE TV: Testers, lol!

BUCKSHOT: Testers and shit; ‘Well we got Buckshot out there; he’s really doing his thing.’ ‘Oh word – word?! Shorty doing his thing? That’s what’s up; what’s his single sound like? Oh word? I’m feeling that. Go get me a beat; let me take shorty shit; he ain’t doing nothing. He a shorty anyway.’

MIKE TV: LMAO. That sounds like a skit – a video in the making. What’s next Buck?

BUCKSHOT: Make sure you support the Buck Bag that’s coming out; the bag will be coming out closer to school season. It will be out in the winter. Support the Buck Bag because we’re tryna empower people to do more than just rap and stop being emcees and rappers and producers and start to get into product; make your own book bag…can’t nobody do that like me though.

MIKE TV: LOL.

BUCKSHOT: Where’s our rappers with they own toothbrushes? Why we still got Oral B? Where’s our rappers with cleaning products? Why we still got Mr. Fantastic? Mr. Fantastic is bigger than Jay-Z.

MILLYZ F. KILLER MIKE, RED CAFE & SMOKE BULGA "CRY BABY" (PROD. BY TWICE AS NICE)

Yo it's about time we got some Red Cafe related material @ RFM. (It's a tight song; everybody rocks out; you should download this as a fan and/or a fan/emcee because the instrumental is bangin). He's one of the illest whose been puttting in work and has yet to really reach the more popular appreciation his whole movement warrants. I started this online thing in '05 w/NOBODYSMILING.COM & the next year @ HOWARD'S HOMECOMING I saw RED rip the stage then we got a chance to chop it up backstage. Shouts 2 my man JFK in the pic 2. We go way back in this writing game.