State of Affairs - Mark Milly

I just posted a song from this guy not too long ago and shortly after, Lucky a.k.a. Mark Milly released a compilation mixtape of songs he says is the "worst of Mark Milly" (like seriously, I don't think he's a fan of the Mark Milly on this tape) as a prelude to another project he has dropping in the future. 'Prelude to Stringbeans and Strawberries Masterpiece" features songs from 2007 and 2008 and even has a snippet of some songs to expect in the future. He may not like these songs, but listening to them and comparing to the newer stuff he's done, the growth is evident — to me anyway. Click HERE to download Mark Milly's prelude.



I also got an e-mail featuring a mixtape from a guy from Florida (by way of NYC) by the name of Rob Yung. "Young" is pretty much the perfect term to describe as he is only 18 -years-old and a full-time college student. His EP 'The Daily Basis: The Weekly Agenda' dropped last week and it's a mixtape with a cool concept. This is what Rob Yung said about it:

Ever feel as if every day of the week has a different feel or a different tempo to it? Like Mondays are always kinda slow because it's the day everyone hates. Then Tuesdays are a bit more uptempo because you have to get things done that you didn't get done on Monday. Well this is how the week of an 18-year-old MC/producer that is also a full-time student in college feels like ...

Interesting, to download Rob Yung's 'The Dail Basis: The Weekly Angeda' EP click HERE.

Movie - Chip Tha Ripper

DISCLAIMER: Look, I'm saying the same thing now, that I said when I did the Juan/Fli Pelican series, I'm a journalist, I try to look at both sides even if one may seem completely in the wrong and that's what I tried to do with this video. Everything is my own opinion plus stuff I noticed, observed, and heard. But, enough chatter ... just watch.

Feel Good - Chip Tha Ripper

Chip Tha Ripper is probably rap/hip-hop’s most known unknown hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. He’s one half of Almighty Gloryus, a duo with fellow Cleveland native, Kid Cudi, and has been featured on tracks with artists like Big Sean and Curren$y. Chips latest mixtape ‘The Cleveland Show’ has been getting a lot of kudos from blogs, critics and hip-hop fans alike. The S.L.A.B. Ent. (his own record label with S.L.A.B. standing for Soul, Loyalty and Business) artist has been spending his time in the studio working on projects and performing. In an interview with Tha ‘A’ Side, Chip talks about why you should care who he is, what the music scene is like in Cleveland, and what he thinks about the state of hip-hop. Without further adieu, Chip Tha Ripper.


Alex Washington (AW): What got you into rapping?

Chip Tha Ripper (CR):  What got me into rapping was the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ with Will Smith, that’s when I first learned aboutrap and what it was.

AW: Some people would put you in the same category as Curren$y, Drake, or Kid Cudi because of your delivery style, how do you feel about that?

CR: It’s definitely good to be classified among the realest. People say good things usually, sometimes they don’t, but regardless I just keep trying to make more raps.

AW: The Cleveland Show, everybody is talking about it, how does it feel to know that people are feeling you like that?

CR: It’s over-whelming, in the back of mind I think it’s going to come to an end, who knows, it may not come to an end. For right now, I’m just going to act like tomorrow it can be over, that’s why I’m as cool as I can be.

AW: What is your favorite song off the tape?

CR: We cut down from so many songs, it was like 78 songs and we had to cut them down to fit on the CD, a lot of songs didn’t get to make it. I would have to say it’s a tie between “Movie” and “Couple Dollas.” “Couple Dollas” is brand new to me, I recorded it to another beat and the producer said we couldn’t use it because they sold it, so my homeboy just made another beat behind my vocals and I didn’t hear it until the day before it came out, and I was just like “Damn … hell yeah put that on there.”

AW: What do you plan on doing with the other songs that didn’t release?

READ MORE

Excuse Me Miss - Jay-Z

I am a Jay-Z fan.

Simple, non-interesting statement, but what's interesting is that Jay-Z and his other half, Beyoncé, are probably one of the most powerful couples in Hollywood, that hardly acknowledge they're even together. We all watched at the Grammy's as Queen Bey thanked her husband and he reacted in an "Are you sh*tting me?" manner when the camera panned to him. Well shortly after Valentine's Day, Mr. Carter was on a BBC show hosted by Jonathan Ross and lightly touches on what him and his Bonnie did for Valentine's Day and other small things in their relationship, including how she stole the "Uh-Oh" dance from him. It's an entertaining little bit, check it out.

Yay or Nay: S.H.E. - Buzz Burrus

Sometime around the end of summer, I posted a video of then 17-year-old Buzz Burrus spittin' over Kanye and Big Sean's "Glenwood." Since then Buzz has been making quite the buzz around Detroit for himself. The now 18-year-old high school senior has been seen performing at events around the city like the Red Cup Session or maybe at the Cyper Show at Bob's Classic Kicks and this weekend he will take the stage to help Chip Tha Ripper, P.L., Ro Spit and others celebrate DJ Bunny's birthday. Buzz recently released this track from his upcoming project 'You Can't be Serious.' Yay or Nay: S.H.E. - Buzz Burrus

Won't Be Long - Big Sean

After a couple of years in the making Detroit rapper (and G.O.O.D. music/Island Def Jam artist) Big Sean is starting to make his debut as a newcomer in the music scene. This year Sean is one of XXL's Freshman 10, and if you follow hip-hop/rap at all you know this is a big deal. Peep his freestyle video below for XXL and supa dupa congratulations to him on the honor.

Talk About - Marv Won

If you know me (or at least follow me on Twitter) you know I am a stan for the movie '8 Mile,' I don't know what it is about this movie, but I love everything about it. I'm also a fan of Detroit rapper Marv Won who just released his video for "Totally Awesome" feat. Rio Data (peep it a few posts below) and his album Wayne Fontes Music not too long ago. MOSologist, (the only hater I have respect for and the founder of MichiganHipHop.com) @ replied me asking if I saw this video. Basically the guy in the video reveals a battle rapper from Delaware that bit rhymes from Marv Won and Eminem from the deleted scenes in 8 Mile. Yeah, his career is over.

Tip: Fast-forward a bit to 2:45 to get to where the whistleblowing begins.



Marv Won's comment?

Yay or Nay: Smiling in Ya Face - Mark Milly

Every once in a while I would get an @ reply from a Baltimore rapper,who at the time I thought nothing of. Not that I thought he was crazy,but I didn't think it was a big deal he was following me. I don't know what led me to his page, but there I saw a video of one of Lucky a.k.a. Mark Milly's recent performances which really sparked my interest in the MC. The 20-something MC decided he wanted to rap when he was 12 and drew influence from Snoop Dogg, Master P and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony before starting a group in middle school. In recent years (long after the disbanding of that preteen rap group) Lucky has been focusing much on his own career and like many young MC's, he shows promise. Yay or Nay: "Smiling in Ya Face" - Lucky a.k.a Mark Milly.

Hip Hop is in my Veins - Miz Korona

Shortest post and a first in Tha 'A' Side history, I'm straight jacking another blog/site. My favorite frenemy Marcel over at WHUTUPDOE.com got an exclusive, that I must say I'm somewhat jealous of: Miz Korona's unmixed, unreleased (until now) mixtape Dope Muzik.
Here's what Korona had to say to about the project :

Dope Muzik was a project of passion. I was inspired to do it after losing two of our most influential artist from the city, Dilla & Proof, and listening to a lot of their music both recent releases and classic unreleased material along with other classic albums based out of the early to mid 90’s. Then I approached The Lab Techs about doing the project with me around 06 but our schedules put a halt to the project. A year later I met Chanes and the idea resurfaced and the rest is history. We started recording it in 2008.

The concept and title came from the mind state that the beats and rhymes from that [early-mid 90’s] era put me in. Everything was dope back then. The style of the rhyme patterns, the beats, the way they shot videos: I just wanted to recapture that in my own way.

Also, drug addiction was at an all time high around that time so I tried to tap into the mind of an addict but from an artist standpoint.

We recorded the album in 7 days. I recorded a song the first day I met Chanes. The second day I went back and we worked for 18 hours straight, knocked out 10 songs all from scratch.

To Download Dope Muzik, CLICK HERE

Yay or Nay: U.S.R.

Basic Alex Lead: U.S.R. the clique.

I've been almost slacking on the posting (forgive me), but I decided to just combine these songs into one collective post. You've seen me post on U.S.R. a few times before and I don't know what these fellas are doing but am I the only one that seemed to notice that when one drops they all drop and it's not stopping. Sunday, Young Scolla released his 'Escaping Reality EP' the prelude (and teaser) to hold fans over until 'Renaissance Dreams' realeases. Last week, the camp released their first episode of USRTV, K-Bunz will be releasing 'One Way In, No Way Out' soon in anticipation for his mixtape '5 Miles to City Limits,' and most recently Co-CEO E. Keas debuted the launch of OurStyleKicks.com, an online sneaker marketplace. It's definitely a ripple effect with them and I can barely keep up. Today's Yay or Nay: U.S.R., a joint from Willy J Peso, a joint by J-Neely feat. K-Bunz and Willy J of U.S.R. and Jay Cro's promo video "Young'n Intro"

College Girl - Willy J Peso



Pour it up, Light It Up - J-Neely feat. K-Bunz and Willy J Peso


Click HERE to download.

"Youngn's Intro"

The Future - Young Scolla

Valentine's Day is the day for love (common knowledge) and if you know me, music is my love. I'm not a creator of it, but yeah it's something like important to me. Today (and yesterday) a few things released that made my day.

To kick things off, DJ K-Fresh — who runs Renaissance Soul one of the first Detroit-ized (my blog, my made up word) sites I ever read — released the: 'Hell No We Won't Go: 'Nam Mix' yesterday evening. It's not a hip-hop mix, it's not a soul mix, it's a vinyl mix with hit songs from the 60's and 70's and features songs like: "If You Want Me to Stay" by Sly and the Family Stone and "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. Speaking as Alex, listening to music on vinyl is the BEST way to listen to music, it has a certain sound that just ... it's indescribable. Definitely something different than what your used to, but I know every music fan (no hip-hop heads or pop tarts) music fans will appreciate this.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 'Hell No We Won't Go: 'Nam Mix'


Basic Alex Statement: I hate Ohio, but I like Fly.Union. I did mess up for a minute with the whole not having Value Pack 3 but the fellas released Value Pack 4 today which features the like of Dom Kennedy (who was recently at Michigan State Univ. performing with BJ the Chicago Kid). I guarantee the next XXL Freshman class will feature Fly.Union (and I don't say that kind of stuff often).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 'VALUE PACK 4'



We always scream Support Detroit and now here's your opportunity. The homie Young Scolla released his EP 'Escaping Reality' tonight for Valentine's Day. It went on sale tonight and is basically a name your price deal. It features songs produced by Tecknowledgy, Syrenn and Charlie Hilton (who produced 'The Future" feat. Bryant Stewart) and has a guest spot by K-Bunz, who is releasing his mixtape sometime soon. It's a pretty dope project that is a nice little something to hold people over until the anticipated Renaissance Dreams releases later this year (Days? Months? Weeks? who knows).



CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ESCAPING REALITY EP

Drumroll - Kristen Nichole

The buzz around Kristen Nichole has been building a bit for a little while. The runner up of the 2009 South Pole Clothing's Fresh Face model search has been constantly working on making herself a better performer and has finally released her single with JWan of Finally Famous, "Drumroll." But who exactly is Kristen Nichole? In this interview she talks about how she got started singing, who inspires her and what her future goals are.

Alex Washington (AW): What got you into singing?

Kristen Nichole (KN): Well I started out singing at my old home church back when I was about six. I was always singing before that but I didn’t remember my first solo until I was there. I was always running around the church singing the praise team’s songs and never noticed anyone listening to me. I guess my choir director sister Debra noticed my voice and forced me to do a solo. My second solo was in the first grade and the same thing happened again. My school choir teacher just picked me out of nowhere and told me I had to do a solo for the Christmas show. I couldn’t even remember if I was supposed to say Santa was from the North or South Pole but I said it right the day of the show, and it was the most exciting feeling—after that I just kept singing. I formed a duo with my friend at church in elementary school but she was so scared the day we had to sing I ended up singing the entire song by myself, a cappella, in front of the church. I just sang my heart out and smiled while she cried next me; I guess I learned early the show must go on.

AW: How would you describe your sound?

KN: Wow it’s so hard to describe my sound because it’s so versatile. I can’t really think of one person I really sound all that much like but if I gave a combination of artists it might be a voice similar to Aaliyah, a swag like Keri Hilson, and a little bit like Teairra Mari, with a vocal range like Beyoncé’s. There’s really no way to pin point my voice that’s why I feel I’m something new. Listening to me on a ballad is even different from me on a hip hop track or a more upbeat song. The best way I can describe my sound is pure. People have told me there’s something about my voice that just sounds pure, no extra vibrato; I’m not forcing it or trying too hard. It’s just a pure well controlled sound, with the ability to evoke emotion. I can change my voice to sound how I want it to, but I believe I’ve discovered “My” sound now. It’s just me, and I’m excited for people to hear it.

AW: Who are some of your musical inspirations and why?

READ MORE

Love Lockdown - Kanye West

Valentine's Day is among us and though I won't be celebrating it this year (at least I think I won't be) I'm still happy for all of you who have found your soulmate ... for the time being. While procrastinating I got the bright idea to do a spur of the moment playlist of hip-hop/rap love songs. Maybe they're not all about love and some just get down to the nitty gritty, but they're romance inspired nonetheless. Some are for hilarity (like Cam'ron's "Cookies-N-Apple Juice") and some have a more sincere feel (kind of like Mae Day's "No Ordinary Love"). Here's what I have on the menu for Valentine's Day 2010.

• Sugar - Busta Rhymes feat. Jelly Roll
• Rather Be With You (Vagina is for lovers) - Wale feat. J. Cole and Curren$y
• Mrs. International - Method Man and Redman feat. Erick Sermon
• Sex in Crazy Places - Gucci Mane feat. Nicki Minaj
• Invented Sex - Jay Beretta
• Cookies-N-Apple Juice - Cam'Ron feat. Skitzo and Byrd Lady
• Sexual Eruption - Snoop Dogg
• What's it Gonna Be - Busta Rhymes feat. Janet Jackson
• P***y Monster - Lil' Wayne
• Freaky Girl - Gucci Mane feat. Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim
• My Neck, My Back - Khia
• Make Her Say - Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West
• Studio Lovin' - Wiz Khalifa
• Climax (Girl Sh*t) - Slum Village
• The Transitional Joint (Baby Girl Glow) - eLZhi
• Fly In Her Nikes - Mac Miller feat. Josh Everette
• Say It - P.H.I.L.T.H.Y.
• Someone As Real As Her (S.A.R.A.H.) - eLZhi feat. Dwele
• Down A** Chick - Ja Rule feat. Charli Baltimore
• Best I Ever Had - Drake
• Love Story - Big Sean feat. Keely
  
• P***y (I Promise) - JWan
• Bedrock - Young Money feat. Lloyd
• Infatuation - Young Scolla feat. K-Bunz
• No Ordinary Love - Mae Day
  

Happy V' Day. To download click HERE.

Music Video: Totally Awesome - Marv Won

We've been over this, if you don't know who Marv Won is cover yourself with zebra gravy and go lay in a lion den. (if you don't have his album 'Wayne Fontes Music', do that twice). Today he released the video for his song "Totally Awesome" off of the December release and has a few cameos from some people you may know like Ro Spit and Rick of Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique and Miz Korona. Peep It. "Totally Awesome" - Marv Won featuring Rio Data.

Music For Love - Mario

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and with that comes love, romance, promiscuity and seduction. To help kick things off the right way and put you in the mood with your special (or not-so) someone, DJ LimeLightz released "SexTape Vol. 2." The hour long mixtape (which is one .mp3) features songs like "Anywhere" by 112 and Lil' Zane, "Signs of Lovemaking" by Tyrese and "Dot Com" by Usher. So go download and prepare for the 14th or any day you feel like "reinventing sex."CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Flashback: What They Really Want - DMX

Every Tuesday when I was a kid, I could be found in Target, Best Buy, F.Y.E., Justin's Music ... any place that sold CDs. When I was 10 I bought my first explicit content album, with my own money, by myself and it was DMX's '...And Then There Was X." I loved this album (still do) and it stayed in my CD player, until Mom found it and it was all over, lol. I personally think DMX is an underrated rapper, he may be slightly bipolar, but his wordplay and the griminess of his lines can't help but captivate you. This song has some of the realest lines in it, if you take the time to listen. Flashback to: "What They Really Want" - DMX feat. Sisqó

Music Video: "Money" - Cydara Elise

I kept hearing about her, but I had never heard a song of hers before. Cydara Elise recently released her video for "Money" a song about ... well take a guess. There are some cameos by other Detroit natives including Ron Dance and Dwele. So what do you think?

Raise It Up - Slum Village

I watched the Ustream of 'Ma Dukes is the Foundation' (Feb. 9) and seeing legends come together to honor another legend was amazing via the internet so I imagine it was outstanding being there. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to say or how to word it. I didn't want to be cliché or another one of those annoying posts some bloggers do when they don't really care. I posted this on my Tumblr earlier and it seemed pretty perfect.

So I’m working on a post for my blog about J. Dilla.

Have I ever met him?

No.

Was I as huge of a fan of his back then?

Not Really.

Dilla is that musician I have learned to appreciate and love everything he’s done for music. It’s funny that someone you have never met can change your life in 3 minutes of being in your ear.

I place J. Dilla in the same ranks an aspiring pianist would place Chopin or Bach, the movements they started are phoenomenal.

Yes, I’m a writer, but Dilla changed my life.

It's been four years since J. Dilla passed away and what's amazing is his legacy is still going strong. He single-handedly changed hip-hop and it makes me wonder if even he knew the kind of affect he would have.

I heard 'Donuts' the day it released and thought it was the most amazing thing I ever heard. The only thing I remember thinking was "how?" It's one of those albums I listened to in complete silence and felt something new every time I listened to it. Three days after I first heard that album J. Dilla passed away. When the story ran in the Detroit Free Press I was so captivated by it; it was the perfect example of a hip-hop story that went beyond 16 bars and an 808. It resulted in me getting an apprenticeship at the Free Press the following year while being mentored by Kelley L. Carter (who wrote the story).

One week, one album, one man put me on the path I'm on now. There are tons of untold stories in this industry and four years ago I made it my mission to spread the word.

Dilla changed my life, raise it up.

Never Say - KR

In this installment of the Dream series, KR speaks on his performance at Central Michigan University OBU Apollo. If you didn't know I go to CMU and I did ask him to at least touch on it and after a bump, this is what I received. I did tweet while at the apollo and this is what it said: Alex_Washington: #lowkey I'm STILL mad at how #CMU did @KrackDiesel, like that really got under my skin ... Like something serious.

Note: Before I get started, I wanna give Alex Washington my apologies. Sometimes when someone gets pissed they black out and forget about the consequences of their actions. Anything I say is a reflection of me, not her, DO NOT get that twisted. The last thing I would want to do is put her in any awkward situation due to a conflict of interests.

I turned my own CD off. Me and my girlfriend rode back to Detroit. I was licking my wounds, all out confused. I didn't even wanna hear myself. I didn't wanna hear anyone. We rode in silence.

I brought her to the event. She'd been supporting my music since she met me five years ago. She's one of my #1 fans through and through. In addition to that, she hadn't been able to make my past couple of performances because we had no babysitter for our child. She was excited about seeing me perform for the first time in a while. I was excited for her to see me.

I drove two and a half hours to this place, expecting to take another step towards getting my name out there. Every performance is an opportunity to gain a fan, and I'm sure that's why artists of my stature (unknown) go to such lengths to perform wherever we can fit in. The only people I even knew at Central were people I hadn't even met in person. I was coming into a new situation with a relatively small backing.

That never stopped me before.

From Callahan's Bar & Grill in Auburn to The Shelter in the D. I've never had a performance where people didn't come up to me and salute the performance. Real n*gga sh*t. I'm used to at least one person stepping to me and telling me how well I did. It's no longer unusual to get a few new followers on twitter just based off a performance.

Which brings us to Central Michigan University's Apollo Night...

Horrendous.

I got booed THEE F*CK off stage. First time ever-might not even be the last time. I'm still not quite sure.

Here's what you may be wondering, was it because I bombed? Did I forget my lines? Were the songs wack? Watered down?

  READ MORE

The Moment - Young Scolla

USR the clique.

I think I start every post about them with that phrase, it's so lame (but whatever). The talented gents have started doing webisodes of their lives during different events, trips and whatever other mayhem may ensue. They released the pilot episode tonight entitled: 'The ATLiens,' which documents Young Scolla, K-Bunz, Keas, Jay-Cro and Fab 5 Ent. as they travel to the Detroit of the South for a show with the Cool Kids. Check it out.

Kill Yourself - KR

In his second post, KR talks about the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, what surprised him and what pissed him off.

Hello friends and enemies. I’m back. It’s good ol’ Krack Daddy with my jumbled opinions on the Grammy Awards. On second thought, make that a bunch of unanswered questions. Maybe someone can help me understand? There’s our first question of

the day.

First off, Taylor Swift just won Album of the Year. Wow.

Rihanna got her face dismantled last year. She’s still one of the biggest artists in the world. Why exactly was she not performing? Why when she was asked about the reason behind her not performing she alluded to her getting her ass kicked? Yeah I’m sure she knew Chris was going to treat her fingers like sausage links the day before the award ceremony last year.

Taylor Swift gets interrupted and so begins the pity tour of 09. I thought this was a new year, but it seems like this is only the beginning. Everyone keeps on writing about how Taylor writes her own music, blah blah blah. Damn near everything I’ve heard from her has to do with teen relationships. Girls are the stupidest when they’re her age. Stop using that argument. She’s talented, but damn…it seems like every award. How is this possible!?

READ MORE

Mafia Music 2 - Rick Ross

It's been said that Rick Ross is the biggest boss you have seen thus far, and for five producers from Michigan, this is even more true. Jay Fab, PC, BP, Knoxville, and Flawless make up the producing quintet The Olympicks who signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group last summer. Personal opinion on producers in general, their role on a song is more important than that of the artist. How many times have you heard a song with the lamest lyrics but the sickest beat and get mad at yourself for liking it? Plenty, I'm sure. Now how many times have you heard a song with a wack beat and immediately cut it off without even listening to the lyrics? Exactly, my point. A good beat makes a song and The Olympicks is definitely a group of individuals that make something like great beats which turn into great songs. They have worked with Young Jeezy, Yung Berg, Lil' Mama, Young Dro, Jim Jones and of course Rick Ross. Ross' latest release "Mafia Music 2" was produced by them and in the video below, they explain how it happened, and I find it interesting five hands touched a beat and the end result is dope.

Click above to listen to "Mafia Music 2" - Rick Ross

Yay or Nay: Jump In The Air - Erykah Badu

If you haven't heard by now Erykah Badu is dropping her new album 'New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh'

March 30. The album is said to have more live instruments than digital ones (The Roots' ?uestlove shows his drumming talents on the track "Window Seat") and was originally slated to be released at the end of February but was pushed back. As for the naming of the album, Badu told Billboard.com:

I called it 'Part II: The Return of the Ankh' because this album is the sister of the left side of my brain -- it is the right side. Part I was the left side of my thoughts -- it was more socially political and my thought process was more analytical. This time there wasn't anything to be concerned with -- the album is more emotional and flowy and talks about feelings. It reminds of the days of 'Baduizm' -- this is just about beats and rhymes in a cipher.

Today's track was recently released and from my understanding it will be featured on her upcoming album. Initially this song had leaked but was rumored to have featured Lil' Wayne and Andre 3000 instead of Bilal. What do you think? Yay or Nay: "Jump In The Air (Stay There)" - Erykah Badu feat. Lil' Wayne and Bilal

Flashback: Climax - Slum Village

Basic blog lead: I love Slum Village.

Yesterday (aka my birthday so all belated birthday wishes are still being accepted) I saw the video for Slum Village's "Climax" for the first time. This song was on their second album 'Fantastic, Vol. 2.' The video has cameos from quite a few different people including Quest Love, Saafir and Gary Coleman, kind of showing Slum's influence. This song always reminds me of summer and with this horrible winter weather, everyone needs a little bit of sunshine. Flashback: "Climax" - Slum Village.

Yay or Nay: Cool - P.L.

P.L. has been steadily in the studio working on his newest mixtape 'Turning Lane.' Yesterday the former 106 and Park Freestyle Friday Champion, leaked his latest single "Cool" produced by The Olympicks (Detroit natives who signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group this past summer). No word on when the Ann Arbor native is relesaing 'Turning Lane' (or I just haven't paid much attention) but it is coming sometime soon.
Yay or Nay: "Cool" - P.L.

I'm So Skigh High

Who is Skigh High? A question that many people (especially if you're Facebook friends with any of them) have been wondering for quite some time. Well I sent some questions to M. Dizz, Young Slapz and G. Wood to get some kind of understanding as to who they are and why we should care. They talk about everything from their projects to haters. Also, peep the song they made for my birthday. How cool is that? Introducing, Skigh High.



AW: How did you guys come together to decide you want to do this?

Slapz: We were sitting in Dizz room chillin' and we were listening to some artist who people claim to be the top ten artist in the game (Gucci, Soulja Boy, etc). We figured that we, lyrically, were better than most people, and had better stories on life to tell as well. We love making history so we decided to embark on a journey to bring Detroit hip-hop back. I (Slapz) had never been serious about rapping but I knew I had a slight talent in it that could grow if I put my mind to it. Dizz and G.Wood had tried to make something pop in high school but it never happened the way they planned until now. Long story short, we all had talent, Dizz could produce and rap, and I could rap so we started NGC. We told G.Wood and Lyricz about NGC and how we were about to take this to a serious level and bring Detroit back into hip-hop. They linked up with us and we became a label/entertainment group called Skigh High ENT, NGC is the duo and G.Wood & Lyricz are solo artists, we all work on the projects and mixtape collab together and make the camp grow by working with other artists and putting on for the camp. We did not think it would grow into what it is now in such a short time.

AW: What's the meaning behind the name?

Slapz: We started out as "Skool Boyz Entertainment" but we didn't think that would fly for long since we wouldn't be in school forever but we would be in hip-hop forever, so G.Wood said "Sky High Entertainment" because we headed to the sky/top. M.Dizz said that's too cliche if we use that we have to add our own spin to it so he said "Skigh High Entertainment". Everybody agreed. Thus we created the motto "Skigh High the clique because we're headed to the stars".

AW: Who exactly is in Skigh High?

Slapz: Skigh High has grown a lot; it started with NGC (Young Slapz & M.Dizz), G.Wood and Lyricz, as the founding fathers. We added La'Dell Germaine as an R&B artist, and A.Fresh.Kid (Raphael Worthy) as a graphic designer for our covers, flyers, business worker, etc. Erika Talbert was added as a marketing/street team chair, most ,if not all, marketing ideas have stemmed from her brain. We then wanted to make the group more versatile and make our fan base grow by connecting with different artists, therefore we added D.Rice and C.Wil, and our two newest members Juice & Chell Crowell as a R&B artist. We added Derron "Indefinite" Davis as our youtube.com chairperson, and he is an artist as well. We have Jasmine Christopher, Onetress Robinson, Phillip Talbert, and Randall Williams as the E-Board of the Skigh High Street Team which we are currently taking resumes and applications for. As you can see Skigh High isn't compiled of only artist it goes deeper than that—much deeper. There is a spot for everybody in Skigh High,you wouldn't notice that on the outside looking in, but we are cool on the artist tip as of now. We are currently working with Faris Wright of Self Made L.L.C. to become our manager and take this to the next level. Details for that will be released later….

AW: Skigh High seems to be releasing a lot of projects, have you ever thought you were releasing too many?

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