The iconic movie director, producer, and screenwriter passed away today after suffering from a stroke since April 17th. A family spokesman issued the following statement:
“We want to thank the amazing doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for their expert care and kindness and we again want thank all of John’s fans, friends and colleagues for all of the love and support they showed him during this difficult time,” the family said in a statement.
While not an music artist or a producer, Singleton made a big impact on hip-hop with his movies. He casted artists such as Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, and Tupac Shakur. These movies included “Poetic Justice”, “Boyz in the Hood”, and “Higher Learning”.
It’s been almost four years since Sean Price’s untimely passing. Many have paid tribute to the late rapper in many ways. And when artists pass away, someone usually releases a posthumous album that compiles some unreleased tracks. Before Sean died, Small Professor worked with him on some tracks and released them as an album earlier this year called 86 Witness.
Small Producer is from Philadelphia, and originally was known as MC Esther. In 2004, he tried to write a whole album but it just wasn’t cutting it for him. So he went ahead and made beats instead. It was at that point he was known as Small Professor. Let me give you three reasons to follow him.
His name alone shows love to the old school
After deciding to quit rapping (known as MC Escher, he decided to focus on beat-making. He called himself Small Professor, because of his love for Large Professor and his album “Breaking Atoms”.
His beat making brings the old and new school together
Small Pro brings everyone together. His beats are a mix of Boom Bap and the Southern beats you hear of today. Both generations will like ’86 Witness as a collaboration album with the late Sean Price. Small Professor really brought out the best of P given how little he had to work with this posthumous album. Small Pro brings out the best of P, making his voice as grimey as we’ve known him to be.
His beats have its unique character, separating itself from other beats
If you listen to “Bear Witness”, the first track off ’86 Witness, it sets off the album with a bold positive beat. He’s got Price going off strong. “Word to Mother” is great with its beat changeup and scratch routine. The track not only includes P’s lyricism, but appearances by DJ revolution and Illa Ghee.
Cypress Hill is about to get a star on the walk of fame
The hip hop group will be honored with a star on April 18th. They will be immortalized on Hollywood Boulevard, just miles from South Gate where they first formed 30 years ago.
Cypress Hill will become the first Latino Hip-Hop group with the honor. Other hip hop artists with a star include Pitbull and Snoop Dogg.
Now let’s get these guys into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can we?
This has been a pretty hard week for the Hip-Hop community as they mourned the loss of Nipsey Hussle. A man who was not only known for his rhymes and music, but his entrepreneurship and his commitment to his community.
A lot of artists and celebrities shared their thoughts about the producer, leaving touching tributes on their accounts.
Another sad death has hit the Hip Hop community. Senseless shooting toward a young rapper who’s life was cut short at just 33 years old. On Sunday, Nipsey Hussle was shot multiple times in front of his store in Los Angeles. I’ve been looking through social media, and have noticed tons of tributes and thoughts about the fallen rapper. The more I’ve read about him, really makes me regret not paying attention to his work. Here’s three reasons why you should follow the work Nipsey did.
was very smart and up on everything like politics and news
He stayed up on everything. During the ’16 election, he collaborated with YG on a single called FDT (*uck Donald Trump). Shawn Setaro, host of the Cipher, mentioned on Twitter that Nipsey talked about fiat currency, artificial scarcity, and Sanrio’s business model.
he shared his accomplishment he built from the ground up
When he talked with Setaro, he mentioned that he wanted to put his money into a STEM school for children in his community. He mentioned in another interview that he wanted to invest his money into real estate, while other rappers were putting their money into jewelry. His store, The Marathon Clothing, was the anchor. It was the seed that led to reinvesting into bigger and better things for his community.
He was a role model for children
People took notice of what he did. Politicians said he had a vision for the children in his community. He poured positivity onto the streets, that children took notice of.
Cardi B is heading back to work at the strip club again, except this time it’s on the big screen.
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper will be starring alongside Jennifer Lopez, Keke Palmer, and Julia Styles in a movie called Hustlers. It’s a movie about a group of former strippers set to get revenge on some of their wealthy clients by running up their credit cards.
This will be Cardi B’s first movie. Hustlers is set to begin filming on March 22nd.
Can you think of a rap or hip hop group that stands out currently? There have been many notables in the past: Wu-Tang Clan, Odd Future, Hot Boy$, but I haven’t heard a GROUP lately have you? Clear Soul Forces is about to fill in that void.
If you like that Detroit, boom-bap, Dilla sound, then you’ll dig the “Voltron” that is Clear Soul Forces. E-Fav, Ilajide, L.A.Z. and Noveliss are back together for another album release. I’ve got three reasons you should follow these guys.
They’re a hip-hop GROUP which is a rare find these days
Money is tight these days, and having to split the little cash given between all the members and behind the scenes people is tough. It’s not exactly an ideal situation for any artist. I think what makes this group special is their motivation to form together in making a sound that stands above the rest.
2. This group is just as strong individually as a group
Look up each member individually, and you’ll be impressed by the work they do solo. Take Noveliss for example. If you listen to “Brand New” and “5 AM in Shibuya” you’ll be impressed. I guess that’s what happens when you hang around people like Mega Ran and Royce Da 5’9”.
E-Fav REALLY believes in hip-hop, and why not? If you watch this video, he’s trying to bring it back in the truest sound.
While most of the members usually rap backpack-style, Ilajide can switch it up a bit. If you go to his Instagram, you can see a video where he’s rappin west-coast style.
L.A.Z was raised right. You could tell when he can drop his like this. It makes sense when your mom is a big hip-hop head and your stepdad was a DJ.
3. This group has Royce Da 5’9” seal of approval
What more can you say, about this group, when after recording Royce goes “You know what? You guys should form a group.”
Nuff Said
Check out their new album Still. I’ve been listening to them non-stop on Apple Music.