Serius Jones

Serius Jones became known to the "mainstream" after being featured on MTV2's night time show THE FIGHT KLUB merkin' Jin tha rapper, but where is he now?

Many people don't realize that the battles aired on MTV2 actually took place nearly two years prior to the show airing. The New Jersey born rapper had established his clout in the streets and the crown winning battle with Jin was icing on the cake.

Serius Jones is now a signed artist with Ludcris' label Disturbing Tha Peace. His most recent album KING ME was distributed independently, but his first DTP album is scheduled for release later this year. Look out for "Life is Serius"!! (www.myspace.com/seriusjones)

If you are eager to hear this release or just a fan of Serius Jones holla at me and let me know what's poppin' with dude after all you might know something I don't know.

Bounce Music

I lived in New Orleans for sometime (before Katrina) and I fell in love with "Bounce Music."

Bounce Music is the foundation for a lot of the party tracks that became popular in the south over the past five years. If you listened to the Ying Yang Twins, Lil' Jon, Lil' Scrappy, Bone Crusher, and any other southern rapper that's heavy into call and response and just straight directions in the song- that comes from Bounce Music.

One of my favorite Bounce Music dj's is DJ MONEY FRESH! He's got this track called "Hot Steamy Relations" if you hear it not only will you dance, but you will laugh.

So today I just wanted to share with the people, if you wanna hear some new feel good music (westcoasters) or for all the Louisiana people that already know what I'm talkin' bout Google one of these names and tell me what you think.

• Dj Jubilee
• Katey Red
• MC T.T. Tucker
• Showboys
• or my favorite Dj Money Fresh

45's, Turntables, & a Microphone

As the world becomes more digitalized it's even harder then ever before to stay up on music history. WRONG!

You just have to know your resources and WAX POETICS ONLINE is a hip hop lovers dream. This website is great, but this magazine is phenomenal. Nominated for the UTNE Independent Press Awards for "Best Art Coverage," Wax Poetics is your digital guide to all things vinyl.

In the most recent issue of Wax Poetics you can find a photo essay entitled "I Speak Music - Hip Hop - Old School" the pictures are worthy of being cut out, blown up, and mounted on your wall.

check out the site at www.waxpoetics.com you will be pleasantly refreshed by their original content.

Kanye West's Mother is Dead

Donda West 58 years of age died on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 after complications from a "cosmetic procedure," that was being performed at Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Los Angeles. At this time the exact cause of death is unknown and reports indicate that further information will be made available after an autopsy is performed.

Donda West served as CEO of West Brands LLC, Chairwoman of The Kanye West Foundation, and is the former Chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department. Kanye and Donda were a very close knit team as evidenced by Kanye's record "Hey Mama" and their recent book collaboration "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star." Most notably, fans can call upon the lyrics from "Hey Mama" when Kanye says,

"Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you/ 'Cause I'm so proud of you/ Let me tell you what I'm about to do ... I appreciate what you allowed for me, I just want you to be proud of me."

Undoubtedly, this unexpected and untimely death is weighing heavily on Kanye and his family, as such a spokesperson for Kanye released a statement on behalf of the family- "The family respectfully asks for privacy during this time of grief."

BET, VH1, Myspace, and the like all have articles posted, but CNN offers a video from reporter Lola Ogunnaike which sheds light on Kanye's close bond with his mother and the details of her passing.

If you would like to offer up any comments regarding Kanye's loss please feel free to leave your thoughts. To Kanye and family I wish you strength and fellowship during this time of grief and to Donda West may you rest in peace.

What you know about DJ Drama?!

Dj Drama has become a household name in the South, but I sometimes wonder if folks over here on the WestCoast (where I'm from) know anything about Dj Drama other then the fact that he runs with T.I.

Before we take a look at this trendsetter, "Gangsta Grillz" the long awaited ALBUM by Dj Drama hits stores 12.04.2007. It's bout to be critical! Hip hoppers, this is a pivotal moment in our history because it truly marks the beginning of a whole new platform for DJ's to build from; it will be interesting to see how fans and audiences respond to this new product.


Noteworthy Dj Drama Facts:

#1~ Dj Drama (aka) Tyree Cinque Simmons is part black!!! Yes, the dude is light-bright, light-skinned, fair complected, or however you want to put it. Dj Drama's father is African American and his mother is Caucasian. So next time you see a picture of this native Philadelphian and you ask yourself what was this white guy doing at Clark Atlanta University? It's because he's mixed!

#2~ Dj Drama INDEPENDENTLY sold over 50,000 mixtapes. To all aspiring artists take note as a matter of fact do your research on the entrepreneurial prowess of this 29 year-old. Dj Drama's Gangsta Grillz mixtape series redefined the national perception of southern rappers. Artists like Young Jeezy, Bun B, P-Diddy, and Lil Wayne (check out 'The Dedication') can directly attribute the increase in their popularity to the success of their respective Gangsta Grillz Mixtapes. ****In 2005 Dj Drama released a record 17 mixtapes**** (that's pure insanity folks)

#3~ Dj Drama is a founding partner of the Aphilliates dj collective. Formed in April of 2003, the crew now includes DJ's Sense, Cannon, Jamad, Ox Banga, and Jaycee, each member of the Aphilliates crew is respected for owning a separate niche of the DJ market. I you want more information about the crew you can check them out at http://theaphilliates.com/

M16's DRAWN
Most people are familiar with the arrest of Dj Drama, but probably have no idea about the charges or circumstances. I didn't have any idea about the details either so I dedicated a day to researching the issue and this is what I found out.

-Dj Drama himself gives a first hand account of the details on his myspace page in a clip from MTV Raw.

-Drama's sister Aishah Shahidah Simmons shares her opinions regarding the situation on a blog she posted called "Thirty Strong and a Gun to his Head...Pay Attention?"

-There's also some NY Times articles and local news articles that all give a 'outside looking in' description of the events.

To sum it all up for folks this is what went down: Dj Drama and Dj Cannon were charged with felony violation of Georgia's RICO Act which is a law that protects the copyrights of record labels. The Georgia S.W.A.T was sent to the Ahilliate offices in Atlanta to seize all unlicensed compilations. In the end on January 16th, 2007 Georgia police seized over 81,000 CDs, most of the recording equipment, and several vehicles that were found on the property. Dj Drama and Cannon were jailed and released the following morning after posting $100,000.

NutShell

Yep, so that's the word on the street regarding Dj Drama. Get familiar with his work cause this muddasucka right here is making heavy moves- Get 'em!

Dj Drama is a gifted professional and front runner in today's hip hop world and I'm interested in reading what you think his impact has been or will be. Hit me up at lillythemusiclover@gmail.com or leave a comment!!!!

Christian Scott

My first joy is music and for whatever reason I am particularly drawn to music that I believe to be a reflection of the urban struggle, plight, and joys. Genres such as R&B, Jazz, & Rap usually strum my heart strings. But to me that's all part of what I like to call Hip hop culture which encompasses so many things that it's meaning almost depends on the person with whom you are speaking to.

Long story short, I said all that to say that I am proud to announce that I am now officially hip to Christian Scott; who if you don't know is a refreshing addition to the world of hip hop!

By definition, Christian Scott is a jazz artist signed to Concord Records. His instrument is the trumpet, but his talents extend to arrangement as well. I literally stumbled upon his work one night when I was watching the BET Awards.

Flashback: there I was thinking to myself, "this is a great award show this year!" Suddenly, I felt inspired to go onto http://www.bet.com/ so I could watch the award show again. So I'm perusing through BET.com and I come across BET Lounge and one of the featured artists is Christian Scott. His latest album is called ANTHEM and the cover just screamed hip hop to me!!! So me being the hip hop lover that I am I checked him out.

Folks I am telling you this young man is GOLDEN! For him to be 23 years old spittin' out JAZZ with an urban twist- I know that he is going to inspire amazing new talent.

His album is music to the ears and I strongly recommend the track entitled "Litany Against Fear"

Get on your p's and q's and check him out at:

www.christianscott.net and www.myspace.com/christianscottmusic


Also I'd really love to hear back from people that are already familiar with C.Scott or folks that have seen him live. Is this BROTHER THE TRUTH? Speak on it, holla back lillythemusiclover@gmail.com or post a comment.