2. 2
Giving Back ft. Drake
By Anell Alexis
Hip-Hop is a revolving door and
industry with new stories and gossip coming
out of it every day. Not a day goes by that a
newsworthy story or rumor does not pop up
from an “anonymous” source. More times
than not, these stories are not told in a
positive manner, and often portray these hip-
hop figures in a negative light. However, a
story has recently come to light about a
major hip-hop figure doing positive work in
the community.
Drake and Kennedy when he visited her house in Texas
On April 14th 2014, rapper Drake
went to Texas to visit one of his fans. What
made this visit and this fan more special
than others was that this fan was dealing
with a life or death situation. This fan,
whose name is Kennedy Brown, is fifteen
years old, a native of Houston and has been
dealing with terminal brain cancer for the
past two years. According to Kennedy, her
biggest wish, “more than anything”, was to
meet the Grammy-award winning rapper
Drake. Kennedy’s high school classmates
started a movement on Twitter tagged
“#DrakeForKen”, so that they could get
Drake’s attention. The topic soon went
trending in the Houston area and throughout
the United States and was successful in its
effort to get Drake’s attention. Drake then
called Kennedy’s father to tell him that he
would arrive in Houston later that day to
make a surprise visit with Kennedy. Drake
later made the visit and posted the pictures
on his Instagram and Twitter page. He then
captioned these photos saying
“#DrakeForKen”. This is a great story and
one that generates a lot of positive publicity
in the Hip-Hop community.
3. 3
Just an Act
By Anell Alexus
Hip-Hop is a revolving door
and industry with new stories
and gossip coming out of it every day Not a
day goes by that a newsworthy story or
rumor does not pop up from an
“anonymous” source More times than not,
these stories are not told in a positive
manner, and often portray these hip-hop
figures in a negative light However, a story
has recently come to light about a major hip-
hop figure doing positive work in the
community
On April 12th 2014, hip-hop mogul
Nick Cannon spoke to Arsenio Hall on his
late-night television show to speak as to why
he did whiteface. “Whiteface” is an act of
which a person,
Nick Cannon in “Whiteface”
normally of a darker skin tone, puts
on some type of coloring on his face
to make his face appear to be of a lighter
pigmentation. Cannon’s depiction of a white
musical artist named Connor Smallnuts, sent
shockwaves through the music industry for
the racial connotations of his actions.
However, Nick went on to explain on the
show that, “people who had a sense of
humor embraced the character”. Cannon
went on to explain that his wife Mariah
Carey, who is half Caucasian as well, found
the character hilarious and wanted him to be
featured more on Cannon’s television show,
America’s Got Talent. All in all, Cannon
went on to say that the people who found
something wrong with his character should
really go back and revaluate themselves
because there was no hatred involved in
making this skit, only humor.
________________________________
Album in stores now
5. 5
Antwan “Big Boi” Patton
Rumor has it
The hiatus is
Over!
Coachella
2014?
6. 6
Return of Outkast
By Kenny Smith
Flashback in time
to all the great songs from
the 1990s to the early
2000s and make list of the
top 100 tracks of that era,
you cannot make that list
without naming at least
one Outkast track. During
that time frame, they
produced classic hits such
as Rosa Parks, So Fresh
and So Clean, Bombs Over
Baghdad and Roses, just to
name a few. But the since
about 2006, the famous
group has been separated
and not produced anything
together. I know many
people have been asking
the ever so popular
question: Where is
Outkast? Well, after a 10-
year hiatus Outkast will
finally reunite at
Coachella. On the year of
the 20th anniversary for
their debut album
Southernplayisticadillacmu
-zick, the two artists will
perform a 90-minute set
joined by the up and
coming artists Janelle
Monae and Future. This
will all be going down at
the Coachella Valley
Music and Arts Festival
2014 in California on April
11-13 and again on April
18-20.
The dynamic duo
of Antwan “Big Boi”
Patton and Andre “Andre
3000” Benjamin, from the
wonderful city of Atlanta,
Ga., are known for the
amazing albums ATLiens,
Stankonia, and the double
album Speakerboxxx/The
Love Below have not
toured since 2004, and the
hip-hop population has
been waiting for their
comeback. The news of
this comeback has been
hovering around the media
for quite some time now.
One unnamed source
stated that it is, “all
systems go” for Big Boi
and Andre 3000 to reunite.
We are here to tell you that
the reunion is happening
this April and they also
have plans to start a tour in
honor of the 20th year
anniversary of their first
album.
During their break
from performing together,
the artists were not quiet.
Big Boi released two solo
albums, 2010s Sir
Luscious Left Foot: The
Son of Chico Dusty and
2012s Vicious Lies and
Dangerous Rumors. Andre
3000 has also been in the
spotlight for a while. Three
Stacks has been featured
on many singles from
popular artists such as,
Beyoncé, Frank Ocean,
and Rick Ross. In a career-
making move he has
recently been chosen to
portray the rock star Jimi
Hendrix in the movie All
Is By My Side, coming to
theaters soon.
7. 7
Tickets for the long
overdue performance are
$375 for general admission
and $799 for VIP
admission and can be
purchased online at
www.coachella.com. Also
there are many other
packages you can
purchase for this
wonderful event
including camping and
a dinner. Don't be the
one to miss out
because if you know
Outkast like we do,
you know they are
bound to put on an
awesome show for all
audiences. See you
there!
The famous duo Andre 3000 and Big Boi
Outkast is back in action at
the Coachella Valley Music
ad Arts Festival 2014
8. 8
What has the game
been missing?
By Kenny Smith
The legends Tupac Shakur
and The Notorious B.I.G.
were revolutionary in their
era, but their famous
careers were cut short
because of violence.
Photo of the late Tupacand Biggie
Records such as All Eyez
on Me and Ready to Die
will forever be in our
hearts and will always
blast through someone’s
speakers. But the question
that arises today is, would
the mainstream artists
today still be famous if
Tupac, with his Outlaw
Immortalz, and Biggie,
with his Junior Mafia, didn’t meet their very unfortunate
demise?
Music has changed dramatically since what older
people would call the “good ole days.” Now music seems to
have no lyrical content, just good beats and a nice hook.
Artists like K Camp, Young Thug, and Migos all have good
beats but say nothing. For instance, take one of Migos hit
songs Charles Barkley, he says, “ We flex in ‘sace, Versace,
Givenchy, don’t care what they cost (Givenchy?)” On one
quick listen this sounds like gibberish and upon actually
reading the lyrics there is not much clarity to the song either.
Yet and still, these songs are the new club
bangers and all the rage on the radio. What
happened to the stories that used to be told
during a rap song? The young generation
loves this music, but could it be possible
that they are too young to know about
anything else? Could a prolonged career
from the greats that passed changed their
idea of “good music”?
However, there are some saviors to the new
generation. Artists like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar have
proved that they could hang with Biggie and Tupac. These
“new era” artists have countless hits on their resumes that
contain great beats and great stories. Kanye West even helped
the music game out before he got weird and so obsessed with
himself. Even though this is the case for Mr. West he still has
great music. Kendrick, Cole, and Kanye speak a story with
every rap and each song has a meaning. Their music is not
just filled with getting money, having sex with women, and
the usual jewelry, cars and clothes; they tell stories about life.
9. 9
My advice to the young
era, our successors, is
simple… OPEN YOUR
EARS! The popular music
of today may seem cool
but it is corrupting the
minds and making the
world angry. Good music
needs to be praised
because of what they say
as well as how the song
sounds, not just because it
gets you “hype” and you
can “turn up” to it. The rap
music industry is in dire
need of what we call a
change of scenery or a sort
of spring-cleaning. Until
then just sit back, listen,
and ask Can They Hang?
Bigge and Tupac
TupacShakur
Christopher Wallace
