Spotlight: Sgt J

Sgt J is the next super producer. With fresh platinum and gold plaques under his belt, this producer and engineer has already began to make a name for himself in the music industry and the streets. When it comes to a hard drum beat that is guaranteed to get the party started or when it comes to a dark drum pattern to make you feel energetic and ready for action Sgt J is as versatile as they come.

Sgt J is similar to a present day Mannie Fresh from Cash Money Records’ prime or 40 from OVO. He has produced for various artists, none of his production sounds redundant, and he is poised to be the most accomplished producer from the Great State of Texas and possibly the greatest of all time. He has the musical background for it, his current success puts him in the runnings, and the rest is up to his own tenacity.

Sgt J is originally from Tyler, Texas a city known as the Rose Capital of the World. Sgt J was in the band and on the drumline. His big brother, who was a local DJ, is responsible for his wide music palate as well as the influence of Atlanta, Louisiana, and Texas sounds. He is currently based in Houston, a city known for dictating market trends, and has plans to dominate in rap music. Skill wise Sgt J is already one of the best and he has proved it through versatility. Tyler, Texas has stayed true to its name and produced an amazing rose in Sgt J and the world will continue to watch him bloom.

Nikki Mack, Editor In Chief

The Smoke Box: Wiz Khalifa & The Taylor Gang

B. Real’s finally got the Taylor Gang chief himself in the infamous SmokeBox. In this episode Wiz and B Real discuss life, love and the pursuit of happiness. Spoiler alert, Berner starts complaining about the smoke from the backseat and Wiz Khalifa co signs and says he’s never smokes like this causing B Real to kinda end the interview prematurely. Thanks Berner. Also although Wiz smokes 2 joints at once he still has a way to go before he can be etched in stone on Mt. Kushmore with the forefathers. Enjoy!

Summer Summer Summer Time

Fresh Prince (better known today as Will Smith) and DJ Jazzy Jeff – Summer Time

Summer Time by Will Smith goes down in history as a hip hop classic summer anthem. Others have tried and failed and none has stood the test of time like this song. Will takes you through a myriad of summer images that everyone can relate to. He even gives the energy of summer a name by simply calling it Summer Madness. Riding through any city during a hot summer day and your likely to still here this song banging out of your speakers. If Will Smith never recorded another song in his entire life he impacted and changed our summers forever with the single Summer Time.

Too Short | Spotlight

Too Short is an Oakland MC from the 80s who brought pimping into the rap game. Not only does he produce, write his own rhymes, but he has been doing it for almost 30 years straight! Arguably every MC has been influenced on some level or another by “Short Dawg”. With career ups and downs, a couple years ago he was caught by TMZ taking local Oakland officers on a foot pursuit, but he’s also a platinum seller. Even if you’ve never bought a Too Short album you’ve definitely heard his influence and his unique way of saying “beyotch!” on popular tv shows, movies, and in various songs. Most recently Too Short has been appearing in reality tv shows (Couple’s Therapy, LA Hair) which has given his long lasting career even more life. Take time to explore Too Short’s 16 + album catalogue and get ready to learn something about macking and pimping and Oakland. The video attached is especially unique because Short describes his lengthy career in 2 short 16s on a club beat like only Too Short can. Honorable mention for the Gettin It album, Too Short’s short lived retirement project, and the CLASSIC Freaky Tales. ENJOY! BEYOTCH!

Devin The Dude| SPOTLIGHT

Every so often an artist comes along and changes the course of things. Innovative original style. Edgy foresight. A stupid dope vision.
These are a few of the components that make up some of the best artist of the times. Imagine if Micheal Jackson had’ve fizzled out after his Motown deal in the 70s. Imagine if 50 Cent had died in that near fatal shooting that left him with an alleged 9 bullet holes. Imagine if Diddy had’ve graduated from Howard business school in the 90s and gone off to Wall Street instead of Beat Street. The songs and styles we all know them best for would have gone unheard.
Devin The Dude has never been the biggest artist in the game, he’s never had the “machine” behind him, he’s never even won an award for music as far as we know (Dr.Dre’s Chronic 2001 where Devin croons a hook doesn’t count). However he is one of the best to ever do it. Diamonds in the rough is what hip hop is ALL about. Even at hip hop’s inception the popular sound was lame and everyone wanted to know what the kids in the projects with no voice had to say. Before high powered hip hop labels existed propelling their artists to the forefront, the culture knew who was dope. “Hey man did you see Kool Herc in the park last week. Have you heard this kid from Bed Stuy freestyle? Man did you hear that song Freaky Tales?” etcetera etcetera. Finding great hip hop is like finding a great barber, a great lawyer, or a great mechanic the referral system works best. Devin The Dude has forged a 20 plus year career out of that exact system. He has recently released a new album and new singles to go along with it. But we wanted to take you all back to the beginning and the reason why this artist will always be heralded by greats like Dr.Dre.
His debut solo album cosigned by Scarface appropriately titled The Dude is a hip hop classic! Fuck the Grammys! Fuck the BET Awards! We dedicate our official SPOTLIGHT post to Devin The Dude and we thank Rap A Lot Records for continually promoting such classic hip hop. Your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. Enjoy the full album stream of Devin’s debut album. If you are one of the hip hoppers constantly complaining about the state of hip hop take about an hour out of your life to make it a little bit better.
And if you need a reason other than the fact that we told you its dope to lend this legendary artist an ear maybe name dropping will help you see the light. Devin has been cosigned by Scarface, Outkast, Dr.Dre and Snoop Dogg, Currensy, WIz Khalifa, and countless others who have sold more records and have way more radio spins and get no benefit, other than people knowing they know what’s hot, by saluting Devin’s music.
Tracks like Do What The Fuck You Wanna Do, Write or Wrong, Sticky Green, and I Can’t Quit make this album arguably one of the best rap albums to be released. Enjoy!

Happy by Pharrell

It was only right. This video has over 260 million views and counting. Perfect song and video for anybody feeling down or if your just feeling Happy. Enjoy!
PS Do not crash your car singing along to this song.

Camron ft Juelz Santana – Dipshits

Dipset has officially made a comeback it would seem. Dipset was BIG in the early 2000s but after RocAFella Records broke up it left the Dips displaced. Jim Jones beefed with Cam (“Cam is like Finding Nemo right now), Juelz was sold to Def Jam (“I sold him for like $2 Mill) and Cam took an extended hiatus (“Check out my pool!”) and stayed killing the underground with projects like Crime Pays and Guns and Butta. But after hearing talks of them linking back up we finally get them all in a music video. Freekey Zeke, Santana’s Town, King Joffy aka Spacely Sprocketts, even Jimmy. And whose responsible for bringing it all together, of course Harlem’s own Dame Dash. Dipset! Dipset! Dipset! Owwwww! Free Bigavel.

Gucci Mane Sentenced to 3 Years In Prison

Gucci Mane just pled out to 3 years in prison on his felony gun possession charge. They gave him time served meaning Big Guwop should be back on the streets in 2016. Free Gucci!!!

Wiz Khalifa – We Dem Boyz

Probably the best video of 2014 so far. This video takes the tone of Xzibit’s What You See Is What You Get or even more recently Lil Wayne’s A Milli or even 2 Chainz & Kanye West’s Birthday Song, where it’s a one shot walkthrough. Granted the video doesn’t really detail the song or the song content but it’s still a pretty good visual. Hol up! We Dem Boyz!

Lil Boosie Before He Went To Prison Back In 2009

Lil Boosie has been killing the underground scene for quite some time. This video was shot by our personal friends at StreetHeat before Lil Boosie went to prison. Welcome Home Lil Boosie