Video: E.R. Interview at Ashy Knuckles
A few days ago, E.R. sat down with DJ Ashy Knuckles for his This or That interview series. Check it out below.
A few days ago, E.R. sat down with DJ Ashy Knuckles for his This or That interview series. Check it out below.
Over at Why Blue Matters, Tha Entertainer recently interviewed E.R. and Baysiqly of The Vagabonds, discussing their tenure in the music game, what inspires them, and their current projects.
The duo also spoke on negativity in the industry and how they don't allow it to affect them at all.
Baysiqly: There is negativity everywhere, It could be at your job, school, or even the supermarket. I never get influenced by negativity because simply there is no time for it. The media and those who run it makes it their goals to put forth controversy, it's best avoided by handling it correctly and paying it no mind.
Over at Why Blue Matters, Tha Entertainer recently interviewed E.R. and Baysiqly, discussing their tenure in the music game, what inspires them, and their current projects.
The duo also spoke on negativity in the industry and how they don't allow it to affect their output.
Baysiqly: There is negativity everywhere, It could be at your job, school, or even the supermarket. I never get influenced by negativity because simply there is no time for it. The media and those who run it makes it their goals to put forth controversy, it's best avoided by handling it correctly and paying it no mind.
Thought I like Family Guy enough, I just haven't really gotten into The Cleveland Show like that.
Oh well.
Kanye West makes another cameo appearance on the animated sitcom as Kenny West, this time performing with Cleveland.
Looks like the month of November will belong to Nelly.
In addition to dropping his new solo album 5.0, which features the hit single "Just A Dream," the rapper also known as Moe Green will join his St. Lunatic brethren for their sophomore album, City Free.
"Our first album was called Free City, in honor of my little brother [City Spud] who was locked up right before we dropped Country Grammar," Nelly told MTV recently. "He wasn't with us, and we dropped the first Lunatic album. We didn't want to do another Lunatic album until he came out. We kinda got crossed up with that, 'cause we were hoping almost every year it would be the year he got out. Had we known he wouldn't get out till nine years later, obviously, we would have done another Lunatic album. But my brother is free now."
Ah, I see what he did there.
Yesterday, hip-hop megastar Jay-Z unveiled the cover to his highly anticipated memoir, Decoded. The book's cover is based on "Rorschach," a piece by iconic pop artist Andy Warhol.
Decoded combines the deconstruction of Jay-Z's poetic lyrics with intense personal narratives in order to give readers a glimpse into the world he grew up in and how it was shaped by hip-hop.
In a statement to MTV, the top-tier MC said:
When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first was to make the case that hip-hop lyricsâ"not just my lyrics, but those of every great MCâ"are poetry if you look at them closely enough. The second was I wanted the book to tell a little bit of the story of my generation, to show the context for the choices we made at a violent and chaotic crossroads in recent history. And the third piece was that I wanted the book to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story that everyone in the world could feel and relate to.
Though Decoded will be Jay-Z's first book to reach stores, is isn't his first foray into the world of literature. Back in 2003, he collaborated with journalist Dream Hampton on The Black Book, which would have coincided with the release of his classic The Black Album.
Decoded hits shelves on November 16th.
Yeah, I know I'm a day late with this. So what? I told y'all how I feel about Nicki Minaj.
Anyway, the Young Money princess covers the October/November issue of Marc Ecko's hip-hop rag, where she speaks on topics such as her sexuality, industry beef, and her relationships with YM family members Lil Wayne and Drake.
"[Y]ou know what [...] he told me he wrote for me?" Nicki says of Drake. "The Alicia Keys song 'Iâm Ready.' I happen to love the song. I never told anyone that, I hope he wonât get mad that I said that."
On Friday, September 24, meet author Frank C. Matthews at Harlem's Hue-Man Bookstore to celebrate the release of his new novel Respect the Jux. The native New Yorker will be signing copies of his book and may also read a selection from it.
The urban lit piece, from Karen Hunter Publishing and Simon & Schuster, hits bookshelves today. Of note, its movie rights have already been optioned by F. Gary Gray. Big business, son!
"How you, uh, how you comin' on that novel you're working on? Huh? Gotta a big, uh, big stack of papers there? Gotta, gotta nice little story you're working on there? Your big novel you've been working on for 3 years? Huh? Gotta, gotta compelling protagonist? Yeah? Gotta obstacle for him to overcome? Huh? Gotta story brewing there? Working on, working on that for quite some time? Huh? Yeah, talking about that 3 years ago. Been working on that the whole time? Nice little narrative? Beginning, middle, and end? Some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends? At the end your main character is richer from the experience? Yeah? Yeah? No, no, you deserve some time off."
â"Stewart Gilligan "Stewie" Griffin
Today, Oprah Winfrey confirmed that the next selection for her book club is Jonathan Franzen's latest novel Freedom. Despite rumors throughout the week that Freedom would be the latest to bear the Oprah Book Club sticker on its cover, many were still surprised at the announcement, recalling the furor over remarks Franzen made when his novel The Corrections was also selected in 2001.
In speaking with Powells, Franzen said, "[Oprah's] picked some good books, but she's picked enough schmaltzy, one dimensional ones that I cringe, myself, even though I think she's really smart and she's really fighting the good fight." He also said in another interview with NPR:
So much of reading is sustained in this country, I think, by the fact that women read while men are off golfing or watching football on TV or playing with their flight simulator or whatever. I worry â" I'm sorry that it's, uh â" I had some hope of actually reaching a male audience and I've heard more than one reader in signing lines now at bookstores say "If I hadn't heard you, I would have been put off by the fact that it is an Oprah pick. I figure those books are for women. I would never touch it." Those are male readers speaking. I see this as my book, my creation.
Ouch.
Well, while many took umbrage with Franzen's statements and subjected him to harsh criticisms, I have to admit that I can sorta kinda understand where he was coming from. (Insert Kanye shrug here.) Nevertheless, Franzen and Winfrey obvs buried the hatchet and are now friends again. Hooray!
In celebration of his book's release as well as being selected to the Oprah Book Clubâ"and having its print run bumped by an additional 600,000 copiesâ"I present to you Jonathan Franzen's Rules for Writing, as told to The Guardian back in February.
