FREESPEAK BY JOHNNY SPANONE

 After the demise of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, the whole hip-hop artist community started feuding over the spots that were left vacant by the deceased artists, dividing the rappers. By that time, the Brooklyn-born rapper Jay Z, who had previously been aware of the vacancies even before the feuding began, was quick to ascend to fill the spot his long-time friend Biggie had left.  The rapper's quick ascend to the ranks reignited the conflict, now every rapper who had witnessed the power grab became more willing to fight harder and more viciously for the remaining vacant position. In the midst of the feuding, no one was ready to back down, anything that could be used as a weapon in the fight was used by the rappers to take over Tupac's position. In those days, the Quins-born rapper Nas was on good terms with his fellow Quins native and then-upcoming rapper 50 cent, to prove this check out one of the singles they had collaborated on when they were at peace with each other, i...

 The B.A.L. or in full the Basketball African League is a recently unveiled, African basketball league that is supported by the International Basketball Federation and the US basketball league famously known as the NBA. It is the first professional, NBA-sponsored basketball league outside the US. The league consists of 12 teams, each team has to qualify through their domestic competitions to be considered as a qualified participant in the new international basketball competition, Initially, the league's matches were supposed to be held in seven chosen cities across Africa. However, due to the worldwide covid 19 epidemic, all the matches scheduled venues were abandoned, and the games were rescheduled to take place in Rwanda, Kigali.  It was noted that Rwanda was considered by the sponsors of the event as a potential host nation due to its recent heavy investment in sports and sports tourism. In recent years, the country has bid and successfully hosted various sporting events, i...

 If you were a fan of the late rapper Notorious Big aka Biggie Smalls, you probably have heard his classic track I got a story to tell. It was one of the singles in his last studio album, Life After Death'. For those who are not familiar with the song, album, or personality, I will try my best to expound more on all the above. Many referred to him as the King of Newyork after he helped raise the then-failing East Coast hip hop industry in the early nineties. This came to be when he released his debut album Ready To Die', back in 1994 when West Coast gangster rap was dominant all over America. He was a highly skilled rapper with unmatched lyrical capabilities. For this, he was considered a hip-hop icon with only 2 albums to his name. Sadly his life came to an abrupt end on March 9th, 1997. This didn't stop his last studio album from selling 690,000 copies within the first week. In 2000, it was certified Diamond by the RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) after i...

  Delray Richardson, an award-winning songwriter, recently claimed that Tupac Shakur wasn't legally signed to Deathrow Records. He continued by clarifying his statement saying Tupac was still signed to Interscope Records when he was approached by Suge Marion Knight, the then C E O of Deathrow. According to law, you cannot sign another contract while still bound to a former contract you agreed upon.  The songwriter went on to add to his claim by stating that there was no legal document available that could prove that Tupac had been let off his contract with Interscope Records. The next point Delray presented to back his claim was that the document Suge Marion Knight and Tupac Shakur agreed upon when he bailed him out of jail wasn't a contract but was more of a deal memorandum that included what Tupac would have had if he later signed to the record label.  2.25 refundable from gross sales of 3albums you may get refunded from the first profit but due to saying 1 million...

In the late sixties, a bunch of children from rival gangs met at Hoe Avenue to broker a peace treaty, and later this became the platform where hip hop was birthed.  When the gangs got together, violence was not condoned. When they had disputes, they traded beatdowns for rap battles and b-boying competitions. This just shows the role unity had to play in order for the creation of hip hop to occur. We have to peep the past and reflect so that we can remind ourselves what favored us and what has always hindered our progress as humans. This is the only way we can learn from our experiences and change to create a better future for our offsprings. But returning to our topic, these days we live in a world that propagates a message of individualism, capitalism, and disunity. Hip hop is not exempted from this propagation and this is reflected in rap lyrics that praise capitalism, greed, and individualism.  Due to this, the rappers of today and the industry movers and shakers have becom...

 As the rap legend, DMX was laid to rest on the 25th of April and all hip hop lovers celebrated his legacy, something amazing happened. At his memorial, an announcement was made but the media outlets were not allowed to broadcast what was said.  Newyork state announced that December 18th which is DMX's birthday will be recognized across the entire state of Newyork as DMX day. Senator Jamaal T Bailey of the Newyork State told the House of the senate," We all can't be the same person all the time, everyone has a DMX moment".  He went on quoting DMX's lose my mind song and asked if there was anybody that was present who had never been in that position and went on in agreement with his statement. The passionate senator who couldn't hide his admiration for the rap legend did not only articulate DMX's lyrics on the floor of the House, and introduced a resolution in the rapper's honor. He went on to say," In Newyork, we have our own Hip hop royalty, He...

Let me first say that without Dancehall Reggae, Hip-hop would never have existed. In the late '60s and early '70s,  many Jamaicans migrated to the US for the prospects of a better life. As they migrated, they took with them the culture of the Jamaican sounds and neighborhood music festivals. Some of these migrants and their offsprings later became the pioneering fathers of Hip hop in the US. These are pioneering DJs like Cool Herk, African Bambata, and others. This point is important to note in order to fully understand this story. During the early beginnings of Dancehall Reggae in Jamaica, in the '60s and '70s, Dancehall Reggae was a mostly male-dominated industry. Female DJs and artists were discouraged from pursuing their ambitions in this musical field, but this never stopped the legendary and first female dancehall artist from taking steps to further her musical ambition. In 1976 Sista Nancy recorded her legendary tune  'Bam Bam'  with the Stalag riddim( ba...

 Recently while at an interview at a hip-hop podcast, the legendary Busta Rhymes revealed that at one time he was unable to  rap faster than Jay Z. This revelation shocked the hip-hop world.   In his words, Busta Rhymes, one of the fastest rappers in the world, revealed that when he was starting out as a rapper he was influenced by dancehall artists to start rapping fast. He claimed his major influence to speed rap was The legendary dancehall artists Papa Sun and Lt Stitchie .  While this was surprising enough to keep the hip hop world wondering, he went on to reveal that when he was still an upcoming school-going, teen mc, he battled with Jay Z, who was his school mate at the time and was unable to rap faster than The Jigga Man, which was the criteria to win the battle, thus lost.  He went on to reveal that Jay Z had begun speed rapping early and had mastered the art before him due to the crew he was moving with, 'The Originators'.  The Origina...

 When you speak of classic hip-hop songs, Tupac's track ' Dear Mama ' will certainly make the list. Dear mama was released in 1995 though it was recorded in 1994. As soon as the song was released, controversy arose. Kill Kill a rapper from Watts, Los Angeles, accused Tupac of stealing the concept of his song, ' Mama Dear ' which Tupac released as, 'Dear Mama' after Kill Kill handed him a  demo tape at 92.3 The beat radio station now known as KRRL.  Kill Kill's track was released in 1994, one year before Tupac released his. The angered rapper went on to release a diss track against Tupac in 1995 called ' Here we go ' claiming he thought Tupac was a friend and an authentic rapper, just to find out later that he was just a fraud and a fake.  At the time the diss track by Kill Kill was released, Tupac was in jail serving a sentence after being accused of rape the previous year and couldn't respond. However Tupac was bailed out the same year by...

 If you are not in the loop, hot new Redman single,'  80bars ' out. A lyrical assassination. Redman continues to represent the real hip-hop 20 years on...  

 Since the saddening news of dmx's passing, rumours have been circulating about his demise. Most of the rumours have been unconfirmed. Now Irv Gotti, the man who signed X to def jam when he was part of def jam's A&R, has jumped in with his insight. He claimed  dmx's family confided in him that dmx took a bad dose of crack cocaine that contained the compound fentanyl, which made him overdose. He continued saying that on arrival to the hospital, dmx was diagnosed with covid 19 and had breathing problems. But by the time the doctors were able to hook him up to a ventilator that could help him breathe more easily, he was already brain dead. This info has not yet been confirmed by his family. Dmx's memorial service will be held at the Barclay Centre and will be aired live on @youtube at 4pm est, on April 25th. Long live dmx.

 It's quite natural to think of men being the most aggressive when you compare the extensiveness of the trait in both genders. Due to that fact, we would naturally expect the first diss record to be recorded in hip-hop history, to have been recorded by a man. How wrong would you be to think that?  The first known diss/reply record to have been recorded was, ' Roxanne's revenge  in 1984. It was recorded by a then 15-year-old female mc going by the name, ' Roxanne Shante '. The song was an unexpected reply to a song that was released by a group that was by then popular in the inner cities of Newyork, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The group was known as, ' U T F O ', and the song was known as,' Roxanne Roxanne '.  The song was about a young gal that the members of the group were trying to hit on. Roxanne Shante being then a 15-year-old gal, that was hungry to record, replied to it, which started the famous Roxanne wars in Hip-hop. Adding to this Roxanne...

Another sad day for Hip-hop. Rap legend/producer and Digital Underground founder, Shock G dies aged 57. Shock G was a member of the renowned legendary rap group Digital Underground, which became popular in the late eighties and early nineties for their songs and dances. The Humpty dance which was one of their routines had made them a household name by the early nineties. The group is also credited for bringing the rap legend Tupac Amaru Shakur to the limelight. Shock G who became Tupac's close friend and producer was also featured in Tupac's most popular singles like ' i get around ', ' coz I had to ', and also is credited for producing many of Tupac's hits till his death in 1996. Shock G was found dead yesterday in his hotel room at Vista Inn and Suites on East Bearss Avenue in Tampa Florida. The cause of death has not yet been established. This info was also reported on the rumor report with Angela Yee on the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM. R I P Shock G a...