iHipHop Admin
Apparently It’s Time To Go Back To School
He’s back. Yes, Flavor Flav is getting another show, but this time he’s not interested in love. . The rapper is filming a reality show, with who else but VH1, where he’s going back to high school to earn his diploma. Supposedly the 50 year old father of seven can’t read, write or do math beyond the seventh grade level, which is not that surprising to most of us.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, Flav says:
“I felt that it was an embarrassing situation that I wanted to fix. I wanted to make my mother happy-my sisters both have their diplomas and I don’t yet. And so I want to make my mom smile and make her proud while she’s still alive.”
No details on when the show is set to air, but in the show Flav will try out for the band, the football team, and the basketball team. However, the show will be more than just fun and games for Flav, who wants to showcase his more serious side as well. Because a 50 year old rapper (well hype man really) who’s going back to high school on a VH1 reality show should most definitely be taken seriously.
RZA Explains His Side Of Ghostface Lawsuit & Decision To Appeal
Last week a settlement had been reached between Wu-Tang members Ghostface and RZA regarding unpaid publishing royalties for their early collaborations. RZA recently spoke on the settlement, claiming that while there is no bad blood between any Wu members, things were far from “settled” and that he plans on appealing the case. RZA says:
“I’m not appealing because I don’t want to pay Ghost something that I owe him,” RZA explained adamant that money was not the main issue. “Anything I owe him I would give him. He wouldn’t have to go through the courts to get it from me. An example is on ‘Cuban Linx’ I didn’t charge no money on Raekwon for that. The last beats I did for Ghost was ‘Run’ and some other s—, and it was the same thing. I waived payments for later. They haven’t paid me for those.”
RZA continued to argue that Ghost’s representation fails to understand that it’s standard procedure for all hip-hop producers to receive 50 percent of the publishing royalties, regardless of whether he/she is a member of the group. He states:
“For them to say that’s wrong, and the producer shouldn’t get 50 percent, that means every producer in this industry can now have a potential claim against them from an artist. Remember, we don’t sign contracts in studios. So when Erick Sermon produced on ‘The Blackout,’ he got 50 percent When Megahertz produced ‘We Pop’ for me, it’s me and four other rappers. Megahertz got 50 percent, and me and the other rappers had to split the rest of it.”
The RZA’s main concern is with the principle that if he loses the case, it means he was deemed worthy of less publishing than outside producers, regardless of the fact that he spent the most time working on the music on the album and directs the project from start to finish.
“Me, as the producer, I sit in the house all day and make beats. So for them to say differently really offends me and I’m sure it offends all producers. So again, is it right for RZA to receive less than 50 percent when every other producer for Ghostface has received 50 percent for every beat he’s made from him: from Pete Rock to every unknown n—- producing for him that’s using my sound. What’s so bad is their using my sound getting 50 percent and here I am the inventor of the sound getting scrutinized. I’d love to see the answers we’ll get on this. I know it’s a lot, but that’s what it is.”
RZA makes a pretty good argument, because he works a lot harder than the guys just spitting their verse and then leaving the studio. You really can’t be mad at him for going for the appeal, but hopefully this whole thing won’t cause hard feelings within the Wu clan.
Lil Wayne’s New Mixtape
Lil Wayne’s working on a new mixtape called “No Ceiling” and according to fellow Young Money artist Mack Maine:
“Weezy wanted to prove that the triple-platinum success of the Tha Carter III hasn’t slowed his rhymes. On his birthday, he was saying, ‘Everyone else is putting out mixtapes, so I gotta show them that I still got it, and he also said that a lot of beats are coming out that he likes, so, you know, once that happens, he’s gotta put out his own versions to the beats he likes. It’s not fair. It’s not necessary, to me. Like, what are you trying to prove? Let these little dudes have their lane for a few, man. He’s about to come and smash people’s albums.”
So far Weezy’s finished about six songs for the mixtape and is also finishing up his rock album “Rebirth”, which is set for a December release. The Young Money debut album is also reportedly set for release in December as well.
Mack Maine wouldn’t give any further details on when “No Ceiling” is set to drop, but he did have some advice for the fans:
“You just gotta be tuned into the Internet, and make sure your wireless is working that night, ’cause that sh–‘s just gonna drop.”
Not really looking forward to the “Rebirth” album, but hopefully Weezy can bring back that old mixtape fire that created classics like The Drought and Dedication series’ that made him “the greatest rapper alive”. We’ll just have to wait and see if “No Ceiling” is another classic or just the same crap Wayne’s been spitting post Carter III.
