“Intelligent Trunk Music” is the subtitle of Stalley’s mixtape Lincoln Way Nights: Intelligent Trunk Music. He coined this term for his sound because he’s a conscious, down-to-Earth guy who tells his story in his music. At the same time, the instrumentals behind his voice have plenty of bass. These two traits are an unusual pair that isn’t used by too many artists.

DX: Phonte, you’ve found yourself pestered by fans asking about you getting back to rapping. To close, do you want to make a statement about that?

Phonte: I just do it when I feel like it [laughs]. I do it when I have something to say. I guess in modern day Hip Hop, people are just used to getting material all of the time, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’ve never been a cat to just rap for the sake of rapping or sing for the sake of singing. I only create when I have something to say on that front. While I put out Charity Starts At Home a year and some change ago—which is five years ago in Hip Hop years—that pretty much got all my rapping out for a good time. I said a lot. I got everything out of my system that I wanted to say on the Hip Hop front with that record. So once we finish the cycle of new FE records with The Reworks, Zo’s record and Love In Flying Colors, we’ll see if I have something to say on the Hip Hop front again. But I’m not worried about rapping just to stay “relevant.” I only do it when I got something to say and when I know I can come with quality, if I feel like I got something to say again then I’ll put it out.

(via HipHopDX)

In the past, you could only get in the rap game by spitting some nice bars to a rapper or executive who was already in it. MySpace started the era of everyday people being able to spam their music everywhere, regardless of its quality. A few gems can be found through the site (i.e. Jay Electronica who was discovered via MySpace), but those are few and far between.

Fruity Loops is music creating software compatible with almost any computer, and it allows anyone to call themselves a music producer.

The music studio of yesterday:

…compared to the music studio of today:

In the mid 90s, Tha Dogg Pound had beef with Capone-N-Noreaga and other New York artists. During this beef, they released the song “New York, New York,” featuring Snoop Dogg. In the music video, Snoop is seen stomping on buildings throughout NYC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vsfzAvOrjrc#t=88

Murda feels like Kendrick Lamar is getting disrespectful because no one stood up to Snoop when he did the same in ‘95.

Joey is most likely referring to the exchange he had with Styles P over Twitter regarding Kendrick’s “King of NY” line. Joey’s had a history of beefing with OGs (i.e. his beef with Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan).

Where the only drink they serve is your own drool, and the VIP section is the cool side of the pillow…

If he ever does become rich, Skewby might set an example by driving something nice in his neighborhood for a music video. He wants to encourage others kids to get up, get out, and do something with their lives so they can buy nice things.

Quite similar to Drake’s “Started From The Bottom” video:

Skewby thinks he knows the struggle, but it’s nothing compared to what his grandma went through. She was around during the Great Depression, a time when the U.S.’s economy was at an all-time low. You may think your life sucks, but you never know how bad someone else can have it.

Selfies, let alone cameras, weren’t too common during his grandma’s youth, so he has to learn about those days through her word.