Hip hop is tired of being hip-hop. Kanye is diving further into fashion, Lil’ Wayne is engaged in a torrid affair with rock & roll, and everyday a new rapper starts a film career. Some fans claim that artists need to branch out creatively to express themselves, while some cynics scream that strolling down every media avenue is just a shrewd attempt at getting rich. Whatever the case, spreading talent too thin leads to a decline in quality music. Cliché rants about Hip hop being dead come to mind. Just as we were all beginning to dread flipping on the radio, fresh voices are pumping in new blood to revive the music industry.

Such is the case with U-N-I, a rap duo hailing from Los Angeles, California. Their music seems to immediately connect with people. After releasing their first mixtape, Fried Chicken and Watermelon in 2007, U-N-I has been receiving increasing amounts of recognition from both listeners and the press, with growing coverage and performance opportunities. Avid rap heads have greeted each offering with the same greedy anticipation. Their follow-up mixtape Before There Was Love caused the blogosphere to ignite with reviews and promises of free downloads, and their latest musical contribution, A Love Supreme, which features the insanely catchy single “Hollywood Hiatus” enjoyed a similar welcome.

The men behind the music are members, Yonas “Y-O” Micheal and Yannick “Thurzday”Koffi. They met in high school in 1999. After realizing their mutual love of music, they began to devote their lunch periods to defeating cocky upperclassmen in rap battles. They soon joined a four-man group called Rap-Ture Kamp, but in 2006 they splintered off and began to work together. They derived their name from The Roots’ track “UNIverse at War,” one of their favorites, and have been sprinting after their shared goal of rap fame ever since, using mixtapes and performances to get them closer to their dreams.

They have made significant progress. Not only have their Google hits risen to internet-celebrity status, but their developing resume includes making Billboard Magazine’s “Acts to Watch” list and the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards “Best Breakout LA Artist” award.

Although this heightened interest in the duo means they are successfully breaking into the music industry, it also leaves room for lazy comparisons and knee-jerk expectations. Some take a glance at U-N-I’s mutual appreciation for bright colors and Y-O’s mohawk and instantly label them as “hipsters.” Others immediately assume that they will spout the g-funk that is heavily associated with the Los Angeles area. However they seem to be different, more honest. Their music centers on their individual memories, goals, shoe fetishes, and celebrity daydreams. There is a certain level of self-awareness in their lyrics, as they allow their clever rhymes and well-delivered punch lines to speak for themselves.

Check out their latest release “Land of Kings”:

25: Where’d your love for music come from?

Thurzday: It comes from the people we grew up listening to Mos Def, Talib, Redman, Nas, Biggie; we were really influenced by Prince, listened to that reggae music and all that stuff, so we really loved music.

25: How did you two meet?

Y-O: We basically met in my freshman year and Thurzday’s sophomore year at St. Bernard High it was 1999. We met during lunchtime when we were either playing basketball, or on the courtyard doing freestyles up against upperclassmen and we just became the talk around campus, because we just demolished these upperclassmen who just thought they were just the ish and we did a talent show and joined a four man group during our high school years, we put out a couple of mix tapes, albums, and the request that they wanted to hear myself and Thurzday [do something together] so finally we made that division and we hopped out in ’06 and followed that with Fried Chicken and Watermelon in the year 2007.

25: What made you decide to really pursue a career in music?

Thurzday: Because 9-5’s are wack! I couldn’t see myself doing anything else that made me happy. This is what I wanted to do since I was a kid. Some people wonder why –it was like, the only thing we wanted to do as far as having a career. I looked up to people who’ve done it and I could never see myself doing anything else.

25: What made you realize that a career in music was right for you? How did it make you feel?

Y-O: Well, music has always been a part of our lives. I can tell you that growing up as a kid there was always music being played in our houses. But, before I got deep into music, there was always basketball, and with basketball, you know, you warm up to music. So, I noticed as I got older music has just always been something that was a part of me growing up as a kid and it just always made me feel so happy. When you write rhymes it’s just a way of [releasing] some stress off, getting stuff off your mind, and just putting it in your own words, and it just makes you happy; makes you get through the day easier. So, when we did the talent show in high school and just hearing the people’s reaction that kinda, like, made me feel great and I said to myself, “This could be a future; something I could do later on down the line.” So, just getting older and older and doing more shows—I guess I just took it more seriously and people respected it.

25: Many complain about a lack of originality in the music industry. What makes you different?

Thurzday: We’re not anybody else. We’re only us. So that’s like the only thing that makes us different from anybody. Everybody hasn’t lived our lifestyle. Everybody hasn’t experienced what we’ve experienced. So, through our own voice, we project who we are throughout our music. And it’s nobody but us. So, that’s really what makes us original. We’re true emcees. You know, we’re not a gimmick act. We really have talent, and we display that.

Y-O: And just to back him up. Our music is about things that actually happened in our lives, but outside of that, our live shows. I would say that It should be mentioned that even though we don’t have the biggest amount of money backing us up, we’re able to put our minds together-myself, Thurzday, our DJ and sometimes our band-and we just put on a live [ass] show, which some artists are not able to do these days.

25: Speaking of your music, it seems that you have a thing for Lauren London?

Y-O: Yeah, that’s a true story, once again. The song was basically inspired just from me having a crush on Lauren London, and I brought it up in the studio, with Ro Blvd, and we were just all joking and laughing about it. Everybody was like, “Yeah, she’s hot”. So, we started laughing about it, and it eventually turned into a record. She actually heard the record, and I guess it put a smile on her face. I thought she responded on Twitter, and she hit us up, well a fake hit us up, saying she loves the music, and she was acting real brand new. Then I remembered months ago that she’d heard it, so I was like “This can’t be Lauren” so I asked her a question about a mutual friend and she had no clue who I was talking about, so that kinda like, brought me down cause I thought I was really talking to Lauren London and come to find out it was a fake, man.

25: And shoes? You like those enough to write a whole song about them, as well?

Thurzday: We basically got an idea to take the original “C.R.E.A.M”, from Wu-Tang, and apply it to our lifestyle and a lot of folks were into kicks at the time, so we changed it to “Kicks Rule Everything Around Me”. We shot a video for it, and it took off.

25: You’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback lately from the media, but what’s your career goal?

Y-O: To be bigger than Kanye, with more money than Bill Gates.

25: Any advice for aspiring artists?

Thurzday: Starts with quality music, and a quality team and you can do anything.

Y-O: Step outside the box, just be yourself, and have fun—always have fun.

Download their music at www.yothurz.com

25 Editors, Kendra Desrosiers and Natelege Whaley, discuss highly anticipated music video for Drake’s “Best I Ever Had.”

KD: This reminds me of Andre 3000. “Roses” was it?

NW: Yea the whole high school thing ain’t really new.
NW: Thats an ugly mascot

KD: Coach Jimmy! Sans wheel chair
KD: He must have recovered since the BET awards

NW: Workout plan

KD: …yea definitely looks like Kanye’s video for “New Workout Plan”
KD: Um so is this supposed to be high school varsity? Looks like jail time.
KD: Repeat of the BET performance of the song?

NW: Is there a plot to this video …I’m confused as to how it relates to the song.

KD: It doesn’t.

NW: Once again, titties jumping in my face, not cool.

KD: And Catholics?

NW: They should be ashamed. They filmed at Bishop Ford High School, a Catholic school

KD: Great acting.

NW: Why do the girls sound so dumb.

KD: Wow…that was really corny…”one, two, three…the best!”
KD: Trey and F-A–B-O–L-O–U-S. I bet he wishes he did the remix.

NW: Yea that kind of makes it better to see them. Kind of.

KD: I just had a really inappropriate Don Imus flashback.
KD: Forgive me.

NW: lol ha!

KD: Consequence?!
KD: GOOD Music in the building!
KD: And more asses in the air…

NW: Take that D!

KD: Take that D!
KD: Lmao

NW: I wonder what they’re talking about.

KD: You already know.

NW: While they show asses in the air.

KD: “Cause Wayne say, you know you know you know”
KD: Sorry, BET flashback.

NW: Ok.

KD: Lesbian stretching? Original.
KD: Look, some new video girl talent. Where are you Yeezy?!
KD: They’re giving this one chick a lot of love.

NW: Are they really surprised they lost?

KD: Haha. They bounced the best? KD: I’m a bit surprised

NW: Yea, she’s supposedly the new thing.

KD: No more Esther?
KD: I completely lost all of the meaning of this song.

NW: And i guess Drake and Kanye only like em light

KD: Yea, like Diddy. KD: “Calling all mixed and exotic looking girls”

NW: Lol they have like one token brown skinned girl.

KD: That’s to fulfill the ass to boob ratio.
KD: Some of the lighter ones didn’t make the cut
KD: Well that was five minutes of my life I can’t get back. This was completely not worth the hype, cameos and all.

NW: “HATED IT!”

KD: Lol. Yea it was bad.
KD: And that’s bad meaning bad not bad meaning good

NW: And I thought Drake was doing it for the ladies. I’m gonna watch a MJ video to recover from the horrible sight.

KD: I’m going to watch the last episode of Secret Life of the American Teenager. I need something wholesome.
KD: “You know a lot of girls be..thinking my songs are about them…” Sorry ladies, this ain’t for you.

New remix to Beyonce’s “Ego” featuring Kanye West, sorry guys it has a few drops. Read more for download.

“Could’ve let the dream killers kill my self esteem,  Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams.”….sound familiar? This isn’t the first time Kanye has recycled his own bars, especially from the “Last Call” track from his debut album College Dropout. Guess in a recession you can’t let any rhyme go unheard.

“Ego Remix” Feat. Kanye West – Beyonce | Download Here

‘Ye is currently on the April/May 2009 issue of Complex. Through working with director Chris Milk, the “Louis Vuitton Don” helped create something that will definitely ”make you look.” 

The computer-generated imagery for the photoshoot was based on “form and texture”, says the director. The photography started with a high resolution facial scan, and then a laser scan of Kanye’s entire body using the same technology used to create Brad Pitt’s character in “Benjamin Button”.

Chris Milk has previously worked with Kanye, directing both “Jesus Walks” and “Touch The Sky” videos. Other artists that he’s worked with includes Gnarls Barkley, U2, Audioslave, and John Mellencamp.

Photos: Complex Magazine

The Dream is back at it again. The self proclaimed “Radio Killa” releases his sophomore album Love vs. Money Tuesday, and fans wonder what he has up his sleeve this time.

The singer/songwriter came on the scene successfully in 2007 with his “Shawty Is a 10″ (Love Hate), and is also responsible for Beyonce’s quintessential ladies anthem “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. Yet, like far too many über-talented writers, he gives most of his good stuff to everyone else.

Love Vs. Money in it’s entirety is not a disappointment, with the melodic, chart-topping hit “Rockin That Thang” leading the pack as one of the best songs on the album. Not far behind is The Dream’s revived version of The Police’s 1979–dance-groove “Walkin on the Moon”, featuring a vocoder-less Kanye West (the way he should always be). However, The Dream shows signs that he may be running low on metaphors, especially on “Put It Down” where he compares his affection to a “monster truck” and a “white tee’d thug”, over a beat too hype to get it cracking to. The title track, “Love vs. Money”, has one of the most enthralling beats on the album and gives off a paranoid feel as he sings about losing love to what else, but money ( Instead of loving you/I was making it rain…). The melody and the sound of glocks popping are puzzling, but the point of the song becomes more clear after listening to “Love Vs. Money Part 2.”

The Dream gets his R.Kelly on in “Sweat It Out”, breaking down article-by-article what piece of clothing he wants to remove from his girl, so he can “properly put it down” and “sweat her hair out”. Fortunately for her, The Dream forewarns her to “call Latisha” her beautician before he takes action, so that she can get her hair re-whipped in the next morning.

Overall, Love Vs. Money saves itself from the evil pitfalls of the “sophomore curse”, but The Dream does not match the standard he set with his surprisingly pleasant debut Love Hate. The album still has worthy cop-ability though, and he proves he can still come correct…even if it is on someone else’s joint.

- Maya Rhodan

Check out Keri Hilson’s latest, “Knock You Down” feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo. Read more for download.

Download Here [shouts to 2dopeboyz]

Check out Kid Cudi’s latest track “Sky Might Fall” prod. Kanye West. Read more for download.

Download Full Version Here

Last night Kanye West proclaimed his mouth “a vessel in which God lets beautiful words flow through.” Donning a frohawk, grey suit, black bow tie, rose-colored shirt, white kicks, and tinted shades, Kanye shamelessly revealed himself in a memorable performance on the TV special, VH1 Storytellers.

His live band, who wore black motorcycle helmets, and his stage equipped with flashing lights had Kanye written all over it. The rapper turned auto-tune crooner journeyed through the meanings behind such songs as “Amazing,” “Say You Will,” “Touch the Sky” and others.

Everyone knows that once Yeezy is given a mic and some air time, he is not afraid to speak his mind. While performing “Flashing Lights,” he responded to the news concerning Dr. Adam’s new book about the death of his mother, What I Know, and the Press Isn’t Telling: The Truth behind the Death of Donda West.

“Now that my mom has passed would she really want me to put myself in a situation for going to jail for killing him?”

You can always count on Kanye for gaucherie and controversy. VH1 also cut out parts of the special in which, Kanye defends Chris Brown about the recent incident with Rihanna before the Grammy’s, earlier in the month.

Known for his upfront, ‘no frills’ opinions about anything and everything, Kanye gave authentic anecdotes about his life. Here are some standout quotes from the special:

While performing “Amazing” from 808 & Heartbreaks:

“Amazing, Michael Jackson, amazing. Michael Phelps, amazing, O.J. Simpson amazing. Is he not? What he did when he what he did was he not amazing?”

“I apologize for acting like a bitch at award shows, it’s an award show. I didn’t kill anyone. But yet and still I apologize for my ungraciousness…”

While performing “Stronger” from Graduation:

“More than an artist, I’m a real person and real people grow and I wanna sing my growth…”- In response to criticism on the lack of growth in Hip Hop

While performing “Touch the Sky” from Late Registration:

“I am so disappointed that I cannot see me perform accept but on playback. You are welcome to know that you will have a pleasure I will never have.”

“Shout out to 3Gs one of the few that dress as fresh as me.” – on Andre 3000’s style.

While performing “Say You Will” from 808 & Heartbreaks:

“To have someone so special in your life that you are inspired by them. I ask myself as I date, what am I looking for? The requirement of this position is inspirement…and I am hiring, but also firing.”

While performing “Good Life” from Graduation:

“If I hadn’t suffered those losses I might be scared or too scared be too scared to fight the world on traditional thinking.”- in response to his mother’s death and his breakup with ex-fiance.

If you missed it, be sure to view the special online on Vh1’s website.

Also while you’re at it download Kanye West’s: VH1 Storytellers mixtape with the exclusive performances.

-Natelege

1. The Michelle Williams Fall

2. Kanye West vs. 50 Cent Battle

3. Usher Response to Rumor Mill

4. Rocsi and Terrence Butt Heads

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ__FVBdoIE&feature=related

5. AJ & Free’s Last Moments on 106 & Park