Props 2 Sean from lupEND Blog who passed along the NEW mixtape from Chicago’s and FNF’s Bishop G! I’ve been diggin’ some of his recent releases and the dude can straight up flow, reminiscent of one of Chicago’s biggest rappers, Twista, and combines it with lyrics that convey his high awareness to the world around him. His poems on his MySpace certainly support that! So don’t sleep on Bishop G and check out the mixtape above! It was yet another busy weekend for me, but I’m here w/ some more NEW trax for u 2 enjoy while I catch some zzzz’s. The majority being R&B trax as I’m def feelin’ the semi-slow jam from Casely called “Did It For You” and those J.R. Rotem beats! So take a peep at those and the official footage from T.I.’s recent MySpace show in L.A. - the one where Kanye West came out 2 perform “Heartless”! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming mixtape, Damage Reversal *Tibs Fav.™
lupEND is the home of the exclusives for FNF’s Bishop G, and he came thru w/ another track from his upcoming mixtape, Damage Reversal! Bishop G has always been a talented lyricist and this is another example of his skills there. He doesn’t spit with the same fast flow that I’m accustomed to but that’s not a bad thing, considering the subject of the song. Def a solid track hip hop fans would like. Also be sure to check out the Terrace Martin and Pete Rock collaboration with the title of the song pretty much explaining what type of song it is. I don’t listen to jazz much, but I love the genre of music and when combined with hip hop, it sounds great as you should see from the track there. (Thx 2 HHU for the track.. had 2 MediaFire it cuz zShare wouldn’t upload that for some reason..) Browse the rest of music & vids featuring other names like Robin Thicke, Ludacris, Avant, Blu, & MORE! Enjoy!
“Your prayers have been answered!! There’s a new version of Love Lockdown coming. We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it… it’s being Mastered now… Sidebar… if you don’t like autotune… too bad cause I love it and have been using it since the College Dropout!!!” - Kanye West
Well, autotune or not, I’m still looking forward to the new version and the new album! I’d expect this NEW, mastered version sometime in the near future! …And 1 more thing, I’m off 2 Target to pick up Ne-Yo’s Year Of The Gentleman… and you should 2!
Producer: Kanye West? - FULL, CDQ?, 1st single off upcoming album, 808’s & Heartbreak *Tibs Fav.™
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‘Ye just released the CDQ version on his blog and on 1st listen… I think I’m feelin’ the live performance more. There’s times where Kanye doesn’t hit the notes right.. but anyway, DL it now! (Extended review 2 come..)
Updated Extended Review:
“Love Lockdown” delivers what all Kanye West fans should expect - a fresh, boundary-pushing 1st single, a la “Stronger” last year, in terms of impact. Production wise, there are elements in “Love Lockdown” that I feel have not been heard like this before, which really makes the song unique. The ominous “dum dum dum, dum” bass line 2 begin and end the track really sets the mood for the song and it is simple, yet effective throughout. Add in the high-pitched clicks and bangs of the bongos and other percussion instruments in the chorus and it is a very well-produced track that changes throughout its entirety and especially toward the end. Lyrically, Kanye is on point about describing his internal struggles with love and sings them with emotion. Gotta give him credit as the passion is certainly on paper and on the mic, yet I do feel that the quality of his singing is really exposed on this track, specifically in the chorus. Right when he starts, “So keep your love lockdown..”, the quality of his voice really plummets, especially when he hits the “love lockdown”. I think he had a desired effect in mind, but it didn’t really work for me as I feel it was not executed to its fullest. As suggested by “Non” in Jabbify (get chatting people! :D), the chorus could really be cleaned up (the main reason why I like the LIVE version better than the studio), which caused Max G. to think that this was not even the CDQ version when I talked to him. And who knows? Maybe it is a rough version. Non also suggested that someone else jump on the chorus and I will throw out a name who I think would kill this - John Legend! Yes, he is one of my favorites, but this is the type of beat, with piano on the chorus as well, that his soulful voice would enhance. Not to mention the topic of love as well; a topic that is certainly not a stranger to the R&B genre that John Legend represents. Overall, I like the track, but it could definitely be better and I do not think it will ever come close to my top ten Kanye West songs. I really respect that Kanye is branching out and growing as an artist - trying out new styles and production, but this track is not all the way there for me. I wish he rapped - his two best musical strengths are production and rapping. Singing is a distant 3rd. It will certainly blow up on the radio, but I really hope that the rest of the album does not have this much autotune. Check out my editorial from earlier this week for more thoughts on that!
I’ll put up some more content and update it here within the hour.. keep it locked! I’ll actually need some more time on that
Here it is (bout 10PM CT)… NEW Trax-N-Vids.. just peep them below (especially the comic book sayings in the Luda premiere.. my favorite funny one is @ 4:12..). Also… it’s Naledge’s birthday 2day (hence the track) and our M.I.A. 3rd blogger, gowhere?’s bday 2day as well! Happy bday all around! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Track off mixtape, Damage Reversal *Tibs Fav.™
Big ups 2 lupEND for sending this thru - a Lupe Fiasco feature that is supposedly new (I don’t have it at least). But don’t get fooled, this is a song where Bishop G shines… u should know Bishop G destroying “Little Weapon” on Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.. FNF UP! But Lupe does nothing else than provide a real nice hook, while Bishop kills it w/ the clarity that made me like him a lot in the first place, even cleverly referencing my favorite team in any sport - Chicago Cubs and Michael Jordan’s gambling controversy from about 15 years ago. Damn. Sweet track from another Chicago rapper that ya’ll shouldn’t sleep on. Down below some more solid trax w/ Big Boi comin’ thru on a unique, hard track called “Dubbz”, Nappy Roots RMXing that catchy tune “Good Day” w/ a Barack Obama flair (shouts 2 2dope).. I really like Robin Thicke’s 2nd single, slow jam w/ lyrics that’ll speak 2 any fan of R&B. Ciara and Missy Elliott come through with “1, 2 Step 2008″ “Work”, a catchy Danja-produced track and Paula DeAnda comes thru w/ a song that I like called “I Was Ready”. Finally, take a peek at the Alfamega video below. Enjoy!
Old School Sundays: Kanye West & Jamie Foxx’s 2005 VMA Performance
Lil’ Wayne’s VMA Rehearsal
Fast forward 2 5:10 for a lil’ LQ version of a NEW track by Kanye West called “Heartless” and tune in 2 the VMAs 2nite for what a performance by Kanye where he may perform that track “Heartless” or more likely the other NEW track “Love LockDown”. I’m in VMA mood as well w/ a lil’ Old School performance by Kanye West & Jamie Foxx from 2005 that I always liked. And Lil’ Wayne checks in from 2nite’s VMAs above as well. Don’t sleep on the R&B trax below from Ryan Leslie, Joe, & a hot, uptempo, Danja-produced track by Casely and a hip hop track from FNF’s Bishop G! There’s also a couple videos at the bottom w/ the video premiere 2 one of my fav. R-Les trax, “Addiction” f/ Cassie & Fabolous and a Jay Electronica interview! I’ll be checkin’ in asap after the VMAs or early 2morrow afternoon! Enjoy!
Producer: Saki XL - FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming mixtape, Windy City Stick Up Kids*Tibs Fav.™
Here’s another hot, Chi-Town track that ya’ll should DL, from the rapper Daytona 5 Bill, featuring FNF’s GemStones! It talks about dealing with the ups/downs and responsibilities of being a rapper and they both do a sweet job over the unique beat. It’ll be on the upcoming mixtape from Chicago Embassy Music, which looks promising for some more up and comers from the Chi. (Thx 2 Hunnid Grand for the send thru!) **Warrants mentioning that this track may be a rare one also since GemStones refers 2 himself as Gemini…?? Down below, another Chicago & FNF artist, Bishop G, comes through over an old Lloyd Banks beat and kills it; I’ve never heard it, but it may actually be an old track (saw it over @ lupEND), and also another leaked track from The Recession by Young Jeezy. Finally, take a peek at some videos f/ Q-Tip and Chi-Town’s/G.O.O.D. Music’s GLC! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Verses over N*E*R*D’s “Spaz” *Tibs Fav.™
Bullet is back with another hot freestyle over a mainstream track, this one being N*E*R*D’s “Spaz”, which is one of my favorite beats from Seeing Sounds and compliments Bullet’s style perfectly! As we should now come 2 expect, Bullet goes hard and rips through the beat, especially with his break-neck paced final verse, which showcases his true Chicago, Twista-inspired flow. Pretty ridiculous that you’ll have 2 put it on again 2 make sure u didn’t miss anything! Down below, check out a beautiful live version of Alicia Keys’ “Superwoman” that you can’t help but at least respect, most likely enjoy. You can also take in 2 trax from the upcoming Gym Class Heroes album, Patches From The Quilt, as I especially like the cleverness of the Cool & Dre produced “Peace Sign”! Finally, I also upped some requests, including “Forbidden Fruit”, the future Ne-Yo/Shakira collabo. Apparently it’s not the final version, so I didn’t post it the other day when I was in a rush. I have since heard a request for it, as well as the Baby Bash/Frankie J 2003 hit “Suga Suga”. So DL them below if you wish. Enjoy!
About an hour later, I just added a few trax - the latest from FNF’s Bishop G (dope Dikembe Mutombo mention in there…), an old, rare Twista freestyle, and a hilarious Obama-inspired edition of “A Milli”, haha! Thx 2 FSD & my 3407 roomy for the finds. Enjoy!
***UPDATED LINK, FORMATTED FOR YOUR iTunes!!!*** (8:03PM)
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Daaamnn, great timing! Bout 2 head out but this literally popped in our e-mail (and others’) a few minutes ago (shouts again 2 KayCee) and I included her DL link.. I’ll update it with the GWHH format for ur iTunes (as usual) but it’ll take some time, time that I don’t have. It’s all about the music so DL it above! Again, updated format for ur iTunes AND my thoughts after I give it a listen will be added 2 this post, so keep checking! Enjoy!
***UPDATED LINK, FORMATTED FOR YOUR iTunes!!!*** (8:03PM)
Ok, so I’ve been listenin’ 2 this in the car and at the comp all nite… SICK! Gem brings it on every track and u can tell the transformation from Gemini 2 GemStones on the very first track with a couple verses over the ridiculous “Free Chilly” beat from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. Every track has something meaningful behind it, covering a various amount of topics - life’s experiences, social analysis, relationship issues, etc. You can’t ask for much more if you want to be enlightened through music and the mixtape, mind you this is only the MIXTAPE, really touches the listener and provokes their own analysis… and on the first listen also! GemStones is one of the few artists who grabs me with his lyrics on the very first listen and that’s what I was trying to look for 2nite. His passion and talent is undeniable and before you know it, you’ll be hearing GemStones’ name a lot more in the public, further progressing the FNF movement and impact of the city of Chicago on the world! There’s too many Tibs Favs to list on here, but some of the trax that were never previously posted, that u have GOT to have… “I Love Her”, “A Song To You”, “Free Chilly”, “Fly Away”, “When I Get On”, “Superstar” (his version w/ Matthew Santos) and well, I can keep going. Bottom line: awesome mixtape 2 the Fahrenheit series and if this is how hot the mixtape is, I can’t wait 2 see how Troubles Of The World - GemStones’ debut album coming this year? - will turn out! PLEASE do urself a favor and DL above! Enjoy!
In case u haven’t seen Gowhere Hip Hop’s lengthy, EXCLUSIVE interview with GemStones…
Sophrosyne: The sound minded Kanye West knew what he wanted, how he wanted it done, and how to execute it. Every detail had felt like he had delt with it personally. I have never seen another artist try so hard to deliver such an incredible performance. Thank you Mr. West, and thank you for the very personal artist book that was given out after the show titled “Thank You, And You’re Welcome.” The artist book was very well done; Kanye speaks the TRUTH. As an artist I really appreciate all the hard work and effort that was put in, because let’s face it, presentation is everything. ‘Ye appropriated the concert experience to the art form that it’s supposed to be. Mixing a phenomenal “theater” experience w/ his spine chilling records booming through the UC was quite the experience. “Graduation” is really the album that kicked off all of this out of the box ingenuity for the music business, especially the two very artistic “Flashing Lights” videos which blew my mind. The show deserves a 5 star rating for the 5 star performances from Lupe & FNF, N.E.R.D. Rihanna, and Kanye West. [Max G.]
Lupe Fiasco kicked off the show with “The Coolest” over the “Let There Be Light” Justice beat, as expected and it was even sicker live! That got me right into it as he brought out the lovely Nikki Jean for “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “Little Weapon” with Bishop G gettin’ in his verse. The highlight of Lupe’s set was “Go Go Gadget Flow” as he sped through the Chicago-inspired hit at an even faster break-neck speed, dropping the beat for the 2nd verse and going a capella at like 1000 words per second it seemed. Haha, the crowd got really into it and fed off the energy from Lupe and his guests and that moment was just ridiculous. “Paris, Tokyo” took on an interesting sound as Sarah Green provided the chorus and a beautiful solo 2 conclude the song, wow. Her voice was booming! Lupe then introduced the Chicago electronic duo, He Say She Say, as they performed “Crash Dummie”. I loved it and was prolly one of 10 people in the UC who knew the words, but I hope others came away impressed. Matthew Santos was the next guest 2 arrive as Lupe & himself performed “Fighters” followed by “Superstar”, which the crowd went nuts for! And then Lupe fittingly ends his set with “Daydreamin’” as him and Bishop G just lost it on stage with Santos and Sarah Green providing some backup vocals, setting up the stage for N.E.R.D., Rihanna, & Kanye West! (Such a beautifull daayyy…!) I’ve seen Lupe Fiasco LIVE 3 times now and I’d have to say that this was my favorite of the 3 as he brought the perfect amount of energy to kick off the show, gave us a couple surprises, and perfectly organized the song order and guest list, allowing his fellow FNF artists shine in such a big spotlight…although no GemStones for Friday night :(. The United Center finally filled in by “Superstar” and its energy did not dip one bit as after a quick 15 minute intermission, N.E.R.D. came out and straight up rocked the house. Pharrell & Co. were simply goin’ crazy, hitting their groove with “Rock Star” and continuing with “Spaz” (featuring a surprise dance performance from Chris Brown!), then “Lapdance”, “Everyone Nose”, & their biggest hit (so far) with “She Wants To Move”, bringing up some lucky ladies in the first couple rows to ‘move’ on stage. They got myself and the crowd a lil’ more active as we were swaying, spazing, jumping, and just going crazy by the last few trax! After a lil’ longer intermission, out came Rihanna, who had her moments on stage, jumping from hit 2 hit. I thought she did pretty good and was relieved that her voice didn’t sound significantly different than on the radio; it’s just that… for most of the crowd, I would think the energy dropped off a little bit, especially after Lupe and N.E.R.D. and the anticipation for Kanye. While I liked Rihanna’s set, it just didn’t seem 2 fit, but I suppose that’s debatable since she definitely had the crowd going for “Don’t Stop The Music” and her finale, “Umbrella”. Just one more intermission and out comes Kanye West on his futuristic space set 2 “Good Morning”. It was almost surreal at first for me and it took me a few trax 2 fully appreciate what I was seeing. He jumped through track to track with no breaks and a sick storyline where his spaceship crashed and his control center dying. The organization was pure genius. He gets on his “Spaceship”, performs the song, cuts it off as the spaceship is crashing, and bam! “All Falls Down”! The beginning/middle of his set included many hits like “Diamonds” (wow @ looking at the whole crowd w/ the diamonds in the sky), “Flashing Lights”, & “Through The Wire” 2 name a few. I was lovin’ these performances but had this unsatisfied feeling in the back of my mind… like I know he’s still got somethin for us. He finally hit “Hey Mama” and as expected, the emotional performance even further ignited the crowd as the United Center got a lil more louder than ‘loudest’ when Kanye motioned for the crowd, singing “I wanna scream so loud for you!”. Whoo, and so begins the “chills” segment of Kanye West’s set. Up next, as I correctly predicted, “Stronger”! Stadium status right there. Everyone was going 2 lose it, we all knew it was going 2 be something special, and Kanye delivered! “Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” was the embedded theme on ‘Ye’s chorus’ as he was spazzing on his suddenly higher, spaceship platform stage. Magnificent. Up next he came up with “Homecoming” as the preceding “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” catapulted him and his spaceship for their return 2 Earth! And of course, being in Chicago, “Homecoming” had an even greater, special meaning. When Kanye got 2, “And if you don’t know by now, I’m talkin’ bout CHI-TOWN!”, there’s no way the hometown crowd was lifted 2 another level (unless u were the 40-yr old lady a couple rows in front of us with Stronger shades, no one else sitting w/ her, and no reaction at all, haha!). ‘Ye ad-libbed a couple “It’s my town! CHI-Town!” lines in the subsequent chorus and we were at the palm of his hand! For his grand finale, Kanye was now able 2 “Touch The Sky”, which again carried greater significance for us as fellow Chicago boy Lupe Fiasco came out 2 another huge ovation for his 3rd verse. My personal favorite moment came at the end of Lupe’s verse with the lines, “Now let me end my verse right where the horns are like, uhhh!”, as Lupe, Kanye, AND Tibs jumped up with the exclamation point on a fantastic concert! Wow, what a great feeling. The last 4 songs were Kanye’s best performances IMO and left me shakin’ well afterwards. Kanye introduced his helpers on the night and left us all with a personal, emotional, and uplifting message that u can see parts of in the recapped YouTube video below! Also, check out the tracklist of the performances in order from Lupe Fiasco & Kanye West! [Sgt. Tibs]
10. “Daydreamin’” f/ Bishop G, Matthew Santos, & Sarah Green
Kanye West LIVE @ Glow In The Dark Tour 05.23.08
01. “Good Morning”
02. “I Wonder”
03. “Heard ‘Em Say”
04. “Through The Wire”
05. “Champion”
06. “Get ‘Em High”
07. “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”
08. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
09. “Flashing Lights”
10. “Spaceship”
11. “All Falls Down”
12. “Gold Digger”
13. “Good Life”
14. “Jesus Walks”
15. “Hey Mama”
16. “Stronger”
17. “Homecoming”
18. “Touch The Sky” f/ Lupe Fiasco
***NOTE: Neither Lupe or Kanye did every track in its entirety. Correct me if I’m wrong on the order, but I’m almost positive that it’s all correct! [Sgt. Tibs]
05.24.08
From Left 2 Right: Max G., Nikki Jean, Sgt. Tibs
We went over 2 Saint Alfred’s for the last-minute meet & greet with one of our favorite up and coming artists - Nikki Jean! We were greeted warmly right away, and had a good chance to meet face to face with such a good interviewee and talented artist. It is refreshing 2 see an artist give back like this and put forth a lot of effort 2 give fans like us a chance to not only meet her but get to know her as a person. She was so nice and warm 2 everyone and we wish her nothing but the best of luck in the future cuz she flat out deserves it!
(Note the first official Limited G (Max G.’s clothing line) shirt with the GWHH logo in glow in the dark paint, which aspired a certain glow at the tour. Chyea!)
Finally as a bonus below, check out YouTube-piano sensation David Sides as he plays the Lupe Fiasco mega-hit - “Superstar”! Enjoy! [Sgt. Tibs & Max G.]
Back again with Part TWO of our EXCLUSIVE Interview with 1st & 15th’s GemStones! In order to save you some scrolling, and in case ya just missed it or want to refresh your memory, CLICK HERE FOR PART 1, where GemStones describes how he met Lupe Fiasco, the state of hip hop today and in the future, his musical and outside inspirations, AND MORE! Without further adieu, check out the rest of the interview below!
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GWHH: Well you also touched on this a little earlier about the influence Chicago has had on hip hop, but how has living and growing up in Chicago influenced your work specifically, and can you really see that influence in not only your music but in the music of your fellow Chicago artists as well?
GS: Umm, because it’s real man. With my experience coming up in Chicago, I wasn’t handed anything. So it kind of makes it like, you can’t enjoy the sweet without the bitter, you got to take the bitter with the sweet. The sweet wouldn’t feel so good, wouldn’t taste so good, if it wasn’t for the bitter. You know what I’m sayin? Like, the joy wouldn’t feel so good if it wasn’t for the pain. So I do what I do and take the bitter with the sweet, and mix it all up, like lemonade. So, it’s like that right? If you come up in Chicago, you got the skills. Maybe it’s like this in every other city, I don’t know cuz I’m not from the other cities, but in Chicago, it was hard coming up. Nothing was given to you. You had to go get it. So, now that I got it, it’s like.. I put it in my music. I couldn’t fake it when I put my album together, I couldn’t get on wax and lie about things I didn’t have and things that I didn’t do. I gotta tell my story; I have to influence the people. I know I’m a role model. So I have to play that role. I know kids in the younger generations is looking up to me and I couldn’t lie man. This is my testimony. This is my testimony. I gotta testify. I gotta tell it man. That’s why my album is named Troubles Of The World because of Chicago - what Chicago did to me. Chicago created a monster. I don’t mean it in a bad way though. Like a machine, Chicago, built like me? It’s crazy. I thank Chicago though for not giving it to me because I probably wouldn’t have known what to do with it if I had had it. Like, I’m glad I’m not rich yet. I think if I got rich tomorrow, I would know what to do with my money. But had I got rich at 21, there’s no tellin’ where I’d be right now. Like what would I do with 10 million right now? Like, I’m glad I was not rich because I woulda been a monster. I didn’t know. I came up and I didn’t have, so when I got it I woulda just blew it. But now that I went through the hurt, I went through the pain, I know what it feels like not to have, so when I do get, I’m going to treat it like it’s my last. Treat my last like my first and treat my first like my last. You know what I’m sayin? And Chicago did that to me. So that’s the impact Chicago had on me, like Chicago and the streets period. Everything from the museum to the walk to the park, just growing up in Chicago. It is still embedded in me and it molded me into the beast I am today. And when you guys hear my album, that is due to drop this year - Troubles Of The World - cuz they’re my troubles, they’re your troubles. At the end of the day, we all equal. We all go through the same problems. We all hurt, we all see, we feel, touch, sense them. The 5 senses, like all that. We do the same thing, we just at different parts of the world, just all walks of life, but we all share the same experiences and that’s why I named it Troubles Of The World. Because everybody can relate to it - whether you’re white, black, purple, orange, green, I don’t care what your race is. You can relate to it if you’re human. And it’s like we all go through these troubles. And it’s just real. It’s talking about issues with your mother, with your son, with your niece, your nephew, just the birds and the bees, talking about sex, just everything. And when you hear it, they’re going to be like, they know this guy personally, how does this guy know my life? This is real.
GWHH: Yeah, I like that. I like that. I’m looking forward to it. So another thing to look forward to is your new mixtape, you mentioned it briefly earlier. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
GS: Oh yeah yeah! My new mixtape is entitled The Testimony Of GemStones that is about to drop in about 2 weeks. But I will I have that, FREE, downloadable on my myspace page which is www.myspace.com/fnfgemini and it will basically.. It’s like orientation. It like gives you a sample before the album. Like in school, they give you an orientation before you go to high school. Just what it’s like or whatever. So it’s like orientation before my album come - it’s like a sneak preview of the album, what your facing, what’s about to go on. It’s like a diluted version of the raw dope. It’s like I didn’t want to give you top ten crack. I kinda want to lean you on to it at first so you can understand it, you know what I’m sayin?
GWHH: Yeah, yeah, so it’ll kinda like build the buzz for it, right?
GS: Yeah yeah yeah. So when the album do come, you can understand me even more. Like ok, then you can go back like, ‘Oh, it’s his mixtape! I remember on his mixtape he was like, Oh! That explains a lot of this stuff’, you know what I’m sayin? The Testimony Of GemStones - basically I’m just testifyin’ on everything and then when the album come, these are the Troubles Of The World. This is what I gotta testify about. I’m talkin’ about anything that you wanna hear, for my FNF fans, who follow 1st & 15th since day one, like I’m speaking on these questions, I’m answering questions that you prolly never asked and I’m testifyin’ on everything and it’s real. It’s crack and oh, it’s ridiculous. And I’m not just sayin’ it cuz it’s mine. Lupe heard it and went crazy, like ‘Oh My G*d!’
GS: Lupe been braggin’ to all his homies like, ‘Yo, GemStones’ mixtape, that’s where it’s at’ Like I didn’t tell those guys. Everything that’s coming back to me is off Lupe’s word. Like, ‘Yo man, we gotta hear this mixtape! Lupe’s going around tellin’ everybody..’ I just played a few songs for Lupe and he was like, ‘Whoa!’ Like, for real, like Lupe heard it and went back and then spread the word, like my artist about to bring something that’s so ugly. Lupe know! He know! It’ll be up on all the sites - all the sites that’s up on the internet where the mixtapes are - like I’m goin’ to have it on all the sites, whoever want it, they can get it. It’s gon’ be there.
GWHH: Alright, cool. Yeah, we’ll definitely post it up too. Yeah, now, more specifically, are the songs kinda like the songs you did for Untamed Beast? Or is it more like “Good Morning”?
GS: Oh yeah, I shoulda spoken that. Like Untamed Beast was like Gemini. Like my whole thing now is to show how I’ve evolved. Like I’ve evolved, how I’ve grown as an artist, as a person. Like that Gemini thing, that was rapper. It was talented, like beast, top 10, like ahhh! That was Gemini. That was that Gemini era. That was for the rappers. That was me as a rapper, but I’ve evolved from that. I did the braids, I did the heavyset. That’s why I lost the weight, I cut the braids off. And the name is gone now. There is no more Gemini. Gemini is dead. And I’m explaining that on the new mixtape. And it’s just showing my growth as an artist. How I can rap about something - turn the negative into a positive and still have the same impact on the same people. And when you can do that, you got it, you know what I’m sayin? Cuz if you can take a song like degrading the women and you got thousands goin’ crazy, cheerin’ you on about degrading the women. And you can turn around, and do the same song over the same, but this time you’re apologizing for doing that. So I’m just basically turning my negatives into positives. And showin’ that I’ve grown as a person. You do things when you was young, like, you do in your life when you was young that now that you was grown, you wouldn’t dare do cuz you were young then. It was your past. And like that Gemini mixtape was my past and I’m apologizing to my fans for certain things that I’ve said on there because I was just oblivious to certain things then. But now I’ve grown as a person and now I’m going to give it to you. Like “Good Morning”? “Good Morning” was the first jumpoff track. ‘Good morning. Wake up. Get off up your grandmomma’s sofa. Jobs is open, because they ain’t got no role models to coach them.’
GWHH: Alright, that’s cool. That’s cool. So I also read that there’s a DVD that comes out with the mixtape? Could you talk a little bit about that?
GS: Oh yeah yeah. That’s why I pushed the mixtape back. Just so you can come into my life, so you can understand my world, from all I go to, the blocks I be on, catch me in the studio, how we record in the studio, just old footage of me and Lupe back before we had our mustaches. Back when I first met him in ‘01, back when we was young, that was almost ten years ago. Just a lot of footage, a lot of footage from tour. “The Cool” tour, I just got off “The Cool” tour with Lupe where we had a sold out tour all over the world. I got footage of “The Cool” tour. I got footage with MTV: The Diary. The “We On” video is going to be on my new mixtape. It’s crazy. We puttin’ this out worldwide. This mixtape is going to be out all over the world. We bout to push this, and then I got a Part 2! I just wanna keep my name buzzing, I wanna keep it fresh. You got some artists come out and you be like, ‘Whatever happened to him? Why did he stop?’ I’m going to keep pumping music, keep coming to these sites - these hip hop websites and I’ma keep givin’ ‘em verses and give them whatever they wanna hear. Throw it up on their boards, like keep the people talkin. I’ma finna make a big impression on the game. Watch. It’s time right now man, it’s time.
GWHH: Yeah, you mentioned about the tour. Could you talk about your experiences there on a sold-out tour? Prolly one of the biggest tours so far in ‘08.
GS: Ok man, “The Cool” tour was everything I thought it was that I saw comin’ up as a shorty on TV - like Michael Jackson, live on stage, lookin’ on BET, the Grammys - like it was that.. times 10! Like that times 10! Like actually living it. I’m on stage performing in front of 10,000 people chanting and they all chanting your name at one time. Like you was just somewhere in your mother’s basement chillin’ with nobody knowing your name, then you’re off in New Zealand - 5,000, 6, 7, 9, 10,000 people chanting your name that you don’t even know! They don’t even speak English, you know what I’m sayin? It’s crazy. It’s crazy. It’s a rush, like the first time I’ve ever been on a tour bus. We had like 2 big screen tvs, man the whole tour bus thing, planes everyday. No sleep, gettin’ like 3 hours of sleep, wakin’ up, leaving clothes behind in your hotel room, because you don’t wanna be over at the airport. Like they chargin’ you extra, buying clothes, food, gettin sick because you’re going to different climates. It’s crazy. Tour was crazy. House of Blues, sold out every night! I did Lollapalooza, I did the BET Awards. I used to sit at home and just dream of that. And for me to actually be on BET, walking on the red carpet and posin’, like it was crazy. And then you got a 6:30 flight in the morning, flying to Arizona somewhere! To rock it in front of 10,000 - they be screamin, ‘Lupe! Lupe! GemStones! GemStones!’ Signing autographs, women trying to get back to your hotel room with you, they grabbin’ you and screamin, like ‘Oh My G*d’ it was crazy. It was crazy.
GWHH: Heh, that’s awesome. And now that the Glow In The Dark Tour has started, are you going to be followin’ them a lil’ bit for a couple shows?
GS: Yeah, yeah. I’m goin’ out on certain dates on the Glow In The Dark Tour. Like Lupe’s time, on Lupe’s tour it was 2 hours, and now his time is cut to like 30 minutes. He sharin’ time now with Pharrell and Rihanna and Kanye - they all gotta share, so everybody got like 30 minutes and Lupe’s doin a whole nother selection of songs. And I’m goin to do certain songs on certain dates, but for the most part I’m just out here and recordin’ and gettin’ my mixtape ready cuz I’m stayin’ home and doin’ my homework. I could be out on tour, but I’ve experienced tour already, but I’ma go back out with them, but I wanna get my homework done so when it’s my time to step up to the bat, when it’s GemStones’ time, I got all my homework done and I’m not lackin’ because I’ve been out on tour havin’ fun and runnin’ and jumpin’, you know what I’m sayin? So, I do my homework and turn it in and get this A+ when the album come out.
GWHH: And yeah, yeah. I wanted to ask for the readers, uhh, any crazy, funny stories that you had throughout the experience of the tour? Just anything that may be a funny story for people to read, on tour, or anything really?
GS: Aw man. My manager. We flew to Australia for MTV: The Diary and we made a bet, like the dumbest bet in the world. We went to this cliff. Like, this cliff is so high. I’m talkin, that on the way up, you see signs that say ‘No Jumping, No Divin’ and there’s sharks in the water, it’s just Australia. You know, me and Lupe punk’d out though. Like we had a bet, like who would jump? Like this cliff, when I tell you this cliff was high, this cliff was so high! And it was cold outside, like 30 degrees outside and we pumped my manager up. We pumped him up and he jumped off the cliff into the cold water. And me and Lupe punk’d out and didn’t do it. Like, ‘Wow. Did he just do it? Did he just? Did he just? I’m not goin’ in that water!’ He swam tho. He did it. Like he jumped off the cliff. That was the wildest thing that happened on the tour.
GWHH: Hahah, wow. That’s crazy. So yeah, do you get a chance to take in the sights in every city you go to on tour?
GS: Yeah yeah. Everytime we get to a city, that’s one thing we do. We go find their clothing stores. We get there the day before or the day of at the venue. So we get there early. So me and Lupe and the rest of the crew like we would go out and sight, to the mall, just walk around, just walk and get lost so that night, when the show happen, we have a little history on their city and know what we sayin’ on stage, you know what I’m sayin? Ooh, I got another funny moment that did happen. My DJ Simon, I think we was in Boston and the curtains open up, and he says, ‘Detroit, make some mothafuckin’ noiiiiissssee!!’
Bishop G - ‘Damage Reversal’ Mixtape - MORE
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