New York, NY – Manhattan native Tony Simon, better known by his stage moniker Blockhead, literally thinks his head is shaped like block, hence his name. It was also the first name he rapped under. However, those days are gone. The longtime producer/DJ has been churning out brilliant instrumental albums since 2004’s Music By Cavelight, but is also the mastermind behind several of Aesop Rock’s productions, including material from 2001’s Labor Days, 2003’s Bazooka Tooth and 2007’s None Shall Pass. Their last collaborative track was 2015’s “Cat Food,” another example of their undeniable musical compatibility.
Since Music By Cavelight, Uncle Tony has released five additional solo albums, culminating with 2014’s Bells & Whistles. As he puts the finishing touches on lucky number seven, he’s finally revealed the title — Funeral Balloons — exclusively to HipHopDXalthough, there’s no official release date.
“It’s gonna be a while because of scheduling with the label, Backwoodz Entertainment,” Simon says in an interview. “I’m looking at a late summer or early fall release.”
Until then, fans will be happy to know Detroit’s Heavy Soul Records is reissuing 2007’s Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book on vinyl for Record Store Day (April 22), an album peppered with hilariously titled songs like “Cheer Up You’re Not Dead Yet” and “Grape Nuts and Chalk Sauce,” a look into who he is as a person. However, not everyone gets Blockhead’s sense of humor. For years, he ran the Phat Friend blog, which gave him a chance to be as ridiculously sarcastic and offensive as he wanted to be. In fact, one song on Funeral Balloons, “Gobsmacked,” is inspired by an online argument he got into after one of his infamous posts.
“I think people have a misconception about me as a human being,” he says. “I’m not a serious person. I don’t really give a shit about much, so when I write, it was just me blathering in a funny fashion. [In the blog,] I would take ridiculous, harsh stances on trivial things and try and make them funny. Some people would read that and think I was passionate about these pointless things and feel some sorta way about it. Next thing you know, I’m arguing with strangers on the internet.
“The most ridiculous misunderstanding, and there have been many, was one time I tweeted a joke about Razor scooters and some dude lost it on me,” he continues. “Like he was raised by Razor scooters and I had disrespected his family. It was so weird. Another time, some girl tweeted that I was a disgusting and terrible person with no other context. I retweeted it and added some smarmy response. She responded and it turned out she read one of my ‘Fuck/marry/kill’ articles and took it way too seriously, even though I’d always specifically warn people how unserious that particular article always was. At some point she told me she was ‘gobsmacked’ by my terribleness and I told her I was gonna name a song that on my next album. I kept my promise.”
Atlanta, GA – Young Thug is back in trouble after he allegedly slapped a woman who got in an argument with his fiancée.
Police are searching for Thugger to question him about the incident, TMZ reports.
Valerie Raven, aka Akbar V, filed a battery report after alleging that the Atlanta star slapped her in the parking lot of Palace nightclub. She called police the night of the incident, but Thug and his boo, Jerrika Karlae, had already left the scene when authorities arrived.
Always taking up for this pussy hoe nigga what it had to do with u @thuggerthugger1 lame ho @thejerrikakarlae u a punk ho this ho fucked every crew in Atlanta u saving this ho
A post shared by Akbar V (@akbar__v) on
Lame as fuck @thuggerthugger1 @thejerrikakarlae u talking all that shit threw the fucking car call thug to come save u ho u lame and too u fuck ass security guards yall right there acting lame @palaceatl by I got slap on your premises an your security standing there an let him slap me when this ho @thejerrikakarlae started with me u wrong I need yall to witness this palace security letting him slap me and the @atlpalace so lam they right there letting the nigga slap me
A post shared by Akbar V (@akbar__v) on
Young Thug was facing an arrest warrant in January for skipping out on a court date regarding tinted windows. He was taken into police custody at an Atlanta mall in December for the same case.
HIPHOPDX – This week in Hip Hop, Remy Ma came for Nicki Minaj’s entire life in seven minutes in a diss track, then lost steam when she dropped a second, while Nicki is living her best life. Also, Kodak Black goes back to jail and Chris Brown’s friends expose his alleged drug problems to Billboard.
Remy Ma Drops Nicki Minaj Diss Song “SHETHER” & Gets Paid Dust
A Timeline
It all began when Nicki Minaj reportedly dissed Remy Ma on her song with Gucci Mane, “Make Love.” When Remy caught wind of it, she dropped a seven-minute diss track over Nas’ “Ether” instrumental and titled it “SHETHER.”
Nicki’s only response was to point out Plata O Plomo‘s lackluster sales, continue working and parlaying with the fashion world’s elite in Paris.
So far, there hasn’t been a response from Nicki on wax except on social media where she checked Trey Songz for not immediately dispelling rumors set out by Remy that he smashed, which he eventually denied. Trey’s denial was followed by Hot 97’s Ebro Darden’s denial that he also got the cakes, who said while it did make him look like the man for a second, the closest he’s gotten to Nicki was a lusty thigh grab.
Many have called on the Queens rapper’s ex-boyfriend Safaree to help Nicki pen her response, but he says he wants no parts and calls “SHETHER” the “most disrespectful record ever.”
Meek Mill was caught liking meme’s leaning in Remy Ma’s favor and was called out on it by The Game, who captioned his own diss track towards Meek Milly followed by a thirsty Instagram post wishing he could be more than friends with the Dreamchaser’s former boo.
Four days after “SHETHER” dropped, Remy Ma shared “Another One,” a diss track aimed at Nicki again, which prompted #ThatWasTrashRemy to trend on Twitter. Then she uploaded and deleted an old risqué photo of Onika before the ass shots on Instagram.
The very next day, the “All The Way Up” rapper went on the Wendy Williams Show to share that the multi-Platinum selling artist had been blocking her from red carpets and messing with her coins.
Foxy Brown randomly came for Remy Ma in a diss song titled, “Breaks Over,” for including old rumors about her in the diss song meant for The Pinkprint superstar shortly after giving birth to a baby girl.
Listen to “Make Love” here, “SHETHER” here and “Another One” here.
Kodak Black Goes To Jail
Kodak Black turned up at a Miami strip club and found himself back behind bars for violating his probation on Tuesday (February 28).
The Project Baby was ordered to five years of house arrest and any movement outside of that needed approval from a judge. It appears it was social media that ultimately got the “No Flockin'” rapper caught up.
The flub is reportedly costing him bank as it’s interrupted his Back and Better Tour.
He was originally arrested for robbery false imprisonment, fleeing a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm by a delinquent in April.
Read more here.
Chris Brown Reportedly Dancing With Death In Drug Love Affair
Billboard published an exposé, revealing Chris Brown’s alleged struggle with drug addiction through the words of his team and former employees.
Breezy’s drugs of choice are listed in reports of the R&B pop star snorting coke, popping Molly, sipping lean, popping Xanax and smoking weed.
There’s also reports of his rabid mood swings, which can range from a friendly Christopher to a violent and evil Christopher.
These are all claims that he denies and points blame to his old security guard who he calls out by name, Clay.
“Y’all gotta stop with this angry shit going through drugs and all this other shit,” he says in response to the lengthy report. “I’m tired of reading about some shit as soon as I got something popping. As soon as I wanna promote a tour, a party, a fuckin’ album, anything, y’all bring up something.”
Read more here.
DXclusives: Mahershala Ali, SiR & Chris Cuffaro
Before Mahershala Ali became an Academy Award-winning actor for his role in the Best Picture-winning film Moonlight on Sunday night (February 26), he was Prince Ali: A rapper signed to underground Hip Hop legends Hieroglyphics’ record label, Hiero Imperium, during the late 2000s.
Souls of Mischief member and Hiero Imperium label manager Tajai Massey spoke with HipHopDX’s Dana Scott about Ali’s time on the label and congratulates him for his Oscar win.
“I think it’s awesome, man,” Tajai said. “What’s crazy is that he’s been grinding since before he was even signed to our label. That was 10 years ago now. To just sort of watch him bubble from the underground, from Benjamin Button, to 300, and all that kind of stuff all the way up to now, a lot of people are going to realize, ‘Oh, we’ve been seeing this guy for a whole bunch of years.’ So it’s just good to see it culminate in some accolades for him.”
TDE’s latest signee, SiR chopped it up with Features Writer Ural Garrett about coming onto the label and what it meant for him prior to the official announcement.
“Man it was stressful for me just waiting on everything,” he said. “Having the secret that I couldn’t talk about. I’m very straight forward so it was weird and different. It was an easy process as far as the music and the business and stuff goes. It was seamless. Everything happened how it was supposed to.”
Music Editor Kyle Eustice caught up with photographer Chris Cuffaro who shared some pretty interesting stories while taking pictures of some of music’s greatest artists including LL Cool J, The Game, Ice Cube and Nirvana, among others.
He shared one moment that involved Ice-T, Body Count and guns.
“We’re doing this picture where they’re all holding guns, and posing with guns, and everybody had fake guns, except one guy brought a real gun,” he explained. “Ice-T goes nuts — like a parent. ‘What are you doing? Get that the fuck out of here!’ He really got upset the guy brought a real gun to the photo shoot. It was funny. This poor guy really got scolded. In the ‘70s, I went to schools that were all blacks and Mexicans. We had low riders, cholos — that whole thing — but I was never fearful of that. Gangs back then were nothing compared to what it’s like today. I got along with everybody. I don’t fear them. I could get along with everybody and I used my photography to do that.”
Polk County, FL – Kevin Gates is scheduled to be released from Polk County Jail on March 24 after being sentenced 180 days under the cell.
Last October, A jury of six women found the 31-year-old Baton Rouge native guilty of battery after a video surfaced of him kicking a then 18-year-old female fan during a concert at Rumors Nightclub in Lakeland, Florida back in 2015.
The Islah rapper tried to use Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law” for his defense to no avail, as he claims the fan, Miranda Dixon, kept aggressively grabbing on his leg. His wife, Dreka Gates, championed the actions perpetuated by Kevin and noted that Dixon and her friend stayed at the show even after the incident occurred.
You mean to tell me that @iamkevingates kicked the girl in the red jumpsuit and knocked the breathe out her? Because that's what she's been claiming and testified today in court. If anything her friend choked the fuck out of her. She claims she fainted, but yet she and her friend stayed at the club at the front of the stage even after this incident. She also acquired a civil attorney early on…what does that tell you? She also touched him FIRST (more than once) without his consent but yet he was the one sentenced to jail today for the same crime. She and her friend also had very conflicting stories and were tripped up in many lies today in the courtroom. It was comical and sad at the same time to see how desperate people are for fame and money. Not to mention the prosecutors wanted to give him 60 days with anger management and community service but yet the judge decided to give him 180 days?!? Are you fucking kidding me. Inshallah justice will be served. #unjust #fuckery #polkcounty #smfh by the way, thanks for taking my husband away from our kids (sarcasm) #itsnotoverjustyet
A post shared by Dreka Gates (@realdrekagates) on
Dixon passed out as a result of the kick and was taken to the hospital following the incident where she was given a CT scan.
Polk County prosecutors were gunning for a 60-day sentence for the boot. However, he was instead given 180 days by Judge Sharon Franklin who sternly condemned him for his actions.
“While a simple act of touching or pushing someone without his or her consent may amount to simple battery, the Court finds that such a minor act does not necessarily rise to such a level as to justify the use of force in return,” Judge Franklin wrote in the five-page order, according to The Ledger.
Los Angeles, CA – When he first moved to L.A. (about 10 years ago now), London-native Plastic Jesus saw people driving around in their cars with those plastic Jesus figures. On February 25, HipHopDX caught up with the artist at his Anesthesia: The Art of Oblivion art show on Gibson Brands Sunset (former Tower Records).
The gallery featured the infamous Kanye West statue sporting a gold Jesus piece and black Yeezys.
By the way, this piece is for sale and he’s looking for $50,000 for it. According to the street artist, he wanted to make an ironic statement before last weekend’s Academy Awards.
He states, “I thought it was ironic, the fact that if you’re really religious, do you really need a cheap, Chinese-made figure to remind you who your God is?” It fits well because he tries to get people to question their morals and beliefs, which is exactly what these figures do.
This seems to be the theme when it comes to the infamous Kanye Jesus statue, spotted in the heart of Hollywood. After creating statues for about four years now, the concept of this piece came to him about a year ago.
“I wanted to focus on the cult of idols and how we build them up into gods, and also how we break them down. In this case, how we crucify them,” he shares.
"False Idol". #art #streetart #oscars with generous help from @pverik and sculpture @morgothlot #kanyewest #hollywood the statue will be on Hollywood Blvd for some time today. And then at our show Saturday. At Gibson bands 8801 sunset Blvd . The former tower records store.
A post shared by Plastic Jesus® – Official (@plasticjesus) on
“We can all remember when Kanye West was hospitalized at the end of last year, right?” Plastic Jesus explains, “The time before Christmas when ‘Ye was hospitalized really underlined that fact that we build these idols up into gods, and when they show human failings, we then turn them down or crucify them.”
The entire process of creating the sculpture, from concept to execution, took about three months. The head was molded by an artist named Ginger from Las Vegas, who is responsible for the naked Donald Trump statue. The actual construction took about six weeks.
“The title ‘False Idol’ is a criticism of us, the consumer, and us, the media — building people into gods,” Plastic Jesus continues to explain. “Sure, Kanye is hugely talented. He’s a genius when it comes to writing and production, but we’ve built him into something which is far greater than that. And when we build people up like that comes expectations. And when people don’t meet those expectations, that’s when we start to crucify them.”
Plastic Jesus emphasizes the attention to detail in street art. By the way, the Yeezys on the statue’s feet are fake.
“They came from China,” he reveals, “and cost about 15 dollars including shipping.”
