Mariah Carey's Former A&R Went Crazy Working With Ol' Dirty Bastard On "Fantasy"

There's usually always a pretty good story behind the creation of most songs, but the recent revelation of the crazy measures it took for Ol’ Dirty Bastard to jump on Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" remix is something for the books. FakeShoreDrive's Andrew Baber sent out a tweet that reminded people of the 2016 Billboard articlethat detailed the hilarious, but very annoying tribulations, that Mariah's former A&R, Cory Rooney, had to endure to score ODB for the track.

[READ THE STORY via HotNewHipHop]

Method Man's "Meth Lab II" Has Reportedly Been Delayed

The Wu-Tang Clan's legendary roots run deep, and even now, the names of the roster continue to ring bells in worthy circles. Fans know there's something unabashedly raw about the one and only Method Man, who previously won hearts through his self-titled 36 Chambers classic. Now, with a legendary career behind him, Tical has been steadily readying the torch for his disciples, as evidenced by his upcoming Meth Lab II album. Curated with an emphasis on local Staten Island emcees, The Meth Lab II was originally slated to drop on November 13th. 

Now, a report from HipHopDx indicates that Meth heads will have to wait a little bit longer. Apparently, the publication got an email from Method Man's camp, explaining that the project would no longer be landing on its intended delivery date. As of now, a replacement has yet to be revealed, though it's entirely possible November is still in the cards. 

Hopefully, we'll be bumping some new Method Man by year's end. Should you be fixing for more, check out the lead Meth Lab II single, "Grand Prix."

[via HotNewHipHop]

GZA Compares Gun Violence In Hip Hop To Wildfire: "Put Them Out Or They Spread"

GZA: "hip-hop started (initially) to stop violence."

GZA understands the paradigm shift we are undergoing, and the weight it carries on our musical choices as artists. The founder member Wu-Tang sat down with the Miami New Times for an exclusive interview where the discussed the evolutionary path of hip hop. What differentiates GZA's account of current day, from say.. the words of Rakim or some other Generation Xer, is an understanding of material consequences.

When asked if he thought we were living through a golden age for rap, GZA laughed in the face of his correspondent, well not exactly, it was phone interview, and the person who asked was merely probing for a sensational response. Once GZA regained his composure he said, “Nowhere near, it’s not even the silver or the bronze age (right now)."

GZA has noticed an infinite regression in lyricism. He broke it down like this: "I’m not knocking producers or the artists nowadays. Some of the stuff sounds good and some doesn’t, but it’s just my opinion. But I think, lyrically, there’s been a regression."

The legendary chessboxer reserved his greatest concern for the violent state of alarm in the hip hop community. The interviewer cited the deaths of Jimmy Wopo and XXXTentacion as examples of this perceived state of unrest, to which GZA issued a warning in the form of an analogy."Hopefully, it’ll (violence) cease to exist at some point," GZA agreed. "Of course it has the potential to escalate, it’s a fire. And what happens with fires? Either you put them out or they spread."

[via HotNewHipHop]

GZA Plays A Game Of Chess While Rapping During Live Performance

Rappers have been known to do weird things at live shows sometimes. Typically it's along the lines of doing a massive stage dive off the top of the scaffolding or something, but GZA is much classier than that.

[READ MORE via HotNewHipHop]

Mathematics Responds To Alleged Lawsuit Over Wu-Tang Clan's "People Say"

"I am not aware of a pending lawsuit."

This week, reports surfaced of a lawsuit being filed against the Wu-Tang Clan as a result of the hip-hop group’s “People Say” single—a track originally found on the crew’s The Saga Continues project of last year.

It was TMZ who broke news of The Diplomats—a soul group from the 1950s and 1960s—filing a claim that the record pulled from the “melody, lyrics, and rhythm” of their 1969 recording “I’ve Got the Kind of Love” on which the line “people say” is used in heavy rotation. The report claimed that The Diplomats wanted Wu-Tang to stop performing and selling the track in addition to handing over an undisclosed amount for damages

>> READ MORE via HotNewHipHop.com <<

Why GZA Is One Of The Greatest Of All Time

A Case for GZA as One of Hip-Hop's GOATs

In this series, we'll be making the case for specific rappers to be included in "greatest of all-time" discussions. The more obvious choices (such as André 3000, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, 2Pac) will be ignored in favor of artists who tend to get overlooked these days, for one reason or another. Previously, our writers have made cases for Pusha T, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, Big Boi, DMX, Ghostface Killah, Scarface, Lloyd Banks, and Three 6 Mafia. Today, we're going to bat for GZA.

>>READ MORE via HotNewHipHop<<

Wu-Tang Clan’s “The Saga Continues” Debuts #1 On Independent Charts

The Wu-Tang Clan's latest album, "The Saga Continues," has landed the #1 spot on the Independent charts.

Wu-Tang Clan are coming off the release of their new album last week called The Saga Continues, which was released independently via 36 Clambers/eOne, and it turns out it landed the #1 spot on the Independent charts today, selling more copies than any other independent release. According to HDD, the album sold 24,613 units including streams in its opening week.

“Congratulations to Alan Grunblatt, the entire urban team, and Wu-Tang of course on this amazing achievement," says Chris Taylor, Global President of Entertainment One Music. "Our U.S. and global teams have knocked this out of the park.”

>> READ MORE on HotNewHipHop <<

Martin Shkreli Sells That Rare Wu-Tang CD for $1 Million + UPDATE!

Only a few days after the managers of rappers U-God and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan publicly spoke out against the legitimacy of that rare Once Upon a Time in Shaolin double CD in the possession of defamed “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, the now convicted felon has sold the artifact for $1,025,100. As indicated in the description, Shkreli was not attempting to make this sale because he was strapped for cash, but rather wanted to rid himself of the album he felt was becoming a burden.

According to Domingo Negris, manager of U-God, the project in question is not considered to be "an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album.”

James Ellis, Method Man’s manager doubled down on the claim, adding "When we did the verses, it was for a Cilvaringz album. How it became a Wu-Tang album from there? We have no knowledge of that."

Nonetheless, Martin still managed to get the CD off his hands for almost half of the $2 million price tag with he first acquired it.

UPDATE!

Martin Shkreli’s eBay sale of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is evidently incomplete. According to Matt “M-Eighty” Markoff, whose tenure in the Hip Hop game is decades deep, Shkreli was unable to officially finalize the sale before being booked into a federal Brooklyn jail last week.

The good news? Once Markoff, who routinely works with Wu-Tang, is able to secure the album, he plans to share it with the rest of us.

“I was the second highest bidder at 1,025,000 and he did not make arrangements for the sale before being arrested again,” Markoff told HipHopDX. “If he has any release time before his ultimate conviction and sentencing, that is when he and I will be finalizing the purchase agreement off eBay.”

He added, “I will be releasing the album to the world at large. ”

As indicated by eBay’s website, the bidding for Once Upon A Time In Shaolin closed on September 15 and a bid of $1,025,100 was deemed “the winning bid.”

So far, Shkreli’s signature has not made it to the paperwork.

[via Hot New HipHop & HipHopDX]

Martin Shkreli Played The Wu-Tang Album He Bought For $2 Mil In An Interview

It was recently during a live internet chat discussing his charges that Shkreli played Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, the rare project that he purchased for $2 million, and infamously threatened to destroy.

“I donated $2 million to Wu-Tang,” he said of the buy around the 48-minute mark below.. “I got a mixtape in return, it was a wonderful investment. I view it as a donation. People might see that as splurging. I don’t think there are many people in the world who have patronized hip-hop to the extent I have.”

For the next ten minutes, he would play the project until the clips inevitably ends.

[via HotNewHipHop.com]

Method Man Appears In New Trailer For HBO's "The Deuce"

Method Man is continuing to sink his teeth into the world of acting.

HBO recently premiered a new trailer for The Deuce, a drama about the prostitution and porn industries in New York during the late-70's and early-80's, which sees the veteran rapper assume the role of Rodney. "Scary world out here, baby," he utters to another female character. The Deuce, from the creative team that brought us The Wire, premieres on September 10th.

[via HotNewHipHop.com]