USA TODAYPhilando Castile s family, girlfriend support manslaughter chargeUSA TODAYST. PAUL, Minn. — The family of the man fatally shot by a St. Anthony Police officer fully supports a decision to charge that officer with manslaughter instead of a more serious charge. Glenda Hatchett, attorney for the family of Philando Castile ...Timeline of Events in Police Shooting of Philando CastileABC NewsLatest: Protesters say they keep seeking justice for CastileWashington PostOfficer charged in shooting that was streamed on FacebookWHIOMiami Herald http://usat.ly/2g1fcLb
BillboardAlicia Keys On Her Future Goals: I Already Won BillboardAlicia Keys is winning. Not because you say she is, but because she says she is. As the piano-playing singer releases her sixth album and reflects on the 15 years since she put out her Grammy-winning debut "songs in A minor," she feels content.Music Video Review: Alicia Keys shines in Blended Family The Michigan DailyAlicia Keys on future goals: Honey, I already wonOlean Times HeraldWATCH: Alicia Keys Performs New Song Holy War on NBC s THE VOICEBroadway WorldWFJA Classic Hits and Oldies 105.5 FM http://bit.ly/2fzgONF
Smiles Official is a talented aspiring artist who uses witty wordplay and clever rhetoric to write the music that has all the ladies of South Florida willing to “make them panties drop”. Embracing his rich Jamaican background, Official has always been a lover of both music and food with lots of soul. In junction with his deeply embedded cultural roots, Smiles also accredits a large part of his success today to the city that raised him, Cutler Ridge (Miami, FL).
Not only was he able to launch his rap career in Cutler Ridge but he was also recognized by his city for being a force on the football field and a bullet on the track. Ripe with raw talent, Smiles Official embodied all that is carpe diem, and he has been seizing every moment since.
All in all, his attention was persistently sought out by many and he was able to broaden his network more and more every year. Through his affiliation with Deuce Mob, his love for music found him a temporary line of business as a party DJ. It was apparent even from then that Smiles Official was destined to be discovered. His energy radiates through a crowd like a surge of power. When Smiles Official is on the mic, everyone feels good.
His life was at a high point, but little did he know, the sky is the limit. Upon returning to Miami during the Summer of 2008, Smiles Official was invited to take the stage at Club Tuckers. On this particular evening, the guest list was illustrious. Big Miami names such as Larry Dogg, Grind Mode and Piccalo were all in attendance, That night was a turning point in Official’s life; that night Smiles Official decided, “I’m not stopping until I make it, period.”
Smiles Official is an original talent with a unique sound, he calls it Mood Music, and the streets love it! In just a year’s time, Smiles Official was able to release several mixtapes, including the ladies favorite PDM: Panty Dropping Music. His performances have become commonplace at various reputable clubs in South Florida.
Smiles Official works closely with other Miami-based organizations and his current record label Streets Enterprise Entertainment, of which he is the Co-Founder. With the crowd of people who halfheartedly attempt to pursue a career in the Hip-Hop industry it is often difficult to tell the imposters from the real thing but you already know Smiles Official is as real as they come.
It’s been eight years and six months since Smoke D brought that undeniable underground sound made possible in part by himself as well as two trailblazing Southern rappers Bun-B and Pimp C, collectively known as UGK. And since touching down on free ground August 27, it’s evident that his homecoming has been a long-awaited welcome.
Within a month of being released from prison, he has received rave reviews online for his comeback single “When the Feds Pull Up” featuring Bukwild. Over a silky smooth interpolation of R. Kelly’s classic “When A Woman’s Fed Up” accented by piercing piano chords and acoustic guitar strums, Smoke honestly and unapologetically breaks down the possible consequences of living on the other side of the law.
And with a highly anticipated mixtape and full-length album distributed via Trill Life Entertainment on the way, diehard fans across the nation celebrate the return of the trill.
“Judging from the internet response of my first leaked single, I definitely have an audience already in place,” I’m bringing them back that underground sound that was there before and bringing in a better way and pick up where Pimp left off…I learned a lot from Pimp as far as coming up with that UGK sound,” I learned how to rap from him and how to produce.”
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Born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Mississippi since he was six weeks old, Smoke D came up in the sleepy town of Crystal Springs, right outside the state’s capitol city Jackson.
When he was 15, his mother packed up the young man and his six siblings and relocated to the faster-paced Capitol City.
“Jackson was a lot different than Crystal Springs. There were a lot of gangs in Jackson so I got acclimated to the streets through gang activity,” he recalls. “It’s just another state with another ghetto. It’s a lot of poverty. It’s just a rat race. Even if you win the race, you’re still just a rat.”
Despite all of his dirty dealings in the streets, Smoke managed to make it college. He had a friend from Crystal Springs who also attended Hinds Community College but pursued a rap career on the side. The friend invited Smoke to travel with him to Lansing, Mich. for his studio session. There, he rubbed elbows with such celebrated Flint rappers the Dayton Family.
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It just so happened that the studio owner’s son wanted to record a song of his own but no one would help him. After getting the nod from his father, Smoke wrote a song with the kid called “The Pimp Mack Hustle.” Smoke only intended it to be a joke record and was mainly concerned with helping his friend’s career.
When Smoke and his friend brought their music back to Mississippi, they circulated the tapes amongst their friends. One of those friends was a local club owner named Stokes who passed both tapes along to Bun and Pimp, who were performing at the club that night.
“Out of the blue, I get a call from Stokes telling me to come to the club,” Smoke recalls. “I didn’t know what he wanted.”
When Smoke arrived at the club, the owner told him to go out to the back door of the club. “When I got out back, it was a limo back there. So I got in the limo and it was three girls in the limo with Pimp and Bun,” Smoke remembers. “We were listening to the music and listened to the song I did with the little boy, and Pimp invited me to come to his house for two weeks. I ended up staying for two years.”
At the time, UGK had recently signed a major label deal with Jive Records and were recording their 1994 seminal Southern classic album Super Tight in New Orleans. They were working on a record entitled “Front Back Side to Side” and asked Smoke to get on the song. With menial promotions and virtually no airplay, Super Tight went gold and “Front, Back, & Side to Side” became a hit single for the Texas-based group.
That one verse featuring Smoke’s gritty lyrics established him as one of the up-and-coming voices in Southern hip-hop. Among true fans of Southern rap music, he was a legend in the making and hadn’t even released his first record yet.
The success of “Front, Back, & Side to Side” caused things to really take off for Smoke. He toured with UGK, and he and Pimp C worked on tracks that would be on Smoke’s highly anticipated solo album, but before he could finish recording the album, his life took a tragic turn. Smoke had a run-in with the law that resulted in his serving a 10-year bid for manslaughter.
“My life changed after that. I wanted to keep it real and still hang in the ghetto,” he admits. “I didn’t have guidance. I was doing whatever I felt like, going wherever the wind blew me… People who are from the same place where you are from resent you for trying to do better. Back then, I was too naive to understand that.”
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While locked up, Smoke recorded an audio message to let Pimp, Bun and the rest of the crew know that he was ok. Pimp chopped it up and put the audio as song intros on the next gold-selling album Ridin’ Dirty.
“While I was in the penitentiary, it put a lot more hype on me,” says Smoke. “That got me respect in the prison because I was trying to do something. God blessed me all the way.”
As luck would have it, though, 10 days after Smoke got out of prison, Pimp was on his way to prison. “I got out expecting an easy road but it didn’t turn out that way,” he says. “I was really out there on my own, trying to avoid trouble. I waiting on Pimp…I was rap hustling and street hustling.”
That street hustling gained him another round trip ticket to prison as Pimp was being released. “Before Pimp got out, I was back in trouble so when he was getting out, I was headed back in,” says Smoke. “By the time we got to reconnect again, he was found dead in California. I don’t know if it was God’s will for us not to coexist in the same space or something. I don’t know.”
On his last sentence, Smoke faced a 20-year bid but got out on “good time” for participating in rehabilitation classes. Last year, prior to his release, several previously unreleased tracks from Smoke, Pimp C, Bun-B and Lil Boosie, among others, were released on Smoke D’s mixtape The Lost Files, hosted and mixed by DJ Big House.
“A whole lot of people know who I am but they don’t see my face,” says Smoke. “I’m not a person who’s always out. I stick to myself but now it’s time to use my talents to further my family and people I know and love.” And that’s exactly what he is set to do with his forthcoming mixtape and full-length album fueled by runaway single “When the Feds Pull Up.”
“Before, I had this big house built as far as the music. But since I’ve been gone, the house done got old. So I’m in the process of rebuilding, reestablishing and bringing everything back up to date.”
Blac Drop Ent Artist, Hole Things wants to invite you to his "Trap Party"
Pittsburgh Pa rapper, Marlo Greenlee is better known by his stage name Hole Things.Legends like Jay-Z, Rakim, and Michael Jackson inspired him to become a musician.
Performing freestyle battles, features, and hip-hop shows facilitated in creating a name for himself.
Eventually, finding a studio home in Atlanta's hip hop community proved to be quite a challenge. Besides that, Hole Things studied the art of music in various studios around the United States because this deemed necessary. Over time, he would develop a style that combines the wordplay of the East Coast and the catchy hooks from the South.
Several years were stripped from his life when a run-in with the law sidelined his first deal and sent him to prison. Shortly after his release, Hole Things regained his confidence by focusing on a new mindset and being determined to take back his spot.
"The more you look... you'll begin to see the true quality of a star".
Now that his new single "Trap Party" produced by Taz Taylor Beats is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music, proves that this is all he needed to separate himself from his peers.
Humbly, Hole Things describes himself as a diamond in the rough. After the buffing and polishing process ends, you'll begin to see the many facets of him - Hole Things.
Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, K Soakin was born into the music scene. He started writing and performing his music for a little over 1 year as a solo artist. He's been putting the pen to the paper over the last year, and released his first few singles in winter 2015!
K Soakin sound extends from Cali to down South and even on the East coast. He's taking the campaign all over! He's been performing at venues in San Jose ,CA, Stockton, CA, San Francisco, CA, San Diego, CA, Los Angeles, CA . One of his latest performances was at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA, He engaged the crowd lyrically while rocking to his unique sounds. Also, he hasshared the Stockton Arena Stage with the artist Ginuwine and Jagged Edge.
You may find Soakin's sounds played on most digital radio and mainstream outlets,also supported by DJ's such as; DJ Shabazz,DJ J12, and DJ RickLee.
Chicago's very own PD da Don aka P Dizzle is bringing some heat for your ear canals. His latest single is called "Tell Me No Lie" and it features the mellow crooner, Jay Y. This song has a smooth flow with a catchy hook and it is sure to have your head bobbing to the groove. Make sure that you follow PD on Twitter, @PDDaDon1 to stay abreast of all things W.T.N. Ent is bringing to the industry.
For Media/Press Contact Ms. Carmen @Platinumvoicepr 877-333-9940 ext 3
Lil George enjoys life in his new visual "Benjamins" directed by Derwynnwho and Chuck White. This track was produced by ReuelEthan & YH for BMB Entertainment.
When the realest person on your team is your woman, you gotta respect that. This is street romance in its rawest form. Many people talk about or say they want that ride or die love... but it's a rare occasion when they actually mean it. Please hit the like button! Please share! Please subscribe! Complete season begins January 8th, 2016, and continues each Friday. Subscribe to this channel to stay updated. Street Matrimoney is written by David Weaver (OfficialDWeave), and directed by Al Nuke (ALNuke) and also starring Al Nuke as "Marvin," and Vacea Blondelle as "Bristol."
“To Be Lyrical, or Not To Be” is not the question, when it comes to Emory Forbes. Also, known as; Steven Sutton was born in Baltimore, MD on February 27, 1990. Introduced to the art of hip-hop at the age of 12, he soon began to master the freestyle. Heavily influenced by all music, Forbes admires artists like; Eminem, Jay-z, Nas, Big L, Big Pun, and the lists goes on and on.
“Eminem is my hero. He found a way to fit into a genre that generally isn’t interested in white artists. Not only did he fit in I think he does it better than 95% of other artists in the game” says Emory Forbes.
At the age of 19, he enlisted in the US military and moved to Lompoc CA. It was there where a mutual friend introduced him to legendary producer Reckah (Rex Lee). Together, they created Emory's debut project, and one of the best mixtape releases of 2011, "Live From The Bottom", which received high praise from many independent outlets including an IMA nomination for best Hip-Hop/Rap Album. “Live From The Bottom” was his first recording, and there were a lot of emotions put into it. “I had lost a lot of the things that I cared about,and I wasn’t making any progress with the music that I was making, so I just tried to put that all in the CD to let the world know how I was feeling, says Forbes.
While still focusing on his music, Emory began to branch out into theatrical and cinema performance.During many months of 2012, Mr. Forbes showed off his acting skills in live stage productions.
Forbes’ upcoming album will also display his multi-faceted mix of talents, which include rapping, as well as vocal performances. The self-titled album is set for release on January 15th and will contain several hip-hop based tracks, yet also some selections of urban and R&B flavored mixes. This artist is so diverse; he can be described as a “renaissance man”.
Be on the lookout for Emory Forbes, and stay in tune with him on all Social Media outlets.
