Game Celebrates LAX in NYC

Another thing from me for Ballerstatus.com

 

The Game Celebrates LAX In NYC With Host Of Friends

Published: Thursday – August 28, 2008
Words by Nic Perrino

For the celebration of The Game’s new album, LAX, the west coast rapper chose to show love to his east coast fans on Tuesday night (August 26) with a show at the Fillmore in NYC. Armed with a ban of fellow rappers and plenty of G-Unit disses, The Game had even the most native New Yorkers throwing up their W’s. Fat Joe, Jim Jones, Joe Buddens, among others made appearances.

Yung Joc helped open the show with a performance of “It’s Going Down,” while Irv Gotti popped onstage to enjoy the performances.

After explaining that he came over here from Compton, only to catch beef because of someone else, Joe Buddens appeared on stage and performed his infamous “Pump It Up” alongside Game. Before Joey exited the stage, Game showed his gratitude by telling him, “I appreciate you rocking with me my brother, especially when you a real n****.”

Ghostface and “The Chef” Raekwon performed after which Game asked them, “How ya’ll n****’s still look 20?” followed by laughter from the audience.

Legend DJ Kool Herc graced the stage with his presence followed by Fat Joe’s performance of “Lean Back.”

After many chants of “G-Unot,” Maino sang “Hi Hater,” resulting in a few minutes of freestyles from Game since, “N****’s always say The Game can’t freestyle.”

It was clear how many G-Unit haters were present when Young Buck got on stage along with his entourage. The Game obliged by yelling out one by one that each member of G-Unit can suck his d*** before performing “This Is How We Do.” Buck then performed his song, “Shorty Wanna Ride.”

Things came to an end shortly after Jim Jones appeared to perform his track “Love Me No More” and his very first collabo with The Game, “Certified Gangsta.” These were just some of the celebrity appearances throughout the night.

Game let everybody know before leaving that, “I know you came out to see Game, you didn’t think it was going to be this live.”

Nelly Listening Session

OKay I know I’ve been slacking on the blog, but I’m posting some stuff from Baller that I wrote just to fill in the blanks… but fear no more I shall have some new stuff soon. I just started back at school so things are going to be hectic for a few days..

Nelly Says New Album Boasts His Favorite Collabo Of All-Time, Potential Ringtone Smash

 

Published: Wednesday – August 27, 2008
Words by Nic Perrino

The wait is almost over. Nelly’s fifth studio album, Brass Knuckles is almost here. While it may seem like it’s been way too long since we’ve seen the St. Louis native grace an album cover (Nelly normally takes two years between albums), he didn’t leave us empty handed, giving us “Wadsyaname” during our wait and releasing the album’s single, “Party People” featuring Fergie, back in March.

Fans will notice a definite progression in Nelly’s music, noting that he has chosen to evolve with the changes in music, rather than try to keep a tight grip on any particular sounds. But of course his signature style is going nowhere.

During a private listening session held in Manhattan last week, Nelly excitedly played select members of press the majority of tracks from the new album. Giving stories behind most of the tracks, Nelly admitted to almost wrecking his car when he first heard the beat for “Hold Up,” a song featuring T.I and LL Cool J.

A very special song to him is called “Self Esteem” featuring Chuck D, which Nelly proclaims is his all time favorite collaboration, stating that, “Chuck D don’t just get on records.”

“One And Only,” produced by Polow Da Don, which Nelly says is his daughters favorite track, is about childhood friends who see each other at a high school reunion. Polow also contributes to at least one other track on the album — one Nelly claims will be the reason for people who have never bought a ringtone, to finally  buy their first. Listeners can also look forward to features with Usher, Nate Dogg, and Pharrell, among others.

Although Nelly is obviously excited about his current music project, he has commented on the fact that people like to focus on the wrong things sometimes, and forget about his projects such as Jes Us 4 Jackie (Jesus4Jackie.com), a foundation he launched after the death of his late sister Jackie Donahue. The foundation helps educate African Americas about bone marrow and stem cell transplants, and has helped save nine lives so far. Nelly also launched 4Sho4Kids Foundation (4sho4kids.org), in which the organization helps children born with developmental disabilities.

Of course Nelly is also responsible for both Apple Bottom and Vokal brands, a Sports Bar in St. Louis called Skybox, part ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, not to mention being the first spokesmodel for Sean John Underwear.

With everything on his plate, Nelly still had the time to pay attention to the ever changing music industry and bring yet another album. Brass Knuckles is slated for release September 16.

Ron Browz

Published: Friday – August 22, 2008
Words by Nic Perrino

 

You know Ron Browz, even if you don’t know you know him. Whether or not you were on team Jay-Z or team Nas back in ‘01, you definitely knew “Ether.” Yes, your boy Ron Browz was responsible for that beat. Browz has made beats for artists such as 50 Cent to Jae Millz, and now that his song “Pop Champagne” has been catching air time, if you didn’t know you knew him before, you will definitely know now. During a Rucker game, where the crowd got crazy every time his new song came on, Ron took the time to sit down with BallerStatus.com and talk about his career, what it’s like to come out of Harlem, and the music industry.

BallerStatus.com: What are you working on right now?

Ron Browz: Right now I just did two tracks on the G-Unit album, the T.O.S. album. I got a joint on there called “Straight Outta Southside” and another track called “Money Make The World Go Round,” featuring Tony Yayo and Loyd Banks. I currently have Jim Jones’ single right now called “Good Stuff” that’s playing on the radio and three joints on his album. And I got my own record right now that’s bubblin’ in the streets called “Pop Champagne.”

BallerStatus.com: You know when your album is going to drop yet?

Ron Browz: I don’t have an exact date, but I’m working on it now. It’s going to be a classic.

BallerStatus.com: And what genre does “Pop Champagne” fall under?

Ron Browz: Yea, nobody knows how to pinpoint it; what kind of sound it is. I’m thinking it’s like urban-pop. I think I’ma bridge the gap between the pop sound and the urban sound.

BallerStatus.com: And you used the auto-tune, what everyone now refers to as the “T-Pain voice changer.”

Ron Browz: Yea, I used the auto-tune on it. You know, the effect been around for years, but T-Pain happened to bring it back to life. I was bored one day, I said “Let me see if I can do something like a Harlem version of the auto-tune,” and that’s what I did. It’s catching and I’m getting a lot of good feedback.
v BallerStatus.com: Yea and I know you love drums…

Ron Browz: Actually when I was growing up, my mother put me in PAL and I was in drum line and still band, so I’m real familiar with drums and sounds.

BallerStatus.com: Are you familiar with go-go in the DC-Maryland-VA area? Just thought I’d ask since it’s also big on drums.

Ron Browz: Nah.

BallerStatus.com: So what do you think about the music industry right now?

Ron Browz: Things are weird right now. It’s just hard for the new talent to get in right now. If you look at it, every chance a new talent gets in, it opens up a lot of doors. So I think new guys just need to get in. It’s just like school and it’s time for the seniors to [graduate].

BallerStatus.com: I kind of see it as, yea the old school is hating on the newcomers right now, but I think the old school was more associated with violence and drugs, and this new school is more about having fun. You see that as a positive thing right?

Ron Browz: Yea it is a positive thing because the style is more clean, verses back in the day hip-hop was more rugged and baggy, the timberland look. Now it’s a more clean look and more fun records, which is a good thing. They should be happy.

BallerStatus.com: Which is why I asked you. You are someone who is right in the middle of it. You grew up with the old school as your influences, but now you’re here during the transformation to the new school.

Ron Browz: As a producer you have to pay attention to what’s going on and be aware of what’s making the youth move, and what they like and things of that nature. Like, at first when I used the auto-tune for the “Pop Champagne” record, the kids were questioning like, “Why Ron don’t use the auto-tune?” It’s just a coincidence I used the auto-tune and you see what happened.

BallerStatus.com: What about the Lite movement from Harlem? Do you think it will branch out further than New York?

Ron Browz: Certain records branch out, it just depends on what type of record. You know, we seen an Aunt Jackie, we seen a “Chicken Noodle Soup.” Certain records are going to peak and certain records are just going to stay in New York.

BallerStatus.com: Being from Harlem, a place where everything turns into a movement (fashion, music, etc), does it ever feel like a gift and a curse? It seems like artist who come outta Harlem have more of an obligation to stay in Harlem. It kind of sucks them back in, making it harder to blow up outside of New York. Do you ever feel like that?

Ron Browz: I mean to me, I always thought they were very hard on Harlem artists. I think we got a lot to offer, and you see like Mase, he took over the industry in a short amount of time — you know, his charisma, his style, his lyrical concept, the things he was talking about, the fun he was having. They just give us a hard time. But every chance we get, an artist blows up. You know the whole Webstar and Young B situation or the Aunt Jackie situation. As soon as we get a chance, we do big things, so I think it puts a lot of pressure on us.

BallerStatus.com: Yea and in Harlem, everyone is able to still be outside, still hang out on the block.

Ron Browz: That’s what I think helps me too, is because you can walk outside and see everyone walking around.

BallerStatus.com: So if you search Ron Browz on YouTube, you’ll find “Life of a Producer” and “Produce Or Go Home” — D. Cole being the one responsible for “Produce or Go Home” — what made you want to do those?

Ron Browz: “Life of a Producer” was me. I thought, ‘Let me do a reality show about a producer, on a daily basis of what a producer does.’ And D. Cole has his own concept to “Produce Or Go Home,” “Dance Or Go Home,” “Sing or Go Home.” So you know that’s my friend, and I help him out and he helps me out.

BallerStatus.com: And what about when you make a beat, do you have expectations for that beat? Do you critique the artist or tell them what you think should be done with it?

Ron Browz: Actually to the A-list artist, no. You give them the beat and they do whatever the hell they feel like doing at that present moment. But local artists I can kind of guide them.

BallerStatus.com: What happened to Money Ave Entertainment?

Ron Browz: No more Money Ave Entertainment. I’ve been going hard with them for a lot of years, but when 2008 came, me and the artists weren’t seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, so I started Ether Boy Records, which is me, the first artist.

BallerStatus.com: Do you have any of the equipment that you first started out with?

Ron Browz: Yea I still have the keyboard I made “Ether” on, the drum machine; everything.

BallerStatus.com: Being that you are one of the producers who still work with the original beat making instruments, how do you feel about technology changing the production side of things?

Ron Browz: I came up like that, hands on, like how you feeling, and that’s how a lot of emotional tracks come out. The computer makes just computer feel, and I don’t knock it because people have came up with hot ideas on the computer, but as far as feelings and things that hit you, you gotta be hands on. You know, from history: guys playing the keyboards, playing live drums, so if you want the feeling part I would say use the outboard gear. If you’re interested in just making a hot joint, then bang on the computer.

BallerStatus.com: What genres of music do you get inspiration for your beats from?

Ron Browz: I listen to everything. I listen to pop music, Spanish music, reggae, everything. African, Arab, I take all that in and in a sense, put it all in like one big gumbo.

BallerStatus.com: How does it feel to know that people outside of New York, like let’s say, Ludacris, seek you out for a beat.

Ron Browz: That’s hot. I don’t pigeonhole my sound, so I’m able to manipulate being a producer and the whole sound because I can create southern beats, I can create LA sounding beats, Midwest sounding beats. I’m able to create stuff like that. That’s why I was able to work with Snoop, I was able to work with Luda, or Killer Mike, because I know the sound.

BallerStatus.com: Have you ever made a beat and thought it would be perfect for a specific artist?

Ron Browz: It never works out like that. Every time I be like, “Yes this is hot for 50 Cent,” he never picks that. He’ll pick something else that I probably thought was hot for someone else. Except for one, Lloyd Banks, I always can kind of predict what he’s going to like.

BallerStatus.com: So since you started doing your thing rapping, have people started to, if anything, notice you more for what you’ve already done?

Ron Browz: Yes and no. Some people don’t know. Some records I have out now they’re like, “I didn’t know you did that.” So I gotta constantly keep reminding people, like “Yea that’s me, I have Jim Jones’ single on the radio right now, the ‘Straight Outta Southside’ that plays on the radio and my record.” I think people now are noticing, “Oh he really is a workhorse.”

BallerStatus.com: Yea when someone reads about you, you seem real laid back, not too worried about if everyone knows who you are, but some interviews you have a little bit of that Harlem cocky-ness.

Ron Browz: (laughs) Actually people think I need to let more people know what I do, but I think that’s cocky. If the situation presents itself that I need to let somebody know, like in an interview or DVD, then I’ll let it be known. But if you just meet me randomly, then I’m not going to be like, “Yo I’m this that and the third,” people think I need to be more outspoken about that, that’s just how my persona is.

BallerStatus.com: Does it happen a lot where someone hears one of the songs you did and they keep talking about how hot it is, not knowing they are telling it to the person who made it?

Ron Browz: Oh yea. I’ve been getting that now. “Yo that G-Unit joint is crazy,” I be like, “I did that.” “For real, you did that, you know what else is hot, that Jim Jones record.” “I did that too.” So yea that happens all the time.

BallerStatus.com: Are you good with helping out a rapper who lets say, has really good things to say, but not really good at riding the beat?

Ron Browz: Yea that’s how I came up. That’s why it was easy to make hot beats for A-list artists because growing up, when I was just starting off, I would make somebody from across the hallway sound like they got a record deal. I can make anybody sound hot — your cousin. your aunt, your uncle. So me getting to the big dogs was a piece of cake because I can make somebody sound crazy.

BallerStatus.com: And how can you help them?

Ron Browz: With song structure. The ones who listen are the ones who prosper. But the ones who are stuck in their ways like, “This is hot how I’m doing it,” they end up rhyming on the corner for the rest of their lives. You gotta do a lot of homework with hip-hop, listen and find your niche. I’m not a punch line rapper, a battle rapper, but I’m able to make a nice song that people are liking right now. That’s from me doing so much homework. You just gotta find that song structure and once you get that you can execute it.

BallerStatus.com: With all of the changes in hip-hop, do you feel like the producer is finally getting more of the spotlight he deserves? The rapper was once just the hype man, and people knew the DJ, then rappers progressed. But recently with people accusing rappers of talking about nothing, it’s more about the beat. Do you feel the spotlight going back to the people behind the music?

Ron Browz: Yea because the guys that are creating the music, they know what should be on it, what people want to hear. Some rappers are so arrogant and so dumb, they don’t wanna listen to the producer, and the producer is the one who created the beat! If I tell you “Yo you should do this, this is going to sound hot,” you should do that. That’s why Pete Rock was able to manipulate a lot of his songs because he know who he wants to hear on there … Pharell, Timberland, Kanye, and now me.

Summer love with NYC.

Many people here in NYC love to escape for the summer. Whether it’s the Hamptons, back to their country, or just to Miami, a lot of New Yorkers love to get away from the hot sidewalks, sizzling train stations and small no-air conditionioned apartments. But this summer, because of my income and my two year old, I stayed home with my boyfriend: New York City.

Surviving on babysitting money, a metrocard and a list of free events, I trecked my ass all over the 5 boroughs (okay with the exception of Staten Island!). There were the dope free concerts where I saw hip hip artists I haven’t seen in years, Rock The Bells where I saw my favorite rapper (not counting the late Tupac) Nas, and even rocked out with the Foo Figthers (okay that was in Jersey!). I beached it up more times than I can count, and bbqed in the front of my house every chance I got. I spent 4th of July at South Street Seaport for the first time and loved it, took the BD on two boat rides, and took the mini me to the zoo twice. The Museum of Natural History was cool, trips to Central Park, and countless trips just to my local park where the sprinkler is. I made sure the mini me had fun during the day, and whether I was out dancing in a lounge at night or just sipping Pina’s in my house or someone elses at night, I think my man NYC treated me good this year. And this is all with a 2 year old. As she’s older the summers will get better, the vacations will happen, but I have to thank my city for treating me so good.

Now it’s back to school next week.

Arreviderci Summer 08!

NO idea.

Stressed, no less/Grippin my chest cuz I’m missin my vest/Know that in a few breaths there will be none left/So I take two steps/The forks in the road but I aint hungry/Not that no one loved me/Or thought nothing of me/Did I bring it upon myself/Did I create this ugly?/Am I destined for failure since I paved my own path/Will I even get to smile much less than have the last laugh?/Forget me? You do that/Your second chance? You blew that/I have a big heart and you knew that/But you? I outgrew that/

 

The world is filled with hypocrites and phonies/you always just one/but you never the only/you meet the wrong people and spend the wrong time/Accept short victories and wait in the long line/Convince others some shit you don’t even believe/Swear the demons are gone but did you see them leave?/Loves gone and we grieve/Just admit what you need/Break the dutch, empty the guts and just spark that weed.

The Jefferson’s theme song so needs to play right now because your girl Perrino is moving on up. Small steps, yes. I just saw my name for the first time on ink, in Parle Magazine. Ballerstatus is online, so while it was just as exciting seeing my work for the first time, now I can carry it around with me. HA. An editorial and a feature. So come on, let me toot my own horn.

 

TOOT!

The hump.

Getting over a relationship is like getting back into the gym routine, there’s that hump one must get over. This hump is where many fail; where many slip back into their bad routines. The overeating, the bad boyfriend. If you make it over the hump however, you’ve succeeded. Your vision is clearer, you now see what a dick that guy was, what a fat ass you were before the treadmill. But it’s hard. There’s pain, there’s a void and more pain.

I watch people I care about go through the breakup process over and over and it’s never easy. It’s aggrivating seeing things from the outside looking in, trying to describe to your friend what you see that they must not. It’s more aggrivating knowing that there is a huge chance you will be having the same conversation in a few months, weeks, days. But if you are friend of someone going through it, just be there. That’s all you can do. Because every second that you’re not there, is another second they might crack.

I know how hard it is for me. I know that I have to stay busy. I can’t be caught alone. It’s fucking serious. I can be out, drinking with friends, laughing till my stomach hurts, but if my friends leave me for a  bathroom break, I’m tempted to make that dreaded phone call. I remember being proud of myself for every second I ignored the guy, and beating myself after finally giving in and calling; or picking up his call.

So just be there for her. If you’re her, don’t be caught alone. I know, it’s not good to get used to it, but atleast for that first week. For the week of weening off the smell of his cologne, the occupied space next to you in bed, the extra cup of coffee every morning. It’s okay to need your friends. At least until you get over the hump.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please tell me someone who was at Rock the Bells last night at Jones Beach has a video of Supernatural’s freestyle. That was sick!

Quarter of a Century

So the Bd’s Birthday week has ended.

Three BBQs.

A Foo Fighters Concert.

A cruise.

A boat ride.

The beach.

And three 36 cases of beer later, his 25th birthday week is over.

Cheers!

Don’t Want To Be Your Monkey Wrench

As a part of the BD’s birthday package I got him tickets for the Foo Fighters concert at the Izod Center in Jersey and he loved it. It was perfect being that he likes the more recent songs of theirs and I rocked out to the first songs I ever heard from them, Everlong and Monkey Wrench. It was awesome, with a 3 song encore. Right when everyone thought it was over and started leaving, you see David on the screen backstage, 1 finger in the air, getting us hyped for one more song. The camera goes to the drummer and back to Dave, who is now holding up 3 fingers. The crowd goes buck fuckin wild and we rock out 3 more times, with Best Of You ending the dopeness.