Lauryn Hill Writes A Open Letter Explaining Her Situation With Taxes

Lauryn Hill Writes A Open Letter Explaining Her Situation With Taxes

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Lauryn Hill’s personal and financial life have once again become the subject of much discussion and scrutiny by the public. There have been reports about her taxes woes, her living arrangements and a new record deal that should produce a new album.

But, the singer maintains that there is much to explain and so she has written an open letter revealing her side partially. She says that some of the dollar amounts surrounding a new deal with Sony are inaccurate, in addition to offering context to the deal based on the units she’s sold in her illustrious career.




The letter is below:

    It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music.

    I’ve remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce… free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I’ve been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.

    It took years for me to get out of the ‘parasitic’ dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so.

    The nature of my new business venture, as well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of the overall deal. Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me).

    Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said.

    MLH

Scarface Says "There Is A Conspiracy Against The Blacks In Hip Hop"

Scarface Says "There Is A Conspiracy Against The Blacks In Hip Hop"

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There is "a conspiracy against the Blacks in Hip Hop" and record label executives have "brainwashed a generation" of fans.

Scarface recently vented about his frustrations with record label executives and Hip Hop.

In an interview with Hardknock TV, Face shared his displeasure by speaking on how he feels race and racism affect the music that is released by record companies.

"I feel like we losing it," Face said in the clip. "I feel like the people that are in control of what Hip Hop does is so fucking White and so fucking Jewish and so they don't give a fuck about what the culture and the craft really is about."

Scarface paused at this point and said he wanted to clarify.

"Let me say this shit right because I want this to be as offensive as I can fuckin' make it for these old-ass punks that's running these record labels that's in the powerful positions to dictate what the Black community hears and listens to. I fucking hate that shit. That shit pisses me off," he added.

"There's no fucking way that you can tell me that it's not a conspiracy against the Blacks in Hip Hop. You put out fucking records that make us look stupid. You make us look dumb.

You brainwash a generation of Hip Hoppers with this fucking crud and then when these other rappers come out, splitting it down the middle, these other rappers' shit sound like 'Wow!' Y'all look great!' 'Y'all look stupid!' ... Then mothafuckers start going over here and pretty soon, Hip Hop is White now." 

Scarface has been rapping as a solo artist and group member with Geto Boys since the early 1990s. Scarface has also been in charge of Def Jam South in the past.

Less than a year ago, Scarface spoke with HipHopDX's current Editor-in-Chief Justin Hunte regarding his take on the new generation of emcees and Hip Hop. Speaking of this, he said, "I think that anything goes in Hip Hop these days. I blame everybody who came before right now, including myself, for the conditions of what it is.

I think the people that came before me taught me and if I couldn’t reach nobody else, then I didn’t do my job. I should’ve been a little better about the way that I laid my blueprint down. So I have nobody to blame but myself for the conditions of Hip Hop today."

Watch The video Below

Snoop Dogg's 420 Party In Hollywood Shut Down By Cops

Snoop Dogg's 420 Party In Hollywood Shut Down By Cops

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The cops shutdown Snoop Lion 420 Festival, an impromptu smoke-out taking place in a Hollywood Hills mansion this afternoon after neighbors complained about traffic and noise levels.

Snoop arrived just as the cops were clearing out the party and was "incredibly cooperative," according to TMZ. The great event, in honor of today's unofficial national marijuana toking day, began early at 11AM and was expected to go all night... or until the weed ran out.

No one was reportedly ticketed or arrested.

Snoop drops his new reggae-tinged LP Reincarnated under his alter-ego Snoop Lion this week on April 22. The LP is his twelfth studio album. It was produced by Major Lazer and features everyone from Drake to his daughter Cori B and pop singer Miley Cyrus.

Candis White @SheIsHipHop A talented Female Artist To Entertain You

Candis White @SheIsHipHop A talented Female Artist To Entertain You

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Candis ‘SheIsHipHop’ White

"It don’t take a prophet to see the young girl is gifted/either hate it or get wit it/ I am what every brilliant mind envisions..."

Brooklyn, New York, home of some of entertainments most gifted and vibrant superstars also gave birth to this 20th Century's rap phenomenon. She is intelligent. She is fascinating...She IS Hip Hop.

Known to the industry as Candis, this burgeoning female artist has the lyrical poise to fall in line with some of the greatest of MCs, both male and female. With more than a decade of caressing line paper with an ink pen, Candis is solidifying her spot as one of the best to emerge out of the Big Apple. Compelled by the likes of Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G, Nas, Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott and Tupac, it is her very own life experiences growing up in Brooklyn's Farragut & Fort Greene Projects that allows Candis to demolish any microphone she encounters speaking truth whenever she breathes air into the mic.

It was in 2003 when Candis composed a tear-jerking number in reference to her years growing up and the loss of her grandmother, titled "It's OK" that she started to see hard work and dedication paying off.

This work of art earned her a $10,000 college scholarship in the annual BMG World of Expressions songwriting contest. Candis has a message in her music that separates her from her peers --- a “heart-felt” message that captures the essence of hip-hop.

Candis is a constant reminder of what the entertainment world is missing. But being such a powerful force in the tri-state, it will be a matter of no time before she is recognized by the masses for her lyrical flow.

Given the name "SheIsHipHop" by her former manager after seeing her work in the booth, the moniker became a no brainer! Since the 2011 release of her self-titled mixtape "@SheIsHipHop", Candis has been performing at some of the hottest spots in the tri-state and beyond, and also appearing on internet radio shows throughout the world, gaining fans on every continent.

While most suffer the loss of their mixtape buzz after a while, Candis continues to reign. She has worked with an assorted array of noteworthy artists, as well as appeared on MTV's RapFix Live "Get In The Game" segment. In 2012 alone, Candis received three major award nominations, Most Original Female Artist, Best Female Rapper of the Year and Best Artist Website of the Year, which proves that this young lady is already making her mark in the game.

Candis is currently working on her E.P. titled "Soundtrack of My Life" and recently launched her website SheIsHipHop.com.

Follow @SheIsHipHop

Watch the The video Everything Is Everything

J Dilla Featuring 5 ELA & Pierre Anthony "Center Of The Movement" [VIDEO]

J Dilla Featuring 5 ELA & Pierre Anthony "Center Of The Movement" [VIDEO]

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Detroit -- The legacy of the late J Dilla has added another chapter with the release of the new music video "Center Of The Movement", featuring hip hop icons 5 ELA and rising star Pierre Anthony. 

The song is the newest single from Rebirth Of Detroit, the latest album from J Dilla released on Ruff Draft Records.

The music video, directed by Steve Furay of Common Breath Media, shows the city of Detroit unified as the center of a new music and cultural movement, a position familiar to the Motor City as recognized by the world. J Dilla continues to experience a growing reputation worldwide as one of the greatest music producers of his time, a prodigious artist who accumulated a lifetime of classic material before his tragic passing in 2006.

5 ELA are one of Detroit's most exciting groups in the city's current hip hop landscape, with their highly anticipated new album "Global Warming 2022" scheduled for release in 2013.

Their latest music video, "Salute", is a 15 minute experimental short film also directed by Steve Furay.

Mudd of 5 ELA says the Center of the Movement video "is a powerful expression of what a love movement is meant to be. With historical artifacts displayed from Detroit's and the world's music history it gives a new meaning to the Renaissance City Detroit is known for."

Director Steve Furay has created several music videos for 5 ELA through his company Common Breath Media, as well as the online video series 5 ELAvision.

 He is also a contributing writer for The Michigan Citizen, writing stories about the city's hip hop community and it's role in helping Detroit develop a revitalized art and media economy.

The video was created as a cooperative economic project, directly aimed at promoting all of the performing artists and the companies represented in the production, including Ruff Draft Records, 5e Gallery, Black History 101 Mobile Museum, Nandi's Knowledge Cafe, Spectacles, and Common Breath Media.

A special introduction was also filmed for the music video, featuring words from Detroit's internationally celebrated poet jessica Care moore, Paradise Gray of X-Clan, Omari King Wise, Duminie DePorres and Khalid El-Hakim, with an original score from Black Bethoven.

The video also serves as promotion for the new book "The Center of the Movement: Collecting Hip Hop Memorabilia" from Khalid El-Hakim, owner of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum.

The book will feature interviews and essays by some of hip hop's pioneers, including Professor Griff, KRS One and Paradise Gray of X-Clan, as well as rare memorabilia from the archives of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum. "The Center Of The Movement" will be published by Moore Black Press, owned by jessica Care moore.

The video shows pieces of 5 ELA's history through memorabilia held by the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, including images of founding member Proof of D12, a flyer for a classic 5 ELA show with Eminem as a guest opener, and a copy of the classic "Yesteryears" EP, produced entirely by J Dilla.

"The material objects of hip hop are created, used and often discarded with never being placed into a significant historical context," says Khalid el-Hakim. "After 40 years of a movement that many people did not think would last, there is evidence in vast materials such as flyers, clothing, photos, promotional material, albums, cassettes, fine art and etc. that people are now finding value in."

DJ LaJedi, official Starfleet DJ, sound provider for Michigan legend One Be Lo, and founding member of The Foundation of 5E Gallery, states that the Center Of The Movement video is an important step to bringing Detroit hip hop music back to the city's Motown soul roots, and helping it be a transformation tool for the next generation.

"For 40 plus years, Detroit Hip Hop Culture has been nurtured in the womb of a Musical Mecca-Detroit, Michigan" says DJ LaJedi, a Detroit hip hop DJ. "The innovative tradition of Detroiters in music, entreprenurial, spiritual, educational and lifestyle arts has been the spark that keeps our fires lit throughout our celebratory and extremely challenging cultural story."

Watch the video below