jadakiss – Ruby Hornet

[Review] The LOX "Filthy America...It's Beautiful"

If you were a fan of hip-hop and where in high school/college in 2000, you've been waiting for the 3rd official LOX album for about half your life. Yeah, we got a good handful of solo albums, a ton of mixtapes and even the Trinity series over the last decade plus, but Filthy America...It's Beautiful proves we still didn't get that follow up to We Are The Streets until now

The LOX aren't "trapped In The 90's ni**as" and they prove that with tracks like "Omen", "Secure The Bag" ft. Gucci Mane and Infa-Red, and "The Agreement" ft. Fetty Wap and Dyce Payne. You hear them testing out the new flows and sounds that the young kids abuse today while still giving you some real lyrics to vibe to.

"What Else You Want To Know" provides all the answers to the stories and situations that the new era is googling to catch up. This is a great history lesson on who The Lox are and why it's never been a game to them.

"Family" is the track that confirms that all of our favorite rap groups just aren't who they say they are, except The LOX. The LOX are one of the only rap groups thats more than a rap group. The game, the money, chicks, nor the or jail time didn't change that. It's great to know that all of their raps were applicable to real life. That, and they took their principles more seriously than their fans and comrades.

"Move Forward" is The LOX with DJ Premier. I mean, what else do you want? I actually like this one more than "Recognize". It just has a refreshing feel and sound right now, even though every element is a "throwback".

"Don't You Cry" and "Filthy America" are vintage LOX music. You've got to love it, man. Songs like these are why you mess with the LOX in the first place.

16 years later and this album somehow feels right on time. This is their reflective "been there, done that, and got successful" LOX album, and it sounds really good. They don't go overboard on the street ish. Rather, they embrace elements of today, and all three of them are still rhyming at an above average level. That's very rare, and much needed. I don't want to be in my 50s for the next Lox album though. Whether you are 18, 28 or any of the ages in between, don't let the ball drop without hearing this album.

Check more album reviews here.

by @ImCamQuotes

Red Cafe: "Hottest In The Hood" Remix featuring Jadakiss, Fabolous, Rick Ross, Diddy, OJ Da Juiceman

Red Cafe

You had me at OJ Da Juiceman...Red Cafe enlists Virgil's favorite rapper and some other dude's you may have heard of for the "Hottest In The Hood" remix. Grab it below. Spotted at 2dopeboyz.

by Sean CK

RH TV: Jadakiss Live @ Levi's/Fader Fort SXSW 2009

Jadakiss Fader Fort

We showed up at The Levi's/Fader Fort just in time to catch Jadakiss' set. In our clip below, Jada and Styles break us off with a "We Gonna Make It" and Jada closes his set out with "Why". Check it out below.
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by RH Staff

RH Photos: Jadakiss Listening Session

RTC & Jerry Azumah

The RubyHornet crew, and a lot of others in Chicago's Hip Hop inner circle descended on CRC for a Jadakiss listening session Monday night. Pugs Atomz, Mic Terror, Que Billah, even ~~Kid Cudi~~ Chingy, were all in the house to listen to new tunes and get Kiss' explanation of the songs. The night started out well, there was good music, good people, and hey, AB even brought his own brown paper bag...There was one problem though, I think they forgot to tell Jadakiss about the event, as he came in 15 minutes before it ended and didn't really do much. Honestly, the highlight of the night was getting to hear Pac Div's "Mayor" so many times. Regardless, Virgil Solis was on camera duty and snapped some very dope pics that you can check out below. Also check out our interview with Jadakiss right here.
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by Virgil Solis

Jadakiss: Better Business

Jadakiss

"Hello!?!...Hello?!?"...Great, I thought, Jadakiss is giving me the brush off by pretending not to hear me, as the Yonkers born emcee continued his string of hello's before hanging up about seven minutes into our interview. Ehh-heh, I muttered to myself, and returned to my desk thinking of the various ways I could turn an unfinished interview into a full article. I had just got back to listening to the new Finale LP (A Pipe Dream And A Promise) when my Blackberry started vibrating with another 212 number. It was KI-double, who had called back to finished the interview.

"To be honest, out of the times I’ve been disconnected during interviews, maybe 1 of 5 or so call back and finish," I told him towards the end of our interview. "I understand the importance," he replied. "I know that the interview wasn’t finished. That’s like half-assed business. We were in the middle and you were asking me a question, that wouldn’t have been right to not finish that."

Doing things the right way is something Jadakiss has spent a lot of time on. His longevity as a Hip Hop artist, and mentions as a top emcee prove that's he's accomplished that feat musically, while the cluster f**k that was J. Hood as well as the Free The LOX campaign are also evidence of his struggles and imperfections. He puts his hat back in the Spike Lee ring in promotion of his new LP, Last Kiss, an album that was originally going to drop with the title, Kiss My Ass. The title was scrapped based on a business decision by Kiss, rather than label pressure, yet another indication of Jada's business practices.

In this exclusive interview, Jadakiss talks about the his new album, rap in the recession, work ethic and much more. Check out the full interview below.
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by Alexander Fruchter