Video: Alley Boy, “Throw It Up”

Back when we first posted the MP3 for “Throw It Up,” we alluded to Alley Boy not having any regard for the safety of his own fans. Hindsight is 20/20, but in light of some pictures of his most recent homage to his label (Duct Tape Entertainment), we can’t really be surprised. A loose cannon if there ever was one, Alley Boy has been heralded as the voice of the streets of Atlanta before, but if this video is to be believed, also opposing gang sets. And while we’re never ones to discount all the positive things gang-banging has brought to the mainstream (bandana fashion, a renewed spirit of free enterprise), we can’t see “Throw It Up” boding well for teen night at the club. That said, Alley Boy’s Definition of Fuck Shit mixtape releases momentarily and we can’t wait to get our hands on a copy.

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DJ Drama Reclaims Relevance With New Yo Gotti and Cam’ron Mixtapes

Yesterday, at around 5pm-ish, DJ Drama dropped two different mixtapes that two very different groups of rap fans have been anticipating for some months. Both have been played up recently, but those awaiting Yo Gotti’s Cocaine Muzik 4 would have been pacified by Gotti’s new music twitter campaign. Cam’ron fans however, thirsting for newer music since August’s Boss Of All Bosses I, were finally treated to Boss of All Bosses II. And though the tapes also serve as platforms for emerging Cam and Gotti proteges Vado and Zedzilla respectively, they mark a return to public consciousness for once revered mixtape specialist, DJ Drama. Drama has had a heavy hand in the ascension of pretty much everyone from the south that we still care about through his Gangsta Grillz series, but has recently kept a pretty low profile. We’re quite sure this doesn’t have anything to do with the Fed ransacking his home and confiscating everything he uses to make money a couple of years back, but the fact of the matter is that his musical direction remains second to none. Both tapes are extremely fluid (Cam’s may or may not contain an excess of Araab Muzik) and both are well-equipped to tide fans over until the artists’ proper albums. And though it’s been awhile since we had anything at all to say about Drama it’s good to know that he’s still got the magic. Now if we could just get that Fabolous tape out of him.

Download: Cam’ron, Boss of All Bosses 2 Mixtape

Download: Yo Gotti, Cocaine Muzik 4 Mixtape

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Itemized: Urbanears Plattan Headphones

Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Felipe Delerme writes about the Urbanears Plattan Headphones.

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Gucci Mane f. Rocko, Waka Flocka, Shawty Lo, Yo Gotti & Nicki Minaj, “Mi Casa, Tu Casa” MP3

To our ears, the best part about this song is that it features a bunch of people who were making music with Gucci long before Guccimania infected planet Earth. The more surprising part, though, is that in the time since, everyone save for Rocko and Shawty Lo have gained a momentum of their own so strong it’s hard to imagine them all making time to lay a verse for the song. Chances are they were all mislead into thinking “Mi Casa, Tu Casa” was going on The State Vs. Radric Davis, which also leaves us confused as to why it isn’t on there, but then again we wouldn’t even have allowed a song with Usher past the white erase board phase of the tracklisting.



Download: Gucci Mane f. Rocko, Waka Flocka, Shawty Lo, Yo Gotti & Nicki Minaj, “Mi Casa, Tu Casa” (via DGB)

Video: S.O.D. Money Gang f. Soulja Boy & Lil B, “Fire It Up”

In the flurry of “remember when this happened in 2009″ year-end twitter entries, hip hop brand strategist Chris Knotti remarked that 2009 was the year he saw Soulja Boy throw away the potential for a Will Smith-like empire because he wanted to smoke weed and collect tattoos. Knotti makes a good point, but our retort would be that Will Smith long ago squandered his own potential for Soulja Boy hijinx just so he could play a black superhero and make enough money to support the next 12 generations of his family. The point is, people have different priorities and for Soulja Boy those happen to include smoking Sharpie-sized blunts and chilling with free spirits like Lil B, who apparently couldn’t be made to stop checking his email to shoot this video. Will Soulja Boy go on to regret this self-indulgent lifestyle? Maybe. But our guess is the feeling won’t even last the duration of the massage whatever video model is giving him as we type this.

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Throwing Up Gotti: Catching Up On Yo Gotti’s #musicmonday Leaks

As if flooding the Dat Piff archives with entire mixtapes didn’t make him feel accomplished enough in 2009, the last three weeks before the new year saw Yo Gotti release songs via his twitter in accordance with the site’s #musicmonday trending topic. The first of which, a freestyle over 6 Tre G’s “Fresh” probably did as much for the Alabama rapper as it has for Gotti’s adoring fan base. The following week Gotti dropped “I’ll Ride, I’ll Die,” a somewhat lopsided posse cut with fellow Tennessee workhorse All-Star, his own artist Zedzilla, and devoted ATL swag salesmen Yung LA and J. Futuristic. Though the topic would seem foreign for the latter, the group as a whole sound surprisingly cohesive over Drumma Boy Drama’s cosmic synth. Most recently came “Feelin Myself,” Gotti taking a second to dap himself for all the good things he’s bestowed upon the internet thus far. And though his Live From The Kitchen album is scheduled to drop sometime in the 1st quarter of 2010, we’ll be happy to take these leaks off his hands until he gets tired, or until the whole Cocaine Muzik 4 leaks, either of which works for us.



Download: Yo Gotti, “Fresh (freestyle)”



Download: Yo Gotti f. Zedzilla, Yung LA, J. Futuristic & All-Star, “I’ll Ride, Ill Die”



Download: Yo Gotti, “Feelin Myself”

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Interview With U.S.D.A.

Young Jeezy was forced to rename his clothing line 8732—the numbers used to dial U-S-D-A on a phone—after the United States Department of Agriculture didn’t appreciate the shared initials of Jeezy’s United Streets Dope-boys of America. The group, however, once consisting of only Jeezy, Blood Raw and the incarcerated Slick Pulla, forges on as U.S.D.A. and most recently, has picked up some new faces in Ft. Lauderdale’s JW, Inglewood’s 2Eleven and Mississipi’s own “boss playa,” Boo Rossini. While all three have been established locally for years, they’ve released CTE 4 Life as a reintroduction of sorts and seem more ready than ever to step out of the shadow of Jeezy. Watch above as they speak about their reception as three new faces under the U.S.D.A. brand, refining their sound together and the pressures of being regional bosses, and then download the CTE 4 Life mixtape below.

Download: U.S.D.A, CTE 4 Life mixtape (via Xclusiveszone)

DJ Spin King f. Red Cafe & Lore’L, “Tap It, Beat It, Drill It” MP3

New Jersey’s 19 year-old DJ Spin King, who we learn from Twitter is also the official DJ for both Diggy and JoJo Simmons (of Reverend Run’s loins and inherently, MTV’s Run’s House), seems a competent Jersey club producer in addition to prodigious DJ. “Tap It, Beat It, Drill It” is indeed a giant step out of the comfort zone both territorially and sonically for Brooklyn flag bearer Red Cafe and maybe also his Shakedown cohort Lore’L, but the two find balance in a topic they’ve both rapped about frequently and presumably enjoyed together: party and bullshit.



Download: DJ Spin King f. Red Cafe & Lore’l, “Tap It, Beat It, Drill It”

FEATURE: Dam-Funk Redefines Borders

Riding north up Arlington Avenue toward a downtown rehearsal studio, Dam-Funk points out a dark, thin stream of smoke billowing high above the San Gabriel Mountains—a sign of what will, a week later, be declared one of the largest wildfires in Southern California history. The last time his Leimert Park neighborhood endured any type of cataclysmic fire damage was during the Rodney King riots of 1992—the point when a decade of gentrification boiled over and South Central burned. Read More

Video Premiere: Travis Porter, “Go Shorty Go”

Travis Porter’s “Go Shorty Go” video most immediately stirs up memories of the opening scene in Belly, monolithic hood heartthrobs Nas and DMX mobbing through the crowd, glowing fluorescent with their own bad intention. Travis Porter however, while equally radiant, bear energy just the opposite, spilling futuristic swag and a brazen good nature all over the club. Though still unsigned, the trio are making as much noise as anyone in Atlanta right now and regardless of label association, look to be having more fun than anyone shooting videos at all. If you happen to be in the A on the 23rd of this month, you can find out yourself by way of the video’s release party at Opera, flyer included after the jump.
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