0 Behind The Scenes Of MMG's Vibe Cover Shoot

MMG going behind the scenes for their next cover issue of Vibe

0 Chief Keef Never Spoke To Kanye West On Rapping His Record, "I Don't Like" (Video)

Chief Keef tells Vibe that he didn't speak to Kanye West or any of the G.O.O.D. Music artists on the recent freestyle for his record, "I Don't Like." But he also stated that it's no hard feelings & he is willing to work with Kanye in the near future.

Props to Vibe

0 Drake Addresses Disses From Pusha T, Ludacris & Future

Although Drake and Common recently buried the hatchet, In the latest issue of Vibe Magazine Drizzy took out a moment to address a few jabs thrown at him from his fellow emcees:

“I’ve got no issues with him,” he says of Future, who was upset that Drake didn’t appear in his video, “Tony Montana.” “I’m happy I got on the song.” Pusha T, who once cryptically rhymed that, “the swag doesn’t match the sweaters,” gets off easy, too. “I’ve been really open about my love for the Clipse,” he says. “I don’t know, maybe that guy is bored.” Ludacris, who was accused of stealing Big Sean and Drake’s hashtag flow, also receives a halfhearted smack down, “That’s a case of someone trying to use my marketing money to get things going again for themselves. That didn’t affect my day, my month, my year. I didn’t take any of that seriously.”-

0 Fabolous Speaks On His Upcoming Album "Loso's Way 2" (Video)

Fabolous told Vibe magazine that his upcoming album, "Loso's Way 2," should able to release between Spring/Early Summer. Word is that he was working a track with No I.D., Pharrell, etc.

0 T.I. Covers Vibe & Speaks On Tiny Not Taking The Drug Charge For Him

T.I. on people criticizing Tiny for not taking the drug charge


“I’ma tell you, 50 Cent and anybody else, we not gonn’a have no discussion about what my ole lady should’a, would’a, couda done for anything as it pertains to me,” begins his rant. “We ain’t gonn’a do that. I’m the only one in my family that’s gonna take a lick when it pertains to the legal system. Since me, none of my other family members have seen a jail cell. Nobody. I’m the last one. The buck stops here. I feel that a person that stands behind [his woman for a criminal charge] is a coward anyway.”

VIBE: I doubt she would have gotten any time.
T.I.: She wasn’t gonna catch it period, ’cause I’m there. That wasn’t even a consideration. Even if she asked me to I would’ve been like, “Nah, you trippin’. “


So you didn’t feel you were more valuable to your family, employees and business partners on the street?
That’s a discussion between me and another man. Not with the mother of my children. Not with the nurturer of my household. - via Vibe

The next issue of Vibe with T.I. on the cover due in your local newsstands December 6th.

0 Juelz Santana Says "I Can't Feel My Face" w/ Lil Wayne Will Finally Be Released (Video)

In a brief interview with Vibe Magazine, Juelz Santana confirmed that he and Lil Wayne still plan to drop their collaborative album "I Can't Feel My Face". Santana also said that label politics were to blame for the delay.

0 T.I. Covers VIBE (December / January 2011)

Even whilst behind bars, T.I still manages to grace the cover of Vibe Magazine, with whom he did his last official interview with before heading to Forrest City, Arkansas to serve his 11 Month prison sentence. You can catch a glimpse of the interview below and watch the making of the cover by Clicking Here

Vibe: I’ve heard you mention how the good that you’ve done is easily forgotten. Do you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly?

T.I: If I place my value in the way humans treat me, then maybe. But they’re human, man―they can’t help themselves. They do that to people they know personally. So how can I expect them to treat me, only knowing me through television? They did that to Jesus. They did that to Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali. They did it to every great person you could possibly think of. When it was all good, they was with them. When things got bad, then they was against them.

Vibe: But in this case things didn’t “get bad.” It’s something you did.

T.I: Let me just say this: [he sits up on the couch] If you look at a guy who came up, no pops in the house, moms on welfare, food stamps; started selling dope when he was 12, 13 years old, came up handling guns, being in shoot-outs; started going to jail when he was 15. In all of this chaos and this mischief and lawlessness, the person who was just in jail for machine guns and silencers turns his life around. And now you want to crucify him ―for what? Three pills. I mean, of course it’s wrong and unacceptable and inexcusable. No problem. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s rather petty. It’s rather petty to hold someone’s feet to the fire for something so small when they have overcame things that were so big. All that could have been going wrong―if I was riding with more guns, or if I had gotten into a shoot-out and killed somebody, then I could see that. But just think about it. I’ve gotten it down to this much.

Vibe: How did you get a drug habit?
T.I: I had a lot of work done to my teeth. Oral surgery, extractions, six, seven, eight root canals. Between January to February. As soon as I got out, I had a lot of stuff done. In the joint, you eat shit that is unhealthy for you. I had fillings that fell out and stuff that had to get dealt with. Of course for the pain they gave me oxycontin and hydrocodone. And, mind you, on October 13, 2007, I had cut off everything―weed, alcohol. Then I get these pills and I start taking them for the pain at first. And then I’m like, Wait―this shit makes me feel good. And it’s legal. After the pain went away, I kept taking it. I had like five, six prescriptions. So I had, like 80 pills. Everybody else might have a drink or smoke a blunt, I took a pain pill. Times when I had 18-, 20-hour days, I’d take a pain pill. And eventually I developed―I guess―the beginning stages of dependence.

Vibe: Have you talked to Eminem about addiction?

T.I: Sure. We got a record together, and we talked a lot. I asked him how he knew he was an addict. Basically if you put yourself in harm’s way… if you risk that, you’ve got to assume that there is something fundamentally wrong with your thought process.

0 Dr. Dre & Eminem Cover Vibe Magazine (Aug/Sep 2010)

One of hip-hop's most influential duos, Eminem and Dr. Dre, will be covering the August/September issue of Vibe Magazine. You can get a sneak peak of the interview below:

THE BEST EMINEM DISS TRACK ACCORDING TO EM:

Vibe: What was the best thing someone said about you? Was there ever a hot Eminem diss?

Eminem: Um, no. [Laughs.] Nah, I’m kidding. Shit, there was a couple of lines Everlast said like, “You ain’t running up on me with no empty gun.” I know that there is a lot of shit that I would have said about me.

ON BEING HAUNTED BY DEATH:

Vibe: Do you think about your own death?

Eminem: Yeah, I do. A lot. I think about it a lot. I try not to think about it but I do and it creeps me the fuck out. It creeps me out because they say that if I got to the hospital two hours later then I would be gone. I think about that a lot. When I lay in bed at night is when I think about it the most. It creeps me out man.

ON THE DETOX HOLD-UP:

Vibe: When you first announced Detox did you think it would take this long?

Dr Dre: Absolutely not. I thought it would take at worst case a couple of years. For example, actual work time on The Chronic was nine months and actual work time on my last album, 2001, was about 10 months. The actual work time on this album is about half of that, where I’m seriously focusing on it. There is always something coming up. Like signing talent, old and new.

ON DEALING WITH MUSIC LEAKS:

Vibe: So “Under Pressure” leaking was killer.

Dr. Dre: It was a little bit more frustrating because at least “Crack a Bottle” had a hook on it. I wouldn’t be as mad at a leak if the song was done.

Vibe: Can you blame the fans for wanting to hear something after all this time?

Dr. Dre: Absolutely not. I’m not mad at the fans. I’m mad at the person that leaked the shit. I have no idea how it got out. It’s not even worth looking to see who did it. It happens. The most painful part about it is that I’m passionate about what I do so people should hear it in the right form.

0 Nicki Minaj Covers Vibe Magazine

Young Money's leading lady graces Vibe Magazine's June Issue. In it, she discussed everything from her new-found fame to her use of "funny voices" on her records. You can read a few excerpts of the interview below:

“People don’t get when you’re off, or you’re having a bad day,” she says, obliquely referring to the photograph that bounced around the blogs of her hand- in-hand with Diddy, looking especially miserable. The speculation was inevitable: Had she been crying? Was she just tired? Are they doing it? -

Nicki Minaj On her musical influnces

“When I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly,” she says. “The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot . . . and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing.” -

Nicki Minaj On her Use of "Funny Voices"

“I’m not abandoning the funny voices. I just did a crazy tribute to ODB’s ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya,’” she says, perfectly impersonating the late Wu-Clansman. “But it’s coming up more with the album. I had a teacher in elementary who would stand on her table and whisper. We’d all turn around like, ‘What is this lunatic doing?’ But she would achieve what she wanted. She wanted us to stop talking and listen. I feel like I need to mellow it down so people can hear what I have to say.” -

0 J. Cole Talks "Who Dat", Drake Collabo, Cosigns & More w/ Vibe Magazine

In the first of many online cover stories to come, Vibe Magazine chops it up with J. Cole about his 1st single "Who Dat", the possibility of him and Drake working together, groupies vs. relationships, getting cosigned by Nas & More. You can peep an excerpt of the interview below:

VIBE: Everyone knows how important first singles are. Why was “Who Dat” the one?

J. Cole: First it was all feeling, just the sound and excitement behind it. Instead of shooting for an obviously commercial song, I love [“Who Dat”] because it’s really about the beat and the raps and not much more. It’s an introduction to those that were unfamiliar and also something for my fans to brag about as opposed to hearing it on the radio and being like ‘Ehhh.’ I also thought it was real ill, that I’m rapping on that the way I used to always rap… raw, aggressive. Those used to be the only raps I wrote, but as I get older, I barely do those anymore. It’s kind of interesting because the rest of my album is so far from that. That’s probably one of the only braggadocios raps, maybe one more. Everything else is conceptual storytelling with substance and meaning. Putting that out first, kind of reflects my growth as an artist.

VIBE: You’ve been on a lot of other people’s tracks, but it’s usually not the reverse. Is that changing for your debut?

J. Cole: Right now there’s really no big features on my album and I plan on keeping it like that. I kinda like the idea of having an album that’s all me. If I do a feature, I want to do it because I really love it, not because they’re what’s hot now. I want to do a track with Rich Boy, even though his last single to blow was a couple years ago. But I still want to work with him because he has an incredible rap style. I could be like Jeezy’s on fire, let me get him, but that’s not how I operate. If I do a feature it really has to make sense, not that I don’t want to work with Jeezy, because I would love that, but you know [laughs].

VIBE: About a month ago, Drake mentioned the possibility of you jumping on a Thank Me Later bonus cut. Fact?

J. Cole: Man, me and Drake have been trying to get something done. Actually, if he reads this, tell him to send the shit he supposed to send. [Laughs] I understand we both busy and we spoke about doing some shit, but I guess schedule wise it hasn’t worked out. That would be ill, but as of now it’s not done.

VIBE: What’s an actual conversation like between you guys? Is it past a ‘What’s good’ and ‘Congrats’?

J. Cole: It’s not that type of relationship yet. Right now, it’s a mutual respect, like I see what you’re doing, you’re killing the game, I’m a fan or whatever the case is. We’re both young and even though he’s more established and has hits, he still doesn’t have an album out. He still has to prep for that. So we’re not in the position to be best friends. We can save that for when we’re both laid up and chilling, but right now we both have work to do. There’s not many rappers who I feel I really know. I think Wale is one of the few that I have a real friendship with. Not saying that won’t happen with Drake because you never know, but right now it starts with respect.

Click Here To Read The Full Interview

0 50 Cent Talks BISD, The New Generation of Rappers, & More With Vibe Magazine

Vibe: A lot of labels were built around one figure or a core group of artists. G-Unit was around you, Cash Money around Hot Boys, No Limit around Master P. Do you feel there's an expiration date on labels built around one act?

50 Cent: I don't believe that. You call it an "expiration date," I'll call it a change. Things absolutely have to change. Nothing stays the same. If you don't get wiser, you just get older and more foolish. Look at Lil Wayne. His success is the reflection of a dad's love for his son. When you make it to album six and there's still marketing dollars around for you, it's because your dad loves his son. Before that point, they would have done been rid of him. Album six and you still ain't turned over no big profits? You're done. The business would have disposed of him before he made it to album six. Don't think this shit is organic. This is business. Sure, your body of work is there and you can get busy, but you mean to tell me that nobody gives a fuck for six albums? It's marketing dollars, and the company decided he was the best possible thing to go after. But you gotta stick around longer, you gotta survive that.

Vibe: But you can't discount mixtape buzz--

50 Cent: M.O.P. has mixtape buzz, but that doesn't mean they're ever going to sell records.

Vibe: But I mean buzz like you had, Wayne had.

50 Cent: That's not the same thing when you're on album six. Until you get the first available opportunity to be marketed, and you record goes "kaboom," and you sell 12 million fucking records because your shit was right--there's a very big difference from being on album six and having mixtapes. Wayne, he has more efforts than I have. He ain't no new artist. You can't look at him like a new guy. Even the Drake kid. That is marketing. The company is getting your record played. You're saying "I did all of this without a record deal," but the record company was marketing your fucking record.

Vibe: What do you think of the new generation of rappers, like Drake or Kid Cudi?

50 Cent: I think they've always been here. They were Q-Tip, they were Common Sense, Mos Def, Talib [Kweli]. They were smarter--these new guys are just hipsters. They got a coolness to them and a look. But back then, Common and them were saying something that was socially responsible. It was just smarter. I listened to them. I'm a fan. The perspective that I was actually seeing things from and was subjected to because of my living conditions made me a bigger fan of KRS-One Criminal Minded, [The Notorious B.I.G.'s] Ready to Die, those other things that had the aggression necessary to get by in my environment. It led me in that direction as an artist.

Click Here For The Full Interview

1 Behind The Scenes Of Drake's Cover Shoot With Vibe Magazine

VIBE Relaunch Issue With Drake

0 R.I.P Vibe Magazine

So I got word this morning from My Tweople that Vibe Magazine is shutting down. Vibe will be joining the ranks of a slew of other magazines like Blender, Best Life and King Magazine which have recently shared the same fate. R.I.P

0 Vibe Interviews Lil Scrappy

As part of Vibe Magazines' "60 Rappers In 60 Days" series, They recently caught up with Atlanta rapper: "Lil Scrappy" to discuss his recent signing with DTP, His beef with Lil Jon and being stabbed back 2008.

Quotable:

"[Lil Jon] was always a fame-hogger. He’s cool when it comes to performing and making beats, and his work ethic is good. But when he’s not working, he thinks everybody else needs to be on standstill. So that’s what happened to my career. And no matter what I tried to do, in Atlanta they [hated on me] so bad because I guess some people didn’t get certain things out of Jon that they wanted. So they put me in that same box and same category".

- Lil Scrappy

Click Here to Read The Full Interview

0 Drake In New Vibe Magazine

Shouts to Oliver

0 T.I Covers April Issue Of Vibe Magazine

On newsstands everywhere, March 17