Audio: Meek Mill on Hot 97 Angie Martinez Interview (Part 1)

Audio: Meek Mill on Hot 97 Angie Martinez Interview (Part 2)

Freestyle:

Speaking to Nah Right, Drake mentioned wouldn’t record another diss track towards Common, saying instead that this was all done because he used the beef to promote his latest album, “The Dreamer, The Believer.” quoted to say: despite how it’s been worded by him that situation is not a ‘hip hop moment’ or a ‘battle for the sake of musical integrity’…it’s a ploy for attention around the release of an album, more than anything it was just disappointing cause what kid isn’t a fan of what Common has done for our genre. A guy who made such an incredible career for himself based off expressing genuine feelings about life and love is now targeting me for sharing my story.”

With Drake likely ignoring real reasons to why the beef was started in the first place, he moved on to discussing his plans for a tour this year as well as he has already started recording new music.

“I have begun working on new music already and I’ll be recording during the whole college tour with 40. Making better music and building myself as a business is all that’s on my mind. Hopefully some acting as well.”

So the beef has ended, for now. Time and time again we hear an artist from Young Money/Cash Money weasel their way out of a beef only to then intentionally go back in and deny themselves, so it would not be surprising if Drake has a few extra words to say about the Chi-town legend upon new music releases. Whatever the case, let us know your thoughts and opinions on this situation.

In a conference room in midtown Manhattan we sat down with Smack and E. Beasley who are the duo who bought us the street legendary Smack DVD’s and who are currently pioneering the new era in battle rap with their current venture the Ultimate Rap League. Check out this exclusive in depth interview as we touch base on various topics and catch up with the men behind various things we’ve seen in Hip Hop. Shot and Edited by @NoMercyHarlem. Make sure you check out WeArePMG.Net

Tune in next week for more of Whoo Kid’s untold stories!

This Is 50

Check out the video.

Amidst build up to the movie, producer Avi Arad described the “The Amazing Spider-Man” as a more human approach to the superhero compared to Sam Raimi’s trilogy. He went to say: “In our movie, [Peter] finds his true love, Gwen Stacy was always the true love of Peter Parker… We found a very, very good story about what makes a human being. About what sets their destiny.”

With the press and fans in attendance they were also shown a special footage, to which actor Andrew Garfield emphasized: “As you can see, a lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality. That was something that Marc, the director, really wanted to make sure happened in this movie to set it apart from previous ones… I would exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences every hour on the hour… I collaborated with [the stunt team] not only on the big stunt set-pieces but also on what happens to Peter’s body when he gets bitten. What happens to his DNA and how that effects the way he moves and the way he interacts with objects. The idea that he has spider DNA running in his system. What that will do to his sense of space. What that will do to the sensitivity of his skin. To have an opportunity to play in that forum with creative and talented people was a real opportunity and gift.”

The group went on to explain the two additions to the movie, with Rhys Ifans to play as Dr. Connors and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, who sets her role apart from the Gwen Stacy played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3 by saying “We haven’t even met Mary Jane at this point,” leaving that to be deciphered however way possible for hardcore fans.

Talking more about the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, and whether the ‘iconic kiss’ from the first trilogy will be ever replicated between then new two, Emma Stone replied: “You don’t want to know! You want to watch the movie and find out. Plus, it would be weird if we were like, ‘There’s something iconic coming up!’ You’ve got to decide if it’s iconic or not. But there is a nice first kiss and it’s different than the upside down one. And we liked it.”

Regards to Dr. Connors, Avi Arad steps in again to say: “We introduce our villain, Dr. Connors, and in the great tradition of Marvel, Dr. Connors is going to be connected to Peter Parker and, in our case even more interesting, to Gwen Stacy. Right there, the challenge of having to deal with a villain who is a mentor and the only one who you can look at and say, ‘So what really happened to my dad?’ That’s a very hard person to fight.”

Much, much more can be viewed in the video below, where the full conference is roughly nearly an hour of watching.

Opening domestically on 3rd July this year, “The Amazing Spider-Man” stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and more. Directed by Marc Webb, let us know your thoughts and expectations.

Things got ugly and the situation ended with a gang of Suge’s goons coming at the G-unit camp with knives, whilst Whoo Kid’s camp was armed with just a single gun. Thankfully the cops broke up the situation before anything regretful could happen, and Suge Knight and 50 Cent managed to defuse the whole thing over a phone call.

Listen to Whoo Kid tell it below.

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In all serious talk; Lucas was speaking on behalf of his latest project “Red Tails”, a WW2 drama pic which stars Ne-Yo (no judging), which he described the difficulties of actually getting the movie picked up and made.

“I can’t make that [kind of] movie,” he complained. “I’m going to have make this kind of… entertainment movie. [So] I’m retiring. I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.”

The newspaper was quick to note that the 67-yearl old director was careful to leave himself an out clause for a fifth “Indiana Jones” film, with producer Rick McCallum adding: “Once this is finished, he’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do, he will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.”

So the reasoning to wanting to retire now? It mainly seems due to tiredness from bickering fans, as George Lucas had some words for those accusing him of constantly tinkering with the Star Wars franchise.

“On the Internet, all those same guys that are complaining I made a change are completely changing the movie. I’m saying: ‘Fine. But my movie, with my name on it, that says I did it, needs to be the way I want it.’

“Why would I make any more,” he adds, “when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

Clearly feeling a little touchy, it seems only logical for the director to devote the rest of his life to ‘personal films.’ as The Times describe it: “They’ll be small in scope, esoteric in subject and screened mostly in art houses. They’ll be like the experimental movies Lucas made in the 1960s, around the time he was at U.S.C. film school, when he recorded clouds moving over the desert and made a movie based on an E. E. Cummings poem.”

So, we ask you, what do you have to say for yourselves!? Apparently this has been said before, so whether we take this serious or not is yet to be clear. Be it cruel or sympathetic, let us know your thoughts.

“A record label’s not stopping you from paying for your own studio time…pressing up your own CD, and selling it to the people,” explained Pap. “The more you do it, the more notoriety you will gain as you go along. You’re not gonna start at the top, but eventually, if you keep doing it and be consistent, you’ll get there.”

“There’s a lot of advantages to being independent. You make your own money, and make the music of your choice.”

Papoose also chimed in on Drake and Common’s beef, but he sat on the fence instead of choosing a side in the beef.

Watch the interview below:

See Chapter 1 Here

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Regards to the actor, Abrams had nothing but compliments, stating “he’s a genius”. Simply put. He furthermore went on to say: “Honestly, he’s just an incredible actor. If you’ve seen his work in Sherlock, he’s just got incredible skills. He’s an amazing stage actor. He did amazing work in Frankenstein. He’s brilliant. You try to cast people who are great. We got lucky.”

With confirmation of “Sherlock” gaining a new season as well as making his voice heard in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit”, Benedict Cumberbatch looks set to having a steady rise in Hollywood beginning midway this year.

J.J. Abrams then went on to discuss the use of 3D in Star Trek 2, admitting at first it was an option he did not wish to partake in, but eventually succumbed to adding on after seeing segments of the first film being given the treatment.

“I did not fight for the 3D,” he says. “It was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it. And then, when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought that it actually looked really cool. So, I was OK with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to, in anamorphic film, and then let them convert it. So, those who want to see it in 3D, which looked pretty cool, can do it, and those that want to see it in 2D can do that too.”

With the movie set to be amongst the summer hits next year, J.J. Abrams remained tight-lipped over plot details, with the director merely stating this movie is looking to delve deeper into the Star Trek universe.

Quoted to have said: “I think the job of the first movie was just to establish it. I don’t want to give anything away, but I would say that the burden we had in the first movie was just existing at all. With this movie, instead of having to stand on the shoulders of the original series, we built a little bit of a platform for us, with the last movie, to tell this story.”

So for now a fair bit to take in regards to expectation, but in our mind this is no doubt worth the wait. Star Trek 2 will be set for a 17th May 2013 release in the US, no mention yet of a UK release. Starring the likes of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Noel Clarke, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and more, let us know what you expect.

Epic Network: Welcome Lerix, first off I want to say thanks for giving the time to reply back to us, we’re big fans of what you have done so far and constantly eager to hear more of what you deliver. For those that still need to know what you’re about, tell us a bit about yourself and your brief rise to where you’re at now.

Lerix: Sure thing! Hello world!, my name is Lerix, I’m a hip-hop musician from Brooklyn, New York and I’m gearing up to drop my latest E.P. “Dinner with Jack Donaghy.”

Epic Network: We recently featured your track “I’m Gone” which is a part of your upcoming EP “Dinner With Jack Donaghy.” Along with listening to “Another Round,” it seems this time round you have taken a little more of an ‘edgier’ attitude towards ambition, plus a bit more fast pace compared to what we’ve previously heard; Are we to expect this style throughout the EP? Or does “Dinner With Jack Donaghy” have a certain theme to expect?

Lerix: Absolutely! You can definitely expect high energy and attitude from DWJD. I wanted to have fun on this one and experiment more with my sound. I had a blast making it.

Epic Network: Of all the fictional characters you could choose from, why Jack Donaghy? Mind you, we have not watched anything 30 Rock related so if there is some certain message we are not sure of, apologies in advance.

Lerix: Jack Donaghy is hands down my favorite character on television. He’s a caricature of a business man on 30 Rock and I feel like I’m tapping into my “rapper” caricature on this E.P.

Epic Network: “Dinner With Jack Donaghy” will be your third released E.P., and including your mixtape “It’s A (W)rap Again!” You’ve done some nice work in the space of two years. What do you hope to achieve this time in 2012 and will this EP potentially elevate you to your targets?

Lerix: Thanks, I honestly love the way things are going as far as creating music and building my fan base organically. I always want to be in a space where I can constantly experiment and create. I’m sure 2012 will be no exception, I’m really excited.

Epic Network: What is the overall message you want to shout out to your fans when they listen to your music?

Lerix: Have fun with life and never be afraid to be yourself!

Epic Network: We listen to “Audio Arcade” at a regular and get the feeling this EP has a lot of personal emotion instilled into each track, with “Passion Of Mike” at the end just releasing everything on your mind regards to the music industry and perception of how rappers can be. We could be wrong as well, though what track would you say kind of stands out on there that really got you emotionally charged?

Lerix: I agree! “Passion Of Mike” is my favorite track on Audio Arcade. I just felt like I needed to vent out my frustrations and at the same time remind myself to stay true to my ideals when it comes to my music.

Epic Network: Speaking of the Music Industry, what’s your take on the artist’s we hear today? A lot has changed in Hip-Hop and it is interesting to hear different views, as this becomes a regular topic of discussion for us. Are you a fan of what Mainstream provides now? Do you see yourself ever on that level or can you be satisfied simply providing music in the way you’re going now?

Lerix: I like a lot of whats going on in mainstream. In the last few years hip-hop music has become fun again and I think that’s dope! I can see myself on that level, then again I don’t need to be in the mainstream to be successful, I just need to keep creating and reaching out to my fans, either way I’ll be happy.

Epic Network: What Artist – Hip Hop related or of any genre – do you recommend people that read this listen to? Who also inspires you to maybe push yourself further and reach beyond limits?

Lerix: Oh man!, tons of artists! The Roots, Black Keys, Radio Head, Martina Topley Bird, Skrillex, Jay-Z, Eminem, I can go on forever! I’m constantly inspired!

Epic Network: Finally, going back to “Dinner With Jack Donaghy,” is there any news on the release date? And what other projects/opportunities can we expect to see you next in?

Lerix: I should be dropping “Dinner With Jack Donaghy” sometime in February. I’ve also started working on a new E.P. project but its still in the early concept phase. 2012 is going to be a great year!

Epic Network: Want to say thank you again for the interview, we cannot wait to hear Lerix make noise in 2012 and further into the future. If you’d like to give special shout outs/thanks to whomever you wish, feel free to now.

Lerix: Shout out to my team, Great Mindz! And a big shout out to all my supporters, you guys are the best!

To listen to a track off Lerix’s “Dinner With Jack Donaghy” Ep, click here
Follow Lerix on Twitter @LerixMusic