During the same interview, Fif mentioned he was releasing another effort entitled “Forever King”, a project that would resemble a previous set called “Sincerely Yours”. See, “Sincerely Yours” showcased 50 over several old school R&B cuts from the late 70’s and early 80’s. On this project, 50’s flow sounded refreshing. Though it didn’t pass as original material, I thought the set was a great idea.

Fast forward to July 3rd. Fif releases “Forever King”. After rifling through the project, I must say that, again, Fif sounds exceptionally well. Though the content is redundant, his flow isn’t forced and he sounds EXTREMELY comfortable. Maybe it’s time to invest in a different sound. Who knows. Anyway, I’ve provided three of my favorite tracks from the tape, below….ENJOY!

50 Cent- Things We Do

50 Cent- If You Leaving, Then Leave

50 Cent- Michael Jackson Freestyle

Sincerely

Low “50’s BACK…almost!” Key

With that said, Mr. Shad Moss..I mean Bow Wow has hit the eStreets running with some new street material entitled “One For The Money”. Now, I’ve always been on the fence in regards to Bow Wow’s attempts at spewing vulgar commentary, but I guess since he’s all grown up, that’s just something I’ll have to deal with. *Shrugs*

I’m not quite sure wheere this lil ditty is going to end up, but I’m sure his core demographic will digest it smoothly. As for the other side, well…they’ll just look at this as a lame attempt by Bow Wow to hang with the big boys by mentioning the word “Hoes” 89 times in under 2 minutes.

Bow Wow- One For The Money

Like it, Love it or Leave it????

Sincerely

Low “Bow Wow, Bow Wow, Bow Wow…..sighs” Key

I’ve noticed that a lot of users online are extremely lazy. Rather than rifle through different sites and stories for interesting information on their favorite artists, they’d rather have it all in one space. Well, I decided to assist with that task by gathering Curtis Jackson’s “Hip-Hop Words of Wisdom” during the last week from various sites and interviews.

Clearly we’re familiar with 50’s formula. About 3 to 4 months before a new product of his hits the streets, he gets to running his mouth profusely about the hottest topics in the industry. And over the past 7 days, Mr. Jackson has been doing just that. BET Alumni and XXLMag.com MVP, Carl Chery dug deep into the unpredictable skull of 50 Cent and came out with a sh*tload of information which included his views on Jay-Z, Drake, and the Hip-Hop “buzz”

In addition to Carl’s piece, Fif called into Sirius Satellite’s, G-Unit Radio program this past weekend to offer his perspective on Soulja Boy, Charles Hamilton and music bloggers. Say what you will, but Fif’s mastered the art of gaining attention. I mean it’s easy to talk about the hottest topics in current events, but Fif has a special way of offering his views on the aforementioned issues. Still curious as to what Fif’s babbling about, scroll down.

50 Cent on bloggers….

“Check this out; I’m not mad at Perez Hilton. In this climate right now- the way things are- the computer allows anyone to say whatever the fu*k they feel like. Think about it, through the computer, ni**az is so tough. There are so many cyber bangers. I mean, they’ll sit there and say some of the coldest sh*t. I’ll sit there and read it like, “God damn, that’s some cold sh*t- I aint never said nothing like that.” - |G-Unit Radio Interview with DJ Whookid|

50 Cent on Drake’s buzz…..

“When you hear a song on the radio it means it’s being worked,. Ain’t nothing there just because, enough for it to be playing every hour on the hour. That song is being worked like he’s on a label. You know I’m sure Sylvia Rhone or Universal - they’re spending money to get the record played. They got the public feeling like its just happening. A buzz is a song. So the next song that I release can turn me back into what you feel like is the hottest thing out here. So I mean if I’m showing you full capability of it than what makes you doubt that.” |XXLMag.Com interview with Carl Chery|

50 Cent on Soulja Boy’s success…..

“At the end of the day, knowing that you have that hit record at 16 is gonna change his mother’s house, put his mom in a new house, make Christmas different for his sister and kids that look up to him. He hotter than half them n*ggas down there to me. He got commercial, hit records. He did kiss me through the mothaf*ckin phone. And then he came off that, he came with the “Turn My Swag On” record and it took off.”|G-Unit Radio Interview with DJ Whookid|

50 Cent on Jay-Z maintaining his relevance…

“There’s a respect that is well deserved on Jay-Z’s part because he’s had that cloud come over him and constantly worked his way through it, having so many projects come out and be successful and maintain meaning,” he said. “There’s significance in it. Because they go, after countless amounts of hit records, they go ‘You think you can go out and do it again’. Ask me if I think he can do it again, ‘hell yeah,’ cause he did it how many times in front of us. What makes you think he can’t do it again” |XXLMag.Com interview with Carl Chery|

50 Cent on Charles Hamilton getting punched by Mary J. Blige’s daughter-in-law…

I seen a girl knock this n*gga the f*ck out…He lucky he ain’t hit her back. He woulda hit her and got his a** beat. They woulda put that n*gga through the meat grinder. You don’t [come back from that.] You say, ‘Look, I’m a gentleman.’ You play the gentleman role after that because if he would have hit dude’s daughter, n*ggas woulda, ah man.” |G-Unit Radio Interview with DJ Whookid|

Regardless of how ruthless this man might seem, he’s always on point with his perspectives and opinions. Not to ride the man’s coat tail, but from reading these tidbits, Fif’s perception of those aforementioned issues is extremely accurate. Think Fif’s just talking to talk?????? SOUNDOFF!!!

Sincerely

Low “If Fif doesn’t succeed after this….I’m afraid it might be over” Key

The first time he returned seemed forced. Contrary to what everyone thought, relinking with Diddy probably wasn’t the best thing for Young Betha. Yeah the two made history together, but Diddy was a completely different person when Mase decided Hip-Hop was his first love again.

The second time…ohhhh the second time. What in the sweet hell was he thinking linking with 50 Cent and his team of Southside Jamaica Queens soldiers? The demographics were completely off base and the chemistry between the two parties was disturbing.Tough talk and gun play just isn’t Mase’s forte. YUCK!

Now of course, I’m on the fence along with the rest of you because of his prior attempts, but like we always say..third time’s a charm, correct? In addition to Mase returning to the genre, he mended forces with an individual who at one point threatened his life in front of million of radio viewers. Maybe this time it’s different. Maybe Mase’s prior experience have given him the edge this time around and he’s conjured up the ultimate game plan.

Whatever it is, I’ll be waiting in the wings to see what unfolds in the next 3 months. And with that said, Mase jumped on the hottest record IN THE COUNTRY to prove he can still hang with the young bucks. But wait, I still have that Top Ten list of items Mase needs to become relevant again. I’ll make light of the situation, but also supply some hidden gems that could REVIVE Young Betha because LORD knows this is final opportunity.

10. It’s either GOD or Hip-Hop. I’m not saying both can’t co-exist, but Mase has used both to the extreme and has been ridiculed under both lights. If it’s Hip-Hop, stay out of the church lime light….especially if you’re talking about riddling your opponent’s car door with 5445 bullets. If it’s Church, let it be church. I’m sure the congregation isn’t a fan of you talking about the “Best I Ever Had”. Make your choice, Betha

9. No matter what the media, bloggers or DJ’s say, beef is NOT the answer. His prior confrontations did him no good and Mase was never that type of artist. Jumping head first into rap squabble will only give his demographic the notion he’s in this for the attention and not the love of the sport. He explained MJ’s passing gave him the inspiration to return…let’s hope it stays that way.

8. Remix EVERY record Fabolous has touched. It’s painfully obvious their styles are extremely close and since Mase basically fathered Fab’s R&B persona, why not show the world he still can do it better than everyone else who’s attempting it. In addition, Drake is RAPIDLY snatching that lane with ONE tune so if I were Mase…I’d get on the job…PRONTO.

7. Distance himself from Bad Boy Records and G-Unit Records as soon as possible. It’s adorable that both conglomerate’s attempted to revive Betha’s career, but both attempts were completey unorganic. Shock value even. Diddy wanted a check and 50 wanted attention. Well, both got what they wanted, but I think it’s about that time Mase got his.

6. DO NOT WEAR TIGHT CLOTHES OR BRIGHT COLORS!

5. Ink a deal with Atlantic Records or Interscope Records. See, Atlantic has lost their main attraction for the next 365 days and Interscope Records is losing 50 Cent after the release of his next project. Translation: Both parties are in desperate need of an urban leader. It could possibly be the worst thing for both imprints, but if done right Mase could be top 10 status once again.

4. NO AUTO TUNE!

3. Mixtape. Mixtape. Mixtape. MIXTAPES! Gangsta Grillz with DJ Drama. A Desert Storm collaboration with DJ Clue. SOMETHING. I can’t foresee the future with this particular task, but I do know the attention will shift once ONE of these are completed.

2. Stand next to Lil Wayne. I can’t front, I’m not the HUGEST advocate of the martian, but Weezy has worked WONDERS for Drake….so why can’t it work for Mase? I’m not saying Betha has to sign with Young Money or Cash Money, but the affiliation will be JUST enough to reel Mase’s long lost fans right back into those front row seats.

1. Return to the roots aka Cam’ron & Jim Jones. Clearly, this type of reunion would be monumental given the current status of Cam n Jim’s relationship, this could do wonders for Hip-Hop. Cam hates Jimmy. Cam loves Mase. Mase loves Cam. Jim loves Cam and Mase. Mase loves Cam and Jim. Am I missing something here??? Why can’t this work???

Will it work? Will he tank?? Do you guys even care???? SOUNDOFFFFFFFFFFF

Sincerely

Low “Mase or Drake- YOU CHOOSE” Key

Of course, with Eminem having another mans tush thrown in his face at the MTV Movie Awards several weeks back, a majority of you are pondering the thought of “What will BET do to top that?” NOTHING- so don’t even ask lol.

I wanted to pump this list out several days prior, but I figured I’d wait till the ceremony got a bit closer. In jest, of course, these 10 items are in no way, shape or form geared to offend anyone at all. And if you’re familiar (you should be by now) with my commentary, you already know I’ve never have. So, without further ado, I present, The Top 10 Things You Will NOT See At The 2009 BET Awards. ENJOY!

10.) You will not see Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz confess their undying love for each other (i.e. hit the red carpet together). With Swizzy putting a GAG order on Ms. Keys about the aforementioned issue, I’m pretty sure the two will sit on opposite sides of the auditorium. Hell, they might even go as far as arriving with their own dates. Smh, whatever happened to black love.

9.) You probably won’t see Drake announce his label home since I pretty much did it for him on this side of town. Not trying to burst his “Surprise I signed with..” bubble, but that information pretty much fell into my lap so I had no choice but to let it ooze all over the BET Awards Blog. Was I wrong?? Wouldn’t care if I was.

8.) You probably won’t see me present an award holding a Coldstones Bang Bang Boogie Milkshake while wearing an exclusive pair of SB Blazers with one of the SEXIEST Hanes White-Tee Shirts in the HISTORY of Hanes Apparel. All while standing next to Keri Hilson who has her hand in my back left pocket humming the melody to “Make Love” while we walk to the podium as she attempts to watch my sodium. And this WON’T happen only because I missed 67567657 flights Friday morning, afternoon and night because US Airways thought it would be funny to film their new reality series “Punked: The Delayed & Canceled Flights” Edition.

7.) You damn sure won’t see Rihanna and Chris Brown sitting next to each other. I’m not saying  you won’t see them at the awards at all, I’m just guaranteeing you will NOT see them arrive or sit anywhere remotely close to each other.

6.) You DEFINITELY will not see any stabbings, open hand slaps, chain snatching, gun toting or weave pulling activities anywhere inside The Shrine Auditorium. I don’t care how ghetto some of these artists and their “Yes Men” maybe, I REFUSE to tolerate ANY tom foolery of the sort. And if i do…..you can bet your ASS I’m popping off on someone lol. I didn’t camp out in 3 airports over the past 48 hours to witness a bunch of FUC*ERY.

5.) You will not see or hear Lil Wayne announce bringing another crumb snatcher into this world. Assuming the rumors about him knocking up Lauren London and Nivea are valid, he’s PROBABLY doing his best to stay away from any podium tomorrow night.

4.) You will not see or hear “Auto-Tune”. See #5 for reason why.

3.) You will NOT see Shawn Corey Carter sporting THIS. I, along with everyone else who is a fan of grooming, can and will NOT tolerate this anymore. We love Jay like our very own, but it’s just not fair to our eyes, his scalp and mankind. Please Jay………..PLEASE! If you hit that stage with THIS, I just might lose it lol.

2.) You will not see Shanaynay land ass up in the lap of Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, The Clipse, Pharrell, T-Pain, Soulja Boy, Nelly, Ludacris, Ne-Yo, Rick Ross, Kanye West, Fabolous or any other male hip hopper. And if you DO, I strongly suggest you DUCK!

1.) You WILL NOT see Jamie Foxx lip locking with Debra Lee. I know Foxx is the host and that pretty much gives him the green light to push every envelope, but like I said before, we’re doing this a bit different. Fantasia was shocking, Halle Berry made the male species envious, but Debra Lee???????????????? NOW THAT’S JUST WRONG!

Sincerly

Low “You will NOT see Ron Browz or DJ Webstar because I said SO” Key

**UPDATE**

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died. After suffering cardiac arrest and being rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

Check out BET.com’s tribute to the music icon and leave your condolences.

According to the L.A. Times, Pop icon, Michael Jackson has been rushed to the hospital after suffering a sudden heart attack earlier today. Paramedics were called to Jackson’s residence around 12:30 and discovered the pop star not breathing when they arrived on the scene.

Paramedics from the L.A. Fire Department performed CPR on Jackson and revived the singer. Authorities routed Jackson to UCLA Medical Center directly after.

Unconfirmed reports are swirling that Jackson has passed, however CNN is stating the singer is still in critical condition. In addition, the L.A. Times has stated MJ is in a coma and is still alive.

Check back with BET.com for more updates on this story.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS TO MJ AND HIS FAMILY!

Sincerely

Low “You’re in our prayers MJ” Key

If you’re an avid follower of The Dream and/or Fabolous, it’s painfully clear- they’re pretty damn good at what they do. And, they’re pretty damn good at doing it together (Pause, for all you prickz who still use that term).

The XXL Squad decided to further investigate how and why Fabolous and The-Dream are so good at what they do in the August issue, creatively titled “The Hip-Hop Soul” issue, of XXL Magazine.

Of course, I side swiped this issue early bird style from the one of my bootleg street vendors late last night. And if you’re a magazine fanatic like myself, I’m sure you’re doing the same as we speak.

SO, without further ado, here are a couple excerpts from Rob Markman’s (@robthemusiced) ill Fabolous feature and Clover Hope’s(@clovito) detailed and informative Q&A session with The-Dream. ENJOY!

Fabolous on why the ladies Love Loso…..

Women started feeling me just because I was that DUDE. I didn’t have to come out with my shirt off and dance. Not to knock who does do it, because its certain nig*az who that works for. Nelly will pull his shirt off in a minute. Ja will pull his shirt off in a minute. LL will pull his shirt off in a minute. They have great bodies; that’s cool for them, but that’s not for me. I’m from a different class of MC, too. I came up with different nig*az that I patterned myself after….I’m cool within myself that I don’t feel like I gotta take off my shirt to win girls over. When I start doing that, that’s when you know the recession hit us up”.

The Dream on R.Kelly……

I haven’t met him. We’ve talked through so many people all the time. We just did a record for his album- me, him and Tyrese is on this record together. I wrote a record for him called “Ringtone” two albums ago, the Double Up album. Of course he got on “Shawty Is A 10″, the remix, for me. So we go back and forth. His manager, Wayne, will be like, “Yeah, “Kelly’s 12 Play is his shit!” “Of course it’s his sh*t! ‘Cause it’s HIS sh*t. I don’t know why I haven’t ran into the guy yet. It’s weird.

Fabolous on separating street sh* and industry sh*t……

A lot of dudes do say incriminating sh*t and they talk about sh*t they’re not supposed to. That was always a hood rule: Street sh*t stays in the street. But now you see this sh*t is changing. Now street sh*t comes on camera, on YouTube, Twitter. That’s why my personal life, I was always a little secretive about what was going on in my life. And felt like I was still able to just make good music.

Christina Milian and The Dream address alleged photo shoot rumors…

Christina Milian: A lot of people been saying that we set up some. Like, please. We shop everyday. We live in Hollywood. We live in New York. We’re everywhere all the time, so it’s not like there aren’t people just following you or just popping up at your hotel or wherever you’re gonna be. It’s kinda crazy, but we don’t look for that stuff. We’re jsut living, being regular.

The Dream: True. Because, at the end of the day, Hollywood is her territory, her being an actress. So most of the time they’re probably looking for her and just somehow figured out who I was, like, “Oh that the nigga from, you know”.

Alright, that’s enough on my end. For the full features, make sure you hit your local newsstand to cop the August issue of XXL. In addition to The-Dream and Fabolous, the XXL Squad also dissects the controversial history of Hip-Hop Soul, the best of the best in regards to Hip-Hop & R&B duets and 2009’s top 10 R&B suspects to check for.

Sincerely

Low “Just another reason why magazines will never go out of style” Key

According to my records, the last official single they released for the project was “Love, Sex & Magic”, which was over 2 months ago- if my memory serves me correct.

Well, I guess Ciara is still going strong because she just released the visual for “Work It” featuring Missy Elliot (where the hell she been lol?). Not sure how I’m feeling about Ciara and her buddies being supervised by Missy in the junkyard. Dah well. Enjoy.

Sincerely

Low “Ooooooo lala…CIARA” Key

Ciara ft. Missy Elliot- Work It from LowKey on Vimeo.

I feel like I’d be taking all the fun out of watching the video if I talked about what Nicki captured for us, so scroll down and press play…you can see for yourself. ENJOY

Low “Aye Nicki…..Chipolte on me, huh?” Key

Nicki Minaj’s BET.com Video Blog from andreas on Vimeo.

Furthermore, where does this leave Rihanna? I mean, it’s obvious the Bajan diva is back on her socialite ish, but creatively, where does she go? Does she address the matter firsthand on her next solo project or can she sweep it under the rug now that a verdict has been reached?

See, I’m assuming fans from both parties are ready to hear the “EXCLUSIVE” of what really happened that night in (Chris Brown voice) “The Lamborghini”. But will Rihanna or Chris ever reveal the gruesome details during that fateful night?

Say they do reveal to the world what happened - REALLY happened- will they do it together? Will they do it via print? Radio? TV? Ok, so say they do the interview separate, both sides will have to worry about the specifics from opposite parties. Did Rihanna explain why Chris REALLY went off on her? Did Chris reveal who “REALLY” sent him that booty call text.

What about Chris’ career? Where does he go creatively? Does he snatch a chapter out of Usher’s domestic saga and confess all his wrong doings? Does he wipe his plate clean and reveal a new chapter in his life? Does he remain optimistic about life’s challenges or become a pessimist and sink into a dark hole?

Who will he work with? Will the label support him like the good ol days? Will companies put his face on their products?

Aside from alllll that, will the two of them EVER speak again? I can’t foresee the future, but I HIGHLY doubt the two will ever lock eyes again. An experience such as this had to be extremely difficult to begin with. And now that it’s over, I’m sure both parties are ELATED.

Ok, I’m done. WHAT DO YOU THINK!!!?!?!?!?!?

Sincerely

Low “God bless the both of them” Key