The Dream is gearing up to release his new album, Love Vs. Money on March 10th featuring Kayne West, Rick Ross, Juelz Santana, Ludacris, Mariah Carey and Fabolous.

Even though they just released the video to Rockin That Thing, they’re already prepping the remix video to “Rocking That Thing” featuring Rick Ross, Ludacris, Fabolous and Juelz Santana. And OH YES, your boy will be on hand.

Until then, enjoy these visuals because I sure as hell did.

Sincerely

Low “Can’t wait to hear this in the club tonite” Key

The Dream- Rocking That Thang

Anyway, if you frequent these parts, then you’re pretty familiar with my magazine game; I GETZ THEM EARLY, LOL! This time, I didn’t hit my secret newsstand, I actually swiped it from an associate at an event several days ago. Since this issue doesn’t hit stores until February 17, I think I’m WAAAY ahead of the game with this issue. Others may have it (VIBE employees), but like always, your exclusive preview is available here……..FIRST!

Looks like VIBE is on that fresh sh*t because all the contents in this issue are geared towards the fresh and the FRESH ONLY. The Evolution of Andre Benjamin: FRESH! The White Tee: ReFRESHing! The Tattoo: SEXY FRESH! Terrence Dean breaks down The J-Sette (the dance routine seen in Beyonce’s, “Single Ladies” visual), while Memsor Kamarake rebirths and re-styles “The Black Model”.

Of course, an issue on Style wouldn’t be complete without the 31 Most Stylish individuals in the game. And since I’m not THAT much into the style realm, I’m not sure how valid these rankings are. Now I could sit here and reveal the entire list, but that would probably piss off B.W., D.Smith and the homey J.Cummings, so I’ll just list a couple names sans their rankings. Also, this list isn’t in any particular order, I’m just randomly naming the participants involved; Troy Polamalu (Pittsburgh Steelers), Kanye West, Alain “A-Trak” Macklovitch, Yung Dro, Vashti Kola (IM GOING TO MARRY HER), Wale, Solange, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Travis McCoy, Keri Hilson, Estelle, Neyo, MIA, and many more!

Oh, and I can’t forget the cover girl herself, Keyshia Cole. This isn’t one those interviews (where’s your life at now, how is Young Jeezy doing, is your show scripted), this is a FRESH interview. Keyshia discusses the evolution of her style, the influences that make up her style and where she’s headed (style wise). Check out what she had to say……

Keyshia Cole on developing into the person she is now….

“I used to be real passive, no matter what it was–my performing, everyday living, a man, family. Now, it’s like I’ve got to put my foot down. I’ve come too far to keep accepting a lot of anything. I’m comfortable with myself.”

Keyshia Cole on her mother influencing her style…..

“Not necessarily, because my mom…..it depends. [My adoptive mother]Yvonne Cole, definitely. Definitely more than my biological mother because while I was around my mother my entire life, she was really gone. I’d see her, I would find her and in the next 10 minutes she would be gone. She was constantly moving. But Yvonne taught me everything about being a woman that I need to know. Everything. Don’t go to church without a slip. All of that.”

Think you feel fresh now, wait until you devour the entire issue. Once again, VIBE Magazine proves why they’re always one step ahead. (WHAD UP DANNY?).

Sincerely

Low “I’m So Dope Boy Fresh…I Think” Key  

Anyway, on my way to work, I sensed a new issue of at least ONE of my favorite magz would be up for sale and you know what….I WAS RIGHT! I remember breezing past VIBE.com yesterday catching a brief glimpse of them teasing us with some Kanye banter about how he’s preparing to grace their February issue. “YES”, I shouted as I read through the info. “I love Kanye cover stories”. However, the actual cover wasn’t ready for public viewing. DRATS.

I slid inside the newsstand (secret location newsstand, that is) copped the mag and began to eagerly rifle through the issue. “Dope. Ooooo, she’s sexy. Who the hell is that?” I said to myself on the uptown A train while while an older Caucasian female secretly peaked over my shoulder. I honestly believe she was more excited than I was. I didn’t mind not one bit because she knew I knew she was looking, so it was cool lol.

“Pride” (In The Name Of Love) read the title in black Lego font. The big homey Sean Fennessey got the honors to talk to Yeezy and I must say………GREAT JOB, SF. And since I believe I have the magazine a tad bit early (the covers not even out for Christ sake), I’m only going to hit you guys with 3 good excerpts from the piece. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. ENJOY

Kanye on being deemed a violent person because of his paparazzi experience…

“I haven’t done anything violent. They make it seem like I actually went and hit the paparazzi. I haven’t. I was restrained. I’m good at restraining myself from committing violent acts. I know how to control my temper. That one paparazzo made it a bigger deal. I just put my hand up and he felt like he had more right to my personal space than I did. I put my hand up to stop him from shooting me.”

Kanye on putting out 808’s & Heartbreak so quickly…..

“I could have put it out as a mixtape. I always wanted to do a mixtape called T-Pain Style. And I was like, if these songs are good as hell, why not put it out as a real album? And who’s to say what a mixtape , what’s an album. I aint have to drop an album either. What I do at this point is a gift. And I think people are complaining about their gift. They can either play with it or not! But don’t complain to me about the gift. There’s guys out there, nobody spoke on our behalf before. Whatever about the singing. F*ck all the singing, f*ck all the Auto-Tune, f*ck the He’s A Rapper, he’s not a rapper, he’s going through something, he has to get this out of his system, he’s crazy. F*ck all that. It’s men out there who have never had anyone to speak on their behalf about the way they feel in a relationship. We don’t feel like, ‘F*ck you, bitch, I’m going to f*ck a whole bunch of girls’. NO! We feel hurt. We feel pain. Like, ‘Damn, why would you say something like that to me? Damn, I LOVE YOU. Damn, I want to have a family. Damn, I want to find someone to raise my kids. Damn, my baby mama’s a bitch. Or she’s not a bitch’. That more than anything-more than the way I wanted to deliver this art-is the message behind 808’s.”

Kanye on 808’s being his best album…..

“I do think it’s my best album to date. No, I actually know this is my best album to date. Do I think it will be my best album ever? No, Ill improve. Do I think there are mistakes in it? Yes. There has to be. I’m a human being. But I think it surpasses Graduation. These 12 tracks are going to resonate more than any 12 tracks of any album this year.”

Ok, that’s enough. For the rest of Sean F’s exclusive interview with Kanye, make sure you pick up the February issue of VIBE Magazine when it either officially drops or if you can locate my secret location newsstand, lol!

Sincerely

Low “During this post, I zoned out to ALLL Kanye instrumentals. Damn that boy is good, lol” Key

Alright ladies and germs, let’s get one thing clear, this list is dedicated to those who DESTROYED (in a good way, except the last 2 lol) 2008. This is not a list showcasing my undying hate for these specific individual(s), it’s more like a bevy of reasons on why they should take a 365 day breather so either their proteges can get some breathing room or so they can take a VERY well deserved break. I’ll keep it short and to the point, but I know a majority of you will feel the same way, so please, don’t hesitate to chime in below in our wonderful comments section that you guys LOVE to play in lol.

1. Kanye West 

Despite the death of his mother and severing ties with his OH SO gorgeous fiance, Yeezy did the inevitable and took to the stage and the studio to conquer every Billboard chart and iTunes list there was to conquer. He showed us the real meaning of “Stadium Status” by embarking on a nationwide excursion as well as an international expedition for his Glow In The Dark set. Though it was incredibly hard for him at times, Ye proved he was stronger than most, but showed a bit of vulnerability on stage when he couldn’t stomach the memories of his loving mother. In that process, 808’s & Heartbreak was conceived, which argubally could be Kanye’s best work to date. If Kanye has anything left to show, it would be amazing, and since he probably does, I suggest he save it for 2010…I’m sure we’ll be yearning for another extraordinary project from the “Voice of our generation”.

2. Beyonce 

As most of you may know, I HATE Beyonce….HAHAHAHHA (Some of you have NO sense of humor, I swear). Regardless of what I’ve written about the “Diva”, Mrs. Carter devoured the latter half of 2008, WHOLE. And judging by her major promotional blitz earlier last month, it’s only going to get worse in 2009. A international tour commencing in April, several movies in the works and of course MORE offerings from I Am…..Sasha Fierce, I’ll probably be suggesting Beyonce to fall back in 2010 as well. I have to hand it to the “privileged” mamacita, she knows how to get it done, but, for some odd reason, I can year Young H-O (Jay-Z) in the rear WISHING she would just sit the hell down (again, I’m just joking lol).

3. T-Pain 

I was sort of on the fence about putting the Tallahassee Titan on this list, but he too is in need of a well deserved break. If I’m not mistaken, this kid was on 37 at ONE TIME??? How the hell do you accomplish that without burning out? Maybe this was the year for him to prove that ugly people can also be successful (Zing…Ok, I’m sorry). He produced, composed, and performed for just about each of his superstar friends and a majority of them returned the favor on his third offering, Thr33 Ringz, which for the most part served the industry to it’s mainstream liking. I can’t imagine the ish he has in store for 2009, but, it would be a blessing to see him just FALL BACK behind the curtains for 365 days because since the birth of the Auto-Tune, every moron with a microphone thought it would bring joy and prosperity to them as it did for him. We’ll miss you, Pain…but not that much because we have PLENTY of material from you that’ll last us until 2012.

4. Diddy  

Ahhhh Diddy. Maybe his NYE proposal was his own way of telling the world he was hitting the behind the scenes market so he could focus more on his empire. But since that didn’t pan out like originally planned, his plague will now infiltrate our souls for ANOTHER 365 days (pegged as The Gift and The Curse). We all witnessed his “Diddy Blog” web series first hand, observed the inner rumblings of Danity Kane and watched him parade two beautiful baby girls in the media as if they were prized Turkey’s over the course of 2008 and oddly enough, he’s only getting started. Diddy+T-Pain= UGH! Yes, I’ll be front and center when that project hits the masses, but I’m not sure that’s the best route for Mr. OrangeJuiceInMyFruitLoops. The T-Pain collaboration train left the station a LOONNNNG time ago. Ciroc Obama (I hate that name more than Barack does himself, lol) loves the spotlight, but the real question is….how much does it love him and for how long?

5. Soulja Boy 

Give it a rest kid, it’s over…for now. The Sophomore Slump slapped you harder than Maino did Yung Berg and you have YET to recover from the travesty. 46K in seven days??? Yep, it’s time for that career intervention….fast! Beefing with Ice-T was cool, but it went down hill when you decided to give Charles Hamilton a tongue lashing via your YouTube channel. Not taking anything away from CH, but tell me, how many cool points were you really trying to gain from that? Funny how that little situation hit the light several weeks before the release of your album. Come on dude, you have to be a BIT smarter than that. Don’t worry, the kids STILL love you, but step up your marketing game, we’ve heard it all before. Oh, and that home invasion thing you have going on right now….you better have a good story to follow up with that one, the world is WATCHING.

 Honorable Mention

1. Jim Jones.

2. Lil Wayne (only because the sight of his face tattoos keep me tossing and turning at night).  

3. Busta Rhymes (You can blame “Arab Money” for that, Busta).

4. DJ Khaled (You are the best, but only in limited areas).

5. Frankie (I could list 546546465 reasons, but I have places to go today).

6. Ron Browz (Until he translates the chorus of “Arab Money” he’s not allowed out of his studio).

Sincerely

Low “One more person to say 200Mine is going on this LIST…SUPERSTAR OR NOT” Key 

Lists’ like these are always difficult to construct. On one hand, you’re attempting to remember every song that was forced down your throat and actually considered “hot”. But then, on the other hand, I’m trying to keep in mind that just because I liked that song, doesn’t mean the entire universe had to fall in line with my opinion.

Either or, these songs held a significant amount of weight in 2008. Whether it was the impromptu love for the hook, the infectious beat or the illegitimate lyrics that made not 1/3 bit of sense, but you just HAD to recite them, these songs will be known as 2008’s Top Tunes. Oh, and if I’m missing any, don’t be shy…go head and add them in the comments section. ENJOY

10. T-Pain ft. Lil Wayne- Can’t Believe It

This track not only forged a BFF alliance between the two, but it EASILY took over radio DIRECTLY after its release. Soon after, the dread headed twins conceived “Got Money” and their highly anticipated joint Lp, He Raps, He Sings. I can’t believe it….no seriously…I CAN’T!

9. T.I.- Whatever You Like (Produced By Jim Jonsin)

“Whatever You Like” did some extraordinary damage on the Billboard charts thanks to a little help from “Lollipop” producer, Jim Jonsin. And thanks to T.I., every tender roni I encounter thinks she can have whatever she likes. Sorry ladies, keep that sentiment to yourself.

8. MIA- Paper Planes (Produced By M.I.A., Diplo and Stitch)

Though 2007 marked it’s official crash landing on earth and February 12 marked its official US iTunes release, “Paper Planes” didn’t gain official commercial and U.S. acceptance until it’s appearance in the movie trailer for “Pineapple Express” back in June. Shortly after, pretty much EVERY rapper and their sidekicks tried their hand at remixing the catchy tune. Oh, did I mention it snatched a Grammy nod for Record of the Year?

7. Alicia Keys- Superwoman (Produced By Alicia Keys)

A song dedicated to EVERY strong female in the world? Hell yeah it’s on here as well the list of nominees for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards (Best Female R&B Vocal Performance). I bet you Barack hears this song every time he glances at Michelle…

6. Neyo- Miss Independent (Produced By Stargate)

Neyo gained so many brownie points from the females because of the songs context and he ALSO gained an EXTREME amount of cool points from the fellas because of the bulky amount of eye candy trotting through the visual. It also didn’t hurt that he invited Jamie Foxx and Fabolous along for the remix. Only sad thing about this is every female with a debit card thinks she can claim independence….it’s ok to ask for help babygirl, we got you.

5. T.I. ft. Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil Wayne- Swagger Like Us (Produced By Kanye West)

Only reason why this isn’t further down on the list is because A.) It was a late bloomer and B.) It wasn’t officially pegged as a single from T.I.’s project but played through every club, radio and ipod speaker on God’s green earth. Sidebar: Since “Swagger” is a word I sincerely hate right now, A HUGE thank you is in order for Kanye West and MIA.

4. Usher ft. Young Jeezy- Love In This Club (Produced By Polow Da Don)

First time I heard this lil ditty, I was hooked. I even thought Usher was heading in the direction of Confessions, but of course, I was let down to 8th degree. Regardless, Jeezy came correct, Polow did his thing, and Keri Hilson will FOREVER be my mistress of choice…sorry future Mrs. LowKey!

3. Beyonce- Single Ladies (Produced By Tricky Stewart)

It’s an amazing sight to witness when you’re standing by the bar, the first 12 seconds of this record comes on and you see EVERY female (Bartenders, waitresses, female janitors and female security guards included) go APE sh*t, gyrating in every way possible known to mankind. True story, I once saw a married woman secretly take off her wedding ring for 3:13 JUST to call herself a single lady and then put it back on as if the song never existed. DAMN YOU, BEYONCE

2 . Young Jeezy ft. Kanye West- Put On (Produced By Drumma Boy)

Everyone…and I mean EVERYONE (yup, even her) thought they were from Atlanta when Jeezy unleashed this massive hit to the public. It gave you the sense of urgency to rep WHEREVER you were from (yup, even her again) whenever this song tickled your ear drum. This was also the first time we heard Kanye exercise his right on T-Pain’s golden apparatus. I PUTTTTTTTT ONNNNNNNNNNN!

1. Lil Wayne- A Milli (Produced By Bangladesh)

1. Lil Wayne- Lollipop (Produced By Jim Jonsin)

Really…..do I NEED to explain myself on either of these?????

Sincerely

Low “At least ONE of these songs gets some kind of burn in my day to day operations” Key

I guess since Kanye’s classified himself as a “pop” artist, Z100 thought it would be a great idea to add him to their annual Jingle Ball this year at Madison Square Garden. Surprisingly, the demographic in attendance (a demographic that doesn’t necessarily care for hip hop) went APE SH*T for “Swagga Like Us” and “Put On”.

Either way, Yezzy handled his business. Though I did notice more consistency in his erratic/rock star movements (pictured above), he somehow incorporated hip hop into them as well. Anyway, check out the exclusive video of Ye tearing down Z100’s, Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden.

Kanye West performs “Swagga Like Us” during Z100’s, Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden on December 12. Kanye West performs “Gold Digger” during Z100’s, Jingle Ball, at Madison Square Garden on December 12. Kanye West performs “Good Life” during Z100’s, Jingle Ball, at Madison Square Garden on December 12. Kanye West performs “Heartless” during Z100’s, Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden on December 12. Kanye West performs “Put On” during Z100’s, Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden on December 12.How did you guys enjoy Kanye’s show?????

Sincerely

Low “I’m GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD” Key