On Thursday evening, T.I. granted Larry King the first post-prison interview since being released back in March. Although King didn’t appear to know much about Clifford Harris aside from his criminal record, he must have been surprised by Tip’s poise, intelligence and his ability to articulate his struggles as a black man and a successful rap artist without sounding like a whining victim.

For those who were not familiar with T.I., it appeared that the rapper was just another ignorant person with a lot of money and nothing good to show for it but some heavy artillery. But by the end of the interview, T.I. showed he is as intelligent as they come and proves there truly are some diamonds in the rough. King’s job was to lob some difficult questions at T.I. regarding his upbringing, felony charges, drug dealing days and see how the rapper reacted to the questions. We’ve seen some artists simply devolve into train wrecks when it comes to mainstream media inquiring about their questionable pasts. But T.I. allowed the hip-hop community to breathe a sigh of relief as he knocked out question after question with such a composed demeanor, we couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear that a product of hip hop was able to make an outsider understand the struggles of growing up poor.

There is nothing more difficult for a black man to do than to make America understand what it is like to be him. Sure, T.I. has done some things that he isn’t proud of, but he has paid his debt to society and continues to be a positive influence to those around him. Some people end up being a victim of their environment. T.I. could have fallen by the wayside, but he found his way out. King seems to accept T.I. and his checkered past more and more as the interview goes on. He almost seems to understand why T.I. feared for his life and purchased the guns. There’s an empathy you feel as Tip explains his story. Nothing ignorant was said that would make the community hang its head in shame. You truly get the feeling that the kid who was a straight-A student was bound for success regardless of where he was. Unfortunately, he grew up in a rough environment that provided many speed bumps before he became who he is today.

Check out the interview and chime in on how you thought Tip carried himself.

DrJays.com got behind-the-scenes access during this “NFL Pre-Draft Lounge,” sponsored by ESPN, EA Sports and Deuce Watches.

Check out highlights below, featuring gear from LRG’s summer and fall 2010 collections.

Deuce Brand hooked up the watches

The space—aka LRG’s NYC showroom

Mardy Gilyard (Rams)

The fashion consultant, Chuck Barrett, letting off some steam

Boss Lady, having way too much fun with that chainsaw

More shots of the players/models below, courtesy of LRG:

Dexter McCluster (Chiefs)

Mardy Gilyard (Rams)

Devin McCourty (Patriots)

Roberto Wallace (Dolphins)

Arrelious Benn (Buccaneers)

SOURCE: http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2010/04/28/exclusive-lrg-x-espn-x-ea-sports-x-nfl-draft-lounge/

“…cuz the greatest rapper of all time died on March 9^.”

- Canibus, “Second Round K.O.”

The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie Smalls. The King of New York. The Black Frank White. Big Poppa. Christopher Wallace, the Brooklyn native known also by these aforementioned aliases has been gone for over a decade, yet his influence on hip-hop culture has been monumental even in his absence.

The late and great emcee was considered light-years ahead of his time, which is probably why he’s still spun regularly on radio stations all over the globe. Biggie’s still in the forefront of the minds of virtually all those who appreciate hip-hop; from those who remember scrambling home and eagerly ripping off the plastic to the ’94 classic Ready To Die to the younger guys and girls that had no qualms illegally downloading Biggie’s posthumous album, Duets: The Final Chapter.

The one thing Biggie did phenomenally that was constantly overshadowed by his dazzling wordplay was dress himself stylishly. The younger generation didn’t really get a glimpse of his ability to start trends, but they definitely heard about it in his countless rhymes filled with constant references to his various designer clothes and accessories. To celebrate the 12^th anniversary of Biggie’s passing, we decided to focus on the rapper’s most memorable fashion contributions to hip-hop.

COOGI sweaters

Sure, Australian clothing company COOGI had been creating these multi-hued sweaters since 1969, and Bill Cosby’s Heathcliff Huxtable character sported them on The Cosby Show in the ’80s, but the ‘hood wasn’t hip to the colorful look until Biggie did it. When Biggie donned the sweaters during performances — and, notably, on the cover of The Source with the Twin Towers behind him [picture above] — the look exploded in the hip-hop scene.

But as the story has it, Biggie borrowed his style from another New York kid, Mount Vernon resident Walt G. local As told to MTV News by veteran stylist Groovey Lew:

“We used to go to [Manhattan club] the Grand on Sundays, and my man had all the Coogi’s and the Kangols. And I got the pictures where G got his Kangol on and his COOGI, but Big had on Army jackets and Timberlands. So [Big] fell in love with this kid’s style right there — just took it to the next level for the world to see. If you weren’t Bill Cosby or just a rich mother—-er from Australia playing golf, nobody knew about [COOGI]. Big homie started running around with it, and that’s what opened the hood up to it.”

Once Biggie introduced the luxury company to the streets, he helped start a trend in colorful clothing that streetwear brands everywhere adopted. We’re one of the few retailers with a constant supply of brand new COOGI gear for the fellas and the ladies, so make sure you grab some today

Versace

Biggie was often draped in Versace from head to toe – from the shades to the silk shirt to the upholstery in his crib. He didn’t mind that that Versace didn’t design 4XL; he wore it anyway, tailor-made. In 1997, when Biggie rocked a rare, limited edition of Versace sunglasses in his “Hypnotize” video, the streets went crazy trying to figure out what model of the shades he had on.

Even Lady GaGa referred to her 1980s vintage Versace frames as her “Biggie Smalls Versace glasses” to the media after they were stolen from her on her European tour earlier in ‘09. The international superstar went as far as to offer whoever finds them a spot in her next video. To this day, collectors are auctioning the few pairs in this style that still exist at ridiculous prices. Your best bet may be hitting eBay, but beware of fakes!

“Jesus Pieces”

Biggie made the infamous “Jesus Piece” his choice of jewelry in the ‘90s and a significant amount of rappers today are resurrecting the piece. If there ever was a checklist of must have items rappers should have, this tops the list. Kanye West and the G.O.O.D. Music crew definitely have these bad boys crossed off their list. While his was glittering gold, the piece has been redesigned in various styles and with countless materials.

If you’ve ever wanted to own a Jesus Piece but didn’t have the funds and despised the cheap imitations on the market, New York-based brand Good Wood has a great alternative. The Good Wood Jesus Piece features a 30-inch wood beaded chain available in various colorways. These items became popular towards the end of ’09, and have been mostly sold out on their online store – check it out to see what you can still get your hands on.

These are just a few of the fashion items that Biggie brought to the forefront of hip-hop culture. We’d love for you guys to share your favorite fashion memories of Biggie’s, and even your favorite verses that relate to his style. Hit us with ‘em!

SOURCE: http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2010/03/09/notorious-style-biggies-influence-on-hip-hop-fashion/

“You must learn!”—KRS One

If you turn on MTV and BET and watch what’s left of today’s music videos, you’ll see a bunch of songs dedicated to a whole lot of nothing. Not to say it’s all bad, but there’s not much music that’s saying anything at all. You have Soulja Boy talking about his “Pretty Boy Swag,” Dorrough saying to “Get Big” and Waka Flocka Flame talking about…well I’m not too sure. (“Bow Bow Bow Bow?”) Even the so-called “deep” rappers aren’t saying much. Although Kanye West‘s “Power” is a dope lyrical exercise and artistic expression, it lacks the informational impact of Public Enemy and KRS One.

So what exactly has happened to “Edutainment?”

Maybe we just got to smart and didn’t need anymore education. I sincerely doubt it, but what other explanation can you have for the tremendous void in mainstream hip-hop with regards to anything that provides food for thought? Although emcees like Immortal Technique and dead prez are always providing endless supplies of knowledge over beats, they aren’t in the mainstream. It’s not like it was back in the late 80′s and early 90′s.

As a young man, what I didn’t get in school I got in hip-hop. If it wasn’t for BDP and Public Enemy, I wouldn’t have been tipped off to Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X before I was a teenager. The fact that those artists were rapping about the Black Panthers and Mumia Abu-Jamal is the very reason why I picked up books at a young age and spearheaded numerous youth groups. I still look at Ras Kass‘ “Nature of the Threat” as the pinnacle of traveling down the information highway with a soundtrack. Today, you cannot sniff a reference to Nat Turner in today’s music.

But who is to blame for this? Could it be the “powers that be” deciding that we should dumb down our music to double their dollars? Could it be this generation of hip-hop kids are simply not motivated to learn the history of the culture? It’s truly tough to figure out the reasoning behind this. There was a smattering of artists who sprinkled tidbits of knowledge throughout their music a decade ago. Cee Lo Green would talk about liberation, Mos Def discussed the world water crisis and Common made a song for Assata Shakur. But today they’ve moved their artistic expression to new levels. Mos Def and Common are busy with Hollywood and Cee Lo has become more than just an emcee with a big belly.

It appears the new generation of rappers were raised on more Diddy than Chuck D. To me, it’s the best possible explanation for the lack of emcees dropping jewels and opting, instead, for rhymes about fresh clothes and chicks.

I don’t have the answers, but I do have the question that could certainly use some feedback.

Is today’s hip-hop “stupid?”

What do you think?

SOURCE: http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2010/08/22/is-todays-hip-hop-stupid/

Rappers are a lot of things to a lot of people—entertainers, artists, curators, street reporters and storytellers included. But over the course of the last few years, they’ve also added another title to their resumes: Role model.

In a lot of ways, that’s been a good thing. Most rappers weren’t born with silver spoons in their mouths. They didn’t grow up easy. They’ve had to persevere and overcome hardships to get where they’ve gotten to today. They’ve shown that with a little luck and a lot of hard work, anything is possible.

Jay-Z has exchanged text messages with President Obama (at least, he’s said he’s exchanged text messages with Obama—and who are we to argue?) and walked through his old projects with Oprah Winfrey. Diddy has created a multimillion-dollar empire, earned stock in one of the most trendy vodka brands of the moment (Ciroc Obama!) and turned a successful rap career into a pretty successful Hollywood career. And Snoop Dogg has gone from gangster to rap ambassador, repping for the block on Katy Perry‘s huge pop hit “California Girls” this summer and turning himself into a spokesman for a number of different companies.

Using them as examples, rappers sound like great models. But there are others who make rappers look like the worst role models in the world. Soulja Boy, for example, was caught on camera a couple of weeks ago in the same hotel room as infamous hip-hop groupie Kat Stacks and a pile of white powder that looked an awful lot like cocaine. T.I., who proclaimed himself reformed after serving a one-year sentence on gun charges last year, was recently busted for possession of Ecstasy after police pulled him over in Los Angeles. And the self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive” Lil Wayne continues to sit behind bars on gun charges with millions of rap fans anticipating his return to the game in November.

But that begs the questions: Is this a situation where a few bad apples are spoiling the whole bunch—or do rappers really make bad role models for kids? The truth is, it’s a little of both. Rappers—or successful rappers, at least—are edgy and do things to get people to notice them. So, by nature, that’s going to include things that aren’t necessarily the right things for kids to hear or see. At the same time, these same rappers are showing kids you can be successful and make something out of yourself, regardless of where you grow up and what you have (or don’t have) while you’re doing it.

Parents have to remember that no matter how good or bad they may be, rappers are going to be considered role models moving forward. As rap music continues to soar to new heights, rappers are going to become even more relevant and more kids are going to turn to them for help shaping themselves. It’s inevitable.

It’s important for parents to show kids the difference between good and bad role models in rap. Even though rappers like Soulja Boy and T.I. are showing the world not all rappers may be cut out to teach the youth, there are plenty of them out there that kids can—and should—look up to. They just need to know where to look.