Month: January 2008

I was determined not to mention Debbie Mathers in my upcoming articles. However, her recent, full detailed statements about her son Marshall push me to utter my opinion.
Debbie might not be likable in many fans’ opinion, but I think that we, the public, have no right to judge her. Despite the numerous public arguments ( not to mention the Court cases that opposed her to her very much famous son), despite the quite obvious lack of sincerity in some of her former statements, we are totally ignorant of what happened behind closed doors between Eminem and his mom.
The question that is going through my mind is: does Debbie currently lack publicity for her book? Is she so desperate for attention that she needs to give full details about her son’s eating behavior and health disorders?
Why did Debbie release this tell all book? What are her intentions?
A wrong and common opinion is that people who are writing a book‘s intention is to make big money. True and dedicated writers know that every book doesn’t make a best seller.
Tabloids revealed, back in 2005, that Eminem’s mom was gravely ill, in terminal stage of breast cancer. So maybe this book was intented to be her version of the facts revealed to the world. Maybe Debbie Mathers feels the need to clear her image.
But why does Debbie always need to put her son down in her revelations? Why does she overload the media with annoying and embarassing details, such as those contained in a recent Daily Mail article?
Do real fans really care about Eminem’s weight? The answer is a straight no. While groupies might care, dedicated fans do care about the music.
During Christmas Holidays, Eminem has been rushed to the hospital. He is just recovering from pneumonia. It looks like the artist is exhausted after years of a devilish tempo dictated by the music industry.
Em’s family also has this destructive habit to wash its dirty laundry in public. We shouldn’t add to it.
I think the world should give Eminem a break and help the artist to release the pressure.
Eminem has been working hard for years for our ears’ greatest pleasure. We have been to his concerts, rejoiced with his successes, been supportive when needed.
Now everybody is impatient about Em’s next album…please give the man a break. He’ll come back when ready.
And if he doesn’t, let him live his life, listen to his music, remember the good times, explore new artists…the world of hip hop isn’t limited to Slim Shady!
Copyright 2007 by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Global rating of the product: 4.75 stars
Born in Honululu, Hawaï, raised in New Jersey and New York, Crusafix is one of contemporary hip hop’s most proud representatives. Never afraid to carry a good dose of grittiness in his music nor to get analytical and critical about hip hop when needed, the talented artist puts his soul into his music.
A dark musical background announcing a chaotic universe in motion opens up Table Of Contents. Ready for war? Get caught into Crusafix verbal typhoon that is intelligently mixed up with soft keyboard sounds, catchy drum beats and scratches.
Dreams will allow the listener s ear to travel between the soft piano notes and the contrasting rough drum beats. Close your eyes, follow the artist s dream.
Nowadays offers some intellectual commentary about the current state of hip hop. Crusafix sets the record straight: record sales don t really matter, because the thing that really matters is the purity of hip hop. Only dedicated artists(in the real sense of the term) will be able to live out their passion with their listener. Only true artists will be able to offer their listeners a high quality music based on real talent. Well done.
Define is a lyrical jewel during which Crusafix excels at battling. Rhythmic, instrumentally rich, the track is definitely worth your listen.
On Time is a subtle mixture of trumpet, loud drum beats, soft vocals and lyrical mastery. It allows the listener to discover a softer side of Crusafix music.
To Be Real is announced by loud trumpet sounds. Again, Crusafix opens up the debate on staying true to the roots of hip hop. The cadenced song is a beautiful demonstration of the artist’s mastery and real good sense of rhythm. The track has a genuine old school flavor that will definitely please your hip hop loving ears.
Me Against The World is a powerful outlet for a justified rage, the kind of rage that invades your soul when you’re in the process of stage battling. Its old Hollywood chorus ending might surprise some of you, though.
Jersey Bible closes the album. Again, Crusafix blesses the mic with an amazing lyrical ease. Here speaks a man whose heart is dedicated to the art of hip hop.
If you do consider that hip hop is much more an art than a massive CD selling corporate industry, Crusafix’ CD should be placed in your library.
The Jersey Bible opens up the gates to real rap music that meets high standards in terms of purity, dedication and skills.
Give it a listen!
Copyright © by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

1. What motivated you to get started in the rap game?
First off I’d like to thank you for this opportunity, well my motivation at first was just to have fun it started off as a hobby then it jus became a 24/7 thing you know writing, keeping the pen and pad everywhere I went, then from there it went to booking studio sessions every other week, from there it basically became a profession of sorts. My passion and love really keep me motivated to do it now.
2. How did you choose your nickname?
I have 2 meanings for my name, one I say its a metaphor for being blessed, Blessed to be in the position I’m in now, blessed to be doing what I love, blessed to be around the people I’m involved with in this industry, blessed to have not taken the wrong road as some of my friends from the old days. It’s also an acronym, it stands for “Courageous Rapper Using Sentences As Fact Involving Xperience”.
3. Define your music within a few words…
If I can define my music in a few words, the words I’d choose would definitly be Personal,Different,Unique, and Lyrical. Personal because everything I spit,every word, the way I say my words all comes from the heart and draws inspiration from something that has happened in my life. Different because nobody raps the way I do, you can’t say I sound like anybody else doing it, I have a different flow, different way of writing, different way of picking and choosing my topics aswell as instrumentals to rap on. Unique well that kind of falls into the same catergory as different, I jus try to be the total opposite of everybody and everything that people call Hip Hop today. Lyrical because every line every word packs a punch, I’m a lyricist all I do is lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics all day.
4. According to you, what makes you appear as unique in the world of hip hop?
Like I stated before everything about me is unique nobody can say I sound like any other rapper thats out.Everything from my flow to lyrics the way I deliver my lyrics is way different. Plus the subjects I choose to speak about most rappers hide from all that and are afraid to speak on the topics I choose to speak of. I also feel that if nobody can relate to what I’m speaking of then the battle is sort of lost, I try to relate to the common people of today by speaking of issues that deals with each one of us as people in one aspect of our lives.
5. What is the biggest challenge you had to face since you started rapping?
Patience. I’m incredibly impatient, I have a hard time waiting for things. I usually jump the gun at times, my dude Paulie Hussle always tells me “I’m too eager”. So that really would be the biggest challenge I have to face.
6. Which artists have you collaborated with already?
The artist I’ve collaborated with already would be Hauztile(from Cali),G-Kid(From Perth Amboy, NJ) The Leegans(Bronx,NY),Minus P(Washington Heights,NY),Paulie Hussle(Union City,NJ),Alphabetical(Jersey City,NJ),Sincere(Kearny,NJ),Oddateee(Union City,NJ),Menace(Kearny,NJ),Bless(Florida),A-Murda(Florida),White Haze(Harrison,NJ),DJ Rick(Detroit),Timothy Jones,Jabril Aka Hookmaster(whose affiliated with Terror Squad’s Kill All Rats camp), and I’ve remixed countless records with some of your favorite R&B artist.
7. What is your opinion about the current state of hip hop?
Well I’m not going to say the popular answer of Hip Hop being dead. But Hip Hop to me is dead as the original state of the art. There’s a few artist that are still keeping it alive, but like my dude Archrival said to me once “I’m still bumping shit from the early 90’s like it just came out yesterday, and the artist I listen to on the Undergorund are still doing there thing so I listen to whats on the merchandise table so Hip Hop is still alive to me.”
8. Which hip hop artist (underground or mainstream) has earned your full respect and why?
My first answer would be Jay-z because of his versatility to stay in the game and still doing his thing after so long, I also respect his business Hustle. I respect Nas aswell because if it wasn’t for “It Was Written” I wouldn’t have ever wanted to pick up a pen in the first place. I also respect Big Pun because of his versatility aswell he still did to what some would consider commercial music but still killed it lyrically on every track and feature he hopped on. As far as on the Underground I respect my dude Paulie Hussle because of his business sense aswell as his music sense, plus he took me from recording in my house to a studio to work on my album so that I will forever respect him. Oddateee because in his own right he’s a legend, he’s performed in many states and countries that I’d love to tour and smoke weed at one day.
9. Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration?
My biggest source of inspiration is life. Like I said I usually draw from a certain point and time in my life and speak about in the best of my ability. I want to change the wrongs in my life and hopefully turn them into rights one day.
10. Old School or New School…where goes your preference?
I prefer both actually. People need to relize not all Old School is good and not all New School is bad.
11.Besides hip hop, what kind of music do you listen to?
This is a really good question, you can find me listening to alot of things like rock,reggae,spanish music.
I listen to all sorts of shit one day you can catch me bumpin Nas’s Illmatic and the next bumpin some Coldplay. Just the other day I got put onto The Beatles and Pink Floyd which I must further investigate there godliness. In other words you can say I’m ecletic when it comes to music. As long as it sounds good and bumps I’ll fuck with it.
12. Do you have any upcoming projects for 2008? If so, could you give us more insight about them?
Well of course my first project is my debut album “Jersey Bible”, you can catch me on Paulie Hussle’s album “A New Hope”, Alphabetical’s album “Alpha”, I will have a verse on the upcoming Oddateee album just don’t know if theres a title for it yet, White Haze’s “Sex,Drugs,And Violence” mixtape, I will also be dropping a mixtape in the fall entitled “Sunday School”. Aswell as many dvd projects that will involve the Gritty Records team and its affiliates.
13. Which artist(s) (underground or mainstream) you haven’t collaborated with yet- would you envision a collaboration with in a close future? Why?
Well as far as the Underground I can’t see myself on tracks with anybody except the people I mentioned above because I’m more of a in the moment kind of dude, if we’re in the studio at the same time and a tracks playing and we agree to that certain track then we’ll get to business. As far as mainstream I’d love to do a song with N.O.R.E because that dude is nasty and he’s a funny ass dude so I can definitly get down with that because I’m a wild dude when the record button is off. Jay-z because…well he’s Jay-z. Joe Budden because we’re both from New Jersey and I feel our styles would complement each other very well. Eminem because he’s crazy lyrical when he isn’t on commercial mode that would definitly set hip hop on fire. I’d also like to do a track with Amy Winehouse because shorty can sing and her music is crack so I can definitly fuck with that. Since this is the last question I’d to get in my shout outs, Shout out to my peoples Paulie Hussle,Sincere,White Haze,Alphabetical, and everybody else that is down with Gritty Records. Also if any unsigned artist wants to get his music played on radio add Real Deal Radio to your myspace and put us anywhere on your top, YOUR MUSIC WILL BE PLAYED. www.myspace.com/RealDealRadio201.
Crusafix’ my space account.
Copyright © by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

credit to Donna who sent me the link to Mojo’s article.
Eminem was admitted to the hospital under mysterious circumstances. Marshall Mathers, AKA Eminem, was under doctor’s care over the holidays according to his publicist. The reason cited was “complications due to pneumonia.” But several Mojo In The Morning listeners close to the situation have said that there is more to the story. Several employees of Henry Ford Macomb Hospital called with some serious accusations that we have not been able to confirm with Enimem’s management or hospital officials. Until we get a source that will go on record, we can only tell you that TMZ.com reported today that Em was rushed to the hospital due to a “serious heart condition” and remained in the hospital for several days. Their sources also say that Marshall’s weight has ballooned to over 200 lbs. Marshall’s publicist has told TMZ.com that a hospital visit took place and “he has since been released and is doing well recovering at home.” Calls to his record label by Mojo In The Morning have not been returned.
Eminem was last under doctor’s care – then in-patient rehab – for addiction to sleeping pills in 2005 and has been out of the spotlight since. As reported on Mojo In The Morning, he spent the latter part of 2007 in the recording studio working on new tracks as well as a new relationship. (Photos of his new girlfriend have been removed from our website in December at his lawyer’s request.) No release date has been set for a new album but it is expected in late 2008.
Stay tuned to Mojo In The Morning for more details. We wish Eminem a speedy recovery!

Definitely West Coast in their spirit, weed smoking bad ass boys Tha Low Life Gangstaz really know how to handle rhythm, vowels and sounds. Their music could be defined as a suble mixture between Snoop Dogg and Cypress Hill -yet they manage to keep a very genuine style of their own- , but you gotta travel into their colorful universe if you wanna have a precise idea about their style.
I Like To Roll is a beautiful combination of keyboards, drums and other distorted sounds that will remind you of an Up In Smoke atmosphere. a slight inch of irony, a drop of swinging instrumentals, catchy beats, a bunch of astute rhymes will make you like the song.
Loud drums in the background, soft flute notes, artists who perfectly know how to use the art of rhyming with special tongue effects-this is the introduction to the well handled One Ninein. A fast flow delivery, a dark piano background, an intelligent mixture of soft and dark will allow your ears to walk into a very specific gangsta universe. You are going to like the raw female vocals. This is how women should rap in my opinion.
Don’t sleep on One Ninein: the song is instrumentally and lyrically rich.
Rap Killa is another very rhythmic song in which you will be please to appreciate a gifted female emcee’s vocals. Merciless in her style, her words will puch anybody she encounters on her way. Beautifully done!
Bounce to This is enriched with that terrific ruthless flavor. Again, let female emcees combine their tight talents with their fellow male emcees. The lyrical effort, the specific Westcoast style, their incredible sense of rhythm need to be underlined.
If you like gangsta rap, you are probably going to love my brand new discovery: Tha Low Life Gangstaz.
Copyright © by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Read the original article here.Detroit rap group D12 has been on the quiet end of things for some time now.
The group, who lost one of their most prominent member–Eminem’s right hand man, Proof–has been rumored to be working on their junior album for well over a year now.
The LP, which is tentatively titled “The Ambition,” has now been confirmed by D12 member, Bizarre.
“We are currently in the studio working on our third album, our junior album. We’re about halfway finished.” Said Bizarre in a recent interview.
“We should probably be finished the first of next year. It’ll probably be in stores in April. There’s talk of a tour, but it’s just talk.” He continued.