This is the full and finished video for Jay-Z newest song "Run This Town" which features Rihanna and Kanye West. It's the second single off his album "Blueprint 3" which is scheduled to be released on September 11, 2009.

"Run This Town"
Artist: Jay-Z
Featuring: Rihanna and Kanye West
Album: Blue Print 3
Year: 2009
Location: New York
Label: Roc Nation

Will XV get signed before 2010? Of course he will! After releasing one of the most anticipated mixtapes of 2009 "Everybody's Nobody", and receiving 2500 downloads in under 12 hours, he has proven to all his critics that he is one of the best unsigned in the world. Not just in Kansas… in the world. Not just is America… in the world.

His new management team, Noizy Cricket, has all of the connections and promotional power that XV will need in order to create a record label bidding war. XV recently stated on his twitter that he got a call from Interscope Records (the record label that signed Noizy Cricket's other artist, Charles Hamilton), and in his recent interview with Karen Civil he mentioned that he's been getting a lot of support from record label executives. He's been featured on Hot 97, A-List Radio… heck, the college radio stations are still spinning tracks from his previous album "Complex", which I promoted for him back in 2007. He's now a featured artist on myspace music, and he'll most likely be on the cover of XXL's 10 freshmen of 2010 magazine in a few months. He is absolutely bound to get picked up by a major label, (most likely from the Universal Music Group family, unless he gets an offer from Roc Nation.). If XV isn't signed by 2010, I'll change my name to Mary Poppins.

UPDATED 8/13/2009

Someone on youtube said "What a good wedding song!". Sorry, I had to laugh at that one. This is another typical Akon record, with a catchy hook, a great instrumental and a chorus that glorifies strippers and gold diggers. All around it's a good song. Sway, from the UK, did a great job in putting this song together. I spoke to him a couple weeks ago when he was in New York City and he told me that Konvict Muzik was planning to release and market this song here in America before the end of the year. He performed it at the Urban Music Awards, earlier in the month. It received a lukewarm response, possibly due to his British accent. At times, I felt as if I was the only person in the front row dancing to it… maybe I was. He made a reference to his accent in “Silver and Gold“, when he says ""She's always telling me that she loves my accent but she's thinking to herself what the hell is he saying". Personally, I don't think the UK accent is really that hard to understand, although, maybe I’m just accustomed to hearing people use it because I have family over there. Last year when Sway released the "Go Hard" freestyle, he spoke about how his accent prevented him from getting signed to many American major labels. ""I was in New York trying to give them my disc, walked into Shady Records and said listen to this… Peter Rosenberg said 'this is a hit but because of your accent, I'm going to give it a miss.'" In my opinion, Sway's accent is barely noticeable especially when you compare it to other UK rappers such as Ghetts. But that's the way my country is, everyone knows that if "Silver and Gold" featured a rapper with an American accent, the song would be 3x platinum and #1 on the Billboard Charts. No matter what the underground critics in the UK say about Sway‘s new sound, you have to absolutely respect him. He's breaking down a lot of barriers here in this country and he's opening the doors for UK rappers to market their music and find success here in America.

"Silver and Gold"
Artist: Sway
Featuring: Akon
Album: The Signature LP
Year: 2009
Location: UK
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/swaydasafo
Label: Konvict Muzik

This is a fantastic video for Smoke Bulga's "Money On My Mind" featuring Jim Jones! It was directed by DanTheMan, who has filmed music videos for Prodigy, Termanology, 50 Cent and more. It was filmed on location, all throughout Boston (except for the scenes with Jim Jones which were filmed in New York City).

This is by far, the most expensive video and song that any Boston rapper has created all year. The rentals alone that are featured in this video will probably amount to $5,000 or more. Jim Jones was most likely paid, somewhere in the thousands, to appear on the song. Dan The Man is one of the best hip-hop music video directors in the Northeast. His camera alone, the Panasonic AG-HVX200, is worth over $5,000. The production costs of this video must have went "through the roof". I don't think anyone from Boston is going to top this one. At least not this year. Not with a recession… and a 8.7% Massachusetts unemployment rate. Smoke Bulga is the definition of "Ballin"! Ballin in a recession. Overall, Great song, Great video, Thumbs up!

"Money On My Mind"
Artist: Smoke Bulga
Featuring: Jim Jones
Director: Dan The Man
Location: Boston & New York City
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/smokebulga
Label: http://www.myspace.com/smokebulga
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmokeBulga

I labeled this as "Funny Video", because it's clearly a "funny video". A funny video with a great beat and some good lyrics, but overall, A FUNNY VIDEO! If you're not familiar with NGP, they're one of the hardest working hip-hop quartets in New York City. They're known for their unique sense of humor and their mascot which is a big yellow chicken. They're managed by Robert A. Celestin of RACLawFirm.com under his Intelligent Music Entertainment company. There's nothing really more to say, the video speaks for itself! Check out the details below for more info:

"Took Your Girl"
Artist: No Good People (NGP)
Manager: Robert A. Celestin
Producer: Concept
Director: Pumatrax aka Joe Puma
Location: New York City
Label: Intelligent Music Entertainment
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nogoodpeople
Twitter: http://twitter.com/nogoodpeople

I remember when all the hip-hop websites were featuring Charles Hamilton, calling him the next big thing in hip-hop, and praising his lyrical skill and delivery. What happened?

After a few media incidents, a lot of his die-hard fans have jumped on the "I hate Charles Hamilton" bandwagon.

I think a lot of people are forgetting that Charles Hamilton is linked to one of the strongest hip-hop management teams in New York City, and he's still signed to one of the most profitable record labels in the world. His career is far from over. His lyrical skill hasn't changed, if he was good in 2008 then he's still good now. So what, he got publicly embarrassed. I'm sure you've been embarrassed at one time in your life. Everyone makes mistakes. His public affairs have nothing to do with his lyrical skill.

Where are all the Charles Hamilton Fans?

Watch Drake's "Best I Ever Had" on TripletimeXL.com

This may be one of the few times you'll hear me mention Drake on this site, unless he continues to work with skilled seasoned video directors like Kanye West (yes I said it). Kanye West needs a lot more credit for his artistic talents, especially when it comes to videos, he never disappoints. I've read a lot of negative reviews on Drake's "Best I Ever Had" video (which was directed by Kanye West) from people that simply aren't Drake fans and that are greatly overlooking the brilliance of this video. You can hate the artist, but, don't hate the video. You can hate the director, but do not hate the video… because the video is amazing. Starting from the opening shot which sets the scene of a high school gym with raining confetti and a basketball team made up of "video models" running in slow motion in a comedic, yet sexy way, which pays homage to the slow motion effects used in the television series Baywatch. Kanye West made the video classy, and humorous throughout the entire way, by including a storyline of a girls basketball team that cares more about looking good for their coach (Drake) then they do about winning. This video is sheer entertainment. It's a creative concept that allows the hired music video models to be utilized as actresses instead of dancing props (like in other rap videos). The fictional school in the clip is named after Drake and it pays a slight homage to the real Drake University. The team that they're playing against are suppose to resemble the multi-championship winning Bishop Ford Academy in Brooklyn, New York, and Kanye West made sure to include multiple shots of the team banners hanging on the wall.
One common complaint from online critics is that the song has nothing to with the video and vice versa. My question is, why should it? Did any Brittany Spears music videos have anything to do with her songs? No. Did any P. Diddy music videos (other than "I'll be missing you") have anything to do with his songs? No. Were all those music videos brilliant… yes (with the exception of a couple flops). It takes a large amount of skill to take a song and make a video piece that is five to ten times bigger than the original song; and Kanye West achieved this feat with this video.

"Best I Ever Had"
Artist: Drake
Director: Kanye West
Setting: Bishop Ford Academy, Brooklyn, NYC
Album: Thank Me Later
Country: Canada/USA
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thisisdrake
Label: Young Money/Universal
Booking: booking@bryant-management.com

After 4 months of MP3 bloggers passing around her music, Santogold's "Creator" & "L.E.S. Artistes" are finally available for legal download in Itunes. I recommend downloading it today, especially if you feel guilty for downloading the leaked single. Remember, when you download from Itunes, Santogold actually gets paid… 70 cents to be exact.

Purchase the new Santogold single.

"Creator"
Artist: Santogold
Original Release Date: January 29, 2008
Label: Downtown Recordings
Download via: Amazon & Itunes

Check out this New York Hip-Hop Duo called 'Bad News'.

Bad News – "Burnin' Up"

Download and Share!

Artist: Bad News
Song Featured: "Burnin' Up"
Album: The Name Speaks Volumes
Year: 2007
Country: USA
State: New York
Genre: Hip-Hop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/badnewsnyc
Website: www.screwyork.com
Contact: info@screwyork.com