Oklahoma City recording artist, Phil Lea, is providing the bedroom vibes for your late-night sessions and gracing the intimate beats with sensual lyrics. The seductive sounds for the follow up to his last single, “Fah Me” (produced by Hero) are accompanied by a video featuring Phil Lea at the center of attention, as beautiful women lavish him with affection in the privacy of a luxury hotel-suite somewhere in Atlanta.

After setting the tone enchanting vibes, Phil Lea has pressed paused on the lovely electric sounds to voice his point of view on being an African American male in today’s time. Lea pens, “Why can’t we breathe, why can’t we be justified, why can’t we be rationalized, why can’t we be treated with respect, treated equal.” This song solidifies different things that black people deal with in everyday life from cultural appropriation to assumed guilty, due to not having enough evidence in the court of law. Members of the African American community are treated unfairly and this is what Phil Lea had to say about it.

Listen to “Black People” above and be sure to drop us your thoughts in the comments.

The post Listen to New Music From Phil Lea – “BLACK PEOPLE” (Audio) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Philadelphia rapper Verse Mega teams with frequent collaborator and producer Nthebeats for “Justice Now,” a powerful rallying cry for victims of police brutality, which the duo first recorded following the tragic murder of Eric Garner by the hands of the NYPD. The pair were unable to release the track at the time, but sadly history has repeated itself with the barbaric killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department, and so the two felt the moment was right for it to finally be heard.

The track opens with voices from a protest—”What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”—that are actually used for the hook, and then it bursts forth with massive production from Nthebeats. His driving instrumental sets the pace for Mega to unleash his rapid-fire rhymes that, unfortunately, couldn’t be more timely in the wake of Floyd’s senseless murder, and the worldwide protests of police brutality that have ensued.

Throughout his bars, the Philly emcee addresses the disconnect between police and those they’re meant to serve and protect as well as the generations upon generations of injustice faced by African Americans. He also questions exactly what the word “justice” means while ending his bars with these incredibly poignant words: “If we can’t get no justice, then you can’t get no peace!”

“Justice Now” is available through all major digital retailers and streaming platforms, and is accompanied with a lyric video promo clip that’s paired with recent protest footage which you can view right here courtesy of RESPECT.

Smart URL: https://smarturl.it/justicenow

Follow Verse Mega Online: 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/versemega
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/VerseMega
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verse.mega
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/versemega
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7ATEU7WaTpyt8eQoDoG77m

Follow Nthebeats Online:
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/nthebeats
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nthebeats
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nthebeats

The post RESPECT. The Track: Verse Mega & Nthebeats – “Justice Now” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Dwayne Collins is a skilled musician originally from Florida, and currently residing in Rochester, New York.  Today, he delivers a powerful visual, for his latest single, “D’Evils“, with an important message inspired by the senseless violence against our communities, and of course, the music of Jay-Z.  This is indeed an interesting flip of a classic, and we appreciate the importance of music of substance.

Growing up in a detrimental environment, Dwayne is quite familiar with the life of crime, and serving time.  However, his time spent incarcerated gave him the opportunity to re-direct his energy into a more positive way of life.  Get familiar with the singer/songwriter/rapper/producer below!

RESPECT: What do you bring to R&B & hip-hop today in 2018?
Dwayne: What I bring today is the soul that was lost in R&B & hip-hop, with the glorified, new drug culture. Also a respect for lyricism that seems to be insignificant in today’s music, to some degree.  I can mix trap and the subject matter of the streets for the youth, with the soul and wordplay that will be valued by the older crowd.

RESPECT: Who influenced you then, and who influences you now?
What influenced me at a young age was soul music, and real hiphop. Definitely gospel music too, my mother would pla Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin and then a variety of gospel records . In my father’s house you would hear Slick Rick, Scarface, Rakim, Tupac, and Gapband, which opens your mind musically. In elementary school, I had a friend that really loved Greenday, and put me on , which led me to start forming my own opinions about music.

RESPECT: Tell us about your creating process and your studio vibes.
My studio vibe is 100 percent spiritual. I will only say what the beats tell me to say. I really dont write much and I prefer to work on the spot. Every workspace carries a different spiritual vibe. When that mixes with whatever you are and the production, everything will naturally happen. I am very in tune with myself and my surroundings.

RESPECT: How do you feel prison changed you as a man and artist?
Prison has overall made me a better person, and a stronger thinker. It gave me time to know who I am and what I am about alone, which in turn made me more in tune with my environment and the things that I see. Prison also taught me how, when, and why to Express myself, which makes my music much stronger.

RESPECT: What are you working on now, and what can we expect from you?
Right now, I’m working on a mixtape of Jay-Z remixes, called Unreasonable Doubt. I’m also working on another EP titled Ghetto Gospels, and getting ready to release Elektrik Soul, which will give everyone a small portion of what and who i am sonically.

Check out the thought-provoking visual and be sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

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The post RESPECT. Premiere: Get to Know Dwayne Collins – “D’Evils (Video) + Interview appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Joey Badass maybe ripping stages across the country with SchoolBoy Q on the Blank Face Lp Tour, but it didn’t stop him from dropping new music for fans.

The Brooklyn MC released another preview of his upcoming AABA LP with his latest single “Front and Center” produced by Cookin’ Soul. The hard-hitting track, which features a Spanish-infused sample is indeed inspired by the Netflix hit Narcos and according to Joey via Twitter was made while he was in Mexico last year.

https://twitter.com/joeyBADASS/status/789209861275856896

In addition to dropping heat, in an interview with Shay of 106KMEL, Joey confirmed that he worked on a joint track with Wiz Khalifa, although it’s unknown on whether the track will make the cut.

“I have been in the studio with my brother Wiz [Khalifa] the other night,” Joey said. “We were working on a song, a nice little song.”

Wiz Khalifa also confirmed via Twitter  that there was a collab that took place with the comment that the project “sounded like album material”.

Already donezo & it sounds like album material. https://t.co/IEvFtbE3JH

— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) October 14, 2016

Joey also opened up about the concept behind his upcoming album, revealing that he is “nervous” about the album with its heavy focus on the current #BlackLivesMatter movement.

In addition to discussing his album, Joey opened up that his original childhood dream didn’t include the mic but instead was set to be President of the United States.

“It’s crazy because I just realized that I was a rapper three weeks ago,” Joey said. “Because I think of myself as so many different things. Growing I was such a smart kid, I bet if you asked any of my school teachers the last thing they would think is that I would be a rapper, they would have  told you I was going to be President.”

Check out the interview and “Front & Center” below.

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The post Joey Badass Drops “Front and Center”, Talks AABA, #BlackLivesMatter & His Sex Tapes appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

This weekend, people gathered for the fourth edition of the annual Afro-Latino Festival in New York City to honor their culture and collectively heal through music. Powerful and poignant topics were engaged throughout the festivities. On Friday, festival-goers met at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, one of the festival’s many sponsors, to discuss issues affecting Afro-latinos in the United States today. These topics included Immigration and Marginalization and the Black Lives Matter Movement.

On Saturday and Sunday, the festival shuffled over to the Bed-Stuy’s Restoration Plaza where many afro-latino featured artists performed, including Cuban DJ Jigüe and Garifuna musician Aurelio Martinez. All in all, the festival was an enormous hit as hundreds gathered to celebrate their heritage and to discuss important issues, like the Black Lives Matter Movement. Check out some of the photos below or click here for even more.

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The post RESPECT. Photo Recap: 2016 #AfroLatinoFestNYC appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

One of the many pairs of handcuffs which seized hands the night of the Alton Sterling protests has been let loose. DeRay McKesson, a prominent figure in the omnipresent Black Lives Matter movement, was arrested the night of July 9th in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during protests for the death of Alton Sterling, and released this morning.

McKesson spent part of the night livestreaming the protests on Periscope, including the moment he was chased and arrested along the Airline Highway.  When the officer confronts McKesson he can be heard saying “You’re under arrest…. Don’t fight me, Don’t fight me.” After a small verbal resistance, McKesson tells his viewers: “I’m under arrest y’all.”

McKesson was one of around 100 protestors arrested that evening. Throughout the night, he chronicled several instances where protestors and police interacted, be it for an arrest or intimidation. McKesson was grabbed up and apparently charged for “obstruction of highway commerce.”

Earlier that day, he remarked on Twitter saying: “If anything happens tonight, it was caused by the police. Everybody has been peaceful tonight but them.”

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The post Activist DeRay McKesson Freed After Last Night’s Arrest appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

University of Michigan sophomore Travis Jones III, 19, stands with his mouth taped shut with “#We Can’t Breathe”

The notion of a city being denounced from a basic human right to fresh, clean water is a concerning issue that not only needs to be addressed, but also apprehended in a pragmatic manner because retrospectively speaking, the progressiveness of our communities will certainly be impacted negatively; if we continue to live as voiceless victims of racial and economic divisions that plague our nation’s vitality.

The Flint Water Crisis should be used as a platform to create better opportunities, by addressing health issues and financial concerns; for those whom are explicitly impacted. As we look at the situation at hand, problems become much more confusing. Egotistical personalities have superimposed themselves on this city’s water disaster, which could ultimately generate a false reality of hope for the residents and other conscientious if we allow it to.

According to hip-hop mogul, Russell Simmons, “”It’s not a natural disaster but they should be able to do more. What’s happening here, this kind of environmental racism could be happening in many other parts of the county. If this were Beverly Hills, it would be a minute before we found out and a second before someone would be blamed and be brought up on charges.”

Although the water epidemic has brought new attention to the city of Flint, it most certainly isn’t a new concept. We’ve seen what celebrities’ persuasiveness, and a strong media presences can bring to a crisis situation similar to The Flint Water Crisis.

Ferguson Market & Liquor, Mike Brown was allegedly last seen here before his death; becomes prime destination for looters.

Today, urban communities around America are growing substantially. Pain and suffering has monetized an environment of joy; even through the face of tragedy, and with or without the presence of media attention. Residents young and old are becoming more educated in all things social justice, business development, while understanding public policies that affect the vitality of inner-city neighborhoods, to ensure measures of a quality life are given to everyone in these communities.

Darius Simpson, an Eastern Michigan University student from Akron, Ohio, carries water he brought to donate for Flint residents.

The post Issues we Need to Address Beyond The Flint Water Crisis appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.