Photo Credit: J French

Rapper, multi-instrumentalist and producer J French is gearing up for his first album release with his lead single “Different Ain’t Different”.

“Different ain’t Different’ is about artistry not being as respected as it should. It’s about artists not being able to be artists without someone either completely biting them or duplicating their style, which depreciates the value of true artistry. This song is made from pure observation and you can tell by the lyrics.” 

The Oklahoma City based artist is ready to take the game by storm and believes he will do so with his forthcoming album ‘OGB‘. French comes from a musical background with his father being Brother Num, a two-time Grammy Award-winning musician.

Follow J French on Facebook and  Instagram

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The post RESPECT. Premiere: J French Releases Lead Single “Different Ain’t Different” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Album of the Year

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Taylor Swift – 1989 — Winner!
The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness
Chris Stapleton – Traveller
Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

Record of the Year

Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars — “Uptown Funk”
Ed Sheeran — “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”
D’Angelo – “Really Love”

Song of the Year

Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
Little Big Town – “Girl Crush”
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth — “See You Again”
Ed Sheeran — “Thinking Out Loud” — Winner!

Best Pop Solo Performance

Kelly Clarkson — “Heartbeat Song”
Ellie Goulding — “Love Me Like You Do”
Ed Sheeran — “Thinking Out Loud” — Winner!
Taylor Swift — “Blank Space”
The Weeknd — “Can’t Feel My Face”

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Florence + The Machine — “Ship To Wreck”
Maroon 5 — “Sugar”
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars — “Uptown Funk” — Winner!
Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar — “Bad Blood”
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth — “See You Again”

Best Pop Vocal Album

Kelly Clarkson — Piece
Florence + The Machine — How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Mark Ronson — Uptown Special
Taylor Swift — 1989 — Winner!
James Taylor — Before This World

Best Dance Recording

Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston — “We’re All We Need”
The Chemical Brothers — “Go”
Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar — “Never Catch Me”
Gallants — “Runaway (U & I)”
Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber — “Where Are Ü Now” — Winner!

Best R&B Album

Leon Bridges — Coming Home
D’Angelo And The Vanguard — Black Messiah — Winner!
Andra Day — Cheers to the Fall
Jazmine Sullivan — Reality Show
Charlie Wilson — Forever Charlie

Best R&B Performance

Tamar Braxton — “If I Don’t Have You”
Andra Day — “Rise Up”
Hiatus Kaiyote — “Breathing Underwater”
Jeremih Featuring J. Cole — “Planes”
The Weeknd — “Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)” — Winner!

Best R&B Song

Miguel — “Coffee”
The Weeknd — “Earned It”
Jazmine Sullivan — “Let It Burn”
D’Angelo — “Really Love” — Winner!
Tyrese — “Shame”

Best Urban Contemporary Album

The Internet — Ego Death
Kehlani — You Should Be Here
Lianne La Havas — Blood
Miguel — Wildheart
The Weeknd — Beauty Behind The Madness — Winner!

Best Traditional R&B Performance

Lalah Hathaway – “Little Ghetto Boy” — Winner!

Best Rap Album

J. Cole — 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Dr. Dre — Compton
Drake — If Youre Reading This Its Too Late
Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp A Butterfly – Winner!
Nicki Minaj — The Pinkprint

Best Rap Performance

J. Cole – “Apparently”
Drake – “Back to Back”
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” — Winner!
Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter”
Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney – “All Day”

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Big Sean Featuring Kanye West & John Legend — “One Man Can Change The World”
Common & John Legend — “Glory”
Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur — “Classic Man”
Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat – “These Walls” — Winner!
Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown — “Only”

Best Rap Song

Kanye West – “All Day”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” — Winner!
Drake – “Energy”
Common & John Legend – “Glory”
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”

Best Gospel Album

Karen Clark Sheard — Destined To Win (Live)
Dorinda Clark-Cole — Living It
Tasha Cobbs — One Place Live
Israel & Newbreed — Covered: Alive Is Asia [Live] (Deluxe) — Winner!
Jonathan McReynolds — Life Music: Stage Two

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

Jeff Bhaskar — Winner!
Dave Cobb
Diplo
Larry Klein
Blake Mills

Best Music Film

James Brown — Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown
Foo Fighters — Sonic Highways
Nina Simone — What Happened, Miss Simone?
Roger Water — The Wall
Amy Winehouse – Amy — Winner!

The post #RESPECT Check out the 2016 Grammy Nominations and Winner’s list appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

It seems like Storm Jonas might have inspired XO’TWOD, The Weeknd’s clothing imprint, to drop their latest clothing capsule.

The new “Hunter Green” collection features a mix of crew neck sweaters, beanies, and unisex tees. The capsule continues to rock the signature “XO” and ”XO’TWOD” logo made popular by the Canadian crooner. It serves as a follow up to 2015’s successful “Winter Wash” collection and the “Beauty Behind the Madness” collection.

Will The Weekend be wearing “Hunter Green” during his 2016 Grammy performance? Who knows. But for now you could be wearing it by purchasing a piece online at http://shop.theweeknd.com/store/.

The post The Weeknd Drops New Clothing Capsule appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Compton native, Kendrick Lamar is up for 11 Grammy Awards, which is one shy of the record set by Michael Jackson in 1984, and he will surely take a few of them–at the least–home. K. Dot set the world on fire with his “To Pimp a Butterfly” album, the deeply introspective, personal, and socially arousing follow-up to his autobiographical debut, “good kid, m.A.A.d. city”, which was nominated for several Grammys in 2014.

The artist behind the street anthem, “Alright,” soundtrack a new short film by the GRAMMYs, which celebrates the impact Kendrick has had on Compton–and the world–with the meticulous attention he pays to every word of his lyrics. Compton residents recite the song acappella before being joined by Kendrick himself, who turns up with a modest crowd of people who have just “witnessed greatness.”

Watch the clip below.

The post Kendrick Lamar Stars in Grammy Short Film “Witness Greatness” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The post Kehlani is Back with Her New Single “Did I” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The post Miguel Vs. Frank Ocean: Who will have the better album ? appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Check it out in it’s entirety after the break!

I know you were apart of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly –for the production of Wesley’s Theory .  What was it like working with K. Dot? 

He’s the shit. During his album process I believe he was on tour od and My Publisher Sam Taylor,who is the shittt, threw me the crazy oop and connected us and connected me with Dave Free. From there we got cool and would go back and forth through texts while he was on the road.So it wasnt like we rocked in the stu and shit. Until this one time Sam Taylor brought me in to meet him and play more shit. That shit was epic. Dot is genuine as fuck and really cares about the message to the people.Thats super rare today,substance and shit. He would hit me about certain tracks I sent him while he was on the road or in the stu, give me vibes etc.One of the vibes he was fuckin with heavy was the sample to the intro of “Wesley’s Theory”, The “Every Nigga Is a Star” sample which I got from my bro/mentor Pop Wansel. So I looped it and went in on it. He ended up cutting part of it into another song. Thats where Flying Lotus spazzed. Dude is nuts with the beats.Then next thing you know Im part of History/ A classic album.Salute to TDE. God is good.

Since his album’s release, what are your feelings towards it?

It’s the definition of Epic.The whole jawn is like a Spike Lee Movie in Compton. From the subjects and issues in the black community he’s speaking on, to the mix and coloring the album has. Ali murked off on the mix. This album was needed today,It’s deeper than a 808 trap beat (which i still fuck with) that has a catchy hook etc.He’s saying some shitttttt and its a super cohesive body of work. I’ve had the album on repeat since March 16th and I’m still not tired of it one bit. He raised the bar OD.

Who else have you had the opportunity with work with? Favorite? Most challenging

I’ve been blessed to work with Rihanna/Eminem,Usher,Wiz Khalifa,Miguel,Ty Dolla Sign,Elle Varner,Mary J. Blige,K.Michelle,Sevyn Streeter,Brandy,Nicki Minaj,Chris Brown,Alicia Keys,Overdoz,Marsha Ambrosius, Azealia Banks,Omarion,Gabi Wilson,Lil Kim,Busta Rhymes,Trinitee 5;7,Que,Mprynt,Kyndall,Kandace Springs,T-pain and many more amazing creatures. I can’t say I have a favorite because they all were special moments. Seeing how different the process is from artist to artist is interesting and epic. The most challenging is super hard to name. Every artist has their thing, you just have to maneuver through the wave.

Tell us what you were doing the moment you found out you won your first Grammy?

I was coolin watching the pre-show with moms.Then my bro Pop called me and told me the epic news (since they announced before main show) and I went off!!! od hype lol. My mom was crying. I called my brother.It was a classic moment and I thank God daily for it.

Is there anything in your career that you regret thus far? and Why?

Mannnnn..where do I start? I regret not having a lawyer present during a certain contract signing as a youngin. That’s really it. At the same time I don’t even regret that.This is a Music Business. It happens. Everything else is life.You learn from your mistakes and you progress.All love and positive vibes.

We notice you always have a tweet about God or blessings – Would you call yourself a religious man? Is it hard to stay focused on your faith in the music industry? How do you do it?

I would say I am a Christian because I believe Christianity is a way of life. It’s about having a relationship with God. And I have a strong Relationship with God.I owe everything to him. Its because of my faith that I can stay focused.It keeps me grounded and not caught up in the pit falls of success.How do I do it? With much prayer! I have a strong foundation being raised in the church and I have family and friends who are always encouraging and pray with me in good times and tough times. This industry can have you out there on the dark side, depressed, lost etc. If I didn’t have God I don’t know where I’d be.

What keeps you motivated? Musical inspirations?

The fact that I’m nowhere near where I wanna be in life keeps me motivated. There is no ceiling to my dreams. I am always motivated by setting goals that are challenging and my determination to achieve those goals are od. Musically I’m inspired by Dilla,Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,Dj Khalil,Rockwilder,Spike Lee films,Don Blackman,Herbie Hancock,Bernard Edwards,Dexter Wansel,Bink,Swizz,Pharrell,Dr.Luke,Max Martin, Dj Battlecat,Holland-Dozier-Holland,Pete Rock,Stevie J,Quincy,Stevie,No Id,Q-tip,Ye, and soooo much more. I’m inspired by substance and whatever feels good inside. Whoever got the chords on deck.

What is your routine before you create a mind boggling production? What are your essentials during the creative process?

I’m all about the vibe. Energy is key. I like to listen to a lot of random shit. You might think its a party going on in the stu if you outside the door at times, then you walk in and its just me damn near crying because of a chord progression in the hook or the way they brought in the backgrounds from the hook and just let it rock with  just the music or just the drums etc. Some high shit. And my essentials are just a lot of tree,some jack, more tree,good vibes,some top and dim lights.Only Positive vibes.

What make your production so unique?

I think what makes my production so unique is my approach. I’m not the reggie type. I’m naturally diverse as fuck but still keep that nigga in it. That grit. I go with whatever feels good,not chase what seems to be working at the time. Having the big homies I’ve had in life definitely has alot to do with it also.I was like a sponge as a youngin, Now I’m a beast and nowhere near my prime/peak. That’s the scary part.

What are you cookin’ up now in your lab? Any hints?

That Crack. I got some dope shit coming out as well with Ty Dolla, Miguel,Usher,Sevyn,Overdoz,Prince Royce,Brandy,Jill Scott,and many more that I can’t mention until Donnie Meadows confirms it.

Make sure you follow Flippa on Twitter/IG to stay updated on his next projects.

The post Interview: Getting To Know Grammy Award Winning Producer, Flippa appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.