By: Donte Maurice

Los Angeles rising star Ye Ali, is using his authentic sound to influence the music business in a major way. Having recently produced for Chris Brown and Eric Bellinger, his talent as a producer has propelled him into a fruitful career as a recording artist.

Coming off of his Private Suite 2 release, Ali is a riding out a musical wave like never before. He is bringing back that sexy, 90’s R&B, that will serve as the summer soundtrack for music lovers worldwide.

I caught up with this hot shot for a candid interview surrounding his current success. He candidly discussed being a recoding artist, putting out new material and working with some of music’s biggest acts to date.

Ye Ali Interview

RESPECT: How influential has 90’s r&b music been on your own sound?

YE ALI: Im a big fan of 90s R&B groups so they definitely influence my sound a lot. I didn’t really get into R&B until I became a musician so I always find new groups that I never heard of on line.

RESPECT: What inspired the releases of your private suite 2 project?

YE ALI: I just felt like putting out a body of work to add to my collection. PS1 was released out of nowhere so I thought it was only right to have a similar release for the follow up. I like bodies of work more than singles because it tells a story and is a bit more personal to the fan. I was in a zone for a week and created the majority of the project in that week.

RESPECT: How has the response been from fans since its release?

YE ALI: It’s been great, only complaint was that the songs were too short. That was my plan the whole time though. I wanted to make the fans kind of mad the song wasn’t longer just to make it a conversation point.

RESPECT: What is it like working with Chris Brown, and what song(s) on his
Indigo album did you produce?

YE ALI: It is cool to work with anyone who is a legend in the game. So from that perspective I was grateful. I only co wrote on “Emerald” featuring Juicy J and Juvenile. I started this song in November of 2018 with a songwriter name Felli Ferraro.

I think that is how you spell it. She is amazing so shoutout to her because she lead the way and I followed her lead. Chris made it easy because he told us the concept/title to the song so that gave us parameters to work.

RESPECT: How did your relationship with Eric Bellinger develop?

YE ALI: We met through my friend Milan who was a photographer and videographer for Eric for a time in 2014-15. I met Eric on set with Fetty Wap for their song “Valet” I believe. Few years later I meet Eric in the studio and we do “Big Body Benz”. Just some full circle life shit basically.

RESPECT: What is up next for you?

YE ALI: Traphousejodeci 2 executive produced by Bizness Boi is coming out in the Fall.

Click here below to stream Ye Ali’s latest project Private Suite 2.

The post Ye Ali Talks New Music, Working With Chris Brown & Creating Music With Eric Bellinger appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Turn up below.

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Enjoy “Let Me See” below.

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Image credit: Sony/Columbia

Uncle Juicy J hasn’t gone anywhere, and isn’t planning to anytime soon. The Hip-Hop pioneer has apparently been working on an official follow-up to last year’s Rubba Band Business, and has revealed a presumed new track from his forthcoming project titled “Neighbor,” a collaboration with Travis Scott. The song was premiered via Billboard, where the Juiceman explained how its creation went down during a quick Q&A:

Travis called me up and reached out about hearing some new beats when he was working on Astroworld. We vibed out in the studio. On my way out, after we had been in the studio for three hours, I was like, “Yo, Travis, let me get a record for my new album.” He went into his files and pulled up “Neighbor.”

It was like a long verse, but I thought it was hard as fuck. I told him to play it again. The beat was already done and he had everything on there. It didn’t really have a format to it originally. When I got to the studio the next day, I took the track and chopped it up. I took a piece and made a hook. The part where he was rapping I put first. Then I added a verse on it and it was magic from there. I had to put it in a sequence.

In that same interview, he also revealed that he cooked up over 50 other songs with $uicideBoy$, Tay Keith, Kevin Gates and Lil Skies….I know I’m excited to hear those cuts when they surface.

Enjoy “Neighbor” below.

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The post Juicy J & Travis Scott Turn Up on “Neighbor” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: Soundcloud/Juicy J

Juicy J is back in action following last December’s Rubba Band Business and this year’s SHUTDAFUKUP mixtape. This week, he drops both a freestyle over his (Three 6 Mafia‘s) own classic 2000’s cut “Who Run It” (a presumed response to the likes of A$AP Rocky, G Herbo and more going in over the instrumental) and a new video for “Working For It,” which is taken from the aforementioned mixtape. Enjoy both below (you may want to wait to watch the visual after work).

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Image credit; Juicy J/Kemosabe

UPDATE: Also added — a dope visual for “No Mo” (below).

In contrast to 2013’s second wind album of sorts Stay Trippy, Juicy J‘s Rubba Band Business basically came and went with little to no fanfare, barely even cracking the Billboard charts. Being that it took him four years to release it, we can only imagine that label drama that came with that ill-fated release — which is probably why fans received fire mixtapes from the Three 6 Mafia producer to hold them over (ex. from Blue Dream & Lean 2 to Highly Intoxicated). With that said, it only makes sense for the Juiceman to deliver a new project in this manner, titled SHUTDAFUKUP, a mostly collaborative effort with production team $uicideboy$. In addition, Wiz Khalifa, Cardi B, Mike WiLL Made It, Project Pat, Lil Peep (RIP), Lil Pump and more provide assistance.

Stream SHUTDAFUKUP in full below.

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Big Sean & Metro Boomin – Double Or Nothing

G.O.O.D./Def Jam/Boominati Worldwide/Republic

Both Big Sean and Metro Boomin have already made massive waves this year with critically-acclaimed albums — Sean dropped off I Decided. while Boomin created collaborative masterpieces with NAV, 21 Savage and Offset. Now, the Detroit rhymer and St. Louis (to Atlanta) producer delivers Double Or Nothing, a 10-track release that also sees appearances from Boomin’s usual suspects: Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, 21 Savage, Young Thug and Swae Lee. Fellow Detroit artist and rising star Kash Doll also joins Sean on album standout “So Good.”

Lil Durk & Tee Grizzley – Bloodas

Image credit: 300 Entertainment

Big Sean isn’t the only Motor City rapper putting out heat this weekend: Tee Grizzley joined forces with Chicago’s Lil Durk for their own collaborative release Bloodas, a 12-track offering led by the hard-hitting cut “What Yo City Like.” The project follows Durk’s October EP drop Signed To The Streets 2.5.

G Perico – To Tha Left

Image credit: So Way Out

Los Angeles emcee G Perico has been working. He’s already released two projects: All Blue and G-Worthy, the latter of which was alongside Jay Worthy and producer Cardo. Now, he delivers a new project titled 2 Tha Left, which comes with 15 tracks and appearances from Nef The Pharoah, A.D., TeeCee4800, Curren$y and more. Also added: a visual for the track “I Love Thots.”

Juicy J – Rubba Band Business

Image credit: Columbia

It’s been four years since Juicy J dropped the career-revitalizing Stay Trippy, which was led by chart-topping hits “Bandz A Make Her Dance,” “Show Out” and “Bounce It.” Following a slew of mixtapes to hold his fans over, the Three 6 Mafia veteran and Memphis pioneer is back with a new album titled Rubba Band Business, which is more of the same awesomeness his fans expect. With 13 tracks, appearances include A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Project Pat, Denzel Curry, Offset, Ty Dolla $ign, Travis Scott and Belly.

JayKae – Where Have You Been?

Image credit: Doing Bits Worldwide Limited

Last but not least, we head to Birmingham (UK) for JayKae‘s new release, Where Have You Been? The project sees 8 tracks with appearances from Murkage Dave, S-X, TiGA and YASeeN RosaY (unfortunately, no sight of Froggy collaborator Dapz On The Map). Singles include “Every Country,” “Pull Up” and — EP standout and closer — “Toothache.” We’ve included a few notable visuals as well. R.I.P. Depzman.

Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. COLLECTORS EDITION.

Image credit: TDE/Aftermath/Interscope

Given the hoopla surrounding whether or not the greatest album of 2017 was actually two albums when listened to in reverse order, it only made lucrative sense for Kendrick Lamar and TDE to milk a few more pennies out of the year. Thus, they bring to us DAMN. COLLECTORS EDITION. to save you some trouble. Don’t act like you’re not going to add this to your digital library.

[ALSO CHECK OUT: Quality Control’s new compilation Control The Streets, Vol. 1]

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The post New Album Friday: Big Sean & Metro Boomin, G Perico, Juicy J & More appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.