While you’ve been paying attention to Van Jones and Jay-Z’s interview yesterday, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s follow up on Twitter, here’s a quick hip hop fact for you:

To this day, Big L and Jay-Z’s exclusive 1995 Stretch and Bobbito freestyle is the most viewed hip hop freestyle on YouTube.

That’s pretty significant for hip hop which will be graced by multitudes of hip hop overtures in this evening’s awards show. 

Before the internet, did you ever wonder where some of your favorite lyrical emcees got their huge break?

Stretch and Bobbito introduced the world to a multitude of unsigned artist in the 90s. 

I mean, we’re talking:  Big L, Nas, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Big Pun, Jay-Z, Eminem and the Fugees!!

Many of your favorite lyricists rocked the mic on NYC’s Stretch and Bobbito Show, which aired Thursday nights from 1-AM – 4 AM out of a basement studio with an old operating board from the 60’s.

According to Bobbito their underground rap show “put the street corner in a box.” The impact of that show was the subject of “Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives.”

So how did that come about?

“This is actually my second film, my first was titled Walk In The Park: Pick Up Basketball in NYC,” Bobbito Garcia told me on Scoop B Radio.

“I co-directed and co-produced that project which aired on PBS in January of 2014. A young producer by the name of Omar Costas was blown away by it and reached out to me by way of mutual contact and asked me about my next film. I told him that I just had a child and that my first film had aired on public television, so I wasn’t even trying to think about another film. He told me that he used to listen to me and Stretch and a lightbulb went off in my head. So I looked up his reel and knew that we needed to explore and literally three days later we were filming.”

The rest was like logical clockwork.

“I met Omar on Wednesday and on Saturday we were shooting. Riggs Morales who is the former editor of The Source Magazine and Noah Callahan, the Editor In Chief of Complex. 18 months later is when we started getting the big names like Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem because it took a long time to get them on camera. They were all willing and happy to be apart of it because they all premiered on our show as unsigned up and coming artists and that list runs long.”

The long list included Nas, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Eminem, Big Pun, Mase, Cam, Big L and more. As a matter of fact, total record sales for all the artists that premiered on their show exceed 300 million. The late-night program had a cult following in the art/fashion world and prison population.

Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives from Saboteur Media on Vimeo.

As to the infamous Jay-Z and Big L freestyle, Bobbito says folks are still in awe. “I actually mentor a couple of kids in Harlem and they’ll talk about the freestyle,” said Bobbito.

“And I’ll tell them you know that’s me saying “ooh wee” on the freestyle right and they don’t believe me at first, but they go back and listen to it and tell me: ‘yo that’s crazy, I heard you on the freestyle.’”

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The post Scoop B: Before the Grammy Awards, did you know Jay-Z’s big break came from a 90s NYC radio freestyle with Big L? appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo Credit: Screenshot

UPDATE: It looks like Ma$e has plenty more to say when he called into Ebro Darden’s show on Hot 97. Enjoy that below.

Sorry rap beef fans, the fun and enticing feud between Harlem rappers Cam’ron and Mase apparently has come to an end. Over the last few days, the two has been trending on social media with their very public share of diss tracks. After the release of Mase’s diss track “The Oracle” where he took numerous shots at Cam’ron, the Dipset MC quickly fired back with his own form of a diss record titled “Dinner Time.”

The rap slander seems to have come to an end after viewing a recent IG post. On Saturday night Cam’ron shared a screenshot to his Instagram page that shows Mase saying “You still my brother if you would like to be. This was just for bragging rights.”

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The post Cam’ron and Mase Beef Seemingly Has Come to an End (UPDATE) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

It’s been 20 years since Hip-Hop lost an icon.

The Notorious B.I.G. was more than Brooklyn’s son, he was one of Hip-Hop’s reigning kings who was known for dominating any track he touched. Although his tenure was cut short on March 9, 1997, Biggie’s two before death album releases and one posthumous produced a slew of hits that can rock any party today, but for every record on his album was an even hotter collaboration that shined due to his infamous “uh” adlib and story-like flow.

In his three short years in the mainstream game, Biggie managed to cause the greatest debates on who the greatest rapper of all time is, but one thing everyone will agree on is that Biggie Smalls was the illest. In celebration of the life and legacy of the Notorious B.I.G., RESPECT. has curated a list of some of Biggie’s most dope collabs, honoring one of the most “unbelievable” lyricist that ever touched the mic.

“Flava In Your Ear” (Remix)- Craig Mack feat. Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Rampage, Busta Rhymes

“Can’t You See” (Remix) – Total feat. Notorious B.I.G.

“Brooklyn’s Finest”- Jay Z feat. Notorious B.I.G.

“Notorious Thugs”- Notorious B.I.G. feat. Bone Thugs in Harmony

“The What”- Notorious B.I.G. feat. Method Man

“Dead Wrong”- Notorious B.I.G. feat. Eminem

“All About the Benjamins”- Puff Daddy feat. Notorious B.I.G., The Lox, Lil Kim

“F*cking You Tonight”- Notorious B.I.G. feat. R. Kelly

“Mo Money, Mo Problem”- Notorious B.I.G. feat. Ma$e

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The post We’ll Always Love Big Poppa: 10 of Biggie’s Most Dope Collabs appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 20: Jay Z (L) and Sean “Diddy” Combs aka Puff Daddy perform onstage during the Puff Daddy and The Family Bad Boy Reunion Tour presented by Ciroc Vodka And Live Nation at Barclays Center on May 20, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Live Nation)

There was a Brooklyn Takeover last night, and that was by none other than Bad Boy and Puff Daddy among other close celebrity friends in the building with their classic cameos. The Bad Boy Reunion tour kicked off the 25-city tour on Friday, May 20th and what a night to remember! Ironically the tour kicked off a night before what would have been Biggie‘s 44th birthday.  Puffy was in rare form in the Barclay Center dominating the stage while hosting and performing.  Puff was also accompanied by his Bad Boy legendary crew.

The family took us back with Mase hitting the stage, The LOX, 112 performed “Dance With Me,“ Faith Evans sang her heart out on “Soon as I Get Home” and Mary J. Blige killed it; Puff also complimented the Queen of Hip Hop Soul by saying, “There would be no Bad Boy without you.”  Lil’ Kim made you put your lighters up, Total, Carl Thomas, Mario Winans, Usher, and Busta Rhymes reminded us all why we were fans of that era.  Jadakiss made a special appearance on stage with The Lox, while French Montana gave us a dose of new-school flava in hip-hop.

Jay-Z and Nas made honorable appearances during reunion kick off night, with hits like, “Public Service Announcement” and “Made You Look.“  Jay-Z traveled 5,000 miles home to Brooklyn to be apart of this historical hip-hop night.

The crowd was hype filling the room with energy, chanting “Bad Boy” as Puff lit the arena and fans bought shirts in representation and honor of Notorious B.I.G.  They also sipped on cocktails that were made with Puff Daddy’s own Ciroc vodka.  Everyone was reacting and social media, including Puff himself posting pictures and discussing the moments of the greatest show on earth.

Check out some of the action on stage with Puff and Jay below:

Make sure to get tickets in a city near you!

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The post Bad Boy Reunited and Killed the Stage at Barclays Center appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Bad Boy come out and play…

Since Diddy and his crew took the stage at the 2015 BET Awards to celebrate Bad Boy Records 20th anniversary, fans have sat hoping and praying for a Bad Boy Reunion tour to happen. Whispers from artist camp said it was in the works but nothing has come to fruition until now.  Well…there’s still no tour, but we’re about to get a taste of what we can expect from said tour.

Diddy announced that he and the gang will perform a One Night Only concert at the Brooklyn Barclays Center on May 20th to honor The Notorious B.I.G.‘s 44th birthday.

“This isn’t just another concert, this is hip-hop history,” Diddy told REVOLT. “The Bad Boy Family includes some of the biggest names in music and songs that helped define a whole generation of music. Also, we are celebrating one of the greatest of all time, Notorious B.I.G. This will be a night to remember. I can’t wait to see you all there.”

The concert is scheduled to have epic performances from Faith Evans, Ma$e, Lil Kim, The Lox, Mario Winas, 112, Total, and French Montana.  Also, Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige are scheduled special guests to perform.

Tickets for B.I.G’s One Night Only bash go on sale Saturday April 2nd at 11am.

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The post Diddy & Bad Boy will be Honoring B.I.G.’s B-Day with Concert appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Mariah has made many contributions to the music world throughout her music career.  The singer is known for her signature whistle high note, but more importantly: Mariah is known for a good-ole collaboration.  Mimi’s partnership with artist that included singers and rappers has provided her with more than a few chart-topping collaborations that have broken records and made history. Here are a few of Mariah’s classic collaborations.

“Breakdown” featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: In 1997 Mariah dropped her sixth studio album Butterfly. The album’s fourth single “Breakdown” perfectly explains one’s feelings when a relationship abruptly ends; causing one to have an emotional breakdown. Wish Bone & Krazyie Bone of the rap group Bone Thugs are featured on the song, which was written by Carey and Stevie J. with production from Puffy Daddy and Stevie J. both.

“Heartbreaker” featuring Jay-Z: Carey’s first commercial single to feature a hip-hop artist was assisted by Jay-Z and produced by DJ Clue. Serving as Mariah’s leading single off her 1999, Rainbow album, it also contains a sample of “Attack of the Name Game” by Stacy Lattisaw. Aside from constantly being compared to one of Mariah’s early hit songs, “Heartbreaker (Dessert Storm)” remix featured pals Missy Elliott and Da Brat spitting rhymes over the Snoop Dogg sampled “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None).” The remix received a video too; just not as theatrical and expensive as the songs original that cost $2.5 million.

“When You Believe” featuring Whitney Houston: Battle of the biggest diva with the biggest voice was laid to rest, when Mariah and Whitney joined vocal forces for “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Written by Stephen Schwartz and produced by Babyface; the ladies went belt for belt on the inspirational tune. The tune went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 71^st ceremony.

“Honey” featuring The Bad Boy Family: Butterfly’s leading single was compliments of Stevie J., Q-Tip, Puff Daddy along with Mariah. All co-producing and writing the number one (3 weeks) hit song that’s credited as a re-defying moment in her career. The track contains samples from “The Body Rock” by the Treacherous Three, and “Hey DJ” by the World’s Famous Supreme Team. The popular remix features Mase and The Lox handling the intro and outro for the song, which critics called a “genuine transition!” However, the song’s video gained just as much attention with its James Bond theme, that had Mariah held hostage in a mansion before she makes a crafty escape. The video is rumored to mimic Carey’s divorce that took place at that time.

“Fantasy” featuring ODB: Mariah had a beautiful partnership with Puff Daddy when it came to music. In 1995 Puffy turned Daydream’s leading single “Fantasy” into a massive hit. Containing samples of “Genius of Love” from Tom Tom Club’s 1981 song. Mariah Carey and Dave Hall penned the perfect song but it was Wu-Tang Clan’s member Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s assisted verse that helped Carey’s transition into hip-hop. In the song, Mariah maybe fantasizing about an impossible relationship, but in real life the song experienced a new relationship, becoming the second song in Billboard history to debut atop the Hot 100, along with being the first female artist to achieve that. “Fantasy” held the number one spot down for eight consecutive weeks. *Sings “Me and Mariah…”

“One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men: 1995 was really good to Carey. The Daydream album was Mariah’s best-reviewed album, and became her second album to become certified diamond (10 millions records sold.) The album’s success was due to her hit “Fantasy,” but even more her biggest hit to date “One Sweet Day.” It speaks about losing a loved one and hanging on to the thoughts of seeing them again. It features R&B group, Boyz II Men, who wrote the song with Carey and Walter Afanasieff. Released on November 14, 1995 and on December 2. 1995 “One Sweet Day” began its reign in the 58-year history of the Billboard Hot 100. “One Sweet Day” spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, and is the LONGEST RUNNING NUMBER ONE SONG ON THE CHART EVER! “One Sweet Day” would receive six Grammy nominations, but sadly Carey left empty-handed at the 38^th ceremony. However, the song is ranked as the Best Collaboration of All Time, and will go down in music history.

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The post Check Out Some of Mariah Carey’s Chart-topping Collabo’s appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Known for his ability to morph multiple genres into one brilliant and colorful masterpiece (plastic soul), musical icon, David Bowie passed this morning (Monday, Jan. 11) after losing his battle with cancer.

The English legend was not afraid to be different; his music was tailored to those who were often alienated, but would later set the trend for others to follow. His ability to mix jazz, soul and rock accompanied his flamboyant appearance, literally allowing him to stand out from any other artist that tried to perfect his coined genre, glam-rock.

Bowie’s resilience and ability to teleport into multiple musical arenas has inspired a multitude of artists. Before paying their respects to Bowie’s family on social media, dozens of big name artists showed their appreciate by sampling his work.

Check out these five tracks that sampled the industry’s most admired chameleon.

1) Been Around the World by Puff Daddy, Mase & The Notorious B.I.G

Let’s Dance

2) Takeover by Jay-Z

Fame

3) Run and Hide by The Bullitts and Jay Electronica

Quicksand

4) Take Notice by J Dilla feat. Guilty Simpson

Soul Love

5) For Everything by Rapsody

Soul Love

The post Legends Never Die: 5 Hip-Hop Tracks That Praises Bowie’s Creativity appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.