By: Zigs

New York based singer/songwriter Zigs, is New York’s hidden gem. The 25-year-old artist is taking her career to new heights and using her influence from hip hop, alternative rock, r&b and blues to do so. Growing up listening to artists like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen, Eve, The Grateful Dead and 50 Cent, Zigs draws inspiration from music on multiple cylinders. On her latest EP Note To Self, the rising singer showcases her harmonious vocals in a melodically pleasing way.

Within 5 tracks Zigs serves up an impressive body of work like never before. The rawness of this project stands out the most as she does an excellent job of giving listeners something deep to think about. One notable record from this release is the intro track titled “Free”. On this song the songstress flows about being free with amazing acoustic guitar rifts that gives this song a unique vibe. In Note to Self, Zigs opens up and lets us in to a side the artist has yet the share with the public. Her ability to relay her personal thoughts in a way that a relatable to most is why she is New York’s hidden gem.

As she continues to hone in on her craft, the New York creative works to give back to her community outside of music. In 2018, she founded “We’ve Got You Covered,” a NYC-based campaign to help the homeless stay warm and feel loved. With great music, the spirit of giving back, and a steadfast sound, Zigs is on her way to becoming a superstar. Tap in with her below by streaming her latest project Note To Self. 

The post New York Singer/Songwriter Zigs Is NY’s Hidden Musical Gem appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Former Seton Hall university forward Marcus Toney-El drops by episode #60 of Scoop B Radio with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Courtesy of: NJ.com

Marcus Toney-El ran Essex County, New Jersey in high school and college. A native of East Orange, New Jersey, Toney-El joins a list of other movers and shakers from Ill-Town to make a difference like Queen Latifah, Treach and Vin Rock from Naughty By Nature, actor John Amos, retired NBA player, Brevin Knight and Cleveland Browns all-purpose athlete Jabrill Peppers.

I first met Marcus Toney-El during my one-year stint as a columnist at Seton Hall Prep High School at their Pirate newspaper (I’d later transfer to Don Bosco Prep). I was a freshman, he was a senior. I was new to the school and adjusting to high school life and here was this larger than life figure floating the halls at The Prep.

What drew me to Toney-El was his magnetic personality. Everybody wanted to be around this tall 6-8 kid that reminded me of Tracy McGrady.

Check Out Marcus Toney-El and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On Scoop B Radio

Eventually we’d speak and created a player-writer bond.

I’ll never forget that bond because he was the first story that I wrote about in my column at the Seton Hall Pirate newspaper called, Scoop B’s NBA Beat.What was cool for me personally is that at the time, no freshman ever came into that school with their own column in their freshman year and what was even cooler is that Toney-El would create history in his senior year when he committed to Seton Hall University and was the guy that other top recruits to join him. That class would include, the late Eddie Griffin, a forward out of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia and Andre Barrett a speedy guard from New York City’ s Rice High School. They’d join center, Samuel Dalembert and Ty Shine and were coached by current Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker.

Those guys were a good squad, their skill set was awesome to see, professionally, I believe that they were still maturing yet were ahead of their time as their height, depth and skill-set represent what is today’s AAU, college and NBA mandates: small ball!

They were special! 

To me, locally they were to New Jersey what Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard were to the University of Michigan and the Fab 5.  “Yeah I have heard that,” Marcus Toney-El told me on episode 60 of Scoop B Radio.

“Obviously what we accomplished in that first year with what those guys did. But as far as putting that together, what is now called a ‘super team,’ the Wolverines, I think we were the next ones to do it and what is now the modern era of basketball. At a time where the sneaker companies really started to come in and started taking over and running the AAU circuit and putting people in places in college we was like right on the cusp of that.” 

Eddie Griffin would declare for the NBA Draft, Tommy Amaker would leave. Shoulda, coulda, woulda easily creeps in. How successful would Seton Hall men’s basketball have been? “I think about it often, Marcus Toney-El told me on Scoop B Radio. 

“Every time I take a trip down to memory lane. If TA [Tommy Amaker] doesn’t leave my freshman year and Eddie Griffin doesn’t leave, Sam Dalembert doesn’t leave and though we had some problems within our teams function at that time and Louis Orr was the new coach, we would have had the same team back next year. This was a team that preseason was ranked ninth in the country, the same team that should have beaten Illinois at Illinois after being up 20. This is the same team that even though we wound up having a mediocre record we still would make people nervous in the Big East Tournament. It provided at least a silver lining for the future but once TA left, Eddie left, Sam left Coach Orr came in and then we had to start all over again. Once we started over, it took a while for us to get back on track.” 

We even talked about Eddie Griffin. Having played for Tim Thomas’ Playaz AAU team together, Toney-El and Griffin were besties. That relationship carried over to college. Skill-wise, Griffin was a monster. Griffin, the seventh pick in the 2001 NBA Draft was a Rasheed Wallace clone, I swear! 

“Rasheed Wallace is Eddie’s favorite player,” Toney-El said. 

Eddie Griffin At Philly’s Roman Catholic High School

In college, I was an avid NBA Live player. I’d picked the Houston Rockets often on NBA Live 2004 and would start Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley Yao Ming and Eddie Griffin, when going head to head with my roommate and other classmates.

What fascinated me was how much of a double team that Griffin commanded. Griffin was so potent he could take his defender off the dribble, post up his defender, get closer to the basket and take the jumper, shoot the three or pass the ball. He had too many options available, it was scary!

I’d often find Steve Francis open in the corner for a nifty three pointer or I’d feed the ball to Yao Ming in the post for an easy jam.

But I digress.

Griffin’s start in the NBA was rough. He had a series of suspensions, court dates and missed practices during his first two years in the NBA with Houston and the New Jersey Nets. He’d also spent time in the Betty Ford Center for alcohol treatment in 2003-04.

Griffin died in a fatal car crash in 2007. His SUV collided with a freight train in a fiery crash. The crash was so bad, the only way that authorities could identify him was by dental records.

What was frustrating about Griffin was that he was so talented, but his body, his age and his maturity hadn’t caught up with him just yet. Griffin was a fantasy basketball player’s dream and an opposing coaches nightmare. Any basketball purist was praying for the day, that those stars aligned, because homeboy was a special player!

I’d often wonder if Eddie Griffin knew how talented he really was.“Eddie knew,” said Toney-El. 

“Eddie knew that he was talented. Eddie could do what he wanted to do. He was a triple double in high school, he was double-double in college, but the one thing he also knew was he probably shouldn’t have gone to the NBA after his freshman year because of everything that comes with it. He would call back home and say: ‘I wish I stayed in college.’ Not because of his talents, but because of everything that comes with it.” 

Biggest misconception that people had of Griffin?” [That] Eddie was crazy,” said Toney-El.

“Now I can tell a kid who doesn’t like the way I run things or isn’t playing the way he wants to play:  ‘I was you, I was in your shoes. I understand that feeling but this is what you gotta do so that you don’t have that feeling, so that you can learn.’  More than just basketball its more of a life lesson I got from Coach Orr. Honestly he has even brought me closer to God. Like I shared that with him and I thanked him before, because I didn’t grow up in a household that went to church and prayed everyday, was holier than thou, I didn’t have that.”

 “They want to punch your name in Google and see if your background checks out. Once it checks out they want your ear. So it makes my job easier when they know who they are dealing with. It makes the parents a little easier, but it is always a battle, it always is going to be athlete and parents alike that you aren’t going to be able to get through to which is fine its the nature of the business. But we know the system isn’t perfect nothing is perfect but I do it because I love it.”

The post Scoop B: Former Seton Hall Prep & Seton Hall University forward Marcus Toney-El Talks Tommy Amaker, Eddie Griffin & Coaching appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Nia Kay of Lifetime’s Rap Game caught up with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and discussed Queen Latifah’s influence. Photo via: Instagram

Queen Latifah is royalty. Just Another Day, U.N.I.T.Y., Latifah’s Had It Up To Here and Ladies First are the Queen’s classics!  If you don’t remember all of that, well then, heck, she was Khadijah James on Living Single.

But what happens when a Chicago teen actually knows the body of  work of said East Orange, New Jersey native Dana Owens aka Queen Latifah?

That’s where Nia Kay, enters the scene. Star of Jermaine Dupri’s Rap Game reality show on Lifetime TV. Nia got to know the Queen, a judge on that show while on set.

Check Out Nia Kay and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson

Appearing on a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Nia Kay broke it on down.

“Queen Latifah like she became my fave after seeing her in person,” Nia Kay told me. 

“So I was just like: ‘Queen Latifah, oh my gosh.’ Like you could feel the legendary-ness; like in her. You could feel, you could just see it, feel it in the atmosphere, everything. So it was like, just meeting her, she was like: ‘I’m glad you lived up to the hype.’ I was the only one she told that to. So it was like she already knew me when I walked through the doors.”

Apparently Nia Kay’s counterparts saw the vibe and thought it was a conspiracy. Not so fast, says Nia Kay!

“So all the other parents were telling my dad: ‘like this competition is rigged, you guys knew Queen Latifah blah blah blah.’

Nia Kay and her family took it all in stride!

“We didn’t know her,” said Nia Kay. “It’s the same way Jermaine found us on social media, she found us on social media. She didn’t find your child so you mad.”

On a cooler note, Nia Kay is enjoying the success of her latest EP, The Duchess that dropped in May. The seven track EPs is available via Apple Music and showcases her charisma and talent.

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The post Rap Game’s Nia Kay On Meeting Queen Latifah: “You could feel the legendary-ness” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Thursday’s are prime time, little did you know! It’s the Friday before Friday, the breath before the break, the eye of the storm. Here are some tunes that will roll you over into the end of your busy work week, or get that 4-day weekend started.

1. Rihanna – Consideration (ft. SZA)

2. Miguel – Coffee

3. The Notorious B.I.G – Party and Bullsh*t

4. WZRD – Teleport 2 Me, Jamie

5. LION BABE – Rockets

6. Jesse Boykins III – Prototype (COVER)

7. Kendrick Lamar – Night of the Living Junkies

8. De La Soul – Buddy (ft. A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah) 

9. Stevie Wonder – Jungle Fever

10. Frank Ocean – Songs for Women 

11. Chance the Rapper – Juice

12. Soul II Soul – Back to Life (Acapella)

13. Stwo – Fill the Void (ft. Amir Obe and Daniel Caesar)

14. Tyler, the Creator – She (ft. Frank Ocean)

15. LL Cool J – Hey Lover (ft. Boyz II Men)

Listen and comment what you think below. Stay thirsty, and finish off strong readers!

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The post RESPECT.’s Thirsty Thursday Playlist [LISTEN] appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If you know anything about Alicia Keys then you should know that she’s not only passionate about her music but she’s also very passionate if not more about the conditions of the world and black culture. The “This Girl is on Fire” songstress has gathered together a few actors, comedians and music industry’s brightest and golden stars to convey a message of  “What gets you killed, if you’re black in America.”  Some of the stars include: Kevin Hart, Beyonce, Taraji P. Henson, Rihanna, Common, Chris Rock, Queen Latifah, Chance the Rapper and many more. You can even see P!nk and Maroon 5’s front man, Adam Levine in the video– which goes to show that the “Black Lives Matter” movement is not only affecting black communities but other races as well.

According to Identities.Mic Keys stated that Philando Castile was not a martyr. He was an ordinary 32-year-old black man whom fed children for a living and had hoped to make it home after work on Wednesday but he never made it there. Keys stated:

“That’s what I kept thinking last Thursday when I woke up and logged onto Facebook, where a Facebook Live video showing Castile dying in the driver’s seat of a car had started going viral. Castile was with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter when Minnesota police officers stopped them.

What struck me was that this was just the beginning. Castile’s name would become a hashtag. His image would appear on posters. His story would be picked apart, his family paraded in front of cameras. His loved ones would be forced to make the case in public that Castile should not have been murdered.”

Due to these unforeseen events, Keys began to compile her list of black only involved police altercations that turned deadly. Keys stated that she did it to prove a point:

“There is a tax on black life in America, and we are better than this.”

That’s when Keys decided it was time to take action and get other “powerful voices” to stand along-side her and fight for justice. In the video each star states a sentence of  “normal” actions done by everyday individuals that could ultimately get you killed if you’re black and living in this society. The video is powerful and shows stars at their most vulnerable state; some even looking emotional as they say their sentence. After each statement a photo and name of the individual in whom the sentence is reflecting graces the screen.

At the end of the video Keys stresses the point of contacting President Barack Obama & congress to tell them that the time for change is NOW! And she couldn’t be more on point with that.

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The post Alicia Keys & 23 Other Celebs’ Message to Black America appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Lil’ Kim’s tribute was saved for last but certainly not least. After being introduced by Faith Evans, Lil Mama, Teyana Taylor, French Montana, and The Lox went out and performed some of her classics. She later came out and performed a song with Rich Homie Quan who was picked to rap Biggie’s part. The show even included a surprise cameo from Diddy and a runway fashion show of Ms. Kim the Queen B’s most iconic looks. All in all, VH1 put on a great show honoring these women.

To see videos of the performances on Vh1, click HERE.

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The post VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2016 Recap appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

2016  marks the first day of the 40th year that we highlight the history and countless number of African-American achievements that have helped to make our nation what it is today through the observance of Black History Month. I have been going through a lot of songs and videos that may give us food for thought, inspire us and reflect what this month should ideally be about…obtaining knowledge of self  and remembering that Black History is World History… It’s also something that occurs everyday, not just limited to the Month of February…

Remember when historian/ scholar Carter G Woodson established the second week in February Negro History Week in 1926,  it was done with the intent of acknowledging the birthday of Fredrick Douglass and providing us with a vehicle to push for Black History to be a foundation to American History…

Negro History Week grew over the years and in 1969 Black students at kent State expanded the week long celebration to a Black History month.. Several years later in 1976, President Gerald Ford acknowledged Black History Month..

Over the years lots of artists have stepped to the plate and delivered timeless songs that uplifted our history… I gathered a few for us to peep and reflect on.. Some of this is a mixture of the past and present.. enjoy..

You Must Learn by KRS-One

This is one of my favorites… it was dropped by KRS during what many considered the Golden Era of Hip Hop.. There were two different versions of this song. One used the break beat Supersporm by Captain Sky, the other  depicted in this video uses the popular break ‘Get Up and Dance‘ from Farther Than Imagination

Acknowledge Your History by the Jungle Brothers

This was always a favorite from the Jungle Brothers.. It’s off the album Forces of Nature.. I wish they had done a video because the song is dope.. Also coming out of Hip Hop’s Golden Era..

We Wear the Crown by Gary Byrd & Stevie Wonder

Byrd when he released this song, teams up with Stevie Wonder in 1983 and does a stellar Black History song.. The pairing represented a break in ‘elders supporting rap/Hip Hop when so many at that time were highly critical and against it.. They saw Hip Hop as an embarassing throwback.. Byrd and Wonder saw things a bit differently..They saw the potential ion Hip Hop and wanted to help lead the way…

Freedom Rap by Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes (of TLC), MC Lyte, Patra, Nefertiti, Da 5 Footaz Salt-N-Pepa, Meshell Ndegeocello

Many people have overlooked or don’t even know this about this song. It was done for a hard to find sound track for 1995 movie Panther..That album had a quite a few songs, but this was a standout in terms of the allstar cast of female emcees and singers who were at the top of the field going for it.. This song will forever be a treasure

Proud to Be Black & Black History Rap by Run DMC

I’m going back to back with Run DMC.. This song is off the landmark album Raising Hell and it speaks for itself.. damn near every song off that album was a banger especially at that time.. and this song hit the mark..Rap was still making its way into the mainstream and it was good to see Run DMC do this song in prominent spaces.. during the mid 80s…

The second song, Black History is a rare and hard to find song that was given away for FREE back in like 1984 and proceeds the Raising Hell lp…The Black Cultural Workshop (BCW) put the actual video together for the song

The post #Respect Celebrates #BlackHistoryMonth with “Timeless” Hip-Hop Classics appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.