Dr. Dre is threatening a lawsuit against Sony Pictures if they continue on with the release of Michel’le’s Lifetime biopic.

Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le is Sony’s new made-for-TV movie based on the R&B songstress’ life and portrays the hip-hop mogul as a woman beater. The pair dated for 6 years and have a son together.

Dre’s legal team sent Sony Pictures a cease and desist letter threatening legal action if it’s released.

TMZ reports that in the letter he denies abusing Michel’le. It also references to their relationship and states that since it ended Michel’le has never mentioned any kind of abuse or violent behavior on his part.

Dr. Dre’s depiction in the film is hinted at in the film’s trailer which was released last month. The trailer shows a scene where Dre (played by Curtis Hamilton) grabbed Michel’le ( Rhyon Nicole Brown) by the neck after she messed up a take.

The trailer is just a snippet of Dre’s violent behavior toward Michel’le which also includes pulling her hair, pulling a gun on her and punching her in the face.

This is not the first time that Michel’le has alluded to a violent relationship. After the release of Straight Outta Compton, she conducted an interview with DJ Vlad where she referred to herself as “a quiet girlfriend who got beat up and told to sit down and shut up.”

Dre’s abusive past also came to light after the 2015 film was released when it was reported that a scene of him assaulting hip-hop writer Dee Barnes was cut from the original script.  He later issued an apology for his past actions but did not specifically address any one woman.

Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le is set to be released on October 15^th.

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It’s official! After leaving Sony nearly 15 years ago, Mariah Carey has penned a new deal with Epic records, reuniting her with with L.A. Reid and the Sony family. Few details have emerged about her first album back on the label, but in preparation for her “#1’s” concert series at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, (Beginning 5.6) announcing the new deal will only drive fans, old and new, to her live performances. 2015 could may very well be Mariah’s major comeback year.

The post News: Mariah Carey signs to Epic Records appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

To understand Maxsta, it helps to know that in addition to being an MC—and a fine one at that—he really knows where he’s going. Ask him about his music and he’s as expressive as any seasoned veteran. But try to suppress or even undermine him, and he will sting like a bee. Not only is his latest EP, The Maxtape 1.5, more mature than his last, but also he is on a mission “to make people care enough” for him to “remain relevant.” While his last record’s genesis was the result of his own creativity, the 22-year-old’s latest project was the outcome of a more explanatory process. Maybe it is the spontaneity that is the special sauce. Regardless, the result is a melodic, sometimes even upbeat EP, which adheres to his experiences growing up in East London, UK.

Ever since he arrived on the scene, Maxsta managed to etch out a career by bringing listeners into his personal space. Surprisingly—or maybe unsurprisingly—since parting ways with his former label, Sony, there’s something unhurried about him now, as if he’s ready to take on the world. Over the phone, Maxsta spoke excitedly about his new record, outlining its influence. He also takes his time answering questions waist deep, expressing his happiness having left Sony, and what he wants people to take away from his music.

Tell me about the birth of Maxsta. When did you first start rhyming or penning lyrics?
At first, I used to play a lot of instruments. Music was always a thing that I liked. When I got to the age of 11, I started writing lyrics because I thought rap was too mainstream at the time. I never really rapped very much, I just wrote lyrics. After that, I guess it progressed with me getting older and finding out that I liked Grime and that I also identified with the culture. I eventually started spitting in the playground but that took time because I always believed I never had enough confidence to really spit my bars to anyone. I would only MC to my friends who would then encourage me.

How much does music play into your daily life? Do you wake up every day and set aside time to write?
Yeah, but sometimes I like to take a break from writing. Not that I felt burnt out, but after I finished this mixtape I realized that I wanted to be more inspired life-wise, do new things and have new experiences. But recently I’ve been writing every day like crazy. I was even writing not too long ago.

Do you find, sometimes, that when you create a record you’re attracted to certain themes because of what you’re going through?
I definitely feel that my music is what I see and do. Sometimes I might say the craziest things and people might think differently, but eight times out of 10, it probably is true.

Did you start out trying to be something you weren’t, or have you always been as you are now?
I have always been the same but with age and confidence, I think about a lot more things now that I’m older. For example, I never used to go out clubbing and I have been through a lot of life situations. So I’m always learning, especially with my behavior and other stuff. The main thing for me now is that I’ve got to use this year to make people care enough for me to remain relevant.

It’s been five years since you released your debut, The Maxtape. Did you know that it was something that would be popular, or are you usually surprised by what people gravitate towards?
I’m definitely surprised. I think as an artist for different reasons you’re going to choose different things and like different things. People always ask me, “Do you have a favorite song?” And I honestly don’t because I like different songs for different reasons.

A lot of artists will do something once and then move on. What’s nice is that you’re providing a concept that takes shape in the form of a journey. Can you describe the evolution of The Maxtape 1.5?
With The Maxtape, I thought to myself whilst doing it of Jay-Z and what he did with The Blueprint. He has loads of other albums but when it comes to that one series there’s like an alignment in terms of it’s uniqueness. I released The Maxtape 1 when I was 17 and I was talking about kids not wanting to go to school to get good grades and I even made a song about my mom. I feel that’s why a lot of people at my age were able to relate to it so much. I’m 22 now and with The Maxtape 1.5, I basically looked inside myself and documented everything that I was thinking—all my points of view. There might be a tune where I mention my brother, or the way I see the area now where I used to live. It’s basically a diary of the current events of my view points.

You seem very comfortable with getting older. I really admire that.
Yeah. I embrace it, definitely. I remember thinking before that it was cool to be young. I was even speaking to this girl the other day and I noticed that I bumped up my age [laughs]. Adult life is cool.

When you were 15 years-old, what did 22 mean to you?
When I heard of someone being 22, I remember thinking, “You’re old, man.”

Was The Maxtape meant to be a one-off, or was it always something that would lead to another?
I added the “1.5” because I felt as though I wasn’t ready to call it The Maxtape 2. I didn’t feel like it was that. I felt like I need to give a quick introduction into my story again and get back in sync with Maxsta. I’ve just come off the back of being with a label for two years and where every tune I was putting out wasn’t necessarily chosen by me. Of course, I made the records, but I was in a situation where I wasn’t as free as I could have been. I’ve come out of a situation where I literally had been kind of controlled. The label was putting out my singles every six months and I felt useless not being able to do anything. So this is just like a little taster of where I am right now. I’m now already working on the stuff that is next to come. After I’ve shot every video for this project, the story is not going away. I’m not on a label anymore, I feel like I’m starting all over again. To standout I’ve got to act like I’m a new artist who is hungry in order to reinvent myself and show people everything they don’t know that I’m possibly capable of.

Did you become jaded with the label side and being told what to do? Is there truth to that, or is it just something that just wasn’t right for you?
You know what, there were many times when I wasn’t happy, especially in terms of picking what tunes I wanted to make. I would get sent a beat and not be too sure about it, but still I would go into the studio and spit some bars over it and just go along with the flow. Usually, when that happens and everyone hears the song they would be like, “Oh my God, this is really cool. The guys at Radio 1 will love this. Max, we think this should be the next one.” And I would be like, “What about this tune?” Then their response would usually be, “That’s not the sound that’s really around right now.” But hold on a second I’m not meant to be following a sound I’m meant to be dictating my sound, you know?

Do you have anything you regret?
I regret the fact that as soon as I got signed I didn’t grow as much as I should’ve and showed my full potential. I feel like I’m back on track, not completely, because I’m still getting used to the fact that I can pretty much do whatever I like.

I’m going to mention a few of your songs and I want your immediate reactions or how you feel about them. Let’s start with “Got Gassed.”
There are some crazy flows here and there – some real Twista type vibe. I really like the energy of the beat, man. It’s an energy tune. Energy is the word for “Got Gassed.”

There is a line in the song where you say, “No tints when I swerve around London, young Max might get clocked by the junction. Think I’m slipping that’s not how I function. I get a little nasty…” Do you think you work more out of anger?
[Laughs.] No, man, that’s not actually anger. At worst, I would say that’s cheek, but I’m surprised that it’s been misinterpreted as anger because even when I have like clashes and stuff I find them funny. I like taking the piss at times and being cheeky. It’s never anger because it’s never that deep.

Your upbringing plays a big part of your music, but it’s not the glamorous side, but rather a different reality that many can associate with. How has that influenced your outlook, and with that, your stories?
I was exposed to people that I can honestly say were evil. That’s what happens you get bad characters in some places and good characters as well, but sometimes it depends what you align yourself with, I guess. Sometimes being a young black boy is kind of weird because the way that the world looks at you. When you’re walking down the street there’s someone who for no reason that will suddenly just clutch their handbag. Why is that? You’re just a black kid who’s walking somewhere. This is something that has happened to me—you walk past someone and they look edgy and start to think you’re going to rob them. I think on that kind of level those kinds of things subconsciously make you end up thinking, Fuck the world and the system. But when you get older you realize that there are a lot of other ways to go about dealing with stuff and it’s not about taking it out on people, or each other. I don’t know why. as black kids. we actually kill each other worldwide. In fact, we help to decrease the rate of our own people ourselves. It’s just crazy. The cycle is constantly repeating itself.

“Brotherhood.” What position does it occupy in your body of work?
Underrated, definitely. Very high-level of lyricism — that is hugely underrated.

On that song, you take a candid look back at your past. What do you want people to take from your music when you do that?
Obviously, everyone talks about the past and stuff but I really am trying to paint a picture of who I am—a kid from East London. And I’m trying to say it in the most truthful way that I can say it.

Do you feel any responsibility in bringing about a change? Perhaps you could be a mayor or politician?
I don’t know about mayor, but I definitely feel strongly about these kinds of issues and why we are like that as young people. In our culture, we glorify the shooter, like we glorify him until he shoots someone. People are driving around in their cars listening to this person glorying these things. It’s all about being bad or identifying with the gangster role – putting up gang signs. It’s sad.

So let me ask you this, have you ever gotten in trouble with another artist for your lyrical expression?
Yeah, loads. The other day someone came up to me all upset because I did a tune last year in which I mentioned their name. It wasn’t even that bad, you know what I mean? I think because I’ve got a cheeky character, people will dramatize whatever I say to them. But why is that everyone loves this thing called grime until they hear their name? Isn’t it not the lyrical sport which we’re all supposed to be part-taking in? It’s all fun and games.

What’s it like for you when people listen to your music and get upset or say bad things about it?
I listen to criticism and I take it on board. I am my biggest hater, so you couldn’t critique me more than I critique myself.

How do you want to be remembered? If you could write your own obituary, what would it say?
He was a very ambitious person who was passionate about his work. He was a hard worker and a loving person towards his friends and family.

The post Interview: Maxsta – No Compromise, No Regrets appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Every now and then you come across an artist who’s not only talented, but also has a level-head on his shoulders. QuESt is one such artist. The Miami born spitter is on the rise, shooting visuals that rival those of today’s “greats” and dropping bars that solidify him a position in the forever evolving world of hip-hop. With just over 4k followers on Twitter, he already has a verified account. Not that it means much to QuEST, because it doesn’t, but it does mean that people are paying attention; a whole lot of people.

How long have you been making music?

I’ve been writing music since I was 7, I’ve been recording music since I was 12 and I’ve been putting music out on the internet since I was 17; I’m 21 now.

“John Q speak from the heart pardon my honesty.” – Would you mind explaining to the fans the origins of the quote?

No doubt. John Q is actually my alias, it originated from a freestyle I did on one of my earlier projects,  How Thoughtful. It was a song called “NEATO.” In one of the lines I say John Q speak from the heart pardon my honesty / Honestly it’s a part of me and it just kind of resonated. It just resonated with my personality, in terms of me being honest, my lyrics are very genuine and they come from an honest place. Everything that I speak of comes from the heart. I felt that it was a good way to create another character within my music. When I say “John Q speak from the heart pardon my honesty” it’s like a slogan for myself, it reminds me of what my true character is and what I stand for as an artist.

When it comes to making music, do you ever worry about your achievements? Or do you just put out what comes naturally and people either like it or they don’t?

It’s always a struggle, it’s always a battle. I wouldn’t say I’m overly paranoid to the point where I won’t put out a record due to self-consciousness, but I am very conscience of what I do put out. I want to make sure that I’m protecting my brand and protecting who I am, the perception I have of myself and the perception that people have of me. I think every artist has that phobia sometimes.

For me it always comes down to feeling comfortable, if I can go to sleep at night with what I put out then I’m fine. Regardless of what people may think of it, everyone is going to have their own opinion, as long as I can go to sleep at night knowing that I’m comfortable with what I put out I’m pretty sure I’ll be alright.

Fear Not Failure, your latest project, has done very well. How’d you come up with the title?

It has it’s parts, I wanted people to understand what I was going through and to take something positive from it as well. Lately that’s been the theme of my music, it’s all about shedding your fears and embracing your failures. We fail every single day, you have to brush it off and keep on moving. It’s literally fear that stops you from doing anything that you want to do in this world. That’s something that I wanted to share with my listeners because that’s something that I learned for myself. I just wanted people to get a glimpse of what I feel and also take something positive away from it.

It’s fear, not failure, that really holds us back. Failures will never hold us back, but fear can literally stop you from doing anything you want to do.

What’s the backstory between you and Crooked Engine?

It started out with an A&R from Atlantic, who now works at Sony– her name is Amanda Berkowitz. She reached out to my management because she wanted to stay in contact and see how I was progressing as an artist. The relationship blossomed into the proposal of Crooked Engine. In a sense it’s an artist development company, but it’s true purpose is an ad agency. Crooked Engine is a creative group of people that are trying to push the envelope, we’ve been riding together for about a year and a half now. It’s been a good transitional period in my career, we wanted to develop a completely different sound and establish something that was going to set me apart from the rest of the bunch, we wanted to create an identity for me as an artist.

Your recent video for “Gambler” is one of my favorite visuals, David Helman is extremely talented.

Oh, absolutely. David Helman actually came about through Crooked Engine. We had this dope concept for a while and we pitched it to Helman, he loved it and we flew out to Los Angeles, California. It was great, it was actually my first real video shoot, I was on set for twelve hours. Helman is a really talented guy, hopefully we’ll be doing more videos with him in the future.

Who came up with the treatment for “Gambler?”

It started with me, I pitched my idea to Crooked Engine and together we pitched it to Helman; he refined it. I would give credit to all of us but the real due-credit is to Helman.

Your Twitter account was recently verified, right? 

Yeah [Laughs], it actually happened when I was on tour; it was the icing on the cake. It’s all status shit though, to me. It’s very, very, crazy to me. For me, as an artist, it’s just a blue check; it’s not that serious. I want to get to the point where I’m selling out venues and having fans wanting to see my shows — that’s where my real goals are, not Twitter verifications [Laughs]. For me it’s all about the fans, and the music.

What is something that happened in your career that has changed you as an artist?

The tour that I just came off of, with Logic on the West Coast, really changed me as an artist. It was my first tour, it was short, but I saw that what I was doing was really possible, I saw the potential. It gave me a completely different mind set, all I care about now is having genuine fans.

I know your a big fan of Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, what’s your favorite album of all-time?

[Laughs] Absolutely, but my favorite album of all-time is Kanye West’s Late Registration. Reasonable Doubt is like a lyrical Bible in my opinion. It’s definitely in my top 5 albums, it’s probably number two or three, which is crazy because Jay-Z’s my favorite artist. I’m a big Kanye fan because of what he did for music, everything changed after Late Registration dropped. [Kanye West] brought true composition into hip-hop.

What can we expect next from QuESt?

I’m working a new project now, but it’s not going to be released until sometime next year; Spring or Summer. It’s going to be somewhat of an “open letter.” I’m about 6 or 7 records in, I plan on recording about 40 and then refining the tracks down to a good 16. It’s going to be my most revealing project to date. I’ll let the fans into my life and allow them to see what’s going on in my mind. I want people to get to know me not only as an artist but as a person as well.

I’ll also be putting out more visuals off of Fear Not Failure, I don’t want people to forget about that, we plan on doing 5 or 6 more before the end of the year. Also, I’ll be performing at a couple of festivals this year; I’m really looking forward to that.

The post “It’s not about if, it’s just about when” — Exclusive Interview w/ QuESt appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.