Virginia’s own, Audra The Rapper. Photo Courtesy of Instagram

Audra The Rapper is pretty dope. Her style is dope because of its variational influences. To steal Shirley Ceasar’s line: YOU NAME IT!

Although hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Audra was big on Jim Jones, Cam’ron, Juelz Santana, Hell Rell and Freekey Zekey of Harlem’s Own; the Diplomats. Additionally, she was a fan of the producer/lyricist product that is Kanye West and of Floetry.

Audra is also big on Lauryn Hill and in many interviews indicated that she was one of her biggest inspirations. 

That would make perfect sense! Back in 2010, she dropped Miseducation of Audra, an ode to Ms. Fugees, herself, Lauryn Hill.

She also tributed her on Instagram the other day:

Hey guys. I have this healthy obsession with this damn-near deity by the name of Ms. Lauryn Hill. So much so that my second project i released in my teens was an homage to her debut album. Well guys, She is going on tour with Nas and I havent had normal thoughts since hearing this. My first time seeing LBoogie was with Nas in college and I dropped $400 to get VIP tickets for them to try to cancel her set. @romarley came to my rescue that time tho. Well all of that to sayyy. I just got overly excited about being a fan and all those feelings that made me want to become a performer just made them self known full force. Hype for this. Good day

A post shared by Farrah Saucett (@audratherapper) on Jun 3, 2017 at 12:01pm PDT

Audra The Rapper’s wikipedia page says it best: unlike a lot of rappers, whose rap style have easily been categorized as Trap, Hardcore or Conscious, Audra The Rapper has partnered her lyrics with a variety of sounds, reflecting various styles and has described her style is “Ratchet Soul.” That said, she is literally an Escalade with Lamborghini doors; that’s balance!  delivery embraces a myriad of styles.

In a recent interview via Scoop B Radio Audra let it be know how much a student of the game she is and was. “I came up watching Behind The Music; you know what I’m saying,” she said on Scoop B Radio.

Check Out Audra The Rapper and Lee Mazin Chatting With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On Scoop B Radio:

She added:

“Like really getting an in-depth lifestyle look of the artists that I admired and sometimes it gave me a new appreciation for the artist and then it had me going back and listening to their music like I get that a little better. I’d see stuff differently, I’d hear stuff differently and I’d like it and I think what this show is doing is really giving you an in-depth look at five females in truthfully a male dominated industry but not even minding any of that. We not looking at ourselves as female rappers I personally hate that this is rap this is what we do this is all we know and we’re giving that to people so people are getting that real lifestyle look at this and how we handle our business.”

But Lauryn Hill wasn’t the only influence of Audra The Rapper’s. When I asked Audra how the Oxygen network television show, Sisterhood of Hip Hop, benefitted her career, she couldn’t help but credit the likes of Missy Elliott.“We’re supporting each other,” she said. “That’s reminiscent of the era of hip hop that I love; you know Missy and all of them.”

Then she took it back to it being Friday Night!

“Missy would have every female on her album,” Audra The Rapper said with a grin. “You know what I’m saying?”

If you’re not a child of 90s, it was a Missy track that also featured Angie Martinez during her rapping days, along with Lil Kim, the late Left Eye from TLC and So So Def’s Da Brat.

“Just that support that era of competition because it’s what we do. We’re in the same field we love it all the same, but we don’t have to knock each other. We don’t have to step on each other, because we all individually bring something different to the same game so why do I gotta hate on my sister? You know what I’m saying?”

Audra The Rapper has a voice to be the female leader of the new school! Stay tuned! 

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The post Audra The Rapper Tells Scoop B Radio About Missy Elliott’s Ladies Night: “Missy would have every female on her album” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Given the nostalgia of the record (TLC and Snoop are the epitome of 90’s gold), the LCR$-directed clip keeps things classic with a dope house party while Snoop green-screens his contribution. “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” memories ensue.

Enjoy “Way Back” above, along with 1.) another dope single titled “It’s Sunny” and 2.) this morning’s performance for TODAY’s Citi Concert Series below. Also: TLC will be headlining the I Love The ‘90s – The Party Continues Tour, which will see them hitting the road alongside Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath, Naughty By Nature, Biz Markie, Montell Jordan and more.

TLC drops June 30th (pre-order via iTunes). R.I.P. Left Eye.

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The post TLC Go “Way Back” in New Visual (Feat. Snoop Dogg) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Video Screenshot

Fifteen years ago today (April 25), hip-hop lost one of it’s greatest female emcees. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of the multi-platinum group TLC died in a tragic car accident while visiting Roma, Honduras. While being in the music industry for over a decade at the time of her death, the charismatic lyricist left many verses behind that serve as evidence that she was one of the greatest. Not only did Left Eye shine bright with the mic by being the hip-hop force of TLC, but she often collaborated with many other artists outside of her group as well. RESPECT. remembers some of Left Eye’s hottest and indelible collaborations.

Keith Sweat – “How Do You Like It” ft. Left Eye

Mya – “Taking Me Over” ft. Left Eye

Donell Jones – “U Know What’s Up” ft. Left Eye

Lil Kim – “Ladies Night (Remix)” ft. Angie Martinez, Left Eye, Da Brat, & Missy Elliott

Toni Braxton – “Gimme Some” ft. Left Eye

Blaque – “I Do” ft. Left Eye

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The post Remembering Left Eye’s Hottest Collaborations, 15 Years After Her Death appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If we told you that someone made a remix to No Scrubs called “No Thots,” would you believe it? We’ll get to that in a minute. Remember T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli from the hit group TLC? They had a certain hit song that put brothas who weren’t on their A-Game down. Remember No Scrubs? She doesn’t want your number and you better not live in your momma’s house or be on the passenger side of your best friend’s ride trying to holler at her! Well, the recession and uber changed the landscape since that song! Nonetheless the catchy song is still trendy today.

The song is so catchy thatDoughboy, a St. Louis lyricist, took the blast from the blast song and made it his own. We present to you, “No Thots.” Yes you heard right! No Thots!

Doughboy put his own spin on the TLC classic  “No Thots” is produced by Judge Beats and it will appear on Doughboy’s upcoming project, Sakrifices 2. The project is hosted by DJ Victoriouz.

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The post TLC’ No Scrubs Remixed? St. Louis Artist Releases No Thots appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

A long awaited return to the urban contemporary world, Zendaya released a steamy hit with Chris Brown titled, “Something New” Although fans were expecting a Timbaland track, this tune was produced by R&B legend Babyface, who worked closely with TLC, as “Something New” grabs elements from the groups smash hit, “Creep.”

The post NEW MUSIC: ZENDAYA DROPS “SOMETHING NEW” FEAT. CHRIS BROWN appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Ungratified TLC fans took to Twitter over the weekend to express their frustration over the legendary girl group’s ‘no show’ final album. In January 2015, Chilli and T-Boz started a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter to raise $150,000 for TLC’s next album and managed to raise a staggering $430,000. Supporters who donated to the campaign were expecting the album to be released by the end of 2015, but have since received an update stating that the project would not be arriving until sometime in 2016.

Needless to say, the thousands of backers who’ve shared their dollars with the group were not here for the delays!

Twitter was ablaze with the #TLCGoingToJailParty hashtag:

When you ask TLC for a refund #TLCisGoingToJailParty https://t.co/CNZ0Drc9Rc

— Little Cow (@BeyLovesNicki) November 2, 2015

Mary J Blige performing her new single “Chicken wraps” at the #TLCisGoingToJailParty pic.twitter.com/SfXJ3M6GrU

— IM DAT BITCH (@ASVPThuggin) November 2, 2015

An irked T-Boz took to Twitter to address her disgruntled followers.

@Beautifuls0ul__ y’all sound ridiculous we’re I n the damn studio recording it.

— Tionne T-Boz Watkins (@TheRealTBOZ) November 1, 2015

@NathanNAVY Call Kickstarter and tell em yo give it bk

— Tionne T-Boz Watkins (@TheRealTBOZ) November 1, 2015

With 2016 right around the corner, we’re hoping that TLC will be hitting us all with some heat during the first quarter.
 

The post Where It At Doe?: TLC Fans Voice Off About Non-Existent KickStarter Album appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

“Creep” ft. T-Boz is the newest smash hit from Eric Bellinger; Eric has created a new take on the classic 90’s hit #Creep. The song takes a sultry approach and samples the No.1 singles award winning instrumental. Eric is no industry secret, he is highly acclaimed as a songwriter as well as a singer. This new jam features a piece of its original blueprint; T-Boz blessed the track with her iconic raspy voice & lyrical word play. The two make a great team listen below to find out why: 

Follow Eric on twitter, instagram & youtube.

The post NEW MUSIC: ERIC BELLINGER COVERS TLC’s “Creep” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.