deeDJ | DJ News, Equipment and Reviews

For Caption Diss, the good ol’ folks at SOHH are back at it giving y’all, the doggies, a chance to come up with the final word(s). The “Best We’ve Ever Read” headline gets to rep that SOHH Cap Diss crown for a week. Now what happens if these doggies have…

Rap producer Swizz Beatz is reportedly in the red and owes New York state over $2.2 million in taxes.

Teen rapper Soulja Boy Tell Em has explained why his Twitter page disappeared over the weekend and denied reports that he deleted it.

In his March interview with DJ Z, the ever-creative Jared Evan listed off a few surprising musical influences; in addition to reigning rock gods Radiohead, the Interscope/Zone 4 signee cited Led Zeppelin and The Doors as providing inspiration for his sound. Well, turns out he wasn’t blowing smoke – Evan’s latest single, In Love With You, is absolutely drenched in bluesy classic-rock grit. Over the electric guitar-driven boardwork of label boss Polow da Don, the artist lets loose with some reedy, Robert Plant-esque sung vocals – and, never one to keep his genres neatly separated, the exclusive freestyle series alumnus tops it all off with some equally impassioned rapped bars. It’s an attention-grabbing joint, to be sure, but is its eclectically raw style a good look for the buzzmaking singer/songwriter/emcee? I’ll leave that for you, the readers, to decide. Jared Evan’s debut studio album has yet to receive either a title or a release date, but the Booth will keep you supplied with the latest news and tunes!

Rain May Not Be a household name quite yet, but just you wait; as the North Carolina emcee (and exclusive freestyle series contributor) explains on the the first of five exclusive world premieres off his forthcoming, Booth-sponsored street album, he’s already living the life of a superstar – the rest of the world simply needs to catch up. Over the appropriately high-rolling, funk/soul-sampled production stylings of The Rush (Lex & Los), Rain fills us in on just how big he’s been doing it: “I’m in and out them lanes, I’m in and out them boutiques, my life is too sweet… I’m in and out them spots, poppin’ bottles and such, every night I slide out with some model.” The combo is so luxuriously catchy that listeners May Not Be able to stop their heads from nodding. As mentioned above, those who like what they’re hearing can expect plenty more precipitation in the weeks ahead – keep it locked for four more exclusives from Rain in the lead-up to July 21, when American Dreamin Pt. 3 is set to hit our mixtape page for free streaming and download!

The 186th entry in our DJBooth.net Freestyle Series comes courtesy of Los, the Baltimore native who earned reader approval for mixtape cut Never Landing back in May. On his brand new, exclusive Super High freestyle, the After Platinum emcee flows over a DJ Clark Kent & The Remedy -produced instrumental originally featured on Rick Ross’ single of the same name. Los is currently working on a yet-untitled mixtape, as well as his debut studio album. In addition, the artist is preparing to drop a new, John Columbus-directed video off his currently-available Zero Gravity mixtape, and has recently taped a segment for BET’s The Deal, to air sometime in the next two weeks.

Readers can download a copy of the newly-released In the Booth (Volume 5), featuring exclusive freestyles 121 through 150, here! Volumes one, two, three and four are available for download here, here, here and here!

As we all know, Time Flies when you’re having fun – and what could be more fun than listening to some fresh music from what may well be the most innovative state in our hip-hop nation? Straight outta Decatur, Georgia, Booth newcomer Tom P. has hooked up with a few equally creative Peach State neighbors to share his carpe diem life philosophy with the world on this newly-released single. Here, Justin Padron serves up a unique, treble-heavy blend of buzzing synths and Chipmunk hook vocals as the headliner, along with freestyle series alum Playboy Tre and recent Booth regular Aleon Craft drop Southern-fried meditations on the artistic grind, the ever-present problem of haters, and the need to strike while the iron’s hot. At more than five minutes, this track is by no means a short one, but heads with a taste for left-of-center bangers may nonetheless find that it’s over all too quickly. If that’s the case, keep your browsers locked on the Booth; Tom’s Revenge of the Underdog mixtape has yet to receive a solid release date, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

And now the moment everyone’s been anxiously waiting for! Ok, a lot of people. Ok, fine, some people – it’s a Dipset reunion! After ruling the charts in ’03 and ’04, Dipset fell apart, but major players Cam’ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana have put their beef aside and come together once again for the riding Salute. Lyrically this is more of less vintage Dipset: Jim Jones continues to improve, Cam’ron drops some not-even-remotely-family-friendly punchlines and Juelz closes things off with the smoothest verse of the three. Unfortunately, and I’ll try to be Camronish (I mean Diplomatic) about this, araabMUZIK puts together one of the most aggravating beats I’ve heard in a minute – it sounds like a malfunctioning fire alarm – but I’m trying not to let it damper the mood. Ultimately, as always, many will hate Salute, but longtime Dipset supporters should be able to forgive its flaws and turn the volume up. We can expect a reunion album from the new and impr…well, ne…well, Dipset soon, though when that will be and what it will be titled are still unknown.

When Jeezy released Lose My Mind I had mixed feelings. Sure, the Drumma Boy produced knock-fest was sonically triumphant and Mr. Trap or Die’s hook was more infectious than the swine flu. But having Plies do a guest verse? That was more like an allergic reaction. Luckily, Jeezy recruits a much sicker emcee for the song’s latest remix as the fan-tested and mother-approved Drake lends his vocals to the menacing banger. Claiming that he “kinda sorta” loves women (yeah right lover guy), Drake delivers a quick 16 full of stunting without sounding out of place. And although he isn’t at his most lyrical here – “all seeing I (eye)/ my, I (eye) seen it all” – the Canadian heartthrob manages to drop this verse at the perfect time: the song premiered at last night’s BET Awards, he mentions monstrous first week sales of Thank Me Later and silences haters. Rappers: take note, this is how to drop a track in style. If this doesn’t do it, maybe you’ll get motivated to pick up a copy of Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 103 when it drops soon.

No matter who you are or where your ambitions lie, if you sacrifice security to pursue your dreams, you can rest assured you’ll run across people who will attempt to slow your momentum with negativity. First-time featuree Naturel is no exception but, judging by this new single, he’s more than equipped to deal with the doubters. Over Booth-approved beatsmith Illmind‘s buzzing synths, the Northeastern hopeful encourages critics to “Say what [they’re] gonna say,” but not to expect him to heed their discouraging words. Naturel’s steadfast, determined brand of laid-back braggadocio will undoubtedly win him his share of acclaim among our resident underground heads, but does the up-and-comer have the kind of skills necessary to make it to numero uno and prove the haters wrong once and for all? That, my friends, is for you to judge. Those digging it can find this motivational joint and much more on the artist’s forthcoming Somebody street album, which has yet to receive a solid release date – keep it locked for the latest!