HIP HOP NEWZ

December 10th 1998

Meth, whose "Tical 2000: Judgement Day" sold more than 410,000 copies to land at number two on the album chart behind only Garth Brooks, will join Redman this month to greet the people at record stores across the U.S. 

As I'm sure you all know by now, the latest offerings from Method Man, RZA & La The Darkman are all available now. There is plenty more to come from the Wu in the next 6 months, check this out:

Blue Rasberry - Blunted Soul - 1999
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele - Feb 23rd
Gravediggaz - Scenes from the Graveyard - 1999
Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substances - Jan 19th
Raekwon - Blood On Chef's Apron - 1999
Tekitha - Black Shampoo - 1999
The RZA - RZA Presents Bobby Digital In Stereo: The Instrumental - February
The RZA - The Cure - 1999
U-God - Warriors - 1999

1) There are 7 core Wu-Tang albums scheduled between now and Feb. '99 from RZA, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Method Man and U-God. 2) Masta Killa will be the last to release an album, and it will be sometime after Feb. 3) RZA took a back seat on most of the production duties as he's poured his attention into his movie, "Bobby Digital", the accompanying soundtrack, "Bobby Digital In Stereo", and his actual solo album, "The Cure." 4) RZA also said that alot of the production will be left up to the artists themselves and the Wu-Elements. 5) A quote from RZA about the solo projects: "Alot of people think we've peaked out. They ain't gonna believe that hip-hop can get this dope. For real--they say Jay-Z is the best lyricist, but they're not going to believe how dope I am. We've been holding back." 6) "Ghostface Killah's album doesn't have a title yet, but is coming out later this year too. Songs titles include "Mighty Healthy", the RZA-produced "Wind Pipe", "Cobra Clutch", and the Ju-Ju (from the Beatnuts) produced "One". Guests on the album include U-God, ODB, GZA and Method Man. 7) Method Man's "Tical 2: Judgement Day" will be dropped Nov. 10. Songs include "Judgement Day", "The Killing Fields", the Erick Sermon-produced "Step By Step", "Big Dogs" with Redman, "Torture", "Elements", "Cradle Rock" with Left Eye (of TLC), "Love Is Love" and the RZA-produced "Perfect World". 8) RZA is quick to state that the new "digital-orchestra" sound that he will be using on his soundtrack (which will have tracks called "B.O.B.B.Y.", "NYC Everything" and "Now I See Everything") won't neccesarily make it to the solo albums. 9) RZA also said that "Put Your Hammer Down" and his own "The Chase" were Wu-Tang Forever tracks that didn't make the cut. That would explain Deck doubling his line (using an old line that he thought would never surface on its original track.) Whew! Wu!......Take a deep breath, and inhaaaaaaallle......Peace.

It looks like Deck is next up for the Wu, 2 new tracks from his album have premiered on Stretch & Bobbito's radio show. The tracks are believed to be titled 'God Is In You' and 'Word on the Street', the Loud promo 'Brolic' also featuring a sample of 'R.E.C. Room' which is believed to be the first single.

With his new solo album, "Tical 2000: Judgment Day," flying off store shelves, Method Man and fellow rapper Redman have decided to help bring some Thanksgiving cheer to some of the impoverished in areas of New York and New Jersey.

Starting today in Manhattan, the two rappers will sign autographs and distribute more than a hundred 12-pound turkeys to families as part of a program established by the charity organization, Food for Survival. Tomorrow, Method Man and Redman will head to Meth's old Staten Island stomping grounds, while on Monday they'll be both in Redman's hometown of Newark, New Jersey, as well as Brooklyn. The "charity tour" will wind down next Tuesday and Wednesday after Meth and Red help pass-out goods in Queens and the Bronx, respectively.

Method Man's new record is expected to be one of the big winners when next week's SoundScan sales figures are released on Wednesday, as a spokesperson for the rapper's label, Def Jam Records, said that "Tical 2000," had sold more than 200,000 copies in the first day of its release.

Lots of little pieces of news this week. Of course you have already heard the two biggest stories already. Bad Boy producer Derrick "D-Dot" Angelette was arrested last week for apparently busting into the editor of Blaze magazine's office, and giving him a beatdown, along with a few other masked assailants. Apparently, the editor was either planning on, or did publish a picture of the Mad Rapper in their latest issue, and this was what caused the beef. ...Saturday Night Live's Colin Quinn jokingly quoted D-Dot on Weekend Update on the 7th, saying that "We didn't assualt him, we were just remixing his face." That same episode of SNL featured the Beastie Boys and Mixmaster Mike. I never thought I would see Mixmaster Mike hugging Jennifer Love Hewitt... The other big story is that Lauryn Hill gave birth to her second child, a baby girl, Selah Louise on November 12... And the rumors are true, DMX will be dropping a new solo album in December! The album is titled "Flesh of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood" and will include "Ruff Ryders Anthem Part 2" and "Dogs For Life", among other cuts.... Also coming in December on Roc-A-Fella Records is the debut album from DJ Clue, which will feature "Thugged Out Sh*t" with Sauce Money, "Fantastic Four" with Noreaga, Big Pun, Canibus, and Cam'Ron, plus all new tracks with Mobb Deep, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, Jay-Z, Def Squad, DMX, J.D., Method Man, Wu-Tang Clan, Mase, Foxy Brown, The Lox, Nas, Busta Rhymes, and more. How will it compare to Pete Rock? We'll see.... Kieth Murray will drop his third album "It's A Beautiful Thing", which features a slammin' new track with Canibus called "Some Sh*t", and "Bad Day", a negative version of the Ice Cube classic, "It Was a Good Day"..... Sauce Money just dropped a phat new 12" "Middle Finger U" b/w "Pre Game" featuring Jay-Z, from the forthcoming album "Middle Finger U" on MCA... Independently, Jedi Mind Tricks are about to drop a new single and video, "Heavenly Divine" b/w "Trinity" with L-Fudge and Louis Logic, from their forthcoming album "Polymatrix: Reincarnation of the Hologramic Christ", which will be availible on double vinyl and CD.... In other news, rumor has it that Smoothe The Hustler is now signed to Arista. The rumor of a lost Erick Sermon remix of the Beastie Boys' "Body Movin'" is true. It features Redman and Biz Markee, as well. No word if this will be released.... Looks like Loud's Inspectah Deck will be the next Wu-banger to drop, we should have something here soon. ...Here is a little something I grabbed from Tony1er in the rec.music.hip-hop newsgroup. Tony writes: "The upcoming Prince Paul masterpiece, "Prince Among Thieves" is apparently a movie coming out, but what I heard was that it's kind of like the first REAL hip hop musical. Here's a rundown of who's on it: Breezely Bruin, played by Prince Paul, is the main character. Other appereances include Kool Kieth, as a gunshop owner, De La Soul as some crackheads, Xzibit and Sadat X as jailbirds, Everlast as a crooked cop, Big Daddy Kane as a pimp, and Chubb Rock as Mr. Large." As of now, it is unclear if they are releasing this as a movie, an album, or both. More info on this as it develops. This could be really dope... That's all we have for today. When you are done here, go peep the new Star Wars movie trailor at www.starwars.com, the sh*t looks off the hook... Peace.