Rap Release Dates; Wale, Game & Jim Jones, Raekwon, Big Sean

A few new release dates were announced this week, check out what's new.
Wale recently announced the release date for his next studio album. The Album About Nothing eyes a March 31 release date.
Game and Jim Jones recently announced a new joint album. Certified Gangsters doesn't have a publicly known release date just yet.
Raekwon recently updated fans on a release date for his next solo studio album. Fly International Luxurious Art now eyes an April 28 drop date, according to the Wu member's Twitter account.
Big Sean, Chris Brown and Tyga and Fashawn all are slated to release albums Tuesday (February 24).
View the rest of the retail releases coming soon below, and on HipHopDX's Release Dates page.
February 24
Big Sean - Dark Sky Paradise
Chris Brown & Tyga - Fan of a Fan: The Album
DEMRICK - Losing Focus
Fashawn - The Ecology
Malik B & Mr. Green - Unpredicatable
MC TREE - TrapGenius
The Regiment & Sinitus Tempo - S.O.U.L. (Sound of Us Living)
TOTEM - Pride EP
Voli - The Wall
March 1
Krayzie Bone - Chasing the Devil
March 3
Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
TUXEDO (Mayer Hawthorne & Jake One) - Tuxedo
March 10
"Empire" - Original Soundtrack From Season 1
Mod Sun - Look Up
March 17
Berner - 20 Lights
J-Diggs & Jacka - Mobb Nation (X)
Tech N9ne - Special Effects
March 24
Action Bronson - Mr. Wonderful
Rapper Big Pooh - Words Paint Pictures
March 31
Ludacris - Ludaversal
Outasight - Chasing a Ghost
Wale - The Album About Nothing
April 28
Raekwon - Fly International Luxurious Art
June 1
Waka Flocka Flame - Flockaveli 2
TBA
2 Chainz - TBA
50 Cent - Beautiful Nightmare
Akon - Stadium
A La $ole & J57 - TBA
Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge - TBA
A$AP Rocky - Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions, Chapter 1
AZ - Doe Or Die II
Birdman - Bigga Than Life
Black Hippy - TBA
Brick Squad - Big Money Talk
Cam'ron - Purple Haze 2
Cam'ron & A-Trak - Federal Reserve EP
Clipse - As God Is My Witness
Craig G & Da Beatminerz - TBA
Curren$y - Pilot Talk 3
Cypress Hill & DJ Muggs - TBA
CZARFACE (7L, Esoteric & Inspectah Deck) - CZARFACE 2
De La Soul - TBA
Dirty Science - TBA
DJ Scream - Long Live The Hustle
DJ Premier - Last Session @320
DJ Premier & Pete Rock - TBA
Drake - Views From The 6
Dr. Dre - Detox
Foreign Exchange - Love In Flying Colors
Freddie Gibbs - Lifestyles Of The Insane
Future & Rocko - TBA
G-Unit - The Beast Is G-Unit
Game & Jim Jones - Certified Gangsters
Ghostface Killah & MF DOOM - DOOMStarks
Ginuwine - Same Ol G
Glasses Malone & Stan Sheppard - Inner City Dreams
Hustle Gang - G.D.O.D. II
ILOVEMAKONNEN - TBA
Immortal Technique - The Martyr 2
J. Cole - Revenge of the Dreamers 2
J. Cole - Truly Yours 4
Ja Rule - Genius Loves Company
Jay Electronica - Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn)
Jeezy & T.I. - Dope Boy Academy
Jin - Hypocrite
Joe Budden - All Love Lost
Juicy J - The Hustle Continues
Keyshia Cole - Point Of No Return
Kendrick Lamar - TBA
Kid Capri - Top Tier
Killer Mike and El-P - Run The Jewels 3
Krondon & Chase N Cashe - Green & Gold
KXNG CROOKED & Statik Selektah - Statik KXNG
Lil Boosie - Touchdown 2 Cause Hell
Lil Durk - Remember My Name
Lil Wayne - Free Weezy Album
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V
Lupe Fiasco & S1 - Black Vietnam
Macklemore - TBA
Malik B & Mr. Green - Unpredictable
Ma$e - Now We Even
Maurice Brown - Maurice vs. Mobetta
Method Man & Redman - Blackout 3
Missy Elliott - TBA
Mystikal - Original
OutKast - TBA
Pete Rock - Soul Survivor 3
Plies - Purple Heart
Pusha T - King Push
Rebel Armz - TBA
Redman - How High 2
Redman - Muddy Waters 2
RiFF RaFF & Action Bronson - Galaxy Gladiators
RiFF RaFF & Skrillex - TBA
Roc Marciano & Alchemist - TBA
Run The Jewels - Meow The Jewels
RZA & Paul Banks - TBA
Scarface - Deeply Rooted
Showbiz & A.G. - TBA
Spice 1 - Hater's Nightmare
Slaine & Madchild - Super Villain
Snoop Dogg & Pharrell - Bush
Swizz Beatz - Haute Living
Swollen Members - Brand New Day
SZA - A
Timbaland - Textbook Timbo
The Cool Kids - Shark Week
The Grouch & Eligh - TBA
The Throne - Watch The Throne 2
Travis Scott - Rodeo
Twista - The Dark Horse
Wu Block - Wu Block 2
XV - The Kid with the Green Backpack
Yelawolf - Love Story
Yelawolf & DJ Paul - TBA

Erykah Badu & Azealia Banks Beef On Twitter

Just over a month after she tore into Kendrick Lamar over comments the rapper made regarding Michael Brown's death, Azealia Banks is making news yet again for another conflict on Twitter.
After a fan asked Erykah Badu on Twitter if she listens to Azealia Banks' music, Banks lashed out at the R&B singer when she replied that she had "tried."
Banks quickly asked, "what's the shade?" before offering herself that Badu might be jealous. The Broke With Expensive Taste rapper went on to chide Badu for growing old and "[throwing] shade at younger spirits."
Badu noticeably turned on location tracking with her subsequent Tweet replies to Banks and went on to Tweet a picture of herself alongside Rihanna, apparently nixing Banks' idea that she was simply at odds with younger artists.

The D.O.C. Elaborates On Dr. Dre Split, Reveals Request From Eminem

The best emcee to ever don an L.A. Kings cap, The D.O.C., spoke exclusively to HipHopDX late last month (courtesy of his new PR representation, Hoopla Media Group) and proceeded to give the most revealing interview of his over 20-year career.
In the first published portion of D.O.C.’s discussion with HipHopDX, the author of the awe-inspiring album No One Can Do It Better (and large portions of other certified classics, including Eazy-Duz-It, Straight Outta Compton, 100 Miles And Runnin’ and Efil4zaggin) revealed that his pen-for-hire work for Dr. Dre has finally ceased, after a total of over 18 years spent constructing quotable verses for Eazy-E, N.W.A., Snoop Dogg and several other notable names that have walked the halls over the years at Ruthless Records, Death Row Records and Aftermath Entertainment.  
Now in the remaining portion of The D.O.C.’s jaw-dropping Q&A, the ultimate insider to the history of the genre commonly referred to as Gangsta Rap breaks down his history with the likes of Suge Knight, Jerry Heller, Ice Cube, and maybe most notably, Eminem (who recently made a special request of the man whose aggressive flow on 1989’s “The D.O.C. & The Doctor” provided the prototype for Marshall Mathers’ truculent tone).
The man who was Snoop Dogg before Snoop Dogg, Game before Game, also elaborates on the dissolution of his longstanding professional relationship with Dr. Dre, providing previously unpublished details about how their “Formula” finally became toxic.
A little lengthy, but a must-read for anyone familiar with the role the simultaneous southern star and west coast forefather played in the careers of almost every artist to ever record to a Dr. Dre track, the following transcript documents one of the most influential emcees in Hip Hop history baring his soul in his “Against All Odds” moment.  
Below is the truest shit The D.O.C. has ever spoke.
HipHopDX: I recently did an interview with Sir Jinx, and he revealed that you’re currently working on a documentary. So what exactly is the film about?
The D.O.C.: The whole Ruthless [Records break-up to Death Row Records creation] story is really just patches. It’s bits and pieces of the truth. None of these people really know what happened because I haven’t said anything yet. Most of the guys that are in-the-know aren’t saying [what really happened] because it benefits them not to say it. The truth as it is in the world now, it makes them look good. Which is cool, I’m not really – that shit never really bothered me. Because, when I lost my voice I didn’t mind playing the background, not necessarily being the guy who got the publicity or the this or the that. But, after 20 years it’s become time to really let the cat out of the bag, because if I don’t, no one will.
They were talking about doing an N.W.A. movie for a minute, and I knew off top that that shit could never happen. Number one, none of those muthafuckas really get along with each other good enough to do shit. And number two, everybody wants to tell a fraction of the story from their own perspective. And none of that shit coulda been true, because first off I wasn’t even in the movie. And you couldn’t have had N.W.A. like you had N.W.A. had I not left Dallas and came to California and helped those guys build songs. That’s just the facts. You wouldn’t of had it like that; you couldn’t of had it like that. [Dr.] Dre wouldn’t of had the career he had.
You actually would’ve never had Death Row had I not been in California. Because, Suge [Knight] wasn’t my bodyguard but he…rolled with me. It wasn’t him and Dre that got together and said, "Hey, let’s do this." It was Dre and I that got together and said, "Hey, let’s do this." Unfortunately, it was right after that [car wreck I was in] and I was going through a really hard time, really trying to come to grips with what had been taken away. So, I was just being a fuck-up. But, I wasn’t being such a fuck-up that I couldn’t pull Dre over here and say, “Look, nigga, this is what you need to do. This is what we need to do. Look at what [Eazy-E’s] doing to me. If he’s doing it to me, he could be doing it to you.” … So he and I got together with Suge and this other cat, [Dick Griffey of SOLAR Records], and we all started making plans. Unfortunately, I started falling deeper into the wrong shit, down the wrong hole. And even though I was putting in a majority of the money and a gang of the work to make that shit happen, when it all came down to bare fruit I just wasn’t able to grab my apples off the tree. ‘Cause my mind was somewhere way somewhere else.
That plus the fact that Dr. Dre was always somebody that I trusted, that I thought that even if I can’t watch my own back, Dre’s gonna watch my back. And that’s not to say that Dre’s not a great guy…he’s just not me. Like, if the situations were reversed, I couldn’t be him and he’d be me. ‘Cause it’s not in my character. My nature is sort of that of a giving cat. So, there’s no way that he and I can be in the same situation reversed.
When it comes to making music, those guys [in N.W.A.] didn’t know how to build songs back then. For lack of a better [description], they was just kinda street guys. And even though it was street music, music is like writing a book, it has to have a beginning, a middle and an end.
The documentary is a journey over these past 20 years. I’m going to let you guys see all the drama, all the bullshit, from the inside. I’ma give you an interesting story, that nobody knows about. When I first got to California, back in fuckin’ ’88, maybe ’87, I was sitting in the studio and playing at this little piano that was in this studio called Audio Achievements – where we did all the early N.W.A., Eazy-E shit. I was playing at this little piano and Eazy asked me if I wanted to go to this meeting. And to make a long story short, Eazy was [implying] that he was into this devil worshipping shit. … Now, I’m a young kid from Texas. I don’t know shit about gang banging, ‘cause the shit hadn’t happened in Dallas at that time. I don’t know shit about the streets really. And I damn sure don’t know shit about no muthafuckin’ devil worshipping. So, you can just imagine, I sat there at that piano kinda frozen. I acted like I didn’t even hear the shit that he was saying. He was talking about he wanted me to go to some meeting, and man, I played like I didn’t hear nothing that muthafucka said and kept doing what the fuck I was doing. … But, just that in itself can show you the kind of mind fuckery that was going on throughout those years, when I was just there trying to be creative. I found out later that it was just game [from Eazy-E]. It was game gone too far. Because I was so far ahead of these niggas, that the only way that they could keep me under thumb was to run super game on me. So now I don’t know, do I need to ask somebody about my money or is the devil gon’ come get me? I don’t know. I’m 18, I don’t know what the fuck to do. I just know I wanted to be the best muthafuckin’ rapper, and I seemed to be heading in that direction.
Here’s the plan [going forward for] what I wanna do: there’s a doctor in Florence, Italy. His name is Paolo Macchiarini – world-renowned transplant specialist. This is D.N.A. medicine we’re talking about. In other words, he uses stem cells. He’s already done two operations similar to the one that would be necessary to do to get me my voice back. One on a woman’s windpipe, and one in the area of the voice box called the larynx. There’s actually a woman in northern California I believe who just had that surgery, but it wasn’t D.N.A. because that’s not available [in the United States]. … I know it worked for her [though], because she had cancer [that] totally destroyed her voice box and they transplanted her a new one and now she can talk. What’s going on with Macchiarini in Italy [is D.N.A. medicine] and what they did for [a woman] was, they took master stem cells from her body, from three different points in her body, in a laboratory and they re-grew the windpipe from her stem cells. … It’s some real Star Trek shit. It’s so far beyond what they do in the United States that it’s really hard to believe that they could do shit like that.
[Writer’s Note: The portion of Q&A presented below picks up at the point in D.O.C.’s discussion with DX following the portion of Q&A presented in his previous news feature.]
         
The D.O.C.: But if [Dr. Dre] don’t [drop Detox] this year, then you gon’ have to quit lying. Cut that shit out.
DX: Yeah, it’s turned into what Axl Rose did with Chinese Democracy. You wait too long and then…
The D.O.C.: Then it’s fucked up. So now, the only thing that’s left is the story. And the only reason that y’all ain’t got the story yet is ‘cause I haven’t told it. Those guys can’t tell the story because they didn’t write it. I did.
Eazy-E didn’t even have a name really until right before I got to California. When “Boyz-N-The Hood” was made, the guy didn’t really even have a name. When I first got to California, [after Dr. Dre] called me in Texas and told me to come to California – [Dre said], “Nigga, we could be rich, if you just lived out here.” Well, shit, a broke-ass nigga from West Dallas, Texas, that’s all you had to say, I’ll be there in a minute. Borrowed whatever I could, and got my ass [out] there - slept on muthafucka’s couches. At first, [Dre] was planning on being my deejay. Because, Hip Hop was still so New York back then. It hadn’t made it to the west yet. But after we did Eazy’s [album, Eazy-Duz-It], Dre was like, “Eh, I don’t know about that deejay shit.” They hadn’t even done the N.W.A. album yet. But Eazy-E’s [single, “Boyz-N-The Hood”] took off so fast, he saw the future of the N.W.A. movement. And I can’t blame him. “Nigga, go get ya money.” ‘Cause I’m thinking, when I put this record out I’ma show y’all muthafuckas how to really rap around this bitch.
I was really arrogant back then. I used to tell them muthafuckas all the time, “If it wasn’t for me, y’all niggas wouldn’t have shit!” Which may be why niggas is trying to shit on me now, because payback is a muthafucka.
Once they got through with [recording Straight Outta Compton], it was pretty easy to see that that shit was outer space. But Eazy was fuckin’ niggas early in the game. [Ice] Cube saw that shit very early, and boned the fuck out. … If I wasn’t up there [at Ruthless] what the fuck would they have done? You wouldn’t have a muthafuckin’ Niggaz4Life record, who was gonna write it? And Eazy still fucked me on that record! But I’m a 19-year-old, 20-year-old kid, I don’t know no fuckin’ better. I’m up there with Dre. And Dre knew better. And he coulda did better. “Say man, is Eazy fucking you or something? You got to do something, dog. Don’t just let me be out in the wind like that. I’m giving you life, nigga.” Maybe it was a Texas [vs.] L.A. [divide], and them niggas really didn’t give a fuck about nothing except the skills that I had at that time.
But I refused to believe [those rumors about Dre’s sexual orientation], ‘cause me and Dre, we spent every day together. All his dirty laundry, I know all of that shit. Everything! [Laughs] And you ain’t heard me talking shit about the dude, ‘cause I don’t want him to look bad to nobody. I got love for him. I don’t ever want him – Matter fact, I used to get mad at him ‘cause I always wanted more for him than he did.
The actual name “Death Row” came from me. I actually wanted to call the label “Def Row,” ‘cause in my mind Dre was what Russell Simmons was to the east …. That’s how important he was. And then one of the other artists, a female named Jewell, she was like, “Wow, that’s cool, Death Row.” I was like, “Nah, Def Row.” And Dre was like, “Nah, nigga, Death Row ….” And then with all these thug-minded-ass muthafuckas around…it didn’t take long before that’s just what that was.
It was a dirty time. And if you really had a movie about that shit, it would fuck you up – from the beginning of Ruthless all the way through to the end of Death Row, and it showed the kind of niggas that could manipulate [Tupac's] death. I know.            
DX: You know…what happened?
The D.O.C.: I know if he is. I know if Suge is the kind of nigga that could manipulate that. I know. I know everything.
[Even through everything], I still have no contempt for Eazy. Or Dre. Or Suge. Or none of these niggas. ‘Cause, it’s really none of their faults that I went through the shit I had to go through. It’s a G-O-D thang, it’s not a D.O.C. thang.
DX: So how much do you plan to present in this documentary? … How much of this do you really wanna rehash 20-plus years later?
The D.O.C.: Well, for me, it’s not really about the negative aspects of the story. What happened to me, you know, boo hoo, that was for Doc [to go through]. I just think the story is really neat. I think it makes a really cool story. [But] if you’re gonna tell it, tell that bitch right. I’m not afraid to shine a light on my fuck-ups. So by that same token, I shouldn’t be afraid to shine a light on your fuck-ups either – especially if it’s a part of the same story. If you fucked up, goddamn’t then you should have to deal with it the same way I did. And if nothin’ else, prove to another generation of young muthafuckas how to do it better than we did it.
I don’t think ‘Pac or [the Notorious B.I.G.] ended up the way that they shoulda ended up. I don’t think it shoulda went like that. [All] because greed, money and power went too far with niggas that don’t really have any money. Having a million dollars ain’t no fuckin’ money. These is muthafuckas [in power] running around here with multiple billions of dollars, that can buy and sell you…at a heartbeat, as if you were a slave. They can do that.
Muthafuckas was trying to get me to look at this video where Puff Daddy in drag – they supposed to be faggots. And everybody worship the devil, and all this ol’ shit. Now I was around Dr. Dre for fuckin’ 20 years, if that muthafucka is suckin’ dick, then something ain’t right. ‘Cause I ain’t seen no parts or pieces of none of that shit. And I was there the whole time. Ain’t no way you can be gay and get that shit past me. So, when they started selling that [story] so heavy, then I know that it’s just media gone crazy, sensationalizing bullshit.
So if anything, I want to tell the shit and make it pure, make it a beautiful story: the operation overseas…and getting that voice back. [I want to make the movie] if not just to travel the country, going to different colleges and talking to these kids about what’s really good, about what’s really positive and really beautiful about this music and this culture. To me, [that] is a hell of a happy ending.

Nicki Minaj's 'The Pinkprint' Certified Gold

Nicki Minaj has scored another gold album.
According to Nielsen Music, Nicki's latest output, The Pinkprint, has just sold over 500,000 copies in the United States.
Nick's third studio album sold 22,000 copies during the week ending Feb. 15, pushing The Pinkprint over the gold milestone.
The Pinkprint has now sold 509,000 copies after debuting at #2 on the Billboard Hot 200 charts. Since the album was released in early December, Nick has more than doubled her first-week sales of 244,000 copies.
Each of her three albums have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Although Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (905,000) has reached platinum-status worldwide, Nicki's first album, Pink Friday (1.93 million) is the only project that has sold more than a million copies in the U.S.
The Pinkprint slipped out of Billboard's top 10 this week for the first time since its debut.

Wiz Khalifa Says Amber Rose Didn't Let Their Son Go To His Birthday Party

Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose’s son Sebastian turned two yesterday and Wiz threw him a big party, but the only thing missing was his son. Amber reportedly decided to not take Sebastian to his party and Wiz says it was out of spite. Reports claim Amber was suppose to bring their son to the party so they could celebrate together as parents, but she never showed.
Wiz took to social media to express his sadness and posted pics of the big party he threw with the caption, “only thing missing was Bash.”

Amber Rose Puts Kim Kardashian, Kanye West On Blast

he internet has been buzzing all day about the Kanye West interview at The Breakfast Club. When asked about his ex, Amber Rose, West said something to the extent of “I had to take 30 showers before I dated Kim…”. Obviously this spread to Rose herself, who decided to put West in his place on Twitter.

Chris Brown Puts Drake & Rihanna On Blast In The Breakfast Interview

Chris Brown and Drake seemed to have ended their beef last year, but during a recent interview with “The Breakfast Club” Brown revealed him and Drake are not friends at all. Chris also spoke on his past relationship with Rihanna and his new relationship with Kanye West during the interview with the Power 105.1 radio show.
When Brown was asked about his past relationship with Rihanna, he decided to throw some jabs at Drake by saying, “Who else in the game she gon’ go to? Some corny singing rapper.”
Breezy also revealed Kanye West and himself have become really good friends over the past couple of months.
“Me and Kanye we just got started getting real cool over like the last couple of months,” Brown said. “So, I understand him sometimes. A lot of people be like ‘Man, he just complains.’ The stuff he complaining about don’t be so over the top though. Whether it’s music or whatever. Sometimes how he words it it’s like ‘Okay damn, don’t say it like that.’ But I can’t knock the man for how he feel. If you wanna be the greatest you gotta act like you the greatest.”