As if a snowman-come-yeti costume wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows, Kanye West pretty much relieved any boundaries of what a rapper can wear on-stage by donning a straitjacket for yesterday’s performance in Abu Dhabi. Ye’s absurd outfit was complete with a snowy mask—something he’s become rather fond of lately, being snapped wearing a red ski mask at Maison Martin Margiela’s Paris Fashion Week earlier this month. Of course, G.O.O.D. Music’s main man wasn’t tangled up for his entire set—he only wore the jacket to perform “Say You Will” and “Heartless”—but it did seem to tie in with his show’s all-white, winter theme.

You can catch footage of Yeezy performing in his straitjacket, plus more conventional renditions of “Cold,” “Mercy,” “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Stronger,” below.

Watch the footage after the jump…

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(Camron, standing, at the Violator offices with Chris Lighty, Mike Lighty, and Eric Nicks, all seated…shopping his “new” artist, Juelz Santana)

Noreaga and his longtime friend Geno Sims collected a treasure trove of hip hop footage back in the late 90′s for a documentary show they called The What What. And in this newly unearthed trailer, there is literally too much to comprehend. There’s random bits of Big Pun, KRS One, Eminem making crank calls, Snoop Dogg at his most misogynistic, a chubby 50 Cent coveting NORE’s then-new Skytel 2-way pager…There’s Jay-Z and Amil, Capone in prison, De La Soul….and at the 2:25 mark, we see Cam’ron shopping his new 17-year-old artist Juelz Santana to Chris Lighty (RIP) and his staff. Amazing.

(Juelz Santana rapping on the spot for Lighty and company)

Now these days Geno is better known as one of ASAP Rocky’s managers, alongside Chace Infinite (another man with an long hip hop curriculum vitae), but I’ve known Geno since way back during his days at Harlem Music Hut, Bad Boy Records and more…So I’m really proud to see all his success! But no matter how busy you and NORE are, Geno….please gather more of this vintage What What footage and put this out!

Watch the vintage hip hop footage….
NOT SAFE FOR WORK, NOT FOR KIDS….
After the jump
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Aside from the Gucci and Jeezy man’s reignited beef causing commotion in Atlanta, there wasn’t a whole lot of big news in the hip-hop world. Though there were a few random missteps from the artists we love.  Last night, Kanye almost had another pap-camera-smashing incident after a dinner with Kim at Prime 112. Apparently, the female photographer asked ‘Ye if he thanked Reggie Bush on his first baby, before he tried to grab the camera from her hands. Another thirsty pap caught the flick.

Check out more of this week’s rapper misfortunes after the jump…
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(Serena Williams’ Olympic cripwalk)

Miss Info: While I was in Chicago for the final stop of the Complex x Sony Experia ION “Backstage Connection” tour with Fabolous, I got to hang out with my family and also catch up with the homie Andrew Barber (FakeShoreDrive). I stayed in Ian Schrager’s new Chicago hotel, The Public…really chic and well done. I knew I was in the right place being able to catch up with Fab and his crew, my homie Gemo Wong (Nike Sportwear designer), and Nate Donmoyer and Jeff Apruzzese from Passion Pit, all in the lobby over the course of two days. They even rent out bikes that you can take out for a ride along Chicago’s Lake Michigan beach front (my vote for the best urban beach). So much fun. But the best part of the short trip was spending time with mom, watching theLondon 2012 Olympics. Some of these moments just happened today, but I’ll still be texting her to discuss these Olympic highlights:
-Serena Williams celebrated her Olympic gold-winning defeat of Maria Sharapova…by cripwalking on the court.
-South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius (aka “Blade Runner”) makes history as the first ever double-amputee to compete in the Olympics.
-an amazing photo of Olympic timing

Watch Serena’s crip walk and more…
After the jump
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Five days into the 2012 London Olympics and we’re fully engrossed in Chinese synchronized diving, Brazilian volleyball booties, Korean fencing protests, and twitter scandals….
But the Olympic Golden Boy is definitely swimmer Ryan Lochte, who won Team USA’s first gold in the men’s 400-meter individual medley…blowing away the comp, including his superstar teammate Michael Phelps.

And the best part of Lochte’s win was during the award ceremony. After Lochte accepted his medal, slipped on a set of diamond-studded American flag top and bottom grills…and put on a big sparkly smile for history’s cameras!

As bizarre as it may be to see a blue-eyed chlorine-cleaned swimmer from Florida (via New York) with a icy grill…I love the random pop-culture-mashup of it. I don’t mind if Lochte’s style is corny, or if he had bad hair. Or that he’s been struggling ever since that first win. I just love the fact that this guy wore an authentic hood rich hip hop grill at the Olympics. And that he went to the authentic hood rich hip hop jewelers, Paul Wall and TV Johnny, for that grill!

I talked to Paul Wall (one of the nicest guys in the game) about….
-his reaction to seeing his work at the Olympics
-Ryan Lochte’s history of pool-side grills
-and his amazing Olympic offer! Free Grills For All Team USA Gold Medalists?!

Laugh along, after the jump
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All the talk within the Hip-Hop community since last night’s world premiere of the all-star “3 Kings” track featuring Rick Ross, Dr. Dre and Jay-Z has undoubtedly been Sean Cater’s lines. While most would agree that Hov got the best verse, the way he oozed out braggadocio without even trying is what made his bars so memorable.

One line in particular (“used to shop at TJ Maxx back in ’83/I don’t even know if it was open then“), struck TJ Maxx enough, that they had to clear up when their opening day was for those wondering how far back their store traces.

Hey @S_C_, thanks for the shout out! We opened in March 1977 and have been keeping stylish men in designer labels for less ever since. In 3 Kings, Jay-Z wasn’t sure when we opened. We’ve kept stylish men in designer labels for less since March 1977.

Ha! We’re glad TJ Maxx keeps up with Hip-Hop as much as we do! That’s awesome.

After the jump, you can read Jay-Z’s entire verse and break down all its quotables, courtesy of Rap Genius.
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(50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo before the millions)

Every hip-hop head who was born in the ’80s but grew up in the ’90s knows this may be one of the saddest interviews in G-Unit history. In high school, I can remember even the backpack rap kids were f*ckin’ with the G-Unit freestyles. They didn’t like the mainstream rap hits but appreciated the G-Unit remixes of those joints (“Take You To A Motel” and “8 Mile (Remix)” are classics). Banks’ absence at 50′s ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin‘ anniversary concert was a disappointing hint at the looming truth about the current status of G-Unit, the REAL G-Unit. By that I mean: 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo. Whoo Kid and Young Buck deserve recognition, too, but the Big 3 was together since they were still slingin’ gold tops on Guy Brewer in Queens. Then in May, it hurt to hear 50 Cent say he hasn’t talked to Banks in about 9 months and to further bring to light how much the childhood friends have grown apart is 50′s most recent interview with Big Boy. In his most in-depth explanation of where he stands with Banks and Yayo, 50 makes it clear that he feels he has been carrying his “young brothers” for their whole careers and it was really up to them at this point to make something happen with with their futures. He says things like:

“‘I’ve enabled them to a point where they feel like they don’t have to do anything.”

“I end up doing their job, too.”

“They haven’t had a manager. I’ve been managing them for their entire careers.”

“That $8.7, $9 million a piece. I did that for them.”

“I’m telling them since the top of last year ‘yo you got to find managers.’

“Yayo has to do a lot more. He just doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do.”

“I don’t [G-Unit] is actually over. I think they have to get themselves together.”

Listen to 50′s full interview about Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo…
Game’s filmed fight with another former G-Unit rapper 40 Glocc…
A Photo timeline of G-Unit’s rise and current position in hip-hop…
all after the jump…

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Online fun usually comes at a cost, quickly followed by guilt. “Did I really just spend 4 hrs Youtubing…,” yep we know you’ve done it before. I mean, who hasn’t? With that said, get ready to waste more of your life clicking away and screaming quotes at your screen with the The Funkmaster Flex Soundboard, by the devious minds at Complex. Our big homie, FunkmasterFlex, takes pleasure in ridiculing the competition and we just love laughing along the ride.

Check out the hilarious Funkmaster Flex soundboard after the jump…

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(left to right: Michael K. Williams aka Omar Little, Ol’ Dirty Bastard aka Ason Unique/ Dirt McGirt/ Big Baby Jesus/ Dirt Dog/ Osirus)

Ok, this news out of Hollywood completely blew my mindgrapes.
So apparently there’s going to be a movie….in which Omar Little, Baltimore’s homo-thuggiest bogeyman, will play the late great Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang’s untame-able icon. Alright, to be more specific, it’s actor Michael K. Williams who will be playing Ol’ Dirty Bastard…but Williams will always be Omar from The Wire.

And that’s not the only headcrack here. The movie isn’t even an ODB bio-pic, it’s called Dirty White Boy because it’s based on the life of ODB’s much maligned manager Jarred Weisfeld. I actually worked with Weisfeld numerous times during his run with Dirty. And I think anyone else who saw their dynamic, as well as the very contentious dynamic between Weisfeld and the rest of Wu-Tang….knows this story can be an interesting one but only if it’s done honestly, no gloss.
I can only imagine that there will be some serious push back from Wu-Tang members. Meanwhile, according to Deadline Hollywood, Dirty’s mom Cherry is onboard.

The third shocking element to this project, is the caliber of production that is involved. The project is being developed by Part & Labor, a Williamsburg-based crew that recently produced the Oscar-winning Mike Mills’ film Beginners. Both the director Joaquin Baca-Asay and screenwriter Brent Hoff are upcoming talents.

Remember the short-lived VH1 series that followed Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Jarred Weisfeld?
Well, watch this 2003 clip of Dirty, Jarred and Dame Dash, arguing about RocaWear…
After the jump
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Coming back better and even more hungrier in 2010, Wale carried that same drive into 2011. His focus and relentless grind worked, signing with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group, and his sophomore album Ambition debuting at #2 on the charts. Those notable feats plus successful singles on the charts lands Wale at #10 on MTV’s “Hottest MCs in the Game VII” list. Watch the panel make their case for Wale above, and read their criteria breakdown below.

The criteria to be considered a Hottest MC are based on a combination of impact, buzz, sales, lyrics, swag and the intangibles

via MTV

Previously:
J. Cole Reacts To ‘Hottest MCs List’; Drake And Fat Joe Give Their Choices (Video)
MTV Reveals ‘2011 Hottest MC List’ Nominees + Pharell Williams Gives His Pick