Condolences go out to the friends, family and fans of Bronx hip hop legend Tim Dog (Timothy Blair). The unofficial member of the Ultramagnetic MC’s has passed away after suffering a diabetes-related seizure. Tim Dog was 46 years old. (sources: The Source, Complex)

Last year there was a less dignified scandal involving Tim Dog when Dateline exposed the former rapper as a convicted credit card defrauder.
But Tim Dog’s contribution to hip hop was with one of the most iconic diss songs of all time…
Tim Dog’s 1991 classic, “Fuck Compton”, a response to the rise of N.W.A and West Coast gangsta rap in general.

Watch the video for “Fuck Compton”…
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Late last year, Ghostface Killah announced his 10th solo album, Twelve Reasons to Die, to be released Nov. 20. It was never made clear why it was delayed, but that doesn’t matter a whole lot today as The Ironman finally provides an update on his upcoming LP — including its first single.

Twelve Reasons to Die, which is produced entirely by Adrian Younge and executive produced by RZA, will hit stores April 16 through Soul Temple Records, and will come complete with a six-issue comic book series and collected graphic novel. The album’s lead track, “The Rise of Ghostface Killah,” clearly lends to its cinematic theme, as we hear Starks wax super sharp rhymes over a crisp, vintage Wu-Tang beat.

In related news, Ghostface recently confirmed that he and DOOM (formerly MF DOOM) are working on a long-speculated collaborative project. Also, his classic 1996 debut, Ironman, is to be reissued as “Premium Collection: Gold Edition” CD box set by Get On Down later this month. Goodies include a 48-page hard-cover book and puzzle of the original artwork! More info here.

Check out “Rise of Ghostface Killah,” plus details on the DOOM collaboration and Ironman reissue, 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….
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(Solange Knowles, via Dazed)

Brandy album cuts aren’t the only essentials for Solange. Taking center stage at London’s XOYO last night (Jan. 17), the rejuvenated R&B songstress teamed with Oliver Sim, of one of our favorite indie pop outfits The xx, to treat the crowd to a gorgeous rendition of Nicole Wray’s Timbaland-produced “Make It Hot,” a cut from her one and only 1998 album of the same name. And just to add that alt-edge to what was a very mainstream urban song, cue hazy black-and-white footage. Works though.

Compare Solange and Oliver Sim’s rendition…
With the O.G. Nicole Wray x Timbaland classic…
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Oh, that second presidential debate last night was WWF-level must-see-TV. And we’ve already seen Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” turn into a hilarious tumblr of parody memes, Binders Full of Women. This one is my favorite.

But our pal J.Smooth takes it to the next level with his amazing Ill Doctrine recap on AnimalNY. Not only does he deliver his usual voice of reason, second to none….but in the beginning of the clip he spits a little 50 Cent-inspired verse, and samples Obama’s aggressive debate audio to the beat of The Clipse x Pharrell’s classic diss record, “Mr. Me Too.”

It’s ah-may-zing.

Watch Ill Doctrine’s DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK (DEBATE REMIX)
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Max B has become somewhat of an urban legend. Though his time outside of prison and in the rap game was extremely limited, he developed a cult like following that continues to show their support to the Harlem rapper. Just ask A$AP Yams about the wave. As a hookman and writer, you can see his influence lingering around rap today. Honestly, I can’t say I’m a big Max fan, but this lost reference track caught my attention. According to G-Codes, “Keep Your Head To The Sky” was originally penned as a reference track for Diddy to use on Biggie Duets. Apparently, they had the beat to Christina Milian’s “Say I” before it was sold. Could you imagine if this made the final cut?

This post was actually a reference or rather an idea done by me and Max B. Right after Puff recorded this song for Jim Jones “What You Sipping” I decided to give the homie Max a shot. Puff and I actually liked Max B, I wish I could have signed him. That’s whole other story. However what I will say is the beat was originally for Puff for the Biggie Duets, actually was supposed to be a single. Then Cool and Dre,weeks after having the beat, their manager at time said she sold the beat to LA Reid. Fast forward it was a single for Christina Milian. Well this song is for the Max B fans and for my homie A$AP Yams! Max B aka Mr Prolific keep your head to the sky (Pause).

Listen to “Keep Your Head To The Sky” after the jump…

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My longtime peer Elliott Wilson has a new webseries on the Jay-Z x Life and Times youtube channel called “The Truth” where he addresses some hot topics in hip hop. This one is like a more polite video version of his “You Played Yourself” columns.

In the inaugural ep, he contends that a trio of veteran MCs who have released songs with zeitgeist rap lingo which sounds more tired than trendy. The three songs are LL Cool J’s “Rachet,” Eve’s “She Bad Bad,” and Fat Joe featuring Juicy J and Rick Ross “Instagram That Ho.” All of the choices repping this need to keep in step with the trending topics of the day (well, maybe not Eve’ song…but El calls out the faux-Rihanna production by Jukebox). Personally, the fad lingo of the songs doesn’t bother me so much. LL’s been doing topical slang raps his entire career…Sometimes they’re great documents of what was hot at the time like “Boomin’ System.” Sometimes, with “Headspring,” or “Fatty Girl,”not so much. Meanwhile Fat Joe’s “Instagram that Ho” is just borderline absurd. It’s gotta be purposefully humorous, right? Please? In some ways, songs like this mark the saturation point of a word or trend. The peak, to be followed by the decline. Kind of like….”Swagger Like Us.”

“I can’t really cosign any of these three songs. Eve is the least offensive….Fat Joe, is a minor misstep, Instagram is big but no filters can clean up that one. LL Cool J’s is the most offensive, “Rachet” is the most wretched.” -Elliott.

Watch “The Truth” after the jump
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Yup, fresh off a Lady Gaga post to a Mister Cee x D-Nice throwback hip-hop post. MissInfo.TV can do that. We love pop culture but hardcore rap is where we come from. Don’t ever forget it. For this Tuesday’s edition, Cee let DJ D-Nice take control of the wheels of steel and spin his favorite hip-hop classics.

Stream and download D-Nice’s throwback mix after the jump…

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Young Money’s first lady, Nicki Minaj, has been Lil Wayne‘s secret female weapon ever since he took her under his wing, but an unreleased Nicki track (that was leaked over the weekend) proves their relationship wasn’t always peaches and cream.  The “Letter To Lil Wayne,”  that allegedly dates back to 2008, claims Weezy was hesitant before officially signing the femcee to the YMCMB roster.

Rapping over Wayne’s “Something You Forgot” beat, Nicki voices her frustrations with the delayed record deal. “I still don’t know what went down with the deal,” she says. “And I been waiting on you, just give me the word.” After pressing him about his hesitance, Nicki lets her vulnerability seep through her bars. Barbie ends her letter by singing: “I’m pretending, that’s all I can do/The love I’m sending ain’t making it through to your heart.”

Listen to the “Letter to Lil Wayne,” read snippets of her emotional bars, and click through photos of their relationship through the years after the jump…

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Azealia Banks reminisces on a vintage year with this new video for “1991.” The year she was born. (Wow, that’s just mindblowing.) It’s interesting to see how we all love to recreate and rose-tint eras that we relate to even when we have no actual recollection of those times. But here, Azealia does a pretty good reenactment. She’s tweeted about how she’s inspired by Madonna, Aaliyah and Crystal Waters, before dropping this video that literally could have come out in ’91.
She’s like the second coming of Waters here.

Let’s compare the two…
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