It’s been over a year since we’ve seen Jayceon Taylor on covers of magazines with a gun to his head, and crying on YouTube videos about hip-hop of the past. He’ll be the first to admit his life is an emotional roller-coaster, but nowadays The Game seems more content than usual.
And maybe he has good reason to be. He’s back working with Dr. Dre and says his forthcoming LP The R.E.D Album (due out February 16) is his favorite since The Documentary. He’s even feeling relieved that Jay-Z never responded to his sideways comments he made in his last Complex interview. Yesterday, we reconnected with Game to get his take on 50 baiting Jay into a battle, the new album, young rappers like Drake, and why Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine wants to reunite the hip-hop Beatles. It was Game on as usual…
Time and time again, J. Cole has proven that his buzz is well-deserved. He grabbed our attention with one of the best mixtapes of the summer and followed it up with a career-defining guest appearance on The Blueprint 3. Since then, Roc Nation’s flagship artist has been occupying himself in the studio with No ID and on the road with Jay-Z.
Late last week, we caught up with the promising young artist on The Blueprint 3 Tour’s second-to-last stop in college town, Champaign, Illinois. We documented the entire night and captured everything from run-ins with Wale and Pharrell to Cole’s thoughts on fashion, groupies, and peer competition. Keep reading to check out a gang of photos and quotes that take you into BP3 Tour experience from a Complex perspective…
Cazal frames have been a hip-hop staple since the Run-DMC era, and they’re definitely making a strong comeback this year. Fab, Jay-Z, and Diddy have made these old-school glasses the ‘must-have’ of the season. But who owned the look? We’ll leave that up to you. Vote who wore it better and get your own pair of Cazals below…
Last Friday, the Yankee parade terrorized downtown NYC, and while it was fun (for Yankee fans) to see their favorite players move along The Canyon Of Heroes, rap fans were surprised to see Jay-Z and his right-hand-man Ty-Ty on A-Rod’s float. Yup, Jay, Alex and Ty-Ty were like the new “Roc Boys,” and A-Rod had no problem becoming the latest person to fall into the “I’m-standing-next-to-Jay-Z-so-I-want-to-look-cool-by-making-a-diamond-with-my-hands” category.
We shouldn’t be too hard on A-Rod, though, there’s been tons of awkward Rocafella Diamond sightings anytime there’s a chance for a celebrity to get a photo-op with Hov. Don’t believe us? Check out the random assortment of celebrities who felt the need to throw the Roc up like they were bulimic, then check the Jay-Z songs we associated them with. Diamonds up!
He may still refer to himself as Young Hov, but the reality of the situation is: Shawn Carter’s all grown up. And as Jay’s gotten older, so too has his style of dress. If you couldn’t tell by his rhymes, just take a look at him—we don’t even think he wears Rocawear anymore, and he’s obviously given all his du-rags to Memph Bleek.
In the visual for his latest single from Blueprint 3, “Empire State of Mind,”, rap’s Frank Sinatra trades in the baggy jeans for some clean wool trousers, and goes with a navy-inspired duffle coat instead of North Face snorkel. Real classy. Read on to watch the video and learn how to get the look. But hurry before he’s on the next one…
Let’s be honest: before Beanie Sigel came along, Roc-A-Fella records was kind of a joke. Maybe not a joke, but it was at best nothing more than Jay-Z’s vanity brand, a crew that consisted of limited MCs like Memphis Bleek and Sauce Money, and R&B acts like Rell and Christión. But it wasn’t until the Broad Street Bully came into the crew in the late ’90s that the Roc finally got a lyrical heavyweight who could really go toe-to-toe with the the God MC, Jay-Hova.
10 years later, the New York-Philly alliance is finally over. After floundering in the wake of the Roc-A-Fella breakup, Beans finally put out a diss song directed at Jay-Z last night, along with an in-depth interview about his reasons. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, but it’s still a sad day for old fans of the Roc. Follow us as we look back at the good days with The 10 Best Jay-Z/Beanie Sigel Collaborations…
You’re probably still debating over whether New York or Philadelphia has hotter girls (vote here), but there is a baseball series going on between both cities, you know? We kid. Of course you know. That’s not to say that you’ve been watching all the games though, no matter how sports savvy you try to act around your friends. In case you missed out, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys opened up Game 2 of the World Series last night with their NYC anthem, “Empire State Of Mind.” The boys in blue might wanna get Hov on the bill for all their games, because they walked away with the win. Watch the performance above.
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So by now you’re aware that the 50 Cent of today isn’t the 50 Cent of 2003. Or is he? The “aggressive content” is still there, the issues with other rappers are still there, and the hunger to get rich or die tryin’ is definitely still there. But while there’s a the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same feel to it all, there are notable differences between Curtis Jacksons past and present.
He just did a New York reunion show at Governor’s Island where he embraced Jadakiss (whom he’s had problems with in the past), he hasn’t flown off the handle about his placement on the MTV list like he two years ago—and yesterday, as we sat down with 50 Cent in his unfinished new office, his answers to our questions seemed more methodical than ever. While he preps to release his oft-delayed album Before I Self Destruct on November 23, we spoke to 50 about possible tension with Dre, Fat Joe’s first-week sales, pulling a gun on Diddy, and how he really feels about Jay-Z’s “no one is scared of 50 Cent” comment. Yup, some things will never change…
After Hova officially blew down MSG for the umpteenth time on 9/11 (he’s like a young Marvin in his hey), one question was left lingering on many a mind: was or was that Alicia Keys stunt double going for dolo on “Empire State of Mind”? Plenty were asking, but none were answering, so we put our investigative cap on and sent the Complex interns detectives out to find out something about Bridget Kelly.
The 21-year-old Roc Nation signee and NYC local (she graduated from LaGuardia H.S. in Manhattan, the place that Fame was based on) is obviously easy on the ears, and it turns out she’s not so hard on the eyes, either. The resemblance to our girl Ms. Keys is a good start, but we went one better and scrounged up some clips of B.K. going hard. Listen, learn, and fall in love…
(On Jay-Z) G-Star Slim Tailor Denim Jacket, $275; G-Star 3301 Boot Jeans, $220 Jay-Z might not be the most stylish rapper in the game, but somehow, someway, dude always manages to look fly. We guess that’s what happens when your bank statements look like the population of a small country. Take the outfit he rocked at this year’s drama filled VMA’s (how you feelin’, Lil Mama?). Choosing to renege on his decision to stay in all black and to stop wearing Timberlands (what’s next? A T-Pain collabo?), Hov dons a classic Americana look: vintage denim, denim jacket, leather vest and, of course, the NY Yankee fitted. We’ve already showed you how to get his all-blackeverything look, now read on to learn how to get a tweaked version of his award show style…
