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I've come to the realization that no matter how much you try to explain to someone what real hip hop is about they will never fully understand because they probably didn't grow up with it or just don't quite understand what hip hop is about.  As a true hip hop head I find it's better to not argue with fools.  Hip Hop as a culture is only about 36 years old so it's not really about being old in the game more so than the artform growing & expanding.  Other genres of music have been around for decades longer than rap music.  Older artists in the game can still rap, but just need to change their subject matter to adjust, but not just make the same kiddie music they were making in the past.  One example would be to look at how artists like Common have evolved.  In addition, the talent level in hip hop also needs to step up.  KRS-One once said that real artists "rely on talent & not marketing & promotion".  Check out this video below...Nelly doesn't realize that he disses himself in saying that the music is not for old artists, but last we checked Nelly is in his mid thirties.  It's also apparent that Nelly may now have beef with Ice-T....It's almost certain.  

The B.E.T. Hip Hop awards return to "Black Hollywood" on October 18th. Yeah that's right the "ATL" will serve as the host city while comedian Katt Williams returns for the third time as the host of the show next month. The show will be taped at the Atlanta Civic Center & will air on BET at 8pm on October 23rd. The ATL status crew covered the red carpet & show last year so we'll be back at it again to cover all the happenings. There doesn't appear to be a year without some sort of controversy or something to talk about as it was just last year that T.I. was arrested for trying to purchase some military style gats right before the awards. Alot can happen in a year...ask T.I., new album "Paper Trail" on the way.

Katt Williams did a good job as host even though he's faced a few issues with gun charges himself. Making his own "Paper Trail", Katt recently concluded his "Pimpin Pimpin' tour which raked in over $17 Million in ticket sales. He plans to release a DVD on November 11th.

Hip Hop icon DJ Red Alert will be celebrating 25 years on radio! The NY native & now ATL resident has been putting it down for hip hop for an even longer period of time & is still as humble as ever despite his legendary status in the music industry & hip hop culture. There have been countless times where we've met artists & so-called celebrity deejays with heads larger than Mount Rushmore when they've only been in the game for 14 minutes & 15 seconds. Most of us here at ATLSTATUS just aren't "Hollywood" & we really are just working people. DJ Red Alert has thrived on that same work ethic while avoiding the "Hollywood" label through his humbleness & talent. There are some artists & deejays that we just don't go out of our way to greet, but it's that everyday warm personality over the years that continuously commands our respect & appreciation for DJ Red Alert. There are too many countless stories we could repeat about the greatness of DJ Red Alert, but we'll continue to salute him as we approach October as it marks his significant benchmark in entertainment. You can catch DJ Red Alert on Sirius Satellite radio Channel 43 "Backspin" & locally in Atlanta on Grown Folks radio 102.5 FM on Sunday nights from 7pm-10pm. Uncle Red we salute you!

Check out this video of a new joint produced by Kanye West called
"Jockin' Jay-Z". The joint sounds hot! Jay-Hova & The Graduate lets
the audience in on a little secret.......


BLUEPRINT
3 from kwest
on Vimeo.


Download "Jockin Jay-Z"

Dr. Dre has been relatively low key in the past several years, but
he's already made alot of noise with his recent interview in Usatoday.

Arguably one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, Dr Dre
tells Usatoday that his long anticipated album "Detox" will drop
sometime in November or December of this year.

"I'm just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that
it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and
everybody is going to love it," says Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young). "In a
perfect world, I'm shooting for a November or December release."

Dr. Dre is known for creating classic albums that move from song to
song as if you're watching an audio movie & people have been waiting
on this followup for years. His last release, Dr. Dre's 2001, went 6
times platinum and was released just 9 years ago. The problem
for the holdup is due to Dr. Dre's well known character trait in being
a perfectionist.

"I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel and I don't put
it out until I'm totally happy with it. Then it does what it does."
says Dre, 43.

"We have an entirely new thing going with the drums that's
incredible, and we're still developing that." All "the usual suspects"
will make guest appearances, including Nas, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne."

Dr. Dre also hints that this would be his final solo album as he will
spend more time searching for & developing new artists.

"All I want to do is sit in the studio with that person for a year and
try to create another masterpiece."