By Soren Baker

The Houston rapper also says you wouldn't know where you were if you listened to New York radio with your eyes closed.

Scarface has seen a dramatic change. Though he said that New Yorkers are still trendsetters, the Texas Rap icon said that New Yorkers are now "following the trend[s]" in Rap.

This stands are a marked difference from when Scarface and his group The Geto Boys were attending New York music industry events in the early 1990s as they were trying to break into and garner respect in the then-genre-leading Big Apple Rap market. "From back then when I started, from going to the New Music Seminar and getting booed, to coming out here fuckin' in front of everybody's line when I walk up. 'Face.' I would have never thought that," Scarface told The Combat Jack Show. "To be shut out by the backpackers. 'We don't want to hear that shit up here,' to hearing 2 Chainz on the radio out here, I'm like, 'Whoa.'"

In the last decade-plus, the New York Rap market has become much more accepting of Rap from other regions than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, in part because New York rappers started regularly collaborating with rappers and producers from other regions in the late 1990s. Noreaga used the then-emerging Virginia beat team The Neptunes to produce his 1998 hit "Superthug." The Queens rapper also appeared on the song "Fire Water" from Mississippi Rap duo Crooked Lettaz Grey Skies album a year later. David Banner was one-half of Crooked Lettaz. Jay-Z also worked extensively with The Neptunes and fellow Virginia beatsmith Timbaland starting in the late 1990s, paving the way for NY rappers who are more regionally neutral, such as Nicki Minaj and A$AP Rocky

Scarface, who along with Ice Cube and fellow Geto Boys member Bushwick Bill became one of the first non-New York artists to work with a New York act when he appeared on Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo's "Two To The Head" in 1992, also discussed how shocked he was that rappers from other regions now dominate New York radio. "If you get in the car, close the door, turn the radio on and close your eyes," he said to Combat Jack and DP, "you'd think you're somewhere else."

By Andres Vasquez

Joe Budden says he was "high out of [his] mind" at Summer Jam last year and talks about how Eminem and others helped him sober up. Budden also says he's willing to fight Consequence again "if he would like an issue."

Drugs have certainly played a role in Joe Budden's life and career. The emcee has acknowledged that he has had to battle with addiction for years, most recently relapsing in the summer of 2012. In a recent interview, Budden opened up about being high at concerts and having people around him, like Eminem, to help guide him to recovery.

"I started with drugs very early, maybe 12 or 13 years old," he shared with FUSE. "I checked into rehabilitation at 16, was released at 17, got a record deal at 20 and went 14 years without a drink or a drug. It was never an issue at all. Nobody ever knew anything. I spoke about it on songs like 'Calm Down' on my debut album on Def Jam, songs like 'Walk With Me' so if you were listening intently enough, you knew. I had a little issue over the past summer with a relapse. I thought it was important to share that because people out there may have been going through the very same thing."

Budden also acknowledged that his Shady Records boss Eminem and others around him really helped guide him to sobriety.

"Em has his own struggles so he identifies. So that was great to have somebody...You're on a label with someone that identifies with those problems because we're unique people. We think a tad bit differently," Budden added. "All of the people around me were instrumental in micromanaging me to where I needed to be."

"I was definitely on stage at Summer Jam last year, being micromanaged, high out of my mind," he continued. "Definitely saw some other artists backstage that couldn't barely stand up. But the fans don't see that. You still have to go out and do your job. You still have to perform. You still have to make a living."

In the interview, Budden also addressed his feud and fight with Consequence.

"I thought about fucking [Consequence] up everytime I saw him at one point but we have a lot to lose today so I'd rather not look like that. So I don't want any issues with anybody at all. But if I see him again and he would like an issue, I'll fuck him up again."

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By Yohance Kyles

Earlier today Al Sharpton, the President of National Action Network, and the family of Emmett Till met with PepsiCo officials. Sharpton and the Till family wanted to address the parent company of Mountain Dew about the corporation’s connection to the Hip-Hop and civil rights communities.

After the meeting Rev. Sharpton issued a statement:

The meeting today with PepsiCo representatives, the family of Emmett Till, and me at corporate headquarters was a positive meeting. PepsiCo apologized to the family again and they accepted while agreeing with me that this is a “teachable moment” and we must work with younger Hip-Hop artists so they know their civil rights history and become more engaged in the community. National Action Network (NAN) doesn’t want the end result to be the penalization of artists-although they clearly need to be corrected–but rather them becoming more engaged and conscientious of civil rights history. We agreed to work as partners to try and sit down with younger hip-hop artists, corporate executives, and people in the civil rights community.

Last week, Mountain Dew cut professional ties with rapper Lil Wayne after the Young Money leader faced criticism for his controversial lyrics that referenced Emmett Till in the song “Karate Chop (Remix).”

The Till family had asked for an apology from Wayne. Wayne gave a statement acknowledging the family’s pain, but they rejected Wayne’s letter as a “non-apology.”

It appears after today’s sit down, PepsiCo, the Till family, and the National Action Network are ready to move forward from this controversy and join together with Hip-Hop artists to further the discussion of the importance of Emmett Till’s legacy and the history of the civil rights movement.

Mass Appeal, a joint venture that’s both reviving the Brooklyn-based, graffiti-focused magazine of the same name and also moving into online content, is announcing that it has raised $1.2 million in funding.

It’s backed by a mix of traditional firms and figures from the hip hop world. The rapper, (and one-time TechCrunch contributor) Nas announced last month that he had invested a “six-figure sum” in the company, and he’s also serving as Mass Appeal’s associate publisher. Publisher Peter Bittenbender told me via email that the other investors include record label/creative agency DECON (where Bittenbender is co-founder and CEO), rapper Pusha T, and international firm White Owl Capital.

In its original incarnation, the magazine was founded in 1996 and shut down in 2008, before being revived by the current team earlier this year. Bittenbender said that the goal is to create an “an integrated media property” that includes web video, photography, social, print and live experiences. You see that content on the Mass Appeal site, as well as its YouTube account, which features peeks behind the scenes of the magazine, the “Time Pieces” series of short videos from Jason Goldwatch, and more.

When the company first reached out to me, a spokesperson said the content would be “embracing the core ethics of hip-hop culture and using that to push great content with a unique voice to a global audience.” However, Bittenbender emphasized that Mass Appeal goes beyond hip hop.

“While we embrace all things hip-hop (as it is part of our heart and soul), we stand for (and have always stood for) creative instigation,” he said. “Music and its influence is such a massive part of our creative equity along with street art and fashion.”

By the way, Nas himself has been featured on Mass Appeal’s cover. So is there a potential conflict of interest here? When he announced his investment and involvement, Nas told Forbes he won’t get involved if the magazine writes about him, and that they can say anything negative or positive, as long as it’s their “honest opinion.”

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