Controversial rap star Lil Wayne was dropped by Mountain Dew on Friday over his controversial lyrics regarding the historic, civil rights martyr named Emmett Till. The mega corporation known as PepsiCo decided to terminate its relationship with Wayne based on growing, public scrutiny over Wayne’s inflammatory lyrics that compared the beating of Till to having rough sex with a woman.

Wayne’s controversial lyric about Till says: “Beat the p**** (vagina) up like Emmett Till.” It appeared on Future’s “Karate Chop (Remix).”

Back in February, Epic Records issued an apology and removed the Emmett Till reference from the lyrics after the Till estate voiced its abhorrence at the level of disrespect being shown to someone as highly revered as Till, who was fatally beaten so badly that he was beyond recognition in Mississippi back in 1955, because he supposedly whistled at a White woman.

The Till estate was not satisfied with the apology by Epic Records or by what it described as a pseudo-apology by Wayne, as the Till family and the Mamie Mobley Memorial Foundation released a video rebuking Wayne for dragging the legacy of Emmett Till through the muck of his misogynistic ignorance.

During the video, the Till estate also called on Mountain Dew to sever its ties with Wayne.

And after cutting ties with Wayne, PepsiCo released a statement saying:

“We do not plan any additional work with Lil Wayne moving forward. His offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand.”

Throughout the height of the “gangsta rap” era in hip hop and in music overall in the late 1980s throughout most of the 1990s, lyrics like Wayne’s Emmett Till reference about “beating” up a woman’s vagina or committing murder in the streets were looked upon as entertainment, artistic expression, and the exercising of freedom of speech.

This is why activists like C. Delores Tucker and the Reverend Calvin Butts
were largely unsuccessful and rarely taken seriously back during the 1990s when they were going after rappers like 2Pac Shakur and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony—the Lil Wayne’s of that time period.

But when you consider this latest victory by the Till family, the public pressure that forced rapper Rick Ross to remove his controversial lyric about allegedly implying a date rape,
And ironically Fox’s Bill O’Reilly who took rapper Ludacris to task over his alleged negative images and successfully helped sway Pepsi to cut ties with the rapper, it seems that the message is that “gangsta rap” specifically and rap music overall has certainly fell out of favor with many and has definitely lost a significant amount of artistic credibility, musical influence, and universal appeal.

Lil Wayne just found that out the hard way, and he probably won’t be the last rapper to get canned due to public derision over controversial lyrics that seem to outshine the actual music.

By Omar Burgess

Producer (and now rapper) Bangladesh explains why breaking artists is essential to his creative control and details the multiple themes in his debut album title.

Bangladesh comes across as brash when you read his past interviews. Admittedly, calling Swizz Beatz “irrelevant” and denying it, only to have audio proof of the swipe at a fellow producer surface had a lot to do with that perception. But if you remove that isolated incident and view Bangladesh’s track record and actions within the context of other artists, what is he doing that’s so wrong? He’s been making regular trips to the Billboard magazine Hot 100 singles chart since emerging on Ludacris’ Back For The First Time back in 2000. In addition to providing work for Lil Wayne, 8Ball & MJG, 2 Chainz and Tha Dogg Pound, he’s successfully crossed over to the R&B/Pop world through his work with Beyonce, Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

So what’s there left to criticize? He’s not any brasher than Kanye. And despite the Pop sensibilities, he’s surprisingly militant when discussing the politics of dealing with major labels.

“It’s like tap dancing to get in the club,” he says in between what surely sounds like either blunt or joint tokes. The sound of a lighter can be hard in the background. Some answers, such as the forthcoming one, are measured out in a staggered, prolonged inhale. “I feel like I’ve got to do a jig to see this person behind some door. Like, ‘I’m chosen today…will they like me? Will they accept this from me? Is it good enough?’ That’s not how I want to live.”

So how does Shondrae Crawford want to live? His latest mixtape, Ponzi Scheme provides an insight. Bangladesh is rapping, and he’s laying the foundation for his upcoming album, Flowers & Candy. He’s setting up the artists he works with to be equally independent. Just don’t get too carried away by the title. This isn’t a Valentine’s Day or anniversary situation.

“You know, you buy flowers and candy for people that you hurt,” he explains. “A lot of people have this certain impression of me, or they think they know me…so if I ever hurt your feelings for being me, then here’s to the bitches—males and females.”

By Cyrus Langhorne

Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West is reportedly sitting on gold as reports claim the mega hip-hop star's long-awaited untitled solo album is complete.

While details are still scarce, Hot 97 radio personality Peter Rosenberg spilled his guts on the LP reportedly being finished this week.

"I just heard that Def Jam had a listening last week and everyone at the label listened tothe album and loved it," Rosenberg revealed during his morning show broadcast. "I heard it's dark but really good. Yeah, [it's dark and gritty]. I was told it's dark. [2010's My Beautiful] Dark Twisted Fantasy was dark too, I love when Kanye goes to that place." (Hot 97)

A couple months ago, G.O.O.D Music affiliate Malik Yusef revealed some details behind the mystery LP.

He's not the only act to firm up recording plans with West to reporters at the Awards. Longtime collaborator Malik Yusef was also on hand, and he ended up describing his efforts with West akin to "work camps," saying recording can be "tortuous." "He is a perfectionist, obviously. It's harsh," he said, noting that whether they're in Paris or Hawaii, it's a labor. "[West] says no to a hundred things." As to the specifics of sound and scope, Yusef said "I can't talk too much about it. Just remember black music, the black experience. It's a throwback to that era," he said, but "a distillation of what's happening in the modern world." What it won't have is a lot of West singing, or at least not as much singing as he did on 2008's "808s & Heartbreak." "I don't know if we'd ever revisit that amount of singing," Yusef said. (HitFix)

Atlanta singer/producer The-Dream recently revealed his involvement on the solo effort.

"I've been told to zip it," he said. However, he did reveal Kanye West is working on his next album -- and he'll be joining the hip-hop star in Paris to work on it in the coming weeks. And as for his much-talked-about hats? "[Jay-Z] was just digging on me, we do that," he said, defending his on-stage headwear choice. "B had just said, she wanted both of these hats." (Billboard)

Along with the new music news, fans can look forward to seeing Ye appear on next month's "Saturday Night Live" season finale broadcast.

Set your DVRs. Kanye West is closing out "Saturday Night Live" with a bang. The hip-hop icon has been booked as the musical guest for the season finale. "SNL" confirmed the rumors by announcing that Yeezy will perform on the May 18 episode with host Ben Affleck. This marks his fifth time performing on the show. It's unknown what he will perform, but he has been in the studio in Paris working on new material. He was at his label Def Jam earlier this week to play some of his latest work. (Rap-Up)

Days after rap mogul Jay-Z signed former NCAA superstar Skylar Diggins to his Roc Nation Sports company, speculation has started up which suggests the Miami Heat's LeBron James could follow suit.

According to ESPN reporter Bill Simmons, fans should not be surprised to see Young Hov reuniting with James on business terms in the future.

"Jay-Z's starting a sports agency, doing it through CAA," sports personality Bill Simmons said. "Who's the closest to Jay-Z? LeBron James. What do they have every year at All-Star Weekend? The Two Kings party. Why would you launch your agency if you're Jay-Z and the name you announce is Robinson Cano? ... [With LeBron going there,] now you have Two Kings global, I think that's how this all plans out. I have no inside information whatsoever, the whole thing just feels fishy to me." ("Grantland")

Despite the reporting, some media outlets have refused to consider the partnership will go down.

And while Jay-Z and James are known to be close friends, there is no reason to believe discussions of any sort taking place between the titans of their respective industries about this kind of plan. Now is the time for all sports agencies to look as powerful as possible. The best college players in the land are coming out and deciding every day which agent with which to sign, and the mere floating of a LeBron-Jay-Z scenario like this one at such a convenient time is enough to help CAA gain a few more points on the perception front. If only it were true. (USA Today)

As they do every winter, Jay and LeBron hooked up last February for their annual "Two Kings" dinner during NBA All-Star Weekend.

The hottest ticket in town during NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston was Jay-Z and LeBron James' 6th annual Sprite "Two Kings" dinner. The hip-hop mogul and NBA titan dressed in their best and held court with power players in the fields of music, sports, media, and tech at the swanky dinner at RDG + Bar Annie on Saturday night. While her documentary was airing on HBO, Beyoncé celebrated with her husband and famous friends including Drake, Ne-Yo, Diddy, and Kevin Hart. (Rap-Up)

A few days ago, Jigga officially signed WNBA rookie Skylar Diggins to Roc Nation Sports.

When a former college basketball women's star gets drafted into the WNBA, you rarely pay attention to what sports agency she signs with. However, this one should warrant a little bit of attention. Of course by now we know all about Jay Z and his latest sports endeavor -- he's become a sports agent and has already started RocNation Sports. Well on Thursday morning, Jay Z signed his latest client as Skylar Diggins reportedly agreed to be represented by RocNation. Diggins isn't and won't be the headline figure at RocNation, but it's still an intriguing move. Diggins was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft less than two weeks ago and was widely considered to be one of the top three recognizable players in women's basketball aside of Britney Griner and Elana Delle Donne.