Future speaks on Debut Album

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

The year of 2011 has been a renaissance for hip hop, as a whole. It has been a great year for the West Coast, New York has been on the comeback trail, as has Atlanta. Future is among the new talent from Atlanta. He rose to fame back in May with his "Tony Montana" single.

Future quickly became one of the hottest rappers in the game and he is using this to his advantage. With L.A. Reid joining Epic Records, he is focusing back on the hip hop market. Future was among the first artist L.A. Reid signed to Epic Records.

Before he was signed to Epic Records, Future was pushing his own mixtapes in the streets. His Streets Calling mixtape led to his successful "Tony Montana" single, which led to his deal. Future is living up to his name, as he has started his debut album.

Naming the album Pluto, Future said it will bridge the gap from his first mixtape to his last mixtape. One new track from Future is "Magic." The song gained fame when T.I. jumped on the remix. DJ Drama, an affiliate of both, helped this remix come together. Regardless of how it happened, Future is glad it did, as even more people are waiting on more music from him.

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Outkast moving to Epic Records

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

The writing has been on the wall for Outkast with Jive Records for the past few years. Fans of the duo have been waiting on a new Outkast album for nearly five years. However, label issues have held the album up.

Both Andre 3000 and Big Boi said things changed for them at Jive when L.A. Reid left. Big Boi signed a solo deal with Def Jam, while Reid was the head of the label.

Since leaving Def Jam, L.A. Reid is now the head of Epic Records. The past few years have been rough on the label. Reid was brought in to return the label to its former glory.

Reportedly, L.A. Reid's first move was adding Outkast to the label. Reid originally signed Outkast to their deal with Jive Records. However, since L.A. Reid left, things have not been going so smoothly for the duo, evidenced when Big Boi released his solo album with Def Jam. Now, the duo is headed over to Epic and they intend to release both a new Outkast album and solo albums with the label in 2012.

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Remembering Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Two years ago, the world received major shock when they discovered Michael Jackson was dead. While he was not a hip hop artist, Jackson has been very influential to all aspects of music. Throughout his lengthy career, Michael Jackson has worked with nearly every genre.

Michael Jackson's history in the music industry goes without saying. As a member of The Jackson 5ive, as a child, he helped keep Motown Records on top. Later in his career, as an adult, he helped Jive and Epic Records of Sony make records that still exist, sales-wise.

Many consider Jackson's 1982 release, Thriller, to be the greatest album of all-time. Selling 25 million copies in the United States, alone, it is the highest-selling, by far. Today, Hip Hop Vibe is going to take a trip dowm memory lane, featuring videos and interviews of Jackson, along with the regular dose of music videos, new songs, articles, and interviews.

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