KODAK BLACK – Before They Were Famous

Kodak Black was raised in the projects outside of Miami Florida by a single mother. He was rapping and running drugs with some of the older kids on the block, but when he was 15 caught a life sentence that almost put him away for good. Luckily a producer thought he was worth investing in, paid off his lawyers, and signed him to the label Atlantic Records. Originally he was rapping under the monkier Lil Black but when he signed up to instagram he swapped out the lil for Kodak.

Check out more of  Kodak’s music below:

Slim Thug Addresses Police Brutality in America

“I remember thinking in the last few weeks this song might be too late cause it’s been a minute since the last one and look here we go again twice in less than 24hrs … #BlackLivesMatter.” – Slim Thug

Backed by somber strings, Houston rapper Slim Thug addresses the grim reality of life for African-Americans on “IDKY” featuring X.O. on the hook. The song’s release comes a day after the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police and of Philando Castile by a Minnesota police officer in the Falcon Heights, a suburb of Saint Paul. They were the 558th and 560th people killed by the police in 2016. The song wasn’t planned on being released early but upon hearing of the atrocities yesterday, Slim Thug decided he needed to share immediately. He raps, “I was born and raised in the USA / Where we see cops killing blacks on the news every day / And they do it like it’s okay, like they know they gon’ get away / To stop myself from thinking reckless I just ignore it and pray.” The track is one of the more somber cuts from Slim Thug’s upcoming album Hogg Life 4: American King, which will hit stores August 4th via EMPIRE, the fourth release in his Hogg Life series. Featuring two appearances from Boosie Badazz, as well as contributions from X.O., and Nikki Lactson, Hogg Life 4: American King is another quality addition to Thug’s inimitable discography. Previously, Slim Thug treated fans to lead single “Peaceful,” a melodic, guitar-led rumination on his rarified position in the hood–after a lifetime of hustling, the Boss can afford to escape the world and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Both “IDKY” and “Peaceful” are currently available to purchase on iTunes and are available as a gratis download with pre-order of the full album.

Slim Thug is a leading voice in Houston rap, dominating the game since the mid-’00s. Born Stayve Thomas, Slim Thug earned the nickname “Boss Hogg” in high school from driving around a boxframe Cadillac. He earned his break as a rapper when he freestyled in front of legendary Houston DJ Michael Watts, who helped him move thousands of mixtape CDs out of the trunk of his car. Featured alongside Paul Wall on Mike Jones’ seminal single “Still Tippin’,” Thug became one of the brightest stars in Hip-Hop with his 2005 Neptunes-produced album Already Platinum, which featured hit songs such as “Like a Boss.” Slim Thug earned a number one Billboard hit when he collaborated with Beyoncé on “Check On It” in 2006. Slim Thug continued his momentum with 2009’s Boss of All Bosses, which debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts. Slim Thug released the first three volumes of the Hogg Life series of albums in 2015, cementing his role as a premier elder statesman in Houston and a mentor to young Houston rappers such as Sosamann, Beatking, and Sauce Twinz. The latest volume, Hogg Life Volume 4: American King, releases via EMPIRE on August 4th and is currently available for pre-order.

For more of Slim Thug’s music, click below:

Mistah F.A.B. – “6 Shots” (Prod. by The Mekanix)

Mistah F.A.B. will not stand idly by as the list of unarmed African-American victims of police violence grows ever longer. With the paranoid-yet-hopeful “6 Shots,” produced by The Mekanix, Mistah F.A.B. explains the ills affecting the American criminal justice system and decries the racism that plagues all aspects of society. Although, much of the song comes from a place of anger, and Mistah F.A.B. directs much of his anger towards police officers, the final verse ends with a plea for action from African-Americans, especially black police officers: “What got me hot is there ain’t no black cops speakin’ out/coulda been your son, coulda been your daughter out there bleedin’ out/tell me what good is having arms if you ain’t reachin’ out/tell me what good is having a tongue if you ain’t speakin’ out/you see there’s power in the people they don’t speak about/you see the power in the people is what I speak about.”

“The police put the most radical and reckless officers in the most dangerous neighborhoods. If you’re afraid, if you’re intimidated of black people, why are you patrolling those neighborhoods to begin with? Police forces need to invest more in prevention. And they need to be held accountable for their actions as well. We have to stop the ‘bro-code’ of police and courts standing in solidarity with each other just because they wear the same badge. What makes you any different than someone who murdered unjustly if you stand in solidarity with that person?

“As civilians, we need to teach our ourselves our rights and how to react in escalating situations with the police. We’ve got to stand in solidarity with each other by participating in community work, philtanthropy, and we’ve gotta get on the front lines. We can’t jump into a healing process right away because to ask ‘How can we heal?’ is to be forgiving. Although we have fought for the dignities and rights through the Civil Rights Movement, how much farther have we come since we’ve been dragged to this country?”

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/272598557″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

For more Mistah Fab, click below: