Jay-Z expands his Roc Nation roster with Reuben Vincent.
The label confirmed over the weekend that they have signed the 20-year-old rapper/producer Reuben Vincent. In a statement, the Charlotte native explained it has always been his dream to sign with Roc Nation and called the experience “so crazy.”
“Man, it’s so crazy like, I remember being a kid like 5 or 10 years old watching Fade to Black on TV seeing Hov sell out Madison Square Garden,” Reuben said.
“And then man, I remember getting on the bus and my friends asked me, ‘If you could ever sign a deal somebody, who would it be?’ And my first answer was Roc Nation.”
Vincent added, “To me, that was just a dream. But one thing I didn’t know back then, was that some dreams stay dreams and some dreams come true. Welcome to JamRoc.”
Reuben Vincent has released two projects with JAMLA Records including 2017s “Myers Park” and 2020’s “Boy Meets World.”
The “No Problems’ rapper took to twitter to share his gratitude. “Signing to Roc Nation is a dream come true…I’m honestly still soaking it all in. 4ever grateful and thankful. Now it’s time to do what I said I set out to do in this game. Hov, you got you one.”
Signing to Roc Nation is a dream come true…I’m honestly still soaking it all in. 4ever grateful and thankful. Now it’s time to do what I said I set out to do in this game. Hov, you got you one.
Jay-Z is expanding his Roc Nation roster. The label confirmed over the weekend that they have signed the 20-year-old rapper/producer Reuben Vincent. In a statement, the Charlotte native explained it has always been his dream to sign with Roc Nation and called the experience “so crazy.”
“Man, it’s so crazy like, I remember being a kid like 5 or 10 years old watching Fade to Black on TV seeing Hov sell out Madison Square Garden,” Reuben said.
“And then man, I remember getting on the bus and my friends asked me, ‘If you could ever sign a deal somebody, who would it be?’ And my first answer was Roc Nation.”
Vincent added, “To me, that was just a dream. But one thing I didn’t know back then, was that some dreams stay dreams and some dreams come true. Welcome to JamRoc.”
Reuben Vincent has released two projects with JAMLA Records including 2017s “Myers Park” and 2020’s “Boy Meets World.”
The “No Problems’ rapper took to twitter to share his gratitude. “Signing to Roc Nation is a dream come true…I’m honestly still soaking it all in. 4ever grateful and thankful. Now it’s time to do what I said I set out to do in this game. Hov, you got you one.”
Signing to Roc Nation is a dream come true…I’m honestly still soaking it all in. 4ever grateful and thankful. Now it’s time to do what I said I set out to do in this game. Hov, you got you one.
In the mid-1990s, Smif-N-Wessun burst onto the scene brandishing two barrels locked-and-loaded with raw Rap talent. Following a breakthrough appearance on Black Moon’s seminal Enta Da Stage, the skills of Tek and Steele shimmered on their 1995 debut, Dah Shinin’. Da Beatminerz-produced album balanced vigor, street-smarts, and just the right amount of Brooklyn Soul for a display that cemented the Boot Camp Clik as a force to be reckoned with. Twenty-five years later, General Steele and Tek are still standing strong, with the stars and bars of a decorated career. The pair just released their sixth album, The All. Like their first LP, this body of work pairs the MCs with a respected production team: 9th Wonder & The Soul Council. Moreover, the 12-song effort showcases maturity and vulnerability, all while adhering to their unique brand of Hip-Hop. Featuring Raekwon, Rick Ross, and Rapsody, among others, the Bucktown USA/Duck Down Music release underpins Smif-N-Wessun’s influence on the genre. Now in their forties, Tek and Steele’s artistry is in a state of renaissance, not unlike that of JAY-Z, Royce 5’9, Pusha-T, and other peers. These artists are evolving, shedding skin, and taking listeners to new places. Less than a week ago, Ambrosia For Heads‘ Editor-in-Chief Jake Paine interviewed Smif-N-Wessun at Crown Heights’ Brooklyn Combine. Inside a space where strategic planning happens daily, Tek and General Steele reflect on their career and explain how Smif-N-Wessun reloaded with some of its best music. All can watch the full interview at AFH TV.Masta Ace, Marco Polo & Smif-n-Wessun Team Up To Salute Bucktown (Video) On “Testify,” Tek rhymes, “They say take ‘em back to Dah Shinin’ / But they don’t know the shape that my mind’s in.” At 3:45 in the interview, the two men explain where their heads are at in 2019. “I think we approached [the album] with an open mind. We had The Soul Council, that was really hands on with us. It wasn’t just dudes giving us beats. We had a guy like 9th Wonder who was like, ‘Yo, I can hear this vibe on this type of track. This vibe sounds like this.’ And it’s like, ‘Word? That’s what you hear? Aight; let’s see if we can catch that vibe right there.’ So, we was really building the tracks up,” says General Steele. The pair made two trips to North Carolina. The mornings began early, not without a stop at Biscuit World, a southern restaurant in close proximity to 9th Wonder’s studio. Many mornings, Khrysis, who produced seven of The All‘s 12 tracks, joined for these breakfasts. “We had to come with the content. We had to come with the words and the content that made sense. So, it wasn’t us just sitting there and just writing in the studio,” he admits. I get older, I don’t like writing in the studio. It feels so contrived to me. But when we was in that space, it was more of like a family space. It was an open lane to create. If you get tired of creating, you can go into the room and watch television, watch Netflix or something like that. We come back, and I’ll be in the studio, and we switch it. We pass off [rhyme] books and stuff like that. So really, like, on our own time, you know?” Smif-N-Wessun Show Boom Bap Sounds Amazing With Live Instruments (Video) After past albums with Da Beatminerz and 2011’s Monumental with Pete Rock, Tek describes the chemistry with The Soul Council. “We was all giving input. We worked with Khrysis the majority of the time hands on. So, even if he gave his input, I gave mine. Khrysis gave his. Not only 9th [Wonder], E. Jones, [Eric] G, even Ka$h [Don’t Make Beats], and Rapsody had their joints [in addition to] singing [by Heather Victoria and others]. We had a [white] board writing the names of the songs down. A lot of the titles of the songs came from the actual record we may have been talking about at the time, or whatever we were just feeling in the song. So, we write it down and we record it, and then we’ll just come up with the content of it.” Smif-N-Wessun Join Termanology On A Song That’s Rugged & Raw (Video) Later in the conversation, Smif-N-Wessun recall their time dabbling with Rawkus Records. Already in the Priority Records family, the pair worked extensively on Soundbombing and Lyricist Lounge compilations, in addition to features on Talib Kweli’s solo debut, Quality. The duo recall “Super Brooklyn,” garnering great interest. Sadly, similar to Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says,” a sample cease-and-desist halted a much-needed re-awakening to the group entering Y2K. By the late 1990s, Smif-N-Wessun was taking its proverbial industry lumps. A legal battle with the gun company forced a temporary name-change to Cocoa Brovaz at an inflection point. Despite time spent with Tupac Shakur, plans for a One Nation album were tragically halted with his 1996 death. Meanwhile, a fast-rising record like “Super Brooklyn” was stopped right as radio was pushing play. At 34:00, the duo was asked if they feel they have faced a harder road than most. 9th Wonder Brings Smif-n-Wessun & Rick Ross Together For A Song That’s Super Fly (Audio) Steele responds with a powerful sentiment. “Nah. Biggie and Pac [are] dead. Big L is gone. Guru is gone.” Tek interjects, “There’s always somebody who’s got it worse than you. So, the toughest battle is, as long as you breathing every day above ground is a great one.” Steele continues, “Every time we do a show, especially overseas, we always pay homage to the brothers that’s not here anymore. And that’s part of the show where we get a chance to get a breath. Imagine that. We get a breath for all of these ones that set it forth before us. The game has allowed us to perform. It could be worse. It could be worse.” 9th Wonder Closes Out An Incredible Year With More Than 40 Beats & Songs Perspective is critical, and Smif-N-Wessun are positive about a bumpy road. With a statement album newly in fans’ hands, they have reason to celebrate. Watch the full interview at AFH TV.Bundle packs for The All are also available to Heads via Duck Down Music. They include the digital album, vinyl, a CD, hoodie, t-shirt, beanie, sticker pack and Smif-N-Wessun & Champion Sound Live From Prague digital album. Photograph by Photo Rob. #BonusBeat: Smif-N-Wessun’s “Stahfallah” music video:
Grammy Award-winning producer and Jamla Records founder, 9th Wonder returns with his third-annual solo project, Zion III. The esteemed professor has had a productive 2018, having produced (with his Soul Council ensemble) the entirety of Black Thought’s Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, as well as quarterbacking the marvelous Jamla Is the Squad IIcompilation. In early 2019, he and the Council will produce Smif-N-Wessun’s The All album, having just released its first music video, “Let It Go.” That visual premiered at Ambrosia For Heads.
For those that may dismiss the Zion series is simply a yearly beat dump, consider this: last year’s Zion IIwarranted a limited vinyl pressing for Record Store Day. These collections include recognizable gems he placed on albums, as well as unreleased joints. This time around, he decided to give Jamla’s newest spitters, King Draft and Swank, a chance to really shine on five tracks. There are more than 40 inclusions altogether, offering some noteworthy instrumental Hip-Hop.
If you didn’t catch them on the Jamla Is the Squad II comp, then their raw verses on “To Jersey,” “So Familiar,” “Whole Life,” “Lonely Nights,” and “Signs” should make it clear why they’re getting the spotlight here. Young King kicks the first bars of the album and he sparks it with, “David Blaine on the M-I-C / The flash make ‘em forget, like MIB / C’est la vie / Car crash couldn’t interrupt my chi / I stay centered like ‘hike’ on three.” Swank matches witty wordplay with bars like, “Spit dope sh*t / Whip pot, broke wrist / Ni**a so sick I’m in the ER / Whoever you think sick, I’m that just add an ‘er.’”
As you would expect from the Little Brother co-founder, the beats are soulful and literally filled with Soul samples and vocal snippets from the same genre. He follows the classic formula of hard boom-bap drums and chilled-out loops. For MCs seeking turnkey beats to build their skills with, fans looking for great holiday party background musics, or Jamla Heads looking for an introduction to the new wave, Zion III is it.
Grammy Award-winning producer and Jamla Records founder, 9th Wonder returns with his third-annual solo project, Zion III. The esteemed professor has had a productive 2018, having produced (with his Soul Council ensemble) the entirety of Black Thought’s Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, as well as quarterbacking the marvelous Jamla Is the Squad IIcompilation. In early 2019, he and the Council will produce Smif-N-Wessun’s The All album, having just released its first music video, “Let It Go.” That visual premiered at Ambrosia For Heads.
For those that may dismiss the Zion series is simply a yearly beat dump, consider this: last year’s Zion IIwarranted a limited vinyl pressing for Record Store Day. These collections include recognizable gems he placed on albums, as well as unreleased joints. This time around, he decided to give Jamla’s newest spitters, King Draft and Swank, a chance to really shine on five tracks. There are more than 40 inclusions altogether, offering some noteworthy instrumental Hip-Hop.
If you didn’t catch them on the Jamla Is the Squad II comp, then their raw verses on “To Jersey,” “So Familiar,” “Whole Life,” “Lonely Nights,” and “Signs” should make it clear why they’re getting the spotlight here. Young King kicks the first bars of the album and he sparks it with, “David Blaine on the M-I-C / The flash make ‘em forget, like MIB / C’est la vie / Car crash couldn’t interrupt my chi / I stay centered like ‘hike’ on three.” Swank matches witty wordplay with bars like, “Spit dope sh*t / Whip pot, broke wrist / Ni**a so sick I’m in the ER / Whoever you think sick, I’m that just add an ‘er.’”
As you would expect from the Little Brother co-founder, the beats are soulful and literally filled with Soul samples and vocal snippets from the same genre. He follows the classic formula of hard boom-bap drums and chilled-out loops. For MCs seeking turnkey beats to build their skills with, fans looking for great holiday party background musics, or Jamla Heads looking for an introduction to the new wave, Zion III is it.
