UG Rap Community

Pioneering Rap Group U.N.L.V. Settles Lingering Lawsuit with Cash Money Records

The New Orleans based rap group U.N.L.V. has finalized its settlement with former label, Cash Money Records (United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana Civil Action 05-1224)...


U.N.L.V. (whose moniker is not Las Vegas related) sued Cash Money Records for failure to compensate for six recordings put out through Cash Money Records label. After U.N.L.V. left the label, Cash Money Records continued to distribute and sell U.N.L.V.'s recording for years. Terms of the settlement are confidential.


With the settlement completed, members of U.N.L.V., Reginald Manuel ("Tec-9") and Yaphet Jones ("Lil Ya"), are negotiating to re-master and re-release their original recordings. Tec-9 is also working on new material due next year.


U.N.L.V. was one of the first groups to sign with the then upstart, Cash Money Records, in 1992. U.N.L.V. is credited with forming the ubiquitous gangsta/bounce trend in New Orleans that was soon copied nationally. Best known for their single entitled Drag 'Em from the River, UNLV's music has been broadcast on radio stations and club playslists throughout the nation since the early 1990's. Recordings by U.N.L.V. include: "6th and Barone;" "Straight out the Gutta;" "Mac-Melph-Calio;" "Straight from tha Ramp" (Solo recorded by Tec-9); "Uptown for Life;" "Greatest Hits" and "Trend Setters: The Return of U.N.L.V."


U.N.L.V.'s Manuel and Jones lost their homes and livelihood in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flood, in 2005. The third member of the group, Albert Thomas ("Yella Boyee"), was murdered in 1996. Manuel and Jones are currently exiled in Texas, but plan to return to New Orleans in the near future to continue their careers in the music industry.

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New DVD Captures Last Days Of Producer J. Dilla

The last days of revered producer James "J. Dilla" Yancey have been chronicled on a new DVD titled Frank N Dank and J. Dilla's European Vacation.

European Vacation features footage of a November 2005 tour, the last that J. Dilla embarked upon, before he passed away from complications from Lupus on February 10, 2006...


Featured on the DVD are childhood friends and group Frank Bush and Derrick “Dank” Harvey.

J. Dilla produced the group's first 12" singles and their fabled album 48 Hours, which was supposed to be released on MCA Records in 2000, but was shelved and later leaked and bootlegged.

"We've known Dilla since 1984, before there were beats, rhymes or any of that," Frank told AllHipHop.com. "That's what this whole thing was built on. Not music, not any of the rap stuff. He was a soldier. This DVD will show all the people who love Dilla and didn't get to know him as a person, it shows the type of person he was. He didn't have to go on this tour, he chose to. He loved what he did and he wanted to give that love back to the people who supported him."

The DVD, which also features former group member Phat Kat (1st Down) and DJ Rhettmatic, follows J. Dilla and Frank-N-Dank traveling across Europe, performing at various sold out shows.

While J. Dilla was confined to a wheel chair during the time European Vacation was filmed, both Frank and Dank revealed that J. Dilla sanctioned and approved the taping, to document his love for the culture.

"We didn't know how sick he was until he came off the plane," Frank said. Dank confirmed adding: "Nobody knew he was sick. He was a real personal individual."

"He's not gonna tell you 'I'm sick,' Dank continued. "So when we got to the airport in London and it was a shocker. It made me want to break down and cry for real, cause my man is in a wheel chair. But at the same time I had to be strong for him for the tour. I carried him every single night, to the venue and after the venues."

Dank said that another purpose of the DVD is to further educate United States Hip-Hop fans about Dilla's legacy and the impact that he had on the landscape of Hip-Hop.

"You see a movement, people from another country that don't speak any English, but they know every song," Dank said of Dilla's European fans. "Then you get people here in America and they don't know none of this s**t."

Not only was J. Dilla a member of the Detroit Hip-Hop group Slum Village, he produced a number of influential records as Jaylib (J. Dilla and Madlib) and put in work as a member of the The Soulquarians production crew.

J. Dilla lent his production talents to artists like Janet Jackson, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Keith Murray, The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Bilal, Proof, Ghostface Killah and others.

His resume stretches as far back as 1996, when he broke into the mainstream by producing The Pharcyde's classic Hip-Hop anthem "Runnin’."

"He was so secluded he didn't let anyone in, so to see so many stories about The Pharcyde, the first time he met B.I.G. and Puff, it's just amazing," Frank said.

In addition to Frank N Dank, the DVD features an appearance by J. Dilla's mother Maureen Yancey, who also executive produced European Vacation.
"Me and his mom had a conversation after he passed," revealed Frank. "He prepared her for him to go. He told her 'I am going to be OK. I just need you to be alright.' In his mind he already knew, so he let go when thought everything was in place. This is a week before he passed away. This is straight from his mother and you can't get no realer than that. He knew what he was doing. This DVD is for his people."

European Vacation also introduces a number of artists that J. Dilla as working with, including CakeBoys, Que D, Young RJ and iLLA-JAY, J. Dilla's 23-year-old younger brother, who also produces and raps.

"He's got beats and rhymes. He's learning and he's a really talented kid. Really humble and he understands. J. Dilla saw and taught him some things," Dank told AllHipHop.com.

Frank N Dank and J. Dilla's European Vacation is in stores now.

For more information visit: www.frankndank.com or www.needillworks.com.

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Fotzy Brown Starts Independent Label With Koch Records

Foxy Brown leaves Def Jam to start an independent label which will be distributed through Koch Records. Last Wednesday night, August 8, Foxy Brown closed a deal with Koch Records which makes her the first female star MC to have an independent label at Koch. Although the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, label sources revealed it was a multi-million dollar negotiation that signed after office hours. The first artist to be released under Black Rose Entertainment will be Foxy Brown...


Ms. Brown will release her highly anticipated street album titled' Brooklyn's Don Diva ' later this year, which will be her first release since regaining her hearing. Foxy stated "I have always been a symbol of independence as a female in music. My brand is already established, millions of my records have already been sold, and I have a fan base already loyal, after 13 years at Def Jam, I felt it was time as a matured business women to move on and continue my brand under the roof of something I own".


Foxy also hinted she will be looking to sign artists who have worldwide appeal because of her strong ties in the Caribbean music genre. Chaz Williams, of Black Hand Management, stated, "Foxy is not only an incredible talent but an entrepreneur with a vision. She decided to move on to literally greener pastures, like money green. We are faced with a climate in music and new media where the independent is far more profitable. Ownership and partnerships are the new millennium record deals."


The first single from Brooklyn's Don Diva will hit radio within the next few weeks, and the album is scheduled for a December release. Foxy went on to say, "I have two albums of music recorded, and my fans have waited long enough, I'm back b%ches!!!"

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Drag-On Releasing New album "Hood Environment"

Drag-On will be releasing his latest project Hood Environment on September 4...


The album features 16 new tracks from the BX MC. Rumor has it that Drag-On may be signing with Swizz Beatz and his Full Surface label as well. More on that as it develops.

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