Chamillionaire opens up on why 20/20 cancelled his feature regarding Racial Profiling...

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There’s wasn’t much publicized on why 20/20 backed out on featuring you on their show to talk about racial profiling… now that some time has passed since then, would you like to speak on the reason why you felt that your segment was cancelled?

Chamillionaire: Originally, I was told that the feature was cancelled because the slot was already filled. But to me, the cancellation just happened to quick, like right before the scheduled taping. What people don’t know is that they’ve prescreened me before the interview through a phone call. I was asked questions about racial profiling and if I was ever a victim of racial profiling, so I said, “Yes.” Then I was asked to explain the incident. So I went into details about those incidents. I told them about how a cop pulled me over and told that I had warrants. After that he said that if I give him money that he’d let me go. So we drove to an ATM, I took out the money, gave it to him, and he let me go. I knew that I didn’t have any warrants in the first place, but that was also the day that I just got my car painted (the paint would change colors in the light when you look at it), plus rims on it. He was driving in the opposite direction when he decided to slow down, take a U-turn, pull me over and threaten to put me in jail for something that I didn’t do. I also told them about the time that the cops thought that the vehicle I was in was stolen. So they took me out of the car, threw me to the ground, stepped on my face pressing it to the concrete with guns to my face. They found out that the car wasn’t stolen so they let me go. After I told those two stories the representative was in disbelief, asking me if things like that still happened today. Maybe they thought that if I was interviewed for the show that people would think that I was crazy – I don’t know.

It was a disappointment that they cancelled on me because there were a lot of people that we informed about my appearance on 20/20. It just seems like whenever we get a chance to speak about our plight in the hood to a larger market, we get cancelled on.

So I hear that you have a new album dropping in March… speak on it.

Chamillionaire: I’m actually in New York right now, recording on the new album. Last night, I recorded a song with Kelis called, I’m not a Criminal. At the moment, I don’t have much to say in regards to the album because we’re still in the political stages of it, trying to get music cleared. I have a song with R. Kelly as well, but I can’t promise that I will be able to get the song cleared by the label at this time. So I am still in the creative process for “Ultimate Victory” but it will consist of street commercial music. On this album, I’m the A&R, the administrator, the executive producer – I am doing it all, because I feel that I know what hot music is. In the industry you can get caught up in a lot of politics with people trying to tell you how to do your music. I feel that “Ridin” ended up doing so well because it was the closest representation of who I am. So if people loved that, I feel that they will love me for just being myself. Even though I worked with a lot of the same producers from my first album, you will see on this album that I’ve expanded my reach working with producers like Kanye’, Just Blaze, J.R. Rotem, but like I said before, I can’t say which songs will make the album quite yet.

Jay-Z: Still Spending Money from '88

By Will “Deshair” Foskey, as seen in the December issue of XPOZ magazine

The same dude that was out for “Presidents to represent him” when he entered the industry, became the President of Def Jam during his lyrical hiatus. Now that he has returned, is the ruler officially back or is he still clouded in the black he faded into?


From 9-6 to 0-6, the truest of Hip-Hop minds have witnessed to the meteoric trances ion of the Brooklyn bred emcee by way of the Marcy Projects. From Lucky Lefty to Iceberg Slim to Jigga, -- and now HOVA, Mr. Carter was equipped with a healthy amount of foresight that pushed him beyond the mental barriers of his peers. His hunger for more was only overshadowed by his hunger for growth.

Shawn Corey Carter, born on December 4, was ahead of his time from the very beginning. On the Black Album, the song that shares the same title as his birth date, is proof of that. But it was on the Blueprint, his critically acclaimed classic where certification of our shared hustle was brought to light. The title track, ‘Blueprint (Momma loves me) was recited as follows: East Trenton grew me / had me skipping school / Valencia’s boyfriend Volvo had me making moves.

Shit, this dude’s street hustle started in the same city where I wrote my first words. We’ve walked the same halls at Trenton Central High School; although my time came years after his journey back to BK. For me, Mr. Carter was hope previously birthed through hopelessness. Greatness is necessary, mediocrity is criminal.

I want you to look at Jay-Z in 2006, then try to fathom the fact that every record company at the time he was looking for a deal viewed his rapid-fire hustler’s flow as a risk. But where his counterparts would have tried to bang down the same door, he adjusted, and then opened up another door. You can’t become a success in any industry without having a sense of when to adjust and when to take risks. Mr. Carter takes on life’s challenges as if he is traveling on I-95. He commits himself to the long haul and whenever there’s a challenge ahead of him, he switches lanes and leaves that previous boundary in the dust.

As a trendsetter, Jigga was GS’ed up (Lexus) before anybody else was, in his video for ‘Dead Presidents’. While his competitors were sippin’ on that Crooked I and Moet Chandon, Jigga was sipping on Cristal. Speaking of Cristal, in 2006, new managing director for Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud was quoted to have made racist statements in the direction of the Hip-Hop community regarding urban consumption of the champagne. Mr. Carter quickly pulled all bottles of Cristal out of his clubs, raised his awareness of the statement to the Hip-Hop community and denounced Cristal as a drink of status.
Rouzaud quickly back peddled on his statements, but Jigga wasn’t hearing it. He has since replaced Cristal with his new brand of choice, Armand de Brignac.

When Jay said hello to 30, he ushered in a new era for not only himself, but for a legion of followers. He got rid of the throwback jerseys for some canvases, dark blue jeans, a crispy button up, topped off by an oversized fitted cap that hangs below the eyes. It wouldn’t be long before his upgrade blanketed the hood. What might not seem like much to the human eye spoke volumes to a community in dire need of a takeover… my mistake, a makeover.

Jay-Z stood as a role model without anyone even thinking of adding that title to his repertoire. In his smash hit, ‘IZZO’ he recites: Like I told you to sell drugs / No, HOV did that so hopefully you wouldn’t have to go through that. And in ‘99 Problems’, he taught a lesson to his community about their rights when they get pulled over by the authorities: My glove compartments locked, so is the trunk in the back / and I know my rights so you’re gonna’ need a warrant for that.

It’s more than just the music, although music is the tool Mr. Carter has chosen to get his point across. On his new album, “Kingdom Come” he has a song called ‘Lost One’ that feels like a remake of Lauryn Hill’s huge single that debuted more than 5 years ago. He opens up the song with: I heard motherfuckers saying they made HOV / Made HOV say okay so, make another HOV! You might be able to find his predecessor, but you can’t recreate an entire man. This is what makes a Jay-Z iconic. This is how you’re able to place Jay-Z in the same breath of a Tupac Shakur and not be wrong by doing so. You can not deny Mr. Carter’s track record.

“Kingdom Come” has received early mixed reviews from critics, but that was the same story when the Black Album hit stores. The Black Album went platinum multiplied by 3. It just so happened that people had to catch on to Jay’s growth as it shall have to be mimicked for Kingdom Come.
Mr. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter will continue to open up new doors of visibility and expansion which will shine upon our culture. He is an icon in every sense of the word. Don’t be surprised if you see a Roc-a-Fella -sponsored NASCAR racecar taking the turns at Talladega in our near future. The possibilities are limitless for the “King of Kings.”

Jay-Z HP.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, Roc-a-fella, Lil' Wayne says He's better than Jay-Z

Ms. Jackson, if you still care...

By Will “Deshair” Foskey, as seen in the January issue of XPOZ magazine

It’s almost hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Ms. Jackson took “Control” over her career, but it has been that long. Born to Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Janet Damita Jo, is the youngest of nine children with enough energy and attitude to share evenly with her siblings. The youngest descendant of musical royalty with the Jackson 5 as in-house motivation, who would have thought that Janet’s earliest aspirations, would have been to become a horse jockey? In the end, it was a stern father with a twist of calculated destiny that has given Janet the opportunity to entertain millions and to usher in a new generation of strong, confident women into the ‘90s.

Janet has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, not including the many records she broke on the Billboard charts through her equally impressive singles. Some of those record setting feats have only been eclipsed by artists the caliber of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in their prime.
Ms. Jackson is a World Tour giant as well. She is one of the few artists that no matter what the price of a ticket to her show costs she’ll make your purchase worth it by showcasing an overall stage performance that will excite you in more ways than one.

With a musical resume that is unmatched by any other artist in her genre, you would think that people wouldn’t count Janet out so quickly. Her ninth album “20 Y.O.” entered the Billboard 200 charts at #2, selling 289,000 units in its first week, but since then, Janet’s 20th anniversary party is all but over – or so they say. Since its release, 20 Y.O. sold over 440,000 copies. Her first week sales for “All For You” surpassed that number in one week. Some industry insiders would say that times have changed since Ms. Jackson’s hey day. Her current boyfriend and former President of Urban Music at Virgin, Jermaine Dupri has allegedly left his post due to the lack of promotion for his sweetheart’s latest project. Some of her diehard fans just wanted the old Janet with her signature sound and bright aura back.

So why isn’t Janet on top of the globe?

Contrary to popular demand, Janet’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during her Halftime Super Bowl performance has nothing to do with her drop in sales. Yes, she received a healthy portion of negative press and spurred the FCC back into action, but people weren’t going to stop buying her music because of it. I mean really, there weren’t many people out there who were totally appalled by the act. They may have been stunned, but not appalled. The truth is, most of the people who complained about the act, didn’t even see it until the day after.

Complaints about the promotion of 20 Y.O. seems to be a bit far fetched since Janet was on the cover of every magazine imaginable and also appeared on every major network to get the word out. Oprah Winfrey’s couch was promotion enough. And with a rabid fan base still backing Ms. Jackson, the World Wide Web dazzled with Janet trinkets. Now you can never have enough promotion. It’s just that Janet signed an $80 million dollar deal with Virgin, and with 20 Y.O. being the last album requirement of the deal, you would think that her promotions would be up to par. Or maybe for that same reason it wasn’t.
JD, you need to get in contact with me so that we can set the record straight for Janet fans everywhere.

I do know one thing though. It has been 20 years since Janet began her ascension after stepping out from her older brother, Michael’s shadow, to beginning her reign at the top of the Pop world. But in 2006, Janet, standing at the completely gorgeous age of 40, has found herself in competition with the female Pop/R&B world that she trail-blazed. She is an icon through and through, but she isn’t 21 anymore. Ok, so why did I just make this discussion about her age? I’m about to give you the real reason why Janet has fizzled over the past 5 years.

Ms. Jackson, or her advisors, have made a detrimental mistake in rerouting her musical direction. Janet is known for her popular sound; music that makes you feel good; music that makes you want to dance like her and with her. The formula that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis helped Janet to create on the Control album ultimately paved a new lane in music. Janet was never pure R&B. Her music reached beyond the boundaries of any one particular genre. So why is Janet singing R&B music now? Why is she conforming to today’s generation of sound? Why isn’t she staying in her personal lane where she might have competitors coming at her, but when the smoke clears, they will only be compared to her? If popular music is what got you to where you are, you modify that music, you don’t just change it altogether – especially after 15 years of success.

You don’t see a group with the legacy of Bon Jovi, trying to sound like the All-American Rejects. And this is why after 20 years and over 100 million records sold; their fan base is as strong as ever. Bon Jovi is still doing what they have done the best, and that is being Bon Jovi. This is where I believe that Janet has lost her way, and by doing so, Janet’s career foundation is rotting from the inside out. A lot of her American fans have moved on. They just might come back around when her 20 Y.O. tour begins in March 2007, but they will stay for the show up until the “All For You” set is completed. Once she starts to sing music from the “Damita Jo” and “20 Y.O.” albums, many of those fans will begin to file out of the stadium.

Now I do understand that Janet has kept up an arduous pace over her illustrious career, putting in 8 hours a day in the gym, 6 days a week to prepare herself for appearances and live performances. And with each year that passes for Ms. Jackson, the work ethic that she made a paramount in this industry will become even more difficult to maintain. Will anyone want to see her perform ‘Pleasure Principal’ when she’s 51 years old? Will Janet even want to perform at that age? She is the ultimate entertainer, but even her brother Michael, one of the greatest entertainers of all-time can’t keep up the pace of battling his 20-something “Thriller” ghost.

At the 2006 World Music Awards, Michael called on R&B star, Chris Brown to perform ‘Thriller’ on his behalf. Let’s just say that Michael’s fans weren’t too receptive of the move. You tell me, when was the last time you ever heard of Michael Jackson being “booed off the stage” during a performance? The Jackson’s, as in Janet and Michael, were the first to take the new age of Popular music this far into their lives. They’ve had entertainers who’ve inspired them, but none of their inspirations worked at the pace that both Janet and Michael had to work. And I believe that even if there was a blueprint in place for them, they would have ignored it, because they thrive on performing at the highest level for their fans. I would just hope that artists like Usher, Ciara, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and other livewire entertainers will not only continue to look at the Jackson’s as their inspirations, but also as examples of where their careers can take them if they keep up the grueling high impact pace their fans expect from them.

In closing, these are just my thoughts on why I feel that Janet Jackson has fallen from grace. And this is my message to Ms. Jackson:

We still care about you dearly. You’ve set positive examples for many, and have inspired an entire culture to be a part of your nation. I would be selfish as a fan to ask for the old Janet back. But it was you that has spoiled us with your sexy expressions, your incredible hips and unearthly abs glistening onstage. It was you who dazzled us with your performances of ‘Rhythm Nation’, ‘If’ and twirled your perfections to a boiling blaze with ‘I Get Lonely’. It was you who sang the songs that made us feel unbelievably good, made some of us cry, made some of us make babies (Anytime, Anyplace) and we will love you forever for it. It’s just that you’ve set too high a bar of standards for yourself to just casually walk under it for the past couple of years. Janet, we want to see you high jump over your previously set bar of standards, even if it’s for the last time. You’ve told us a few years back that it was, “All for you, if you really want it.” We really want it Janet.

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