LOS ANGLES, CA – K. Michelle isn’t afraid to speak her mind and she lets everyone know in her new song “Supahood” men from the streets hold a special place in her heart. With the help of City Girls’ Yung Miami and Kash Doll, the Love & Hip Hop Hollywood star asks “if he ain’t a hood n***a, why bother?”

“Supahood” is an ode to men everywhere with a lot of hood, as each woman lists what they love most about this hood life. K. Michelle inconspicuously posted a minute’s worth of behind the scene footage last month (August 19) of the video that’s likely to release soon.

K. Michelle may love a roughneck, but she also loves her dentist bae Kastan Sims. The two have been together since 2016 and in a 2017 interview with Essence, she said Dr. Sims knows the real her. “We’ve been friends for over 19 years now, and I just looked at him and said this is the type of man that I should be with, someone who is my friend,” she said.

NEW YORK, NY – Following Tekashi 6ix9ine’s November 2018 arrest, the 23-year-old decided to cooperate with the feds and start naming names. Consequently, his peers have distanced themselves from the controversial figure, including 50 Cent.

The trial of alleged Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods Anthony “Harv” Ellison and Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack kicked off this week and 6ix9ine took the stand as the government’s star witness. As part of his testimony, he identified Jim Jones and Cardi B as Bloods.

Fiddy, who has already stated he wants nothing to do with 6ix9ine, shared his thoughts on Instagram using a meme of the “GUMMO” mastermind in court.

“Judge: Is that all?” the post reads. “6ix9ine: … and Tommy killed Angela Valdez,” a reference to his show Power.

“Damn boy, how you see that,” he wrote in the caption. “you got the STARZ app in there?”

There was a time when 50 Cent and 6ix9ine were on good terms.

The Power mogul even appeared alongside the famously rainbow-colored hair rapper in Uncle Murda’s “Get The Strap” video and referred to him as his “son.”

During a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, 50 was asked about 6ix9ine and he made it clear that relationship was dead.

“I haven’t spoken to him,” 50 said. Charlamagne Tha God asked, “Would you answer?” to which 50 said, “No. That’s his mother’s child now. After you do shit like that, you your mother’s child. Don’t call me.”

After 6ix9ine named Jones a Blood during Thursday’s (September 19) hearing, Twitter blew up with reactions. Meanwhile, Cardi bluntly stated she is a member of the Brims set but denied an alignment with Nine Trey.

The trial is ongoing.

MIAMI, FL – One conversation with Rick Ross will have you questioning the definitions of success, wealth and opportunity; how to identify opportunity, how to achieve success and how to maintain it while keeping your soul and bodily faculties intact. Ross, born William Leonard Roberts II, rose to prominence in 2006 with his breakout single, “Hustlin’,” a word that defines his character and approach towards life.

Ross’ fans are believers in his use of language and unabashed celebration of riches. He’s proud to remind people he created a palatial oasis out of the urban desert that was his early life.

The way Rozay explains it, the flash and cash his lifestyle portrays go deeper than flagrant materialism. It leaves a roadmap for others behind him to follow — from no way out to a yellow brick road of possibilities.

The focus of our conversation was Ross’ memoir Hurricanes and the rags to riches story he loves to illustrate for his supporters.

HipHopDX: You come across as nostalgic in your memoir Hurricanes. If you could travel through time and bear witness to the making of any classic album, which one would you love to be a part of?

Rick Ross: A rap album? That would have to be Paid In Full with Eric B. and Rakim. Rakim was such a supreme lyricist and B was the epitome of a DJ/dope boy. They were the center of style and fashion with their Gucci suits on the album covers, sitting on the hood of a Mercedes Benz S550. It was the epitome of what rap music really represented.

Photo: Bob Metelus

Rick Ross Talks Escaping Death, Drake & Coming To America 2

HipHopDX: Generational wealth or artistic legacy — which means more to you?

Rick Ross: Generational wealth, without a doubt.

HipHopDX: You’ve had some close calls between your health issues and an attempt that was made on your life. What was the greatest lesson or insight gained from those experiences?

Rick Ross: Ha! Something just ran across my mind, and I want to say that if it was the end, I would want to make sure I smoke all the roaches down until they’re by my fingertips [laughs]! But it boils down to appreciating and enjoying every day.

HipHopDX: Do you believe in destiny, free will, or both?

Rick Ross: Destiny, for many different reasons. When there was [sic] twenty shots fired at my Rolls Royce, I had the audacity to go back and get my Cuban link chain. Not only did I go back to get my Cuban link chain, I went back to go get my girlfriend. It had to be destiny.

HipHopDX: It’s nice that you went back for your girlfriend but thank God you didn’t lose the Cuban link [laughs]. Kidding!

Rick Ross: [Laughs]

HipHopDX: What is the source of your drive and ambition?

Rick Ross: Other than my DNA, it comes from my neighborhood, and being so blatantly aware of the haves and the have nots. I knew I was one of the [have nots]. It may not have been traumatic at all. It could have been something as simple as me not having the Nintendo with the Mike Tyson’s Punchout! game.

HipHopDX: That was my favorite game! You’re taking me back…

Rick Ross: Mine too. Mike Tyson’s Punchout! and Double Dragon. When you’re the one on the block, where your friends have to bring the game and cartridges in a Winn Dixie bag to come spend the night at your crib, you kind of know.

HipHopDX: Do you pray? And who or what do you pray to, and what do you pray for?

Rick Ross: Daily. I call him The Big Homie because there’s only one Big Homie; I don’t care what nobody else calls him. I just let Him know I’m appreciative of everything, and I’m really under his command. The second he calls for me or is ready for me, I’m going to open my arms to him.

HipHopDX: What are you here in this life as Rick Ross to learn and to teach?

Rick Ross: Just that others like me, who never learned math, that you can still be the CEO, you can still become authors and artists. Nobody ever told me that. I had to learn that on my own. When I was in school, I sat in the back of the class making jokes, trying to cover up the fact that I never learned multiplication or algebra. I want to let youngsters who are in the position I was in, know that they can be in this position I’m in now.

My father wasn’t there to tell me that, and I never had a big brother. The people I looked at were the ones in the street. I know the advice I always got from them, but I want to teach others that you can become a CEO, a huge success. I’m not only the CEO of one company but close to a dozen. That’s what I want to be able to teach people on a major scale.

HipHopDX: To divert a bit, let’s talk about a song from your recent album, Port of Miami 2, “Gold Roses” featuring Drake. It’s a great song. Describe the dynamic between you and Drake, musically and personally.

Rick Ross: Drake is a genuine human being, and I think that is what I admire and respect about him so much. The role I’ve always played with him was Big Homie, and he always played my Lil’ Homie. That dynamic has always been as natural as it comes, and that’s when we’re in the recording booth and when we’re outside the recording booth. He’s not afraid to show his sensitive side, and that’s what makes him the artist he is.

HipHopDX: You’ve been quoted as saying that you never question God. Even in your darkest moments, you’ve never asked, “Why?” or questioned Him in any way?

Rick Ross: If I have, it was many years ago before I began to understand what life is. Life can be a cruel place; it can be a cold place. But it also can be as beautiful as you make it. I didn’t even question Him on the morning I woke up with my closest friend dead in the room next to me. We had just been together three hours earlier, and now three hours later, he’s dead and gone. I never questioned when my other closest homeboy was gunned down in a home invasion in front of his two, three and four-year-old sons. I’m not going to question the Big Homie. Whatever His plans are, that’s His plans. However I go out, it’s destiny.

Photo: Bob Metulus

HipHopDX: Have you ever stopped to reflect on, and question, the violence that’s surrounded you throughout your life?

Rick Ross: Growing up where I grew up, I never questioned it because questioning it did nothing for it. Hearing AK47s going off for sixty seconds at a time, you can cry, you can pray, you can question it, but you better just sit back, shut the fuck up, and wait for the ambulance to come. Year after year of seeing and hearing it and walking to school while passing a dead body, it gets to a point where you don’t question it. You got to decide, am I going to survive or am I going to die?

HipHopDX: You discuss your solid financial prowess in your book. What do you teach your children about money?

Rick Ross: The disadvantage my children have is that they’re my kids, and my entire family is in a different position. They’re receiving money from everybody. I could put my kids on an allowance, but my daughters have credit cards. I do explain the importance and the value of building a brand. I don’t speak to my daughter about coming up from the mud to the marble and starting with nothing, because that’s not her life. She’s not in the position me and my sisters were in. Instead, I talk to her about the importance of maintaining our brands and bringing something new to the brand. By the time she was fourteen, my daughter knew how to run a Wingstop (one of Ross’ several business interests).

If we left her in a Wingstop [restaurant] with two other people, they would be able to run it for a full day. With my haircare line, RICH Haircare, I allow her to be in the conference calls and to sit in on the meetings. At the same time, she gets to live and enjoy life much more than I did at her age. You have to take the good with the bad, but I most definitely let them see firsthand what hard work is.

HipHopDX: You’re raising your kids in the Holyfield Mansion (Ross’ 44,000 square foot Georgian estate, once owned by Evander Holyfield). I would imagine there has to be a sense of entitlement when your kids are growing up in what is, for all intents and purposes, a palace.

Rick Ross: It’s not something I overthink. As parents, we need to set examples because we have to let our children grow into what and who they are going to be. I really don’t put a lot of pressure on my kids, because they’re good students and they are very respectful of me and of everyone else around them. I’m allowing them to become young adults, and to decide what college they want to go to, what they want to be, what they want to do, how they want to do it, and where they want to do it. I’m pretty free about that.

It’s not an upbringing I would know about firsthand, and I’m pretty sure I would feel entitled if Eddie Murphy was walking around my dad’s home and Coming to America 2 was being filmed at my father’s estate. They’re filming Coming to America 2 at the estate right now.

HipHopDX: Okay, well that’s awesome! Are you in it?

Rick Ross: I have a small role and I did my first scene a few days ago.

HipHopDX: I’ll have to look out for you when it comes out.

Rick Ross: Most definitely. You’ll have to look out for Rozay in the movie when it’s out [laughs].

HipHopDX: I love how in the back of your book you thanked a jeweler who let you browse his watch collection for hours and ask him a bunch of questions years ago, when he knew you couldn’t afford to buy one. Do you think you envisioned your dreams into existence?

Rick Ross: Without a doubt. I think that’s a part of destiny. I believe that if you believe in something or anticipate something coming to you, you try your best to prepare for it. For example, I’m trying my best now to prepare to be a huge actor one day. Before I finished my book, I wanted to thank Mr. Morgan; that was the name of the jeweler. He was extremely kind and patient with me. For some reason, he would always let me, for two hours at a time, look and ask questions about the jewelry. He knew I didn’t have money. I probably didn’t have money for a damn soda at that time. He’d take the time to describe the different watches to me, and my mind was just blown. I was fascinated by the idea of having jewelry. He would let me stand there for a long time and I never got the opportunity to purchase anything from him.

I just wish he knew who I was, and I wish I knew where he was now, because I would personally want to thank him.

HipHopDX: How do you feel about your fans getting to know you on a more intimate level when they read your book? Does that make you nervous or excited?

Rick Ross: I would never be nervous at the idea of my fans getting to know me, and I feel like if they really knew who I was, they wouldn’t even believe me. The book paints some pictures for you but can never really give you an idea of what the real play was, because I came up in the era of some real things happening. Neil [Martinez-Belkin] did a great job of putting the book together. He spoke to maybe sixty or seventy of my closest friends and family, because talking to me there’s only some much conversation I’m going to give you. The shit I’ve seen, when we talked, it got no realer. When I talked about getting real money it got no realer. That’s what made me the businessman I am. Unlike a lot of other artists, I was familiar with money before the music came. Most artists, by the time they get their first advance, they got to go get a car or a home. I already had these things, so by the time I got money in the music business I was ready to invest in other things and do other things.

HipHopDX: At the end of your book, you also pay tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle. Why do you think his life ended the way it did and when it did?

Rick Ross: As painful as it is to watch this type of shit online (referring to surveillance video footage of the shooting), that’s what I grew up seeing. As painful as it is, I almost became numb to it over the years. I’ve always been the one that’s been the shoulder for others to cry on. Why did it happen? I can’t answer that. Was he a special individual? An incredibly special individual! Would I still consider Nipsey Hussle blessed and highly favored? Yes, I would. I’ve stood in those shoes before, and I was blessed to walk away. But for some reason, if it was to happen to me and that’s how the Big Homie upstairs chose for me to go, I’m going to open my arms to him.

“I don’t fear death, personally.”

I’m sure if Nipsey was here, Nipsey would still love and support his community the same way. Would Nipsey still love flossing in Crenshaw? I believe so. I would still love Miami 305, even if that was the city that took my life.

HipHopDX: What do you hope fans are getting out of reading your book?

Rick Ross: I just hope the youngsters that are from where I’m from can see the potential in them in becoming authors, becoming CEOS or whatever they want to become. Do I really think I’m going to make money off this bullshit? Probably not. Do I think it will be successful? Really, anything with my face on it could be successful, but I didn’t do it for that. I wrote the book because I’m another youngster from a failing situation that’s seeing some success. Ultimately, that’s what it’s about. Going from being the hunted to becoming the hunter.

Hurricanes: A Memoir by Rick Ross with Neil Martinez-Belkin is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Port of Miami 2, Ross’ 10th studio album, is also out now. Follow him on Instagram @RichForever.

Trae Tha Truth is still finding ways to challenge himself after two decades in the music business. Although his career is busier than ever, the veteran MC continues to push himself in the studio and try out different approaches on projects such as his recently released Exhale LP.

The album showcases some of the new tricks up his sleeve, which Trae has managed to develop despite a workload that includes his Relief Gang’s charitable efforts, a biography and shopping his self-titled cartoon.

HipHopDX caught up with Trae to discuss Exhale, the LP’s lack of guests, his late friend Nipsey Hussle, Relief Gang and much more. In the conversation, Trae also reflected on his career and provided an update on his lawsuit against Radio One.

HipHopDX: It’s a rarity these days to see no guests on an album like you have on Exhale. What went into that decision for you?

Trae: I believe at the point of life where I was at and the things I was going through I had to let it out, I had to vent, I had to exhale. I felt like at this point in time nobody could tell my story except me better than this. I got a million — I’ve got over 2000 unreleased records. So, I always got records. But for this point in time with everything I was going through, I just needed to get things off my chest by myself. I just had to get all of it out on my own.

HipHopDX: What are the differences when you’re doing an album all by yourself as opposed to seeking out features or looking to do collaborations? Is there anything that changes with your creative process?

Trae: No, not at all. I always record by myself anyway, even when I have guest features. I’m still in the studio most of the time by myself when I’m doing what I do. So, it’s the same process. The only difference is I have a real major A&R ear, so only difference is instead of me playing a record and being like, “Oh shit, I hear this person on this record,” I don’t do that. I just handle it myself. It’s kind of like I forgot to be selfish. I’m not thinking of who else can be on this record. I gotta do what I know how to do.

HipHopDX: I really love the production on this album. “Same Ol’ Love” really stood out as well as you tackling the Bay Area style on “Slide.” Did you have a certain sound in mind going into this album?

Trae: I was looking for beats, but there’s so much stuff that happened. I was with so many producers, I was like, “Send me stuff,” I was just in work mode and at the end of the day, whatever beats caught me and drifted me into another world was the ones that I grasped and attacked.

HipHopDX: In regards to “Slidin,” you’re somebody who’s worked with plenty of West Coast artists in your career. What is it about that scene’s sound that you enjoy?

Trae: It just gives you that uplift, turn-up, young feel. No matter what it is, it always be a young feel with that. But the reason I did it wasn’t because of that. I did it because my daughter lives in L.A. I’m on the West Coast a lot. It’s like another home too. I always adapt to my environment.

I had everything that I felt I needed with this project, but I just wanted to at least add something from the West Coast. I remember I was going through a whole bunch of beats. I went through a lot of them, and Zay Coronado had sent us something. Actually, “Slidin” was a two-part beat.

The first part of the beat is what you actually hear and the second part was the part I actually didn’t really want to deal with. Me and Zay Coronado started messing around with it and ended up piecing it together that way. It turned out to be dope.

HipHopDX: Another thing that really stood out to me on this album was the different flows you were using. You took a variety of approaches to hooks on this album. At this stage in your career, do you look to challenge yourself in the booth with things like that?

Trae: Yeah, I mean the whole purpose of this album was whatever I feel comfortable doing, I wasn’t allowed to do. And whatever I didn’t feel comfortable doing is what I had to do. That’s what led to this album. So, everybody knows I can sing, but on this album, you’ll hear me singing in higher pitches and all kinds of stuff that I would do mostly myself but I would never do on a record because I didn’t feel comfortable. So everything that made me feel uncomfortable is what I did with the record and everybody loves it.

HipHopDX: Was there any type of “aha!” moment where you felt like you needed to do that on this record or was it just the way it naturally developed?

Trae: I would go in and move around and just have fun with it. I don’t think I really thought about it. The crazy thing is this wasn’t nothing but a few days process for this project. I went out to Atlanta for a couple of days. I did one-half of it and went back again and the other songs I did completed it. The only song I didn’t do out there was “Slidin,” and I recorded “Slidin” at my house. So, it was only a few days process. But you know when I get in the studio and work, I work!

HipHopDX: One of the most powerful songs on there is “Nipsey.” Obviously, you had a deep connection to him. How hard was it for you to write that song? Did it take a lot out of you emotionally to create?

Trae: It wasn’t that it was hard, I just don’t prefer to have to do that record. The last time I had to do a record like that was when my brother got killed. But it wasn’t necessarily that it was hard because I wasn’t doing it to create a song. I was doing it as a conversation of me talking to him as if he was in the studio being able to hear me say everything I wanted to say.

That was the purpose of the song. But of course, the song is a song that people can resonate to because they know it’s from the heart. That was just a conversation I was having with him. If I didn’t do the song, then it would’ve been a conversation I had when I pray at night.

HipHopDX: Nipsey has been celebrated and spoken about so much in the aftermath of his death. But as someone who knew him well, is there anything people didn’t know or haven’t learned about Nipsey you think they would appreciate knowing?

Trae: The thing is I don’t think there’s no certain thing that people wouldn’t know because lately, they’re seeing so many different sides to him. They’re gathering it daily. He’s definitely a genuine person from the heart. If he had your back, he had your back a thousand percent. Right or wrong, he stood for everything he believed in.

He always had businesses. He’s one of the few people I know that had his tree planted in business and the shit always worked out the way he planned it! It might take long, but it always ended working itself out. Overall, a genuine, caring person. Me and Nipsey’s relationship wasn’t about music. We was brothers. We did everything that brothers do. Laugh, joke, argue or whatever.

HipHopDX: You’ve had a storied career in music, but you’ve found another calling of sorts with the Relief Gang following Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Sometimes, people forget or don’t realize it’s a long road to recovery. Things just don’t get fixed and solved.

Trae: Believe it or not, the aftermath never ended in Houston. There’s people who still haven’t had 10 percent help out there. There’s still so many people who don’t even know when they’re actually going to say, “You know what, I guess I’m going to start over.” A lot of people are just lost.

The Relief Gang is a team I formed with me and my partner DJ Mr. Rogers. It expanded beyond hurricane relief to people who need relief in general. When the hurricane hit the Carolinas last year, I was there. When it hit Florida, I was there. I’m trying to see about what’s going on with the Bahamas now. We just all around moving, doing what we need to do.

HipHopDX: I respect that much so much. I had family lose a lot in Hurricane Katrina, so that definitely hits home. It’s inspiring to see someone want to help so much.

Trae: I appreciate you, bro.

HipHopDX: Absolutely. As far as the Relief Gang, was Hurricane Harvey a wake-up call to you or something that made you realize you had a calling to help others?

Trae: I think it enhanced it. Definitely enhanced it. I was already doing stuff like this, but this go-around, I just didn’t have time to stop.

HipHopDX: Gotcha. It’s been 20 years since the Guerilla Maab album Rise dropped. What does it feel like to be so far into your career now? Do you have any reflections on your evolution as an artist or any memories of those early days?

Trae: It’s crazy. Guerilla Maab was the first album I put out, but I’ve been rapping since I was 12. It’s just crazy when I look back that I’ve been in the game over 20 years easily. And the fact is most people after a few years tend to take a step backward. But you have to think even with this project you speaking on now, Exhale, my stuff is only growing and getting better.

I really feel Exhale just recreated me in a different light. A lot of people that may have been fans and faded away, a lot of people that may have not been fans, but they all leading back this way now.

HipHopDX: That’s a great point. To close out, I did want to see if you could provide any update on your lawsuit against Radio One. Has there been any progress with it?

Trae: Believe it or not, I’ve just stayed pushing and moving, man. The election season that just passed, the judge who was over my case didn’t get re-elected. When he didn’t get re-elected, this is the first time he’s never been re-elected. Every case that was on his desk, he was just throwing them out on his way out. Did I want to go through this appeal? What did I want to deal with?

At this point, whatever God got in store for me is what I’m going to accept. It’s been 10 years worldwide. That took up 10 years of my life where I stayed focused on that instead of focusing on other stuff, so I’m just at a point now where I just got to keep pushing and do what I can do to provide for my kids and those who I can help.