Decypha: Every Album Gotta Story to Tell

About five to ten years ago, the underground and local rap scene in Lexington, Ky. had the streets literally begging for more rap artists. Rappers like Rob Jackson, G-Mack, Bonafide Circle and Lextown Hustlaz led the forefront while other Lex-town rappers followed and made their own names for themselves in the city. Not to mention the lyrical standouts of Flawless Black, Young Chu, Studio and Kae State grabbing the attention of their peers in-state and out of state.

But in the midst of some of these rappers success, their was one at that time who went highly unnoticed and soon became a diamond in the ruff. It's kind of like describing a person who got picked in the last round of an NBA draft and they went on to become a hall of fame player. If the rap profession was a game, he would have pissed off a lot of teams and coaches because instead, they chose to go with a more popular player like Greg Oden ...which we all know was a bust! However, David Drummond, better known in the rap game as Decypha, would explain it different. To sum it all up, he would tell you it didn't matter how major other rappers were in the city. To him, it was about respect. And if you didn't have it for him, he would simply take it. To understand Cyph's triumphs, struggles and his grind, you have to understand how it started from the beginning. Just like a book goes by the pages and chapters, with Cyph's five mixtapes, every one of them has a story to tell behind his success and progression.




How did you start rapping?
Cyph: It all started with an Outkast song called, "Me and You." I had the cassette joint with the instrumental on the other side. I started rappin' on it and was like, "What the f*ck am I doin'?" It was only for recreational purposes at the time. I sucked at writing so I use to freestyle. When I would freestyle, n*ggaz thought I had written my sh*t, but I just mastered it.

How was your first mixtape, "The Outline," formed?
Cyph: It was created off of frustration because when I first started rappin', I rapped consciously and n*ggaz wasn't feelin' it cause they said I wasn't street enough. I only had two features on that mixtape. People thought I couldn't do a project without Scoupe (another rapper from Lexington). Plus, it was a lot of competition going on in the city at the time.  


A Star in the Making....
BY this time, Cyph had caught the attention of Block, CEO of Black Life Entertainment. After dropping the Outline 1 in 2003, and the Outline 2 about year in a half later, Cyph had definitely earned some respect in his city. He would eventually join Scoupe and Kae State over at Black Life to form the trio NHB. A third mixtape titled, "The Answer," was supposed to be put out on Black Life, but somehow, things didn't go exactly as planned.




Can you explain to me the situation with the third mixtape and how that came about?




Cyph: Black Life was supposed to print my project (The Answer), but it really didn't happen that way. I was still recording at Troy B's (local rapper from Lexington) crib, so I had 13 songs. I put that out the same time Black Life put Scoupe's mixtape out. We started doing shows all over the city and county. The Answer was supposed to be hosted by Scoupe. They wanted me to follow his footsteps. I ended up doing things myself, which was a blessing in disguise, so everything was gravy. Once Block seen how I was doin' it, he had more copies pressed up. It wasn't that the mixtape wasn't dope, but Block didn't wanna promote it because I think he had his money invested in something else.

Then you dropped Reality Check 1 and 2 hosted by DJ DCeezy. What was the motivation behind those mixtapes?
Cyph: Everything! Reality Check 1 was checkin' everybody who was still talkin' like I couldn't do it or had something else to say. Reality check 2 was me checkin' myself. You can't have a reality check unless you check yourself.

Was there ever an NHB album?
Cyph: Block wanted to do one. We recorded some songs and did a couple of shows, but it didn't really happen. The Reality Check mixtape also came from this because I thought that n*ggaz was gettin' ahead of themselves. Scoupe wanted to work on his mixtape, State went to do his. So for me to stop working on something and put focus on something else wasn't working.


So did every still get along? What kind of reactions were you getting from the Reality Check mixtapes?
Cyph: Everybody was still together but we was doing our own thing. The reaction from Reality Check was crazy! I said what other n*ggaz was scared to say. That was my mentality then. Now, I just keep my cool.


In order to separate yourself from the rest of the pack (other rappers) what were some changes you had to make?
Cyph: I had to cut some people out of my circle. At the end of the day, how many n*ggaz  in the hood is buying a CD? There's a lot of people saying that they support music, but they don't actually buy it.

How has the rap game changed?
Cyph: Back in the day, you had the best n*ggaz from every hood come together for one cause. When that Lextown Anthem dropped and was played in the clubs, everybody went crazy! Now its n*ggaz wanting to be individuals.


What are you currently working on?
Cyph: A promo CD to be released just digital. Just for the Dj's and the ladies. It should be out November or December. My album should be out next year. And I definitely wanna finish the reality check sequels. 


Cyph Bonus:


How did you and DJ DCeezy hook up?
Cyph: Black Life did like a small county tour. I met him in Maysville. He was the first Dj to be honest with me. He definitely had a major effect on my music. He's part of the reason I do so much more club music. Reality Check 1 was street music, Reality Check 2 produced a single. (Turn it up ft. Page)


A favorite Quote Cyph likes to use:
"I got a bunch of people around me, how many do I really need?" - Dr. Dre.

Yung Berg gets robbed.....AGAIN!...50 and Chelsea Handler?!

Wutz good my people's?!?! Still running off fumes from a long weekend and doing work at the BET Hip Hop Awards....however, I thought I told you that we won't stop (Diddy Boppin' right now)....It's been a lot going on inside and outside the world of hip hop. Of course Eddie Long (I refuse to put Bishop in front of his name for right now...he's on PAUSE!) has been staying in the news lately, Yung Berg former rapping career has made himself a victim again, Waka Flocka Flame wants to work with Nas, Mario gets arrested for going HAM on his mother after being caught with using drugs, Weezy sent to solitary confinement and a whole lot more! LEGGO!

BATMAN GETS SNATCHED




It's really a shame because I honestly think this guy has some talent and has a lot of potential. To give you a quick run down on Yung Berg, his mentor was DMX and he toured with the Ruff Ryders as a young teenager. Years later, he came back in the game with the hit singles, "Sexy Lady," Ray J's "Sexy Can I," and his other single, "The Business." This kid was climbing up the charts and reaching stardom UNTIL.....his transformer chain got snatched in Detroit and the rest is history. Fast forward to now, an overseas rapper by the name of T-Rowdy claims he now has possession of Berg's chain. And just like the transformer one, he has proof...peep this video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj1SUHdd7iQ




Now, the crazy part of it all is......Berg has spoken about the chain and said that it was donated to a kid for charity who likes Batman. I'm with the UK rapper....why in the hell would you give a little kid a big ass chain like that for charity!?! NOT A GOOD LOOK! Therefore, I shall say..... GOOD LUCK BERG!


HEROIN IS A SERIOUS DRUG!






Rick James said it best....we all know that cocaine is a helluva drug....well heroin is a serious drug! R&B singer and Baltimore native Mario, found his mother in the act of using drugs and apparently the mother and son confrontation got out of hand. I believe heroin is her choice of drug. Anyhow, Mario's mother has been struggling from a drug addiction for a while and being the good son he is, he's been trying to get her away from that lifestyle. However, you can't assault your mother while doing so. Police found a broken China cabinet, a messed up mirror, a hole in the closet door, and broken glass everywhere. I hope everything works out for the 24-year-old youngster and his mother. Good Luck Mario!





K.I.S.S.I.N.G?!?!?!










I don't know about this one. I was reading somewhere today that 50 has now become a genius at marketing. I couldn't agree more. When 50 wants attention, he gets it. And he doesn't even have to rap anymore to do so. Word on the street was that these two were spotted in New Orleans together. You know 50 has been flirting with her since the day he was a guest on her show. And Chelsea does fantasize about black men a lot soooooooooo....who knows...better yet..who cares! I just wanna know if he hits it!

 F.L.Y. EPIC WIN OF THE DAY!


HILARIOUS! And who knew Steve Harvey was the new host of family feud? I didn't! Check out the link at the bottom.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTGPf9Ow4iY




F.L.Y. EPIC PIX OF THE DAY GOES TO..................

None other than Serena Williams and Ice T's Coco. Serena and Common were spotted at the beach...also...Esther Baxter is awesome!






















That's all for right now folks! Stay F.L.Y!

Highlights of the BET Hip Hop Awards Show

In the famous lyrics of the old school group Soul II Soul, looks like it's "Back to life, back to reality!"
Just touched back down in Louisville, Ky. today from the ATL...fresh off of the BET Hip Hop Awards! If you don't want to know what happened and wait for it to come on T.V., I would recommend that you not read this and other blogs and stories online already published. But if you do, let me give you my personal opinion about the awards show: 



From a rating of 1 to 10, I honestly give it about a 7 in my book, which is still considered good to me. Rick Ross, Diddy and Dj Khaled opened up the show with a hot performance of "B.M.F." and "MC Hammer." But guess who stole part of their shine, Hammer did! Right after Ross, Diddy and Khaled stepped off stage, in comes Hammer and the crowd went wild! As usual, he had his backup dancers (not 20 like back in the day, but around 4-6) and performed "Too Legit 2 Quit." Now if you are 25 and up, you remember that this song was crazy popular back in the day! And, I must say, he hasn't lost any of his dance moves. Ross' and Hammer's performance really started the show off right in a major way.

Then, in comes Mike Epps strolling on some roller skates doing his famous retarded "chicken arm" impression. He was a very good host and kept the crowd entertained with jokes about Kat Stacks, Kim Kardashian, Soulja Boy, and a host of other celebrities. He also joked about Rick Ross being the new Barry White, which I thought was funny.

A major "No-No" I think they had in the show this year were the cyphers, which has always been my favorite part of the show. However, this year's show had a total of seven cyphers, and most of these rappers were up and coming artists or no-names that not even the crowd recognized. Standouts in the cyphers were Toronto, Canada's own Rema Major. I called her the total package...she is like a Nicki Minaj and a Lil Kim combined! Kanye surprised everybody by joining the cypher, alongside his artists from his G.O.O.D. music label such as Common and Pusha T. But I must say that the best cypher everyone enjoyed at the show was the father and sons connect of Ice Cube and his two sons, Doughboy and OMG, and Rev. Run and Diggy and JoJo Simmons. Cube's sons surprised me, in a good way, and Cube did his thing as well. Rev. Run....well...I believe everyone applauded out of respect...I mean, he is a reverend after all. The crowd went crazy when it was Diggy's turn to go and he didn't disappoint. As usual, JoJo received little or no props at all for his bars.

Other highlight performances included Gucci and Swizz beats performing "Gucci Time...." J. Cole with "Who Dat".....Soulja Boy's "Pretty Boy Swag"....B.O.B. with "Don't let me Fall"....which was incredible because of the way he can sing, rap, have a drummer, background singers and play his guitar at the same time....Waka Flaka did his thing with "No Hands".....and the Dipset Reunion was pretty descent as well. I'm an old school kind of guy, so one that I thoroughly enjoyed was Digital Underground. After Cali Swagg performed "Teach Me How to Dougie," Digital Underground's Shock G came on the stage and said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute! They taught ya'll how to Dougie, but we taught ya'll how to do the Humpty!" The crowd went crazy again and everyone got out of their seats to do the Humpty dance. The Underground also performed "I Get Around" in dedication of Tupac. "We always got to see the thug side of him, but we never got to see the fun side of him," said Shock G.





Antoine Dodson, famously known for being gay and a white guy turning his news interview about his sister being nearly raped in the projects into a song (Hide Ya Kids, Hide Ya Wife), came out and performed. He also came out dressed like Punky Brewster...You don't know who that is, google her, lol. You can tell he was very nervous and damn near didn't wanna sing it. But it was one of the highest selling ringtones on iTunes and it did buy him a house for him and his family to move out of the projects sooooo....lol

TV talk show host Mo'Nique presented Salt N' Pepa with the "I Am Hip Hop" Award, which they were very deserving of. And Mike Epps had few more funny moments...when he came out in a Shiny Suite dancing like P. Diddy (we knew him as Puff Daddy back then, lol.) He also came out with the New Boyz dressed in tight skinny jeans and a skinny t-shirt. "What the hell ya'll lookin' at, I ain't gotta wear these tight ass jeans everyday," he said. "Jeans so damn tight I can see ya blood pressure in' em." Oh yeah, and a special tribute was made to Gangstarr member Guru, who we recently lost to cancer. DJ Primo, Guru's son and nephew honored him.



AND THE WINNER IS................



Just like last year, it was another good year for Young Money. Nicki Minaj racked up about four awards and Drake took home a couple as well. On the male side, Rick Ross and Jay Z pretty much dominated....sorry 50! LOL...here are some of the awards and winners:

Rookie of the Year....Nicki Minaj

Best Collabo.....Jay Z ft. Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"

Best Club Banger.....Rick Ross "B.M.F"

Lyricist of the Year.......Eminem

Producer of the Year.....Swizz Beats (hasn't won an award since 1998)

DJ of the Year.....DJ Khaled

Best Hip Hop Blogsite.......Worldstarhiphop.com

MVP of the Year.......Drake "Find Your Love"

Hustler of the Year.....P. Diddy "Hello Goodmorning"

Made You Look Style Award...Nicki Minaj

People's Champ Award.....Nicki Minaj

What is Hammer Gonna Do about Jay Z dissing him?!? Half Grilled/Half Bake Pork Chops, Mos Def signs to G.O.O.D. Music and Nick Cannon winning the EPIC FAIL OF THE DAY AWARD

HAMMER......PLEASE DON'T HURT' EM!



"And Hammer went broke so you know I’m more focused. I lost 30 mil so I spent another 30, 'cause unlike Hammer 30 million can’t hurt me.” - Jay Z


Lets focus here a minute....and laugh at the same damn time! LOL...This is officially still a joke to me. But I must say, I'm interested to see if anything will come out of this. But isn't that how Jay Z gets us all the time...interested?...But when it all unfolds, he doesn't respond or say anything. Well just as Beanie Sigel, Joe Budden, and most of the Dipset crew has tried in the past, I believe Hammer is going to take a stab at it. Long story short, Hammer wasn't too happy with Jay's verse to "So Appalled," so he took his frustrations out on Twitter..calling Jay Z "Hellboy" because of the whole illuminati crap. Rumor has it that Hammer has set out to prove that Jay is a devil worshiper. How? I have no idea. Especially since someone already came out with a video about a host of people in the music industry that's down with this illuminati thing. Good Luck Hammer....and please don't hurt Jay....LMAO!

MOS DEF SIGNS TO G.O.O.D. MUSIC



Congrats to the homie Mos Def for signing to Kanye West' label. I think this will be a good fit for him. It kinda reminds me of when Kanye snatched up Common and how much it revived his career. One thing is for sure, these CEOs are looking for more than just a person that can rap or sing. Nowadays, you have to know how to act as well. We all know that Mos Def is a pretty good actor and has starred alongside some major actors in the game as well as major films. If you didn't already know, Pusha T (of the rap group Clipse) has also signed with Kanye.

F.L.Y. RECIPE

HALF BAKED/HALF GRILLED PORK CHOPS

If you don't eat pork, then totally disregard this. But if you do, you might wanna pay attention because I never knew that anything could be so good by doing something so simple. I don't know about you, but I hear a lot of people always saying that they don't like to grill pork chops because they get too dry. Well, I think it's because you don't know how to cook them! If you leave pork chops on the grill to fully cook, they are definitely gonna be dry. But if you leave them on the grill for about 10-15 minutes, and then in the oven for the rest of the time, you probably would think you are about to eat a steak. I wanted to grill so bad last weekend because we had perfect weather...you know...with fall officially being here..it wasn't roasting outside. Anyway, the only frozen meat that was left in the fridge was some pork chops. Now to do this right, you must season them and let them soak overnight.

Here are the seasoning ingredients:


Nature's Seasoning
Pepper
Salt (just a pinch)


Dressing ingredients:


Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing (or Italian dressing)
Worchestershire sauce
Honey Mustard Dressing
Hot Sauce


To add even more flavor, you may want to chop you up some onions on your chops. As I said before, leave on the grill for about 10-15 minutes (no more, no less). Also, depending on the kind of charcoal you get, you may want to wait at least 25-30 minutes before putting your pork chops on so the fire can cool down (You don't want your chops to burn). After you take them off the grill, set your oven to about 225 (higher if you like) and cook for about 20-30 minutes (checking on them about every 10-15 minutes or so). For my side items, I always like to have a nice salad with it. If you're like me, it doesn't matter that cold weather is approaching, I'm still grilling. But for those who are about to put it up, make sure you try these chops first!



F.L.Y. EPIC FAIL OF THE DAY

AND THE AWARD GOES TO........................................

NICK CANNON





Just when I thought he would stop with his wack ass diss song toward Eminem...he just had to go on an interview and said he would box Em for charity! WTF?!? Nick, PLEASE stay away from music and concentrate on acting and shows. AND PLEASE quit provoking Eminem! 

Jay Z and MC Hammer Beef?! Bishop Eddie Long Fires Back.....at Church!....Jermaine Jackson has problems..and it's not his hair!

It almost seems like I said, "Happy Friday," yesterday. And now look, we are right back to Monday.....but Happy Monday anyways! I usually like to start my Mondays off with a rough hangover, the slave masters bothering me at work for something, and a few afternoon complaints about how my youngest little girl and her sister are getting on their mother's nerves (go figure). But this Monday?!? This Monday right here?!?!? (In my best Kat Williams impression)...I'm startin' it off right and finishin' it with a bang! LEGGO!

Bishop Fires Back!






Click the link below: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bu66kUd4fQ


Now I'm already getting sick of this being in the media, especially because this guy is black and it's not one of those priests that we usually see getting accused of being all feely feely and touchy touchy with the boys. Bishop Eddie Long addressed the public and some of his 25,000 church members for the first time about these sex allegations that have surfaced in the last couple of weeks, involving three men, who were around 16 or 17 at the time of these allegations. You know what this reminds me of? And may he rest in peace, but MICHAEL JACKSON! Even if these allegations are proven to be true, the bishop who lives a lavish lifestyle and cruises around in Bentleys in the ATL will not receive any jail time and pay these little nat flies off. I mean, that's what they want anyway right, money. Good luck Bishop Long!




Say it Ain't So!







Jermaine Jackson has problems! And it's not his hair. Mr. "I like to be like Mike" claims he can't afford to pay on two of his kids child support, Jermajesty and Jaafar. Jackson claims his monthly salary is $1,100 and he's supposed to be paying $3,000 each for the two. Now the crazy part to this story is, Jermaine and his brother Randy have the same baby mama?!? So does that make their children cousins/brothers and sisters?...Who knows. But maybe it's time to chill with the hair products and make some more T.V. appearances or something! Good luck Jermaine!




Lil' Kim and her cousin opens a new hair salon in North Carolina.........WHO CARES!






WTF?!







VS.






Of course I didn't believe this headline when I saw it...and honestly, you know Hov is the king of numbing all of his beefs down since he is of age now. Anyhow, I believe this all started in one of Hov's verses....to what song? That, I'm not sure of...but here is a couple of bars of what he said.


What Jay said:


"And Hammer went broke so you know I'm more focused / I lost $30 Mill so I spent another $30 'cause unlike Hammer $30 Mill can't hurt me" 




What Hammer said on Twitter:





If anything comes out of this, it will be funny as hell.




Speaking of matchups.....Hunger For More 2 Vs. Pink Friday


Looks like Nicki Minaj will have a challenger in her corner on the day of her Pink Friday Nov. 23rd release. That's right....non other than one of my favorite MC's...Lloyd Banks. I don't see it as posing a major threat to Nicki because most of her sales will come from females, as most of Lloyd Banks' sales will come from males. But both albums should be good...there are a lot of high expectations for the two. I'm interested to see the first week sales after their release. Stay tuned! Good luck Lloyd and Nicki!


F.L.Y. Fail of the Day






Why does this chick look like she's pregnant in the face instead of the womb?! Mariah, are you pregnant or not?!?


COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! COKE ALERT! 









Tha Bawse Says:

Tha Bawse Ricky Rose shouted out all the big people that are gettin' some and says that the alleged sex tape video was definitely not him. But he also said that since the video dropped, he has been getting several offers from several different women wanting to get it on with tha Bawse. Last but not least, he said that the man and the woman in the video should thank him and send him a lil' check in the mail. BAWSE!


Wyclef Hospitalized

Aww man...this guy didn't even get to run a damn campaign and he got hospitalized from stress and fatigue! Clef, we know you love Haiti, but sit yo' Haitian azz down somewhere!

Happy Birthday Lil Tunechi!...(That's Lil Wayne)

He also released an EP digitally today called, "I'm not a human being"

 

Lyfe Gets a Lyfe Lesson....3 years in Prison! Rick Ross alleged Sex Tape?!?

HAPPY FRIDAY PEOPLE!
A good Friday comes to those who wait! And man! Has the news been flowing like water with rappers, actors....AND (drumroll please!)....Bishops! Anyway, lets get to it!

Lyfe Gets a Life Lesson....and sentenced to 3 years!

 

I must say, this guy has had a pretty interesting career. Being locked up in the pen for 10 years, getting out and becoming a platinum selling artist, then that's when it all went down hill. I'm not sure if it happened a year or two ago...but Lyfe went to his baby mama's crib and shot at the house several times, also leading authorities on a crazy police chase that led to his arrest. Funny thing is, right after his latest album gets released, and his song "Statistics" is getting crazy spins on the radio, the judge orders him to do 3 years in prison. The judge was serious on this one! He didn't even let homeboi go say goodbye to his kids; sent him straight to the slammer! At least he did apologize, but damn! Good luck Lyfe! Click below to see his court appearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmhW7DmeCAI

BAWSE!....Has an alleged sex tape!?!

Personally, I don't think it's him, but all I wanna know is who is the chick in the video!? If you know me personally, you know I don't discriminate! I luv me some meat on the bones! AND...homegirl was doin' her thang in the video. Aside from that, it's kind of blurry. Also, Ross made a good point on his twitter page: "I see he had the Louie flag, but he forgot the tattoos #fail." In other words, dude has the body frame of Ross, but no visible tattoos like Ross. This was reported to first show up on 50 Cent's website "thisis50.com"...I think 50 lost that one...so he needs to leave Ross alone on this one if this is another one of his infamous pranks. Click the link below and be the judge of this yourself. BAWSE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq-CkFyn0_E

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