A lone woman on a track with three great emcees outshines her male peers. Allow us to introduce you to Kris Stephens. T.I.‘s “Memories Back Then” featuring B.o.B, Kendrick Lamar and Kris Stephens on the chorus should’ve made Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head. Originally the banger was titled “Somebody That I Used To Know” with a sample from Gotye from his song of the same name, according to Hip Hop Wired. It’s assumed a sample clearance is why we have the new version with vocals by T.I.’s artist Kris Stephens. And no shade to Gotye at all because we adore him, but we couldn’t imagine this track without Kris’s sultry voice. Read more…

An old-new Aaliyah song hit the ‘net making fans miss the fallen singer even more. “Quit Hatin’” is the airy R&B  drum heavy ballad produced by Knotch and Dre Sinatra. It’s the classic tale of a woman’s friends warning her against a new lover. And Aaliyah’s response is for them to quit hatin’. It’s been almost 12 years since the unfortunate tragedy so the vocals are at least  a decade old. Plus, she’s singing about 20″ rims. People have either graduated to 24′s or no rims at all. The production however is much newer than the vocals giving the record a new millennium feel.  Read more…

It’s beginning to feel a lot like yesteryear, and by yesteryear we mean the golden days of the 90s. Who other than Missy Elliott and Timbaland on a track can bring on a rush of nostalgia? Sure it’s not the first time the two have jumped on a track together recently (Missy’s “9th Inning” in September) but the continuation of the duo making music together means there’s only more to come. And this makes us happy.

Despite its namesake, “The Party Anthem” is a pretty chill mid-tempo track featuring Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Missy. Where has T-Pain been? The song gets exciting when Missy comes in with her fast semi-animated flow. “Saying I’m too old to rap, I’ll be rapping til I wear dentures,” she raps. “I’m back on the mic with Timb,” she reminds. After Drake’s announcement of co-producing Aaliyah’s posthumous album without any involvement from Missy and Timb, fans felt slighted. Aaliyah made great music with the pair. (Have we forgiven Drake for this yet?) It’s just good hearing the two friends and collaborators recording together again. All we need is the 2013 version of “Up Jumps Da’ Boogie.”

Timbaland f. Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott & T-Pain “The Party Anthem” [Hip Hop DX]

[Photo: Getty Images]

For what it’s worth, Drake‘s got the go-ahead from Lil Wayne to pursue his much ballyhooed about Aaliyah project. “It’s an awesome collaboration,” the YMCMB head-honcho said, in a  short interview with the Associated Press at a DeWeezy skatepark opening. Drake, as we know, is a huge Aaliyah fan, and Wayne is, too — he says her music is “still better than a lot of music out there now,” and he feels its important to make it available for fans. “Everybody know what Aaliyah did and done for music and culture, period, and it’s always good to do that, for not only for people like that, just for her fans — you know what I mean?”

Most details are still fuzzy on the project, but one thing is for sure: not everyone seems to believe as much, and key Aaliyah collaborators Timbaland and Missy Elliott, Aaliyah’s family and a particularly scathing DMX have all raised questions as to Drake’s rights to the material. However, Lil Wayne assures that “Drake’s a very thoughtful person. Everyone knows that.” We do, Wayne, we do.

Lil Wayne on His New LP, Drake’s Aaliyah Album [NR]
Lil Wayne: Drake-Aaliyah Project Will be ‘Awesome Collaboration’ [Billboard] Read more…

The word on Aaliyah‘s posthumous album keeps changing. Drake‘s producing it — he’s got her face tatted on his back and everything, so you know it’s real. But shouldn’t Timbaland and Missy or someone who was there the first time have a say in it? But, oh wait, Drake’s got a new song and it features unheard Aaliyah vocals. No, not a Drake song, it’s a new Aaliyah song. The family won’t let that happen. Or maybe they will?

On Wednesday night, a man claiming to be Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle and the CEO of Blackground records, tweeted a picture of what could be the album’s cover with a message that said: “Aaliyah 16 unreleased tracks 2013 stay tuned.” And then he kept tweeting it, to the attention of a slew of influential musicians and publications like Perez Hilton and Nicki Minaj and Complex, and with Drake and Noah ’40′ Shebib mentioned as producers. And so with the support of Aaliyah’s family (or, at least some of them, or someone claiming to be them) and Drake and 40 on board as producers, this album actually seems to be happening. Read more…