MTV's Mixtape Monday 12-19-05

Artist: Papoose

Representing: The next level of being an MC

Mixtape: Menace II Society, Part II

411: We don't know how Pap constructs the concepts for his rhymes, but he's really thinking on a different plane from every MC in the game. Just listen to the title track, where he's rapping from the perspective of the little boy on the tricycle at the end of the film "Menace II Society." Pap is still not signed, but this mixtape is almost like an album. The 18 tracks feature 14 new beats for him to rhyme to, and the creativity is omnipresent.

Joints To Check For:

* "Fashion Statement." His nursery rhyme about Evisu and Red Monkey jeans at the beginning of the track is worth more than a year's supplies of Bape kicks. There's some really witty stuff here.

* "Menace II Society II." Only Pap would think of a concept this left field. But he tells the story so intricately that even if you've never seen "Menace" (and you should be ashamed of yourself if that's the case) you can follow along seamlessly. There's also a message at the end. "Show off!"

* "Raised With Them Gangstas" featuring the LOX, McGruff, Black Rob and Rahzah. There's so much history on this track. McGruff put the LOX on their first mixtape, and we all know about how the LOX and Black Rob used to get down. This is a true gutter symphony.

Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week

o Superstar Jay's You're Not Even On My Radar and Makin' Babies
o Michael Watts' Paper Chase 05: Ain't No 401K for a Hustler
o Whoo Kid's Bulletproof and G-Unit West Vol. 1: American Wasteland
o Jin's Super-Lyrical: World Champion
o Hi-Tek's Best of Hi-Tek
o Aasim's The Money Pit
o Fiyah Hazid's Where There's Smoke
o DJ Wreck's Respect the King 4
o DJ Vlad's Rock Phenomenon

'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
o "Child Support" by Ice Cube
o "Change the Game" by Saigon
o "I'm a Warrior" by Bishop Lamont
o "Fast Forward" by Jody Breeze featuring Freeway
o "Dynomite" by Rhymefest
o Tupac and Dion vs. John Lennon mashup by DJ Vlad and Roc Raida
o "Simply the Best" by St. Laz featuring 50 Cent
o "G-Unot Killer" by Spider Loc
o "Weight of the World" by Garcia featuring Bun B
o "The Streets" by Game featuring Fabolous and Jadakiss

Celebrity Favs

One lady who's smitten with Jamie Foxx in real life is none other than Mary J. Blige. Her The Breakthrough LP is in stores on Tuesday, the same day as Foxx's LP Unpredictable. MJB appears with Jamie on Unpredictable's "Love Changes," a remake of the duet between Melissa Morgan and Kashif.

"Jamie Foxx is an incredible person," Mary said. "I love him. He makes me laugh. He's just the type of person you need to be around to just keep your spirits up. And Jamie can sing!"

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

If you're still wondering how Charli Baltimore is affiliated with the Game, you can stop. She's officially signed to the Black Wall Street, according to his camp. Baltimore spit at 50 Cent with Game on the recent record "Testify," and on a new track called "Bounce Back" — produced by Game's DJ, NJ Devil — the former Murder Inc. rider gets at her ex-boss Irv Gotti.

"Bitch! I don't f--- with kitten, that means pu---/ And I ain't trying to kick you when you down but you pushed me."

A very calm Irv Gotti said that even if Chuck disses him on wax, he has no bad feelings toward her.

"I have nothing but good things to say about Charli," Irv said from his Encino, California, home last week. "Even if she says crazy stuff, I understand. I hope she achieves the success she wants."

Irv said that Baltimore asked to leave the Inc. after her album kept getting pushed back, and he did not want to hold her back.

"Anybody I ever signed I feel is a star. Charli's no exception," he said. "I still feel to this day that Charli is a superstar. She's kind of what the game's missing as far as a female artist. She spits like no other. When I first heard her I said, 'She gets busy.' But what happens is that sometimes you have to find a record to make that star become the star. We tried. We was in the studio. We tried and tried and tried. We put out records and nothing stuck. I didn't want to give up on her. But she didn't want to wait no more. She's older. She's got her family and everything."

"I wish Charli the best of luck," he continued. "Game has a star. I hope he turns her into the star she's supposed to be. She's a rider, too. She's a good girl." ...

One very bad girl, self-professed video vixen Karrine Steffans had much to say about Irv and about a handful of his peers earlier this year in her salacious tell-all autobiography. She graphically described an alleged love affair with both Irv Gotti and Ja Rule, and said that Gotti even allowed her to have sex with Diddy when they were together. Irv laughs the whole thing off.

"Superhead is Superhead," he said referring to Steffans by her nickname. "She turned her lifestyle into a check. This is her hustle. This what she's doing. God bless her. More power to her. I don't have nothing bad to say. Do what you gotta do. All good." ...

Back to the Black Wall Street. Game has his squad — which includes Charli, Rock Star, Eastwood and a new dude named Techniec — working the soundtrack to his movie "Waist Deep" as well as a family mixtape to drop soon. Black Wall Street East offices have opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and another office in L.A. is about to open up soon. As for when you're actually going to see the DVD for "Stop Snitchin', Stop Lyin'," that's still TBD. There's also talk of a major signing coming to Black Wall Street. ...

Clinton Sparks is off spinning records in Germany, making sure the entire world gets acquainted with his music. And when he comes back to the States, he'll put out a mixtape that feels like an album, he said. Sparks produced the entire release and has guest spots from Pharrell, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Diddy, Ludacris, N.O.R.E., Freeway and Notorious B.I.G. (via a track called "Welcome to Bad Boy"). Sparks' mixtape is called Touch the Sky, and Kanye West is all over it as well. "He felt what I was doing," Sparks said of West's interest in the mixtape. "He co-signed it, like, 'I'm f---ing with it.' I respect that. I flew out to Canada. Me and him got in the studio and popped some sh--. It came out great." Touch the Sky should be out at the end of January. ...

LL Cool J has a couple of records on the underground circuit right now, one with Freeway ("What You Want") and one with Juelz Santana ("It's LL and Santana") — and that's just the start of his collaborating. Uncle L is in the lab working on a new album called Todd Smith and he wants it out on March 21. So far he's gotten down with Lyfe, Mary Mary, 112, Teairra Marí, Mary J. Blige, Ginuwine and producers Scott Storch, Jermaine Dupri, Track Masters and Bink. ...

DMX is currently cooling his heels at New York's Rikers Island, serving out a 70-day jail sentence. When X gets out, he'll be heading to a new home. After barking loudly on Def Jam since the late 1990s, he's called it a day and left the label. DMX has signed a deal with the Sony Music Group. You may recall that X was signed to Columbia (now part of Sony Music) in the early '90s but never released material.

Reported by www.MTV.com