Plus: DJ Drama talks about recent collabos with Fabolous and Chris Brown, in Mixtape Daily.
By Shaheem Reid
Eminem and Jerry Jones at Cowboy Stadium
Photo: James D. Smith/ AP Images
Celebrity Favorites
While most members of the Mixtape Daily family are big fans of the Dallas Cowboys’ rivals (Shaheem rolls with the G-Men for life, J-Rod loves the Eagles, and Rahman bleeds Jets green), we have to give it up to owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys Stadium. The massive, breathtaking, suspended hi-def screen alone sets it apart from the pack.
We won’t get too sentimental about spending NBA All-Star Weekend there, but we did get a chance to catch up with Jerry at Jay-Z and LeBron James’ “Two Kings Dinner & Afterparty.” The owner of America’s Team recalled giving Eminem a tour of the palatial venue when Mr. Mathers attended the Cowboys vs. Chargers game in December.
“We, of course, are great fans and were tickled to death to have that kind of interest,” Jones said of Em coming to the stadium.
Jones said we might eventually see a huge rap show at the stadium, which could hold well over 100,000 fans for a concert, and he thinks Em or Jay-Z would be perfect to pack the venue. “Those are the kinds of stars or the kinds of individuals that people are so interested in seeing,” he said. “We’ve got a venue there that can show them and their skills and talent. We could put a crowd in there to watch them.”
“I’m here [playing Dallas] in a couple of weeks, actually,” Jay-Z said when asked about Jones’ comments. “I’m not playing the big stadium, but one day.”
Meanwhile, Jones said he got the feeling Em was interested in rocking Cowboys Stadium. “I believe he was thinking of how it would sound in there for him to be involved [for a concert],” Jones said of Eminem’s tour of the venue.
Cowboys Stadium hosted the 2010 NBA All-Star game this past Sunday, which broke the record for attendance with more than 108,000 fans.
“[Dallas Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban initiated the idea as we were building the stadium,” Jones said about how the All-Star game ended up in Dallas. “I dreamed of having a basketball game in there — basketball or soccer. A chance to do the All-Star game was a dream come true. It’s been great working with [NBA commissioner] David Stern. It’s been great working with Mark with what we’re doing. … I’ve been out there spending most of my time watching them construct the setting for the game. The NBA hasn’t spared anything making it special for the fans.”
Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground
It’s been quite the wait for DJ Drama and Fabolous’ The Funeral Service: There Is No Competition 2. First, the Gangsta Grillz presentation got pushed back from Christmas because of Fab’s show schedule. Then, Fab decided to hold the tape up a few more weeks after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. While his tape has nothing to do with what happened in Haiti, the Brooklyn native wasn’t going to release a mixtape with the title The Funeral with so many in mourning worldwide. Then Fab decided to put a few more songs on the tape.
We spoke to DJ Drama on Monday night, and he said Fab was in ATL with him, in the lab finishing up, and the mixtape could be out within the next week. Drama’s Gangsta Grillz schedule is stacking up quite nicely. He and Cam’ron are making another mixtape, he and Yo Gotti also have a tape that will be going into production soon and, of course, there’s Trap or Die 2. Dram said he hasn’t heard any music from TOD collaborator Young Jeezy but is eagerly anticipating what the Snowman is going to come up with, just like the rest of us.
On Sunday, Dram and Chris Brown released the mixtape In My Zone. C. Breezy’s tape is more of an underground street album than a regular tape. There are a lot of new and unreleased songs rather than freestyles. But one freestyle in particular that has people talking is Brown’s take on Trey Songz’s “I Invented Sex.”
“A lot of people weren’t expecting the project to be in this direction,” Drama said. “It’s really an album. His fans are happy. Even the doubters had to come in, sh– is crazy. It’s grown. It’s definitely grown music.
“To me, good music is good music,” Dram added about Chris’ take on Songz’s hit. “I’ve always been a supporter of quality music. Chris is a grown-ass man. It’s topics that’s grown men speak on. … A lot of the music, if it was to come out in stores, it would have an explicit rating. But homie’s grown up.”
For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.
