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• He has been in Paris, France since the beginning of the year, staying in the illustrious Hotel Meurice (also known as “The Hotel of Kings,” so you know it’s real).
• Hot 97′s Peter Rosenberg said that Kanye played the album for Def Jam and apparently it’s “dark but really good.”
• Kanye went to Brazil instead of The Grammys back in February. He was photographed in the studio with… Will Smith.
• He is playing SNL’s season closer on May 18th. This is three days before Daft Punk‘s album drops, and he has at least two songs with Daft Punk. Thomas Bangalter, half of the influential French duo, said that ‘Ye was “kind of screaming primally” during one of their recent sessions.
• Kanye tweeted “June Eighteen,” which I think is a single release date and not the album release date. Even though I would think he would release a single right after playing SNL in May, I do not think he would undercut label mate Pusha T‘s album My Name Is My Name (which is due out July 16th), with his own album. Oh also, June 18th could totally be Kim Kardashian’s due date.
• West has brought in Skrillex, Chief Keef, and members of Odd Future. The Odd Future feature is especially not surprising as he is a huge Tyler, The Creator fan. For a while Tyler’s legendary “IFHY” music video was the only item featured on Yeezy’s website.
• According to Pigeons & Planes, there may be a Kanye/Gunplay collaboration in the works as well.

UPDATE #1: Kanye took the Met Gala stage by storm last night performing some new material. One song, presumably called “I Am A God,” began with him yelling that. Another featured him telling Kim K that she is so awesome (watch here). Lastly, Hudson Mohawke, half of TNGHT and recent G.O.O.D. Music signee, played a new Yeezy song at one of his sets.

Also, it has been reported that Kanye bought the Hudson beat below. Hopefully, the final product sees the light of day because the instrumental is FIRE.

UPDATE #2: Hud Mo played another new ‘Ye song, this one probably called “New Slaves,” at a recent set.

Kanye said: “You see there’s leaders and there’s followers, but I’d rather be a dick than a swallower.”

Update #3: Kanye stopped by Roseland Ballroom in NYC and performed ANOTHER new track as well as the song we think is called “Awesome.” SNL this weekend is going to be insane.

Update #4: ’Ye took to 66 buildings around the globe to project his new song “New Slaves.”

NEW SONG AND VISUAL FROM MY NEW ALBUM BEING PROJECTED TONIGHT ACROSS THE GLOBE ON 66 BUILDINGS, LOCATIONS @ KANYEWEST.COM

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 18, 2013

Update #5: Ugh. I’ll just embed a #tweet about this “Kanye” character. We can probably expect the “New Slaves” CDQ, featuring Frank Ocean tonight after SNL. Kanye’s album (title still not confirmed) Yeezus will be everywhere on June 18th.

New Kanye album may be called Yeezus, and will be out June 18th (Amazon). “New Slaves” CDQ features Frank Ocean. twitter.com/THEArjunGrover…

— Arjun (@THEArjunGrover) May 18, 2013

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Show me your secrets, why you so pretty, girl,

Show me your beauty, let’s take it easy, girl,

Show me a good time, you’re always on my mind, girl,

Let’s have a party, just you and me, girl

[via P&P]

Bonus! Stream my other favorite Petite Noir track.

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Look for his debut album Lamp City on May 21st. Pre-order it here.

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The second first: we have a repeat artist. One artist has continued to impress us throughout the months of April and May, and he has made the list for the second month in a row. When you see who it is, you’ll understand.

Enjoy the picks and get familiar with the music. These artists seem to be here to stay.

View May’s Best Artists of the Month

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Really not sure we’ve heard a bigger debut radio single than this @smallpools track all year, big ups @captaincuts on the production too

— Neon Gold Records (@neongoldrecords) May 16, 2013

[via Neon Gold]

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Wait.

While those things totally happened I don’t know where I’m going with this. Also, I’m not totally sure I know what the phrase “old wives’ tale” even means. What I do know is that G-Eazy and Skizzy Mars gave one hell of a performance in that beat up Atlanta joint a couple of months ago and made new fans with carefully prepared set lists, lighting, and live percussion. I had the unique privilege of interviewing G before the show.

Hit the jump to read our interview with G-Eazy…

Arjun: So how is your tour going?

G-Eazy: It’s been going well. This is the dream. I mean finally I can have my own shit. Yeah, it’s exciting.

A: I heard your show in Fort Lauderdale got shut down.

G: Yeah, unfortunately. I’ve never seen anything like that happen.

A: Was it a problem with the venue?

G: No, no, no, no, it wasn’t anything like that. I had seen cops out front before I went on and then I went on, and I take this intermission in the middle of my set. When I left the stage I was like, “Yo, tell Blake (his drummer) to queue the song because it stopped, and then Matt (his manager) came back and was like, “Dude, the cops are here.” They busted up the whole show. They caught some 17-year-old girl super duper drunk fighting some other girl or something. It was just too turnt up. The cops had to shut it down.

A: That’s impressive though.

G: Yeah, I was only mad ‘cause I didn’t get to play the songs that the audience really wanted to hear.

A: That sucks. Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen Noisey’s Back & Forth with A$AP Rocky and Danny Brown a.k.a. the best conversation of all time.

G: I know the interview you’re talking about.

A: I want to know for G-Eazy: Facebook bitches or Twitter bitches?

G: Well, I side with A$AP on this one. Actually, I forget if it was A$AP or Danny who said it, but you know on Facebook you get way more room to look through their pictures. Twitter you can never really tell. I’ll meet a lot of girls who I’ll recognize from Twitter and they’ll come to the show, and they look way hotter on Twitter, but I’ll see them at the show, and I’m like no way.

A: So in 2012 we got Must Be Nice and a couple of singles. What can we expect from 2013?

G: You can expect me to take over the world. Nah, but right now, we’re doing this tour but you know, in the midst of all this, I’m working on this new material that we’re really excited about.

A: A commercial album?

G: Nah, nah, I think it’s gonna be a mixtape. I think it’s gonna be completely free. I’m going to go back to sampling, which is something I kind of missed on Must Be Nice. It was partially gratifying in a sense to be able to say, “I put out this album, and I produced it entirely without sampling. You know, I wrote it all myself…” but at the end of the day, I love to sample tracks. Like, I love to remix shit. That’s where my heart is, so on this next project, we’re turning it back, so I’ll just put it out for free.

A: You produce all of your material?

G: Everything, except the most amazing song I’ve put out (referencing his viral hit “Loaded”).

A: That’s perfect because my next question is about that. I read somewhere that you expected the “Loaded” video to go viral.

G: Well, we were joking about that on set, and we were just like, “Man, if this doesn’t get one million hits in a week, we’ve lost.” There’s no way you put that many asses and a zebra in a music video, and you don’t go viral. So it was dope when I saw the reaction to it, but it was also like we expected that.

A: So, um… how the fuck did you get a zebra?

G: You can get anything in Hollywood.

A: But really how did you get a zebra? I want to know.

G: [Laughs] That’s what we spent our tour money on.

A: Tell that to your fans.

G: “So the profits from tonight’s show go towards getting a zebra…”

A: [Laughs] How much does a zebra cost?

G: Only like 2 bags.

A: Alright, that’s good. I’m always curious what artists’ writing process is.

G: 99% of the time it starts with the beat. You know, it will start with something as simple as a melody or just chords, and you know, I’ll build the drums up, propel that into a track, and then I’ll sit with it for a while–see if any ideas come by me and start writing stuff down. I’ll just play it over and over again, just mumble words–just write little words down here and there and see if anything strikes me as something to mess with. Then I’ll write a chorus. And then my raps are like the easiest part of it.

A: So you sit down and decide to write or do you type stuff in your iPhone randomly?

G: Oh no, totally. At random times of the day, I’ll have an idea, and I’ll always write that down before I forget because sometimes your best stuff comes when you’re not trying.

A: Have you ever dealt with really bad writer’s block?

G: Yeah, totally. When that happens, you just have to leave: go out on a walk or a run. Just do something else to clear up your mind. ‘Cause sometimes you’ll just sit there and not be able to write.

A: Who are some of your favorite producers, besides yourself…?

G: Carnage. He’s one of the greatest producers alive. He’s got a really diverse skillset. To me, it’s impressive he can even produce, you know, the EDM stuff, because he was just a rap producer for as long as I’ve known him, so then to dive into that world and be so talented at it is amazing.

A: For your next project, do you want to work with other producers?

G: I mean, I admit at times I can be a little stubborn about wanting to produce my own stuff, but I’m open to the idea of maybe somebody else has some good songs out there that I’d sound good on. I’m open to working with anyone, but I prefer to do my own shit.

A: Okay. Top 3 dream girls: go!

G: Rihanna, Cassie, and Kate Upton

A: Alright, that’s cool. Kate Upton would probably be in mine, too.

G: And Marilyn Monroe.

A: Like her corpse?

G: …Yes. [Laughs]

A: If someone made a film about your life, who would you want to play you?

G: Ahh, that’s a tough one. Somebody swaggy like DiCaprio.

A: Alright, I can see that. Who do you want to collaborate with if you could with anybody in the world?

G: Anybody in the world? I mean, I’ve always wanted to do a song with Macklemore.

A: Yeah, what are your thoughts on “Thrift Shop” being the number one song in the US?

G: He’s on one hell of a ride right now. It’s crazy.

A: When you first started getting famous for rapping how did your friends you grew up with react?

G: Aw man. They have been really supportive. I mean, my best friend from high school and stuff is on tour with me selling merchandise right now. Everybody that I started making music with I try to keep involved.

A: Yeah, it’s like the end of Drake’s new song (at the time “Started From The Bottom”). Have you listened to that yet?

G: Yeah, what do you think about it?

A: I think it’s cool to see him experiment and take a song in a different direction than we’d expect him to, and honestly, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. The chorus just gets stuck in your head.

G: It definitely gets stuck in your head. You know, started from Degrassi now we’re here.

A: [Laughs] That’s basically it.

G: I think it kinda sounds like French Montana. It’s cool. I’m not mad at it. It’s gonna get a lot of play, and here’s the thing: you’re always gonna get criticism for that, because people think they want you to keep saying things in the same style as your old shit. But it’s impossible. As an artist, you have to evolve. You have to push the envelope. You have to take risks and try new things. You have to experiment with new sounds and different styles, and that’s just a part of it. Not everything is gonna work, but like, Kanye really pushed the envelope and really got lucky with 808’s & Heartbreak. Not everybody loved that, but that was him being creative and taking a risk and trying something new. And if you look at every album he put out, he’s taken risks. That’s what it’s about man. Not everyone is gonna love it, but you have to evolve. You can’t make the same record over and over again.

A: I completely agree. And now, 808’s & Heartbreak is revered as one of Kanye’s best albums. What is the weirdest gift you’ve ever received from a fan?

G: Uh… I can’t think of the weirdest, but I can think of one of the coolest. I got a zippo with some of my lyrics engraved on it. But I mean, bottles of whiskey are always welcome. Bras thrown on stage are always cool.

A: Apparently, there already are [some bras on stage].

G: That’s awesome. My dream is going on stage and it just raining bras. Like really nonstop. Like the whole crowd, with no bra.

A: [Laughs] Which city has the best girls?

G: Man, I can’t even front: LA. Until I play in Paris, I’m sticking with LA.

A: Well, that’s all of my questions. Thank you for doing this interview, and good luck at the show.

G: Thanks man. I appreciate all of Sunset’s support, and let me know what you think of the concert.

DOWNLOAD ‘MUST BE NICE’ NOW

Photo by: Bobby Bruderle

Edited by: Arjun Grover

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