Calling himself the new school hippie, hip-hop and pop artist, Starrz, is taking the indie scene by storm. Born and raised in Baltimore, the backpack rapper has been keeping his city buzzing with his latest singles, “Dope Trilla” and “Dance All Night.”  Having signed a single deal with Religion Records for “Dance All Night”, the song is a mash up of what he calls hip-hop rock.

Although he’s an up and coming artist, the B-more native isn’t a novice to the music industry. He’s already opened up for acts such as J. Cole, 2Chainz, Joe Budden, Redman, Method Man, Jim Jones, and more. Blasting through the radio charts as well, his single “Dope Trilla” is in rotation at 92.3 in Baltimore and 93.9 in DC.

Starrz attributes Mase’s Harlem World album to the over-confidence that’s heard in his rhymes today.

Listen to his latest tune “Dance All Night” below and check out the video for “Dope Trilla.”

Clinton Sparks is gearing up to drop his new album Disco Ball & Chain. Dos Necklaces, the industry’s lovechild of the moment Macklemore and our guy from Chester French, D.A. sign up to help him.

Bobby Ray stopped by the Breakfast Club and spoke his mind on a few subjects. With a new album “Underground Luxury” in the works and his superior work on the Hustle Gang mixtape it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Also he went across the street and dropped some mean bars across the street.

Ciara frees up the follow up to her “Body Party”. She recruits Nicki to talk that talk to bolster her comeback campaign. Sounds like spilled liquor and couch footprints. We find out if she has the goods on July 7 when her self-titled album drops.

In a world where thin-voiced pop singers can reach the top of the charts with one well-produced track, Chrisette Michelle almost seems out of place. The former gospel choir leader has pipes, and much like Melanie Fiona, Michelle finds herself caught in a balancing act of trying to make music that’s current while using the full capacity of her talent. But on her superb new album, “Better,” – releasing on June 11 – the soulful, jazz-inflected singer shows that even in a youth-obsessed music culture that’s all about “turning up,” there’s always a place for true talent.

Michelle has been turning in quality work and pushing toward mainstream attention for a while. Just recently she won new fans after a successful run opening for Keyshia Cole’s nationwide tour. A 2009 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance rests on her mantle for “Be OK” from her debut album “I Am.” In addition, Michelle has seen chart success with her hip-hop pairings in the past. Providing the chorus for Rick Ross and Drake’s hit “Aston Martin Music” had her on radios worldwide. Her vocals on Jay-Z’s “Lost Ones” brought to mind a sample lifted from a long-forgotten record.

On “Better,” the Grammy winner seems to have found – See more at: http://www.baystatebanner.com/chrisette-michelle-2013-05-23#sthash.ZqTgAEP1.dpuf

Mr. Terius Nash (aka The Dream) pulled out all the stops for his IV Play album listening event last night. Held at an intimate gallery space in New York City, guests were greeted with an IV Play album booklet that contained song lyrics as well as IV Play packaged designed condoms, you know just in case whatever. The listening event came fresh after the singer, songwriter, and producer, allowed the world to preview his entire album on Vevo just days before the event. The music backdrop for the evening was songs written and produced by The Dream. His catalog ran deeper than most people could fathom.

As the night took way, tastemakers and the press also took part in a mini viewing of a three part documentary series that The Dream will be releasing on Vice.com. Part One took an in depth look at where the super producer started, him as a father, and other things that we don’t usually see. The Dream and Kelly Rowland are co-headlining a 10-city summer tour called Lights Out, which kicks off in Kansas City May 24^th.

Having already listened to the album in full on Vevo, fans are in for a real R&B treat. My favorites included Self-Conscious, Michael, and New Orleans. IV Play hits stores Tuesday May 28^th.

Check out some of last night’s photos along with my short and sweet event recap video.

Thanks to the gift bag sponsors including Haviic, Aeropostale, NelzPolish, ToyClosetNYC, and Agadir Argan Oil.

Amandi (@AmandiMusic) gives JT and Hov’s hit the #TheCoverUp3 treatment. He takes in in another direction to talk directly to the ladies with some help from the Famous Nobodies’ Brook FN. Looks like the latest installment of his series is on the way. Download and stream links below.

Download HERE

Move aside Mary Jane, and make way for Molly.

Once associated primarily with weed, hip hop has cozied up to a party drug with a cute name, a mysterious identity and a potentially lethal set of side effects.

Artists such as Kanye West, Juicy J and Trinidad James have all name-dropped Molly, and Rick Ross’ Molly-laced date rape lyrics (“Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it”) caused an uproar and got the rotund rapper dropped from Reebok.

Some emcees have dedicated whole songs to rap’s new designer drug — take, for example, Tyga’s “Molly,” which has racked up over 7 million views on YouTube and features Tyga-as-cyborg rapping “I show up in that party like where the f*ck that Molly?” A robotic female voice chants “Molly” during the chorus, and Wiz Khalifa offers up more drug references during a guest verse — “Got champagne and we pourin it/she poppin it and she snortin it” — while images of pills flash onscreen.

Hip hop’s fixation with Molly has even spawned parodies, including “Ratchet, Turnup, Molly” from the Turnup Twinz, which seems one 2 Chainz verse short of being a legitimate song.

In the video, characters such as “Lil’ YOLO” and “Swag Snacks” congregate at a poolside party and chant “ratchet, turnup, Molly” and “YOLO, turnup, Molly” at regular intervals. The rest of the lyrics are equally asinine and Molly-focused:

“She twerkin in the ride/them doors are suicide/she pop another Molly and it work like Astroglide.”

“I’m poppin all these bands/these b*tches use no hands/I pop a few more Mollies and I give some to her man.’”

“Molly we love to pop/You know we never stop/I pop Molly in the sauna/I pop Molly in the drop/I pop Molly when I swim/Start to touch my best friend Tim/Sh*t Molly even with me when I’m shooting in the gym.”

Like weed and syrup, Molly has become another go-to chemical accessory in rap music, even to the point of parody. Whether reflecting real-life habits or jumping on the latest trend to stay relevant, rappers shout out Molly like paid drug reps.

The problem is, no one seems to know who Molly really is.

Getting to know Molly

Short for “molecule,” Molly is the powder or crystal form of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), the chemical found in Ecstasy. While Ecstasy is often laced with ingredients such as caffeine or methamphetamine, Molly is thought to be pure MDMA.

According to the National institute on Drug Abuse, MDMA has both stimulant and psychedelic properties, creating a sense of euphoria and emotional warmth in users while enhancing tactile sensations and sexual arousal, usually lasting for about three to six hours.

The Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes MDMA as a Schedule I Controlled Substance, meaning that it has no accepted medical use in the U.S. and a high potential for abuse. Other drugs in Schedule I include heroin and LSD.

Before it became illegal in 1985, MDMA was used in psychotherapy, and clinical trials are currently testing MDMA’s potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Along with its temporary mood-boosting properties, MDMA brings a host of negative effects that can include confusion, anxiety, depression and paranoia as well as tremors, involuntary teeth clenching, muscle cramps and blurred vision. High doses of MDMA can interfere with the ability to regulate body temperature, which can lead to liver, kidney and cardiovascular failure, and drug-related deaths have been reported due to dehydration, hyperthermia and seizures.

The Molly mystery

Though Molly is marketed as pure MDMA, many say that’s simply false advertising.

“Nothing’s changed — it’s still Ecstasy under a different name,” said Jon Daily, LCSW, clinical director of Recovery Happens Counseling Services.

In fact, what users think is pure MDMA may not even contain MDMA at all. According to Ecstasydata.org, an independent laboratory program that tests Ecstasy in pill and powdered form, only 24.1 percent of samples tested in 2013 contained pure MDMA, while 34.2 percent contained no MDMA at all and 27.8 percent contained stimulants such as caffeine, cocaine and methamphetamine.

“If you’re buying it from a guy on a street corner or at a club, it’s not clear what you’re going to get,” said Dr. John Kelly, associate director at the Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Center for Addiction Medicine and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “You don’t know what it’s been mixed with, you don’t know what the side effects are, you don’t know how it may interact with other drugs that you might be taking.”

Kelly noted that interactions with antidepressants can be especially dangerous.

“[MDMA] is a drug that can kill you if you take enough of it, or you take it and it interacts with a medication,” said Kelly. “For example, it can produce a big deficit in serotonin, especially if you mix it with an antidepressant affecting the serotonin system, and that can produce what’s called serotonin syndrome. That can be lethal.”

Studies suggest that chronic use of MDMA can produce brain damage in humans and problems with memory and learning, though experts say the drug’s long-term effects are not fully understood.

“It’s a fairly new drug in terms of being misused and used heavily, and so we don’t really know what the long-term effects are of using it, either cognitive or mood effects,” said Dr. Kelly. “But if you’re using high amounts over a long period, you’re going to do yourself some damage.”

As is often the case when drugs and pop culture mix, though, that damage is seldom spotlighted in songs or videos that promote the drug.

Instead, Molly appears harmless and alluring, a party accessory for a young, sexually-charged culture seeking an escape from the stress of daily life.

“The thing about Molly is it gives you the drug experience without having you go through the drug mechanics,” said G. Valentino Ball, editor and co-founder of urban blogazine KillerBoomBox.com. “You don’t have to sniff. You don’t have to inject. You just put it on your tongue like candy. I think the other part of it is the connection with sex. It’s the euphoric-type vibe that you’re supposed to get from the drug. People use it to enhance their sex lives. So when you’ve got a hypersexualized society where people are thinking about doing it all the time, this is the drug for that society.”

CONTINUE READING ON RAPREHAB.COM

In a special edition of Off the Record with Georgette Pierre, I took my radio show on the road. While in LA, I met up with Grammy nominated producer, Mason Levy (MdL), known for his work on Justin Bieber’s hit single “Boyfriend”, Maroon 5′s “Daylight”, and much more…all of this at the age of 22. We met up in beautiful Pasadena and what was so inspiring about his story was his humility, having achieved his level of success at such a young age but his drive for to tell his story through what he loves to do. His story was nowhere near over and our conversation was just the beginning.

Listen to the episode TOMORROW NIGHT on Off the Record with Georgette Pierre  at 6 pm EDT/3 pm PDT.

Read the full transcript of the interview here after the episode airs.

Full service entertainment company, SRR, recently launched Star Fone Cases (SFC), a company that “provides high quality, celebrity inspired mobile phone cases”. Launching the online store just last week (May 13), triple platinum selling rap artist, Waka Flocka Flame and Grammy Award winning rap artist, Soulja Boy, have become the first two artists to support SRR’s philanthropic effort to benefit “One Fund Boston.”

According to a press release, the CEO, Shehan Rajaratnam, thought the two artists collaborating was a great idea. “We were excited to find out that Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka, two great men whose status has not affected their common touch, were also interested in giving back to those effected.”

SFC’s first round of limited edition products will feature three different cases bearing ‘the image of an artist, or their trademarked words with additional artistic design. The other line includes two limited edition designs specifically created for ‘Boston Strong’ [sic].  The cases will be available for iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models. Twenty percent of the proceeds will be donated to ‘One Fund Boston’ during the benefit “Boston Strong” concert at MSG on May 30^th.

This isn’t the first time SFC has collaborated with an artist. Their most recent project was with Lil Twist from YMCMB called “Swag by Twist”. They’re currently working on adding more international acts to their lineup.