NEWS
Tony Yayo once again showed why G-Unit and Ja Rule will never reconcile. In an interview with DJ Vlad, Yayo and Vlad had a discussion about the greatest rapper of all time. Dr. Dre recently called Eminem the greatest to ever do it. Yayo co-signed Dre's opinion, adding that he had Em in his top five, but couldn't disagree with Dre's opinion. He talked about the value of statistics, mentioning that Eminem is still breaking records nearly a quarter of a century into his mainstream career. He uttered a familiar phrase: "men lie, women lie, numbers don't," suggesting a belief that commercial success is the greatest measure of a rapper's status in the industry.
The conversation between Vlad and Tony Yayo went from the greatest rapper of all time to Yayo creating his Mount Rushmore of Queens rappers. The two of them went through a list. They did not quite settle on a Mount Rushmore, but Vlad was quick to note that Ja Rule's name did not come up. Vlad argued that Ja should be in conversations over the Lost Boys. Especially if one of Yayo's own measures for success is how well one performs commercially. For a period, Ja Rule was among the most popular rappers around, along with DMX, OutKast, Eminem, and of course, 50 Cent.
"He was like the industry plant early, Ja Rule [...]," said Tony Yayo in the clip. "Ja Rule was a buster to me. I don't know him. He's from the other side of town. He's a buster to me, and he's still a buster. Irv [Gotti]'s a buster, Irv's brother's a buster, and they're all busters to me." When questioned about Ja's ability to sell records at his peak, Yayo responded by calling him a buster again. He disregarded his sales and reiterated that the Lost Boys deserve to be on that list instead of him.
Tony Yayo's response is not surprising. The 50 Cent-led G-unit camp and Ja Rule have had issues for over twenty years. 50, along with Eminem, contributed greatly to ending Ja's run as a commercially viable rapper, with a series of diss tracks that kneecapped his credibility. Em once again took aim at him on The Death of Slim Shady. With this interview, Yayo is the latest 50 Cent affiliate to remind fans that the participants in this long-running beef will probably never reach a truce.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
