Like the title says, Elzhi breaks his silence about his status with Slum Village…

Let’s cut right to the chase; are you in Slum Village now or not?

Am I in Slum Village or am I not? As far as what’s going on… As far as, like, me not having any say so to any treatments to videos being shot, or me not going to do the interviews to promote this new Slum Village album, or [Barack Records and T3] not contacting me or my management, and… as you can see in the “Reunion 2” video, I would say I wasn’t in the group. And at the same time, them taking me off records, so now I’m on a minimal amount a records for the [Villa Manifesto] album, I would say I wasn’t in the group.

At this point, is there any hope for a real reunion between you and T3?

As much as I was tripping off the fact that T3 allowed the label to take me off half of the album, he wasn’t sticking up for me and did a video behind my back; [the way] I was looking at it at that time was as long as they know my worth what I brought to the table, my legacy, they cooperate and they willing to negotiate with me about certain things… ’Cause honestly I haven’t even got paid in full on the [new] album yet. But I was just looking at it like as long as they get their act together, Slum Village can still keep on making music.

Read the full interview @ XXLMag.com

Above is a screen shot from Kanye West’s video for “Power,” off his now untitled upcoming album.  Check out what the NY Times had to say about the video:

In a coming video for his single “Power” that was created by the artist Marco Brambilla, Mr. West is seen standing imposingly with a heavy chain around his neck. As Mr. West raps the camera slowly zooms out in one continuous, unedited take to reveal him in a classical structure, surrounded by female attendants who are partly or entirely nude; some kneel before him on all fours, others wear devil horns and still others are suspended upside down from the ceiling. The Sword of Damocles hangs precariously over Mr. West’s head, and behind him an unseen executioner is preparing to strike him with a blade. (ArtsBeat was allowed to watch a portion of this video but was not permitted to post it) – NY Times

Sep 16th The Trocadero Theatre  Philadelphia, PA
Sep 19th Jefferson Theater  Charlottesville, VA
Sep 21st Toad’s Place  New Haven, CT  Find Tickets
Sep 22nd Lupos Heartbreak hotel  Providence, RI
Sep 25th Stages Nightclub  Kingston, ON, CANADA
Sep 26th The Opera House  Toronto, ON, CANADA
Sep 28th Newport Music Hall  Columbus, OH
Sep 29th Metro  Chicago, IL
Sep 30th Canopy Club  Urbana, IL
Oct 1st Orpheum Theater  Madison, WI
Oct 2nd Ferri State University  Big Rapids, MI
Oct 4th The Union Bar  Iowa City, IA
Oct 5th First Avenue  Minneapolis, MN
Oct 6th Sokol Auditorium  Omaha, Nebraska
Oct 7th Ogden Theater  Denver, CO
Oct 8th Fox Theater  Boulder, Co
Oct 9th The Black Sheep  Colorado Springs, CO
Oct 10th In The Venue  Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 12th Knitting Factory  Boise, ID
Oct 14th Fortune  Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Oct 15th Showbox Sodo  Seattle, WA
Oct 16th Wow Hall  Eugene, OR
Oct 17th Humboldt State University  Arcata, California
Oct 26th Rialto Theater  Tucson, AZ
Oct 27th Venue of Scottsdale  Scottsdale, AZ
Oct 28th Sunshine Theater  Albuqerque, New Mexico
Oct 29th House Of Blue  Dallas, TX
Oct 30th Emo’s  Austin, TX
Oct 31st House of Blues  Houston, TX
Nov 2nd House of Blues  New Orleans, LA
Nov 4th Club At Firestone  Orlando, Florida
Nov 5th The Ritz  Tampa, FL
Nov 6th Masquerade  Atlanta, GA
Nov 10th The National  Richmond, VA
Nov 11th The Norva  Norfolk, VA
Nov 14th Northern Lights  Clifton Park, NY

Your going to have to wait a little longer to hear Scott Mescudi’s sophomore album. For the second time in a week, the album as been pushed by 2 weeks. The original date was September 14th, now we are talking late October. Regardless of how good the material is, it will unfortunately miss any chance of consideration for this years Grammys (September 30th deadline).

Travis Barker was on the set filming Carry It off his solo album “Give The Drummer Some.”

“The song started with RZA and I in my studio, with him playing guitars and me playing drums, just jamming out,” Barker explained. “Then I got Raekwon on it, and I showed it to Tom Morello, who was stoked on it, so he played on it. And that’s how I wanted the video to be.There was never any corny ideas [for the video],” Barker smiled. “[It's] just us rocking out. That’s what’s good about it. The track’s raw; it’s not candy-coated. … This is like ‘punch you in the face,’ real hype music. Barker (MTV)”

B.o.B. is kicking off his 42 city The Shootin’ For The Stars Tour on July 21st in Melbourne, Australia and then will eventually make his way back around the world to do a show in the nation’s capitol on October 30th.  Check out his full tour schedule below:

JULY
21 Melbourne, AU  Billboard Melbourne
24 Osaka, JPN  Club Quattro
25 Tokyo, JPN T okyo Garden Hall
31 Atlanta, GA  MySpace Live @ Center Stage *

AUGUST
1 Ottawa, ON  Scotiabank Place *
3 St. Louis, MO Six Flags
4 Gurnee, IL Six Flags
6 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza *
6 Dallas, TX House of Blues
7 Columbia, MD Summer Spirit Festival @ Merriweather Post Pavilion *
8 Toronto, ONT Z103.5 Summer Rush Toronto @ Kingswood Music Theater *
10 Comstock Park, MI 104.5 WSNX’s Rock The Rapids @ Fifth Third Ballpark *
11 Austintown, OH Club Gossip
13 Springfield, MA Six Flags
14 Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront
15 Boston, MA House of Blues
17 New York, NY Irving Plaza
18 Jackson, NJ Six Flags
20 Washington, DC American University
21 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
22 Atlanta, GA Six Flags
24 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution
25 Orlando, FL University of Central Florida
26 Jacksonville, FL University of Northern Florida
28 Richmond, VA Virginia Commonwealth
31 State College, PA Bryce Jordan Center

SEPTEMBER
4 Oneonta, NY SUNY Oneonta
16 Blacksburg, VA Virginia Tech University – Burris Hall Auditorium
17 Detroit, MI Grey Goose Event – Venue TBA
18 Utica, NY Utica College
19 Princeton, NJ Princeton University
21 Lawrence, KS University of Kansas – Liberty Hall
22 Columbia, MO University of Missouri

OCTOBER
14 Fresno, CA Big Fresno Fairgrounds
21 Lexington, KY Memorial Coliseum
22 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt University
23 Atlanta, GA Emory University
24 Towson, MD Towson University
28 Harrisonburg, VA James Madison University – Wilson Hall
29 Lewisburg, PA Sojka Pavilion
30 Washington, DC Grey Goose Event – Venue TBA

Complex Magazine gives us the lowdown for their T.I. and B.O.B. covers for their August/September issue.  Hit the jump for the behind the scenes footage from the shoot.

After just dropping “How I Got Over“, The Roots team up with John Legend for a collaboration album Wake Up!.  The album is heavily influenced from the 60’s – 70’s era and has a number of cover songs. Recently we got a taste with Our Generation. This album should live up to the hype and be one of the best soul/r&b albums of this year.

1. Compared to What
2. Hard Times
3. Little Ghetto Boy
4. Wake Up Everybody feat. Common and Melanie Fiona
5. Our Generation
6. Love the Way It Should Be
7. Hang On in There
8. I Can’t Write Left Handed
9. Wholy Holy
10. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
11. Shine