Ozone Magazine

1. SMACKA BATCH
www.myspace.com/smackabatch
With a name like Smacka Batch, you wouldn’t expect this guy to have songs named “I Just Wanna Talk 2 U,” “Bedroom Eyez,” or “Sexy Lady.” But he’s actually quite the ladies man, rapping and crooning about taking women on shopping sprees and holding hands. This only forces us to quote the legendary Pretty Tony when he told Goldie, “You ain’t no pimp…you’re a rest haven for hoes.” Oh, did we mention that he heads up a label called Southern Plantation records? As outrageous as that sounds, his crew has a song called “Blessed” on YouTube that’s really worth checking out.

2. GAGGIE
http://twitter.com/chitowngaggie
Not sure how or why someone would decide to name themselves Gaggie, but this Chi-town MC doesn’t seem to mind the name at all. Not much of his music is floating around on the net, but…it seems to make some people want to, eh, you get the point.

3. SWAGZILLA
http://www.myspace.com/lilaldagoon
If Kanye’s swag is on “a hundred, thousand, trillion” then Swagzilla’s must be in the zillions, euro even.

by Maurice G. Garland

1. Ball and G
www.myspace.com/BallandG365
Whoever these guys are, they claim to hail from Augusta and Atlanta, GA, respectively. Meaning they either grew up in sheltered households or they chose to say fuck effort and name themselves after one of the rap groups that put Southern Hip Hop on the map. It’s one thing to be influenced by a group, but to completely imitate them is another. As for the music, it doesn’t sound great, but it’s not bad either. It’s standard, average Southern rap that gets performed at your local industry showcase and nowhere else. It might be worth a little bit of attention of they went by another name. Oh yeah, their latest mixtape is titled Menace II Society. Try something original!

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1. DJ Head Debiase
www.myspace.com/djheaddebiase
In what’s obviously supposed to be a play on the name of the popular wrestler Ted “Million Dollar Man” Dibiase, this one falls flat broke. Its never a good idea, especially as a dude, to have any type of fellatious innuendos in your name. Oh, he’s an Aphilliates DJ, by the way.

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1. Shitake Monkey www.myspace.com/shitakemonkey
We’re pretty sure that the name isn’t pronounced how it looks, or is it? This NYC-based crew is known largely for their contribution to 88-Key’s song “The Friend Zone.” Their music is unique, but you can’t help but imagine what the studio smells like when these guys are around.

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1. Mr. Hit Dat Hoe
Carrying on in DFW, Texas’ current wave of dance music (”The Dougie” &
“Stanky Leg”), a character named Mr. Hit Dat Hoe is putting his bid in to be
the next dance phenomenon. Oddly, his dance doesn’t involve any punching,
slapping or kicking. It’s actually made up of hoe girl-like moves including
hip-shaking, waist-twirling and finger-snapping.

2. Extortion Ent.
Ironically, this label is based in Boston, home of OZONE’s 2004 Extortionist
of the Year Ray Benzino. From looking at their myspace page they house
artists, DJ and host events. Hope they pay their staff.
 
3. Mac Mustard
This rapper comes from same circle as Max B. and French Montana. He raps
pretty good, but his name sounds like a failed A1 Sauce flavor.

My first thought on this, and I’m sure yours too, is what kind of outbreak are they entertaining people with? (Insert herpes/syphilis jokes here.) According to Wikipedia, Outbreak is a term used to describe an occurrence of disease greater than would otherwise be expected in a particular time and place. Really? Y’all named your business after this?

But that’s not even the funny part. Outbreak Ent is offering a chance to distribute your music through Universal for a $750 application fee. Now I’m not sitting here thinking these are con artists hating, but this can’t be legal. Even if it is legit, do you really want to have your music sold by a company that refers to themselves as a disease infestation?

Oh yeah, Outbreak Ent offers a number of other services as well, such as an $85 photo shoot where you can look like this. Guaranteed you’ll look just like Halle Berry. And don’t forget to hit them up for some $33 beats. That’s not all, from their Myspace photo galleries I see Out Break Ent. also sells used vehicles and can get you approved today?? Go figure.

Its no secret that rappers are often inspired by movies. The Notorious B.I.G. got both his Biggie Smalls and Black Frank White aliases from movies. You saw how every rapper on MTV Cribs had a picture of Scarface on their wall too. But, this time eh…its probably gone too far.

Over the last few months the name Niggalas Cage has popped up on songs featuring Ne-Yo and Akon. Now, this either means that Ol’ St. Nigg has some bread or he’s managed to steal a couple tracking demos from the studio. Or maybe he is some industry dude with resources just messing around. Either way, whoever this guy is, he should consider a name change if he wants his career to go beyond random zshare links and youtubes. Because really, his music isn’t that bad. Its in the same lane as what Fabolous does when he needs a radio hit.

Question, if a White person really likes this Niggalas’ music, are they allowed to refer to him by name? Or does the Chris Rock rule still apply?

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Niggalas Cage feat. Ne-Yo-”Be On You”

Niggalas Cage feat. Akon-”You’re The Reason Why”

If you were to see a flyer saying “Short Bus Alumni Performing Live” you’d probably think it was a cruel joke. Well, we’re here to inform you that if you see one soon, its legit. Straight Outta North Carolina comes Hip Hop quintet Short Bus Alumni or SBA for short (no pun attempted). Contrary to their namesake, their music is far from retarded. Maybe their name is supposed to symbolize their rise from riding the short bus to rapping?

Either way, their music actually sounds pretty decent. Its slightly reminiscent of The Listening era Little Brother.

But, that name? Naw shawty. Not sure about that one. The whole short bus theme was already a stretch for the brothas out there in the Bay. Hopefully they’ll come up with a better name, very soon. It shouldn’t be that difficult with five brains in the group, unless of course, they actually rode the short bus.