Compton, California Rap star Game is hard at work on R.E.D., his fourth studio album, executive produced by both Dr. Dre and Pharrell Williams. The Aftermath/Interscope Records emcee announced today that he’s opening ThisIzGamesStore.com, an online retailer for clothing and merchandise from the Black Wall Street Records founder.

The store is a partnership between the rapper and Big Cartel, a technology company which will help bring the retailer to the Internet.

It was also confirmed that Game will tour Europe this November. Dates and cities are yet to be announced.

R.E.D. is presently without a release date, but believed to be coming in 2010.

SWAG411 will keep you updated.

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The song, titled “Salute ,” also features Dipset member Juelz Santana. Although the three rappers will appear on the record together, it by no means signifies an abandonment of their solo careers. The album will be Jones’ follow up to 2009’s Pray IV Reign, which debuted on the Rap charts at #9 last year.

Capo will release on September 28 November 9 on Jones’ new label home E1.(July 29)

UPDATE: It was announced today, September 22, 2010, that The Diplomats will take the stage together on November 26, at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The event is billed as “The Dipset Reunion,” and presented by radio station Hot97.

Tickets for the event will go on sales this Friday.

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This Thursday Sept 2nd ”DONEVAN”  will be performing LIVE at ROXY Nightclub in Orlando, FL !!  Come Join the SWAG411.com crew as we watch “DONEVAN”  Blow up the stage with his  performance of  his debute single “Time u Need” as well as other songs, and making beats live on stage with special guest DPT!!  

DJ 1960 MASHING UP THE HOTTEST HIP-HOP, DANCE AND HOUSE. OPEN BAR FOR LADIES AND GET IN FREE TIL MIDNIGHT. GUYS $1.00 DRINKS TIL MIDNIGHT

18 and up for everyone

YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IT !!

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Website WeezyThanxYou.com has been created to offer Lil Wayne fans the latest on their incarcerated star. From his Rikers Island, New York cell, the Young Money head updated those concerned about his mental state and even his physique.

“I’ve learned plenty already and the best lesson is to not come back,” wrote the rapper. He did acknowledge that he’s met some “pretty cool people” inside the walls, but that prison is no place for anybody, let alone a multi-player emcee.

Wayne also spoke about his look for his November return. Revealing that he’s gained some muscle, the 27 year-old write, “Now don’t be expecting me to look like Hercules when I get out, but I should be a little bulky.” The rapper will spend his 28th birthday behind bars next month.

Last month, “Right Above It” , the first single from Wayne’s second release this year, I’m Not A Human Being released. After securing gold certified albums in Drake’s Thank Me Later and So Far Gone, as well as We Are Young Money and his own Rebirth, Lil Wayne will return him to release Nicki Minaj’s debut album, Pink Friday in November as well.

Read the full letter and purchase merchandise at WeezyThanxYou.com.

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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony emcee Bizzy Bone is reportedly nearing a deal with Cash Money Records, which continues to add talent to its roster.

The Cleveland rapper will release at least one album on the label, reports AllHipHop.com.

This news is positive in contrast to recent headlines involving Bizzy, which included reports that he would be joining Vh1’s Celebrity Rehab.

Bizzy Bone, who was on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s reunion album, Uni5: The World’s Enemy, chose not to be a part of the national tour in support of the project.

There are currently no further details regarding the solo deal.

In the past weeks, Cash Money Records has signed Cool & Dre, Freeway, and Bow Wow.
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One of Rap’s superstars is expected to return to MTV’s annual Video Music Awards. That would not be news, if not for Kanye West’s live interruption of Taylor Swift’s “Best Video” reception speech during last year’s event. US Weekly has heard from sources that the G.O.O.D Music star will in fact be performing at the network’s awards ceremony.

This year’s VMAs will air September 12, and will be live from Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater.

In related news, West premiered his “Power” video last Thursday with MTV, after their top-rated show, Jersey Shore.
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Eminem’s Recovery was thought to maybe get #1 back. The Aftermath release did not, as Arcade Fire’s latest outsold it by 4,000 units.

One of this year’s true surprises came courtesy of UGK’s Bun B. The Port Arthur, Texas’ emcee’s third solo album, Trill O.G. debuted at #4. Bun’s album is the first since moving his Rap-A-Lot Records distribution from Asylum to Universal Fontana. The third in the “Trill” series features appearances from Drake, Gucci Mane and posthumous verses from 2Pac and Pimp C, while production is handled by DJ Premier, Boi-1da and veteran UGK producer Steve Below. For an independent project, Bun’s Top 5 debut and 40,000 in sales are one of the more shocking Rap chart performances this year.

Rick Ross was a spot behind Bun, inching towards 300,000 units moved of his acclaimed Teflon Don. The Def Jam rapper’s fourth official album features work from veterans such as No I.D., DJ Clark Kent and Cee-Lo. Drake’s Thank Me Later fell to #8, as four Rap releases occupied the Top 10. Drake’s official debut is expected to reach the million mark in two weeks, though a strong next week could achieve that feat early.
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“There’s no reason I cant do anything anybody else can do. On top of that, there’s no reason I cant do what they can , work 10x harder, and do it 100x better.”

— Donevan

Born on April, 28 1986 and originally from Bakersfield CA, Donevan  has lived in LA, Houston, and Orlando. Being interested in music since such a young age, he has been always obsessed with the producers who made the actual music beats. When he was 12 he started experimenting with Sony Acid making tracks and recording some of his friends on those tracks. At the age of 17 he taught himself to play a four-string bass guitar and was taught by a family friend to play chords on a piano, while producing those tracks on his father’s korg triton.

Wanting to pursue a degree in recording arts, he decided to move to Orlando, FL and attended Full Sail University to perfect and expand his knowledge in the studio aspect of music and wanted to do it all by himself. Being alone and far away from family, after he graduated he started working to pay bills putting his dreams on hold. But after working rigorously for 2 years, he decided to move to Houston because things weren’t really taking off like he wanted in Orlando. He then began working 3 jobs to save up and purchase equipment of his own to start producing music. While living in Houston, he was going through hard times with his long distance relationship with his girlfriend who lived in Clearwater FL. The heartache left him with this permanent pain in his chest and loss of sleep. The only thing that soothed his pain was when he picked up that MIC and sang, that marked the beginning of his writing and singing career. But as things only started picking up with his music career more road blocks have halted his dreams of become a music phenom.

In October 2008 he was rear ended at a dead stop on the 59 freeway in Houston by a van going 50mph. His car was totaled so he had no way of getting to any of his jobs. So he had no choice but to pack up yet again and move back to his mothers in Los Angeles.

As things finally started looking up for him, he finally acquired the gear he needed and got right to work on writing, producing, recording, and booking shows on his own. With an exclusive interview with Donevan Towns himself, he said “ Music is a refined form of energy and expression. I think what separates me from other artists is my grasp and understanding of sacrifice and hard work. I refuse to not be good enough or have anybody be better than me, period. Anything somebody else can do, I can work my fuckin ass off and do 100 times better. Currently I’m back and forth between LA and Orlando recording music and am on the cusp of stardom.”

Donevan  resembles a younger Trey Songs. His music abilities surpass many of the recording artists of this century. His strive and thirst for the perfection of his music skills are very rare to find. Join us and the Hip Hop and R&B community as we watch and grow with this Up and Coming, future chart toping, artist “Donevan” as he rises to fame.

CHECK out his new debut single “TIME YOU NEED” which is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and Swag411.

To Contact Donevan please email us at admin@swag411.com or check him out on YouTube — http://www.youtube.com/donevanT —!!!!

Recently, HipHopDX interviewed Fat Joe in E1 Entertainment’s Manhattan offices. In a conversation that looked at Joe’s debut, Represent as well as his recently-released The Darkside Volume 1, the Bronx superstar also spoke about the Diggin’ In The Crates Crew. A casual conversation about production on Showbiz & A.G.’s Runaway Slave led Joe to declare, “Nothing has better production than [Stunts Blunts & Hip-Hop by Diamond D]. I still listen to it to this day. I let my young boys listen to it, and they be like [bobbing head and beat-boxes 'Sally Got A One Track Mind']. Niggas be like, ‘Oh shit!’ [Sings along to 'Check One, Two'].”

Joe appeared on two songs (“Pass Dat Shit” and “View From The Underground”) on the seminal 1992 Chemistry Records release. He says that his association with mentor Diamond D still travels with him today in elite circles. “The other day, I was in the studio with Pharrell, and the first hour of us being there, it was just Diamond D talk. [Mimics discussion] Just Hip Hop shit. Egos get involved, and all types of money and shit, but whenever you can get two artists in a room, or a producer that really knows Hip Hop and start talkin’ that shit, it’s incredible to see how [artists] appreciate other [artists].”

Although Joe is often associated with Big Pun, the rapper spoke on the importantance of his original group. Asked about a 1988 appearance (“Oh Shit”) with Diamond D’s Ultimate Force on the recently-released I’m Not Playin’ album, Joe stated, “That’s part of my history. Diggin’ In The Crates crew, most of us came from the same projects [plus we had] Big L.” Speaking about the late Harlem emcee icon, Big L, Joe said, “I got my little nephews and my son and them, and they’re [hearing] about Big L now. They [were] playing me [the freestyle] when he was on [Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito show on WKCR] with Jay-Z, going rhyme-for-rhyme. They’re new to these things!” Recently, Joe said he received a curious question from one of his associates. “We’ve got a young guy, Kevin [Zulueta], who engineers in the studio. He was like, ‘This shit’s crazy. This nigga, Big L, you knew him?’ I said, ‘My man, look up Fat Joe/Big L, nigga, “Da Enemy,” on the Diggin’ In The Crates album, nigga. That’s my man!’ It was an honor to work with him.” Passing compliments around his D.I.T.C. brethren, Joe added, “Lord Finesse is probably the best rapper around the time we came out, he was probably the best rapper in the game.”

Among his peers, Fat Joe has the most profile. He said that he is still trying to a spear-head a follow-up to the group’s 2000 Tommy Boy Records self-titled release, compiled a year after Big L’s murder. “I want to do a Diggin’ In The Crates album. [There is] no beef in the Diggin’ In The Crates crew. I love them, they love me. I begged…I just begged Finesse. It ain’t like Fat Joe ain’t hot – I just shot [the 'Ha Ha' ] video with [Young] Jeezy, I got ['If It Ain't About Money' with] Trey Songz poppin’, and I’m begging them, ’cause I feel like Hip Hop really needs that, but when you’ve got [differing creative opinions] – we all love each other, nobody has ever, ever in Diggin’ In The Crates crew disrespected one another.” Joe emphasized that it’s creative differences restraining one of Rap’s super-crews, not bitterness. “From day one, it’s all about the music, but it bugged me out to see: alright, Fat Joe, who let’s just say became the biggest guy out the crew, I should be the dickhead? I’m the dickhead, I’m the one who’s supposed to think I’m all that, and I’m like yo, let’s do this! [We will] kill ‘em. We’re all still hot.” Despite Joe’s efforts, the vision for another proper D.I.T.C. album halted plans. “When I started hearin’ different opinions – we all love each other, but I thought, ‘Wow, this is how that Gang Starr shit must’ve went down.’” Joe continued, “I’ve never had an argument with Lord Finesse in my life. I’ve never had an argument with A.G., O.C., Showbiz, none of them. We’ve never had an argument in our lives, but I’m like, ‘What the fuck is up, why am I stressin’ myself?’ I’m tryin’ to get shit poppin’, but everybody got their own opinion or their own way of lookin’ at it. I guess that’s how that went down.” Joe worked on numerous D.I.T.C.-branded releases with Showbiz throughout the ’00s, but a second official album remains unrecorded.

Lastly, HipHopDX asked Fat Joe about his proudest verse. Unlike many of the artists we’ve been asking, Joe pointed to a featured verse, from Ja Rule’s 2004 album, R.U.L.E. “My proudest verse, believe it or not, is ‘New York’,” said Joe, of the track with he and Jadakiss alongside Ja, prompting 50 Cent to take umbrage with the Terror Squad leader. “It was just so much pride going into that song, just representin’ New York, man.” Joe was elated to bring attention back to Hip Hop’s homeland. “It’s the birthplace of this. How do you make an anthem that makes this city stop and feel proud about itself? To me, that was my favorite verse.”
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