Yesterday it was reported that Juelz Santana was taken into custody in New Jersey on four counts of narcotic and weapon offenses.  Today, Juelz is a free man  after posting $125,000 bail & called into Hot97 to discuss his trouble with the law. Check out the interview Here

(From: KarenCivil.com)
Patience is a virtue. Three years ago, Juelz Santana shot a movie entitled The Project along with Michael David Stahl and Matt Servito. After numerous accolades from several film festivals, the movie is finally being released onto dvd.

Photo Credit: Myspace.com

For over twenty years, Florida has been a hip-hop landmark. From creating the “Miami Bass Sound” that turned Luther Campbell into the black Hugh Hefner, to delivering a hardcore street-edge that has created recording contract opportunities for many residents of the Sunshine State. Up-and-coming rapper Smokey looks to add to this equation of talented rappers, as he proudly displays his Haitian roots and his hometown of Miami on his vocal cords.

After learning the music industry and recording music for nearly 10 years, Smokey has teamed up with the independent label SuperFli Entertainment to release his debut album, “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire.” Not straying to far away from his hometown roots, Smokey enlisted his fellow Floridian rappers Flo-Rida and the group Git Fresh to create the song, “What Girls Like”–a soon to be smash that is gaining steady rotation on the airwaves.

But he also jumped onto I95 and headed up north to hook up with New York MC Juelz Santana– who’s also one of our December CoverCost–to create the Federal Reserve anthem, “Swimming In My Money.” But with guest appearances aside, Smokey is drawing from his life experiences and love of music to create an album that will establish his name in the hip-hop world for years to come.

CM: First and foremost, how did you get your start in the music business?

S: Well…off of inspiration. I listened to a lot of music when I was growing up, and I started rapping in church. After that, I just started having a passion for it and started loving it. Ever since then, it’s been magic.

Being that you’re on an independent label in the midst of this ever-changing music business, what are some of the benefits that you’ve experienced being an independent artist?

With indie, I think you can market more the way that you want to do it. I also believe it gives you more room for growth, and gives you more knowledge as far as what you can and can’t do.

You created a huge buzz with your debut single, “What Girls Like,” that dropped this past summer with Flo Rida and Git Fresh. The latest single, “Swimming In Money, ”features Juelz Santana. What’s it like working with both of those major artists?

Both of those artists are really at a high caliber. Working with them is a blessing and its two great opportunities that I’ve gotten so far. The vibe and the chemistry are definitely on point.

Are those two singles off of your up-coming album or your mixtape?

Yeah… their off of my upcoming album. As I work more on the album, it keeps getting better and better. I keep dropping more songs and I keep on adding more songs. So, those two will definitely be on there.

Do you have a tentative date for the album?

Nah, not yet–right now were just focusing on marketing the two singles. It’s really getting spread through New York, Philly, the Mid-West and were going to hit up the West Coast in a few. So we working, we’re on this grind.

What’s on the itinerary for 2010?

Work, work and nothing but work; just all grinding and just staying focus. I already got some other songs I got with Pusha T, from The Clipse, and a whole bunch of songs we haven’t released yet. It’s all about hard work and staying on the grind at the end of the day.

For more on Smokey and his debut album, visit www.myspace.com/smokeyfli.

TheCostMag.com Promo Video from TheCostMag.com on Vimeo.

It seems like an entire era has passed since we first laid our eardrums on the uptown resonance of LaRon James. Better known as Juelz Santana to his loyal Dipset followers, the Harlem-bred MC has been somewhat of a child star, beginning his career in a rap duo named Draft Pick in the late nineties at the age of 15. After catching the attention of another Harlem heavyweight by the name of Cameron Giles, Santana made his mark on Cam’Ron’s 2000 release, “Sports, Drugs and Entertainment” (S.D.E.). Since then, it has been nothing but full throttle hustle for the 25-year-old. After scoring a Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Cam on the 2002 smash hit, “Oh Boy,” Santana was brought into the fold of The Diplomats–a New York City hip-hop movement founded by Cam’Ron and two of his longtime friends, Jim Jones and Freaky Zekey.

Making his mark in a crew that brought numerous trends (pink-hued clothing) and phrases into the hip-hop lexicon (no homo), these days bring a new direction in the career of Juelz Santana. The MC and new-found record executive is readying the release of his third studio album, “Born to Lose, Built to Win,” on Def Jam Records. This will be the first release for Santana after inking a 50/50 venture with the label after his former mentor Cam’Ron sold his contract to Def Jam for $2 Million. But through all of the tumult that has surrounded the dissolve of The Diplomats and the relationship between its members, Santana maintains a positive outlook and even says that the Dipset movement is still alive and well.

And that should be good news to the movement’s truest fans, as they are holding on to the hopes of hearing one last album from the hip-hop collective. But until that day comes, Juelz Santana’s main focus is pushing his new label, Skull Gang Records, toward the forefront of the future of hip-hop. The new single from his album, “Back to the Crib”–which features Chris Brown–has been heating up radio as the album gets its finishing touches for a 2010 release. As droves of people will be ringing in the New Year staring intently at the Time Square crystal ball or partying the night away, Santana just might be pulling an all-nighter in the studio–gearing up for another win.

IT’S ABOUT THAT TIME

Photo Credit: www.sxc.hu

Here we are at the end of another year, another year filled with assorted epochs of shift as the seasons and months have once again melted into each other so quickly. Where has the time gone? It seems like so much activity was filled into the space of the last 12 months. With the election of our first African-American President, the epidemic of swine flu, the introduction of Nadya Suleman and her octo-wonderland, an unsteady economy, Twilight Mania, the death of Farrah Fawcett, MVPuppet commercials, Susan Boyle, the flight of Falcon Heene, the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, our soldiers still fighting in two wars, the reform of healthcare, the influx of Tiger Woods’s personal life and the death of Michael Jackson, this year will be pretty hard to forget. But as we ring in the New Year, we will forget, because 2010 will encompass just as many twists and turns from years past. We will need to have our memory banks clear and our eyes glued on the ills and joys of society–collecting what we need to build our spiritual scrapbooks for the days ahead.

With a new year, there will be a new era–and with that, we hope to bring in the new era right with our launch of The Cost Magazine. With this inaugural issue, Our CoverCosts will feature Harlem hip-hop heavyweight Juelz Santana as he talks about his new album, how his fashion sense and rhyme skills intersect, and why The Diplomats will forever be a movement. We also caught up with R&B ace Omarion as he talks about the influence of Michael Jackson on his career, the origin of his new record label and how he interprets the future of the music business. We’ll also feature Q&A interviews from up-and-coming Florida rapper Smokey and distinguished songwriter Claude “Studio Beast” Kelly.

We’ve witnessed so much in 2009, and as we wait anxiously for our respective clocks to strike 12 a.m. on December 31^st, The Cost Magazine strives to be an integral part of your experiences in 2010. Stay tuned as we assemble and cultivate an innovative online venture that will hopefully stand the test of time.

Goodbye 2009. There goes another one for the scrapbook.

We hope that you have a blessed, healthy, safe and prosperous holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Cost Magazine.