Check out the Joell Ortiz EPK Video here

5/1/2006 HHG! What the bizzness, yall??? Hope all is well. As for me, I'm just working yall. Keeping my head down and grinding. That’s it. Last two weeks been kinda busy. Some of yall may have heard me on Sirius. I was up there a lot. I did Kay Slay, Tony Touch, The Gomez Brothers and Tony Touch shows on Shade 45 as well as my dude Dj Self show on HipHop Nation. I have fun doing shows on Sirius cause you can curse your ass off! As yall know by now Kay Slay is fam so he let me rhyme for maaaaad long. I think I did like ten minutes of rhyming up there. Good Lookin Slay! I also did Funkmaster Flex’s show on Hot 97 with Gravy and Saigon last Weds night. Saigon is mad cool. Very laid back and easy going dude. I met Gravy a few times before that night so it was all love. Unfortunately, some bad shit went down with my dude Gravy that night. To be honest, I really don’t have a clue bout what happened. Gravy seemed relaxed up there and he killed it when called on to rhyme. The only sign that there was something going on was when I went down stairs and saw mad police outside. The following morning everyone was calling me asking me about a shooting. Niggas thought I was playing possum but I really didn’t know shit. If yall ever see me around youll notice that I walk at a fast pace with my chin up and eyes directed towards where I'm headed (unless I notice a nice tail) For the most part, I mind my business and concentrate on me. I don’t sleep on nothing but I also don’t pay attention to matters that don’t concern me. Shout to Gravy. Hope you doing good, homie… Speaking of Hot 97 I will be performing at Summer Jam on the festival stage at Giant Stadium on June 4th. The Summer Jam festival is an outdoor event that goes on before the concert where the fans can come and chill and enjoy shows from up and coming artists. There will be booths from the Xbox, Boost Mobile, XXL and others. They usually have some giveaways so Imma get there EARLY! I'm not sure who else is gonna be on that little stage but I know they have surprises planned. The main event is gonna be crazy…Mary J Blige, Busta Rhymes, Sean Paul, Mobb Deep, T.I., Jamie Foxx, Remy Ma, Dipset, Jermaine Dupri w/ Dem Franchise Boyz, Ne Yo, Young Jeezy and Chris Brown. Should be a good time. Hope to meet some of yall out there. Especially the ladies. Good looking to my dudes, Dj Enuff (mi pana), Chris Nadler, Ebro (congrats on the mtv thing) Funk Flex, Fat Man Scoop, Dj Camillo, Miss Jones (thanks for telling NY how to pronounce my name correctly) My ace Kay Slay and the whole Hot 97 staff. I really appreciate the opportunity. By the way, I also wanna thank all the people from the Williamsburg area that hit me up at www.myspace.com/joellortiz to let me know their experiences with the elitism that goes on in that area. The other day one of my boys asked me why I cared so much bout that event. Its not about the event. It's about the hipsters and pseudo bohemians that run around here on some better than though shit. My problem with these folks that Wes Jackson and his so called Brooklyn Bodega represent is the fact that they only acknowledge the “conscious” segment of this culture. That kind of separatist bullshit is not Hip Hop. This week I put up a picture of myself in my projects with some of the kids Wes Jackson and his buddies don’t want at his “hip hop festival” Moving on, I'm scheduled to be on Amanda Diva’s show on Sirius Radio’s Hip Hop nation this week. I will also be on Whoo Kid’s show on Sat. I also got a couple of shows that we are trying to lock in for the summer as well. I'll keep yall posted. To all the mixtape fans out there, Please be sure to look for me on the new KaySlay/Green Lantern mixtape that’s about to drop. We re did a classic. Shout to GreenLantern. Thanks for the shot, Fam…Also, Shout to the legend, Marley Marl…We just did a joint that’s gonna be on his new album. It's crazy. A lot of yall been hitting me about the album, 'The Brick' over the past few months. I know this may sound crazy to some but I scraped half of it. I felt since I leaked so many joints I owe it to yall to replace them with new cuts. Why should you pay for music I already gave yall? I have a new 125 pt 3 on there as well as some new songs produced by some ill, ill dudes. The Joell Ortiz fans out there will be pleasantly surprised. The haters out there will be sick. I love it! We refurbished it. Its only right. By the way, That’s why Ive been kinda light on leaking stuff lately. Trust me, the heat I got on stash is, as my UK brethren say, WICKED! On that note, I hope yall have a great week. Until Next time Be Safe and Have Fun And as ALWAYS, One Love to the Underdogs… Heat and the Whole Jersey City Massive. Block Royal, Borinquen projects, Williamsburg, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood and LIC

[67] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'19th JOURNAL ENTRY

4/18/2006 What's good yall? I know it's been a minute but your boy been working. First off, I Hope you've all gone to the video section to check out my epk/video. If you haven't, you need to. NOW! Come back to this when you done watching… For those that have seen it. Yall know what it is! There aint no denying my grind after that visual Moving on, I've just released a single from my upcoming album, THE BRICK. The single is called Feel Good and it was produced by my brother/ dj/ producer/ promoter/ drinking buddy, DJ EMZ. Dj Enuff of Hot 97 been killing, Feel Good from the minute he got it. We have been following up on Enuff's look by goin to all the clubs, strip joints, lounges and house parties giving the single out. We have also been giving the DVD of my epk/video to the local barbershops so they can play it on they systems. As you can see this week I put up a picture of myself getting a cut at my neighborhood barbershop, Who's Next. Who's Next is on Bushwick dead in the middle of my hood. I got my start rhyming and battling in front of that shop as a kid and Im still out there today. Any day of the week you can find me there playing cards, cracking on niggas or just kicking back. My dude Dj Camillo (HeavyHitters Stand UP!) gets his cut there so when he around we always chop it up. I remember being in the shop when one of my songs was first played on Hot 97. The whole shop went crazy. That memory motivates me alot. I sincerely appreciate the support I get from my niggas at Who's Next. Whenever I got a show they come deep. Shout to, Vee, P love, DL, BC, Case, Sha, Ru and my dude Hornz Also shout to Dee Dee the Barber. Dee Dee Started at Whos Next now he cuts Funkmaster Flex and Cipha Sounds hair. Dee Dee mad cool. He be gettin the, "Yo, holla at Flex for Joell!" My dude Dee Dee be getting that, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY! And he takes it in stride. Good lookin DeeDee. There are other shops around the way in BK and in Queens that been showing Joell Ortiz love from the gate. Peace to Street Gang, Headhunters, Dragos, New York Cuts, Chico's, Headrush, Goodfellas (All in BK) Heads aint Ready, Steve's on Northern Blvd, All the Right, At the Buzzer, Blade's in Elmhurst, Scratch and John Blazin in Corona (Queens) My number one goal for my career at this point is to bring this movement from the BQE to the masses. That's why I stay doing free shows, giving out cds, dvds, cups, tee shirts and flyers. I go hard doing press, radio and as many mixtape and dvd appereances as I can. No matter how big or small the look, I rep my neighborhood and my people wherever I go. That's why I don't understand how Wes Jackson and his Brooklyn Bodega Productions can have a second annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival steps away from where I live and refuse to have me perform. I take it as an insult as do most of the people that live in the neighborhood I grew up in. I know to Wes and his people at the Brooklyn Bodega don't give a fuck about how "we" think but Imma put it out there anyway. You see, my hood (Williamsburgh, Greenpoint, Bushwick) has been gentrified over the past few years. A lot of my peoples have had to move cause the landlords been getting rid of us to move in the hipsters that Wes and his Brooklyn Bodega people represent. On the real, I feel It's some segregation shit. Some of these hipsters kinda look down on us that grew up around here. For example, Last year none of us locals knew about this so called Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. No barbershop had fliers. No REAL "Brooklyn Bodegas" around here knew about that event and NO rappers from the immediate area were on the bill. As a matter of fact, the good folks from the Brooklyn Bodega had NO Brooklyn rappers on the bill for the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival last year! How can you call yourself having a Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival with no one from BK reppin? Sounds funny but its true yall. To there credit, They got my Big Brother, Kane on there this year so they making positive changes. That's great and I'm sincerely charged about Kane Reppin but why cant Joell Ortiz rock? Im from the neighborhood, I have a song playing on the radio, I have a following in the area, I got an entertaining show and I sent them my press kit. Ive done everything the right way. I don't understand why Im being shunned by a company that is based in the neighborhood where I was raised while folks outside of my community go out they way to give me a shot. For example, I've was invited to perform On April 11th at Sob's for Hot 97's Who's Next Live Music Series. Bad Boy's new artist Cherri Dennis performed as well as Universal Records artist, Jae Millz. This is the FOURTH time I have been invited to perform for this series of shows sponsored by Hot 97. I am the only unsigned rapper to be invited to do these shows consistently since they started. By the way, I have been added to a major event for the summer than I will be announcing in May. Why cant I rock in my own hood???? To be honest, I was ready to just jump on stage and Rock without permission at last years show but Wes Jackson and his "Brooklyn Bodega" had more police out there than Ive ever seen in that area before in my life. At the end of the day I don't want problems. All I want is a shot to perform in my hood where my family and friends can all come out and support. If your gonna be at the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival and you want to see Joell Ortiz perform or if you support the rights of local artists to perform in theyre own neighborhoods please call Wes Jackson @ 718 408 1154 or email him at WesJack@roomserviceinc.net and let him know how you feel. On to more positive matters… I wanna send a shout to my dude Boy Wonder and the whole Chosen Few massive. Boy Wonder put me on his remix to Alex and Fido's hit, Eso Es. Its me and my homie Chingo Bling on there. Eso Es is a massive Reggaeton Hit. Im really looking to that cut getting serviced cause the Latin woman LOVE, Eso Es. Its supposed to get serviced to radio next week. Imma have some fun with that one. Also shot to my dude Dj Lobo (HeavyHitters)…Lobo got me on the remix to Andy Boy's Single, Latigo. Andy Boy came from PR a few weeks ago and although it was a lil bit of a challenge communicating it was all love working with him . Im very proud to be getting support from artists and Djs from Puerto Rico cause that's part of my heritage. Therefore, getting respect from them as an artist is an honor. Peace Alex and Fido, DJ Nelson, El Gallo, Hector El Bambino, Peligro, T Weaponz, NORE, Zion y Lennox, Pitbull, Don Dinero, Don Omar, Dj Davey,DJ Blass, Ivy Queen, Nicky Jam, ATM, Nitro, Dj Casonova, Fanta, Tego, Yankee and the whole Reggaeton/Latin Hip Hop Movement. By the way, Imma be in PR for Memorial Day Weekend. If you there, Look for me! Shout to Jerry and Johnny Famolari (the original Malachi Brothers) Good Lookin! Hit me up at WWW.MYSPACE.COM/JOELLORTIZ Someone is claiming to be me using joellquikman. THAT IS NOT ME and this person has nothing to do with me. This person has put up several pages claiming to be me. IT'S NOT ME! As always One Love to the Underdogs… Heat and the Whole Jersey City Massive. Block Royal, Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood and LIC

[19] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'18th JOURNAL ENTRY

2/4/2006 HHG, What's good yall? I was on grind mode this week, for real. I love it! I'd like to thank everyone in Hartford and Boston for the love they showed me over the weekend. Ray Barboza I really appreciate the look. You didn't have to have me, a virtually unknown artist from Brooklyn perform at your Birthday party but you let me rock prime time. I'll never forget that. Thank you. Also, My peace to my dude Gspin at Jamn. Gspin was kind enough to give me some shine on his Launch Pad show. Also, I can't forget my dude Raj and the rest of the crew at Brandise. Thanks so much for the hospitality. I know a lot of y'all on this site are familiar with my homie, Termanology. Term is ill and he happens to be from the Boston area. We gave him a holla before we got to Boston and he held us down, On every level. Good looks, pimp... Nore was also out there reppin as well (I opened for him) Nore always has a jewel for me whenever I see him. Good lookin fam. Anyway, The place we rocked at was called Club Galaxia and the crowd was off the fucking charts! 3 to 1, women to men. The place was full of Latina women goin hard at that bar. By the end of the evening some of the more daring young ladies was pulling they skirts up in order to show us they tangas (g strings) Great night! Hartford was just as amazing. Thanks for the support y'all! It could not have happened without the lovely, Jenny Boom Boom. On the way to Boston on Friday we passed CT and we heard Jenny Boom Boom mentioning my name and promoting the show. That shit was crazy! Thanks to Jenny's promotion during the week prior to the show at club Blu, the turn out was crazy. Once again the beautiful Latina women was there reppin, LOVELY! Peace to all the good dudes out in Hartford I met. Hartford has a rep for running rappers out of they town for frontin like stars. I keep it humble so it was love all the way around. Real Recognize Real. Peace to Charlie Boy, Beaver and Glazer from CT. They some good dudes. They came out to lend me support in they hood. Good lookin y'all. By the way, Shout to Karen, Emz and Sidney…I love yall! Most the shows I do are Latin oriented. I love that. As y'all know based on my track record on this site, I am Hip Hop to the core and I'm street till death. However, I also rep my race in my music with pride. In my opinion, no one else besides Pitbull, Nore and Chingo Bling are on that lane. Them dudes are continuing what Big Pun and Cypress Hill started. They are paving the way for artists like me. Pitbull has an audience outside of Latinos without losing integrity in his community and I think the guy can actually rhyme. I know the purists on this site will think I'm smoking crills for that statement. However, if you listen to Pitbull without judgment, there is no way you can deny dude's skill. Look, A lot of emcees out there don't necessarily say what I want em to say on records. Some people's lyrics be a little shallow for my taste at times but who the fuck am I to judge what a nigga wanna rhyme about? Everyone got they story to tell. God bless em. One thing I no one can ever front on is a nigga skills on that mic. Pitbull is one of those people…. He got a wild flow and his wordplay is nuts. I first realized that bout Pit outside a local bar after a bouncer threw me out. I was waiting for my boys to come in front of the joint. While I was standing there I got to really listen (from the door) to Pitbull lyrics on, Dammit Man. After listening to that cut I was like, "damn, dude went in" To be honest, If I was inside the club I would have never listened to that cut as clearly as I did being outside the club. He killed that shit. By the way, all y'all so called "real rap" fans need to take a listen to Trick Daddy's song, Not in America (ft Society)…Realest shit on wax (MIA STAND UP) I listen to that cut at least 3 times a week….Keeps me motivated. Unlike most these industry rap niggas I been across that bridge separating South Beach from the HOODS in MIA…I've been in Lil Haiti (Sak Passe), Lil Havana, Overtown and Liberty City. All I can say bout that experience is, wow… I've lived in Cooper projects my whole life dealing with a lot of fucked up shit while coming up but nothing I went through in my life could have prepared me for what I saw in the hoods of Miami especially Liberty City. I ain't even gonna try to describe the poverty and despair I witnessed. It was Crazy. To think that only a short drive away from that squalor other people live in abundance is amazing to me. Pitbull is from that… Peace to Smitty and Don Dinero… Uncle Luke is the originator! Moving on, I actually did a record with my dude Chingo Bling while he was out here in NY last year. When I first met Chingo Bling I was a like, "whoa". The dude had on a cowboy hat , big sunglasses and cowboy boots (shit kickers as he calls em) with Nike checks one em. To be honest, I only left the East Coast once in my life before I met Chingo Bling so I aint really know what was what on his side. Even though he sensed I was kinda scratching my head bout his look, My dude Chingo Bling took time to school me on the happenings. Dude dropped some serious MATH on me. After traveling and talking to folks outside of the East Ive come to realize that Chingo Bling is the voice for Mexican American kids out there that are proud of they heritage and who also happen to love of Hip Hop. It's a delicate line but Chingo Bling rides it like nothing. In my opinion, Chingo Bling reps hip hop way harder than most of the heavily marketed thug/rappers out here. Think about it… Hip Hop is all about standing apart from the crowd. Hip Hop is swagger. Hip Hop is challenging the norm and doing you, no matter what others say or think. Chingo Bling does those things. Dude was up and down NY with his Cowboy hat and Cowboy boots and he aint give a fuck what anyone said. He went up to Kay Slay reppin his people hard and he got nothing but respect and love. How could he not? Chingo Bling stands for something. People like Chingo Bling are Very rare these days… Dude could have easily thrown on a pair of air force ones and a fitted in order to fit in while in NY but homie kept it the way hes people back home expected him to keep it…100%. I learned from that. Nore is different cause he brought America the party on this side of NY. Nore is from Lefrak. Lefrak projects is a low income housing complex heavily populated by African Americans that happens to be located in between Elmhurst and Corona. Elmhurst and Corona are both overwhelmingly Latino. I think I connect with Nore cause I grew up in Cooper Projects in BK which is also mostly populated by African Americans and surrounded by the mostly Latino communities of Williamsburgh and Greenpoint. Besides our surroundings, we are both mixed (African American/Latino) and we both grew up with friends from both communities. To be honest, the whole area of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that me and NORE represent is very mixed. For instance, One of my mangers Dennis is half Irish half Puerto Rican. In the Greenpoint area of BK that mix is quite common. Our whole section of the BQE is full of diverse cultures that party together at the many local bars, clubs, lounges and strip joints in the area…We have, Columbian, Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Guyanese, Korean, Dominican, Haitian, Mexican, Irish, German, Philippine, Jamaican, Brazilian, Chinese, Polish, Russian, Peruvian, Thai, and Middle Easterners out here. They all party hard and they all got hot woman dancing. The record industry been ignoring us for years until NORE. Nore is the only one out here (In my opinion) that put this movement on records. The record industry slept on him and they laughed until he started getting MAD spins and doin wild paid shows. I cant forget Tony Touch and Dj Camillo. They been reppin this in the dj boots for years. By the way, Nore brought Daddy Yankee to the mainstream America's attention. I say that cause there are some industry people running around claiming they "discovered" Daddy Yankee. The facts are, Oye mi Canto was a song that NORE put out through my dude, Bodygaurd's label, Town Soundz. They (NORE and Body) got that song hot themselves. They had No major label support until it started popping. Daddy Yankee was not known on a major level before that NORE record. No disrespect but Facts is Facts… Peace to Nore, Body, Spk, Gemstar, Mato and the whole Millitainment Family. Corona 37th Ave, Elmhurst (43rd Ave I see yall) Jackson Heights (78street boys) and that whole section on QU. Cant forget my people from Queens Finest!!!!! Haitian Greg whats what brother? Moving on, I went up to 106th and Park week before last with my Block Royal brothers and had a blast. We went up there check my man Prostyle. While we was there the kid, Big Will from St Louis retired his freestyle Friday crown (congrats) Clark Kent happened to be one of the judges and when he saw me, Clark gave me a real strong shout. Tigga then jumped from his seat and came in the audience to give me a pound. Needless to say, I was buggin. I had forgotten that Tigga was one of the judges from that battle that Jermaine Dupri Jerked me for taht 10K on. Tigga showed mad love and even gave me a shout on the air. When the shout out from Tigga aired the following day I heard my downstairs neighbor start screaming. Im dead ass, yall…Funny but true. They was ringing my bell right after. That was a great feeling. Peace to Tigga. You made a lot of folks in Cooper Projects happy with that one fam. Clark Kent has been a believer for years. It was an honor when Clark first told me I was nice cause he was co signed by Jay, Big and even 50 waaaaay before they took off. He is known by those that know for his ears. Aside from the music shit Clark is the only nigga in this industry that gives it to me straight. Im used to straight talk on the street but industry niggas tend to talk sideways. Clark aint like that…I may not always agree with what he tells me but the dude always gives it to me straight. That's rare in this biz. Peace to the whole Block Royal…Niggas Rolled with your boy to CT and Boston Deep. We doin all these shows for free and my Block Royal family aint hesitate to jump in they cars to support. I cant begin to tell you how much that means to me. I put a picture of us reppin in Harlem for yall this week. Two Tone, whats good fams? Yo, speaking of Rollin with my brothers. Im putting together a new contest that will be coming with the release of the Brick CD. Imma bring one of you out here to chill with us for a weekend. Im thinking the weekend the Brick CD come out but who knows. I wanna bring you to the spots we hang out at, studio where I record, you can get a haircut at Who's Next (my family spot) and shoot pool at Play (the local poolhall) with us…Basically one of yall will be able to experience the whole movement first hand. Im just writing this for the first time right now so please don't bombard me with questions just yet. I gotta think of a way to run this thing. Anyway, Ill keep yall posted. I wanna make it crazy. Moving on, Showbiz of the Almighty, DITC came in this week and laced me with a heater for the Brick! I wrote to it on the spot and tracked it. Pure fire…Remember I told yall about that one... It got mixed the day I was in Boston so its making the album for sure. I got one or two more tricks up my sleeve before I hand this Brick in. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. If my name is on the product please believe its quality. Speaking of quality, I think Lack of quality is fucking the game up for us on the East. Our audience is used to classics. Classics don't come out every other week. U cant cook up classics in a fucking week. Niggas is hungry for a meal on this side. A lot of rappers out here is throwing TV dinners in the microwave for 10 minutes and trying to feed that shit to yall like its a meal. Them shits be stale, tasteless and they look funny. This brick cd imma bout to lay on yall is like your grandmother holiday meal. Everybody's grandmother that cooked on holidays knows that they (our grandmas) cooked up meals with fresh ingredients, wild spices and they followed recipes that were passed down from generations. If your grandma is (or was, God Bless yall) anything like mine, she cooked from the heart. There was mad love in Grandma meals. You cant replicate that in no damn microwave! Nuff Said. The brick is in the kitchen! I'm out y'all…Gotta get back to work. Holla www.myspace.com/joellortiz New Haven CT and Philly look out for me! I'll keep you posted. As always One Love to the Underdogs… Heat and the Whole Jersey City Massive. Block Royal, Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood and LIC

[27] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'17th JOURNAL ENTRY

1/24/2006 What's crackin Yall? Been a minute. Your boy is grindin, kid… I gotta work twice as hard as the rest of 'em but trust me, it's working. Anyway, Let's get to it…I'm happy that the Stretch freestyles went up last week. Cause it helps me answer the question I get the most from other emcees out there on the come up. "How do I get my name hot like you did?" First off, I ain't that guy, YET. I'm about two floors up from y'all IN THE SAME DAMN PROJECTS! A lot of y'all got it fucked up. Tomorrow I may be asking one of you for advice. To answer the question, I made it my business to get heard. No matter where I was or who I was around I was rhyming. I continue to do that today. I didn't know Stretch back then but I made it my business to get to where he was and when I had a chance to rhyme in front of him, I gave it everything I had. The same goes for my dude, Kay Slay. I wrote rhymes for hours and practiced longer than anyone else who was rhyming around me cause I knew I was gonna get my shot and when I did I wanted to be PREPARED. That may not seem "gangsta" to some of y'all out there but for me there ain't nothing gangsta about looking like a fool. Therefore, I make sure I put the work in. A lot of people in this industry will have you believe that it's who you know that will get you on. Fuck That! I don't believe it cause I tried that route and although I ain't "on" I'm the closest I've ever been. In the past, I worked hard on networking with industry dudes to no avail. All I got was empty promises. I learned from those experiences that the only way to make my music work for me is to work my music, for me. Therefore, I don't hang out at industry parties, chill with industry dudes, go to silly, pointless, no money meetings and I damn sure don't listen to "advice" from industry dudes with agendas. I set my no industry policy in the beginning of 2005 and it has worked real well for me, so far. You see, before I was under the impression that because I knew this big shot and I hung out with that star A&R at the party that I was gonna get on. I did have fun running aound parties but overall those days were a waste of time and money. I had to learn the hard way. It's what you do, not who you know. This week I put up a picture with some of my dudes from Cooper Projects. I think this shot was taken at SoB's. They came out real deep to support that night. Had wild fun. Peace to all my niggas out there. Light, Horns, Realz, Rum, Shorts, Jux, PO, and my homie Livin Proof… By the way, I been telling my people out there in the Boston, MA and the Hartford CT areas that I was coming there way. Here we go, y'all… On Friday Jan 27th I'mma be doin Gee Spin show on Jamn 94.5 (it'll air on Sunday) and I will also be on my man DJ Raj show at Brandise University's WBRS at 5:30 pm…Later on that night I'm supposed to be doin a show at Ray Barboza's birthday party which will be at Galaxia nightclub 9 Appleton Street in Lawerence Mass. I'm hearing that's gonna be a hot one. I believe my dude, NORE is gonna be there as well. Not sure but I will be there for sure. On Sunday, Jan 29th I will be in Boston doing a show at Club Blue which is located in downtown Hartford. The address is 191 Ann Street…This event will be hosted by the lovely, Jenny Boom Boom with Da Big Man providing the sounds. Should be fun. From what I understand this a big night out in Hartford. I will keep y'all posted on anything else I got coming up. In the meantime please call up your local radio stations and talk to your local club djs about my single, Morning. It's first single off the Brick. I need y'all support, BAD! Don't just post comments up about how "real" hip hop ain't doin it. Support with ACTION…The only way things will change is if we make the moves to change them. Shout out to Pecos Pero Locos Radio! Khool Aid and E Dub have added my single, Morning to their successful, syndicated show. Thank you, so much…Bout 40 Stations, y'all! Peace to my man Killer B for the hook up…Also shouts to,kpwr in La, kkss albeuerque. kzza dallas kpty hounolulu ksvp oaklahoma city, kbbt in San Antonio ktbt in Tulsa kseq in Fresno kcaq in Oxnard, kkfr in Phoenix, kwie in riverside xmor in san diego, kxjm in porltand Oregon and kkss in albequerque. The support I'm getting from these stations is incredible considering I am an usigned artist. I really appreciate you guys taking a shot on me. Good looking to the relentless, K. Raitt (the only sane person on my team) As you can tell, my album, The Brick, has been pushed back. I pushed it back cause I wanna add extras. For instance, I'm adding a DVD with a video to the first 125 and some other behind the scenes bonus footage, I'm adding an extra 125 produced by a LEGEND, I'm adding an ill feature (or 2) and I'm changing the artwork up. As y'all know by now, I'm a fan first. Therefore, its real important for me to put out the best product possible. If my name is on it, I want y'all to be confident that it's gonna be fire. I could put out a mixtape every week if I chose but I don't think that would be fair to yall. I don't want recycled songs and half mixed shit on any CD I buy. Why would my supporters give half ass shit to my supporters? Only the best! On that note, it's back to the lab for me, Family. Please hit me at www.myspace.com/joellortiz if you have questions. If you're in the Hartford CT or Boston MA areas. Please feel free to come through and holla at the kid. I'mma be taking flicks for the site so all of y'all can see how things went. Until Next time… Be Safe and Have Fun Peace to my niggas Heat and the Whole Jersey City Massive. Block Royal, STAND UP! And As always, One Love to Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood and LIC …THE UNDERDOGS BABY! Also, Peace My people at NuLife Entertainment.

[24] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'16th JOURNAL ENTRY

1/3/2006 I hope all of you had happy holidays, whichever ones you may have kept this season. May your journeys this year be safe, your family healthy and all your goals attained. As for me I have one goal. I'm getting on this year. I don't want my sons spending another holiday season in the Projects. It's not that my home is not full of Love but I want them to see something different than I did. They deserve that and I'm gonna make sure they get that, THIS YEAR. It's funny cause I already see myself as signed to a major label. All someone has to do is cut the check and give me a contract. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. I work as much (if not more) than the average major label artist. I stay writing songs while working a single to radio, doing shows, doing promo and I am connecting with my fans daily through, hiphopgame and www.myspace.com/joellortiz Basically I'm Living into my goal of being a major label artist. The hard labor is being done. The check cutting and the contract signing are the easy tasks… In 2005 I had a couple of huge let downs. For instance, I got passed on by a label that I really believe I could have done some good work with. According to the A&R that was trying to bring me in, I was passed on cause of my weight…In the top dogs opinion, I was, "not marketable" I'm not gonna sit here and argue why I am marketable or how I believe force feeding an intelligent audience gangstas and made up drug stories is "not marketable" cause it's pointless. The man made a decision based on his experience and it is what it is. After that disappointment I asked myself some serious questions… Do you still wanna do this? YES! Are they the only game in town? NO Do I have to sit here and accept it? NO! Am I gonna stop being a soilder? NEVER! Am I gonna make it my business to prove them wrong? YOU GODAMN RIGHT! Now I could have asked myself, "Why this happen to me?" But fuck that. That's for pussies. I ain't gonna sit here and front like that let down didn't eat away at me for a second before I brushed it off. It still stings a little now as I write this. When I first heard about it I simply stayed too busy for it to affect me. I find if I get busy writing and doing songs the petty bullshit that floats around can't stick in my brain for too long. Anyway, there was way more stuff for me to be happy about in 2005 than there was to be upset about. I hope the same holds for you. Peace to Cormega and Lakey the Kid. I had the pleasure of meeting them last week at a Mega session. Lakey took the time to drop some real jewels on me. Good lookin my dude. QueensBridge STAND UP! One Love to Supa. Hold your head, my nigga. As you can see I posted a picture of a young Joell and Eve this week. That picture was taken in front of the Apollo Theater. I believe it was at a Ruff Ryder's after party. Anyway, carried records for Max Glazer to get in that night. I had some cds I was giving out to people backstage. Forever grinding baby. Big shout to my dude, Kay Slay! You made my year without even knowing it, homie…It had been a big goal of mine to get on your show and do a freestyle. You were kind enough to bring me back 4 times!!! I really appreciate that. Peace to my man Bodygaurd. You made it happen for me brother. I'll never forget that. By the way, I put up a new version of the joint I did for NBA Live 2005. Hope y'all like it. I'mma keep 'em coming. Also, to the haters out there. Come on out. The challenge from last year remains. Show yourselves. If not, in 2006 you get exposed…With or Without your permission!!! Remember I said that…Niggas is tired of the blatant disrespect. If you have a comment about something I said or the music it's cool but niggas is coming at me and my dudes with shit that got nothing to do with my music. An example will be made out of one of you. Trust me on that one. Well I'm keeping this one short y'all cause I gotta do some running in order to have something to talk about. See yall next week. Be Safe and Have Fun. As always, One Love to Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Jersey City, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood, LIC Also, Peace to Hitlist Entertainment and My people at NuLife Entertainment.

[39] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'15th JOURNAL ENTRY

12/19/2005 What's good yall? This week was extra busy. But I'd much rather be busy doin' my music thing than sitting on that park bench staring into space… Anyway, I been MIA for the past few weeks cause I been doing shows, interviews, freestyles, drops and meet and greets with Djs from around the country. It's great that some "industry" things been happening for me and I love it but I keep telling these dudes that's around me that these journals are just as important and they take time to write. They think I just sit and type this shit on a computer like it's nothing. Niggas don't know that I be having paragraphs on paper for a week and add em. I be writing these words as they come to me. Sometimes in a restaurant or on the block I leave messages to myself from one of my dude's phone. This shit is serous to me. I like to marinate with these words cause based on the emails I get, I know a lot of y'all relate to these journals so I try to choose every word VERY carefully. Please keep the emails coming. I love that! The people that have sent mail to www.myspace.com/joellortiz know I respond to mail direct as soon as I get them. I try to stay on point with that. My boy Ax got a laptop so I be checking up when i'm on the road or if I got some downtime in a session. EVERYTHING gets read. By the way, Some of the emcees and DJs out there are asking me to do freestyles and 16s in the emails. I wish I could do it for everyone but I simply cannot. Like I said I'm doin this promo run while dealing with personal shit all while not being paid so please understand, it's not personal. I simply do not have the time. In the past I've extended myself further than time allowed and looked like an asshole. Something Like this contest we decided to run…ha…My bad y'all…I know y'all have been waiting. If anyone should know how it is to wait is me and I am still in the struggle so my keeping y'all waiting is straight, wrong. But Y'all gotta know that My management (specifically, MIKE H.) is a MAJOR part of this delay. I know At the end of the day the name on the contest is JOELL ORTIZ so I'mma carry it. I got strong shoulders. Moving on, PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE do not ask why or how we came to our descion. We went with who we went with cause it fit. By the way, some people thought just cause we had mutual friends that they were supposed to win. No disrespect to y'all but we not on it like that. We kept this thing FAIR! I got other ideas for contest and special events and if I play dirty on this one people won't trust me on the next one. Anyway we chose, Shadow from Missouri as the winner for the emcee contest. Also, Chi from Lil Italy Musik is the winner for the remix contest we did for 125 pt 4 (shot to ammo). We are also using newcomers for other areas of this Brick project besides recording like my man Nelson Vargas (www.NelsonVargas.com) that did the photography for the Brick CD, Argentina (www.turnondesign.com) That did the Artwork for the CD and I can't forget my man DJ Next and the staff at Amalgan that is distributing the CD for us. Speaking of Amalgam, If you don't see the Cd at your local store please call them and complain. I couldn't get my last cd, Who the f*$! Is Joell Ortiz in a lot of stores cause we used a lot of other people's beats but this time we should be cool. NO EXCUSES, DJ Next. Like I said earlier I got some ideas for some other ways to get the emcees out there some shines. Don't be surprised if a couple of you out there that went in on this contest get an email in the next couple of weeks. Moving on, two weeks ago was my boy Screw Bday and my Block Royal fams had a get together at a restaurant in Jersey to celebrate Screw's memory. Unfortunately, I had a meet and greet with some radio people from outta town that was scheduled a while before so I couldn't make it but my dudes, Dennis, Mike and Norm went to rep. They told me it was a really nice affair. I heard niggas had suits on and everything! Peace to my homie Snake and the rest of the fellas… Don Dinero!!!! What's good my dude? Peace to my nigga Him, Sence, Melodee, Tito Gramz and Aztek… Screw was a special man. He had charisma and was a natural leader. The man built a nation wide organization of loyal people full of love and respect for each other. In this day of, "I gotta get mine" thinking Block Royal is a rare jewel. Screw did that. Screw created a family. A family that was tight regardless of race, color or religon. For instance, My boy Flav who was at one time Screw's roommate told me that one night Screw called him on his cell and told him, "Yo, when you get home there's gonna be an African kid sleeping on the couch. Don't worry, That's my boy" That African kid was Akon. Regardless of what the industry may want to believe, My nigga Screw and Block Royal built the Akon movement on the street. Whenever Akon had a show Screw filled 6 cars full of dudes to support Akon. My nigga Ak told me they would sleep 8 in a room when they were on the road, early in Akon's career. Also, My nigga Sesa from around my way who is unfortunately locked up right now and is down with Block Royal told me that Screw would show up wherever Funkmaster Flex was djing and ask him to play, Locked Up. Although some people accuse Flex and other djs on Hot of Payola I know for a fact that most the mixers at Hot 97 dj at clubs, strip joints and even house parties in the HOODS of NY (Heavyhitters whats good?). Because of this, they know whats poppin in these streets. Therefore, they gotta spin whats poppin. This is NYC, Yall. If they was playin some bullshit on the radio that no one was fuckin with theyd be fucked. Trust me, Im here…Anyway, That's what happened with Akon. Flex was there. He saw the movement first hand. Screw and Block Royal is responsible for that. Peace to my dudes Heat, the kings of Jerzy City. My boy Armando got footage of me rhyming while Screw was behind me patting me on the back and mouthing some of the lines. Screw knew some of my lines by heart! Where I'm from, a good dude from the street supporting is better than getting signed by Def Jam…I know that sounds crazy to some of yall but a lot of you out there know what I mean. Nuff said. That footage was taken the night he died. It pains me to watch it. I replay that moment in my sleep, sometimes. That was Genuine love from a good dude that I had a lot of respect for. I think it's because of the love I got from Screw and I currently get from Block Royal that I don't care about anything but getting on. Im extremely motivated by his memory. Screw saw something in me and I cant get that out of my mind. The man got my CD from my dude, 2tone and was like, "I gotta do this". I refuse to let him or anyone else on my team down. On top of that, I'm doing it the way I think he would have wanted it…I'm doing it by going to the people, FIRST. All in all, I sincerely believe I met Screw when I did for a reason. I had heard about him before we actually met him and when I finally met him it was like a reunion cause he and my manager D were in a Puerto Rican gang together in the 80's when they were kids in BK. At the time me and Screw met he had already been listening to my mixtape a lot so when when he found out that his homie from back in the day was down with me It was immediate love. Although I knew Screw a short time I got love from him and Block Royal that I got nowhere else besides my immediate hood when I needed it most. Imma rep that to the fullest. By the way, We working things out with his folks to make sure my commitment is past words. As always, Real Talk. What up 2Tone???? On the topic of Real Dudes I wanna give a special shout to my man G Rap. G came out and repped with me at Exit for a benefit for my dude Screw at Exit on Weds nite. G Rap drove 3 hours with his wife, Barker and they're baby son to do the show. While G was with us inside Barker was waiting for him outside with the baby and my nigga Big Al until G was done. After the show they drove 3 hours back! On top of that, My nigga G waited 3 hours to get on. He got there at Midnight and left around 4 am, FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!! He did that cause Mike told him Screw was a good dude. Im younger than everyone Im around. When they talk I listen but I be needing examples sometimes. G Rap taught me the meaning of a "Good Dude" that night. My nigga, Kool G Rap Walks the Talk… Speaking of walking the talk one of the young ones out there asked me a question I want to address. Long story short, this kid is the illest dude in his high school in Illinois but he is a loner and when the "gangstas" in his high school wanna battle he kills him in groups. His prob is that cause he is a loner they tryin to thug him out now. The "rap" battles have turned into niggas shoving him and touching his face while rhyming…Not Good. My advice is not to battle no more in that enviroment until you get your mind right. Figure out what you wanna do, make a plan and stick to it. Either find battles where niggas is respectful or find yourself some heart and a crew and whenever someone touches you again, animalize on them. Some dudes is assholes and they don't understand anything but savagery. Do what you gotta do but please, don't ever get angry like them. Anger fucks the artistry up. Just act like a surgeon. You and your boys cut the cancer out and go home. Like it or not, that "thug" bullshit is part of the game, right now. Never fear though, my dude! If you go hard they will have no choice but to leave you alone. Always remember, No matter how hard, crazy or "connected" a person seems to be, if you go HARD, he is never gonna forget you, Even if you take a loss. If go out like a maniac them niggas will second guess fucking with you again, no matter how you look or dress. For example, one night I seen 5 "thugs" backed down by two girls with razors and a plan. Don't let Bullies take you out your zone, my dude. Use your brain and stay calm and it will work out. Please Be Safe and when you and your folk become, "that crew" never forget what happened to you. Be kind to everyone but be tough as thunder when niggas disrespect. Hope that advice helps…Be safe Boston, Im coming your way in a few weeks! Peace to my dudes Gee-Spin and Hustle Simmons up at Jam'n 94.5. Also, one love to mi gente on the South End. Thank you for all your support. I'mma be at the PR parade up there this summer. I heard yall do it Big! By the way, Id like to thank all of you who sent me those encouraging emails at www.myspace.com/joellortiz last week. This music shit can get real discouraging at times. The amount of hate and negativity niggas spread is unreal. Yall made me see another side. I thank you for that. By the way, I was not complaining. Joell Ortiz is no whiner, complainer nor is he a hater. Joell Ortiz is a fighter. Read that last journal again…I made a CHALLENGE This week I put a picture with the Queen of Hip Hop/Soul Mary J Blige The pic was taken at her album listening party last week. Mary was mad cool, she looked fine as hell and she smelled sooo good. Damn! Anyway, Mary's new album, The Breakthrough comes out Tommorow. Im copping two! As always, One Love to Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park, BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Jersey City, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island, Queensbridge, Ravenswood, LIC Also, Peace to Hitlist Entertainment and My people at NuLife Entertainment. For those that wondering why I always mention those areas I will be showing yall on top of the new year. My people at HHG are gonna have a new feature where rappers will be given a disposable camera to take flicks. Imma show yall what goes on in the areas I just mentioned. Music video directors be coming out here to recruit for they videos. Real Talk! Ill leave it at that. Peace to Nore and my dudes, Gem Star, Big Mato, Spk and the whole Corona massive. 37th Ave I see yall!

[29] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'14th JOURNAL ENTRY

11/28/2005 What's the word yall? Hope all is well…As for me, still at it, baby. First off, I want to shout out all 315 contestants for the best 24 bar contest we ran last week. I know I said I would have a winner by this week but I had no idea so many of yall was gonna go in the way yall did. Imma need another minute for this one. I want to be fair to everyone that submitted and to do so I must listen to every single verse. It started out easy cause there were only like 70 entries early on but then they started coming in real heavy towards the deadline and that point, I had to do some running around. Therfore, I aint get at all of em the way I should have…Im really sorry. I promise Ill have a winner next week. By the way, whoever aint there now is not getting listened to. We gotta keep this fair. Also, Im stepping it up on you motherfuckers from now on! I love yall but I got to! The competition is SICK out there! Dudes from UK, Ohio, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas and New Zealand was hotter than some of my BK brethren! What the fuck is goin on???? Moving on, I went to the Mixtape Awards pre party last week. It was cool. Got to meet a couple of yall out there. That's always a pleasure. Thanks for the acknowledgement yall. Also, Peace to all the mixtape djs that was there that showed love. Special Shout to my dudes Stimuli and Marcus. They (Stim and his boys) were the only niggas with women in that building! HAHA…Im kidding (sort of) We need more females in those type of events…It was mad fun though. I put a pic of me and a few of my dudes outside the joint, For you haters (more on them later). Oh yeah, RON G!!!!!!!!! Love seeing you my nigga Last Weds I was also blessed to do a meet and greet up at Hot 93.7 in Hartford Connecticut. BIG, BIG shout to Craig G, Buck, Dj Phenom, Playtime, Dj Wrex and DJ Big Man. They are some of the big mixers up at Hot 93.7 and they were kind enough to take time out they're busy schedules to sit with me and listen to some songs. It's very rare for radio Djs to give time to an unsigned artist so Im very grateful to them dudes. Real Talk… The feedback was real good so if you in Hartford you will hopefully be hearing some Joell Ortiz music soon. Imma be hitting Boston, Delaware, Maine and Jersey in the coming weeks. I'll keep yall posted. Also Went to check out my ace Papoose and mi pana, Tru Life at Sob's for Hot 97's Who's Next showcase. As expected, both my dudes ripped it the fuck down! Yo, Kay Slay told me he read these journals, yall! What up Slay? Peace to nigga May (43rdAVE), Storm and the whole LES massive. You know I seen BK in there DEEP with my dude Paps. Whats good yall? I may sound a little over hype bout what most would consider, a simple show but you gotta understand, there are very few venues that book "street" hip hop shows in NYC. For that reason, I came out and repped for my dudes by behaving myself and spending money (a lil too much) at the bar. Lets Walk the Talk NYC! Shout to Hot 97 and the folks that sponsor do the Who's Next Events… Not for nothing though, I think Immortal Technique should be added to some of those bills. This is Just my opinion but my dude Tech got a Great show and he PACKS HOUSES…Just something to think about. We need to break these barriers! Anyway, I see we got an interview with Elliot Wilson of XXL up on HHG this week. HHG's interview has to be the most informative Ive seen with Elliot. He been doin a lot of press lately and everyone asks him the same damn questions. Please know, I aint sayin that just cause I fucks with HHG. HHG simply did a better job for us on the outside trying to get in. The Show and Prove questions and the questions bout the editorial process are major issues for us on the grind and no one else besides HipHopGame.com got deep about that. If you haven't read it I suggest you do. I got a show and prove from them cats so needless to say, I love XXL! But I gotta tell you, getting that look was not easy…Before I got in in XXL getting in that magazine was a huge goal of mine cause dudes in my hood (Cooper Stand UP) read that magazine, faithfully. For a minute my whole mindstate was how I was gonna look in XXL. At that time I was extra confident I was gonna be in there cause I knew Elliot from back in the day when he was hanging with my manager Mike. Based on that, I just knew I was in, no matter what. I was wrong. So very wrong…I had to go through the process just like everyone else. Elliot even put Mike on his, Ego Trip show on VH1 before he put me in XXL! I had to eat that and bust my ass for XXL to recognize me. That shit was wack to me and I remember arguing with Mike like crazy bout that shit. But all that time we was beefing bout XXL we was also, WORKING! I was won that battle I aint get paid for. (more on that later), I Dropped a decent Mixtape, I Got on Kay Slay, I Got on hiphopgame and I did mad shows. Then Next thing you know, XXL called us! It all boils down to WORK, my niggas. Peace to Bonsu and My dude Eliot Wilson…Elliot's success is especially inspirational to me cause he grew up in Woodside Projects and made something out of himself without graduating from cocksucker college. Also, Elliot actually lives what he writes about. Unlike some others out there. Peace to Sacha Jenkins (the Half Haitian Sensation) Cant forget my yese, Gabe Alverez, fly guy, Brent Rollins and my dude, Jeff Mao, who gave me one of my very first write ups. Also, Gotti and Boo both good dudes formerly of the Source, who blessed me with Unsigned Hype WAY before anyone knew me. Gotti is defiantly a visionary that's why been on Saigon team since EARLY! Cant forget my dude, Kevin Childs and the entire Don Diva staff. They just did a write up on me that should be showin real soon. The Don Diva look is amazing for me cause Don Diva is the streets, for real…There aint no politics involved with Don Diva. If you hot on the street they fucks with you, simple. I love that. Getting love from Kevin Childs, Kay Slay, Body from Queensbridge, Trigger Tone from the BX, David C from LES and some other good dudes out there means more to me than any kind of look on a so called "street" mixtape or DVD. I get letters and calls from the real thing all day, homie. I don't need to BUY my credibility. I got that. Thanks By the way, I know its cool to do Benzino bashing these days but the guy brings up some shit that makes you think. His tactics may not suit all of us but he is giving us something to talk about. Speaking of tatics that don't suit everyone, I got give a sec to something that I said in previous entries I wouldn't talk about again…haters. I know I said it wastes time and takes away from the fun but I gotta deal with this real quick. It's important for me to address certain things cause I think there is a mutual respect I have with yall out there that took time to build. Therefore, if someone is trying to discredit my reputation in anyway its extremely important that I deal with it. Ive heard it said that the truth dies easy but a well told lie lives on forever. Lets kill these lies before they can sprout. By the way, I know it's a certain group of dudes that are behind the bullshit. I aint got nothing bad to say bout them but we both know what it is. Im a face to face kinda guy. Ok, Let us begin…Some of them sayin I aint win that EA battle. http://www.easports.com/games/nbalive2005/ortiz.jsp That's EA's the link. These faggots also telling you I aint writing enough rhymes. Im one of the most consistent emcees on HHG. Im the only one that gave yall 4 125s. Each one is over 5 mins long. That's like 8 songs right there. That's not on top of the songs I write specifically for the HHG audience. They complain the shit that is titled freestyles aint actual freestyles. Whatever. I don't name them. By the way, to the person who asked HHG to put me to the test by having me freestyle live to a bunch of beats, Joell Ortiz aint ever gonna do no stupid shit like that. That shit is corny to me. I did that shit when I was in Juinor High School, pimp. Besides, I want niggas to play my shit over and over again. Aint No one trying to rewind a nigga babbling endlessly about nothing. But you know what I will do? I'll put YOU to the test. I want one of YOU haters to talk to ME directly. Hit up HHG and have them set up something for ME and YOU to holla, FACE TO FACE and you can tell me all the shit you saying on these various message boards and comments on hiphopgame in my face and I can resopond to you DIRECTLY. We can film it for my upcoming DVD and put up the interview on HHG. I put my legit name out there and do songs for yall to tear me down all day on your computers. Now here is your chance to do it to my face. Moving on, members of this so called, "street team" also sayin, that I aint battling no more so I aint legit. Fuck your battles! My dude Trigger Tone from the Crack DVD in the BX went around asking niggas all last summer to battle me. They all said, I needed to get my name hot, first. Now Im like, go fuck yourself. I worked my ass off to get the little buzz I got. After trying the DVDs the Mixtapes and the battle route, I went straight to the people. Its pretty easy to find out about me, Just ask… For instance, Ask the people at Sob's how I pack that place everytime I perform. Ask my nigga St Laz and Pottersfield niggas uptown if I wasn't up there with them rhymin. Ask niggas in the BX. Call all the Right Records in Corona and ask them if I aint in there. Ask niggas on 116 in Spanish Harlem if I wasn't up there rhyming in the street on the Day of the PR parade. Ask niggas if I wasn't on a float rhyming in the Puerto Rican parade and jumped off in the middle to dance salsa with bitches, BY MYSELF and drunk! Ask my niggas Cashmere, Hood and Maino if they aint see me in Bed Sty. Ask Pretty ugly if I aint go out to his hood in Philly with him and Stretch Armstrong. Ask niggas in Bushwick, Southside and Greenpoint if we aint go to they barbershops handing out free cds. Ask niggas in the strip clubs in Queens if they aint see us giving out cds and putting free napkins in the joints. Ask Niggas that was in front of the mixtape awards last year if we wasn't out there 20 deep with a bullhorn and tee shirts promoting. Ask the liquor stores in BK and Queens if we aint put Joell Ortiz cups in there for free. Ask my niggas in East New York if they aint seen my mixtpae. Ask Rob Lo and DJ Camillo if I aint around the clubs giving out flyers. Ask Max Glazer if I aint carry records to get in Speed and Exit so I can give out my mixtape. Ask my dudes, Heat and Akon (Block Royal HOLLA) if I wasn't in Jersey City rhyming with them… I rhymed and did promo everywhere to get my name hot Ask Funkmaster Flex if we aint bug him at Sue's Rendevous in Yonkers to play my Brooklyn record. Ask Cipha Sounds if I aint sleep in the car after clubbin just so I could catch up to him in front of hot 97 in the morning to give him a cd. Ask niggas that be out on Thursday nights in front of Hot 97 if they aint see me. Homie, I refuse to bow down to the politics and payola of certain mixtapes, and street DVDs so I go directly to the PEOPLE! I aint gotta battle to prove myself no more. I work for mine. Peace to Big Mike, Kay Slay, Dj Enuff, Camillo, Dj Radio, Cipha Sounds, Tony Touch Whoo Kid and Stretch Armstrong who gave me a shot without the bullshit. Real recognize Real. Moving on, Some of the haters also say Im grinding too much to do new songs. That's so dumb! The rhymes is part of the grind, playboy… When its that time, I am a studio rat. For instance, Im doing an entire downloadable mixtape specifically for HHG that's on top of my Brick album that is done (with the exception of the contest record) and I got shit Im doin for my nigga Kay Slay that aint got nothing to do with nothing. Just exclusives for him. Besides that, Im writing for commercials, a soundtrack and I write for other people. Im in the studio busting my ass or writing EVERYDAY. All while doing shows, doing interviews, writing these journals, raising my sons and dealing with REAL STREET niggas hatin. By the way, where are the recycled songs? Name the songs! If I ever did something twice its cause at times, I spit what people ask me to spit. If they ask me to do a verse they loved, I do it if it matches the beat. If not, I script. No conspiracy, No secret. I got almost 60 songs no one ever heard. Why do I need to recycle? I come up with the 125s on my toilet, nigga! I got rhyme books from 3 yrs ago with heat that I can go back to, if I wanted. Im blessed that the rhymes come in floods for me. I honestly don't know how long that's gonna last so I just stay in the studio…That's why I come on hiphopgame.com asking the producers out there for beats. I need music for these rhymes. Some of em also saying that Im good but I don't know how to make, "songs" To me that's the funniest one…How you know what I got???? All hustlers got a stash and they damn sure don't go around showin haters whats in they stash. Anyway, the challenge is there. Come from behind the screen and let your face be scene. Man up, LIKE I DO! Let the world know your name, like they know mine. Let them know where you live, Like they know where I do (COOPER STAND UP) Put your shit on the line, like I do EVERYDAY. Criticize me to my face. Call me the names you call me on your computer, to my face. On a positive note, I want all the Joell Ortiz supporters out there to know that Im one of yall. I say this all the time but I must reiterate. I use my government for a reason. I want yall to know ME. I am one of you, not better than you, Im not perfect. I do make plenty of mistakes but Im a hard working motherfucker from the projects that busted his tail for years getting nice at an art he grew up on and loved. That's why If I can help one of yall out there that are trying to do something you love like music, videos, photography or anything else out of the norm, Im here for you. I know what it is to struggle for recognition. That's why Im the only emcee out here giving my audience a shot to rock with me and other artists that are way more known than me. I could have easily put another well known artist on that joint but Im doing this just so one of yall can get your name hot without hopefully dealing with some of the bullshit I had to deal with. However, one thing that no one will be able to help you with are the haters that will undoubtedly try to throw dirt on your name. As for me, Im one of those solider ants. No matter how much dirt they throw on me, Imma climb my way to the Top! Once again, My sincerest apologies to the emcees out there that was waiting on a verdict this week. Its really not my fault though. Yall came in heavy! Im so flattered by the response we got. Thanks to every one of you that took time to go in. Yall are all winners no matter who we say won. I know that sounds corny but think about this, how many cowards sat home sayin, "fuck that bullshit" And How many haters sat around and said, "its fake" How bout the pussies that sat around saying, "I aint giving up a free verse" ? Instead of being cowards, haters and pussies Yall real emcees with balls, went in! In my opinion, Yall all Won regardless. Hit me up at, www.myspace.com/joellortiz I love hearing from yall. Thanks I pray your Thanksgiving was as full of love and laughter as mine was. Be safe and Have fun, Joell Ortiz As Always ONE LOVE to: Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope, Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood, Roosevelt Island…Yall keep me Strong!!!!!

[105] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'13th JOURNAL ENTRY

11/14/2005 Yes! What's the bizzness HHG? Hectic week but I'm grateful. First off Id like to thank y'all again for all the support and kind words. I know I do this every journal but I am flattered that so many of you take the time to send me some words of encouragement. Thank You Last week I tried my best to give advice to the emcees out there. We will continue that convo this week. But first, In the spirit of helping all the up and coming emcees out there, the staff of HHG and I have come up with a contest. We need 24 bars of CRACK from on of you emcees out there! On my Brick CD I have a cut that features Ras Kass, Stimuli, Me (of course) and Grafh (Peace to Black Hand Ent) This cut is just ill lyrical dudes goin in for 24-25 bars a piece. No real topic, just straight crack. I gotta tell you, everyone did they thing on this one. I listen to this shit like 88 times a day! Reminds me of Reservoir Dogs but with longer verses. Strong performances by everyone. Ok, back to the contest…What we want is 24 bars of your absolute best on the beat. Which we will post. You don't get our lyrics, just the beat. You must have acess to a studio cause the winner will have to send us the accp. But for now just track your 24 over the beat and send it to us. Im a little behind on this CD so Imma need those verses in a week. That's more than enough time, if you serious. Good Luck to you all! Download the beat here ( right click>'save target as') and email us your dopest bars recorded over the beat here By the way, while at the session with Grafh for this cut I recorded a verse for my man Prince who is also a Black Hand Ent artist. Remember I told yall bout that one. Its gonna be FIRE. Peace to Chazz CEO of Black Hand Ent. One of you guys emailed me at www.myspace.com/joellortiz this week and asked me how to go about getting your name out there. My answer to that is, get humble and grow some thick skin. If you too proud or too "gangsta" to stand for hours giving out flyers or cds in front of your local radio stations, record stores at clubs or show cases this aint for you. If you think self promotion is tacky, get a day job. Your pride gotta be in check for this hustle. Think about all the hate artist like myself and others that have the balls and talent to post music on this site get. We get it bad from the wanna be rappers, industry clowns and internet street teams that got nothing to do but put down people that's actually doin something. All in all, If you have issues with self esteem your gonna be in serious trouble. I aint gonna front, it is sometimes real hard for me to step to a dj and ask him to play my shit. But this is what I want to do, so I do it. Youd be surprised how cool a lot of em are. They on the grind too so 9 times outta 10 they alright. You gonna have your assholes out there but they (the assholes) are gonna be in any feild you wanna pursue, so deal with it the best you can. I choose to ignore them and keep it moving. Its hard sometimes cause some of em go out there way to hate but you cant go at em like you would anyone else that does foul shit on the street cause these cowards will fag up and start the blackballing shit. For instance, I really, really, really want to beat the shit out of a small time, local, cornball dj here in NY but he got some power at the station he spins at so I chill. Homie better pray he never get fired cause Imma never forget what the bullshit he did. Speaking of not forgetting, That's also extremely important to me. NEVER FORGET! Never forget, your girl who helped you buy those cds and stayed up putting them in the cases with you. Never forget the times your boy gave you a lift to the studio even when he wanted to go home. Never forget that beat your boy could of sold but gave to you for your demo. Never forget your moms telling you to keep goin even though you know she don't quite see it. Never forget your people that rep for you and hold you down. Never forget the fans that argue for your cause. Also, Never forget the clowns, the two faced haters and the people that may wanna do you harm mentally or physically. On a positive note, Chris Gotti of the Inc is one of the people in this industry I will never forget. I do a lot of industry bashing in my journals but my dude Chris is an exception. I don't consider Chris "industry" but we met through this shit so it is what it is. Chris be at Eugene's, Sues Rendevous and a lot of clubs in Queens and BK, DOLO! He always has a friendly demeanor and he is well respected by a lot of good dudes I know. He knows my movement first hand cause he is THERE. Unlike most of the industry people in NYC, Chris stays on the street and in the clubs where regular people hang out. I wish Chris and his family the best. My mention of Chris Gottin brings up another topic that I, for the life of me, do not understand. Some of yall ask why I was wearing a G Unit tee shirt in some of my pictures. The honest answer is cause it fit well and it matched the other clothes that I had on at the time. But the real question should be, why is yall niggas is so concerned with what another nigga got on? If you don't know by now, Imma make things clear for yall conspiracy theorist out there. Joell Ortiz is his own man. I run with, wear, eat, drink and say what I want. Yall got me fucked up if you think for a second I give a fuck bout anything but making hot music and selling records. I don't mean to come off fucked up but come on, yall. I live in Cooper Projects with my 2 sons, my mom and my girl. I got real shit on my mind. Do you think Im concerned with anything else besides getting my family out? Think about that…Where would your concern be? Anyway, Peace to Dj Radio (Streetsweepers) , my man Victorious, Myst from the UK, Quest and my homies, AK, Flav, Cheese, Two Tone and The Whole Block Royal Family. We gonna be taking to the road soon to promote the brick CD so hopefully a lot yall will be able to see me practicing what I preach on these journals. Giving yall Great shows, giving out teeshirts, flyers, shaking hands and kissing babies. That's how we do it. Seriously though, I really hope I get the chance to meet some of yall while we are out. I will be posting my dates very shortly. We are booking them now so if there are any booking agents or club bookers out there please holler, joell@joellortiz.com… Also, if you are a fan and you want us to come out, contact your local venue, have them hit us or send us theyre info. We are looking for shows anywhere. By the way, AUSTRALIA!!! I know for a fact I could pack a small venue there. HOLLER! This week I posted a picture of me with the beautiful, sexy and extremely talented, Keyshia Cole. I had the opportunity to open for her at a Hot 97 sponsored event. Keyshia killed it! Id like to thank everyone involved for giving me that shot. Thanks again to all the folks that send me emails supporting. Be safe and Keep yall heads up, Joell Ortiz PS One Love to: Borinquen projects, Williamsburgh, Gowanas Projects, Park Slope, Greenpoint, Cooper Projects, Maspeth, Bushwick, SouthSide BK, Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunset Park BK, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Flushing, Astoria, Ridgewood…I GOT US! Thanks for the LOVE!

[89] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'12th JOURNAL ENTRY

11/7/2005 HHG, What da bizness? Lovely week…Little tough but lovely nonetheless. I wanna dedicate this week's journal to the emcees out there. I get a lot of emails from y'all so I'd like to answer some of y'all questions and give my perspective on the shit we deal with as emcees. To start, I saw y'all comments last week. Some of you mentioned A&Rs…I know a lot of em through my managers and my lawyer. Some of em (A&Rs) I know for years. I got one word for em, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS!!! Unless they getting you that check, of course. I Don't call A&R people to ask for advice, to do "meetings" or to give me feedback. I don't ask for nada. For the most part, I Act as if A&Rs don't exist. With the exception of a very few, I stay away from a&r people. In most cases A&R on the East Coast in Hip-Hop is dead. Gone are the days of Rick Rubin working with LL, Matty C with Mobb Deep, Wu Tang, and Pun. Never will we know the days of Dante Ross with Brand Nubian, De La and Busta Rhymes or Diddy and his team with Big, Black Rob and Mase Today's East Coast A&Rs are all checking soundscan (sales) and BDS (record spins) With all due respect, that aint a&r Daddy. That shit is called RESEARCH. HUGE Difference. It does work for em cause they don't have to put the work in to develop an artist or get the artist's name hot which does cost a lot of money. And the record biz is in a slump so they gotta find ways to cut costs. I think checking charts and shit is smart and I don't completely disagree with the practice cause we got to hear a lot of great artists cause of this research but please don't call yourself an A&R when all you doing is research. Y'all calling yourselves A&R is a disgrace to the folks that have come before you and actually did the work. How can you honestly call yourself an A&R while reading graphs when Niggas used to hear niggas rhyme and give em a deal, on the spot. Not cause of their story, their local spins or how their abs looked but because they (the A&Rs) heard TALENT and potential!! Remember that??? Pun got a deal off of a verse Matty C heard on a Fat Joe song called, Firewater, Big actually spit for Diddy, That would NEVER happen today! I figured a while ago that the best route for me is to WORK on me. I emphasized the word WORK in the last sentence cause a lot of you nice emcees out there think like Jay Z is gonna pull up on your corner in his Maybach looking for you and then yall gonna drive off into the sunset…If you one of the niggas waiting for that, God Bless and I hope that works for you, Crazier things have happened. But I cant afford to sit home and wait for that dream. I gotta get busy for mine so I make Records, I do shows, I build my team up (Cooper, GPT, Block Royal!) get dj love and I keep my mind right. That way, If the labels don't come, I will at the very least, be set up enough to get paid for shows and get money selling my cds. Now mind you, this is me just talking. You do it your way. Im just answering questions. Some of yall asked if I ever get writers block and how long does it take me to write and record a 125. I usually write those in the morning on my toilet bowl (yall asked) It takes me a lil minute to record em cause I normally go in and do it the same day and I like to emphasize certain phrases. Honestly, Ive never had writers block but sometimes I track shit that I don't like, they get scratched. My man, Big Jay from NC asked about battles. fuck em! Waste of time. I know some of yall will think Im just bitter cause I got beat out of 10,000 dollars from that EA sports battle I won but that aint it at all. This is the thing, when you get your buzz battling niggas they (the industry) start to label you as a "battle rapper" Then it starts to go around that you "cant make songs" I don't agree but that's what happens. That shit is weak as hell but its hard to shake that shit off once its on you. Another reason I think the battle shit is corny is cause they be too damn organized. What ever happened to just knowing who the nice nigga in your school or projects is and goin at em? Although I really don't like organized battles I cannot front, I been to Fight Klub and I kinda liked it cause it was a bunch of street niggas putting up bread and niggas was screaming and shit. I like that. But they be some other battles out there where the comp is way too set up for me and they be too many fucking rules. Now again, this is just my opinion. Do whats best for you. Just answering questions… To all you young emcees out there (15-21 yrs old) that email me, please study the past. Know the names and at least a few cuts of rappers that came before Big. You don't gotta be a fucking hip hop scholar but I suggest you have a little bit of knowledge about the shit you getting into. I know a lot of yall think Im cocky and fucking know it all but I spent 8 yrs studying and working on this craft. If I went to college for 4 years to study a particular field and after graduating spent another four working at that field I would be called an expert in that field. Ive done that work in the field of Hip Hop. I come from the school of, if you wanna be good at something, work at it and study from the best. But hey, that's just me again, do whats best for you. By the way, Id like to take a second thank yall for all the emails and messages yall posted for me at, http://www.myspace.com/joellortiz this week. Y'all have no idea what your kind words do for me. Sometimes I feel the only reason I continue striving is so I wont let yall down. Real Talk. The Underdogs baby!!!!! This week I posted a picture of Mr. Jermaine Dupri handing me the deal memo promising me 10,000 dollars, THAT I NEVER GOT, after winning the EA Sports Battle. See yall next week. Keep yall heads up and be safe, Joell Ortiz PS…Peace to my dudes in France. Be safe yall

[32] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'11th JOURNAL ENTRY

10/31/2005 What good hhg? Man, I got mad emails from yall these past weeks! Thanks so much…It means a lot to me to know that there are people reading these words…This rap shit is a struggle and hearing from yall telling me to keep pushing is a huge inspiration. Shout to my dude Berrioj on the USS KittyHawk in Japan. My man is a 22 yr old war vet. CRAZY… I get a lot of mail from cats in the military. I want yall to know your not forgotten. Keep yall heads up! Also Peace to A.Uno, Mancilla, and my "new" buddy Aaron from Canton, OH…Aaron kept it real and told me he didn't like my first mixtape, Who the f*!@ is Joell Ortiz until he started reading the journals. According to Aaron after reading the journal he listened to the mixtape again and felt like it was a "new" mixtape. It's like that with music sometimes. People want to know the artist before they can get into the music. Its cool. I actually felt like that about Kanye. I wasn't a big fan of his music until I started reading and watching interviews about his grind, how he was raised and his struggle to get on. All that stuff made me to listen to his music differently. Im sure he don't give a fuck what I think but I actually really like his new album a lot. Speaking of not caring what people think, the new Source issue is crazy! I haven't picked up a Source Magazine in a sec but this issue sparked my interest, as Im sure it did a lot of other Hip Hop fans. Although some parts seemed a little biased I think overall it was decent. I cant wait for someone to do an expose on the politics of Mixtapes and DVDs and how certain djs want money to be on mixtapes that are out all of a week and how certain street DVDs are so full of politics and pseudo "thug" nonsense that its not worth wasting time and lowering ones standards to get on them. Thank God its only a few (to my knowledge) of the mixtape djs and street DVDs producers that are on the bullshit. Another expose that I would love to see is about what I call, Industry Amnesia Syndrome. IAS for short. The IAS symptoms are as follows, forgetting how you came up, looking down on a segment of your fans, forgetting the people that helped you, losing site of REALITY and a general lack of principles. You know who you are. Nuff Said By the way, Id like to address the industry guy that told my manager that it wasn't a "good look" to have pictures with "old school" rappers cause it made me look like a "backpacker" Homie, you're a nice guy and I respect you but you got it fucked up. I honestly do not give a fuck what the industry thinks. I am honored to be in those pictures with legends. By the way, the icons you labeled "old school" that you and the blackberry crowd so detest paved the way for yall to be where you are, never forget that. I did a show at BB Kings with my man Immortal Technique last week. It was mad fun and it was a pleasure meeting some of yall. Immortal Technique packed that place! From what I understand the dude sells out places where "signed" artist with singles on the radio cannot get any love. I know my good industry friend would consider Tech a, "backpacker" but that backpack is full of money homie. Here is some free advice to the industry guys that read this journal. THE LINES ARE BLURRED! There is no more backpacker. Is Kanye West a backpacker? Is Mos Def? The guy is doing SUV commercials for God's sake!!! Come on, I saw a kid with a DipSet teeshirt on at the Immortal Technique show. Where are the backpackers? Those silly labels are another reason why the East is in the dumper. Thank God we have sites like this and others that push and promote the reality of what is goin on. I get a lot of beats from you producers out there and as those of you I fuck with know I usually two track the beats that I love. Two tracking is a common practice that I discussed in an earlier entry. Because we have had misunderstandings with producers in the past my managers are very organized and very clear with producers about how we get down in regards to beats. We TWO TRACK and if we (us and producer) want to leak the joint we post it here and give it to mixtapes with the producer getting his credit. We (producer and I) are both doin it for wreck at this point so it aint a big deal. Those kinda songs is to get exposure. Pretty simple… Now there is this producer who kept pursuing my manager to get me to 2track one of his beats and when I did find one I liked, he tells us to call his NEW manager who happens to be a record exec. I was kinda puzzled by this new wrinkle but called anyway. Long story short, The manager asks for wild money for the beat and says, "I aint tryin to place nothing on no independent albums" or on "no websites" Now mind you, this producer CALLED US!!!! After the convo with the manager we call the producer for an explanation he becomes M.I.A. I don't trip cause that kinda shit happens all the time in this biz. You kinda get used to it but its fucking frustrating when you take your time to write to a beat and the shit is pulled from under you. Especially when the producer tells you to go ahead and get busy. There are certain guys I will NEVER fuck with again because of that kind of bullshit. I know they getting they money without me and I aint really a factor for them RIGHT NOW but what goes up always comes down, baby. Speaking of producers, I did a contest for producers last time around for the final installment of my 125 series. I been getting nothing but heat from yall! Imma announce a winner next Journal. By the way, for the emcees Im adding a verse from one of the HIPHOPGAME.COM demo winners to one of my songs that features Ras Kas, Stimuli, myself and another dope lyrist that we will announce when the Brick CD drops. Speaking of the The Brick, Its CRAZY!!! 125s split with special guests, remixes with surprise producers, dope snippets. You will be happy with this thing, trust me. I been working on The Brick especially hard cause this is gonna be my first release that people are actually anticipating. That makes it special and I promise I will not disappoint. To all of you asking if Jermaine has paid me the answer is still, NO…. Anyway, Imma do an entire journal on that experience for you emcees out there. To be honest the battle shit is overrated and maaaaaad political. Hats off to all the dudes that do them…Last summer I went around looking for battles and no one wanted to battle me cause I wasn't "known" Now everyone wants to battle me. The answer is NO!!!!! I asked you last summer homie, now that you aint as hot you wanna battle me. Sorry Peace to my dude Ras Kass…He is a monster in the booth! I watched this dude rhyme over a bunch of different beats that he had the engineer piece together and he just kept changing flows as the beats changed without stopping and he caught each one perfect. It was crazy to watch. It was as if he was changing personalities over each track. One track was a down south one and he started making his voice deep and slow as if it was screwed and chopped then the beat changed and he went right back in regular. I would have stopped and punched that in. He is tight. This week I added a picture of myself working on a verse for my brick cd. See the guns (LOL) Now that the brick is almost done we getting back to regular weekly journals So enjoy your week, Be Safe and Keep your Heads up… Joell Ortiz PS I got a myspace page… http://www.myspace.com/joellortiz HOLLA

[56] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ'10th JOURNAL ENTRY

10/7/2005 Whats crackin HHG? I been working? y'all. The new CD is coming along well. In the next couple of weeks I will be posting another full 125 for yall enjoyment. This week I posted an accp of a 125 called extras.…If your spin game is good you know you can pull extras out of a brick. My wrist work is nuts so I pulled an extra 125 out my brick Raw with no beat…I need a beat for this one. We are doing a contest with Dynamic Producers to get a beat for this one. I couldn't leave my HHG family out. So here y'all go…(Right-click>'Save Target as' here to download the acapella.) The tempo is 82.74bpm. I want this whole CD to be produced by up and coming producers so please send in your best on this. If you're passionate bout music this is for you. If not, skip it…I love writing and performing those 125s cause they give me a chance to really work my pen and kill the flows. Also I have obtained performances from some special guests for the Brick CD that have made the project even more exciting than it was when I first started. It's going to be nuts Peace to my dude Jin and his Manager Kamel (Cooper Stand UP) In an enviorment of tough guy posers and so called stand up dudes" Jin is a breath of fresh air. An Asian kid with a passion for the artform, a lot of confidence and most importantly, SKILL. Its great to watch. I give it up to all of the contestants that went up there and competed for the 50K at this years, Mixshow PowerSummit . It takes guts to battle and risk losing in front of an entire industry that your trying to break into. Speaking of the industry, Is it me or did ALL the signed artists scheduled to battle back out last minute? I heard from a very reliable source that someone that lost the battle last year got dropped from the label they were signed to upon their turn from Puerto Rico. I learned from this very reliable source, that the reason they (the label) felt he should get dropped was cause they (the label) felt the kid wasn't as "hot" cause he took a spill at the battle. Not cause he didn't sell records (he ain't get to put his album out) Not cause his single ain't hit (didn't get a chance to promote single) He got dropped cause he lost that battle. This week I put up a picture of me and my man Kool G Rap. As y'all must know if y'all read my journals I am a big G Rap fan. He is a humble dude with wild skill and a rich history in this game. It's an honor to know him and to be able to say I recorded with him. Peace to G, Ma Barker, Small Change, Quest, Big Al and the whole Clique of Respect crew. I don't fault the signed rappers that dropped out of the battle I blame the record execs for pulling them out. I believe it was their fear that kept the newly signed artist out. They made the shit corny. We fans wanted at least one signed artist besides Jin up there. Also, If you put your name in the hat, leave it in. How the fuck you gonna promote the fact you are doin a battle then back out last minute. Again, I ain't faulting the rappers. I blame the execs. The only artist whose backing out that really bugged me from an artist stand point was SuNNy. I'mma start this by saying I really don't have any problem with the guy. The only reason I ever mentioned his name was because he and Jermaine Dupri went on Hot 97 during Funk Flex show and went off on me. Imagine sitting around chilling then getting a frantic call out of no where sayin that there is some kid talking crazy about you on the radio. I was buggin. He said some really foul shit that night. That shit is funny to me now but that night I was steaming. I had to turn my phone off cause niggas was goin nuts. There was caravans from my projects, from Bushwick, Greenpoint, Jersey and Queens all headed to Hot 97. It took a minute for my managers Dennis and Mike to get niggas (including me) to calm the fuck down and realize that if we went to that radio station we would fuck my shit up for good. Anyway, as they (my managers) got me to see, SuNNy and Jermaine gave me a lot of free promotion that night so I really couldn't be too mad. At the end of the day, I aint got no "beef" with SuNNy. His man Jermaine Dupri owes me Ten thousand dollars for a battle I won. That's my only beef. I just think SuNNy as a 106th and park battle champion had to man up after being challenged by another 106th and park battle champion and I was sure he was going to do that in the Bahamas. He didn't. It was disappointing. Nuff said On that note, Hats off to the gladiators. AX, Professor Green (UK STAND UP) Serius Jones and Jin. The Warriors, baby! By the way, the night he and Jermaine went at me I did challenge SuNNy to a battle through my man Lenny Santiago from Def Jam. Lenny sent Jermaine a 2way that night trying to set up a battle. Jermaine declined for SuNNy saying I needed a deal to battle his boy. This after they had just spent 20 mins goin at me on the number one rated radio show in NYC. Based on that experience, I don't believe it was SuNNy's decsion to bow out of the Bahamas battle. Oh well… I wasn't in the Bahamas because of some other shit. That's a whole other story. Imma do a whole page on that fucking racket in a few weeks. I'm sorry I have not been consistent with this Journal. As y'all know I'm working on my Bricks CD. Besides that I'm working on my "major release" album, putting together an east coast tour for the Brick Cd, doin' freestyles and I'm doin a few shows to tighten up for the tour. It's a grind but God blessed me to be here and healthy so I ain't mad. I just wish there were more hours in the day. Anyway, I'm hoping to meet some of y'all while I'm out on the road doin the shows to promote got bricks. Please feel free to approach me and holla. I will be posting my itinerary once we have everything in place. Also, please don't hesitate to email me, Joell@JoellOrtiz.com if you have questions. By the way, my album is coming out NUTS. I got some shit that will make em SICK!!!!!! Yo, Kane killed VH1! I told yall! The Charisma baby. You either got it or you don't. A lot of rappers nowadays sit around taking shots at each other talking about what one aint got and what the other needs to do (I been guilty of it myself) What we need to do is shut up and work. That's what I been on lately. Shut up and work means going back to the craft of becoming a total package emcee. Most of yall never heard of me until this year. That's cause I was WORKING! Building my craft. I aint gonna front while working it was hard to watch dudes who I knew I could destroy get deals faster than I did but I forced myself to stay focused on ME. We all know that some of the rappers that these labels are signing will NEVER come out. Not hate, fact. That's cause labels are not doing any artist development. No shows, No demos, nothing…Just bullshit "street rep" and rushed singles. That shit does not fly anymore but these labels out here are either too scared or too stupid to notice that we fans see through that thug shit now and it bores most of us. Look, Every hood has thugs. There are thugs in the suburbs that will crush some of the most gulliest ghetto cat. There are thugs with English accents that sound sweet to us in the States but would blow a dude head off, Quick if prompted. There are unassuming looking Asian thugs, White Collar thugs and there are certain females out there thuggin that are way more serious than a lot of these dudes claming to be thorough! There is always someone out there tougher than you. I have learned that lesson and taught that lesson, a few times in my life… When you think about it's all so stupid but the rap music industry in general continues to promote the silly shit. They fuel the fire for violence and profit from it. However, when someone gets shot, beat up or stabbed that's down with one of these rap crews the big execs are never at the funeral or at the hospital bed. They too busy lookin for the next so called thug to sign. As for me, Im getting a deal without that bullshit and my album WILL come out. You can take that to the check cashing. I say that with complete confidence… When Joell Ortiz gets a deal. Joell Ortiz album is Coming Out! Trust me on that. I'm making it so it is impossible for them to shelf me. If they do, It's coming out anyway. Fuck that. The reason I make that a point is cause I don't think a lot of albums from some really good artists on the East Coast will see the light of day. That's because the East Coast rap game is built on these gangsta Reps not grind. In my opinion, we started talking grind on the East cause we heard the South talking grind. However, a lot of us on the East never acknowledge the fact that the South was shunned for many years by record execs who now fall over each other to sign any artist down South with a slight buzz. I respect dudes on the South for coming out here and getting they due because The EARNED it. No one gave em shit. They went out and built fans the hard way. That's what I feel I'm doin. Im earning mine. It's fucking hard work but it's rewarding when after a show I make a new fan or I get an email from one of yall telling me to keep the movement going. Its all worth it for that. As I said earlier, Its hard to watch people you know you better than get on cause of they "reps" or who they run with. I have been tempted to take up offers from friends who could have put me in positions off the strength of they reps on the street but I aint with that. I enjoy going the hardway. In my experience going the hard way makes success sweeter. Shit, the hard route is what I've taken my whole fucking life! Why stop now? As a kid I got straight A's throughout school. I even skipped the 9th Grade and went straight to highschool. In highschool I was captain of the basketball team. I killed my SATs and I was ill at ball. Needless to say, I had a couple of scholarships on the table for both Academics and Sports. All while living on public assistance, broke, out of style, in the projects living alone with my mother who had a cocaine addiction. I stayed home for the love I have for Moms and the fact I wanted to peruse a career in Rap. I know that sounds crazy but it is 100% true. I didn't know what would have happened if I left my mother alone and I was rapping since I was 10. That was my passion. Now If my childhood aint break me do you think haters in the rap industry will? Never… Joell Ortiz

[3] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 9th JOURNAL ENTRY

9/22/2005 What up HHG? Got started on Journal kinda late this week cause I been movin around a lot. I need a laptop bad! I did a show for the Latin Hip Hop Conference at Latin Quarters this week. The shit was crazy. My man BIG DADDY KANE came out during my set and ripped it down! He had just come from a taping for the VH1 Hip Hop honors show so it was an especially big favor he did for me. Needless to say, the crowd lost they fuckin minds when he got on that stage! First time I seen Kane perform was with the Roots last summer and I got to see him again this summer at Prospect Park in Bk. I'm kinda young so I ain't never really grasp the scope of my man Kane power until I seen his show. I started out as a fan cause I listen to classic shit all day but to see Kane live and to see people lose control is an experience that I cant begin to describe. I love that shit! From what I got being next to him on stage I belive the energy Kane exudes is nothing less than a gift. We all hear so much bout "star quality" that certain artists are supposed to have but I personally have never seen it or to be honest, believed in any so called, "star quality" until I seen Kane touch a stage. I know some of y'all are gonna think i'm pumping the dude up but I don't care. I actually felt an energy when Kane touched that stage with me! Sounds nuts but I ain't bullshiting, this dude has a gift. I spoke to him about that aura for a minute after the set and although he told me he watched my show and he believed, "I got it" I ain't gonna front, I got a ways to go before I see myself with the gift Kane got. Y'all know i'm a confident dude (some say cocky) but after seeing Kane control a crowd without yelling, without 10,000 dudes on stage and with a clean, white suit on I got to thinking, What makes a great emcee? For example, Kane is a cool, confident, soft spoken cat yet when he gets on that stage he is a beast. And for those that ain't seen him perform y'all know his track record in the booth. Kane captured America in the 80's with 5 percenter knowledge, pimpology, swagger and wild lyrics. Who in today's rap world besides Jay can compare to Kane???? Be Honest! I think one of Kane's biggest accomplishment was bringing that special kind of swagger to our Broolkyn shit. He is a Brooklyn gentleman through and through.. Everybody knows, Brooklyn is known for thuggin and that's very real but my dude Kane was the first to bring class to our thuggin. LONG LIVE THE KANE! Peace to Maha and Scoob. Besides my set with Kane, Ax (BX STAND UP) ripped the shit down as did Tru Life and my man Immortal Technique (look out for a song from us). By the way, The Tamela King, Chingo Bling was also in that motherfucker supporting. All in all, I had a fantastic time. Shout to Rich and Dave and the entire staff at Fuerte for inviting me, Block Royal (the fam) Video Music Box (AL waz good) My BK niggas and everyone from everywhere that was there supporting. Latins in Hip Hop would never have been possible without the contributions of ground breaking pioneers like, Big Pun (RIP), Cypress Hill, Melo Man Ace, Charlie Chase, Whippy Wip, Ruby Dee, Beatnuts, Tony Touch, Kid Frost, South Park Mexican, Lighter Shade of Brown, Fat Joe, Son Doobie, Tito of the Fearless Four, Tres Delinquentes, Hurricane G and others whose names I may have forgotten but whose contributions to this culture are in my blood. One, Joell Ortiz

[0] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 8th JOURNAL ENTRY

9/12/2005 What's good with ya'll hhg? It's your boy Joell Ortiz reporting from the front lines. I was real happy to see so many of you checking the new 125 I put up last week. The idea was to make a tribute to one of the most underrated emcees of all time, Big Punisher. I hope I was successful in bringing light to his name again even if it was among us few true hip hop heads here on hiphopgame. I believe it's important that we never forget the artists that came before us. Artists that influced this culture like, Biggie, Tupac, Big L, Big Pun, Left Eye, Freaky Tah, Jam Master Jay, ODB, Souljah Slim must never be forgotten. I read your posts and emails (joell@joellortiz.com) this week (as I always do) and I'mma take some time to answer some of the questions and comments on some comments. I don't wanna do this too much cause I think it wastes time but a bunch of y'all asked me to comment on some stuff. Ok let's start, No I did not diss Nas on this 125. In the line that some of y'all questioned I meant ALL of NY is inconsistent. How the fuck is Joell Ortiz gonna diss NAS? That makes no sense. I understand how y'all could have heard that in the cut. I ain't got a prob with that cause I sometimes read into lyrics myself. To be honest, I'm actually flattered that some of y'all listening to my shit so close. I thank you. Next, No I do not go to meetings. The reason I do not go to A&R meetings is because in my experience, they have been a waste of time and money (gas, parking, ect). Besides, A&R people hardly have anything good to say. I make it my business to surround myself with constant positive reinforcement. I ain't talking 'bout yes men but I make it my business to be around people that can give constructive critique and can HELP me develop my skill and songwriting. I know that sounds corny but it's actually good business. It's not smart biz to for me to stay around niggas telling me I'm too fat, I'm too East Coast, I'm too Latin, I can't make songs and I need a stronger "back story" (get shot or go to jail). For instance, I wouldn't be typing this journal If I did what those cornballs asked me to do. An A&R actually stepped to me in a club and told me that it wasn't "a good look" for me to be online doin' a weekly journal cause it ain't hood! I ain't gonna front, I used to listen to them cats all day but it's only when I stopped listening to them and started listening to my heart that things started to turn for me. Not saying that I am the man now but I'm definitely in a better place now than I was a year or two ago. I attribute my recent come up to the fact that I started listening to myself and to the support I get from my team. Those are the only reasons Joell Ortiz is known outside of Cooper Projects. If any of y'all are up and coming rappers or producers reading this, stick to your heart. Only YOU can tell YOU how YOU should do YOUR shit. By the way, a lot of ya'll been sending emails asking if Jermaine Dupri sent in that 10K he owes from that battle that I won. No he didn't. I think shame is the only thing that will get that nigga to pay me the money I won fairly at the event HE put together. Nonetheless, when I do get that bread I'mma spend it on my family, donate some towards relief for Hurricane Katrina and most importantly, I'mma buy a public computer set up for my projects (COOPER STAND UP). Yeah, I got it spent! Cause I believe I'mma get it. Anyway, As I'm sure ya'll know, the Internet is the new industrial revolution. Damn near every business (big or small) is finding ways to earn online. Unfortunately, a lot of folks where I'm from cannot benefit from the opportunities that come from the Net cause they have no access to computers. It's fucked up but I'mma change that. No matter where my first real check comes from, I'mma make it my business to help get folks in my projects online so they can benefit from the information age. If any of you see Mr. Dupri please ask him to pay JOELL ORTIZ. I know Ten Grand ain't much for him but it's a lot to me and my folks right now. I did Kay Slay show again this week. I love goin up there. Kay Slay is a good dude. A lot of people throw that title, "good dude" around but good dudes are rare in this biz. I know a lot of industry people think Slay comes off a lil rough round the edges but in my opinion, being rough around the edges is Hip Hop! Our culture is rough cause our upbringing was rough, cause our neighborhoods are rough, cause police are rough on us and cause this is system is built to make it rough for us to put food on the fucking table. Kay Slay embodies all of that rough shit that we go through. That's why he has a crazy prison following and a wild hood following. He talks to hood niggas in a language only they understand. Rough Talk! There are a lot of DJs out there who I have a lot of love for and respect tremendously for but I know of no other DJ that speaks to that "rough" element of the street like Kay Slay. I been around the dude in places where I was surprised he was at and my nigga Slay moved around very freely and he was ALONE. The dude has a lot of Love and Respect from that dark end of the street. I'll never forget Slay cause he is one of the first to ever give me love on the radio. I went up there to Hot 97 cause his boy BodyGuard heard me spit and brought me up to the station. I met Kay Slay that night and on the strength of his man he let me rhyme. I aired it and the nigga Slay been showin' me love ever since. No bullshit. Just like that. A week later he called me to rhyme on his album. I was fucking shocked; I never ever, ever dealt with anyone in this business on his level that was so cool. After knowing him for a lil minute I realize that this man is passionate about this artform. Therefore, When he sees someone else as passionate (as I am) bout it he wants to look out. He don't do the industry thing. We speak every now and again on the phone and he gives me advice (he is a solid A&R) and just shoots the breeze. Amazing. Never have a met a more down to earth dude in this business besides Chris Gotti (Real talk all day regardless of what some will say or think) On the subject of Kay Slay, I wanna say a few words bout my dude Papoose. Papoose is a fucking beast. I grew up hearing about him around BK but the first time I seen him spit was at a G Rap session at Mirror Image Studios. It was about 8 of us young niggas just rhyming like crazy in a circle with a bunch of G's OG crew around us. The only niggas that I remember from that cipha was Paps, Jinx Da Juvi and my nigga Lazy from Flushing Queens. No disrespect to no one else that was there but my memory ain't the best. Anyway, Paps was a beast back then and he is a fucking Unleashed Savage Animal now. Artist development baby! No label could have created or imaged what Paps has evolved into. This week I was able to record 2 more 125s and some songs and freestyles for 730's new Disciples 11 mixtape. Besides a little runnin around, I was living in the studio this week. I'm putting that Brick CD together crazy! I'mma keep y'all posted on that one. It'll be available on my website www.joellortiz.com and anywhere you buy CDs. Peace to AZ I copped his Album at an instore he had at All the Right in Corona Queens on Friday (MOONSHINE What up) AZ's album is crazy, I ain't sayin it just to say it. I bought it!!! I got NO fucking discount and I didn't even get to meet AZ. I copped it on the strength of what I heard them playin in the store… I support this side with my dollars as well as my rhetoric. This week I put a picture of myself behind the set getting ready to do what I do best at Cooper Day. That shot was from last year Cooper Day. We have a celebration out here every summer here in Cooper Projects where people bring out food, music and the kids run around. It's a great time and mad people come from other parts of BK to chill. I remember when I was a kid Cooper Day was a highlight of the summer for me. Mad fun… Till Next Week, Joell Otiz

[0] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 7th JOURNAL ENTRY

9/5/2005 HHG! What's good y'all? I had a good damn week! Did another show at good ol' SOB's this week. This time I had the pleasure of opening for the lovely Keysha Cole. Red Café and my dude Maino performed as well. There was mad ladies in there. Very nice… I got a lot of emails from yall, this week but I been hectic. I promise Imma spend a whole week just answering all of em. A lot of the mail I've been getting is from producers that wanna know who won the 125 pt 1 remix contest. I listened to all of em and I been beating my head over this cause so many of y'all came with HEAT but I gotta give it to my new homies, Colleone&Webb from Sweeden. Their mix was nuts. The beat was crazy and Colleone&Webb managed to keep all my vocals locked in throughout. Keeping the vocals from drifting must have been real hard to do with that song cause it was over 5 mins long and we gave yall no BPM…I ended up writing a new one to the beat they did but we putting their remix up anyway…Overall, Europe got some shit. I believe the next crop of "hot" HIP HOP producers will come from Canada and/or Europe. Peace to my dude Simon Vegas from Germany. Homie is here in NY doin' it hard! By no means am I sleeping on the young, hungry Beatsmiths in the States. Y'all are fucking beasts! Shout to Kick Drums, Ho Chi, My homie Moss who gave me the first 125 beat, Twinz, Empire State, Coran Cole, Novel, my nigga Moonshine from Corona (your remix was one of the hot ones) and Dart La. I know I forgot a lot of y'all but please be patient with me. All in All, no matter where y'all from most of you new Producers out there are sooo slept on as I believe I am. Therefore, I fucks with all of y'all!!! In general, the beat game is very grimy and political…I know this first hand cause I got brought into this thing through producers. V.I.C. and Mike Heron have done tracks for Pun, Big L, G Rap, Beatnuts, Mobb Deep and tons of others. They never blew up but them dudes do have respect from hardcore fans, other producers and certain industry dudes that know what time it is. I would be there when they shopped beats and sold em and I was witness to when they shopped hot beats and didn't sell shit. It's a bitch. I have a special respect for producers because of that time I spent with them dudes shopping beats. That shit is a hard grind and you gotta have thick skin. A&R dudes can be real assholes. I think some A&R act like dicks cause they frustrated rappers and producers without the balls and/or talent to do the thing they critique. Anyway, through my experiences with Mike and Vic I got to meet and record with many of today's "hot" producers before they (the producers) got "hot". For example, Alchemist did a beat for me when I was 17 as did Sha Money XL, Fusion and Red Spyda. With that said I want to talk about 2 tracking. To those who don't know, 2 tracking beats is when an artist records a song to a producer's submitted beat with or without the producers consent. Basically, the artist tracks rhymes to the beat off of the producers "demo reel" My suggestion to producers is let niggas 2 track everything. I have a lot of producer friends who submitted and sold beats and didn't know the shits was sold for sure till they get an invite to the album release party. Fuck it…If niggas like what they do to the beat without you around they gonna pay you regardless, Sooner or later. I know it sucks but fuck it. Its about selling the beats. After you sell a couple youll have more leverage. But early on you gonna have to deal with the 2 trackin. Its part of the game now. The wonderful thing about beats for me as an emcee is the fact that you never know who is gonna come with that fire. That's why I listen to EVERYTHING. I don't give a fuck where you from, who you down with or what your name is. To be honest, big name producers get listened to LAST in my camp. From my experience most of them big names lookin for checks aint really lookin for wreck after they "blow" I fucks with hungry producers. A Young producer's passion is a motherfucker. The only thing that comes close to a young, passionate producer is an OG producer with passion and experience. Dr Dre stay teachin us that. I stay with them Passion driven, experienced OG producers around me. I only want cats around me that know how to make RECORDS and not for nothing, OGEEZ know how to make records. For instance, My nigga Emz is an OG DJ /producer who has heat and great ears. Also, my niggas Les and Ju from Beatnuts been looking out. The OG production massive is quiet deep…I respect them all… Peace to Preemo, Milo, SPK, Reef, Ayatolla, 45 King, Ski, the one and only, Marly Marl, Hot Day (QueensBridge Stand Up) Dante Ross, Muggs, T Ray (the only white dude that was runnin round my projects in the 80's) Godfather Don, Sam Sever, Puba, Pete Rock, Large Pro, Ali, Herbie Luv bug, Dj Irv (Irv Gotti) NO ID, Doug Infinite, Kanye (Chi Town stand up) Ez Elpee, FredWreck, Knowbody, Ron Lawerence, D Dot, Sean Cane, DITC, Evil D and Mr. Walt, My man Clark Kent, My ace VIC who been sending in heat as well as Domingo, AX (the bull) Big Spank (the Jackson Heights king of beats) and I cant forget my nigga Qtip who just recently got on board. Cant forget Ez Mo Bee! He is a fucking Beast…Be Clear, Mo Bee is is one of the main reasons we know bout Biggie. Also, Peace to Kwame for keeping his chin up and fighting. Mad Respect to Pumpkin, Bambatta and Larry Love…Without out yall theyre would be none of this. I just turned 25 yrs old 2 months ago therefore alot of these dudes I mentioned was before my time but I take my hat off to them, regardless…RESPECT! This week I posted a picture of me with Q Tip, Les of the Beatnuts and my nigga EMZ. Tip and Les came through the Keysha Cole set at Sob's to show support. Me and Tip supposed to be a joint together for this site. Ill keep yall posted. Also This week I did the newest 125 (part 3 Big Pun tribute) The 125's are an 8 part series that will add up to a 1,000 gram Brick of that CRACK…You got 375 grams so far as a sample. Plus there will be some grams on the CD with special guests… You know the quality of my work thus far. Therefore I know yall will be coppin the Brick when I put it on the street…Look for the BRICK 2nd or 3nd week of November. This third installment 125 is a tribute to one of the most slept on Emcees in the History of Rap, BIG PUN…Pun career is what I look to for inspiration. Pun spit fire, his pen game was sick, he made great songs and he had a great personality that came across on his records. I was at the session when he did, Brave in The Heart with Vic and Mike. Pun was laid back, and mad funny. I'll never forget that day. Dude spit crack on that beat. BIG PUNISHER REST IN PEACE… I hope all you producers out there to keep grinding. We all in the same struggle. Please feel free to send me beats at Joell@JoellOrtiz.com or send em to my boys at HipHopGame. I met Simon Vegas and Ho Chi amongst a bunch of other ill producers through this site. Trust me, everything y'all send will get heard. As you know, HHG is in the business of breaking artist and showcasing them to the world BEFORE the labels get em. If you think you got that heat don't hesitate. There ain't no politics here. If it's hot we will hit you.. If you don't hear from us, we ain't fucking with it. Simple. But if you don't hear from us PLEASE, PLEASE do not stop sending beats. Don't you ever give up!!! We may not hear it right away…You can be the next Dre, Primo or Neptunes…Don't let anyone (including us) discourage you. Keep them beats coming, to us or to anyone else that will listen. If you blow up after I slept on you, I will be more than happy with you stepping to me and sayin, "I told you so". Id much rather that then a potential beat genius sittin home sayin, "I wish I had" By the way, A lot of yall from Europe been mad supportive. Thank You so much! Peace to Ammo and Armeni Blanco, and outta France. Tex (street nigga) from Paris is an OG that is more in touch with Hip Hop than a lot of niggas that live in NY… HOLLA Tex!!!! My London massive I got LOVE for you ALL!!! 279, Dan Greenpeace, Tim Westwood (played my shit when I was 17) M.I.A. thank you! I'm on M.I.A.'s official remix of Galang produced by my nigga Emz! We did it on the humble and sent it in. They liked it and they putting it out! Simple…I fucks with M.I.A. her management and Interscope Staff cause they didn't give a fuck that I aint have a "name" They liked what I did and they fucked with it. Our prayers Go up for the victims of Hurricane Katrina… Kanye was right! One, Joell Ortiz PS: I'm looking to do shows in Europe to support my upcoming mixtape, THE BRICK. If anyone got a hook up with some promoters please holla.

[4] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 6th JOURNAL ENTRY

8/29/2005 What up hhg?? It's been a long week. I been in the studio working on some new shit. I got the next couple of 125s coming and a few new songs that I will be posting soon. Speaking of posting songs, a song was posted this week that was old and was not posted by me or anyone affiliated with me. I didn't think it represented what I have been doing for the past 8 months. Therefore, I asked the staff at HHG to take the song down…Simple. Despite what some conspiracy theory haters may wanna believe, I didn't care that people ain't like the song (I don't expect people to like everything I do) Regardless of what a hater think I have the right to ask HHG to take anything down that wasn't sent in by me or anyone that reps me. Now had I sent that song and then asked HHG to take it down that would be some bullshit on my behalf. Nuff said Moving on, I had a show on Monday with Choir Boy and Tom Gist at Choir's album release party. Choir's album is called Good Mourning America. It's a dope album with a message and strong production. Big up to MIH and the whole Jersey massive that was at the party reppin their boy Choir. It was a beautiful thing and there was mad LOVE in the air. I am a rapper on the come up and on the way up you gonna have disagreements with people. Conflict is part life, Men deal with it. People ain't meant to always see eye to eye. Men accept that as well. However in the Rap world conflicts are girly…In real life if you have a problem with a guy on the job you go up to him and you deal with it right there. No more problem. But in the rap world it's a lot of nonsense involved. Blackballing, Rumors and all types of other silly shit is normal in this industry. Most times the actual parties involved never really deal with each other. It's they homies and dickriders spreading lies. East Coast rap is damn near dead because of that bullshit. There is no more LOVE amongst rappers. When was the last ill posse cut outta NY? Remember those? Posse cuts was friendly competition on a record which kept the emcees sharp and the audience was always excited to hear those cuts. Rapppers on the East aren't rappin with anyone that's not in they inner circle anymore. In my opinion, the whole rap industry on the East has fallen cause of HATE. Lately, Ive been hearing a couple of people in NY talking about bringing the East back but some of these cats wanna bring the East back by HATIN on the South. That shit is corny! The South got some classic artists like, Scarface, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, Outkast, Lil Brother, Juvy, Skillz, Lil Wayne, my niggs Chingo Bling, Trick Daddy, Luda, Pitbull, Big Mike and a whole bunch of others that would take up my whole journal if I continued. Anyway, them cats in the South grind for they shit. They go out and they build LOVE and resppect from they audience and they partner up with their comrades to make they shit hot. We on the East can learn from that. We used to be like that but nowadays, Im ashamed to say it but some of us on the East HATE on our audience besides hatin on other rappers. Its crazy! Some niggas out here on the East be on stage dissin and threatening audience members! We all know Competition is a must in Hip Hop and on occasion a good diss record or a battle is needed but the HATEfest that goes on in the East is keeping us on pause. On that note, I'd like to give a strong shout to Stimuli and my dude Marcus…Stimul is an ill emcee and the guy has a genuine love for the craft. The Follow my Lead mixtape gets steady burn round here…Anyway, Stim and Marcus tried to get me to rock on Stim's set for the Allhiphop showcase at Canal Room but from what I understand Stimuli's manager was told by someone from Allhiphop that I was not welcome. My memory is sometimes shaky and am I not sure if it was actually a staff member of allhiphop that told Stim manager that stuff but for what it's worth, I'd like to extend my hand to those brothers at ALLHIPHOP.com… Let's leave past misunderstandings in the past. I respect yall grind and there is enough for all of us to eat. Speaking of eating…I notice some of you haters out there have made it your bizness to point out over and over again in your hate posts, that I am FAT. Those comments are always kinda strange to me cause it's always some dude that comments on my physique. Anyway, I want you haters to know that this fat Puerto Rican nigga from Brooklyn is very fast and I bust ass on them basketball courts. As a matter of fact, I'm in a tournament in Cooper and we playin some other project this weekend for Cooper Day…(Cooper Projects Stand UP) I been balling all my life, been in the paper in highschool and all that. So I challenge any of you clown ass hatin faggots if you happen to be in BK sometime holla and Ill whip on you real quick. Then you can post that. What's Funny is I hear I was even passed up on a deal at a MAJOR label cause of my weight. That shit is crazy to me cause it be these same label cats that praise Big and Pun for they skill that hate on me cause of my weight. Now by no means am I comparing myself to Biggie or Pun on some lyrical shit (calm down haters). Im just saying that if these particular execs (who I happen to respect) was running labels at the time Big and Pun came around those two geniuses would have never made records. That's a shame. I know its all about "marketing" and "sexy" to these execs. But how bout MUSIC, fellas? Whatever happened to making great SONGS? I'd like to shout to my DJ and one of the Producers of my music EMZ, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Stack Bundles (I fucks with that criticks song) Tom Gist, AX, Maino, My niggas Cashmere and Manhood, Big Cas (NC stand up) Kamel,(Jin's manager who grew up in Cooper) and my homie Jin the EMCEE… I know by now a lot of yall heard Jin the EMCEE took a lil spill at fight klub on Monday and I see the haters are on this site hating from the sidelines, as usual. Regardless of what happened or what people think, I respect Jin because he is a fighter! He doesn't sit back, hate and make comment on how dudes could do things better nor does he gossip and criticize. HE FIGHTS! He goes in and does battle taking risks that a lot of rappers are unwilling to take. When he does take a loss (something all fighters must face) he brushes himself off and goes back in. Im not saying any of this cause I feel sorry for Jin…I do not feel sorry for Jin, he is a dude that is following his dreams and he takes the good with the bad. However, I do feel sorry for you internet rappers, industry dick riders, haters and sissies holed up in your rooms staring at computer screens hiding behind false identities taking shots at people that are actually DOING something. It's a sorry, pathetic life y'all live. Music lovers and fans have opinions and that's cool but a lot of the hate that some of us get is from industry clowns and certain loose lip, no heart rappers. With that said I gotta tell you, I LOVE it! Makes me dig deeper. Thanks ladies! This week I posted a picture of me with Dee that is a host on the Roof (Latin show) Dee is also a co host for Kay Slay on his Show on Sirius radio. She is a pretty lady. Aint she? Peace Joell Ortiz PS Any producers with HEAT from England, Australia or Japan please send in some beats to joell@joellortiz.com I got an idea for some shit I wanna do. Send em in asap PPS Colleone&Webb are the future! Europe is on the come up with them Beats.

[48] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 5th JOURNAL ENTRY

8/22/2005 What up HHG? This week I wanna talk about the Stop Snitching movement and the tee shirts that I'm sure you all have been seeing in the streets and in videos. I'm real happy people are making those tee shirts and dudes are making it a movement. However, I pray this stop snitching thing is not a fad. A lot of times I think we be starting shit and then let folks outside of our experience dilute the shit and make it weak. They make it a fad. For instance, I wouldn’t wanna see homeboy from Punk’d wearing a stop snitching teeshirt. That would make the movement fake. Now please don’t think Im saying that cause homeboy white, that aint it at all. The unfair mandatory minimum laws that breed snitches and unjustly imprison the poor in this country are like a pack wild dogs that ravage anyone in their way regardless of race, gender, color or religion. Im just sayin keep it street. Cause we don’t want a good cause started by good people on the street to be reduced to some here to day gone tomorrow Hollywood bullshit. If this movement gets strong it could free a lot of people that are unjustly imprisoned for the rest of their lives. This issue hits close to home for me cause I used to be out there and one of my managers, Dennis just got out from doing some time in the feds. He got snitched on by some faggot nigga from around my way. My man Dennis could have easily went the same route as that rat did and got a lower sentence for himself. However, when he got bagged and they asked him about some folks he knew, he held his head and did the right thing. You see, they were asking Dennis to LIE on people. People that had nothing to do with his case!!! That’s how they do. My nigga Dennis held his head and did his time like a man. During his bid he and my other manager Mike were mapping out a plan to get this Joell Ortiz thing going…Mike, V.I.C. and my man Munster were out here with me grinding in the studios. I was writing, rhyming and developing my skill.. All the while Dennis and Mike were writing each other planning and plotting. This is True Talk. Ive seen the letters they were sending each other. In addition to planning Dennis used his time wisely and made some serious connections with other stand up dudes inside. When D touched last year the plan went into motion and here I am. I'm not trying to big up jail in any way. I'm just showing yall how even when life deals stand up niggas a fucked up hand they don’t ever fold. Now when D touched it wasn’t all roses. He had to get a job working for a garage that used to service HIS BMW. The nigga worked his ass off in that shop than hit the streets promoting my music or he was in the studio with me and Mike. As time progressed a lot of the good dudes he met inside started coming through with connects they had on the outside. One such connect is Nicky Nick who is down with James Cruz from Violator. We met Nick through a good dude named Ed Torres that Dennis bidded with. Through that connect and my undeniable talent of course (haha) Im with Violator Management today. Also, Richie Rich from the 48 crew made calls for us and kept it very real. Lefty Luv who should be a role model to a lot of these so called hustlas out here today put us on to my man Al from Airwear who been showin us nothing but love. Please be clear, HHG…none of these calls were threats or pay offs of any kind. With good dudes you have to prove yourself. And I did that with the music. Besides, I wouldn’t want to be “put on” that way. I got waaaaay too much pride for that bullshit. I bust my tail for 6 yrs in them studios getting my talent up. This Joell Ortiz movement is strictly good street dudes pulling each other up and a lot of hard work.The main reason I am not involved in any illegal activity today is because of the guidance I got from all these good brothers. I grew up in that life and damn near all my friends are 5 to 10 yrs older than me. They all been through some serious shit so I listen when they tell me to stay focused on music. That’s why when I hear this hustle rap shit from cats who I know don’t really do it, I gotta laugh. Listen, once those crackers have you in that room them raps will turn into tears and then into statements. Playing a thug don’t make you thug…But hey, they gotta do them. As for myself, I stay focused on music and promoting. Joell Ortiz is a rapper. Not a hustla/rapper not a thug/rapper. Joell Ortiz is a rapper/legit businessman. Im proud of that. I thank all the good dudes who helped change my frame of thought cause God knows I was headed in the wrong direction. With that I say peace…. BIG BIG BIG up to tall the real cats in the Federal penitentiary… Lefty Love Keep it sheaved my brother. I repeat your words of insperation to myself whenever I feel like this shit aint goin the way I want. When I get to talk to you a gem is always passed. Kane, One eye Nelson, Manudo aka Hector, Mark Riley, Leelon KC, Mississippi, Lalo, George Roman, Boy George, Fat Manny (south side stand up). Green, Big Arnold Harlem, Stan Marcy baby, Richie Rich, and all the other strong stand up dudes one love… To the brothers who kept it real and made it home. Stays focused and continue doing your thing. Trigger Tone, Calvin Klien, Tone shoulders, Air wear Al, Boo, Sha, my manager Dennis, JC, Crue and Cito PS Shout to Kendu, AX and Riggs….Yall are Gentlemen. Peace

[3] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 4th JOURNAL ENTRY

8/15/2005 What up HHG??? It was a pretty exciting week. I had a big show on Tuesday at SOB's for the 6th Annual Latin Alternative Music Conference. It was mad fun and I got to meet a lot of good people there. Wu Tang Latino was there, La Bruha lovely as usual, my dudes T-Weaponz repped, and I had the opportunity to watch Melverde and Funk Doobiest from LA tear it down…I had a good set and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. My whole Cooperville, Greenpoint, Southside, Bushwick, Block Royal fam was there supporting as usual…I love doing shows 'cause it gives me a chance to deliver my verses the way I want, and I get a chance to hopefully make some new Joell Ortiz fans. With a CD you can always skip over a cut or turn the shit down. However, if I'm at a venue and I'm on stage tearing the shit down, you cannot avoid me. For that reason, I make all my shows HIGH ENERGY! I been to many a boring show and I hate that shit, so I ain't doin that to any of my people. Unfortunately or fortunately, there were some dudes from labels at the show. You can always tell who they are because they always the ones playing cool. They never show they like anything 'cause I guess no one has told them it was ok to like it yet. They stand there and nod their heads and when you get off they give you a thumbs up. Them dudes kill me. Honestly, when I'm at a venue I am there for the people. I'm not there to "poly" or to "build" with any hatin ass industry niggas. I'm there to rip, end of story. If you are a fan of Hip Hop, a DJ, writer, or one of my DVD niggas, holla at me all day. Other than that, as the late, great Big Punisher said, "go dat a way" Anyway, on Thursday evening, Young Jeezy and Akon was around my way (Southside stand up) filming the video for their hit single, "Soul Survivor." Akon gave me mad love when I popped up. The video chicks was looking at me like, "who dat?" hahaha, that shit was lovely! I got a chance to meet Tru Life, Aztek, Zab Judah, and a bunch of other really good dudes out there. Later that night, I met Lil' Wayne who knew about the site. To be honest, everyone I bump into loves this site. I think it's because the fans run this shit. Y'all would be surprised to find out how many of these rappers is actually reading y'all responses. So please keep them coming. (GOOD AND BAD) And As I said last week I do read all your posts. Even the hate gets read. Moving on, this week I had an opportunity to go see G-Unit perform at the Garden. My homie James Cruz from Violator got me and my niggas Mike and Dennis some good ass seats! The show was crazy but the crowd wasn't responding too crazy. Personally, I liked the show. I especially liked when MOP came out…them dudes is pumped when they hit that stage. Yayo killed it too. That shit went nuts when he and 50 did So Seductive. That was the first time I been to a major concert. Gotta say, I wasn't disappointed at all. I didn't get to see the Eminem show cause my man Mike kept complaining about the pain from a tooth he had just gotten pulled…word of advice, stay home if you sick, don't ruin it for your people. Oh well, maybe next time… As you can see this week I posted a picture of me in a session with Kurupt and my nigga JuJu of the Beatnuts . I was 19 at the time. I put that flick up to make a point about something to a specific record industry person out there… Homie, I am nice because I grew up in studios around nice niggas. NOT cause I rode dicks, hung out in industry parties, robbed people, went to jail, or got shot…I'm nice because I did the work, in the studios, on stages and on these pads…I am a total package emcee. They don't make 'em like me no more, player. And yeah I am confident (some say cocky) but I put in the work to be confident. So I'mma stay that…you keep trying to "market" lies and I'mma keep making good music. Oh yeah, HHG I'm in THE EMCEE's corner for that battle in the Bahamas at the Power Summit. Holla! Shout to my nigga the Living Legend, Kool G Rap. I'm on his new Mixtape, Top 5 dead or Alive hosted by Green Lantern, coming out this week…G a good dude that got better ears than most these A&Rs out here claiming they know Hip Hop. He won't say this cause he a modest and humble dude but KOOL G RAP recorded and shopped Nas' FIRST demo (Def Jam passed on NAS) He also found my nigga Papoose when he was 15 and G was one of the first to give Large Professor a shot to do work on an album! Needless to say, I'm honored G Rap put me on a song with him. With that said, I'm out. Till next week, family, PEACE. PS If one of y'all see Jermaine Dupri, please tell that man, I DID NOT GET PAID! He owe me $10,000 for that EA battle. He went on the HOT 97 sayin I got paid. I DID NOT GET PAID, buddy!!!! I know all the haters gonna say dumb shit like, "why you don't let it go" but I won fairly and 10 large is a lot of money to just "let go"

[0] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 3RD JOURNAL ENTRY

8/8/2005 RIP Screw On Dec 15, 2004 (the same night the picture above was taken) some coward shot and killed my boy Screw, Akon's manager. I met Screw while promoting my mixtape, Who the Fuck is Joell Ortiz.? We met at the world famous strip club, Sue's Rendevous in Yonkers. My man 2tone introduced us and Screw gave me mad love. I'm usually kinda hesitant when someone is real friendly upon first meeting them but there was something genuine about Screw... As it turned out that he liked my mixtape. He actually knew some of the lyrics by heart! I was real flattered by that and we became instant friends. As we spoke my manager Dennis came by us and recognized Screw from a crew they were both in as kids in the 80's. At that point we became family. Screw had a barbershop and a studio in Jersey city (where picture was taken) From that barbershop he got Akon poppin in the Street. SRC/Universal followed up on what Screw, his Block Royal Family and Akon started. They built the Akon story the hard way, One fan at a time. They hit up Small bars, Strip Clubs, barber shops, mixshows and mixtapes (real tastemakers). Screw along with Akon and Block Royal took what they learned from being on the street and made positive moves in the music industry. Akon's talent is undeniable but a major reason his album is double platinum today is because of the hard work he and his crew put in outside the studio.... A lot of people in the "industry" may get the credit but please be clear, Screw and Block Royal were a major part of Akon's success. I learned a lot from those brothers. I wasn't there when Screw got shot. I left an hour before but what I got from my folks that were there was Screw died after getting into a fight with someone that was trying to rob Capone from CNN for his chain. That's the kinda of dude Screw was. Block Royal remains part of the family and along with my Cooperville, Greenpoint, Bushwick, South Side Brooklyn family the Block Royal fam from NJ is always out supporting strong at every show. A lot of the buzz that people are saying I have is due to the support that Block Royal has given me. I will never forget that. On a lighter note, this week I had an opportunity to record with Gloria Velez in Miami for a mixtape my pana Rob Lo is putting together. Rob is a Violator club dj who has mad history in the NYC club scene. He and Dj Camilo got the Latin crowd out here on smash and the ladies follow these dudes EVERYWHERE. If you don't belive me check Rob's site for flicks. http://www.rob-lo.com. Anyway, I got to meet Gloria and it was a pleasure. She mad cool and very laid back. I didn't get a chance to check all my niggs in MIA cause it was a short hop but I had fun anyway. I took a few flicks....I'm posting ONE...I would have posted more but the others were kinda wack (dude taking flicks was drunk) She supposed to be out here this week to perform at Xbar in the Bronx so I'll take more that night for yall... By the way, I read all y'all posts...I appreciate the love...I especially like the "Streets vs the Industry" post. I think that statement best describes OUR fight. And you're right, Cooperville, The Streets always win! Till next week, Joell

[4] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 2ND JOURNAL ENTRY

8/2/2005 HHG Family, whats good? My name is Joell Ortiz. If you've been checking the audio section you know I've been posting some joints lately and I am currently the featured Artist of the Month. I hope y'all been feeling the music. Anyway, HipHopGame asked me a couple weeks ago to do a journal for the site. The idea is for y'all to walk with me while I work on my deal, my album and everything that comes along with my project. A lot of you may be wondering, "why Joell Ortiz?" I think the HHG staff chose me to do this because they know I'm very different from the crop of so-called "hot, new rappers" that industry niggas is praising nowadays. Unlike a lot of those guys, I will rip your head off in a battle, I make great songs, my pen and punchline game is nutty, REAL street niggas love me (COOPER PROJECTS BABY) and my show is crazy. Most of these new emcees are missing something. It's like getting a gift for Christmas that's broken in someway. They all have some shit wrong with them. Some are ok songwriters and really bad showman. Some have strong shows but no real pen some are have no personality and others are way too cocky for their skill level. Others have great industry connects but have no real street love. Please Be Clear HHG family, I'm not talking greasy nor am I hatin…I'm just a fan with an opinion. And that's what I think HHG is about…The Fans and what THEY think. Not what the industry is, to program people to think… Anyway, I can talk shit cause I am really good at what I do and I have a track record to prove it…I'm battle-tested, I've recorded with Rap legends KRS One, Big Daddy Kane, and Kool G Rap. I had a classic 12" with my homie Pretty Ugly on Rawkus Records, I was on Stretch Armstrong's show when I was 17 (I'm 25 now). More recently, I put out a single that had some street buzz called "Brooklyn" and I did a 12" with my boy Fusion for ABB called "Smoke, Drink, and Cut." On top of all that, my ace Kay Slay gave me a shot on his show a few months ago and I ripped it hard. I may come off as cocky to some, but I'm confident and I don't really care what others think or say. I am also VERY competitive, and like I said earlier, I'm skilled for this shit so if you are a one of those so called hot rappers reading this shallow breathing thinking crazy thoughts, please tread lightly, pimp. I answer quick, hard, and I got an outlet through this site and I fear no one. With that said, I think y'all should know some things about me personally. I am from Cooper Projects in Brooklyn. I am Puerto Rican and Black. Although I am from Cooper and I'm Cooper's own till the day I die, I also rep a very big section of BK and Queens… Bushwick, Southside BK, Greenpoint, Williamsburgh, East New York, Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights Astoria and about 1,000 little blocks that no knows in both boroughs. There are thousands upon thousands of kids that look like me in those hoods and other hoods all over NYC. I'm their voice… For fun I usually go out, drink, and womanize. Around here, we have hundreds of strip clubs, clubs, bars and lounges so I usually stay local. We go hard out here and the ladies are absolutely stunning…As the weeks progress I will be sure to post pictures. You'll love it! I'm gonna try my best to be consistent with this journal so y'all can experience every moment of this trip with me and I promise to be 100% honest (GOOD or BAD) It'll be fun…stay with me. Joell

[71] REACT TO JOELL ORTIZ' 1ST JOURNAL ENTRY