Author: Nyne Millirachi

Diddy and Diageo Spirits have partnered to acquire DeLeón as their second 50–50 joint venture.

Diddy’s company Combs Wine & Spirits and Diageo are already 50–50 partners in Ciroc vodka.

“Celebration is a cornerstone of all my businesses, and this joint venture is a natural extension of that portfolio,” said Sean Combs, Chairman, Combs Wine & Spirits. “DeLeón is an outstanding brand that appeals to those who love exceptional tequila in a distinctive bottle. Together with Diageo, we will take DeLeón to new heights.”

Under Diddy’s leadership, Ciroc has experienced phenomenal growth.

Since 2007, Ciroc has gone from selling 50,000 cases a year, to nearly 2,000,000 cases per year.

According to Diageo’s CEO, it was Diddy’s involvement with Ciroc’s success that solidified the purchase of DeLeón.

“The joint venture with Combs Wine & Spirits and its purchase of DeLeón is Diageo’s latest step toward returning to a leading position in tequila in North America,” said Larry Schwartz, President, Diageo North America. “Expanding our relationship with Sean Combs into tequila was a natural choice given Sean’s ability to galvanize support for luxury brands, as we’ve seen with our work together on Cîroc. Ultra-premium and above tequila is a very exciting segment – we already have a strong brand there with Don Julio and are pleased to complement that offering with DeLeón.”

The tequila comes in five variations, ranging in price from $120.00 to over $1,000.00 per bottle.

“In creating DeLeón, I brought the skills of fine wine-making and natural barrel aging to the art of tequila. The result was a spirit unparalleled in purity and taste,” added Brent Hocking, DeLeón’s founder. “I am entrusting DeLeón Tequila to the capable hands of Diageo and Sean Combs as both have demonstrated a commitment to luxury and quality which reflects my own commitment to the DeLeón brand.”

So sad… (more…)

A Russian man who tried to rob a hair salon learned a major lesson about why life as a criminal isn’t the ideal path.

Viktor Jasinski, 32, admitted to police that he intended to rob a salon in Meshchovsk, Russia but things didn’t work out so well.  The female shop owner, who had a black belt in karate, beat him down, tied him up with a hair dryer cable and then used him as a sex slave for three days.

Via Daily Mail:

She allegedly stripped him naked and, for the next three days, used him as a sex slave to ‘teach him a lesson’ – force feeding him Viagra to keep the lesson going.

The would-be robber was eventually released, with Zajak saying he had learned his lesson.

Jasinski went straight to the police and told them of his back-room ordeal, saying that he had been held hostage, handcuffed naked to a radiator, and fed nothing but Viagra.

Both have now been arrested.

When police arrived to question Zahjac, she said: ‘What a bastard. Yes, we had sex a couple of times. But I bought him new jeans, gave him food and even gave him 1,000 roubles when he left.”

I’m all for criminals getting karma on the spot but this is ridiculous.

Street Life City’s message boards were in hot debate over the year that was Hip Hop’s most productive, polarizing and groundbreaking.  We asked them to weigh in on some of the big winners and losers of the past 12 months. Needless to say voting was close (Kanye’s “New Slaves” lost song of the year by 1 vote). Kendrick won big. Drake, well he lost some cool points and the rest you have to see for yourself.

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It’s not often a rapper reigns in unanimous votes for rapper of the year without a major studio release. But sorry Push, the numbers on the board don’t lie in this case. Kendrick set the media world ablaze in 2013, starting with the remix to “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” featuring Jay-Z. On the official Youtube release from TDE, the timeless photo of a young Kobe Bryant huddled next to Michael Jordan is displayed, with MJ giving the eager youngster tips on his game. The symbolism is obvious, with the Los Angeles native rapidly becoming the Kobe Bryant of the rap game. Admittedly, Kendrick was forced to write a second verse after listening to the Mike Jordan of Raps’, but in no time Kendrick “dropped 50″ on Big Sean’s “Control.” The almost demonic intensity of Kendrick’s flow and lyricism on “Control” caused the internet to explode, almost completely overshadowing two hot verses from Big Sean and Jay Electronica. Napoleon style, Kendrick name-dropped all of the relevant competition of his era in a brilliant chess move to spark more intensity in this new-aged Nickelodeon era of good feelings. It was the equivalent to Kobe dropping 81 points against Toronto, and of course, feelings were caught by a lot of rappers…but most notably in Toronto. Drake has remained loyal to his “you-diss-me-you-won’t-get-a-response” philosophy until Kendrick became a full-fledged problem, and now the two are steadily involved in a subliminal war of words that has the potential to become in 2014 the biggest battle on wax since Jay-Z and Nas. Poetic justice indeed. – Kellan Miller

BEST HIP HOP ARTIST
KENDRICK LAMAR

MAINSTREAM ALBUM OF THE YEAR
PUSHA T My Name is My Name

Pusha T dropped an incredible album, it was undeniable. There were a lot of great albums especially commercial albums like Magna Carter Holy Grail and Nothing Was The Same this year but MNIMN stood out as the strongest. Lyrically, production wise, conceptually it’s a very good album and album of the year.

HIP HOP HEADLINE OF THE YEAR
Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse

Headline of the Year? Easily Kendrick’s verse on “Control” he claimed to be the King of 2 Coasts and issued a bold challenge to any of his rivals and peers. What made his verse so crazy is that he came at people he has done tracks with. New York didn’t take too kindly to him saying he was their “King” and everybody dropped a response to “Control”. There was no bigger headline.

LOSS OF THE YEAR
DRAKE

While Drake had a good year in his own right, we felt he also took home the loss of the year. Hilarious internet memes from the “No New Friends” video shoot made him the laughing stock of the internet. The phenomenon “Drake is the type…” snaps lit the internet on fire. His emotional responses to Future and other artists such as Kendrick Lamar didn’t make things any better.

Infractions include:

• Emotional reactions to online posters and media
• Dropping artists that challenged him from tours

UNDERGROUND ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Killer Mike AND El-P  Run The Jewels

Run The Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P) are a match made in heaven, some of the best lyricism dropped this year and cohesive production made for one of the most underrated albums of 2013. Stand out tracks ? “A Christmas F*cking Miracle” , “Banana Clipper”, “No Come Down”, “Get It” – matter of fact the entire album and every track was fire. Definitely underground album of the year.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
My Name is My Name – Pusha T

RAPPER OF THE YEAR
Kendrick Lamar

GROUP/LABEL/CLIQUE of the YEAR
TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment)

TDE cemented their place as the best label or crew in 2013. ScHoolBoy Q popped off, Kendrick Lamar put the team on and the BET Cypher featuring the whole crew let us know it’s their time. It’s safe to say the Black Hippies made their mark this year. New signees Isaiah Rashad and SZA were the icing on the cake. We await to see what they bring to the game in 2014.

SONG of the YEAR 
“Control” by Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica

Big Sean’s “Control” song took Hip-Hop by storm, not only did every MC drop a hot verse but Kendrick Lamar stood out and shook up the entire game and had all of Hip-Hop in awe and responding to quite possibly one of the boldest verses in a long time.

COLLABO OF THE YEAR
“Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe(Remix)” Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z

The remix to Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe was the collab of the year. Having Jay-Z appear on the record laying down vocals was huge. Kendrick came with a dope verse to compliment the G.O.A.T.

MIXTAPE OF THE YEAR
King Remembered in Time – Big K.R.I.T

Big KRIT’s A King Remembered In Time was such a powerful effort that it’s possible in the longrun people might say it was a classic.

BEST NEW ARTIST
Troy Ave

Troy Ave won out as the best new artist in 2013, New York City: The Album, White Christmas 2 with DJ Drama were incredible records. Bringing back the gritty sounds and feel of New York City reminiscent of the Dipset, G-Unit or D-Block crews that overtook the last decade. Troy Ave dropped great music and let it be known his mission to restore the feeling once lost in Hip-Hop. With his BSB crew, Young Lito and King Sevin it’ll be exciting to see what they bring to Hip-Hop in 2014.

VERSE of the YEAR
Kendrick Lamar’s Control Verse

Kendrick once again with the verse of the year in 2013, there were a lot of verses but we felt Kendrick’s verse had the biggest impact on Hip-Hop in 2013. Issuing challenges to every major artist in Hip-Hop while also challenging an entire coast all at once. Kendrick’s verse was one of the most news-worthy verses of the year.

Take it to the hole! (more…)

(Street Life City News) What a difference a year makes. Less than a year after Alicia Keys was announced as the first ever Global Creative Director for BlackBerry, the two part ways.

In a statement to CTV News, Blackberry did not go into details about the reasoning for dissolving their collaboration with Keys but did highlight Keys work on the Blackberry Scholarship Program. Keys was apart of the advisory panel of the four year scholarship program designed to increase the number of women in specific technology fields.

Blackberry reported a shocking third quarter loss of $4.4 billion, considerably higher than its $965 million loss in the preceding quarter. A month before the company reported the third quarter losses, its former CEO Thorsten Heins left the company along with BlackBerry’s Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear, Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben and Chief Financial Officer Brian Bidulka. Street Life City will keep you up to dated with more information regarding this matter.

This is a horrible way to start the new year. (more…)