That NJ Ish

(Video) That NJ Ish: Karen Civil Discusses Her Career On Ebro In The Morning

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

Karen Civil x hot 97

Karen Civil has come a long way from Elizabeth, New Jersey. The digital trap star is currently moving all around the country on a motivational speaking tour, while simultaneously writing a book, running a huge website, her Live Civil brand, the career of Nipsey Hussle and more. Oh, and there’s that whole Beats By Dre thing, the WeezyThanxYou thing, the digital campaigns for Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Mary J. Blige…the list goes on. My girl is out here killin’!

Stopping by Ebro In The Morning at Hot 97 on Friday, KC discussed her humble beginning as a Hot 97 intern, and how she moved up the ranks from Dip Set, to Lil Wayne, to Beats to now being THE one and only Karen Civil. Check out the inspirational interview below. JERSEY, son!

P.S. Rosenberg, everyone “knows who the f*ck Marisa Mendez is.” The streets love the kid. Ha!
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(Video) That NJ Ish: Fetty Wap Talks “Trap Queen,” Being In Love and More On Ebro In The Morning

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

Fetty Wap_LifeIsTremendez

Jersey, we have another burgeoning star on our hands! As our movement keeps growing with DJs (like Hot 97‘s newest additions, Drewski and DJ Naim,) media personalities (like myself, Karen Civil,) producers (Cardiak, Mike Zombie) and rappers on the come-up like Dougie F and Zombie (he fits here too,) we have another one to add to the list! Paterson native Fetty Wap is taking over the clubs in the Garden State with his breakout hit “Trap Queen,” and hopefully he’ll soon be taking over airwaves around the world with it as well. Now that he’s officially signed to Lyor Cohen, Todd Moskowitz and Kevin Liles‘ 300 label, anything can happen!

After Funk Flex premiered what he called the “biggest record in Jersey” on Monday night, Fetty Wap made his way over to Hot 97 to sit down with Ebro and Laura Stylez for Ebro In The A.M. yesterday morning.

The question on everyone’s mind is what happened to his eye, but unfortunately, he chose to remain mum on that for now. He says one day the story will come out, but for now, he likes the mystery and says that the fans seem to appreciate it as well. A quick scroll down his Instagram page shows that it happened in late February of this year, but that’s all we know!

Fetty did, however, reveal the very interesting process to “Trap Queen” coming to fruition, and admitted that he is in love with his girlfriend of a little under 3 years. Sorry ladies! Oh, and he just started music last year. What a start he’s off to, huh? Get the full 411 in the interview below!
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(Video) That NJ Ish: Saturday Night Live Uses Woodbridge High School For Cameron Diaz Skit

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

LifeIsTremendez_Woodbridge High School x Saturday Night Live x Cameron Diaz

I have to share this awesome skit from Saturday Night Live this past weekend! I never watch the show, but I just so happened to catch this episode because I was actually there for the taping, thanks to my girl Christina and her hubby/SNL cast member, Kenan.

Though the actual skit has nothing to do with my alma mater aside from using its name (that’s not even our sign,) I almost fell off the chair when I heard ‘Woodbridge High School‘ being name-dropped! Go Barrons! It makes total sense that this happened, because Cameron Diaz (who stars in the skit) and I are pretty much best friends, after we were on the same flight from NJ to LA earlier this year and we smiled at each other. I’m sure she knew I was coming because of our BFF telepathic connection, and told the writers to incorporate my high school into the show. Amiright?

Check out the hilarious skit below, which features Cameron as a weird theater kid, and Kenan Thompson and Vanessa Bayer as annoyed parents forced to sit through the avant-garde performance. (The boxes are definitely the best part!)
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Music Video: Mike Zombie – 616

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Mike Zombie

New Jersey native Mike Zombie was introduced to the masses in 2013, when Drake released his Grammy-nominated single “Started From The Bottom” with Zombie on the track. After discovering Mike in 2012 through their mutual friend, battle rapper Hollow Da Don, Drake signed him to a production deal on his OVO Sound imprint, and as they say, the rest is history.

Most recently, Mike had the likes of the legendary Jay Z, the newly-released Remy Ma, Meek Mill, Rick Ross and French Montana on one of his beats, courtesy of DJ Khaled‘s “They Don’t Love You No More“…but Mike isn’t only a producer. The talented 22-year-old has been simultaneously crafting his skills as a lyricist for as long as he’s been producing, and has put out numerous projects over the years. Rapping over all of his own beats of course, Mike‘s most recent project was 2013’s The End Of The Beginning, which spawned his current single and video, “616.” Though one would assume the song’s title is in reference to an area code of some sort, it’s actually an ode to a local haunt that Mike and his friends apparently had some epic times at in their late teens.

The video has been spinning on MTV Jams and mtvU for the last month, and is now up to be put in rotation on mtvU with help from fan votes! I hadn’t stumbled on Mike‘s rapping until just recently so I wasn’t going to post the video, but in the spirit of garnering more votes, here it is. Check it out below and MAKE SURE YOU GO HERE TO VOTE! Amazing talent coming out of New Jersey? You know I’m supporting this one!
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That NJ Ish: What To Expect From Jay Z’s Mom’s New Restaurant In Newark

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

LIT_Diamondz N Da Ruff

Earlier this week, we learned that Jay Z‘s mother, Gloria Carter, opened a new restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, after photos of Bey and Jay attending the grand opening surfaced on the web. The story didn’t elaborate very much on Gloria‘s new eatery, but we now have more details!

Mama Carter co-owns Diamondz N Da Ruff (*cringes*) with partners Peggie Miller of Newark and Debra Holmes of Jersey City. The restaurant is open 6 days a week (from Tuesday to Sunday) and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it features a small stage for live music and open mic and karaoke nights. The menu is mainly American-based with food like paninis, crab cake sandwiches, salads and sliders.

Will her famous son and daughter-in-law be hitting that stage? “They’re definitely coming to support their mom,” Gloria told the Star Ledger. As for the eatery’s name:

“A diamond comes from coal. Once coal is pressured, it becomes beautiful. We all know struggle. We’re coming from struggle to make this a beautiful thing.”

If you’d like to eat at the [horribly named] restaurant, you can stop by Diamondz N Da Ruff at 71 Clay Street, Newark, NJ.
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(Photos) That NJ Ish: Jay Z & Beyonce Head To Newark For The Opening Of His Mother’s Restaurant

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

Jay Z & Beyonce in Newark, NJ

As a New Jersey native, it always excites me when the greats come to our fabulous state! (Which they do often because we’re the best, obvz!) Over the weekend, Jay Z and Beyonce took a quick break from their ‘On The Run’ tour, and jetted over to the Garden State to attend the grand opening of his mom Gloria Carter’s new restaurant in Newark, Diamondz N Da Ruff. Hov’s mother has been living in New Jersey for many years now, so it comes as no surprise that she’d open a business here as well. No word on the type of food they’ll be serving just yet, but as for the name – we couldn’t think of anything a little less…hood?

Oh, and good news for fans of Bey-Z: the rumored-to-be “troubled” couple mingled for around 15 minutes for the ribbon cutting and champagne toast, and were all smiles with each other and with Jay’s mom. There were no professional photographers allowed either, so it seems as though this was genuine and not for the media! Check out more pics from the event below. JERSEY, son!
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(Photos) Celebrating The 1-Year Anniversary Of MGK’s Debut Album [Atlantic City, NJ]

Marisa Mendez Leave a Comment

tumblr_n4befmpEns1qbuv6no5_1280

MGK had a show down in AC around the same time as the 1-year-anniversary of his debut album Lace Up dropping, as well as the birthdays of his hypeman Slim, his road manager Dre and his drummer Rook.

Since they’re all the homies, I had a cake made (thanks Julie!) and went with my girls and little brother down to the show to surprise the guys. MGK also got to finally perform “Wild Boy” with Steve-O that night!
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