I made it out to Tampa for the first time ever to celebrate Plies’ first annual “Really From Da Hood” weekend. Here’s the first of Big Gates’ footage from the festivities, but what we’re really waiting for is to see how the Stripathon turned out on the last night.

Check it out for cameos from Keyshia Dior, Mike Kyser, NeNe Leakes, Mz Berry, and many others. Shout out to Robin from balleralert.com who was with us all weekend too!

Previously: Jamie Foxx Did Not Smash the Homie…

The nominations for the 53rd annual Grammy Awards were announced last night (12/1) and hip hop is definitely representing. Eminem earned the most nominations with 10, Bruno Mars landed 7, Jay-Z picked up 6, B.o.B. & John Legend both got 5, Cee-Lo picked up 4 and Drake earned 3 including one for best new artist.  Here are some of the nominations…

Album Of The Year

Eminem – Recovery
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

Record Of The Year

B.o.B (feat. Bruno Mars) – “Nothin’ On You”
Eminem (featuring Rihanna) – “Love The Way You Lie”
Cee-Lo Green – “Fuck You”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State Of Mind”
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”

Best Rap Solo Performance

Drake – “Over”
Eminem – “Not Afraid”
Ludacris – “How Low”
T.I. – “I’m Back”
Kanye West – “Power”

Best Rap Performace By A Duo Or Group

Big Boi & Cutty – “Shutterbugg”
Drake, T.I. & Swizz Beatz – “Fancy”
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz – “On To The Next One”
Ludacris & Nikki Minaj – “My Chick Bad”
Young Jeezy & Plies – “Lost My Mind”

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

B.o.B & Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ On You”
Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall – “Deuces”
Eminem & Rihanna - “Love The Way You Lie”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State Of Mind”
John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common – “Wake Up! Everybody”

Best Rap Song
*songwriters award

“Empire State Of Mind” -  (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys)
“Love The Way You Lie” – (Eminem & Rihanna)
“Not Afraid” – (Eminem)
“Nothin’ On You” – (B.o.B & Bruno Mars)
“On To The Next One” (Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz)

Best Rap Album

B.o.B – The Adventures Of Bobby Ray
Drake – Thank Me Later
Eminem – Recovery
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
The Roots – How I Got Over

Best Contemporary R&B Album

Chris Brown – Graffiti
R. Kelly – Untitled
Ryan Leslie – Transition
Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
Usher – Raymond V Raymond

Click here for the full list of nominations 

The Grammy Awards will air live February 13th from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and on CBS.

Previously: Will Eminem Win Album Of The Year At The Grammys?

Plies talks about headlining his first tour, a 24-city run. Then he discusses his 3 1/2 weeks of abstinence, how he doesn’t “yank” himself or watch porn, and how he’s screams during sex like he screams on his records sometimes. He said he asks questions during sex and answers them himself:

Plies tells the story of how he got Bae, the teacup Yorkie he planned to give away to a fan the day his album dropped. He says he still wants visiting rights from whoever gets the dog, and to make certain that the person won’t sell her either. Then he explains his non profit, Power of Vision, to assist prisoners and their families:

The ladies call in and tell Plies what they would do to him. Apparently he doesn’t like being tied up, but he does like a lot of spit during Becky, and for you to look him in the eyes:

“There’s something about that spit that do it to me every time.”

Plies addresses Jamie Foxx’s allegations that he ran at his video shoot in LA, the haters, and how he keeps his private life under wraps. And yes, he was the homecoming king!

“I don’t believe none of those dudes.. for me the writing is on the wall. Look at the lies, x amount of beef that you know about in hip hop. What happened? Wasn’t no gunplay. Nobody got killed. I feel like if you ain’t ready to go to that point you shouldn’t talk about it.”

He goes on to state that certain people have to pay to come to LA, and that it’s the code of the street.

“You got certain ones that gotta pay money, like the ones that pay to gangbang. Like Baby and Lil’ Wayne, they come over they gotta pay. It depends how big your pockets is. We gonna run through your pockets man… you gotta take care of whole neighborhoods.”

Plies talks about starting his goonette sorority at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, FL. Then his brother Big Gates gets on the mic and gives some of his history, including his 5 years in college as a history major, pledging Kappa, and wanting to go to law school to defend himself in an indictment involving 100 kilos of crack cocaine.

Plies reveals why he won’t even let his own friends come to his house, after he went to jail in Gainesville and returned home to discover one of his own boys who had been with him 2 days prior to him reporting to prison had robbed his home.

Part 1

Watch Plies and Big Gates address the allegations that Plies rhymes about his brother’s life on his records:

“What’s the big deal, what’s all the hoopla about. I’m just talking about principles. I ain’t on my album talking about I done been to prison twice…I’m just telling you about, in my opinion, what a real ni**a would not only do but what a real ni**a should stand for.”

Part 2

For the full interview click here.

Plies came by The Morning After, accompanied by his brother Big Gates. This is the first time Big Gates has been home from prison to join Plies as his album, “Goon Affiliated” drops, which is due in November. When asked why the album was delayed, he replied, “I like lining up against the big dogs, from what I’ve been told the big dogs come out in the 4th quarter.”

Plies seemed more comfortable than usual, perhaps because this is the second time I’ve interviewed him but more than likely it’s because he had his brother by his side. His debut album “The Real Testament,” was released in August 2007 and a little more than 2 years later he’s on his fourth album while other artists haven’t been able to release their first in that time span.

We addressed a lot of issues, including releasing a song like “Plenty Money” during harsh economic times, why radio stations received a cease and desist for the Gucci Mane “Wasted” record, why he doesn’t even trust his own boys, and how to weed out the good girls from the bad ones. Plies also sheds more light on “Becky” and why his nether regions are comparable to an Almond Joy as opposed to any other chocolate bar. And of course, there’s the always-lingering issue about whose life Plies raps about in his lyrics – is he talking about what his brother went through? Both of them weigh in on that topic as Big Gates has his first ever radio interview.

I learned a lot about Plies, so grab yourself an Almond Joy and listen up. The video will follow later this week.

On making “Plenty Money” during a recession:
“Regardless of the situation, coming from where I come from, I don’t think the recession just happened. It’s always been a part of the hood…anytime you have an opportunity to be in situations where you can make yourself be uplifted by certain things, I feel like the Plenty Money record did that.”

On the “Wasted” record getting pulled (it’s all handled now, he just shot the video):
“Just trying to take care of the business… I talked to Gucci when he was locked up… and he didn’t really know what record he wanted me to do with him so when he came home he ended up sending the record over. I felt like the record was a hit the first time I heard it so we did the record but he put the record on his mixtape, so we didn’t even know it was gonna be a part of his album. And then we seen the record gaining legs, so when my brother came home he actually reached out … like he tell me all the time, this game wouldn’t be business if you didn’t take care of the business … I feel like this money ain’t my money, this the label money. And for me I feel like just outta respect if I deal with you I don’t do swapout. I’m gonna get you a check from my situation and you get me a check from your situation. Gucci can tell me he $100,000 I’m gonna pay him $100,000… A lot of times labels try to send you in there and work out deals with other artists to save the label money, not saying that it shouldn’t be about that, but I feel like who I am to tell you what you should be charging.”

On his mainstream marketability:
“I’m not a safe artist. And I think at the same time on the endorsement side of this game people would rather deal with safe things and I fight with the label all the time because for my music you can’t put it in with your kids in the car and play it and feel safe with it. But for a lot of cats that’s selling millions and millions of records, you can put their music in and play it around your kids and I know that’s the risk I’m taking. But I’d rather do it my way.”

Plies talks to a listener and describes why he does this:
“I do this shit for the feel and I lost a lot to be sitting in this chair right now. My brother ain’t been a part of not 1 album that I had, in terms of physically being here to be a part of it. Just had a couple of my homeboys, the situation we got jammed up with in Gainesville, just came home. I just had a chance to see them last week. So for me man, to see a diverse group of people that migrate to my situation such as yourself. At the end of the day this is what makes me feel like this is worth it. Cuz if you had a chance to be a part of this game and this situation, if you like to be lied to then this is the business for you. And I feel like a lot of that goes on, a lot of the kissing ass that I really don’t stand for is a part of this game and to see people embrace my situation such as yourself for me, I salute you for it, I thank you for it, and if it wasn’t for these type of calls at the end of the day it wouldn’t be worth it for me. Me and my brother talk about it all the time. I’m not an artist that’s afraid to leave the game because I believe enough in myself and my abilities and the people around me that I can go do something else and be successful. I might not make as much money as I done made with this particular situation.”

Plies goes on to say he doesn’t negotiate when it comes to his principles, and he would not work with any artist or promoter just for the money. He needs to have respect for a person and what they do.

No interview is complete without discussing the goonettes, and we just found out about a newly formed goonette sorority:
“A point person that was working on the situation just got confirmation probably about 3 or 4 days ago that Florida Gulf Coast University, it’s in Ft Myers, Florida, they just allowed us to start our first if you want to call it a sorority. But it’s a goonette thing and we’re trying to expand it as far as we can. We’re going into a lot of different college campuses, actually I should have another update probably about 4 o’clock today about 10 other institutions that were interested in letting the goonette movement be a part of their sorority culture on campus.”

Then Big Gates gets on the mic and does the first radio interview he’s had ever! He reveals that he’s a Kappa, went to college for 5 years, been to prison twice, and wanted to be a lawyer even when he went to prison on an indictment for conspiracy involving 100 kilos of crack cocaine. Big Gates picked a lot of the music for the album, named it, and helped pick collaborations. They talk about why Plies is so private, and why his own boys don’t even know where he lives.

On why he’s calmed down with the women:
“I done been around my share of women to kinda know within the first 5-7 minutes the type of individual I’m dealing with. For me I treat everybody for face value but at the same time I know it’s important for me to understand once again the situation that I’m in. A lot of times I done found myself in situations before when I was wildcatting and really didn’t put life into perspective. I kinda felt like sex and partying and all the things that most people gravitated toward sometime ain’t the best thing for you.”

Ladies, listen up. He has a process! He talks about valuing his penis and why he won’t just sleep with anyone. And then Big Gates and Plies speak about whether or not Plies raps about his brother’s life on his tracks. That part, you have to listen to!

And I recorded the live stream