Three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), a new artist is featured on XXLMag.com’s The Break. An ideal destination for fans, artists, and industry members, The Break showcases up and coming talent, giving a brief introduction on the artist or group, and highlighting some of their standout music. Each month, industry insiders will team with XXL to rate and comment on the submissions.

For the month of May, Taylor Gang producer Cardo—who will serve as one of three judges—checked out the section to see what yesterday’s talent (The Dean’s List) had to offer. Check out his comments below.

The Dean’s List
Overall: XL

The Dean’s List “Youth” (to see more from The Dean’s List, click here)

This is some dope shit! I like the whole “Electronic mixed with Rap” type of music “The Deans List” can flow his ass off. They have their own lane and doesn’t sound like anybody or trying to sound like anybody. All they gotta do is stay consistent with the music and keep going hard. The “Dear Professor” and “Youth” are some deep but fun songs and I know the world would enjoy the music they present! Keep it coming and look forward to hearing more as well. 

The “Cool Grey” Air Jordan XII’s will be debuting this Saturday, May 19th, 2012.

This new colorway features a grey nubuck upper, accompanied with a white sole and also a white-pebbled leather mudguard. The cool grey, team orange and white colorway is inspired by Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats, who recently posted the worst regular season record and winning percentage in NBA history. The orange accents that appears throughout the shoe makes the “Cool Grey XII s” the perfect kicks to compliment summer outfits.

These Cool Greys will be available for $160 at Jordan Brand retailers, but expect long lines full of sneaker enthusiasts looking to add these never-before released kicks to their collection. If sneakerheads are interested in possibly avoiding camping out, check out Nike’s newly implemented Twitter RSVP System.

If fans of the Jordan XII’s and are unable to get their hands on the “Cool Greys,” the Obsidian/White-French Blue-University Blue colorway are being Retro’ed for the first time ever, and will hit shelves on June 23rd. The OG “Obsidians” dropped in 1997, and in 2004 the Jordan brand released a low-cut version mirroring the color schemes.

The Air Jordan XII’s were originally released in 1997 and were the first Air Jordan sneakers in the Jordan Brand Line. The XII’s were the first Jordans to not have the Nike “Swoosh” logo anywhere on the shoe, including the insole. The original release of the Air Jordan XII’s in 1997 was also the last Air Jordans to come in a Nike shoebox.— Christian Bonoan (@chrisakachise)

Kanye appears in the trailer to the next coming season of E!‘s popular “Keeping Up With the Karadashian.”

On Friday (May 11), Project Canvas held an auction in lower Manhattan’s Opera Gallery. The creative collective had many custom kicks on display designed by some of the hottest celebrities in the entertainment industry.  Hosted by the multi-talented Nick Cannon, who also had his own version of Canvas kicks, the event brought out the hipsters, socialites, fashion designers and rappers like Big KRIT and Peter Gunz, to list a few.

Special prize packages were auctioned off exclusively for party attendees. Nick Cannon won the highest bid at $21,000 for an Audemars Piguet Diver’s watch along with its own custom Project Canvas shoe. Another item up for grabs was Mariah Carey with Crystal Icing’s blinged out sneaker which sold for $2,ooo. Carey also appeared in person to support her hubby Nick.

Aside from the celebrities in the room, there were many aspiring art students who also participated in the project. XXL asked one artist, Philadelphia’s Bariq Cobbs, what some of the highlights of the affair were for him and he said, “When Nick and Mariah walked in.” He adds, “Also painting the skateboard and sneakers. The dopest sneakers were MY SNEAKS, Mr.Brainwash.”

100% of the proceeds from the Project Canvas auction will go to the Urban Arts Partnership, an organization that helps troubled youth through art programs attending Title 1 schools in New York City.  The public will also have a chance to bid in a week long online auction for shoes designed by their favorite celebs like Ellen DeGeneres and Sponge Bob, among others, during a week long auction. —Chanel Clark

If you woke up from a Saturday afternoon nap to an e-mail about a pool party at Joe Budden’s crib, you’d probably have trouble rolling over and going back to sleep, too. When King Magazine capo Sean Malcolm hit me this past Saturday with the details for he and Joey’s spontaneous poolside celebration (The occasion? 2012′s first 80-degree day, of course) my only concern was getting out to Jersey’s boondocks before the fun was done. By the time me and my homie Kelz arrived, the sun was setting but the party was far from over. Most of the night’s events will have to remain private, but I was able to snap a few non-incriminating pics and chop it up with some of the beautiful ladies and major players who stopped by. Luckily, Joey was able to capture the rest of the madness on his Instagram (see the gallery above). If this is a sign of things to come, it’s gonna be a long hot summer. — Calvin Stovall (@calvinstovall)

YouHeardThatNew.com mastermind Low Key held things down on the grill while Joey got his Principal Joe Clark on and made announcements on his trustee megaphone. He didn’t demand that all of the ladies remove their swimsuits expeditiously, but he did have to use the megaphone to ask everyone to keep it down and remember to close his gate because he has “large animals and white neighbors.”

VADO posted up by the pool to take in the sights on the warm Saturday evening.

Sean Malcolm living a KING’s lifestyle with Rosee and Stephanie Santiago.

The U.K.’s Carmel Candy and NYC’s Ms. Lola Jose chill by the gazebo as things wind down.

As part of his new series #MystikalMonday, Mystikal drops the first single off his upcoming mixtape Origins which is set to drop late July.

Also Check Out: “Favorite Girl”

And: “Get Stupid”

Name: G.BUB

Age: 27

Reppin’: North Bronx

My style and/or skills have been compared to: No one, I say that with confidence not arrogance. Listen to the music you be the judge.

My standout records and/or moments have been: “1’2 Thing” which I shot a video for, “Get Stupid” which was produced by I.N.F.O and “Favorite Girl” for my ladies.

I’m gonna change the game by: Being myself and making gangster rap look good again.

I’d like to work with: Missy Elliot, Timbaland, Kanye West and RZA.

My goal in hiphop is: to have longevity, get wealthy, be consider on of the best and create opportunities for others.

I’m gonna be the next: Great one ! Again It’s the confidence speaking.

To check out more of my music go to: www.bonafiedmusicgroup.com, www.youtube.com/user/BONAFIEDMUSIC, @Gutta_BUB, @BonafiedMusic.

Smoke DZA releases the the first single off his upcoming Rugby Thompson project which will be entirely produced by Harry Fraud.

The Ying Yang Twins are prepping a comeback, and in doing so they hop on LoveRance’s current radio hit “Up”

Prodigy has some words for his lady interest in the video for new single, “Gangsta Love.”

Travis Porter clears the street in the new video for new single “Aww Yeah” off their upcoming debut From Day 1, set to drop May 29.

Mistah F.A.B. releases this new, heartfelt visual dedicated to his late mother…

Despite their group success, the two would split twice during their over 20 year spanning career. Within those breakups, Parrish released a few solo albums including 1994′s Shade Business, 1996′s Business Is Business and two others.

As he celebrates his birthday today, XXLMag.com would like to wish PMD a very happy G day. Salute!—XXL Staff

As the saying goes, hard work pays off but in the case of 21-year-old rising producer KeY Wane, keys open doors.

Producing since the age of 13, Wane, real name, Dwane M. Weir II, is currently hearing his name ring bells following his work on Meek Mill’s current Dreamchasers 2 smash “Amen” (also co-produced by Jahlil Beats)—a track that also features Drake and Jeremih.  A talent on the piano keys, the Detriot native has been infusing these skills into his melodric-driven backdrops for a few years now and can be heard on his joints with the likes of Big Sean (“Memories,” “Almost Wrote You A Love Song”), Tyga (“Potty Mouth”), Chevy Woods (“Down”) and more.  In fact, it was just last month that the Tennessee State University senior signed a co-publishing deal with good friend and frequent collaborator Big Sean.

Balancing both his music career and school life, Wane recently took some time to speak with XXLMag.com about a range of topics including producing “Amen” for Meek, juggling school and music, relationship with Big Sean and more.—Ralph Bristout (@XXLRalph)

Now you got a scorcher with this Meek Mill single, tell me how did that record come about?

It was during Christmas break. I went back to Detroit and brought my keyboard with me. So, I was listening to these old records and just caught this vibe.  I’m not too heavy on sampling, just because of legal things so, I was like ‘Man, what if I did this? Switched it up like this, added this, take this ’ I was like just reconstructing and adding my own ideas, and at first it sounded a little kind of bland to me but then I just kept listening to it. I just added, kept enhancing the sound; it sounded really on deck as shit to me. I let Sean hear the same night [and] he was like, “Man, this shit cold, nigga.” I was like I got to get it placed so I sent it to Meek and he fell in love with it.

Did you intentionally make “Amen” for Meek?

Well, when I make beats, I kind of have a thought in mind of whom I want to send it to. When I made [“Amen”], I went to the studio and [Big] Sean heard it. I asked him to put a hook on it [and] from there I was like “Alright, cool. Let’s see what I can do with it.” The hook was cold, but Sean went out to L.A. a couple of months later and was like, “Yeah, the song is cool, but the hook is a little [iffy]. So, I was like, ‘Alright, well, I’m about to send it to Meek.’ He said, “Yeah, that nigga will definitely rip that.” So, I sent to Meek, and he hit me up saying, “Man that shit cold. I’m about to make this shit my single.”

That must have been some kind of feeling.

I was like, ‘Oh shit.’ So, I called Sean —‘cause Sean my nigga, man. He been helping me out since before I took myself serious with music.  I was like, ‘Dawg, this nigga Meek want to use my shit as single. He like, “Yeah, man. You out of there. He played it for me last night.” I’m like, ‘Oh shit. How it sound?’ ‘Cause I aint hear it and he heard it before me. “That shit cold, nigga.” Soon after a lot of people were hitting me up on Twitter like, “You out of there with this “Amen” track!” Hit-Boy even hit me and was like, “You out of there with that “Amen”.” From there I was like, ‘Damn. this shit must be [crazy].’

How long ago was this?

This was like last week.

Wow. Then Jahlil Beats hopped on to tweak it a bit right?

Yeah. I remember my original drums on the track, they were a little iffy ‘cause I did the melody correct but the drums weren’t on deck like they should. So, Meek was like, “Yo send me a track out; I’m going to have Jahlil or Cardiak go in over it.” So then, it end up being Jahlil and like the progression on the drums they were like the same but you know Jahlil got that knock. So, he threw that knock on it [and] it was a great progress at the end of the day.

You’re getting a lot of praise for producing that record. As a burgeoning producer this is the perfect position to be in.

It’s a crazy feeling. I prayed for this. I waited for this. I remember as a kid, I remember asking God, ‘Thank you for this gift. Please continue to let me do great things.’ Ever since I planted that seed, it kept growing and growing. The love I’m getting it really humbles me.

Listening to your joints like Big Sean’s “Memories” and “Wrote You A Love Song,” Tyga’s “Hypnotized” as well as “Amen,” you seem to have a real melodic, piano-driven sound.  How did the piano become a instrument of choice for you?

I got into it while in middle school. I had a music class which was the last class before school let out. [One day] the teacher was telling us about instruments and she pointed to the piano, she was explaining the history of it and called up students to play with it. After I got done playing the keys, I really just got into it. I told my mom [and] she bought me a keyboard, a ton of music software [and] other inexpensive stuff to get me started. I would just be at the crib. It would be a bunch of classical music pieces like some Mozart stuff and I would play it and throw a drum loop to it. I would just rock to it.

Now you’re a senior at Tennessee State University, how do you juggle school life with being a producer?

I make time for it. I remember I came in the class late one day and my piano teacher asked, “Why are you late?” I had just got off my flight from Los Angeles so I was like, ‘I was working on an album with Def Jam artist Big Sean and I was I there, I met Common.’ She said, “Are you serious?” I showed her a picture and she said, “So why are you in school?” ‘Cause my mom wants me to get my degree.’ I feel like in the music industry its my plan, its my dream and plan A, B and C but you never know what could happen tomorrow. I would rather have my degree for these “just in case” situations.

Earlier you referred to Big Sean being a good friend. What’s the relationship like between you two?

I’ve been sending tracks to Sean since I was about 15-years-old. He always told me back in high school that he was going to rap on my beats as I got better with my craft so, as the years passed I kept growing musically and he kept growing musically. He [finally] rapped to one of my tracks, which was the “4 My People” track that was on the XXL’s 10 Freshman for ’10 mixtape. After that I landed placements with Tyga (“Drink The Night Away”), produced “Memories” and “Love Song” (Co-Produced by No I.D.) for Sean and ended up with a placement on his Finally Famous debut album.

Right after that album, you worked on other joints as well.

[Yeah] I ended up on Tyga’s Careless World album and had placements with Chip Tha Ripper, No I.D., Chevy Woods, Rockie Fresh etc. Sean was impressed.

So impressed that he signed you to a co-publishing deal. How did that happen?

He had a show in Nashville, I think last November. So when I was done with school, Sean told me to come through to the show and right after it we went to a studio. On our way to the studio, he was like “I wanna sign you bro.” I was like “Fosho,” so, I continued to work and send him tracks and work on getting placements with other artists. In the meantime, he went to London to work on the G.O.O.D. album with the label [and while there] told me to send him some tracks while he was out there to play for Kanye. He played one that Kanye liked, so Sean and an A&R from G.O.O.D. [Music] hit me up and asked to send the track that ’Ye liked, as soon as I could. Right after I sent it, I got a phone call from Mike Brinkley (Sean’s management) and he asked me was I in any music situations with anybody. I said no so he then said, “We have the contract ready for you to sign your co-publishing deal with Sean. You should be getting it next week.” I was hype. I received the contract, my attorney looked it over, I signed and everything has been even more on deck since then.

Recently a joint dropped from Sean featuring Wale titled “Life Should Go On,” word is that you produced it.

That was a leak man. I was kind of mad. I was chillin’, watching TV and my phone vibrated and I saw somebody tweet, “Man, this is cold as shit. New music from Big Sean and Wale, ‘Life Should Go On’ produced by Key Wane.” I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ So, I had looked on Sean’s page, see if he put it out [and] he didn’t so I was like, ‘How is somebody going to tweet this before him?’ From there I figured, ‘It’s a leak.’ I was pissed, but everything getting worked out though. Everything is gonna be straight.

Who have you been working with in the studio lately?

I’m working with Jeremih right now. I can’t speak on too much, but just know that me and him got a banger on the way.

That’s dope. I know you and Sean have work on the way as well. What can you tell us about his upcoming sophomore album?

I can’t really [speak much on it] because there’s a lot of stuff they’ve been recording when I haven’t been around but, I can tell you that he has a good body of work. It’s a great growth from Finally Famous. Looking past the friendship that me and Sean have and just listening to it as a listener—he just played me a bunch of shit— it’s that good. I ain’t even trying to brag on it, but that shit is that good.

Photography courtesy of Chris Green Photography and Cuemadi

REPS: Jamaica and Fayetteville, NC

STATS: 34C-25-39

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: “Jet Beauty of the Week (Jan 9th).”

FAVORITE ARTIST: “I don’t have a favorite, I listen to a lot of artists as well as different genres, but I’m currently feeling up-and-coming female rap artist NaTee. I love her style, and her flow is hypnotic and real. She is a breath of fresh air.”

FAVORITE VIDEO: “Mary J and Wyclef Jean “911″ because I love the concept of the video. It has a story-line, and I love that. Not too mention, it was a hot collaboration between two dynamic artists. It is also my favorite song.”

DREAM MODELING JOB: “Being the face for Cover Girl. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I don’t see too many African American women being used to brand their products; I would love to try and be the face to help change that. I’m breezy and beautiful.”

SEX APPEAL: “My look is very different. It’s enticing and exotic. I tend to draw people in with my eyes. They are very captivating. My lips give me the most sex appeal; they are full and luscious. People direct their attention to them almost immediately.”

TURN-ON: “A big turn-on to me is consistency. I like for someone to give their all, 100%. You get what you put in, and if you’re consistent, the results should get better and better with time.”

SOCIAL MEDIA: @Jamaican_B3auty

WEB CANDY SUBMISSIONS:
Are you an aspiring model or know someone that feels worthy of being XXL Web Candy of the Week? Submit your best shots to us at XXLWebCandy@harris-pub.com for consideration. Good luck!