Stalley is prepping the release of his long-awaited debut album, Ohio, which drops October 28th. The Massillon, Ohio native and MMG artist stopped by Sway in the Morning to talk about his forthcoming project and what people can expect from it. He also shared his thoughts on the Michael Brown situation, named some of his lyrical influences, and touched on the brief differences between Meek Mill and Wale. Stalley also spit a dope freestyle. Peep the interview and freestyle below.

Jonathan Parker lay unconscious in a pool of his own blood on Memphis' iconic Beale Street around 2 a.m. on Sunday, August 10th, as people gathered around him recording videos and snapping pictures of his motionless body. No one was shown alerting authorities.

Footage of the incident quickly went viral, attracting attention from local law enforcement, the Beale Street Merchants Association, and the Downtown Memphis Commission.

The three agencies agreed on a plan to limit the potential for a similar occurrence in the future. They would charge Beale visitors a $10 fee to access the street after midnight on Sunday mornings whenever the street seems overcrowded.

"We don't want the message to be that anytime you come to Beale, you're going to have to pay to get on. Beale will remain a free block party 99 percent of the time," said Paul Morris, president of Downtown Memphis Commission. "We'll only implement when necessary to ensure public safety. We don't like it. Merchants lose money on it; they don't like it."

The fee was introduced the week following the Parker incident. Money collected from the fee, which will be implemented on a case-by-case basis, will be used for daytime and nighttime security patrol.

In addition to limiting crowds, the fee was introduced to make police and security more visible and make it easier for them to patrol the area, Morris said.

Some people, however, think the fee is arbitrary and could be used in a way to limit the city's African-American and disadvantaged populations' access to Beale Street.

Memphian Justin Bailey opposes the fee and said he refuses to pay a cover charge to walk on a public street.

"You're talking about closing off a city street that all people should have access to and enjoy regardless of income, race, or anything else," Bailey said. "I think it's too much power in the hands of the merchants association without any oversight to dictate who can and who can't go down on Beale Street. I think it's targeted toward minorities, and I think they're the ones who are going to be disproportionately affected by it. If you look at the make-up of Beale Street patrons, it's us, and it's a lot of us just on the street, which shows you that we may not want to pay a $10 entry fee to go into the club. We may just want to go hang out on the street because it's free."

Morris said the policy would ensure the safety of African Americans rather than have a discriminatory impact, considering they make up the majority of the street's traffic during the wee hours of the morning on weekends. He said he hates the fee, but he found it necessary to protect Beale's reputation.

"Put yourself in the shoes of the person who's responsible on Sunday morning when somebody's lying in a pool of their own blood," Morris said. "What would you do next weekend to make sure that didn't happen? Maybe you would do something different, but maybe you can understand that what we did is reasonable. As awkward as it is for me to have to explain to people why we have to charge that [fee], I feel a lot better about being awkward and uncomfortable about spending a $10 fee than I would feel having to explain another young man lying face down in a pool of his own blood on the street."

By Louis Goggans

Enjoying a cocktail or two won't kill you, but over-consumption of alcoholic beverages isn't good for one's health.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Alex Dopico, professor and chair of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) Department of Pharmacology, has researched alcohol’s effects on ion channel proteins in the central nervous system and brain circulation.

In 2009, Dopico was awarded a $3.6 million Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dopico was permitted to use the award over a 10-year period for his alcohol studies, which involves him researching the effects of alcohol on BK channels in excitable cells, such as central neurons and brain arterial smooth muscle.

The first half of Dopico’s MERIT Award expired this past June. He was recently awarded a $1.85 million extension to fund the remaining five years of his research. With the additional funding, Dopico seeks to develop drugs that target the proteins within cells that control the physiological and behavioral changes associated with alcohol intoxication in order to prevent or reverse those effects, according to a UTHSC press release.

“My job is to find molecular sites and mechanisms by which alcohol affects excitable tissue physiology, and thus agents that fight the consequences of alcohol intoxication in the brain,” Dopico said in a statement. “To do that, you need to find the protein sites where alcohol docks or interacts, and we had a very critical breakthrough in the BK channel protein.”

Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year in the United States from 2006 to 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, excessive drinking was responsible for one in 10 deaths among adults aged 20 — 64 years. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion, or $1.90 a drink.

By Louis Goggans

Long before Juicy J enjoyed commercial acclaim as a solo artist, he was part of Three 6 Mafia, one of rap music's most successful collectives. Following the group's first Platinum album, When The Smoke Clears, and their movie, Choices, Juicy released his debut album, Chronicles of the Juice Man, in 2002.

Juicy used a large portion of the album as an outlet to vent his frustrations with the incarceration of Project Pat, his older brother. The project was also a platform for him to provide listeners with that raw, bass/sample-heavy sound that popularized Three 6 during the early 90's.

One of my favorite tracks off Chronicles of the Juice Man is "Name It After Me." Over a sample of David Ruffin's "Statue of a Fool," Juicy smoothly flows about the lavish lifestyle he's acquired from hard work before lyrically placing himself in the shoes of a disadvantaged man hustling to survive and provide for his family. Former Hypnotize Minds artist Frayser Boy also contributes a verse on the song. Peep it below.

Southern rap collective Tru's album, Tru 2 Da Game, boasted several classics that I still enjoy listening to nowadays. The musical chemistry that the three Miller brothers shared complimented Beats by the Pound's dope production exceptionally.

The album's "Gangstas Make The World Go Round," which features Mr. Serv-On, is one of my favorite cuts by the trio. Check it out below.