Loon set to release sophomore album independently

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Harlem-based rapper Loon will release his sophomore album, No Friends, on August 29th on his own Boss Up Entertainment label in conjunction with X-Ray Records. The set is the rapper's first release since leaving Bad Boy Records in 2004.

Loon said in a released statement, "The reason I called it No Friends is because this is the first project that I've put together by myself. I put it together to put something out for the streets and show some diversity and balance, things I never got to show on Bad Boy. This is me collaborating with my own artists and putting together some treats that people might not be used to be hearing from Loon."

The new project will include the Mase diss track, "What Happened To Pastor?" The two friends fell out last year and have been going at each other ever since.

Loon has traveled a long road before going the independent route. The rapper was signed to Tommy Boy Records and Arista Records before releasing his self-titled debut on Bad Boy Records in 2003.

The rapper explained how his experiences have turned him into a great businessman: "I would never acknowledge those situations as depressing or degrading or anything negative. I can honestly say through all those experiences it shaped and molded me to be a very sharp businessman."