AllHipHop Reports
In less than one month, fans of M.O.P. will receive the group’s first official Hip-Hop album in nearly ten years.
In a recent interview, co-founder Billy Danze exclusively revealed the release date for the group’s forthcoming E1 Records debut.
Originally scheduled for a June 2009 release, The Foundation is now set to hit stores on September 15.
The album features production by Alchemist, DJ Premier, Statik Selektah and Jake One, as well as guest appearances by Heltah Skeltah, Jadakiss, Beanie Sigel, Styles P, Redman, and Busta Rhymes, who graced the project’s lead single “Blow the Horns.”
“If you understand what’s going on, if you understand real dope music,” Danze told AllHipHop.com. “If you want some dope s**t to help get you out this dope music recession – ‘cause we getting all this wack s**t now, pick up that album September 15.”
Since parting ways with G-Unit Records in 2008, both Billy Danze and longtime rhyme partner Lil’ Fame have kept busy. Aside for steady performances as a duo, including this summer’s Rock The Bells Tour, which concluded in San Francisco on August 9, they’ve each gone on to establish themselves individually.
Though he plans on releasing a solo project, Fame has been honing his skills as a producer, amassing a resume that includes Wu-Tang Chamber Music, released in June.
Danze, who has released several solo tracks online, is much closer to the release of his own solo project, he says.
“It’s been working, I been getting a lot of good feedback,” he explains. “I got Alchemist on the production, Lil Fame, my man Tommy T. DJ Premier’s gonna slide me some s**t in a minute. It ain’t all the way done yet, I’m about halfway done, working on all the features."
While the combined five years on the rosters of Roc-A-Fella Records and G-Unit did not yield an official M.O.P. studio release, the fans received new music and remixes through several compilation projects, including 2004’s Mash Out Posse, a collaborative effort with rock band Shiner Massive.
Despite a certain amount of frustration, both Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame maintain they hold no ill feelings towards 50 Cent, Jay-Z or Dame Dash.
“50 was a fan like every other label that we signed to after the first deal we had with Select [Records],” Danze stated in a recent AllHipHop.com interview. “Every other situation after that, was because the people [signing the deal] was fans. As far as 50 goes, they never tried to change us. Dame Dash, same thing.”
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ESPN Reports
Carmelo Anthony is suing his former business manager, alleging he misappropriated more than $2 million of the Denver Nuggets star's assets.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, alleges that Anthony's former business manager, Larry W. Harmon, and employees of Larry Harmon & Associates P.A., breached their fiduciary duties by transferring $1.75 million of Anthony's money without his knowledge or consent to a company formed by Harmon, most of it in 2008.
Another $265,500 was discovered to have been invested in third parties without Anthony's knowledge or consent between 2005 and 2008, according to the lawsuit, which seeks recovery of the approximately $2 million, plus punitive damages.
"I intend to aggressively represent Carmelo Anthony," his Beverly Hills-based attorney, Robert W. Hirsh, told The Associated Press. "The evidence which I have reviewed strongly suggests that Carmelo Anthony's former business manager plundered his assets. It is reprehensible that professional athletes are so often victimized."
Reached at his office in Roseville, Calif., Harmon said he was unaware of the lawsuit.
He declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit or on his dealings with Anthony. "I guess I'll just wait and see what he alleges," Harmon said.
The discrepancies were discovered after Anthony ended his business relationship with Harmon and hired a new manager to manage his assets earlier this year, according to the lawsuit. That new financial management firm, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, discovered the financial discrepancies.
The lawsuit alleges that significant documents were missing when Harmon transferred Anthony's records to his new business manager.
"Further, portions of the books and records are miscoded in a deliberate attempt to hide moneys converted by defendants," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also contends that Harmon and the other defendants failed to produce any documents requested by Anthony's lawyer to explain the transfers of Anthony's money that are in question.
Anthony was the third selection in the 2003 NBA draft after leading Syracuse to the national title as a freshman. Last year, he led the Nuggets to their best season in 24 years after helping the U.S. team win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Anthony is entering the fourth year of a five-year, $80 million contract extension he signed in 2006.
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HipHopWired Reports
It seems that when established artists look to bring their team on and help create a career for them, that is never actually the case. Shady Records has began to chip away as it has lost members such as Obie Trice, Stat Quo and most recently Bobby Creekwater.
Another camp that has gathered a strong force behind it is CTE (Corporate Thugz Entertainment) which is run by rapper Young Jeezy. This camp, however, has been suffering the same fate as camps such as G-Unit with M.O.P. where artists are suppose to blow, but they never come with a project.
Recently, HipHopWired.com conducted an interview with Roccett who is a California-bred rapper that was under Jeezy's label. While DJ Drama made the statement that he was no longer with CTE, the rapper took some time out to actually clear up the speculation surrounding his business relationship with Jeezy.
“In life man, I feel like there's times where you have to make decisions that's better for you and your career. To be honest with you, Jeezy didn't really put out anybody. That's my boy and we cool, but there's no artists the he put out or was successful. I don't think that he put in a hard enough effort to put out an artist that would be successful.”
Although the business side may not have gone the way that he once thought, Roccett assured the fact that he understands that's just the way some things happen.
“I'm not knocking him because he's a rapper too, so at the end of the day he has to worry about his career so how can he really worry about yours unless he's really ready to take that role.”
Roccett states that no matter what the situation may be, he is still friends with Young Jeezy and is not sour about what transpired and only takes it as an extra push to make sure that he can make a name for himself even if he has to do it on a solo tip.
“I just feel like I have a good solid team behind me and I'm not trying to be in the music game to be somebody's sidekick. I want to be my own man and have my own music.”
Roccett released his mixtape Another Day Another Dollar with DJ Scream and is currently in the works of prepping his next mixtape tentatively titled Chronic 2009 or The Free Agent while shopping a new deal. For more info on the West Coast lyrical killer, log on to iamroccett.com and stay tuned for his upcoming feature with Hip-Hop Wired.
Check out his new video “I'm Getting Money/Bang Dat” below.
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NY Daily News Reports
Hey, Omarosa - you're inspired?
The reality show bad girl, best known for her appearances with Donald Trump on "The Apprentice," began studies this week to become a minister.
The swap of reality for spirituality began Monday at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Omarosa is studying for a doctorate of ministry.
When Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth arrived at the seminary, President Wendy Deichmann greeted her with a gift: A mustard seed.
The present referred to the biblical Parable of the Mustard Seed, where Jesus Christ compares the kingdom of heaven to a tiny seed that blossoms into something much bigger.
"Very few people have faith in my transformation, so this is a wonderful gift," Omarosa told her.
The doubters may have caught her villainous act on "The Apprentice" or another reality show, "The Surreal Life." And even Omarosa herself was a little nervous about the move.
"First day of school jitters," she wrote on her Twitter page.
Omarosa is studying the Old and New Testaments, along with the history of Christianity. Her education also requires field work among the sick and dying at local hospitals.
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HipHopWired Reports
Houston rapper Lil Flip has resurfaced from the underground and has already placed his foot on the gas as he is already prepared for his next release. Entitled, Respect Me, the upcoming project is set to hit stores on September 29.
His upcoming work is set to be produced by J Silva and will feature the likes of Keyshia Cole, E-40, Daz Dillinger and more. Oh, and of course it wouldn't make sense for any artist to release an album without the feature king, so of course Lil Wayne will also be leaving his mark on Flip's album. The first single is titled, “Da #1 Fly Boy.”
The album will also feature tracks such as “Respect Me” which brings fans into the life of the rapper as it delivers a scope of his past and present conducts and “Shawty Wanna Thugg” which should re-create the R&B magic that he had from his 2004 album, U Gotta Feel Me, on the track “Sunshine.”
For those that have been too busy snapping their fingers and making out with their cell phones in Hip-Hop, Lil Flip gained the peak of his notoriety through his beef with rapper T.I. and cuts like “Game Over” and “The Way We Ball.”
“The thing about this album is that it's so reflective of me, my music, life and lifestyle," says the 28-year-old Lil Flip. "Trust me; everything I rap about is based on truth. So when I rhyme dirty style about the Bentleys, the clubs, the platinum, the girls, my life's lessons or whatever, it's not bragging, it's just fact."
Flip will be distributing the record of course through E1 Entertainment. The independent label has clearly dug its foot into the dirt and maintained its stance as artists have been flocking there in order to get their musical projects out. What once was deemed to be the graveyard label has clearly made a resurrection and has now developed itself into the premier place to be if an artist wants to be an artist and release their own music without the pressures of major labels and record executives.
Not taking anything away from Flip and his mark as a rapper, but some may have been under the impression that when he made the song “Game Over,” it might have actually been like a swan song, ironically. Let' s see if he can still bring the heat.
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HipHopWired Reports
The United States Supreme Court has granted Troy Davis' request to postpone his execution in yet another attempt to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Davis is an inmate that was sentenced to death after the 1989 murder of a Savannah, GA police officer. Since his incarceration, Davis has gained international support behind his claims of innocence.
Justice John Paul Stevens ordered a federal judge to "receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at trial clearly establishes petitioner's innocence."
Among the supporters of the motion were Justices Ruth Bader and Stephen Breyer. The newest member of the high court Sonia Sotomayor, however, did not participate in the petition. "Brother" Clarence Thomas did however and was one of two judges that dissented their reasons for not taking another look at the case and going ahead and killing Davis.
In the last year or so, Davis' case has been quite turbulent, even being granted a stay of execution just two hours before he was to be put to death.
Despite the execution delay, Davis will continue to sit on death row, reports CNN.
Davis insists that he is innocent of the charges brought upon him in the murder of Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses claimed they saw Davis, then 19, and two other men harassing a homeless man in a Burger King parking lot when officer MacPhail arrived to the help the man. Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter claiming he shot MacPhail twice and fled on foot.
Since the 1991 conviction, however, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimonies. In addition to the witnesses reneging, no physical evidence was ever presented to the trial jury or court.
In recent years and months, world leaders and celebrities, including former president Jimmy Carter and Harry Belafonte have extended their support and have asked that Davis be granted a new trial.
Hip-Hop artist Killer Mike has been vocal about the execution and has appeared at rallies for Davis. Killer Mike, whose father was a police officer stated,
“I don't just have a fuck the police mentality. It really is a question with me if true justice isn't being served. If it's really a question that a man could be innocent or not guilty of killing that police officer, I can't stand there silent and see Black blood just bleed. I can't allow myself to do that and that's coming from the son of a police officer. So I sympathize with a family that lost a father, a brother and husband and with a police department that lost a officer. I sympathize but if there's even a question that this man could be innocent, I don't see how the State of Georgia or The Supreme Court of these United States can allow more Black blood to run. I can't support that in no way, not state sponsored murder.”
Boyce Watkins also commented on the case and how it's not fair to not consider all the evidence but still try to condemn a man to die.
“Well it certainly blows a hole in the idea of American justice if this man does not get some type of objective review of that situation. It's completely non physical to even have all this evidence out here and to ignore it. Why do you stay with a decision when you have strong reason to believe that the decision is fraud? At the very least, they should go back and do the investigation to ensure that you're executing the right man so I do think that if he is executed and nobody else does a thorough review of what happened, then justice was not served. And justice not being served does not mean that he's innocent, justice not being served means that he did not have a fair hearing by the American public by the judicial system and again it's also reflective of a broader problem in our system and we all know the statistics for Black men in terms of incarceration and execution.
We know that the prison system is modern day slavery. So as Black people I think we should all be offended by Troy Davis's execution and also we must remember that there are many, many cases of individuals who are not as well known as Troy Davis who are also not having justice served. So the whole justice system really needs an overhaul and I don't know how that's going to get done but that needs to happen.”
Watch below as Killer Mike goes into detail about the Troy Davis case:
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Posted by Billy Baymaac on August 17, 2009 at 10:14pm
Philadelphia's Beanie Sigel was arrested on a marijuana possession charge early Sunday morning while on his way to a performance at a local tavern, state police said today.Sigel, real name Dwight Grant, 35 was found in possession of under 50 grams of the drug during a 12:44 a.m. traffic stop.The driver, Karl S. Dargan, 24, of Philadelphia, and another passenger, Justin S. Gaines, 25, also were charged with marijuana possession of under 50 grams, Castellanos said.source(Look out for his new album "Broad Street Bully" coming this Septebmer/October)
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HipHopWired Reports
While C-Murder begins his life sentence in a New Orleans prison, one man is coming forward to promote a more positive image of the convicted killer. Cyrus A. Webb, president of the Shadow Play Entertainment/Conversations Book Club and host of Conversations LIVE! Radio plans to release exclusive interviews and memoirs from his friend, Corey Miller.
He released a statement saying:
“Cee has managed to do something that few in Hip Hop have accomplished. He made it cool to read and to believe that no matter what you have done in your life, it's never too late for you to make a difference."
The pair first began corresponding in 2006 via his Myspace, after Miller released his book, “Death Around The Corner.” The pair hit it off and Webb ended up joining him on his book tour.
“I was so impressed by how he shared parts of his life and the lessons he had learned in the book while also writing a story that people of all walks of life could appreciate,” said Webb.
With the help from the president of the book club, Miller went on to sell hundreds of copies of his book and was even named the Most Fascinating Author of 2008 by Webb's Conversations Book Club. Now that he finds his friend and colleague away for life, President Webb is working to make sure that Corey Miller's voice will still be heard through exclusive interviews and discussions.
“Because of a gag order, Cee wasn't able to speak much to the public, but in the videos and radio interviews we are sharing, you get to hear him talk about himself, his work and his convictions. One of the things I have learned from Cee is that he has no problem taking responsibility for what he has done wrong in his life. He has never made excuses, and tries to use his skills as an artist and author to show a better way than what he chose at times. If he says he is not guilty of something he is accused of, I have no reason to doubt him. I just want people to know the man that I got to know through these events and discussions”
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NY Daily News Reports
The Notorious B.I.G. didn't live to see his baby girl turn 16, but T'yanna Wallace made sure he was there for her Sweet Sixteen party last night.
Dolled up in a pink dress and Nikes to match, the hip-hop princess wore a button over her heart emblazoned with her slain father's face.
"I needed to have him here with me," she said, standing outside of Taj, an upscale lounge in the Flatiron District.
"I feel like I'm all grown up now," the teenager added.
T'yanna showed off her custom-made dress by Bronx designer Walter Steele.
Lollipops and Jolly Ranchers were scattered across the dress, in keeping with the party's theme of candy.
"It was a combination of a magical candy land meets rock star," Steele explained.
The hit "Candy Girl" by New Edition played as she skipped down a red carpet outside the club and greeted friends.
"You guys look so cute," she said.
T'yanna's father, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997. He was 24.
T'yanna was only 3 years old when her famous dad was killed.
Kid Cudi, her favorite rapper, was scheduled to perform at her birthday party.
"I'm excited," she said, hoping to hear the up-and-coming rapper's hits, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say."
"I dressed up for him," she said, smiling from ear to ear. "I got this little pretty dress just for him."
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XXL Reports
Elmo and friends are about to get a hip-hop remix. Production duo Poke and Tone are set to unveil an original, six-years-in-the-making children’s TV show, titled Kids Block.
“In a nutshell, it’s the new hip-hop Sesame Street,” Tone told XXLMag.com. “It’s very authentic, all real music, all real hip-hop tracks, R&B tracks.”
The show uses hip-hop music to promote education. Artists will regularly close out the show with the concluding staple segment, “Block Party.”
“We used real writers, real rappers,” Tone said, “all the way to the point where the… puppeteers had to take hip-hop dance class to learn how to move the puppets authentically.”
Currently writing scripts and beginning filming, the show is set for a January release on an as-yet-undisclosed major network.
On the music side, the Trackmasters are focused on upcoming albums by Red Café and Lil Kim.
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New York Post Reports
Superstar rapper 50 Cent is secretly planning to stage a free concert in a schoolyard near the Queens projects where he grew up, and where he was nearly fatally shot -- sparking a wave of fear in the community and prompting cops to prepare for the worst.
"We can't control the area," warned one law-enforcement source, noting that the performance on the grounds of PS 40 in Jamaica will be part of "an outdoor event -- people could walk in from anywhere."
"Someone's gonna try to make a name for themselves," another worried source added. "They're gonna take a shot at him, and they're either gonna hit him or they're gonna miss him and hit some poor, innocent kid or grandmother."
The sources said an army of cops is planning to shut down a massive, 20-block area around the South Jamaica Houses for the "surprise" Aug. 30 concert, which is expected to draw about 10,000 people.
Fitty, who is scheduled to perform at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey the night before, is set to make at an appearance at the neighborhood's "Family Day" on the school's grounds at around 5:30 p.m. He plans to bring celebrity pals with him, the sources said.
The school's yard will be packed with children and their families. There will be a stage set up for Fitty and other acts, and a DJ will be there with a mike and equipment.
The day is being sponsored by the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit founded by Bette Midler and the G-Unity Foundation, the rapper's charity that supports low-income communities.
But the prospect of massive turnout and the violence that could ensue -- given the bulletproof-vest-sporting rapper's past run-in with gunfire -- already has some families heading for the hills.
Word has leaked out in the community that Fitty is appearing. "When I heard that . . . I wanted to avoid it, so I planned a trip to get away from here that day," said Debbie Lucas, 30, who has two young children.
Although her 11-year-old nephew, Corey, desperately wants to see the Grammy nominee perform, Lucas is shuttling her loved ones to an amusement park for the day.
"I haven't heard anything about any protection or security," she said. "I'm not gonna go, no way."
Fitty, a former crack dealer born Curtis Jackson, was shot nine times in 2000 in front of his grandmother's house blocks away from the proposed show's site. He has also been stabbed.
The South Jamaica Houses, also known as the 40 Projects, have a notoriously bloody history that peaked in the late '80s and early '90s. In January, a city bus driver, who moonlighted as a rap producer, and another man were fatally gunned down just steps away from where the rapper is set to take the stage.
Hundreds of officers -- including cops from the gang and intelligence units -- are expected to descend on the area both in uniform and in plainclothes.
"There's concern because [50 Cent] has already been shot," one source said. "He has a lot of enemies and is very controversial."
And while an NYPD spokesman said there would be "adequate police presence," some local officials fear it won't be enough.
"The concern is the manpower," said Community Board 12 manager Yvonne Reddick. "That's a lot of people . . . The park is surrounded by a residential community."
Organizers deny that 50 Cent will take the stage, but his publicist, Keesha Johnson, said he would make an appearance.
A spokesman from the Parks Department said a permit for the event was expected to be finalized this week but that the paperwork did not indicate there would be a performance.
Meanwhile, even some teens are vowing to stay away.
"There's word out there that there's going to be some shootings," said Mike Terrients, 15. "Some of my friends' parents are saying that they don't want them to go because something is going to happen."
Freddy Fredito, 58, who lives in a two-story home near PS 40, said, "I'm scared already. 50 Cent
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