50 Cent is in Las Vegas at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show promoting SMS Audio. MSN's Joseph Lee caught up with the business mogul to talk about his headphone line, Timbaland coming on board as an investor and how fast the company is growing.
"It feels great when you meet your projections," 50 joked, when asked how it feels to be CEO of SMS Audio. "We've had huge success. The touring in my music career has helped out a lot in the SMS venture because we've been able to launch in 46 countries over the last 2 years. I anticipated success, not as fast as it's actually taking off but sometimes you're surprised in a positive way."
50 said Timbaland became interested in investing in the company after falling in love with the special DJ edition headphones.
"He's just somebody that I actually respect. I play my music [and] use him as a soundboard to see how he responds to it," explained 50. "I sent him in a gift package the headsets from SMS Audio. And he starts to wear them in the studio, the DJ version of the headsets. He kind of fell in love with it and he had his investment guys sort out the possibilities of investing in the company. He invested and now he has equity ownership. He can help me in the decision making process while utilizing other acoustic engineers to get the highest sound quality possible."
50 goes on to talk about the charitable aspect of his business ventures and confirms his Street King Immortal album will be in stores on February 26th.
"I've worked on this album for 3 years," 50 said. "I've actually over-recorded it. I've recorded almost 70 songs for it. I'm going through a process right now where I have to cut records that I really love in order to meet different price points online that I know will be more effective sales wise. It's gonna be tough for me to get rid of some of the songs because I like them so much. In my head it has to be a certain way. I'm working on that process now. I'm happy with it... I'm excited."
The recording industry can be treacherous for new artists. Record labels and crooked managers often prey on the uniformed. However, if they are lucky enough to survive those initial years in the business and get out of bad contracts - artists generally gain a lot of valuable knowledge, and should fare much better in future deals.
Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas is an exception to that rule. Although we haven't heard about her having to deal with bad contracts yet. The singer admits that after 26 years, she's learned next to nothing about the business side of the industry. Instead she relies on her parents, lawyers and a therapist to insure she doesn't get taken advantage of.
"Well, I'm still learning about the music business because it's changing. There are all these different things coming up because of technology. It was a different world back then; it was very straight and simple: You got a record deal, you made an album, you got new fans. Now it's all these 360 deals and all these different... You know what? The business side of it? That's not my cup of tea. Will.I.Am's great at it. He thrives on it. It's just not my personality. I want to get straight to the art. The other part of it? I have my business team explain it to me. I actually have conference calls where I have my mom and dad on the phone, my accountant, my lawyer... Once in a while, I even have my therapist on these calls," she told BillboardI'm not kidding. Because there's so much smoke... I'm very cut to the chase; that's my personality. I don't like to speak in circles. So when people do that I'm trying to find out, "OK, guys, what are we really talking about here?" So my therapist listens in. Because it's very important to make informed decisions. I can be very impulsive, which is great as an artist but not as a businesswoman. So I have to slow down and surround myself with a great support team. So that's what I've learned, that I need to surround myself with a team that can help me. It's part of knowing that you don't know it all."
Hopefully Fergie's people are looking out for her best interests. I'd hate to hear about her being broke in the future because of mismanagement.
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Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams died Sunday morning of cardiac arrest, the Greenwood, S.C., county coroner said. He was 26.
Greenwood County coroner James T. Coursey told ESPN that Adams, a Greenwood native, was taken to the emergency room at Self Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9 a.m
Adams, who had just completed his third season in the NFL, went into cardiac arrest at his family's home early Sunday morning, said Marcia Kelley-Clark, chief deputy coroner for Greenwood County.
The autopsy showed Adams had an enlarged heart, a condition Kelley-Clark said can often lead to a heart attack. But Adams' relatives didn't know about it.
"Nobody was aware of any kind of medical condition," Kelley-Clark said.
Toxicology tests are being run by the State Law Enforcement Division, though drug use was not suspected as a factor in Adams' death. However, those results probably will not be available for at least two months, Kelley-Clark said.
"I remember him at the 2007 Draft as a fine young man," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of Adams on Sunday. "Our condolences to Gaines' family, his teammates on the Bears and Buccaneers, and their organizations on their loss."
In 47 games over three seasons with the Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Adams had 67 tackles, including 13.5 sacks.
"We are stunned and saddened by the news of Gaines' passing," the Bears said in a statement. "Our prayers are with his family during this difficult time."
Adams was selected fourth overall in the 2007 NFL draft by Tampa Bay, but was unable to live up to expectations that he would revive the Buccaneers' once-feared pass rush. He fell short of the benchmark set by Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, who said at the start of training camp that Adams would be considered a "bust" if he didn't reach double digits in sacks. He was traded to Chicago in October for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Adams said during training camp that he welcomed the challenge posed by Morris, who also called out the third-year pro after Adams began the season with lackluster performances in the first three games.
"In football you need that. Players tend to get in their own element and do things that they want to do. They need to be called out sometimes. He's the coach. Whatever he says, goes," Adams said in early August.
On Sunday, Morris called Adams "a true team player and a positive influence to everyone he met. My prayers go out to his family."
The Bucs' ownership and front office and Adams' former Tampa teammates were saddened by his death.
"Gaines was a quiet, humble kid and is far too young to be gone," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "He had so much potential that had yet to be achieved and I am very sad that the full extent of his life won't be realized."
"I still don't want to believe that it is true," added defensive tackle Chris Hovan. "I am deeply saddened that we have lost someone who I considered a friend for life. When he came to Tampa, I took Gaines under my wing; I considered him my little brother and that's how I will always remember him. This is all so unreal and it hasn't really hit me yet."
"Today is a tragic day," said ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, who drafted Adams as the Buccaneers coach. "Gaines was an impressive kid with such a tremendous future in front of him. He was a great teammate and well-liked by our coaches and all those who had the opportunity to be around him in Tampa."
Adams played brief stints on defense after his trade to the Bears, making five tackles.
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune that Adams' death was "crazy."
"I didn't know him that well because he came in during the middle of the season," Urlacher said. "But I did know him. I still saw him every day when I went into work. It's just weird.
"I had a teammate die when I was in college. You just don't know how to handle it. It's just sad, man. It's a bad deal."
Adams was well-known among Clemson fans for breaking up Wake Forest's field goal try and returning it for a touchdown in 2006 to defeat the Demon Deacons.
Tommy Bowden, who was Adams' head coach at Clemson, said he couldn't believe the young player was gone.
"I just couldn't believe it was Gaines," Bowden said. "I will always remember the smile he had on his face and I will always remember his patience."
Source: ESPN
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Videos After The Jump106 and Park had by far the best New Year's Eve Show. They brought together some of the hottest acts in the game today in both rap and r&b.
The star studded show featured performances from Maino, Omarion , Trey Songz , New Boyz, Pleasure P and Dorrough. As well as Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj, Clipse, Jerimih, Day 26 and Mishon
Trey Songz Performing "Say Ahh"
Clipse Performing "I'm Good"
Yo Gotti Performing "5 Star Chick" ft Nicki Minaj
Omarion Performing "I Get It In"
Mario Performing "Thinking Bout You/Break Up ft Sean GarrettRead more…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry died Thursday, one day after suffering injures in a fall from the back of a pickup truck, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said. He was 26.
Police on Wednesday described the incident as a domestic dispute with his fiancée. Henry was found in the road about eight miles north of downtown Charlotte.
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Video After The JumpMSNBC Reports
PERUGIA, Italy - American college student Amanda Knox was found guilty of murdering her British roommate and sentenced to 26 years in prison early Saturday after a year-long trial that gripped Italy and drew intense media attention.
Her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also convicted and sentenced to 25 years. They were also convicted of sexual assault in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old student from England.
As soon as the judge read the verdict just after midnight following some 13 hours of deliberations, Knox began weeping and murmured, “No, no,” then hugged one of her lawyers.
Minutes later, the 22-year-old Knox, who is from Seattle and the 25-year-old Sollecito, were put in police vans with sirens blaring and driven back to jail.
Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, Italy’s stiffest sentence. Courts often give less severe punishment than what prosecutors demand.
'Just wrong'
The American’s father, Curt Knox, asked if he would fight on for his daughter, replied, with tears in his eyes: “Hell, yes.”
“This is just wrong,” her stepmother, Cassandra Knox, said, turning around immediately after hearing the verdict. Her family had insisted she was innocent and a victim of character assassination.
One of Knox’s lawyers, Luciano Ghirga, was asked if she was desperate.
“Yes, I challenge anyone not to be,” he replied.
A group of local youths who gathered outside the courthouse shouted insults and “assassin” at the Knox entourage as they walked in to hear the verdict.
The family said Knox will appeal the verdict.
Knox and Sollecito were charged with murder and sexual assault in the slaying of Meredith Kercher more than two years ago. All three were studying in Perugia in Italy's central Umbria region at the time.
Meridith Kercher
Kercher's body was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox. Prosecutors contended the 21-year-old Leeds University student was murdered the previous night.
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca called the verdict and sentence “satisfactory” for the family, but he acknowledged that the defendants’ loved ones were also pained.
“There is deep suffering on all sides,” Maresca said, adding that Kercher's family planned to hold a news conference late on Saturday.
Knox, who is from Seattle, and Sollecito, had been jailed since shortly after the slaying.
Raffaele Sollecito
Relatives and friends in Seattle clasped hands as they watched TV and waited for the verdict. Her uncle, Mick Huff, cried, "Oh God, no" when it was announced.
Other friends buried their faces in their hands and shook their heads.
"They didn't listen to the facts of the case," said Elisabeth Huff, Knox's grandmother. "All they did was listen to the media's lies."
Madison Paxton, a friend of Knox's, said: "They're convicting a made-up person. They they're convicting 'foxy Knoxy.' That's not Amanda."
In a statement, the family said: "We are extremely disappointed in the verdict rendered today against our daughter. ... It appears clear to us that the attacks on Amanda's character in much of the media and by the prosecution had a significant impact on the judges and jurors and apparently overshadowed the lack of evidence in the prosecution's case against her."
'Fumes of drugs'
The prosecutors contend on the night of the murder, Knox and Sollecito met at the apartment where Kercher and Knox lived. They say a fourth person was there, Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast citizen who has been convicted in the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Guede, who is appealing his conviction, says he was in the house the night of the murder but did not kill Kercher.
Rudy Guede
The prosecution says Knox and Kercher started arguing, and that Knox joined the two men in brutally attacking and sexually assaulting the Briton under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol."
Throughout the trial, prosecutors depicted Knox as a promiscuous and manipulative she-devil whose personality clashed with her roommate's. They say Knox had grown to hate Kercher.
During the trial, the most intimate details of Knox's life were examined, from her lax hygiene — allegedly a point of contention with Kercher — to her sex life, even including a sex toy.
Knox said Kercher was a friend whose slaying shocked and saddened her.
Defense lawyers have described the American, who made the dean's list at the University of Washington, as a smart and cheerful woman, at one point even comparing her to film character Amelie, the innocent and dreamy girl in the 2001 French movie of the same title.
That is the film Knox and Sollecito say they were watching at his home on the night of the murder, where they say they smoked marijuana and had sex. Knox said she went home the next morning to find the door to the house open and Kercher dead.
The prosecution maintains that a 6 1/2-inch knife authorities found at Sollecito's house could be the murder weapon; they say Kercher's DNA was found on the blade and Knox's on the handle. However, defense lawyers argue the knife was too big to match Kercher's wounds and the amount of DNA collected was too small to determine with certainty whose it was.
'Violence is purposeless'
The defense maintained there was not enough evidence for a conviction and no clear motive.
However, prosecutor Manuela Comodi said violent crimes can lack a motive. "We live at a time where violence is purposeless," she told the jury.
Knox gave contradictory versions of the night of the slaying, saying at one point she was home and had to cover her ears to block out Kercher's screams and accusing a Congolese man of the killing. The man, Patrick Diya Lumumba, owns a pub in Perugia where Knox worked. He was jailed briefly but was later cleared and is seeking defamation damages from Knox.
Patrick Lumumba Diya
Knox later contended that police pressure led her to initially accuse an innocent man.
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