Beyoncé’s star is shining brightly right now and she attributes much of her showbiz success to her long-term partner and husband, rap star Jay-Z, 39.
Such is their deep love for each other that Beyoncé, 27, recently revealed that they plan to start a family before she turns 30. But behind the apparent happiness lies a secret that Beyoncé carries with her: the claim that Jay-Z has already experienced fatherhood without her.
Now can reveal that the fiercely private rapper – who’s worth an estimated $400 million – reportedly has a secret 7-year-old son who he’s amazingly managed to hide from the limelight all this time. The boy apparently bears a striking resemblance to his father and is the result of Jay-Z’s romance with Trinidadian model Shenelle Scott which ended in 2001, before he met Beyoncé.
Jay-Z has gone to great lengths to distance himself from the claims, despite reports that he’s privately admitted paternity. Beyoncé, whom he married in April 2008, is now apparently accepting of the boy and is even said to have gone on holiday with her stepson in the South of France.
Although Jay-Z’s spokesman denied that there was any truth in ‘these ridiculous rumours’, the rebuttal falls short of a denial that the rap star is the boy’s father. Despite approaching Jay-Z’s representatives repeatedly last week, they refused to comment.
Sources say that Shenelle and her son live a quiet life in Trinidad at a $2.5 million home that Jay-Z bought for them after paternity tests revealed a positive match. It’s also thought that Shenelle, 28, brings her son to see Jay-Z in New York, where he’s based, whenever she flies there for modelling assignments.
This isn’t the first time Jay-Z has tried to keep his personal life out of the public eye. Even though he and Beyoncé have been together since September 2002, they kept the relationship under wraps for many months – and it wasn’t until six months after they married last year that they officially confirmed they were man and wife.
Source : NOWMAGAZINERead more…
A few Tuesday’s ago (May, 19th to be exact) we saw album releases from Busta Rhymes, Method Man & Redman, & of course, Eminem. This was so far the biggest release date of 2009. All three acts that I mentioned are veterans in the game and well respected by their peers. Another thing they have in common: They’re all over the age of 30. If you think about it, most of Hip-Hop’s elite are over the age of 30. I guess it’s no longer a young man’s game. So I was thinking, since you see a lot of lists with titles such as “25 Hottest Celebs Under 25” or “40 Richest Under 40”, why not The Best 30 Rappers Over 30? But for this list, we got set some ground rules. #1 of course is the most obvious; you gotta be over the age of 30 (That throws out people like Weezy, Lupe, Drake, & T.I.). #2, you have to be 30 as of this list (Both The Game & Joe Budden will be 30 this year, but aren’t as of yet). #3, you got to be active and releasing records with new material that relevant (Rakim & Big Daddy Kane are legends but they don’t make this list). Other than that, the only requirement is being 3-0 or older. So, here’s it: The Best 30 Rappers Over 30 (Ordered from oldest to youngest). 30 is the new 20! Did I forget anybody?
Ice Cube (June 15, 1969) - 39
Jay-Z (December 4, 1969) - 39
Raekwon (January 12, 1970) – 39
Q-Tip (April 10, 1970) - 39
Redman (April 17, 1970) - 39
Ghostface Killah (May 9, 1970) - 39
Fat Joe (August 19, 1970) - 38
Scarface (November 9, 1970) - 38
DMX (December 18, 1970) - 38
Method Man (April 1, 1971) - 38
Snoop Dogg (October 20, 1971) – 37
Common (March 13, 1972) - 37
Busta Rhymes (May 20, 1972) - 37
Black Thought (October 3, 1972) - 36
Eminem (October 17, 1972) - 36
Bun B (March 19, 1973) - 36
Nas (September 14, 1973) - 35
Mos Def (December 11, 1973) - 35
Andre 3000 (May 27, 1974) - 35
Styles P (November 28, 1974) - 34
Big Boi (February 1, 1975) - 34
Jadakiss (May 27, 1975) - 34
50 Cent (July 6, 1975) - 33
Talib Kweli (October 3, 1975) - 33
Rick Ross (January 28, 1976) - 33
Cam’ron (February 4, 1976) - 33
Kanye West (June 8, 1977) - 31
Ludacris (September 11, 1977) - 31
Young Jeezy (October 12, 1977)- 31
Fabolous (November 18, 1977) - 31
Source:NappyAfro.com
Read more…
Big L was one of the best to ever do it, and unfortunately for many (from his family to his adoring fans), the slick Harlem rhyme-slinger's life was taken too soon. L had the potential to join the ranks of New York's greatest lyricists ever. As an up-and-coming MC he was compared to Jay-Z and Cam'ron, both of whom he collaborated with early in their careers — and he more than held his own.
It's been 10 years now, though, since L, born Lamont Coleman, was gunned down in what was believed to be a retaliation hit against his brother, Big Lee. Like Biggie and Big Pun, L's death left many rap fans wondering, "What if ... ?"
Last weekend marked what would have been his 35th birthday and to honor the slain rapper's life, DJ Soul (Assorted Donuts) put together a mixtape called Big L 5/30 Tribute.
The project — a hard-core NYC rap fan's dream — includes hard-to-find freestyles by Jay-Z, unreleased Big L tracks and interludes from the fallen star's friends, including his mentor Lord Finesse.
"I look at him like LeBron," Finesse said. "I was out there doing it. But he was an upcoming cat that I could tell was gonna be way more advanced than me, 'cause he caught up to me and I had him by a couple years, it was like, 'Imagine where he was gonna go?' "
Besides L's overlooked debut, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, and the posthumous The Big Picture, there hasn't been much material from the "Ebonics" rapper that showcases his trademark wit, punch lines and humor. "He was one of the funniest cats I ever met," Finesse said.
And following his death, L's family continued to suffer from a number of tragedies as his brother Lee and his mother both passed. His half-brother Donald Phinazee is the only remaining family member aside from L's father, who Phinazee said was absent in the rapper's life.
"It'll never get easier [dealing with L's passing], 'cause in the process of that, I lost my whole family," Donald, 41, told us. "I lost the middle brother and, two years after that, I lost my mom when I came home. Saturday was L's birthday. I stayed out, I lit a whole bunch of candles, then stayed there and just sat there."
Finesse and Phinazee have been working on a documentary on Big L's life and rhymes for some time now. But the pair admitted the project has been delayed due to "red tape," including L's father's insistence on contributing and taking a chunk of the potential profits. They both said L's father had little to do with him during the rapper's life and they are surprised by his demands.
"We have an artist ready at the push of a button," Finesse stressed. "But not if he's involved. Not at all. That's what people need to understand — it's not that we don't wanna do it. We just have to take care of the business end. I don't feel enthused to do it if there is a dude there waiting to get the check."
"For what?" Donald asked, frustrated. "This guy didn't care nothing about ... I could tell you stories. He was never there. That's on everything."
Source: MTVNEWS
Read more…
Although his Blueprint 3 album is not due until later this year, he's still a power player, according to The Source magazine's annual "Power 30" list.
The long-running hip-hop magazine will land atop their annual list this year, when the magazine drops its new issue later this month.
He's the frontrunner, said the mag, because he's an industry leader and a top businessman, boasting a portfolio that includes ventures with Live Nation, Rocawear, and a small stake ownership -- along with a group of investors -- in the NBA franchise, the New Jersey Nets.
Other names on the list include Lil Wayne, Diddy, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Kimora Lee Simmons, and T-Pain, among others.
Barack Obama (because of his influence on the new hip-hop generation) and the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.an are also named as "Power 30" honorees.
"The Black Eyed Peas is like one of the biggest groups on the planet. We go out to Brazil, you know, a million, two hundred thousand people is at our concert," Will explained to the mag.
The "Power 30" issue features a coverstory from T.I. and his Grand Hustle crew, and what the rapper's hustle will be post-incarceration.
The issue hits newsstand June 16th.
Source:Ballerstatus
Read more…
LOS ANGELES — If you want to blow it out for the debut of "DJ Hero," there's no bigger than Jay-Z and Eminem. The iconic MCs shared the mic at the Wiltern on Monday night, in a rare joint appearance to celebrate the launch of the new game in front of a celebrity-studded audience that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Pete Wentz, Tyrese and Blink-182's Mark Hoppus.
The packed crowd was treated to a thrilling set from Jay that included some of his biggest hits. His performance concluded with a surprise appearance from Slim Shady himself — fresh from his run-in with Brüno at the MTV Movie Awards — who grabbed the mic and traded verses with Jay on "Renegade" before taking over the stage for his own mini-set.
The night kicked off with a set from TRVS/DJAM, which found Blink drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM chopping it up in their unique style, hopping from Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" through Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison," Michael Jackson's "Rock With You," Metallica's "Enter Sandman," the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
The duo were joined by West Coast hip-hip royalty Warren G for a spin through "Regulate" before the house band took over for a bit of "Guitar Hero" action.
It wasn't a long wait, though, as Jigga soon hit the stage with a live band — the Roc Boys — and slammed the crowd with "U Don't Know," sending the room into a frenzy as he quickly followed up with a barrage of hits including "99 Problems," "Can I Live" "Jigga What," "Public Service Announcement" and his verse from "Swagga Like Us."
The set raged on with spins through "Blue Magic," "My President Is Black," "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and Lil Wayne's "A Milli," ending the set with a rock remix of "Encore." And just when it seemed the set was over, Jay came back out, admitting that he "forgot something," and asked the audience if he could do one more.
The "Renegade" beat dropped, and as he began his verse, the room went crazy. Out sauntered Eminem to perform the song, which he produced for Jay's The Blueprint album, onstage with Jay for the first time in years. Then it was Slim Shady's turn to take over, as he rolled out his latest single, the gory "3 A.M.," which went into a trio of other new songs from his recently released #1 comeback album, Relapse: "Underground," "We Made You" and "Crack a Bottle." The set closed with Em's classic "Lose Yourself." Though all the chatter on Monday was about the MC's encounter with a certain Austrian fashion reporter the night before, the dis-happy rapper didn't mention Brüno once from the stage, focusing instead on delivering a knock-out performance.
Source:MTVNEWS
Read more…
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey — You guys better stop sleeping on Young Jeezy. The Atlanta rap king pulls out all stops during his big show appearances. The Snowman had the highlight of the night at Sunday's Summer Jam concert, bringing out both Drake and Jay-Z on his set.
Young set it off with his massive stadium knockers/ club bangers, such as "Who Dat" and "Bottom of the Map." He always seems to have the upper hand on shows such as these, at any concert for that matter, because the sound of his music is huge, and the crowd loves his anthems.
Jeezy said he wanted do something for the ladies, and with a couple of thumps of bass preceding him, Drake ran out for "Best I Ever Had." Tens of thousands sang along as the energetic Canadian bopped and performed his hit. "You the f---in' best!" he yelled.
Drake, and you could say everybody else on the lineup, was trumped when Jay-Z came out during "Put On." The Tri-State area crowd filled the home of the New York Giants with applause for the musical icon. Jay spit the verse to his Jeezy remix, then laid his game down with "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," the new song that has been getting played on Hot 97 nonstop. Jay simply walked off the stage when he was done.
Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, More At Summer Jam
The Diplomats — Jim Jones and Juelz Santana — were the show closers. Three years in row now, the collective from Harlem have been the chosen send-off act.
"I heard somebody got killed," Jones said, sarcastically referring to Jay-Z's musical burial of Auto-Tune. "They say my man Auto-Tune got killed. Is this a funeral or we came to party?"
Jones then went into "Byrd Gang Money." Juelz Santana came out for a few favorites, like "Hey Ma," then the Dips addressed the elephant in the room: There'd be no reunion with Killa Cam'ron at Summer Jam. It seems like he's really done with Jimmy and Juelz.
"We here, and we love Cam," Jim said. "You wanna do something as if Cam was here?"
They played "Suck it or Not."
Soulja Boy Tell'em came out as a guest for "Turn My Swag On." Ryan Leslie came out for Jim's "Precious," and as expected, Ron Browz brought the Auto-Tune for "Pop Champagne," as did DJ Webstar for "Dancing on Me."
Other Summer Jam guests included Red Man and Method Man, who came out during Mary J. Blige's set. It was big to see Lil' Kim do "Lighters Up" as one of T-Pain's surprises. The Queen Bee was grinding all over the singer during her new song, "Download." Pain also brought out DJ Khaled and Ace Hood.
Jadakiss left the stage in a hurry after his set. He went on pretty early in the show, before the sun had even gone down. The Lox member did bring out Busta Rhymes for "Respect My Conglomerate," but a few of his major tricks outta the hat didn't solidify. No OJ Da Juiceman, Gucci Mane or DMX, and a big rumor that he was going to bring out Cam'ron wasn't true.
Also on the bill were The-Dream (his guest was Fabolous), Day26, Elephant, Mavado and Serani, whose "No Games" had the audience chanting, "It's, it's Serani!"
Source:MTVNews
Read more…
NEW YORK — "Where amazing happens" doesn't just take place on the NBA courts — it also happens in Kanye West's studio. The Grammy winner says Jay-Z's long-percolating Blueprint 3 will be well worth the long wait the MC's fans have been enduring.
"Jay is in control of everything in his domain," Kanye, the album's producer, said last week during a promotional visit for his book, "Thank You and You're Welcome."
"He's just been working on it, and it's gonna be amazing when he drops it. I think it's good he's taking his time to give people the best product possible and not being rushed by this fast-food, media-outlet, Internet, everything-is-getting-leaked, people-stealing your-songs-before-you-can-mix-them-and-put-them-online world we're living in right now."
Kanye revealed that he and Jay went back in and made some alterations to B3 since they first started.
"We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album," West said, "to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune!
"It doesn't matter to me," Kanye laughed about Jay not wanting to incorporate the sound that is featured so heavily on Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak. "It's music; it's just sonics. I like Auto-Tune so I do it, but you want the other thing — like you'll wear a suit to a wedding and gym shoes to a basketball game. I think it's a perfect moment for Jay to provide some gym shoes to a basketball game right now."
No release date has been set for Blueprint 3, however, last week, Jay-Z secured his release from Def Jam Records, which will allow the album to come out on his own Roc Nation label, presumably in partnership with Rock Nation (although the specifics of that deal have not been confirmed). Meanwhile, Kanye has been in the studio, grabbing inspiration for his own next album.
Source:MTVNEWS
Read more…
Ciara and Jay-Z are planning to tour together this summer, although no dates have been confirmed, Ciara's rep told MTV News on Tuesday (May 12).
"I will say it because the information has been leaked. Me and Jay-Z will be doing a 10-city tour run together! More details coming soon!" Ciara Tweeted on Monday night.
However, a rep for Jay-Z told MTV News that the tour would not include 10 cities. Further details were not revealed.
Billboard reported Tuesday that the dates will include stops at on July 3 and 4 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, July 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, and July 12 in Atlanta. In June, Ciara will support Britney Spears on the European leg of the "Circus" tour in June.
Ciara, whose latest album Fantasy Ride was released last week, appeared on "Saturday Night Live" (with Justin Timberlake on keyboards) and David Letterman's show in the past few days.
Last week, she told MTV News about filming the steamy video for her collaboration with Timberlake, "Love Sex Magic."
"Let me tell you — it's so funny, I have to say this," she said. "I had to lick his ear and do all that fun stuff and bite it. And he had a moment where he was kind of licking on my neck. We were both going back and forth. We were really just freestyling. And Miss Diane [Martel, the director] wanted something edgy, and we all wanted to find a cool way to do it. And that just felt right.
"It was really funny because you would have moments where she would go, 'What we're gonna do now is the licking and the kissing on the neck and we're gonna do this take, then cut. OK, we need one more take of that,' " Ciara continued. "And so it's licking on the neck, again, then his biting on my neck, again. It was really funny."
Read more…
}