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FAST FACTS:
*Approximately 90 students at Frayser High School are pregnant or have recently given birth

*The startling numbers fall in line with high teen pregnancy rates in the entire Frayser community

*A new initiative to help combat the problem will soon be introduced

About 90 students at a Memphis High School are either pregnant, or have been recently.

The startling news was confirmed by a high ranking city official and comes as the community plans to roll out a new initiative to help combat the problem.

However, one Frayser High School graduate says teen pregnancy is not a new problem for the school.

"When we would come back from summer break, there would be a thousand people pregnant. We were like, what's going on?" joked Alicia Williamson, who graduated from Frayser in 2004.

"There were a whole lot of bellies. You had to watch out so you didn't bump into them. Being 2011, I thought a lot of them would have thought this is not the right way to go, having babies during school time," she added.

The organization, Girls, Inc. teaches girls about preventing pregnancy.

Deborah Hester Harrison, who heads the organization, says Memphis' teen pregnancy rate stands at between 15 and 20 percent, almost twice the national average.

In the Frayser zip code, the rate is about 26 percent. Harrison partly blames the media.

"So much of our society is sexually oriented. As adults we can look at that and it doesn't impact us, but kids are different," Harrison said.

It's why Girls, Inc. offers classes where teenage girls "care for" computerized babies to give them a feel for what teenage parenthood is like.

The organization will also be part of a new initiative tentatively scheduled to be introduced next week.

Source: The Chicago Tribune

Local News Report

Associated Press Report

Video After The Jump

Kendrick Lamar is a name you should get familiar with because you will be hearing a lot from him in the upcoming months.

Ashley Outrageous caught up with the West Coast rhyme spitter recently. Due to scheduling conflicts (she’s on the East Coast), the two had to chop it up via iChat.

As a lot of you probably have heard, Dr Dre mentioned recently that he really wanted to work with Kendrick. Soon after a picture surfaced of the two of them in the studio. What you had not heard or read until now, is confirmation of what they actually worked on together.

“We’re basically just trying to finish up this Detox album, putting the last finishing touches on that. It’s a privilege and honor for him to even bring me out on the last end. Because I know for a fact that I’m on the back end of the last touches of the album, it should be a go,” Kendrick said.

Now that the “Kush” single and video have been released, we’re closer to getting the ‘Detox’ album than ever. So you know Dre sees something special in Kendrick.

Others are taking notice of him as well.

The Compton rapper just wrapped up recording sessions with Roc Nation’s J. Cole.

“That’s a good dude, he reached out and I’ve always been a fan of his music. We got in the studio and made some magic happen. All I can tell you is that it might be more than one or two songs,” Kendrick said, hinting at a possible mixtape or EP with Cole.

One thing Kendrick made clear during the interview is that he is not a typical rapper. Despite living in an area known for a lot of gang activity, he’s never been in a gang himself, and he doesn’t smoke the sticky icky.

“My whole thing is I don’t want to base my stuff on a stereotype, or typical L.A. artist based around the gang culture. That’s something we’re all familiar with, but there’s other elements and the way [certain] people were raised was different.,” he said “There’s so much negative energy around Compton, California, you don’t ever see no positive light. So when I do my music and people hear that it’s somewhat of a positive light, they embrace it.”

Check the rest of the interview out below as Kendrick talks about possibly becoming a part of XXL’s 2011 Freshman class and his group Black Hippy.