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Hines Ward

Back in May Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis predicted crime would rise if the NFL lockout didn't end soon.

A lot of people laughed off what Lewis had to say as hype from a player wanting the lockout to end soon, but his words are starting to look prophetic.

“Do this research if we don't have a season," he told ESPN. "Watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game,"

The Sporting News just published the names of 19 (now 20) NFL players who have been arrested in the 120 days since the owners locked the players out, as they try to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

During the lockout there can't be any contact between the the teams and players. And while no games have been missed yet some players obviously need more structure, even in the off season. Normally teams would have had organized team activities by now. Also players would have been allowed to rehab injuries and workout at team facilities. With those options unavailable players have been left on their own, and some have made bad decisions.

There is some good news on the horizon. The owners and players appear closer than ever to ending the longest ever work stoppage in league history.

The two sides will continue to negotiate a new CBA this week.

Check out the list of NFL players who have been arrested since the lockout began on March 12.


March

13th: Vikings CB Chris Cook (brandishing a handgun)

17th: Raiders OT Mario Henderson (carrying a concealed weapon)

19th: Cowboys DB Bryan McCann (public intoxication)

25th: Packers DL Johnny Jolly (drug possession)

25th: Eagles OT Jason Peters (disturbing the peace)

30th: Buccaneers CB Aqib Talib (aggravated assault with a deadly weapon)


April

3rd: Raiders WR Louis Murphy (drug possession)

4th: Chiefs LB Mike Vrabel (felony theft)

12th: Titans WR Kenny Britt (eluding police, obstruction)

19th: Falcons S William Moore (speeding, driving with suspended license)

May

6th: Chargers LB Antwan Applewhite (drunken driving suspicion)

10th: Buccaneers DE Alex Magee (marijuana possession)

22nd: Bears RB Garrett Wolfe (theft, disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, resisting arrest with violence)

June

8th: Titans WR Kenny Britt (resisting arrest)

9th: Colts RB Javarris James (drug possession)

16th: Packers CB Brandon Underwood (disorderly conduct)

17th: Seahawks DE Raheem Brock (theft, resisting arrest)

19th: Eagles LB Akeem Jordan (assault and battery)

July

9th: Steelers WR Hines Ward (drunken driving)

**UPDATE** 20th Player Arrested

10th:  Bengals CB Adam "Pacman" Jones (disorderly conduct while intoxicated and resisting arrest)

 
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On the day Isayah Muller should have been celebrating graduating from his Bronx, New York high school, he wound up losing his life over a $200 bottle of cologne.

Isayah and his family were leaving his graduation on June 28 when his father Andre, noticed the bottle of cologne missing, He turns around to confront the parking lot attendants, accusing them of stealing the cologne.

What happens next is all caught on just released camera footage.

Andre is seen arguing with two attendants before completely losing it. He punches one of the attendants in the face, then picks up a snow shovel and attacks them with it.

At that point Isayah got involved in a fight with one of the attendants, who stabbed him in the chest.

His family rushed the 19-year old football star to a clinic, but he died within hours.

When you're the President of the United States being second guessed and criticized comes with the job. And when the country is going through hard economic times, people generally fault the commander-in-chief, fair or not.

Obama is bearing the brunt of the blame for the nations' bad economy. His job approval rating according to Gallup is at 46%, down from 50% in June.

According to statistics gathered by the Wall Street Journal, a president wants to be in the 48% approval range on Election Day to be in a comfort zone. Anything less than that then it gets dicey.

One of Obama's strongest supporters spoke out recently about the criticism he's has been receiving, and gave a surprising answer.

"He's the president, it's fair." Jay-Z told Billboard at his "Watch The Throne" listening party Thursday. "You gotta fix [the country's current climate]. Can't fix it all in one day. Numbers don't lie, it's f*cked up out there. Unemployment is still high."

Actor Matt Damon, who recently jumped off the Obama bandwagon had some not so nice words to say about him on the Piers Morgan show back in March.

"I really think he misinterpreted his mandate," Damon said at the time before criticizing ignoring the poor. "[He] didn't even say the word 'poverty' in his State of the Union address even though you've got millions of people languishing in it."

Seems like some people are cooling on the idea that Obama is going to cure what ails this country. Are they jumping off the bandwagon too soon?

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Drake joined SBTRKT on stage last night (June 8) at their show at the Wrongbar in his hometown of Toronto for a performance of 'Wild Fire.'

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Rihanna really heated things up in Dallas last night at her 'Loud' concert at American Airlines Center.

According to Complex a lighting fixture caught fire right after the singer performed "California King Bed," forcing the shows cancellation.

Fortunately nobody was hurt and Rihanna joked about the incident later on twitter.

I'm amazed at how many audience members stay in their seats clapping and cheering instead of heading for the exits.

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New visuals from the Berkeley, California based god. His latest album 'I'm Gay' was released on June 29.

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Apparently there have been rumors flying around that actress Megan Fox's nearly flawless looking face might not be %100 natural. To prove doubters wrong, the "Jennifer's Body" star released four photos of herself yesterday via Facebook. The pics show her with several different facial expressions displaying wrinkles on her forehead.

Not sure if this will silence the naysayers or not, but she still looks good in my book.

Actor Michael Rapaport stepped out of his comfort zone to direct the documentary "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest.". It was a labor of love for the 41-year old actor, who's been seen in movies like "Bamboozled" and "Small Time Crooks."

A native New Yorker, Rapaport grew up on 80's and 90's hip hop.

"I got kicked out of a lot of schools when I was a kid because I was so disruptive," he told the New York Daily News "All I cared about was basketball, girls, sleeping and hip hop. I would travel out to the Howard Projects in Brownsville to play ball with my best friend and I was exposed to things I never would have experienced on the East Side of Manhattan."

Rapaport's favorite group coming up was A Tribe Called Quest. The Jamaica Queens trio of Phife, Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

When Rapaport decided to make the documentary about the group he knew it wasn't going to be easy. This would be his directorial debut, but that turned out to be the least of his problems.

Q-Tip refused to give his permission for the film to be released due to creative differences.

"It was brutal making this documentary," says Rapaport. "I wouldn't change it for anything but it took everything out of me. I always knew, though, that I was going to finish making the movie, and once we got accepted to Sundance, there was no stopping me from screening the film there, even if I had to do it out of the trunk of my car."

The film is now showing in New York and Hollywood and will be released to more theaters across the country throughout this month and August.

To see where it will be playing near you click here.

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Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole may be relative newcomers to the rap game, but in a short amount of time both have gained the respect of fans and critics.

The two have paired up for what was previously going to be a mixtape, now Cole says the music they've made so far is headed for an album instead.

"I'm not settling for a mixtape because I feel we're too talented for that and the music we've made so far is too good," Cole told HardKnocksTV. "Right now we've got 4 or 5 bangers. I don't want to waste them. 'HiiiPower' is one of those and [Kendrick] is using that [on his mixtape] 'Section.80.' But I don't want to do that with the others, I want to build. Even if it takes 9-10 months whatever, I feel like the final outcome of that project is something that hip hop needs."

During the rest of the extensive interview Cole talks about the beat he's picked out for the Jay-Z collaboration on his debut album, Wale's new hot record with DJ Toomp, his single "Workout" and more.

Check it out below.

Chris Brown's new girlfriend Karrueche Tran was reportedly spotted sporting a brand new tattoo on the back of one of her legs.

It's definitely unique. Outside of Frankenstein I haven't seen anyone rocking one of these. Who knows, it could catch on?

What do you think of the new ink on Karrueche's leg?

Source:DHH

Jay-Z is not wasting any time transitioning from collaboration mode back to a solo emcee mindset. Having just wrapped his highly anticipated 'Watch The Throne' album with Kanye West, Hov has already turned his attention to his next album.

MTV is reporting that the Brooklyn rapper already has two songs recorded for his next album that he says are the two best he's ever recorded for a project, and has ideas for four more songs.

"I know exactly the tone and the whole feel of the album," Jay-Z said of his next project. "I think when you experience creativity, you should get it out as much as possible."

With J. Cole's Roc Nation debut 'Cole World: The Sideline Story' scheduled to drop September 27, Jigga was asked if his cd would be in stores first.

"I don't play that," he said. "We're all competing for the same mind share. J. Cole and Jay Electronica are both making inspiring music."

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Looks like Brisco is living up to his "Opa-Locka Goon" nickname.

NBC Miami is reporting that police there are looking for the rapper, real name British Alexander Mitchell, after they say he knocked an 18-year old man unconscious causing severe injuries last week following an altercation.

After the fight Brisco reportedly fled the scene in his white Range Rover.

This isn't Brisco's first time making the news for something other than his music. In 2009 while at a Miami barbershop he was robbed of cash, jewelry and his Range Rover.

Once arrested Brisco will be charged with aggravated battery.

NEW YORK — Jay-Z and Kanye West's forthcoming album may be called Watch the Throne, but soon enough fans will be listening, not just looking, and it will have been worth the wait. On Thursday night, MTV News was among the shortlist of media outlets invited to get an early listen to power duo's collaborative project.

The listening session was held in the Mercer Hotel, where the New York Post previously reported that parts of the album were recorded. Though it was originally set to begin at 8 p.m., Jay-Z walked into the hotel lobby closer to 9 (word is he was at a Yankees game hoping to see Derek Jeter get his 3,000th hit). The group of journalists followed the rapper up to a suite that had been transformed into a recording studio. Seated in the rear of the room, wearing a Yankees snap-back hat and crisp, white shell-toe Adidas, Hova balanced a MacBook Pro in his lap. After asking those in attendance to introduce themselves, he got right into playing selections from the album, loudly.

Standout tracks included a pair of songs that feature Odd Future crooner Frank Ocean. Jay-Z relayed that he reached out to Ocean after hearing his Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape and wanted him to contribute to his next solo album. After their initial work went well — Ocean appears on one of two songs Jay-Z revealed he has recorded for the solo LP — Hova invited the crooner to get down on Watch the Throne too. The only other guest on the album is Beyoncé, who appears on the resounding "Lift Off," which sounds like it was tailor-made to be performed in large stadiums.

On another particularly interesting song, Jay-Z and Kanye deliver verses directed to their hypothetical unborn sons. (Note: Jay-Z's press representative asked that lyrics from songs not be quoted.) The Brooklyn MC recalled that Yeezy first recited his verse to him at New York's Museum of Modern Art. "I told him I wasn't going to get on it," Jay-Z told MTV News of the song, adding that he thought Kanye's verse, running down his myriad past mistakes, is one of his best ever. "The honesty of it, it's just really cool."

Throughout the album, Yeezy holds his own when rapping alongside Jay-Z, a lyricist of the highest caliber. Other standout tracks that feature the duo trading rap bars include a song whose beat features a chopped up Otis Redding vocal sample that many requested be played again. Another song called "Living So Italian" also got a favorable response from the room.

Jay-Z played over a dozen songs and said that he hoped to finalize the track list by this weekend. He also admitted that the album is actually on its third itineration. Initially, he and Kanye were looking to make a grandiose project with elaborate songs, but they felt that doing so would take away from its enjoyment, so they chose to pare it down sonically.

"It's just so big and so much, you don't want that sh-- screaming in your house," Jay-Z said, referring to their early single, "H.A.M." "If we don't make records that we like and represent the culture, we would be over."

The room didn't start thinning out until near midnight, and as the session winded down, Jay-Z started playing additional tracks, including a song whose lyrics seems to hint that it was produced by No ID. Nodding his head along to the knocking grooves, he also played a song that features Swizz Beatz that he said probably won't make the final cut.

While pre-order receipts of Watch the Throne indicate that it will be shipped on "2011-08-02," Jay-Z and his representatives did not provide a solid release date for the highly anticipated album beyond saying fans would hear it "soon." Keep watching.

MTV

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While most Americans celebrated 4th of July by shooting a few fireworks into the sky, Dallas police were dealing with an out of control mob of people shooting fireworks at them and a photojournalist.

This went down Tuesday morning (July 5). News 8 photographer Robert Flagg was the 1st on the scene at Creekside Villa apartments in Southeast Dallas. He says that at 1st the crowd was only shooting at each other until they saw him and started aiming his way.

"Once I got there, I noticed it was just basically a war zone going on," Flagg said. "The missiles — or whatever they were — they were hitting, they were bouncing off my chest and off my camera. One hit me in the back, and it burned my neck and it burned my shirt."

Once police arrived on the scene they quickly realized they were outnumbered and had to call for additional back up.

"Those officers that arrived were being shot at by fireworks," said Dallas police spokesman Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse. "In fact, one officer who was actually hit by a bottle rocket in the arm. Once enough officers got there, the crowd dispersed. That's considered aggravated assault, and it will be filed as that and will be investigated to its fullest, and hopefully we can find out who actually did it."

Apartment residents said this is what happens in the hood.

"It's every day; it's every day," said one tenant. "This is the hood. That's how it go down every day."