Two pillars of cult-followed independent Hip Hop are crossing paths. It was announced this morning that Sacramento Hip Hop veteran Brotha Lynch Hung is signing to Kansas City seven-figure sales titan, Tech N9ne's Strange Music.
The signing reportedly happened through Strange Music VP Dave Weiner, the same man who united Master P with Priority Records in the early '90s. "There’s an incredible synergy,” stated Weiner. “Every Tech fan knows that verse [“My World”] and is wondering what’s going on with Lynch.”
Brotha Lynch Hung found success in the early '90s with the controversial Black Market imprint. Distributed through Priority Records, the rapper has often been described as "horror-core," due to his frequent references to murder, cannibalism, and violence. Rappers including Snoop Dogg and Tech N9ne have all cited Lynch as major influences.
He is at work on Dinner And A Movie, his next album. Recently, Strange Music released Tech N9ne's Sickology 101: The Study Of Being Sick, which debuted in the Top 20 of Soundscan.
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Rapper Roderick "Dolla" Burton, who was shot and killed in Los Angeles on Monday, will be laid to rest this weekend in his hometown of Atlanta. A viewing of his body will be held on Friday; on Saturday, the family will hold a memorial service. The services are open to the public and the family has encouraged fans to attend.
On Wednesday (May 20), Dolla's family released a statement through their spokesperson:
"First and foremost we, the Burton family would like to thank everyone for all their kind thoughts and prayers during these trying times," the statement reads. "Most recently, the Burton family was made aware that there have been numerous false claims of information floating around the 'net and also reported in reputable media outlets. Part of this was due to someone who was not authorized to speak on the family's behalf and who claimed to be the publicist of record decided to disseminate false information on her own and without the consent of the family to several media outlets.
"Due to the circumstances of the situation no other information will be released at this time. We are grateful for your continued support in these trying times. We now ask everyone to allow us to mourn the loss of our beloved Roderick Anthony Burton."
An Atlanta man was charged Wednesday with Dolla's murder.
The spokesperson declined to elaborate on the false information referenced in the statement, although he did provide some details on Dolla activities at the time of his death. The day he died, the rapper travelled to Los Angeles to attend his girlfriend's birthday party and to work on a new mixtape.
At press time, it was unclear whether Dolla's debut LP, A Dolla & a Dream, had been completed before his death. According to Dolla's family's spokesperson, the rapper recently negotiated a release from Jive Records, who were originally slated to distribute his album in 2008. Dolla was still signed to a partnership deal with his own Gang Entertainment and Akon's Konvict Muzic. The spokesperson said that on Monday, Akon will release a statement regarding plans for the album.
Dolla's viewing will be held on Friday at:
Murray Brothers Funeral Home 1199 Utoy Springs Atlanta, Georgia
Dolla's Memorial Service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at:
Westview Cemetery 1680 Westview Drive SW Atlanta, Georgia
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PARIS – British actress Lucy Gordon, who appeared in "Spider-Man 3," was found dead in her Paris apartment after apparently committing suicide, French police said Thursday. She was 28.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death, though it appeared to be a suicide, said an official with the Paris police headquarters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of police agency policy, gave no details.
Gordon, who would have turned 29 on Friday, appeared in a dozen films, including as reporter Jennifer Dugan in "Spider-Man 3." She portrays British singer and actress Jane Birkin in an upcoming biopic about Serge Gainsbourg.
Gordon's father said the death was a "complete shock."
Speaking from the family's home in Oxford, Richard Gordon told Britain's Press Association that his daughter was "a natural actress all her life, since she was about 2."
"She's always loved being on stage and in front of the camera and she has kept all her naturalness and charm all the way through. She has been the most beautiful daughter. We are obviously devastated."
He said she loved her latest role, in the Gainsbourg film, and thought the cast was "wonderfully creative and supportive."
He added that his daughter spent much of her childhood and her summer vacations in France and was bilingual. She recently moved to Paris after living in New York.
Gordon's agents did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.
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Eminem has gone on record about his battle with drug addiction in interviews with Vibe and XXL magazines recently. Now, the rapper's song "Beautiful," which premiered on iTunes on Tuesday (May 12), paints a vivid picture of the struggle he dealt with during his hiatus from hip-hop.
It's one of the most heartfelt recordings in Eminem's career. The song appears on his upcoming album, Relapse, due May 19. In his first-person narrative in Vibe, Em said the song is the only one he kept from the recordings he made during that dark period in his life. He's been sober for a year now, he said.
"There's only one song on the record that I produced. It's a track called 'Beautiful,' " he said in the magazine's June issue. "And one of the only reasons that I put that track on there is that I feel like it's the best song out of that batch that I did when I wasn't sober. At the time I felt like, 'This is it for me.' I wrote the first verse and a half in rehab, and when I came out, I finished it. It was the only song that marks that period without bringing me back to that place. Every other track not only didn't fit with the album, but when I listened to it, it would bring up bad memories."
The melancholy song sample's Rock Therapy's "Reaching Out" and features Em revisiting his decisions over the past few years and how his life spiraled out of control.
"I'm just so f---ing depressed, I just can't seem to get out of this slump/ If I could just get over this hump/ But I need something to pull me out this dump," he raps on the track.
Source:MTV
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Just over a week after leaked photos of Rihanna and Cassie hit the Internet, statistics have shown both R&B singers' recent sales have not increased.
Maintaining a fairly unchanged average, the young singers' nude pictures have not turned into a sales boost for the duo.
According to Nielsen SoundScan figures, the unwanted publicity served no purpose as far as Rihanna single sales figures are concerned. On the week ending May 3rd, she had 45,000 total downloads on songs by her or with her as a guest. The week ending May 10th, her numbers dropped to 44,000. For Cassie, just two days before the Rihanna pictures appeared, Cassie's own computer was hacked and topless photos of her hit the net. The next day, more explicit photos leaked, this time of Cassie fully unclothed. Still, Cassie's numbers stayed flat with 2,000 downloads both weeks. (Billboard)
Cassie's images were previously confirmed by the singer to her disbelief.
"The recent personal pictures that have been leaked on the internet of me were hacked and stolen out of my computer," a statement read. "These photos were obviously never intended for the world to see and it's sad that people would really take time to steal and post them, it's just evil. At the end of the day breasts are breasts, mine weren't the first you've seen and they won't be the last... people need to grow up. Let's move on." (Rush PRNews)
Bad Boy CEO Diddy resorted to his Twitter to playfully poke fun and downplay the images.
Meanwhile, Diddy, who has been romantically linked to Cassie in past and has mentored the singer throughout her career, came out in support of the singer. "Turn this one up real loud and dance on dem bi---es!!!!" he wrote to Cassie on Twitter, linking to a music video for the song "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John. "Let's Go!!!" (MTV)
Rihanna's alleged photos emerged which prompted her to reportedly leave the country.
The photos that are taken are missing some of Rihanna's tattos, and it isn?t certain that these are the R&B singers naked body, but her record company has took legal action to get these pictures removed of the websites. The photos consist of a naked Rihanna in front of a mirror naked with words written on the mirror with soap. Only 2 of the photos clearly show her face the other 4 you can?t tell. There have been rumors that Rihanna is so embarrassed and overwhelmed with the postings that she has left the country to get away from Hollywood. She has not commented on the photos herself. (CMR News)
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