HipHopWired Reports
While fans are reveling in unauthorized leaks of the most anticipated album of the year, Jay-Z is enlisting the help of MTV and Rhapsody to leak the entire Blueprint III himself. The album in its entirety will be available online for free listening starting Tuesday, September 1. MTV's first-rate streaming site, The Leak, and the premiere music entertainment site, Rhapsody, will both have the complete album available for listening online free of charge.
Additionally, Rhapsody is taking things one step further, making the album available for purchase three days before its September 11 release. Rhaphsody.com will have exclusive rights to a deluxe version of the album September 8 complete with two bonus tracks not featured on the in-store version. Adding more fuel to the promotional fire surrounding the project, the media companies are also showing extensive advertisements featuring Jay. Rhapsody will show three advertisements for the album online and will distribute one of them to MTV for their 2009 Video Music Awards on September 13.
In the meantime, Hov appeared at a press conference today (August 31) about his upcoming benefit concert. He was joined by his wife, Beyonce, New York Governor David Paterson, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Hip-Hop executive, Kevin Liles. Jay revealed that he would have as many as 10 special guest appearances at the concert but refused to provide details saying, “I don't wanna give too much away...”
He also talked about the sense of pride he felt seeing his fellow New Yorkers respond to the 9/11 terrorist attacks saying, “I saw footage of these heroic actions...people running into buildings and saving each other, and I just saw the strength of New York and it made me proud.”
The “Answer the Call” concert will benefit the New York Police & Fired Widows' and Children Benefit Fund. It will take place September 11, the same day The Blueprint III is released, at Madison Square Garden. Fuse TV will have live coverage of the concert for people unable to attend. Tickets are $50 and go on sale September 8. For people with Citi cards, they can purchase tickets at 8 a.m. that day, hours before the tickets go on sale. The general public will be allowed to buy tickets at noon.
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Rap-Up Reports
Ciara mixed it up with Kim Kardashian at Millions of Milkshakes on Saturday (Aug. 29). The BFFs blended their own tasty concoctions at the West Hollywood sweet spot. Kim has a milkshake named after her, which is made out of Snickers topped with whipped cream and a Cadbury Flake.
Rap-Up Reports
After Chris Brown penned a song for Soulja Boy Tell’em’s latest album, the “Turn My Swag On” rapper is returning the favor. The under 21 stars have collaborated on a new “smash” for Brown’s third album Graffiti.
Chris Breezy and Soulja Boy originally recorded “Yamaha Mama” for the latter’s sophomore effort iSouljaBoyTellem. Brown was replaced by Sean Kingston on the album version. “[Chris Brown] wrote that song,” Soulja Boy tells Rap-Up.com. “He was on the hook originally, but he came back and told me that he didn’t like the song, so we put Sean Kingston on the record.”
Not to worry though. The two already have another collaboration in the bag. “I’m already on his album. I did a record with him when I was in L.A., probably a month ago,” Soulja Boy reveals. “He called me up and was like, ‘Man, I want you to get on this song.’ So we worked together and we did a song that I think a lot of people gon’ like. It’s a smash record. When he put it out, it gon’ get a good response.”
Don’t be surprised to also see the “Run It!” singer on Soulja Boy’s new album The DeAndre Way. “If I want him to be on the album, he gon’ be on the album. It just depends on the right type of song. If the record makes sense and I want him to be on there, he gon’ be on there.”
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AllHipHop Reports
Although 50 Cent was unable to get clearance for his Family Day in Queen’s 40 Projects, the G Unit mogul achieved another goal in hosting a benefit concert on Saturday (August 29) for the schoolchildren of New York’s PS-30.
The show took place in front of the invite-only crowd at New Jersey’s Six Flags.
In between songs, 50 explained the importance of reaching out to kids from his native South Jamaica, Queens neighborhood.
“I want to thank everyone for getting on the buses and coming out,” 50 stated. “I was trying to do something good. When I was small Great Adventures (Six Flags) was a big thing to me. So I wanted to make sure I brought kids so they could have that same experience.”
Despite the festive mood, the mogul was still bothered by how the City of New York blocked his attempt to have a family day in his neighborhood over fears of violence.
“When I tried to do it in the hood like everyone else would do it, everyone is like '50 Cent don’t come through the hood.' But all of them don’t get a chance to see me when I come through.,” 50 stated. “And they be like 'we don’t see 50.' You don’t see me because I’m usually somewhere where I’m not trying to be seen. Everybody look right there…that’s the motherf**king police. Them motherf**kers follow me everywhere I go. Y’know why? Because I’m from Southside! While everybody looking f**k the police!”
The show went off without any violent incidents and 50 Cent plans to make the benefit an annual event.
At press time, the Queens emcee is hopeful his much-delayed fourth LP Before I Self-Destruct will meet its new tentative release date of November 3.
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Daily Mail Reports
Seemingly on a mission to upstage her rapper boyfriend Kanye West, Amber Rose made sure it was all eyes on her by wearing freakish-looking blue contact lenses to a Las Vegas beach club.
The former stripper, who was recently pictured frolicking with Kanye in an iridescent orange thong bikini on a Barcelona beach, was hosting an event at popular Vegas club Tao Beach when she stunned everyone with her new look.
Bisexual Amber turned up wearing a rather demure black knee length skirt and white tank top. But in typical style, the 26-year-old eventually stripped down to a skimpy bikini to show off her now famous curves
In her skimpy bikini she showed off her various tattoos, including a garland of roses on her right arm and a fairy on her ankle.
Amber seems intent on carving out a career and becoming a star independent of her famous boyfriend.
A few months ago she was signed by top model agency Ford Models and has started hosting events on her own.
She and Kanye started dating in February after originally meeting last year when he was engaged to designer Alexis Phifer.
The 32-year-old wanted Amber to star in his Robocop video, but the couple insisted their relationship was purely professional at this stage.
'Well, my intentions when I met Kanye were to keep it very professional and we really started to like each other,' Amber recently revealed.
'He wanted me for his Robocop video and he had the utmost respect for me.
'I was always a huge fan of his but he had a fiancee, it wasn't like, 'Ah, I'm gonna get with Kanye.
'Kanye knew my life, so when it was, 'Oh, Kanye do you know she was a stripper, and that she used to date girls?' he was like, 'Tell me something I don't know.'
Last night DJ Unk suffered a heart attack apparently from partying to hard. Luckily Dr's were able to save him and he's on the road to recovery. Unk tweeted that he's going to start living a healthier lifestyle without the weed and drinks.
People try to trash 50 but this proves that he does so much more for the community than people realize. A lot of those kids might never get to go to Great Adventures ever again. He gave those kids a gift they will always remember
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NY Daily News Reports
Roxanne's revenge was sweet indeed.
Twenty-five years after the first queen of hip-hop was stiffed on her royalty checks, Dr. Roxanne Shante boasts an Ivy League Ph.D. - financed by a forgotten clause in her first record deal.
"This is a story that needs to be told," Shante said. "I'm an example that you can be a teenage mom, come from the projects, and be raised by a single parent, and you can still come out of it a doctor."
Her prognosis wasn't as bright in the years after the '80s icon scored a smash hit at age 14: "Roxanne's Revenge," a razor-tongued response to rap group UTFO's mega-hit "Roxanne, Roxanne."
The 1984 single sold 250,000 copies in New York City alone, making Shante (born Lolita Gooden) hip hop's first female celebrity.
She blazed a trail followed by Lil' Kim, Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah - although Shante didn't share their success.
After two albums, Shante said, she was disillusioned by the sleazy music industry and swindled by her record company. The teen mother, living in the Queensbridge Houses, recalled how her life was shattered.
"Everybody was cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies," she said. "And to find out that I was just a commodity was heartbreaking."
But Shante, then 19, remembered a clause in her Warner Music recording contract: The company would fund her education for life.
She eventually cashed in, earning a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell to the tune of $217,000 - all covered by the label. But getting Warner Music to cough up the dough was a battle.
"They kept stumbling over their words, and they didn't have an exact reason why they were telling me no," Shante said.
She figured Warner considered the clause a throwaway, never believing a teen mom in public housing would attend college. The company declined to comment for this story.
Shante found an arm-twisting ally in Marguerita Grecco, the dean at Marymount Manhattan College. Shante showed her the contract, and the dean let her attend classes for free while pursuing the money.
"I told Dean Grecco that either I'm going to go here or go to the streets, so I need your help," Shante recalls. "She said, 'We're going to make them pay for this.'"
Grecco submitted and resubmitted the bills to the label, which finally agreed to honor the contract when Shante threatened to go public with the story.
Shante earned her doctorate in 2001, and launched an unconventional therapy practice focusing on urban African-Americans - a group traditionally reluctant to seek mental health help.
"People put such a taboo on therapy, they feel it means they're going crazy," she explained. "No, it doesn't. It just means you need someone else to talk to."
Shante often incorporates hip-hop music into her sessions, encouraging her clients to unleash their inner MC and shout out exactly what's on their mind.
"They can't really let loose and enjoy life," she said. "So I just let them unlock those doors."
Shante, 38, is also active in the community. She offers $5,000 college scholarships each semester to female rappers through the nonprofit Hip Hop Association.
She also dispenses advice to young women in the music business via a MySpace page.
"I call it a warning service, so their dreams don't turn into nightmares," she said.
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons said Shante is a shining role model for the rap community. "Dr. Shante's life is inspiring," Simmons said. "She was a go-getter who rose from the struggle and went from hustling to teaching. She is a prime example that you can do anything, and everything is possible."
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Singer Amerie is back! She talks to GIANT Magazine about her personal style and upcoming album in her photo shoot for GIANT's Celebrity Style section.
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AllHipHop Reports
The life of Harlem rapper Lamont “Big L” Terry will be told via a new documentary titled Street Struck: The Big L Story.
Produced by Dangerzone Films, Street Struck takes a look at Big L’s rise, from his early involvement with groups like Children of Da Corn (featuring Mase, McGruff, Bloodshed and Cam’ron) to his role as a member of the legendary Diggin In The Crates collective of rappers and producers.
Street Struck also chronicles Big L’s ascent as one of the most gifted, technical rappers in the genre.
The documentary, which was produced by Dangerzone Films, features rare stories and photographs about Big L, as told by various family members, friends and other rappers who worked with him.
The final version of the documentary will also feature extremely rare footage of Big L and the late Big Pun performing together on stage and conducting an interview from the set of Fat Joe’s “John Blaze” video shoot.
Artists like Mysonne, DJ Premier, Showbiz, McGruff, Cipha Sounds, Stan Spit and others give an insiders view of Big L, who was tragically killed in a barrage of bullets in February of 1999 in Harlem.
Big L’s murder remains unsolved by New York police.
In related news, a mural of Big L on 140th Street in Harlem was slated to be re-done to withstand the elements and to touch up the painting.
Although there is no release date for Street Struck: The Big L Story, sources told AllHipHop.com that the documentary will be released in February, to mark the 11th year of Big L’s death.
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Reuters Reports
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Don't call it a comeback. I've been here for years," Whitney Houston sings on what is, in fact, her latest comeback album.
The 46-year-old pop singer, a long-term resident of the record charts during the 1980s and '90s, officially ends a seven-year hiatus on Monday with the U.S. release of her sixth studio album, "I Look To You."
Early reviews are promising and Houston's Sony Corp-owned Arista Records label hopes it will become one of the biggest sellers of the year.
The music industry desperately needs a hit. Annual U.S. sales in 2009 are on track to slide for the eighth time in nine years, ravaged by the recession, piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games.
Houston could also do with a hit. Her previous album "Just Whitney" in 2002, also was billed as a comeback and was the worst-selling of her career. She got more attention in the ensuing years for her rocky personal life, including multiple stints in drug rehab and a bitter divorce from former R&B star Bobby Brown.
In fact, she half-jokingly said last month that she had been planning to retire to an island when her mentor, record-industry chieftain Clive Davis, phoned 3 1/2 years ago to lure her back to the studio.
Davis, who has closely overseen Houston's career since signing her at a New York nightclub in 1983, lined up such A-listers as R&B singers Alicia Keys and R. Kelly, and prolific tunesmith Diane Warren to write songs for Houston.
"IT'S A BEYONCE WORLD"
Keys wrote the single "Million Dollar Bill," which received a warm reception at radio stations earlier this month. But will that translate into big album sales, especially when there's a new crop of superstars in the spotlight?
"It's a Beyonce world," said Caryn Ganz, an editor at Rolling Stone magazine. "I don't think Whitney has a clear place anymore."
She predicted early sales would be strong, then taper off.
Arista agrees with the first half of that assessment. Industry sources expect the album will sell between 300,000 and 400,000 copies across the United States during its first week, easily taking the No. 1 spot during a late-summer slump.
"This is a cultural event," said Scott Seviour, the label's senior VP of marketing and artist development. "The enthusiasm and the energy for this release is palpable."
Such a start would outpace first-week tallies for recent releases by Kelly Clarkson (255,000) and Madonna (280,000) but fall short of those for Mariah Carey (463,000), Beyonce (482,000) and Britney Spears (505,000).
"Just Whitney," the only album that Davis did not work on, debuted at No. 9 in 2002 with 205,000 copies and sold about 730,000, overall. Houston's worldwide sales of albums, singles and videos stand at 170 million units, according to Arista.
The label has left no marketing stone unturned, targeting Houston's core fan base of 30- to 55-year-old women, as well as the gay and lesbian community, Seviour said.
For her part, Houston has adopted a low profile. As with her 2002 album, she has consented to only one big TV interview, this time on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which will air on September 14. Next Tuesday, she will tape a performance in New York's Central Park for ABC's breakfast show "Good Morning America."
A few magazine cover stories are in the works, including the next issue of Ebony, and there probably will be a concert tour next year, Seviour said
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HipHopWired Reports
In celebration, Hip Hop royalty and fans alike will gather together on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at Santos Party House, to welcome back one of Hip Hop's favorite MC's Raekwon The Chef. To host the evening festivities will be none other than Sean "Diddy" Combs alongside New York radio HOT 97 morning personality Peter Rosenberg as DJ Kid Capri warm up the crowd on the wheels of steel. This album release party, presented by Ice H20 Records and Littles, is expected to be one of those legendary moments in New York City Hip-Hop.
Easily considered one of the most influential Hip-Hop albums of its time, Raekwon's 1999 smash solo project Only Built 4 Cuban Linx remains at the top of every Hip-Hop "Best Of" list. After a brief recording hiatus and years on the road as both a solo artist and a part of the ground breaking Wu-Tang Clan, "The Chef" returns with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, to be released on September 8th on his Ice H2O Record label.
Regarding the follow up of his classic Raekwon states, " I'm excited about this project. This is a true evolution from where we began. I'm also overwhelmed by the love and support that I've received. My long time friend and Hip Hop veteran, Diddy, reached out to offer his support and agreed to host the event. It's going down at Santos Party House, which is one of my personal favorite spots. I also knew it would be the perfect environment to celebrate with my core audience."
Rae will also bless the audience with a live performance and such artists as Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Lyfe Jennings, Talib Kweli, Beanie Siegel, Ghostface, and Slick Rick will also be in the building that night to help bless the stage.
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TRACKLIST :
01. Intro (Brisco Speaks)
02. Revenge
03. Game Room
04. The Realist Shit I Wrote
05. Stunt
06. This Ain't A Rap Song
07. Stay Strapped (Everyday) ft. Ludacris
08. Shit On Me (The Transition)
09. Goon Music
10. Slidin
11. Interlude (Brisco Speaks)
12. A Goon's Scripture
13. Bout Dat
14. We Got It
15. Blood Money ft. Rick Ross, Birdman, Ace Hood
16. Maze
17. Do Dat To Death ft. Rico Love
18. I'm Back
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