By Roman Wolfe
Rising R&B songstress and Def Jam artist Chrisette Michele filed a lawsuit in New York County Court, claiming Douglass Ellison and Four Kings Productions breached their contract and embezzled money she was owed from management and recording contacts with Def Jam. Michele, born Chrisette Michele Payne, recently released her critically acclaimed debut album I Am. She has also been featured on songs with Jay-Z ("Lost Ones"), Nas ("Can't Forget About You"), Kanye West and others. She seeks an undisclosed amount.
Sean "Diddy" Combs has been announced as a headlining act during the second annual Thisday Festival, which takes place in Lagos, Nigeria. Combs will perform alongside artists like Shakira, John Legend, UB-40, Kelly Rowland and others. The two-day concert takes place July 14-15 at the ThisDay Events Center and is presented by Leaders & Company, publishers of ThisDay newspapers. In related news, Combs is seeking a new personal assistant and has turned to video sharing site YouTube to find the potential candidates. Combs' YouTube channel PDiddyTV is sponsoring the contest, which encourages users to upload videos explaining why the should be considered for the position. To view the candidates or to upload a video visit: http://youtube.com/group/diddyassistant
Watts, California rapper Glasses Malone has revealed that his upcoming album Beach Cruiser will hit stores before the end of the year, via a new deal with Mack 10's Hoobangin imprint, which is being distributed by Cash Money Records. "Mack 10 brokered such a sweet situation for my completed album Beach Cruiser," G. Malone told AllHipHop.com. "Baby and Slim both were just feeling what I was doing and embraced me like I was a Hot Boy." According to Malone, he was a good relationship with former Hot Boys group member Lil' Wayne. "Lil' Wayne is a cool ass young n***a," Malone said. "He already f***ed with a few of my n***as He gave me his blessings, and welcomed me to the family." According to G. Malone, Beach Cruiser is due in stores in either "October of January of 2008."
West coast rap group Strong Arm Steady will finally release their long-awaited debut, Deep Hearted. Strong Arm Steady (Phil the Agony, Mitchy Slick and Krondon) assembled an all-star cast for the album, which includes guest appearances from Ras Kass, Planet Asia, Black Thought of The Roots, Juvenile, Chamillionaire, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples and an appearance by former group member, Xzibit. Deep Hearted features production by Madlib, DJ Khalil, Blaqtoven, DJ Babu, Evidence and others. Deep Hearted hits stores Aug. 28 on Nature Sounds.