This year was a big
year for hip-hop in many ways. Between 50 Cent’s blockbuster and Outkast’s double
CD opus, rappers held it down on the music end.
But 2003 also saw
an unprecedented number of rappers launch clothing lines, get involved in politics,
get robbed and get into trouble.
Here’s a list of
what rappers did politically over the past 12 months and who found themselves
in trouble and some other interesting tidbits that we know you forgot.
Activism (in no order):
-Lauryn Hill emerges
out of no where and tells the Catholic church to repent, at the VATICAN in Rome!
-Black Panther Party launches record label
-Ghostface gave away 1000 sleeping bags to NY homeless
-The Source drops their Eminem bombshell, featuring the rapper using the word
N#####
-Irv Gotti drops Murder from Murder Inc, renames label The Inc.
-Slick Rick was released from prison after being detained for over a year by
the INS
-Diddy ran a 26 mile marathon, raising $2 million
-Eric B took on Universal, claiming that he and Rakim never received a dime
for the classic album Paid In Full
-Farrakhan’s meeting with Ja Rule to mediate the beef between Murder Inc. and
50 Cent
-For the first time in the Billboard’s chart history, the top ten songs in one
week were all by African-American artists.With the exception of the number 1
song, Beyonce’s "Baby Boy" which features Sean Paul, the other 9 songs
are by rappers
-Dead Prez launched their own record label
-Nelly’s Pimp Juice was the subject of a nationwide boycott
-Hollis Day in Queens, New York was renamed Jam Master Jay Day
-Atlanta’s T.I. launched a construction company
-The Birmingham Hip-Hop Summit, which drew almost 50,000 people
-Rakim took his career under control and bounced from Dre’s Aftermath camp
-KRS-1 won an injunction against Koch and actually held up his own release date
because he wasn’t happy with the version the label was releasing
-Red Alert was inducted in the Bronx Walk of Fame
-Nas got down with anti-gun Public Service Announcements
-Canibus showed how much he loved the United States by joining the Army
-Afroman gave up weed for God
-Nelly launched a non profit, Jes Us 4 Jackie, hoping to find bone marrow donors
-Russell Simmons’ "Countdown to Fairness" took on New York’s Rockefeller
Drug Laws
-The West Coast spoke up via a Fred Wreck production featuring Everlast, Daz,
RBX, Tray Deee, Dialated peoples entitled "S.T.O.P." (Stop The Oppressive
Politics)
-Eminem and Russell hosted the Detroit Hip-Hop Summit, drawing almost 20,000
people
-UPN was almost boycotted over the hip-hop television show "Platinum,"
but it was taken off the air due to poor ratings before the boycotters ever
had a chance
-Rappers put their beefs aside to protest the war with Iraq
-The boycott and caving in of Pepsi over dumping Ludacris as a spokesperson
Clothing
Lines:
-Ice T started
Ice Wear
-DMX launched
Bommer, a clothing line for dogs
-Eminem launched Shady Clothing
-Eve launched Fetish
-Steve Rifkind launched Street Team,
-50 Cent launched G Unit Clothing line
-Bow Wow launched Shago
-Def Jam launched Def Jam University
-Run launched Run Athletics
-Nelly launched Apple Bottom
-Roc-A-Fella launched Roc-A-Wear Red Label, Wash House and Team Roc
Rappers or
Friends We Lost This Year:
-RBL Posse member
Hitman was gunned down
-Camoflauge was shot and killed in Savannah, Georgia
-Half-A-Mil found dead in Brooklyn
-Soulja Slim gunned down
-Spooks member Water Water was killed in a car accident
-Barry White
-Fred "Rerun" Berry
-Kenyan rapper Krupt
-DO Cannon
-Honorable mention: Matthew Hall, the Zulu member gunned down in Harlem for
no reason
Jack The
Rapper!:
-Lil Kim lost and
recovered $250,000 worth of jewels
-Trackmaster producer Tone’s house was robbed of $100,000 worth of cash and
jewels
-Chingy was robbed after crowds mob’s him at Philly performance in the Gallery
Mall. All he lost was an $800 ring
-Trina was robbed of $300,000 worth of jewels in a North Carolina hotel
-Big V’s $20,000 Chicken Claw chain stolen
-Nelly robbed of $1 million dollars in jewels from his hotel in Las Vegas
Odd News:
-Loon reveals that
the Harlem Shake dance craze was actually created by an alcoholic named Sisqo,
who would do the dance if someone bought him liquor
-Man who claimed he was blackballed from the "video acting industry,"
after 50’s bodyguards roughed him up on the set of a video
-A man who wrecked Missy Elliot’s $300,000 Lamborghini Diablo was sentenced
to three years in jail after a late night tryst that ended in disaster.
-Xzibit being rescued at Bondi Beach in Australia after a rip tide carried him
out into the Pacific ocean
-New Jersey FBI dubbing a serial bank robber Eminem
-Chicago police issuing a statement that a serial rapist looked like Ice Cube
-Eminem’s mom going on television and saying that the rapper has a drinking
problem
-Latifah got a breast reduction (we liked em La haha)
-Rodney King releasing an album: Rodney King, The Living Legend
Arrested or in Trouble:
-50 Cent and Llyod
Banks were busted the first week of the New Year
-Murder Inc.’s headquarters were raided
-Fabolous was busted 2 times in one weekend
-Juvenile was arrested for drug possession
-Latifah was sentenced for DUI
-Ras Kass went on the run due to a 3rd DUI charge. While on the lam, he tried
to get out of his contract with priority. He eventually surrendered to do 9
months in the can
-Trick Daddy was busted for assault charges. Later in the year he was arrested
again after getting bent in the stands of a high school football game. The cops
found cocaine in his shirt pocket
-Luke Campbell was hit with Felony obscenity charges and banned from performing
in South Carolina
-Rapper Drama was arrested and charged with 6 armed robberies
-Dame Dash was arrested after his son allegedly brought weed to school
-Funk Flex pled guilty for smacking rival DJ Steph Lova
-Freeky Zeeky was shot in Manhattan after a fender bender
-Busta Rhymes was charged with assault for allegedly slamming a woman’s head
into a table in Massachusetts
-Roc-A-Fella co-CEO Kareem "Biggs" Burke was busted with pot in his
penthouse
-Dr. Dre’s mother was hit with a gun charge after she shot at a male friend
inside her house
-Master P was arrested in Newark International Airport with hollow point bullets
-K-Luv the Pimp was arrested for really pimping
-Big Lurch was sentenced to life for eating a woman’s lungs
-DMX was arrested for swearing in St. Kitts
-Mystikal pled guilty to sex charges
-Suge Knight was arrested for allegedly smacking a parking valet and violating
his probation
-Beanie Sigel was arrested and charged with attempted murder
-Universal Music’s New York offices received $1 million dollars worth of weed
-Irv Gotti was busted with Ecstasy and Viagra
– Grouchy
Greg arrested for assaulting a cop, a charge he denied (of course)
-Noreaga
and Tragedy were busted after cops allegedly found weed in their SUV
-C-Murder was convicted of murder in a controversial trial that is still on
going
-Redman was busted in a Norway airport with weed
-Prodigy of Mobb Deep busted in upstate NY on weed and gun charges
-Tray Deee was arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of people in Long
Beach, California. He pled not guilty.
-Arrest warrant was issued for DJ Quik for allegedly beating down his sister
-Nas Charged with assault
-Ram Squad’s Tommy Hill arrested on cocaine charges
-Dead Prez and the A-Alikes were busted in Brooklyn during a photo shoot.
Is everyone
ready for 2004? We are!