(AllHipHop News) Public Enemy leader Chuck D. recently spoke out about the group’s new single titled “Say It Like It Really Is,” which was recently released by Chuck D.’s digital label SLAMjamz music. “This song is a birthday song to myself,” said Chuck D., who recently turned 50. “At the same time, it goes out to Griff and brothers who cross the half-century mark age wise. The dizzy whirl of society today has trained people into robots and consumers thinking that we celebrate younger age, not the rite of graceful passage into knowledge, wisdom, and understanding,” Chuck D said. Sticking to his longstanding beliefs against the pressures that business people may put on the art of hip-hop music, Chuck D. assured fans he wasn’t expecting them to buy into anything, or for DJ’s and VJ’s to support the record. “While I overstand, I’m not asking for anyone to buy into anything, especially not this record … I got away from that notion 20 years ago. I’m not asking or begging any DJ or VJ to play this song,” the Public Enemy leader stressed. “I do not pine or sell myself, especially to an industry and society that considers black art, black history and black life a disposable, joke unless it can be cashed. I don’t joke nor play with the legacy of the contributors that made it possible.” Chuck added that P.E. as been well aware of the “digital option” to release music for some time now, having been one of the pioneering group’s to embrace the digital age in the late 1990’s. Chuck D chastised the media and the major record companies for withholding the release of classical black music, while many of the legendary white groups  continue to receive a push. “Structures [have been created] that depend on a forced black mind state to detach from it’s own history, while saluting the Beatles, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Rolling Stones ,Bob Dylan even U2 and Eminem who know more about our root culture than US,” Chuck D lamented.  “In comparison we lost Michael Jackson, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Ray Charles, Rick James ,Teddy Pendergrass Nina Simone, Barry White, and even Richard Pryor these past 10 years, to relative mainstream media silence with the exception of Mr. Jackson.“ To listen to “Say It Like It Really Is,” click here. Editor’s note: we erroneously reported that Chuck D was a professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is not. 

(AllHipHop News) Respected veteran Bun B was on hand last night in Atlanta to crown the last finalist in Eminem’s Red Bull EmSee battle tournament.

The show took place at the city’s Masquerade venue, and was the final preliminary stop of a national tournament that has also held events in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Orlando, Greensboro and Houston.

Red Bull’s tournament breaks from traditional battle presentations by having participants go through two rounds where they construct improvised rhymes based on topics flashed on a screen.

The head to head battle is saved for the final round.

“Red Bull EmSee is freestyling 2.0…the next level of the game,” Bun told AllHipHop.com at the event. “It’s as interactive as a freestyle competition you can get.”

The Atlanta show started it off with eight emcees and featured a final between Headkrack and Hot 107.5 wildcard winner Fattman.

Fattman’s energy and appearance (rapping with no shirt on) helped him win the crowd early on, but became a detriment in the final round. Headkrack utilized his opponent’s rotund shape to get in several stinging jabs.

“When I step on stage emcees get killed/When I seen him all I could think about was breast milk!/This is a man with t######/Get off the stage go work at Magic City!”

 He credits lines like those as what enabled him to get Fattman mentally out of his comfort zone.

“I felt it. Emcee battling is talent but a lot of it is psychological just like boxing,” Headkrack explained. “So at the staredown you got to get in this dude’s head…Once you get a dude to look away that’s half of it done. And when they’re throwing lines at you and you look unimpressed and not fazed by what they’re saying it makes them have to work harder.

The Detroit finalist will be selected this Saturday (August 21) on 98 WJLB. The finalists from each region will then face off in Detroit in front of Eminem on August 26 at St. Andrews Hall.

The three judges for the events have been Don Cannon, last year’s winner Manchild and Bun B.

For more information visit www.redbull.com/RedbullEmSee.

(AllHipHop News) Eminem is heading back to his old stomping grounds to host his own competition rap battle competition fashioned after the famous battle scenes in his hit movie 8 Mile.The Detroit rapper will host a freestyle rap competition titled “Red Bull EmSee: The Road to 8 Mile National Finals” at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, one of the most legendary hip-hop venues in the country. The rap battle will be similar to those featured in Em’s movie 8 Mile where he starred as “Rabbit,” an up and coming Detroit rapper. The competition will feature eight rappers who emerged from regional battles in cities like New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Slaughterhouse, the hip-hop foursome that is rumored to be signing a deal with Eminem’s Shady Records (and includes Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9″), will also perform at the event.  During the final showdown, Em himself will determine the winner is slated to take place on August 26th andTickets can be purchased for $8 from LiveNation.com. In related news, Eminem’s most recent album Recovery has been certified double platinum by the RIAA after a summertime of airplay across the country.  

(AllHipHop News) Hit rapper/director Ice Cube is hoping to land Chris Tucker for a new installment of his successful Friday franchise of movies. Ice Cube and his Cubevision production shingle are responsible for the three Friday movies, which have starred actors like Chris Tucker, Mike Epps, John Witherspoon, Katt Williams and others. The movies have been box office smashes. Friday (1995) has grossed over $28 million, Next Friday (2000) has grossed over $59 million, while Friday After Next (2002) grossed over $33 million. “That’s my dream. I hope so, I even want Chris Tucker in it. I think that’s what everybody wants to see,” Ice Cube stated. “They want to see all of us together, I’ve been campaigning trying to put that together, I’m going to keep campaigning until the idea is so old nobody wants to see it.”Chris Tucker has been relatively quiet over the past three years, with his last blockbuster hit coming in the form of Rush Hour 3, which co-starred Jackie Chan and earned the popular actor $25 million. Most recently, the famed comedian/actor fan into tax troubles with the IRS claimed he owed over $11 million dollars in back taxes. Just last week, he put his Monteverde, Florida mansion on the market for $2 million. And Cube seemed adamant that another sequel to the Friday series would not be possible, unless Chris Tucker agrees to appear in the flick. “I want to deliver it, but I don’t want to deliver what you’ve seen already. We gotta have Chris in it,” Ice Cube said. In related news, Ice Cube is preparing to release his new album, I Am the West. He recently went public and revealed that Dr. Dre would not be featured on the album, simply because Cube cannot get in contact with his former N.W.A. group member. “I don’t know, but I don’t feel that bad because I talked to Snoop and he ain’t heard from him either,” Ice Cube told AllHipHop.com. “It ain’t just me. This is a man that everybody in the music industry is trying to get production out of, so he has to pick and choose what he can do because he still has pressure to put his record out. That was never a motivating factor for me, my record was done and it was gonna come out with or without him, I’m the only one that has to show up.”Ice Cube’s new album I Am the West is due in stores on September 24th on his own imprint, Lench Mob Records.

(AllHipHop News) Atlanta rapper Pastor Troy is planning to return to the spotlight with a variety of new projects. In the latest issue of Ozone Magazine, Pastor Troy revealed that he is working on a new installment of his popular D.G.S.B. (Down South Georgia Boys) album, in addition to a new song with Haitian Fresh to support Wyclef Jean’s bid for President of Haiti. “Haitian Fresh and I are doing a song now called “Fas a Fas” for Wyclef’s campaign for President of Haiti. It’s gon’ be cool, man,” Pastor Troy revealed. In addition to the track for Wyclef, Pastor Troy and D.G.S.B. will release their first album over new material in over seven years with the upcoming release, reportedly titled The Return Of Cut 3. According to Pastor Troy, he is opting to remain independent, after releasing over 20 albums on majors, as well as smaller, boutique labels.  “I’m staying down with the independents man, because it’s too pivotal,” Pastor Troy stated. “You can’t take on a situation that you want if you always in a situation. You got to leave yourself open, so when that deal that you want comes along you can take it. With that being said, we doing our s**t strictly 100% independent.”No release date was available for the new D.S.G.B. album.

(AllHipHop News) An era in Hip-Hop has officially come to a close. Legendary New York record store/distributor Fat Beats has announced the closing of its two remaining retail locations in New York and Los Angeles. Sources told AllHipHop.com that both stores will close in September, with the New York location shutting its doors on September 4th, while Los Angeles will follow on September 18th. Both stores will host a series of sales and parties to celebrity the stores’ 16-year-legacy selling Hip-Hop music. “The closing of Fat Beats is just like one of my friends passing away. They promoted vinyl at its highest degree for the culture of good music and that makes it more difficult to say goodbye,” DJ Premier told AllHipHop.com in a statement today (August 18th). The company will continue to operate as an online retail store, while the company’s owners plant to re-open a brick and mortar store at some point in the future. “This is the start of a new era for Fat Beats. We’re adapting to meet the needs of our demographic by revamping and improving our existing systems,” Fat Beats owner and President Joe Abajian added. “While our website, which stocks everything available in our retail stores, continues to do very well, we’re still exploring our options for alternate retail locations in the future. We’re proud of our legacy and will continue to re-invent ourselves. For now, we’ll see you online at FatBeats.com.”Fat Beats will also continue to operate as a record label, with artists like Ill Bill, TruMaster & KRS-One, Black Milk and Sha Stimuli still on the roster.

Kanye West has been granted to attend a mediation session with Marion “Suge” Knight via telephone, according to reports. Knight is seeking $1 million dollars from West, claiming the rapper is responsible for his injuries sustained during a 2005 party at the VMA’s in Miami. Knight was among the partygoers at the event, which was hosted by Kanye West at the trendy Shore Club. An unknown gunman shot Knight in the leg. Additionally, the rapper claims someone stole a $135,000 diamond earring from him during the melee. Knight and West faced each other with lawyers present in New York this past June, but they failed to reach an agreement. “I figured I could sit him down, man to man, and get this resolved,” Knight said after a six-hour session. “I’m disappointed.” A Miami judge has ruled that West can attend an upcoming August 26th session via telephone. Swizz Beatz has inked a deal with Everest Entertainment to release his new album scheduled to hit stores this Fall. The new untitled album will be distributed by Atlantic/Warner and will feature artists like Jay-Z, T.I.Drake, John Legend, Coldplay and others. “I couldn’t ask to be in a better place right now,” Swizz Beatz said in a press release. “Both Everest and the Atlantic/Warner team have been great and I’m looking forward to sharing this project with true fans of good music.” According to Swizz, his new album is influenced by his global excursions and will push the creative envelope. “I traveled to different countries and collected sounds and am bringing it back to the culture,” Swizz continued. “Nobody’s really raising the bar. In music, there’s things that artists are just getting by with. I feel like we need to bring something more tangible to the table so it’s not a bubblegum factory where the fans are chewing up the latest flavor and spitting it out.”Rapper DMX recently gave his first post-prison interview, where he confirmed his split with his wife Tashera, who is working on a reality show titled Tashera Simmons: Life After X…. The rapper revealed that his relationship with his son with Tashera has been damaged, due to his frequent incarcerations. But the rapper was confident his future held better days in store. “It’s gonna get better. With this last one, I had been sitting for 90 days, since like January or February and this whole time, by the grace of God, I was given the opportunity to pick the time. I thought ‘Let me knock it out’ because I got a lot of work to do in L.A. and I don’t want to get snagged, get it over with…All he’s known [DMX’s son] his whole life is me being there and now me and his mother are separated, we’re not together anymore and it’s been like five, six years but that’s my first born. That’s my baby,” DMX told Super Snake of Phoenix’s 101.5 Jamz.