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Witness Mickey Factz Speaks On Budden Assault

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

With the main participants in the Joe Budden/Raekwon confrontation now remaining silent, fight eyewitness Mickey Factz is speaking out on the punching incident.

 

Last night on the Rock the Bells Tour, Wu-Tang member Raekwon and 5-6 other men accosted Joe Budden in a backstage room over comments made in a July video about the now squashed Budden-Method Man feud.

 

After tense words were exchanged, one of the men punched Budden in the face. Later, the Jersey lyricist confirmed the incident via Youtube and other online outlets.

 

Bronx rapper Mickey Factz was present during the altercation, and revealed that initially the Wu veteran showed no signs of malice when he entered the room.

 

“Rae came in on some peaceful sh*t at first. He dapped everybody, he dapped Joe,” Factz explained. “But then everything changed. He wanted to talk about the video he seen me in with Joe Budden.”

 

The video in question was recorded several weeks ago during a Rock the Bells tour stop in Boston.

 

 

In the clip, Joe Budden offers a flippant apology about his statements regarding Method Man, but advised that he would retaliate if any further comments were made like Inspectah Deck’s “House N*gga” diss.

 

The Budden clip was recorded just one day before the Jersey City native and Method Man settled their differences in person.

 

However, Factz revealed the Raekwon refused his attempts to mediate.

 

“I didn’t see the punch, but I heard it…Rae was just in another zone, like ‘yo this is what happened, I know what happened,’” Factz detailed. “To be real, that was a bad move. I’m not a street dude, but if it would’ve went down we would’ve had to fight. We were not going to win, but I’m looking at Joe if it has to go down, it has to go down. I stayed, I didn’t leave. Rae told me it didn’t have anything to do with me.”

 

“But at the end of the day I have no problems with Wu Tang Clan. I’m looking Rae in his eyes and telling him the video happened the day before [they squashed it]. Rae didn’t swing. I didn’t see the punch, but it apparently hit Joe in the eye and also the shoulder…If somebody come at you, you have to defend yourself, whether it’s Raekwon, Jay-Z, Nas, n***as we listen to.”

 

As a young emcee who grew up on Wu Tang, Factz expressed disappointment that a veteran would ambush a fellow emcee in that manner. Additionally, Mickey verified that the Chef does have footage of the entire incident, as one of his entourage members had a camera.

 

“One of the six dudes did punch Joe, it was 6 vs. 2. Without me it would’ve been 6 vs. 1. I think it was a sucker move,” he stated. “It looked like Joe barely felt it. [But] sh*t is crazy. Raekwon has the footage…Joe didn’t swing back, and no they didn’t laugh after the punch. Joe and Rae were going back and forth talking like men. How you going to have your man punch him and now you want to talk? And then you have the camera on? C’mon Rae. Once again I love Wu.”

 

Factz is currently working on his latest project, entitled The Leak Volume 3: The Achievement.

 

At press time, Raekwon and Joe Budden could not be reached for comment.

 

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Sunday Selection: Whitney Houston – “Million Dollar Bill”

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Alternatives

What’s up everybody? Hope all is well. This week I came across a few new tracks, but only one in particular motivated me to want to write about it. I had tracks from Queen Latifah, Marcus Houston, Amerie amongst others but the one I got by Whitney Houston titled “Million Dollar Bill” was by far the hottest. Now we all know Whitney’s story…No need to rehash old sh*t, but lets fast forward to the present.

 

This new joint is a hit! Her first single that was released a few weeks ago “I Look To You” from her upcoming album is aight, but in my honest opinion doesn’t really wake up the masses to take notice that she’s trying to make a comeback.

“Million Dollar Bill” was written by Alicia Keys and produced by Swizz Beats and when you put those two together on a track you already know the outcome, FIRE! Being a true R&B fan I was excited to hear this song from Whitney. It felt good to hear a seasoned artist come through with such an awesome track after being out of the loop for so long. I even think that this song has the potential to end up on Urban radio where all the young folks are listening.

 

A remix with a hot rapper might even attribute to that notion, but only time will tell. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part, but Maxwell’s “Pretty Wings” landed on that side of the charts so who knows.

Either way it goes, “Million Dollar Bill” will be the reason that people want to purchase Whitney’s music again. What do you think of the song? Let me know.

P.S. – I wonder if this is how Whitney feels (like a million dollar bill) when she’s getting her cougar on and hanging out with Ray-J? Hahahahahaha…sorry couldn’t hold that one back!

Well y’all thanks for taking time out to read what I had to say.

Until next week check out this week’s Sunday Selection – “Million Dollar Bill.”

Nia Beckwith is a Senior Writer for allhiphop.com. She can be reached at [email protected]. You can also follow her at twitter.com/niabchicago.

Titus “Baatin” Glover: The Good Die Young

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

The viewing for founding Slum Village member Titus “Baatin” Glover is being held this afternoon (1pm-8pm) at Detroit’s New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church. In the wake of another sudden loss for Detroit’s close knit Hip-Hop community, several of Baatin’s friends spoke to AllHipHop.com about the colorful and eclectic rapper’s memory.

 

Baatin grew up along with future Slum Village bandmates J Dilla and T3 in the Conant Garden section of Detroit. The trio had an immediate impact on Detroit’s Hip-Hop 90’s community with their underground LP Fantastic Vol. 1. The 1996 offering was a seminal moment for Detroit’s music scene, and would help inspire the next generation of emcees from the region like Black Milk and Guilty Simpson.

 

“We lost a pioneer of Detroit Hip-Hop,” Simpson told AllHipHop.com “He was one of a kind and will never be duplicated.”

 

Baatin’s unpredictable and creative rhymes were a staple of Slum Village albums up until his sudden departure before 2004’s Detroit Deli, after struggling to cope with a schizophrenia diagnosis. His death is especially bittersweet for Slum member T3, who just a few weeks ago confirmed that Baatin was back in the group and recording songs for their reunion LP.

 

“Baatin will be missed. I’m glad we got a chance to work together before he passed,” T3 explained to AllHipHop.com “We lost another Slum soldier, a dear friend and a brother…He touched many lives. We love Baatin, R.I.P.”

 

Maureen Yancey, who lost her son James “J Dilla” Yancey to lupus in 2006, reflected on Baatin’s legacy.

 

“[My] deepest sympathy to the family friends and fans of Slum Village on the passing of Baatin,” she stated. “We loved him and his kind heart and spirit he will be forever be in our hearts.”

 

With Baatin’s funeral set for tomorrow (August 11) at Greater Future Missionary Baptist Church (10766 Morang Drive), Slum Village distributor and Barak Records CEO RJ Rice discussed his history with the group, and what he sees as the future of Slum Village.

 

AllHipHop.com: So how did you first meet The guys in Slum Village?

 

RJ Rice: I signed J. Dilla, T3 and Baatin in 1992. They were 17 years-old. We did [Fantastic] Volume 1. And then we did [Fantastic] Volume 2. And then of course JD left the group around 1998.

 

AllHipHop.com: Why did JD leave the group?

 

RJ Rice: Odd enough, he got tired of Baatin putting garlic on the bus. Dilla would call me at night when he was touring with a Tribe Called Quest. He said “man I am tired. Baatin, just keeps putting this garlic on the bus and I am tired of smelling this stuff.” There was a lot of fun kid stuff they would do. And then JD felt like he wanted to make more harder music. And JD never really wanted to be in a group. But he wanted to help his two friends, T3 and Baatin.

 

AllHipHop.com: How far do J. Dilla, T3 and Baatin go back?

 

RJ Rice: They go back to high school. They came to me in 1992 after we opened a record company and studio. They came to me and said they had this group they wanted me to check out. I heard the music and if you can imagine, Baatin is not there. It’s just JD and T3. And they are sitting across from my desk and I am saying “I like the music, let’s sign yall.” And they are whispering. So I asked “what are yall whispering about?” Then JD said you tell him. So T3 said “there is one more guy that’s missing.” I said “Do we need him?” He said “It’s Titus, Baatin. He’s not on the records, but we need him to get to the next level we want to get to.”

 

AllHipHop.com: Why was Baatin so important to the group if he wasn’t on the records?

 

RJ Rice: Well we had been meeting a week and I hadn’t seen him yet. When we finally met, I realized why they needed him. He’s a voice, he does characters, he sings, raps and takes the group left of center. So we record the group and all of sudden we finish Volume 1 and 2. Fast forward about 5 or 6 years. We finally get these guys going, then JD leaves. I put Elhzi in the group. That’s when Baatin started dabbling in the drugs. I knew he was.

 

AllHipHop.com: What was the made you notice he might be doing hardcore drugs?

 

RJ Rice: Because Baatin would always come to me by himself. He started to exaggerate. He would say ‘J I seen a dog 49 feet tall’, but that was sort of his personality. He did that before the drugs, but now it was more intensified and his emotions were more intensified. Baatin always kept it fun, but now for some reason was intense.

 

AllHipHop.com: What were some of the things that aggravated the group?

 

RJ Rice: The drugs were nerve racking to Dilla, but not to the point that that wanted to make him leave. He got the group to where they needed to be and he wanted to move on. We said JD go ahead and move on. We came with T########### and from there we had Selfish and we were very successful. That’s when Baatin’s behavior really started wearing and tearing on the guys.

 

AllHipHop.com: So the reports he suffered from schizophrenia. Was that true or was it the drugs?

 

RJ Rice: I think he was schizophrenic, but it the drugs that exasperated it.

 

AllHipHop.com: Was he doing more than crack?

 

RJ Rice: No one never knew and Baatin called me and this is the part about it that got me. Baatin is an original. They been with me since 1992. You gonna fall in love with people like him, no matter what they do, you can’t help it. Even though we had issues, they never left, because we took care of Slum Village. For years, before the records did anything. We made sure their bills were paid and they never missed a meal for years. Everybody is so stressed because of this issue with Baatin. So then came the decision for Baatin to leave the group. It was mutual, he did not want to hinder the group.

 

AllHipHop.com: So when he left the group, what was his plan?

 

RJ Rice: He didn’t have one. My goal was to bring the group back together with J Dilla, Baatin, Elhzi and T3. I had spoken to JD and he agreed to do it. Of course JD got sick and died.

 

AllHipHop.com: How did Dilla’s death affect Baatin? It wasn’t a wake up call for what he was doing to himself?

 

RJ Rice: Well they still went in and made great records and they still managed to have hits, despite all of this. And these guys have been friend since 12, 13 years old. When I met them they were 17. When JD died it not only shattered Baatin, but it shattered Proof. All these guys came up through the studio. Proof, JD, we knew them all since 15. Proof said he thought it was him that was gonna die. He told me that out of his own mouth. Then he died. So when Baatin called me in 08, Baatin was standing in front of Slum show and couldn’t get in. He ended up getting arrested for disorderly conduct.

 

AllHipHop.com: How did it impact Slum Village? That’s so much extra drama when they are trying to focus on a recording career, which is already hard enough.

 

RJ Rice: No one knew how to deal with it. So I said “we got to put him [back] in the group.” But we knew he wasn’t ready. But I couldn’t take seeing him outside of shows, standing in front of a building, where a group he founded was performing. But he gets arrested cause he has issues. I couldn’t take it, so we put him back in the group.

 

AllHipHop.com: What was he doing in the mean time. Odd jobs? How did he make money?

 

RJ Rice: Well we would see him and he would tell us he was off the drugs. And there would be times we could tell. And we wanted to give him money, but if we gave him money we would be adding to the fire. If we didn’t we would see our friend and family member walking homeless.

 

AllHipHop.com: Yeah it’s tough when a family member is addicted. Sometimes the tough love just isn’t the answer.

 

RJ Rice: Right, and meanwhile, we did our best. Each one of them had nice cars, nice apartments. We would buy Baatin a car, and he would give it away.

 

AllHipHop.com: Did he give it away out of the habit?

 

RJ Rice: Nah there wasn’t that much of a difference between his personality and his habit. Baatin was a guy who did cleansing, ate his herbs, but the drugs made him turn from all that.

 

AllHipHop.com: Well, how did he get turned on to something as hard as smoking crack? That’s almost as extreme as it gets.

 

RJ Rice: Well I had suspicions, but I denied it. Some people sit back and say they are concerned about artists. But this is different. We found these kids at 17 and now they are 35. None of them left Barak Records. So you kind of go into denial. My focus was to get their career going, get them money, so they could achieve their success. I never viewed my position as a person who had to keep them from doing certain things. And when I met them, none of them smoked, drank or did anything and it stayed like that for 6 years. The success changed it.

 

AllHipHop.com: Why do you blame the success?

 

RJ Rice: JD became so successful. They were never impressed with stars. JD became successful so “stars” were around, but they didn’t care about that. Sometimes success comes through the back door and catches you off guard. I think during the 5 years that Baatin left the group, we were miserable. Here’s a guy who made me what I am and he can’t be in the group, because of these issues.

 

AllHipHop.com: Well why didn’t he go to rehab or did he make any attempts to get better? Almost nobody just stops doing crack.

 

RJ Rice: Well he appeared to be doing much better. He called me and asked me to listen to music last summer. He played me some music and it sounded like Vol. 1. And that’s when I realized why T3 and JD said they couldn’t have the group without Baatin. I never knew what they meant, until I heard his actual music. It’s just like Slum Village, authentic. This is the best album and performance that you will ever hear from Baatin. The Slum Village album is finished and ready. We were gonna drop The Slum album, then Big Pooh and then a double album from Baatin and T3.

 

AllHipHop.com: What were you doing when you found out he passed away?

 

RJ Rice: Well I had just sat with T3 the day before, going over the marketing plans for Slum Village. But 90% of our convo was about Baatin. The night he died he was so excited to be back in Slum. I told him, don’t worry and just hang in there, we will get through this. And Baatin said ‘I was happy you gave me the chance.’ Now that turned my stomach, because he thought I was giving him the chance, when didn’t realize nothing would exist without his contribution. I had to constantly remind him.

 

AllHipHop.com: So with his passing, how is this affecting his family. Did he have any children?

 

RJ Rice: He had two children by two mothers and they both were close to Baatin. We knew his mother and father for 17 years. It’s a lot of stress on his mother. Same with J. Dilla’s. I heard that she might be homeless soon and she also suffers from Lupus.

 

AllHipHop.com: What are you going to do to help them?

 

RJ Rice: Well we are going to hire an independent CPA to track the sales of Villa Manifesto so that money can get to Baatin’s family and the appropriate parties. It’s not going to be stopped and we are not going to pull a bunch of “I.O.U.s’ as the record label. We are going to start the clock at zero. Mrs. Maureen Yancey [J. Dilla’s mother] raised all three of the group members. Jay Dee was an instrumental figure and founder of Slum Village. We don’t want to see Mrs. Yancey struggling, so we are going to do the same for her. She is having real tough times right now. And we are going to try and develop some investments so that these woman can have some residual income, so we don’t have to go down this path again. We started this thing 17 years ago. And now that people have died and moved on these people have families and they hope that thing could have taken care of them as well too. They dedicated their lives for them to be who they were. Please do not bootleg the upcoming Villa Manifesto album. I know that this would be a relief on those two of the founding members that were part of Slum to at least know something is going to happen. Who would want to see their mothers in need?

Brisco Promises “Revenge” For Barbershop Robbery

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Opa-Locka, Florida rapper Brisco released a track titled “Revenge” which addresses an incident last Wednesday (July 29), when the rapper was robbed at the Player’s Choice Barbershop in Miami.

 

Sources close to Brisco revealed he is releasing a new mixtape titled Revenge next Saturday (August 15).

 

The mixtape comes on the heels of the robbery, which occurred after Brisco, born British Mitchell, stopped into Player’s Choice to get a haircut.

 

Four men with guns drawn stormed the barbershop and coordinated the brazen robbery, relieving Brisco of $35,000 worth of jewelry as well as his Range Rover, which police later recovered.

 

The rapper, who has recorded with artists like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Flo Rida and Bryan “Baby” Williams, released a 4:13 track also titled “Revenge” addressing the incident and promising retaliation to the perpetrators of the robbery.

 

The track starts with samples of a news report and overdubs in Haitian. Brisco fades in, stating “retaliation is a must.”

 

He speaks directly to the criminals who relieved him of his possessions, including his Range Rover truck, which was recovered a few blocks away from the barbershop.

 

“F**k a diamond you can have the gold/don’t want it back young n***a rather have your soul” and later “I can’t help that I’m the golden child/They set me up to lay me down/I want revenge now/

 

The second half of the verse is directed at the unarmed suspect who was in the barbershop prior to the robbery.

 

Police want to question the man, because he placed a call just before the robbery and was the only one the bandits allowed to leave.

 

Towards the end of his last verse, Brisco threatens to put a $20,000 bounty on each one of the men’s heads.

 

 “Guess what? Them n***as was Haitian. So I had to find another way to talk to them,” Brisco said before a rapper directs a threatening verse in French.

 

Police are still seeking the four suspects who committed the crime and the fifth man, who may have helped coordinate the robbery.

 

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Hip-Hop Rumors: Crooked I Speaks! Budden Talks! Assault Details Emerge!

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Rumors

DISCLAIMER:

All content within this section is pure rumor and generally have no factual info outside of what the streets have whispered in our ear. Read on.

THE DAILY TWO SENSE

RAEKWON SAID…MY BAD“On my children no one was supposed to get touched.”It is not verified, but Raekwon reportedly said that Joe Budden wasn’t supposed to get punched. Not sure how the grand plan got derailed. As you already know, about 4-8 people came up with Rae on Joe. They were filming from Rae’s side and webcasting live from Joe’s side. It went left and one of Rae’s dude hit Joe. There is more….

CROOKED I SPEAKS

“Ain’t nobody gonna disrespect one of my dudes when we on the West Coast.” – Crooked I live from the Rock The Bells stage.

Here is the latest.

I heard that there were several peace talks backstage. Not sure if

anything came out of them, because I was told it was very tense coming

out of them. But what happened is, it seems that the cops came there

and everything was calmed down. I also heard that Crooked I’s crew COB

was super deep there and everything was very stabilized for Joe Budden.

I’m not sure but RZA went on or something and the cops cleared the

backstage or separated the crews. Honestly, I heard cats were looking

for the dude that hit Joe, not so much the whole Wu or anything. I

heard Slaughter’s show was cut short for whatever reason. Crooked did

state the above quote, but not much else was made of it. At the end of

the day, the situation didn’t escalate….it fizzled.  I have to admit, I was told that C.O.B. was going to tear the place apart, but I think 30 cops were a serious deterrent to any thing that may have popped off.I guess after it sorta fizzled, Budden said the following from his twitter:…”brand new, I ain’t got a scratch on me”. I should’ve twitpiced n##### hidin in their dressin room, lol… He linked to the following image:Notice he has an Icewater scarf or something on. Man, this is crazy. I need to get a tattoo…lol. The older stuff is below.

MORE BUDDEN TALKING ABOUT THE SITUATION

JOE BUDDEN TALKS ABOUT RAE’S BOY’S ALLEGED ASSAULT

Here you go….Joe Budden talks.

Lets just hope that nothing else happens surrounding this matter. But, Joe is OK…THE CAMERAS WERE ROLLING….AND THE TWITTERS WERE TWITTING.The internets are talking and here is what they are saying:This is from an online post. Joe was streaming live from what seems to be a trailer of some sort or backstage.They are at Rock The Bells. They were live on blogtv. Mickey Factz

happened to be on at the moment and Joe sat down and started talking

with him. Not long after, Raekwon comes in the room out of nowhere and

says “YO SHUT THE F###### DOOR!”. He came in with some big dudes it

looked like. He sat down and started talking wreckless to Joe. S### was

still live. It sounded like Joe didn’t say anything until he said

something about the computer being on. Then Rae looks at Mickey and

Mickey cut the live s### off.WTF is Micky Factz doing? SMH!JOE BUDDEN ASSAULTED!!

***OK, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, BUT READ ON AND THE VIDEOS ARE BELOW***I

don’t know exactly what has happened, but I am hearing from a number of

sources that Joe Budden was assaulted out in California at some point

at the Rock The Bells concert. I am not going to suggest that anybody

did it. What I will say is that I was told that all beefs were squashed

and Joe Budden felt comfortable enough to WALK or got to the venue 

alone.

When he got somewhere around the

vicinity, he was reportedly beaten up or assaulted. Now, I heard that

he is FINE, meaning he’s OK. Still, this could potentially have

disastrous results if the assault was perpetrated by who is saying did

it. I know this message is very coded, but anybody that knows anything

can read between the lines here.

This is odd though. All of these guys ended their beefs….ahhhhhh, why even try to understand.

For more, go to illseed.com. Or just follow me at http://twitter.com/illseed

RAPPERS, WE LOVE YOU!!! NOW CHILL OUT!

They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!

-illseed

WHO: illseed.com

WHAT: Rumors

WHERE: AllHipHop.com, MySpace.com/TheIllseed

HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at [email protected].

T-Pain, Pitbull Remake Miami Dolphins Fight Song

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Florida rappers T-Pain and Pitbull have been tapped by the Miami Dolphins to create the NFL Football team’s new fight song.

 

Their song, along with a version by soft-rocker Jimmy Buffett made its debut last night (August 7) during a celebration held at the Versace mansion on South Beach with Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross.

 

Ross is attempting to bring star power to boost awareness about The Dolphins, in attempt to boost attendance at the team’s Land Shark Stadium.

 

“The new fight theme songs by Jimmy Buffett and T-Pain feat. Pitbull will be introduced for ’09/10 season,” Miami Dolphins spokesman Elliot Stares said. “The original fight song will never be obsolete and will remain on the musical agenda.”

 

The words to the new fight songs are the same as the original, with updated music.

 

In addition to the new songs by T-Pain, Pitbull and Jimmy Buffett, Ross tapped neo-pop artist Romero Britto to design colorful paintings and sculptures that will adorn the new Land Shark Stadium.

 

Just last month, Latin music superstar Marc Anthony purchased a small portion of the Dolphins from Ross, who hopes to cash in on the star power of Anthony and his wife, Jennifer Lopez.

Lil Biggie Smalls Launches Rap Career

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Christopher Wallace, Jr., aka the son of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G, is following in his father’s footsteps by putting out a mixtape.

 

During a recent trip to New York City, Wallace met up with Sean “Diddy” Combs and son Christian, to reveal his next power moves.

 

“I just finished up with that movie, probably act a little more, I’ve been rapping a bit, working on a mix-tape right now” said the young Biggie Smalls.

 

Wallace and Christian both visited with Diddy for a week in what he has dubbed “Swag Summer School,” to make sure the two uphold the legacy of what he and the Notorious B.I.G. built.

 

“We spending time to nurture this legacy so they know really what they need to do when the baton is passed, the torch is passed,” stated Combs.

 

No release date has been released for the as-yet-untitled mixtape.

 

Christopher Wallace, Jr., currently lives in Los Angeles with his mother singer/song-writer Faith Evans and her three other children. video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsfree video player

I Volunteer To Mentor Soulja Boy

By: Chuck Creekmur (@ChuckCreekmur)Category: Editorial

Knowing how people don’t read or quickly form judgments, I want to state this editorial isn’t mean to be funny or a disrespectful commentary.

 

I’ll never forget how I came into “meeting” Soulja Boy.

 

It was through a parody from a guy named Army Boy, who had created a hilarious re-make of “Crank Dat Soulja Boy” before I even heard the original. Like it or not, he’s taken the world by storm. Even though Soulja Boy has continuously caught tremendous flack for his brand of Hip-Hop, AllHipHop supported his efforts. During AllHipHop Week, he performed at our Fashion Show, which was hosted by LL Cool J. He fit in perfectly with the evening, one that was fun and festive. Recently, it hasn’t been his music that has been a point of contention.

 

From what I’ve seen, Soulja Boy isn’t such a happy guy. At any given moment, he’s expressing his emotions and frustrations through his digital assets like twitter, his blogs and his video outlets. (Read the latest, by clicking here.) The most recent complaint has been one against the media, who he claims has it out for him. When this lament was issued (and later removed), he expressed that the media was critical of him due to his more flamboyant activities, namely an iced-out, remote-controlled Lamborghini chain. Soulja Boy himself publicized his activities though the youtube and sparked off the aforementioned “point of contention” in fans. I googled this and never saw any real disses from traditional online media.

 

Oddly, in his rant he mentioned his charitable contributions to the community. Well, that was news to me. I mean, AllHipHop has always covered rappers that give back and I don’t recall his work. So, if he has been doing the great things, he needs to scream on his PR team.

 

Anyway, after the rant and an apparent desire to do better, I decided that Soulja Boy needs a mentor. And if he has one, its highly likely that he needs a better one.

 

So, I’m volunteering for the job.

 

Why? There are several reasons. In general, Black boys grow up without any sort of older figure to help them navigate through the trials of life. Even when there is a father present, that’s not necessarily the same as a mentor. Whenever I read one of Soulja Boy’s online declarations, I feel like I am hearing somebody crying for guidance – or pain. I could be wrong, but he’s gone off quite a few times on Twitter and it is sounds painful. I know Soulja Boy even though I don’t know Soulja Boy. I’ve mentored, taught or worked with a number of “soulja boys” and they needs constant talking to and you need to check in often to prevent them from veering off course. Anybody that has been through anything knows in an instant your life can change.

 

That’s not to say I want to see him suddenly morph into some super-lyrical, socially conscious revolutionary, non-mistake making adult because that’s not Soulja Boy. It just seems like he needs somebody older than Arab to stop him from a looming meltdown. He’s got money, but in my tenure, I’ve seen plenty rappers go from rags to riches and back to rags. Furthermore, none of that truly leads to happiness if there are unresolved issues from back in the day. Even more, I never was fortunate to have a mentor coming into this business. Sadly, AllHipHop has seen a bunch of wanna-be mentors-turned leeches since our inception. I can only imagine how much blood Soulja Boy has already lost.

 

Perception is often all there is and right now, SB looks like a young man doing his thing in the entertainment game. However, when a journalist friend called Soulja Boy “Black Boy Lost” after reading his write up, I knew the perception (and subsequent reality) was changing. Furthermore, I feel mentoring SB is going to have a tremendous ripple affect. Kids don’t look to Public Enemy, LL Cool J and KRS-One for their social cues anymore. That’s gone, I’m sorry. They look at people such as Soulja Boy, Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy and other artists. I mean, there aren’t even many community leaders that seem attractive to young people these days , but that’s another write-up.

 

Mentoring Soulja Boy could mean mentoring a generation of young people influenced and impressed by the tremendous moves he’s already made in his short, controversial career. On top of that, a mentorship could help DeAndre Cortez Way cope with the ever-growing, crushing pressures of fame, fortune and success. It could also help him cope with the past.

 

I don’t know Soulja Boy, but I know he’s a different person than 2006, when he Performed “Crank Dat” at our event with the whole crowd doing his dance. I didn’t dance and that’s kinda what he needs right now – somebody that’s not so quick to dance. Somebody, that’s interested in a talk here and there, a chin check every now and then and can warn about the sharp bends in the road ahead.

 

That mentor doesn’t have to be me, but I hope for his sake and the other “soulja boys” in America, that they find somebody fast. We all need a mentor at some point. Shoot, I’m still looking for mine.

 

Prosecution Rests Case Against Rapper C-Murder

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

C-Murder’s attempts to have his murder trial thrown out of court were rejected by a judge today (August 7).

 

C-Murder, born Corey Miller, is on trial of a second time in regards to the shooting death of 16-year-old Steve Thomas inside of Club Platinum in 2002.

 

Miller’s lawyer Ron Rakosky sought to declare a mistrial, after prosecutors revealed they had reached a plea deal with witness Kenneth Jordan, a bouncer who has testified against Miller.

 

Jordan has testified that he witnessed C-Murder shoot the teenager, who was also being kicked and beaten by a group of men, after a dispute inside of the club.

 

Under cross-examination, Jordan revealed that he had signed an agreement with prosecutors to testify against Miller in order to have a Carnal Knowledge charge levied against him dropped.

 

Yesterday (August 6), Rakosky claimed that prosecutors used “coercive tactics” to force Jordan to testify against Miller, whom prosecutors accuse of threatening witnesses related to the murder case.

 

Today, Judge Hans Liljeberg rejected Rakosky’s request and the after three days of testimony, the prosecution rested its case against C-Murder.

 

Prosecutors called a total of 13 witnesses to the stand, two who claim to have witnessed Miller shoot Thomas.

 

Miller, 38, was convicted of second-degree murder after a trial in 2003.

 

The conviction was overturned and upheld by Louisiana Supreme Court, after it was learned the prosecutors expunged the criminal backgrounds over several witnesses to bolster their credibility in front of jurors.

 

If convicted, Miller faces a life sentence in prison.

Brisco To Use Robbery as Album Inspiration

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Miami rapper Brisco remains in good spirits after video hit cyberspace showing him being robbed of jewelry totaling over $35,000.

 

The theft occurred in a Miami barbershop following a Brisco photo shoot. The surveillance clip shows four armed men rush the entrance, and force everyone in the store to lie face down.

 

Brisco then became the main target, and was relieved of several jewelry items along with the keys to his Range Rover.

 

When asked about the attack, the Opa-locka native expressed gratitude that the incident did not turn fatal, and emphasized that he will replace every accessory lost with more expensive jewelry.

 

“I’m still alive, you know that street medicine is going to be good,” Brisco told local news reporters. “I’m still good. I’ll get bigger jewelry and still go hard. It’s great material for my next album.”

 

In light of the recent robbery and murder of boxing champion Vernon Forrest in his Atlanta hometown, much debate has occurred about whether local celebrities should remain distant from their urban environments.

 

Brisco dismisses that stance, and declared that he intends to remain an ambassador for his region.

 

“I still rep the streets of Miami, still rep the streets of Dade County hard and international,” he stated.

 

In addition, the Florida rapper clarified that he was not physically harmed by his robbers.

 

“Contrary to some reports, I was not assaulted in the robbery that took place…” Brisco said in a prepared statement. “It was a random robbery of a barbershop I was in and it really is just a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” At press time, the four thieves remain at large.