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Funk Flex Announces New TV Show; Deal With Flowmaster Mufflers

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) Hip-Hop DJ Funkmaster Flex has announced a partnership with Flowmaster Mufflers today (March 15) in addition to revealing a new television show in the works.

Funkmaster Flex will showcase Flowmaster’s products on his eight-city cark and bike tour, in addition to using the exhaust specialists’ products in his new show Funk Flex Full Throttle.

During each episode of Funk Flex Full Throttle, the DJ showcases the latest rides and details the performance enhancements he makes to his own automobiles.

“Flowmaster gearheads, customizers, rodders and young tuners are a group of unique individuals that are defining the creative future of the auto industry each time they step on the gas pedal,” Funkmaster Flex said. “I hope my tour, radio and TV shows provides an excellent platform for Flowmaster to showcase their products and inspire these aficionados with new exhaust technology ideas and keep things poppin’ in 2010.”

According to Flowmaster’s CEO Winnie Flugger, the deal with Funkmaster Flex was a strategic move to promote the company’s products to the lucrative Hip-Hop market, which is known for its enthusiasm for automobiles.

“We’re really pleased to have connected with Flex for 2010 and see the bond between our groups as a great way to further increase the Flowmaster message and brand to a loyal audience of fans and soon to be fans of our product,” Flugger said.

Funk Flex Full Throttle will debut on a cable network this April.

Jaden Smith Named ShoWest Breakthrough Male of the Year

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) Months before the release of his latest film, The Karate Kid, Jaden Smith is receiving kudos for his work on the feature from the ShoWest film festival.

The young star, who is the son of rapper/actor Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, has been named ShoWest’s Breakthrough Male Star of the Year. The award will be presented Wednesday (March 17) at the event, which will be held in Las Vegas’ Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas hotels.

According ShoWest managing director, Robert Sunshine, Jaden Smith was a logical choice for the Breakthrough Male award in light of his work on The Karate Kid.

“Jaden Smith is an exceptional young actor who has delivered a true breakout performance with his portrayal of Dre Parker in The Karate Kid,” Sunshine shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

Described as the most prestigious and longest running convention and trade show for the cinema exhibition and distribution community, ShoWest features film screenings of major studio and independent feature films which are slated to be released in the Summer. Special events featuring Hollywood starts as well as educational seminars are also held during the event.

The Karate Kid marks Jaden Smith’s third film to date. The entertainer made his film debut opposite Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happiness. That appearance was followed up with a role in the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

In The Karate Kid, Jaden Smith will share screen time with fellow co-star Jackie Chan. The Herald Zwart-directed feature is scheduled to hit theaters on June 11.

Monday Fashion Feature: Why Your Girl Should Rock Dimepiece

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Lifestyle
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 DimePiece is one of our favorite brands on our sister site DJPremium.com. VIDEO: Why Your Girl Should Rock DimePiece Backed by two amazing young ladies – Co-Creators/Designers Ashley Jones and Laura Fama – the Los Angeles-based brand’s overriding theme is female empowerment and challenging male-driven stereotypes. Boss Lady caught up with the girls during their “Peep Show” event in Las Vegas last month to talk about the brand’s foundation, what exactly makes a woman a “dimepiece”, how much the Los Angeles lifestyle influences their designs, working with singer/model Cassie and the brand’s new direction.Check out DimePiece on DJPremium.com: Karl Tee by DimePieceTiger Mesh Jodhpurs by DimePieceGonna Get Yours Thermal by DimePieceBarbie Clones Leggings by DimePiece

The Quandary of the Hip Hop Intellectual

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Uncategorized
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The desire to relegate one’s existence to the development of the mind presents a multi-faceted quandary. When a black man devotes his existence to intellectual inquiry, it ensures that he will ostracized by the proletariat of his race, and virtually ignored by the Anglo-Saxon academy. As Hip-Hop intellectuals, we have to be beyond reproach to be taken seriously and excessively erudite to survive. We still live with a sense of Double Consciousness, forced to endure situated identity conflicts on a daily basis. We are entreated by marginalized populations to “keep it real” and asked by the Eurocentric majority to conform to the gold standard.

We have been fathered by intellectuals from the past, which explains our Janus face. Although we realize that “To whom much is given, much is required,” sometimes we wish that we could ask our father to take this cup away from us. We labor assiduously to apply our intellect to the problems of the day, and channel the knowledge of the collective unconscious in the process. We endure disrespect with dignity. We realize that one has to be different in order to make a difference.

The ways in which a person becomes a Hip-Intellectual are variegated in nature. Some are inspired to become intellectual gargantuans by teachers, professionals or lay scholars. These mentors embody the very best that academia has to offer. They are erudite scholars who can only be described as “gifted while Black.” Michael Eric Dyson and Tavis Smiley are our Romulus and Remus, establishing unwritten rules for us as they lead by example. Their offspring are ultimately seduced into devoting their existence to reading, writing and commentating on the quandaries of the day. Others simply become Hip-Hop intellectuals by osmosis, meaning that ingrained in their psyches is an undying thirst for knowledge. For them life as an intellectual is the only plausible existence. Their cerebral cortexes are wired for one thing, acquisition and storage of vast amounts of information.

Equally as variegated is the education path that a person follows to become a Hip-Hop intellectual. Some follow the path of Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison. These men did not study at a prestigious university like Harvard, Yale, or Brown, but received their formal education at the largest university in the universe, the world. They took advantage of the literary subcultures of their eras. Some Hip-Hop intellectuals are produced by the finest Black and White universities and have been instructed by the best of the best and encouraged to push the envelope intellectually. They became intellectuals in order to alleviate the suffering and misery of their race and express their individuality

No matter whom our influences were or the path we took to the academia, we represent the talented tenth that Dubois immortalized in his writings. Hip-Hop Intellectuals are proud, boisterous and grandiloquent, but most importantly brilliant. It may seem as though we pontificate excessively and use “big words” to seem intelligent, however we always bring our “A” games. We represent a marriage between the philosophies of Malcolm and Martin, Biggie and Tupac, diverse ideologies inhabiting one body, one soul.

Born during the genesis of Hip-Hop, our births signaled a new dichotomy within the Black community, an intellectual immersed in what many call one of the most destructive movements ever to hit the Black community. For many, Hip-Hop represents all that is wrong with the Black community, but for us it represents Black expression in its most refulgent state. We realize that we have our work cut out for us, but we always press on towards the mark. Our intellect is to be the savior of our community because it dismisses the notion that blacks are intellectually substandard. We are America’s worst nightmare, a ni**a with a brain.

Omillio Sparks: Spark Another One

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Features
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“You can bull crap with music if you want to,” jokes Omillio Sparks, quoting former boss Beanie Sigel. Former Roc artist, State Property Member, and now under Tsunami Group management, Omillio Sparks is back on the scene with a new stance. The crew is now scattered about, Sparks is betting on himself to win his with cinematic aspirations and music on deck.

AllHipHop.com: So, where have you been?

 Omillio Sparks: I’ve been working…just been in the lab. Just working goin’ hard, about to push the mixtape. I’m putting my team back in order….I have a new team around me Tsunami Group. So just getting some situations in order. We just working!

 AllHipHop.com: Tell me about the mixtape and the album I’m a Grown Man Walking.

 Omillio Sparks:  We gonna drop the Mixtape first, Omillio Sparks Volume 1, that’s crazy! Got some features with Bird Gang, of course State Property..That’s a given they on there, Franky D. But the Grown Man Walking album is stupid! We got Jim Jones on that one. I been in New York bustin’ moves so…..I’m resurfacing!

AllHipHop.com: Why did you choose that title?

Omillio Sparks: It is what it is. Time went by, I matured, I grew, I’m on my grown man. I’m on my business, I’m just real focused right now. You can hear the maturity in the music. I’m still on my grind, I’m still me, but you can hear the change.

AllHipHop.com: Outside of the artist that you mentioned, who do you want to collaborate with?

Omillio Sparks: I still got some features from Wayne. It’s a record I got with Jadakiss. So I got a couple of features. We just got to put the album together to see what’s gonna make it, and what’s not.

AllHipHop.com: Future collaborations?

Omillio Sparks: Definitely! I want to work with Jeezy. It’s some new artist coming out of Philly that I’m working with. It’s a lot of other artist out there I want to work with, but I’d rather reach out and make it happen before I start talking about it.

AllHipHop.com: Everyone knows you for your songwriting for hits, especially for “I Just Wanna Love You”. Are you still doing that nowadays, or are you just focused on yourself?

Omillio Sparks: Right now I’m just focused on what I gotta do, but definitely that’s on the table. Writing is definitely on the table because that’s what I do. I’m definitely gonna write some music for other artist, that’s in the future.

AllHipHop.com: Before you got into the business, what was your inspiration for music?

Omillio Sparks: I was always around other artist. The would always tell me “Come to the studio, you talented.” I didn’t realize how much impact I had on people with some of the songs I had, so I just went hard. We started putting out music Independently, and I saw the responses I was getting. So I went hard for about 2 ½ years, one thing led to another, and I was in NY having a meeting with Jay and we were signed to Roc-A-Fella. You can bullcrap with music if you want to, but I take it serious!

AllHipHop.com: What makes you an original artist?

Omillio Sparks: I think it’s my voice and my style of rap. I separate myself from the rest because I do me. I don’t limit myself, I just make music. I don’t stay in one zone, and I’m not one dimensional. Some people are scared to jump out the box; I’m just making music.

 AllHipHop.com: You are under Tsunami Group now? How did that happen, and why did you choose that route?

 Omillio Sparks: I went to New York, and somebody knew CJ. They took me to see her and when I sat down with CJ we just talked and it had to happen. The chemistry was there, and I say within a month we were making noise.

AllHipHop.com: You have a few films under your belt, any more in the future?

Omillio Sparks: Movies and TV; we got that all lined up. That’s longevity there so I’m not stopping there, like you said it’s under my belt now so it don’t make sense to stop. It makes sense to keep moving forward, and that what I’m doing. Music is my first love, I gotta do that! That’s a no-brainer! I have a film coming up called “48 hours Till Dark” staring DMX and Fredro Starr.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the synopsis of the film?

Omillio Sparks: DMX has his own team, Fredro has his, and I have mine. We all get tipped off about the same spot. Its sort of has a “Trespass” theme, but it’s different. I know it’s gonna be crazy on set with them!

AllHipHop.com: How hard, or easy is it for you transitioning from rapping into acting mode?

Omillio Sparks: It’s not hard at all, it’s like remembering your script, is remembering your verses. It’s just getting into character, knowing your character, and making it come alive on screen. It’s a challenge…..but I like it, I love acting.

AllHipHop.com: I’m sure you get irritated by people asking you about Jay, Dame , and Beans, but how did the breakup of the Roc affect you personally?

Omillio Sparks: I was more disappointed, like WOW we were making history. It really wasn’t a bad thing for me because I was free. I was out of my contract. I was able to move like I wanted to move without being obligated to a company. But it was a disappointment because it was like a family. I was around a bunch of them dudes, we spent a lot of years together, so we grew to love each other. Then it all ended…that was crazy. It’s over so you move forward, you can’t dwell on it.

AllHipHop.com:  You still keep in contact with everybody?

 Omillio Sparks: Of course I keep in contact with everyone from State Property. I talk to Dame. I even saw Jay afterwards and we chopped it up. Everybody is living their own lives right now, I got to focus on me. When I’m out and about and we bump heads, we chop it up; ain’t no bad blood between me and none of them guys.

 AllHipHop.com: Twitter…..Love it or Hate it?

 [Laughing]

 Omillio Sparks: I’m getting the hang of it. I got my Twitter page on right now! Hit me on @TheOmillioSpark. Basically letting people know my day to day, so I’m with it….It ain’t too bad!

 AllHipHop.com: I’ll give you a shout out on Twitter

 Omillio Sparks: You gonna shout me out? What’s your Twitter?

 AllHipHop.com: I’m @mdotperiod

 Omillio Sparks: All right I’m bout to get on Twitter and let them know I’m talking to @mdotperiod right now!

Omillio Sparks: Don’t be fronting on me when I hit you on Twitter!

AllHipHop.com: I’m not….I’m not. Let’s fast forward to 2011….where do you see yourself?

Omillio Sparks: On the movie screen and the music out there like crazy because we working so hard. We gonna work 2010 so by 2011 we gonna be exactly where we are supposed to be….On Top! Doing it….Its Official!Some reminders:

Jay-Z – “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” f/ Omillio Sparks

Omillio Sparks ” DJ Turn it Up”

Omillio Sparks- “It Ain’t My Fault”

Kandi Burress: Kandi Koated Part 1

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Alternatives
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There’s no escaping the fact that Kandi, the newest “housewife” on the highly popular “Housewives of Atlanta,” has made the Georgia peaches that much juicer with the non-stop drama. But she was famous before reality TV. The singer came to fame as a member of the celebrated 90’s group Xscape and then went on to gain success as an award winning songwriter. The plaques on her wall read like a Billboard top 100 of who’s who in music as she has worked with the biggest names in music including Destiny’s Child, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Usher Fantasia, Whitney Houston and many more. These days the single mother spends her time running her own label Kandi Koated Entertainment, as well as her clothing store Tags in Atlanta while preparing for the upcoming season of the drama of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” It hasn’t all been peaches-n-cream for the singer as she sits down to tell AllHipHop.com how she’s adjusting to the real life of being a reality star.

AllHipHop.com: So Ms. Atlanta housewife, how are you?

Kandi: (laughs) Oh Lord, here we go!

AllHipHop.com: Yes, that show is dramedy. What made you even want to be on that show in the first place?

Kandi: Well the thing is I never thought I would’ve been on the show, they reached out to me. Actually I was supposed to be doing the show with Tiny and Toya and everything fell apart with that because the producer had decided he just wanted to use those two, so like a week later my friend Derrick J, you know the one on the show with the high heels? He asked me if he could give the people my contact, so at the time he asked me about it I was like I’m already doing something but he was like I’m gonna tell them to call you anyways and it just so happened that they ended up calling and asked to meet with me right after I ended up not doing the other show so it made me more open minded to it because I was already thinking I was gonna be doing that other show.

AllHipHop.com: That’s kinda odd because it does seem like you would be a better fit for the other show.

Kandi: Well I don’t know I mean really I was just kinda behind the scenes just chilling, doing my own thing and Tiny was like ‘yo you want to do this show w/me and I was like cool and then it worked out where the producer was like naw I just want to use them and that was fine because I didn’t want to hinder her opportunity or anything, and plus she had brought me in at the last minute it wasn’t like I was in it from jump. But everything happens for a reason.

AllHipHop.com: So you and Tiny are still close?

Kandi: Yes, thats my girl, we’ve been cool forever, like half our lives.

AllHipHop.com: So did they just want to focus on the celebrity baby mama angle for that show?

Kandi: I don’t really know because I didn’t really know the producer like that, they had met with him before she brought me into the picture so I didn’t know if he was just cool with them, but he did tell them to tell me though that that was one of the biggest mistakes he made so hind site is 20/20; but that did kinda made me feel good (laughs). But I do believe everything works out the way its supposed to and honestly had it not been for her opening up my mind to being on a show I probably wouldn’t even have been open to the producers at Housewives because I would’ve never in a million years thought they would’ve called me for that show.

AllHipHop.com: Its funny to me that the fact that people have been waiting for Xscape to reunite since the 80’s but you and Tiny want to come together to do a reality show instead of an album.

Kandi: Well she and I have done music together since the group and at one point we wanted to do a duo project so we had worked on that for awhile, but we could never really get it going like we wanted it to but she’s gonna be on my album. We do have a song together thats gonna be on my album, and the group that she has this OG girls, I’m gonna do some songs for her for that so we work together still musically its just not with Xscape.

 AllHipHop.com: Your songwriting skills are amazing and I must say, no disrespect but anyone who can make Kim a pop-star deserves a Grammy because that’s skill beyond reproach, but is it disheartening to be able to successfully pen hits for others when you haven’t had the same success for yourself as an artist?

Kandi: Definitely, it bothered me with the album that I did in 2001, when I had the single “Don’t Think I’m Not” it just seemed like nothing came together right for myself when I was doing it as a solo artist not like I wanted it to. I mean I had some good songs on the album but at the time I got some hits out on other people and of course you want the same thing to happen for yourself so it was disappointing when the album didn’t do well. The single did fairly well but as an album it didn’t do what I would have liked it to do and at first I kinda went threw this period of oh forget it I don’t even want to sing anymore and I kinda just laid back and continued to write songs because financially that’s what was really doing it for me, and I was cool with just chilling But when you have that little thing in you that’s like naw I should be doing this right now like every time I go to a concert and stuff like that and i see people on stage performing it makes me miss it.

AllHipHop.com: So does it perpetuate those feelings when you look at the fact that your success came now as a reality star versus a singer?

Kandi: No, it doesn’t really matter like that, because right now its not like I’m the first artist to have a reality show and it brings more attention to everything else I’m doing and actually the reality show brought attention to the fact that a lot of people didn’t even know I could act until they saw that “V##### Monologue” and that even has opened some doors so you know I’m happy because the show is bringing attention back to my music.

AllHipHop.com: Now I was watching the “Wendy Williams Show” and she mentioned something about you being the “messy housewife” all of a sudden, what’s all that about?

Kandi: I don’t know what that’s all about I know originally I guess it had started with Sandra Rose but I don’t know where that came from. I saw the article where she said I’m losing all my friends and I’m like where they get that because I have the same friends, some of them from middle school. We still BFF’s. I haven’t lost any [friends] matter of fact I’ve gained a couple new ones, just a couple though cause I don’t like a whole bunch of new people. (laughs) She said I was trying to get the ladies kicked off the show, which is definitely not true. I don’t know any of the others women’s business. The only one I might know about is Kim and that’s because me and her are cool and I definitely wouldn’t want her kicked off the show, so that was false.

 And I don’t even talk to the producers of the show anymore than the other girls do. The producers called all of us recently just because they’re getting ready to start the show back and they just asked what I was doing. They didn’t ask me about the other girls so I don’t understand how I got to be the diva all of a sudden. To keep it real I know the show is not just good because I’m on it, the show is good because we have some real crazy personalities and together it makes the show funny so I don’t want anybody leaving the show, everybody combined is what makes the show good.

AllHipHop.com: How are you and Ms. Nene getting along?

 Kandi: We don’t see each other so we don’t talk. We did an autograph signing together but thats it. I don’t see her. I don’t have nothing bad to say about her, I respect her but you know I definitely believe she knows what works for television so ain’t knocking her, she got a book out of the whole situation and she’s making the situation work for her and I think that’s a good thing.

AllHipHop.com: And what has the show done for you? I know it’s invited the world into parts of your life that you may have wanted to keep private so how are you handling that?

Kandi: Some of the things I do feel like it let’s people too much into your life like reading some of the things the blogs say about me and it makes me like dang do I really even want to do this? I was doing just fine before these people called me to do this show do I really want to deal with this because sometimes people just be so flat out wrong and I just want to blast off and say my piece but that usually makes things worse. So sometimes I don’t want to deal with all that negativity but at the same time good things come out of it too because I do get a lot of love from the show too and I appreciate that so I just say the good comes with the bad.

 AllHipHop.com: Well of course one big part of your story on the show was the loss of your ex-fiancee AJ and definitely our condolences to you and his family but are you ready to get back out there and start dating yet?

 Kandi: Ummmm, I’m dating, I’m not dating anyone right now, but I date. The thing that people don’t realize though is that AJ and I had broken up before the show even aired back in June, but we couldn’t say that because that would mess up the show. So I was already dating, but not on a major level because you can only do so much because being in the public eye people think they know whats going on in your life when what they’re seeing is actually what happened months prior to what’s happening now. (To be continued…)

Video: MSN Gossip Editor ‘Feared For His Life’ During 50 Bodyguard Attack

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) The editor-in-chief for MSN’s Star Lounge was one of the men allegedly assaulted by a member of 50 Cent’s security team in Copenhagen.

Nikoloj Vraa was one of six members of the press waiting for 50 Cent outside of his hotel room at the Skt. Petri Hotel when an angry bodyguard attacked Vraa and a photographer.

Vraa, who helps run the popular gossip/celebrity news website, said he feared for his life during the attack, which took place as 50 Cent left his hotel to perform in Copenhagen.

“One of 50 Cent’s bodyguards came out and told us to leave,” Vraar told RadarOnline.com “The next thing I knew, he grabs my throat and tried to strangle me. He cut off my airway, and I couldn’t breathe. He took my camera and deleted photos.”

Police were called to the scene, where the bodyguard was immediately arrested. He could be charged with assault, making threats and robbery.

According to Vraar, one of the bodyguards told him that Danish law did not apply to them, because they were “Americans.”

At press time, representatives for 50 Cent have not released a statement.

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Hip-Hop Rumors: Kanye / Jeezy Album? Yung Berg Sex Tape?

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

BLACK THOUGHT GOT MARRIED?!

 Well, I know dude is a private person, but he’s not safe from the rumors! I heard Black Thought of the legendary Roots crew got married over the weekend, Sunday to be specific! I don’t know anything more than that or who the lucky female could be. BT is pretty reclusive so I am sure we wont know for a while if this is factual. I do know this…Black Thought rumors don’t just happen.

 KANYE / JEEZY ALBUM?

 I don’t believe this one, but who am I? There is a rumor that Kanye West and Young Jeezy are working on an album called Cash and Class. Which is “class” and which is “cash?” Sounds like a farce to me, even though they worked well together on Jeezy’s album. Ye is working on his next album and I heard both Preemo and Pete Rock are on there. Word!

            

CAM’RON SAMPLES EPIC BEARD MAN: PASS OR FAIL?

 

 YUNG BERG SEX TAPE? CUT IT OUT!

 This may be the most desperate attempt at publicity EVER. The “full” tape is supposed to come out if Berger doesn’t p[ay up…wow.

 

 FAB DID PERFORM!

I heard Fab got stopped from rockin in Queens by some thugs. Well he did rock. Here is the vid! Also, I got the word on the event that Fab did a full 14 songs and was PAID. LOL! There was no shooting at the club , but there was one near it,

 

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

 Jessica Simpson really said this: “I don’t brush my teeth. No, really. I just use Listerine, and sometimes I’ll use my sweater.”

 EMI Records is not looking very good,  from what I heard. They are really counting on the new album by the Gorillaz!

 50 Cent is a few songs deep into his next album, Black Magic. No beefs please!

 Jamie Foxx is a fool. He called Go to first new post  Gaby Sidibe aka “Precious”… “Notorious Precious”” – dude a fool for that.

 Tiger Woods and wife spend the weekend together. Thought I’d relay that message.

 TAKE A BREAK GAGA…

 The Devil got her working OVERTIME! Fans are begging the Lord of Darkness to give Lady Gaga a break! This video in New Zealand is the main reason.

 

 Homegirl is a human and appears to be spent.

 JAMIE FOXX WE LOVE YOU!

 

…but you know you “dead wrong!”

 “SO DISRESPECTFUL NEWS”        

HATERS, WE LOVE YOU!!! MORE LATER!

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 al*************@***il.com.

Hip-Hop Rumors: Thugs Stop Fabolous Performance? Write Wayne!

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

 

I haven’t been doing this enough lately. I just wanted to give you all a heads up. Everything isn’t meant for print. There have been a couple of people that want me to reveal the names on certain rumors. Well, guess what? I cant do that all the time. Somebody even called me lazy for not doing so. Well, I some some of these people are the lazy ones. On those so-called “blind items” I leave huge clues so if you don’t get it…that’s on you and your IQ.

 

HOLLA!

 

EPIC FAIL OF THE DAY!

 

I like Game too, but this is crazy!

 

 

THUGS STOPPED FABOLOUS FROM PERFORMING?

 

Damn, this is getting out of control. I am getting word that some thugs took over Club Amazura Friday night in Queens. Now, I don’t know NY all that well, since I am not from there, but these dudes were from Baisley. Apparently, they kept screaming “Baisley is in the building!” I assume they mean Baisley Projects, which is in Queens. Now, these dudes were allegedly asking for $2,000 for Fab to perform that night. Either pay up or don’t get anything. They didn’t get anything and Fab ended up not performing, my sources say. 

 

STOP STALKING WYCLEF AND LOOK AT THE RED CROSS!

 

I told you once and I am going to tell you again. You are bark,ing up the wrong tree with Clef. EVEN IF, he paid his assistant 100k salary, that is PEANUTS with the rumor I have. The Red Cross is considered the savior of a culture in Haiti, right? They are the ones that supposedly intervened after Clef started raising a gang of money for Haiti. But remember, Clef was raising a couple million every few days and I am sure that petered out FAST. The Red Cross, on the other hand, raised a reported $255 MILLION for Haitian relief. Additionally, they were to send other resources over to the good, but struggling people of Haiti. SO, what is the rumor (or fact)? I heard that about $80 MILLION of the 255 made it to Haiti! Well, the good people at http://www.sfbayview.com/ have some reasoning straight from the Red Cross.

 

Well, according to the website for the Red Cross, quote, “On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of OTHER disasters.

 

“Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of all disasters.”

 

I had posted this on my Twitter a ways back and now we are seeing it come to life. This is not exclusive to Haiti. Just about every disaster you can imagine, including Sept. 11 has been jacked in this way, the report says. For example, “the Red Cross raised $3.21 BILLION to aid the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. But they’re still holding onto $500 MILLION of it.”

 

WANNA WRITE LIL WAYNE IN JAIL?

 

Tell him illseed from AllHipHop.com sent you!

 

Eric M. Taylor Center (EMTC)

Dwayne Carter NYSID# 02616544L

10-10 Hazen Street

East Elmhurst, NY  11370

 

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

 

Prayers go to Jada Pinkett-Smith, who recently lost her father.

 

Am I the only person that wasn’t impressed with Beyonce and Gaga’s video? This isn’t hate.

YUNG BERG, WE LOVE YOU!!!

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 al*************@***il.com.

Bodyguard for 50 Cent in Custody Over Fight With Photographers

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) A bodyguard for rapper/actor 50 Cent is currently in custody following an alleged fight with several photographers outside a hotel in Copenhagen.

TMZ.com reports the bodyguard, one of 50 employed by 50 Cent, is being held by Copenhagen police pending charges. Authorities have 24 hours to decide whether or not to bring charges against the bodyguard before a judge.

News of the bodyguard’s situation comes as 50 Cent deals with a recently filed lawsuit from Lastonia Leviston. In the suit, Leviston claims 50 Cent edited himself into her homemade sex video and unlawfully distributed it over the Internet.

The rapper, born Curtis Jackson, is accused of unauthorized use of Leviston’s name and image as well as “emotional distress” caused by the release of the video to the public. The video, which features 50 Cent as a wig- and robe-wearing narrator named Pimpin Curly, was originally made in 2008.

The suit further claimed that Jackson posted the video on his website after blurring out the face of Leviston’s lover. Leviston is the mother of the daughter of 50 Cent’s rap rival, Rick Ross.

At this time, no response from 50 Cent’s lawyer has been issued regarding the lawsuit.

Murs Teams With 9th Wonder On ‘ForNever’

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) Los Angeles based rapper Murs and North Carolina producer 9th Wonder have announce their third collaborative album, titled ForNever.

Murs, who recently parted ways with Warner Brothers Records, is also a member of revered Cali group Living Legends, in addition to organizer of the upcoming Paid Dues Festival.

The pair’s two previous albums, Murray’s Revenge and Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition, have sold over 112,000 copies independently.

ForNever will be released via a deal between San Francisco-based indie label SMC Recordings and Murs’ imprint, Team Taco.

“I am excited to have Murs with us, we share the same vision of where the industry is headed. He is an incredibly talented artist that will be a wonderful addition to the SMC roster,” said SMC’s CEO Ralph Tashjian.

ForNever will hit stores on April 13th, just as Murs embarks upon a 40-city tour to promote the release.video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Power Man, Hip-Hop & Luke Cage Noir Style

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Uncategorized
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Artist Shawn Martinbrough talks about his take on the classic Black Marvel Comics Superhero, Luke Cage in “Luke Cage Noir”

 

Last year, after Marvel Comics began publishing Noir versions of their popular characters, Exec Editor Axel Alonso approached me about illustrating Luke Cage Noir. Axel had seen my art instructional book, How To Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling and thought I would be a great fit for the project.

I’m a native New Yorker and in the early 80’s I remember going to my favorite candy store in Co-op City (in the Bronx) each week to buy my regular comics. Luke Cage: Hero for Hire and Power Man and Iron Fist were two of my faves.

For all of you non-comic book heads, Luke Cage was one of the early Black superheroes Marvel Comics started publishing in the 1970’s. He had his own book called Luke Cage: Hero for Hire. The origin for Cage was that he was locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. While in prison, Cage was experimented on and the unexpected side effect was bulletproof skin.  Cage gets released from prison and becomes a detective in Manhattan. Years later, Marvel paired Cage with the character Iron Fist who was a White martial artist with a lethal punch.  The two characters became partners and worked the streets of Manhattan. Luke Cage: Hero for Hire became Power Man and Iron Fist. When these comics came out, rap music was just being born.  I remember reading these books, eating Now and Laters while listening to the Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Lisa Lisa, Run DMC and LL (I could go on and on) on the radio.

Those were great times.

Fast forward 20-something years later and I’m offered a project to draw Luke Cage. It’s a trip.

Written by Mike Benson and Adam Glass, their Noir version of Luke Cage was different.

Instead of the 70’s, 80’s or present day, this story was set in 1920’s Harlem.  

In this alternate version, Luke Cage is a local legend who is believed to be invincible, returns to the mean streets of Prohibition-era Harlem after a 10-year stretch in Riker’s Island. All he wants is to be back in the loving arms of his woman, but certain powerful men have different plans for Cage.  Cage learns that coming home is never easy, and to survive he might just have to kill a whole lot of people.

Just the concept of a bulletproof Black man walking around in the 1920’s sounded cool as hell to me.  Even if it were just a rumor, that possibility would scare the crap out of many people on the island of Manhattan.

When I got the script for the first issue, I began to research the fashions and architecture of Harlem circa the 1920-30s. I drew studies of the hairstyles, the fashions, etc.  I took tons of present day photos of areas in Harlem. There’s tons of great architecture there. In designing this version of Cage, I really wanted to give him a sophisticated swagger. There’s nothing more intimidating than a diesel Black man in a suit. Back in those days, even if people were broke, they looked sharp.

Drawing this project was a great way to vibe off of rich history and to create something new for the reader. There are so many Hip-Hop fans and artists who grew up on comics, still own and collect them to this day. Hip hop and comics go together.  Rap blew up first, changed the face of music and now everyone is sweating those money-making Hollywood comic book blockbusters.

Now that’s what’s up or as Luke Cage would say, “Sweet Christmas!”

Shawn Martinbrough’s client list includes Coca Cola/POWERade, Playboy, Vibe, Bad Boy Entertainment, Penguin Books and McGraw-Hill. The bulk of Shawn’s work has been done for Marvel Comics, Vertigo and DC Comics which includes his critically acclaimed two year collaboration with author Greg Rucka on the flagship Batman title, Detective Comics. His art instruction book How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of

Visual Storytelling is published by Random House. Shawn’s work has been covered by USA Today, Architecture Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, National Public Radio, SIRIUS/XM Radio, AOL, Black Entertainment Television, Vibe, The Source,

AintItCoolNews.com and others.

Shawn’s

artwork can be viewed at www.shawnmartinbrough.com and www.verge.tv

Shawn will be signing copies of The Luke Cage Noir hardcover collection at the Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem on Wednesday, March 31st at 6pm. http://www.huemanbookstore.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp and at Powerhouse books in Brooklyn on Thursday, April 1 from 7-9pm. The book is in stores now.