Polow Da Don and Zone 4, Inc. have extended the submission deadline for this year’s Free Rent For A Year contest due to the popularity and level of interest in the charitable endeavor, the label announced this week.

The essay competition, now in it’s second year, is open until January 1, 2009 at midnight to applicants 18 and over residing in the Atlanta Metropolitan area.

The Free Rent For A Year contest kicked off last Tuesday (November 25) during Zone 4’s second annual Give Thanks Carnival.

The early evening event created a family atmosphere complete with blow up games, pony rides, and performances and appearances by Zone 4’s roster of artists – Polow, Rich Boy, Keri Hilson, and i15 – as well as ColliPark Music’s Vistoso Bosses and V103 on-air personality Greg Street.

While the children were entertained, parents were treated to the opportunity to provide their families with a proper Thanksgiving meal despite the harsh economic client.

Over 600 turkeys were given away to the Southwest Atlanta community.

On the night of the Give Thanks Carnival, the Zone 4, Inc. staff and volunteers also registered over 200 individuals for the Free Rent for a Year.

“I already feel like I am a great producer, I aspire to be a great person with a great heart,” Polow Da Don told AllHipHop.com. “Inspired by my dad’s good nature and people like [Civil Rights leader] Hosea Williams, I want to make sure we around here 20 years from now still doing this.”

In January, the label’s top brass will select one winner from the submitted application essays describing why author should be considered for the grand prize.

The winner will have his/her rent or mortgage paid for the entire 2009 calendar year, with the payments going directly to the apartment facility or mortgage company.

Submission forms and contest rules for the Zone 4, Inc. Free Rent For A Year contest can be found at www.zone4inc.com/freerent.html.

The Shade 45 Morning Show’s Angela Yee interviews T.I. and speaks on Shawty Lo and the Dirty Awards!

Will Smith is taking his knack for success overseas, with a new venture involving his production company Overbrook Entertainment.

According to Variety, Overbrook has joined forces with D Media to launch Red Pearl Pictures, a new company that will distribute Western films throughout the Middle East.

Red Pearl joins a number of key Middle Eastern distributors that have existing deals with the U.S. studios and independents.

Red Pearl plans to have offices in Los Angeles and the Middle East in an effort to tap into the increased demand for entertainment in markets like Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

No other details concerning the new company were revealed by Overbrook and D Media.

Founded by Smith, Overbrook Entertainment is known for producing music, films, and television shows.

Movies credited to the company include the rapper/actor’s summer blockbuster Hancock as well as The Secret Life of Bees, Lakeview Terrace, I Am Legend and ATL, which stars rapper T.I.

Smith, along with Overbrook co-founder James Lassiter and President Ken Stovitz, will have his work cut out for him to establish Red Pearl’s presence in the Middle East.

The creation of the company comes as Hollywood struggles to find its place within the region.

While some 30 million people comprise the population of the Arab world, factors such as censorship, piracy and underdeveloped infrastructure have become obstacles in distributors and exhibitors taking advantage of the Middle East’s true box office potential.

Although Hancock grossed approximately $4.5 million in the Arab world, the amount was considered to be small compared to money the film made in other regions.

The multi-million dollar home of Marion “Suge” Knight was recently sold in bankruptcy court, adding to the rap mogul’s list of problems.

Knight’s Malibu mansion was sold for $4.56 million dollars – much less than the $6.2 million dollars the former head of Death Row Records was seeking for the house last year.

The seven-bedroom, 9 ½ bathroom, Mediterranean style house, which has views of the ocean, also sits on 8 acres of land and features a pool and tennis court.

The sale comes on the heels of Knight being charged with two felony drug charges and one misdemeanor assault charge earlier this month.

Knight, 43, was allegedly involved in an incident in Las Vegas on August 27, in which he is accused of assaulting a female acquaintance and standing over her with a knife during an argument.

Police also claim Knight was in possession of ecstasy and hyrdocodone on the night of the altercation with the woman, identified as Melissa Isaac.

Isaac, who was allegedly found naked on the side of the road by police, was treated at a local hospital for injuries related to the assault, although she was not stabbed despite the fact that Knight was holding a knife.

At press time, Isaac’s whereabouts are unknown.

Knight is also suing superstar Kanye West, claiming the chart topping rapper is responsible for a $135,000 dollar diamond earring that was lost when Knight was shot in the leg, at a pre-VMA party in Miami in 2005.

Also named in that lawsuit is The Shore Club, the Miami Beach venue that hosted the party for West.

Knight is also suing the Barstow, California Police Department, claiming the match to his other missing earring was stolen by police, as he was being transferred from different detention centers.

Knight, who once helmed the influential Death Row Records, filed for bankruptcy protection in April of 2006, to avoid paying a default $107 million judgment to Michael “Harry-O” Harris and his estranged wife Lydia Harris.

The Harris’ claim they helped launch Death Row in 1991 by providing $1.5 million in seed money.

In court documents, Knight revealed that his total monthly bill in child support alone equals almost $37,000 dollars per month.

“I have not been able to keep those payments current due to a lack of income,” Knight wrote to the court last May.

“While I have been trying in a number of ways to earn income since the filing of my Chapter 11 case in April of 2006, I have yet to receive any income….any monies that I am able to recover from the proceeds of my personal injury claim relating to me being shot would be needed by me to support my living expenses and to support my children,” Knight wrote.

As Miami Hip-Hop mainstay Slip-N-Slide Records enters into its fifteenth year of operation, the label’s owner Ted “Touche” Lucas is preparing to commemorate the anniversary in a major way.

Lucas is inviting fans and colleagues alike to join in the celebration next Thursday (December 11) in Miami.

Confirmed guests for the event include Island Def Jam Music Group chairman L.A. Reid and Warner Music Group president Kevin Liles, both long time friends of Lucas’, as well as the entire Slip-N-Slide roster, including the label’s marquee artists Trina, Rick Ross, and Plies.

The evening will also include several performances, including a special appearance by R&B singer Keith Sweat.

“A lot of prayers went into this,” Lucas told AllHipHop.com of Slip-N-Slide’s success. “I ain’t gonna sit here and play with nobody. Cuz there were times that we had our ups-and-downs as a label, when we went through different things. But definitely [we got through it] by staying prayed up, and building good relationships.”

Slip-N-Slide was conceived by Lucas and childhood friend Hollywood, Trick Daddy’s older brother who unfortunately died, before seeing the success the label would find with his brother in the mid-90s.

The two started out with the R&B group Nu Vibes before establishing themselves as South Florida’s premier Hip-Hop label, with the emergence of Tre+6 and, later, Trick Daddy.

Since the 1997 release of Trick’s debut Based on a True Story, the label has sold over 10 million records combined, with the most recent success of Rick Ross and Plies adding to the foundation built by Trick and Trina.

“My artists, I don’t look at them like artists, I look at them like business partners,” Lucas explained to AllHipHop.com. “We put our heads together and we keep working. Things gonna come, but we’re able to overcome them and keep working. And bringing on new people like Plies, and Rick Ross finally getting a chance with ‘Hustlin,’ that made the label continue to grow. And Trick Daddy holding the fort down as well as Trina. Trina’s still able to make hit records today, still selling records, and still able to go out there and do shows. A lot of people can’t say that after fifteen years of being in business [about] an artist like Trina that you’ve been in business with all this time. Fans are still happy, [we’re] still selling and selling ringtones and things of that nature.”

The label has now branched out into other genres of music and established a rock division earlier this year.

In addition to its established artists, Slip-N-Slide is moving into the future with the recent addition of pop artist Qwote, who is enjoying moderate success with the new single “Don’t Wanna Fight.”

Also added to the family this year are R&B singers Camar and Shonie, and up-and-coming rapper Swayze Baby.

“We’re definitely aspiring not to be known as just a rap label,” remarked Lucas. “We’re spreading our wings…I wouldn’t say I’d do anything differently, cuz I wouldn’t be able to be here if I didn’t go through those times of seeing everything the way it went down. Fifteen years ago, Miami wasn’t known for no Hip-Hop. It was known for booty shakin’. So I came up through the hardest time of it all. And to be able to survive all that, that’s what made us able to still be here 15 years.”

Cash Money Records co-founder Ronald “Slim” Williams has released a statement congratulating Lil Wayne on his earning eight Grammy Award nominations last night (December 3).

In the statement, Williams expressed his pride in Wayne’s latest career accomplishment and took time to note that his accolades are well deserved.

“The success of Tha Carter III was the result of Wayne’s tireless work ethic and incredible creative ability,” Ronald “Slim” Williams told AllHipHop.com. “On behalf of his New Orleans hometown, my brother Baby and I are honored to salute him as the artist with the most nominations at this year’s Grammy Awards.”

Williams and his brother Bryan “Baby” Williams took Wayne under their wing at the tender age of eleven, helping to mold his aspirations as an artist, which started in the drama club at Eleanor McMain Secondary School in New Orleans.

By the time Wayne was a teenager, he was a member of Cash Money’s ground breaking group the Hot Boys, and well on his way to pushing the boundaries in Hip-Hop.

Tha Carter III, which is up for the coveted Album of the Year award, remains the best selling album of 2008 to date, moving over a million units during its first week upon its release in June.

“We’ve worked with Lil Wayne since he was a teenager, signing him as part of the Hot Boys with Juvenile, B.G. and Turk,” Slim added. “We have had the pleasure to see him grow and mature, both artistically and personally, into a multi-platinum superstar, but even more importantly, a loyal member of the Cash Money family, using our label as his base of operations.”

Wayne is currently gearing up for the I Am Music Tour which kicks off in Miami on December 14.

He will be joined on the tour by the Gym Class Heroes, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole and T-Pain.

Lil Wayne is also rumored to be putting the finishing touches on a sequel to Tha Carter III, which will reportedly feature a Hot Boys reunion track.