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Hip-Hop Rumors: Kanye West Arrested! Rare Cassidy Vid, Lil Jon In Court!

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.

TODAY’S RUMORS!

THE DAILY TWO CENTS

OK, so here is the deal today. I didn’t do a lot of rumors today, because there wasn’t much to say. Also, I didn’t feel like it. What I did to was take what I was given and flip it. So I am going to be updating the rumor page throughout the day. If you have anything, send it over and that can be what you saw, heard or read. Check out what I have and I will be adding new stuff sporadically through the day so come back and see what’s new.

If you see something, say something [email protected]!

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

 

I heard a crazy rumor that Lil’ Wayne

had cancer. I totally don’t feel there is anything to that rumor.

 

All the Obama

jokes are really getting played out. Nobody played the “Beverly Hillbillies”

theme when Bush left the ranch for the White House. Kill ‘em!

 

I heard Shawty

Lo just said something about T.I….more on that in a few.

 

JIM JONES PLAY- MORE INFO THAN YOU EVER EXPECTED!

 

I am hearing the Jim Jones is probably going to make this

Play thing into a DVD. I heard there were cameras at the first show recording

the whole thing and he also brought out his own son on stage. His son didn’t come

out in the second show. The demand is very high for this event and I think they

may do more runs since a lot of people didn’t make it in the last show.

 

KANYE WEST ARRESTED!

 

I didn’t have time to retype this, but check it out from the

AP:

 

Rapper Kanye West was arrested after a fracas outside a nightclub

but released without charge, British media reported Friday.

 

The Press Association

news agency and others reported that that the 31-year-old rapper was detained

early Friday after an incident involving a photographer outside the Tup Tup Palace

bar in Newcastle, northern England.

 

Police said only that

a 31-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of assault after an incident

at a nightclub. They said he was later released without charge. British police

do not usually identify suspects who have not been charged.

 

The Tup Tup Palace

said West visited the club after his gig in Newcastle Thursday but could not confirm the

arrest.

 

A spokeswoman for West

did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

 

West was arrested last

month at Los Angeles

International Airport

after he was filmed struggling with a paparazzo. He was not charged.

 

West is playing dates

around Britain

as part of his Glow in the Dark tour.

 

RARE CASSIDY VIDEO

 

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quality=”high” bgcolor=”#000000″

name=”player” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”sameDomain”

type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”

width=”450″ height=”375″ pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer”

/>

 

REGISTERING TO VOTE =

JURY DUTY…ASK LIL JON!

 

I heard a good one. You all know that voting officially

makes you eligible for jury duty, right? I know in Hip-Hop nobody wants to talk

to the cops or appear in a court. Well, I heard Lil

Jon had to do some jury duty down in the A. I heard Jon was looking pretty

inconspicuous but some people noticed him. The dark shades and big hat didn’t hide

him very much. Anyway, at least he is serving his country in a positive way,

right?

JIM JONES’ PLAY TAKES NY BY STORM

A few people I know went to the Jim Jones play last night. Here are some notables. The women in the play are thicker than pancake batter in the winter. I heard Liris Cross was one of the leads in the play, but all of them were tight. I heard Jim Jones has a song called “Frenemies” where he thoroughly addresses Max B. I heard there was a mention of Cam’ron in a around about way. Jim called himself the future leader of the Diplomats. He seems to be the now leader. Juelz was there as well. And I heard Dame Dash was partly behind this masterful move in marketing music. Seriously, I heard it was good. Peep the video in Shelz’s section below.

I was looking at the twitter tweets of some people and they said Jim has started a new slang where he substitutes the N-Word for “My Obama.” So now instead of saying “what up my n—a?” you would say, “What up, my Obama?” Obama wasn’t at the play, but Dr. Ben Chavis was there as the minister and also the jail warden.

Jim’s CD is called “Pray For Reign,” but I heard all they got was rain. It rained all night and day in NYC.

LIL WAYNES BABY MOMS

If this is something that you care about, here is some information that somebody sent me on Lil Wayne’s new baby mother. I didn’t make this up:

She is 21, graduated from Lakota West High School outside of Cincy in 05..Her name is Sara Blue…I talked to my sister in law who is friends with her…She is half vietnamese half white,…Very quiet in school though, not very popular with the girls…Worked at a nail salon after high school and takes some classes at Univ of Cincinnati, probably doesn’t work anymore she said..Did some modeling after HS is probably how she met Wayne…I talked to a couple of her friends to and they all confirmed this..Said a bunch more, but this is all 1000 percent true…I know you probably get alot of bulls**t but this is all facts….Lakota West is a very upscale school, very upscale suburb in Cincy (town is West Chester)…

COMMONS SAYS NO SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE

Recently Common stopped through Philadelphia and chatted with my homegirl Radio Host Kendra G (100.3 The Beat). Kendra G has started an initiative called “Abstinence is Kool” where she has agreed to give a sex for a whole school year in hopes of getting middle school and high school girls to do the same. Well Common happily endorsed the idea and has agreed to give up sex until marriage!! Well, not exactly, just watch the video!

I love how Kendra says “school year” and not real year!

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

Click here for the weirdest remix video of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.”

It looks like 50 Cent is still trying to sell his sprawling home in Connecticut. Why is it that his house payment over $100k per month? Why can’t I be a gangsta rapper?

Super woman Lil’ Mo has signed a two album deal with Global Music Group. Not a rumor.

Can anybody answer this: what is the cause of the beef with Dame Dash and the NY Daily News?

SIGNS THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END

Here member how after 9/11, all the rage was having a federal air marshal or two on your plane? Here are the records of a few air marshals that could be on your plane, compliments of ProPublica.

Shawn Nguyen smuggled cocaine and drug money onto flights across the country, boasting to an FBI informant that he was “the man with the golden badge.”

Michael McGowan used his position as an air marshal to lure a young boy to his hotel room, where he showed him child p###, took pictures of him naked and sexually abused him.

And when Brian “C#####” Phelps wanted his ex-wife to disappear, he called a fellow air marshal and tried to hire a hit man nicknamed “the Crucifixer.”

Since 9/11, more than three dozen federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct, an investigation by ProPublica has found. Cases range from drunken driving and domestic violence to aiding a human trafficking ring and trying to smuggle explosives from Afghanistan.

It was always my understanding that these dudes should be more like Rambo or James Bond with a shining spirit, but they are often more like a drunken neighbor – some of them. Yet…18 air marshals have been charged with felonies, including at least three who were hired despite prior criminal records or being fired from law enforcement jobs. A fourth air marshal was hired while under FBI investigation. Another stayed on the job despite alarming a flight attendant with his behavior.

We might just need an Air Marshal for the Air Marshals!

REALLY? BARACK OBAMA = THE JEFFERSONS?

NIPSEY HUSSLE

Just when you thought gangsta rap, here comes Nip Hussle. He’s got a style that reminds me of a new version of Snoop Dogg. Peep this joint.

To be real, I’m kind of too mature to be talking about “shoot that n***a,” but that’s me. He’s dope.

SHOUT OUT TO NIPSEY RUSSELL

What y’all know about Nipsey? R.I.P.

HERE YOU GO – SHELZ’S RUMORS

Guitar Hero Weezy

Yes, Wayne was on the Country Music Awards the other night. However, he was well… just there giving his best impression a guy who can’t play a guitar, holding a guitar. He appeared with Kid Rock and strummed inconspicuously while KR belted out some song I’ve never heard before. The point? Don’t know. Maybe music awards show producers just need him there for ambiance or something.

Larry Johnson and His Lady Problems

Larry Johnson of the KC Chiefs is being sued by another woman for being generally hateful. The chick he spit on and threatened to kill is taking it to the judge. And no, this isn’t the one he mushed in the face. I think she sued him too though. Worst club luck in the world or woman hater? I don’t know. He might just need to get a DVR and develop a relationship with CSI.

Do you Really Want to Go Inside the Mind of Jim Jones?

If so, here’s your chance.

It’s here. We made it. Friiiiday, baby. And guess what tomorrow is? Love me some Saturday. Y’all take care and I’ll catch ya in two….

For more, go to illseed.com.

OBAMA, 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 [email protected].

– allhiphop rumors

Diddy Launches I am King Fragrance; Links Scent With Barack Obama

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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With the launch of his newest men’s fragrance on the horizon, Sean “Diddy” Combs is utilizing president-elect Barack Obama to promote the scent, in an effort to redefine the perception of African Americans.

 

The Wall Street Journal reports the rap mogul will appear in a black-and-white ad for the new I am King fragrance.

 

The ad will be featured in magazines and on billboards across the country in December.

 

Dressed as a black James Bond, Combs wears a white dinner jacket as he is seen on jet skis, in casinos and aboard a yacht on the French Riviera.

 

Although the ads could come across with being out of touch with the current economy, Combs maintains that the promotion is reflective of what he labeled as an “affordable indulgence.”

 

“Everything on the market isn’t going to be attached to the bad economy,” he said. With Obama’s historic victory over Republican rival John McCain, Combs believes the time is now for marketers to shift their perception of the urban black male from the stereotypical person with lots of “bling,” to one of successful black men such as himself and Obama.

 

“It’s a new America and it’s our time,” the 39-year-old executive and avid Obama supporter told the Journal, adding that he plans to connect I am King and the president-elect, while promoting the scent on a series of TV talk shows.

 

As Obama prepares for his inauguration as the nation’s 44th president in January, talk among ad executives has centered around how the election could change advertising to and about African Americans.

 

I am King follows Combs’ previous fragrance Unforgiveable.

 

The scent, which debuted in 2006, has gone on to join the mogul’s Sean Jean clothing line as a popular brand among consumers.

 

To date, Sean Jean generates annual retail sales of about $525 million.

 

Priced at $57, Combs’ I am King fragrance will be sold at Macy Inc. stores, just in time for the holidays.

Big Daddy Kane Celebrates 20 Years Tonight In New York

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Big Daddy Kane is extending an open invitation to New Yorkers to come help him commemorate his 20-year Hip-Hop career tonight (November 14).

 

The Brooklyn legend and New York entertainment firm Lyrics To Go are organizing a star-studded event that will include a rare live performance by Kane himself.

 

The event will be held at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill and will be hosted by comedian and Kiss FM on-air personality Talent, with sounds provided by guest DJs Mister Cee and Biz Markie.

 

For his actual performance, Kane will reunite with Connie Price and the Keystones, the live band with which he toured in 2007, as part of the Scion Live Metro tour.

 

Big Daddy Kane also promises several celebrity surprises during the performance.

 

The celebration comes just a few months past the 20th anniversary of the June 1988 release of Kane’s Cold Chillin’ Records debut Long Live The Kane.

 

The album, which yielded the hit single “Ain’t No Half Steppin’,” was proclaimed one of the top 20 albums of 1988 by Spin Magazine and one of the top 100 Best Rap Albums by The Source.

 

Long Live The Kane, which was produced entirely by Marley Marl, has been sampled and referenced by a multitude of pioneering artists in their own rights including Pete Rock & CL Smooth, AZ, Gang Starr, the Beastie Boys, RZA, The Notorious B.I.G. and Nas.

 

The following year, Kane released his biggest commercial success to date, It’s a Big Daddy Thing, which included the hits “Warm It Up Kane,” “I Get The Job Done,” and “Smooth Operator.”

 

Four more studio albums came before the 1998 release of his last album to date, Veteranz Day.

 

Kane, who celebrated his 40th birthday in September, returned to the world of touring and recording following his inclusion in the 2005 class of VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.

 

This career milestone will mark another surge of public activity for Kane, possibly culminate in the release of a new album.

 

“They haven’t heard from me in a while,” Kane told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “But I will be back on the big screens doing bigger and better things so definitely keep watching.”

Homosexuals & HipHop: In Conflict?

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Uncategorized
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The views expressed with in this editorial don’t necessarily reflect the views of AllHipHop.com or its staff.It seems that AllHipHop, via its Trick Trick interview has

caused a bit of a stir.  It probably

couldn’t have been timelier in light of the current war over proposition 8 and

the fight for marital rights of homosexuals. A perfect time, in fact, to

address this issue, particularly as it pertains to this music and culture.

 

In the Black community, we have a fractured sense of

masculinity. Our history in this country has been one of familial forced

disintegration, political, economic, and social emasculation.  As we progressed our model of manhood and

masculinity somehow got linked to our sexuality, which in itself comes with an

inordinate amount of projection and its own set of issues.

 

If you’re a slave and you can’t protect your family,

and you can’t marry who you wish, and you can’t be a provider, and you don’t

determine when you eat, sleep, operate, etc., then all traditional definitions

of “manhood” become obsolete. 

 

As a consequence our manhood came to be defined as the

one thing that was seemingly irrepressible in the minds of the masters: our

sexuality. In a nutshell, two factors of male identity, both gender roles and

sexual identity, are incorrectly rendered synonymous. Our sexuality defines us

as men. So how, with that paradigm of sexual prowess equating to manhood, do

you reconcile homosexuality?  How much of

a “man” are you if you…don’t do the one thing designated to men?

 

So we come to Hip-Hop. 

You get a culture that is unmistakably Black in origin, and a music that

is highly competitive and combative in nature and at the center of it all is

the expression and projection of masculinity and machismo. How do you degrade

your competition?  You take away the one

thing that we have been able to maintain throughout our time here in

America-our (flawed) sense of manhood. 

As time has gone on, especially taking into account the perception of

Black men varying from the imagery of Flavor Flav to the pageantry of Barak

Obama, our idea of Black manhood and the images that define it are constantly

in flux.  The truth lies somewhere in

between.

 

As we go further unto the 21st century, as

we begin to become a more heterogeneous society with racial and gender

paradigms shifting, I think it’s important to properly frame the Hip-Hop versus

Homosexuality debate in its proper context. They are not diametrically opposed.

There is an increasing number of homosexual and lesbian emcees that embrace the

Hip-Hop aesthetic.  On a cultural level,

we must begin to look at our model of masculinity.  This miscasting of manhood is the source of

Hip-Hop’s discontent. We should work to realize that deeds not the d**k make

the man. As a side effect we may even be able to curtail the projection of

hypermasculine supern***rs that glorify prison culture and promote criminality

as a Black male rite of passage.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sometimes that

opinion is uninformed. Most hateful opinions are born of ignorance and mistrust

and general lack of experience. Many rappers express sentiment similar to Trick

Trick. Many others hide what they are for that reason. It runs counter to our

general understanding of what a man is, mistaken or not. There are gay rappers,

rapping about regular things.

 

I don’t particularly think that an emcee could come out

rapping about sucking d**k and be taken seriously.  However just as Eminem and Big Pun proved

that you could have competent high caliber non Black emcees, sooner or later

you will have an openly gay rapper whose talent will supersede his sexual

orientation.  The key is to treat that

difference not as a novelty, but as a source for inspiration and strength.Take care and be well-Bill

ODB’s Mom Talks About Son’s Legacy; Speaks Out Against Wife, New Book

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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On the anniversary of Wu-Tang co-founder Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s death, his mother Cherry Jones is speaking out about the infighting and controversy that continues to surround her son, even in death.

 

In an exclusive statement to AllHipHop.com, Mrs. Jones sought to dispel the numerous reports that have appeared about the care of ODB’s children since his untimely death in 2004.

 

According to the grieving mother and concerned grandmother, the majority of the fallen rapper’s children have been disregarded as a result to poor money management at the hand of her daughter-in-law Icelene, who was married to Dirty at the time of his death.

 

Her actions, Jones says, have left the impression that Ol’ Dirty Bastard, born Russell T. Jones, did not make the proper provisions for his many children.

 

“My son loved every single one of his children and every single one of their mothers and provided for them all the best he could when he was alive,” Mrs. Jones told AllHipHop.com. “My son was an extremely generous soul. I am upset by the way the other children Rusty had fathered and cherished are not being taken care of properly. I am also outraged that it appears Icelene has been diverting money away from the other children and taking out personal loans against estate assets. ”

 

Mrs. Jones further alleged that Icelene, with whom she has not had the most cordial relationship, has taken numerous legal actions to block the release of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s final album.

 

The recording, which Dirty was working on at the time of his fatal collapse in a Manhattan studio, was to be his first release via Roc-a-Fella records, and will now be released via Koch records.

 

Proceeds from the album would go to the rapper’s estate, which would then distribute the funds to his children.

 

Mrs. Jones also revealed that Digging for Dirt, the new biography penned by writer Jaime Lowe, was not authorized by the family.

 

She claimed that the family had specifically asked Lowe to omit information gathered during an interview with ODB, shortly before his death.

 

“After my son passed, this author, who knew my son for only a few hours, decided to write a book and asked [us] to take part in it,” recounted Mrs. Jones. “We declined and asked that she not write about any of the interview that was not published in the [Village] Voice. I am asking all of Dirty’s fans to boycott this book as none of the proceeds are going to the children and this author’s motives and intention seems to be in the vein of disgracing my son’s legacy.”

 

Ol’ Dirty Bastard was pronounced dead around 6:30 pm on November 13, 2004, approximately one hour after collapsing at the old Wu-Tan Clan studio on West 34th Street in New York City.

 

He had been complaining of chest pains.

 

An autopsy report released a month later revealed that he had suffered an accidental overdose due to a lethal mixture of cocaine and the prescription painkiller Tramadol.

 

He would have celebrated his 40th birthday today (November 13.)

Rapper Bump J. Arrested For Chicago Bank Robbery

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Chicago rapper Bump J. has been arrested by federal officials in Carbondale, Illinois, for allegedly robbing a Chicago-area bank in 2007.

 

Bump J., born Terrance Boykin, was arrested and taken into custody following a routine traffic stop earlier this week.

 

Police accuse Bump J. and another associate of robbing a Chase Bank branch at gunpoint in January 2007.

 

The pair entered the bank, announced a robbery was in place and emptied the bank of more than $100,000 dollars.

 

No one was injured in the robbery, which was captured on surveillance cameras.

 

Bump J. was indicted on one count each of bank robbery and violation of federal firearms statues.

 

He is currently being held without bond at the Carbondale Police Department, awaiting extradition to Chicago.

 

Bump J. was discovered by Chicago producer Xtreme Beats, who introduced him to Kanye West’s former manager Phil Edwards and music industry executive Free Maiden, who inked the rapper to his Free 4 All imprint.

 

Soon after, a deal with Atlantic Records followed, and Bump released several mixtapes but his full length album, which was titled Nothing To Lose, never materialized.

 

Bump J. eventually landed Best Midwest Mixtape Rapper Award during Justo’s Annual Mixtape Awards ceremony in 2005.

 

“The mixtapes was helping me grub, but at first, I was used to getting that fast money,” Bump J. told AllHipHop.com in 2005. “It [money] had started coming in really slow for a while, so it was definitely difficult staying away from the streets.”

 

He even admitted to growing so impatient in his rap career, that he and his crew, the Chicago-based Goon Squad, gained their buzz in a most peculiar manner.

 

“We would go to different clubs and beat up whatever rappers were in there. It was just making a statement. If a rapper was there talking crazy or looking crazy, we’d beat they ass. However it go. People started saying, ‘Don’t f**k with them Goon Squad n***as! They’ll f**k you up!’ Whatever we could add on to my buzz, we were doing it.”

Bump J., who has worked with artists like Kanye West, Keyshia Cole, Trey Songz, Rhymefest and others, now faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

 

His most recent mixtape release is named Dinner Time, while his latest single is titled “Chevy Fresh Out.”

 

The other man who participated in the robbery remains at large.

Ruste Juxx: Indestructible (Album Review)

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Reviews / Music
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For those not in the know, a jux is slang for robbery. You add some rust to it and that would imply an extra dose of foulness to an already dirty deed. Simply put that’s exactly what Duck Down Records affiliate and long time collaborator Ruste Juxx is putting down with his debut album Indestructible (Duck Down). But what else would you expect from a Brooklyn MC cosigned by Heltah Skeltah’s own Sean Price?

 

Off top Ruste goes hard on the opener “Wipe Off Ya Smile” as he validates his gun aim over cascading pianos. Things move onto an ode to the whip game with “System On Blast”. Ruste makes his love of big sounds clear as he details how the speakers in the car make him the main attraction on the block.

 

Juxx offers a change of pace with “Morgue Truck”. Even though the tales of him waiving the hammer are still ever present, his speedy double time flow found on this track keeps things interesting. Additionally he briefly sheds his hardcore exterior to mourn his late sister Blaze on “Blaze My Fire”.

 

The pain of his loss is evident through some poignant heartfelt lyrics: “Levaughn I apologize for everything I said that hurt you / Never meant to dessert you or cause you pain / All the fallouts we had kept us distant for a minute / But I couldn’t stay mad at you we love without a limit”.

 

While Ruste is no slouch on the microphone, the album suffers from subject matter generally limited to gunplay, blunts, and hustling. He expresses his undying love of marijuana on “Machine Gun Skunk” but the track is unoriginal to the say the least. With “Grave Digga” Ruste incessantly lays down the murder game for three minutes straight but doesn’t inject enough creativity to keep the listener’s attention past the first couple of bodies he catches.

 

Overall Indestructible has its moments, but isn’t as durable as the title may allude too. Truly Ruste represents the gangsters, which is fine, but the music has to be a precise shot rather than just spraying everywhere hoping to land your target.

 

Ruste Juxx

“Wipe Off Ya Smile”

Gay Rappers Respond In Droves To Trick Trick Comments

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Members of the Gay and Lesbian Hip-Hop community have responded in droves to rapper Trick Trick’s recent unprovoked verbal attack.

 

Like many others, they were surprised by the inflammatory comments made by the Detroit artist regarding their lifestyle on his latest album.

 

During an interview to promote the album The Villain on Tuesday (November 11), Trick Trick shared his disdain for the homosexual lifestyle in a statement that referred to gays and lesbians in several derogatory slurs.

 

The statements were perceived by many as a publicity stunt, especially since they did not seem to be provoked by any one particular incident.

 

Los Angeles-based actor/ rapper and self-proclaimed “H### Thug” Deadlee was not phased by Trick Trick’s taunts, nor threats.

 

“My first thought is to get crazy and warn him that this f**got will kick his ass — but I am so on Cloud 9 with Obama winning, and the way he did it,” Deadlee told AllHipHop.com. “Obama was called a terrorist, unpatriotic, and the entire time kept his cool, I so wish I was like that. I know who I am and my self worth that I really don’t give a f**k who or what a Trick Trick has to say. There is still a lot of hate against gays, and a Trick Trick just perpetuates the hate…so if Trick Trick really does plan on putting an AK to my head/I ain’t going out like that! Trick Trick will be the only b***h that ends up dead!”

 

Trick Trick’s words were issued just one week after the state of California famously passed Proposition 8, a ballot initiative which amended the state’s constitution to specifically define “marriage” as a union between a man and a woman.

 

Arizona and Florida passed similar bans on Election Day.

 

“It’s most peculiar that a ‘straight’ man has so much time to be focused on us other folks yet alone a group of people he so called hates,” said Tori Fixx, commonly recognized as ‘The God Father of Gay Hip-Hop.’ “Thank you, Trick for keeping us in the limelight. We are apparently important enough to write songs about, so I thank you for that. But I surely hope no same gender loving person supports this record.”

 

Melange Lavonne, a Palm Springs-based rapper who will host an upcoming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Hip-Hop Reality Show titled Urban Raiders, noted that tens of thousands of couples had their rights taken away as a result of the “Gay Marriage” bans.

 

“It is unwise for him to add fuel to an already lit fire that is getting even bigger,“ Lavonne told AllHipHop.com. “Trick Trick can spew all the hate he wants, but Gays are not longer perceived as punks, sissies or wimps. We are fighting for equality and if that means that our life is on the line then so be it. We are willing and ready to die for our cause, I hope with his hate and anyone who supports and backs him, that they are willing to die for theirs. These are not the days of sit down and shut-up anymore, but a national movement that is bigger and more motivated than his small feeble minded thinking could’ve ever imagined.”

 

The LGBT movement did celebrate a victory yesterday (November 12), when the state of Connecticut performed it’s first legally recognized same-sex marriages, the result of a court decision passed in October.

 

Connecticut became only the second state, after Massachusetts, in which same-sex couples are now legally allowed the same rights as heterosexuals.

 

Khalil Amani, author of the book Hip Hop Homophobes, took aim at some of the chatter Trick Trick’s comments have sparked on AllHipHop.com and throughout the world.

 

“Some of these no-brainer Internet thugs/geeks are cosigning him—using the Bible as their moral compass,” Amani scoffed. “Listen to them! ‘You know da Bible says it’s against Gawd’s law’ What scripture? Shut-up, because most of y’all have never read the Bible! You’re just parroting some s**t you heard Rev. Chickenfoot preach.”

 

Camilo Arenivar, founder of OutHipHop.com, an LGBT Hip-Hop blog site, was also tour manager for the ground breaking HomoRevolution Tour.

 

“I really can’t get past the fact that Trick Trick calls himself that name,” joked Arenivar, producer of Urban Raiders. “With all of the homework he did on Rosie’s cruises and gay adoption, he should have found out that a “trick” is a word heavily used in the gay community to describe what a gay hustler turns to make a buck.”

 

At press time, Trick Trick was not available for further comment.

Illa J: Reppin’ Dilla for Life

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Features
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Cruising down East 7 Mile Road in Detroit, the sharp thuds and jolts from potholes drumming the tires of your ride is unpreventable. Some would shrug it off as a consequence of being so cold in the D. But to an innovator such as the late underground producer/MC James Dewitt Yancey better known as J Dilla, this was a melodic muse characteristic of Motor City living. Consequently for his younger brother, John Yancey, riding shotgun has affected the way he carries on his pedigree in the family name. Two years after Dilla’s passing from complications from Lupus, his little bro, also known as Illa J, continues the next chapter using the same cuts of the cloth that made Slum Village’s first beats. His debut, Yancey Boys—released on the Delicious Vinyl label which housed Dilla’s early work on the Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia album 13 years ago—reads like Illa J’s thoughts amidst his brother’s timeless sound. Although he would never go through great lengths to separate himself from such legendary lineage, now living in L.A., Illa J wants to prove he can take the inheritance to another level.     AllHipHop.com: What’s good, how have you and your family been doing?Illa J: They’re all good man, I talk to them every now and then and they’re doing good, that makes it easier so I can do my thing. AllHipHop.com: I actually heard your mother has been battling complications with Lupus and having some financial problems. How is she holding up?Illa J: Oh, she is a soldier. That’s where I get a lot of my strength from and something and something of mine. She always told me to be strong so everything is good.AllHipHop.com: It has been over two years since your brother passed. Certainly your life and your family will never be the same. Did your brother’s death give you any apprehensions about continuing through this music thing? Illa J: First off, I always knew I would do music since a very young age. A lot of that has to do with being in my household already surrounded by music, my brother making music, my dad was a song writer, he played up-right bass and piano, my mom she sings opera and my sister writes and sings. Pretty much that whole environment growing up. Also being from Detroit, I know a lot of my friends and their families are really into music and stuff. With hobbies other than hooping, we would just be sitting around making up songs and stuff. So the music was always around and I knew I would always do it, I just didn’t know when. After my brother passed that’s when I decided I was. Because that was like a big moment in my life. At that moment, I felt like life is short and I am going to do what I love. From that, I learned my whole mission and purpose for receiving this gift so I could shine my light and inspire others when my brother passed. Also when I went over to Europe for the first time in 2007 and I saw how many people my brother touched with his music, they didn’t even speak English and they knew all the words and songs. That touched me a lot and gave me a whole other perspective on why we even do this music thing. Not even for us, in a sense it’s bigger than us because it’s like lifting each other up. J. Dilla “Won’t Do” VideoAllHiphop.com: Do you remember the first time you realized he had a significant impact on Hip-Hop? Illa J: Because I was always surrounded by musical people in my family, because it’s in the blood, it was kind of normal that he was doing it. Like I had a cousin in Kool & The Gang, I have family all into music. So in a sense it was normal, I was geeked about it I know when I was back at home and I remember watching the “Drop” video because my brother did that track. I started to know a little bit when he did the track with Janet, like, “Okay that is Janet Jackson, he’s really doing some stuff.” Honestly the whole time before until I went to Europe and realized the music he was making in the basement in Detroit actually it was touching people all around the world. When he passed and I went to Europe is really when I saw the impact he was making on music. I knew he was good at what he did because if that is all you do pretty much it’s natural that you’re going to be good at it especially when you put in the practice and work ethic. It never really surprised me but what really did surprise me was the actually impact overall from making music. AllHipHop.com: Since Dilla is now immortalized and honored, how do you feel you can sneak out from under his shadow to establish yourself apart as anindividually legitimate artist?Illa J: As far as establishing myself as an artist any time I am at the piano, that is me at the piano. Eventually people will get it. At first any artist that comes out especially doing something quite different, people are going to look at you weird at first. At the end of the day I’m not going to worry about that, what I worry about is staying on my craft, sticking to be the best at what I do and eventually people will catch onto it. It’s not like people got my brother right away. They’re so called Dilla fans; they weren’t fans until way after. I’m not discrediting anyone who listens to my brother’s music; I’m just saying the critics used to kill him in the little magazines. But now they’re like, “Oh, his beats are the best.” Everybody has to go through that it would be weird if every single person likes my music then it would be weird it has t    o be some balance. I feel like each day I am doing my music, I am doing myself and people will eventually catch on. Even if my brother was here right now, he would be like, “At the end of the day, do you.”Illa J “R U Listenin’?” Behind The Scenes VideoAllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about the Yancey Boys album. Since you already have people looking at you because of your brother, talk a little about it.Illa J: In a sense, you can feel my transition from Detroit to L.A. If you listen to any of my older tracks, I’m more of a songwriter so all the tracks you have heard before I was just putting some songs together. I grew a lot with this album, when you hear it; you’ll hear my growth as an artist. First coming out of Detroit when you first hear my tracks a lot of them are very aggressive because at that time I didn’t all the way live out here yet. I was still trying to get out the box. After I got out here you can start to hear me relax a little bit in my music. Another thing about this album as with any of my brother’s albums, it’s definitely going to bump in your system and the crazy thing is all the tracks were made between ‘95 and ‘98, so this was all ten or thirteen years ago, which was crazy to me. At the time, my brother was doing stuff for Pharcyde and doing remixes with Delicious Vinyl. It bugged me every time I listen to that album it brings you back to ‘95 when I was sitting on the couch watching the “Drop” video. I didn’t know some beats he made during that time I would end up making my first album to them thirteen years later. I’m sure he would still laugh at it too. Mike Ross has had them since then and didn’t know what to do with them. I hadn’t heard any of those tracks before that even happened. AllHipHop.com: On “Timeless” you talk about your process in making the album. How did it feel going into writing for an album where all the beats were made over a decade ago yet the sound was still timeless?Illa J: It’s just like everything has come full circle, like the stuff my brother did for the Pharcyde got him out the hood, start helping out the family, that was like the start point. When he was doing stuff with Q-Tip and then “Runnin” came out that was a big boost for our whole family, it really inspired me a lot to see my brother do that at such a young age. It also inspired me to instill the strength in myself that I could do whatever I wanted to as long as I put my mind to it. Regardless of what anybody says I am honored to keep his legacy going even though I want to branch off as my own artist, I will always rep my brother no matter what. I rep Dilla for life. The Pharcyde “Drop” Video (Produced by Jay Dee)

50 Cent To Perform at Spike Video Game Awards

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Mogul 50 Cent is set to promote both his new album and video game next month at Spike TV’s sixth annual Video Game Awards.

 

The show will feature 50 performing “Get Up,” the Scott Storch produced official first single from Before I Self Destruct.

 

During the song, 50 is scheduled to utilize exclusive video footage and choreography from his upcoming second video game release 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand.

 

Last month, the game was in danger of cancellation due to its original publisher Activision, Inc merging with Blizzard Entertainment.

 

However, international developer THQ picked up project and plans have been finalized to release the title by Christmas or early 2009.

 

The game is powered by the Unreal Engine 3, most recognized for its use in the popular X-Box Gears of War series.

 

Blood in the Sand’s playable character list includes Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and DJ Whoo Kid. Former G-Unit member Young Buck is also set to appear, but it has not been confirmed in what fashion.

 

The Spike TV Video Game Awards premiers live December 14 at PM.

 

For a list of the all the nominees and to vote, visit VGA.Spike.com.

 

50 Cent’s fourth studio album Before I Self Destruct hits stores December 16, and showcases production credits from Dr. Dre, Timbaland, DJ Toomp, Swizz Beatz, Sha Money XL, Rich Harrison, J.R. Totem, and Play-n-Skillz.

 

Confirmed vocal guests at this time include Akon, Eminem, and Dr. Dre.

Immortal Technique Hosts Benefit Concert For Afghanistan Children

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Rapper Immortal Technique will host a benefit concert in San Francisco to benefit displaced children of war in Afghanistan.

 

Immortal Technique is hold to the show to raise money for Omied International, a human rights advocacy group in the final stages of constructing the Amin Institute in war-torn Kabul.

 

The institute/medical center will make full scale rehabilitation programs available to the 2 million orphaned children, over 60,000 of them homeless.

 

In addition to hosting the benefit show, Immortal Technique is putting up $10,000 dollars of his own money towards the Institute.

 

The rapper will also travel to dangerous region to ensure the final stages of construction are completed to meet the grand opening date, which is slated for March of 2009.

 

“My people this was not brought to you by some corporate sponsor, nor was it manufactured by some organization that takes 60% of the $ donated for ‘administrative’ purposes,” Immortal Technique told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “I am not a millionaire. I am not a movie star or a charity organization. I am just a man that heard the call and responded.”

 

The region is still one of the most dangerous in the world and also has the highest refugee population on earth, with over 5 million refugees displaced since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

 

Just today (November 13), a suicide bomber killed at least 11 people and wounded 74 others in an attack aimed at a U.S. military convoy.

 

The blast occurred in the Bati Kot District of Nangarhar, when a bomber driving a small passenger car exploded himself near a passing coalition convoy.

 

A number of children have been confirmed dead, as a Bazaar was taking place where they were attending a nearby school.

 

Just yesterday (November 12), a suicide bomber drew a truck of explosives into a provincial government compound in the Kandahar province and killed six people and wounding more than 40.

 

The Benefit for Afghanistan’s Children of War with Immortal Technique takes place Thursday, November 20th at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, CA.

N.O.R.E. Lands Post Merger Sirius/XM Show; New Lineup Listing

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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Fans of the off-color antics from Noreaga and DJ EFN’s “Militainment Crazy Raw Radio” will now get to hear the program in a bigger outlet, as AllHipHop.com confirmed the show has been picked up as part of the Sirius/XFM merger.

 

Subscribers of both Sirius and XFM satellite radio will be able to hear the broadcast, which has now been extended to two hours.

 

Co-host N.O.R.E. was relieved when the news broke, since many shows have not survived the merger due to budget constraints and limited timeslots.

 

“I was so happy, excited, and scared at the same time when I heard about Sirius and XFM merging,” Noreaga explained to AllHipHop.com. “I just got the news of the merger and when they said they were not only keeping my show but also they were expanding it to 2 hours…I was overwhelmed and happy.”

 

The show will now air on Thursday nights from 12:00 am – 2:00 am on Hip-Hop Nation, and features Noreaga, Miami mixtape king DJ EFN, Hazardis Soundz, and DJ K-N-S.

 

A number of other shows have carried over as a result of the merger, was made official in February and created a $13 billion dollar enterprise.

 

The new company has streamlined both services to feature 69 commercial-free music channels, although each service’s channels have different programming.

 

Below is Hip-Hop Nation’s (XM 67 and Sirius Channel 40) new schedule:

 

Monday: Envy- Leo G- Celo And Nina 9 with DJ Green Lantern 10:00 pm – 12:00 am DJ Ideal 12:00 am – 2:00 am Tuesday: Violator Radio 10:00 pm 12:00 am DJ Jamad-Afromentals 12:00 am-2:00 am Wednesday: Hoodrich Radio With DJ Scream 10:00 pm – 2:00 am DJ E-Freezy Grind Time Radio 12:00 am – 2:00 am Thursday: Ali Shaheed Muhammad/DJ Rasta Root 10:00 pm-12:00 am Militainment Radio With N.O.R.E 12:00 am – 2:00 am Friday: DJ Bee 10:00 pm-12:00 am DJ Premier Live From HeadQCouterz 12:00 am- 2:00 am Saturday: DJ Skee Streets Of LA 10:00 pm – 12:00 am The Sixth Sense Show 12:00 am- 2:00 am Sunday: Monie Love 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm Grandmaster Flash The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame DJ 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm Zulu Beatz With Afrika BamBaaTaa, Mick Benzo The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Manager and CutMan L.G. 9:00 pm 10:00 pm Subqsonic the Progressive HipHop Show 11:00 pm

Hip-Hop Rumors: Rihanna’s Band Beats Up Group! Fake Rumors! Remy Ma To Get Free?

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.

TODAY’S RUMORS!

THE DAILY TWO CENTS

DONALD TRUMP ACCUSED DIDDY AND 50 CENT OF BITING!!!!

You know biting is the cardinal rule in Hip-Hop. YET, it happens over and over. Now, The Donald is calling out Diddy and 50 Cent on their reality shows. I can really, truly say I have never seen either, but the premise seems close to “The Apprentice.”

“I’m in many, many rappers’ songs. And I know them. 50 Cent is sort of a friend of mine. I mean, he likes me. He just did a show. It was a copy of ‘The Apprentice.’ It will fail because he’s not Trump, but he’s actually a nice guy. And P. Diddy did a show which, by the way, I think bombed, but it was a copy. I wrote him a little note, ‘Good luck with the copy.'”

I love it. The Donald is calling cats out.

CINDY MCCAIN CHEATED ON JOHN?

This chick better chill if the National Enquirer is right.

According to the paper, which exposed Edwards, Cindy McCain was caught kissing all over another man – effectively cheating on her husband, Senator John McCain. Witnesses claim, “I couldn’t believe I was watching Cindy McCain passionately kissing and hugging another man!” the person said that the man looked like “a washed-up ’80s rock musician.” I am sure John has enough clout to put her in a box for cheating, but probably won’t. With his limited mobility, he might just be OK with it. Who knows.

JENNIFER HUDSON’S FRIEND BLASTS BEYONCE!

J-Hud’s family and friends really seem to love myspace. Most recently, her best friend posted a blog blasting Beyonce. I’m not going to offer my views, just offer his:

So I wasn’t going to write about this but it is really really bugging me. Especially when people are calling my phone saying how nice it was of Beyonce to come to the funeral and show her support. And I have to sit back and hold everything I wanna say inside. But I can’t do it no more.

Beyonce did not come to the funeral nor did she call, text, send a card or hell send a damn email. If there are millions of people who are leaving Jennifer and Julia and myself messages and sending there prayers and condolences and these people don’t even know them why couldn’t she? Every singer that Jennifer admires and had been a role model for her growing up even until now has called, from Aretha to Shirley Murdock to even present day singers like Chrisette Michelle.

And y’all know how much Jennifer loves Beyonce and she couldn’t even have her assistant call or nothing. But yet her camp is allowing her to receive credit for coming to the funeral and being there for Jennifer and her family. B#######! This just p##### me off. Once again thanks to everyone who has be there for us. And sorry if i offended any of Beyonce fans by writing this but if i just couldn’t keep sitting back and reading articles and emails and having my phone ring about how nice it was of Beyonce to come out!

JENNIFER HUDSON TO SING AT THE INAUGURAL?

Tragedy might have gotten J-Hud and advantage over her pop counterpart in singing at the inaugural. Now, the fact is, I didn’t think she would get this gig before the murder of her family, since she was blessed to play at the Democratic National Convention. But, as you know, Barack has been trying to talk to her – to raise her spirits. I hope she can get this gig. I know Beyonce expressed interest so we’ll see if she can parlay her album push into something much grander.

CHEETAH GIRL FAKED THE WHOLE SCANDAL!?

Now, at illseed.com, I got a cease and desist from a lawyer that charges I was violating Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon’s rights or something for posting Perez Hilton’s pics of the girl’s “stolen nude photos.” Guess what? Us magazine confirms what we suspected all along – the scandal was just a PR stunt. The laptop theory was very very very THIN unlike Adrienne’s body. Anyway, they wanted to “juice” things up in her career. The guy that helped her said, “What better way to [juice things up] than to say that nude pictures could have been stolen from her laptop?”

IS THIS A DISS?

Mad magazine seems to be dissing Lil Wayne.

TRICK TRICK CAUSES A S**TSTORM IN THE GAY COMMUNITY

Gay blogger Perez Hilton has lashed out at Trick Trick, who had expressed a major amount of hate towards “The Gays.” Here is what P.H. said:

Some idiot rapper named Trick Trick, who happens to be a long-term collaborator of Fem, has said in a recent interview with AllHipHop.com that he doesn’t want any homosexuals buying his new album, The Villian. (Perez misspelled that, not illseed!)

Gladly!

Trick Trick’s lyrics are often seen as homophobic, but now he’s actually speaking out about it and how the gay lifestyle is wrong, according to him.

IDIOT!!!!

We’re done ever talking about this d########, but wonder if Rosie will have any thoughts on her blog about his desire to kill her?

(Note: I took out most of the stuff that came from the AllHipHop story.] While Trick Trick has been one of the Top 5 G’s of the year, I just can’t rock with this. Obviously, he’s not REALLY going to kill anybody over their gayity, but damn! What’s funny is nobody makes the same fight in the Black community with all the murder, death, kill on wax that goes on.

THE GAY RAPPERS BATTLE RAP AGAINST TRICK TRICK!

ALERT: THE BREEDING GROUND SHOWCASE – NOVEMBER 18!

Come out and enjoy the HOTTEST emerging artist in Hip-Hop at AllHipHop.com’s BREEDING GROUND SHOWCASE on November 18th at SOB’s in New York City. Doors open at 7 PM show starts at 8 PM, hosted by CRAIG G and music provided by SYNCITY!

Headline artists include:

JOELL ORTIZ

GRAFH

CHARLES HAMILTON

RED CAFE

Breeding Ground Artists include:

TORAE, JON HOPE, MR. MECCA, BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR, ESSO, ST. LAZ, RAIN, THE LEAGUE, AND MR. CRISIS.

Check out our last BREEDING GROUND SHOWCASE with STATE PROPERTY, EPMD, KEITH MURRAY, YA BOY, CHARLI BALTIMORE and Breeding Ground artists SHA STIMULI, SKYZOO, NINA B and others!

I LIKE THIS GUY!

This is the owner of Hood News and he’s got Beeeeef, but he’s smart too.

THE REAL SUGE OR SHOOG?

If found this to be kinda funny. I dude hit me up and tells me that his name is Shoog, pronounced “Suge.” Well, he said he was on Sunset Blvd and ran into the original Suge…Mr. Knight. Now, Shoog says Suge was nervous, but I’m not sure I believe that. But he said his shirt said “I’m The Real Shoog” and it made Suge’s two girls laugh. Shoog claims one of the girls gave him her number after the giggling subsided. They all went into the club after that. I guess.

REMY MA GETTING OUT?

I’ve seen Papoose wearing the ill “Free Remy” t-shirts. Apparently, Remy’s crew is working tiredly to get the rap mistress out of the bing. I am hearing from a source that she might be able to get released on appeal. I don’t think that means she is going to get off. I think that means she may get a new trial. Thoughts?

RIHANNA’S BAND BEATS UP ANOTHER BAND

Rihanna’s band apparently beat up a group called Boyzone in a fight at an Australian tourdate. Apparently, one of the Boyz tried to flirt with a girl in the Rihanna crew. Well, I think she was dating one of the other RiRi bandmates. Dude didn’t take too kindly to the gesture and bombed on the Boy. All of Boyzone didn’t get housed though, but it was wild enough that security had to break it up. Boyzone says they weren’t even trying to do anything, but the dude just took it the wrong way. Riiiiiiiiiight.

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

James Brown’s son-in-law has been murdered. Darren Lumar was shot on Wednesday in the garage of his home in the Buckhead area of Altanta. Sad.

I am hearing that Kelly Rowland is going to co-star in “Dreamgirls 2,” the sequel to the move that starred Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson.

Click here for the new Rihanna song called “B***h, I’m Special.”

Chilli of TLC is not doing a reality show, contrary to the rumors.

Beyonce isn’t playing with this Wonder Woman stuff. She has already met with DC comics to become the first African American to play the heroine.

People are saying that Rihanna’s issues on stage were either from drugs or pregnancy.How come I don’t believe either of them?

RANDOM QUOTES

This is probably the most gangster statement I have ever heard. Ted Turner had this to say about how long his money is:

“I gave the government $32 million when they were a little short and couldn’t pay the dues to the U.N.”

G.W. Bush talks about Obama’s visit to the White House:

“It was interesting to watch him go upstairs. He wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep. Clearly, this guy is going to bring a sense of family to the White House, and I hope Laura and I did the same thing. But I believe he will, and I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure that first and foremost, he is a good dad.”

ALLHIPHOP ALERT

I know you got this already, but I had to put it on the page.

Former Hip-Hop mogul Suge Knight is suing rapper/producer Kanye West, blaming the Chicago superstar for damages that resulted from a nightclub shooting three years ago In August 2005, Knight was shot in the right leg at Kanye’s pre-MTV Video Music Awards party at the Shore Club, located in Miami. Initially some speculated that Knight accidentally shot himself, but that claim was later refuted after eyewitnesses confirmed that at least six shots were fired during the incident. The assailant was never apprehended. Knight, who sought bankruptcy protection in 2006, filed the lawsuit against Kanye West on October 30. In it, Knight claims West is culpable in the crime since the shooter was able to get past the party’s security with a deadly weapon. Additionally, Knight alleges that he not only suffered blood loss, but also lost a diamond stud earring valued at $135,000, and had to take a private jet back to California. In total Suge Knight is seeking damages from West which includes medical expenses from the shooting and mental anguish for “the loss of use and enjoyment of the earring.”

EPIC FAIL OF THE DAY

Check out this report from the NY Daily News.

A 57-year-old Bronx man dusted off his karate skills Tuesday and turned the tables on three would-be robbers decades younger than him, police and the victim said. Diogenes Angeles was walking to a pharmacy near his home in Morrisania about noon when the young men marked him as an easy target. “They see that I am kind of old and figured they can just come and rob me,” said the grandfather of six. Eugene Sanchez, 19, Rakeem Johnson, 23, and Jason Lopez, 25, taunted and then attacked Angeles, police said. That’s when Angeles, who studied karate when he was 14, tapped the fountain of youth and snapped a punch into one of the men – and a streak of fear into the hapless thieves. “Once they saw I could defend myself, they ran away,” Angeles, a retired sign painter, said in Spanish. “I hope they learn from this and don’t attack other people.”

Epic Winner of the Day:

Fail.

SIGNS THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END

Hang Mioku is 48.

Lets just get to it. She had her first plastic surgery procedure when she was 28 and now she looks like a monster. Straight up. Since her first operation, she has had so many procedures that her face is permanently disfigured. The chick went so the extreme and started to inject COOKING OIL INTO HER FACE in an attempt to treat her own cosmetic surgery. Oddly…or not so oddy…she just wants her old face back.

This is the problem. People don’t have enough self-love, because they are bombarded with imagery to suggest that they aren’t good enough.

CLICK HERE to see her in her 20s…you won’t believe it.

This is sick, sad and disgusting.

WHY COOLIO, WHY?

I just don’t know why Coolio is doing this to us.

ANOTHER FAKE

That’s not Whitney Houston’s album cover! Check this out! IT looks like the fans are a-Photoshoppin’ again!

Ol’ Dirty Bastard Remembered.

It’s been four years to the day since the Wu retired the ODB jersey. The most eccentric member of the franchise is being remembered with the release of an autobiography, Digging for Dirt: The Life and Death of ODB. The book will be available for purchase tomorrow and was authorized by his family so I guess that means the author had decent access to folks who really knew what made Mr. Jones tick. From a fan perspective, I’m really glad folks care. I think I’ll be picking this up; unless, of course, one of you wants to buy it for me for Christmas. We miss you Dirty.

Brooklyn Zoo

Fire

DIRTY RIK REPLIES TO CHILD MOMO CHARGES BY GILLIE!

With all that is going on in the world, there is so much more to be fighting for. Until then, enjoy the beef.

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OBAMA, WE LOVE YOU!!!

JIM JONES GOES TO BROADWAY WITH PLAY

Check out the scenes from “Inside The Life and Times of Jim Jones”

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].

– allhiphop rumors

Catching Up With Avant: From Performing in Iraq to R. Kelly Comparisons

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Alternatives
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Eight years deep in the

industry, R&B crooner Avant learned quickly that he had to craft his own

identity or risk being fazed out to prepubescent pretty boys or afro-sporting pseudo-soulquarians.

Over ten hit singles and four albums, the Cleveland-bred vocalist proved he

wasn’t just another new millennium R. Kelly Xerox, and that talent backed by an

athlete as a label head could actually be quality. As his first album My

Thoughts rose to the top of the

charts powered by hits like “Separated” and the resurrected Rene and Angela

classic cover “My First Love” with songbird KeKe Wyatt, Avant’s inception built

a mounting repertoire difficult to match. Avant has watched his success both

soar and stall, yet this has the singer more determined to make bigger waves.

 

Avant has also added actor to

his title landing roles in 2004’s Barbershop 2: Back in Business and David E. Talbert’s stage play Love in the Nick

of Tyme with Morris Chestnut.

However, picking up scripts hasn’t stopped him from nearly breaching commercial

crossover success with the 2006’s Director and taking part in the USO Tour singing to the men and

women in uniform overseas in Iraq.

 

Now returning with a new

single “When it Hurts,” a forthcoming self-titled album and pending duet album

with KeKe Wyatt, Avant has left the over-crowded Geffen Records roster for the

greener pastures of Capitol Records. Among the label’s historic lineage, Avant

feels the way to make himself at home is to eternally remain true to his fans. Director – Avant

AllHipHop.com

Alternatives: Your last album 2007’s Director did well on the charts. Now it’s 2008, what’s going

on with Avant?

 

Avant: I took a little time off trying to get into the

acting game. At the same token, I was working on a new album and also signing

with a different company. I’m at Capitol Records now. It’s a beautiful look;

I’m happy to be there. The Geffen situation was like we both felt like it was

time for us to part one another, but I can’t really be upset with them because

they gave me ten hits. Now it’s time for me to get some of this good music to

Capitol Records. It’s a new Avant 2008, I had to name the album Avant.

 

AHHA: What are your thoughts on the success of Director? Do you feel like you have progressed as an artist

since your last project?

 

Avant: I thought it was a great record, but got lost in the

shuffle. It got missed that’s why I felt it was that time to part ways [with

Geffen], but I got some great records on the new one though. I got the single “When

It Hurts,” I got another single with Trackmasters called “Perfect Gentleman.” I

worked with Mr. Collipark, Smurf from Atlanta on this album so you know this is

very diverse. It has a lot of everything on it and the baby making music, the

boy-girl friend type joints and it’s all consistent. I wanted to give them a

little bit of everything.

 

I didn’t really go with a

blueprint on this album, because I wanted to go in and make good music and

that’s what I came up with. The funny thing about it is that in 2000 it was all

about learning, the next album the fourth album is the same thing. Now I just

want to show everybody what I have learned being a songwriter and producer. To

me it was baby steps but it was huge as well because I’ve been blessed to work

with a whole bunch of artists and to have the respect of your peers is a

beautiful look. It was all a learning experience.

 

AHHA: With so many people like Ne-Yo, The Dream and Keri

Hilson getting noticed for the production and writing side of the R&B game,

do you feel pressured to step against the traditional R&B singer role to

write more or dabble in more involvement in your projects?

 

Avant: Not necessarily; I’ve been writing all my life

– on every album I wrote every song. It is just something I do period. I

felt with this album I had so much that I learned that I just had to show

everybody. It’s hard for me to put myself out there and try to be noticed. It’s

cool and I appreciate people that notice me for it, but I just do what’s in my

heart. I just do it for the love of what it is. I really don’t try to get it

out there and get any accolades for it. I appreciate them for loving it.

 

AHHA: I also heard you were recently on the USO tour. How

was the experience doing that, going to perform in a country at war?

 

Avant: I was in Iraq for like eight days or so and it was an

amazing experience. The troops are going through some stuff. I just wanted to

go over and show love because I told them that I would come through. Just to

see them and their expressions on songs, like I did Christopher Cross’s

“Sailing,” and just to see their expressions and what is going on in their

lives really made me respect living my life. Them over there fighting for me

everyday, made me respect everything. My whole thing…I ended up staying in one

of Saddam’s guest homes and wow it was just an experience. It was really crazy;

they’re wondering why other artists won’t come over here.

 

I tell them, “I don’t know,

it’s kind of hard for me to explain that one.” I mean they are warring over

there, some people are just not feeling that. I made a commitment to go over

there. I’m so glad I did it and I would do it again. I just wanted to go and

find out what was going on. Once I got over there, then I got to see everything

but I didn’t go in with any thoughts. I just wanted to go over there and give

them a good time because I knew they were going through hardships.

 

Just talking to them, they

had a good head on their shoulders about the whole situation, because I asked a

lot of questions like, “Yo what’s the reason for us being over here, I would

really like to know” and they were saying we were supposed to be peacemakers

through the whole ordeal. So I’m like, “Wow how can you be peacemakers in a war

that has been going on for like four hundred years?” They understand their

mission and are doing their thing. I hope they send them home soon too.

 

AHHA: Over the years you have done quite a bit of

collaborations with rappers. What Rap and R&B collaborations are you most

proud or stands out to you?

 

Avant: The Snoop Dogg one “I Can Read Your Mind” was kind of

dope. Bone Thugs N Harmony was amazing with “Making Good Love.” I did a collabo

with Lil Wayne that was fun too, because Lil Wayne was like, “Yo I ain’t never

seen this many girls,” this was before he really became Lil Weezy, you know? He

was like, “Wow, there are some pretty women, I want to be an R&B star.” You

know it’s a beautiful thing to have history and have people respect your music.

Making Good Love (Remix) – Avant ft. Bone thugs N Harmony

 

Then you look up and see

they’re doing wonderful things too. Then with Bone Thugs N Harmony, I was such

a big fan of them to watch and see how they create is amazing. And then Snoop

Dogg, he was like, “I don’t know why my wife loves you but she does,” and from

that point our relationship blossomed. Working with 50 Cent as well, and Puff

Daddy, and it’s been a great look. These people, I have so much respect for

them.

 

AHHA: One of your biggest hits and fan favorites has to be

“My First Love” with KeKe Wyatt. How did the idea for the remake come about?

 

Avant: I used to lay on my sister’s lap and listen to that

song. I was like, “Wow this song is amazing.” I really didn’t have an idea of how

special the song really was. I just liked the arrangement, the strings, the

whole nine. I was so young though, it made no sense to me. Once I listened to

it again, when I was doing my first album, it was like “Wow this song is

amazing.” I decided to do the record; I was working with my man Steve Huff at

that present time. He was like, “I got a girl, she is dope, she can kill it.”

So I was like “Alright, let me hear.” When I heard her I was like, “I got to

step my game up. She is ill.”

 

AHHA: Have you ever got any feedback from Rene Moore or

Angela Winbush about how you guys tackled it? I know you performed with Angela

on 106 & Park a few years

back. Are there any more remakes in Avant’s future?

 

Avant: Angela Winbush, she loved the record, she is big fan

of mine too. I call her my other mother. She always showed me a lot of love and

I thank Angela for that. I might do another one of their records just because I

like the vibe. They had a wonderful connection, and I’m all about a connection

and a vibe. This album right here, I did “Sailing” by Christopher Cross –

I’ve been hearing that they really respect this record as well. I’m blessed to

be able to take somebody’s record and put my own twist to it, and people

respect it. So that is what I will try to stay consistent in doing, also giving

them great hit records from my mind as well. 

 

AHHA: Almost immediately when you stepped on the scene you

got some R. Kelly comparisons. Do you feel you have etched your own path in

music from the “sexy ladies man” crooning cookie cutter? 

 

Avant: Never. You have about think about it, dude ran the

whole ‘90s. I came in 2000, so for me have my first record come out and people

be like “he reminds me of R. Kelly,” that is one of the biggest compliments I

could’ve ever gotten in my life. From that point on, I knew one thing – I

had to stay consistent and continue to put records out so people can understand

this is my voice, get used to my voice and know who Avant was. That was my

whole focus in putting records out in 2000 and 2003 banging out records, so

people know my voice. So now it’s 2008 and people are like, “When is that new

Avant album coming out?” It really worked and I was blessed to get in the game

and be acknowledged with even sounding like dude. Just to be acknowledged is a

beautiful look so now I stand alone by myself.

 

AHHA: I heard you’re getting more into acting do you have

any scripts in front of you? Will that mean you might be neglecting music after

this next album?

 

Avant: Well actually I am reading a couple of scripts. I did

the role in Barbershop 2. I also

did the DVD version of First Sunday.

Love in the Nick of Tyme –

just me and Morris Chestnut. If it’s a good role, s**t, it can go straight to

DVD, I don’t care. I’m with it. 

What was so fun about the play is that everybody is a new cast member.

The only person that was a real veteran to the game was Ella B. English, from

the Jamie Foxx Show. Everybody

else was brand-new like rookies to the game. It was a beautiful look

 

AHHA: What situation in the industry, do you feel you

learned the most from in the past eight years?

 

Avant: This changing of the record companies, I think I have

learned a lot from that, because it’s a difference. Even going through the

whole rigmarole of getting signed. I didn’t know it would be so rough getting

out of a deal. You have to go through paperwork and you really have to make

sure it’s the right look for everybody. The company has got to make sure they

want to let me go and they want to make sure I got with not owing them

anything, so that was a beautiful thing. Then re-signing again and picking a

company that is the right one for you. It was rough.

 

AHHA: What has been your biggest achievement in the

industry so far?

 

Avant: My biggest achievement is to get in front of my fans

and perform, the way they lose their minds over my performance and my music

really. You’re going from city to city and people are like, “I love you, thank

you so much you got me out of a relationship or you helped me build my

relationship even more.” It’s like you feel like Dr. Phil or something.

 

AHHA: There is no question your music has probably made a

baby or two. How do you feel about being able to affect the most intimate parts

of people’s lives with your music?

 

Avant: It takes you to a level you have never been to

before, but you have to watch that because you might be feeling yourself too

much. What I do is gear everything by fans. If they’re not satisfied, then I’m

not satisfied. I just try to give them everything I got.

 

AHHA: So when you got your own date, do you ever put on

your own tracks?

 

Avant: Actually I can’t listen to my own music; not when I’m

with my girl. Because honestly I listen to [my] music for flaws basically or

what I could‘ve done better. I am so critical of myself; I’m hard on myself all

the time. You know were supposed to be having conversations about each other

and I’m thinking about this dumb ass music. That’s not going to get us nowhere.

 

AHHA: Everybody has great artists growing up whom they

wanted to be like as adults; who was yours?

 

Avant: Really, my uncle who passed away a couple years ago.

He was trying to get in the music game; his whole fight was to get into the

music game. I really wanted to be like him honestly. He never made it in the

music game, and he passed away from cancer. But he told me a long time ago

before he passed away, “Look nephew, you got what it takes to take what they

got.”

 

I was like wow, here this guy

is dying of cancer and he’s like “live life everyday with a smile.” Sometimes

he couldn’t even walk he had Myeloma and what that does is eat at your bones. I

always stick with that statement; it holds really heavy in my heart. “You got

what it takes to take what they got.”

 

Avant ft. KeKe Wyatt – My First Love

THE DAY REPORT: Haters Everywhere We Go

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: Breeding Ground
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I started Rap Coalition

with my own money in 1992 because I got tired of hearing about my favorite

artists getting jerked by greedy labels, unsavory production companies, and

unknowledgeable managers.  I came to rap

as a fan—started listening to rap in Philadelphia in 1980. 

Many of you weren’t even born yet.

 

I didn’t get into the

industry to f**k rappers, or attend parties, or walk red carpets, or get free

CDs, or to get interviewed on BET…and therefore, almost 17 years later, I still

don’t do any of that s###.  That industry glamor s**t is fake to me.  I care about

the deals, the rappers, producers, and DJs getting paid, and enjoying the music

(I am still a fan).  And here’s the

important part: MY ACTIONS MATCH MY WORDS!! 

 

So those folks in this

industry who are here to:

·        

Solely

get a check (especially those with the b####### seminars, conferences, showcases,

and award shows that are ripping folks off; or the labels and managers who are

barely more than just a business card), and/or to

·         Rub

elbows with rappers (I see the same muthaphukkas carrying a camera everywhere

wishing they worked for a real magazine, but where do those photos end up besides

on their bedroom wall or their Blog that no one reads?), and/or to

·        

Dis

folks actually building something and making things happen in this industry (yes,

some folks are an angry bi-polar waste of space that no one listens to, and to

explain that to them, one would actually have to see value in picking up a

phone and calling them—which they are not deserving of…you see, they are so

irrelevant that they don’t matter enough), and/or to

·        

F**k

rappers (men and women)

Won’t last very long.  I’ve watched many folks come and go over the

years and most are just a tiny blip on the radar screen of this industry.  Some of these losers are even a joke for

those in the industry with a real career and a track record of success (“let’s

see what this idiot does next since she can’t get clients, and totally f#####

up her b####### award show destroying a bunch of brands along the way”).  Yes, I’ve really heard people talk that way

behind their backs, and some folks even have conference calls to discuss

destroying and blackballing the real idiots in this industry. 

 

While I have always taken

the road of letting karma deal with the idiots who are useless in the industry,

my powerful counterparts take aggressive action to throw blocks their way.  For some people, the only noise they can

attempt to make in this industry is by calling out someone who matters, or

sending an angry email blast, or sneak dissing them in a blog or an e-newsletter.  Fortunately, most of these wanna-bes would

actually have to be enough of a force to be reckoned with for folks to read

their angry rants, and they are not.  Of

course, they could always land a column at AllHipHop and take shots….but they’d

have to have something tangible to offer, or some real track record of success,

to actually do that. 

 

These folks who dis, rant,

and complain publicly about others are commonly referred to as HATERS.  The one quality they seem to have in common

is that they are irrelevant, trying to gain some relevance, not through

success, but through attacking folks publicly who are good at what they do and

who do have something to offer the industry. 

Personally, my haters have another quality in common–they are mentally

unstable, and it very quickly shows itself when I try to confront them.  Additionally, most of them are female.

 

I’m hated by many of the

folks who are bad at their jobs because I actually talk about it and name names—usually

in private, one on one.  I am very vocal

about the wack contracts I break for artists for free, and have no trouble

shielding others from going down the same painful road.  But every now and again I will use a column

to grind an ax about someone’s ineptitude, or stupidity– usually when I hear

many people complaining about the same detractors.  I am very careful to be honest and back up

everything with fact, lest I be a hater myself.

 

I may clown someone on

stage at their own event when I get the mic…but everything I say will be true–

whether they want to hear it or not is something totally different.  If you suck at what you do, be prepared to be

told instead of making that come up that you figured you would.  Those who are looking to hit a quick lick in

this industry instead of putting in time and hard work are treated as such.

 

With all the backstabbing,

the hating, the bad deals, the ripping folks off, the black versus white

b####### (I love you Nutt!), and the unqualified idiots trying to get a quick

check (UPS is hiring!)…it comes down to one thing: Most of us who are making a

REAL difference in this industry are here because we love the music.  What really matters most isn’t what anyone

thinks or says, but the rappers, the producers, and the DJs, who ARE truly the

backbone of this industry.  Sadly, they

are usually the last ones to get paid, but the ones who are most deserving of

payment.

 

Maybe those in the

spotlight get tired of the same “hater” b####### that the rest of us do.  And they must get it 100 times harder,

because they ARE in the spotlight.  I am

just a tiny blip in their worlds, standing way behind them.  I can’t imagine how much it must suck to be

in the spotlight and constantly in the line of fire, just because they want to

rhyme.  B.O.B. sure was right, there are

haters everywhere, while T.I. and Maino are embracing theirs and using that

power to move forward and excel….”Hi Hater!” 

But how sad that haterism

(don’t hate because I made up a word) is so pervasive that they actually had to

devote songs to the subject.

 

I wanted to write an

article about “How To Deal With The Haters,” because it seems like there is so

much of it going on these days.  Part of

me didn’t want to give any attention to the haters, because none of them really

have any success, and as I made a list and spoke to the folks in this industry

who matter, I realized NONE of the main Haters were even a viable asset to this

industry.  So rather than give them

anymore light (lest they keep it up to get attention), I will write about

something really helpful to rappers (who actually matter in this

industry).  Let me wrap up my hater rant,

however, by saying that if someone hates on you, punch them in the mother

f###### mouth.  Then maybe haters will

think twice about saying some b####### to get attention (since they obviously can’t

get it by being good at what they do)…

 

Rapping is a job, if you

want to actually make music for a living. 

I know that’s kind of obvious, but some artists really need to

understand this concept.  If you want to

quit your day job, and make enough money as a rapper to survive (and maybe take

care of a family), your music will need to have value to a consumer who is

willing to buy your songs or CDs.

 

The way you get them to

buy your music is to build awareness through promotions (on the streets, at

shows, and on the internet).  The goal is

to build a word of mouth buzz about you, and either you can do this yourself or

sign to a record label who will do it along with you.  But the key here is that no one will do it

FOR you.  They may finance it (but more

often they do not), but they won’t work harder than you do.

 

So, here is your job

description as a rapper:

 

You must make music that

you believe in, that others will purchase. 

You must build a movement around yourself.  You need to give fans a reason to attract to

you (your image, your subject matter, your “swag,” whatever).  And it must be believable and relevant.  You must believe in yourself and have some

degree of talent.  If your lyrical skills

are lacking, you need to make up for that in other ways.

 

You need to find the best

beats and music to rap over.  If you suck

at picking beats, get someone on your team that excels at that.  Tupac used to openly admit that he wasn’t the

best at picking beats, but towards the end of his career he had folks on deck

to help him choose some real bangers! 

You need to talk about subjects that your fans (your niche market) will

find interesting and topical.  If your

fans are intelligent college students, talking only about street s### will

limit your market and sales severely. 

And vice versa.  Fans of the real

gutter street s### don’t want to hear raps about the Pythagorean Theorem.

 

You have to find a way to

support yourself until the royalty checks and show money start to come in (if

you don’t sell 350,000 or more CDs and you are signed to a Major label, forget

about the royalty checks—they ain’t coming). 

If you are signed to an indie label, there is NOT enough money to

support you and promote you, so get a job and opt for the budget to be spent on

promotions.  If you are entrepreneurial

at all (and be real with yourself when you decide this one), find an investor

rather than signing to a label.  Control

and ownership is a wonderful thing when it impacts YOUR career.

 

Work really hard.  We all hear that word “grind” as frequently

as we hear “haters” these days.  Grind

means to work harder than anyone else, and then when you feel you can’t

possibly do one more thing, do one more thing. 

Work the streets: hang posters, blitz flyers in places where no one else

is, work industry events networking, befriend DJs and radio personalities in

markets working outwards from your hometown, go to every event and be visible,

meet and talk to everyone, and get up the next day and do it all over

again.  Work the internet by appearing in

chat rooms and on the social networking sites (there are MANY of them now, and

they all matter when you are building a career).

 

As a rapper, it is your

job to make the music and make your career happen, whether you can afford to or

not.  No one will ever work as hard for

your career as you will.  But as you

start getting that all important buzz, others will flock to you.  And then it becomes your job to choose the

right people to be part of your team. 

You are only as strong as the weakest person on your team.  The bottom feeders come first (because they

are the ones with the spare time to look for new talent to rape) so be very

careful.  Find legitimate, well

connected, respected, experienced people to add to your team.  If not, your career will be over before it

starts.  And keep building your fan base,

one potential consumer at a time.

 

And when the haters come,

and they will, just know that for some reason it’s part of the territory in

urban music.  As long as people are

insecure and weak minded (haters), they will always try to pull down the next

person instead of building up themselves. 

Sometimes, it’s all they CAN do because they suck at what they are

trying to accomplish.  If you focus on

them, or the anger or the hate, it will bring more of the same into your world

due to the laws of attraction.  If you

ignore them and keep it moving, you will frustrate the haters by not giving

them what they want (which is for you to be as unhappy as they are, and to call

public attention to them so they can use your fame to try and get a voice).  Just know that the more successful you get,

the less you will have to deal with the haters—fortunately, they can’t reach

very high up the ladder…