The Roots will

host their Third Annual Jam Session and the crew is encouraging vocalists, musicians,

and aspiring artists to take part in the five-hour session Feb. 7 at Key Club

in West Hollywood, CA.

This year’s gathering

will be hosted by Roots frontman Black Thought, comedian Dave Chappelle, and

actor Don Cheadle. The invitation-only event is presented by Dave Chappelle’s

Block Party in association with Live for Darfur.

“Most industry

parties are a little too stuffy and are limited to performances by one or two

artists,” says Roots founder and drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson.

“We created this event in order to put the focus back on the music and

give major artists as well as new talent a chance to take part in a business

and musical exchange.”

The anticipated

guest list includes Jay-Z, Common, Will Smith, Mos Def, Will.I.Am, Talib Kweli

and Kanye West, among others. As with last year’s session, the event will be

produced by Okayplayer.com,

Goodtime Girl Productions and Keldof Productions.

Live for Darfur,

co-chaired by Don Cheadle and Djimon Hounsou, is a worldwide campaign that rallies

high-profile artists to help raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur, Africa.

More information is available at www.savedarfur.org.

Cash Money Records

founder and rapper Brian “Birdman” Williams was arrested Sunday (Jan.

29) on weapons and fraudulent driver’s license charges.

The 36-year-old

music mogul was charged with carrying a concealed firearm; possession of a firearm

by a convicted felon; unlawful use of a license by presenting another person’s

driver’s license; possession of a fraudulent license; and failure to have vehicle

registration.

The alleged incident

occurred at 3:28 a.m., when Miami Beach police officer Kevin Millan said he

spotted a maroon Maserati ”parked in the right lane of traffic” on South Pointe

Drive. Millan’s police report further stated that the vehicle had no tag

and a covered vehicle identification number.

Williams told Millan

he owned the Maserati and that his license and paperwork were inside the car,

according to the report.

“After opening

the glove compartment, [the] defendant reached across to driver’s side,”

Millan stated. “While doing so, he removed a .40 cal. glock semi-auto pistol

from his waist band with his right hand and dropped it to driver’s floor board….[The]

gun [was] loaded with eight rounds.”

Police said Williams

had three ID cards and two driver’s licenses from Louisiana under the names

Brian Williams, with a birthdate of Feb. 15, 1975, and Thomas Corey, with a

birthdate of Feb. 15, 1969.

In addition, Williams told officers his real name was Brian Christile Williams,

born in 1969.

The report also

stated that Williams told police he recently purchased the Maserati in Los Angeles,

but ”it has no tag and has not been registered." H e also said he had

a prior felony conviction.

Williams’

attorney, André Crenshaw, stated that the allegations against his client

are untrue. “There are some conflicting stories as to his possession of

a handgun,” said Crenshaw. "[Williams] denies saying that he has a

felony conviction. He never made that statement.”

Williams, who is

out on $18,000 bond, could not be reached for comment Tuesday (Jan. 31).

Dave Chappelle will

make his first television appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show this Friday

(Feb. 3) to explain his sudden disappearance last year after announcing a $50

million dollar deal with Comedy Central. Chappelle gained headlines worldwide

when he suddenly disappeared from the set of The Chappelle Show last year

and reemerged in South Africa, in the middle of production for the show’s third

season. In related news, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party will open in theaters

Mar. 3. The movie was shot in Brooklyn, New York in 2004 and is produced by Rogue

Pictures. It features new stand-up material by Chappelle and exclusive performances

by Kanye West, The Roots, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Wyclef, Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy

Kane, Lauryn Hill and others. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michel Gondry directed

the film, which is Rated R.

The Inc.’s Princess

Ashanti has filed a lawsuit against various companies, claiming they are releasing

and marketing an album of old material without her permission. Can’t Stop

features material Ashanti (born Ashanti Douglas) recorded in 1997. The tapes

were unearthed in Sept. 2004 and re-mixed and mastered by Genard Parker and

Ernie Lake using Pro Tools equipment. Big Records Australia, Farm Records, Unique

Corp., Simply Vinyl, Team Entertainment, ZYX Music and others are named as defendants

in the lawsuit. The album has a street date of Feb. 21, 2005. The lawsuit is

the latest in an ongoing battle over rights to the material Ashanti recorded

when she was 16-years-old. She claims she recorded the material for demo-shopping

purposes and never intended the recordings to be released to the public. Parker

won a $630,000 judgment last year, after a judge ruled that Ashanti breached

a production agreement she signed while a teenager. Ashanti is seeking an injunction

to block the release and damages in excess of $1 million.

The Hip-Hop Association

has teamed with Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to present

"Elevate!: Using Hip-Hop To Educate" to teachers around the country.

The four-day forum brings K-12 teachers together with historians, performers,

activists, and educational specialists to learn how to utilize Hip-Hop music

to teach today’s youth. "The education and activist communities have truly

appreciated our Hip-Hop Education Summits," said Martha Diaz, President

of the Hip-Hop Association. "They have provided the opportunity to learn

and share about Hip-Hop and its legacy of empowerment. The Summer Teacher Institute

is a great occasion to bring this dialogue to a larger platform. We’re excited

to be in a position to aid in this process." The Summer Institute is also

being presented by Cuyahoga Community College and the Center for the Study of

the Arts at Cleveland State University. For more information log on:

http://www.hiphopassociation.org.

After a successful

collaboration designing luxury sunglasses, rapper/producer Pharrell Williams

will enter into the jewelry designing business with Louis Vuitton. Williams

was originally approached by Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs and a deal was

announced with the company in Oct. 2004. Williams, along with Nigo, founder

of the clothing line, A Bathing Ape, designed a luxury line of sunglasses for

the fashion company. Williams created a sunglass line for Louis Vuitton that

included names like "Elvira," "Havana," and "Lady Tiger."

Williams described his new Vuitton jewelry designs as "super regal."

No in-store date was available at press time.

Tour dates for

The Black Eyed Peas’ Honda Civic Tour were announced today. The tour kicks off

on March 23rd at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and will hit 35

cities before winding down in Denver, Colorado on May 21. The high profile tour

is the group’s first headlining tour in North America to promote their multi-platinum

release, Monkey Business. "We are excited to be going out on the

Honda Civic Tour because it allows us to keep the ticket at a low price so that

kids can come out and see us play and not have to worry about breaking their

backs to pay for a ticket," said group member will.i.am. Fans can log on

to www.hondacivictour.com

for more information.

Tour dates are

below:

March 23 Save Mart Center Fresno, CA

March 24 Arco Arena Sacramento, CA

March 25 Reno Events Center Reno, NV

March 26 Bayside Concerts San Diego, CA

March 28 Gibson Amphitheater Los Angeles, CA

March 29 Gibson Amphitheater Los Angeles, CA

March 31 Dodge Theater Phoenix, AZ

April 7 Smirnoff Amphitheater Dallas, TX

April 8 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Houston, TX

April 9 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater San Antonio, TX

April 11 USF SunDome Tampa, FL

April 13 Bank Atlantic Center Sunrise, FL

April 14 UofF O’Connell Center Gainesville, FL

April 15 Chastain Park Amphitheater Atlanta, GA

April 18 Booth Amph @ Regency Park Cary, NC

April 21 Theater @ Madison Square Garden New York, NY

April 22 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD

April 23 Tweeter Waterfront Camden, NJ

April 25 Mullins Center @ UMASS Amherst, MA

April 26 Sacred Heart Univ/Wm. Pitt Center Fairfield, CT

April 28 Turning Stone Casino Verona, NY

April 29 Agganis Arena Boston, MA

April 30 Bryce Theater @ Bryce Jordan Ctr State College, PA

May 2 Value City Theater Columbus, OH

May 4 Fox Theater Detroit, MI

May 6 Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL

May 7 Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN

May 12 Oakland Arena Oakland, CA

May 14 Theater in the Clouds Portland, OR

May 15 Everett Events Center Everett, WA

May 16 Star Theater @ Spokane Arena Spokane, WA

May 19 Idaho Center Theater Boise, ID

May 20 E Center Ford Theater Salt Lake City, UT

May 21 Universal Lending Pavilion Denver, CO

Blade, the Marvel

Comics vampire slayer featured in trilogy of big-screen movies, is coming to

the small screen and will star rapper/Onyx group member Kirk "Sticky Fingaz"

Jones.

Spike TV has green-lighted

a television series based on the super hero that will serve as the network’s

first original scripted series.

"Blade"

will follow the adventures of an immortal half-man half-vampire who uses his

superhuman powers and skills to battle a shadowy underworld of vampires who

want to destroy the human race.

Jones will star

as Blade with a supporting cast that includes Jill Wagner ("Monk"),

Neil Jackson ("Stargate SG-1"), Nelson Lee ("Traffic," the

TV mini-series) and Jessica Gower ("Blurred").

Eleven one-hour

episodes of the show have been ordered by Spike TV, in addition to a two-hour

pilot episode.

The series, which

will be produced by New Line Television, will begin production in Vancouver

this spring.

"We’re extremely

pleased with the pilot for ‘Blade,’ which delivers a thrilling action-adventure

for its built-in fan base as well as a character-driven drama filled with heart-pounding

tension and suspense," said Pancho Mansfield, executive vice president,

original programming at Spike TV. "The series will be the first of our

scripted fare as we embark on creating a greater mix of original programming

for our viewers."

Although the weekly

series will maintain continuity from the successful trilogy, a new storyline

and new characters will be introduced. Acclaimed screenwriter and executive

producer David S. Goyer ("Blade" trilogy and "Batman Begins")

and popular comic book writer Geoff Johns who worked on the "Blade"

tele-movie, will also produce the series.

The tele-movie

is directed by Peter O’Fallon ("Suicide Kings," "American Gothic").

Best known as

"Sticky Fingaz," a member of the rap group Onyx, Jones has appeared

in a variety of films, including Clockers, Dead Presidents and

Flight of the Phoenix.

Most recently,

he appeared regularly on FX’s "Over There" and "The Shield."

"Blade"

premieres on Spike TV in June 2006.

The 78th Academy

Awards were announced Monday (Jan. 30) in Beverly Hills, California and Hip-Hop

received a fair share of nods, some expected and others surprising.

Three 6 Mafia,

mostly known for an underground sensibility, was nominated for an Original song

Oscar for their Terrence Howard-executed song "It’s Hard Out Here For A

Pimp” from Hustle & Flow.

Hustle &

Flow is a film that centers on a Memphis, Tennessee pimp that turns to rap

music in an attempt to escape the street life.

"We [are]

just happy as hell," DJ Paul told AllHipHop.com. "We knew they said

it might be nominated, but we didn’t think it would be. It’s good to find out

it’s true."

DJ Paul said he

was honored to part of a legacy of Memphis history in the music business. "This

is just a step further to the roads of Hollywood that we’ve been traveling since

our first movie, Choices I."

Others nominated

for an Original Song Oscar include "In The Deep" from Crash

and "Travelin’ Thru" from Transamerica.

The Academy also

nominated Terrence Howard for Best Performance for his role in the film Hustle

& Flow.

Howard faces hefty

competition from Heath Ledger, star of the year’s most nominated film Brokeback

Mountain, Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line, Philip Seymour Hoffman

in Capote and David Strathairn in Good Night and Good Luck.

Ludacris, who stars

in Hustle & Flow, also has a role in the movie Crash, which

was nominated for Best Picture by the Oscar committee. Luda and the cast of

Crash received a Screen Actors Guild Award Sunday for Outstanding Performance

by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

The Academy Awards

air live on Sunday (Mar. 5) at the Kodak Theatre and will be televised by the

ABC Television Network.

James "Jimmy

Henchmen" Rosemond was recently found guilty of beating a Washington D.C.

disc jockey during an appearance with The Game, who Henchmen manages.

A jury found Henchmen

guilty of assaulting on-air personality Xzulu "The Big Lipped Bandit"

at 93.9 WKYS-FM in Lanham, Maryland.

“We respect

the jury’s verdict but we do not agree with their decision,” said

Rosemond’s attorney Scott Srebnick. “We intend to pursue appropriate post

trial remedies in this case and look forward to the opportunity to provide our

side of the story at the disposition before the Honorable Judge McKee in April.”

The Game and an

entourage of 20-plus people appeared on Xzulu’s radio show on Jan. 21, 2005,

weeks before the rapper’s G-Unit/Aftermath debut, The

Documentary, topped Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.

During an interview,

Xzulu allegedly made an off-color remark about Henchmen’s cell-phone headset.

Police said a group

of men, including The Game, confronted the DJ shortly afterwards and kicked

and beat him, sending him to an area hospital with serious internal injuries.

On Feb. 14, 2005,

The Game was formally charged with assault and battery.

Prince George’s

County Police started an investigation immediately after the incident was reported

and issued an arrest warrant for Henchmen on misdemeanor assault charges.

"The story

that’s leaking out there is pretty much true," Xzulu

told AllHipHop.com shortly after the incident. "I was hospitalized

with multiple injuries. The person that did it was very recognizable, along

with his people. It definitely happened, and it happened over some nonsense.

Nonsense. I’m 35, not 25, and we’re all brothers in this game. But we learn

some things as we go along. I think it’s a shame that we are acting so primitive,

on both sides. Here you have a brother that is so talented. I think he has one

of the dopest albums to come out in a long time, and I think people make bad

decisions. I think that night he made a bad decision."

Radio One, which

owns WKYS, reportedly stopped playing Game’s singles on their various stations

nationwide, in protest of the assault.

In April 2005,

another man came forward and said that he was assaulted as well. Kwasi Jones

filed a $280 million dollar civil-assault case against The Game, G-Unit, Shady

Records, and Aftermath Entertainment.

Jones also sued

the labels for being negligent, after a remix of "Hate It or Love It,"

(featuring 50 Cent), which originally appeared on The Documentary, featured

the Game rapping "I’m rap’s MVP/Don’t make me remind y’all what happened

in D.C."

Jones appeared

on the television show, "Celebrity Justice," after the remix was released

and said the song hindered his ability to recover from the beating. "I’m

still trying to get over the situation and the song doesn’t help," Jones

told "Celebrity Justice."

When the video

premiered on BET, Game told the network: "To all the people at Radio One,

I’m being sincere; we’re sorry about what happened in D.C. It’ll never happen

again."

During the trial,

various witnesses identified Henchmen as Xzulu’s assailant. He faces up to ten

years in prison when he is sentenced April 3.

Sources told AllHipHop.com

charges against The Game were dropped.

Upon returning

from the Sundance Film Festival early Sunday (Jan. 29), Congresswoman Cynthia

McKinney (D-GA) found that her front yard had been vandalized and “toilet papered”

with VCR tape.

McKinney had been

at Sundance to promote the documentary American Blackout, which focuses on her

storied career and the continued disfranchisement of African-American voters

and politicians since the 2000 presidential election.

The documentary

won a Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Documentary Films.

“Obviously, someone

wants to send a message that they know where I live and can have access to my

front yard to do unkind things,” McKinney told AllHipHop.com in a statement.

“Still, we are pleased with the success of American Blackout at Sundance Film

Festival and hope everyone who cares about our country will make a point to

see it.”

As Georgia’s first

African-American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives,

McKinney has been an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and spearheaded

a national investigation into the 2000 election voting irregularities.

She has also been

a long-time proponent of Hip-Hop.

Last November,

McKinney introduced House Resolution 4210, a new bill that calls for the United

States government to release all documents it has collected on slain rapper

Tupac Shakur.

HR 4210 calls for

“the creation of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection at the National Archives;

and a second repository at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone

Mountain, Georgia.”

The Tupac Amaru

Shakur Center in Stone Mountain opened Jun. 11, 2005.

The incident was

reported to local police.

A jury in Houston

Federal Court has found rapper Lil’ Flip and Sony BMG Music Entertainment guilty

of willful copyright infringement.

Lil’ Flip (real

name Wesley Eric Weston) was sued in Nov. 2004 for alleged unauthorized use

of three melodies on his major label debut, Undaground

Legend.

The lawsuit, filed

in Federal Court in the Southern District of Texas, claimed that the melodies

were the creation of Tommy L. Granville, a songwriter and music producer based

out of Shreveport, Louisiana.

The jury verdict

found that Suckafree Records, Lil’ Flip, his manager Estelle Douglass Hobbs,

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Columbia Records, Loud Records, Lucky Publishing

and Hobbs Publishing willfully violated the copyrighted music of Tommy Granville,

when the Defendants included it on Lil’ Flip’s platinum-selling CD, Undaground

Legend.

The lawsuit sought

$1.5 million in damages and an unspecified amount for alleged willful infringement

of Granville’s copyrights.

The Houston jury

awarded Granville $150,000, the maximum statutory damages under the law.

Magistrate Judge

Stacy also fined Sony $12,000 for their failure to adhere to the court’s orders

to turn over financial documents.

"We’re very

pleased that the jury agreed that Tommy Granville’s music was illegally taken

by these Defendants," Scott Hemingway, attorney for the plaintiff, told

AllHipHop.com. "Sony is one of the world’s biggest enforcers of its copyright

rights and it files 1000’s of copyright infringement lawsuits against Internet

file-sharers to protect its rights. It is nice to see the jury tell Sony and

the other Defendants that they should respect the copyrights of others the same

way they want their own copyright rights respected."

In a separate action

in Sept. 2004, NamCo America sued the same set of defendants for copyright infringement

over Lil’ Flip’s#### song, "Game Over."

In that lawsuit

filed in US District Court, Southern District of New York, Namco alleged that

their copyright was infringed upon when sounds from the game "Pac-Man"

and "Ms. Pac-Man" were included on "Game Over" and its remix.

That suit was settled

prior to going to trial.

Scarface and rap duo the Product have teamed with Koch to release One Hunnid, the debut album from Scarface’s new venture, The Underground Railroad Movement.

The Product features Bay Area rapper Will Hen and Jackson Mississippi native Young Malice.

“We are very excited to work with Scarface and his [new] label Underground Railroad,” Alan Grunblatt, general manager and executive vice president of Koch, told AllHipHop.com, adding that Scarface is “one of the greatest rappers of all time.”

The rapper appears on almost 90 percent of the songs on One Hunnid, which boasts production by Tone Capone, John Bido, The Alchemist and Scarface himself.

The album is slated to hit stores Feb. 21.

Sean “Diddy” Combs is planning a lavish Super Bowl Weekend in Detroit, Michigan.

Combs will renovate Detroit’s Captain’s Bar & Grille, which holds 700 people and transform the venue into “Diddy’s House” starting Feb. 3.

As part of the re-design, Combs will extend Captain’s Bar & Grille’s floor to host 2,500 VIP Super Bowl fans.

Young Jeezy will kick the weekend off by hosting “A Black Affair” on Friday, Feb. 3, which will feature a performance by UGK’s Bun B.

On Saturday, Feb. 4, Combs’ 5th Annual Players Ball will commence and on Sunday, Feb. 5, Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick will host Diddy’s Diamonds & Furs, where one male and female patron will win a mink coat.

A portion of the proceeds from the 3-day event benefit Detroit’s St. John’s Hospital and the Coalition of Temporary Shelter (COTS).

Tickets for Diddy’s weekend range from $150.00 to $28,000 for the weekend.

All Elite VIP packages include 10 VIP tickets, a $2,500 bar tab, a personal menu selection, a personal chef and waitress.

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com

Snoop Dogg and Reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee shot a video for “Gangsta Zone” yesterday (Jan. 27).

The video for the song, taken from Daddy Yankee’s album Barrio Fino: En Directo, was shot in the Torres Sabana projects in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

The video, directed by Jesse Terrero and Carlos Pérez, features Snoop and Daddy Yankee in various locales in the Torres Sabana projects.

Carolina is the fourth largest city in Puerto Rico and is dubbed the industrial capital of the island.

“We came from nothing and it is an honor to be working with him [Snoop],” Daddy Yankee said at a press conference held during a break in the video. “I consider him the best.”

Daddy Yankee, born and raised in the projects of San Juan, released his sixth album Barrio Fino in July of 2004 through his label El Cartel/Universal Music Latino.

In Dec. Of 2005, Daddy Yankee released a CD/DVD titled Barrio Fino: En Directo, which contains five new songs featuring collaborations with Paul Wall, Zion and Lennox.

Barrio Fino: En Directo has moved over 500,000 copies to date.

In related news, Daddy Yankee denied rumors spreading that he burned a Mexican flag at a recent concert.

“Recently, a malicious and false rumor has been spread with the only purpose of affecting my relationship with the Mexican community and jeopardizing my reputation as a serious and responsible artist,” Daddy Yankee said in a statement. “The rumor sustains that I allegedly burned a Mexican flag in a recent performance in this country. This has never occurred. Under [no] circumstances, would I commit such a barbaric act, first, because I have great respect for the Mexican people and all nationalities of the world and I am incapable of showing a lack of respect by committing such a deplorable act. Secondly, it is physically impossible for this to have occurred since I have not visited Mexico since March 2005, due to the demands of my work schedule, which has included among other things recording and launching of my latest album, Barrio Fino en Directo; the filming of my movie ‘Straight From the Barrio,’ launching of my new line of clothing with Reebok and my radio program On Fuego.”

Warren G., one of the pioneers of the “G-Funk” sounds, is back once again with a new album The Mid-Nite Hour and video for his lead single “I Need a Light” featuring Nate Dogg.

Warren’s latest video premiered worldwide on MySpace.com this past Tuesday (Jan. 24) and has already reached over 28,000 plays.

“‘I Need a Light’ is a song to sit back and listen to if you are stressin’ over something,” Warren G. “Listen to the hook and it makes you feel good. I’m talking about growing up in Long Beach, some of the s**t I went through, everything from what I saw as a kid up until now.”

The video opens with a look at Long Beach, California, during Warren’s childhood with Snoop Dogg and Nate.

“The overall tone of the video shows the classic side of Warren – how he built his empire from the streets of Long Beach and expanded it to the world,” said director Paul Hunter. “He is showing everyone that we can have a good time, look good and dress well. It’s really about the classy style of Hip-Hop.”

Warren’s new album In The Mid-Nite Hour is the fifth studio album from the Cali rapper.

A United States District Court Magistrate Judge recently granted a preliminary injunction to Slip-N-Slide Records that prohibits TVT

Records from interfering with the distribution and/or release of Pitbull’s Welcome to the 305.

The two labels were embroiled in a legal battle over the release of

Welcome to the 305, an album that contains material Pitbull recorded

before signing with TVT.

In March 2005, TVT sent a letter to Slip-N-Slides distributors indicating that the sale of 305 violated TVT’s rights and that TVT

would seek redress for violation of those rights.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Brown ruled that “TVT’s statement and

letter that Slip-N-Slide’s actions in promoting and distributing 305,

were a violation’s of TVT’s rights (under a contract with Pitbull), was a misrepresentation which was made with knowledge and was clearly intended to cause the recipients of the letters to not purchase 305.”

The Court further found that “Slip-N-Slide’s business relationships with it’s distributors had been damaged by the TVT letter.

Although Slip-N-Slide had already received 100,000 pre-orders of 305, they were unable to release the album because virtually every distributor that received the letter refused to sell it.”

The Slip-N-Slide recordings were tracked in 2001, before Pitbull signed to TVT.

Slip-N-Slide owner Ted Lucas claimed Pitbull signed over all rights to the recordings when they granted the rapper a release in 2003 to sign with TVT.

On the contrary, TVT President Steven Gottlieb said that Slip-N-Slide was exploiting the investment they had made to make Pitbull a worldwide star and that Pitbull told TVT to block the

release.