Carl Pohlad, the owner of the Minneapolis Twins, is entering the Hip-Hop market, with the purchase of Hip-Hop radio station KTTB-FM B-96 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pohlad’s recently formed Northern Lights Broadcasting LLC and will pay $28 million for B-96, “just to get into the industry,” said Northern Lights’ CEO Steve Woodbury. Pohlad bought the station from Radio One, who felt that that Twin Cities area did not have enough of a black population to support the station’s format. According to the Associated Press, B-96 is very profitable and the station will retain it’s original staff and format.
Compton, CA rapper The Game has rejected a plea offered by a Manhattan prosecutor today (June 13), stemming from charges of impersonating a police officer in Nov of 2006. The rapper rejected an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of time served. The Game, born Jayceon Taylor, is accused of telling a cab driver to run several traffic lights in Manhattan, because he was an undercover officer. “This is a ploy by the Hip-Hop police to humiliate me, because they harass and follow me every time I come to New York,” The Game told AllHipHop.com in a statement shortly after his arrest. “I was in New York promoting my album. I never impersonated anyone especially and absolutely never a police officer.” His layer, Jeffrey Lichtman agreed. “Why should he plead guilty to bogus charges for a non-jail sentence if he‘s innocent,” Lichtman told The Associated Press. “And he is innocent. It‘s rare that I have a 100 percent innocent defendant, but this is one.” The Game’s next court date is Sept. 20.
Rapper Method Man is the new face of FreeStyle Street Basketball, an online game that pits thousands of players around the world against each other in a high-paced game of online basketball. Gamers can customize their characters, pick their positions and engage other players in an interactive game of basketball. Method man will also be available for one-on-one games with the public to promote the game. Freestyle Street Basketball is produced by Sierra Games, which is a unit of Vivendi/Universal. For more information visit www.FreeStyleStreetBasketball.com.
T-Pain’s sophomore album Epiphany debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 and R&B Album chart, beating out artists like Maroon 5, Rhianna, Timbaland, Ne-Yo and Avril Lavigne. T-Pain’s infectious single “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’), which is taken from Epiphany, also continues to top the charts. The song is #1 on five other charts as well: Billboard’s: Hot Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, #1 Rhythmic Top 40, and the #1 Hot Ringmaster tone.