(AllHipHop News) Former Roc-A-Fella rap star Memphis Bleek has officially stepped out on his own with the release of “Still Ill,” the first single from his upcoming album.

The track was produced by Canei Finch, who has worked with artists, most notably T.I. (“Live Your Life”) and Maino (“All The Above”).

“Still Ill,” which will be available worldwide on February 23, is taken from Memphis Bleek’s upcoming fifth album The Process.

The Process has been delayed several times since early 2007, when Memphis Bleek announced that he would begin work on the solo effort, which will stores via his Get Low Records/Mass Appeal Entertainment.

“The Process has been exactly that; a process. Taking what I’ve learned from a teacher and creating my own school,” Memphis Bleek told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “It’s time for me to handle my own business as a man and Mass Appeal supports the vision. I’m ready to share The Process and Get Low Records with the world and along with Mass Appeal, I’m excited to take the next steps in my career independently.”

The Process is Memphis Bleek’s first official album in five years, his last release being 2005’s 534, for Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records imprint.

Producers on the album include Just Blaze, No I.D., while Rick Ross, Pharrell Williams and executive producer, Jay-Z make guest appearances.

Check out the new single by clicking here.

(AllHipHop News) Damon Dash will officially jump into the art world this week, when he opens his Dash Gallery, which is located in the Tribeca section of Manhattan. The art gallery is housed inside of Dame Dash’s DD172 building and is slated to open to the public on February 19. The opening night of Dash Gallery will feature works by Bobby Castaneda, Jeremy Wagner, Hector Ruiz and other notable contemporary artists.

Miami rapper Trina will be shooting the video for the first single from her upcoming album Amazin’ this week. On Thursday, Trina will shoot the video for “Million Dollar Girl,” which features Sean “Diddy” Combs and Keri Hilson. Diddy will shoot his scenes for the video on Thursday (February 4), while Keri Hilson will film her part on Friday (February 6). While locations have not been disclosed, the videoshoot will take place at various locations in Miami. The video and single is from “Million Dollar Girl,” Trina’s upcoming 5th album which is due in stores May 4th.

T-Pain and Cartoon Networks’ Adult Swim have announced the rapper/producer’s latest project Freaknik: The Musical, will debut on March 7th. The one-hour animated special is based on the legendary Atlanta Spring Break party that saw hundreds of thousands of people flood into Atlanta to celebrate in the 1990’s. Freaknik, which took T-Pain two years to produce, follows a group of students who want to revive the party. The special features the voices of Lil Wayne, Keri Hilson, Snoop Dogg, Kelis, Andy Samberg and others.

Female rap star Eve will be moving out of her Hollywood Hills home, as the property has been put up for sale.

The modern, Mediterranean style home was build just five years ago.

The residence features four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a fireplace and an Italian style community and a three car garage.

For security purposes, the house is located in a gated community.

The news comes on the heels of Eve’s announcement that she has left her label, Interscope/Geffen/A&M to seek a new deal. Eve’s last album to be released was 2002’s Eve-Olution.

Her album Flirt, which was due out on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, was scrapped after several delays, despite a minor hit with the single “Tambourine.”

Eve is currently working on a brand new album titled Lip Lock, which will feature brand new material with her extended group, Yonkers label Ruff Ryders.

“In L.A., X [DMX] came and flew out and Waah [Waah Dean, Ruff Ryder’s CEO] and it was the first time we got to hang out in year and half, just building and having fun,” Eve told AllHipHop.com. “People have changed but the love never changes. It’s like if you have a bunch of kids who go off to college…but when they come back together it is what it is.”

Although she does not have a recording deal for Lip Lock as of press time, Eve confirmed that super producer Swizz Beatz will be contributing to the project, which has no release date.

“I could never do a record without Swizz,” Eve told AllHipHop.com. “That’s like against the religion.”

(AllHipHop News) Sean “Diddy” Combs appeared on Anderson Cooper’s popular CNN show AC360 last night (February 1) where the mogul revealed future plans to start a business academy.

Combs was the featured guest on the show, which was hosted by Wolf Blitzer, who was filling in for Anderson Cooper.

The topic of this segment was Diddy’s image and whether or not he was a positive role model.

According to Combs, he is shedding his bad boy image to showcase his business acumen.

“I want to take on more responsibility,” Combs said during the interview. “I’m still honestly in search of how I can have the most positive effect that I can have.”

According to Combs, he is planning to open a school of business to teach budding entrepreneurs the keys to success.

The school will be located in the New York area, most likely Harlem, Combs stated. Combs has multiple run-in’s with the law over the past 20 years.

In the late 1990’s, he was involved in two high profile shootings.

In March of 1997, Combs’ star artist on his label Bad Boy Entertainment was Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, who was shot dead by an assassin after he attended a party with Combs at the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles.

Just two years later, Combs name was splashed in the headlines when he was involved in a shootout inside a Manhattan nightclub along with his artist Shyne and then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.

Shyne did eight years in prison for his role in the shooting, while Combs was acquitted in 2001 during a high profile trial in which he was defended by legendary lawyer, Johnny Cochran.

Since then, the mogul has avoided major controversy and has built a billion dollar business empire that includes fashion (Sean John Clothing), liquor (Ciroc Vodka) TV (I Want To Work for Diddy, Making The Band), film, and records.

“It’s more than just about business,” Combs stated. “There’s more than I’m supposed to do, there’s more that I’m gonna do. I want to have an academy that’s known for building leaders. I feel that’s one of the things I can have an impact on.”

No further information was available about Combs’ proposed business academy.

(AllHipHop News) Approximately 100 celebrity singers descended upon Henson Recording Studios tonight (February 1) in Los Angeles, to record an updated version of the historic single, “We Are The World.”

Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, who wrote the original version along with the late Michael Jackson, are producing the latest track, with an all new cast of singers.

Rappers Wyclef Jean and Eminem are among the artists who will participate on the single.

All proceeds from the new version of the song will be donated to the relief effort underway to rebuild Haiti, much of which was destroyed by a 7.0 earthquake on January 12.

The 1985 version featured artists like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Cyndi Lauper and others.

Richie and Jones hope to duplicate the success of the original version, which raised over $30 million dollars for USA For Africa, a relief fund dedicated to providing relief for hunger in Africa.

Other artists in the studio for the updated version include Bono, Jason Mraz, Lady Gaga, Trey Songz, Usher and others.

WE ARE THE WORLDby rastageorge

(AllHipHop News) Lil Wayne’s highly anticipated album Rebirth is finally due in stores tomorrow (February 2) after months of delays and shuffled release dates.

The album’s first single is “On Fire,” which has been enjoying regular rotation on video and radio outlets nationwide.

The track samples a portion of Amy Holland’s track “She’s On Fire,” which was originally featured in the Brian DePalma’s classic 1983 gangster flick, Scarface.

Cool & Dre discussed the album, which contains five productions from their production company Record Room Productions.

“One night I was watching Scarface and I woke up in the morning with Holland’s ‘She’s On Fire’ in my head, “ Andre “Dre” Lyon said of the track’s origins. “I called up Cool and told him that we should transform the song using the guitars in the song and work with this song with Wayne,” Dre continued. “We redid the whole beat and kept the ‘She’s on Fire’ vocal sample. We gave it to Wayne and he did what only Wayne can do and killed it with his guitar playing spitting and singing. I knew our collaboration would take this track to the level.”

The pair also produced Rebirth’s second single “Da Da Da” features a bass playing Lil Wayne, over a mash-up of Pop, Rock, R&B and Hip-Hop.

“It’s something Rick James would bug out on. It’s Cool & Dre hot,” added Marcello “Cool” Valenzano, who with partner Dre also created the tracks for “I Die,” “Paradise” and “Get A Life.”

Dre predicted that Lil Wayne’s latest album would open doors for many upcoming urban artists across the country with its diverse sounds.

“There are so many artists who create music outside of R&B and Hip-Hop that we believe Rebirth will help open avenues and create a lane for these type of artists,” Dre said. “I remember a time where Prince and The Revolution ruled the charts. I’d love to see music become diverse again. Wayne is more than just a Hip-Hop artist, he’s quickly becoming the face of a generation. We’re proud to have been given this tremendous opportunity.”

Cool & Dre are working on the new records with Yung Jeezy, Wale, Young Money, Travie of Gym Class Heroes, Bow Wow’s Cash Money Records’ debut, “Every Other” and The Game’s single “Big Money.”

Additionally, their production company has been tapped to work with Birdman and Lil Wayne’s Like Father Like Son Part 2 and The Carter 4.

(AllHipHop News) Veteran New Jersey trio Naughty By Nature have mapped out a 2010 year that includes a new album and Treach-centered reality show.

The group’s last full length offering IIcons was released in 2002. Because of the layoff, Naughty has released two singles over the past six months to reintroduce themselves to their original fans and a new generation of potential listeners.

“We working on a brand new Naughty album now, it’s called Anthem 8,” Treach disclosed to AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “It’ll be out before the summer we got 2 singles on iTunes, ‘Get to Know Me Better’ and ‘I Gotta Lotta.’ And we shopping a reality show called A Tribe Called Treach. We doing all that and got that in motion.”

Naughty By Nature is known for two of the biggest, seminal singles in Hip-Hop history with “O.P.P.,” and “Hip-Hop Hooray.”

Even with the music industry vastly different from their early to mid 90s popularity peak, the group has maintained themselves through constant touring, particularly on the international front.

“We tour all year round. We’re about to go to Australia with Busta Rhymes and Kid Cudi,” Treach revealed. “We keep it moving. Hip-Hop is a movement, we ain’t stingy and just doing it for Naughty, we doing it for all of Hip-Hop.”

Since the early 90’s, Treach has maintained steady film work. Now with TV booming again, the East Orange native is looking to take his talents to the small screen with his own spin on the reality TV genre.

“Mine is a docu-reality [show]. We see the majority of them and everybody is rich and famous. They shopping all day and going through drama and doing parties,” he explained. “Our thing is about the tribe; our group, production, management, movies, family life, [and] homies in the hood. If you leave the hood they say you forgot where you came from, if you stay you’re doing something you ain’t got no business… We all live in the outskirts no further than 10 minutes out…Their dreams are our dreams. We ain’t just made it and been like ‘we made it, y’all better get y’alls.’ We’re like, what can we do to help….Just like Flavor Unit pulled us out.”

Naughty’s close friend and fellow emcee Apache (Anthony Teaks) was laid to rest last week after passing suddenly from an undisclosed illness.

Both parties featured extensively on each other’s early albums (Apache Ain’t S###, Naughty By Nature), and Vinnie detailed it was Apache who convinced Flavor Unit to give them a shot.

“Our big brother passed away, we just buried him,” he said. “He’s definitely a Hip-Hop legend and another Hip-Hop icon. He gave birth to Naughty By Nature. He told Flavor Unit ‘if y’all don’t sign naughty, I’m not messing with y’all.’”

At press time, Naughty By Nature’s Anthem 8 album does not have a set release date.

(AllHipHop News) Incarcerated rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller reached out to AllHipHop.com to give his fans an update on his status, since being sentenced to mandatory life in prison in August of 2009.

Miller is currently serving a mandatory life sentence at Angola State prison in Louisiana, after being convicted of murdering 16-year-old Steve Thomas, in a now defunct Jefferson Parish nightclub in 2002.

C-Murder was originally convicted of the crime in 2003, but won a retrial after prosecutors were caught expunging the criminal records of their key witnesses, to boost their credibility.

Miller was convicted after a retrial in August of 2009 and sentenced to life in prison, despite a juror’s admission that she was pressured into convicting Miller.

“I’m holding up pretty good here at Angola,” C-Murder told AllHipHop.com. “I work out regularly and participate in all sports leagues.”

The rapper’s key responsibility in prison is kitchen duty and he has to be up each day at 5:30 AM.

“Of course I hate it, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do,” C-Murder told AllHipHop.com. “Life is short and the time you waste in jail can never be replaced.”

Corey Miller is the younger brother of rap mogul Percy “Master P.” Miller and Vyshonne “Silkk The Shocker” Miller, in addition to being teen actor Romeo Miller’s uncle.

He released eight albums during his career, recording with artists like Snoop Dogg, UGK, Soulja Slim, Da Brat, Jermaine Dupri, Fat Joe, Bone and numerous others.

Corey Miller is currently working on an appeal of his guilty verdict.

“I’m asking you guys to take heed to my situation and better yourselves to live a positive and productive life,” Miller told AllHipHop.com.

For the full letter, click here.