Writer: William DeVaughn - Be Thankful For What You Got
Biter: Ludacis - Diamond in the Back
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The two have been putting in calls to the likes of Common, Q-Tip and Will.I.Am to get original songs for the project. But, according to Green, the mixtape is going to feature 50 percent new material and 50 percent of his remixing. They're aiming to finish the project before next month's HSAN summit in Pennsylvania.
"I'm having a field day with these Obama speeches," Green explained. "I actually got joints where I'll make a beat, I'll get somebody to sing a hook, and where there's supposed to be verses, it's just straight speeches. I played one for my mother, and she started crying. So it's gonna be inspiring, but then on the street side, it's just gonna be some descriptions of life on the street, but not any of the thuggery."
"In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job," Philips said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry."
In his statement, Duvoisin added: "We should not have let ourselves be fooled. That we were is as much my fault as Chuck's. I deeply regret that we let our readers down."
The 27-year-old singer, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was expected to be sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service talking to youth groups around the country, followed by about 12 months in prison, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plea deal had not been finalized yet Thursday morning.
He was charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers, as well as possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
A wacky songwriter-producer in Maryland says that Kanye West is diggin' his gold, lifting his tune "Volume of Good Life" for the Kanye smash hit "Good Life."
In a rambling lawsuit filed in Maryland District Court, Dayna Staggs (aka D'Mystro) is suing Kanye -- and his record label, Roc-a-Fella -- for copyright infringement. Staggs says that West "didn't obtain a license to use 'Volume of Good Life'" for his tune, and points out that Kanye was "only at the age of 6 or 7 years of age [sic]" when his song was written.
D'Mystro is also peeved because Kanye's song "contains vulgar and offensive" images and "harms the reputation" of his much cleaner song. He wants 85% of all world sales of the proceeds from the music that uses his work, though he doesn't explain how he came up with that number. Kanye's label hasn't returned a message seeking comment.
The con man, James Sabatino, 31, has long sought to insinuate himself, after the fact, in a series of important hip-hop events, from Shakur's shooting to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.. In fact, however, Sabatino was little more than a rap devotee, a wildly impulsive, overweight white kid from Florida whose own father once described him in a letter to a federal judge as "a disturbed young man who needed attention like a drug." Sabatino is pictured in the above mug shot.
And then there's the small matter of Sabatino's whereabouts on March 9, 1997, when Wallace was gunned down while seated in a GMC Suburban outside the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. While he enjoys repeating the "theory" that he mysteriously bailed on a planned meeting with the rapper that fateful night, Sabatino was actually 2400 miles away from the crime scene. He was imprisoned in Miami's Federal Detention Center, where he still had six months to serve on a two-year sentence for separate felony convictions.
Sabatino has frequently claimed to have managed a number of leading hip-hop acts, including Notorious B.I.G., Lords of the Underground, and Heavy D and the Boyz. Du Kelly, a member of Lords of the Underground, described Sabatino as a "scam artist" who briefly tried to befriend the group's manager. Kelly said that he recalled Sabatino as a "short, Caucasian, little chubby fat guy" whose "father was supposed to be Mafia or something." Sabatino was "just a con artist who tried to get close to artists, but he was a nobody," said Kelly. He added that Sabatino also tried to get near the Wu-Tang Clan, "but I heard they beat him up."
Pre-teen arrested for rock throwing at Soulja Boy tour bus
There was one arrest at the latest Soulja Boy concert at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. A 12 year-old boy was taken into custody Wednesday night for throwing a rock through the windshield of Soulja Boy's bus. Why? The kid told arresting officers, "I hate Soulja Boy."
Bloomington police used a supervisor and five officers on overtime to provide security for the hip hop concert.
The big Boss himself.Busta Rhymes has been sentenced for assaulting his former driver and a fan after pleading guilty in a deal that puts him on probation for three years and requires him to do 10 days of community service.
The 35-year-old rapper also was fined $1,250, plus court costs, for driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license, and must enroll in a drunken driving program.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Larry Stephen warned Rhymes on Tuesday: "If you mess up, you're going to jail."
DX: And um… [Laughs]. I’m just gonna put this question to you the way I got it written down. Mr. Philips, Jimmy Henchmen and P. Diddy issued statements today that basically said you’re full of shit [click here to read]. What is your response to their statements?
CP: Well, I’m not full of shit. And they had ample opportunity to discuss things in my story. Neither one of ‘em wanted to talk for the story. And what Puffy says… I don’t accuse Puffy of being involved [in the plot to assault Tupac], and he’s saying he’s not involved in any way. I never said he was involved, I said he was told about it. Other people are writing that he was involved. I didn’t even suggest it. And in terms of what Henchmen says, he says I’m full of shit with my Vegas story because Biggie had got in a car accident [and couldn’t have been in Vegas because he was home recuperating]. Biggie didn’t get in that accident until after Tupac [was murdered]. So that part of [his statement] is wrong. He’s basing his attack on me on [information] that’s false.
Shyne Trying To Tie Diddy To Lawsuit Over 1999 Shooting
Issue at center of suit is whether Shyne acted independently -- or as part of Bad Boy collective -- when he fired shots.
After nearly two years, Sean "Diddy" Combs completed his deposition last week in the $130 million civil lawsuit stemming from the 1999 Club New York shooting that sent the Bad Boy CEO's former protégé, Shyne, to prison, MTV News has learned.
A music industry manager was charged Monday with sexually assaulting two 16-year-old girls and giving them cocaine.Jeremy Geffen, 35, of West Hollywood was charged with 14 felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, rape of an unconscious person, and furnishing cocaine to a minor, the district attorney's office said.
"This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false.Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."
“In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges. Chuck Phillips, the writer who in the past has falsely claimed that the Notorious Biggie Smalls was in Las Vegas when Tupac was murdered and that Biggie supplied the gun that killed Tupac — only to be proven wrong as Biggie was in New Jersey recuperating from a car accident, has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication. I simply ask for all Rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is along with Phillips’ motives behind it. I am baffled as to why the LA Times would print this on its website when a simple and fair investigation would reveal that the allegations are false. I am currently consulting with my attorneys about my legal rights regarding this libelous piece of garbage.”
Paging all celebs: If you have too many cocktails at the club, call Sean "Diddy" Combs!
The mogul plans to launch a car service for A-listers too tipsy to drive after a night out, Us Weekly reports in its latest issue, on newsstands now.
"After partnering with Ciroc vodka, he wants to make sure everyone's partying responsibly," his rep tells Us.
One campaign goal? "Making sure nobody gets arrested!" Combs, the father of twins, says.
How do you feel about the digital—like, everything going through the Internet as far as…
I don’t even think about it. I don’t even think about it
...
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.
You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!
Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!
...
Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.
...
But it would be pretty big if we had a first Black president. That would be huge.
I mean, I guess…. What, they gon’ give a dog a bone? There you go. Ooh, we have a Black president now. They should’ve done that shit a long time ago, we wouldn’t be in the fuckin’ position we in now. With world war coming up right now. They done fucked this shit up then give it to the Black people, “Here you take it. Take my mess.”
...
What do you think about Lil Wayne? People think he’s the hottest rapper.
He is nowhere near the hottest nothing right now. You can’t be serious.
...
The Cincinnati Police Department refuted claims of suspects being found in the Philant Johnson homicide case.
"There have been no arrests in this case and there are no warrants pending," said Cincinnati Police Public Information Commander Lt. Mark Briede, according to AllHipHop. "We've heard that Atlanta radio is reporting it and we've gotten several calls about this. But we know nothing about it."
Media Liason Fran Cihon further explained that details would be unavailable because the case was under active investigation. "Our investigators don't discuss their investigations unless there is a major development or an arrest. Once a homicide takes place, we do a media release announcing the crime and it's investigation. But we don't do updates on a case, with the exception of situations where information is uncovered that the public could use to help us resolve the case. In those situations, we release that information to the press in hopes of driving up Crimestoppers tips."
Reports from an Atlanta radio station earlier this week stated that Cincinnati police apprehended two suspects, and were close to arresting a third, in the murder of Philant Johnson, a Grand Hustle Records employee.
Johnson was shot on I-75 in Cincinnati following an argument between rapper T.I.'s entourage (of which Johnson was a member) and several unknown individuals at Club Ritz.
"This drawing is entitled NEGRO RULE. and it pretty much sums up the feeling of the Confederate Union towards the newly freed slaves and the idea that if given power they would reek havoc and chaos on the country."
The Game issued a statement on Thursday (March 13) apologizing for all of the confusion over his release from the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles earlier this week. It all started on Monday when website TMZ.com announced that the rapper had been released after serving only eight days of a possible 60 day sentence on a weapons conviction. But later on that afternoon, his manager Jimmy Rosemond issued a statement stating that Game had not in fact been released and was simply being transferred to another jail. When MTV News attempted to get to the bottom of the discrepancy, both Game’s attorney and officials at Twin Towers insisted that he was free.
The Game’s statement read as follows:
“I apologize for the conflicting news on my release, but due to the sensitive negotiations on this matter I felt it appropriate not to give an exact date on my release. I am truly grateful to my attorney, family and management for doing a great job in this respect. Upon my release I went directly to the studio with producers Cool & Dre and recorded several records including my street record ‘Big Dreams.’ Thank you to all my fans as well for the support.”
I did the original version, didn't get credit for it. They came to my house, heard the beat going on the drum machine, it's the same story. You come downstairs at my crib, you hear music. He heard that **** and the next thing you know it comes out. They had me do a remix, but I tell people, and I will fight it to the end, that I did the original version of that. I'm not mad at anybody, I just want the correct credit.
You gotta admit, yall ain't see this muthafucka comin' with the lil' pop smash "Low". Then he comes back 'round with "Elevators". You may think homie's all pop, but I'm here to tell ya, I've been on this cat for a minute, every since he was Mr. Birthday Man, peep the Khaled hosted mixtape... Ahem! Anyway, this new cat is different from alot of the new pack. Crazy voice, catchy delivery, and a hell of a flow.. Guess why the name Flo Rida fits him. Not to mention his play on the name of his homestate is clever. Anyway..Santana, who was born in Harlem, also had a hand-rolled cigar laced with marijuana in his shoe, cops said.
In the trunk, police said they found 29 hollow-point bullets wrapped in a sock and $19,500 rolled in small bundles and hidden in a plastic bag filled with "hundreds of Jolly Rancher" candies.
Police also found a plastic sandwich bag of marijuana in the backseat of the cruiser, where Santana had been sitting after he was arrested.