March 2013 – Hip Hop News Source

Lil Wayne Says He “Could’ve Died”, From Epilepsy,

Lil Wayne has confessed to the reason he’s had so many seizures. The rapper says he’s an epileptic.

On Thursday, Wayne conducted an interview with Power 106 in Los Angeles and admitted that he’s suffered with the ailment for years, including a recent scare he says he “could’ve died.”

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In the interview, the rappers says that he’s simply overworking himself and exacerbating the condotion, which he’s suffered from for years.

I Am Not a Human Being II was released this week and the New Orleans native will start touring in July with Future and T.I.

The epilepsy revelation refutes the assertion from many that the seizures were brought on by codeine or “sizzurp.”

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Timbaland Defrauding Insurance Company?

Timbaland is accused of ripping off an insurance company for $1.8 million, a new report says.

The rapper has been legally sparring with American Home Assurance Company over a Jacob & Co, which is adorned with 30 carats of diamonds.

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The insurance company is refusing to pay the rapper/producing, claiming he’s lying to get paid, according to recent legal documents.

News and gossip site TMZ laid out the lawsuit, seen below.

But in new legal docs … A.H.A.C. claims it doesn’t owe Timbaland a dime — claiming he’s been as slippery as a seal, lying like a rug. The insurance company claims:

— Timbaland bought the watch for $900,000 but insured it for TWICE the purchase price.
— Timbaland reported the watch stolen … but 4 months later claimed his daughter misplaced it.
— Everyone involved told a different story … the wife implicated another female, the assistant implicated the maid, the maid only copped to sleeping with Timbaland’s brother-in-law and the brother-in-law refused to cooperate. No one ever mentioned the daughter losing the watch, like Timbaland belatedly claimed.

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The Real Freeway “Rick Ross” Plans Appeal Of Recent Ruling

“Freeway” Ricky Ross has vowed to continue to battle for his own name, after his most recent defeat in court.

Last Wednesday (March 21), a judge rejected “Freeway” Ricky’s claims that Warner Bros. stole his name and likeness, to boost the career of rapper Rick Ross born William Leonard Roberts II.

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The latest ruling upheld previous Judges’ rulings that “Freeway” Ricky, who was released from prison in 2009, waited too long to file his lawsuit.

Under California law, publicity rights claims have to be made within the first two years of the publication of the objectionable material.

“We feel good about our case. This is classic republication as to all defendants there was consistently new music, management decisions and product made,” Freeway Ricky Ross told The Hollywood Reporter. “The statute of limitations was never meant to be used to hide defendant actively infringing with new decisions and campaigns.”

Similar rulings were issued against the former drug kingpin in November of 2010 and in August of 2012.

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Tyga And Tupac On A New Track

Tyga says that his “Hit ‘Em Up” track from “Hotel California” is not a remake, but the song with unreleased Tupac vocals may share some qualities with ‘Pac’s own controversial B-side.

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One of the more surprising features from Tyga’s Hotel California tracklist may be an inclusion of Tupac. The iconic Rap figure has now been dead over 16 years, but has had his unreleased vocals appear on numerous albums in that time, ranging from Ja Rule’s Pain Is Love to Freddie Foxxx’s Crazy Like A Foxxx to Bun B’s Trill O.G.

Even more curiously, Tyga’s Tupac-featuring song, “Hit ‘Em Up,” shares its name with ‘Pac’s 1996 diss track with The Outlawz. The song, released as a Death Row Records single B-side to “How Do U Want It?,” attacked The Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim, Faith Evans, Diddy, Mobb Deep, and Chino XL, among others.

For Tyga, who was six years old when Tupac was murdered in a 1996 drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, his song has its own importance. “I got the vocals, and I just didn’t know what to do with ’em,” Tyga told MTV News recently. He had initially intended to get fellow YMCMB star Nicki Minaj on the song, but instead went with Jadakiss. “I was done with the song, and I had came across some [Tupac] vocals from a friend. I was like, ‘Man, this would be dope.’ But I didn’t really know how to use it properly. When people hear it, they’re gonna think it’s real clever,” Tyga believes. “They’re gonna really respect it.”

MTV pressed the Los Angeles, California native about the significance of the title. “A lot of people think it’s a remake of ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ which is his song. It’s not a remake; it’s an original,” he said. However, the song may share a trait with its questionable namesake. Tyga implied to use such a title, an artist is saying, “You ain’t dissin’ nobody, but you lettin’ it be known [that] you don’t rock with certain people.”

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Lil Wayne Speaks On Seizures, Reveals That He Has Epilepsy

Lil Wanye opened up about his health scares, revealing that his seizures are a result of epilepsy. Weezy called into L.A.’s Power 106 radio station to speak with DJ Felli Fell, and announced that he is suffering from the neurological disorder.

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“The bad news is I’m an epileptic. I’m prone to seizures,” he said. “This isn’t my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh seizure.

After suffering a few seizures in a short span of time, speculation that the cause was drug related began to swirl. The New Orleans native has a well documented–although not often spoken about–addiction to codeine, which can cause seizures and epilepsy, and shouldn’t be consumed by people with sleep apnea (of which he previously suffered from) but according to the YMCMB leader, the rumors are just that. “I’ve had a bunch of seizures, ya’ll just never hear about them. But this time it got real bad ’cause I had three of them in a row and on the third one, my heart rate went down to like 30 percent. Basically, I could’ve died, so that is why it was so serious.

“I have people around me. I actually have [seizures] so much they already know what to do. They already know how to handle it. Certain times I don’t even go to the hospital, but this time, it was real bad because it was three in a row, and I’ve never had three back to back like that.

“The third one was so bad and I live in the hills in L.A. So the reason why it was bad was that I live all the way at the top, so you know how hard it is getting down those hills. That was what was so scary about it.”

Wayne also responded to TMZ posting that he was being read his final rights. While the likes of Mack Maine, and T.I. went on an anti-TMZ Twitter rampage, the father of four was less upset about the whole thing. “That’s what they do. I can’t be upset at that. I get upset at my kids when they do things that I tell them not to do. I can’t be upset at TMZ for doing what they do.”

The rapper further proved that there are no hard feeling with TMZ, by sending the website a recording announcing to fans that he was on the mend, and prepping his America’s Most Wanted Music Festival, earlier in the week.

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Michigan Radio Station Stops Playing Lil Wayne, Rick Ross

A small radio station in Michigan has opted to remove both Rick Ross and Lil Wayne from their playlists.

Both artists have been particularly controversial in the past few months for a variety of reasons, ranging from drugs, to Emmett Til and, most recently, Rick Ross lyric that seems to advocate date rape.

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WUVSIp 103.7 in Muskegon, Michigan issued the following statement.

“Many would say both rappers have taken their lyrical content too far and offended too many. The family and estate of [Emmett Till] have released a statement of disapproval over Lil Wayne’s disregard and disrespectful lyrics. Though his record label issued a statement of apology, the rapper has yet to do so. In the case of Rick Ross, a petition has been started over his blatant disregard for women and the issue of date rape. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that over 300,000 women are raped or sexually assaulted per year in the United States alone. That is a disturbing number and should not be taken lightly. His lyrics not only condone the behavior, but he boasts about it in the song. While some feel it’s only entertainment, many feel it sends and encourages the wrong message. Several individuals and organizations have taken a stand and so are we. Effective immediately Muskegon’s WUVSlp 103.7 the Beat has pulled ALL Lil Wayne and Rick Ross music from rotation. We pride ourselves on playing music that is non-degrading and non-violent. While we believe in freedom of speech, creative writing and individualism, we refuse to be part of the problem by spreading messages that could harm or end someone’s life.”

No other urban stations have formally take such a hard stance against the artists, despite the controversy.

Neither artist has commented at press time.

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B-Real Says 40 Glocc’s Lawsuit Is Against “Gangster Code”

Cypress Hill’s B-Real says that gangsters and lawsuits don’t mix. He calls both Game and 40 Glocc “his homies” but disapproves of their summer 2012 fight and following course of legal action.

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West Coast Hip Hop luminary, B-Real recently took a moment to comment on 40 Glocc’s recent lawsuit against Game for an altercation that took place in July 2012 outside of a Hollywood, California mansion.

“You never hear a rapper from the street aspect like 40 Glocc suing another rapper from the street aspect,” said the Cypress Hill emcee speaking exclusively with VladTV. “That just doesn’t happen because it kind of defeats the purpose of that code—that ‘gangster’ code—that we all [abide by]. If you were involved in gangs, you don’t fucking talk on your enemy like that to nobody. In [California], that’s just a no no. You just don’t do that.”

An an example of the “gangster code,” B-Real referred to the 1989 altercation between Suge Knight and Vanilla Ice over the rights to royalties from Ice’s smash hit, “Ice Ice Baby.“ Allegedly, Knight and his bodyguards dangled Ice over a hotel balcony.

“When Suge Knight allegedly had Vanilla Ice out that fucking window, [Vanilla Ice] didn’t go fucking sue the motherfucker,” said B-Real. “He shut the fuck up. That story may have gotten out here and there, but he ain’t go to no lawsuit for it. He just kept it the way it was and chalked it up to, “Fuck it. This is what happened. I gotta live with this shit…If you’re a gangster rapper, for you to go sue another gangster rapper for that type of shit, it doesn’t seem like a good look. I think you lose a little bit of respect there.”

B-Real continued: “As far as the regular individuals outside of that world, yeah, they’re gonna be like, ‘Yeah, go get your money.’ Fuck that. You shouldn’t let nothing like that happen to you.” …This is something that obviously he’s thought about over and over again because I don’t think this is a decision that you make right off the bat. If you come from that world, you lose a little bit of respect from the other niggas that come from that world. Like, “Aw man, how’s he sueing this motherfucker? I thought he was from the streets.” Who knows what his mentality is? I definitely don’t know. We’ve never seen that before.”

The “Insane In The Brain” lyricists also foreshadowed that 40 Glocc’s lawsuit against Game may start a trend of street beef filtering into the courtroom. While he says he’s “cool” with both rappers, B-Real also said the situation is “pretty ridiculous” and “irresponsible.”

“I got love for both of them, but I think they’re being a little irresponsible because you’ve got kids that are fucking looking at what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s one thing to be saying what you’re saying in music because it’s art coupled with a lot of different things. Whether you’re trying to inspire somebody, or educate somebody, or provoke some sort of thought—it’s all artistry…But your actions outside of that—when you’re on Twitter or the Facebook or the YouTube—and you’re going at this motherfucker or he’s coming at you, that’s gonna make these motherfuckers think that’s what they gotta do. You’re leading kids into that fucking deep ass water.”

“I know Game is smarter than that. 40 Glocc is probably smarter than that, too. But because of the positions they’ve put each other in, they have to react to one another so that they don’t look bad to their perspective fucking homies and shit like that. Meanwhile, you’re giving this fucked up message to these kids and maybe possibly putting their lives in danger to one another. Maybe they don’t give a fuck about that. Maybe they don’t see that. But they should.”

As part of Cypress Hill, B-Real was once embroiled in a publicized beef with fellow West Coast Hip Hop legend, Ice Cube and his group, Westside Connection that began when Cypress Hill believed Ice Cube stole the chorus to their song, 1995’s “Throw Your Set In The Air” and placed a similar version of the hook on his song “Friday.” After nearly spilling into citywide violence, the conflict was resolved in 1997 when Mack 10 brokered a conversation between B-Real and Ice Cube.

40 Glocc is sueing Game for $4,500,000 because he believes he was attacked for “entertainment purposes.”

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Petition Urges Rick Ross To Apologize For Date Rape Lyric

A petition created this week requests that Rick Ross be investigated and prosecuted for date rape lyric.

Miami rapper Rick Ross has recently found himself under fire due to a lyric on Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O (You Ain’t Even Know It)” and as a result of the song a petition created on Change.org is calling for an apology from the Maybach Music Group founder.

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On “U.O.E.N.O.” Ross raps, “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

Not only does the petition request an apology from the rapper, but it also suggests that Ross be investigated and possibly prosecuted.

“If what he is saying is true, not just meaningless lyrics he has just publicly admitted to drugging and raping a woman. This should be investigated further and he should be prosecuted. If it is not true and they are just lyrics, he has still just glorified rape and this should not be ignored,” read the petition.

The petition is roughly 500 signatures away from its goal of 1,000.

Change.org has increasingly become a platform for music fans to rally support for an issue of their choosing. Earlier in the year, a petition was created on the site calling for the cancellation of “All My Baby’s Mamas,” a reality show that would have featured Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo and has family. Weeks after the petition was created, the show was cancelled by Oxygen.