Author: hhns

Rapper and reality show mainstay Flavor Flav was stopped for speeding and arrested for felony aggravated unlicensed operation and traffic violations in Valley Stream, N.Y., Thursday morning. A small amount of marijuana was found in his possession, police said. He was later released to attend his mother’s funeral.

Flavor Flav, 54 (born William Drayton), was found to have 16 suspensions on his driver’s license, the New York State Police said in a press release.

Police say he was driving his black Hyundai at 79 mph in a 55-mph zone.

His mother, Anna Drayton, died on New Year’s Eve, the rapper said in a tweet.

Flavor Flav came to fame as a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy, and famously wore a large clock around his neck. He later released solo music and appeared on a number of reality shows. On “The Surreal Life,” he met and began dating actress Brigitte Nielsen, and the two later had their own show, “Strange Love.” After the couple broke up, he appeared on his own show, “Flavor of Love,” on which he attempted to find a wife.

Flavor Flav has been arrested for marijuana before, including a 1996 incident where he was arrested while riding a bike in the South Bronx with two pounds of marijuana stuffed in his pockets.

Three of the victims in the December 28th shooting at the Centennial Bar & Grill that left rapper Doe B and two others dead are suing the Montgomery, Alabama locale.

Keldric Landon, Clarence Young, Jr. and Ferro Bennett have filed lawsuits against Centennial (formerly Rose Supper Club and Top Flight), The Flight LLC, its owner Nicole Bankhead, and the club’s security company. They are seeking compensation for medical expenses, loss of work, and pain and suffering.

London filed his suit on Monday with Young and Bennett following with their joint suit later in the week. Both cases claim that the bouncers at Centennial were bribed to allow weapons into the location.

Court documents state, as a result of the security’s inadequate checking for weapons, all the defendants were negligent or reckless and caused or contributed to the plaintiff’s injuries. Reportedly Young was shot once, Bennett three times, and Landon suffered multiple injuries that required surgery.

Hustle Gang member Doe B (born Glenn Thomas) and Kimberle Johnson were fatally shot during the incident. Timnorius Hamilton died as are result of his injuries from the shooting on January 3rd.

Two men have been charged for the murders. Darius Thomas and Jason McWilliams are currently in police custody and being held without bond.

Weeks after a California appeals court ruled in rapper Rick Ross’ favor in a lawsuit filed by Freeway Ricky Ross, Ricky Ross has revealed that he now plans on taking his case to the United States Supreme Court.

The former drug kingpin revealed the news during an interview on the Murder Master Music Show. Ricky Rossalso stated that it was Ross’ first amendment right that protected the Maybach Music Group helmsman in the lawsuit since the name he used for his stage name was tweaked and turned into a character.

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“They said that this was a first amendment right,” Ricky Ross said. “That he had a first amendment right to use my name. Basically, what they said is that anybody now can take anybody’s name and if they tweak it [as they said] and turn it into a character, you can use their name. Everybody’s name is fair game from what the courts is saying. As long as you tweak it and you not doing the same thing [is] basically what they did.”

Speaking further on his desire to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ricky Ross gave credit to his lawyer who he says was also willing to take the next step.

“Absolutely. We headed to the Supreme Court right now,” he said. “I was so thrilled in my lawyers, with such standup lawyers, that they called me even though—you know they been fighting with Universal and Warner Bros., two of the biggest corporations in this country. When we went to court they had about 15 lawyers and I had one lawyer. And she’s standing up. She told me she said…She called me and she was like ‘Man, what you think?’ And I was like ‘Man, I wanna fight on.’ And she was like ‘I do too.’ So, you know, it was like a mutual agreement between the two of us just to keep it moving.”

Ricky Ross, who says he has no plans on stopping until he gets justice, informed listeners that taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court could take well over a year.

“You know that stuff it’s a drawn out battle. To go to the California Supreme Court took a year,” Ricky Ross said. “So, I can imagine to go the U.S. Supreme Court will take a little longer. But you know, I feel like time is on my side. I’m still out here pushing my movement.”

Prior to a verdict being reached in Ricky Ross’ case against Rick Ross, the former drug kingpin spoke exclusively with HipHopDX about being embraced by the rap community, the prison system, and more. During his conversation with HipHopDX, Ricky Ross also shared his belief that the drug business funded Hip Hop.

“We gotta be honest. The drug business funded Hip Hop,” he said. “Most guys didn’t have money to buy $1,000 turntables or mixing boards, so Hip Hop was funded by drugs…Nobody else was going to give us a loan. Nobody was going to give a young Eazy-E a loan to go out and do records, rent a studio or any of the stuff he had to do. Nobody was gonna loan him that money to pay someone to introduce him to Jerry Heller. So he had to get his money by any means that he could. By any means necessary.”

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(FinalCall.com) – Rappers talking about oppressive, unfair record deals, the false trappings of capitalism and the prison industrial complex is not new to hip hop, but it’s usually the underground, unsigned and/or activists, artists who talk about it.

But well-known artists, including Kanye West and rising star J. Cole, have raised these topics in recent music. Kanye and J. Cole had CDs released on the same date, June 18, the day before  the annual Juneteenth celebrations in the Black community. Could this be a new trend with more artists unafraid, fed up and/or frustrated enough to confront and analyze more complex, relevant social topics in their music?

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“After years of some of the most self-hating and ignorant music our people have ever been forced to digest, this is definitely new and refreshing what J. Cole and Kanye West are saying. I hope it spreads like wildfire to other artists. We need balance back in all forms of Black music, no question,” said Kevin Powell, president and cofounder of BK Nation, a new national organization based in New York City.

J. Cole’s project, “Born Sinner” has a track titled “Runaway” where he discusses how a conversation with his racist manager had him thinking about the legacy of chattel slavery in America: “Made me reflect on the time when we was 3/5s of them/chains and powerless/brave souls reduced to cowardice … ”

Then he makes the connection to today: “Rich white man rule the nation still/Only difference is we all slaves now, the chains still concealed.”

Kanye’s new release, “Yeezus” has a track titled “New Slaves” which rails against racism, capitalism and the prison industrial complex: “My momma was raised in an era when, clean water was only served to the fairer skin … use to be only n—-rs now everybody playing, spending everything on Alexander Wang … meanwhile the DEA teamed up with the CCA.

They trying to lock niggas up, they trying to make a new state. See that’s the privately-owned prison, get your piece today.”

 

DEA refers to the Drug Enforcement Association and the CCA refers to the Corrections Corporation of America, which along with the GEO Group are the two biggest corporations that operate for profit prisons and detention centers in the United States.

Even in Lil Wayne’s latest project “I Am Not a Human Being Part 2,” he ruminates about if he will die today or go to jail right after these lyrics in a song titled “God Bless America:” “Yeah, my country tis of thee, Sweet land of kill ‘em all and let ‘em die, God bless America, uh, This so Godless America.”

 

Both the Republican and Democratic parties have supported the increased incarceration rate. Initially, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan pushed and established the current drug war policies that caused the prison population to jump, but Bill Clinton leaned heavily to the right with “tough on crime” policies that continued the Republican policies and caused a boom in the prison population. There is no sign that trend has changed. Vice President Joe Biden, a senator during the Clinton administration, wrote the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which, among other things, called for $9.7 billion in increased funding for prisons and stiffer penalties for drug offenders.

One can actually go back to the Constitution itself to see the root of current policies. The 13th Amendment of the Constitution outlawed slavery except for criminals. It reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

So, a convicted person is legally a slave. Consequently, slavery was never fully abolished, and prisoners in America have very little to almost no rights at all.

 

The 2011 U.S. incarceration rate of 716 people per 100,000 is the highest in the world and more than 60 percent of the people in prison are racial and ethnic minorities. For Black males in their thirties, 1 in every 10 is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the war on drugs, in which two-thirds of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color, according to the Sentencing Project.

If you can’t find work at a major U.S. company, just go to jail, you’ll find work quickly. According to Russia Today, hundreds of American companies such as Starbucks, Nintendo, Victoria’s Secret, JC Penney, Sears, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Eddie Bauer, Wendy’s, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Fruit of the Loom, Motorola, Caterpiller, Sara Lee, Quaker Oats, Mary Kay, or Microsoft use prison labor. Lucky prisoners get minimum wage, others get pennies an hour and yet others, no pay at all.

Some prisons have commercials advertising their captive workforce that never has baby sitting or transportation problems. Prison labor is being harvested on a massive scale, according to professors Steve Fraser, editor-at-large of New Labor Forum and Joshua B. Freeman, who teaches history at Queens College and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and is affiliated with its Joseph S. Murphy Labor Institute.

“All told, nearly a million prisoners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day,” the professors said.

While the recent lyrics are a good sign, activist and writer Powell doesn’t think that the next movement will come from the Hip Hop community, although it could help spread the word about it. “Movements come from people who are actually socially conscious and engaged. Cultural movements are inspired by political movements. The Black Arts Movement was inspired by the civil rights movement. So until we have another very serious political movement springing from our communities the culture is not going to change any time soon,” he said.

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The list of allegations thrown at Young Jeezy today (January 7th) sound like he was fighting a war, not his own son. However, Young Jeezy was in fact arrested over charges of battery, false imprisonment, and making terrorist threats towards his son in Atlanta.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, Jeezy allegedly slammed his son into a glass shower door during a fight in the bathroom in September of 2012. The documents claim that Jeezy also told his son during the fight he “will put a bullet in your head right now” and “if I could get away with it, I would kill you.”

After a grand jury warrant for each charge was sent, Jeezy turned himself in to authorities last Friday (January 3rd) and was released after posting the $45,000 bail.

Jeezy’s attorneys briefly spoke on the incident:

We have no doubt this matter will resolve itself appropriately. At this moment, Mr. Jenkins is thankful for the support of his fans and the respect for his family’s privacy.

In a recent interview for the upcoming February issue ofDetails Magazine, Dash spoke on his new ventures but most importantly his relationship with former business partner, Jay Z. In the interview, obtained by Complex, Dash asserts “I’m not counting that man’s money” before explaining his influence on Jay Z’s reported $470 million fortune:

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“‘I’m not counting that man’s money,’ he says. ‘No one’s taken anything from me. It’s like saying, “I used to mess with a girl, and before I used to mess with her, she was mediocre. But because she started messing with me, I taught her things. I dressed her, and then I taught her how to have a career.” Does that mean after we break up I’m still supposed to be able to get some ass?’ He laughs at his crass analogy. ‘Like, I don’t feel entitled to that pussy. You understand what I’m saying? I don’t feel entitled to nothing he’s got.'”

Dash, never one to mince words went on to criticize the people Jay Z has been associated with in recent years. According to Dash, people like former Island Def Jam Lyor Cohen and Jay Z’s manager John Meneilly are only around Jay Z for monetary gain:

“Dash says he was never cut out for that world—he wants to be a Richard Branson-type entrepreneur-cum-magnate, creating companies and then getting other people to run them. He also heaps scorn on the Def Jam team that would later become Jay Z’s inner circle. ‘Those people are corny. You think I’m rolling to a club with Lyor Cohen or John Meneilly?’ he says, referring to the former head of Island Def Jam and Jay’s manager. ‘No disrespect to Jay—but every single person I see hanging around him is making money off him. They all conform so they can eat off him.'”

This is not the first time Dash has hinted at being behind Jay Z’s business acumen during the Roc-A-Fella days to Details magazine. In 2005, a year after the infamous Roc-A-Fella split, Dash stated Jay was an “intelligent individual” whom needed to “show he can be the one to do the business part as opposed to the creative part.”

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Jay Z allowed a 12-year-old fan to perform his “Clique” verse during a concert Sunday (January 5).

According to TMZ, Jay Z found the young fan with a “Can I rap for you?” sign in the crowd of his “Magna Carter World Tour” during the Greensboro, North Carolina stop.

The fan raps along to “Clique” without a backing track or beat. At one point, Jay Z stops the young man.

“Not the drug dealing part,” Jay Z says. “Go back to the numbers.”

The “drug dealing part” refers to the following line from the selection.

“G.O.O.D. Music drug-dealing cousin,” Jay Z raps on the track. “Ain’t nothing fuckin’ with we.”

The young fan continues rapping the verse and avoids using curse words, replacing expletives during the performance.

Jay Z embraces the fan after the performance and agrees to meet him backstage.

“After all of that, he said, ‘Can I meet you backstage?’ Yes,” Jay Z says. “I’ve got something for you too.”

Earlier today (January 6), it was reported that Jay Z earned more than $1 million for his Shawn Carter Foundation through sales of his Barneys New York collection and partnership.

Will Smith posted a tribute yesterday (January 5) on his Facebook page to James Avery, who played Uncle Phil onThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

“Some of my greatest lessons in Acting, Living and being a respectable human being came through James Avery. Every young man needs an Uncle
Phil. Rest in Peace

“This photo was the last time we were together”,” Smithwrote on his Facebook page.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired from 1990-96. Smith and Avery appeared in more than 140 episodes together. The program helped Smith transition from his career as a rapper in the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince into a television and film star.

Avery, who played Philip Banks on the television series, passed away December 31. The 68-year-old actor passed away due to complications from open heart surgery, which took place in November, according to Avery’s representative, as per CNN.

 

Tyga posted a photo of Kanye West and himself in front of studio equipment on Instagram today (December 6). “Raww x Yeezus,” wrote on his Instagram post.

Last month, Tyga released his Well Done IV mixtape, a 14-cut collection that features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Fabolous, Pusha T and French Montana.

Tyga’s fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty, is slated to be released this spring.

 

These Jay Z ticket prices may cost more than an arm and a leg for some. According to court documents, two women stole tickets to Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail concert  from a man selling them on Craigslist and then ran him over.

The two women, identified as Denitra Sherrelle Green and Cessica Desha Darden contacted the seller on December 15th, 2013 and organize to meet for the tickets at a Starbucks on 1801 Durham. The man told police that when he leaned in to the women’s vehicle, with Green driving and Darden in the passenger, Green began to drive off and carried the man in the process. After much struggle, he fell out of the car window and was subsequently ran over by the car. The two women also had Darden’s baby in the back seat.

After the man and his girlfriend identified the two women from an array of photos, Darden and Green were arrested at Jay Z’s December 19th stop at Houston, TX’s Toyota Center in the same seats as on the stolen tickets.

Doctors say the man suffered a broken right hand, broken left arm, broken right leg, a torn right knee and severe road rash to his face and body.

During a recent A$AP Rocky performance, an attendee fell a distance of more than 20 feet.

At the Origin festival in Perth, Australia on New Year’s Eve a fan fell from a rig high above the stage. Video shows Rocky talking during an interlude between songs and the fan is then seen dangling from a rig, and eventually lets go.

“Oh shit,” A$AP Rocky is heard saying. “He’s okay though, right?” The Harlem native then closed his set after physically checking to see if the person was OK by playing “Fuckin’ Problems,” from his LONG.LIVE.A$AP album.

The West Australian reports that “The man’s injuries are serious but not life threatening.”

This is not the first abnormal incident to happen during an A$AP Rocky show. In June of last year, Rockyended a show in Dortmund, Germany after a fan stole his “back in the day” Supreme hat. In 2012, a fan stole his Rolex while he was crowd surfing at a show.

 

Watch footage from the concert below:

 

Ice Cube is one of the most accomplished rappers and actors of the past 30 years, but he has a noteworthy regret.

“Not being able to work with Dr. Dre as much on music,” Ice Cube said yesterday (December 4) during an “Ask Me Anything on Reddit, according to xxlmag.com.

Ice Cube participated in the AMA session with Kevin Hart to promote their forthcoming Ride Along film, which is slated to arrive in theaters January 17.

The South Central Los Angeles rapper also provided an update on the next installment of his series ofFriday movies. “The next Friday movie is caught up in development hell at New Line Cinema,” he said. “Pray that we get it outta there.”

Last week, Ice Cube announced that his Everythangs Corrupt album would be released in May. The former N.W.A member was asked what his favorite Hip Hop album of all time was. He said it was Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation A Millions To Hold Us Back.

Ice Cube also said that his mother helped him realize he was a celebrity. “When my mom asked for an autograph for her friends, I knew I was famous,” Ice Cube said. “Still feels good.”

THE DEMONSTRATION  8 BAR ACAPELLA MINI CONTEST

IN HONOR OF THE 2014 DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

THE DEMO is inviting rappers from all over the country to speak out for MLK Day! Share your perspective on how Dr. King impacted the world in the name of freedom. Tell us how you feel in the form of an 8 Bar Rap, and like always…we will promote it.
In the spirit of MLK Day, you can launch your MINI music video Demo for FREE. That’s right, NO administration fee!

LAUNCH RULES:

• Each rap should be pertinent to Dr. King and/or his worldwide impact.
• Each performer must rap original lyrics only.
• Each performer must showcase an acapella rap, no soundtracks please.
• Each MINI Demo may only showcase one performer in camera view.
• Each performance should be filmed in front of a solid black or white background.

The WINNER of the 8 BAR ACAPELLA MINI CONTEST earns bragging rights and a $500 PRIZE.

Note: We will periodically hold POP-UP contests throughout the year.  Only those who are confirmed on our email lists will receive the details on how to enter POP-UPs. While POP-UPs will be promoted publicly, we will offer first-dibs to our loyal supporters and email list members. So…SIGN UP, SHARE, and WIN!

Entry Info: The contest LAUNCH PAD will open today. The LAUNCH link below is live.  All MINI Demos must be LAUNCHED by Saturday, Jan 12, 2014 at 12 AM EST. At that time you will no longer be able to access the LAUNCH PAD for entry.

LAUNCH MY MINI DEMO

In a recent interview with Vlad TV, Brand Nubian rapperLord Jamar briefly circled back to the topics discussed in his September 2013 interview with the website. In his September interview, the New York lyricist declared that white rappers “are guests in the house of Hip Hop” and in his most recent interview with Vlad TV, the New York emcee stated that that comment also goes for Eminem.

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In addition to labeling Eminem a guest in Hip Hop, Jamar shared his belief that white artists need a co-sign from a black person in order to be successful in black music. Among the artists Jamar says received a co-sign are the Beastie Boys, Justin Timberlake, and Eminem. He also suggested that Vanilla Ice’s lack of a co-sign is the reason why the rapper wasn’t successful.

“If this is not black music then how come every white artist needs a co-sign from a black person? Beastie Boys had the co-sign from Run DMC,” Jamar said. “Eminem had the co-sign from Dr. Dre. Vanilla Ice didn’t have a co-sign. That’s why he didn’t fuckin last. Macklemore, see I don’t know who his co-sign is. Now he might be an exception to the rule, but I don’t know who his co-sign is. But at the same time, black peoples not really fucking with Macklemore like that.”

Prior to sharing his thoughts on co-signs, Lord Jamar offered his opinion on Miley Cyrus and revealed that the singer is trying to be a “white Rihanna.” He also stated that since Miley is white she’ll likely be more successful than Rihanna.

“She’s doing historically what a lot of artists have done,” he said. “You know what I mean? The ones that go for the shock value. But she’s also trying to pull from black music. Like to me, she’s trying to be the white Rihanna. She’s just pushing a little further. I mean, listen to her music. Listen to the way it sounds. The way she’s singing. Like she’s trying to sound like Rihanna right now. Like let’s keep it real. She cut her hair short trying to look like Rihanna. You dig what I’m saying? But she knows that that whiteness will propel her even further than Rihanna. Because in a country where white people are the majority, that’s what they want to see.”

Detroit wordsmith Eminem was later brought up during Jamar’s conversation on white artists and black music and was subsequently labeled a “guest in the house of Hip Hop.”

“Just like in Eminem. We had a lot of people talking about ‘Is Eminem a guest in the house of Hip Hop?’ You’re mothafuckin right he is,” Jamar said. “Just cause he sold the most records and all of that like…I fucks with Eminem, you know, as a lyricist and all of that, but it’s like we are in America. Okay? Where the majority of the people are white. Now the majority of the people in the world are not white. But here in America they’re white. So, when you have a white artist doing black music, white people just gravitate to that crazily. You know what I mean? But sales doesn’t equate to greatness.”

Following Lord Jamar’s comments about white rappers in September of last year, he’s shared his thoughts on artists both black and white. Last month, he offered advice to Chicago rapper Chief Keefand in the same month he demanded an apology from Alabama emcee Yelawolf after he informed Jamar to “shut the fuck up” during an interview with Vlad TV.

“I’m gonna give you a chance to publicly apologize,” he said. “And if you can do that I’ll leave you alone. If you don’t, if I ever see you it’s on on sight. I don’t have nothing to talk about. I’m running at you at a hundred miles an hour. On sight. That’s how I grew up. You know what I mean? So, that’s all I can say really. I’m not even emotional about it really. It’s nothing to me.”

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New Years Eve is meant to celebrate entering a new year but proved to be a time of sorrow for a few families. On New Years Eve (December 31st), Flavor Flav’s mother, Anna Drayton died.

While the cause of death has not yet been provided, Flav announced his mother’s passing on his personal Twitter account: