Author: hhns

A security guard at Universal Music Publishing Group’s Santa Monica office calls out the drug use of several artists in her lawsuit.

A woman who works as a security guard at Universal Music Publishing Group’s Santa Monica headquarters has become so fed up with the marijuana-smoking ways of various artists that she’s decided to sue the Universal Music Group-owned UMPG, Universal Protection Services, the management of the building she works in, and more.

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Billboard.com reports that the security guard was a first-hand witness to drug use (primarily marijuana) from MC Ren, singer Adam Levine, and the entourage of Atlanta rapper T.I.

In the complaint, the woman states that “artists and high-profile celebrities began visiting the premises with drugs in hand and oftentimes offering drugs to Plaintiff, which she refused.”

On top of various instances of drug use from visiting artists, the security guard also claimed that she had issues with T.I.’s security team when she asked that they move their vehicles. When she informed one of the rapper’s bodyguards of her request he responded, “I gotta be able to get this boy outta here if a shootout or something goes down.”

The woman is seeking an unspecified amount in her lawsuit. When asked about the lawsuit they’ve been hit with, a spokesperson for Universal Music referred to it as being “absurd.”

“While we cannot comment on the allegations between the plaintiff and her employer, we can say that the allegations as they relate to Universal Music Group are absurd,” said a company spokesperson.

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Patrick ‘Big Pat’ Strickland was a bodyguard for Chris Brown when a brawl with Drake’s entourage broke out in SoHo hotspot W.i.P. last June. Chris Brown‘s beefy bodyguard is suing Drake and the SoHo nightclub where the hip-hop stars brawled last June, and used filing as an opportunity to take a swipe at the Canadian rapper.

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Hired muscle Patrick Strickland snidely refers to Drake as “a popular and successful, albeit critically derided, entertainer,” in his lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

via Twitter

Brown’s bodyguard ‘Big Pat’ on a gurney after the altercation at W.I.P.

PHOTOS: CHRIS BROWN AND DRAKE’S BAR BRAWL

Strickland, 43, who hails from Queens Village, claims the hot spot, W.i.P., is responsible for the ugly head cut he suffered during the melee because it sat Brown’s entourage and Drake’s crew near each other, even though staffers knew the celebrities were beefing over sultry R&B songstress Rihanna.

via Instagram

Aftermath of fight between Brown and Drake at Club W.i.P. in June 2012.

The seating arrangement created “a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a mass altercation would occur between the two camps,” the suit for an unspecified amount of damages states.

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Singer Rihanna performs with Drake onstage during the Grammy Awards Shows — the two briefly dated.

Moreover, the club over-served Drake and his posse, and had an employee hand Brown a note from Drake that read: “I’m f–king the love of your life,” according to the Strickland suit.

The note allegedly led to a “verbal altercation” and that caused a “massive bar brawl that involved bottle throwing, possible gunshots and a general state of riot and disorder,” the suit charges.

Mark Wills

Brown and his entourage at W.i.P. moments before his brawl with Drake.

Strickland was hit in the head and required stitches, reports said at the time. The suit says he endured “severe and disfiguring injuries to his face, head and eyes.”

@chrisbrown/via Twitter

Twitter photo of Brown showing a cut on his chin after an alleged fight with Drake.

The suit, which also names W.i.P.’s sister club, Greenhouse, and various parties associated with the party spots, is the latest in a string of legal actions stemming from the sensational brouhaha.

McCrayKennet/via YouTube

Brown following the altercation with Drake’s entourage.

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LL Cool J and Brad Paisley have defended their new track ‘Accidental Racist’.

The hip-hop and country performers have joined forces on the racially-inspired duet for Paisley’s album Wheelhouse, which has been met with criticism by some quarters of the media.

© WENN

LL Cool J

© WENN

Brad Paisley

 

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The track has been described as a “horrible accident” and “possibly racist” by The Guardian, while it has also drawn negative reviews from many users on Twitter.

Lyrics of the song include Paisley singing: “I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the southland, tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be, I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done. And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history, our generation didn’t start this nation.”

LL Cool J replies: “Dear Mr White Man, I wish you understood. What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood. Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good.

“You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would… If you don’t judge my do-rag, I won’t judge your red flag. If you don’t judge my gold chains… I’ll forget the iron chains.”

Other lines include LL Cool J saying “let bygones be bygones”, while Paisley sings that white Americans are “still paying for mistakes that a bunch of folks made before we came”.

The duo explained to Good Morning America that they were hoping the song would create a national debate.

“I’m not really sure we’re going to find any answers but it was the idea that we were asking the question,” Paisley said.

“Martin Luther King says that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can,” LL Cool J added.

“Hate can’t drive out hate, only love can. So what we’re talking about is compassion.”

The rapper continued: “I’m not advising anyone to truly forget slavery, but what I’m saying is forget the slavery mentality. Forget the bitterness. Don’t get bitter, get better.

“Some people take exception to some of the lyrics [and] I respect that. I’m sensitive to that.”

Videos and audio of the song appears to have been removed from YouTube since its release.

LL Cool J and Brad Paisley will team up together for the rapper’s next album, to be released later this month.

Entertainment mogul and rapper Jay-Z has started the process of divesting his small share of ownership with the Brooklyn Nets to extend his Roc Nation Sports representation business into basketball, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

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Jay-Z will have to divest his share of the Nets to become certified as an NBA agent. (USA Today Sports)Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – owns less than 1 percent of the Nets, but has been a central public figure in the franchise’s marketing and move from New Jersey to Brooklyn.

Selling his share of the Nets is a necessary prelude for Jay-Z to obtain his National Basketball Players Association certification as an agent.

NBA rules mandate that no one individual affiliated with a player representation company can have an ownership stake with an NBA team.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company has partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to launch a sports representation business that recently secured New York Yankees star Robinson Cano.

The process is expected to be completed in time for Roc Nation to compete for players entering the June NBA draft, but there’s no guarantee of the timing, sources said. Those within Roc Nation and the CAA alliance aren’t “chasing a clock on this,” one source said. “This isn’t about one draft, but taking the long view of the business.”

Rival agents are anxious over the possibilities of Jay-Z on the recruiting trail, believing the lure of his iconic business and cultural standing will have a major impact on attracting top prospects and current league stars

CAA and Jay-Z are taking time to carefully formalize the arrangement on the basketball end, sources told Y! Sports, and are sensitive to making sure he exits the Nets partnership in a way that is respectful to the organization.

Among NBA, NBPA and Nets constituencies, there are several hurdles to overcome before a formal announcement will be made. Nevertheless, none are significant and Jay-Z’s certification as a player agent is a mere formality.

Much like the arrangement with CAA’s baseball side, Jay-Z will let the firm’s basketball agents handle contract negotiations and day-to-day business with athletes. The potential impact will come with athletes linking to Jay-Z’s global reach in marketing, entertainment and business

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Ray J says Kanye West shouldn’t be upset about “I Hit It First,” comments on the record being about his life.

R&B songster Ray J is continuing to address his much talked about, new record “I Hit It First.” The singer has yet to reveal who the record is about, but many feel that “I Hit It First” alludes to Ray J’s former girlfriend Kim Kardashian.

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While chopping it up earlier this week with Shade 45’s “The All Out Show,” Ray J again refused to speak on who exactly the song touches on and instead revealed that “I Hit It First” is more so about him.

“I mean a lot of people saying a lot of different things about the record. For me, the record is self-explanatory,” Ray J revealed. “Like I tell everybody, I’m not trying to put fuel on the fire. You know what I’m saying? We just want people to enjoy the record. It’s more so about me than anybody else.”

The topic of Kanye West, Kardashian’s current boyfriend, was even brought up during Ray J’s interview. When asked if West has a right to be angry, the crooner explained that no one has the right to be upset over something that happened in the past.

“I don’t think nobody should be upset about something that really happened,” said Ray J. “I think when people do music everybody talks about they life and what they go through. This just my chapter and I think people need to look at it like that and don’t look at it for nothing more than that.”

“I Hit It First” was released at the top of the week and also features an appearance from rapper Bobby

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Gucci Mane has been indicted on an aggravated assault charge for allegedly attacking a fan at an Atlanta nightclub last month.

The rapper, whose real name is Radric Davis, allegedly hit US soldier James Lettley in the head with a champagne bottle after Lettley asked to take a photo with him. Lettley said, “I was speaking to the security guard, and Gucci Mane hit me in the head with a bottle. And as I looked at him in the shock of why, one of his friends hit me in the side of my face.”

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Lettley added, “That is dangerous because if there was to be any other fan trying to approach him, ain’t no telling what else he might do to them.” Lettley received 10 stitches for the injury.

Gucci Mane surrendered himself to police about a week and a half after the incident, which occurred on March 16 at the Harlem Nights Club. He was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon. He was also accused of hitting another fan at a club in Philadelphia just days after the Atlanta incident.

The fan, identified as TJ, said he approached the rapper to shake his hand when he was suddenly punched in the face. TJ said he was punched on the left side of his face and sustained a chipped tooth and swelling on the left side of his face. It is unclear whether charges have been filed in the Philadelphia incident.

Gucci Mane has been in and out of jail for almost a decade. He served a six-month sentence in 2005 and another six-month sentence in county jail in 2009 for violating his probation in relation to the 2005 incident. In 2010, he was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road, running a red light or stop sign, and other charges. He has been arrested five more times since then, including the most recent arrest.

Nas is adding “Associate Publisher” to his job titles. Forbes reports that the rapper is officially investing in Mass Appeal magazine and will serve as the hip-hop publication’s Associate Publisher.

Nas invested a “six-figure” sum in the magazine, which was founded in 1996 as a graffiti magazine and has returned this year. “Mass Appeal has a legacy and respect,” Nas says. “It already has a foundation … I just feel like I can add on because I can lend my kind of cultural expertise and my professional acumen, and develop the business.”

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The Queens rapper sees this investment as a natural fit for this stage in his career. “I knew that this was down the road,” he says. “I didn’t care to interrupt me being a creative musical artist … I said I’ll be more of a businessman down the road. I’m down the road now.”

Nas graced the cover of Mass Appeal himself in 2002 but he wants to make sure to let fans know that he won’t get preferential treatment from the magazine now. When asked what would happen if the publication covers him, Nas says, “If that happens, I don’t want to see it until it’s out,” he says. “I won’t get involved with that at all … I won’t touch anything, they’re free to say whatever they want. They can say I’m a psychopath, they can say I’m a sweetheart … as long as it’s from their honest opinion, that’s all that matters to me.”

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Sen. Marco Rubio last night released a statement criticizing the Obama administration for reportedly licensing a trip for the president’s superstar campaign supporters Jay-Z and Beyonce.

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Reuters reported yesterday that the pair’s vacation was a “cultural trip” that was fully licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

“According to recent news reports, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Cuba trip, which the regime seized on for propaganda purposes, was fully licensed by the Treasury Department,” Rubio said in a statement. “If true, the Obama Administration should explain exactly how trips like these comply with U.S. law and regulations governing travel to Cuba and it should disclose how many more of these trips they have licensed.”

Rubio explained that the Obama’s administrations “cultural exchange programs” were abused by American tourists who were rarely interested in anything but vacations.

“U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime,” Rubio stated.

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OTTAWA — The cancellation of his Ottawa show may be the least of Rick Ross’ problems now that a New York-based women’s group is pressuring footwear maker Reebok to drop the American rapper over controversial lyrics that glorify date rape.

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The 37-year-old Florida rapper was supposed to roll into the capital city on Tuesday for a concert at the Ernst & Young Centre, but “security concerns” prompted the show’s promoter, Urban Jamz Ent., to pull the plug on Friday.

Tickets had ranged in price from $20 for students to $500 for VIP access.

It remains unclear how much the rapper, who escaped unharmed from a drive-by shooting in January, stands to earn even though the show has been cancelled and full refunds are being issued.

Ross’ scheduled appearance created a storm of controversy on campus as many reacted strongly to what they saw as the promotion of rape culture.

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

At issue are his lyrics in his cameo on the new Rocko track, U.O.E.N.O. (You Ain’t Even Know It).

“Put molly all in the champagne / you dont even know it /I took her home and I enjoy that / she aint even know it,” Ross raps in the song.

Molly is a form of MDMA and is known as a date-rape drug.

Ross has denied that his lyrics promote rape but he has not otherwise explained what he meant.

“I think they are definitely over their heads,” said Dillon Black, a Carleton social work student who resigned from the student union over the Ross affair.

“I imagine them hiding in their offices and not answering to anyone.”

Black never saw the contract, but says organizers were rumoured to be paying Ross between $100,000 to $250,000. Organizers were also apparently paying for sound and light equipment, technicians and promotion, Black said.

Black also disputes CUSA’s attempt to distance itself from the controversy late last month by suggesting its role was simply purchasing a block of tickets to sell to Carleton students at cost.

Since 2007, student associations at Carleton and the University of Ottawa have collaborated on an end-of-year concert dubbed Pandamonium.

But the Student Federation at the University of Ottawa pulled out this year once the decision was made to include Ross.

He wasn’t an artist the SFUO could support, said Ethan Plato, the federation’s president.

The SFUO objected to hiring an outside promoter to organize the event instead of co-producing it, as had happened in years past.

It also took issue with the promotion of what many dub “rape culture.”

The phrase is used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices and media coverage normalize, trivialize or even condone rape by blaming victims or constantly objectifying women.

A recent example of this phenomenon came when several CNN journalists were called out for their coverage of a high-profile rape case involving a 16-year-old Ohio girl after expressing on-air sympathy for the two men found guilty.

News of the concert’s cancellation came a day after activists gathered outside of Reebok’s flagship store in Manhattan to pressure the company to drop Ross.

“By holding him up as something to aspire to, Reebok is sending the message that raping a woman is cool — and that’s a dangerous message to send the boys and young men that Reebok markets to. Reebok needs to know that we won’t stand for this,” said the anti-sexism group Ultra Violet.

It organized Thursday’s protest and has gathered more than 70,000 signatures on an online petition.

The Billboard chart-topping artist isn’t helping his own cause, appearing tone deaf to the backlash.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Ross told a New Orleans radio station this week that there had been a “misunderstanding” and “misinterpretation.”

“The term ‘rape’ wasn’t used,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.

“You know I would never use the term rape in my records … I just wanted to reach out to all the … sexy ladies, all the beautiful ladies that had been reaching out to me with the misunderstanding: we don’t condone rape and I’m not with that.”

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Tyga weighs in on the “U.O.E.N.O.” controversy: hope you’re stoked.

Less an interview and more a series of leading questions, Justin Credible‘s softball discussion with Tyga on Ross’ controversial lyric (“Put Molly all in the champagne/She ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoy that/She ain’t even know it”) doesn’t really address any of the concerns raised by critics of either “U.O.E.N.O.” or sexism in Tyga’s own work.

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Said Tyga: “It’s freedom of speech. It wasn’t even his record…you just got those groups. They don’t even know what they’re petitioning for. Activists and all those righteous groups, that’s just what they do. They probably don’t even listen to Ross’ music.”

And later, when talking about the recent news that students at Harvard are protesting his upcoming appearance for promoting rape culture: “I think it’s getting out of hand…people looking into it too much.”

But freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Speech, just like actions, has real repercussions. If a rapper is going to say the line, he has to deal with the fallout.

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Snoop’s ‘MTV x Caliber’ bracelets will go on sale Monday, a day after the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

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Snoop Lion is taking serious shots at gun violence. Snoop gathered his daughter Cori B. and Drake in a call for gun control on his brand-new single “No Guns Allowed,” and now the veteran rapper-turned-reggae singer is ready to take action.

No Guns Allowed (Behind The Scenes)

Snoop, MTV and Jewelry for a Cause will help to take illegal guns off the street with the release of the limited edition “MTV x Caliber” bracelets made in part from the steel of illegal guns acquired in police-sponsored buyback programs. The bracelets also feature serial numbers of firearms that were returned via buyback programs in Newark, New Jersey, and can be pre-ordered beginning Tuesday (April 9) for $40 on caliber.MTV.com. The proceeds from each sale will be donated to the Newark Police Department to help fund future gun buyback amnesty programs.

The Bracelet:

Celebs like Selena Gomez and Rebel Wilson will get the charitable jewelry in their gift bags at Sunday’s 2013 MTV Movie Movie Awards, which airs at 9 p.m. ET on MTV! The singers and actors attending the show will get a new way to support a good cause and MTV will donate to Jewelry for a Cause on their behalf.

“This is such an important message we’re sharing,” Snoop Lion said in a statement issued by MTV. “It’s a movement we want generations to recognize, embrace, and get behind. We’ve seen a lot of senseless acts of violence involving guns recently — too many have lost their lives, too many families have been destroyed. Like my friends at MTV, I want to be a part of the change that will help bring peace.”

The announcement comes on the same day that the “No Guns Allowed” music video made its on-air debut on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits and MTV Jams, and went into rotation on each of the five channels.

In a special behind-the-scenes video package delivered to MTV’sBuzzworthy blog on April 5, both Snoop and Drake spoke on how gun violence has affected them. The Doggystyle MC reminded viewers of his not-so-glamorous gun-toting past, while Drake spoke on how gun violence affected his own community in July 2012, when 19 people were shot and two kids were killed during a neighborhood barbecue. “It hit close to home, I think not only for me, but for our entire city and I’m from Toronto so I just tried to paint a picture and I looked at this as an opportunity to sort of share something with my generation,” Drake said.

Snoop Lion – “No Guns Allowed ft. Drake and Cori B.”

“My take on gun control is that the appropriate people should have them,” Snoop added. “I’ve come to realize that these guns are harmful in the wrong hands and they need to be in the right hands and they need to be removed from those who don’t know how to handle them.”

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Two Republicans from South Florida are calling for an investigation into Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s recent trip to Cuba.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé were photographed in Cuba during a trip to the island nation last week, to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in Havana.

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Republican representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the 27th Congressional District and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of the 25th Congressional District, are calling on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control to investigate the trip.

Cuba is currently the subject of an economic embargo by the United States, and its citizens are only allowed to travel to the country with special permission.

The pair sent a letter to Adam Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury Department, requesting information on the type of license that Jay-Z and Beyoncé received to travel to Cuba.

“Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda ” the pair said in the letter to Adam Szubin. “We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents.”

Check out the full copy of the letter below:

The Honorable Adam J. Szubin
Director
Office of Foreign Assets Control
Department of Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Director Szubin:

We write to express concern and to request information regarding the highly publicized trip by U.S. musicians Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Beyoncé) and Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) to Cuba. We would like to respectfully request, within all applicable rules and guidelines, information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.

As you know, U.S. law expressly prohibits the licensing of financial transactions for “tourist activities” in Cuba (Section 910(b)(1) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act). If these individuals were given people-to-people licenses, we would like to bring to your attention the Cuba Travel Advisory issued by OFAC on July 25, 2011 which states, “OFAC only licenses People-to-People Groups that certify that all participants will have a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction between the travelers and individuals in Cuba.” These restrictions are in place because the Cuban dictatorship is one of four U.S.-designated state sponsors of terrorism with one of the world’s most egregious human rights records. Cuba’s tourism industry is wholly state-controlled; therefore, U.S. dollars spent on Cuban tourism directly fund the machinery of oppression that brutally represses the Cuban people.

Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda. We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents. The restrictions on tourism travel are common-sense measures meant to prevent U.S. dollars from supporting a murderous regime that opposes U.S. security interests at every turn and which ruthlessly suppresses the most basic liberties of speech, assembly, and belief. We support the Cuban people by refusing to sustain their jailers.

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Chicago rapper Kanye West and a number of record labels are the subject of a new copyright/RICO lawsuit, over the continued usage of a 1974 sample.

The rap star is being sued by Trena Steward and Lorenzo Pryor, who are the owners of the copyright for the song “Bumpin’ Bus Stop.”

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The song was originally recorded by the siblings’ father, David Pryor of the music group Thunder & Lightning.

David Pryor died from various health conditions, in May 2006.

The brother and sister are suing for millions of dollars in damages, claiming Kanye illegally used a portion of the tune in his hit single “Gold Digger.”

According to the lawsuit, Kanye and various labels engaged in a 15-year “illegal copyright infringement scheme and criminal enterprise involving the unauthorized, willful sampling of plaintiffs original copyrighted music on a massive scale.”

Other record label’s named in the lawsuit include: Roc-a-Fella Records, Bad Boy Records, Stones Throw Records, Bomb Hip-Hop Records, Autumn Games, Activision, Caroline Distribution and The Island Def Jam Music Group.

Check out a copy of the lawsuit below:

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April 07, 2013: Kanye West just SPOKE OUT about the new Ray J hit single – I HIT IT FIRST – about Kim Kardashian. Here’s what he said, through a friend:

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But the source assures us that Kanye sees the song for what it truly is — a publicity stunt. ”Kanye don’t condone broke ass, jealous [guys] who be trying to bite off he and Kim’s fame just to stay, wait, just to become relevant.” Kanye West & Kim Kardashian Will Not Give Ray J Attention

Even though Kanye’s fuming, the source states that Yeezy won’t be giving Ray J the attention he wants. So we should probably stop hoping for Kanye to release a diss track of his own (that battle wouldn’t even be fair). Instead, don’t expect much of a response from Kim and Kanye, as Ray J fades back into obscurity.

“Tell him to call Ye when he gets to the $100-million mark,” our source concludes. “Cause guess what — Ye ‘hit that’ first.”

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