Author: hhns

50 Cent is on to the next business venture, as he enters the world of boxing promotion.

 

50 Cent’s longstanding friendship with championship boxer Floyd Mayweather is no secret. Fif has regularly attended Mayweather’s fights, and has participated in the fighter’s entrance to the ring several times.

 

Now, 50 looks to begin his own boxing promoting business, founding TMT Promotion, with the TMT standing for The Money Team.

 

The Vitamin Water mogul and purveyor of video games, energy drinks, and various books has TMT licensed in New York, and is in the process of applying for a license in Nevada.

 

Sports Illustrated reports that 50 will be working with Mayweather, and that he is expected to sign former featherweight title holder Yuri Gamboa and super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell.

 

Remy Ma reveals that 50 Cent and Keyshia Cole have visited and written her while serving her prison sentence.

 

It’s been nearly five years since Terror Squad rapper Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in jail for assault, possession of a weapon and attempted coercion. Now, in a recent interview with Hot 97’s Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg, the Bronx femcee talks about the musical peers who have held her down on the outside.

 

In addition to her husband Papoose, Remy says that 50 Cent and Keyshia Cole have kept in contact with the incarcerated rapper and even helped her appeal case. She explained that 50 was instrumental in getting her a reduced sentence, while Cole provided her with moral support throughout her trial and sentence.

 

“50 [Cent] wrote me a great letter when I needed my appeal and I needed people to send letters and make sure that I have things set up so I could actually come home early,” she said. “He was very cooperative to make sure that they knew everything was set up for me to come home…Keyshia Cole, that’s my friend to the end. I’ll never forget everything [she did] to help me throughout the day. Those two was phenomenal – and I’ll never forget things they did for me. There’s other people that did things that I’ll never forget but those two – pretty much [are helping me] come home early.”

 

Surprisingly, however, it is Remy’s own Terror Squad brethren who she says have failed to reach out to her during her sentence, with the exceptions of Prospect and Cuban Link. She said that she hasn’t heard a single peep from Fat Joe in years, and that the entirety of TS’s management and musical team have disregarded her.

 

“I haven’t spoken to [Fat Joe] in forever, and I’m not happy with that, ” she said. “Nobody [from Terror Squad has visited], not Joe, not any member of the group, not the DJs, not the managers, not the A&Rs, not anybody from the entire Squad has ever come to visit me, sent a letter, call anybody from my team, check on my son, anything. I don’t think I’m allowed to say the words I want to say to describe how I feel about them, but [none of them are positive]…Prospect might have called my brother and checked on me a couple of times…I can’t really include Cuban Link [in Terror Squad] because they kind of kicked him out the group but he reaches out.”

 

Former G-Unit member Young Buck talks about his prison sentence, says he is moving forward and “letting the past be the past.”

 

As he prepares to serve 18 months in prison, Young Buck is hoping to not be judged for his past actions. The former G-Unit rapper recently spoke with XXL about his wishes, his aspirations and his sentence. 

 

“There were all the crazy things that happened to me in the last few years leading up to this situation I’m in today,” Young Buck shared with XXL. “My mindset moving forward is letting the past be the past. Don’t judge me behind what you think I am or what you thought I did or none of that. Pay attention to Buck because the man that I was yesterday ain’t the man that I am today. I know whatever is at the end of the rainbow…it’s gotta be a pot of gold.”

 

Young Buck also shared that he feels he could do well with Maybach Music Group or Cash Money after he is released from prison. 

 

“MMG has a real push for what they got going,” he said of labels he may land on after his release. “I came up with Cash Money, so just to see what they’re doing…But the height of Buck is coming out this penitentiary.”

 

T.I. discusses his latest acting role in Kelsey Grammer’s series “Boss.”

T.I. has already starred in his own feature film, ATL, and now he is adding further roles to his repertoire, appearing in Kelsey Grammer’s original series Boss.

“My character’s name is Tray, Tray Rogers,” explained T.I. in an interview with XXLMag.com. “Tray is an active member of Lennox Gardens. Lennox Gardens is a centerpiece of a bargaining point for these politicians. It’s a required piece for guaranteed elections.”

Tip continued, explaining the evolution of character’s thinking. “Tray Rogers has realized that once you acquired influence and power in this area, you parlay that power and influence into the political world. Take off your jumpsuit and jogging suit and put on an Armani suit and begin in the world of politics. [My character] basically rose up to power and influence in the game in the projects and I’m beginning to take a crack at politics.”

T.I. also spoke on Grammer, best known for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane in “Cheers” and “Frasier.”  “Man, Kelsey man, he’s probably one of the best actors I’ve been around,” said the Atlanta rapper. “He’s extremely groomed and trained as a thespian and actor from he school of Julliard and all that ole kinda shit. But he still maintains the down-to-earth-real-everyday-people attitude. That to me, says a lot. His sense of humor, he’s special.”

 The life and legacy of legendary DJ Jam Master Jay will be celebrated today (July 20) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, courtesy of his close friend Eric “Shake” James.

 

Shake was one of Jam Master Jay’s closest associates, up until the legendary DJ was shot and killed in his recording studio in Queens, on October 30, 2002.

 

Throughout the years, Shake has been involved in keeping Jam Master Jay’s name alive and today, he will host the first annual “JMJ Back To School Giveaway.”

 

The “JMJ Back To School Giveaway” is taking place at Three Stripes Barber and Beauty, the barbershop Shake owns.

 

Legendary group member DMC of Run-DMC, will be on hand to sign autographs in Milwaukee the community.

 

DMC will be joined by NBA star Josh Howard, and Atlanta Hawks’/Milwaukee native Devin Harris.

 

“A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about Jay and miss him,” Shake told AllHipHop.com. “It’s difficult at times but we keep it positive and try to live our lives the way he would have continued to live his- by helping others. With this event I wanted to do something good for my community in Jay’s name. I want to honor his name and continue to keep his memory alive.”

 

Shake’s barbershop purchased a number of back to school supplies for children in the community, while Adidas has provided free clothing and sneakers as part of the Adidas’ “Show Us How You Represent” marketing campaign.

 

Adidas was one of the first companies to sponsor Run-DMC, and they continued to support Jam Master Jay through donations to his JMJ Foundation.

 

The first annual “JMJ Back To School Giveaway” will take place today from 12-4pm at Shake’s barber shop, Three Stripes Barber & Beauty located at 35 West Hampton in Milwaukee.

 

 First-week projections for Nas‘ tenth studio album, Life Is Good, which was released on Tuesday (July 17) are predicting sales of over 115,000 units.

 

Athough concrete numbers for Life Is Good will not be coming in until next Wednesday (July 25), it is expected that Nas, who has released eight platinum albums consecutively, will secure his sixth #1 album on the Billboard 200, alongside previous releases like It Was Written, The Firm, I Am, Hip-Hop Is Dead and Untitled.

 

The news of Nas’ success comes a day after fellow Def Jam artist Frank Ocean secured the #2 spot on the Billboard charts.

 

Ocean’s Channel Orange sold over 130,000 units, despite it only being made available exclusively to iTunes for the first week, with physical copies now in stores. Projections for Ocean’s second week sales are currently around 50,000, according to Billboard.

 

Nas’ Life Is Good is available now both digitally and physically.

 

Fred the Godson loved the Adidas ‘slavery sneakers’ that were the source of so much controversy a little over a month ago. The rapper said in an interview that he didn’t think the shoes were meant to intentionally offend anyone.

“I ain’t gonna lie man, those joints are hot,” Fred said in an interview. “But I can understand what they’re saying but I’m hoping that they ain’t do that on purpose. I’m not thinking that nobody would do that on purpose. I’m trying to give people the benefit of the doubt. So I’m just gonna judge the sneaker. I like the sneaker, but, I mean, it does look like it though. [laughs]”

“You know us black people don’t play, man. We look for anything — they made these sneakers, so these sneakers are somewhere,” he added. “I ain’t gonna put ’em on. [laughs] N*ggas probably get jumped. [Would I wear them?] I would wear them because I don’t believe they really did that to disrespect us. It’s just that some people get the wrong idea.”

The Boogie Down Productions affiliate and onetime wife to KRS-One has reportedly died. Details are still emerging.

 

Ms. Melodie (a/k/a Romona Parker) of Boogie Down Productions fame has been confirmed dead this afternoon. Anonymous sources confirmed the tragic news to TheUrbanDaily.com, although the cause and details are still unknown.

 

In addition to releasing 1989’s Diva on Jive/Zomba Records, Melodie, a Brooklyn, New York native, appeared on “Self Destruction” from the Stop The Violence Movement. She also appeared on Queen Latifah’s hit “Ladies First.” A longtime affiliate of B.D.P., Melodie was also the first wife of the group’s front-man, KRS-One. When the pair split in the early 1990s, Melodie stepped away from Hip Hop, as Boogie Down Productions spawned the solo careers of KRS, D-Nice and others.

 

Melodie was mentioned in Nas’ 2006 song “Where Are They Now?” as the Queens, New York emcee stated, “I hope she packin’ a bankroll.”

 

Melodie’s passing comes less than two weeks after another late 1980s alum, KMG from Above The Law, also died.

 

Singer Monifah tweeted that the rapper, also a mother, died Tuesday (July 17).

 

Former Mac Dre protegé PSD tha Drivah has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a Bay Area woman.

 

The rapper, born Steven Davison, appeared in court yesterday.

 

The District Attorney’s office accused PSD of committing a lewd act, sexual penetration against the victim’s will, battery and assault.

 

The incident unfolded in an apartment on July 2, when the victim went to visit PSD.

 

According to prosecutors, the rapper sexually assaulted the woman and physically assaulted her when she attempted to flee, partially clothed.

 

PSD, who is being held on $500,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

 

PSD was recently released from prison, after serving 48 months for a July 2008 drug arrest at Sacramento international Airport.

 

In that incident, Davison was found to be in possession of over 6,000 ecstasy pills.

 

These days, Crooked I is recognized as one of the game’s best. As a member of Slaughterhouse and the backing of Shady Records, the west coast spitter has risen above his Internet fame and is reaching a much larger audience. But, for those who have followed his career, things haven’t always been easy.

 

In the early 2000s, the rapper was touted as the next generation of the Death Row Records dynasty. However, things didn’t pan out and he sat on the shelf for four years without an album release. Crooked would eventually leave the label, and in the years following, he endured backlash and blackballin’ for his past link to notorious Los Angeles label. It would take years to break from that stigma.

 

In a recent interview with AllHipHop.com, the rapper revisited his Death Row days, and the future of the re-formed label.

 

Crooked I says he severed ties with Death Row years ago, but the WIDEawake Entertainment incarnation of Death Row has been using much of his past discography in recent projects. He even reveals that the label has asked him to sanction a release of some of his old music, but he requested $1 million to support any Crooked I/Death Row project.

 

“I know that the people that bought Death Row Records put out some sh** called Hoodstar, and they used a few [of my] songs off of that album,” the rapper tells AllHipHop.com. “I’ve seen a few songs pop up on pirate websites… I was watching [Eddie Griffin’s] Dysfunktional Family the other day, and I had nine songs on that soundtrack.

 

“[Death Row] called me and they wanted me to support it. I told them, ‘If you want me to do some sh**, cut me a check for $1 million, and I’ll come over there for some solo sh**,’ ” Crooked continued. “I told them if they weren’t going to do anything like that, then I wasn’t going to support anything. It’s reminding people of a past that no longer exists. There is no real Death Row Records anymore. Once Suge was removed from the picture, there was no Death Row. You can’t be Death Row without Suge. My terms were to have me do a brand new album for a $1 million. They gave me the run around, and I told them I was cool.”

 

As far as any Crooked I material released by WIDEawake, he says it’s all old. But, says if any music from the Death Row vaults were released correctly, it could sell. Of course, it’d need the right marketing.

 

“They are trying to put out old sh**, and they don’t know how to market it,” Crooked explained. “They just think that the catalog is going to sit around and sell itself — and it will — but not the part of the catalog that people haven’t heard. You have to market that. You can sell All Eyes On Meforever and a day. What about the unheard music, though? That has to be marketed to the people. They don’t know how to do that in my opinion. So when they read this, all I have to say is $1 million (laughter). As a matter of fact, it was $1 million back then. I want $1.5 now.”

 

Read the full interview with Crooked I at AllHipHop.com, where he talks Shady Records, Eminem, the Slaughterhouse album, and his latest mixtape Psalm 82:V6, among other things.

 

Meek Mill apologizes for offending Pastor Jomo K. Johnson for his song “Amen.”

 

Last week, Meek Mill found himself in hot water with local Philadelphia pastor Jomo K. Johnson calling for a ban on his song “Amen,” which Pastor Johnson found to be sacrilegious. Now, in a recent interview on BET’s “106 & Park,” the Maybach Music rapper apologizes for any perceived slights.

 

Meek said that it was his last intention to offend any of his listners’ religious sensabilities with the title of his collabo with Drake. Still, he said that he feels that neither the church nor Pastor Johnson would have ever approved of any kind of Hip Hop, regardless of the title or song content.

 

“People find all types of stuff offensive. I don’t think no preacher or no church approves of any type of rap music — because rap music, period, is a lot of bad stuff said,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s real life. And me, I wasn’t trying to disrespect no religion or anything like that. My whole family is Christian. I have a half Christian, half Muslim family, the situation, the song, that’s what energy it felt and if anybody feel disrespected, I ain’t do it in that way…I did it just because it was a good feeling — that’s the feeling it gave me so I said, ‘Amen, church.’ I didn’t do it with bad intentions at the end of the day.”

 

Pastor Johnson responded to Mill’s apology in a public statement, lifting the boycott and saying, “This apology was the condition for lifting the Call-to-Action boycott. While I have made the choice not to listen to or support any artist that promotes blasphemy or misogyny in their music, I appreciate Mr. Williams being willing to acknowledge his wrong. It is my sincere hope, that he, along with all popular rappers with their fans, will embrace God’s total forgiveness by turning from the sin promoted through mainstream Hip Hop, and trust solely in Christ for salvation.”

 

In addition weighing in on who won the battle of Nas versus Jay-Z, Large Professor says the original version of “Ether” was produced by Swizz Beatz.

 

Given the fact that Nas and Jay-Z have now reconciled their 2001 beef, the question of who won the legendary battle between them always makes for an entertaining interview. When asked about Jay’s line in “Takeover” about how Jay allegedly showed Nas his first Tec-9 while the pair were on tour with him, Large Professor gave his thoughts on the line and the entire battle.

“It was just a matter of Jay stating the facts,” Large Professor told Maya The B and Mitchell Jackson of ThisIs50 Radio. “He was trying to bring a lot of facts to the table, and he was going at Nas. Someway, somehow it as a, ‘Yo, you was on tour with Large Professor’ type of thing. We was all on tour—on that same level and all of that.”

Despite being from what both “Takeover” and “Ether” insinuated were rivaling boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, Large Professor said there was no beef during the early days when Nas and Jay toured with him. He did add that, like most quality Hip Hop, there was a friendly competition between all artists involved. Ultimately, Large Professor said he enjoyed the energy and production of “Takeover” but preferred Nas’ rhymes on “Ether.”

The early-Aughts beef between Nas and Jay would spill over onto two albums, with Nas releasing “Last Real Nigga Alive” and Jay-Z throwing additional shots on “Blueprint 2.” Cooler heads prevailed, and there were additional barbs from Nas that the public never saw. Hot 97 stopped Nas’ attempt to hang Jay in effigy at Summer Jam. And Large Professor adds that there was a more malicious version of “Ether” that was never made public.

“When Nas was first recording “Ether” it was over a Swizz Beatz beat, and he was getting at him,” Large Professor added. “That was the original lyrics about, ‘It should’ve been you on the plane crash,’ and all of that. I was there and I was kind of hype, but you know I’m like an adrenaline junkie.” 

 

 Rapper Rick Ross, his sister Tawanda Roberts and his manager Michael Lighty are being sued for almost $2 million in damages, by a United Kingdom promotional company over a canceled 2011 concert in Nigeria.

 

The lawsuit was filed on July 3 in the Supreme Court of New York, by Zons P.R., a UK-based company organized to do business in Nigeria.

 

Zons P.R. was hired on behalf of Star Lager beer, a brand affiliate of Heineken, which is popular in Nigeria and West Africa.

 

The annual Star Mega Jam has been taking place in Nigeria since 2000 and draws as many as 50,000 people to the concert, which is the largest of its kind in West Africa.

 

Rick Ross was supposed to headline the 2011 Star Mega Jam concert, which was to take place on December 17, 2011.

 

The lawsuit claims that Zons P.R. began to negotiate with Rick Ross’s sister Tawanda Roberts, who acts as his manager, on behalf of Rick Ross.

 

Zons P.R. deposited $87,500 into Rick Ross’s account, with the agreement that Rick Ross would execute certain obligations (like promotional drops) prior to the concert, which he never produced.

 

The company also claims that Rick Ross began to raise questions about his security in Nigeria and finally, on November 10, 2011 the rapper canceled the performance, citing “the violent events in Nigeria.”

 

The lawsuit claims that Rick Ross was supposed to return the $87,500 deposit to Zons P.R., but failed to do so.

 

Zons P.R. says that when they realized they were not getting their deposit back, they attempted to renegotiate for a future performance, but the rapper refused to comply.

 

“In truth and in fact the defendant had no intention of returning said deposit,” the lawsuit reads. “To date no part of the deposit has been returned.

 

Exclusive: Veteran producer Mike Gonsolin and former porn star Bree Olson released “Hollywood Douchebag” this month, and highlight the experience.

Adult film star and model Bree Olson released her first retail music single this month (July 6), “Hollywood Douchebag.” Available on iTunes, the song produced by and featuring Mike Gonsolin chronicles the superficial life of Hollywood celebrities, as told by Fort Wayne, Indiana’s most recent Playboy cover model and 2008 AVN Award-winner for “Best New Starlet.”

“I am super excited about my first single. It was such a blast doing the song and music video. Since both of us are not originally from Hollywood, and are hardly acclimated to its esoteric ‘lifestyle,’ this parody track seemed to come to fruition almost instantaneously,” Olson told HipHopDX in a statement.

Gonsolin, who has produced for Sam Adams, Shwayze and others, added, “I’ve produced Hip Hop and Pop tracks for many of today’s top artists across the genre globe, and this song was by far one of the best times I’ve had collaborating with someone. It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to not take myself too seriously for a minute, and just poke fun at the silly town of Hollywood and everything that it embodies and reveres.”

 

 

50 Cent says that anyone who has an issue with Frank Ocean “is an idiot.”

After Frank Ocean penned a letter about his sexuality several weeks ago, many members of the Hip Hop community supported the Odd Future crooner, the latest being 50 Cent. During an interview with MTV News UK, the G-Unit general said that anyone who has a problem with Ocean “is an idiot” and that he respects his creativity.

“Anyone that has an issue with Frank Ocean is an idiot,” he said. “I think Frank Ocean is a talented artist, I think he’s created material that made me know his name. That impressed me, with things he said on a song like ‘Novacane.’ I could care less about what his personal preference is in the actual bedroom.”

Fif also spoke on how this represents a shift in attitudes over the past few years, crediting President Barack Obama as one of the reasons that Ocean’s coming out was widely accepted. “Obama is for same-sex marriage,” he said. “If the president is saying that, then who am I to go the other way.”