The Star & Buc Wild Show on VladTV is on a level all their own - it's safe to say that hip-hop scene's never seen anything quite like these cats. On the latest installment of the show, Star & Buc Wild lay into 50 Cent - more specifically, the tattoos he supposedly had removed. "He's goin' for Will Smith's crown," says Star.
The good people over at Rap Basement have compiled a list of Hip-Hop/R&B sales chart placements for the week ending May 17.
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Cam'ron is the top selling rapper this week with Crime Pays debuting at #3 on the charts, moving 42,000 units while Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap slips one spot to number nine. Paul Wall's latest debuts all the way down in the 18th slot, where it should be, with only 18,732 thousand copies sold in the first week.
On the R&B side, Ciara's Fantasy Ride plunges from #3 all the way down to 14th, while Keri Hilson actually jumps five spots to 15th with another 21,110 units sold this week. Beyonce loses a notch as I Am... Sasha Fierce moves another 17,000, while Jame Foxx's Intuition moves up 5 spots and The-Dream gains 8 spots to 39th.
Dolla murder update: A 23-year old man was arrested at the LAX airport Monday in connection with the murder of Dolla, real name Roderick Anthony Burton II. Aubrey Louis Berry, from Snellville, Georgia, is being held on $1 million bond. Police believe he was the shooter that killed the 21-year old Atlanta rapper, who was widely expected to hit high marks in the rap scene.
The gun found on Berry was a loaded 9mm semiautomatic. Two other people, a woman and a man, were also questioned as “persons of interest” concerning the shooting on Monday, though they were not detained. Several artists within the Hip Hop community have spoken out on the tragic death of the young rapper.
It was reported a while back that Raekwon signed with EMI for his ICE H20 label, which will distribute his highly-anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II album. We've finally got a street date of August 11 for the highly-anticipated Wu-Tang splinter project.
"I'm really joyous with the opportunity I've been given. I'm taking this album back to what it is I do - back to that real music," Raekwon tells Billboard.com. "I'm really thirsting to get back in the game and let people hear it. Everybody on this album's got something to prove."
Raekwon worked with a number of producers on the album, including Dr. Dre. "Dre came in and got his nut off - he came in with the traditional, signature Dre sound," Raekwon says of the track. But that's all he's telling us. "I want to keep that in the pocket, to get more excitement. But be certain - we did this one for the fans."
Other producers on "Linx II" include Marley Marl, Pete Rock, the late J. Dilla, Scram Jones, DJ Scratch, Erick Sermon and RZA, who produced Raekwon's 1995 "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx," which sold 1.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The latter also produced the street single "New Wu," featuring fellow Wu Tang Clan members Method Man and Ghostface Killah. "I had this track for a long time and was saving it because I knew it was 'Cuban Linx' material," says Raekwon.
Eminem brought it all back home with a special free concert in Detroit to celebrate the release of Relapse.The rapper blitzed tore through eight songs in a short-ass 35 minute set at the Sound Board theater in the MotorCity Hotel Casino, seven of which were off his new album, including the singles "We Made You," "Crack a Bottle" and a medley of "Hello" and "Insane". For an encore of his 2002 hit "Lose Yourself" for which he brought the other members of his group, D12 on stage.
At the show, Eminem admitted he was "a little bit nervous 'cause I don't have my right-hand man (the late MC Proof) with me." The crowd then obliged with gusto when he asked it to "make some noise if you miss Proof." D12's Denaun Porter stepped into Proof's role as hype man, while longtime Eminem DJ Alchemist manned the turntables and laptop.
Eminem also joked about the centerpiece theme in Relapse: his own addictions. "How many motherfuckers are gonna get fucked up tonight?," he queried. "Get fucked up for me, 'cause, goddamn it, I can't anymore." He then added that, "This might actually be one of the best shows I've ever done, 'cause when I get offstage I'm actually gonna remember it."
The performance was filmed, and two of the songs will be broadcast Friday on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the third of Eminem's appearances on the late-night program.
According to MTV News, initial reports indicating T.I. would serve only two months in prison were incorrect. The Associated Press reported that the rapper would be given credit for 305 days of home detention. However, Charysse Alexander, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia explained that the report is off. T.I. will be given credit for his home detention, but it will go towards his home confinement after he is released from prison. That is to say, after the rapper completes his prison sentence, he will have only about two months of home confinement to serve.
Alexander also indicated that the best anyone serving a year in prison could do is shave 15 percent off of the sentence for good behavior. In T.I.'s case, this would amount to nearly a 55-day reduction. Take it as you will.
Kanye West, who recently pled not-guilty to assaulting a photographer, talked about the mass paparazzi and what he says is the lack of photography skills when they shoot music artists like Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Beyonce. Hitting up his blog, the egomaniac took the time to praise this bit of pap "art":
"Fresh ass picture!!!," Kanye wrote, all-caps style, about a recent papa picture of Rihanna. "Yo, why can't all the paparzzi photos be this good? Well, obviously because most celebs just aren't Rihanna lol. But on the real, this pic is hardcore. Peep the perspective shot of the city in the back. Sometimes the paps overexpose the lens or have the flash too high taking all the emotion out of the moment. This moment is captured in time now. I look at our current superstars like legends in the making. Like Justin [Timberlake] is the new [Michael Jackson], Beyonce's the new Tina Turner, [Lady] Gaga's Madonna, Jay[-Z] is [Frank] Sinatra...[Lil] Wayne is [Jimmy] Hendrix, Thom Yorke is Roger Waters, these are the champions and should be documented as such. That said, it would be dope if the paps operated with the same integrity and attention of their craft as the legends they photograph....Good job on this one!"
With the recent beef (can you even call it that?) between Method Man and Joe Budden, Redman and Busta Rhymes dropped their 2 cents on the situation. "I think it was a great disrespect and he (Budden) might want to get slapped in his face for it," Busta told Ed Lover. "That's just how I feel about it. I'm not saying that to be on no pro-violence thing because that's not where I'm at with it. I still think that there is a fine line between entertainment and being morally and principally disrespectful."
Redman then jumped in saying "I just laughed at it at first. I'm a Jersey dude and he a Jersey dude so he already knows the business. I know my man got this, if he needs me to step in, I'm in. I'm already in it anyway. It's gonna stay on the rap level too. I'm on that 32 [bars] too."
Twista has put out a statement denying sexual involvement with adult film star, Pinky. Last Wednesday, blog site Mediatakeout.com speculated on the rapper’s relationship with Pinky, and perpetuated the rumor that their involvement may have resulted in her pregnancy. Twista expressed that the rumors are untrue.
“I want to inform everyone that not only is Pinky not pregnant by me but I’ve never had any type of sexual encounters with her,” he said in a statement. “I have the best fans ever and I ask that you respect them and my loved ones.”
Twista is gearing up for the release of his sixth solo album, Category F5, out this July.
Minnesota-based duo Eyedea & Abilities will put out an album this summer titled By The Throat on the Rhymesayers Entertainment record label.
The sophomore album will be their first project released since their highly acclaimed ’04 album, E&A.
In addition to their new album, the duo will be performing at Rhymesayers’ Soundset ’09 on May 24 and will also be headlining a tour in the fall. They have been confirmed for the following Rock The Bells dates this summer:
06.27 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
06.28 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
07.05 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheater
07.12 - Washington DC @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
07.18 - Boston, MA @ Comcast Center |
07.19 - New York, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
08.01 - Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park
08.06 - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
08.08 - Los Angeles, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
08.09 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
Sacramento Hip Hop veteran Brotha Lynch Hung is signing to Tech N9ne's Strange Music label. The deal was evidently set up through Strange Music VP Dave Weiner, the same man who united Master P with Priority Records in the early '90s. "There’s an incredible synergy,” stated Weiner. “Every Tech fan knows that verse (“My World”) and is wondering what’s going on with Lynch.”
Brotha Lynch Hung found success in the early '90s with the controversial Black Market imprint. Distributed through Priority Records, the rapper has often been described as "horror-core," due to his frequent references to murder, cannibalism and violence. Bigger names including Snoop Dogg and Tech N9ne have all cited Lynch as major influences.
He is at work on Dinner And A Movie, his next album. Recently, Strange Music released Tech N9ne's Sickology 101: The Study Of Being Sick, which debuted in the Top 20 of Soundscan.
