Beats, Rhymes & Life

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The Beats, Rhymes and Life section is in full effect. Big ups must go out to Buddah M.A.C. for some of the news shown here. Plus we do get news from Sohh.com, MTV.com, Sonicnet.com and sometimes, Blaze Online so peep those sites too.

News Archives :
December '98 News
November '98 News
October '98 News
September '98 News
August '98 News
July '98 News

The Clokworx record release part will be on Thursday March 11,1999 at Western Front, 343 Western Ave, Cambridge, Ma. As well as Clockworx there will be Sage, Akrobatik, T.S.S., Octagon Supreme, Skitzophrenics plus more to be announced. The party will be hosted by DJ Questman.
You can also peep Clockworx on:
Feb 18, 1999
BridgeWater State College BridgeWater, MA w/ Beantown Entertainment Fam & Council
Feb 19, 1999
Ocean Mist RI w/ Sage, Cage & High & Mighty
Feb 21, 199
Living Room Prov RI w/ Mr Lif, Sage, (Army of the Pharohs)7L & Esoteric, Jedi Mind Tricks, Akrobatik
March 9, 1999 (Northern Exposure)
Heavens Night Club, Hampton Beach, NH w/ Rebel Alliance,Sage, ADM
It's the latest beef which is hot on everyones lips, that being Cage & Eminem and thanks to my man Despot, Tha Real had for you the first saga in the beef which is on wax by Cage. This cut doesn't mention Eminems name, and isn't dedicated to dissing Eminem but there are a few lines which Eminem fans will recognize as a diss. The really significant lines begin with "Tired rhyme styles from Detroit...."
Well, Sunz did it again. This time they released a whole CD on their indy Red Hook label. The 16-track album is called "The First Testament" and is comprised of a bunch of tracks Sunz made before their LP.
Also, Sonicnet is reporting that the Wu's greatest hits/rarities album, Wu Chonicles, will be droppin' Feb. 23.
Lastly, Sonicnet also has a recap of 60 Sec's interview in Village Voice, and added info from the head of Threat Records (another Wu label if ya didn't know), Cathy Jones, who described 60 Sec as very paranoid after the incident, thinkin' that he might get set-up like ODB was now.
Sonicnet is reporting that the Wu are making moves with BET to start their own sitcom called "Apple Moving and Storage". Wu members will play movers by day and MCs by night.
Also, the Wu is also working on a South Park type cartoon for BET.
And lastly, there are rumors of a Raekwon track floating around called "Take The Streets Back" where Rae disses Puffy.
Bizzy Bone was found innocent Monday (Jan. 25th) of charges that he dragged a student down a flight of stairs in September in Columbus, Ohio.
Redman will be getting a make over of sorts for his new video to 'Da Goodness,' as he will be transformed into a cartoon along with Method Man and the Def Squad.
According to the New York Post, ATF agents are planning an investigation on some Wu-Tang members for gun-running. They are suspected of hiring friends to purchase weapons in Steubenville, Ohio and then move them back to New York. While the authorities believe that the guns were bought for Wu's protection, they are looking into find out if the weapons were obtained to sell to friends and associates. The investigation stemmed after two Wu-associates were murdered-one in Steubenville, Ohio and one in Staten Island NY-suspicion grew after it was found out that Stuebenville is home to RZA's family and that Wu members frequently visit the city for shooting practice at a near compound.
Loud's opinion poll for Xzibits new single is over. The winner, 'Focus.' My pick ('Let It Rain') wasn't even in the top 3.
Big Pun (according to an interview in The Source) turned down the WWF to become a wrestler.
Ice Cube and Mack 10 will take the stage during the SuperBowl pre-game show on February 5th. Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan will perform during half-time. Big ups to dailymix.com
Ice Cube's next single will be "Fuck Dying," featuring Korn. Big ups to dailymix.com
Rawkus Records, have just struck a distribution deal with Priority Records, which according to a representative at Priority will "guarantee them a larger audience." The deal will be officially announced in the coming weeks. Big ups to dailymix.com
ODB's finally out on bail, and the grand jury is delayed until Feb. 5 so he has time to prepare his evidence, because all the grand jury had a chance to hear so far is the police testimony. (And if ODB didn't have the money to get out on bail, that's all they would have heard and he'd be in deep shit. You see now how crooked our justice system is? There's a reason that you never hear anyone say anything positive about the cops or courts, or jails for that matter.
Also, Sonicnet brought ODB's mom into this. She called the charges against her little Bastard "crazy" and "ludicrous."
Lastly, MTV had a talk with Charli Baltimore, who said that RZA produced "a few" tracks on her album.
Now that the NBA lockout is over, training camps have begun. And Master P has hopes in joining in before the season tips off Feb. 5. P has expressed interest in playing for the Dallas Mavericks and hopes that he will be given a chance to try-out. The Mavericks told MTV News that they had not planned on trying him out and that he was just shooting around in their practice facility. He played less than 10 games with the CBA's Fort Wayne Fury and I guess he feels like he has the skills to go big time.
The following is from MNOTW:
Wu Tang rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, who was jailed last Friday night after a car chase with New York City Police that ended in gunplay, is scheduled to be freed Thursday night on $150,000 bail posted by his family.
It originally looked like ODB might be released earlier in the week (see "Ol' Dirty Bastard To Be Released, Details Of Arrest Remain Sketchy"), but his relatives were unable to raise the necessary funds until today. The ongoing grand jury investigation of the case against Ol' Dirty has been continued to February 5, after which the district attorney's office will decide on what charges it will formally seek against the rapper.
More details are beginning to emerge about the incident, which began when ODB -- who was charged under his given name, Russell Jones -- was pulled over by undercover cops traveling in an unmarked police vehicle as the rapper was driving home from a recording session with his cousin, Frederic Cuffie.
Officers claim that they were stopping ODB to enforce some minor traffic infractions, but that things quickly escalated when they approached the rapper's vehicle. At that point, the cops say that they heard gunfire and took cover -- at which point the car took off. When the police managed to stop the car again on a blocked side street, neither ODB nor his cousin was found to be in possession of a weapon and a gun has yet to be found in the vicinity.
Prosecutors are currently awaiting the results of forensic tests taken on Ol' Dirty Bastard's car, clothes and hands that will determine whether or not he actually fired a weapon that night.
The rapper's attorney says that ODB maintained an upbeat attitude despite spending a week in jail, because "he knows he didn't do anything wrong."
Fat Joe got together with the rest of the Terror Squad in New York City this past weekend to film the video for "Bet Ya Man Can't," the planned next single from 'Don Cartagena.' Directed by Chris Robinson, who has also helmed clips for Canibus, Noreaga and Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, the video 'Bet Ya Man Can't' features appearances from the Squad members Big Punisher, Cuban Link and Triple Seis -- and is actually a sequel of sorts to Pun's glitzy video for 'Still Not a Player.'
Big Pun may soon be made into a toy doll.......Apparently the doll may also have pierced nipples.
Rapper Bizzy Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has been accused by a student barber of dragging him down a flight of stairs. Bizzy reportedly confronted barber Terrance Harden at the Hair Experts Barber School to find out why the barber had been spreading rumors about him.
The following is from MNOTW:
When the folks at Loud Records want to spread the word about a new Wu-Tang Clan or Mobb Deep record, they don't call a marketing consultant. Rather, they turn to their pioneering 'street teams,' whose tactics include pasting road signs with stickers and handing out cassette samplers in school yards. Starting this month, those street teams will blast off into cyberspace, blanketing chat rooms and websites in a groundbreaking promotion that uses the controversial MP3 downloadable music format. "Now [we] can bomb the Internet." -- Randy Weiner, Loud Records executive producer for new media. "Most of our stuff doesn't get radio play -- it's underground hip-hop," said Randy Weiner, executive producer for new media at Loud. Despite the lack of airtime, the grass roots promotional tactics of street teams have helped turn Loud artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan and Big Punisher (born Christopher Rios) -- who hit last year with "I'm Not a Player" - into some of hip-hop's biggest stars. "The MP3 is the logical extension of that," Weiner said. "It's getting the music out, because that's the only way people can hear our stuff. And we believe that when people hear the music, they buy it -- it's the same thing that happens with radio. But we have to come up with our own way of letting people hear it." In late January, Loud will launch its MP3 campaign by focusing on two singles from an as-yet-untitled album by rappers Mobb Deep, which is due in stores in March. The cuts, which have yet to be chosen, will be offered for free download at Loud's website (www.loud.com) in a new form of MP3 that prevents listeners from copying the files.Pre-release tracks from highly anticipated solo albums by Wu-Tang members Raekwon (born Corey Woods) and Inspectah Deck (Jason Hunter) will follow in the spring. Some of the songs may be posted on the Net even before they're given to influential club and radio DJs -- "absolute exclusives," Weiner said. Street team members who used to spend time saturating -- or "bombing" in team lingo -- neighborhoods with Loud cassette samplers and free 12-inch singles recently have been clustered around computers, according to Weiner. "Now they can bomb the Internet," he said. Team members plan to post MP3s in chat rooms and other areas of the Net frequented by hip-hop heads. The copyright-secure MP3 was developed by a San Francisco company, Audio Explosion. On Jan. 27 the company is scheduled to launch its own website selling secure MP3s (none will be from Loud artists) for $1 each, according to president and CEO Arnold Brown.
But Audio Explosion's MP3 files are encrypted to prevent copying, and they contain a "watermark" that allows a song to be traced back to its original downloader if somehow it is copied. The company is developing its own MP3-player software, but the files will be playable with such existing MP3 software as the Winamp program, and on portable players, such as the Rio. The five global music corporations, including BMG, meanwhile, are working with software companies to develop their own mechanism for preventing unwanted copying in a variety of downloadable formats, including MP3, Liquid Audio and a2b. Weiner said Loud plans to begin selling downloadable songs once that mechanism is in place. Audio Explosion's Brown said Loud Records "is really leading the way in terms of [labels] that have really good content that want to operate in this space." As MP3s have exploded in popularity in the past year, hip-hop artists have been some of the most visible proponents of the format. Last fall, punk-rappers the Beastie Boys and the hip-hop band Public Enemy posted unreleased MP3s on their official websites. Both groups recently took the files down, reportedly at the behest of their labels. Last week, Public Enemy posted a new MP3, "Swindler's Lust," that criticizes the music industry. In the upcoming Mobb Deep promotion, listeners who download the two songs will be asked to vote on which should be the first single. That mirrors a current campaign in which Loud is asking Xzibit fans, through a page on the label's website, to pick the next single from the rapper's 1998 album, 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz; the candidates include "Let It Rain" (RealAudio excerpt). The campaign drew more than 6,000 votes in two weeks. Weiner said such information about listener tastes is an overlooked but vital component in the street-team strategy, which was pioneered by Loud founder and CEO Steve Rifkind, and has been copied by other labels. "[Rifkind's] street teams went two ways," Weiner said. "Not only would they hand stuff out, they would listen to what people said, and bring that information back. That was the genius of it."
Eminem recently debuted his video for "My Name is..." on MTV. The difference is, it was debuted as an MTV Buzzclip, yes the same "Buzz" system that blew up Busta Rhymes and Wu-Tang Clan.
Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, and Redman will touch down next month for the first date of their upcoming "Hard Knock Life" tour. The rappers will kick off the trek on February 27, and will stay on the road through mid-April. Jay-Z is expected to announce more dates next week at a press conference in New York.
For now, here is how the itinerary shapes up:
2/27 - Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Coliseum
2/28 - North Charleston, SC @ North Charleston Coliseum
3/2 - Washington, DC @ MCI Center
3/3 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Continental Airline Arena
3/4 - Cleveland, OH @ CSU Convocation Center
3/6 - Dallas, TX @ Reunion Arena
3/7 - Houston, TX @ Compaq Center
3/10 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
3/11 - Montreal, QC @ Molson Centre
3/12 - Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena
3/13 - Camden, NJ @ Blockbuster - Sony Center
3/14 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Pittsburgh Civic Arena
3/16 - Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
3/17 - Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena
3/18 - Providence, RI @ Rhode Island Convention Center
3/19 - Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
3/21 - Hartford, CT @ Hartford Civic Center
3/23 - Albany, NY @ Pepsi Arena
3/25 - Buffalo, NY @ Marine Midland Arena
3/26 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Arena
3/27 - Boston, MA @ FleetCenter
3/28 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
3/31 - St. Louis, MO @ Kiel Center
4/1 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Gardens
4/2 - Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee Arena
4/3 - Memphis, TN @ Mid-South Coliseum
4/4 - Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
4/7 - Greenville, SC @ Bi-Lo Center
4/8 - Albany, GA @ Albany Civic Center
4/9 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Coliseum
4/10 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
4/11 - Birmingham, AL @ Birmingham-Jefferson Coliseum
4/13 - El Paso, TX @ El Paso Convention Ctr.
4/14 - Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
4/15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion
4/16 - San Diego, CA @ San Diego Sports Arena
4/17 - Anaheim, CA @ Arrowhead Pond
Despite all the legal problems that have surrounded Ol' Dirty Bastard over the last year, a few of his friends and musical associates have spoken out in his defense. One of those friends is fellow Wu-Tanger Method Man, who in an interview with MTV last fall blamed a lot of ODB's troubles on the crew the rapper surrounds himself with. "He has people that throw detours in front of him," Meth told the MTV Radio Network. "[He'll be] goin' in the right path, but then there's just people who jump inside his path and make him go down this bumpy road. [It's like] the cloud with the rain that follows him all over the place. There's a lot of people around Dirty that get him into crap like that, he just needs to stick home, close to family." Results have yet to be announced of the test ODB took to determine if he fired a weapon during the altercation with undercover police officers, but we'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, Method Man is planning to head out on the road with fellow rappers Jay-Z, DMX and Redman in March.
ODB is probably going before a grand jury tommorow morning or Thurs. according to Sonicnet. Further evidence to help ODB's claims is that there are only 4 shells recovered at the scene that the cops admit to finding, and it is not disputed that both cops fired.
Also, Ghostface Killah's album, Supreme Clientele, might be delayed past the May 11 date now, because he's running out of time to finish his vocals before his jail-time for an old robbery charge (it's another bogus charge) on Feb. 1. He's already done tracks with Ju-Ju from the Beatnutz and Hassan of the UMCs, but he hasn't gotten any tracks from RZA yet. Ghost's publicist sez it's not a problem though, because RZA'll probably just show up one day with the beats all ready. Also, GZA will be on Ghost's album. Thanx to Blaze for that info.
Nas' album has been delayed until March 30. Sonicnet doesn't know why, I'm guessing the bad response to the promo.
Today the police are doing parrafin tests to see if Dirt even had a gun. I don't really understand how a bullistics test will help someone that didn't even have a weapon to fire, but if it helps ODB, it'll be good. Maybe they're using it to check the trajectory of bullets fired at the scene and that'll prove that only the cops fired.
The cops don't even have a gun. Sonicnet says that the cops have NO weapon in connection to what they charged ODB with.
ODB's side of the story is this:
The cops pulled him over; they approached the Tahoe with their guns drawn; ODB pulled his cell phone out; the cops saw this and started firing; ODB drove away so he wouldn't be shot, and the cops apprehended him a few blocks away.
60 Sec confirmed that ODB only pulled out his cell phone, and Dirt's lawyer is gettin' together more witnesses who say that ODB never even had a gun.
"I need help. The government is after me. I need help. Someone help me please. Someone help me. They already did 2Pac in. Biggie Smalls. Someone help me. Someone help me please."--ODB from Diesel
This all happened as the two men were just leaving the studio to visit a female cousin of ODB's. It happened in Crown Hights, Brooklyn.
Then everything supposedly went down as I said earlier (but I SERIOUSLY doubt it now).
60 Second Assassin (shown in all the news reports only as Frederick Cuffie, or F. Cuffie) was released(he was the other guy) and was not charged.
ODB has been charged with 1st & 2nd degree attempted murder, 2nd degree attempted assault and 2nd and 3rd degree possession of a weapon.

ODB's lawyer described ODB as very upset because, as the lawyer claims himself, the arrest was a set-up. Dirt's lawyer, Peter Frankel, denies that either man had a gun in the vehicle (the police haven't produced the weapon in question yet, or even described what type of firearm it was) and also says "I have witnesses that say that at no time did he have a gun and at no time did shoot a gun."
I felt somethin' was up when the police said that ODB just "exited the vehicle and started firing." That doesn't sound right anyway you try to figure it. Possibly a conspiracy ?
In other news, Loud Records has a message board now, and there's someone postin' in the name of Loud giving out release dates. Now, they posted that Mobb Deep's droppin' April 13, Deck- April 23 and Raekwon- Late June. Now, that Deck date is wrong because April 23 is a Friday, and albums release on Tuesdays, so either it's droppin' March 23 (a Tues.) or it's droppin' the week before or after April 23. But, it might not even be an official Loud source, so I gotta wait and see on that.
ODB was arrested after a shootout with police Friday, authorities said. No injuries were reported. ODB, was arrested at about 8:15 p.m. ODB, and another man were driving in a Chevrolet Tahoe with either one or both headlights out, said Detective Joseph Pentangelo, a police spokesman. A patrol car stopped the truck in Brooklyn. The two men got out of the truck and began firing an undetermined number of shots at police officers, said Pentangelo. Police returned fire. ODB was arrested at the scene. The second man, whose name was not immediately available, was arrested after a chase, said police. Both men were charged with attempted murder of police officers. Things aren't looking too good for him. Big ups to Cobalt for informing me !
Priority are releasing another NWA tribute album entitled 'NWA Legacy' including songs by NWA, solo songs by group members and songs by artists influenced by NWA.
'NWA Legacy' Tracklist :
Westside Connection: "Bow Down"
Westside Connection: "The Gangsta, the Killa, and the Dope Dealer"
2Pac w/ Dr. Dre: "California Love"
Daz Dillinger: "In California"
Dr. Dre: "Let Me Ride"
Snoop Doggy Dogg: "Murder Was the Case (Remix)"
Dr. Dre w/ Ice Cube: "Natural Born Killaz"
NWA: "Always Into Somethin'"
Eazy-E: "Boyz In the Hood (Remix)"
Ice Cube: "Color Blind"
Ice Cube: "Dead Homiez"
MC Ren: "Final Frontier"
NWA: "Fuck tha Police"
Ice Cube: "It Was a Good Day (Remix)"
Dr. Dre: "Keep Their Heads Ringin'"
Mack 10 & the Dogg Pound: "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit"
Mack 10 w/ Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube: "Only In California"
Ice Cube: "Steady Mobbin'"
NWA: "Straight Outta Compton"
Penthouse Players: "Trust No Bitch"
Eazy-E: "We Want Eazy"
Mack 10 w/ Ice Cube & WC: "Westside Slaughterhouse"
Above the Law: "The Last Song"
Da Lench Mob: "Guerillas in tha Mist"
The D.O.C.: "No One Can Do it Better"
Previously unreleased: "Westsyde Radio Megamix"
NWA Legacy Vol. 1 1988-1998 will be released in March 1999.
In 1993 the crew Black Moon ruled the underground scene with hits like "Who Got The Props?", "How Many MCs","I Gotch Opin" and now classic album Enta Da Stage. Through differences with their label, Nervous Records, they broke up and left and were unable to keep the name Black Moon since Nervous owned it. Now Buckshot, 5 ft. and Evil Dee have their own label, Duckdown Records, in association with Priority Records. Priority went and bought the catalog and rights to the name Black Moon from Nervous Records so that Buckshot and company could recliam it. Be on the lookout for thw Black Moon reunion album Warzone to tentatively drop on March 16.
American Music Award Winners
These are the winners of last night's American Music Awards :
Favorite Pop / Rock Album:
Will Smith - Big Willie Style
Favorite New Soul / R&B Artist:
Lauryn Hill
Favorite Soul / R&B Album:
Will Smith - Big Willie Style
Favorite Soul / R&B Band, Duo or Group:
K-Ci & Jo Jo
Favorite Soul / R&B Male Artist:
Will Smith
Favorite Soul / R&B Female Artist:
Janet Jackson
Favorite Rap Artist:
Master P
Orion Pictures is suing Deathrow and Priority Records for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, common counts (money had and received), and accounting. Orion claims that Deathrow and Priority owe them $100,000 and royalties from the sales of the soundtrack for the film Gang Related which starred Tupac Shakur. The suit was filed on Tuesday and Orion claims that they are owed over $1 million in royalties.
Public Enemy officially left Def Jam and plans to release their next album on the Net.
Tragedy Khadafi and Noreaga have beef between 'em. Tragedy's recorded two dis tracks aimed at Nore, and Nore just recorded one to the beat of Big Pun's "Ain't A Player" with the hook sayin' "You ain't a Muslim no more".
Ras Kass moved to NYC, according to Hip-Hop Site. He's also under new management, and hopefully working on the 4 Horsemen project.
Here's all the releases from the Wu this year:
Wu Chronicles: a collection of hits from Wu albums, hits from other artists albums, rare tacks, remixes and three new tracks. Due out in Feb.
Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substance- This will likely not come out until mid-late Spring, because Loud says they won't promote it until early Spring.
Raekwon - Blood On Chef's Apron - same as Deck's
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele- Delayed until May 11 because of Ghost's impending jail term.
RZA - The Cure- droppin' in the summer with guest spots by Issac Hayes, Zach De La Rocha and RZA's daughter
GZA - Untitled - Produced largely by Mathmatics
U-God - Warriors - RZA says that Golden Arms wants to make people dance, well I'm hoping RZA's wrong on this one
Masta Killa - Untitled
ODB aka Big Baby Jesus - God Made Dirt and Dirt Don't Hurt - ODB's album with rumored guests like Wyclef, DJ Premier, Buddha Monk, Biz Markie, Madonna, Neptunes, Garth Brooks, Lauryn Hill, Aretha Franklin, Snoop Dogg, Master P, Mystikal and more....
Wu-Syndicates - Untitled - Dope Virginia Wu-Fam group
Black Knights - Untitled - Everyone's feelin' the group's frontman Holocaust right now. These are the West Coast Killa Bees.
Poppa Wu - Untitled - We've heard him do spoken word, so what's the album gonna be like ???
Shyhiem - Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)- The Rugged One's third album
Larger Than Life - Untitled - Some unknown Wu-Fam group that's droppin' this year
Money Makin' Operations (MMO) - Untitled - Another unknown Wu-Fam group.
Black Shampoo - R&B Wu-Tang style
Royal Fam - The Legacy- Will we finally hear the other members besides Timbo?
Hell Razah - Untitled
Prodigal Sunn - Untitled
Killa Sin - Untitled
Dom Pachino - Untitled
9th Prince - Untitled
Maccabees - The Arc Of The Covenant- Killah Priest's peoples drop this album on MCA
Gravediggaz - Untitled - Along with new member, Shabazz, more mentally dead are dug up in March/April.
Shabazz the Disciple - Untitled - late 99
United Kingdom - Untitled - The Wu-Fam supergroup composed of Sunz of Man, Royal Fam, Coins, Black Rose Family, Begga Clan, Makeba Mooncycle, Dreddy Kruger and more will drop this year
Deadly Venoms - Untitled - The women of Wu
Street Life - Untitled - workin' on his solo
*The following are only rumors, the above are actual fact!*
DRUG (Dirty Rotten Underground Grimies) - Untitled - ODB's crew
Dreddy Kruger - Untitled - said to be workin' on a solo
True Master - Untitled - said to be workin' on his album which will combine Wu and Gangstarr elements
Remedy - Words To Live By - supposed to drop in '98, maybe '99???
As I reported in my interview with Chuck D, he has decided to keep f*cking with the industry. He's now released another mp3 and an mp4 of a track 'Swindlers Lust' you can download it at the official PE site
The New York Daily News reported Guru, was robbed and assaulted outside of a Queens Record Studio. Some of the items stolen from him included a $6,000 diamond-encrusted Rolex and a $1,700 gold chain. One of Guru's friends with him was shot at but the bullet missed him. Guru was treated at a Jamaica, Queens hospital for bruises and cuts and has been released.
Coolio's gun and marijuana possession case has moved on to a superior court due to the plethora of evidence against him. Coolio will be tried at Southwest Superior Court in Torrance on February 9. As you may remember, Coolio was apprehended in September after a routine traffic stop yielded discovery of the 9mm gun and pot.
According to Billboard Magazine, DMX is the first artist ever to make two albums in one year and have both of them debut at #1 on the album charts. In June, DMX's debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot went to #1 moving 251,000 units it's first week. Fast forward seven months, his second album Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood knocked out country star Garth Brooks for the #1 spot by moving 670,000 units it's first week.
On Tuesday, Big Pun is opening a shop consisting of a barber shop, pool hall and clothing store. 'Big Pun's Billiards, Store & Barber Shop' will be in his hood, The Bronx, on Westchester Ave. It's good to see rappers investing their money into something besides cars and jewels
Xzibit is running a poll at www.loud.com for fans to choose his next single. The songs being considered are off of his latest album 40 Days & 40 Nights and include "Chamber Music," "Nobody Sounds Like Me," "Shroomz," "Focus," "Deeper," "Inside Job," "Let It Rain" and "Recycled Assassins." For those of you sleeping on Xzibit, you can peep clips of the song at the site.
Building on his already sturdy base in film and adding to his hefty resume, Master P is expanding his film production work.
This week, P announced the launch of No Limit Filmworks, a film and video production company based in Hollywood. The fledgling production company already has two film lined up: "Foolish" featuring Master P and Eddie Griffin ("Armageddon," "Malcolm & Eddie") and "No Tomorrow" starring P, Pam Grier ("Jackie Brown," "Foxy Brown"), and Gary Busey ("Soldier," "Lethal Weapon"). P once described "Foolish" as a drama with touches of comedy (see "Master P Lines Up More Film Roles"), and No Limit Filmworks promises that "No Tomorrow" follow the action/suspense vein.
P's No Limit Entertainment produced past P efforts like 1997's "I'm Bout It" and the 1998 theatrical release "I Got The Hookup," and the expanded No Limit Filmworks vows to produce "not just 'black' films, but good films."
Cage and Eminem have a little beef. Apparently Cage said on a radio show that he felt Eminem bit his style, while Em says his style is original. Big ups to Mista Pizzo for that
ODB is facing a busy day in court on Monday. Ol' Dirty Bastard is scheduled to appear in two Southern California courtrooms Monday to be arraigned on charges of threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend in one incident and security guards at the House of Blues in another. ODB is facing a terrorist-threat charge in superior court in Compton for allegedly threatening his former girlfriend, who is also the mother of his year-old child. In Santa Monica Superior Court he faces similar charges for the House of Blues incident.
A Sunday night cruise with his business manager, Gerald Odom, goes bad for Busta Rhymes who got snatched up by the po-po after police reportedly discovered that the men had a fully loaded .45 automatic in their automobile.
(And... how did this discovery happen?) According to New York City Police spokesperson Sheryl St. Rose, Busta was driving a car at 11:30 p.m. on 11th Avenue near 18th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Two officers on a routine patrol witnessed him making an unsafe lane change, stopped the car and, during a search, found the weapon.
Chicago MC Common has left Relativity Records, where he recorded three albums, and is going to MCA Records. His hopes in moving is to start his own label imprint, which is untitled right now. Common expects to have his next album on this label by July, featuring production from The Roots and No I.D.