Tuesday, December 30, 2008

DMX PLEADS GUILTY!!!


PHOENIX (AP) — Rapper DMX has reached a plea deal on multiple drug possession, theft and animal cruelty charges.
DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of animal cruelty, one count of theft, and one count each of felony possession of marijuana and a narcotic drug.
A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner has set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 30.
Additional charges will be dismissed then.
The 38-year-old rapper has been arrested several times in Arizona in the past year and missed several court dates.
Authorities alleged that DMX gave a false name and Social Security number when being treated at a Scottsdale hospital in April. He was indicted on felony charges of theft and taking someone's identity.
The animal cruelty charge, a misdemeanor, came from an August 2007 raid that Maricopa County sheriff's deputies conducted at DMX's Cave Creek home. Authorities investigating a report of animal abuse found three dead dogs, guns, ammunition and drug paraphernalia.

JAY-Z's HOTEL PLANS IN THE "CAN"


Jay-Z’s plans to add the title of hotelier to his ever-expanding empire has been halted, the New York Times reports.

The rapper/mogul’s planned J Hotels, which was scheduled to break ground this year, has been postponed indefinitely, as New York’s real estate development market takes a heavy hit.

The luxury hotel was proposed as the first five-star property in Manhattan’s developing High Line neighborhood, on the city’s Westside.

After purchasing the location, a former Time Warner Cable warehouse, for nearly $66 million, longtime developer Charles Blaichman enlisted partners Jay-Z and Abram and Scott Shnay to create the new full service J Hotels brand.

Blaichman, who is responsible for SoHo House and Spice Market, two of the biggest draws in the Meat Packing district, was also planning two other properties in the High Line neighborhood.

However, the struggling economy can no longer support the $370 million in loans and investment he would have needed to undertake the endeavor.

Still, Blaichman remains optimistic that his plans have been delayed rather than cancelled.

“It’s one of the greatest stretches of undeveloped areas,” he told the Times. “I still think it’s going to take off.”

Still, with the growth rate of construction in New York City down to .08 percent from 11.3 percent last year, experts say it may be as much as two years before any new buildings appear on the city’s sky line.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

SHAWTY LO GIVES BACK!!!!!!





It's been a banner year for Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo and he plans on ending it by doing "good in the hood".
On Tuesday, December 23rd, the D4L boss will be participating in the DJ Holiday-hosted event, Everyday's A Holiday Toy Give-Away
along with other industry labels and artists including the DTP Family, So Icey Entertainment and OJ Da Juiceman.
Shawty Lo will be passing out toys to children in need at 4PM at 5960 Forest Road in Forest Park, Georgia.
"I know what it's like to not have anything to open on Christmas Day" says the Bankhead representer.
"So to be able to give back and make the kids feel special is what this season is all about."
It was also just announced that Shawty Lo was named "Breakthrough MC of the Year" by MTV's Shaheem Reid and Rahman Dukes for the
2008 Mixtape Monday Awards. Other honors were given to 50 Cent and G-Unit, Green Latern, Whoo Kid,
Kanye West, Nas, TI, Snoop Dogg, DJ Scream and more.



Saturday, December 6, 2008

15 YRS FOR O.J. SIMPSON


O.J. Simpson,who walked away a free man after one of America's most sensational murder trials, was today sentenced to 15 years in prison for a botched attempt to recover sports memorabilia.
Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant and former golfing friend, Clarence "CJ" Stewart, were convicted in October of 12 criminal charges including kidnapping and armed robbery.
The former American football star was found guilty of holding up two sports memorabilia dealers in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino in Las Vegas before stealing from them in September last year.
Simpson will be eligible for parole after six years. Stewart received the same sentence.
In a long preamble before sentencing, prosecutors sought to pin the blame mainly on Simpson rather than his co-defendant. They said Simpson was the ringleader of the crime, the one who secured the guns and the one who escalated the violence.
"It could have been a lot worse," the prosecution said. "He's the person who ruined so many lives."
Simpson's two defence lawyers mounted strong appeals for clemency before an emotional Simpson stood up to say he was sorry. Wearing a blue prison suit, he defended his actions as those of a man trying to recover property that had been stolen from him.
"This was the first time I had an opportunity to catch these guys red-handed who were stealing my property," Simpson told the judge.
"I did not mean to hurt anyone, I did not mean to steal anything, just my own stuff," Simpson said. "I just wanted my personal things back… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anybody."
The judge, Jackie Glass, said Simpson's behaviour amounted to much more than stupidity.
"It was a very violent event, guns were brought. The potential for harm to occur in that room were tremendous," she said.
Glass made it clear that she was sentencing Simpson solely for the case in Las Vegas, and not for any of his past actions.
"I'm not here to sentence Mr Simpson for what happened previously," she said. "I'm not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else."
Simpson achieved international notoriety when he was cleared of murdering his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles in 1995. The verdict of the mainly black jury in what was called the trial of the century divided America along racial lines and prompted debates over the suitability of televised court cases.
Today Goldman's father, Fred, expressed his satisfaction with the verdict outside the court.
"It's a bittersweet moment that this SOB ill be in jail for a long time. He still had that arrogant look on his face when he came in and he still had that arrogant look when he walked out. He's going be where he belongs," he said.
In the Las Vegas trial, Simpson was accused of taking a gang of men to the Palace Station to retrieve items he lost while trying to hide them from Goldman's family, which won $33.5m in damages from Simpson in a civil case over the deaths of Brown and Goldman.
Four of the five men who accompanied Simpson to the casino - Charles Cashmore, Walter "Goldie" Alexander, Michael "Spencer" McClinton and Charles Ehrlich - agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testified against Simpson and Stewart.
Simpson's lawyers said he never intended to commit a robbery but wanted to reclaim personal mementos of his career and family life that were being sold by the dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.
Simpson did not give evidence during the three-week trial, and jurors were instructed not to consider that fact when judging the case. Glass, who rejected several mistrial motions and kept a tight rein on proceedings, warned the all-white jury against trying to punish Simpson over the death of his former wife.
She told them that if they hoped to become famous because of the trial "then this is not the case for you".
The charges included two of first degree kidnapping, two of armed robbery, two of assault with a deadly weapon, two of coercion with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping and robbery.
Jurors who heard 13 days of testimony said after the verdict that they were convinced of Simpson's guilt because of recordings secretly made of the September 2007 confrontation at the Palace Station casino hotel with Beardsley and Fromong.
"Don't let nobody out of this room!" Simpson commands on the recordings, and he instructs other men to scoop up items he insists had been stolen from him.
Simpson's friends insist that the whole thing was a set-up as Thomas Riccio, who had encouraged Fromong and Beardsley into setting up shop in the hotel's room 1203, had also bugged the place. It was Riccio who told Simpson about the men. He sold the resulting audio tapes, on which Simpson can be heard, for thousands of dollars to a celebrity website.
On Tuesday, Glass is scheduled to sentence those who agreed to testify against Simpson and Stewart.

Friday, December 5, 2008


The Black Eyed Peas are planning more of a "music diary" than a conventional album when the group releases "The END" in March.

Group leader will.i.am tells Billboard.com that "The END" stands for "The Energy Never Dies," which describes his model for a project that will be living and frequently updated throughout its designated cycle.

"It's a diary ... of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it," the artist/producer/songwriter explains. "When it comes out, there'll be 12 songs on it, but the next day there could be 100 songs, 50 sketches, 1,000 blogs all (online) around 'The End,' so the energy really, truly never dies.

"I'm trying to break away from the concept of an album. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs? That's not an album. There is no album anymore."

will.i.am -- who's been busy promoting the "Madagascar 2" film soundtrack, which he co-scored with Hans Zimmer, and his "It's a New Day" Barack Obama victory song -- says he and the other Peas have been working on "The END" throughout the year and that the follow-up to 2005's "Monkey Business" is "almost" done.

He describes the music as "a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that." There are currently no guest features planned for the album.

The Peas will hit the road in May or June, and will.i.am says singer Fergie has told him that "our show needs to be f*ckin' ridiculous this time. We need to. put together a monster show.' So I'm gonna hold her to that and we're gonna follow her lead and really knock 'em out."

Besides his Peas and solo work, will.i.am has also been busy as a producer and guest, with contributions to recent releases by Usher, Estelle and Flo Rida.

He's worked on material for expected upcoming releases by Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and the Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger and was recently in London working with U2 ("I'm not supposed to talk about that," he says) and has a role in the X-Men prequel "X Men Origins: Wolverine," which is due out in 2009.