By: Rizoh All three members of Salt-N-Pepa—Chery “Salt” James, Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Deidre “Dee Dee” Roper—wil reunite for a 10-part reality series, titled “The Salt ‘N’ Pepa Show.” VH-1, which seems to be leading MTV in hip-hop coverage these days, will follow the group around as they work towards a comeback. Salt-N-Pepa is best remembered for their oft-sampled hit song “Push It,” which helped the trio sell millions of records. They were also the first female rap group to win a Grammy Award for “Best Rap Performance” in 1994 with the song “None of Your Business.” Hopefully, the show will help them re-establish an audience.

By: Rizoh Actor and comedian Damon Wayans has offered an explanation for storming out of a sold-out comedy show in El Paso, TX. Wayans blamed the incident on racism. “I apologize to my fans and friends for the el paso incident,” said Wayans on his myspace blog. “I had great shows, standing ovations, and I felt the love for the people. However the owner of the club was being a racist … and HOMIE DON’T PLAY THAT!” In a myspace rebuttal titled “Damon Wayans and the Death of Professionalism”, the club owner Bart Reed alleged that Wayans crashed the club in tow with three groupies who demanded VIP treatment. “Normally I would have no problem with this, but the show was SOLD OUT!,” explained Reed. “Wayans was demanding that we displace paying customers and provide his groupies a prime table. As a club owner my obligation is to my paying customers, I told him I would seat those that paid $37.50 to see him then I would arrange some seats for his guests. There was no screaming, no yelling this was just common sense and I had believed the matter resolved. Five minutes later he proclaimed "I’m out". We practically begged him to reconsider… at which point he made threats about what he would do to my reputation and walked out on a full house.” Sounds like the usual celebrity ego problem to me.

By: Hot Gossip Gal That rumor just never seems to die…you think it has been deaded but just as you ready to relax on the weekend you hear that Curtis is actually caught up in the Princess of Crunk. The two have definitely got up close and personal in the video for Can’t Leave them Alone off Ciara’s album but word is there is a lot more to this couple than what we know.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno When Usher is recording a new album, he likes to isolate himself from the world as far as music is concerned. Apparently the singer doesn’t listen to the radio and mostly listens to preachers nowadays. But he knows what’s getting the most play nowadays. "I really don’t listen to the radio that much, but I’m guessing ‘Party Like a Rockstar’,” he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “To tell you the truth, I listen to more inspirational speeches than anything. Bishop Eddie Long and T.D. Jakes. Because if you listen to other artists too much you may start to sound like them. So I listen to inspirational things mostly so I can develop as a man, and then hopefully an artist." Usher’s album isn’t due until November, but in the meantime, Usher along with R. Kelly are promoting their new single together, “Same Girl”. The video for the song launched this week and you can peep it HERE:

By: Hot Gossip Gal Call Wendy what you will but no-one can fault her for speaking her mind. Here she is airing out Ushers ‘boo’ Tameka Foster. So the war between her and Usher and now his boo continues…lol you go Wendy. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno It doesn’t matter that Rihanna is blowing up in the United States, doing songs with Jay-Z, and putting her home land Barbados on the map, apparently some folks still don’t like her. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Rihanna said that every time she goes home to Barbados, somebody always has something to say. “A lot of them hate me, but a lot of them love me. I don’t really let the ones that hate me stop me from doing what I wanna do,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “They always have something to say about what I’m wearing, what I’m not wearing, like in the ‘Umbrella’ video. If I wear a swimsuit to the beach, it’s a problem, they put it on the front of the newspaper and call into programs. It really annoys me when people that I try to represent and I try to put them on the map as much as I can — you know, I didn’t have to put Tridents in my videos. A Trident is a symbol of the flag. I didn’t have to talk about them. I didn’t have to even mention that I’m from Barbados. But I do and people kind of take it for granted. They hate me. They talk s— about me all the time. But I’m like, ‘Whatever. I’m still doing this cause I love to do it and you’re not going to stop me.’” Rihanna’s hit song “Umbrella” is still #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart for the fourth consecutive week. We also recently reported that Rihanna was named 2007 Venus Breeze ‘Celebrity Legs of Goddess’ by Gillette. Apparently the singer agreed with Gillette and took out a $1 million insurance policy on her legs.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Awww isn’t he a sweetie… here we have Swizz and son at the super producers in-store signing in Manhattan the on Tuesday. Cute kid and pleased to see Swizz looking better after his recent bout of meningitis

By: Rizoh Just days after Young Buck’s manager debunked rumors of a G-Unit diss from Buck, the Cashville CEO has now lashed out at DJ Khaled on wax. Khaled, Buck claims, has refused to play his records because of the tension between G-Unit and Khaled’s longtime collaborator and friend, Fat Joe of the Terror Squad. On an untitled diss song premiered by DJ Kay Slay, Buck declares: “I tried to get your man to play my sh*t. MIA [Miami] wanna hear me sh*t…I understand your situation, man. Being loyal to your crew. Well, I’m loyal like a m****f****, too. But a hit is a hit. You gotta play the hit. So, play my sh*t like every other DJ.” He later adds, and I find this surprising: “I know 50 just got $400 million. I’m getting to the money on my own. I don’t need nothing right now. It’s cool to know you got it. Holla!” Huh? Is Young Buck trying too hard to affirm his loyalty to 50 Cent? CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

By: Rizoh What’s the difference between Kanye West and other hip-hop artists? (No, Pauline—it’s not his oversized head.) Well, most artists throw release parties for their albums. Kanye, on the other hand, throws them for music videos. Yep, you read that right. Spywitnesses are dishing that Mr. West recently held an exclusive…um…viewing party for “Stronger”—the rumored new single from Graduation. The video was directed by none other than Hype Williams. R&B Singer Cassie and House icons Daft Punk are featured in the video, alongside some futuristic robots. Graduation, Kanye’s third album is due out on September 21. Look for the “Stronger” music video sometime this month.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno After introducing a different side to Brooklyn to the hip-hop masses in the 90’s the Boot Camp Clik, kind of fell off a bit in the early 2000’s. But after the success of 2006’s The Last Stand, Buckshot’s collaboration album, “Chemistry,” with 9th Wonder and Sean Price’s amazing “Jesus Price Superstar”, the Boot Camp Clik are ready to flood the market. The crew will first set it off this summer with mixtapes from both Sean P (“Master P”) and Steele (“Hotstyle Takeover”) and then hit stores with Boot Camp Clik’s “Casualties of War.” That album is a collection of tracks that didn’t make “The Last Stand” and various tracks intended for solo albums but never saw the light of day. In addition, Sean Price will be the busiest working on a Heltah Skeltah project, prepping his new album “Mic Tyson” for a fall release, and finishing up a collaborative LP with Black Milk and Guilty Simpson which they’re currently recording in Detroit. But one of the most anticipated albums from the Clik is Buckshot and 9th Wonder’s sequel to “Chemistry” called “The Formula.” Duck Down Records, the home to Boot Camp, is also expanding outside just promoting and marketing the crew’s and affiliates’ projects. They’re gearing up to release the debut album from Special Teamz, called “Stereotypes.” Special Teams is a new group spearheaded by vet emcee EDO. G, with up and coming emcees Slaine and Jaysaun. The album features production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Marco Polo, Jake One and Ill Bill and appearances from Sean Price, Buckshot, Devin The Dude, Ill Bill and Jamie Jasta of Hatebreed. To keep up with everything, check out HERE.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno Del tha Funkee Homosapien and his Hieroglyphics crew have been putting in work for the better of more than 15 years and it seems there no slowing down anytime soon. Del will be hitting the road next month to get fans ready for his upcoming album, “11th Hour”, due to drop this Fall. Del will most stay in Canada for the month of July and A-Plus, who just dropped “My Last Good Deed”, will join him on those dates. Speaking of A-Plus, he’ll be rejoining Souls of Mischief next month as well as they tour the U.S. and Canada. No word on how he’s going to be on both tours at once, but it’ll be interesting to see. Here the itinerary for both Del and Souls of Mischief: Del The Funky Homosapien feat. A Plus: 07/18/07 Victoria, BC Sugar 07/19/07 Vancouver, BC Richards on Richards 07/20/07 Nelson, BC Spirit Bara 07/21/07 Edmonton, AB The Starlite 07/22/07 Calgary, AB Tequila Lounge 07/23/07 Saskatoon, SK TBD 07/24/07 Winnipeg, MB TBD 07/26/07 London, ON Rum Runners 07/27/07 Montreal, PQ TBD 07/28/07 Toronto, ON Wakestock 07/29/07 Ottawa, ON Babylon Souls of Mischief 07/08/07 Johnson City, TN The Hideaway 8:00 PM 07/09/07 Atlanta, GA Vinyl 8:00 PM 07/10/07 Charleston, CA The Pour House 9:00 PM 07/11/07 Lexington, KY The Dame 9:00 PM 07/12/07 Pittsburgh, PA Shadow Lounge 7:00 PM 07/13/07 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s 9:00 PM 07/14/07 Baltimore, MD Sonar 9:00 PM 07/15/07 Charlottesville, VA Starr Hill Music Hall 8:00 PM 07/16/07 Washington, DC The Black Cat 9:00 PM 07/18/07 Montreal, QB Fou Founes Electriques 9:00 PM 07/19/07 Burlington, VT Club Metronome 9:00 PM 07/20/07 Boston, MA Paradise Lounge 9:00 PM

By: Hot Gossip Gal Looks like these two are joined at the hip nowadays…maybe they work out together as well as attend parties and events around town. Here we have LL and 50 rocking together at a G Unit clothing party last night in NYC.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Here is the most talked about female in music showing off her body in the South of France with her boo Jay Z. The two also had a leisurely stroll along one of the many nude beaches in the South of France. I am sure they wouldnt be sending postcards home of what they saw there…nothing but old wrinkly bodies by the looks of things.

By: Rizoh A man being eyed by police as a suspect in the murder of rapper Stack Bundles was found dead in his Queens home, according to the NY Daily News. Charles White, a 20-year old aspiring rapper, was found with a pillow over his head, two bullet wounds to his head and one to the leg. As we reported earlier, Bundles (born Rayquon Elliott) was gunned down in front of his home in Far Rockaway, Queens on June 11th, 2007. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but died soon afterwards from two gunshot wounds. His funeral, held on Monday (June 18), was attended by hip-hop luminaries like Joe Budden and Lupe Fiasco. Police have reason to believe that the two shootings are connected, but no other details have emerged at this point.

By: Rizoh No matter what you think of Jim Jones’s rhyming skills, he’ll always be remembered as the guy who brought Jay-Z out of beef retirement. Jones recently told MTV News that he relishes the fact that he’s able to draw attention from an artist of Jay’s caliber. “That was a beautiful thing. When I’m on a person like Jay-Z’s mind…I’m on everybody’s mind. When you got somebody like that screaming your name, it’s only gonna help you get the fame and money. Everybody would want to know ‘Why is this boy worried about Jim Jones?’” His stance on beef is still as defiant as ever. So, if you’re contemplating launching an attack on this Diplomat, you better be a dentist. “I’m not scared of nobody but God and the dentist. If you’re on my mind at the time, I might have something to say about you.” Jones also reflected on the death of his friend and artist Stack Bundles, who was killed on June 11th, 2007. Shortly after Bundles’ death was announced, Jim Jones released a statement in which he denounced violence. He’s also been visiting schools and telling kids to stay on their grind and pursue their goals. Asked whether his own lyrics help perpetuate the same evil he’s campaigning against, the Dipset capo replied: “The lyrics of my music won’t change until they give us a chance. Why would the content of my music change? This is what we’re going through; I’m just a news reporter.”