By: Rizoh Brooklyn-bred femcee Foxy Brown has landed a new management deal with Black Hand Entertainment. Brown, one of the most controversial female rappers of the last decade, was excited about her new management home. “I needed to connect with a person who understood my struggle completely from where I came to where I traveled today. Chaz [Williams, Black Hand Ent. CEO] is an aggressive businessman who has overcome adversity and roadblocks his entire life, I needa person who can relate to real struggle and who has experience in moving beyondat the most difficult times.” Fox Boogie’s rap career came to a temporary halt when she lost most of her hearing in December 2005. She later underwent surgery to restore her hearing. About Foxy’s comeback, Chaz Williams had this to say:“I think Foxy is an incredible talent and one of the fiercest female MC’s of all time. Her skills and work ethic are undeniable and she has a determination to succeed that I respect. Her focus is keen, andher music speaks for itself. With the return of her hearing, I think she will have the greatest comeback story since Mimi.” Foxy Brown is currently adding finishing touches to her fourth major LP, Black Roses, due out on Neveruary 13.

By: William Ketchum III Don’t sleep on Wu-Tang affiliate Mathematics. While RZA is the group’s more well-known producer, the man born Norman Porter has been putting in work with the Clan for years, both as the beatsmith behind classic Wu gems “Wu Banga 101” “Rules,” and with several solo albums and instrumental LPs under his belt. Lately, Mathematics has been even more busy. He takes a shot at journalism by interviewing legendary hip-hop producers on the new “Beat Kings” documentary DVD, and he compiled old Wu tracks and newer remixes for Mathematics Presents Wu-Tang Clan & Friends: Unreleased. In an interview with HipHopCrack, Mathematics talks about his latest projects, the nature of today’s hip-hop production scene, and the impending new Wu-Tang Clan album. HipHopCrack: How’d you come up with the idea for the DVD? Mathematics: Basically, being a producer, I wanted to go around and interview other producers. I do interviews with certain cats, and they ask good questions or whatever, but being a producer, sometimes you want to get more out there. I thought that I could get a lot of good information out of producers that the average cat couldn’t really get. That was the whole premise of it, really. Also, you’ve got a lot of up and coming producers and people who want to be producers, so I felt I could get some good information to them and they could learn a little something. It turned out to be a real great project, I learned a lot from it. That’s how it all started though. HipHopCrack: When did you start putting it together? Mathematics: I first started putting it together a while ago. Kanye, he was one of the first cats we did, and that was maybe close to two years ago or something like that. Then we were just getting everybody involved, and doing it. I also DJ, so a lot of times I was on the road travelling or producing, so it was kind of hard to really just knock it out. But it all came together. I had it for a while too, because I had a lot of labels that were interested in it, but they came with real disrespectful deals. So it was like, I’ll hold onto it myself and put it out on my own before I let them take advantage of me like that. HipHopCrack: You make beats, but as far as I know, interviewing people isn’t exactly what you do. How much of a challenge was it taking on an entire project like this? Mathematics: It wasn’t hard, because I’m a fan of music. Hip-hop music has become so diverse and everything. You’ve got your foundation of hip-hop, which is that raw hip-hop, and you branch out your different forms: your crunk music, your midwest, your west coast, and even reggaeton is a form of hip-hop. That’s why there’s so many type of producers on here, too. You’ve got David Banner, Trackmasters, Swizz Beats, Marley. The whole thing is about learning, and me personally, I learned a lot from it. HipHopCrack: You said there are a lot of people who want to be producers. While the dream used to be to become a superstar rapper, people want to be producers more and more nowadays. Where do you think that comes from? Mathematics: Everything goes in phases. People are attracted to (get involved in) what they like, especially when you can make money doing it. Even when you can’t make money doing it. When I first got into hip-hop, I wanted to be an MC too. I tried to rhyme, there wasn’t any money involved. When I first become a DJ, it was because I saw another DJ at a pong jam. That right there was like, “Yo, I want to do that.” So I became a DJ. But we took it a lot more serious. There wasn’t no money involved, and it was all fun. And everybody wasn’t trying to do it at the time, but those who it was attracted to, they did it. So I think it all goes in phases. It went from the DJ, back to the MC. If you look in the 80s—DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, Eric B. and Rakim—it was still about the DJ. But them MCs took it to the next level. Cats like Rakim and Kane, they took it to the next level. But behind the MC was always a producer. Marley Marl was holding down the whole Cold Chillin crew. Then you have cats like Prince Paul comin, and RZA came with Wu, Dre was doing the damn thing—eyes start focusing back on the producer. It was a strong transition, and it’s still a transition right now from MC to the producer, but right now, everybody wants to be a producer. Plus, there’s big money involved, too, and everybody wants to get the big money. But you’ve got to work hard and be dedicated, and every producer ain’t gon see it, so you’ve got to do it for the love of your art, too. HipHopCrack: Producers get a lot more shine nowadays too, as far as their public personas. What do you think contributes to that? Mathematics: You get a lot of cats that want to put they name in, or (say) “mention me here.” Because if you’re a producer, and your name gets mentioned, a lot of people want to work with you, whatever. But me, I say that the music has to speak for itself. To me, music is emotional, it’s a feeling. So when I make beats, I do it the way that I feel, and at the same time, I want the people to feel it. Personally, I’d rather people know my music than me. Even now, Sometimes, when you’re feeling bad…”Cobra Clutch” was a mad beat, I was mad. And when you listen to it, you can tell. I don’t really want people to really know me like that, like, “What is he mad about? Why does he feel so sad?” So I had to put that aside, and just go to work. I learned this from the DVD. A cat like Dre, he has a signature sound, but he can always step out of bounds and still be respected. Salaam Remi’s another cat, but he’s not as known as Dre. It’s like a bakery. My specialty can be a double-layered chocolate cake, but people come in and want lemon marigne pie, or a pound cake, so I’ve got to cook it for em. I can’t just try to push (my specialty) on em. I’m not just going to turn em away. And I’ve got to make sure that I make it with the same type of love, because when people cook, you can tell the difference when someone put love into it. That’s why I say that—a lot of people try to chase a persona or try to put their personality on it. I’d rather you just feel good with what you got. When you come home from a hard day of work, you put on music to relax. You put on certain music to get into a mood. I think all producers should try to do that. I learned from the old time greats too, and I think that’s what they did. That’s what made music like what Issac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, that’s what their type of music did for people. Marvin Gaye, it woke up a lot of people. Even when you take it to hip-hop, Bomb Squad and Public Enemy, they had music that gave you a feeling, they set a whole movement. Everybody was wearing the black, green and red. I think it has to go back to the music to create movements, than to be about a person or about self. HipHopCrack: What producers have you been influenced by? Mathematics: Of course by the RZA, Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, Premier. A lot of those greats I have (on the DVD) influenced me. As well as Issac Hayes, Willie Hutchins, Norman Wickfield, David Porter, Stevie Wonder, people like that. They made good music, and good music is timeless. You can still listen to it and be like, “Wow.” HipHopCrack: What was it like interviewing these cats who influneced you for the DVD? Mathematics: It was great. A lot of them I had already admired for certain reasons, whether it’s Havoc—I always loved Mobb Deep’s music—or Trackmasters, Trackmasters did some of my favorite joints from back in the day, like “Ill Street Blues” and “Shootouts.” “Shootouts” is one of my favorite beats of all time, that’s the joint they did for Nas. Even though more people would associate them with other joints, that’s that baking the cake, they know how to bake a cake and put it where it needs to be. But it was a great feeling to go into the studio with some of these cats. Certain cats I already had history with: RZA, of course I had history with. Rockwilder, I had history with because he worked with Redman and Method Man a lot, so I’ve been aroudn him for a long time. Salaam Remi, we went to the same high school, we were in the same art class together. HipHopCrack: You said you learned a lot from them during the interviews. What are some of the things you learned? Mathematics: You’re going to see them in my music. After I did the DVD, I was going to do a follow-up album to The Problem. I had already started recording new songs. then once the DVD was finished, I had learned so much that when I started hitting the board, my music just started going to a whole different notch, it went up a level. So I was like, I need to just sit down, I need to put all this new stuff together that I’ve got. I’m going to go to the archive and get some stuff I’ve got in there. So I found some remixes I had did that never surfaced, I found some old joints, and that’s the Mathematics Presents – Wu-Tang Clan and Friends: Unreleased LP. I wanted to get all that out my system so I could hit them over the head with all this new stuff I’ve been working on. I learned a lot. It gave me a love for music again. After a while, it starts getting like too much business, it’ll bring you down sometimes. Even with the DVD, when I finished, a lot of people that were interested, but they didn’t want to give me what I wanted for it. Most of them just wanted to take it and rob me. So I’m like, ‘Naw, I’d rather hold it than do that.’ HipHopCrack: What are your top five Wu-Tang joints that you’ve produced? Mathematics: Ah, man, I’ve got a lot of joints, I love a lot of ‘em. My top five, I don’t know. “Cobra Clutch” is always one of my favorite joints, “That’s That Shit” is one of my favorite joints too, with Method Man and Reman. “Bang Thangs,” “Rules” is definitely one of my favorite joints. “Strawberries” was one of mine too. See, I could keep naming. I’m a fan of my music, because I think that you have to be. Anything you do, you have to love what you do, you can’t just be doing it just because. That was my point before. The business and everything gets you down, and after a while, you don’t even want to hit the board. After I did the DVD and spoke to all these producers, the love for music came right back. Even DJing for me got (boring) for a while…don’t do a show, everything is repititious. But now, I’m back on the board crazy, I’m loving it, I’m loving the music, I’m loving what I’m making. And I’m DJing crazy again too, I’m having fun again doing that again, like when I first started. You’ve got to have the love for it, man. HipHopCrack: With instrumental albums like Soul of a Man, do you make beats like that exclusively for the album, or were they beats you had already made? Mathematics: The majority of them were exclusively for that album. It was a couple of discs, and the second one was instrumentals that were off of some of my albums. But the first disc, a lot of them were exclusively made for that. What I was trying to do was like, when you listen to certain jazz albums, and the theme, and the way it kept going and kept moving, I was trying to do the same thing. They did an era where they put up a disc, and they put the two-second pause between each record. It wasn’t supposed to be no pauses, it was supposed to flow right through from the beginning to the end. At the end it got a little mixed up, but yeah, most of the stuff was made exclusively for that. HipHopCrack: Do you think there should be more instrumental albums? Mathematics: Yeah, I think so. Like I said, jazz albums, you can catch a “Midnight Love” album all instrumentals, too. I think so, but are the people ready for it? Cuz right now, it seems like all they want to hear is somebody bragging on a track. I won’t say everybody, but the way they make it seem, the majority of people, that’s what they want to hear. So are the people going to really appreciate it? The way I tried to do Soul of a Man, I was doing it because I wanted people to really appreciate it. And I hope they did, whatever the case may be. But yeah, that’s another thing, getting people to really take the time to realize what’s going on. HipHopCrack: The group recently announced they were making another album, The 8 Diagrams. How excited are you about that? Mathematics: I’m excited, like, “Yeah, let’s do it again.” Everybody’s on the same page right now, and another reason why I’m excited is because from the music that everybody’s doing right now, everbody’s in their zone once again. If you hear the joints RZA’s been doing lately for Afro Samurai, if you peep some of those, you hear how he’s coming. The Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 album is off the hook, that right there alone is going to be a classic based upon the fact that you’ve got two great producers working on that, Dr. Dre and RZA. And I’ve got a track on there, so listen out for it. If you listen to Ghost, he had the Fishscale album; the Method Man album that was slept on, 4:21; the Masta Killa album. I like to throw my little shit in, I hope people feel the same way about my joint. So yeah, I think everybody’s in their zone. It’s about that time too, especially the way the music is right now. We need something right now to fill the void.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Is it me or does Mr Interscope look like he got the worries of theworld on his shoulders? I am not really feeling this cover but it is a lil better than the last couple of rambo shots we have seen from him.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Yeah man, Phillies finest is a little heated with the super dooper producers and he really is not a dude afraid to say what is on his mind. Here he is in all his glory from the up and coming Beef 4 DVD. But for some strange reason I can imagine Beenie with his chest hair out lol.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno Now that Ciara has pretty much conquered the charts with her last two albums, she’s now ready to take on a new challenge – acting. The singer has been cast alongside soul legend Patti Labelle for the big screen production of the off-Broadway gospel classic, “Mama, I Want To Sing!” Production of the film starts next month and is looking towards a February 2008 release. "Mama, I Want to Sing!" tells the story of a preacher’s daughter, who rises from the church choir to pop stardom; the character’s based on Doris Troy, best known for the 1963 hit "Just One Look." The stage show played more than 2,400 performances between 1983 to 1991 according to Variety. Ciara will play the lead role.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno The Atlanta Hip-Hop Film Festival is in its third year after two successful years where film inspired and based on hip-hop culture are recognized and celebrated. This year the festival’s is presented by Creative Circle Entertainment with the theme as paying homage to hip-hop’s trendsetters. "Every year we honor trailblazers who’ve made and are making a positive impact within the realm of Hip-Hop film,” said Shameka Gumbs, Creative Circle Entertainment Executive Director. ”The honorees will be recognized during the awards ceremony hosted by Malik Yoba and Yo Yo.” Taking place from August 24 to 26, the festival will also host panel discussions, workshops, special events, film screenings; showcasing filmmakers from around the globe in addition to the awards ceremony. Here are the honorees and categories: Reginald Hudlin – Ultimate Filmmaker – Hudlin will be honored for his collection of works as filmmaker, executive producer and writer Master P – Humanitarian -AHFF is extremely proud to recognize Master P’s community outreach activities such as starting his own foundation dedicated to providing jobs to inner-city youth and creating Team Rescue to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Nick Cannon – Triple Threat – This award is in recognition of Cannon’s work as an actor, executive producer and rapper. Cindy Campbell – Jack the Rapper – Campbell is saluted for organizing and promoting the infamous “back to school party” along-side her brother DJ Kool Herc, that ultimately led to the creation of the “Block Party” – a HipHop cornerstone. House Party I – HipHop Throwback – The HipHop Throwback Award celebrates films which were the foundation of the HipHop film genre. House Party I not only launched many successful acting careers, it accurately reflected the essence of a true house party. Idlewild – HipHop Futuristic – The HipHop Futuristic Award celebrates creativity and innovation in current HipHop films. AHFF is proud to recognize a film which broke all barriers for HipHop musicals. Danny Hoch – HipHop Theatre – AHFF is excited to celebrate great work in theatre and applaud Hoch’s efforts to bring HipHop to audiences worldwide using a new outlet.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Remember Busta beat up on some guy for asking him for his autograph? Well Busta never got the papers homeboy filed as they were sent to the home of his former girl, yeah the one who is now a lesbian. Anyhow cut a long story short as we all know homegirl wasnt going to give Bus the papers when she blames him for so much, Busta has now settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Well with all these other charges hanging over his head right now..he has to start his own clean up I guess. Paris Turns To God This pic had me cracking up man. I swear not knocking anyone who turns to God for help in their hour of need at all…but from Dolce and Dior shopping bags to The Bible..homegirl is really taking it a lil too far. If it was anyone BUT Paris I would have just kept it moving but this was just too good a pic to not comment on.

By: Quibian Salazar-Moreno The RZA leaped into Hollywood by scoring films like Ghost Dog and Kill Bill, but now he’s starting to take the acting thing seriously as well. We’ve seen his acting chops in flicks like “Derailed” but now he’s been cast in “Gospel Hill”, a drama which also stars Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles and Simon Baker. The film follows a former sheriff and former civil-rights activist who revisit the 30-year-old death of another civil rights worker. RZA also just finished filming “American Gangster” alongside Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and fellow emcee Common. He’s also putting the finishing touches on “Life is Hot in Cracktown”, a drama of various stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo’s novel, the film also stars Kerry Washington, Brandon Routh, and Mayte Garcia. Master P to 50 Cent: “There are a Lot of Immature People in The World” During the BET Awards press conference last week, 50 Cent was defending his language and content in his music after reporters questioned him about it. When a reporter mentioned that Master P was going profanity-free with his new label Take a Stand Records, 50 responded saying,” Well, Master P does sell CD’s anymore.” Master P finally responded on Sunday with an open letter to 50 and the rest of the industry. “Curtis Jackson’s comment motivated me,” P wrote. “There are a lot of immature people in the world. Oprah Winfrey is absolutely right, we need to grow up and be responsible for our own actions. I paid for Curtis’s first rap tour through the south. He was such a humble guy at the time. Most artists’ mission is to sell records. My mission is to help save and change lives. There’s a lack of knowledge and false information out there. I could actually say Little Jay and Rap-A-Lot Records inspired my successful career and I will always respect them no matter what. I wrote the blueprint for this generation. The only difference is there’s no more honor and respect in the game.” Master P went on to say that not only is he going to spending time on making music, but will also make a couple of films, “Black Supaman” and “The Mail Man”, writing a book called “Guaranteed Success”, and teaching a hip-hop business class with financial expert Curtis Oakes. P also admits he was part of the hip-hop problem but wants to make a change. “There are four things that differentiate me from artists like Curtis Jackson,” P wrote. “One, I can honestly admit that I was once part of the problem. Two, I don’t want my son to grow up and be like me. I want him to be better and do better – and that is why he is taking the time to pursue a college degree. Three, money don’t make me, I make money. My goal is to educate our people in building generational wealth and knowing how important it is to own real estate. Four, I’m a TRUE entrepreneur; my boss is God not Jimmy Iovine. From one brother to another, if you misunderstand my purpose you could always pick up the phone or talk to me in person. I’m trying to be part of the solution not the problem. The media thrives on entertaining, especially the negativity no matter what the cost. I’m praying for the brothers that are lost out there.” To read the letter in its entirety, check out http://qsviews.blogspot.com/2007/05/master-ps-open-letter-to-50-cent-and.html.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno The godfather of hip-hop DJ Kool Herc threw his very first party on August 11, 1973 in the community room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York. This is where hip-hop was born and later spilled out to the parks in the neighborhood, and even later became a worldwide phenomenon. Now Herc is trying to have the building where it all started protected as a historic landmark to save it from any changes that would affect its character according to the New York Times. “This is where it came from,” Herc told the Times. “This is it. The culture started here and went around the world. But this is where it came from. Not anyplace else.” The reason that Herc, his sister Cindy, and the 100 residents of the building want it protected is because the owner announced that the owners would leave the city’s subsidy program, which makes the building affordable for low and moderate income families to live. The owners want to offer housing on the open market, making rent increase immensely. Even though getting the building registered with the National Register of Historic Places wouldn’t make rent go down, it would protect the building from any changes, which would be necessary if the landlords want to get families with a high income in there. “That place means everything,” hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Caz told the Times. “You can look at it objectively and say it could have happened somewhere else. Maybe. But this is where it did happen. As far as government and what they consider important, who knows? But for something that saturated the world culture, that went from one building to the world, I would want to hold on to the historical significance of that building.” The Real Fergie Calls Out BEP’s Fergie When Fergie dropped her debut album, “The Dutchess”, last year, people actually thought that the real “Fergie”, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and part of the Royal British Family, was releasing an album. Ferguson was perplexed by the album and called up Fergie herself. "When I heard that Fergie was not only calling herself Fergie, but called her album ‘The Dutchess,’ I thought: Right. She owes me. It’s one thing to call yourself Fergie, but another to take the duchess title," Ferguson told the New York Daily News. "I called her up and said, ‘Fergie, this is Fergie. You are naughty, naughty, naughty for using my name. I can’t have you on London Bridge, wearing a tiara and calling yourself Fergie! But I have a way you can make it up to me. You can come to Cipriani and do a concert for the Sarah Ferguson Foundation. And she was absolutely lovely! She said that her parents were teachers, and that she would love to do it – and kept her word." Fergie showed up at Cipriani’s in New York last week to perform at the Wall Street concert series which benefits UNICEF and the Sarah Ferguson Foundation.

By: The Hip Hop Journalist As the R&B component of Ludacris’s Disturbing tha Peace family, Bobby Valentino is readying up for his sophomore album release. The album titled Special Occasion has had the internet literally going nuts, as what many thought was a leaked version of the album was readily downloaded, reviewed and appreciated. Turns out that was just a little teaser to ensure his fans both in his native USA and in the UK remembered the London loving artist and kept all eyes on him So what do you love about London then Mr. Valentino? Well I love the way you talk, I love the way you walk. You sound like you are ready to burst into song any minute [laughing.] Do you get a lot of love in London when you perform here? A lot of love in London; honestly London may be my favorite place to ever go because overseas, y’all really love music. You don’t care about any of that other stuff at the end of the day, you just love music and I appreciate that. At my concerts in London, they know all my songs, not just the songs that they play on the radio. Sometimes I do shows and they only know the songs that are played on the radio, but in London they know everything and I love you all for that. I LOVE LONDON!!! Has the album been leaked? I mean there have been numerous versions of your album on the internet and I have even reviewed one and I am wondering if it was the wrong album. It probably was, I mean I have been at the gas station where someone has run up to me and asked if I wanted the new Bobby Valentino CD and I would look at it and it is all the wrong songs. I have been working on this album for the last year in between touring as I have been touring a lot so I have recorded maybe 50 or 60 songs. So what happened is some songs you don’t use they may just end up on the internet. I have fourteen songs on this album and there are four interludes and the only songs that you have probably heard are Anonymous and Turn the Page. You may have heard snippets. The records you hear on the internet are to build my buzz to show that I am still here and I am still working and don’t go buy the bootleg, go buy the real album. Do you feel that you stepped your game up on this album? Definitely I challenged myself to grow as an artist and that is my whole thing; I could have easily done another Slow Down or another Tell Me but I wanted to grow, I wanted to step out of the box a little bit and do something different. So I think I grew vocally and as an artist holistically. Do you think this is going to shock the fans, the growth you show on this album or do you have more surprises in store for them? I think they are really going, my first album was mainly produced by Tim and Bob, and they did 90% of my album as I only had two producers on my last album. This album I worked with a lot of the big time producers like Bryan Michael-Cox, Timbaland, and Rodney Jerkins so I have different feels on this album and that is what I think is going to make this album hot. I have something that can relate to all different situations. That was why I called it Special Occasion as I got to work with all my favorite producers on the album and it has something for every occasion on there. Whether it is your birthday, your anniversary or whatever, I have a song for that. We have seen some major artists suffer in sales when it comes to leaks on the internet; do you think that even though your album hasn’t been officially leaked per say the teasers that have been put out may effect your sales? Well I see what I think is going to happen, the people who got the leak are going to be ‘well I already got the album,’ but then the people who go out and support it and buy the album, they will have a totally different album, but all it will do is force the people that are on the internet all day to go and buy the [official] album. But I want to let the people know that what was on the internet I did as a buzz. I did that to ‘bridge the gap,’ as it has been over a year since I put out my last and I had to get something out there for my fans for them to listen to just in the meantime. Nowadays there isn’t the building the buzz factor when it comes to releasing a new album. Would you agree with that? Yeah you have to build a buzz because now out of sight out of mind. If they don’t see you or they don’t hear from you they are going to forget about you and move on to the next person. There are a lot of artists out there and it has got real competitive. So by me just leaking songs, it is not a bad thing, as it keeps people talking about me and from this I got a real good internet buzz and that keeps me out there. What was the best recording experience you had on this album? I would say I have two of them, working with Timbaland and then working with Tim and Bob as they are like my brothers. When I am working with them, it is like a vibe and a feeling that nobody else can give me. It is like I am on a musical high when I am working with them. Working with Timbaland, he is one of my favorite producers, ever in life. I am a fan of his when he is in the studio and just watching him make the beat and just me and him vibing is overwhelming as I was blessed there. Are there a lot of features on the album? No I didn’t put out too many features. I have a joint with Fabolous on there and I have Timbaland on there, but I didn’t want to overshadow myself by putting a whole load of features on there. I don’t have anyone from the DTP click on there but I do feature on a lot of there albums, I am on Shareefah’s album, Field Mobb, Ludacris’s albums. So you feel strong enough to stand alone when it comes to your craft? Oh yeah most definitely. Is there pressure on you due to the success of the first album? Oh yeah there is pressure but I am not scared, because I feel like I have good following and dedicated fans who are really into me and I hope and pray that come April 3rd, the 800,000 people who bought my first album they will come out and buy the new album and maybe get 800,000 more. Why has the album been pushed back? Well I wanted to build up the buzz and I was looking at the fourth quarter and there was a lot of stuff coming out in that quarter. You had Jay Z coming out, Beyonce, Nas, so I didn’t want to get caught up with a lot of the artists that are household names. Do you travel a lot; I mean I know you were in Africa with Luda? Yeah I actually just got back from France last week. I have a song with this girl called Leslie who is really big over there. I have a duet with her and we just shot the video in France, it is on youtube.com and you can see the video there. Did you enjoy France? Yeah but I love London better. But let me put this out there, the only thing with London and France is the food. Y’all need to get some condiments over there, some Lawrys salt and some bbq sauce as the food tastes a little bland. In the South there is real cooking going on down here, collard greens and macaroni and cheese and stuff like that. You did a lot of writing on this new album, is this something you hope to maintain throughout your career? Definitely because it is cool when someone else writes you a song they can write you a hit song, but it is nothing like when you write a song as then it is your soul and your feelings in the song. It is like you writing a speech as opposed to someone else writing you a speech it is always better if you write it; it is your words, your feelings, your emotions. Can we expect to see you working more with European artists? Yeah I would love to, I love it overseas and it is real cool, so if there are artists out there that would like to work with me, then I would love to do it. How important was Ludacris winning a Grammy to the DTP family? Well that is the greatest accomplishment in music to win a Grammy and then I am on his album so I can then say I was on a Grammy winning album. But I hope to get my chance to win a Grammy soon. Talking about DTP though, was it important for you to be part of a collective of artists as opposed to just being on your own? I think so because when you win awards there is a lot more respect from your peers and fans and I don’t think I got the respect I thought I deserved on my first album so I am looking for that with this album too. It was your birthday recently, how did you celebrate? Oh I went to the strip club, Fabolous was there, Rick Ross was there and Chaka Zulu was there and they all partied with me and I am having another party tonight and then one on Friday, then I am going to LA to shoot my new video. Do you get really involved in the concepts of your videos? Yeah always like to get involved in that. You know I am always on the conference calls when they come up with the concepts for my videos.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Turns out Lloyd Banks is being allowed to leave G Unit after literally begging Fifty to let him leave. Thing is..someone has to buy him out of his contract with G Unit…word on the street is, that someone is Universal. Talk about keeping it in the family. Diddy attacks with Chair Wow well there is just no telling what is going to happen next in Reality TV. Turns out Diddy went to attack his top dancing girl Laurie Ann Gibson with a chair after the two got into a heated argument over the state of the dancing on the next series of MTV’s Making the Band. Laurie can handle herself but when Diddy goes at her with a chair…goddamn no wonder home girl filed a report with NYPD. He needs to sit his ass down in a chair rather than throwing them. Fif laughs at Cam Well thats not a surprise is it really after the lil show Cam put on the other day. This is exactly what Curtis had to say about Cam’s recent outburst: "My whirlpool is bigger than Cam’s swimming pool. And he shouldn’t be in front of no camera with daisy dukes on." Nothing like a bit of humor to start the day off.

By: Rizoh Kanye West has been tapped to host this year’s Thirst Studio Global Sessions in Las Vegas. The competition which aims to showcase new talent from around the world is schedules for May 25-27. Fairly established acts like Gym Class Heroes and Eric Morillo will also play at the event. Thirst Studio traveled the globe in 2006 in search of new musical talent for the Las Vegas final. The winners from each country will battle it out for the grand prize. The overall winner get to record a track in Palm Studios with Gabriel and Dresden. Visit THIRST STUDIO for contest details. Rolling Stones Guitarist Hates Hip-Hop Add Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards to the list of rockers who won’t be considering a hip-hop collaboration anytime soon. The 64-year old musician declared that he cannot name a single rap artist who he enjoys because hip-hop leaves him “cold.” In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Richards, who once admitted to snorting his late father’s ashes, explained that he dislikes hip-hop’s vocal delivery and computer-aided beats. “Hip-hop leaves me cold. But there are some people out there who think it’s the meaning of life,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “I don’t wanna be yelled at, I wanna be sung to.” “I never really understood why someone would want to have some gangster from L.A. poking his fingers in your face,” he added. “As I say, it don’t grab me. I mean the rhythms are boring – they’re all done on computers.” Either Keith Richards is too close-minded to understand that hip-hop is not always about “some gangster from LA” or he’s just too grumpy to think outside the box.

By: Rizoh Bad news for crack-rap fans everywhere. The Clipse—Pusha T and Malice—have severed ties with Jive Records and the Zomba Label Group, according to Malice (born Gene Thornton). “Right now Clipse are free agents. There are a few labels that are interested,” said Malice in an interview with Canadian publication Eye Weekly. Considering the label drama that eclipsed Clipse’s last album, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The Thornton brothers watched their sophomore album, Hell Hath No Fury, sit on the backburner while attempting to sort out legal differences with the label. Malice also told Eye Weekly that several labels are currently vying for the duo’s signature. On a related note, the Clipse are billed to play Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago‘s Union Park on July 14. Andre 3000 Talks New OutKast Album With Andre 3000 popping up on collaborations here and there, OutKast fans are beginning to wonder when one of hip-hop’s most consistent duos will drop another full-length. Andre disclosed to MTV News that he and partner-in-rhyme Big Boi are discussing what direction to take for the next Outkast album, which may be another dual-solo release, a la Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. For Dre, it’s not so much about when to retire his cameo hat and clock in full time as it is about what to say when crunch time arrives. Confused? Yeah…me, too. Isn’t Ice Cold supposed to be one of the illest in the game? Apparently, even the best emcees need some time to refill their creative juices. “Really, I gotta find out what I’m tryin’ to say,” Dre told MTV News. “It’s almost like a picnic — you call your auntie and say, ‘You bringin’ some greens? Yeah? OK, I’m not gonna bring any greens.’ I gotta find out what I gotta cook up. But to quote James Brown, ‘Whatever it is, it’s got to be funky.’” For now, you can catch OutKast in UGK’s new music video for “Int’l Players Anthem.”

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno This Don Imus-situation really has some legs. Protesters in Atlanta are planning to come together at a club to protest an event advertised as a “Pimps and Hoes” party. The ads for the party, which is being held at The Fever in Atlanta tonight, sparked the formation of a new organization called Advocates Against the Exploitation of Young Women. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution protest organizer, Erik Voss said that the party is being hosted by the company that produces the Girls Gone Wild DVDs. "They have been known to exploit young women," Voss told AJC. "We’re going to create awareness about the problem of the pimping of young women and the derogatory term that they use — which is ‘hos’ — for the young women that they exploit." They expect 20-25 protestors including Stephanie Davis, advisor to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno It’s obvious that some rappers do things just for the shock value and in the case of Pastor Troy’s new album title it’s evident. The rapper was scheduled to drop his new album, ‘Saddam Hussein,’ this summer but hit a snag with retailers – they refused to carry the album because of the name. "The ‘Saddam’ title was just a metaphor for how I was comin’ back for my s**t, hostile takeover-style," Troy said. "I’m gonna bring genocide to the rap game. It wasn’t political or anything like that. I’ve got love for the troops, they’ve always supported me and I support them. So now I’m just gonna give’em Tool Muziq ’cause that’s what this album is — hardcore gangsta s**t.” Troy renamed the album album ‘Tool Musiq,’ and announced that it will have contributions from Shawty Red, Drumma Boy, DJ Squeeky and Zaytoven with appearances from Gangsta Boo, Fabo of D4L and The Hitman Sammy Sam.