By: Hot Gossip Gal OK so she may have been officially released for her Terror Squad/SRC situation but will someone PLEASE show Ms Ma just how to dress. Here is a brief look back at some of her fashion f**k-ups in the last few years.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Well that is what I heard from one of my West Coasties. Since this situation has developed between Czar and G the ‘big boys’ are now in talks to squash all the beef in order to avoid anymore unnecessary attention. Now how true this may be who knows but I know for a fact that Game wasn’t up at the mansion in CT for 50′s Easter Party this past weekend. And to be honest I am not holding my breath.. But keeping it on a 50 tip for those that stupidly speculated that the rapper was thinking of adopting a baby from Angola after a recent trip, Curtis just laughed it off saying "Black folks, we have kids." Aww and there i was thinking Marquis was going to have a lil baby brother or sister and his Daddy would compare notes with Angelina and Madonna.

By: Rizoh Is Halle Berry the most influential African-American of 2007? Ebony magazine thinks so. Berry came it at No.1 on this year’s Ebony Power 150: The Most Influential Blacks In America. The Oscar-winner told Ebony that she has reached a point in her life where she feels more powerful than ever. Although Berry makes a killing for her film roles, she’s shifted her attention to production roles lately. Her current projects in the works include "Mixed," a TV comedy about a mixed-race woman; and "Compositions In Black And White" with Alicia Keys. Ebony launched the annual Power 150 was launched in 1963 as "100+ Most Influential Black Americans." This year’s list also includes Sen. Barack Obama, actor-director Tyler Perry, and Oprah-wannabe Tyra Banks. What’s next? Halle Berry for President?

By: Rizoh Whatever Jay-Z has been using to entice former Roc-A-Fella signees back to the roster has been effective so far, as Omillio Sparks is now indicating that he’s open to re-signing with the ROC. “My major focus right now is getting my situation right wherever it may be; I have a few situations on the table. The good thing about it now is I am older now, and understand the business a lot more than when I was a young boi and just happy to be on TV with a nigga. I am about my paper now and most importantly ME… when the album drops this summer everyone will know who the f**k I am.” Sparks lashed out against Jay—who he called a “prophet of false hope”—three weeks ago and accused him of placing an embargo on the release of his album The Payback. He also disclosed through sources that he’s been in talks with his State Property vanguard Beanie Sigel. Rumors of a State Property 3 Album have been swirling ever since Sigel rejoined Roc-A-Fella, following a brief exit from the label. Are we witnessing the resurgence of Roc-A-Fella? How many more weeks before Dame Dash (former Roc-A-Fella CEO) starts throwing up the Roc again?

By: William Ketchum III With his journey from being an independent artist to landing a deal with Atlantic Records that still allows him to hustle on his own, Slim Thug has made a career of making the music industry work for him, not the other way around. Recently, the Houston MC has expanded his hustle with Serve and Collect, an album with his group Bo$$ Hogg Outlawz that’s jointly released on KOCH and his Boss Hogg label. In an interview with HipHopCrack, Slim Thug schools readers on the politics of working with a group, the independent hustle, and weighing in on The Apphiliates’ court case. HHC: Tell me about how the group came together. Slim Thug: We’ve all been rapping together since Swishahouse, you know what I’m saying. It was through Big Pokey, you know what I’m saying, we was all doing underground shit and he saw what we was doing. We exchanged game, became cool and it became a family thing. We started doing records together. Killa came through and Young Black, shit started to fall in place. Rob Smallz is an R&B. We weren’t even looking for an R&B dude. He made it fit in with what we were doing. The music was good. He had gangsta hooks, party shit, so we just made it happen. HHC: On your last album, Already Platinum, was largely a solo album. This album is almost like a group album/compilation. So, how was it to record with a group, as opposed to doing it solo? Slim Thug: It was much easier. When you work with a lot of different dudes, you have different minds working. Whereas, if you’re solo, you’re doing the majority of the work by yourself. So, it’s easier to work with a group. Everyone sounds different, no one sounds like me. That’s why I kind of wanted to put them on a CD and do solo songs, so they can get their own standout shine. I don’t want it to where people say, “Boss Hogg Outlawz,” and just think about me. I don’t want that. I want my artists to be able to do their own shows. Because if these dudes don’t have the same talent that I got, they got more. I’m just trying to display the shit. HHC: On the single, you guys have a lot of chemistry. How difficult is it to have people to be on the same page for a song, much less a whole album? Slim Thug: It ain’t new to us. We’ve been doing underground and independent albums together. We’ve been doing this for years. As long as I’ve been rapping, they’ve been rapping with me. So, we like a group already. At the end of day, regardless of the public, people know us. Houston knows what’s up. They know who they are, but it’s like the crew hasn’t ever got any solo shine like that. The people at the office and at the labels, all they know is the computers and what they tell ‘em. So when they see me featured on people’s albums, that’s all they know. Like when Master P came through with his soldiers, you know, I’m just trying to bring my soldiers through the door and make this a movement. HHC: You’re only on twelve songs on the album. Five of the album songs don’t have you on them. So, the songs that you weren’t on, did you personally oversee those songs or did you let them do you their thing? Slim Thug: How I did it was I did my records and if I loved the beat, I’d get on it. Or when they called me to feature on a track, then I’d hop on it, too. But when people were doing their solo record, it wasn’t like I had to be on there. But if they felt better with me on there, then I was definitely going to do that. But being on twelve songs is being a major part of the album. It’s not like I just wrote “Slim Thug Presents…” and have the artist rapping on the album. I’m rapping on every song, damn near, so it’s a real project for me. HHC: Were you there in the studio during the recording process of the other artists? Slim Thug: I seen everything. I saw all the songs. I watched over the whole shit. A lot of times, they’d feel like I need to be on the song, but I feel like that I’m getting in they lane, that I’m jammin’ like a muhfucka. So, I don’t want to get on there. It’s an everyday thing. Just like you do what you do, this is my job. I come to the studio, so, when they rapping, I’m watching. At the end of the day, I’ll see what’s going on. HHC: In a lot of groups, the most popular rapper who brought the group in ends up being the only one really known. So, how do you plan on changing that? Slim Thug: I really think that that’s going to be out of the question. These dudes are talented, these dudes are undeniable. I’m not as serious about this as they are, honestly. They in the studio rapping more than me. They take this shit more serious. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I done got paid off of this, that makes me move slower now. But these dudes are still as hungry as they ever been. Especially, since they have the opportunity to use me to get through the door. I’m just trying to let them do it; if I have to fall back to let them shine, whatever. … I don’t think what happens with other groups is going to happen with us. It’s like when P was doing his shit and Mystikal came through and got his shine. He had a lot of talent. I think a lot of the problem is that a lot of the different artists that bring their artists through, they artists don’t have much talent. Like Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, they shine too. They may not sell like 50, but they still have a big name out there. HHC: What would you say sets each member apart from one another? Slim Thug: Killa Kyleon is lyrical. He’s going to say some shit that you won’t believe, some shit that’s crazy. J-Dawg is more a hood dude. He’s going to tell you some real good hood shit. PJ is going to keep it simple, but fly. He’s going to talk his shit. Chris Ward is the fly guy from the South Side. He got the fly slang. He’s going to say that new fly word. Rob Smallz is the R&B guy. He writes all of his shit. He can get on his gangsta shit. Or he can do it up for the ladies. Young Black is lyrical, straight out the hood, grimy dude. Sir Daily got that drawl. It’s kind of like a Pimp C accent. Everyone have their own quality that they bring to the table. HHC: That’s dope how you didn’t have to think it through to decide which artist had what qualities, that really shows how seriously you’re taking this. Slim Thug: It ain’t new though. This isn’t a gang of Slim Thugs. You sometimes have a group who comes out sounding alike. When you hear us together, that’s not what you hear. I can admit when they’ve gone harder than me on a song. That’s why I really want to put them out and let them shine; maybe they can take me farther. HHC: Your album had a lot of all-star features, but this album doesn’t have those names. So, how do you think the group handled that? Slim Thug: It wasn’t a Slim decision to do that, it was their decision to do that. On this album, they have solo songs. They had a decision to make. If they really wanted to get some show money, they either had to feature all these guys or get they own shine. We’re trying to showcase talent amongst eight dudes. So, we gave everyone a good song, then we got ones together, so there wasn’t any room for any other features. It wasn’t a Slim Thug call, this is more so the set-up record. Just let everyone shine by themselves and make it work from there. I think that sometimes it handicaps a ma’fucka when they get so many features on the shit. Even with myself… I didn’t want my album to turn out like that. But my shit was to the fucked up point, these were the records that were cleared, so that’s how it all turned out. HHC: What made you go with Koch instead of going through a major label? Slim Thug: We do have a major label deal with Geffen. But when I signed the deal, I made sure that I could still do independent. I had this plan from the jump… to let Interscope market me around the country, to make me a star. Then use what they do over here to make me some more money independent. It wouldn’t make sense to go through a collect-o hits at this point, when there’s KOCH out there. They have chart topping songs at Koch. “Walk It Out” and “Ballin’” are some chart topping songs, so it ain’t like they can’t do it. So, I’m using Geffen/Interscope to make money and still work with them. After Serve & Collect, comes my album, Boss of All Bosses, then we’ll drop this Boyz ‘N Blue” album. Then Killa’s album or whoever else is ready will come next. HHC: You’ve made most of your reputation independently. Why do you think the independent hustle is getting more respect these days? Slim Thug: Really, it just makes more sense right now. I’m glad I worked that out before I signed that deal. It ain’t nothing like being independent. Mothafuckas try to say that KOCH ain’t a good look, but at the end of the day, if you can really sell a lot of records on KOCH, you’re gonna get a whole lot of paper. And with how the sales are dropping nowadays, it makes more sense. So that’s what I’m looking at it like. HHC: What’s been the most difficult part of running your own label? Slim Thug: You’re new to it, just like any business. It’s taking chances. You win some, you lose some, and that’s just how it go. You’re the head dude, that makes people look at you and depend on you, and me being who I am, and the success I get, it kind of confuses people. It’s just a lot of shit with it. But it’s just like any other business. HHC: You’ve done a lot of work in the mixtape scene. What do you think of the situation with the RIAA and The Apphiliates? Slim Thug: That’s fucked up. I think they did what they wanted to. They got news involved—that wasn’t important, they ain’t have to do all that, it’s just CDs. Trying to make it look real serious, with racketeering and all this other bullshit, trying to make it look like they’re on organized crime shit, when really it’s just music. Really, they’re just trying to shake up the industry. They know they can’t go out and get everybody, so they try to scare the motherfuckers who buy ‘em. They did a good job with that.

By: Hot Gossip Gal America what are you thinking? How can this dude beat out my home boy JL Cotter, who actually had true talent and charisma. Now KFC are trying to coax Sanjaya into sporting a ‘bowl’ haircut to promote the nasty KFC Famous Bowl. In return they will pay him 5gs cash and give him a role in a KFC commercial…no please no more Sanjaya.

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno Celebrating 10 years of business, Hiero Imperium is releasing a collection of b-sides, rarities and remixes called Over Time. The track list includes such sought after tacks like “Fight Club,” “Unseen Hand” and “Masterminds.” The Hieroglyphics crew are giving up the album for only $8.00 exclusively at Hieroglyphics. The other Hiero emcee dropping fresh new music is Souls of Mischief member, A-Plus. His debut album, My Last Good Deed, is set to drop this summer. "I’ve never said anything this personal on a previous album before," A-Plus said. "Ever." The album features appearances from Del, Casual, Souls of Mischief, and Sunspot Jonz (of Living Legends) with production from Jake One, J-Zone, Q Tones and Compound7 (A-Plus and AAGEE). A-Plus is currently on tour with Souls of Mischief, Masta Ace, Wordsworth, iCon the Mic King and Zeph & Azeem. Here are the tracklistings for both albums: Hieroglyphics – Over Time 1-You Never Knew (Domino RMX) 2-Masterminds 3-Prose Officially 4-Greed 5-Phoney Phranchise (Domino RMX) 6-Soundscience (RMX) 7-It’s About Time 8-The Scandle 9-Battle of the Shadow 10-Fight Club (RMX) 11-Unseen Hand 12-If You Must (Automator RMX) 13-Heat 14-Cyberpunks A-Plus – My Last Good Deed 1. Intro 2. The One 3. A Plus 4. A Beautiful Thing – (featuring Casual) 5. Patna Please 6. Whats Hatin – (featuring Ty Nitty) 7. My Last Good Deed 8. My Dub Song 9. Nothin Fake / The Ultimate – (featuring Del The Funky Homosapien) 10. Goodtime Charlie 11. Kiss The Sky 12. Javelin 13. Far Away From Here – (featuring Sunspot Jonz) 14. Right Quick – (featuring Souls Of Mischief) 15. Outro

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno Even though Sticky’s FX show Blade: The Series was cancelled here in the states, it premiered in the U.K. in January and is doing pretty well. Now the Onyx emcee is getting ready to drop a handful of projects in 2007. The first film, Karma Confessions and Holi, Sticky plays a character named Rich Smooth. The film was produced by Drena De Niro, Robert De Niro’s daughter and is about Indian families and their relationships with their fellow Americans. Sticky is also currently filming Nite Tales: The Movie, a horror flick with Gary Busey and Order of Redemption, the film which also stars Busta Rhymes where he wasn’t allowed to film in New York. Sticky’s baby project, however, is A Day in the Life. The film was written and is being directed by Sticky. He describes it as a hip-hop musical action drama that will star Mekhi Phifer, Omar Epps, Michael Rappaport, Bokeem Woodbine, Treach and a bunch of other folks. There’s no word on when the film will hit theatres (or DVDs). Sticky also has roles in the upcoming flicks, Steppin’: The Movie and Caught on Tape. It looks like music is on the backburner for now, even though he recently released his 2003 album Decade. To check out the latest on Sticky, visit his website at STICKYFINGAZ.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Yeah the singer is saying he has a piece that will put Lil Jon’s to shame. Now you gotta remember Akon owns a diamond mine in his native Senegal and the piece that we have yet to actually see is a replica of Africa which lights up and has a flashing light where Senegal is..for those of you who need a few geography lessons. Why oh why is it necessary to wear enough diamonds which will eventually have you wearing a neck brace?

By: Hot Gossip Gal Turns out Hollywood’s leading lady isn’t too happy that magazine Parade focused on her attempted suicide ten years ago. It isn’t like this was something that was kept under wraps as she had talked openly with her homie Oprah and Larry King about it when she considered it ‘relevant.’ Well whatever as Halle we still love you and you deserved that star you got last week in Hollywood.

By: Rizoh St. Louis-bred rap-singer Nelly is set to stage a comeback—just not in music. Nelly, who seems to be taking a vacation from rap, will appear in a movie titled “RollingThunder.” Nelly played the running back to Adam Sandler’s quarterback in the remake of “The Longest Yard.” He’s going athletic again in “Rolling Thunder.” “I can’t really talk about it, but we’re working on a project with one of my all-time favorite pastimes going on,” said Nelly to MTV News. “Everybody does it: It’s a bowling flick.” The film is said to be a comedy which follows in the footsteps of bowling movies like “Kingpin” and “The Big Lebowski.” No words yet on the production lineup and schedule.

By: Rizoh Reports on his alleged addiction to sex made Ne-Yo so sick that he decided to write a song about it. The Def Jam crown Prince of R&B recently told Rolling Stone that “Addicted,” one of the songs on his forthcoming sophomore album Because of You, touches on the sex addiction rumor. “I thought it was something important enough to write a song about,” said Ne-Yo. “I just thought that it was funny that the first rumor out about me would be that I’m addicted to sex. So okay, let me touch on that.” While the platinum selling crooner claims he wasn’t bothered by the “rumors,” he was quick to note that his statements about sex were taken out of context by a journalist. “The writer just took a bunch of the things that I said and that what she got from it. ‘Okay Ne-Yo’s addicted to sex.’ When actually I’m not addicted to sex at all. I’m 24, I’m rich, I’m decently cute and I have a healthy sexual appetite, that’s all that is.” “The writer” in question is Laura Checkoway who covered the feature for VIBE in May 2006. In that particular spread, Ne-Yo was quoted as saying, “I have a slight sex addiction right now. I’m a little free with it…I’ll help myself instead of doing a groupie.” You may recall that Ne-Yo’s name returned to the rumor mill four months later when pictures of him engaging in sexual activities with a backup dancer turned up on the Internet. He eventually owned up to the pictures, claiming that someone broke into his sidekick and stole them. But, you know, pictures of a pop star getting head from a dancer could easily be taken out of context.

By: Hot Gossip Gal Be ready to cough up 23 mill plus for their house that has just gone on the market. Not really feeling the decor myself..nor having a gym that looks similar to my local Ballys..but hey whatever floats your boat. Wonder if it has a smoking room in its 35,000 sq.ft?

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno Even though he’s released two albums, 2001’s Lost Change and 2003’s Must B 21, Will.I.Am considers his upcoming album, Songs About Girls, to be his official debut album. Set to drop sometime this summer, Will told Rolling Stone that the album will be a concept album about a DJ and the women in his life, even though he never really planned to release a solo album. "I never really had an aspiration to do a solo album," Will told Rolling Stone. "I always wanted to be in a group, but I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity to try and reinvent myself." He’s also going to do something that many hip-hop artists aren’t doing nowadays – not have any guest appearances. Not even his Black Eyed Peas will make an appearance on the album. "I don’t think I would be doing myself justice if I went in on my solo project and got a whole lot of other people to dilute the concept I have in my head," he says. "I want to make the kind of record that I’m feeling. If people like it, that’s cool, but just so I get my nut off."

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno During a recent show white veteran radio personality Don Imus referred to the women’s Rutgers basketball team as “nappy-headed hoes”. He continued to disrespect the team, along with his producer Bernard McGuirk, by calling the women “jiggaboos and wannabees” on his live radio show on WFAN in New York which is televised through MSNBC. The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the NAACP have called for a boycott of Imus, his radio show, his radio station, WFAN and MSNBC until he and his producer are fired. Apparently Imus apologized on Friday saying, "It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.” Folks still want him fired regardless. Al Sharpton called for Imus to be fired even though he is expected to be on Sharpton’s radio show today. Sharpton said he will still hold his position. "Somewhere we must draw the line in what is tolerable in mainstream media," Sharpton told the Associated Press on Sunday. "We cannot keep going through offending us and then apologizing and then acting like it never happened. Somewhere we’ve got to stop this." "Has he lost his mind?" asked NABJ President Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director for Ebony and Jet magazines in Chicago on Friday. "Those comments were beyond offensive. Imus needs to be fired. Today." "As NABJ strives to dispel stereotypes and promote accurate portrayals of minorities in the media, we find this characterization of these young black women offensive and hateful," added Barbara Ciara, NABJ vice president/broadcast and managing editor at WTKR in Norfolk. Imus has been on the air since 1968 and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2002, Talkers Magazine named Imus as one of the greatest talk radio show hosts of all time. Howard Stern and Don Imus have had beef since the 1980’s and was documented in Stern’s film Private Parts.