ICE CUBE TO PRODUCE RAIDERS DOCUMENTARY FOR ESPN.

This is dope. I know the OG Raiders are from Oakland. I know this. But I grew up in L.A., and that was the SQUAD. Silver and Black. Commitment to excellence. I remember going to games as a little tike back at the Coliseum and having fights between gangbangers and cholos break out in the stands. And I loved it. Apparently so did Ice Cube.

The westcoast rapper will be paying homage to the Los Angeles Raiders by producing a documentary about the team for ESPN. The documentary will be called “Straight Outta L.A.” and will explore the origins of the Raiders from their time as an Oakland-based team, until 1982, when owner Al Davis won a court decision allowing the team to move to Los Angeles. Here's what Cube had to say about his beloved Raiders:

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, few white kids were listening to Rap and I was an 11-year-old kid in South Central Los Angeles,” Ice Cube said in a statement. “I was into sports and watched as many games as I could on TV—the Lakers, USC Football, UCLA, but I hadn’t developed a connection to any particular football team. But that fall, something clicked as I watched the Oakland Raiders.”

“The music, lyrics and images that I created with N.W.A as a solo artist and as an actor helped turn the Raiders into something more than a football team. It’s been 21 years since we released Straight Outta Compton, but to this day, kids all over the world buy Raiders gear, imitate the “Gangster Rap” style and try to connect with the South Central L.A. vibe that we brought to the masses.”

We salute you, Cube.

RUN DMC GETS THEIR OWN STREET.

All ya'll rappers talk about be street. Ha! Now this is some REAL street shit. On August 30th, the corner of 205th St. & Hollis Ave will be renamed Run-DMC Way. Walk this way.

RAEKWON TALKS ABOUT PRODUCERS ON OB4CL2.

Today, the tracklist was released for Raekwon's highly anticipated album and it features production from some of the best to ever do it, including Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, Dilla, and of course the RZA,
We sat down with the Chef to talk about the producers he enlisted on his upcoming album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, and why he decided to work with multiple cats instead of just the RZA like he did on the original. Hotdamn, I cannot wait for this shit to drop.

R.I.P. MICHAEL JACKSON.

(1958-2009)

Wow.

Words truly escape me right now. I'm speechless. This is surreal to me. MJ was that dude. I grew up on his music. He was a staple in my life. Thriller was the first cassette tape I ever owned, back when I was 6 years old. I used to listen to it and dance around my living room, practicing my dance moves. I had the silver glove and everything...

I never thought I would see this day. Honestly. The unbelievable has truly happened. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson has passed away today at only 50 years old. Jackson was rushed to the hospital this afternoon after suffering from a cardiac arrest. He arrived to the emergency room in a coma, and was pronouced dead shortly.

Despite all the rumors, the crazy trials and tribulations, the altering of his appearance - no other artist has ever (or will ever) accomplished what Michael did in his career. I mean, he has sold over 1oo million copies of his album Thriller - that's ONE ALBUM! From the ground breaking music videos, the dance steps, and electrifying world tours, Michael truly was an artist before his time. He transcended musical genres, and was truly the biggest and most famous musician of our lifetime. Hands down.

Jackson had planned to hit the road again to perform 50 shows this summer, in what was going to be the biggest concert event of the year. Tickets for the entire series, which were scheduled to kick off July 8th, sold out in hours. 50 show dates sold out in hours. Amazing. That was a testament to his star power, and that after 40 years in the music biz he still was in enormous demand. Mike, you were a pioneer and an icon, and you will truly be missed.

Rest in Peace.

MOS DEF WANTS YOU TO WEAR HIS MUSIC.

That's right, the Brooklyn rapper who just released his latest album, The Ecstatic, is planning on releasing T-shirts with his album embedded in them. The shirts will feature the album cover art work on the front, and the tracklisting on the back. Each short will have a hanging tag with a special URL and code allowing you to download the album, that's pretty clever. The shirts will hit stores july 7th for $39 dollars. I might just have to cop me one. Or if you're charitable, hook me up with a crispy Large.

EMINEM TO REUNITE WITH D12.

Building off the success of his latest album, Relapse, Eminem plans to hit the studio again very soon... this time to release a new album with his former group D12. It's been 5 years since Detroit's Dirty Dozen released an album together, as the group stopped recording after the death of it's founding member, Proof. Em recently said that Proof's passing was one of the reason's he wanted to do another D12 album, stating "I think this is what proof always wanted."

D12 was formed by Proof back in the early 90's as a way to showcase the best hip hop talent in Detroit. The group consisted of himself, Eminem, Bizarre, Denaun Porter aka Kon Artist, Kuniva, and Swiffty.

HOUSE SHOES SPEAKS ON THE CHARLES HAMILTON SITUATION.

For those of you not knowing the "situation," Harlem rapper Charles Hamilton falsely listed James Yancey a.k.a. J DIlla as the executive producer of his upcoming album. Without ever meeting the man. Needless to say, this angered a couple folks, especially those close to J Dilla. One of the those people is House Shoes: Detroit's hip hop ambassador to the world, Dilla's Dj, and one of his closest friends. He came through the offices yesterday to give us the exclusive interview about this whole fuckery. Needless to say, he's not happy and neither is the whole city of Detroit.

Shout out to Shoes for coming through. We salute you, Respect due.

MAX B. IS HEADED TO PRISON.

And could be facing a long, long, looooooong sentence. The Harlem rapper was found guilty today for his involvement in a robbery that left one man dead. Max faces LIFE IN PRISON after a jury convicted him of, “aggravated manslaughter, two counts of felony murder, three counts of armed robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.”

Max, born Charly Wingate, was accused of being the mastermind behind a $30,000 heist targeting two wealthy men. Reportedly Max conspired with his step brother Kelvin Leerdam, and his girlfriend Gina Conway, who served as the prosecution’s secret weapon in the case against him. She turned on Max, testifying against Max in return for a shorter jail sentence.

Max is currently being detained in Bergan County Jail awaiting sentencing, set for July 31. He is facing life behind bars. Max is no stranger to prison bars, he has already served 8 years in jail, from 1997- 2005, for a seperate robbery charge. But facing life is prison is no joke. Looks like the Harlem wave is coming to an end.

Max's attorney Gerald Saluti said he has already filed a motion for a judgment not withstanding the verdict – a precursor to asking for an appeal – assuring fans that “We’re gonna keep fighting and fighting until we win.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KANYE.

Today the Louis Vuitton Don turns 32. Damn, imagine the party that dude is gonna have. It might be slightly better than my last one, but I know I'll have a better cake.

Shout out to Yeezy. Have a great day, and don't forget to celebrate that Good Life.

C-Murder Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison.

...For shooting up a night club, and then annnnnnnother club the same year. Now that's when keeping it real goes wrong. Above is the surveillance footage of C-Murder, who obviously takes his name too seriously, attempting to kill a club owner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana back in 2001. Luckily for everyone involved he has bad aim his gun jameed. The former No Limit solider, and brother of Master P, plead no contest to second degree attempted murder charges, and will spend the next decade behind bars. Now all he has to worry about now is his upcoming re-trial for the 2002 murder of 16 year old Steven Thomas at another club in Harvey, Louisiana. Yo, Murder, please stay out the club, homie.

T.I. Goes to Prison.

Today T.I. is official behind bars. The Rapper, Clifford Harris, checked himself into the (minimum security) federal prison in Forrest City, Arkansas, according to one of his attorneys. The 28-year-old rapper was sentenced to 366 days in Club Fed after he was busted trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers from undercover federal agents back in 2007.



The Urban Daily has also reported that T.I. and his girlfriend Tameka “Tiny” Cottle finally got married before TIP entered prison:

“Its been a crazy situation around here with all that has been taking place. In regards to Tiny and T.I., yes they are officially husband and wife,” said the source who wished to remain anonymous because they were not at liberty to officially discuss the issue. “It recently took place in a very private ceremony with only members of the immediate family and certain members of the Grand Hustle family.”


Good for him. Now he has those conjugal visits to look forward to. But if I were a betting man, I'd put money down that we see T.I. in the streets before his 1 year and 1 day prison sentence is up...

AND WE'RE BACK....

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Low Lifes...

After a week long hiatus from work, we're back on the grind. I pretty much didn't even turn on a computer, and took a much needed mental break from anything hip hop internet related. Because of that this blog was on PAUSE like a suspect Weezy verse. But don't worry, we got some really dope upcoming shit for you, including new features, new writers, and even a surprise or three. So thanks for rocking with us til the wheelz fall off. We do this for you.

...Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

Common To Join The A-Team?

Rumor has it that rapper/actor/cologne salesmen Common is set to join the cast of the movie version of the classic 80's tv show, The A-Team. (Sidebar: The A-Team was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a little lad. I wanted a black van likes theres until I realized only pedophiles drive vans. And their TV theme is one of the top 5 TV Theme songs of all time. )

Ok, back to the blog post. Common. Right, he's being rumored to play the role of the legendary B.A. Baracus, who we all know was played by Mr.T on the O.G. show. That's an interesting role for the laid back Common, who also said that he can't do the mohawk... but they'll "work something out." Wait...what? No mohawk? That's his signature. That's like Slick Rick not rocking gold chains, MF DOOM not rocking his metal face, or DMX not getting arrested. Come on, Comm...you can't play B.A. Baracus without the mohawk, foo!

(We've gone ahead and through advanced computer technology made a composite of what Common would look like if he, in fact, could do a mohawk. And it looks a little like this.)

The movie is being directed by Joe Carnahan, who also directed “Smokin Aces” which featured Common. Word is Carnahan personally wanted Common for the role. Word? Personally, I always thought Ice Cube would be perfect to play Mr. T, but that's just me...

Or is it?

Snoop Dogg Pulls His Weed Card.

Yesterday cops in Norfolk, VA got a tip that a suspicious package arrived in the mail from Canada to the Norfolk Plaza Hotel, where Snoop and and his crew were staying. The cops smelled something fishy kushy, so they monitored the package that was addressed to a member of Snoop's entourage, then swooped in and arrested the dude for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

That's when the Doggfather showed up in the lobby and told cops the weed was for him, and then flashed his medical marijuana card. We don't know if the card worked. The dude whose name was on the package was arrested and cops are still investigating. Let's see if Snoop is able to take the rap (no pun) and let his homie slide free. But yo, for real, who sends weed in the mail? Everybody knows that the easiest way to get caught. So I've heard.

Eminem Interview on Shade45.

During a recent interview on "The Morning After" on Shade 45 radio, Angela Yee pulls no punches no punches with boss, Eminem, and gets to the bottom of this recent Eminem disappearing act and what the hell he's been doing. She also gets the scoop on the upcoming album, Relapse. Highlights include, but are not limited to:

1. To avoid leaks, only Em and Dre have copies of the album.

2. The next single is called "3 AM"

3. Only Dre and 50 Cent appear on the album.

4. Em deliberately picked beats that challenged him.

5. Em is feeling music from T.I., Kanye, and Lil Wayne.

LISTEN: Eminem Interview Part 1 | Eminem Interview Part 2 | Eminem Interview Part 3 | Eminem Interview Part 4

Happy Birthday Kool Herc.

Hip Hop's Founding Father, Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc turns 54 today. Respect Due. This is the man who essentially birthed the Hip Hop Culture back in the Bronx in the 70's. Aside from throwing some of the first hip hop parties in history, he's credited for developing the blueprint for hip hop music, in which he would isolate the "break" part of a record, and prolong it by continuously looping the section by using 2 of the same records on the 2 turntables. This became the section that the dancers enjoyed most. Because they danced to the break part of the record, Herc began calling his dancers "break-boys" and "break-girls", or simply b-boys and b-girls. Herc also contributed to developing the rhyming style of hip hop by punctuating the music with slang phrases from the DJ's microphone, with classic phrases like: "Rock on, my mellow!" "B-boys, b-girls, are you ready?" "This is the joint!" "To the beat, y'all!" "And you don't stop!" For all his cultural contributions, he is credited as the Father of Hip Hop, and an icon and hero in the beginning of hip hop music and culture.

This man is truly a legend. If he wasn't for him, most of us wouldn't be doing what we are doing today. Pay respect and pay Homage. We salute you, Herc.

Air Stabs Now Available on NIKEiD.

That's what I'm talking about. For only $112 too. That's also what I'm talking about. The Air Stabs are one of the most comfortable Nikes ever. I just whipped these bad boys up real quick on Nike ID, as part of the Notorious K.E.V. pack. 1 of 1. Limited Edition. Don't be jealous.

I love Nike ID, and you should too. Why buy someone else's shoe, when you can make your own? Feel free to steal my design, just shout me out when you see me in the streets.

Scott Storch Arrested For Stealing Bentley.

Classic mug shot right there, Scotty. Where you surprised you got caught, or have you been awake for 46 straight hours? Cocaine is a helluva drug (c) Rick James.

TMZ is reporting that producer Scott Storch has just been booked with grand theft auto (no XBOX). Storch allegedly leased a Bentley but never returned it after the expiration date. It took the leasing company 7 months to find it. Maybe he couldn't return it because he was living in it.

Eminem To Release 2 Albums This Year.

After a long hiatus, Eminem is rewarding his fans for their patience - as he plans on dropping, not one, but 2 albums in 2009. The first album Relapse, after much speculation, now has an official release date of May 19th. Em says he hopes to release Relapse 2 towards the end of the year. This will be the first time the real Slim Shady has released an album since 2004. I guess he wants to make up for his 5 year layoff.


"A lot of people were expecting 'Relapse' to drop last year," said Eminem. "I was one of them. Then Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months. We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre. Putting out 'Relapse 2' will let everyone get all of the best stuff."

Em also plans to debut the video for his first single "Crack A Bottle" on April 7th. I'm sure the internets might get a sneak peak before that.

N.O.R.E. Arrested in Fatburger.

Details are still shaky, but supposedly Noreaga punched somebody is the face and then threw a cup of yellow liquid on the dude. I hope it was lemonade, Nore, and not some R. Kelly type of shit going down. This is how it jumped off according to the Miami Herald:

Victor Santiago, who also goes by stage names N.O.R.E. or Noreaga, was arrested by Miami Beach police after he got into a fight with a man at Fatburger, a South Beach restaurant located at 947 Washington Ave., police said.

According to the police report, Santiago and three other men walked into Fatburger yelling loudly. On their way in, the rapper ripped one of the restaurant’s flower bouquets out of its place. Santiago then offered a man a cup of yellow liquid — when the man refused, Santiago threw it at him.

”Do you know who I am?” Santiago yelled, according to the report.

The rapper then punched the man in the face three times, police said.

I love when famous people say "Do you know who I am" when they get in trouble. Best excuse ever. Nore says no flowers were involved, and is going to reveal his side of the story tonight. And also revealed that he was there to order a Veggie burger. Because, you know, he's on a diet.