Last Thuesday, Jay-Z performed live on Madison Square Garden in New York for over two and a half hours. He was joined by a few friends of his like Beyoncé Knowles, Foxy Brown, Mary J. Blige, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot and R. Kelly.

"I put together a special evening for y'all," Jigga said. "Tonight is a charity night. We're still gonna have a lot of fun."

After a brief tribute to Tupac, Aaliyah, Big L, Big Pun, Jam Master Jay and The Notorious B.I.G., Jigga and Roc-A-Fella CEO Damon Dash brought out Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.'s mothers, Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace. They handed over a check worthy of $25,000 to each of their sons' foundations.

Click on the image to the left for a larger view.

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In its second week on the charts, the soundtrack for Tupac: Resurrection sold 180,000 copies and fell down from the second to the seventh position on The Billboard 200. Combined with last week's sales, the soundtrack has so far sold 610,000 copies, which means it has shipped only two weeks after its release.

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According to Inspecta Heck, Onyx’s producer, Fredro Starr and Ja Rule are in talks to do a track together dissing 50 Cent. Fredro had previously appeared in The Source magazine commenting that he felt 50 Cent had been disrespecting Onyx and not showing them love even though they were the ones to give him his first major break.

Fredro also commented on the situation at the Vibe Awards saying that “[50 Cent] basically started shit with me, started a scuffle, and a bodyguard broke us up. He's a punk. He's disrespectful to Jam Master Jay ever since he passed. Fuck him. I'm doin shit with some ex G-Unit members now. 50 ain’t shit"

Source: FoeFoe

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In the Baltimore School For The Arts, Tupac (under the alias MC New York), Dana "Slick D" Smith, Darrin Keith Bastfield and Gerard "DJ Plain Terror" Young, started the rap group known as Born Busy.

Bastfield, who wrote the book Back In The Day: My Life And Times With Tupac Shakur (which was released by the publishers One World/Ballantine a divison of Randomhouse). Is now currently in the process of working on a project entitled "Shakurspeare." The project is a painting of an original concept, which Tupac posed for in 1988. Bastfield has plans to sell the limited editon paintings and donate portions of the proceeds to "Art Imitates Life" Foundation a program designed to nurture kids in the arts.

"Shakurspeare is basically my vision of Pac after he shared with me his love for Shakespeare and his desire to be a Shakespearean actor," Bastfield told HitEmUp.com. "Pac posed for me after I made a joke about him being dressed like Shakespeare, and after doing a sketch of him, I told him that I would call the painting Shakurspeare. This is to commemorate the seventh anniversary of his death."

"I want people to see a different image of Pac that they will never see," Bastfield continued. "Whatever you felt from reading the book, I aim for viewers to feel something close when they see Shakurspeare. There are places that words can't go or touch, but art has no limitations on its possibilities to touch the soul. I aim to touch people's souls the way Pac touched mine."

The painting will also feature an unpublished Tupac lyric from a song titled "Who The Hell Are You" written in Tupac's very own handwriting

The painting will be sold on the website www.Shakurspeare.com. Bastfield will also be posting eight snippets of Tupac's earliest recordings.

"I feel that people should hear them, because Pac says some interesting things on the recordings," Bastfield said.

A new paperback version of the book Back In The Day: My Life And Times With Tupac Shakur was published earlier on September 2003 by DaCapo Press.

ShakurSpeare should go live on December the 13th

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On Wednesday night, former No Limit Records rapper Souljah Slim, real name James Tapp, was shot dead. He was only 25-year-old and had just begun working on a collaboration album together with Chopper City Records rapper B.G. formerly of the Hot Boys. StreetHop would like to send out our deepest condolences to Souljah Slim's family, fans and friends.

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In an unexpected move, Ronnie King, the respected producer and keyboard player who is heard on dozens of hit records, including some of the late Tupac Shakur’s biggest tracks, and who is also heard on the new Offspring single, "Hit It," has instigated his first move in response to his quickly developing Punks-N-Thugs movement. King announced today that Rapper Big Syke from Tupac Shakur’s first rap group, Thug Life, and from his group hte Outlaw Immortalz, will be rapping on a hiphop remix of The Offspring’s new single, "Hit It." Says King, "The Offspring is totally behind this. They support this one hundred percent."

King says the combination of the Offspring with Big Syke on the remake will be a double threat, with the mixing up of the two musical camps.

Syke has recorded collaborations with other artists, with the best known result being "How Long Will They Mourn Me," a track featuring Syke and Tupac Shakur, which appeared on Thug Life Vol. 1.  The song later appeared on Shakur’s posthumous Greatest Hits disc.  Big Syke was part of the Outlaw Immortalz when they first surfaced on Shakur’s multi-platinum selling album, All Eyez On Me.

The original version of the song "Hit It" is exploding at radio and on national charts. It is the first single from the Offspring’s new album, Splinter.

King maintains that Pac had expressed to him on numerous occasions that he wanted to record a duo with Alanis Morrisette.  Shakur’s life, of course, would end before there was a chance for that to happen.  "It’s all music," says King. "If you can’t deal with it, get over it."

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Reported by SOHH.com:

While Ray Benzino has called Eminem rap's Hitler, Elvis and a "culture stealer," the Boston veteran and Source co-founder had ironically signed a white emcee to his Surrender label in the late 90s called The Bawston Strangla. After being mysteriously dropped in 1999, The Strangla re-emerges to speak on the recent Eminem controversy and Benzino's hypocrisy.

"I think he made a mistake, I think he was young. To me that's what it sounded like. It sounded like he was probably 16 or 17 years old his girlfriend broke up with him and he was heated. But at the same time, you don`t go putting stuff down if you don`t mean it like that," The Strangla told SOHH.com via phone regarding the Eminem audiotape at the center of racial controversy.

Last week, Benzino presented the media with two audio clips from an audiotape which included lyrics which The Source magazine has called racist. As a white rapper of Irish decent, The Bawston Strangla, believes the statements could be detrimental to the fragile racial accord in America.

"Hip-Hop has helped white people and black people come closer than ever. And this is something that could put another fence up and make the water a little bit hotter for everybody. It`s inexcusable. You can`t go around disrespecting black women like that and he`s got to have a viable or good enough explanation for what the hell he was saying."

Brendon aka The Bawston Strangla was once signed to Benzino and Hangmen 3's Surrender Records. Interestingly, The Strangla claims that Benzino attempted to shape his image into a persona that strangely resembles Eminem`s earlier days.

"I don`t want to say that he said you have to say this, but basically he came to me and he was like this is the image I`m looking for on this song. I`m looking for a white kid from South Boston, who is Irish, who's extremely pissed off, got a drug problem, doesn't like authority figures and doesn't like Black people. My inital reaction was I can't say that because I live in the most cultured part of Boston," The Strangla revealed. "I was under the impression that it was being used for a movie and they were looking to portray a crazy white kid. At that time, I was young, I was new to getting a record deal so you kind of just want to do what the boss says."

With the blessing of his black friends, the Boston emcee eventually said the "N" word in a song called "Shamrocks & Glocks." Consequently, things went downhill from there.

"If you listen to that song, everything else I ever recorded is the exact opposite of that song. I can`t justify myself for doing it. I was wrong for doing it," The Strangla said in regard to his use of the dreaded racial slur.

Ironically, the Bawston Strangla got dropped from Surrender Records right around the time Slim blew up. According to the Strangla, Benzino felt it would be near impossible to promote another white rapper while Eminem was making so much noise -- prompting Zino to put the Strangla on hold before eventually dropping him. Shortly after, rumors that The Strangla was dropped from Surrender for spitting the "N" word began circulating around Boston."

I heard a lot of stories... that [Benzino] gave me the beat and then I wrote the song and recorded somewhere else. That`s not true... [Benzino] was there when it was recorded," The Strangla told Sohh.com. "As far as me being dropped because of using the N bomb. That's false."

Meanwhile, Brendon offers his take on the apparent vendetta Benzino has against Eminem. The word on the streets in Boston is that Zino went to show love to Em at an awarda show, only to be shunned by Slim who was pissed the Source didn`t give him 5 mics.

"It became one of those things where [Benzino] just kept trying to lyrically beat him, battle him and it wasn`t working out so he just went for the next best thing," The Strangla revealed. "It was kind of hypocritical because dog turned around and do the same thing to Eminem that he did to me."

Despite it all, Brendon is moving on, preparing a new LP for a March 2004 release on Commonwealth Records.

"I have no hard feelings towards [Benzino] because of the song. It`s like anything else... if you get divorced from a woman you`re not going to get remarried to her. I wouldn`t go back to Surrender and I wouldn`t go back with dog [Benzino]."

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G-Unit's album Beg For Mercy has made a nice climb on the Billboard charts moving over 327,000 copies in it's second week and first full week since the album was released on a Friday to bring their total to 704,000 getting past Jay-Z and his The Black Album for this week which moved 280,000 copies  to bring his total to 750,000. 2pac's Resurrection soundtrack moved an addditional 180,000 copies.

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We have just uploaded a new dis track by Eminem called "Monkey See Monkey Do" to our StreetTapes section on the right side panel of the site. The track is an obvious dis to Ja Rule and Murder Inc, but Eminem proclaims that "we aint just talking to one person" and challenges anyone to dis his camp that "wants to bring it."

While Eminem also says in the song that he wishes someone of Nas’ or Jay Z’s caliber would diss him for a challenge, its interesting to note that he is yet to reply to artists who have dissed him such as Royce 5’9, Hussein Fatal, Yukmouth and others.

While no names are mentioned directly on the track, Em states that "come April" he will mention names; suggesting his next album may be released April 2004.

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411mania.com recently held a discussion on Tupac, which was part nine of a 10-part series on the impact and influence of Tupac Shakur.

The discussion asked questions about Tupac which were answered by staff members of 411 and myself.

Click here to read the discussion.

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This month, Rolling Stone magazine released a special collectors issue featuring the 500 greatest albums of all time - in their opinion, that is.

While all of Eminem and The Notorious B.I.G.'s albums are listed, none of Tupac's are anywhere to be found on the list. Classics like Me Against The World, All Eyez On Me and The 7 Day Theory were left out. The following rap albums were featured on the list:

048. Public Enemy It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
120. Run-DMC Raising Hell
133. The Notorious B.I.G. Ready To Die
137. Dr. Dre The Chronic
144. N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton
156. Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique
217. Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill
227. Eric B. and Rakim Paid In Full
240. Run-DMC Run-DMC
248. Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt
273. Eminem The Slim Shady LP
302. Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
312. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
317. Eminem The Eminem Show
346. De La Soul 3 Feet High And Rising
359. Outkast Stankonia
377. TLC CrazySexyCool
386. Wu-Tang Clan Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers
400. Nas Illmatic
459. EPMD Strictly Business
464. Jay-Z The Blueprint
477. The Fugees The Score
478. LL Cool J Radio
483. The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death
497. Public Enemy Yo! Bum Rush The Show

Feel free to e-mail Rolling Stone your thoughts about this at letters@rollingstone.com.

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Located to the right, is the cover for Nutt-So upcoming third solo album, Fastlane Legacy, courtesy of WCRydaz.com. Like earlier reported, the album will be released in a joint venture between his own record label, Nutty's Playhouse, and Outlaw Recordz. It features guest apperances from AMW; Big Syke, B-Legit, MOBB C.I.N., NTO, Outlawz and Spice 1.

Nutt-So is also in the process of recording a double CD for the soundtrack for the documentary Welcome To Oakland. He will also appear in Apartment 3's upcoming DVD magazine, which contains all access and behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

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Xzibit has teamed up with Krondon, Mitchy Slick and Phil Da Agony to form the group Strong Arm Steady. You'll be able to purchase the group's official mixtape soon along with a DVD, which they're releasing through Fortress Entertainment.

The DVD contains all new material and cameos from 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Cypress Hill, G-Unit, Ice-T, Talib Kweli, WC and others. The release date is March 2nd 2004.

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Columbia Records is scheduled to release the Braveheart's debut LP, Bravehearted, on December 16th 2003. The duo consisting of Jungle and Wiz is known for their works with Queensbridge rapper Nas, who's on half of the songs on the LP including the first single "Quick To Back Down." The single also features Lil' Jon. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Quick To Back Down - featuring Lil' Jon and Nas
02. Situation - featuring Nas
03. Sensation
04. B Train
05. Bravehearted - featuring Nas
06. Twiligt - featuring Nas
07. Scared Money
08. I Wanna
09. Realize
10. Bust My Guns - featuring Nas

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Taken from Launch.com's summary of the Vibe Awards:

"...Jay-Z also took home one of the night's special honors--the TuBig Award, presented in memory of murdered rap legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls."

Source: launch.com

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During Friday's lecture, Giovanni talked about Tupac Shakur and the "Thug Life" tattoo on her left arm in memory of the rap artist, who was gunned down in Las Vegas on Sept. 7th, 1996, and died six days later.

Shakur had numerous tattoos, including one saying "THUG LIFE" on his stomach.

Giovanni said her tattoo - which she got on the third day after Shakur died - is an expression of public mourning. Shakur was 25 years old when he died, Giovanni said, noting her only son, Thomas Watson Giovanni, was 27 at the time.

"Losing Tupac was a great loss, and it depressed me," Giovanni said.

Shakur didn't deserve the harsh criticism he received, Giovanni believes. Anyone who listens to his albums - with their hearts and their ears - will see his love, she said, and feel his warmth. "He was such a lovely young man."

Shakur's mother, Afeni, has released songs, poems and other materials from her son after his death. "She's keeping her son alive by doing that," Giovanni said. "[He] is still with us, and he'll always be with us as long as we remember."

Giovanni did not personally know Shakur or his mother.

Giovanni dedicated a compilation of poems, named "Love Poems," to Shakur and wrote a poem called "All Eyez On U" for the hip-hop star. One of Shakur's albums was titled All Eyez On Me.

Source: Zwire.com

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Some Miami high school students were left shaken -- but unhurt -- after a scare on their school bus Tuesday morning.

Police say a man hijacked the bus with 38 students on board and ordered the driver to take him to a stadium. Police say the unarmed man said he wanted to save the kids from terrorists, and also said he wanted to be taken to meet late rapper Tupac Shakur to get his autograph.

The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Jovanta Frazier, was arrested without incident and the high schoolers were escorted back to school.

Police said the man boarded at a bus stop and demanded to be taken to a stadium. He rode with the students for about 50 blocks as they waved out the windows to draw attention.

An assistant principal from another high school eventually pulled in front of the bus and talked to the hijacker. Police said the suspect is facing 39 counts of false imprisonment, one count per student and one more for the bus driver.

Source: Wesh.com

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A $25 million lawsuit against P Diddy which surfaced last month has been dropped by a New York court.

Former Bad Boy Records President Kirk Burrows accused the rap mogul of racketeering and alleged his indirect involvement in a number of killings, including that of rap legend Tupac Shakur.

However, Judge Jed Rakoff threw the case out citing a "limitless number of deficiencies" in Burrows' allegations.

"It would take me far more time than any judge has to describe all the deficiencies in this complaint," he said.

Last month the New York Times published a number of the claims against P Diddy including allegations that he hired Crip gang member Orlando Anderson to kill Tupac Shakur in 1996.

It has also emerged that Burrows claimed former P Diddy bodyguard, Anthony Jones, was the gunman that killed 'Big Jake' Robles, a known LA gang member and associate of infamous Bad Boy Records adversary Suge Knight. P Diddy has spoken openly about the killing of Robles which he witnessed side-by-side with Suge Knight himself.

The star told Vibe magazine that Knight accused him of having some involvement in the shooting as they stood at the scene of the crime.

In a further twist the gunman, Anthony Jones, was shot and killed in what was described as an argument about a woman that took place outside an Atlanta nightclub last week.P Diddy was amongst the mourners that attended 38-year-old Jones' funeral.

Source: DotMusic.com

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Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah will hand out 1,000 sleeping bags to homeless people in New York City next week, in an effort to help needy people.

Ghost, along with Ross Fredmand and Duke Wu, owners of the re-launched Troop apparel company will join the "One Thousand Sleeping Bags Partnership," to help address the growing problem.

Ghostface, who appears in the company's apparel advertisements, will personally handout the bags and will initiate a "Hat and Glove" drive.

Fans of the rapper are being asked to bring gently worn hats and gloves to the event in exchange for an autographed photo of the rapper.

"We've been donating clothing as an annual Troop tradition, but this year we wanted to do something special," Ross Fredman said. "All my life I've seen homeless in the parks struggling through the cold winter months. Struggling just to stay alive through the night. These sleeping bags are something that would make an immediate difference in people's lives. [They could] potentially save lives."

According to statistics, the number of homeless people in New York City are at higher levels than ever, surpassing the Great Depression.

The event takes Monday, November 24 from 11am-12:15 pm at 227 Bowery, in Manhattan.

Source: InvincibleTrump, AllHipHop.com

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Initially scheduled for this year, Suge Knight's Riverhead Books autobiography has been pushed back to next year. The creative process underwent complications when Knight was incarcerated for assaulting a nightclub valet last July.

Riverhead's co-editor feels positive about the book's chances to see an early 2004 release. "We had extremely limited visitation privileges and no phone privileges," Julie Grau, the book's co-editor told Billboard.com. "It really sort of stopped us cold in the eleventh hour of the production. But he has been moved to a different facility and we're now able to have more access to him. The whole machinery is starting up again, and now, of course, there is more for him to write about."

Source: Carl Chery

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Jay-Z is fulfilling his promise to explore other ventures after his retirement from music this month. The rap mogul, whose Black Album debuted at #1 this week, is rumored to be in the market to buy the New Jersey Nets.

ESPN reports that Jay-Z has retained the New York City investment banking firm of Andrew, Alexander, Wise and Co. to explore the possibility of making a bid to purchase the New Jersey Nets.

The Yankee Nets holding company put it up for auction in September and is now receiving bids - the highest so far is from New York developer Bruce Ratner at $275 million. Jay-Z's camp has declined comment.

Source: SOHH.com

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Australia has a new Hip-Hop and R&B publication supporting the urban scene Down Under. This Monday will see the launch of Urban Hitz in the form of a special poster book.

The posters will features some of today’s hottest international urban acts including 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Eminem and Nelly and more. The magazine will also feature coverage of Australian local talent, including Maya Jupiter, Jeremy Gregory, Camielle and J-Wess.

The posterbook is a launching pad for a future national urban magazine encompassing all aspects of urban culture, including music, fashion, technology, socio-politics, sports and major events.

The reality is that the existence of such a magazine is dependant on the sales of this poster issue. So if you would like a locally produced publication aimed at the Australian Urban fans, make sure to head down to your local news agent next week and pick up Urban Hitz as a form of support - not to mention the great posters.

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Source: MTV News

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Esham mentions Tupac on a track called "No More Dyin'" from his new album, which comes out today, titled Repentance.

Esham raps; "Is it 9-1-1 or 9/11? 2Pac can you tell me if theres thugs in heaven?"

Source: ThaSkitzoInMe@aol.com

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The Source has been actively hyping and promoting supposed proof that Eminem is a racist. Reportedly they were able to possess an audio of Eminem making racist remarks towards Black people in a rap recorded in 1993. The audio was released today and the great mystery now at hand is whether or not this is a sound-a-like hired by The Source, or if it is really Eminem, who oddly enough sounds older on the audio than he did in 1995.

In the fued between Shady/Aftermath vs. Ray Benzino and David Mays, it has been quite obvious who's names have been tarnished. Is this audio an honest view on Eminem's racism or merely a laughable attempt to regain some credibility, by ironically trying to destroy the other's? Check out TheSource.com to decide for yourself. It may be a legit audio that will damage Eminem's credibility and even his career, or it may just be good for a laugh.

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As we reported prior, New Child is currently serving time at Rikers Island. You can show support by writing New Child at: 

WALLACE LYNCH # 2410309603
E.M.T.C  12 Upper
10-10  Hazen St.
E. Elmhurst N.Y
11370

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Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot is back with her fifth LP; Elektra Entertainment is scheduled to release This Is Not A Test! on November 25th 2003. The production was handled by Timbaland and Missy herself. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Pass That Dutch
02. Wake Up - featuring Jay-Z
03. Keep It Movin' - featuring Elephant Man
04. This Is Our Last Time - featuring Fabolous
05. Dat's What I'm Talkin' About - featuring R. Kelly
06. Don't Be Cruel - featuring Beenie Man  and Monica
07. Let It Bump
08. Pump It Up - featuring Nelly
09. It's Real
10. Let Me Fix My Weave
11. I'm Not Perfect - featuring The Clark Sisters
12. Outro - featuring Mary J. Blige

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Two months ago, producer Timbaland announced that he would retire from producing rap music in the near future. In a recent interview with MTV News, he gave his explaination; he says he's tired of the lack of creativity in the current state of rap.

"Hip-hop is the same ol', same ol'. I can do a beat and keep doing it, but it's not the same," Timbaland said. "All the other stuff out there ain't creative. It's just a bunch of lollygags."

Timbaland says that the only artist that he's interested in working with is Coldplay, who he met on the night of the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. They discussed collaborating on a song, but nothing is official yet.

Despite all of the talk about retirement, Timbaland fans still have a lot to look forward to. Timbaland's production and involvement can be found on Jay-Z's recently released tenth and final LP, The Black Album; Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot's upcoming fifth LP, This Is Not A Test! due out November 25th 2003; Alicia Keys' upcoming second album, The Diary Of Alicia Keys, due out December 2nd and upcoming albums from Brandy and LL Cool J.

Last, but not least, Timbaland and Magoo's third LP, Under Construction II, hit stores today. It features the singles "Cop That Shit" featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot and "Indian Flute" featuring Raje Shuari and Sebastian.

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"I didn't have a record until I had a record." So says Tupac Shakur, the gangsta rap artist who was shot down in his youth on a Las Vegas street. And, yes, it is Tupac Shakur saying it. He narrates his own story about an American life that started badly, got a lot better and then a whole lot worse. Because he was articulate and introspective, questioned his own behavior and had a philosophical streak, and because he left behind so many hours of interviews, the makers of "Tupac: Resurrection" are able to use his voice and only his voice to tell the story of his life from his birth to beyond the grave.

Shakur was a talented child who attended the Philadelphia High School for the Performing Arts (Editors Note: Was actually Baltimore), and in another world might have made another kind of music. But he came up at the defining moment of rap and embraced gangsta imagery, which became his reality. He advocated some kind of half-baked philosophy named Thug Life, which was supposed to be a code to end the anarchy of inner city street gangs. But like the rap artist Biggie Smalls, whose murder has been linked with Shakur's in the legend of the East-West rap war, and like Sean (Puffy) Combs, who has also been associated with violence, he was not a ghetto warrior but a rich, talented performer who pretended to be a lot tougher than he was.

"Tupac: Resurrection," directed by Lauren Lazin, is essentially the autobiography of a young man who suddenly has to learn how to handle fame, money and power, and whose impulses to do the right thing are clouded by the usual problems of too much, too soon. "I was immature," he observes at one point, and later "I tried to get humble again." He attacked Spike Lee and Eddie Murphy for no good reason. He fought with the Hughes Brothers, who were trying to direct him in a movie. He was accused of rape. He did time behind bars. He was involved in gunplay. He was making millions of dollars and did not fully realize what a target that made him, in a new branch of the music industry where murder was a marketing strategy.

The most important person in his life was clearly his mother, Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther who was in jail when she was pregnant with Tupac, and who later fought and won a battle with drugs; her politics and feminism helped form him, and he talks about how comfortable he is with women, how he understands them, how he was the only male in the family. In the last months of his life, his relationship with his mother is the most positive input he has -- and he knows it.

He's egotistical about his success, as he makes millions for Death Row Records and its notorious proprietor, Suge Knight. One movie that ought be viewed in connection with this one is Nick Broomfield's "Biggie and Tupac" (2002), which says Knight had both rappers murdered and even fingers the hit-men (off-duty Los Angeles cops on Suge's payroll). The LAPD, not surprisingly, has a different theory, but Broomfield's movie is instructive for its portrait of Suge Knight, who actually was and is the kind of hard character Shakur and Smalls posed as.

"Tupac: Resurrection" is about rap music, the forces that created it, and the world it then created. Shakur talks about the experiences and politics that went into his own music, in a way that casts more light on rap than anything else I've come across in a movie. Although rap is not music in the sense that you come out humming the melody, it's as genuine an American idiom as jazz or the blues, and it is primarily a medium of words, of ideology; a marriage of turntables, poetry slams, autobiography and righteous anger.

I remember seeing Vondie Curtis Hall's "Gridlock'd" at Sundance 1996, soon after Tupac was murdered in Vegas. I'd admired Shakur's acting in "Poetic Justice" and "Juice," and now here, opposite the great Tim Roth, he was distinctive and memorable in what was essentially a two-character study. Consider the scene where his character, desperate to get into detox, tries to persuade Roth's character to stab him in the side, and the two get into a hopeless discussion about which side the liver is on.

In the long run Shakur might have become more important as an actor than as a singer (as Ice Cube has). As you listen to his uncanny narration of "Tupac: Resurrection," which is stitched together from interviews, you realize you're not listening to the usual self-important vacancies from celebrity Q&As, but to spoken prose of a high order, in which analysis, memory and poetry come together seamlessly in sentences and paragraphs that sound as if they were written. Let's assume you are a person who never intends to see a doc about rap music, but might have it in you to see one. This is the one.

Source: Copyright © Chicago Sun-Times Inc.

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Here are nine photos of some great “street art” from South Australia. These pieces were all done at Da Klinic, an Australian Hip-Hop store located in Adelaide. Da Klinic is kind enough to offer their walls as canvas for graffiti artists to come and paint on legally.

These photos are the first additions to our upcoming StreetArt section on StreetHop.com. The new section will showcase graffiti from around the world. If you would like to submit photos of your work please email them here, or visit our forum. To discuss this and other graffiti with like minded people from around the world, click here.

Special thanks to Shep @ Da Klinic. If you are in Adelaide check out the store located at 22 Currie Street, Adelaide. Phone/Fax (08) 82120028.

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Lord Finesse stated in a recent interview that new Big L material is in the works. The material includes remixes, unreleased, and new tracks.  Below is an excerpt from the interview:

Interviewer: You told us that you re working on a new Big L album. Will this album be unreleased songs, a compilation of early 12-inches or a bunch of recycled verses set to new beats?

Lord Finesse: Let me tell you right now, I got a song with Sheek from The Lox, and Big L, it ain't t even titled yet! Shit is crazy, it's bananas, this is some shit you know? The hook right now, I got another rapper working on the hook; if he does the hook this it'll be an incredibly big song for L. It'll be a street anthem; the people will love it, the beat is crazy, its real street. It ain't underground, it falls in the gray area. It should be coming out on the new Soundbombing project in like February. Now as far as this Big L album, its like I'm one of the key Executive Producers as far as when it comes to the Big L estate. There's three of us, you got Big L's mom, the lawyer and you got me. Anything that comes out in the future from Big L, it has to pass under my nose, I get to really stamp everything you know. I'm honored that she gave me a part of it; I should've been doing it, it was given to me when he first passed but I wasn't mentally there when he passed away, to do it and be strong enough to go put this out. I wasn't thinking of putting this Big L album out, I was still in shock, though from when he got killed you know? To this day sometimes when I hear his voice, when I hear old records it just bugs me out, it just reminds of just the days when we was together hangin' out and buggin' out, you know? It s like I still can't believe he's gone sometimes. So I want to do an album, it's called Real Legends Don't Die. What I'm trying to do is compose two albums, one album is the best of all his greatest stuff from Devil's Son, MVP, Street Struck --he's got songs that were never released. I did Unexpected Flavor, School Days, me and Buck did Times Is Hard On The Boulevard and Shoulda Wore A Rubber, I think Buck did that. And those songs exist, and then you put all of his stuff that people can't find on one CD. O.C. and Big L Dangerous, all the hot shit he did, Ebonics and then you do another album, with a few songs that are remixed; Times Is Hard and the song with Sheek and a remix to Shoulda Wore A Rubber and a lot of songs you could put people on, the remix of songs like The Enemy, it's so much stuff that's there. Then we got reels of some other stuff, that wasn t released yet, I'm supposed to get my hands on and then there s a DVD probably following that album.

Interviewer: Any plans of releasing the Big L tribute concert on DVD?

Lord Finesse: I have it here, and it'll be part of the DVD series, between the Big L DVD and my DVD coming out called The Underboss, and its like with the Big L DVD it's hard because there's footage out there, but it's not a lot you know? Footage from Japan, how we're trying to track the footage from when he performed at the Apollo in 92, when I first brought L out at the Apollo, there's footage out there that's crazy! I got footage from when my first real public show, when I performed with K-Solo and Redman was DJing for him you know? That s classic shit and its crazy and as far as myself I got about a good 10, 12 hours of footage. I might be overseas, me in Japan, in Germany, me in Switzerland, and Denmark and I m all over the place. When I was deejaying for Show & A.G., when I was in DJ competitions, when I took Roc Raida on the road; me and Raida used to battle each other on the turntables, my footage is relentless, all the BET footage, the MTV footage--its crazy how much I got...I got enough for like 3 DVD's.

Source: http://bigl.irth.net/

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Rap Music Is Killing Hip-Hop Culture by Rashida Restaino

-Article taken from BlackElectorate.com

"Hip-hop is dying, and it is dying because of rap music.

Before you get that perplexed look on your face, please keep in mind that rap and Hip-hop are two different things.

Rap is a music genre that is linked to the Hip-hop culture. Rap is to Hip-hop as chapter is to book.

Hip-hop is dying, and 50 Cent is holding the murder weapon. As a rap artist, 50 Cent's success includes being ranked No. 1 on the Billboard charts for weeks and selling more than 870,000 CDs, making him the rap equivalent of Britney Spears: Not only does he not add anything positive to the music genre, but he also exploits it for his own financial gain.

50 Cent's idea of entertaining lyricism includes a song titled "Bloodhound" where he says, "I love to pump crack/ Love to stay strapped/ Love to squeeze gats but you don’t hear me, though."

What is occurring here, and in most cases in Hip-hop, is the push from big record labels who aren't concerned with the integrity of the music or message, but how many units of a violent and negative record they can sell.

Hip-hop is the graffiti, the urban vernacular, the breakdancing, the culture and way of life that rap is a prominent part of.

The thirst for money and perpetuation of violence is the reason why rap is dying, and it is killing Hip-hop in the process.

To understand how these diseases have infested the genre, you have to know how rap artists are defined. If I have to explain why Talib Kweli and Jay-Z are both commercial rappers, I am going to break my headphones.

The word "commercial" means for profit. Anyone selling his or her CD for money is a commercial artist.

Many people will argue that it is the lyrical content that separates different rappers. For instance, because Jay-Z and The Clipse rap about money, drugs and women, their music is put in a different category than Common or Mos Def, whose lyrics are about cultural awareness. What people fail to realize is that no matter what the messages, the artists make a profit. The only difference is the number of zeroes behind the dollar sign when you compare one artist to another.

Which leads me to my second point. People who take money away from the artists' record sales are stealing from the art form.

It is a sad day in Hip-hop that artists have to protect their music from "fans" stealing the songs.

According to an article displayed on Launch.com, respectable artists like Jay-Z have to cleverly maneuver their way around pirates that are trying to release his CD "The Black Album" before he does.

"That's why we're moving the release date,"Jay-Z said in the article. "There's no honor among thieves, people bootleg strictly for capital gain."

Not paying for CDs by your favorite artists is stealing, and it is another virus that is killing Hip-hop.

What did you do before Napster? Oh, I remember. You dubbed your friends’ tapes for the songs you wanted. Well, it was called piracy back then too.

Besides a couple of interviews with some rappers, I have no ties to the industry; I am disappointed in sharing music files as a fan. If these artists are good enough for you to listen to, than why not support the music they are making financially?

Don’t misconstrue what I am saying. Hip-hop is not dying because supposed rap fans keep stabbing it in the back. Many of the artists in rotation right now are not responsible for the sounds, messages and images they are inundating their audiences with.

It is bad enough that the culture is being diluted by the elements of Hip-hop being used to sell common products.

The music industry is nothing but a conglomerated machine that pushes 50 Cent onto the masses and uses the media's negative stereotype of young African-American males to further their market share in urban music.

As far as I am concerned, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is a worthless pawn holding the gun that is killing the integrity of rap music that others before him have struggled to earn.

There are several factors that play into the death of Hip-hop. Destructive rap music provided by "entertainers" like 50 Cent are hurting the genre from the inside, and bootleggers stealing from the artists are causing a dichotomy in the social exchange that Hip-hop offered through rap music.

Now everything is a battle to the death."

- - Rashida Restaino is a columnist for The Northern Star, where this article first appeared and can be contacted via e-mail at: rrestaino@northernstar.info

© 2003 Northern Star. All Rights Reserved.

Source: DaveyD.com

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In a disturbing casting move, Marion "Suge" Knight tells the New York Daily News that he's agreed to play himself in Rampart Scandal, Sylvester Stallone's flick about the killings of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. He'll do that after he gets out of jail: Suge is doing time for assaulting a parking valet. The creep factor: Suge was once a suspect in Biggie's death, and he refused to answer police questions about Shakur's shooting.

Source: Dfw

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Afeni Shakur was recently interviewed by hip-hop website AllHipHop.com. She speaks on the making of Tupac: Resurrection, the soundtrack, working with Eminem, her relationship with Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight and much more.

A second part of the interview is coming soon, but for now, make sure you check out part one over at AllHipHop.com.

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This Wednesday at 12:55am Poetic Justice will be aired on ITV on UK TV. Poetic Justice was Tupac's second movie he made, along side Janet Jackson in her acting debut.

Source: THUGLIFE96

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While in Australia promoting her latest movie, Matrix Revolutions, Jada Pinkett Smith was interviewed by the Herald Sun Newspaper and mentioned Tupac. The two were best friends while they both attended the Baltimore School For The Arts.

"When I met Tupac, I was hanging out with Gangsters," Pinkett Smith told the newspaper, "My mother was away all the time and my father wasn't around. Nobody knows the demons Tupac carried on his shoulder. He went one way, and I went the other."

Source: Craig aka meltiger

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If you haven't already go and see Tupac: Resurrection. The movie has been officially released out in the states. For the European fans, We haven't been given any word as of yet about a European release but we'll keep you updated.

Make sure you go and see the movie!!

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Cash Money Records and Universal Records is scheduled to release the Big Tymers' fourth LP, Big Money Heavyweights, on December 9th 2003. The LP features production by big time producers such as Bryan Williams, Jazze Pha, R. Kelly and Ronald Williams. The first single and video is "Gangsta Girls" featuring R. Kelly. Besides R. Kelly, the LP also features guest appearances from Cash Money artists Lil' Wayne and TQ. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Intro
02. That's How They Do It
03. It's The Size
04. In Da Fast Lane
05. Gangsta Girls
06. My Quarter Piece
07. Cool Out In The Shade
08. Shut Up & Cut The Check
09. Danger Danger
10. Buy Out The Bar
11. The Hood's Still In Us
12. Ballerific
13. All In Tha Family
14. Sippin' In The Hood
15. You Got Your Girl In Handcuffs
16. For The Systems
17. Outro

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Tupac Shakur's mother Afeni agreed to let director Lauren Lazin make the new biopic Tupac: Resurrection on one condition: "We were always very clear that we needed Tupac to tell his own story," she says. "Tupac was a personality, and no one could ever speak for him. The bullets that took his breath never took his words. They could never shut him up. His ability to continue to speak is very dear to me."

Afeni Shakur's desire to let her son do the talking fit nicely with the creative vision Lazin had for the project. "I've always wanted to do something different -- that wasn't Behind the Music, that wasn't an E! True Hollywood Story," Lazin told Rolling Stone at the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. "A kind of filmmaking that was told entirely from the subject's point of view. There's no narrator in the film, no experts, no interviews with other people. It's all him."

Hitting theaters today, the film features home movies, unseen concert footage, and excerpts of the rapper's poetry and journal entries, with narration by Shakur himself, who was murdered seven years ago in Las Vegas while riding in a car with Death Row Records head Suge Knight.

"I could sense this swelling feeling for Tupac among the younger viewers," Lazin continued. "Kids who weren't into music when he was around -- really young kids relating to him and identifying with him, feeling connected to his story. It was really sort of a sociological interest: 'Why do so many people care about him?' He really has become an icon."

The film highlights an introverted side of the gregarious rapper, giving equal time to the young man who ran afoul of the law and the sensitive poet stung by misconceptions about him. "I think that Tupac was really hurt that people didn't see him as Horatio Alger," says Afeni Shakur. "That's what he always talked about, a rose that grew from concrete. It pained him that people never looked at what he did."

The film's soundtrack includes "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," produced by Eminem using samples from Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live" and featuring verses from both Tupac and his sometime foil Notorious B.I.G. Afeni Shakur was initially opposed to the track, worrying that having a younger artist such as Eminem involved would be disrespectful to Tupac and Biggie.

"Dre told me that Eminem wouldn't change anything, and quite frankly he told me to take his word," Afeni Shakur says. "My choice was to say to Dr. Dre, 'You don't know what you're talking about,' or take a chance. And I'm glad that I did, because when he finished the song I could see his vision. It took me a while because I'm fifty-six-years-old and I'm not a hip-hop expert, so I didn't understand the genius of what was before me. When I did, me and my whole family were blown away."

"Runnin' (Dying to Live)" was created with the permission of both Afeni Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.'s mother Voletta Wallace. "We are friends in spirit," says Shakur of Wallace. "We are members of an exclusive club of which we wish there to be no new members. We love each other and care deeply, compassionately in each other's hearts for each other's plight."

Other new posthumous Tupac tracks on the Resurrection soundtrack include Eminem rapping alongside Shakur's former group Outlawz for "One Day at a Time," the Eminem-produced "Ghosts," and "The Realist Killaz," which features a guest spot from 50 Cent.

Since Shakur's death in 1996, Interscope and Death Row have released a steady stream of his material, but his mother sees the well beginning to run dry. "There will be a double CD in November of 2004 with Interscope's unreleased material," she says, "and past that there will probably be one or two more. It just comes to a place where you want a natural end for it."

Still in the pipeline, though, is the Tupac-written film Live to Tell. "We just had a script doctor work on it," Afeni says. "Next year will be the eighth year since he was killed, and the eighth year in a row he will have had music out."

Tupac's murder remains unsolved, and Afeni claims the police have not so much as spoken to her about the investigation. "No one tells me one thing," she says. "No policeman ever came to me and said anything. Seven years after, I don't think it's a good time for anybody to talk to me about it. I don't have vengeance. For me, I see him speaking and him being able to fill up the whole screen and I say, 'Wonderful, wonderful, sweet baby, they did not shut you up.'"

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Slip-N-Slide Records is set to release Duece Poppi, who's single "Lose Your Mind" was released earlier this year and reached #1 on Florida radio stations, his album Godzilla Pimpin on November 18th, 2003. The album includes production by Kanye West, Jazzy Pha, Funk Boogie and Taz. The track "Nasty Ho" featuring Trick Daddy and Trina is the album's second single. The tracklisting is below:

01. Skit (Intro)
02. Hey - featuring Rick Ross
03. O Wee O - featuring Nate Dogg
04. Lose Your Mind - featuring Tiffany
05. Ball Like You Supposed To
06. Stick - featuring Taz
07. Nasty Ho (Skit)
08. Nasty Ho - featuring Trick Daddy and Trina
09. We Luvin' That
10. On My Knees
11. Get Paid
12. My Car
13. Hustler's Prayer
14. Hands Up High - featuring Lost Tribe
15. Mama

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Multiplatinum-selling rapper reveals he's working on an upcoming game which will feature label-mates Eminem and Dr. Dre.

During an interview on San Francisco Bay Area radio station KMEL Monday night, 50 Cent revealed that he's working on an upcoming video game. Although the multiplatinum hip-hop star didn't mention a title or release date, 50 Cent did say that he will be featured in the game, along with fellow Aftermath artists Eminem, Dr. Dre, and G-Unit (who are members of his group).

One interesting tidbit the "In Da Club" rapper also let slip was that the game would be a "Grand Theft Auto-style" action title. This description may add fuel to the rumors that swirled earlier this year that 50 Cent's mentor and label-mate Eminem was collaborating with Rockstar Games. In a breach of contract lawsuit filed against Eminem by L.A.-based Conspiracy Games in July, Conspiracy CFO Keith Tanaka accused Eminem of reneging on a deal with his company in order to work with the Grand Theft Auto developers. "We were not aware of any problems until we started getting some press on our new product," said Tanaka. "Then we started hearing rumors about Eminem negotiating a better deal with Rockstar Games." Could the game 50 Cent referred to be that project?

Source: Tor Thorsen, GameSpot

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Source: roaches

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Outkast is allowing fans to vote for which songs will be released as their next two singles (the third from Big Boi's and third from Andre 3000's cd).  On the website it allows you to listen to and vote the best of four tracks from Big Boi's disc and the best of 4 from Andre's.
 
The first singles released by the duo's new album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below have been funk smash, "Hey Ya" by Andre 3000 and the smooth rap classic, "The Way You Move" by Big Boi.  The other two singles released were the fastbeat funk/rap cross, "GhettoMuzick" featuring both members off of Big Boi's album, and Andre's solo, "She Lives in My Lap."

To vote visit http://www.outkast.com/.

Source: JW

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Two years ago, Jeffery Atkins truly ruled the charts. But Ja Rule's latest release, Blood In My Eye, sold barely 139,000 copies in its first week and debuted on the sixth position on the Billboard chart of the top 200 albums; his biggest setback so far.

His reign over the chart might be over, but that won't stop him. Ja Rule's returning next year with his sixth release, which is said to be a double album released in a joint venture between Death Row Records and Murder Inc. Records.

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Hip-hop was alive, well and thriving this past weekend at the Zulu 30th Anniversary weekend celebration.

The three days of festivities began with a cornucopia of Hip-hop culture at the National Black Theatre in Harlem that included underground and old-school MC performances, B-Boy ciphers, a Graffiti gallery and legendary DJs on the wheels of steel.

Friday night's performances included sets by Kurtis Blow and Shaolin Island's own King Just.

Saturday's festivities went into light speed with the arrival of KRS-One, who promptly left the stage at the start of his set and took his performance straight to the middle of the crowd as he rhymed over a B-Boy cipher courtesy of NYC Breakers.

As MC Shan looked on, bobbing his head and enjoying the show, KRS vibed off the b-boys and casually ran down a string of hit singles including a rendition of "South Bronx" sans the Queensbridgereferences.

Later legendary freestyler King Sun traded verses with the Blastmaster and challenged KRS and Shan to battle. Although claiming not to punk out, after an intense baiting session and much instigation, Shan declined to battle for financial reasons, but later said that he would record an album with KRS and put it out without the help of the major label system.

Sunday spotlighted what the Zulu call the fifth element of Hip-hop, knowledge, culture and overstanding, in a series of lectures and panel discussions at the Bronx Museum of Arts.

Under the banner KMeeting of the Minds,"Hip-hop brainpower manifested itself via KRS-One, Dr. Phil Valentine and legendary photographer and activist Ernie Paniccoli.

Paniccoli took a few minutes to discuss Hip-hop beef, including his own with rapper Kool Moe Dee, whom Paniccoli says is in breach of contract and honor for refusing to pay him for photos that were supplied for Moe Dee's book, "There's A God On The Mic."

Also appearing were organizer/activist Rosa Clemente and power promoter Maria Davis. The night capped off with a sold-out performance at S.O.B.'s with KRS-ONE as headliner.

The show was the first of the "Plain Rap" series, a weekly effort between AllHipHop and S.O.B.'s in which established artists are paired with up and coming talent.

In contrast to the firestorm of negative press Zulu Nation has received in the wake of the September 24th shooting death of one of its members, honor student Matthew Hall, the Zulu 30th Anniversary events showcased Zulu's true legacy as pioneers and preservers of Hip-hop culture. The event was dedicated Hall's memory.

His death still remains unresolved.

Source: DX 21 Krazo

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Though he's crafted beats for Scarface, CNN and DMX, Tony Pizarro's engineering and contributions to classic Tupac albums will most likely go down as his most important credits. On the eve of Tupac: Resurrection's release, Pizzaro remembers the making of "Dear Mama," Pac's artistic evolution and his interestingly successful, yet sadder days.

Pizzaro first met Pac when the late great emcee proclaimed to 'get around." First serving as the engineer for recording sessions, Tony increasingly began submitting beats, which eventually lead to "Dear Mama,' a timeless classic still revered as one of the most heartfelt and best singles of all time.

"Pac used to make reference to 'Dear Mama' in a lot of different songs and I'd always comment like - 'You know that's a song in itself.' And one day he was like 'I got something for that.' And he was like 'Man, you have 'In my wildest dreams' by the crusaders and I was like 'Yeah.' He was like 'Yeah, I got something for that.' So I got the track ready. Pac just came through and just dropped it and blessed it with them vocals," Pizzaro told SOHH.com via phone. "And for me. That's pretty much been the story of my life too. I kind of really knew what do to as far as putting that hook together because at that particular time, that was my story. I hadn't really talked to my mom for a while. So my whole thing was like putting that hook together, making sure that it was letting mom's know that you were appreciated."

The aforementioned session is only one of the countless times Pizzaro got to observe Pac in the booth. To this day, the Oakland's emcee's workaholic habits have been documented, setting a new trend for today's artists who now record excessively for every record.

"I can say I watched Pac evolve as an artist. At one time I can remember Pac, he may be taking a while to write only because he wouldn't be focused. It'd be like a lot of people in the studio so he'd be writing and entertaining. Pac was a real entertainer," Pizarro revealed. "It was almost like he'd be on stage and he was a comedian and he'd have everybody laughing, he'd be telling stories. So sometimes he might take a while making lyrics, [but because] he had to be the entertainer or the centerpiece of his own session."

Though Pac's mind once drifted while in the studio lacing verses, he'll forever be remembered as the man who easily recorded an album worth of material in a week.

"I watched Pac come to the point where he was completely focused. Pac could write them lyrics right there on the spot, like basically behind the mike," Pizarro shared. "I remember Tupac specifically at one point, he'd write the lyrics in probably less than 5 minutes... write a verse and be like 'Tone I'm a go in the booth now.' After he would record the first verse he would be like... 'Alright play that back. This is what you gon do. You gon play it back one time and the second time when you play it back just punch me and record.' And when I would press record there would be the lyrics to the rest of the song and those particular lyrics wouldn't even be written.. and the song would be done, boom rap. And that could be like 20 minutes. Pac could record like six songs in a night, finished, lyrics, hooks, everything."

Though Pizzaro and Pac maintained their friendship until his death, the beatmaker didn't contribute any tracks to All Eyez On Me, Pac's infamous Death Row debut.

"Pac had called me to come in to work on that particular album. But just through rumors and stuff.. I just felt like I wasn't gonna get paid cause you always heard brothers weren't getting paid so I was like 'I'm cool nigga'," Pizarro revealed.

Pizzaro then went on to produce cuts for a few of Pac's posthumous LP's, including R U Still Down? (Remember Me) and Still I Rise. Furthermore, he has been approached to submit tracks for what is set to be Shakur's last effort.

In the meantime, heads will soon be able to watch their idol narrate his own life story on the screen. In one of Resurrection's most eye-opening moments, Pac reveals that though he was successful while on Death Row, he wasn't happy, a fact that Pizzaro echoes.

"Being around Pac, it was very obvious and very evident. Here was a man who finally reached his goal and what he had set out to do and now that he actually made it... it's like this ain't sh!t," Pizzaro said in regards to Pac's bittersweet success. "Basically it was just real obvious that Pac wasn't happy."

Source: SOHH.com

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Though The Black Album has been pushed forward to this Friday, Jay-Z's plans are still in place to unveil the black version of his S. Carter Collection by Reebok on November 28th 2003. The sneaker will be available in black with green and red for men and black with pink for women. The black shoe will debut at Foot Lockers and Champs Sports nationwide at a price of $100 for the women, $75 for teens, $50 for pre-school sizes, and $25-$35 for todder/kid sizes.

"The debut of our black shoe should be the most exciting S. Carter launch yet," said Todd Krinsky, Reebok's vice president of Rbk in a statement. "It's the perfect color for winter, and the design captures the clean, sleek trend that is so hot with today's young consumer, while still popping in color with its green outsole and green/red laces."

Source: Carl Cherry

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With Canibus' Rip The Jacker album having surpassed sales of 40,000 units worldwide, Babygrande is pleased to announce the release of the second 12" single, Indibisible. The B-side of the single features the track "No Return." Look for this to hit stores in December.

As a part of Babygrande's continuing effort to bridge the US and Japanese hip-hop communities, they have recruited one of Japan's hottest producers, DJ Hazu, to remix the tracks "Indibisible" and "No Return." This limited edition 12" will only be released in Japan. Limited copies will be available in the US on an import only basis." Check out http://www.babygrande.com/news.jsp for more information. Canibus will appear on TRS Radio this Friday 11/14/03. To hear this interview just visit www.trsradio.com

Source: deejekyll

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Afeni Shakur, mother of slain rapper Tupac, is planning to release another posthumous double CD of all new material from her son, who was gunned down in 1996 in Las Vegas. In addition, Shakur is also planning to produce a screenplay, Live To Tell, which her son wrote during his 11-month incarceration.

"We are going to put [the movie] into production," Shakur said to AllHipHop.com. "We have every intention of putting that movie on the screen. It's a story of redemption and education."

Tupac Shakur's eighth posthumous release, Resurrection, posted strong first day sales yesterday. According to SoundScan, the release is on pace to move over 350,000 units in the first week of being on shelves, making it a strong contender for the top slot on next week's Billboard Top 200 Album's chart.

"Tupac left us a lot of clues," his mother Afeni Shakur said of where his estate should take his posthumous career. "I'm proud of my son. Mostly I am proud of his courage.I love everything that he did."

Shakur is in talks to produce a biopic with MTV about Shakur's younger years and is also working on a Broadway musical, based on Tupac's life using his music.

"Let's create something out of this," Shakur continued. "If you don't get nothing out of [his life], you don't get nothing."

Resurrection, the movie, boasts the largest theatrical release of any documentary.

Source: AllHipHop.com

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Interscope is launching the first Hip-Hop reality show on Showtime. The show, titled The Next Episode after a Dr. Dre single of the same name,  is loosly described as a reality version of the rap contests in the movie 8 Mile, The Next Episode follows the trials and triumphs of undiscovered rappers from across America struggling to become the country’s top MC.

In each city, the field has been narrowed down from hundreds of rappers to the top two battlers striving to be the "next." Each one-hour episode will showcase two MC's–in their respective cities including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia and New York - in a lyrical war, ending in a final battle in front of peers, with special guest DJ’s and MC’s officiating. The series will culminate with a massive winner-takes-all freestyle rap battle in a final showdown in Los Angeles in the final episode.

Directed by Moses Edinborough (Yo! MTV Raps), The Next Episode will also tell the untold hip-hop history of major cities as revealed by local legends and famed rappers, including 50 Cent, Joe Budden, Wyclef, Clipse, Big Tigger, Nate Dogg, Bonecrusher, Gang Starr and Loon.

The show premiers November 14th on Showtime @ 10PM EST.

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DubCNN.com is reporting that west coast artists Kurupt and Kokane have formed a group together called The 2K's. The duo's name stems from the fact that both of their solo names begin with the letter K.

Kurupt has said that the album will be released independently of Death Row Records, to which he is signed, and will be released as a joint venture between his own Kustapo Records and a label Kokane is putting together himself.

Currently six tracks have been recorded, with production from west coast hit maker Battlecat. Dr. Dre is also expected to lend a beat or two to the project.

One has to wonder how Suge Knight feels about a rapper on his label working with Dr. Dre who Death Row Records has been feuding with since he left the label in 1996.

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A New York Post photographer wants more than change from rapper 50 Cent — about $21 million more, MTV News is reporting.

Shutterbug James Alcorn filed a lawsuit in Queens County Supreme Court seeking damages from the multiplatinum rapper after 50's bodyguards, he claims, roughed him up on August 27th. Alcorn had been taking photos of 50 Cent exiting the store of Jacob the Jeweler in midtown Manhattan.

Alcorn and his attorney filed the complaint against 50 Cent, his record companies — Interscope, Aftermath and Shady Records — and seven unnamed security guards that the plaintiffs hope to identify.

Alcorn claims he suffered "severe and serious injuries" from the assault, which the suit states was done "knowingly, intentionally and willfully." The complaint asks for a little over $5 million for each of four causes of action: assault and battery, negligence, loss of service and punitive damages.

While no criminal charges have been filed against 50 Cent or any of his bodyguards, the New York Police Department's investigation is ongoing. Alcorn is hopeful. "No photographer should have what happened to me, happen to them," he said in a statement.

50 Cent's spokespeople had no comment on the suit.

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What is left of the late Tupac Shakur's group, the Outlawz, are touring Australia this week. The group now consists of E.D.I., Kastro and Young Noble after Napoleon left earlier this year, and Hussein Fatal left in 1996 after Tupac and Yaki Kadafi were murdered. The tour dates are below:

Thursday, November 13 - Sydney, @ Gas Night Club

Friday, November 14 - Perth, @ Metroplis Concert Club

Sunday, November 16 - Melbourne, @ Mothership - Mercury lounge

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Admirable and despicable, charismatic and chaotic, Tupac Shakur epitomizes hip-hop culture. His life and death remain its defining tale.

Tupac's status was cemented by his 1996 murder in, of course, a "drive-by," a term that rap introduced to America 10 years before "bling-bling." Even though Tupac rapped and filmed videos about the hereafter shortly before he got there, he stubbornly refused to avoid it, choosing to revel in and with the worst of hip-hop.

If Tupac could talk to us now  and some do believe the black Elvis will rise again  he'd surely explain, with the conviction that sold 35 million records, exactly how and why he ended up shot to death in Las Vegas in Suge Knight's BMW.

In a culture built on creating something fresh from the debris of the past, "Resurrection" is a remix masterpiece. Using snippets of Tupac's many, many interviews, the entire film is narrated in his own passionate words. No talking heads, no I-knew-him-whens. Just Tupac baring his soul, one more time.

Produced and directed by MTV documentarian Lauren Lazin, the woman behind the music channel's "Sex in the 90s," "Rockumentary" and "Cribs" features, Resurrection is executive produced by Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac and guardian of his legacy. Ms. Shakur's participation ensured there would be plenty of actual Tupac songs in the movie.

The music hits hardest in the beginning of the film, as the Vegas streets unspool to the strains of Tupac's fatalistic "Starin' Through My Rearview," which appropriately samples Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight." Tupac's voice then describes his impoverished New York City childhood during a blizzard of never-seen-before baby pictures. Stock footage and more family photos accompany his recollections of being raised by Black Panthers and Afeni's move to Baltimore, where Tupac enrolled in an elite high school for the performing arts.

Detaching Tupac's voice from his image allows Lazin to splice pieces of different interviews into elongated conversations. Tupac's many fans will remember many quotes, and perhaps even hear where one interview morphs into another. Newcomers will simply marvel at Tupac's insight and intelligence.

When something fresh does pop up, hilariously, in the form of a skinny high-school Tupac wearing shin-length clamdiggers and lip-synching to Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith's hit "Parents Just Don't Understand," you anticipate more. But you're better off waiting for a compilation album from Suge Knight and P. Diddy.

The only other jaw-dropper is Tupac explaining why he wouldn't take an AIDS test to do a love scene with Janet Jackson in "Poetic Justice": "I did not disagree, if we were gonna really make love."

For all but non-fans, the rest has been seen before, especially after Tupac moves to Marin City, Calif., catches on with the rap group Digital Underground and embarks on his solo career. This is where the "in his own words" format works worst. Instead of Tupac abruptly transforming from naive lip-syncher to tattooed Thug Lifer, we could have learned about the transition from the sculptors themselves

The most frustrating part of the film comes after Tupac gets shot in New York and then convicted of sex abuse the next day. These events are what led Tupac to pour gasoline on the simmering tensions between East and West, which were rooted in New York's rap superiority complex and L.A.'s gangsta-jacking of the music charts.

From there, it's on to prison, then freedom through, ironically, Death Row Records. Tabitha Soren's MTV interviews start to pile up here, including one where Tupac looks so angelic, so beautiful, you forget that he was consigliere to Death Row's brutal Knight, who had two prison terms in his near future.

"Suge ain't no gangsta," Tupac tells Tabitha near the end. "He chillin.'"

Source: SignOnSanDiego

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Afeni Shakur, the 56-year-old mother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, does not fit the image of a savvy record executive.

She lives on a farm in North Carolina. She prefers to spend her time overseeing her garden, attending to her grandchildren and taking naps. Yet Shakur is the executive producer of the new documentary Tupac: Resurrection, as well as founder and CEO of Amaru Entertainment/Amaru Records, which has released several million-selling Tupac albums.

"I'm not a filmmaker. I'm not a music producer by choice," Shakur says plainly, wearing a velour sweatsuit during an interview in a New York hotel suite. "Whatever it is I'm doing I do because my son was murdered, and he was not able to complete his work. So as his mother, my whole job and responsibility is to see to it that that happens for him, and I do that with love."

Yet as Shakur talks about upcoming projects, soon-to-be completed deals and other tasks, it's clear she's much more than just a grieving mother.

"I read every agreement of every contract. Anything I put my signature on, I really do read them. And I find things," says the former Black Panther, laughing about an incident where a company tried to get paid for a photograph they hadn't even taken.

They didn't get away with it -- Shakur, noticing something amiss, had the situation investigated and the proper person credited.

But savvy? Please, she says.

"That's not savvy -- that's your mama. That's how your mama does it," she says.

Certainly, that motherly instinct has helped keep Tupac's name and legacy vibrant in the seven years since Tupac Amaru Shakur died, gunned down in Las Vegas at age 25.

Tupac was rap's most dynamic, charismatic and controversial figure when he was killed. And since his unsolved 1996 slaying, Tupac's allure and mystique have grown exponentially.

Tupac: Resurrection is just the latest example of Shakur's posthumous star power. The film is being released in conjunction with a picture book and a soundtrack featuring new Tupac material.

Although there have been several documentaries produced on her son's life, this is the first to have a major theatrical release and the only one in which Tupac himself narrates his own short life. Filmmakers created this eerie effect by poring over more than 40 interviews, then splicing them together to create one seamless narrative.

"It was just very important for the story to be told in his own words," says Sue Pelino, rerecording engineer for the film, who spent a year editing the interviews. "The only way it could have been better if he had been sitting there next to us."

Although Shakur oversaw the content of the film, it isn't a glowing tribute. It deals frankly with the many controversies that made Tupac such a contradictory figure. For example, he talks about his deep respect for women, then defends himself against sex abuse allegations that would send him to prison. He promotes themes of black power, yet later appears frustrated and overwhelmed by the idea of being a role model.

Director Lauren Lazin said Shakur wanted the film to be "an honest movie, not a whitewash. In some ways, she was tougher on him than I was."

Honesty is one of Shakur's strongest characteristics. She talks with frankness and candor, whether discussing her former crack habit or her son's own mistakes, which are chronicled in the film.

"I have respect for my son because he had sense enough to take responsibility for his own actions," she says.

Shakur is currently talking with MTV to produce a biopic of Shakur's younger years, and is looking to produce a Broadway play about his life using his music. She's also planning a Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts; she's already started a camp where children can get arts training, through a foundation named for her son.

This has been part of the plan since the day he died.

"We have list of things that Tupac left for us to do, so all we're doing is going over that list, going down that list, checking them off," she explains. "So at the end of the day, we'll be able to say we've done fulfilled our responsibility to an incredible human being."

One goal not on her list is searching for her son's killer. Shakur bristles when asked if she worries about the fact that the killing is still unsolved.

"Not a second. Not even a nanosecond have I concerned myself with who shot him or why they shot him, or what should happen to them. I don't care what happens to them," she says fiercely. "I spend my time putting my sons work out, because guess what -- they shot him, (but) did not shut him up though."

Shakur does not seem bitter, but the pain is still there. That becomes clear when she's asked is her work has allowed her, in some ways, to overcome her son's death.

"My son called me every night," she says, eyes narrowed, speaking sharply. "He called me from the bedroom of the woman he was having sex with. I haven't received that phone call in seven years. That's what I know to be true. The fact that I'm working on the work, doesn't change the reality of my child not being there.

"If my son was alive, I wouldn't be doing this. My son took care of all of his business, all of our business. So the fact that I'm here doing this -- every day that I do this, I know that my baby ain't here."

Source: Nola

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After one day on sale, slain rapper Tupac Shakur's latest posthumous collection, Resurrection (Amaru/Interscope) is out in front, looking like it will easily sell over 350k for the week, according to early reports from national accounts. That's the easy part.

The hard part is figuring how the upcoming Friday release of both Jay-Z's The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella/IDJ) and G-Unit's Beg For Mercy (G-Unit/Interscope) will affect the Tupac (also known as 2PAC on record). The question is, will the additional foot traffic the two Friday releases will certainly bring to stores help to increase Tupac's sales, or work to dilute said sales by dividing the consumer's rap-buying dollar? We can't even guess at this point, but we can say to expect big numbers on Friday. And speaking of Friday, most retailers are telling us to expect rampant street-date violations on both titles tomorrow.

"We won't be the first, but we won't be the third," they're saying. So expect big numbers Thursday as well. Whether there's a race for next week's #1 won't become clear until then. Well done to all the fans who went out and bought the album, for those who haven't bought it go and buy it!

Source: bohorquez1

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Source: AllHipHop.com

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Tupac Shakur was murdered seven years ago. This Friday he stars in Tupac: Resurrection, a documentary about his life. The rapper narrates the film himself.

This speaking-from-beyond-the-grave effect was achieved by the filmmakers, who went through many hours of taped interviews made in the course of Shakur's brief career. One of those filmmakers, the executive producer, is Afeni Shakur, the late artist's mother.

"I'm not an entertainer. This is hard for me," she begins, talking on the phone about the new movie from Chicago.

Who killed Tupac? Nick Broomfield, the British filmmaker, tackled that subject in Biggie And Tupac, a documentary that names names and points fingers. Broomfield got death threats during filming. On her side, Afeni Shakur says she doesn't know who killed her son. She doesn't care.

And as for being afraid of anyone, she says, "You know my background. I've been threatened by the best, and I don't care. I am not impressed. I don't spend one minute wrapped up in any of that. I just don't spend any time on it."

Her "background" is this -- Afeni Shakur, 56, is a former Black Panther, the black power radical group of the turbulent '60s. As Tupac Resurrection makes clear, the poverty in Tupac's childhood was the financial kind -- he grew up well-educated in politics and the arts. (His mother, who lives in rural North Carolina, has established a camp for children interested in the arts and she is building the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts through the foundation she created in her son's memory.)

"Tupac used to say, 'If I have seen further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.' That's how your children see you," she says, fondly. Referring to her own history with the Panthers in the late '60s and her son's politically charged work, she adds, "Tupac brings those two generations together. Tupac wants to be the shoulder we stand on."

But, Shakur says, at the height of Tupac's career, political people didn't understand what he was doing.

"They were always asking me, 'When is he going to write something political?' They get him now, baby," she says, laughing. "This is political, for his generation. They get it now, 'cause now he's left."

Tupac was shot dead in the street in Las Vegas in 1996. His mother says, with great energy, "And I feel like, 'But you couldn't shut him up, could you?' That's how I feel! They shut us up," she says of her Panther past, "but not him. They kind of scared us into corners. But look at that -- imagine the joy of that -- that the things we were trying to say are being said, through his generation.

"They will not be able to shut him up!"

Shakur sounds cheerful, triumphant and strong. She explains, calmly, that at the hospital after the shooting, Tupac died on the operating table and was revived seven times. And after the seventh time, she prayed he would not be revived again. "In my mind, I'm hearing the song, This Little Light Of Mine. I said thanks to God for his life -- but now let him be a light on the hill. Let him be a light, and look: He shines for all of us, for two generations."

Tupac: Resurrection is in theatres Friday. The companion book (same title) was published last month in the U.S.

Source: Canoe

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"When I was a baby I remember one moment of calm peace, then three minutes after that it was on."

A stunningly designed, richly illustrated companion to the much-anticipated documentary film, Tupac: Resurrection brings unprecedented clarity and soulful intimacy to the life and work of Tupac Shakur.

In many ways the autobiography he never got to write, Tupac: Resurrection features the artist in his own words, examining his complicated life and the controversial decisions that plagued him while he was alive. Tupac: Resurrection captures, as never before, his boundless passion, searing honesty, and stunning intelligence, and showcases a range of never-before-seen writings, letters, screenplay ideas, lyrics, poems, photographs, and personal effects, and stands as an indelible testament to the artist's astonishing cultural legacy.

Tupac: Resurrection crystallizes the enduring significance and impact of one of the most complex, haunting, and influential artists of our time.

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Source: AllHipHop.com

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Priority Records is finally scheduled to release Westside Connection's (Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC) long-awaited second LP, Terrorist Threats, on December 9th 2003.

"The last record sold two million records, and it's time to give it to them again," Mack 10 said in a statement. "Just like it took Dre 10 years to do a second Chronic album, it took us seven years to decide we wanted to do another album. Wasn't nobody starving; niggas been having money, so it wasn't about that."

The first single and video is "Lights Out." The LP features production by Megahertz, Midi Mafia and Sir Jinx. The CD is enhanced and contains both regular audio and multimedia files for your computer. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Threat To The World
02. Call 9-1-1
03. Potentional Victims
04. Gangsta Nation - featuring Nate Dogg
05. Get Ignit
06. Pimp The System
07. Don't Get Outta Pocket
08. Izm
09. So Many Rappers In Love
10. Lights Out
11. Bangin' At The Party
12. You Gotta Have Heart
13. Terrorist Threats
14. Superstar (Double Murder = Double Platinum)

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A documentary film about the murdered rapper Tupac Shakur is being billed as the definitive tale of his life.

Tupac: Resurrection was made with the approval of his mother and is released in the US on Friday.

Shakur was shot in 1996 and no-one has ever been charged with his death, but it is thought east and west cost rap rivalry was somehow involved.

His mother, Afeni Shakur, said: "We want people to see, hear and understand Tupac as he was."

Director Lauren Lazin said the film was told entirely from Shakur's point of view.

Premonition

"The murder has not been solved and we didn't want to put something in the movie that was speculation," he said.

The movie contains Shakur's premonitions of his own death, including a scene of the rapper saying: "I always knew I was gonna be shot."

The film shows Shakur developing from a boy who wrote poetry to a global star and features much home movie footage given to the film-makers by the rapper's mother.

However, the film spends little time on Shakur's numerous arrests, and his supposed misogynistic lyrics.

A soundtrack to the film, with music by Eminem, has also been released.

Source: BBC News

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Given its biblical title and MTV origins, this biopic at first looks like an attempt to enshrine murdered (martyred?) hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur as The One. But despite reverent time-lapse meditations on rusted Baltimore chain-link, L.A. tinsel, and blinding Vegas neon, the interview clips that comprise the sole voice-over are carefully chosen to illuminate both Pac's scorching charisma and debilitating paranoia. He tells his own story; others speak only in news clips—witness a terrified-looking Biggie and Puffy responding to Shakur's first shooting. Not only must the miles of Tupac interview tape be enough to encircle the earth, he was also freakishly comfortable working through the stickiest personal issues on camera. Eerily, in his early 20s he was wont to speak of himself in the past tense ("I was many things to many people").

If you flipped on MTV in the '90s you know the details: Black Panther crackhead mom, boy-in-'hood struggles, art-school blossoming, Digital Underground bikini dancing, solo rapping, film splash. But here we're privy to the psychological saga of the storyteller as he frames his central torment: making good on his education without losing the "dirty party" respect of thugs, prisoners, Amerika's most wanted. Resurrection hints at eventual movie superstardom and political potential, then lets Pac recount run-ins with cops, clashes with the East Coast, getting blown on a dancefloor, getting shot in a vestibule, serving time for hotel-room sexual assault, living large on Death Row, foretelling his own death.

Though the edits can be too living-room smooth, the passion and pathology on display transcend the Tabitha Soren overload. Listening between the lines reveals that Shakur was disgusted by Hollywood and the music industry's embrace of compliant exotics. But it was never clear how his ethos of defiance would translate into a Panther-like social movement. Explaining the line "I love the Thug Life/Baby I'm hopeless," Shakur expresses his empathy with the directionless, and the frustration of a would-be prophet whose time is running out.

Source: Village Voice

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A clash between two Asian rappers - up-and-coming star Jin and another rapper linked to a vicious gang - sparked a shooting in Chinatown early yesterday that sent a third man to the hospital, cops said.

The incident began at about 2 a.m. in the trendy new Yellow bar at 32 Mulberry St., when the rappers started arguing.

Another man, Christopher Louie, 23, stepped in to defend his pal, the newly popular Asian rap star Jin, who appeared last summer in the drag-racing sequel "2 Fast 2 Furious" with hip-hop star Ludacris.

During the argument, the rapper linked to the gang - whose name was not released - pulled a .40-caliber gun and shot Louie once in the lower back. Jin, whose full name is Jin Au-yeung, was unharmed.

The gunman - who fled the scene - is a reputed member of the Ghost Shadows street gang, police said.

Sources said the argument between the rival rappers may have been sparked by the shooter's jealousy of Au-yeung, who spent part of his summer on MTV's "You Hear It First" tour.

Au-yeung, who was born in Elmhurst, Queens, raps about race and being Chinese-American. His debut album was released two weeks ago on Ruff Ryders/Virgin Records. The 21-year-old star has already won rapping competitions where, like white Eminem before him, he has turned taunts about his ethnicity into his own rap disses.

Louie was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where cops there said he is expected to survive.

Source: Nypost, Thuggin 4 Eternity

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Angela Ardis' is to write a  book, Inside a Thug's Heart, endorsed by Shakur's family, and will be published in May by Kensington. It describes the author's three-month relationship, mostly through letters and phone calls, with Shakur while he was in prison. Ardis, a screenwriter and actress, says she'll include previously unpublished poems and erotic stories Shakur wrote and sent from jail.

Source: Usa today

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From USA Todays' article on Ressurection

My mother was a Black Panther and she was really involved in the movement.

Just black people bettering themselves and things like that. She was in a high position in the party which was unheard of because there was sexism, even in the Panthers. All my roots to the struggle are real deep. My stepfather at the time, Mutulu Shakur, he was also a well-known revolutionary. And then my godfather, Geronimo Pratt, he had a top official rank position with the Panthers on the West Coast.

There's racism, so when the Panthers hit, the government panicked and they felt like the Panthers were detrimental to American society. So they raided every Panthers' house, especially the ones who they felt like, could do damage as an orator. My mother was seven months pregnant, they put a match to the door and said "Fire, Fire!" And you know it's like five in the morning so my mother opened the door and they just burst in, put a shotgun to her pregnant belly and put a gun to her head and said, "Don't move, bah, bah, bah, you're under arrest." They treated them like less than humans.

My mother was pregnant with me while she was in prison. She was her own attorney. Never been to law school. She was facing three-hundred-some odd years. One black woman, pregnant, beat the case. That just goes to show you the strength of a black woman and the strength of the oppressed.

A month after she got outta prison she gave birth to me. So I was cultivated in prison, my embryo was in prison.

When I was a baby I remember one moment of calm peace, then three minutes after that it was on. I was named after this Inca Chief from South America whose name was Tupac Amaru. I think the tribal breakdown means "intelligent warrior." He's a deep dude. If I go to South America they gonna love me, I'm telling you. They know Tupac.

My mom is the bomb.

First I rebelled against her because she was in the movement and we never spent time together because she was always speaking and going to colleges and everything. I always used to feel that she cared about "the" people more than "her" people. And then, after that was over, it was more time spent with me and we were both just like, "You're my mother?" And she's like, "You're my son." So then she was really close with me and really strict almost.

She taught me how to be community orientated. And I think my mother taught me how to understand women a lot more than my peers can. I'm not uncomfortable around strong women. My sister is the bomb too. She's my biggest critic, she's real smart, funny as all hell.

I think that my mother, like Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Harriet Tubman, they felt like they were laying tracks for the generation to come. Somebody has to break out and risk losing everything and being poor and getting beat down; somebody sacrifices.

But poverty, it's no joke. If there was no money and everything depended on your moral standards and the way you treated people, we'd be millionaires, we'd be rich. But since it's not like that, we're stone broke. And that's the only thing I'm bitter about is, growing up poor because I missed out on a lot of things. I can't always have what I want or even things that I think I need. I feel that my mother made a lot of decisions in her life — she could have chose to go to college and been well off. But she chose to fight and make things better.

My mother, she's totally brilliant. Totally understanding and caring. And she's human — I mean, she'll be wrong a lot but we can talk about it.

My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge. It's an eternal journey.

She always tells me that the payoff to her is that me and my sister grew up good and we have good minds — but we just didn't have money.

Poverty. If I hated anything, it'd be that.

My father was a Panther.

I never knew where my father was or who my father was for sure. The times that I came up, it was the late sixties. They were still having free love, they was just hittin' what they was hittin'. My mother wasn't married, and she got pregnant and had me, and I didn't have a father.

My stepfather was a gangsta. A straight-up street hustler. He loved the fact that the Panthers would go to jail and wouldn't snitch. He didn't even care my moms had a kid. He was like, "Oh, that's my son." Took care of me, gave me money, but he was like a criminal too. He was a drug dealer out there doing his thing — he only came, brought me money, and then left.

I hate saying this cuz white people love hearing black people talking about this. But I know for a fact that had I had a father, I'd have some discipline. I'd have more confidence.

Your mother cannot calm you down the way a man can. Your mother can't reassure you the way a man can. My mother couldn't show me where my manhood was. You need a man to teach you how to be a man.

When I was young I was quiet, withdrawn. I read a lot, wrote poetry, kept a diary. I watched TV all day. I stayed in front of the television.

It was when I was in front of the TV by myself, being alone in the house by myself, having to cook dinner by myself, eat by myself. Just being by myself and looking at TV, at families and all these people out there in this pretend world. I knew I could be part of it if I pretended too, So early on I just watched and emulated ... and I just thirsted for that. I thought if I could be and act like those characters, act like those people, I could have some of their joy. If I could act like I had a big family I wouldn't feel as lonely.

Source: USATODAY

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"Runnin' (Dying To Live)" by Tupac featuring The Notorious B.I.G. made it to the 15th spot on Hip-Hop Countdown on MTV2. Let's make it number one; click here to vote for it!

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The soundtrack for Resurrection is in stores now. Make sure you support Tupac by purchasing it. Also be sure to check out the documentary coming to theatres nationwide on November 14th 2003.

Click here to vote for "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" by Tupac featuring The Notorious B.I.G. on TRL on MTV. Try to vote at least once a day.

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The soundtrack for Tupac: Resurrection is in stores today. Make sure to check it out. It's the sixth posthumous release from the late great Tupac Shakur.

The first single and video is "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and produced by Eminem. The second single is "One Day At A Time" featuring Eminem and the Outlawz. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Intro
02. Ghost
03. One Day At A Time - featuring Eminem and Outlawz
04. Death Around The Corner
05. Secretz Of War - featuring Outlawz
06. Runnin' (Dying To Live) - featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
07. Holler If Ya Hear Me
08. Starin' Through My Rearview - featuring Outlawz
09. Bury Me A G - featuring Thug Life
10. Same Song - featuring Digital Underground
11. Panther Power
12. Str8 Ballin'
13. Rebel Of The Underground
14. The Realist Killaz - featuring 50 Cent

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German rap group The Youngstazz are set to tour the country as they begin to promote their upcoming album.

You can catch them at the following places, more German dates will be added soon as well as some international shows.

November 29th @ The Big Pimpin Club
December 5th @ Flash Music Palace

For more information you can visit their official website @ Youngline-Records.com.

You can also purchase their first single from StreetHop.com for only US$1.50 by clicking here!

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Although it won't be released for another 24 hours in North America, the Resurrection soundtrack is now officially out in Europe. Make sure you support Tupac by purchasing it.

The first single and video for Resurrection is "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" featuring The Notorious B.I.G, produced by Eminem. The second single will be "One Day At A Time" featuring Eminem and the Outlawz. The tracklist for the soundtrack is as follows:

01. Intro
02. Ghost
03. One Day At A Time - featuring Eminem and Outlawz
04. Death Around The Corner
05. Secretz Of War - featuring Outlawz
06. Runnin' (Dying To Live) - featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
07. Holler If Ya Hear Me
08. Starin' Through My Rearview - featuring Outlawz
09. Bury Me A G - featuring Thug Life
10. Same Song - featuring Digital Underground
11. Panther Power
12. Str8 Ballin'
13. Rebel Of The Underground
14. The Realist Killaz - featuring 50 Cent

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Tupac has been ranked #2 on Yahoo's "Buzz Searches." The full list is as follows:

1. Britney Spears
2. Tupac Shakur
3. 50 Cent
4. Eminem
5. Christina Aguilera

Source: cgray22

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The ex-tennis player Boris Becker will release his autobiography and an album with 18 songs that made part of his life, "Music of my life" will be released tomorrow including various artists like Queen, 2Pac, Elton John and Santana.

He is convinced that each song has been very important for him in a certain period of his life, for instance, Tupac's "Me Against The World" helped him while he was in court facing charges last year.

Source: COLOMBIAN CAPO

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Today marks the 7th anniversary of Yafeu "Kadafi" Fula's untimely death. Yaki Kadafi was one of the founding members of Tha Outlawz, and wll forever live on in the memory of fans and through the music and legacy he has left behind. He was taken before his time at the young age of 19, but touched more lives in his short career then most people do in a life time.

The Good Die Young

Rest In Peace Kadafi

HitEmUp.com would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Kadafi's family, friends and fans.

If you would like to leave a message for Kadafi's mother, you can do so on Kadafi's official message board.

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Polish Hip-Hop label Amstaff Records has just released their first video clip promoting their compilation album, Rap Style. The video is for a song by rapper Gorzki and features a selection of beautiful Polish adult models from such magazines as Playboy and CKM well as Polish actress Magda Gabryleiwcz.

The beat is by New York producer Tramp Baby, who has produced for the likes of MOP, Salt N Pepa, Fat Joe, Luther Vandross and more.

Download the video clip by clicking here.

You can check out more things from Amstaff Records @ www.amstaff.hip-hop.pl.

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The New York Times recentley did a huge article on Tupac and the new Movie

It has been seven years since the rapper Tupac Shakur was killed at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, and one can confidently say that he has never been more popular. More than 15 books, four documentaries, three college courses, a play and countless Web sites have explored his brief life and undying legacy.

Prolific still, Shakur has released more albums dead than alive (four while breathing, six posthumously). Bootlegs of his work abound — "Rap Phenomenon," an unauthorized mix tape of Shakur's work, was this fall's hip-hop must have. He has a hit song, "Running (Dying to Live)," produced by Eminem, on the radio. And Forbes recently ranked him No. 8 on it's Richest Deceased Celebrities list, with Shakur raking in $12 million from June 2002 to June 2003, $5 million more than his 2001 take-home pay. The new documentary Tupac: Ressurection (opening on Friday), and the accompanying book and soundtrack, will undoubtedly enhance Shakur's legend as one of music's most electrifying and endlessly fascinating artists.

Directed by Lauren Lazin, with Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, as an executive producer, "Resurrection" explores Shakur's spectacularly complicated life. Without a narrator or secondary interviews, Ms. Lazin relies solely on film, photos, old interviews and journal entries by Shakur. Since he does all the talking, this documentary, which was five years in the making, has an intensely autobiographical feel, and viewers are given the (false) sense that Shakur had an active role in the creation of the film.

"The way I wanted to tell this story was from Tupac's point of view," said Ms. Lazin, an executive producer at MTV. "He has such a strong voice. I didn't need other people talking about him. No one can speak for Tupac better than Tupac."

But why the enduring interest in Tupac Shakur after all these years?

On the surface, the reasons seem fairly simple. It is not uncommon for even lesser artists to have a surge of nostalgia-fueled popularity shortly after their deaths. And in the public imagination artists cut down in their prime — Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly — are forever frozen in their perfect states, never aging or fading in beauty, diminishing in talent or stature. Still, since Shakur's murder, the mystique surrounding him has swelled to near Elvis-like proportions.

"If Tupac had a Graceland, there would be people camping outside of his house right now," said Elliott Wilson, editor-in-chief of XXL, a hip-hop magazine.

Born to a Black Panther mother, Tupac Amaru Shakur was introduced to issues of race and politics early in life. Just one month before his birth, his mother was acquitted of conspiring to bomb several New York public buildings. Though much of his youth was spent in poverty (as Ms. Shakur battled a crack addiction), Shakur had a wealth of experience in the arts. He began performing at 12 with a Harlem acting troupe and then, at the Baltimore School of Arts, he picked up violin and ballet, fell in love with the paintings of Van Gogh and ultimately discovered his calling: rapping. He was 20 when "2Pacalypse Now," his debut, was released in 1991.

With that album, Shakur demonstrated an emotional honesty that was both palpable and intoxicating; each of his songs acting as a sonic diary of sorts. The contents weren't always pretty. In Shakur's world, gun-toting, drug-slinging gangsters were glorified and "hoes" — his word for women at times — were victimized. "Homies" and police officers alike met with untimely deaths. Lines like "Tired of being trapped in this vicious cycle/ if one more cop harasses me I might go psycho," from the song "Trapped," about stifling ghetto life, did not sit well with the likes of Dan Quayle, who argued that Shakur's music "has no place in our society." Critics labeled him a misogynist and a purveyor of violence. C. Delores Tucker, at the time chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus and Shakur's arch nemesis, pronounced his music "pornographic smut." Fans, however, continue to argue that Shakur, while flawed, was an ambassador of the dispossessed, a man who, like Bob Marley and Bob Dylan before him, used politically charged couplets to speak for those society rendered invisible. Echoing the ideology of the Black Panthers, Shakur encouraged the downtrodden to take up arms. "We are being wiped off the face of the earth at an extremely alarming rate/ and even more alarming is that we are not fighting back," he rapped on "Words of Wisdom." "2Pacalyse's" biggest hit, the poignant "Brenda's Got a Baby," told the story of a single mother selling her body to survive.

The problems that existed in the inner city at the time of Shakur's emergence still exist, argues Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur," and this makes Shakur's words as relevant today as they were more than a decade ago.

Shortly after the release of "2Pacalypse," Shakur starred in the urban drama "Juice" playing a trigger-happy high school student. Next came a role opposite Janet Jackson in "Poetic Justice" But the on-screen presence of Tupac the actor and the observations of Tupac the "pavement poet" were often overshadowed by the antics of Tupac the outlaw or thug, as he referred to himself. The year 1993 brought: an arrest for fighting with a limo driver; a 10-day stint in jail for supposedly beating up a rapper in Michigan; and yet another arrest for shooting two off-duty police officers in Atlanta (charges were dropped). Shakur was also accused (and later convicted) of sexually assaulting a girl he met in a New York nightclub that same year. His bad-boy behavior came to a temporary halt in November 1994 when Shakur, on trial at the time for the sexual assault and weapons violations, was robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry and shot five times in the lobby of a Times Square recording studio. As he flouted both death and the law, Shakur's street credibility soared; his reputation as a mythical figure was sealed.

"So many fans around the world feel he was the perfect embodiment of rebellion against orthodoxy," said Professor Dyson, who added that in death Shakur has become a "ghetto saint."

Shakur's luck ran out on Sept. 6, 1996, when, sitting in the passenger seat of a BMW sedan — with the Death Row Records founder, Suge Knight, beside him — Shakur was shot four times. He died seven days later, on Friday the 13th; his murder remains unsolved.

Shakur lives on not just in popular culture, but also in academia. Scholars across the country have begun examining his brief and tumultuous career, combing through his music for insights about everything from inner city life to the inner workings of the black male psyche. Harvard has offered "Modern Protest Literature: From Thomas Payne to Tupac." The University of Washington currently presents "The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur," a course that uses books like Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and Machiavelli's "Prince" to explore the literary influences in Shakur's work.

Today's biggest rappers have also done their part to keep Tupac alive. Eminem has often named Shakur his favorite. In his hit song "In Da Club," the rapper 50 Cent, who also was shot but lived to rhyme about it, declares, "I want them to love me like they love Pac." Ja Rule has sampled Shakur's music and style. Even Nas and Jay Z, who were dissed by Shakur, have made use of his catalog; Jay Z's recent song "Bonnie and Clyde" samples Shakur's hit "Me and My Girlfriend."

"There are a lot of better rappers than Tupac, but it's his passion and his conviction that they all admire," Mr. Wilson of XXL explained. "They want to grab a piece of him because they all want to be him."

The rapper Nas, who joined Shakur on a posthumous remix of Thugz Mansion, said: "He was our Malcolm X. And it's important that we keep him alive as much as we can."

It is no secret, though, that Tupac makes for good business. "Every time we put him on the cover it sells out," Mr. Wilson said.

Genuine adoration or blatant exploitation?

The former, says Ms. Shakur, a thin, smiling woman with loads of charm and a towering presence. As executor of her son's estate, it is she who decides what of his sizable archive will be shared. "His fans seek us out, and we are obligated to fulfill their desires," she wrote in an e-mail message after a recent interview in New York. "We are not exploiting my son's legacy for personal financial gain. Monies from all our endeavors are going toward the fulfillment of his long list of dreams: the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Performing Arts and Cultural Center, development of motion pictures with his Lumberton Films company, the Organic Farm, which will create commerce and also feed those less fortunate than us."

Like most gangster rappers, Shakur was obsessed with his mortality. Though "Will They Mourn Me," "Letter 2 My Unborn" and "Death Around the Corner" are only some of the dozens of Tupac songs on the subject, few ever expected the rapper to die early, as he had predicted. "Prophesying your own death was pretty new to the hip-hop community, and people thought he was just crazy at first," Mr. Wilson said. "It wasn't until he was gone that people realized how strongly he felt his time on earth was limited. That's why he was such a workaholic."

One of the more popular conspiracy theories holds that Tupac, following the teachings of Machiavelli, faked his own death to escape his enemies (of which there were many at the time of his death because of an East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry), and now lives in Cuba.

While sympathetic, Ms. Shakur called such musings "strange." She said she had no interest in finding her son's killer — "That won't bring him back" — and suspects the case will never be solved. "Are they not still trying to figure out who killed J.F.K.?" she asked.

In the 1995 song "Me Against the World," Shakur wonders, "After death/ after my last breath/ when will I finally get to rest?"

The answer is not any time soon. Makaveli, his men's sportswear line, will hit stores in December. And look for the next Tupac Shakur album in February.

Source: New York Times

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West coast rapper Tray Deee, whose real name is Tray Muhammad, was arrested on Friday after he allegedly shot at people outside a business in Long Beach, California.

The 37 year old rapper who is part of Tha Eastsidaz, was arrested at his Fontana home several hours after the shooting and is being held in the city jail with bail set at $50,000.

"Someone fired a handgun in the direction of individuals in front of an establishment. Someone identified him as a possible suspect," Jana Blair of the Long Beach Police Department told The San Bernardino Sun on Saturday.

The alleged shooting is being investigated by Police and evidence is expected to be presented on Wednesday to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, which will then decide if there is enough evidence to press charges against Muhammad.

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Rapper Ricky "Slick Rick'' Walters said he still can't believe he was freed from jail more than 17 months after US officials moved to deport the British-born star and locked him up.

Walters boarded a plane at Fort Lauderdale International Airport Friday, bound for New York and home to see his wife and two children. He told reporters his family is happy the ordeal is over.

"I still can't believe it to some degree,'' said Walters. "I'm just thankful to God.

Walters, 38, was cleared for release a week ago by US District Judge Kimba Wood, who ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals should never have reversed its earlier decision that Walters could stay in the United States despite a criminal conviction.

The rapper was detained in June 2002 as he returned to Florida after performing on a cruise ship for a week. His detainment came amid the immigration crackdown following the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We're happy that I'm able to stay in the country and put this behind us, finally, hopefully and go on with my life and resume my rap career,'' said Walters.

His attorney, Alex Solomiany, said no litigation is planned.

The Hip-Hop Hall of Famer was incarcerated in Bradenton, just south of Tampa. During the 17 months, comedian Chris Rock, actor Will Smith, record mogul Russell Simmons and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson spoke out about his case.

Walters has lived in the United States since 1975. He is a legal resident but never became a citizen.

The INS had tagged Walters with a 1996 law calling for deportation of foreigners convicted of "aggravated felonies.'' Walters served five years in prison on a 1991 attempted murder conviction for shooting his cousin, who he said had extorted money and threatened his family.

After he was released from prison in 1996, Walters resettled in New York with his wife, son and daughter. He bought a pair of apartment buildings and resumed his music career.

Slick Rick's most notable work was his first full-length album, "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick,'' in 1988. It went platinum. He has released three other albums, all of which went gold.

Walters said he plans to put out another album with Def Jam Records, which may include material from his stay in jail.

"I'm not bitter, so I'll just put it in a humourous way,'' Walter said.

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United States police have issued an arrest warrant for New Orleans rapper Juvenile for allegedly failing to pay child support.

The multiplatinum rap star, whose real name is Terius Gray, did not show up for a court hearing in August to determine how much child support he should pay the mother of his six-month-old daughter, said Lt Nick Neal of the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department in Georgia.

Deputies obtained the warrant this week on charges of abandonment of a dependent child.

"She is not asking for a million dollars. She is just asking for help," Neal said. "A man of his stature should be able to pay child support."

Juvenile’s lawyer Larry Duttweiler said his client first plans to take a paternity test to confirm if he’s the father.

"I’ve heard that he has had some other bogus claims before, so we want to get the test," Duttweiler said. "If this turns out to be true, we will deal with this."

Juvenile, 28, won a Billboard Award for R&B Album of the Year for his 1998 release "400 Degreez" and an American Music Award nomination for Favourite Rap/Hip-hop Artist in 1999.

Source: The Scotsman

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Readyrock Records is set to release Razhel's album Razhel's Greatest Knockouts on November 11th, 2003. The album is a collection of Razhel's material throughout the years, including live performances. The tracklisting is below:

01. Let's Get Ready To Rumble
02. Essentials
03. Live In London
04. Rahstramental Breaks 1
05. Nutin To Fuck Wit
06. The 4 Elements
07. Freestyle 1
08. Rahstramental Breaks 2
09. Children's Story Breaks
10. Deep Cover
11. Hot 97.1 Interlude
12. Used To Be Perfect
13. '88-JS1 & React
14. Live Tribute To JMJ
15. The Lesson Pt. 1
16. On Ya Block
17. W/Est
18. Get Fresh
19. Slick Rick
20. Undisputed Interlude
21. Everyday
22. Freestyle II
23. Live From Atlanta
24. Tribute To Aaliyah
25. Guess (You Never Knew)
26. How Many Times (Remarkable)

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Fresh off the release of Thug Law Chapter II, Big Syke has hit the studio to work on more projects. Recently Syke had a recording session with Tray Deee of Tha Eastsidaz and with legendary punk rock group Rancid. Syke is also working on his upcoming solo album; Mussolini Outlaw, due out in 2004.

Click here to order Thug Law Chapter 2 or any of Big Syke's previous albums.

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Miami rapper Jue Lien, who is listed in the Artist Directory here at StreetHop.com, is part of the Air Force and just last week was deployed to Iraq. We ask all the StreetHop.com visitors to keep Jue Lien and all the other young men like him who are part of this senseless war in Iraq in their prayers. We hope Jue Lien can return home soon so he can continue to drop hits.

Source: Big Rab A.K.A. Bill Blast

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World music legend Thomas Mapfumo ("The Lion of Zimbabwe") is scheduled to arrive in Canada next week to perform at Toronto's Bambu by the Lake Thursday November 13th in celebration of his latest "Toi Toi (Protest)" independent album release with the Blacks Unlimited Orchestra. Additional Quebec performances on Saturday November 15th at Wakefield's Black Sheep Inn and Sunday November 16th at Montreal's Kola Note have just been added.

The historic David Hilliard/Deejay Ra Canadian speaking & music venue which was planned to feature Mapfumo for October's 'Black Panther History Month' launch has been indefinitely put on hold due to unforeseen US government agency harassment (including the immediate customs confiscation of Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation packages sent from Oakland to Lyrical Knockout Entertainment in Toronto and vice versa).

For more details on Thomas Mapfumo please see below 2002 article courtesy of Canada's NOW Magazine:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2002-02-21/music_feature3_p.html

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Ronnie King, the producer, keyboard player and writer, who is heard on dozens of tracks that were recorded with the late Tupac Shakur, is still often emotional as he contemplates the impact of their work together, seven years after his death.  Among the many hits on which King collaborated with Tupac were classics that included "How Do U Want It" and "Hit 'Em Up."  After attending the premiere of the new Tupac documentary, The Resurrection on November 4, King stated, "It meant a lot of me that Tupac’s mother, Afeni, was so gracious to me last night, and expressed her appreciation of my involvement with her son."

He adds, "It was great to hear our music in the film, and to see how they placed it in there as the movie unfolded. The movement to the film was really great. Johnny J and I had seven or eight songs that were in it. Hearing the music last night brought back so many great memories of being in the studio with Tupac.  We probably did seven tracks a day, because he was so quick. He was so fast because he knew his time was limited".

"I feel really privileged to have been there, and to have been a part of Pac’s life," he reflects.  King adds,  "Thug Life, The Outlawz and Big Syke are a legacy that Pac left, as well, so people need to keep their eyes open."

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Ray Luv has mentioned 2Pac through out this recent interview:

JR: I know that you are your own CEO. Tell me about your independent ventures with Mall as well as your record company that you’re the CEO of.

Ray Luv: Well, see, the thing is is that we are all family, man, my brotha DOG and Mac Mall, all of us go way back. My brotha DOG goes back with me, back until the late ‘80s, back with Pac.

I saw something happening in the Bay in the early ‘80s. We had our own thing. It was like 150 independent record labels, and back then we would sell tapes to each other. Everybody would buy everybody’s (music), whereas in New York (people) didn’t buy each other’s record. And right now in the South, they are flourishing because they buy each other’s product.

Well, what they took from us is in the Bay. If you look at the average person’s selection, they probably got a Jay Z record, a Nas record or whatever, and I buy those things too, but I try to support home, you what I mean? It’s Black business, but we didn’t even realize what we were doing when we was doing it. We were supporting Black business. So starting my own company gave me the opportunity to have and run a Black business.

JR: Why is it important to know yourself and love yourself?

Ray Luv: Man, cuzin, because we have a lot of problems in our community. And one of which when I was growing up, I remember a time period when light skinned niggaz with curls was what was cool, so if you was dark skinned, you didn’t appreciate being dark skinned. And then it went through a phase where light skinned cats weren’t cool, because they weren’t pure enough or whatever, eventhough we’re all mixed with everything.

I guess that is what Amerikkka’s always been about, feel me? In all of that we lost something. We got the wrong pictures from our role models, like (Mall) was talking about NWA. NWA was very political and didn’t mean to be political per se, but they was though because what they were touching on were things that you had never heard before.

When nobody gave a fuck about what was happening in the streets, they put it in your face. They made your kids love it to the point where you had to look, like, "Damn, something is going on," just like with the Pac thing. Everything worthwhile is a movement and THUGLIFE was a movement that I felt like Pac died too young before people got to understand where it was coming from.

JR: What do you mean when you say that it was a movement?

Ray Luv: The Hate U Gave Lil Infants Fucked Everybody (T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E.). See, Pac was much more revolutionary than he was gangsta. See, gangsta was something he picked up because he wanted everybody - no matter of how bad of a condition that you were in, whether you was doing life for murder, whether you was selling dope, whether you was pimping hoes, or whatever you was doing - he wanted you to understand that he was a voice for you, you feel me?

But when I knew the dude, in the beginning, his mama, even when she was going through her troubles and her struggles, always taught us to know yourself, study these books, read, be on top of it. Because that is the only way that you can really compete is through your mind, through knowledge, and it’s not even through money, because I know hella dope dealers and pimps and shit with a lot of money that still don’t control their surroundings.

I got crip potnas in LA that put it down on their block, but still don’t own their block. They’re gettin’ money and all of that, but the only way that you can win out here is with your mind, man, through knowledge of self. Once you learn about yourself, then you can understand your place in everything else.

JR: What are you reading right now?

Ray Luv: Right now I’m reading "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do." I’m reading this other book, "Conversations with God." Really, I’ve been reading the Bible, Quran and different things, and I kind of been focused more on my spirituality. Because I feel like the last movement that we had in the Black community was the Civil Rights Movement; the next movement that we are going to have is going to be a movement of the spirit.

Why I say that is because right now there ain’t no spirit in the streets. It used to be that even when cats was fighting, they knew it was certain lines that they didn’t want to cross. But now it’s like anything goes. We could snort hop, we could do dope, we could kill each other, we could kill babies, kids. We don’t give a fuck about nothing, and that’s not helping us win, you feel what I’m saying?

I was telling baby boy, up until a few months ago I was in the game pretty deep. I was in the game, I was taking all kinds of drugs, and doing all kinds of shit. And I’m not saying that ‘cause it’s a good thing; it’s quite the contrary.

I prayed because I’m 31 years old, and I’m like this shit ain’t really getting a nigga nowhere. I could make $5,000 in a day, and den did it a few times. Them was the worst days that I could remember, homey. Why? Because I thought that that money was going to fill that void inside of me. I figured that once I got it, I’m winning.

I just had jewels until this accident happened. The paramedics stole my jewels, and some crazy shit happened. But prior to that happening, I remember I was sitting on my couch about 6 to 8 months ago. I had just got some new leather couches, a flat screen tv, I had just got $7,000 worth of brand new jewelry. I was like, "I should be happy, but I’m not happy though." I was like, "What the fuck is wrong with me?" Life should be good right now. I’m working on projects but my music is not moving ahead like it should be.

I talked to my daddy on the phone, and he was like, "Don’t you know that God ain’t finna bless you with all that shit that you got going on?" I’m like, "It’s corporations and white muthaphuckaz getting’ hella money, you know what I mean, and they’re doing fucked up shit." But he said that "you don’t know how they are living. You don’t know what their life is really like."

He said, "If you aren’t trying to have a righteous life and you ain’t trying to be a blessing through your music, then God ain’t going to touch it, because he doesn’t share his blessings with no hoes, no dope, none of that shit." The cold part about it is that I tried to go against the grain until I finally figured out that I got to wash my hands of this shit, and instead of gambling on a chick going out to make me some money, or gambling on some drugs that I could sell, I need to gamble on me.

I need to gamble on what God gave to me when I was a little kid. He said that "I’m going to make you something, I’m going to make you great, but now you ain’t going to get it by the way that you’ve been going at it." And I guess that that’s like the streets. No matter how many cats you den known that made hella money dealing dope, only at the end of the day to be stuck.

I know a dude and this dude made - and I read his cutout when he got busted by the feds -he had $800,000 in cash, he had hella kilos. You know what he is doing right now? He’s trying to find a job, homey. He can’t even get a job.

So it’s like everything that you put out: that energy comes back. That’s what the Tao of Jeet Kun Do, Bruce Lee’s book, is talking about - the energy that you put out, you get back. Once you realize that you’re not nothing but a vehicle, then you win because then you submit to everything that’s going on around you, and you go with the flow.

Like Pac - Pac sold dope for about a month. And then he quit, and everybody around him was still hustling, and niggaz was like, "Why you don’t want to get no money?" He said, "I don’t feel as though I could win like this. I got to go with what I think I can win with." And he gambled on himself, and he became the greatest and biggest selling rapper of all time up until today.

That to me was like a metaphor that it is better to gamble on yourself than to gamble on any of that other shit that you know is a lose–lose situation. Out of a thousand drug dealers, I only really know one who hasn’t gotten cracked, and he is still selling drugs, so we don’t know how that shit is finna end yet.

You want to play a game that you can win, and like (Cryhme Scenes), we got off into doing a rock project for a couple of different reasons. One, I got bored with rap a little bit. I kept hearing the same themes over and over and over again. I’m 31, and I den been around for a minute, and I remember a time when everybody was trying to outdo everybody else: "Oh, that shit is hot. I need to come tighter with my shit" - you feel what I’m saying, and that den changed.

Rap to me was always a personal thing. You write about your life, you write about what you done been through, and no one can bite that. So when the rock thing came up, a friend of mine is a Black rock singer, by the name of Theolonius. He had a group and he was like, "Man, I want you to do this song with me." I came up in there to do it, and I heard the music and was like I don’t know if I could do this - this is out of my element.

He was like, "You could do this shit. Black people invented rock. What are you talking about?" I went and I did two songs and I got a vibe for it, and (now I feel) like rock is so much more open. Rap is still young; we’re still confined. It’s only certain things that we could talk about, with the exception of Andre 3000 (from Outkast). He’s pushing the limits. It’s different cats that are pushing the limits.

So what we did was we came in and did a few songs to hear how they would sound. We started digging ‘em. And then we did a show, and all of the rock groups who we performed around that heard us was like, "Man, that’s some vicious shit." So we said maybe we should run with it; maybe we should fuck with it.

We wanted to come with something that everybody could relate to. Every 2Pac song that you ever heard was about pain, right, because that was a theme that he knew everybody on the planet could relate to. So for this record right here, our theme is rage, anger, frustration. It’s people that got a good job but are still hating life. They hate their job, they hate their wife, they hate where they live, so we wanted to address that on this record.

Source: SFBAYVIEW

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On his official website, 4LifeRecords.com, DJ Slip of Compton's Most Wanted recently spoke out about meeting Tupac.

"I met Pac a couple of times," DJ Slip said. "Once in New York when we were there for the New Music Seminar. He was just walking through Manhattan and we ran into him on the streets. He was a cool cat."

Then there were a couple of sessions when I was working with Spice 1 and Eiht when he was working in another room. So we all kicked it in the lounge, hanging out and stuff."

He was a cool person, I never got the chance to really work with him, but he anyways spoke to me and had a good attitude. The dude was a real artist."

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The following article is from MTV News:

Seven years after his death, Tupac Shakur is still a draw in Hollywood.

Celebrity fans like Cedric the Entertainer and Stevie Wonder, along with some of the hip-hop icon's family and friends, beared the unusually chilly Los Angeles weather Tuesday to catch the premiere of Tupac: Resurrection at the Cinerama Dome.

With the exception of some occasional small-talk about the weather, conversations centered on Tupac — with everyone from his mother to classic rocker Edgar Winter singing his praises.

"It's amazing that all these people are still listening to his music and finding meaning in his struggle that he expressed through his art," said John Singleton, who directed Tupac and Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice.

"Tupac was ahead of his time," added actor Mike Epps, before bragging to his date about his collection of Tupac bootlegs. "His music was touching. It sounded like he was talking directly to you."

Lauren Lazin, who directed the documentary, arrived early and was all smiles, happy that her movie will finally hit theaters on November 14.

"Through this film we're discovering a new Tupac," Lazin said. "People feel like they know Tupac, but he was such a complicated and intense person. It's a very intimate, personal film [showcasing] his intelligence, his humor, his heart."

Snoop Dogg, who was scheduled to attend, was nowhere to be found, but fellow rappers MC Lyte and the Outlawz, along with Wonder, represented for the music contingent.

"He was an incredible poet," Wonder said. "Sincerity is always relevant."

Cedric the Entertainer was the big hit for the paparazzi, posing up a storm, while fellow actors Mario Van Peebles, Djimon Hounsou and Flex Alexander slid past the red carpet.

Jasmine Guy did the rounds with reporters to talk about her upcoming book about Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, called Evolution Of A Revolutionary and due in February.

"It's about Afeni, who was a Black Panther in a position of power," Guy said. "The fact that [Afeni and Tupac] are both so resilient is something people will draw from."

Guy was interrupted by her publicist, who announced the arrival of the woman of the hour: Afeni Shakur herself.

Afeni spent a lot of time hugging friends but made sure to talk about the movie. "[After seeing it for the first time,] I looked at my son's picture and said, 'We've done a good job,' " Shakur said. "And that's how I still feel. I think Tupac would be very happy with the job we've done. And I'm proud of it."

Edgar Winter, whose "Dying to Live" is sampled on the Tupac: Resurrection soundtrack's Eminem-produced first single, "Running (Dying To Live)," may have looked a little out of place, but he felt strongly about being a part of the movie.

"It's all about survival, whether it's fighting for your country or trying to make it one more day on the street," Winter said of his song. "I want to thank Eminem for hearing the pain and the joy and the humanity in the song in a way I would have never imagined."

Lazin is hoping the excitement at Tuesday's premiere is representative of the interest in Tupac nationwide.

"It's the largest release ever for a documentary feature, so it's real important the Tupac fans get out there and support it," she said.

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Former Juice Crew member, Masta Ace is working on a new album due in 2004. Ace has already recorded half of the new set. Expect production from Spinna, Paul Nice, Explicit ("Acknowledge") and guest appearances from The Beatnuts, Ed O.G, Punch and Words, Strick, Apocalypse, and Jean Grey among others.

As a veteran in the game Ace made his most notable impact in 1993 when he released the seminal classic, "Slaughtahouse", a responce to the gang related Hip Hop style popularized by N.W.A. and Ice Cube.

Masta Ace is one of the few Hip Hop artists to release records in 3 different decades.

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The mother of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur will host one of four national premieres at Lumberton of a documentary about her slain son.

"Tupac: Resurrection," will be shown Friday at 7 p.m. It aired Tuesday in Los Angeles and is scheduled for showings in New York and Atlanta before opening nationally Nov. 14.

Proceeds from the special showing and following reception will go to the Robeson County Public Library and Robeson Community College. Tickets cost $20.

Lumberton was chosen because of Afeni Shakur's ties to Robeson County.

"This is where our family heritage began," Afeni Shakur said Tuesday. "We were slaves, then sharecroppers, then domestics, right here in Robeson County. I want to share with our community how hard work, faith in God and sense of self can change things for the better in all our lives."

Afeni Shakur has a 56-acre farm about seven miles east of Lumberton. She has given thousands of dollars to W.H. Knuckles Elementary School and to the public library and donated food from her farm to the elderly.

Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas in September 1996. He was 25 years old. Shakur was among the top-selling hip-hop artists, selling millions of CDs. He also starred in several films.

The movie was produced by Afeni Shakur in collaboration with MTV Films and is being released through Paramount Pictures.

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Veteran rocker Edgar Winter is grateful to rapper Eminem for exposing one of the first songs he ever wrote to the hip-hop community.

Winter's Dying to Live provides the chorus to the Eminem-produced track Running (Dying to Live), which unites rap rivals Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG.

The song, which features the two rappers who were in a bitter rivalry before they were gunned down within months of each other in 1997 and 1996, is part of the soundtrack to the upcoming documentary Tupac: Ressurection, which is due to be released on November 14th.

The soundtrack hits stores on November 11th.

Winter says, "I'm as interested as everyone else to see how he came up with the concept. I would never have thought he'd ever heard of me, or the song. It never got radio play, so I don't know how he came across it."

Source: Teen Music

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Last month, MC Eiht and Spice 1 finished recording their long-awaited collaboration album in Sacramento, California, DubCNN.com reports. The LP consists of a total of 14 songs, produced by up and coming producers. The project is still untitled, but will most likely be titled either Gorilla Tactics or Murder Show.

According to DubCNN.com, Spice 1 is also in the process of completing The Game Bangers' debut album. The Game Bangers is a group consisting of 40 Glocc, Bad Azz, Rappin' 4-Tay and of course, Spice himself. The album is nearly finished; there's only three more songs left to record. It features guest appearances from Ras Kass, Roscoe and others.

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Police sources have confirmed that a masked gunman on a bicycle rolled up and attempted to shoot Budden while the rapper sat in his Hummer in a Jersey City neighborhood one fateful October night.

At 1:30am on October 17th, Joe Budden sat in the driver's seat of his 2003 Hummer with three friends on the corner of Gifford and Bergen in the notorious "Junction" section of Jersey City. The group was waiting on two other vehicles with friends on their way to celebrate a birthday.

As Budden and friends sat in the vehicle, a black male in a black ski masked rolled up on a bicycle directly beside the driver door, where Budden was seated. The assailant stuck a 9mm handgun in a window and attempted to fire the weapon twice in the window. When the weapon did not fire, the gunman turned the gun directly onto Budden at point blank range and attempted to fire again.

Realizing the gun had failed on both attempts, the gunman was reported to have jokingly said "just playing" and sped off on the bicycle. Budden ensued chase in the Hummer, losing the victim and later catching up with him in front of a police precinct where the victim fled to hide.

The suspect, identified as 23-year old Joshua Robinson of Park Street in Jersey City, was arrested as he cowered in the precinct vestibule. His Taurus pp11 9mm handgun was recovered on the steps of the precinct along with his ski mask and bicycle.

Jersey City police have confirmed there were ten live rounds in the gun. The gun jammed because of a round that was stuck in its side. Robinson has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes and faces twenty years in jail.

Source: Rick Rock & Sohh

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Rolling Stone Magazine has reviewed the new Tupac documentary Resurrection.

Tupac Resurrection was a work in progress when I first saw the documentary at Sundance in January. I expected another Tupac rehash, this one with the edges sanded off. Had to be, right? With Tupac's mom, former Black Panther Afeni Shakur, as executive producer, this approved take on the life of the rapper who was gunned down in 1996 had the stink of compromise.

Then I watched the movie and had my eyes opened. The film's producer and director, Lauren Lazin, the MTV veep (Cribs, Diary), had access to Tupac's MTV interviews. Plus, Afeni provided home movies, photographs and letters. Lazin had enough material to let Tupac narrate his own history -- and so he does. "This is my story," says Tupac, as if from the grave. It's eerie, especially when Tupac says, "I always knew I was gonna be shot." But this film portrait casts a spell, despite skimping on the misogyny and violence of his raps, his arrests for assault, the motive for his murder and the killing of Biggie Smalls. "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," a single produced by Eminem for the film, brings Tupac and Biggie together one last time. But the movie hits hard in the way it shows Tupac transformed from the boy who wrote poetry, studied ballet and tried out for TV sitcoms -- he's almost a dork -- to the thug activist of All Eyez on Me and 2Pacalypse Now, and the agitating actor of Juice and Gridlock'd. Lazin's remarkable achievement is to catch Tupac in the act of discovering himself. It's something to see.

--Peter Travers

Source: JUiCE_got_it

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Interscope Records is scheduled to release G-Unit's (50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck) debut LP, Beg For Mercy, on November 18th 2003. It's the first release from 50 Cent's own inprint, G-Unit Records. The first single and video is "Stunt 101." The LP is executive produced by 50 Cent and co-executive produced by Sha Money XL. The tracklist is as follows:

01. G-Unit
02. Poppin' Them Thangs
03. My Buddy
04. I'm So Hood
05. Stunt 101
06. Wanna Get To Know You
07. Groupie Love
08. Betta Ask Somebody
09. Footprints
10. Eye For Eye
11. Smile
12. Baby U Got
13. Salute U
14. Beg For Mercy
15. G'd Up
16. Lay You Down
17. Gangsta Shit
18. I Smell Pussy

G-Unit and Interscope have high expections for Beg For Mercy as far as sales. 50 Cent's second solo album have been pushed back to give more room for G-Unit's debut, which is expected to have long life on the shelves. Young Buck believes the first-week sales will surpass the ones for 50's debut LP, Get Rich Or Die Trying.

"A million and a half," Buck predicted last month in an interview with MTV News. "I believe anything is possible. You know, with the controversy around the album, I think once the people get a hold of it and they get to listening and seeing the things on this album, that's gonna make you say, 'Hold up - I know they didn't just say that.' It's gonna draw a whole lot more people."

Next up from G-Unit Records are solo albums from Lloyd Banks and Young Buck in March and August 2004.

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Jay-Z and Rocafella Records are upset that The Black Album has been leaked to the internet and a decision has been made to move up the release date from November 23 to November 14, 2003.

The album will be released on a Friday, instead of the usual Tuesday. Previously, bootlegging has also caused artists like Eminem and Nas to move their release dates to a Friday. Below is the tracklisting of The Black Album with production credits:

01. Interlude (Just Blaze)
02. December 4th (Just Blaze)
03. What More Can I Say? (The Buchanans)
04. Encore (Kanye West)
05. Change Clothes (The Neptunes)
06. Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Timbaland)
07. Threat (9th Wonder)
08. Moment Of Clarity (Eminem)
09. 99 Problems (Rick Rubin)
10. Public Service Announcement (interlude, Just Blaze)
11. Justify My Thug (Dj Quik)
12. Lucifer (Kanye West)
13. Allure (The Neptunes)
14. My 1st Song (Aqua)

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Show your support for Tupac! and vote for him on the MTV website located here for the video "Running"

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The Black Album by Jay-Z, which is set to come out on November 23, has been leaked to the Internet giving fans a taste of the final offering from Jay-Z. The album, which features production from various top producers, includes "Justify My Thug," produced by DJ Quik.  You can listen to the track by heading over to http://www.dj-quik.net/

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The World Premiere of the Tupac:Resurrection movie will be tomorrow (4th November). The list of Celebrity attendees include:

Afeni Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Angela Bassett & Courtney Vance, Cedric the Entertainer, Eriq LaSalle, Djimon Hounsou,Omar Epps, Garcelle Beauvais Nilon, Elise Neal, Kidada Jones ,Shock G, Jasmine Guy, Mike Epps, Duane Martin, Tisha Campbell, Derek Luke, Mario Van Peebles, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mo'Nique, Frank Alexander, Will Yun Lee, Kasi Lemmons, Dorien Wilson, Christina Millian, Chico Benymon, Kenya Moore, Arlen Escarpeta, Al Thompson Yvette Wilson , Ken Lawson and Kyla Pratt.

Source: Paramount PR

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Kay Slay has just dropped the latest edition of his mixtape series Streetsweepers. The mixtape includes tracks from Eminem & Tha Outlawz, Fat Joe, Jadakiss and Mobb Deep.

The tracklisting is as follows:

The Drama Hour Part 7 (If You Scared Get A Dog)

01. 50 Cent & The G-Unit - I Stay G'd Up
02. 50 Cent & The G-Unit - Eye For An Eye
03. Jadakiss Feat. Sheek Louch - J-A-D-A
04. Fat Joe - Truth Be Told
05. Jay-Z - My Name Is Hov
06. Mobb Deep - Carved In Stone
07. Wyclef Feat. Prodigy - Rebel Music
08. Eminem Feat. 2Pac & The Outlaws - Day At A Time
09. Jermaine Dupri Feat. Daz Dillinger - Game Going On
10. Nate Dogg Feat. Freeway, Memphis Bleek & Young Chris
11. Mobb Deep - When It Come To Beef
12. Posta Boy Feat. Prodigy - Who We Are
13. Jam Master Jay Feat. 50 Cent & Rusty Waters
14. Ja Rule - Race Against Time Part 2
15. Cam'ron - Diamonds & Pearls
16. DJ Kay Slay Feat. Cam'ron - Halftime Show
17. Busta Rhymes Feat. Wyclef - You A Memory
18. Wyclef Feat. Cassidy & Patti Labelle - Celebrate
19. Michael Jackson Feat. Grafh - One More Chance
20. Cashmere - They Aint Ready
21. The A-Team Feat. Angelous - Freestyle
22. Ice Shuler - Freestyle
23. Sonny - Freestyle

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Just a quick reminder to the fans who are living in America that the Runnin' (Dying To Live) video will be shown tonight on MTV's TRL at 5PM.

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Imagine 50 Cent in his car singing the words to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" or Lil Jon humming Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why." It sounds kind of weird, but it could happen. You never know what folks listen to when they're driving in their cars or chillin' behind closed doors.

We polled some of hip hop's biggest stars - old and new - and asked them, "What's in your CD player?" Some of the answers might seem a little surprising.


Scarface

"I'm listening to Coldplay - both albums ['Parachute' and 'A Rush of Blood to the Head'] - Bob Marley's 'Legend,' OutKast's new CD and Third Eye Blind."


Baby of Cash Money

"I bump 50 Cent, Mr. Pac, Jay-Z. I listen to a lotta different s--. I go in the store and buy a lotta different CDs, but I never listen to no rock. They gotta lotta new reggae groups in Jamaica now that nobody ever heard of. I listen to that."


Smooth Bee of Nice and Smooth

"I got some new heat - just did a track with Premier called 'Game Over' - so I'm listening to that. That's serious. I try to listen to everybody. I been messing with Staind lately on the rock tip. I like 50 [Cent], of course. I'm an old head. I'm still into the Stylistics. The last CD I purchased was Tupac's greatest hits. I keep 'Pac pumping. That and R. Kelly's joint."

 
Speech of Arrested Development

"I'm loving Andre 3000's record. I'm listening to Joni Mitchell, some of the classics. I'm listening to Stevie Wonder. I'm listening to a lot of greatest-hits compilations now because they're available on CD. I'm listening to India.Arie. "I think the older stuff is more inspired to me than a lot of the newer stuff I'm hearing right now. That's why I like Andre's record. It feels very inspired, very loose and not contrived, so that is very encouraging."


J-Bo of YoungBloodz

"I like to listen to old-school stuff: Rick James, Prince and new artists like Chingy. I don't have no favorites. If it's jammin', I like it, like OutKast, Gotti. I listen to rap, R&B, rock, pop. If it sounds good, I don't discriminate. You might find anything in my car: some Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock. And I'd love to work with some of these artists someday."


Loon

"I'm currently listening to my album, 'Loon.' I recently bought Ludacris's 'Chicken-N-Beer' because I wanted to see if he could do it again and make this album as good as the last."

T.I.

"The new Juelz Santana album, the new State Property album, the new OutKast album - I like the Andre 3000 side; I ride to that. Of course, old school Jay-Z - second album, third album, 'The Blueprint.' Of course, Biggie, 'Life After Death.' I'm bumping 'Me Against the World,' Isley Brothers, Al Green, Marvin Gaye greatest hits. I got UGK, Scarface, NWA, all kinds of stuff. But what I'm listening to right now is Project Pat."


Murphy Lee

"I'm listening to T.I., Anthony Hamilton and OutKast and, of course, [his own album] 'Murphy's Law' in rotation. All those CDs are off the hook. The CD I was most surprised by was Da Band. That's a good CD."


D-Roc of Ying Yang Twins

"Basically I listen to everything that makes me feel good, because that's how I feel music should be. I jam Erykah Badu, R. Kelly's new one, a whole bunch of different stuff. Not just rap, but a wide variety. When I get home, I've heard Ying Yang so much, I wanna hear everybody else. Sometimes you gotta wind down. "You gotta come with some R&B. It takes the hypeness down because you can't be hype 24-7. I bought three or four Erykah Badus, because every time we go to different states I always end up losing one. I bought a couple of Bubba Sparxxx, Busta Rhymes."


Kaine of Ying Yang Twins

"What's bumping in my car? Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu, the new OutKast, the Ying Yang Twins and old-school R&B like Al Green, Isley Brothers, O'Jays, Sam Cooke. I might play some Jimi Hendrix. I'm on everything."


Ludacris

"What I'm ridin' to is all of the DTP [Disturbing tha Peace] stuff, my new album, 'Chicken-N-Beer,' Chingy's 'Jackpot.'"


Skinny Deville of Nappy Roots

"Lately I've been banging the hell out of Anthony Hamilton's new album because I feel it's extremely needed in the R&B world. I listen to Ben Harper quite a bit, OutKast, of course - Dre's side anyway. I haven't really gotten into Big Boi's yet. "I've been going throwback, too, like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, trying to get back to the essence of rock, the essence of music.