Nas Reportedly Signs With Def Jam Records- courtesy of ballerstatus.net
After squashing their long-lasting beef at the highly publicized "I Declare War" concert last October (see "Friday Fire: New York is Back -- Jay and Nas Squash Beef"), Jay-Z and Nas have taken their relationship a step further. That step being the reported signing of Nas to Def Jam Records, which Jay-Z heads as president.
According to a The New York Times report, the rumor has finally come to completion, and according to an unnamed source, Nas' longtime label, Sony Music, would have a 50% stake in the rapper's next two albums in the shocking new signing.
The report further states that Def Jam have agreed to pay the cost of producing and marketing of the forthcoming albums and then divide profits with Sony after expenses are recouped. The deal will give Nas a recording budget for both albums, as well as a $3 million signing bonus, with an option for two more albums with Def Jam after the new contract is fulfilled.
No further information regarding the two upcoming albums was reported, or an expected release date. Nas, Sony Music, Def Jam or Jay-Z have yet to release a statement.
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Luke Distances Himself From 50 Cent Lawsuit- courtesy of allhiphop.com
Rapper/mogul Luther Campbell has come forward to comment on a recent copyright infringement lawsuit filed against 50 Cent, over his hit single "In Da Club," taken from 50 Cent's hit album Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
Attorney Joseph Weinberger, owner of Lil' Joe Records, recently filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court. Weinberger owns the rights to recordings by 2 Live Crew and Campbell.
Campbell was quick to distance himself from the lawsuit, which claims 50 Cent stole lines from Campbell's 1994 song "It's Your Birthday," from the Miami pioneer's solo album, Still a Freak for Life.
"Let the record reflect that Joe Weinberger and [Weinberger's attorney] Richard Wolfe are the individuals who are suing 50," Campbell told AllHipHop.com. "They are not suing on behalf of me or any member of the 2 Live Crew.
"These guys (Joe and Richard) that's all they do is go around suing people and use our names. When they do sue people and make money on that catalogue, neither me nor any of the 2 Live Crew members receive any money from that."
Weinberger once represented Campbell and became owner of the copyrights when Campbell filed for bankruptcy protection.
"They stole that catalogue from the members and me and we don't make money from it," Campbell said. "When you read my book, 'My Life and Freaky Times,' you'll get the full entire story surrounding these two crooks and that catalogue."
Neither Wolfe nor Weinberger were available for comments as of press time.
Below are the first four pages of the 27-page lawsuit.
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Cam'ron Explains Beef With Jay-Z- courtesy of allhiphop.com
Rapper Cam'ron has further clarified his position against Island Def Jam president/rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, after the Harlem native recently released the dis track called "Gotta Love It."
Cam'ron alleged that Jay-Z's declaration of peace with Nas in October 2005, was initially meant to destroy the credibility of his own Diplomats crew.
Cam'ron told Miss Jones and the Hot 97 morning show team the culmination of his grievance in the weeks leading up to Jay-Z's "I Declare War" concert, which was hosted by rival station Power 105.
"The last straw was that station down the dial [Power 105 and] he supposed to ["declare war"], where he is supposed to be dissing everybody he had a problem with," he explained to Miss Jones, DJ Envy and others. "So you know leading up to the concert, I got Dame calling me like, 'He's trying to get old footage of you of when you and Jim got jumped and he's trying to find Jim's Catholic school pictures.' So leading up to this concert, we had to get on point, you dig? I don't know whatever he was looking for, you ain't gonna find it."
Jay-Z and Nas' peace treaty was applauded by the Hip-Hop community, however beef with Cam'ron and his crew has quietly festered for many years.
Prior to the "I Declare War" concert, Jim Jones publicly dissed Jay-Z to Mad Linx when he was the host of BET's "Rap City."
"When [Jay-Z] became the President, that was our way out [of Def Jam]. We not with it at all, ya dig, and if you wanna go statistically, not even on just the fire part, just statistically, we sold more records than everybody up at Roc-A-Fella every time we came out with an album," Jim Jones said on air. "Why would we be with somebody that sell no records statistically? The Roc is over. It's more like a cubic zirconium. The diamond is crumbled."
Cam'ron also said problems arose when Jay-Z discovered plans to appoint him President of Roc-A-Fella, a position he turned down due to a disagreement over his proposed yearly compensation.
Cam'ron also denied that he slept with Jay-Z's girlfriend Beyonce, although he insinuated an act took place in his freestyle dis.
"This ain't noting personal toward her, but I know what hurts his heart," he said.
Still Cam'ron admitted that this was a war of words, not one he hoped would end in violence.
"At the end of the day, I don't want any violence. I'm trying to avoid it. It don't even make sense to do violence, we just trying to do music," Cam admitted.
Jay-Z wasn't available for comment at press time.
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Kanye West Explains His Pastelle Clothing Line-courtesy of allhiphop.com
Kanye West's fashion sensibilities have been an important component to his musical success and the producer/rapper has plans to release his Pastelle Clothing line to the world - when it’s ready.
Reports have indicated the line would emerge in spring 2006, but West said that he was determined to find the proper partnership to ensure success and quality.
"We're in talks with different people but I want to connect with someone that can really bring it to light," West told AllHipHop.com. "We've talked with a bunch of different people but the people that are really good are focused on their own stuff and the people that aren't that good don't meet up to my standards."
West won Stuff magazine's 2005 Style Icon of the Year and he insisted that Pastelle would reach his standards of excellence.
"I won't do anything just to do it just to make money,” West continued. “I feel like you make a product out of yourself. And I want everything to be a certain caliber. If I was doing something just to make money I wouldn't spend so much money on my videos..
"It's always art first. And I have such a respect for designers and I wouldn't want to disrespect them and come out with some random cheap line," West continued. "I would want people in the design world to look at me and be like, "that's dope how did you think of that?'"
Incidentally, the entertainer also strives for achievement in the cinematic industry.
"I have some acting roles on the table right now. I'm just considering them, but I'd be more geared to directing than acting," he admitted. "I just love directing. I like giving directions more then taking them."
On the music front, West's album Late Registration is nominated for eight Grammy awards at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, which take place on Feb. 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
City Of Los Angeles Ordered To Pay $1.1 Million To Biggie's Family- courtesy of ballerstatus.net
A federal judge has ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay $1.1 million in legal costs to the family of Notorious B.I.G. for intentionally withholding evidence during the family's civil lawsuit, according to the Associated Press.
The ruling was ordered Friday (January 20) by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, who didn't give the family the original sought after amount of $2 million (see "Notorious BIG's Family Seeks $2 Million In Legal Fees"), but said it's possible they will receive an additional $300,000.
"We were disappointed with the order," Jonathan Diamond, spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, told the AP. Although they city have lost thus far, they believe that they will "prevail at trial on the merits of the case."
Last summer, Cooper declared the case a mistrial after discovering that police were hiding statements linking the killing to former LAPD Officers David Mack and Rafael Perez (see "Mistrial Declared In Notorious B.I.G. Wrongful-Death Case"). At the same time, she ordered the city to pay for the family's legal costs.
During the suit, the Wallace family tried to prove that Mack was behind the killing with the help of Death Row Records head Marion "Suge" Knight. Both Knight and Mack have denied any involvement or even that they know each other.
A retrial is set to begin later this year.
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