Archive for August, 2009

Three-Six Mafia Readies "Laws Of Power"

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Longevity and relevance are too hard things to come by when speaking about Hip-Hop. Artist that emerged in the early 90's are either holding onto a strand of hope or have disappeared in the darkness of obscurity.

Memphis group Three Six Mafia has spent close to twenty years in the rap world and although they have gone through their trials and the group has drastically downsized, they are still intact. On November 10, the Grammy award-winning group will bless audiences with their latest project, Laws of Power.

The album will feature (more...)

Queen Latifah Preps Movies & New Album

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Queen Latifah will be releasing her new album Persona on August 25th. The album has been described as a blend of Hip Hop and Pop creating a new sound for the Queen. Persona is executive produced by Cool and Dre and features production from Pharrell Williams.

The lead single off of the new album, “Cue the Rain” combines Latifah's melodic voice with a fun club beat and was first debuted on the season finale of 'American Idol.” With all of Latifah success, she also opens up some personal issues from her past that caused her to be the (more...)

White Cop Walks In Killing Of Black Officer

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Racial tensions in the nation are at heights that have not been seen in decades. Be it North or South, hatred knows no barriers, with the point being brought home recently by none other than those tasked with protecting the masses. Officers of the law have long been at odds with members of minority communities, usually due to them using less than altruistic means to brandish their own form of cowboy-esque law enforcement procedures reminiscent of their predecessors from a bygone era.

Even still, racially motivated incidents from within their ranks are often never reported, creating a public front that would have a gullible citizenry believe that the only color police officers car about is blue emblazoned with a smidgeon of gold. In spite of that effort, recent activities have exhibited otherwise, as a racially charged case of cop-on-cop violence has ended with the scales of justice seemingly tipped in the favor of the melanin deficient aggressor.

On May 28th, Officer Omar Edwards was shot and killed while pursuing a man that he believed was responsible for breaking into his car. His murderer, Andrew Dunton, was none other than a fellow “brother” in blue. Stories by officers that witnessed the incident say Dunton yelled "Police. Don't move. Drop the gun. Drop the gun" before opening fire on Edwards. Edwards was off-duty at the time and Dunton was in plain clothes.

Accounts after that detail vary, as a New York grand jury decided to settle on a version that had Edwards make eye contact with Dunton while "pointing" his gun toward him, a move which purportedly prompted the white officer to unleash six shots into the junior officer. The eye contact between the two officers led to the jury's decision that will see no criminal action taken against officer Dunton, giving better incite into their decision that they deemed no criminal wrongdoing was committed.

The decision made in regard to the four-year NYPD vet came as less than shocking to members of the Black community, with Marquez Claxton of the Black Law Enforcement Alliance choosing to publicly decry its often too common similarity to other polarized, racially induced incidents.

"Well, first and foremost, it disturbingly predictable," said Marquez to New York's ABC affiliate. "Once again, we cannot have complete confidence in a process that relies so heavily on a relationship between the police department and the DA offices."

The decision handed down by the grand jury finally allows for the NYPD to conduct an administrative review of the case, allowing them get Officer Dunton's account of what happened on that infamous day in May.

Officer Edwards was a 25-year-old newlywed who left behind a wife and two young children.

C-Murder Sentenced To Life In Prison

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Cory “C-Murder” Miller was sentenced to life in prison today after being convicted of second degree murder this week.

District Judge Hans Liljeberg gave Miller the mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for murdering 16-year old Steve Thomas in 2002. This was the second trial in the case after his first conviction was overturned due to problems and motives of several of the witnesses.

After the sentencing, C-Murder's attorney Ron Rakosky filed a motion to be (more...)

New Alfamega Snitching Documents Emerge

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Cedric Zellars is a man that prides himself on his word, wearing his street credibility proudly as a badge of honor for all to see and admire. The streets made him "official" and deemed him worthy of a chance to tell the world his story on the mic. It is for those reasons that the Summer of 2009 will be one that he will never forget, as his life has been changed forever, and seemingly getting worse and worse by the day.

Only months after rumors surfaced that pegged the man formerly known as "The Grand Hustle Muscle" as a snitch is information becoming more clear and concise about his dealings with law enforcement entities within the federal government.

Only previously speculated, new documents furnished for viewing on the (more...)

T.I. Reps Respond To Baby Mama Diss

Friday, August 14th, 2009

A song record by T.I. has been making its rounds on the Internet and the mixtape circuit where The King Of The South is sounding off on Lashon Dixon, the mother of two of his sons. Obviously recorded last year when he was going through a few child support problems brought up by Dixon, T.I. spits lines like (more...)

Michael Vick Back In The NFL

Friday, August 14th, 2009

It's official. Superstar quarterback Michael Vick is back in the NFL after doing a 18-month prison bid over the overblown dog fighting charges. Not murder… Dog Fighting.

Vick has signed a two year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup quarterback to Donovan McNabb. Vick was granted a conditional reinstatement by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last month. Under the reinstatement plan, Vick can participate in preseason practices, workouts, meetings, and play in Philadelphia's final two exhibition games. He could receive full reinstatement at any point, but Goodell said he would grant that by Week 6 at the latest, provided Vick lives up to his end of the agreement.

Eagles coach Andy Reid stated, “I've seen people close to me have had second chances that have taken advantage of those. It's very important that people give them opportunities to prove that they can change. So we're doing that with Michael."

Trick Daddy To Release Autobiography

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Miami street poet Trick Daddy will be releasing his autobiography later this year called “Magic City: Trials Of A Native Son” through MTV Books. Speaking to HipHopWired exclusively about the project, Trick revealed,

“Nothing I ever say whether in music or DVD or whatever will ever get any one indicted or open any closed caskets or fu&^ up no appeals but this book is definitely gonna be a best seller and show Miami in a whole ‘nother light. "Cocaine Cowboys" was a good movie but it never showed the people who actually went out and sold the drugs. Ni**as who toted and shot the guns. Parents who got addicted to the drugs and the babies born addicted to the drugs. They don't show and tell that part in these other documentaries and my book does all that and it also sets up a movie to follow behind that as well as (more...)

MC Hammer Disputes IRS Claims

Friday, August 14th, 2009

As Hip-Hop Wired previously reported, MC Hammer seems to be having some new issues with the IRS. Well Hammer has come out disputing reports that he owes Uncle Sam about $625,000 in back taxes and says that the money he allegedly owes is from 15 years ago when he had his initial financial problems with the government. Hammer stated,

"I paid the IRS 100 percent of their claim. In the past year or so, they decided--wrongly--that I owed them additional taxes from 15 years ago. I am contesting this claim through my tax attorneys and my case is making its way through the IRS appeal process. I hope to be successful."

Hammer is currently being featured on (more...)

Man Sentenced for Leaving Water for Immigrants

Friday, August 14th, 2009

An Arizona man, Walt Staton, was caught leaving bottles of water in the desert for illegal immigrants and was sentenced to one year of probation and 300 hours community service.

Staton, an advocate and member of the group No More Deaths, was busted in December when he left containers full of water in an area that stretches 18,000 acres where illegal immigrants are known to trek, the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge.

In a written statement, No More Deaths confirmed Staton has been sentenced to 300 hours of picking up trash from public property and a year of community service. In addition to the sentencing, he is also prohibited form the refuge, according to CNN.

In the court case, both sides used the controversial issue of illegal immigration to support their arguments. Staton's lawyer insisted his client's actions were solely humanitarian, while the government said the opposite.

Prosecutors said Staton's "actions are not about humanitarian efforts, but about protesting the immigration policies of the United States, and aiding those that enter illegally into the United States."

Noting the phrase scrawled on many of the plastic water jugs -- "buena suerte," or "good luck" in Spanish -- the prosecutors said, "The obvious conclusion is that the defendant and No More Deaths wish to aid illegal aliens in their entry attempt."

The jury convicted Staton of littering, as U.S. FIsh and Wildlife Service said leaving the jugs of water are health risks to the animals that live in the refuge.

Mike Hawkes of the Buenos AIres National WIldlife Refuge said he supports the idea of leaving water for the immigrants, however, "there's ways to do it without leaving plastic jugs out there."

He said the plastic jugs were strewn throughout the refuge, which is home to hundreds of bird, reptile and mammal species, according to its Web site.

"We have sympathy for what they have to do," he said. But "they have do to do it without putting plastic bottles out there. ... You can't go anywhere in the refuge without seeing plastic bottles through the countryside."

Since Staton's conviction, 13 additional members of No More Deaths were charges with littering.

Hawkes said last year's number was about 54,000, down from hundreds of thousands years earlier -- the last water-related death there was in June 2008, he said.