News

Let’s just be real and upfront. It doesn’t take much to be a rapper these days. Find the right beat, throw in a repetitive sing-song chorus and add a few quirky phrases that people will remember and (Smokey the Bear voice) you too can prevent good music from being played on the radio.

Snoop Dogg made his first SXSW appearance as Snoop Lion, headlining the Cashmere Agency’s “LIONFEST- A celebration of ‘Reincarnated’”  at VICELAND. The Lion rocked a crowd of 2,000 fans to debut reggae/dancehall influenced songs, off his forthcoming Reincarnated release.

Timbaland celebrated his 41st birthday with his wife Monique Idlett and a small list of industry friends Thursday, March 14, at Southern Hospitality, a Memphis BBQ restaurant in New York City. As one would expect, long time friend and collaborator Missy Elliott was in attendance.

A social media editor  for Thompson Reuters was indicted on conspiracy charges Thursday (March 14), for allegedly conspiring to hack to L.A. Times. Mathew Keys is accused of conspiring with the hacker group Anonymous, to break into the newspaper’s system to change a story, in December 2010.

Former front man of the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am., is pulling out all of the stops for his upcoming album, #willpower.  This time, he taps on Justin Bieber to provide the hook for his latest single, “#thatPOWER.”

A homeless man was found living in a Kentucky hospital Monday (March 11), and went unnoticed by pretending to be a doctor. Police in Louisville say Patrick Campbell was dressed in the proper attire as he walked around the Norton Hospital, initially not raising a single eyebrow.

HIV researchers are celebrating a new milestone, just two weeks after an announcement a baby born in Mississippi was effectively cured of the disease. Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in France say that an aggressive treatment cured 14 adults of the disease in a recently published medical report. 

President Obama wouldn’t be where he is, were it not for his wife Michelle, and he has no problem saying so. In the latest issue of Vogue magazine, of which the first lady covers, the commander in chief compares his better half to a popular Beyoncé record.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis might be moving units with their quadruple platinum selling single, “Thrift Shop,” but that doesn’t mean all of middle America has caught on. 

You can’t say Oprah Winfrey doesn’t have a sense of humor. Winfrey was on The Steve Harvey Show recently and addressed Terrence Howard’s appreciation on her “tig ol bitties.” Again, his words, not ours.

Producer Marco Polo drops the follow up to Rakim’s “What’s Wrong” with a track by another one of the culture’s all time greats, Big Daddy Kane. Titled “Nite & Day,” the song is a Hip-Hop lover’s dream.

Sosa is finally free. Controversial Chicago teen rapper Chief Keef was released from a juvenile detention center yesterday (March 14).