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Roc For Life

Roc-A-Fella Records or the Dame Dash Music Group?

Beanie Sigel found himself caught in the middle when Dash and Jay-Z ended their long partnership a few years back."I definitely didn't want to pick between my friends," Sigel said recently in New York, where he was at work on his new LP, The Solution. "Who wants to do that? Where I'm from we don't do that. I don't blow whichever way the wind goes. I couldn't pick between my friends.

"The reason why I didn't make that decision, I didn't know what the situation [with Jay and Dame] was, why [the split] happened. I've asked both sides and didn't get a legitimate answer before I had to go [to prison]. It unfolded while I was locked up. I just wanted my own situation where if I was to make music, it wouldn't be me choosing Dame Dash Music Group or the Roc. Technically I was still a Roc-A-Fella artist during the split."

It took more than a year to make a decision — different scenarios of Sigel going to G-Unit as well as starting his own label were rumored — but ultimately, Beans went with Hov, and will release his next album on Roc-A-Fella this year. The move may seem a bit surprising from the outside looking in, because it seemed like Sigel was in fact closer to Dash and business partner Kareem "Biggs" Burke, who was the third head of the Roc before the split.

Dash and Burke were even there to pick Beanie up from jail when he was released on August 9, 2005, after being sentenced to a year in prison on a gun charge in October of 2004."A lot of things be smoke and mirrors," the Broad Street Bully reflected. "A lot of people thought I was leaning toward Dame Dash Music Group — they seeing Dame in the videos we shooting and the 'House Arrest' thing they put on BET, and him coming to court and coming to jail to see me. It was like 'OK, Dame is riding with him.' That was never the case with me. A lot of people look at it like Dame did this, that and third, that should have been my obligation. But for what? If you doing that, you doing it from the heart."


Sigel said when he was released from prison, he started feeling like Dame had ulterior motives for staying close to him. "When you look at Roc-A-Fella as whole — no disrespect to any other artists over there — but if you don't have Jay-Z, who's the next best thing for you to have? I'm no dummy, I'm no fool. I seen through all that. I was letting that weigh out. There's a song by Bill Withers: 'Use Me.' "

Asked if he thought Dame's intentions were pure, Beanie simply answered, "I don't know what his intentions were, but in all honesty: Nah."After a while I felt like sh-- for feeling like that," he continued. "You don't want to question your friend, or who you thought was your friend. Their loyalty and sincerity towards you, you don't want to question that.

As time went on, I did things to bring stuff out to light, and I was finding out a lot of stuff that wasn't right."Sigel also hinted that the State Property clothing line that Dash ran and Beans had a stake in may be all but over. "Ain't no status," he said. "Ain't no status." ...

Verizon Drops Akon Over Explicit Dance

Corporate giant Verizon has ended its partnership with Akon, after an explicit dance with a 15-year-old girl at a show in Trinidad.

The girl, who reportedly thought she won a dance contest, was allowed entry into Club Zen, despite the fact that she was underage. Akon, born Aliaune Thiam, proceeded to simulate sex with the under aged girl as they danced on the stage.

Video of the performance was posted on Youtube.com, but was soon removed from the popular video sharing service. "This week the partnership ended," Verizon said to FOX News. "We have music services on our cellphone service and we were promoting him as one of the artists. The other part of the sponsorship was the Gwen Stefani tour, of which he was an opening act.

We are no longer sponsoring the tour." Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning has called for an investigation of the performance and the club, which has been closed by authorities. "I got carried away, I started to dance as well, but I never thought it was going to be like that," Danah Alleyne told The Trinidad Express. "I was shocked. My head was hitting the floor."

Officials on the island are also attempting to ban Akon from future performances in Trinidad. At press time, representatives for Akon had no comment.

Ice-T's Wife Coco Poses For "Playboy," Working on Reality Show

After selling Smooth Magazine's most successful cover to date, Coco is slated to appear on 22 covers, including a nude spread for Playboy Magazine.

"I shot for Playboy that's coming out this year. Yes, it is [nude]," Coco recently said. "I shot here in New York. You'r'e gonna see all the little cool spots like the bridge, the Empire State Building in all of my shoots."

In addition to Playboy, Coco fans can expect her to appear on 21 other covers in the coming months.

"I shot them in two months. And I didn't even know what I was doing. I was just going to shoot after shoot then at the end of the day I realized I shot 22 covers," the model explained. "I was like, 'damn!' I'm getting a lot of love from people. I have a lot of haters, but I'm getting a lot of love at the same time."

Coco is also keeping busy with a handful of side projects including a Fitness DVD, a book entitled Beauty In The Beast and a Reality Show she's developing with "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest.

Coco's Playboy Magazine cover is scheduled to hit newsstands later this year.

DJ Drama Has To Change Name

DJ Drama is not well known. He is a local Chicago DJ, who is not affiliated with T.I. or anyone big in the game. He does not make Gangsta Grillz Mixtapes. Sound odd? It is. The man we all know as DJ Drama now has to change his name, because this lesser known DJ Drama from Chicago actually has the rights to the name.

"You can Google for 400 pages and you wouldn't see anything about this guy...It's all good, though. I've been through so much already — this is not a big deal. Some of the greats have had to go through things like this. I guess I'll just Notorious B.I.G. the game. I'll probably change my name to Dram or Dramatic and just keep it moving. The people know who the real DJ Drama is, though," the Gangsta Grillz DJ told MTV.

Now his album is being shelved until things with the name are settled. But, he did unleash some news on the LP. According to the report, Outkast will be on the album on Art of Storytelling Pt. 4.
"Outkast is one of the reasons why I'm in Atlanta, you dig me? I remember driving to Atlanta in '94 with my pop, first listening to Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. I've been a fan ever since. So 13 years later, to be in a position to have who I consider the greatest group of all time on my album, it's a blessing," he noted.

"Months ago, even before 'Idlewild,' I was in the process of working on a mixtape with them. We had been talking back and forth, and it came to the point where they was like, 'Dram, we want to do it, it's just a lot going on, but you got us on your album.' You can't beat that. My intention from the beginning was to have Outkast sound like people love to hear Outkast. They're so respected and artistic, and they go in so many directions, and I love that. But for me, I was trying to get Outkast back to that ATL type of sound — that core sound that they come up with."

Jadakiss, Styles P, Lil Wayne, T.I., Bun B, Paul Wall, Juvenile, The Clipse, Young Joc, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Willie the Kid, Beanie Sigel, Rick Ross, Young Buck and Cassidy all appear on the album.

Xzibit's License Taken In Germany During Gumball 3000 Rally

Xzibit was one of 50 drivers in The Gumball 3000 Rally race stretching through Europe who had their keys taken away and fined.

Despite negotiations made months in advance with German authorities, who were more than happy to allow the race to head through their country, one officer took it upon himself to send out letters to all 17 countries involved in the race, according to the Times Online UK, warning them of an "illegal race" headed their way.

The site reported that the mix-up occurred when the officer did not understand the word "rally," wrongly interpreted it as a race, resulting in Turkey refusing to accept 240 drivers in 120 cars into the country, disappointing a hundred thousand fans that were waiting along the official route.

The Gumball 3000 is an annual 3,000 mile international rally race, spanning over seven days, that occurs on public roads, typically in Europe.The Times Online UK reports that on route from London on Sunday (April 29) Xzibit was pulled over by German police at the border while on their way to the Frankfurt airport to be airlifted to Istanbul, when he was reportedly clocked at 100 mph in a 60 mph speedzone.

After paying a fine of 420 Euros and having his driving license confiscated, according to MTV UK, Xzibit's teammate took over the driving duties in their Lamborghini Gallardo.The Gumballers headed to Greece after being held airside in Turkey for several hours and not being allowed into the country.

Cee-Lo Green Launches Radiculture Record Label

As a standout member of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo Green knows how to create a unique path for success.

Now, the Grammy Award winning singer/rapper/writer/producer will celebrate the launch of his new label Radiculture, which is distributed by Atlantic Records.

"I've been in the music business for quite some time now. I've had some unforgettable high points and some disappointing low points," Cee-Lo said in a statement. "I'm eager to pass on the lessons I learned along the way."

Cee-Lo Green will hold two events to introduce Radiculture, which will serve as a launching pad for new artists.

Both events, which take place on Thursday (May 10), will be held at two different locations in Atlanta.

The first part of Green's Le Cirque Fantastique will be held in the early evening at an undisclosed location, while the second part takes place at 10 p.m. at The Lotus Lounge.
For Green, the Radiculture/Atlantic union represents a chance to mentor artists he believes will set a new tone within the music industry.

The rapper built a state of the art facility to house his offices and studios to produce music for Radiculture.

"Maybe up and coming artists can avoid some of the pitfalls and focus on making great music," Cee-Lo said. "You can expect plenty of great music from Radiculture!"

Fake Fabolous Concert Scandal

New York Sate police are investigating a shooting that took place in in the Catskills, NY Saturday after what was reported to be a performance by Fabolous according to sources.

Details of the incident are unknown but Fabolous née John Jackson, was promoted as having a performance at the Friar Tuck Resort.

According to sources, and argument broke out in the parking lot resulting in a man being shot at around 4:00 AM. The unidentified man is allegedly being treated at a local hospital .

Police did not comment on the shooting and other sources say the concert was a scam, and that Fabolous was never scheduled to appear.

Joss Stone Certified Gold in the US; Teams With Common and Bono For New Single

The success story around Joss Stone continues to grow this week with the British soul singer and songwriter's new album -- Introducing Joss Stone -- being certified gold by the R.I.A.A. with half a million copies sold in the U.S.The album, which was released by Virgin Records on March 20th, jumped from #25 to #16 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart this week, and is the only album in the Top 20 to enjoy a sales increase.

The jump comes on the heels of Stone's television appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, where she performed the album's lead-off single "Tell Me 'Bout It," and the top-rated Dancing With the Stars, where she performed the single and "Super Duper Love" from her 2003 debut The Soul Sessions.

In past weeks, Stone has also appeared on The Today Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, The Early Show's Second Cup Café, Tavis Smiley, and as the lead guest on The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson. She will be a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 15th and Live with Regis and Kelly on June 15th.Stone is currently gearing up for the video launch of her second single off Introducing, entitled "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now," which features rapper Common and which is currently a single at Urban AC radio.

USA Today has chosen the track as its "Pick of the Week," stating: "Stone is no longer a curiosity as the young Brit teen with the big voice and vintage R&B leanings. The grown-up Stone is a full-fledged soul belter, the kind they don't make much anymore. This passionate mid-tempo ballad shows that she's just beginning to reveal the true depths of her talent."

For the video, which was directed by Sanaa Hamri (Prince, Mariah Carey), Stone -- a longtime supporter of relief causes in Africa -- has teamed up with Bono's (RED) initiative, becoming the first artist to contribute 100% of her share of the proceeds from each copy of a video sold on iTunes to the Global Fund. The money (RED) raises for the Global Fund finances programs to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, with an emphasis on women and children. (RED), which has raised over $25 million dollars in the past year, works with the world's biggest brands to make unique (PRODUCT) RED-branded products and direct up to 50% of their gross profits to the Global Fund.

The clip, which encourages viewers to go to www.joinred.com, will make its world premiere on May 7th on VH1 Soul, with simultaneous premieres on VH1.com and VH1Soul.com that day; it will also debut on VH1's Top 20 Countdown on May 12th at 9 a.m.

In addition, the video has also been chosen as VH1 Soul's "Soul Spotlight" and will receive more than 100 spins next week. The clip will be available for purchase on iTunes on June 6.On April 27th, Stone launched her first proper North American tour in three years to glowing reviews. The Philadelphia Inquirer, noting the 20-year-old's "flawless instincts," says "seeing and hearing the lithe mini-skirted redhead up close is like the difference between watching the Indy 500 and driving in it." The tour, which continues into June, stops at the Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans this Sunday, May 6th. She will also appear alongside Elton John, Rod Stewart, and Duran Duran at the "Concert For Diana" charity event in London on July 1st.
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TYLER PERRY IN NEED OF GREAT SINGERS

And now…a message from playwright/filmmaker/actor Tyler Perry:

Hey everybody,

BIG ANNOUNCMENT.... Okay, so everywhere I go people are always asking me, "Tyler, how can I get in one of your plays, your movies or even on House of Payne?"

So here's what I've decided to do. You know that I love great singers and most of the people that I work with are singers. If you are a SINGER (SINGERS ONLY--no poetry, no rap--SINGERS ONLY) and you think that you have what it takes to be in one of my shows here is what you need to do.

Please follow these instructions very carefully because we have set a system in place. So you have to follow them to the letter.

1. Send a video of you singing one song.

2. The song must be sung a cappella--no music, no tracks, no band--just your voice.

3. Before you start to sing the song you must say your full name, phone number and age.

4. You must be 18 years or older by May 18, 2007.

5. The song that you sing has to be either from one of my plays or one of my movies (no exceptions).

6. You are the only one that can be on the video.

7. The video must be in either VHS tape format or DVD

8. Mail the video via regular US Mail. No Fedex, No UPS, No registered mail.

The mailing address to send the mail to is:
TYLER PERRY STUDIOS
541 10th St. PMB 122
ATLANTA GA 30318

Sorry your videos WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO YOU.
NO FEDEX OR REGISTERED MAIL ONLY REGULAR MAIL

Also your image and video may be used on a live taping of one of my shows.
The contest deadline is May 18, 2007 and we must have all videos in by then and they will not be accepted after that date.

All of the best videos will be reviewed by me personally. The top ten will be invited to Atlanta for the final competition where all ten contestants will get a chance to compete. Everyone will also get a chance to vote online at TylerPerry.com in the upcoming weeks.
This is going to be FUN!!! Okay, let me hear from you.

By the way I DO NOT HAVE A MYSPACE PAGE. The only way to get to me is on my message board at http://TylerPerry.com/messageboard