Rick Ross cancels Concert, Nigerian State Sues

January 2nd, 2012 | By Safiyyah

It looks like the crowd wasn’t too happy when Rapper Rick Ross canceled the Nigerian concert, resulting in authorities suing him the process. After allegedly not showing up without any prior notice, Nigeria’s Cross River State government is taking things to the court in the United States.

Rick Ross apparently canceled his performance at the Calabar Festival and there were no news about reimbursement of the performance fees. This angered the government because of how unfair it was for the many fans who expected his appearance and performance.

InformationNigeria.org indicates that Ross canceled without prior notice, failing to notify the organizers of the concert with his intent. He did not reimburse people for the performance fees, because accordingly, it had already been cashed.

It is not currently known why Rick Ross canceled the show; however, it is not related to his surgeries or recent seizures. More updates on the issue shall be in store for people to know the real reason behind Rick Ross bailing out in Nigeria.

The Cross River State government hired lawyers in the United States as a response to the breach of contract of the rapper. The government officially released a statement on via Blackberry Messenger with the intention to bring justice to the fans who anticipated the concert.

Rick Ross was to perform in Nigeria during the month-long festival on December 28, 2011.

Rick Ross has is famous for his 2010 album, “Teflon Don” which locked in as #2 in the Billboard 200 at 176,000 sold during its first week.

Young Vito Admits Involvement in Slim Dunkin Murder

December 30th, 2011 | By Safiyyah

Vinson Hardimon, popularly known as Rapper Young Vito has surrendered to the Atlanta police after suspicions rose in his involvement in the murder of rapper Slim Dunkin.

This was in response to the Atlanta police urging Vito to turn himself in because of danger that the rapper may face, especially from those who wish to avenge Dunkin’s murder.

Vito was then held in Fulton County jail with murder and gun possession charges pending a bond hearing.

Young Vito

In the rise of Vito’s decision, David Quinn, Atlanta homicide detective discussed the decision with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in that the police wanted to put together the motive behind the murder by looking for more witnesses.

Detective Quinn said that “I got a call today from Vinson’s attorney and he said he wished to turn himself in. There were are at least 30 people in the studio at the time of the shooting. They should get in touch with me. We want the facts. It’s the right thing to do.”
Rapper Slim Dunkin was supposed to shoot a music video with Gucci Mane when Dunkin had an argument with another person in the building. The argument got heated and the Dunkin was hit in the chest, which killed him.

Police Major Keith Meadows said that, “Before the video shoot took place, it appears the victim and suspect got involved in a verbal altercation. We don’t know what that altercation was about. The suspect produced a weapon, discharged that handgun one time, striking the victim in the chest.”

Ashanti Teams Up With Busta Rhymes for First Single and Launches New Record Label

December 16th, 2011 | By Safiyyah

Ashanti’s been out of the game for a minute and word has it that she is ready to reclaim her presence in the industry. The R&B princess has reached out to Busta Rhymes and Jerry Wonder (a producer), to help get her career back on track. She is starting a record label called Written Entertainment, which she used to drop her newest single “The Woman You Love”. It is being marketed and distributed by eOne Music.

The singer was previously with Murder Inc., but she was released from the label in 2009 after turmoil arose after Irv Gotti’s money laundering trial. Back then, she was a sensation, reaching the top of the music charts with tracks like “Foolish” and “Baby”. Her debut album sold 504,000 copies within the first week.

“I’m so excited to have my own record label, Written Entertainment. With eOne as my distributor, I feel that their innovative and ambitious approach to the music industry, really gives my label a worldwide presence,” Ashanti told AllHipHop.com. “They have the top radio people in the business and are hungry to win! The more I learned the business the more I knew this is what I wanted. Ownership is so important. As a business woman this was a great move for me!”

Looks like Ashanti is ready to get on the business side of the music industry – hopefully she is able to prove her business smarts and keep her music sounding great at the same time.

“eOne is proud to have a partnership with Ashanti and her label Written Entertainment,” eOne’s President Alan Grunblatt said. “Ashanti truly has the independent entrepreneurial attitude that eOne was built on, and we’re thrilled to be working with her.”

Kanye West Gets Snubbed at Grammys; Beyonce Talks About Fake Pregnancy Rumors

December 3rd, 2011 | By Safiyyah

A lot of people would agree that Kanye West was snubbed for an Album of the Year Nomination. Not only did Kanye drop one of the most artistic albums of the year “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, but he even collaborated with one of the best rappers of all time, Jay-Z, with “Watch the Throne”. This is what he had to say about his albums getting overlooked.

“Something I figured out earlier today – because you know, everybody came to me last night like, ‘Congratulations!’ because you know I’m leading the Grammy nominations this year. Like we always do it this time,” he said. “But, people focus, they say, ‘You ain’t got Album of the Year or Record of the Year.’ But I figured out, that’s my fault for dropping Watch the Throne and Dark Fantasy the same year. I should have just spaced it out a little bit more. But don’t worry, because me and Hov gon’ keep on making s**t.”

Kanye led the nominees with a total of seven, followed by Adele who got six nominations. Here is the video below:

Remember when Beyonce was rumored as having a fake pregnancy? Well, you know the diva had to come out and say something. In an interview with 20-20’s Katie Couric, she had this to say:

“There are certain things that are so far, that it doesn’t even upset you. My mother, she’s like, ‘Nobody’s talking about my grandbaby! My grandbaby’s not even here yet!’ I’m like, ‘Calm down, Mom. It’s okay. It’s really silly. I’m cool. It’s ridiculous. It’s so over-the-top.”

The R&B singer has been quite busy, even though she’s pregnant, editing her latest concert for a DVD she’ll be releasing called “Live at Roseland: Elements of 4”.

“I learned how to edit for the last DVD…I make all my selects, I sit in the chair…I am an editor as well. I have great editors, thank God. It is a lot of work. Especially when I’m trying to tell stories that are from so many moments of my life.”

Check out the interview below:

Drake Denies Rumors About Leaving Young Money; Nicki Minaj Talks About Sophomore Album

December 3rd, 2011 | By Safiyyah

Rumors have been flying that Drake was going to leave Young Money. These allegations spurred after he decided to leave one of his management teams. While he was performing at a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, he addressed these rumors, confirming that he will not be leaving his hip hop “family”.

“I’ll tell you if you wake up in the morning and you think Young Money ain’t my team, you out of your motherfucking mind,” he said. “My brother Lil Wayne is all the way in Australia right now, but I got my camera on in the back and I just want to let him know how much me and Hartford got for him. So if you got love for Lil Wayne, make some noise!”

You can see the video below:

On the other end of the spectrum, Nicki Minaj, also a Young Money artist, talked about her Sophomore album “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which is scheduled to be released on Valentine’s Day 2012. She recently dropped a teaser single called Roman in Moscow, where she raps from her alter ego’s perspective “Roman Zolanski”.

“When I say it’s a teaser, it’s like a trailer to the movie, it’s like setting the stage and I just wanted to touch the surface. It’s the wackest thing on Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.”

Nicki Minaj was nominated for Best New Artist for the 2012 Grammies. She said that there will be a video for the single coming soon, then went on further, explaining the song.

“Well, he was there [in Moscow] secretly because [alter ego] Martha wanted him to go there, so they put him in this thing with monks and nuns; they were trying rehabilitate him,” she continued. “But I can’t tell exactly what happened, you’ll just see it in the video format, but let’s just say he got out of there.”

You can see the interview here: