Hurricane Chris “Halle Berry” (Shes Fine) Official Music Video &

K.A.R. “Oh Baby” featuring Fat Joe

With Eminem’s Relapse gaining much anticipation for its May 19 release, the Detroit rapper is giving each aspect of the new album proper exposure.

On Saturday, May 2, his music video for “3 A.M.”  will premiere exclusively on Cinemax at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Because Cinemax is a premium television network, the video for “3 A.M.” will be aired completely uncensored. The music video is directed by Syndrome, who specialize in live-action directing and have done previous work with artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Swizz Beatz, and Talib Kweli.

The debut of Em’s video will precede the television premiere of “The Strangers,” and will play throughout the month of May. Thus far, Eminem has released a street single with “Crack a Bottle” featuring 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, as well as the track and music video for “We Made You”.

Fed up with the current state of Hip Hop and what he calls “bubblegum Pop” rapper and actor Ice-T has decided to create his own digital label.
According to the New York Daily News, the Law & Order: SVU star will be launching his digital label which will be put out by EMI in the near future.
“I’m starting a digital label through EMI,” Ice-T explained to the Daily News. “I’m trying to get back to more Hip Hop. To me, music right now is like Disco. It’s very sing-songy, and nobody’s dealing with content. That’s what I miss. I miss Tupac and Big. You got Lupe Fiasco and T.I. now, but in general, we’re swamped with bubblegum Pop.”
Ice-T currently has five artists from different parts of the country signed to his label.
“We’ve got an artist from L.A., a group called Certified from Washington state, Born Twice from Houston, and a Korean kid from New York. I’m playing the whole map,” Ice-T revealed.
In 1987, Ice-T released his first album entitled Rhyme Pays. Since the release of Rhyme Pays, Ice-T has gone on to release upwards 10 albums. In the late ’90s, he had operated a previous label, Coroner Records, where he released his 1999 Seven Deadly Sins album. He has starred in a number of films including Breakin’ and New Jack City.
Ice-T currently stars as Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on Law & Order: SVU.

Who said bad press isn’t good press? After weeks of quarreling with nemesis 50 Cent, Ross’ highly anticipated album titled Deeper Than Rap proved that actions speaks louder than words. Ross ’s album debuted number one on the charts with 158,000 sold.

Asher Roth, member of XXL’s freshman 10, sealed himself a top 5 spot with his rookie album titled Asleep In The Bread Aisle. With his top 20 billboard hit “I Love College” receiving massive airplay, Roth ended up selling 61,000 due to under-shipping.

Jada remains a float in the competition of sales, as he wheeled in 30,000 copies of The Last Kiss, which pushed him over 210,000 copies, and landing the number 10 spot.

As for the residents of Texas, independent artist Slim Thug continues his tear on the indie side by selling 6600 copies of Boss of All Bosses, putting him at close to 75,000. UGK sold close to 11,000 records, and remain strong in the top 50, having sold over 128,000 copies of UGK 4 Life. Newbies Chester French sold 6300 copies in their debut titled Love The Future.

Can Ricky Keep The Momentum going? Stay tuned.

Rapper Lil Wayne has made his way onto a number of well-known lists since the release of his top-selling album Tha Carter III. But now Lil Wayne has managed to take the number 12 spot on Time magazine’s “World’s Most Influential Person” list. As Time’s 12th most influential person, Lil Wayne beat out both Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey who clenched the 37th and 98th spot on the list.
“His Grammy-winning, multi-platinum album, Tha Carter III, was the perfect showcase for Wayne’s raw, hilarious, and often outer-planetary rap style,” Time explains of Lil Wayne. “And his Southern-gentleman act is legit, as evidenced by his slightly flirty interview with Katie Couric.”
The finalists for the list were chosen through a poll featured on Time’s website. Lil Wayne received close to 940,000 votes and the number one spot on the list was given to Christopher Poole, the founder of 4chan.org, he received almost 17 million votes.
Other music artists and innovators to make it onto Time’s list include rapper M.I.A., Prince, the Twitter inventors, and Kanye West.
Currently, Lil Wayne is awaiting the release of his album Rebirth which is expected to be released this year.

LIL WAYNE SUES PRODUCER FOR SAMPLING: Rapper takes action after folk singer sued him for copyright infringement.

*Lil Wayne has filed a lawsuit against the producer of his track “I Feel Like Dying” for allegedly sampling another singer’s work without permission.
The move stems from a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the rapper last year by folk singer Karma-Ann Swanepoel’s, who claimed the track used portions of her song “Once” without permission.

Weezy’s lawsuit, filed last week by his lawyers, says Rebel Rock Productions Inc., of Coconut Creek, Fla., produced “I Feel Like Dying” and was responsible for obtaining any necessary licensing agreements, reports the Associated Press.

Last month, a federal magistrate ordered Lil Wayne to turn over financial records for his Grammy-winning album, “Tha Carter III,” to Urband & Lazar Music Publishing, which published “Once.”

“I Feel Like Dying” isn’t a track on “Tha Carter III,” but a lawyer for Urband & Lazar argues that Lil Wayne promoted the album by singing that song in concert and allowing fans to download it for free on his Web site.

[3x]Only once the drugs are done
That I feel like dying, I feel like dying

I am sittin on the clouds
I got smoke coming from my seat
I can play basketball with the moon
I got the whole world at my feet
Playin’ touch football on Marijuana Street
Or in a marijuana field
You are so beneath my cleats
Get high, so high that I feel like lying
Down in a cigar
Roll me up & smoke me cause
I feel like dying

[2x]Only once the drugs are done
That I feel like dying, I feel like dying

Swimming laps around a bottle of Louis The 13th
Jumping off of a mountain into a sea of Codeine
I’m at the top of the top but still I climb
And if I should ever fall, the ground will then turn to wine
Pop, Pop, I feel like flying, then I feel like frying, then I feel like dying

[2x]Only once the drugs are done
That I feel like dying, I feel like dying

I can mingle with the stars & throw a party on Mars
I am a prisoner locked up behind Xanax bars
I have just boarded a plane without a pilot
And violets are blue,
Roses are red
Daisies are yellow,
The flowers are dead
Wish I can give you this feeling that I feel like buying
And if my dealer don’t have no more, then I feel like dying

[2x]Only once the drugs are done
That I feel like dying, I feel like dying

With record sales falling and rap artists frequently finding themselves dropped from major labels, Jadakiss has surpassed expectations with his latest Island Def Jam debut, The Last Kiss . After a five-year long hiatus, Jada’s newest album managed to sell over 130,000 copies in its first week, a more than commendable number for a project that had little publicity. The album, Kiss’ first release after leaving Interscope, faced setbacks when Def Jam pushed it back from December ’08, to early ’09.

On Tuesday, marketing magazine, Advertising Age, explored Jada’s methods for promoting the album, praising him for “passing up short-term successes and not succumbing to the pressure to make quick-hit radio records.”

As radio stations lose advertising dollars, programming directors have been pressured to shrink playlists, leaving less room for records and giving hit singles more spins. Rapper Flo Rida saw his huge radio single “Right Round” sell over 2.5 million singles, while his album R.o.o.t.s sold only 55,000 copies in its first week—less than half of what Jadakiss sold.

According to Ad Age, Jadakiss did many things in order to promote the album and connect with his fanbase despite a lack of radio play. He went on the road seven weeks before the album released, performing clubs every night as well as interacting with those in attendance. He made mall appearances, spoke with fans through blogs and Hip Hop sites, and released several videos on YouTube. It is this kind of accessibility, as well as Jada’s longevity, that led to the unexpected number of record sales.

“I ain’t know what to expect now with the way the game is,” ‘Kiss said in an interview with XXL earlier this month. “But I know I got a core fanbase. I don’t think Def Jam expected that, so now we gotta get on the same page. I will say that’s a great number for the climate and the way the music industry is right now and that’s without a big hit at radio…I got longevity, that’s why I got legs…It’s always good when you can say I told you so. It’s always good when you get the last laugh. But I’m just happy to be embraced after all these years, ’cause Hip Hop fans’ ears change hourly. I’ma be here for a while.”

The Last Kiss has sold over 210,000 copies to date.

BY MY SIDE

Judging from Eminem’s Relapse track list, which leaked online Tuesday (April 28), the May 19 album is going to be another wild ride.

The character Ken Kaniff is returning, as are a handful of other skits. There’s no title track, but there are a couple of song names that might allude to the album’s title, such as “Must Be the Ganja” and “Déjà Vu.” The track list originally leaked on the blog 2DopeBoyz.OkayPlayer.com and was later confirmed at RapRadar.com, in which Em’s manager Paul Rosenberg has a stake.

Before the album drops, at least five tracks will be available on iTunes. “Crack a Bottle,” “We Made You” and “3 A.M.” are already available for download; on May 5, “Old Time’s Sake” (featuring Dr. Dre) will hit iTunes, and “Beautiful” will go on sale May 12.

Eminem, who is currently on the cover of XXL magazine, continues his publication rounds next month as he lands on the front of Vibe.

Track list for Eminem’s Relapse, according to RapRadar.com:

1. “Dr. West” (skit)
2. “3 A.M.”
3. “My Mom”
4. “Insane”
5. “Bagpipes From Baghdad”
6. “Hello”
7. “Tonya” (skit)
8. “Same Song & Dance”
9. “We Made You”
10. “Medicine Ball”
11. “Paul” (skit)
12. “Stay Wide Awake”
13. “Old Time’s Sake” (featuring Dr. Dre)
14. “Must Be the Ganja”
15. “Mr. Mathers”
16. “Déjà Vu”
17. “Beautiful”
18. “Crack a Bottle” (featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent)
19. “Steve Berman” (skit)
20. “Underground/ Ken Kaniff”

With two video trailers currently circulating in preparation for the release of Loso’s Way, Fabolous is definitely in high gear for the first time since the release of his summer 2007 effort From Nothin to Somethin.

FABOLOUS IN CANANA BY DCT-MEDIA

Can’t believe that “Brooklyn” joint, which got solid airplay, was two summers ago. As was “Make me Better.” Time flies. Let’s see if this new album is full of girly joints– as usual. I can put money on it that it’s full of more music for the ladies– even though Fab always promises to change his angle.

Representatives for Hot 97 have denied popular DJ Funkmaster Flex’s claims that he would no longer be playing records released by Interscope Records, home to superstar rappers like Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre.

On his April 21 show, Funkmaster Flex blasted executive Nino Cuccinello at Interscope Records/A&M/Geffen, which also has artists like Soulja Boy, Lady Ga Ga and Akon on the roster. “New York I am talking to a person who makes decisions who does things up there, moving funny style,” Funkmaster Flex fumed. “Nino is moving so bad. If you are anywhere in the tri-state area, I’m talking about people New York that control the music business and they control certain artists that they do not want you to see, but they want the pop stations to have. This is where I come in.”

That’s when Flex apologized to Interscope executive Step Johnson and stated that he would not be playing any Eminem or Dr. Dre records.

In today’s New York Daily News (April 28), Hot 97 Program Director E-Bro Darden said Flex’s statements were entertaining radio that had simply gone too far.

“We’ve never held back on a whole label’s music,” Darden told The New York Daily News. “And we won’t.”

Darden stated that Hot 97 maintained good relationships with various labels and joked: “we had to muzzle Flex, … people know a lot of what he says is showmanship, but that went too far.”

In related news, Funkmaster Flex’s Custom Show and Bike Tour 2009 will stop in Louisville Kentucky this Sunday (May 3).

Miami rapper Rick Ross will make an appearance at Flex’s car and bike show, which is taking place at the Louisville Water Tower from 12-8PM.