Hip Hop Album Sales: Week Ending 5/28/08

After the tragic passing of his UGK counterpart, Pimp C, Bun B is back at it again proving that he is still an Underground King. Bun's first album since Pimp C's death, titled II Trill, came in at #2 on the charts this week with just under 98,000 copies sold. Bun took second place to a new debut album from 3 Doors Down, respectively.

A little further down the charts at #7, newlywed Mariah Carey creeps towards platinum with a total of 931,000 copies of E=MC2. Rick Ross' Trilla climbs the charts five spots this week and landed at #22. The self-proclaimed "Boss" sold 17,800 copies this week. Meanwhile, Lyfe Jennings takes a fall from #17 to #37. Lyfe Change sold just under 14,000 copies. Following right on his heels is a comeback from 90s staple Keith Sweat, who sold 13,800 copies of his new effort Just Me and took the #38 spot in his 2nd week on the charts.


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T.I. Belittles Shawty Lo's Recent Criticism

Sometimes, the easiest way to resolve a conflict is to forget about its non-importance in the first place. With that said, T.I. sat down with MTV’s Sway to talk about the so-called conflict between him and Shawty Lo.

When asked if he would have done something similar to gain attention in the rap game, T.I. discouraged it and said, “Naw. I mean, I never looked to gain acknowledgment or recognition by mentioning anyone else’s name. If it was an issue between me and another person, it was an issue between me and another person. It wasn’t a publicity stunt or a marketing tool.”


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Digital Underground Releases Final Album

Digital Underground has not released a new album since 1998's Who Got The Gravy?. While both Shock G (Humpty Hump) and Money B have remained active in solo endeavors and feature work, the Oakland, California collective has gone quietly.

Ten years later, the outfit that introduced Tupac Shakur to rap audiences and were pioneers in the ever-present safe-sex movement is returning. Available this week, Cuz A d.u. Party Don't Stop will made available digitally, and through select online retailers for hard copies, including CDBaby.com. As word spreads, through Super D Distribution, the release will also be made available to 14,000 retail outlets.


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Multiracial Americans surge in number, voice

Obama candidacy focuses new attention on their quest for understanding.

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''Cocaine Cowboys 2'' Lines Up For Summer Release

Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' with the Godmother, the sequel to the 2006 cult classic is coming to DVD this summer.

The newest installment takes viewers to the inner-city streets of Oakland, Calif. in 1991 and features famed female cocaine dealer Griselda Blanco, nicknamed the Godmother.

The documentary tells the true story of an aspiring coke dealer Charles Cosby, who breaks into the game when he writes a fan letter to the Godmother who's locked up in a nearby federal prison. Just six-months later, Cosby is a multi-millionaire, the head of Blanco's $40 million-a-year cocaine empire, and her lover.

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Patti Labelle & Labelle Update Sound On New Album

Famed R&B trio Labelle has officially reunited and will issue their first album of original songs in 33 years.

The new untitled album will be produced by longtime collaborators and legendary Philadephia songwriting team Gamble & Huff as well as rocker Lenny Kravitz.

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Common Teams W/ White Sox

Rapper Common has teamed with the Chicago White Sox to help raise awareness for his non-profit organization, The Common Ground Foundation.

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T.I. Gets MTV Reality Show

Rapper T.I. will turn his legal issues into an untitled reality series that will air on MTV in early 2009.

According to Variety, MTV will follow the Grammy Award winning Atlanta rapper as he performs 1,000 hours of community service and readies for a one-year prison sentence, for possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers.

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50 Cent Employee Arrested For Assaulting Woman At Rapper's Mansion

Police in Farmington, Connecticut arrested a man at 50 Cent's mansion for allegedly assaulting a woman.

Authorities accuse Dwayne McKenzie, 27, of choking and striking a New Britain woman with a belt during the altercation, which took place on the rapper's property.

McKenzie was charged with assault, strangulation, breach of peace and unlawful restraint for assaulting the 22-year-old, whose identity has been withheld at press time.

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Nas To Release The N****r Mixtape

Nas plans to release The N****r Mixtape, after the rapper recently made headlines for removing the racially charged word out of his album title.

DJ Green Lantern recently revealed that he would collaborate with Nas on the effort.

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5 killed, 16 injured in 'hellacious' Calif. crash

A 4-year-old child was in critical condition Tuesday after a fiery six-vehicle crash that killed two adults and three children and injured 16 people.
The scene was "hellacious," said police Officer Karen Smith.

A van going through an intersection slammed into a second van that had sped through a red light Monday and "made it go airborne," Smith said.

"By the time the van landed it was fully engulfed in flames," Smith said.

Check Out Full Article @ USAToday

Vince Young very nearly quit football

For the first time this year, the people at EA Sports elected to put a retired player on the cover of their Madden video game. Unbeknownst to them, they almost did the same thing last year. Vince Young was ready to quit football after his rookie year.

He doesn't go into great detail about the reasons, but he did tell Thomas George of NFL.com that things were once so bad for him that retirement was a viable option.


"I really thought long and hard about it. There was so much going on with my family. It was crazy being an NFL quarterback. It wasn't fun anymore. All of the fun was out of it. All of the excitement was gone. All I was doing was worrying about things.

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Let's not fight! Tips to Avoid Conflict

For the sake of argument, imagine a world without conflict. That's the full-time job for members of a relatively new field called peace psychology who focus on problems like the genocide in Darfur, hatred in the Middle East, gang warfare in our cities, and rape everywhere.

Wondering what lessons they've learned in the trenches that we could use in our daily lives, "O" asked five top peace psychologists for their best advice on waging harmony.

•"We often figure that other people see the world in the same way we do and overestimate the degree to which they understand our approach and actions. Rather than making assumptions, ask for clarification; even ask about their intention to harm you ('Did you realize when you did that, it affected me in this way?' They might not be aware of it).

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iReporters change lifestyles to dodge hefty gas bills

As rising gas prices leave drivers with ever-heftier tabs at the pump, Americans have started looking for ways to reduce the drain on their budget. For some, transitioning away from a one-person, one-car lifestyle has proved rewarding.

1 of 3 Janaki Purushe, a 22-year-old genetic researcher living in Rockville, Maryland, bikes just about everywhere she goes. "When I had the opportunity to finally plan my own life after I graduated college," Purushe explains, "I took into consideration where I was going to shop, where my friends live, where my boyfriend lives, and I definitely tried to plan the location of my home around where I was going."

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Five Friends Every Woman Should Have

"Friends are the family we choose for ourselves," writer Edna Buchanan once said. I consider the "family" I've gathered—with five kinds of pals I count on for completely different things—among the wisest choices I've made. If you can find even one who embodies any of the characteristics that follow, you can consider yourself fortunate.

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Six teens among eight gunned down in Harlem

A string of shootings in a New York City neighborhood sent eight people, including half a dozen teenagers, to nearby hospitals with gunshot wounds, police said Tuesday.

All of the victims were expected to recover from their injuries.

The six teens were found near Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, where a crowd had gathered.

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Charity: Aid workers raping, abusing children

Humanitarian aid workers and United Nation peacekeepers are sexually abusing small children in several war-ravaged and food-poor countries, a leading European charity has said.

Children as young as 6 have been forced to have sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in return for food and money, Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday.

After interviewing hundreds of children, the charity said it found instances of rape, child prostitution, pornography, indecent sexual assault and trafficking of children for sex.

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Do whites need training before parenting black children?

Several leading child welfare groups Tuesday urged an overhaul of federal laws dealing with transracial adoption, arguing that black children in foster care are ill-served by a "colorblind" approach meant to encourage their adoption by white families.

Recommendations for major changes in the much-debated policy were outlined in a report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

"Color consciousness -- not 'color blindness' -- should help to shape policy development," the report said.

Diplomats Affiliate Makes America's Most Wanted

"This isn't the first time that AMW has told you about the Dipset Crew," begins the America's Most Wanted website. After previously highlighting the "Stop Snitchin'" movement over a year ago, the Harlem rap clique has made the top of the list on behalf Carlos "Zoo" Thompson, who AMW is billing as The Diplomats' "enforcer."

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Dogg Pound Starts A Busy 08 With Gangsta Grillz

DJ Drama and Tha Dogg Pound are gearing up to release an as-yet-untitled "Gangsta Grillz" mixtape. Those who visit the HipHopDX audio section regularly have already heard the "Half A Mil Freestyle," which finds Daz and Kurupt taking turns over an instrumental of Kanye West's "Big Brother." Drama recently spoke to HipHopDX about the unlikely pairing.



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Trina Launches Clothing Line, Website

Rapper Trina recently launched her Pink Diamond Couture clothing line, along with an accompanying website - ShopTrina.com.

The clothing line will consist of jeans, tops, t-shirts, velour sets and jackets, and will all show off the rapper's signature logo.

"I have always imagined a clothing line that was high quality that I could offer to my fans," said the rapper in a statement. "I love the way the jeans fit and feel. I spent a lot of time creating special details that are fresh and unique. The best part they look really expensive but are priced right."


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Ray J Booted From Hotel For Drugs

R&B bad boy Ray J was kicked out of his Washington, D.C. hotel room this weekend after illegal club drug was found on the premises.

According to TMZ, the "Sexy Can I" crooner was forced to leave his room at the Hyatt Regency in D.C. when security allegedly discovered marijuana and a club drug known as "boat" while investigating a complaint received by hotel management.

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C-Murder "Screams 4 Vengeance" This Summer

Louisiana rapper C-Murder is currently preparing his latest album Screamin' 4 Vengeance for release in July.

The album follows 2005's Koch release The Tru Story: Continued, and will serve as C-Murder's TRU/Asylum Records debut.

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Bow Wow Joins HBO's "Entourage," Still Rapping...For Now

Literally having grown up in hip-hop, Bow Wow already has a long rap career. But now the solo artist is joining somebody else's Entourage - HBO's.

The 21 year-old rapper just landed a recurring role on the cable network's popular series, according to Reuters. He'll play a stand-up comic, Charlie, who is also a new client of E, played by (Kevin Connolly).

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Kanye West's Mom Incites Poss Plastic Surgery Legislation

Something good may come from the tragic death of Kanye West's mom, Dr. Donda West, after all. Law makers are trying to make sure what happened to her doesn't happen to other people who go under the knife.

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MC Lyte Launches New Group Almost September

Hip-Hop veteran and pioneering female rapper MC Lyte has launched a new group, Almost September.

The Hip-Hop/Soul group, which is comprised of MC Lyte, producer/writer/vocalist Whitey and producer/writer/vocalist Jared Lee, will debut six songs from their upcoming album via iTunes today (May 27).

Check Out Full Article @ All Hip-Hop

Rapper Rev. Run Tapped As Kool-Aid Spokesman

Rapper Reverend Run has been tapped as the spokesman and brand ambassador for Kraft Foods’ Kool-Aid line, which is introducing new and reformulated products this spring.

The 81-year-old company has formed also formed a partnership with Reverend Run and KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that aims to build 24 playgrounds in cities across the United States.

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LL Cool J Launches Clothing Line With Sears

Corporate giant Sears has tapped Hip-Hop veteran LL Cool J to launch a new branded line by the rapper, that will be in stores this September.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, the rapper is launching LL Cool J for Sears, a collection of casual wear for juniors, girls, boys, and young men.

The new line will be sold in 450 of Sears’ 900 stores, highlighted in customized “shops in shops” featuring the line.

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Rapper Camu Tao Dies From Lung Cancer

Definitive Jux rapper Camu Tao died on Monday (May 25) at a Columbus, Ohio hospital, after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

Camu Tao, born Tero Smith, had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment, since being diagnosed with the disease in 2006.

"[Camu Tao] had been going through repeated chemo treatments while remaining out of the public eye," Aesop Rock said. "He was a brother to me. This is all beyond devastating. please keep him in your thoughts."

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Xzibit’s Newborn Son Dies Suddenly

Rapper Xzibit is mourning the loss of his newborn, Xavier Kingston Joiner, who died suddenly on May 26.

Xavier was born prematurely on May 15 and the rapper was overjoyed, but his elation has turned to tragedy.

The rapper expressed his sorrow on his blog to his fans as well as how the baby died.

Check Out Full Article @ All Hip-Hop