Ice Cube Discusses Making N.W.A "Straight Outta Compton" Movie Without Easy-E

Even though N.W.A’s material was released on Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records, the rapper-businessman passed away in 1995 due to complications from AIDS and, thus, was not involved in the forthcoming N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton.

Nonetheless, Ice Cube, who was a member of N.W.A with Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella, says that it seems as though Eazy-E was involved in the film, which is slated for an August 13 release. 

"Working on the movie, it’s like we’ve been engulfed in Eazy-E for the last seven years,” Ice Cube says during an interview with XXL. "So, it seems like he’s right here still.”

As for the story that will be depicted in the film, Ice Cube says that the narrative is one that has universal themes. 

"It’s an American story of not only rags to riches, but David vs. Goliath,” he says. "To me, when you talk about N.W.A, you talk about non-violent protests against things that we were trying to comprehend, so we ended up putting it in song. There should be a movie about us.”

O.T.Genasis Arrested In Los Angeles

Long Beach rapper, O.T. Genasis (best known for his song ‘CoCo‘), was arrested last night in Los Angeles. According to TMZ, Genasis ran a red light, which led cops to pull him over. The cops then found out the rapper had outstanding arrest warrants stemming from other traffic violations.
The cops proceeded to take Genasis to a nearby Gas Station where he was booked and arrested.

Lil Wayne's 'Free Weezy Album' Set To Drop In April

Lil Wayne and Birdman have been going at it over the release of his “Carter V” album, but over the weekend Weezy finally revealed he is going to drop the “Free Weezy Album” in April to keep the fans happy.
During his Red Bull Guest House concert in Miami over the weekend (Mar. 28), Wayne revealed he will be dropping the “Free Weezy Album” in April, but he didn’t give an exact date.

“During a performance at the Red Bull Guest House this past Saturday (Mar. 28), Tunechi announced that the free project will be dropping in April, but didn’t reveal a set date.”

The Game Accused Of Punching Player During Basketball Game;Victim May Be Police Officer

Compton, California rapper The Game was accused of punching another player during a Pro-Am basketball game in Hollywood Sunday (March 29).
“Game was playing in a Pro-Am game Sunday at Hollywood High School when he got into a heated argument with another player,” TMZ reports in an article published today. “We're told Game threatened to kill the guy, punched him in the face and took off.”
The police are investigating this incident as battery.
The rapper, real name Jayceon Taylor, was reportedly participating with his team La Familia in the JBL National Pro-Am Basketball League. The Game explains in a social media post that he will no longer play in the Drew League.
“WE WILL NOT BE PARTICIPATING in the #DrewLeague this year due to us & Nike not being able to agree on a certain issue,” The Game says on Instagram. “See, the problem with homegrown organizations is once they go corporate, it takes the raw, original format & waters it down until it becomes something forced versus something that was REAL, AUTHENTIC & for the neighborhood. We as people that grew up in Compton & the surrounding areas must put our foot down & stand up to big companies & their politics in order to not lose ourselves, our culture & the things we enjoy the most that were created in the hood, FOR THE HOOD. I brought NBA ALL-STAR players from Kevin Durant Paul George & James Harden to helping Lebron & Kobe make Drew League appearances & never wanted anything for my contribution but to see CHILDREN SMILE at being able to see their favorite professional athletes in their neighborhood playing basketball without having to pay."
According to the JBL League’s Facebook page, The Game scored 30 points in his first game. He says he hopes to give back to the community through his appearances.
"My only mission with the Drew & other leagues around LA is to give back to the youth in my city & cities surrounding it & be a positive force for my community," The Game continues. "This was recently compromised by Nike reps overseeing The Drew & today I had to remove myself from contributing my time & hard work as well as withdraw both of my teams #LaFamilia & #TheRobinHoodProject... If you want to see me & #LaFamilia we will be in the #JBL."

Jay Z's "Big Pimpin" Case To Head Trial This October

Osama Ahmed Fahmy, the man suing Jay Z over a sample used in his song “Big Pimpin’,” is reportedly taking a different approach in his lawsuit against the Brooklyn, New York rapper.
Billboard.com reports that Fahmy is now claiming that the record company that licensed “Khosara Khosara,” the song Timbaland sampled on “Big Pimpin’,” did not have the right to do so.
The song was reportedly licensed to Timbaland via EMI Arabia. EMI Arabia had a deal with Sout el Phan, the Egyptian record label Fahmy licensed "Khosara Khosara" to.
“That’s the real problem here," Fahmy's attorney, Keith Wesley of Browne George Ross said in court on Monday, according to Billboard.com. "Sout el Phan said, 'EMI Arabia, you can use it, but you can't go out and give away rights to someone else. I don’t have authority to do that, and the copyright owner hasn’t given me rights to do that.'”
According to Complex.com, Fahmy claims that EMI Arabia’s rights to “Khosara Khosara” expired in 2007. He also adds that in addition to the rights expiring, the label never had the ability to license the song.
Fahmy, who claims to be an heir of “Khosara Khosara” composer Baligh Hamdy, and his legal team previously argued that “moral rights” were taken advantage of due to “Khosara Khosara” being “mutilated” by Jay Z and Timbaland.
The "Big Pimpin'" trial is scheduled to take place on October 13, 2015.

Ja Rule Admits Losing To 50 Cent

Due to Queens rapper Ja Rule’s recent prison sentence, there hasn’t been much light shed on the demise of Murder Inc (now known as The Inc. Records) and the emotions the Pain Is Love 2 spitter was coping with during both his feud with 50 Cent and the federal investigation of the label he called home.
Now that much of his past struggles are behind him and it’s been close to five month since his release from prison, Ja finally opened up about the Murder Inc downfall, his beef with 50 Cent, and more, during an appearance on HOT 97’s The Angie Martinez Show.
Joined by Irv Gotti, Ja Rule detailed what it was like during Murder Inc’s most turbulent times as he compared the label’s quick decline to a roller coaster.
“It was a roller coaster because everything—we was going up so fast and everything was happening so fast and then it went ‘shooom.’ It was no slope. It was no dip. It was just a straight [drop],” Ja revealed. “And it was weird because I’m really, really a fan-driven artist…I think a lot of people think I was angry at the fans, but I wasn’t as much angry as I was hurt. Because like I said, I did a lot for my fans. It was really a weird time for me and I think out of that came the anger. And then I went into a dark place. And everything was dark for me. Everything that I wanted to do was just angry. My music, the way I moved on the streets.”
Irv Gotti, Murder Inc’s owner also commented on the label’s rapid decline and the repercussions, which followed. Due to an investigation by federal agents, Irv was unable to work with Universal Def Jam and was also unable to secure any funds for projects.
“It wasn’t just one thing, like everything came at us. So, I couldn’t even do business because the Feds told Universal if you do any business with Irving Lorenzo, you’re gonna be codefendants with Irving Lorenzo…I couldn’t enter into a new agreement. So, they couldn’t give me no money,” Irv explained. “They couldn’t do nothing. So, I’m sitting there trying to organize things and do things and I gotta do it with nothing because the Feds is on my back.”
After Irv Gotti confessed to taking a loss to rapper 50 Cent, Ja Rule further elaborated on his feud with Fifty during his interview with HOT 97. He went on to allude to 50 Cent possibly taking his spot due to the downfall of Murder Inc and his association with acts like Dr. Dre and Eminem.
“It was a lot going on in that time frame,” said Ja. “You got the federal indictment. Here’s what it is, it was orchestrated very well. He was a part of the juggernauts at that moment. Eminem, Dre, they were very, very big in what they were doing as well. So, as we were big over on our side they were also big on their side. And as everything started to crumble for us as far as we didn’t have a label home anymore, ya understand? There was a lot of things that were falling apart for us. It was easy for him to get people to turn on. And there was things that were behind the scenes that y’all don’t see that also made us seem more irrelevant. Like we couldn’t go to awards shows.”
Among those also affected by Murder Inc’s demise was Long Island songstress Ashanti who released a number of notable collabs with Ja Rule including “Put It On Me” and “Happy.” Both Irv Gotti and Ja Rule, who will star in the upcoming film I’m In Love With A Church Girl as well as a new reality show, fessed up to their relationship with the singer not being as strong, but revealed that they do have love for Ashanti.
"We're good. We talk. When we come around, we talk,” Irv revealed. “Honestly, I wish it was better. I wish we was better. I have nothing against being around her or letting everyone know that we're cool. I don't know if she feels the same way. All good...The bottom line with Ashanti is I love Ashanti."
"I've got love for [Ashanti]. We went through our little thing, but me and [Ashanti] are cool. It's like that sometimes with family,” Ja Rule added.
Due to Irv Gotti’s past dealings, Murder Inc garnered much attention from authorities who were led to believe that money used to fund the label was laundered from Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. The negativity surrounding the label even led to Irv changing the name from Murder Inc to The Inc. Records in 2003.
The name change came just a couple of years after Ja Rule and 50 Cent’s feud was birthed. It’s unclear what exactly sparked the feud, both parties claim different reasons, but the two rappers beef with one another has gone strong for well over a decade.

Foxy Brown Says "Ain't No Nigga" Made Jay Z

It was nearly two decades ago when Jay Z released his Foxy Brown-assisted single “Ain’t No Nigga,” and according to the Brooklyn rapstress, that particular Reasonable Doubt record is the song that made Jay Z.
Foxy shared her thoughts on the record during an interview with Shade 45’s DJ Superstar Jay and also spoke on her relationship with both Jay Z and his former rival, Nas. Foxy compared her relationship with the two emcees to that of a woman with a husband and a side jump-off, but refused to reveal which rapper fits each title.
“Jay knows that that’s the record that made him,” she said. “Serious, we all know that. And that’s a huge and iconic record for him, but he kept it going. He kept busting his guns…It’s so much the people don’t even know. It’s like having a husband and a side jump-off and they both know it about each other. You just have to finagle the whole situation.”
While working with Jay Z on “Ain’t No Nigga,” Foxy says she was only 16-years-old and was therefore juggling her high school career with the extensive hours she spent in the recording studio.
“And at the same time I was really 16 with brothers, I don’t have sisters, I have older brothers. My mom is a school teacher from Trinidad who was a stickler for education,” said Foxy. “So, I was [raised] in the studio. Putting 14 hours in the studio and going straight—jumping on the train to high school. Taking accelerated and [correspondence] courses to graduate early. Like, it was real.”
After being diagnosed with severe sensorineural hearing loss in 2005, Foxy was forced to stop touring and slow down somewhat on her music career. The rapper revealed that at the time of her diagnosis there were others who were more worried than she was.
Now that over eight years have passed since Foxy revealed the news of her hearing loss, she says she was surprised at the current state of Hip Hop upon returning to music.
“Everybody was so—they were more worried than I was,” she said. “I knew I was gonna pick that mic up again. But I didn’t know this time when I picked it up—I mean, it’s so much bullshit out here. Like, I’m just so no impressed. I’m not. If I see another Louboutin—I’m so like, ‘Come on. Y’all are killing me.’ It’s crazy.”
Earlier this year, both Foxy Brown and Lil Kim again found themselves in the spotlight due to their ongoing feud, when rumors of a reunion between the two rappers at this year’s Summer Jam festival began to circulate. During an appearance on MTV’s “Rap Fix Live,” Foxy clarified the rumors and revealed that she was approached by Fabolous about a reunion, but says the reunion wouldn’t have been “real.”
“It’s a touchy situation because I have a lot of respect for Fab,” said Foxy. “My brother and Fab are like brothers. And we’re all from Brooklyn. So, I don’t want to really go there, but let’s just say that it wasn’t orchestrated properly and when you have something of that magnitude. I understand. I have a brand. I’m an intelligent girl. I understand the epicness of those two huge—the biggest female rappers in the game, to change the game, come together and touch mics. It’s phenomenal. But somewhere along the way some part of that has to feel real. It has to be real.”

Justin Bieber Working With Kanye West & Rick Rubin

Justin Bieber says people will be shocked by his new musical direction.
"I'm finishing up the album now, working with [Kanye West] and [Rick Rubin]," Bieber says in an interview with USA Today published Sunday (March 29). "I don't want to say ‘it's different,’ because that's what everyone says. But it is different, it's a grown-up version of Justin and I think people will be shocked."
The 21-year-old Canadian pop star says his new music will be a reflection of the positive things in his mind.
"My whole direction has changed," Bieber says in the interview. "What you are thinking about all the time is what you write, and now that I'm thinking about more positive things, it completely changes my music. I had to re-do my whole [new] album. It was done, but it didn't match up to where I am now and where my head's at. I want to tell my story, but I also want to give people hope. I lost hope for a while. I was in a dark place, but it's about getting out of that rut. It's about knowing there's sunshine on the other side."
Comedy Central’s “Roast Of Justin Bieber” aired on Monday (March 30), the entertainer said the jokes hurt a little.
“I'm human, so some of the things they said stung a little, but I took it on the chin, owned up to some of the funny, dumb things that have happened,” Bieber says. “But some of the stuff isn't true, like the drag racing thing [in Miami]. They showed that my speedometer said I was never speeding. But overall it was really good, very funny, with Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell coming out. That was definitely my favorite part, Will. Man, when he came out [as Ron Burgundy] and said, ‘No, Justin's been doing everything right.’ That was so funny.”
Justin Bieber says that life has not been easy for him.
“Unless you're stupid, I don't think you would think it's easy to be who I am,” Justin Bieber says. “Just use your head, you'll understand that my life is not easy. Not having privacy. Growing up in front of the cameras since I was 13, 14. You need to have those mess-ups without anyone judging you, and that's not something I was able to do. I think that people realize, they see it now, the transition. We can talk and do interviews and I can say I'm in a better place, but until they see the walk, and see the transition come to life, that's what's really going to matter.”