Snoop's greatest hits... already?
Despite the fact that there weren't many hits to be found on the two albums between Doggystyle and Top Dogg, Snoop Dogg is preparing to drop a collection of his greatest hits. Snoop's Greatest Hits is scheduled to hit stores Feb. 22 on Death Row/Priority. If it's only Snoop's stuff from the Death Row era, they might as well just re-release Doggystyle with a few bonus tracks from his guest appearances on The Chronic and the various soundtracks ("Deep Cover," "Murder Was the Case," "Above the Rim") the label produced and leave Tha Doggfather out of the picture. Do we really want to reminisce about the good ol' "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" days?
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Despite fears that violence at a recent Oakland concert might hurt the already-delayed Ruff Ryders/Cash Money Tour, promoters have released a schedule with updated tour dates. When it was first announced in December, the tour was supposed to start Feb. 9, but now the launch date is set for Feb. 23 in San Antonio. DMX, Eve (pictured), The Lox and Drag-On will team up with Juvenile, The Hot Boys, Lil' Wayne, B.G. and The Big Tymers to hit 33 cities in less than two months.
The father of Def Jam Records is now the father of a baby girl.
At 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 21, Russell Simmons' wife, Kimora Lee, gave birth to Ming Lee Simmons. Simmons, the co-founder and current chairman of Def Jam, and his wife, a model and host of a syndicated hip-hop television show, "One World Music Beat," were married in December 1998. It is their first child. T-Boz of TLC has signed on to sub for Kimora while she is on maternity leave. "T-Boz is A-List talent," Mr. Simmons said in a statement, "and has enormous credibility in the hip-hop community. She is a perfect fit for the show." 
Jay-Z has just signed a two-picture deal
with Miramax, which will release the long-awaited backstage documentary of the "Hard Knock Life" tour. The film will include footage
of Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman and others and will be accompanied by a soundtrack, which will feature music from and inspired by the tour.
The movie is expected to hit theaters at the end of March. For those of you who can't wait that long, you can reminisce a little by checking out Jigga's 
LL Cool J is getting some respect for the acting skills currently on display in "Any Given Sunday." Not so much that he received a Golden Globe nomination, but he did get invited to the party. In fact, LL will join Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and others as a presenter at this year's Golden Globe Awards, which will be broadcast live on NBC on Sunday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. EST.
However, not all is well in Cool J's camp, or more specifically, Camp Cool J.
LL's cousin, Cynthia Cooper, was arrested for allegedly stealing more than $150,000 from his camp, a non-profit organization she helped run while serving as executive director of LL Cool J, Inc. and Rock The Bells Entertainment, a position she held until Nov. 1998. Cooper was charged with grand larceny, scheming to defraud, falsifying business records and petit larceny and faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
More than 10 years after making a name for himself with crossover hits like "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina," Tone-Loc is making a comeback in both music and television. Loc's cover of a popular '70s tune, Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver," will serve as the theme song of a new TV series of the same name that Loc will star in. The series has not yet been picked up by any network, but Loc is hopeful that it will be at next week's meeting of National Association of Program Executives in New Orleans. In an effort to help the cause, Loc will perform the theme song at the convention on Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. EST.
SonicNet is reporting that ODB faces up to two years in jail after being kicked out of the drug rehabilitation program he was enrolled in. Ol' Dirty was discharged from the Impact House live-in drug-treatment program in Pasadena, Calif., and transferred to the program's jail facility in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday after he allegedly got drunk following a New York court appearance on drug charges. He allegedly arrived in L.A. with a bottle of alcohol in his possession.
ODB will stay behind bars at least until a Feb. 25 hearing for the alleged violation. One Queens prosecutor that was considering a plea bargain on a drug charge now plans to push for two years of jail time because of ODB's recent courtroom behavior and this incident. Ol' Dirty's New York lawyer, Peter Frankel, says his client was not in contact with alcohol. "I think that there is a lot of speculation, much of which isn't true," Frankel told SonicNet.
Only one hip-hop award was handed out at this year's American Music Awards, but DMX wasn't the only hip-hop artist to walk up to the podium Monday night to accept an honor. X was named Favorite Rap/Hip-hop Artist, Will Smith was named Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist and Lauryn Hill took home two awards -- Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album.
Also taking the stage for performances were Eve and Faith Evans, Dr. Dre and Eminem, and Nas with Mariah Carey.
"Next Friday," the sequel to 1995's hit "Friday," is the No. 1 movie in America. The film, which was produced and written by Ice Cube, who also stars, collected an estimated $14.5 million to take the top spot over "Stuart Little" ($9.7 million) and "The Hurricane" ($9.1 million).
Juvenile and the Hot Boys never took the stage for the 12,000 hip-hop fans in attendance Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Instead, the show was cancelled when fights broke out that left 17 people injured, three highway exits closed and more than 170 police officers called to the scene. Several fights broke out around 9 p.m., shortly after opening acts Eve and Ginuwine completed their sets.
Comedian A.J. Johnson had taken the stage in an effort to calm the crowd, but he and the arena security lost control as several separate fights broke out, eventually resulting in a mad scramble to the exits. Many of those fleeing returned after hearing at least four shots fired outside.
One eyewitness told The 411 Online he saw a man fall "from the nosebleeds all the way down to the lower section."
The eyewitness also saw one fan get hit by a folding chair, another get attacked by at least five other fans and one stabbing.
"Someone pulled out some scissors and stabbed someone, that's when I and everyone else bolted out of there and just ran, jumping over chairs just trying to get away," the eyewitness said, echoing similar reports in area newspapers.
Damage was estimated at $2,000 to $5,000 and included sinks in some restrooms, a broken metal detector and a broken door, according to the San Francisco Examiner. There's no telling what kind of effect this might have on the upcoming Cash Money-Ruff Ryder tour, which originally was scheduled to start Feb. 9, but was pushed back to Feb. 24 last week.
Method Man and Redman escorted undisputed boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. into the ring while the duo's "Da Rockwilder" blared in the background. Jones Jr., known for his extravagant entrances, spared no expense this time either, dancing with the Rockettes before beating David Telesco in a 12-round decision. It was the first boxing match to take place at New York City's Radio City Music Hall.
After two EPMD reunion albums, Erick Sermon is returning to his solo career. Well, sort of. Actually, Sermon is working on an album that he will release under the name Erick Onasis, according to MTV. No explanation was given, but the album is expected to contain two songs that Sermon recorded with Keith Murray before Murray went to prison in late 1998 for second degree assault.
A grand jury in Manhattan indicted Sean "Puffy"
Combs on two charges of weapons
possession stemming from a December argument that ended in gunfire at a
the Club New York dance club.
Combs' bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones was indicted on the same
charges. Johnnie Cochran, of O.J. Simpson fame, and Benjamin Brafman, who represented Mafia informant Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, have joined Combs' legal team.
No date was set for arraignment for Combs, who
could face up to 15 years in state prison if convicted.
"The decision to indict me is wrong," Combs said in a statement
released by his publicists. "I'm innocent and we
will prove it. I am putting my faith in God, and I know my name will
be cleared." The Detroit News also is reporting that police are investigating an Aug. 10, 1999, incident in which three members of Combs' entourage
allegedly assaulted Roger Mills, host of the Comcast cable talk and entertainment program "The Roger Mills Show" at WCHQ (105.9) radio station in Detroit.
In the alleged Detroit incident, Mills and his crew said they were
assaulted when they refused to hand over a videotaped interview with
Combs, according to a police report. They said members of his entourage
also destroyed the videotape outside the radio station.
"The host asked Sean Combs what he thought about a rumor that Mr. Combs
was in some way responsible for Notorious B.I.G.'s death," said Anthony Wichowski, a cameraman, in a statement to Detroit police.
Combs allegedly shouted some vulgarities and ended the interview and his public
relations representative asked for the tape of the interview. When they refused, several men allegedly attacked Mills and his crew.
Busta Rhymes, Rah Digga, Q-Tip and Mobb Deep will perform a pre-Super Bowl concert at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on Jan. 28. "I'm a one-of-a-kind performer, so it just seemed natural to have my NFL debut at the biggest sporting event in the world; the Super Bowl is going to get a little Busta Rhymes flava," Busta said in a statement released by the league. Parts of the shows might be broadcast on the NFL's "Under the Helmet" television series, which airs on the Fox network. Super Bowl XXXIV is Jan. 30 at the Georgia Dome.
Eminem will head into the studio with Dr. Dre later this month to wrap up work on the follow-up to his triple-platinum album, The Slim Shady LP. The album, which has not yet been named, is expected to drop this spring, with the first single arriving in March. Em and Dre recently finished shooting the video for "Forgot About Dre," the second single from Dre's 2001, and the duo is looking into the possibility of a tour with Snoop Dogg.