Get a sneak preview of L.L.
Def Jam is including a free sampler of L.L. Cool J's G.O.A.T. with the first 100,000 copies of the "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" soundtrack, which hits stores July 11. This tactic is nothing new for Def Jam, which in the past has included bonus discs in releases from DMX, Jay-Z and EPMD. L.L. Cool J's album is due in stores Aug. 8.
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A celebrity basketball game pitting Russell Simmons' 360HipHop.com against Puff Daddy and Hookt.com will take place Saturday, Aug. 26, in the Hamptons. No players have been confirmed besides Simmons and Puff, but Jay-Z and Andre Harrell will provide play-by-play commentary. The two rosters eventually will be filled with celebrities from the world of hip-hop, film and fashion. There will representatives from the Rap the Vote 2000 initiative providing information and voter registration forms and the proceeds will benefit Boys Harbor and T.H.A.N.K.U. (The Hillcrest Avenue Neighborhood Kids Union). The pairing of Puffy with Hookt also adds fuel to the recent rumor that Bad Boy Records is working on some new online initiatives with the web site.
Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys had to team up to knock their nemesis, 
Independent record label Koch Entertainment has added former Onyx member Fredro Starr and The Click's B-Legit to their roster. B-Legit, the cousin of E-40 who previously recorded on Jive Records, will release his long-delayed third album, Hemping Ain't Easy, on Koch in early September. The album features appearances by Kurupt, Snoop and Mack 10. Fredro Starr will record under the name Firestarr and plans to drop his solo album, The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, in the fall as well. 
Juvenile has been charged with five counts of aggravated assault and three counts of simple battery after an incident on Tuesday, July 20, in which he allegedly threatened to shoot five women and chased them out of his home with an icepick. Although the women never saw a gun and police officers did not find one in the house, Juvenile was arrested for the eight misdemeanor counts on Thursday. According to a police statement, the five women were to serve as dancers at a housewarming party at Juvenile's home in Mandeville, La. When water from an upstairs bathtub began leaking through the kitchen ceiling, he allegedly became upset and blamed the women. They claim that he became physically and verbally abusive, pushing three of them to the ground and threatening to shoot them. He then allegedly grabbed an icepick and chased them out of the house. The women fled to a neighbor's house and called police. Juvenile was released after posting a $2,076 bond and is due back in court on Sept. 11.
Erick Sermon and Redman are leading the effort to get fellow Def Squad member Keith Murray immediately released from prison, and they've got a whole host of artists lined up to show their support at a rally. Mary J. Blige, L.L. Cool J and even Britney Spears are expected to attend a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, at the Parker Meridian Hotel in Manhattan. Murray was sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting the brother of a concert promoter in New Britain, Conn. However, an eyewitness whose testimony was used against Murray in the case recently came forward and said he was bribed by the promoter and his brother. Murray appears on Sermon's latest album, Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis. 
Coolio has signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Allied Artists Records to distribute his fourth album, Coolio.com. The album, which is expected to be released before the end of the year, will contain the remake of "The Gambler" he recorded with Kenny Rogers some time ago. All three of his previous albums -- 1994's It Takes A Thief (platinum), 1996's Gangsta's Paradise (double-platinum) and 1997's My Soul (gold) -- were issued by Tommy Boy. Coolio also is in a new movie coming out this fall -- a horror spoof titled "I Know What You Screamed Last Summer." 
Hookt is reporting that Canibus was attacked by Harlem World's Blinky Blink at his own record release party. Apparently, Blinky Blink clocked him the minute he walked through the doors of Aria, a New York City nightclub. At that point, the entire club got into it and apparently Canibus was struck on the head with a glass-encased candle from the bar. Unidentified sources also allege that Cam'ron got involved as well. A publicist from Universal told Hookt that Canibus was injured pretty badly, but that Thursday's release party is still expected to take place. Canibus made a name for himself by appearing on an L.L. Cool J track, "4,3,2,1," and then dissing the hip-hop legend on his debut single, "Second Round Knockout." In a chat Monday with SOHH, Canibus said he was done dissing L.L. "I can sleep at night. He's done like two more records and can't sleep at night. What else is there to talk about?" Canibus said in the chat. "I don't care for creatin' drama to sell records. Let Def Jam do that." Apparently that didn't prevent him from dissing Blinky Blink on "I'll Buss 'Em," a track off his new album, 2000 B.C., which was released Tuesday. 
Mos Def, Common, Ghostface Killah and Pharoahe Monch are among the artists that make appearances in a new independent film that analyzes hip-hop. The official East Coast screening of "Freestyle," a documentary being hyped as "'Wild Style' for new millennium," will take place 8 p.m. Wednesday at KAOS in New York. Participants were asked questions such as, "Is freestyle off the top or an unformatted written verse?" and "Is hiphop poerty?" Cost of admission is $10. Also involved in the film are Hydra, Pack FM, Supernatural, Jurrassic 5, Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, Project Blowed, Cut Chemist, Medusa and The Last Poets. 
Longtime hip-hop personalities Ed Lover and Doctor Dre have left their positions as morning hosts at Los Angeles radio station 100.3 The Beat. The station, which recently switched its frequency from 92.3 FM to 100.3, is expected to shift its format closer to the R&B side of things. No replacement has been named, but the duo's former sidekick and news reporter Nautica De La Cruz will hold down the fort in the meantime. Ed and Dre, who rose to stardom hosting Yo! MTV Raps, are expected to either return to Hot 97 in New York, where they served as morning hosts before relocating to L.A., or start their own internet radio program. 
As the debate over file-sharing software programs like Napster rages on, more and more artists are choosing sides. In an interview with MTV, 
Russell Simmons, who has been the driving force behind the Rap the Vote 2000 campaign, released a statement in response to a New York Post report that claimed he hadn't voted since the 1992 presidential election. "Yes, there have been times when I haven't voted, but what I have come to realize in the past several years, especially under the Giuliani administration, is that not voting contributes to our problems," Simmons said. "That is why, through Rap The Vote and Redeem the Dream, I have committed myself to aggressively registering one million young voters by November." 
Da Brat will co-star with Mariah Carey in "All That Glitters," a film based on Carey's real-life rags-to-riches story. Da Brat will play the best friend of Carey's character in the movie, which starts shooting in Toronto later this month and is expected to be released sometime next year. In other news, it has been confirmed that Da Brat was indicted last month on two felony counts of aggravated assault for her part in a bar fight in March. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge. Da Brat's next hearing is in August. 
Although DJ Yella did not reunite with N.W.A for the 
