Ali Shaheed hosts benefit
Ali Shaheed Muhammed, the former DJ of A Tribe Called Quest, hosted a benefit concert in an effort to raise funds for the Kosovo refugees. "A DJ Saved My Life" took place Thursday, July 8, at Tramps in Manhattan and featured appearances from DJ Tony Touch, Black Moon's Evil Dee, De La Soul's Mase and J-Live. All proceeds will go to CARE and War Child.
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While cleaning out the closets of the house in the Hamptons he sold earlier this summer, Jay-Z gathered more than 50 boxes of his old clothing and donated them to charity last week. Two New York City charities will distribute the items to poor children and homeless people throughout the city.
Meanwhile, Jigga is set to drop a new single and video from the "Blue Streak" soundtrack, called "Girl's Best Friend." He also has been in the studio working on a collaboration with Mariah Carey for her next album, due out in November. The track, called "Heartbreaker," is being produced by DJ Clue and the remix will feature Missy Elliott and Da Brat. 
Common, Fat Joe, the Terror Squad, Mos Def, Black Rob, Talib Kweli, Bahamadia and others will travel to Cuba later this month as part of the Second Annual Black August Hip-Hop Benefit Concert and the Fifth Annual National Cuban Rap Festival. The event, which will take place Aug. 27 in Havana, also will feature several top Cuban acts in an effort to raise money for the creation of a public hip-hop library and studio in Havana and an emergency fund for political prisoners in the United States.
According to Davey D and the Electronic Urban Report, Foxy Brown ended a recent concert in San Francisco early after the crowd became somewhat violent. First, Brown stopped her performance to go off on a man in the crowd whom she saw smack a woman. After starting up the show again, Brown was hit in the head with a water bottle thrown by a fan. The concert was stopped again, the lights came up and she left the stage for good. 
Popular radio hosts on both coasts are reportedly calling it quits. In New York, Ed Lover is leaving Hot 97's morning show to reunite with former
partner Doctor Dre, who was fired from the station last year. The duo, which also hosted "Yo! MTV Raps," is planning to join "The Beat" (KKBT 92.3 FM) in Los Angeles and take over the morning slot. There had been speculation that Tha Baka Boys were leaving crosstown rival Power 106 for that spot, but it turns out they'll probably be on in the afternoon. The hosts of the popular "Friday Night Flavas" show are making the move because Power 106 plans to back off its hip-hop format.
The Associated Press reported that ODB was arrested early Saturday in Queens.
The arrest comes just days after he was jailed in Los Angeles for failing to pay bail he owed from a previous arrest. Police stopped Ol' Dirty on Linden Boulevard at about 2:45 a.m. after
he allegedly ran a red light in his 1994 Mercedes convertible. Officers
arrested ODB when they learned he was driving with a suspended
license. He also was charged with criminal possession of a controlled
substance and unlawful possession of marijuana after a search of his car
allegedly turned up several bags believed to contain crack cocaine and
marijuana, police said. ODB was sent to jail earlier this week after failing to pay the bail he owed after he was arrested for making terrorist threats at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, Calif., last year. When Ol' Dirty showed up for his court date in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the judge ordered that he be sent back to jail and then reset the bail at $100,000. The incident in question took place during a Des'ree concert at the club last September. ODB was ejected after acting drunk and disorderly, but returned and allegedly threatened to shoot security guards. A new court date has been set for Sept. 10.
Former No Limit recording artists Kane and Abel have asked that a federal drug indictment filed against them in May be dismissed, charging that the FBI was trying to build a case against No Limit CEO Master P and prosecuted the twins after they refused to help. Kane and Abel were indicted on May 6 as part of an ongoing investigation of New Orleans narcotics kingpin and convicted killer Richard Pena. According to a motion brought before a New Orleans federal judge on July 21, federal agents asked the twins on March 24 to be their "eyes and ears" and cooperate in an investigation against Master P or face indictment.
The director who gave 2Pac his first shot at acting wants to make a star out of Snoop Dogg. Ernest Dickerson, who directed "Juice," the 1992 film that launched the late rapper's acting career, has offered the lead role of his next film, "Bones," to Snoop. The film would star Snoop as a ghost who is awakened 20 years after his murder in order to seek out revenge on his killers.
Before the 225,000 fans at Woodstock decided to set fire to anything they could get their hands on, Ice Cube, Mack 10 and DMX heated up the weekend with performances at the event celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the original. DMX took the main stage Friday night, bringing the crowd to life with "Where My Dogs At" and "Ruff Ryders' Anthem." The explosive response from the crowd, which followed along with every lyric, seemed even to surprise X. Cube and Mack 10 took the west stage Saturday night, ripping through "Natural Born Killaz" and "Bow Down," as well as N.W.A classics, "F--- tha Police" and "Straight Outta Compton."
Dr. Dre filed a lawsuit against Priority and Death Row Records for an unspecified amount last week for "false designation of origin and false description, federal trademark dilution, state statutory unfair competition, statute common law trademark infringement and unfair competition, state statutory and common law trademark dilution, constructive trust, fraud, and breach of contract." In other words, who's got the rights to The Chronic? Dre released the album in 1992 and owns the common law trademark to the name, but his former label released The Chronic 2000 after rumors that Dre was considering that title for his next project. In an effort either to stay one up on the competition or simply to allow more time for the notoriously meticulous producer to complete the album, Dre has since renamed it The Chronic 2001. 
A film based on the life of Tupac Shakur is among three movies MTV is currently developing that will run commercial-free on the network. Shakur's mother, Afeni, will serve as producer. A budget of $3 million-$3.5 million has been set for each film, which are expected to debut after the first of the year. In the other two movies, R&B singer Monica will follow in her "Boy is Mine" partner Brandy's footsteps and make her acting debut in "Love Song," while "Hip-Hopera" will be a new twist on the classic opera "Carmen." 
Luther Campbell pleaded not guilty to a count of aggravated battery in Miami-Dade County Court. Campbell was arrested July 5 after allegedly hitting a man in the face with a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey. Campbell's lawyer denied the charge in Entertainment Weekly, saying, "They arrested the wrong guy." Luke will appear in court July 26 for an unrelated felony case and again on Aug. 10 to answer to the misdemeanor battery charge in the same incident. 
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution is reporting that So So Def CEO Jermaine Dupri was sentenced to three days in jail for skipping jury duty. Fayette County Superior Court Judge Chris Edwards found Dupri, whose legal last name is Maudlin, in criminal contempt of court. Both declined comment for the newspaper's story, which appeared in Friday's editions, but the judge was quoted at a hearing on May 13. "It doesn't matter to me if Mr. Maudlin was a brain surgeon ... If somebody doesn't show up for jury duty then everybody is deprived of justice," Edwards said. Dupri is appealing the conviction. 
Parrish Smith told MTV recently that he and Erick Sermon are working on a tribute track in honor of Roger Troutman, whose work supplied many of the samples for EPMD classics. The song will be called "Focus" and will feature yet another Troutman sample on the hook. Troutman was gunned down in April outside of a Dayton, Ohio, recording studio. 
Mack 10 and several other artists have agreed to participate in a conference on Aug. 19 in Los Angeles celebrating the contributions that west coast MCs have made to hip-hop. The event, called "A Day in the West," also will feature DJ Quik, Ice-T, King Tee, Yo-Yo, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, MC Hammer, Tone Loc, and the Alkaholiks. The conference hopes to conclude with a Cali version of XXL's "The Greatest Day in Hip-Hop History." The magazine's seventh issue featured a cover photograph of more than 200 MCs gathered together in Harlem on Sept. 29, 1998. 
Public Enemy's Chuck D has demanded that the Anti-Defamation League apologize for its recent accusation that the lyrics in "Swindler's Lust" are anti-Semetic. However, ADL national director Abraham Foxman blew off the demand, suggesting in an interview with SonicNet that Professor Griff's anti-Semetic comments in 1989 to the Washington Post give the ADL grounds to be cautious. "I don't think there's anything to apologize for. Unfortunately, (Chuck D) comes with some baggage. It's not that we come out of the blue or that he is a total innocent in this area." Of course, Griff was kicked out of the group shortly after the comments, but returned for the group's last two albums.