Monster Beverage Comments On Beastie Boys Trial Claims

Beastie Boys by a fountain

Monster Beverage issued a statement on the Beastie Boys lawsuit, which sees the veteran hip hop group seeking over $2 million for using its songs in a video that was online for five weeks. Monster stated:

Monster has no intention of litigating this matter in the media, but since the case has now received publicity we felt we should let the public know the facts as we see them. Monster in good faith believed it had obtained the rights to use a compilation of certain Beastie Boys music for an Internet video. The video recounted a snowboarding event in Canada that Monster sponsored where the after party featured many Beastie Boys songs played by the DJs in honor of the recent death of one of the Beastie Boys’ members. The music that Monster used was provided by one of the DJs, who told Monster he had permission. When Monster was notified by the Beastie Boys that the company was mistaken in its belief that it had the proper authorization, Monster immediately removed the video from the Internet. The video received less than 14,000 views during the brief period it was online. This lawsuit is solely about what, if anything, Monster must pay to the Beastie Boys because of Monster’s good faith mistake. In Monster’s view the Beastie Boys are demanding sums that are far beyond any reasonable fair market value.

Cop Gets “Fu** You” From Tupac Shakur When Asked To ID Shooter

Tupac Shakur

Former Las Vegas Metropolitan PD officer Chris Carroll tells VegasSeven.com he gave Tupac Shakur a chance to identify his shooter in the final conscious moments of the rapper’s life in 1998, but Tupac responded to the cop with an expletive. After pulling 2Pac from the passenger seat, Carroll shared that he told Shakur, “Who shot you? Who shot you?” Tupac wouldn’t name the gunman, simply stating, “Fu** you.”

The Game Celebrates 34th Birthday In LA

Game and friend at Damien Wayans birthday party

The other night, Supreme Team hosted The Game’s official birthday celebration, an all black “Black Friday Affair” in Los Angeles at Friday Night Rox at Roxbury. Among those on hand for the rapper’s birthday were Wiz Khalifa, Ty $, Too Short, Joe Moses and Laura Govan. Wiz kept the bottles of Ace of Spades coming and enjoyed several spliffs, while Game opted for Dom Perignon Luminous. Game also took to the mic to thank everyone for coming out in his honor, but then kept a low profile. Ty $ went on the mic to perform his hit single, ‘Paranoid’. Check out additional pictures after the cut. (more…)

T.I. On Supporting Marijuana Legalization, VH1 Reality Show

T.I. 'Go Get It'

T.I. sat down for an interview with Larry King, talking about his views on the legalization of marijuana and his decision to star with his wife in the VH1 reality show ‘T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle’.

Asked if marijuana should be legalized, the rapper responded, “Yes I do. I believe it should be, and also I think that if we, America, and I know this is an extremely liberal point that I’m about to make, if we taxed marijuana and sold it, and the money went back into the nation, I think that would help the deficit some. I think that would boost the economy in ways we couldn’t even imagine.”

As for why he chose to open up his life to the public with a reality show, T.I. responded, “When I was in prison, I was observing all of the speculative comments that were coming towards me, just the critical, harsh comments that were coming towards me and my wife due to the circumstances that landed me back in prison. I felt people were kind of taking snapshots at my life, and one bad decision and trying to lay a foundation that made me the man that I am. Like all I did is ride around in Maybachs, sipping on lean and doing doing u-turns all day, when that was just one day. For the rest of the 364 days of the year, I was a family man. I’m a father, I’m a husband, I’m a son, and a pillar to the community. I wanted people to be able to judge me from a place of certainty and understanding rather than speculation.”

The video clips at kaltura.com have since been removed.

Nicki Minaj Slams Steven Tyler For “Racist” ‘American Idol’ Criticism

Nicki Minaj holds a sword, which judging by the 'American Idol' judge's reaction to Steven Tyler's comments, she may want to use on the Aerosmith frontman

Nicki Minaj blasted former ‘American Idol’ judge Steven Tyler moments ago after hearing the Aerosmith frontman said that friction between the ‘Va Va Voom’ singer and her new fellow ‘Idol’ judge Mariah Carey could be damaging to the show’s contestants. Tyler suggested that in the case of ‘Idol’ winner Phillip Phillips was the kind of artist that flourished because the judges didn’t have a contentious relationship. Minaj took the comment as racist because of their differing genres, rather than anything to do with how well she gets along with Mariah impacting the ‘Idol’ hopefuls.

“They should have something going on, which is called ‘camaraderie’,” Tyler argued, adding, “These kids, they just got out of a car from the Midwest somewhere and they’re in New York City, they’re scared to death; you’re not going to get the best [out of them]. If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield! Whereas, if it was Bob Dylan with us, we would have brought the best of him out, as we did with Phillip Phillips. Just saying.”

Minaj told her Twitter followers (@nickiminaj):

Steven Tyler said I would have sent Bob Dylan to a cornfield??? Steven, you haven’t seen me judge one single solitary contestant yet!

I understand you really wanted to keep your job but take that up with the producers. I haven’t done anything to you. That’s a racist comment

You assume that I wouldn’t have liked Bob Dylan??? Why? Black? Rapper? What? go fu** yourself and worry about yourself babe.

When Steven 1st went on Idol he was ridiculed by his peers & fans alike. Called a sell out. So what does he do? Ridicule the next judge.

Big K.R.I.T. Releases Debut Album ‘Live From The Underground’

Big K.R.I.T. 'Live From The Underground'

Big K.R.I.T. released his debut studio album ‘Live From The Underground’ on Tuesday (June 5) via Def Jam. The album had been scheduled for release last September but sample difficulties pushed it back. Guest appearances on the release include 2 Chainz, 8Ball & MJG, Ludacris, Bun B, Anthony Hamilton, Melanie Fiona, Devin the Dude, Big Sant and Ms. Linnie.

When asked about the album title in an interview with MTV News, the Meridian, Mississippi rapper said, “Man, ’cause I’m still underground at heart. At the end of the day, the type of music that I make, the type of sound I’m trying to create, is definitely being underground and Southern hip-hop.”

1. “LFU300MA” (Intro)
2. “Live from the Underground”
3. “Cool 2 Be Southern”
4. “I Got This” (W. Hutch)
5. “Money on the Floor” (featuring 8Ball & MJG & 2 Chainz) (M. Goodwin)
6. “What U Mean” (featuring Ludacris) (C. Bridges)
7. “My Sub (Pt. 2: The Jackin’)”
8. “Don’t Let Me Down”
9. “Porchlight” (featuring Anthony Hamilton) (L. Richie)
10. “Pull Up” (featuring Big Sant & Bun B) (B. Freeman)
11. “Yeah Dats Me”
12. “Hydroplaning” (featuring Devin the Dude) (D. Copeland)
13. “If I Fall” (featuring Melanie Fiona)
14. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”
15. “Praying Man” (featuring B.B. King)
16. “Live from the Underground (Reprise)” (featuring Ms. Linnie)

Prodigy Releases Third Solo Album ‘H.N.I.C. 3’ July 3rd

Prodigy of the rap duo Mobb Deep will release his third solo album ‘H.N.I.C. 3’ on July 3rd. The album marks the first full length release on Infamous Record. The imprint, which inked a distribution deal with Sony/RED Distribution last year, released the Mobb Deep EP Black Cocaine at the end of 2011.

For the current project, Prodigy has enlisted producers The Alchemist, S.C., Young L, Sid Roams, Ty Fyffe and Beat Butch. Among other guest appearances, Wiz Khalifa joins the HNIC on “Co-Pilot” while T.I. guest stars on the track “What’s Happening” which he also produced. Havoc lends a verse on “Who You Bullsh****n” and Willie Taylor of Day 26 provides the hook for the track “My Angel.”

The album will be released in both physical and digital formats and it will be available in a variety of versions: the regular full length version in dirty and clean versions (sixteen tracks), the Deluxe version (explicit full length plus four bonus tracks) and a Prodigy documentary on DVD, a FYE Exclusive version (explicit full length plus a Mobb Deep documentary on DVD), a iTunes Exclusive version (explicit version plus four bonus tracks) and, last but nor least, an exclusive Crickett Wireless Mobile-Only version (explicit full length plus two bonus tracks).

‘H.N.I.C. 3’ is the third installment of the H.N.I.C. series. The first H.N.I.C. album dropped in 2000 and received notable critical acclaim. The second H.N.I.C. project dropped in 2008 as Prodigy was entering prison to serve a three year bid for illegal gun possession.

Prodigy, along with long time partner Havoc, joined the line up of the Rock The Bells festival in 2011, as well as the Rock The Bells Tour that kept the group on the road for most of the summer. This year, Prodigy will join the festival again to promote his solo effort.

The week prior to the album release, the HN will embark on a series of promo activities that so far includes a take-over at Sirius XM Radio, guest editor position at prominent media outlets, a guest appearance on Hot 97’s “Street Soldiers” show along with writer Michelle Alexander, author of the best selling book The New Jim Crow. Prodigy is also featured, along with “trainer” Killer Mike, on the episode of the MTV show Made that will air on June 19 at 4 pm EST.

Prodigy 'H.N.I.C. 3'

‘H.N.I.C. 3’ Track Listing:
1. Without Rhyme or Reason (Alchemist)
2. Slept On (Alchemist)
3. Pretty Thug (Ty Fyffe)
4. My Angel feat Willie Taylor of Day 26 (Beat Butcha)
5. Co-Pilot feat Wiz Khalifa (The Colombians)
6. Live (Alchemist)
7. Make It Hot (Young L)
8. Get Money feat Boogz Boogetz (Young L)
9. Life Is What You Make It (S.C.)
10. Award Show Life (S.C.)
11. Who You Bullsh****n feat Havoc (Sid Roams)
12. Skull & Bones (Beat Butcha)
13. Smack That Bitch feat Esther (Valentino)
14. Let Me Show You feat Vaughn Anthony (Ty Fyffe)
15. Gangsta Love feat Esther (Valentino)
16. What’s Happening feat T.I. (T.I.)

Tinie Tempah Reveals Crush On British Olympic Hopeful Jessica Ennis

Tinie Tempah

Tinie Tempah tells The Sun that he’s game on asking out heptathlete Jessica Ennis and hopes to see her in action at the London Olympics, which begin July 27th. The British rapper said he “most definitely would” ask Ennis out, adding, “She’s in an advert for a sports drink and another for a deodorant at the moment. I watch them religiously.”

Check out Ennis’ Sweat Session teaser ad for Powerade below.

Stevie Stone Prepares Strange Music Debut Album ‘Rollin’ Stone’

Stevie Stone

Tech N9ne protégé and longtime collaborator, Stevie Stone, is preparing for the release of his Strange Music debut album, ‘Rollin’ Stone’. Due in stores June 12th, the collection features the singles ‘808 Bendin’, ‘Get Buck’ and ‘Oneness’. Guests on the album include Tech N9ne, Yelawolf, Krizz Kaliko, Hopsin and reggae star Peter “Peetah” Morgan of Morgan Heritage.

Tech N9ne actually attended Stevie Stone’s first live performance. “I knew he was dope back then,” Tech says. Tech and Stone met after that show several years ago and started developing a relationship. Tech and Stone’s bond led to Stone signing with Strange Music in 2011. “I’m home,” Stone says. “It’s something I’ve been wanting for a long time.”

As he prepares for the release of ‘Rollin’ Stone’, Stevie Stone is currently on tour with Tech N9ne, MGK and Krizz Kaliko as part of the groundbreaking “Hostile Takeover 2012” Tour, which includes 90 shows in 99 days, making it the longest consecutive tour in rap history.

Stevie Stone 'Rollin' Stone'

Stream and download the track ‘808 Bendin’, featuring Tech N9nej, at audiomack.com.

Lil’ Kim: Nicki Minaj A Very Obnoxious Person

Nicki Minaj 'Pink Friday'

Lil’ Kim appeared on Power 105’s Breakfast Club morning show in New York on Thursday (May 17), where the Queen Bee claimed Nicki Minaj’s new record ‘Automatic’ is very similar to an unreleased record with the same title that she recorded and played for Cash Money three years ago.

“On her new album, she has a song called ‘Automatic,’ and the song is so similar to the song that I played for Slim,” Kim said, referring to Cash Money co-CEO Ronald “Slim” Williams. “The problem with her is she was very catty with it. I never had a problem with her – I was always, always nice with her, always. She was a very obnoxious person, but I was always nice with her.”

The interview audio at power1051fm.com has since been removed.

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