After a slew of blockbuster signings including ODB, Victoria "Posh sp!ce" Beckham and M.O.P., Dame Dash has added London group S.A.S. to his Roc-A-Fella Records roster. Word is that the Dip Set affiliated S.A.S. had been making a name for themselves in New York's battle circuit. And now heads are beginning to notice U.K's finest. The duo has appeared on freestyles with family members Young Gunz, The Diplomats and Kanye West and are increasingly appearing on mixtapes including Dash's "Warrior" series.

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Word on the street is that Canibus has formed a new group with underground staples Chino XL and Thirstin Howl III. While the battle-rapper's new crew is making plans for a debut album, fans are still anticipating a release from The 4 Horsemen, Canibus' first group comprised of Killa Priest, Kurupt and Ras Kass.


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Heavy D set the mic aside for acting, but now the veteran emcee is returning to the game and has signed with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy label.

In a ground breaking deal, the Mount Vernon bred rapper/actor will receive 100 percent of the profits from his Bad Boy release, after the label recoups costs for producing the yet-to-be titled album, his first since 1999's Heavy.

"Puff and I been friends forever, were family," Heavy D. told AllHipHop.com. "He gave me the most incredible deal. We had talks about it over the years. Honestly, I have never heard of a deal like this."

Heavy said that he felt the timing in the rap industry was right for him to come back out. "The kind of music that I'm doing is gonna fit. I'm in a space where I'm doing Hip-Hop, but it's sexy."

"The Birthday Song" is already picking up steam after being leaked to various radio stations across the United States. The album is still in production and Heavy has enlisted the production talents of Puff, Warren Campbell, Mike City and Tony Dofat.

Meanwhile, Heavy will continue to hone his acting skills and shed 160 pounds in order to increase the diversity of roles he can play.

"It was time on the acting side," Heavy said. "I can't limit myself to one kind of role if I want to be taken serious in other genres of acting."

And how did he manage to lose such a staggering amount of weight?

"I did it the old fashioned way, working out twice a week, boxing, doing cardio, monitoring what I eat. I wasn't on a crash diet and I did it right."

And acting is something that Heavy, who has a recurring role on "The Tracy Morgan Show," said he would continue to pursue in addition to his first career as a rapper.

"Puff and I are talking about doing a sitcom together. There's a couple of scripts that Dame Dash is interested in casting me in. I also have a cameo appearance in Will Smith's new movie, 'The Last First Kiss' so things are good."

The untitled album is tentatively scheduled for a Fall release date

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Hip-Hop mogul Jermaine Dupri has become the co-owner of his own liquor brand, 3 Vodka, joining the growing legion of rappers that are expanding into the lucrative spirits business.

Dupri became interested in the 3 Vodka Distilling Company after being amazed by its unique taste, as it is the only Vodka that is distilled from soy.

"I got involve cause I started seeing how much n*ggas in the club was watching what I used to drink," Dupri explained to AllHipHop.com. "Then I started working out and stopped drinking and was introduced to this as a no carbohydrate vodka that I could drink and not get fat. I was like 'oh sh*t my people need to know about this,' so what better way to be introduced them then through me? I got big plans for this."

Dupri said that he would apply the same business techniques to 3 Vodka that he used to propel himself and his company, So So Def to soaring heights in the music business.

"My passion for the brand is similar to my approach with music: superiority, uniqueness and perfection must all be achieved," Dupri said.

Dupri's said his ownership of the liquor company was the beginning of his plans to broaden his business activities outside of the fickle music business.

In addition to the being the only vodka in the world distilled from soy, the Chicago-based company is the first spirit to boast zero carbohydrates and is even endorsed by the American Vegetarian Association.

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Sean “P.Diddy” Combs finally made good on his word and dismantled Da Band, the group of six individuals that were followed on MTV’s “Making the Band 2.” But, former member Dylan disputes the televised version of the finale show last night on television.

On the show, Diddy was seen talking harshly to Dylan, but the dancehall artist refuted the portrayal of him being removed from the rap mogul’s residence, where the group lived for the season. “Get the f**k out my house,” Diddy said repeatedly to Dylan.

“On the show, they showed Diddy kicking me out of the house, but they took a clip of him bugging out before and made it look like it was the time that he kicked me out,” Dylan said to AllHipHop.com. “You can’t talk to me any way. There is so much editing on that s**t. He didn’t even kick me out like that.”

But, on a whole, Diddy said that Da Band devalued the vast possibilities that stood before them.

“The moral of the story is you have to take advantage of your opportunities and you have to give love to your craft,'' he told the Associated Press. “If you don't, you can achieve a dream, but it can also be dissolved.”

On Thursday, the mogul said that he broke the group apart because he was weary of the bickering, fighting and lackadaisical attitude towards their music.

“Initially my goal with Da Band was to make sure the world saw realistically how serious Hip-Hop was. So at times it was kind of embarrassing to me the way they were portraying themselves, not taking it as serious as most artists take this art form,” he said.

“The venture with Da Band was successful because it had the TV backing. But at the end of the day, it's not worth me getting money for something I think misrepresents what Bad Boy and Hip-Hop is about.''

The group sold an impressive 800,000 on their first musical outing, Too Hot For TV, but there will be no sophomore album from Da Band. Some shows featured a record number of bleeped curse words, but the show frequently dominated its nightly time slot.

Two members of Da Band, Babs and Ness, were kept as Bad Boy solo artists, Fred refused to return from his home in Florida and Sara was home with her husband and children. Young City (aka Chopper) has also been reportedly retained on Diddy’s Bad Boy South imprint.

Diddy may produce another “Making The Band” with MTV in the future, but has not confirmed such plans.

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Former Tribe collaborator and now a member of Kanye’s Kon Men crew, Consequence is set to release a mixtape. “Take Em To The Cleaners” is hosted by Kanye and features Mr. West on 9 tracks (producing or rapping). Included on the album are a re-worked version of “Wack Niggaz” now featuring Consequence and Common in addition to Talib and Kanye, plus “I See Now” featuring Little Brother (produced by 9th).