P. Diddy, Ja Rule and Master P are among the Hip-Hop acts featured in Blender Magazine's "50 Worst Songs Ever" list.

Ja Rule ranks at no. 45 on the list with the Ashanti assisted "Mesmerize." Blender cites Rule's crooning and the track's elementary hook as the song's worst moment.

After previously recognizing Master P as one of the worst artists of all time, Blender now places him at no.36 on the worst song list with "Make Em Say Uhh" featuring Mystikal, Silkk, Fiend and Mia X. Like Ja, P's chorus is credited for earning the song a slot in music's Hall Of Shame.

Former Fresh Prince Will Smith nabs the 32nd position with 1999's "Will 2K." While everything from Smith's simplistic rhymes to the misuse of "Rock The Casbah" sample are mentioned as low points, the track's concept is noted as its worst moment.

P. Diddy's tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., "I'll Be Missing You," featuring 112 and Faith Evans stand at no.25. Interestingly, Blender bashes Diddy as an opportunist and mentions his lack of sincerity as the song's failure.

Lastly, two of Rap's most ridiculed figures own Hip-Hop's top slots on Blender's list. Hammer's 1994 song "Pumps and A Bump" ranks at no. 17 and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" stands as low as no. 5.

Blender's "50 Worst Songs Ever" list is set to be featured in an upcoming VH1 special. Blender's May Issue featuring "50 Worst Songs Of All Time" is on newsstands now.

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Though incarcerated, lawyers for Ras Kass have filed a $5 million lawsuit against Priority Records in Los Angeles County Superior Court citing breaches of his contract.

Ras has been signed with Priority since 1995 and is suing the now defunct label on the grounds of emotional distress and breach in particular acts of his contract. The California emcee has been at odds with Priority for quite sometime and has been trying to get a release from his label.

Ras hasn't released a full length album since 1998's Rassassination. Despite boasting production from Dr. Dre and DJ Premier, Rass' two last LP's Van Gogh and The Golden Chyld were both shelved by Priority. Reports later surfaced that Ras owed the label close to $1 million dollars.

Last year, Rass was convicted of a DUI charge and went on the run for several months before being caught. Since then the Hip-Hop community has been vocal about supporting Ras Kass. Eminem shouted, "free Ras Kass" in a freestyle while others have simply been showing love in interviews. In a statement, Xzibit, who is part of the Golden State Warriorz, which also includes Ras and Saafir proclaimed his admiration for his comrade.

"Ras Kass is the spitter; I respect him as an artist, and he takes Hip-Hop and music seriously," X said in regards to Ras. "The West Coast is waiting to hear something that is explosive."

Though Priority has failed to release a Ras album, a compilation recorded while the rapper eluded police was recently released.

"I want what is fair; all I want is to create great music, have the proper team behind me, and be the artist that I am, Ras Kass said in a statement. "I am prepared to do what it takes in order to be released from this ugly situation."

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Various Hip-Hop legends have contributed to The Bronx Soundwalk, an upcoming triple CD that takes listeners back to the birth place of Hip-Hop using music and interviews with legends of the Hip-Hop culture.

Jazzy Jay, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert and others are featured on the conceptual CD, which focuses on three significant areas in the Bronx: Yankee Stadium, Hunts Point and Soundview.

The innovative series has highlighted such areas as Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Times Square and other areas in New York.

The CD is produced in 360-degree surround sound and listeners will hear about the history of the Bronx, from the early days of the Grand Concourse and Art Deco, to the birth of the New York Yankees, to Robert Moses’ vision for a city of freeways and high rises, to the blight of 1970s arson, and the creative spark that grew into Hip-Hop culture today.

With the CD’s labeled as trains, the first CD, “The 4 Train” focuses on Yankee stadium and includes interviews with Roger Clemens, Robin Ventura, Joe Torre.

“The 5 Train” features Hunters Point graffiti culture and emphasizes the work of the TATS CRU, CRASH, CHAIN3. The narrator for “The 5 Train” is BG 183, founding member of the TATS CRU.

“The 6 Train” centers around the home of Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.

Interviews with Kool DJ Red Alert, Busy Bee, GrandMaster Caz and GrandWizzard Theodore are all included, while Jazzy Jay, who is also the co-producer of the seminal song “Planet Rock” narrates.

The CD’s also focus on the current scene from each neighborhood, spanning sport, art, culture, and politics.

The Bronx Soundwalk is in stores now.

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Hip-Hop clothing designer Marc Ecko has entered into a joint venture with Atari and the union will produce a video game based on Hip-Hop and graffiti art.

"Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure," will revolutionize the urban genre, according to Ecko.


"This game will be genre defining. Revolutionary. We will put the flag in the ground of popular culture with 'Getting Up,'" Ecko boasted.

The game derives its name from the term 'getting up,' which means getting your name or graffiti “tag” visible to the public.

Ecko said the game took seven years to develop and that after fielding several offers, choose Atari because the well-known company allowed him creative autonomy.

"Atari allowed me the freedom to challenge the status quo manner in how games are developed," Ecko said. "That is precisely why it is the ideal home for this title. This is a dream come true for me."

The game is expected to be available on all major platforms by June 2005.

Mark Ecko overseas a clothing empire, 25 retail stores across the country, and also publishes Complex magazine.

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Reebok and Jay-Z have paired up again for the second installment of the S.Carter Collection by RBK, which will feature the S.Carter II and the S.Carter Tennis, the sneaker giant announced yesterday.

After a successful launch of the signature shoe last year, it was an easy decision for Reebok to partner with the retiring rapper for a second time. The RBK line, led by the S.Carter, increased its sales by 48 percent in 2003.

"We dreamed about doing it, put a plan together, we made the shoe and now it's really happening," Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com last year after his sneaker broke sales records.

The S.Carter II will retail for $100 and be available later this month. Due to high demand-and the start of the summer season-Reebok moved up the launch date for the sneaker from June 11th to May 28th. The sneaker will be available in both men and women's styles

At a slightly lower price of $80, the S.Carter Tennis will arrive stores June 18th.

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Despite 50 Cent's beef with Murder Inc. and their front man Ja Rule seemingly over, some rappers are refusing to let the beef die. The latest artist to come out swinging is former Outlawz member Fatal Hussein. It became known that Fatal and Ja Rule were allies when Ja released his 'Blood In My Eye' album last year and Fatal seems determined to garner attention by continuing to diss 50 Cent.

On the new track, which comes after almost 6 months of non-activity in the Ja Vs 50 beef, Fatal defends Ja Rule for 'trying to be like their favorite rappers' and slams other artists for taking 'Tupac beats at random' to diss other rappers. Ironically, Fatal raps this over the top of Tupac's classic 'Ambitionz Az a Ridah' beat, becoming the very thing that he is dissing. The track, titled 'Ambitionz of a Snitch' can be found on the new Fatal mixtape, 'Fatalveli Vol. 1'.

Fatal was once close to the late Tupac Shakur and considered one of the leaders of 'Pac's group, Tha Outlawz. It is rumoured that Fatal was sent back to New Jersey by Tupac shortly before his death in 1996 after the two had a falling out when Fatal took Tupac's car and crashed it. Since then Fatal has been to jail for a lengthly period of time and attempted reconciliation with his former Outlawz comrades.


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It's been long understood that Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G wanted to come together and represent for their Long Beach 'hood in a West Coast supergroup called 213. But it's been so long since they first talked about it that Long Beach no longer has that area code.

Such telecommunication barriers have not put the project on hold. The three showed up in New York on Monday to make everything official and announce the July 20 release of the debut 213 album, The Hard Way.

Though this will be the first album released under the 213 name, the three hip-hop heavyweights formed the crew when they were young pups growing up in Southern California — before producer Dr. Dre discovered Snoop and birthed the G-Funk era.

"[We] started in like the late '80s, early '90s, just around the neighborhood putting it down," Warren G explained. "I was on the turntables, Snoop was rappin', Nate was singin'. We kept striving and striving and striving."

The three have been recording songs for 213 over the past year. They originally were scheduled to release the album on Geffen Records, but the trio recently struck a deal with TVT Records.

Snoop sees the 213 project as a chance for the group to bring West Coast hip-hop back to the masses. "Music right now is missing a sound like this," he said. "All of us coming together and putting our projects on the back burner to make this happen is only going to enlighten our solo careers. And it's fun to do because we're homeboys and always dreamed of it. So why wait till we're 37 or 50 years old and no one wants to hear us anymore? Why not do it when we in our prime?"

The group did use West Coast producers like Battlecat but also people like Kanye West and DJ Hi-Tek, both of whom hail from the Midwest. Warren G did not produce any of the songs on the album, he said, because he wanted to concentrate on his rhymes.

Maybe 213 are taking a cue from the success of 50 Cent and G-Unit, because the name of the first single from The Hard Way is "Groupy Luv." G-Unit have a song on their Beg for Mercy called "Groupie Love."

Snoop explained the concept behind the single. "We're trying to find groupie love. That means beautiful girls who want to become video stars aspiring to do something with their careers. We can give you that upliftment. We can get you in the video."

When asked if 213 would tour, Nate Dogg deadpanned, "How else do you think we'll get groupie love?"

The members then explained, more seriously, that they plan on mounting a small tour starting June 11 that'll see them doing a medley of solo hits and new 213 songs.