This week in the Hip-Hop charts, Kanye West jumps back into the Top 10, Method Man's downslide continues, Petey Pablo's freak-a-leeks help him hold down the charts and Juvenile bounces back.

Though "My Band" has been steadily losing ground in rotation and video countdowns, D12 has managed to break its free fall. In their 6th week, the dirty dozen drops 5% and lands at # 7 -- selling 66,967 copies of D12 World according to the Hits charts. D12 will perform with Eminem tonight on the MTV Movie Awards.

In its 3rd week, Method Man suffers another substantial hit -- 37% to drop down three positions to #8. Still, Meth moves 56,484 units of Tical 0: The Prequel according to the Hits charts. Method will likely see an increase in sales when his new Fox series, "Method & Red," airs on June 16th.

One slot behind, Kanye West has returned to the Top 10. With "All Falls Down" still holding it down and "Jesus Walks" picking up steam, The College Dropout leaps 8 positions from #17 to #9. In its 17 week, the Louis Vutton Don gets a 16% boost and sells 53,101 CD's according to the Hits charts. Expect to see another sales peak from Kanye when he performs on Pepsi Smash on June 17th on The WB.

Meanwhile, Outkast has kept its standing despite registering lower numbers in the past few weeks. 37 weeks into the charts, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below gets one up to #13 and slides 11% to find 45,614 purchasers according to the Hits charts.

At #16, 8Ball & MJG have climbed back two slots up the charts. In its 4th week, Living Legends drops 11% and moves 40,540 LP's according to the Hits charts.

On the Brooklyn side of things, Jay-Z has also made his way up the charts in recent weeks. With a slight 1% boost, The Black Album hops 7 slots to #18-selling 39,017 units according to the Hits charts.

Rounding out the Top 20, Black Eyed Peas have again benefited from a strong sales hike. With "Let's Get It Started" booming courtesy of the NBA playoffs, Elephunk sky rockets 12 slots to #19 and jumps 15% -- selling 38,832 records according to the Hits charts.

Two spots behind, Petey Pablo's latest effort has been consistently moving out the store thanks to freak-a-leeks around the country. With a 6% slump, Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry only slips one spot to land at #21-selling 38,228 units according tot he Hits charts.

Lastly, Twista and Lil Flip postpone their exit from the charts while Juvenile returns into the fold. With a 4% boost, Twista's Kamikaze goes up 9 slots to #35 and sells 31,375 CD's while Lil Flip's 9% jump lands him at #40 - moving 27,803 copies of U Gotta Feel Me according to the Hits charts. In the meantime, Juvenile's "Bounce Back" and "Slow Motion" videos have helped put Juvenile back on the charts. 24 weeks into the charts, Juvey The Great ranks at #43 selling 26, 796 copies according to the Hits charts.

Next week, look for The Beastie Boys and Lil' Wayne to release Top 10 bound LP's.

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Yesterday, a federal judge found The Source magazine in contempt for violating a court order not to publish alleged "racist lyrics" from a tape made by Eminem in his teen days.

U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch issued a temporary restraining order in December 2003 barring The Source from publishing any lyrics from the recording. However, in violation of this order, the magazine's website, thesource.com, published the full lyrics in a flashy homepage presentation.

In a pair of rulings made public Wednesday, Lynch ordered The Source to pay legal fees to Shady Records Inc., Eminem's label. However, the judge denied Shady Record's request to fine the magazine thousands of dollars because the magazine responded quickly to a cease and desist order from Em's lawyers to remove the lyrics in January.

Ray Benzino and The Source magazine unveiled a suppressed audiotape of Eminem in which he allegedly made disparaging remarks about Black women at a press conference in November at New York's Millenium Hotel.

The second 30 second audio tape featured the alleged voice of Eminem saying, "Blacks and whites, they sometimes mix / But black girls only want your money, 'cause they're dumb chicks." Later in the freestyle Em raps, "Never date a black girl, because blacks only want your money / And that sh!t ain't funny."

Eminem released a statement in which he downplayed the tape as the "stupid" antics of a teenager.

"I did and said a lot of stupid sh!t when I was a kid, but that's part of growing up. The tape of me rapping 15 years ago as a teenager that was recently put out by The Source in no way represents who I was then or who I am today."

A lawyer for The Source spoke to the New York Times and defended the magazine's publication of the lyrics saying, "The Source had every right to publish the material it did release to inform the public about who Eminem is."

Judge Lynch also dismissed a countersuit filed by The Source against Shady Records and Eminem, in which the magazine claimed it held the rights to the songs.

Regarding Eminem, the judge stated "It is for fans of hip-hop, and not for this court, to decide what if anything this episode means for their opinions of Mathers as a man and as an artist."

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After launching his own label, sneaker and clothing line, 50 Cent is now contemplating the opening of jewelry stores across the U.S.

According to BBC Radio, 50 Cent would sell his jewels in boutique stores alongside Louis Vutton bags and Gucci wallets

50's recent ventures have been quite successful. Over the last year, the G-Unit clothing line and the G-Unit sneaker have been selling quite well. The LP, Beg For Mercy has been certified double platinum and the label is now due to drop two new releases this summer. Lloyd Banks' Hunger For More hits stores on June 29 while Young Buck's Straight Outta Cashville hits the streets in July.

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It was projected to be a monumentus return. Prince Po, Pharoahe Monche, and newly added member O.C. had planned to re-introduce Organized Konfusion.

Buckwild, Large Professor, and DJ Premier were all rumored to be on the boards. Even AllHipHop.com was excited enough to make this album one of the Top 5 for 2004.

But after speaking to Organized Konfusion member Prince Po over the weekend, all hopes are lost.

"I'm not going to feed into that Organized s**t anymore," Prince Po told AllHipHop.com. "I feel I have a responsibility to my true fans to just keep making good music. [As] far as Pharoahe and O.C., they're doing things and I wish them the best. O.C. always had some hidden problem with me and he has to face those demons that make him so angry at a person who put him on his first record. I met O.C. through Monch and I only tried to do positive things for him. I don't owe him s**t and God knows everything I did for and with him was an act of loyalty and good faith. But he's out for self and I'm good with that."

But despite the disputes concerning added third member O.C., Prince Po seemed to have a softer regard for his partner of fifteen years. Prince Po added affirmation to the rumors of Pharoahe signing with Shady Records.

"I really hope all goes well with Pharoahe and Shady," Po confessed. "I love Pharoahe because I seen him evolve from a beat boxer to an MC, damn near over night. He's one of my favorite MC's. He has an old soul that's funky. See, it's becoming too much of a political thing to make this Organized thing happen and it takes the fun out of making the actual music. Many fans await that album and it's a blessing to have people demanding your material, but I think it's a slap in the face of fans when you complicate the process of making music with all these petty demands, requirements and excuses."

Prince Po has redirected his energies towards his solo album, The Slickness on the independent Lex Records. That album drops this month with appearances from Raekwon, Rell, and MF DOOM.

Production is being handled by Madlib, J-Zone and Jemini. Next month, Po's label, Nasty Habits will launch with the release of an untitled compilation.

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After teasing the collaboration in a recent interview, Lil Jon has entered a Los Angeles studio with Ice Cube for a new, as-yet-untitled track. The song will appear on Jon's upcoming album, Crunk Juice, due in the fall.


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Festival organizers say all members of the Wu-Tang Clan have been confirmed to headline the Rock the Bells daylong concert in San Bernardino, California, on July 17. It would be the first time all the MCs of the Clan have performed together in almost seven years — if it happens. Several times in recent years promoters have booked the group with no success. Other acts confirmed for the concert include Redman, Dilated Peoples, Sage Francis and members of Jurassic 5.

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R&B and soul singer Ray Charles has died at age 73.

Charles died at 11:35 a.m. PT on Thursday (June 10) from complications resulting from liver disease, his publicist, Jerry Digney, told Reuters. Family and his manager were with him at his Beverly Hills, California, home at the time of his death.

Despite being blind since childhood, Charles, along with Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, pioneered the soul genre in the mid-1950s, with early albums that blurred the lines between jazz, gospel, blues and, in later years, country. On such notable hits as "What'd I Say," "Unchain My Heart" and "Drown in My Own Tears," the singer/pianist's warm, raspy voice epitomized the impassioned energy of a true soul singer and will go down in history as one of music's most recognizable.

Even songs that Charles didn't write himself were made his own, most notably "Georgia on My Mind." Though Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell penned the tune in 1931, we'll forever remember Charles' 1960 version, which became Georgia's official state song 19 years later. And Charles' emotional rendition of "America the Beautiful" was especially poignant during the flush of patriotism that followed the September 11 attacks.

In his 47-year career, Charles won a dozen Grammy Awards, nine of them between 1960 and 1966, including Best R&B Recording for "Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Busted."

His Los Angeles studios, built 40 years ago, were deemed a historical landmark on April 30. Charles' appearance at the dedication ceremony was reportedly his last public event.