As Hip-Hop retirements increasingly appear to be promotion or an alternative to falling off, Masta Ace, a 16-year veteran, has revealed that he will hang up his microphone after the release of his album, Long Hot Summer.

The new album, Ace's fifth, will be released on August 3 and will mark the end of an illustrious and a remarkably consistent career.

Unlike other veterans, Ace said he wasn't forced into retirement either by an apathetic fanbase of lack of lust for the rap game.

"Before I even finished recording this record, I kinda had it in my mind, that this'd be the last one for me," Ace told AllHipHop.com. "It had nothing to do with [sales], it's just time for me to apply myself behind the scenes and we have this new label, M3. I want to get it off the ground, and I can't really do that if I'm running around touring and recording and being an artist doing interviews. Now it gets to the point where I can get behind the scenes are really get this engine going."

In the past five years, Ace has helped cultivate artists like Jean Grae, Punch & Words, and ToneDeff in ways only an elder statesman could.

Furthermore, in the 90's, his crew Masta Ace Inc. included popular rappers like Lord Digga, Paula Perry and even featured a young rapper named Stimuli, who is frequently featured on AllHipHop.com.

In the 80's, Ace was a member of Marly Marl's Juice crew, a group of elite rappers that included Kool G Rap, Biz Markie, Craig G., Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante and others.

He said after many years in the forefront, he would let others attract the fans while he managed his fledgling company.

"My goal is to be the guy behind the scenes on some big records that come out in the future. I look at MTV and see this kid Eamon, and I see Milk D [of Audio 2], as the guy behind it. The only difference [with that is], I'm not gonna be in the video, I'm not gonna be on stage," Ace said.

Long Hot Summer will be the first release on Masta Ace's M3 label. The album features Jean Grae, Beatnuts, and Ed O.G. combined with production from 9th Wonder, DJ Spinna, and others.

While rappers like Jay-Z and Master P have left and returned, Ace said that wouldn't be the case with him. He said the curtain was closing fast.

He affirmed, "Once I'm done, I'm done."
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After releasing the book, "There's A God On Mic," last year, Hip-Hop pioneer Kool Moe Dee is now shooting a documentary based on the book to be premiered during Black History Month next year.

In the book, Moe Dee personally rates the Top 50 emcees based on 17 categories ranging from originality to social impact. The list, which includes such artists as Common, Lil Kim, Nas and Chuck D, uses a point system from 0-100 in each of the 17 categories.

Moe Dee is presently filming in New York for the documentary pair to the book and will capture interview footage of legends such as Ice- T, Big Daddy Kane and Will Smith in the next month. All interviews will be conducted by Kool Mo Dee himself.

"We just did Fabolous. We're doing Rah Digga today and we're also supposed to do Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel and Jin," Amy McFarland, the project's publicist told SOHH.com. "We're also doing Q-Tip on Thursday."

Other artists scheduled to appear in the documentary include Cassidy, DJ Premier, KRS-One, Mc Lyte, Heavy D and The GZA.

Kool Mo Dee's "There's A God On The Mic" documentary will premier during Black History Month 2005.

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Stepping beyond the world of underground battles, ciphers and appearances, former Lyricist Lounge cast-member Wordsworth is making power moves with a debut album on the horizon, a movie role and a standout appearance on Talib Kweli's upcoming release.

The Brooklyn emcee has been busy making rounds as the fall release of his Halftooth Records solo debut approaches. Days ago, Wordworth was in the lab with Talib Kweli and Musiq to record a song for Kwe's Beautiful Mixtape Pt.2. This weekend, Wordworth will hit the stage for Rock Steady's Anniversary. And the former Lyricist Lounge Show co-creator and writer can now be seen on the big screen in the hip-hop documentary, Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme.

Re-acquainting heads with his flow, first unveiled on A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement and again on Blackstar's "Twice Inna Lifetime," Wordsworth is hitting the streets with "Gotta Pay," the lead single from his highly anticipated solo debut, Mirror Music. On the track, Wordsworth serves up dishes of insight and narratives between bragging on his skills. Never one for dumbing down, Worth reminds emcees of his college degree and prowess for writing his college papers in rhyme, by spitting "Y'all don't need to dumb it down, y¹all dudes is dumb already."

Wordsworth's Mirror Music hits stores in September
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The Charlotte Bobcats expansion basketball team just added Nelly to its ownership group, making the St. Lunatic the second rapper to have a stake in an NBA team.

Cornell "Nelly" Haynes Jr, a three-time Grammy winner and multi-platinum rapper, is cashing in on his celebrity by taking a minority stake in the North Carolina expansion team. He joins a group of owners including majority owner Bob Johnson who also owns BET, Felix Sabates, owner of NASCAR racing teams and Hugh McColl Jr., former CEO of Bank of America.

"This is a great opportunity for both the Bobcats and Nelly," said Bob Johnson in a statement on Monday. "Nelly is a great entertainer and a smart businessman and those two traits will serve us well as we prepare to tipoff our inaugural season this fall."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Nelly is ecstatic about his latest move, calling it one of his "biggest achievements."

"Bob and I share the same commitment to diversity and we are both self-made, having worked up from the very bottom to reach where we are today," said Nelly.

The Charlotte Bobcats are the first minority-owned professional sports franchise in history. The team officially joined the NBA on May 3rd and became the league's 30th team. In the expansion draft, Charlotte selected 19 players with mostly low profiles and low salaries.

Earlier this year, Jay-Z became the first rapper to hold an interest in an NBA team when he took an ownership stake in the New Jersey Nets.

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West Coast hiphop icon, MC Eiht has just signed a deal for his newly formed label, West, Inc., with Native Records, which is distributed through Neil Levine’s Penalty Associated Labels at Ryko Distribution. The label’s first release will be an MC Eiht solo album, which is slated for early fall. It will be produced by Tha Chill,who has also crafted tracks for Snoop Dogg, 213, the Outlaws and MC Ren.

Eiht’s upcoming disc, which he is presently recording, will be titled Veterans Day. The name stems from the fact that Eiht is one of the true O.G.’s of West Coast hiphop, having first emerged in 1989 with the debut release of Compton’s Most Wanted’s It’s A Compton Thang. During his long career, he has enjoyed great success, particularly with his singles that have appeared in movie soundtracks, including “Growin’ Up In The Hood” from John Singleton’s film classic Boyz In Tha Hood, and the critically acclaimed “Streiht Up Menace” from the Hughes Brothers’ feature film, Menace II Society. Its soundtrack album held the Number One spot on the Billboard Top 100 R&B chart for 8 weeks straight. Eiht continues to signify an iconic status as a West Coast artist.

Native Records, which is headed by Ken Smith, has had previous releases that include The Militia All Stars’ disc, Comin’ At Cha, and The Exodus by the Gospel Gangstaz, who were nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000.
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Shyne, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2001, has released an audio recorded over a phone inside Clinton Correctional Facility. He takes numerous shots at 50, who dissed him last year on a radio freesrtyle. It appears Shyne means buisness, with his album scheduled later this summer, and him recently being signed to Def Jam. So watch out, Shyne is expecting to be released some time next year, his appeal is pending

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For the past few years, the promise of "Wu-Tang forever!" has evolved into "Wu-Tang ever again?" But all that worrying washed away Saturday when the improbable happened in front of more than 8,000 fans at the Rock the Bells hip-hop fest.

Well, the worrying wasn't entirely absent. After sets from locals Dilated Peoples as well as Chali 2na and DJ Nu-Mark, and a raucous set from Redman, the wait was on. Anticipation was nearly as thick as the smoky air, which turned the overloaded Orange Pavilion into a chronic-scented steam room. Nearly an hour after the headlining set was supposed to begin, relief came. The question "Do you think your Wu-Tang sword could defeat me?" pumped from the speakers as the Clan emerged for another Wu banger with all 36 styles of danger.

That's right, the RZA, the GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, U-God, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna and Method Man all on the same stage for the first time since 2000.

"Bring da muthaf---in' ruckus!" screamed RZA, frontloading the 90-minutes-plus set with the Enter the Wu Tang classics "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'," "C.R.E.A.M.," "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" and "Shame on a N---a." Unlike some hip-hop crews that can't seem to get out of each other's way in concert, the Clan respected each other's shine and moved onstage and on the mic in perfect synchronicity.

After the 36 Chambers onslaught it was almost as if every Wu album was being played on random, giving each member time for solo joints. "How can I move the crowd/ First of all ain't mistakes allowed," rapped Ironman, a.k.a. Ghostface, a.k.a. Tony Starks, and now a.k.a. Theodore (because, as he explained, he's a thinker and a doer).

Masta Killa and GZA took turns with solo shots before the crowd erupted again for the Raekwon and Ghostface classic "Incarcerated Scarfaces." Ghost, joined by U-God, showed off his signature showmanship with the dare-you-not-to-dance track "Cherchez LaGhost." But of course, this being a family reunion, he unselfishly changed the chant at the end and got the whole crowd singing, "Oooaaaooh, Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang!"

Now, with ODB you never know what you're going to get. "What? Y'all thought you weren't gon' see me?" he questioned the crowd. "I'm the Osiris of this sh--." Taking on his Wu-Tang Forever persona, Osiris, he flawlessly ran through fan favorites "Brooklyn Zoo" and later "Dog Sh--" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya." The Dirt Dog took breaks by sitting on a speaker, but given the stifling heat, the crowd understood. He later provided comic relief in the form of his signature crooning, particularly before the boys talked dirty to the girls on "Ice Cream."

Meth, looking quite clean-cut, probably due to his Hollywood demands, didn't disappoint either. Despite recent verbal jabs between him and members of the Clan, he insisted they're like any other family — of course they fight, but it's all love. After playing hype man for his brethren, he took center stage for his "Bring the Pain" and later crowd-surfed through "Method Man."

His brother from another mother, Redman, joined him for "Da Rocwilder," garnering roars from the Cali crowd, which couldn't sing along loud enough for the boys' tribute to locals Cypress Hill. But Funk Doc then respectfully left the stage to let the original Clan members keep it wild for the night.

Well into the midnight hour, RZA asked the audience members if they wanted to go, explaining, "This is gonna cost me another 10 grand to stay up here." The applause from the crowd — much of which had been there for more than eight hours — proved the Wu fanbase doesn't know the word "tired."

The Wu-Tang Clan kept it moving with lyrical skills aplenty from Deck, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna and gave the diehards in the crowd time to show and prove that even the most obscure tracks were known verbatim. They ended with what older followers probably thought was a strange choice, but the largely young crowd sang along appreciatively to The W's "Gravel Pit." At 12:39 it was finally time to get off before RZA was out another 10 G's.

Sanctuary Records plans to release a live CD and DVD of Clan's Rock the Bells set, and as far as another Wu-Tang studio album is concerned, RZA said afterward, "If the fans want it, I think it's possible. Take an MTV poll, see what the people want." Source: MTV

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Three years after he allegedly wed Brandy in secret, the father of the R&B singer's daughter is claiming the two were never really married.

In interviews earlier this week with New York radio stations WBLS-FM and WQHT-FM, Robert Smith insisted that he and the 24-year-old Brandy, who released her fourth album, Afrodisiac, on June 29, never legally wed. Rather, the couple just portrayed the notion of nuptials to preserve Brandy's image.

And just as Brandy had claimed that she wasn't in love with Smith when the couple split up last year (see "Looking Back, Brandy Says End of Marriage Wasn't Painful"), Smith said he never loved Brandy in a romantic way, but that he continues to love her as a friend.

In early 2002, at the same time Brandy announced she was pregnant, she broke the news that she and Smith had gotten married in the summer of 2001. Before he began his relationship with Brandy, Smith was involved with another woman, a film producer, and initially had sustained relationships with both women. When Brandy became pregnant, the decision was made to tell people they were married.

Brandy gave birth to daughter Sy'rai in June 2002, as documented in the MTV program "Diary Presents: Brandy — Special Delivery," and the couple parted ways a year later. Smith has since gotten back with the film producer, and they are expecting a child in two months.

Brandy, in a statement issued by her publicist, claimed she was "hurt and shocked" by Smith's revelations. Instead of a legally recognized marriage, she claims they had a "spiritual union and a true commitment to each other."

"We still share a common bond through our daughter, Sy'rai," the statement continued. "He is not thinking about her, me, or what we had together. He is trying to destroy my reputation while using me and our daughter to get publicity and radio airplay for his artists. I am stunned that he is being so dirty about it."

Smith, a music producer, said he appeared on the radio stations to introduce Amanda, a new artist signed to his Big Bert Entertainment imprint who is dropping the single "Please Mister" in August.

Following Brandy's statement, Smith issued one of his own. "My comments were in no way made to take away any responsibility from Sy'rai emotionally or financially," it read. "And in no way am I an irresponsible father. ... I have recently been granted joint custody of Sy'rai. When breaking off relationships it's always difficult, and I prefer not to air our dirty laundry through the media. I was just stating the truth. Brandy and I have many things to work out over a long period of time, [and] will hopefully [head] in a more positive direction."