As growing controversy mounts worldwide around the lyrics of dancehall artist Buju Banton and an incident where he allegedly took part in assaulting a group of gay men, reps for Banton said he was recently banned from the United States.

“Buju Banton has been unjustly banned from the United States because of an absurd conviction in April for possession and cultivation of marijuana,” a spokesperson told AllHipHop.com in a statement.

According to reps, on December 3, 2003, police raided Banton’s Kingston, Jamaica recording studio and claimed to have found a marijuana plant that belonged to Banton.

Banton denied the plant was his and said that he had been home for just two days, after an 18 month stretch on the road.

He was found guilty on March 29th and on April 5th he was fined $9,000 or 60 days of imprisonment.

“Only when Buju tried to return to the States in April did he learn he was forbidden entry. He was detained for 18 hours in Miami and subsequently deported back to Jamaica,” representatives said.

Last week, Amnesty International said they confirmed reports that Banton was involved in a homophobic attack in Kingston two moths ago.

“We can confirm that Amnesty International has received information from reputable national and international human rights organizations concerning reports that Buju Banton was involved in a homophobic attack,” the organization said. “These reports take the form of statements that allege that on June 24 2004, six men were driven from their home and beaten by a group of armed men, and that the alleged assailants included Buju Banton.”

The report said that the attack was motivated by hatred of gay men. The victims said the assailants called them “battymen,” a derogatory term for a homosexual.

Banton said the charges were “completely untrue and wholly unfounded.”

Banton’s song “Boom Bye Bye” is well known for the violence it calls for against homosexuals. Banton has said he recorded the song in 1992 and has not made another song in that vein since.

“Buju Banton has never repudiated the sentiments of the song ‘Boom Bye Bye’,” the organization countered. “Furthermore, it is reported that Buju Banton continues to perform the song.”

Opposition against the singer is mounting. In Germany, Banton's September appearance at the Reggae Jam Festival in Saarbruecken was cancelled.

Appearances in Hamburg and Darmstadt have also been dropped. Festival organizers said they were so disgusted with Banton’s lyrics that they immediately cancelled his shows, even if it meant losing money.

A report last week said that an arrest warrant was issued for Banton in Jamaica so police could question him about the attacks.

In addition to being banned and his concerts being nixed, gay rights groups put pressure on German sportswear company Puma, who agreed to cancel sponsorship deals with Banton and other artists if they violate the company’s non-discrimination policy.

Banton just released a new single, "Magic City," from his forthcoming album Rasta Got Soul.
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Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network announced that the St. Louis, Missouri Hip-Hop Summit was the most successful ever, registering over 100,000 new voters.

Nelly, Jadakiss, Rev Run, D12, Lazy Bone, Remy Martin and others spoke to more than 5,000 people who showed up for the summit. Organizers said they registered 114,000 new voters.

In addition to the registrations, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network honored Maryland’s Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, also a Republican, for their work on the drug laws in Maryland and their efforts to improve businesses in the African-American community.

“In addition to registering a record number of voters, we honored them for changing the harsh laws in Maryland and for installing programs that uplift black businesses in the state,” Simmons told AllHipHop.com.

Earlier in the day before accepting HSAN's honor, Steele, who is African-American, addressed other African-American Missouri Republicans.

"For most of the 20th century, civil rights was the singular focus," Steele told the Associated Press. "That struggle is over ... It's now about economic and political empowerment. My parents were FDR Democrats. We had the [John F.] Kennedy portrait on the wall. But Ronald Reagan spoke to me. I found [the GOP] just fit once I matured politically."

In April, Gov. Ehrlich and Lt. Gov. Steele passed landmark legislation that will dedicate ten percent of Maryland’s contracting dollars for small and minority businesses.

Last month, Ehrlich established the Maryland State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, by executive order. Maryland will now coordinate efforts to prevent, evaluate and treat drug and alcohol abuses in the state as an alternative to incarceration.

The honors also come on the heels of Simmons’ victory in Albany, New York Supreme Court, where he and Hip-Hop Summit Action network CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis were locked in a battle with the lobbying commission over a protest of the laws last year.

The State Lobbying Commission was investigating Simmons and Chavis for failing to disclose the costs of their anti-Rockefeller Drug Law really in June of 2003, in front of City Hall in Manhattan.

Under Executive Director David Grandeau, the State Lobbying Commission frequently targeted groups, looking for violations of state lobbying laws.

The Supreme Court ruled that the lobbying laws are unconstitutional and that Simmons is guaranteed a right to protest, protected by the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States.

On August 30, Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network will hold another anti-Rockefeller Drug Law rally, the same day as the Republican National Convention.

Simmons said it would be “the biggest Hip-Hop gathering ever.”

"The Democrats do not own Hip-Hop," Simmons said. "They rarely discuss poverty in a meaningful way. I found John Kerry's speech at the Democratic National Convention offensive to millions of poor black, white and brown Americans who are struggling in this country."

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The Alkaholiks, which comprise of group members E-Swift, Tash and J-Ro, have announced that their upcoming album Firewater will be the last in a prolific career.

"It's the right time to go out with a bang," E-Swift said. "Knowing it's our last album has made us much more focused, knowing we have to sum it all up right here, right now and the feeling is great. We owe it to the fans to put everything into one last album and blow it up."

Firewater will be the group’s fifth album. Group member Tash said that many things had changed since the group was founded in 1992.

"We've been doing this music together as a group for a long time,” Tash added. “And times are changing, the world is changing, our lives are changing. We have been party animals for over a decade. [It’s] always a good thing to bow out gracefully and exit on top."

In addition to the Firewater album slated for release in early 2005, the group will release a best of CD music and video collection titled Mixed Drinks in 2005. A farewell party tour is in the works as well.

"We all have different goals and things we want to do as individuals. So it only makes sense for us to move forward and find new challenges" said J-Ro. "I want to travel the world a little bit, find some new things to sign, new things to produce as well as do my solo album, but with a new world of influences. It's an exciting time for all three of
us."

While the group is in retirement, Waxploitation CEO Jeff Antebi said that fans can expect each member to produce music in the future.

"It's the end of an era in some ways. But it's important to close one door before they can open another one", explained Waxploitation CEO Jeff Antebi. "E-Swift is going to do a joint E-Swift & Madlib album for 2005 as well as finally produce the debut Likwit Crew album. Tash is preparing the follow up to his Rap Life CD and J Ro is putting together his solo album. This is the right move for them creatively and it's very good news for Hip-Hop because it means more music."

Firewater will drop in early 2005 on Waxploitation Records/Koch.

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Tupac once rapped that Rodney King inspired him to protect himself when police brutality loomed in his California neighborhood. Now the inspiration has decided to start rapping.Advertisement

In 1992, Rodney King’s brutal beating at the hands of Los Angeles police was captured on videotape and sparked the Los Angeles riots. He told television show “Celebrity Justice” that he is serious about taking his experience 12 years ago and putting it out as a rap record.

Rapping with no music, King recited some of his best lyrics like,“I hear you hatin’ while I'm prayin’ it don’t happen to you / I see you laughin’ like you got it, but you ain’t nothin’ but a fool. / I had my face broke, I been face down; I had to face tomorrow when I was gettin' clowned.”

After hearing his work, music executive Jeff Grabow believed in King’s vision for a rap career.

"He will sell a lot of CDs, that's not a doubt in my mind,” Grabow said. “If this album is a decent album and has a couple of good stars on it, this thing could be multi-platinum."

King said he hopes that he can get entertainers like Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Kanye West on board for his solo debut.

As an individual, King has all the makings and trappings of a great rapper, if one takes controversy into account.

Last year, he had to serve a year in drub rehab after his crashed his SUV and now is prohibited to drive. “I don’t really like driving no more, anyway,” he said shrugging off his probationary status.

And while he put a spotlight on police brutality, King said he has gotten an incredible amount of support from officers since his infamous beating. “I had one cop told me, 'Hey man, don't worry about nothing, I got your back Rod, I got your back no matter what.’”

But to King, a lot of things are the same since his 1992 incident that rocked Los Angeles and America.

He raps, “And to think it ain’t changed, still fightin’ the same war, still watching good boys try to be hard-core / Now ten years have passed and the fire just quit, the smoke just cleared and it’s the same old ****, the same head trip, man I'm sick of sayin’ it."
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Foxy Brown hasn't released a record in three years and her label, Def Jam, dropped her about a year ago.
But it doesn't mean she's not still in business.

Next month, Alexis & Gianni furrier begins distributing the Foxy Brown Luxury Furs collection to stores across the country.

"She's young and sexy. People of all ethnicities and economic groups will want to wear her furs," said Bijan Khozooie, Alexis & Gianni's chief operating officer.

Increasingly, a record deal isn't the only contract a rapper signs.

Promoting and creating new products has become standard operating procedure for artists whose shelf life is slightly longer than warm brie.

"They are incredible business thinkers. Working the American machine is what they are doing. I think part of their art is controlling their checkbooks," said Bryan Mattox, an advertising executive at Burrell Communications. "They are artists of the deal."

In some cases, rappers are promoting products before they even have released an album.

The Game, a member of 50 Cent's G-Unit rap group, is set to drop his first CD in October, yet he could be found posing in Reebok advertisements.

"Just the fact that he is doing business with 50 Cent and 50 is such a good partner for us means that we will probably do business with him," said Que Gaskins, the head of Reebok's Rbk division, the home of shoes by 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams.

Both Burrell and Reebok's market research found that rappers are the most efficient vehicles to reach a wide swath of consumers — black, white, affluent and working class — who are willing to pay to echo the lifestyles of their favorite MCs.

Reebok enjoyed a 350 percent increase in sales of Rbk shoes between 2003 and 2004.

When she signed her first record contract at 15, Foxy Brown made an effort to turn herself into a brand.

Sitting in the front row of fashion shows, being a fixture at all the right parties, maintaining a sexy appearance and playing out rivalries in public kept Foxy from fading away from the public's memory when she didn't have a record to support.

Her fans will buy furs, handbags and DeCarlo jeans from Foxy Brown, the label, in the same way that shoppers will rush to buy a new scent of their favorite brands of fabric softener.

"I wanted to create a global brand that superseded any record that I could ever make. I don't want my relevancy to just be tied to a record. I want to always be able to go to premieres and be photographed on the red carpet and be on Page Six, to still be necessary and relevant," Foxy said.

"This is progress. All of the ambitious rappers who surround themselves with smart people will have a diverse portfolio of products," said James Cruz, vice president of marketing and promotions for Violator Management.

P. Diddy is the consummate promoter who has launched the careers of many artists. Now he has a designer fashion label and is opening stores to further his brand.

"There are no 50-year-old rappers, so the smart artists are looking out for their futures."

The influence of rap can be seen outside fashion. Lil Jon along with his partners the East Side Boyz have been making noise since the 1996 but didn't get mainstream attention until he was featured on Usher's ubiquitous "Yeah" last year.

Now that his name has Power, Lil Jon is racking up product endorsements.

A good-time aura led Oakley to enlist Lil Jon to create red camouflage Zero sunglasses, among other products. Lil Jon's frenetic posture made him a natural front man for an energy drink called Crunk!!!, the name of a rap style that, like him, has its roots in the South.

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Grandparents, children and many on low or limited incomes have been in the cross-hairs of the RIAA's suits aimed at curtailing illegal downloads of music. The RIAA has brought almost 4000 suits against individuals for having copyrighted material and Peer-to-Peer software on their computers. In almost every case, the individual has settled with the RIAA out of court. Some court judges are becoming concerned that the many of these individuals are being "ground up" by their inability to pay for expensive lawyers against the mighty weight and power of the entertainment cartel.



Some court justices are concerned that justice is not being served by the RIAA tactics. U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said, "I've never had a situation like this before, where there are powerful plaintiffs and powerful lawyers on one side and then a whole slew of ordinary folks on the other side." Noting that her own teenage daughter is familiar with P2P software, she said that she has blocked legal action for months on some cases "to make sure that no one, frankly, is being ground up" by the system.

In California, another judge was concerned about the defendant's constitutional rights when the judge went against the RIAA and denied a request to an injunction proposed by the record industry saying such a request would violate the defendant's constitutional rights.

Judges are also concerned that the RIAA is failing to focus on people with higher incomes and the ability to counter their claims. If the RIAA is only targeting those who cannot afford to contest the suits, then there is a gross injustice being done using the U.S. courts as the weapon of choice.