The straight dope on what's going on in Hip-Hop, Media and Entertainment

Sep 16, 2004

According to Method Man, “Method & Red,” the comedy sitcom the duo produced for Fox may be canceled.

"The show is done. It's on the long hiatus," Method Man told The New York Post yesterday. "They're like: 'don't call us, we'll call you.'"

Method Man said the show wasn’t actually finished, but was being put on a “long hiatus.”

The show, which opened to high ratings and amassed a loyal younger viewing audience, stopped taping last month, while Method Man, Redman and company attempted to gain more creative control over the sitcom.

“Creatively they are on a different page than the network,” an executive who wished to remain anonymous told AllHipHop.com in August. “This isn't Meth and Red's brand, this is some other stuff. They want more creative input over the direction the show is taking.”

A spokesman for the group told The Post that the show was not officially canceled and that they were gauging how well three new episodes are performing.

“That'll determine the future of the show,” the spokesman said.

"The way they formatted the show and what they wanted to do with it — I give Fox credit for trying to please us as well as their audience but it just didn't work out right," Method Man continued. “I think it's for the better that we take this long hiatus so everybody can re-evaluate what they want to do."

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The Lord giveth, but the Stellar Gospel Awards taketh away.

The committee for the Stellar Awards has decided to rescind their nomination for Kanye West’s The College Dropout, which was given a nod for Rap/Hip-Hop CD of the Year category.

In a statement, officials explained the basis for the removal.

“The reason for removing the CD from the ballot is that some of the songs on the CD contain explicit lyrics and the CD carries an explicit language warning symbol on its cover, therefore it did not meet the Stellar Awards criteria,” the statement read.

Apparently, the committee misunderstood the totality of West’s work due to the hit song “Jesus Walks,” but were educated that some of the album contains explicit content of a worldly nature.

“After being made aware of the explicit lyrics in the other songs from the CD, the Stellar Awards nominating committee felt the CD lyrical selections were not in the best interest and spirit of gospel music,” the statement continued. “Therefore, the Kanye West CD was immediately removed from the Hip Hop CD of the Year category and the entire ballot.”

The Nominating Committee even apologized to their base for the inclusion of West on the ballot in the first place.

“The Stellar Awards’ Senior Management and the Nominating Committee certainly did not intend to offend the Gospel Music Community with this glaring oversight. We have implemented corrective actions to make sure that such an error never happens in the future”

The full list of nominees for the 2005 Stellar Awards will be sent out on Sept. 17.

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According to published reports, in order to avoid his material being pirated, Eminem will finish his new album Encore shortly before it is scheduled to go on sale.

Representatives at Universal said he was using the tactic to prevent bootleggers and internet piracy from cutting into his record sales.

Sources at Universal said the security for releasing the album has been taken to the highest levels, in an attempt to prevent the album from leaking.

Universal pushed up the release of The Eminem Show in 2002, as it was being heavily traded on the internet and sold on the streets illegally.

The label also limited the availability of Eminem's single, "Without Me," to ensure it did not "fall into the wrong hands."

Additionally, the label leaked instrumentals of The Eminem Show in an attempt to confuse those attempting to download the album illegally.

To ensure the album wasn't pirated after its release, Universal embedded “uncrackable” copyright protection technology. Less than a month after the album dropped, pirated copies were on sale across Eastern Europe