Rick James had nine different drugs in his system when he died in August, including cocaine and methamphetamine, according to a toxicology report.

The coroner's findings, released Thursday, noted that prescription medications for anxiety, pain relief and heart failure, including Valium and Vicodin, were found in his body as well, according to Reuters.

None of the drugs or drug combinations, however "were found to be at levels that were life-threatening in and of themselves," the report said. Though the cause of death was determined by the report to be a heart attack and ruled accidental, it added that the drugs in James' system may have led to the heart failure.

"He didn't die of a drug overdose," coroner's spokesman David Campbell told The New York Times.

When an autopsy performed on James in early August failed to determine the cause of death, toxicology tests were ordered. A spokesperson at the coroner's office said they sought a further investigation, since James had not seen his physician in more than six weeks and there was "concern about the past history of substance abuse"

James, who passed away at age 56 on August 6 , had suffered from diabetes and had a stroke in 1998 after a blood vessel broke in the back of his neck during a performance in Denver. The singer had also battled drug addiction.
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Lil’ Jon has inked a deal with Bay area slang master E-40, signing the rapper to his BME Records imprint, which will be distributed by Warner Music.

“We have known each other for a while,” Lil’ Jon told AllHipHop.com. “He came to me and told me he was done with them [Jive]. I was like dope let's work it out.”

Working with Lil’ Jon is something E-40 hopes will lead to the kind of mainstream success that has eluded the colorful character, who is known for regularly introducing new words into the Hip-Hop vernacular.

“I turned in my last album with Jive, it’s a best of with like four new songs,” E-40 told AllHipHop.com. “I was thinking of what path I should take. I’m always talking to Jon, so we decided to collaborate.”

E-40 said that he left Jive amicably, seeking only to broaden his Hip-Hop horizon.

“I had a hell of a deal with Jive,” E-40 said. “I did ten calendars (ten years) with them. I had the best deal in the game for an artist. My time was up. I can’t talk bad about them, because I made a lot of money with them. The amount of money they gave me was like no other, so I have no complaints. But me and Jon have a great relationship.”

E-40 just started recording for his new album. Production duties will be handled by Lil’ Jon and critically acclaimed producer, Rick Rock.

“I don’t think I can lose with Lil’ Jon and Rick Rock,” he said confidently. “I have the best of both worlds for production on this album. Warner is hungry, we are hungry and it’s going to be great.”

The signing of E-40 adds to Warner’s growing Hip-Hop arsenal. In addition to reactivating the Asylum Records label to distribute independent Hip-Hop, Warner has inked deals with DJ Quik, Juvenile, Bumpy Johnson, Lil Wyte, Fraysier Boy and others.

“We felt they hadn't really marketed or promoted his last albums good,” Lil’ Jon said. “I know my team knows what they are doing, so we said ‘let’s do it.’”

No release date was available for E-40’s untitiled Sick Wid It/BME/Warner release.
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A former bodyguard for Fat Joe was arrested yesterday and charged with a 1994 murder, which the rapper allegedly witnessed.

According to the New York Times, Jose Mulero, 38, was charged with murder, tampering with evidence and weapons charges, after being accused of shooting Ernesto Rivera, 16, on April 15, 1994.

Fat Joe is under investigation in connection with the shooting, but authorities said the rapper was cooperating.

Lawyers for Fat Joe denied that he knew anything about the shooting. They also denied that he was an eyewitness to the murder.

"Joe received a subpoena," Joe’s Lawyer Peter Frankel said. "Joe responded to the subpoena as he was under the obligation to do, and that was the extent of his cooperation. Joe was not an eyewitness to a homicide. He knows nothing about a homicide. He didn't see anything."

According to reports, the shooting happened outside of a social club that Fat Joe ran. Two groups of men had fought earlier in the night.

They met up by coincidence outside of the club and started fighting. Mulero was working as a security guard outside of the club.

Authorities claim Mulero fired his pistol three times striking and killing the teen. Police allege Mulero then dragged Rivera across the street and dumped him in a vacant lot.

While Joe said he heard the shooting and witnessed people fleeing, investigators are seeking to determine if the rapper was closer to Mulero and what he may have seen.

Mulero was arrested in a federal prison in Pennsylvania. He was serving 92 months for a 2000 weapons conviction.

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Chuck D.’s Slam Jamz Records inked a deal with Music Video Distributors to drop three new DVD/CD combinations.

The first three DVD/CD releases to drop under the deal include “Impossebulls: Slave Education,” the story of the world’s first virtual rap group, “7th Octave: The Seventh Degree,” which is the vehicle for Professor Griff’s concept “Ghetto Metal” and "No Boundaries: A Slam Jamz Compilation," which will showcase different styles and songs from various artists.

Chuck D. said releasing the DVD/CD’s will allow the label to introduce new music to the world. Part of the label’s strategy is taking advantage of existing formats and emerging technology to distribute music.

“I started the label in 1996,” Chuck D. told AllHipHop.com. “The major labels don’t know what’s going on in each territory across the world, so I decided to build a worldwide circuit on the web and now I am moving into the DVD distribution because DVD is the revolution of the consumer based buying of music.”

Chuck D. said the United States is just one of the 25 countries he plans to make the label's releases available.

“I’m a firm believer that most American acts don’t like to travel, especially in these times, when everyone thinks there should be a big residual at the end of their hard work, that’s why I have a circle of believers,” Chuck D. said. “It’s not based on what they sell, but what they do to establish their buzz.”

Chuck D. has championed the use of the Internet and emerging technologies for independent labels and artists who wish to avoid the politics of the music business.

“As things move forward in technology and we think as a collective, that these things are beyond us, it sets us up to be slaves and subservient to it. At the turn of the century, I told people that there’s gonna be a lot of cats that can’t scale that wall. And the wall is the divider between the millennium and the century. A lot of cats are still stuck in the 90’s, in the last century. Your education holds you to what you are going to be. Right now our collective education what you are going to be. Right now our collective education is not adaptable for this millennium.”

The first three DVD’s will drop on October 5th
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The woman accused of attacking rapper Foxy Brown in a nightclub last weekend has come forward to deny the allegations, calling the charges “100 percent false.”

Tanya Manderson, 35, is accused of tearing an earring worth $250,000 from Foxy Brown’s right ear and making off with her Louis Viutton purse at Club Show in New York.

Manderson allegedly eluded security guards in the New York subway during the ensuing chase. She later turned herself in after detectives tracked her down based on eyewitness reports.

"Ms. Brown has been making her media rounds telling her false stories, but I am confident the truth will eventually come out." Manderson said. "The phrase 'Don't believe everything you read or hear’ applies in this case."

Manderson is a clothing designer with no criminal history. She is asking individuals who witnessed the event to come forward.

She could not go into details surrounding the incident due to pending charges of robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

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Nelly’s two albums “Sweat” and “Suit” are on pace to push 400,000 units each in the first week, good for the one and two spots on the Billboard charts. Nelly would be the first rapper to achieve this, but then again he is the first rapper to release two albums on the same day

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Eminem is so paranoid about piracy he will finish his new album Encore just days before it’s scheduled to go on sale.

He has told his producers he will be making last-minute changes to try to wrong-foot pirates attempting to get it put out on the Internet.

An insider at record label Universal said: “The security on this album has been taken to another level — so much so that it won’t be completed until the week before it comes out.

“Em is keeping some things in his head and will work flat-out to finish it just a few days before it goes on sale.

“It’s the only way to ensure it won’t leak out.” Eminem has suffered massively from piracy in the past because of the demand for his material.

The release of his last album The Eminem Show was rushed forward a week in 2002 because it was being pirated so heavily from websites that had managed to get hold of early copies.

And he topped an all-time chart of illegally-released Internet albums the same year.

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Authorities in the United Kingdom are reportedly looking for 50 Cent for questioning. A Fan has claimed that rapper 50 cent threw a microphone in his face. The 18 year old claims the incident took place after 50 cent was booed off the stage at the Reading festival.
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After months of speculation, Bobby Brown reality show is finally a reality. The series is officially set to bow on Bravo in late 2005. The show will apparently follow Brown around the country as he attempts to clean up his image after years of well-publicized domestic spats with his wife and run-ins with some of America's finest police forces.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Brown's wife Whitney Houston will appear, as well as their children and kids from Brown's previous relationships. Brown reportedly has six children outside of his marriage to Houston.

Brown's brother Tommy and his personal manager also will appear on Being Bobby Brown.

The "My Prerogative" singer is desperately hoping the show can help him launch a comeback. The R&B singer is known more for his drug use and drunk driving adventures and tumultuous marriage to Houston than anything else these days.

In the late 1980s, however, Brown was a bona-fide R&B superstar after bustin' out solo from his former bandmates in New Edition. His breakthrough 1988 record, Don't Be Cruel, ruled the top spot on nearly every Billboard chart in late 1988. He was arguably the Justin Timberlake of his day, if not bigger than the former 'NSYNCer.

The 1990s were not as kind to Brown, who made headlines for his increasingly bizarre bouts with his wife and police throughout the decade.

"Being Bobby Brown will allow the public to see Brown outside the context of a pop icon and bad boy, rather, they'll witness an artist striving to clean up his life for his future and the future of his family," Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick said of the show.

Whether or not anyone will actually watch the show remains unclear, but a Brown resurgence is not out of the question with Britney Spears' cover of "My Prerogative" on the way.