Capitalizing on his highly publicized work for Jay-Z’s The Black Album, producer 9th Wonder is ready to go even further, as he has landed two beats on the upcoming Destiny’s Child album, Destiny Fulfilled.

The North Carolina native, and member of underground sensation Little Brother, blessed Beyonce, Kelly, and Michelle with instrumentals for “Is She The Reason” and “Girl.” Generally seen as a creator of vintage rap backdrops, 9th ensures that his signature sound remains intact. “It’s still me, but for this project, it’s the R&B me,” 9th explained to AllHipHop.com. “You can still tell I did the beats, because you can hear my style throughout the tracks.”

“’Is She The Reason’ is the more hood of the two records,” 9th revealed. “It’s a song that I can hear a dude riding by pumping in his car. I’d compare it to Monica’s ‘So Gone.’ If a dude rides by pumping Mya, you’d be like, ‘Aight n***a, what’s really going on?’ That isn’t the case with ‘Is She The Reason.’”

Along with songwriter Sean Garrett (Usher’s “Yeah,” and Ciara’s “Goodies”), 9th completed three tracks (one, “Game Over,” will be included on the album’s international version) with the girls in a Los Angeles studio. “All three girls were real down to Earth, so it wasn’t like going to work with ‘Destiny’s Child’,” 9th said. “It was more like going to work out with my homies.”

This wasn’t his first meeting with Beyonce, though. While recording for The Black Album, Beyonce was with Jay-Z and 9th in the studio. “She was feeling my joints back then,” 9th said. “So, I guess she remembered me and asked Jay to hook it up.”

After his work on Destiny Fulfilled is heard, 9th hopes to have opportunities to collaborate with artists such as Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, and Carl Thomas.

He has no plans of ignoring his rap side, however. In fact, he is busier than ever these days, working on several upcoming projects. He landed two beats on Memphis Bleek’s new record and is doing a follow-up to Murs 3:16 with Cali MC Murs (titled Murs’ Revenge). Additionally, he is crafting an album with Buckshot for Duck Down Records, favoring a sound that is “more melodic than the typically darker Boot Camp Clik sound.” In the aftermath of the Internet leak suffered by his Jeanius project with Jean Grae, the two have plans to record a brand new record, The Phoenix.

Above all else, though, is Little Brother’s major label debut, The Minstrel Show, which is scheduled for release on Atlantic Records as early as spring of 2005. The Minstrel Show will highlight the mic skills of LB rappers Phonte and Big Pooh, but 9th promises a couple of outside guests, as well.

9th promised that being on a major has done little to slow down Little Brother’s grind. “On ABB Records, we had to grind extra hard, and we are treating this Atlantic situation the same,” 9th said. “Most people on a major don’t want to work. They act like, ‘I’m on a major, so they should have my video and everything done!’ But, when their album flops, they get mad. Well, you should have been at the meetings!”

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Sticky Fingaz, formerly of the rap group Onyx, will star in the upcoming movie “Flight of the Phoenix”.

The movie, which had an $80 million dollar budget, was directed by John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) and also stars Tyrese, Dennis Quaid, Hugh Ory and Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan).

The action flick takes place in Africa after a plane crash leaves Sticky and crew stranded on a desolate island with only 2 weeks worth of water and peaches to survive.

“It was cool working with John Moore and Dennis Quaid, learning from them really stepped up my game,” Sticky Fingaz told AllHipHop.com. “It was funny being in Africa and me and Tyrese are the only two brothers in the movie though, but it was all good.”

The character played by Ribisi insists he has experience building planes, so after using all their food and energy working on the plane they find out he’s only built model planes.

"Flight of the Phoenix" is an updated version of the original 1965 flick, which starred James Stewart and Richard Attenborough.

The movie is due out Dec 22nd.


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Eminem's uncle committed suicide in the US, Todd Nelson was a father figure to Eminem. Its said that he helped raise him when his real dad walked out.

Betty Kresin (Eminem's gran), said Todd was having some troubles with being arrested by police after trying to run over his neighbour's dog and feared being jailed.

"We were having trouble raising $4,000 for an attorney, and I said 'Why don't you call Marshall? He said 'Mom, I don't want to ask him for nothing, he’ll just think that I want his money'."

"Oh he loved Marshall, oh my God, he was his uncle, and when he was little they played together and he helped watch him. Oh my God, he loved him." Betty Kresin said.


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In a recent interview The RZA said him and Meth are talking about going into the studio for Method Man's new album, and taking it back to the original sound.

"I have some hip-hop, some underground acts I'm producing, as well as me and Method Man talking about going into the studio for his new album, and taking it back to the original sound that he had." RZA said.

He also talked about the link between Music and Martial Arts.

"There's a definite link at one point, and then there's a disconnecting point. The link with martial arts and music is that everything starts with emptiness, and that emptiness wants to be filled. Wants to be completed. Martial Arts' emptiness is called Wu Chi. From Wu Chi you get Tai Chi, and Tai Chi is the two extremities of all things (Yin and Yang). In other words, the motion-extremity of positive, and the motion-extremity of negative." RZA said. "Now, if you look at a musical octave, it's the same thing. It starts from emptiness, (silence), and goes from that extreme to another, and repeats itself over, and over, through endless variations. Martial Arts and dancing like ballet have a lot of similarities. I like to call my art 'lyrical martial arts'."

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In a recent interview with HipHopGame.com Wyclef said he wants to get a hold of Canibus now to let him know that he is in a different headspace.

"I’m trying to get a hold of him right now to let him know that I’m in a different headspace and that we can do this. But his ego is a little big. I can definitely get him heard. If the Fugees do another album, Canibus has to be on the album§ I heard he’s in England so I got people looking for him. If anyone reads this tell him ‘Clef’s looking for him."

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Kanye West is establishing a label, Getting Out Our Dreams, in association with Sony Music Label Group U.S. The artist/producer, who remains signed to Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam, has also entered into a production pact with Sony.

The first release under the long-term label/production deal is John Legend's major-label debut, "Get Lifted," due in December. Singer/keyboardist Legend appears on West's 2004 solo debut, "The College Dropout."

"The College Dropout" has sold 2.3 million units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and yielded such hits as "Through the Wire" and "Jesus Walks." A sought-after producer, West has collaborated on projects with Twista, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Ludacris and Janet Jackson, among others.

West is nominated for three honors at the American Music Awards, to be handed out Nov. 14 live on ABC: favorite rap/hip-hop male artist and album (for "The College Dropout") as well as favorite new artist.

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In conjunction with the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar Games and Interscope Records will drop two soundtracks featuring classic Hip-Hop tracks from Eric B. & Rakim and Public Enemy.

The double disc showcases a mix of rock, funk, R&B, heavy metal and Hip-Hop with cuts like Cypress Hill's "How I Can Just Kill A Man," Tupac Shakur's "I Don't Give A f#@$," Slick Rick's "Children Story," Public Enemy's "Rebel Without A Pause" and Eric B & Rakim's "I Know you Got Soul." The cuts showcased on the soundtrack are among the 150 songs featured in the game's radio stations.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas hits stores Oct. 25 and its soundtrack drops Nov. 23.


Legendary Hip-Hop pioneer Roxanne Shante has filed a lawsuit against Janet Jackson, after the singer used a clip of Shante’s voice and failed to pay.

The song “Like You Don't Love Me,” #13 on Janet’s album Damita Jo, contains a sampled clip of Shante’s voice saying “so fresh,” familiar words to those who listen to the genre of music.

“I figured maybe it was a sheer oversight that they didn’t pay the invoice for using my voice on the record,” Shante told AllHipHop.com. “Maybe she over looked it with the breast popping out (the infamous 2004 Superbowl incident), she just got caught up in the mix. I fell back, like when they get around to it, they get around to it.”

Damita Jo debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Pop Charts, moving an impressive 381,000 copies and taking second place to Usher’s blockbuster, Confessions.

Shante said she only contemplated the lawsuit after a representative for Jackson called her and said it wasn’t her voice that was sampled.

“That really infuriated me," Shante continued. "Any true Hip-Hop head knows it’s me. The sample comes from [the song] ‘Def Fresh Crew,’ a song that I did with Biz Markie on the Pop Art label.”

Shante, who has owned the masters to her own recordings for over nine years, said this is not the first time she has dealt with the sample clearance issue.

The words have been used in countless Hip-Hop songs and have appeared on popular break beat vinyl compilations.

Most people assume the words come from Biz Markie’s “Nobody Beats the Biz,” which also sampled the words from the original record.

“It usually doesn’t go this far, they rectify it. She could pay me with she what would buy her bag, it’s the principle.”

Tangles over samples are as close as Shante is coming to the Hip-Hop industry these days. She has a thriving psychology practice in Manhattan, New York and is busy raising her 18-year-old son.

“Life after Hip-Hop for me has been better than it’s ever been. I am not after the money," Shante clarified. "But how can you come at me and say that’s not my voice? The sheer humiliation and aggravation has made it go this far.”

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Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has signed on to star in the prequel to the 1993 hit movie, “Carlito’s Way.”

The movie, “Carlito’s Way: The Beginning,” will star Jay Hernandez as the younger version of Puerto Rican gangster Carlito Brigante.

Brigante’s was made famous by actor Al Pacino.

The original movie was produced by Martin Bregman, who is reportedly handing the reigns over to his son, Michael S. Bregman.

On movie message board Chud.com, industry insiders commented on the prequel to “Carlito’s Way.”

“I remember reading someone say that they had been to a recent screening of "Carlito" and that some movie people were there with comment cards for the audience to fill out,” said member Munice Girl. “These cards had checkboxes for determining what was most appealing to the audience about that movie and what elements would compel them to see a prequel--some of the choices being: Romance? Famous rappers? Gangster? If they're going to make a prequel, I hope they don't ask anyone, but just come up with another good story.”

The movie has endured the test of time due to various rappers pulling pieces from the movie and weaving it into their own creations, the most well known being Jay-Z.

The character Sean “P. Diddy” Combs will play has yet to be revealed.

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Mobb Deep, KRS-One, Everlast, Alchemist, WC, Mack 10, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Defari and Dilated Peoples have teamed up to record a seven minute song called “The S.T.O.P. Movement 2 – Dear Mr. President.”

Produced by West Coast beat master Fred Wreck, the song features the rappers expressing their opinion on politics, current President George W. Bush and voting in the upcoming elections.

“We were sick and tired of Bush flip flopping his reason to invade a sovereign country for one,” Fred Wreck told AllHipHop.com. “We were sick of seeing soldiers blown up everyday for no reason. Any clear minded person can see right through what’s going on.”

S.T.O.P., which stands for Stop the Oppressive Politics, is Wreck’s second such release since May of 2003.

Over a mellow, airy production, the song’s chorus laments:

Dear Mr. President, the world has gone astray/Brothers are dying they won’t live to see today/Was it all worth it, you had to lie to get your way/Blood’s thicker than water, what a price we had to pay

Various news clips of reports commenting on the growing U.S. casualty list in the war are sampled and used in the song, which equates Bush to Saddam Hussein.

“It’s our poor people that are paying the price,” Fred Wreck said. “Over a thousand soldiers dead, but they always leave out the ten thousand wounded, legs blown off, arms blow off, body parts blown off,” Fred Wreck said. “That war wasn’t worth one soldier’s fingernail.”

The song also labels the President a crook and suggests a growing belief in some circles that George W. Bush and his father George H. Bush were part of a global conspiracy that orchestrated the terror attacks in the United States on 9/11.

Wreck’s first S.T.O.P release was “Down with US,” which protested and criticized the war in Iraq.

On that song, he pulled together Daz, Tray Deee, RBX, Bad Azz, Dilated Peoples and others. Both songs are internet only releases due to the controversial nature of opinions expressed.

"If North Korea invaded California because it was protecting its national security, don’t you think we'd be out there in the streets making roadside bombs and attacking convoys too?” Fred Wreck asked. “Would we be terrorists or people fighting for our country?”

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Female rap pioneers Salt-N-Pepa may not have a hit record on the charts at the moment, but the two veterans are busy with other ventures, including a new sitcom that they are developing together.

“We are developing the sitcom together,” Pepa told AllHipHop.com. “It’s going to be based on our lives.”

Both Salt and Pepa will star in the untitled television show, which they are taking their time to develop.

In 1994, they did a pilot for a show titled “On Our Own,” which didn’t pan out.

“We are taking our time. The people involved have a lot of energy and are ready to go,” Salt said. Everything happens in time and timing is everything.”

After becoming a born-again Christian almost two years ago, Salt teamed with former Kid-N-Play rapper Christopher “Play” Martin, who also left secular music for gospel and created “Rise,” a Hip-Hop gospel stage musical.

Salt will continue exploring her spiritual side and plans on dropping an introspective album chronicling her life.

“I’m going to bring out [the album] under my own label with my husband,” Salt said. “I don’t even want to say that it’s a gospel album. “It’s more of my testimony, it's what I been through in life until now what god had has taught me.”

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Foxy Brown’s signing to S. Carter Records was welcoming news to the Hip-Hop community and while its official, the female rap mistress has been selfish with details.

“I can’t comment on the deal with S. Carter. What I can tell you is between The Fugees, Foxy Brown and Jay-Z, 2005 is about to be the great year in Hip-Hop,” she told AllHipHop.com.

Prior to an abrupt departure from Def Jam, she completed Ill Na Na 2: The Fever, an album critically regarded as her finest work, even though it was bootlegged and leaked on the internet. Brown recorded the shelved album for Def Jam, before becoming embroiled in a feud with Lyor Cohen, who was chairman of the label at the time.

“There’s no more Fever album,” Brown told AllHipHop.com. “That’s on Def Jam and I left them a year ago. I’m in a new situation.”

The new situation she is referring to is her signing to S. Carter Records, the latest venture by Jay-Z.

Sources stated that Brown received a $500,000 advance, but she refused to comment on the details of the deal. Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Carter, heads up Roc-A-Fella Records with Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke.

Rumors of a strained relationship between Jay-Z and Dame Dash have been reported for over a year, even though both deny a rift between each other.

Jay-Z has increased his holdings outside of Roc-A-Fella over the last few years. His businesses include his S.Carter sneaker collection with Reebok, the S. Carter Records label, the 40/40 club and a minority stake in the New Jersey Nets.

Sources also stated that Jay-Z is looking to move into the world of boxing, expressing interest in upcoming Olympic boxer Devin Vargas, as part of a possible deal with cable premium channel HBO.

Reports have been circulating that the Roc-A-Fella label is close to being sold to Def Jam, in a deal that is estimated to be valued between $10 and $20 million, reports say. Other numbers have soared to $40 million or more.

When recently asked by Newsday about Jay-Z’s status with Roc-A-Fella, Dame Dash remained elusive.

"Those are just rumors," Dash said. "But if Jay-Z leaves, he leaves."

KRS-One has hit back at the New York Daily News, after the newspaper ran an article that labeled him a “Hip-Hop Anarchist.”

In yesterday’s (October 14th) popular Rush & Malloy’s daily gossip column, the paper accused the Bronx bred rapper of defiling the memory of people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks on the United States at the New Yorker Festival, where KRS was a panelist.

The article also accused KRS of siding with Al Qaeda, the terror organization that is blamed for orchestrating the deadly attacks.

“Like everyone I was shocked to read that I and other African-Americans actually ‘cheered when 911 happened’ and that I have ‘declared my solidarity with Al Qaeda,’” KRS said in a statement. “When I read my words taken out of context I was shocked and disappointed that the Daily News would go this far to assassinate my character and distort my views.”

KRS called the piece irresponsible journalism and pointed out that the magazine never attempted to follow up or even interview him to clarify his statements.

“I was making an objective point about how many Hiphoppas as well as the oppressed peoples of the world felt that day,” KRS continued. “I am a philosopher and a critical thinker, I speak truth and I urge people to think critically about themselves and their environment. Yes, my words are strong. Yes, my views are controversial. But to call me a terrorist is simply wrong!”

KRS said that he never intended to disrespect the memories of those who lost their lives and said that he was making a statement.

“I was just as saddened as everyone else on 9/11,” he continued. “However, for many of us that were racially profiled and harassed by the World’s Trade Center’s security and the police patrolling that area as well as the thousands of American protesters that spoke out against the World Trade Organization months before in Seattle, Washington there was a sense of justice, a sense of change, a wake up call watching the twin towers fall.”

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DMX has rejected a deal that would have kept him out of prison and is instead fighting to keep a misdemeanor charge off of his record.

The rapper appeared in a Queens, New York court yesterday (October 13th) to answer charges stemming from an alleged road rage incident last June.

DMX, who is facing two years in prison over the incident, scrapped the deal after a lengthy debate with his wife and noted lawyer Murray Richman.

The situation started after he and another man argued over a parking space.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is accused of placing sirens on his SUV, chasing a man through the Kennedy Airport parking lot and crashing through a toll booth.

When police arrived, they allegedly found DMX trying to pull the driver out of his car. Port Authority police said that DMX was "out of it" when they arrested him.

A search of his vehicle uncovered crack cocaine, painkillers and a billy club. He was later treated at a New York hospital and was subsequently charged with menacing, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a weapon and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Richman requested a month long adjournment which was granted. DMX will appear in court again on Nov. 17.

DMX has had several arrests involving automobiles.

In 2000, the NYPD sought the rapper after he allegedly slammed into a car full of women.

In 2002, he was arrested and charged with various traffic violations in Harrison, New York, after authorities spotted the rapper driving recklessly on Interstate 287.

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The Source's CEO Benzino has co-signed BET's decision to pull the latest Eminem's video "Just Lose It" from rotation.

The first single and video from Eminem's upcoming album, Encore, pokes fun of Michael Jackson. In one scene, Eminem wears Jackson's trademark red leather jacket with kids bouncing around on a bed and raps: "Come here little kiddie, on my lap, guess who's back with a brand new rap. And I don't mean rap as in a case of child molestation."

"For too long influential people in the hip-hop community have stood by Eminem while he has made a mockery of the culture that inspires and motivates our young people to achieve and be proud of their black heritage," said Benzino. "I am proud of both Robert Johnson of BET for pulling the video, and for comedian Steve Harvey for urging MTV and VH1 to do the same. We as the leaders in the Hip-Hop community and music industry need to step up and realize that Eminem's lyrics and actions are tearing down the very culture that people like Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, and Public Enemy have built from the ground up. I urge all members of hip-hop to come out and support Jackson, one of the most important, cultural icons of our time. No one should stand behind this mockery and only by supporting the airplay of "Just Lose It" are we giving Eminem a way out."

The Source is demanding that the song "Just Lose It" be pulled from Eminem's upcoming album and to apologize publicly to Michael Jackson.

Eminem's album Encore drops November 16th. The Source Awards are scheduled to air on BET on November 30.

(Michael Jackson is a freak. Fuck Michael Jackson. Fuck Benzino. Fuck The Source. Fuck Steve Harvey and Fuck BET for catering to this self-indulgent, self-consumed, pseudo-black, alleged pediphile. See my article coming very soon with my take on this "controversy" - Rob)
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Viper Records and Babygrande Records have entered into a partnership to release the next album from one of the hottest and most important artists in hip-hop, Immortal Technique.

"After considering the many major label and independent offers I received for the distribution of the next record I decided on Babygrande for many reasons: I saw their distribution power through Koch, their solid reputation at retail, and their promotional capabilities as an asset to the team that I had built up. I received contractual agreements that were the most financially stable in the long run for the situation I am setting up.

Chuck Wilson and I worked for months to make a suitable agreement and we found that we are both on same page business-wise for this project. I am very grateful for the support Nature Sounds and Caroline/EMI gave me but this was a step I needed to take to advance the scale of the project.

This album is going to different from the Revolutionary series. Whereas Revolutionary Vol.2 was a response to the government influenced media coverage of terrorism and the addressing of several industry and hood issues, "The Middle Passage" is a more broad and more harsh approach. It is an album that will bring Technique back to the streets on which he started hustling and will have a wider variety of subject matter for people to feel," explained Immortal Technique from his Harlem, NY headquarters.

"After hearing Tech's first album in 2002 I knew he was a special artist -- you can't help but think about the messages and lives of people like Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Bob Marley and many others of similar stature when listening to his music. His ability to marry his political, socio-economic and historical perspectives with his authentic, real-life street upbringing makes his art potent, unique and entertaining...and his live show is incredible. I was at the first show he ever performed in LA and it was sold out. Without exaggeration, it seemed like every person in the venue knew every word to every song he performed. It was at that moment I knew that I had to work with this artist.

I'm also an admirer of Tech's entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic -- he literally produced, manufactured and distributed his first two albums from the streets of Harlem which is a great achievement in and of itself. Moreover, he genuinely wants to touch the lives of the less privileged and does so with both his music and his life.

In these trying times of war, terrorism, and world-wide instability, Immortal Technique is an important artist not only for hip-hop fans, but for the world," said Babygrande CEO, Chuck Wilson.

Immortal Technique's Middle Passage LP will be released world-wide some time in 2005. Babygrande and Viper are also discussing the release of a DVD documentary about Immortal Technique's life and experiences as a hip-hop artist.