LL Cool J and Fubu are going to court.

A lawsuit filed with the New York County Supreme Court by LL, born James Todd Smith, claims that the owners failed to adequately compensate him for endorsing the clothing line and helping sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of clothes.

Fubu was founded in 1992 by CEO Daymond John in Hollis, Queens. John started selling the company’s first tie-up hats, then a fashion trend popular in hip-hop circles and quickly realized he was on to something.

John took out a $100,000 loan against his house and started producing the clothing line with partners Carl Brown, J. Alexander Martin and Keith Perrin.

In 1993, the owners convinced LL Cool J, who is also from Hollis, to wear the fledgling clothing line.

By 1999 company revenues had reached over $200 million per-year and the company grossed an estimated $380 million dollars last year.

The rapper was prominently featured in the clothing line’s advertisements and frequently wore Fubu branded clothing.

LL was also featured on Fubu’s FB Entertainment release, The Good Life, which spawned the hit “Fatty Girl” the featured LL, Ludacris and Keith Murray.

LL, whose first venture into the clothing world was with a line in the mid-eighties called Troop, is also working on a clothing line, James Todd Smith.

In a previous interview with AllHipHop.com, the legendary rapper said the line is expected to include button ups, suits, t-shirts, jeans and “classy gear,” that will be sold in upscale clothing stores.

Fubu representatives were not available for comment as of press time.


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Public Enemy Tribute Weekend kicks off in NYC tomorrow with a party for the group, honoring the making of their legendary album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The event takes place at Crash Mansion at 8pm & will feature classic hip-hop from 1988-92. On February 25th & 26th, The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at NYU will host a discussion with Chuck D. & insiders about the making of the album. The event is open to the public For more information please contact: 212-992-8405.

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Nelly has been nominated for two Country Music Television (CMT) Awards due to the success of his hit song “Over and Over,” off his “Suit” album which features country singer Tim McGraw. Nelly and McGraw are in the running for Collaborative Video of the Year and Hottest Video of the Year. The two nominations gives singer Tim McGraw a total of 5 nominations, his other three coming on the success of his album, Live Like You Were Dying. The 5 nomination ties McGraw with Kenny Chesney for the most amounts of nods. The winners will be honored a two-hour show on April 11, in Nashville, Tennessee.

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On Tuesday (Feb. 22), Jay-Z and Reebok announced that he was opening a new educational center in New York, that will focus on music, fashion and sports. The S. Carter Academy will open in New York this spring. A commercial featuring New York Knicks star Jamal Crawford will air around the same time promoting the new facility.

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Rapper 50 Cent has moved the release of The Massacre from March 8 to March 3, in an effort to combat the spread of the album on the internet and from bootleggers, since the album was leaked earlier this week.

Numerous websites posted the album and the artwork for The Massacre, forcing the label to shuffle the release date.

50's dis track "Piggy Bank" has finally been revealed, after months of anticipation. The record takes swipes at Fat Joe, Nas and Kelis and Jadakiss.

Fat Joe is already preparing a response, which will be featured on his new album, All or Nothing, which is tentatively scheduled for release on April 26.

50 Cent's major label debut Get Rich or Die Trying, was also moved up ahead of its 2003 release date. The album went on to sell over 872,000 copies in the first week.

50 himself scrapped an alternate version of The Massacre, fearing he had not outdone his first major release.

Neilsen's Soundscan figures state that Get Rich or Die Trying was 2003's bestselling album and has moved over 6 million units.

In related 50 Cent news, actress Joy Bryant has been cast to star opposite 50 Cent in MTV Films' movie, tentatively titled "Locked and Loaded."

The movie, about a drug dealer who leaves the streets for rap music, is a semi-autobiographical account of 50 Cent's meteoric rise in the entertainment world.

His 1999 breakout single "How to Rob an Industry N**ga" was a humorous description of how he would stick-up various famous rappers of the day. Additionally, during the time period, 50 had several violent altercations in New York and Atlanta.

50 Cent, who admits he sold drugs before entering the music business, was later shot 9 times in Jamaica, Queens as he sat in the passenger side of a car, by unknown assailants.

The shooting happened just as Columbia was preparing to release his Trackmasters produced debut Power of The Dollar. Columbia shelved the album and dropped the rapper from their roster because of the incident.

50 Cent formed his G-Unit collective and started releasing albums independently. The sales success of his independent releases and constant mixtape presence landed 50 a multi-million dollar deal with Eminem and Dr. Dre's Shady/Aftermath labels, which are distributed by Interscope, a Universal Music company.

50's movie is being spearheaded by Interscope's Jimmy Iovine and Paul Rosenberg, who co-manages 50 Cent and manages Eminem.

Bryant starred in "Antwone Fisher" and will be featured in "The Skeleton Key," which is slated to hit theaters this year.

The 50 Cent movie is being directed by Jim Sheridan, while Terence Winter, a writer for HBO's hit series "The Sopranos" is writing the script.

The movie starts shooting this spring.

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Westcoast legend Dr.Dre has spoke on his upcoming projects including the recording of much anticipated album Detox. At the moment he's working on getting Game's second album out and putting the finishing touches on Busta Rhymes album. Once Busta's album is complete work will start on Detox.

Work on the album will not start until April and expect a release around summer of 2006. Dre commented "This album, hopefully everyone will remember me by. I'm trying to put the West back on the map." He also said that he has been checking out emerging West coast rapper Bishop Lamonte's demo tape.

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