After launching Roc La Familia, Jay-Z is now looking to introduce Def Jam Left,"an artist-driven label with very low deals so people are not pressured by first-week Soundscan [sales]," says the music mogul.

Hov is presently in talks with The Roots and is hoping to make the band the first act of the new Left label.

"I'm talking to the Roots right now," Hov told Billboard. "I'm confident to put out there that we might make this happen. The label would probably begin at the top of the year, but I hope to have the Roots signed by the time they get off their international tour."


The Roots are presently putting the finishing touches on their 7th album, Game Theory. The record features appearances by Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Meanwhile, Hov, who has been popping up on more songs lately, hinted that he might make a return to rapping.

"You all are hearing things from me -- you just haven't heard an album," Hova told Billboard. "Who knows? I'm still going in the studio, getting on remixes and things like that. But it's the people. When people want something bad enough, it happens. And they want it bad (laughs). I'm trying to hold out, but I don't know how long I can."

Island presently hosts several labels including Def Jam South, home of Ludacris and Young Jeezy and Def Soul with 112. As president of Def Jam, Hov still oversees Roc-A-Fella Records. This past July, the Brooklynite launched Roc La Familia, an imprint dedicated to the World Music genre. To date, he has signed Houston rapper Aztek and New York rhyme slinger Tru Life to the label. SoHH.com has confirmed that he is presently negotiating to ink London's Lady Sov to the label.

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Eminem recently joined the impressive list of charitable celebrities by donating $200,000 to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Slim reportedly was touched by MTV's telethon this past Saturday and called Mississippi emcee, David Banner, to donate $200,000. The Detroit lyricist then donated the money to the American Red Cross on behalf of his record label, Shady Records.

Em hasn't been the only one digging in his wallet to support Hurricane Katrina victims. Last week, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Sean "Diddy" Combs joined forces to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross.

Elsewhere, T.I. helped raise $263,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief when he appeared on air at Atlanta's V 103 FM for over seven hours last week. Meanwhile, Fat Joe and DJ Khaled hosted The Takeover on Miami's 99 Jamz in hope to raise money for hurricane victims.

Various hip-hop artists and black celebrities, from New Orleans natives Master P, Juvenile, Lil Wayne to actor/rapper Queen Latifah and Steve Harvey, came together this past Friday during the BET SOS Telethon to raise more than $10 million for the Red Cross.

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Voletta Wallace, the mother of the late Notorious B.I.G. reportedly bashes Sean "Diddy" Combs and Lil' Kim in Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, her forthcoming memoir.

In the book slated to be published by Simon & Schuster's Astria books, Wallace accuses both Diddy and Kim of using Biggie's name and image to further their respective careers.

"I'm glad my son does not have to witness that the very people that he thought he could ride and die with wouldn't think twice about using his mother," Wallace writes in regards to Diddy and Kim. "I am glad that he's not here to see how they have used his image and his name."

Wallace also added, "I believe Sean loved my son - after he was dead. I used to tell Christopher all the time not to trust Sean."

Wallace then goes on to note that Diddy has repeatedly been shouting out her son since his death. Only months after Biggie's demise, Diddy, then known as Puff Daddy, released "I'll Be Missing You," a tribute song to the fallen rapper. The single, which also featured BIG's widow, Faith Evans and former Bad Boy R&B quartet 112, quickly became a smash hit and helped launch Diddy's solo rap career. No Way Out, on which "I'll Be Missing You" was featured, went on to sell millions of copies.

Since then, Diddy has constantly been name-dropping Biggie in countless appearances and recordings, recently paying tribute to the Brooklyn emcee at this year's MTV Video Music Awards.

Meanwhile, Lil' Kim has borrowed countless lines from the rapper and even adopted some of his aliases, namely Kim's 2000 album which was titled, Notorious K.I.M. Furthermore, in the book, Wallace alleges that Kim stole from her New Jersey residence after she let Queen Bee use the home for a magazine interview.

"The first picture I saw was Kim wearing my son's mink coat, holding his chain and wearing his hat. I was in shock. I felt violated," Wallace revealed in the book. "I read the entire article and learned that not only was Kim wearing things belonging to my son, but she claimed that the home belonged to her as well. This experience helped me draw my own opinions about Kim. And they weren't good."

Voletta Wallace's Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son is slated to hit stores October 25th.
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