Bieber was already toying with the idea during an interview on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, and has now made a more formal announcement via his Twitter (snapshots above). Whether or not he truly retires for good is doubtful, but it seems clear that he’s at least ready to take a break. In the meantime, fans can purchase his latest project, Journals, which was released this past Monday.
The pics (above) were spotted in AllHipHop’s Rumors section (by way of Funkmaster Flex), so take it with a grain of salt (and let your own eyes make its conclusion):
Oh snap! Ciara is bulging at the seams! And her face is rounded off like a MF! Check the pic! She just secured her “future!”
From TMZ:
Rich Homie Quan says he and his crew had NOTHING TO DO with the shooting death of a fan at his rap concert in Ohio this weekend … but says he will be reaching out to the family of the deceased.
The rapper was on stage performing his hit, “Type of Way” at the Red Zone bar in Columbus around 2:30 AM Sunday morning when someone in the crowd fired several gunshots … striking and killing a 24-year-old man.
Footage of the incident was posted to WorldStarHipHop.com … you can hear the gunshots ring out and someone in the crowd screams, “not again” and “lay down.”
Quan tells TMZ … “It’s sad to hear that someone died especially during the holiday season. I just want everybody to know me nor anybody in my crew or affiliation had anything to do with the shooting in Ohio.”
He adds, “We will be reaching out to the family of the deceased”
There was also a fatal shooting the last time RHQ played at the Red Zone … back on Nov. 9th a man was shot twice in the back in the early hours of the morning after the rap concert.
City officials are reportedly calling for the state to strip Red Zone of its liquor license.
As if you expected otherwise. According to Hits Daily Double, King Bey scanned another 383K to lock in her Platinum plaque.
In addition to the forthcoming Mobb Deep project, we’ll also be getting a new Prodigy album, of which you can check out the artwork above. 2014 is definitely their year of return.
From TMZ:
Arsenio Hall was NOT drunk or under the influence of drugs when he lost control of his brand new Porsche last night and drove into a dirt shoulder, cops tell TMZ.
It all went down around 7:15 PM in L.A. … cops responded to the accident scene and tried to figure out why the talk show host veered off the main road.
We’re told Hall was given a field sobriety test, but passed with flying colors. We’re also told Hall was super nice to the responding officers.
Hall was not injured in the accident. So far, it’s unclear why Arsenio lost control of his brand new 2014 Porsche Cayenne S, but since no one was hurt and no crime seems to have been committed, cops won’t be investigating this one any further.
*The above picture is a picture of a wrecked Porsche Cayenne….just not Arsenio Hall’s.
From the Independent:
Police in north London have seized blankets, sleeping bags and food donations from rough sleepers in a crackdown on homelessness.
A local paper reported that the belongings, mostly donated by sympathetic members of the community, were snatched by police from a group of homeless people as they sheltered in an abandoned public baths for the night.
The nine people, including a man in his sixties, were seeking cover from a cold night in Redbridge and were left stunned when their worldly possessions disappeared into the back of a police car.
One of the men targeted in the action, Adam Jaskowiak, pleaded with officers to be allowed to keep his possessions for warmth. The 34-year-old said: “They [the police officers] were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it, and the food, but they said ‘No’.
“I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”
Police later confirmed that the shocking intervention was part of a co-ordinated effort to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.
Chief Inspector John Fish told the Ilford Recorder: “The public rely on the police to reduce the negative impact; this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of tents and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”
In response, Joanne McCartney, chair of the Police and Crime Committee at the Greater London Assembly, has written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner asking for an explanation for the seizure.
Her letter, seen by The Independent, raises doubts over the legality of the police’s approach and asks Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe on whose authority the officers acted.
“These are the most vulnerable people in society and they have to be offered assistance,” Mrs McCartney said. “To take someone’s only source of food and warmth seems to be extremely draconian and misguided to say the least.”
The move has also sparked outrage from the voluntary sector. Rita Chadha, head of the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, said the move was dangerous as well as confusing. “We are going through one of the coldest summers we have ever had, it’s a strong possibility that someone could die,” she said.
It’s almost like he’s throwing the olive branch to Kanye after these back and forth comments we’ve all been hearing (such as the above video for example). From The Guardian:
Following a turbulent few years between the rapper and president, Barack Obama has diplomatically praised Kanye West’s talents, describing his music as “outstanding”.
In a forthcoming interview with People magazine, the president was asked to chose between socialising with the Yeezus rapper and his wife Kim Kardashian or the cast of US TV show Duck Dynasty. Despite choosing neither the duck hunting Robertson family nor the famous couple, Obama was able to allude to the musical merits of the Yeezus rapper.
“The Duck Dynasty family seems like a pretty fun bunch, so I can see how that would be pretty fun,” he said during the interview according to Time, before adding: “Kanye’s music is outstanding, though. I’ve got a lot of his stuff on my iPad. If it was a concert, then I might not mind listening to him.”
Keeping right along with the yuletide cheer (or whatever the phrase/term is), Pusha Ton (with the help of Adidas) held a 1,000 Shoes for 1,000 Smiles event at the Norview Recreation Center in VA. He also spoke on the event:
“I feel blessed to be able to come back to my community and help 1k Shoes for 1k Smiles reach it’s goal of donating 1,000 shoes.”
You can check out some pics from the event above.
Chris Breezy was one of many celebrities to give back to the kids, by hosting a toy drive in L.A.’s Brooklyn Projects. Tyga and Kevin Hart were also present to help out…..hopefully, this will help keep the singer out of jail. Check out the pics above.
You can check out pics above of Tyga’s recent visit to the Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, where he gave out toys and hung out with the patients there. Spotted on Eurweb:
Rapper Tyga is on a mission to help an ailing fan find a kidney donor.
The “Rack City” artist met 16-year-old Isael Lopez during a recent visit to Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and was so moved by the teen’s story that he has rushed to help.
Tyga posted the above photo of Lopez on Instagram, writing, “Spent my day today with one of my biggest fans Isael Lopez, a 16 year old Los Angeles Children’s Hospital patient who is in need of a kidney transplant. He helped me give holiday gifts to teens and tots battling cancer. Call 323-361-5454 to find out if you are a kidney match for Isael. www.donatelife.net.”
From TMZ:
Soulja Boy has a spitting image … so claims a woman who says he knocked her up 6 years ago.
Diamond Shantaniece MacKay claims in legal docs — obtained by TMZ — there was only one other guy she slept with during the critical time period … he was of mixed race and her kid isn’t.
Diamond says her 5-year-old Portlon resembles Soulja, the rapper has visited the boy and there are witnesses who can vouch for the relationship.
Diamond says she hasn’t kept it secret … she’s even told the welfare office Soulja’s the daddy.
She wants a DNA test and, we’re guessing, lots of child support.
Tonight Vin Diesel revealed the new release date of Fast And Furious 7 release date on his Facebook page. Read what he had to say below.
The last scene we filmed together…
There was a unique sense of completion, of pride we shared… in the film we were now completing… the magic captured… and, in just how far we’ve come…
Fast and Furious 7 will be released…
April 10th 2015!
P.s. He’d want you to know first…
Necole Bitchie reports:
Now, we all know that Beyoncé used to love herself some Target but after the retailer vowed not to carry the queen’s latest album since she let iTunes sell it exclusively for a week, she decided to throw major shade yesterday by high-tailing it right on into Walmart!
Christmas came early for 700 Walmart shoppers in Tewksbury, Massachusetts as Beyoncé rolled in the store and announced she would be footing the first $50 of each shopper’s bill, which cost her about $37,500. She also strolled through the aisles, grabbed some gifts for Blue Ivy, kissed some babies and threw her own #1 album into the cart before checking out with a smile.
What makes all of this even funnier, is that despite Target’s decision to not carry her album in their stores, she’s selling the new LP in 7000 Starbucks across the country, and guess what?? Starbucks is located in most Targets! #BowDown
It’s Christmas season, and two of Atlanta’s biggest emcees came together to give back to those in need in the form of a toy drive:
The free event was held at Metroplex at 1959 Metropolitan Parkway, and included free bowling, skating, food, prizes, arcade games. Along with free, on-site health screenings for all attendees.
T.I. also spoke on giving back:
I haven’t always been in a position to give and provide for others and now that I am, I don’t take it for granted. Presents are cool, but to be able to look into a child’s eyes and remind them that they can become and do anything they put their mind to, is one of the greatest gifts we could ever give.”
You can check out some pics from the event below, courtesy of ATL Night Spots (where you can check out even more).
In the midst of TDE pretty much running 2013, I didn’t even realize that no one on the label dropped a full-length effort this year….according to Top Dawg himself, expect all of that to change exponentially for 2014:
WE RAN 2013 WITH OUT DROPPING 1 ALBUM. I WONDER WUTS GONE HAPPEN IN 2014 WHEN I DROP 6.. THEY NOT READY 4 THIS #TDE #HiiiPoWeR TAKE OVER
— dangeroo kipawaa TDE (@dangerookipawaa) December 22, 2013
Today, we get to hear DJ Paul’s account of how his half-brother Lord Infamous passed, as well as the legacy he leaves as part of Three 6 Mafia. The full interview can be found at XXL; below are a couple of excerpts:
XXL: Take me through what happened.
DJ Paul: Basically, his girlfriend talked about going to his mom’s house. She was going to come about one in the morning, late last night in the a.m. She was going to come back and get him in the morning; I guess she was going to work. She was going to come back and get him in the morning because they was going to get their new place. He told her he was tired and was going to lie down. So she was like, “Just make sure you be ready in the morning, we got to be there at 9 o’clock.” He was like, “Yeah OK, I’m just going to lie down.” I guess he was fixing himself something to eat and put his head down on the table and she had left. Then when his momma came, that’s how she found him. Still lying with his head on his lap on the table. He had died from a heart attack in his sleep.XXL: What was going through your mind when you heard of his death?
DJ Paul: I didn’t really believe it at first. They was like,“Rick died.” I was like, “Ricky who?” I don’t know but one Ricky, I wasn’t prepared to hear that. But at the same time I was kind of prepared because he was talking about it lately. He told me like two weeks ago. And I don’t know if the doctors told him this for real or he was fucking with me. He was like, “I got like four months to live, doctor told me because of my kidneys started back up from the stroke.” I was like, “Get out of here.”He was telling his momma last week that he wanted to get right with everybody that he ever made mad in his life. But he never made anybody mad because everybody loved him. People who had hate me or Juicy or whatever, they always loved Lord Infamous. He was the nicest dude in the world. If you didn’t have clothes, he would give you his shirt off his back, literally. He would take it off and give it to you on the spot. He didn’t care about money he just loved people and really loved kids. He loved anybody that wasn’t doing well. He used to give homeless people money, he made us pull the tour bus over and give money. He didn’t really care about money like that or material stuff period.
Lately, he was so happy about everything that was going on like the regroup of the crew. That was his idea. He fought for that with me. He was like, “We got to do this.” It was supposed to be just me and him bringing back Come With Me 2 Hell series. But he wanted to do the group thing first, with the whole group. He always looking out for other people before himself. He always lived like that. But lately he be talking about death and this and that. I was like maybe he just excited about the group and it’s almost like its too good to be true to him. He would be talking about how excited he was. Then this shit happened.
The Jasmine Brand reports:
When asked about her wedding ceremony plans with her manager/fiancee Tim Witherspoon, the X-Factor judge told People:
I think we just really want it to be us and our pastor. That’s it. I mean, we are the only two that’s going to be in the marriage.
So it looks like her Destiny’s Child sister Beyoncé nor Michelle Williams will be present, not to mention her immediate family. She continued with a laugh
You have to pay for food for everyone and I’m not down with that. Everyone is there just to be nosy and see who I’m wearing, you know. I’m okay.
After a month of speculation, this week she confirmed the news on the Queen Latifah Show, smiling:
Initially, Tim proposed while the two were apart:
He asked me first on Skype and I was like, ‘We’re so far away from each other.’
She continued:
But it was so late, I remember we were both just kinda like, honestly, just staring at each other. And he asked me, and it was just that simple to say yes. I was like, ‘I got my best friend to ride through life with.’ He really is my best friend.
Specifically, it appears that Amazon won’t be selling physical copies of the album. From Metro:
Amazon is not selling physical copies of Beyonce’s self-titled latest album.
While the actual CD won’t be available through Amazon, sources say the online retailer is selling the mp3 version of Beyonce and fans of Mrs Carter can get the record by way of third-party sellers on Amazon marketplace.
Billboard also reports that Amazon doesn’t seem to be supporting the LP with any promotion on site. Apparently, the only way the album can be purchased is if shoppers search for it, and will find it available only digitally.
Amazon is said to be less than happy that Beyonce gave her album exclusively to iTunes when it was released and are reportedly planning further action against Sony Music Entertainment and Colombia for giving preferential treatment to Apple for the week-long exclusive.
Pre-order sales of Beyonce were also banned for other retailers.
Beyonce recently passed the 1million sales mark and was named the fastest-selling album on iTunes ever. It sold 828,773 copies in just three days.
The album, which was released out of the blue on December 13, consists of 14 tracks and features guest appearances from Drake, Frank Ocean, and Jay Z and Beyonce’s daughter Blue Ivy.
From BBC News:
Seven people have been killed at a security checkpoint near Benghazi in the first known suicide bomb attack in Libya since the fall of Col Gaddafi.
The attacker targeted the checkpoint in the village of Aguiria, some 50km (30 miles) east of Libya’s second city.
At least eight people, including soldiers and civilians, were wounded.
The security situation in and around Benghazi has been worsening in recent months, with extremist militia blamed for almost daily attacks.
This latest incident reveals a shift in tactics away from the bombings and assassinations that have mainly targeted the security services, the BBC’s Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli.
Unlike the rest of the country, many of the militias in the Eastern region are ideologically driven, she notes.
The suicide bomber detonated a truck load of explosives at the checkpoint early on Sunday.
“A Toyota truck approached the checkpoint and parked there,” Aymen al-Abdlay, a Benghazi army officer, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“There was a young man driving, but when the army troops went to check it out, the vehicle exploded.”
Waiting civilians as well as soldiers were among the victims.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the village is a known stronghold of the Islamist militia group Ansar al-Sharia, our correspondent says.
Benghazi has seen the rise of several extremist militia groups operating in the city since the civil war in 2011 that toppled the longstanding leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Militias took part in the uprising that led to the fall of Col Gaddafi but have been told by the interim government to disband or join the army by the end of the year.
For more than a year, many foreign governments have advised against all travel to Benghazi by their nationals.
The warnings followed an attack on the US consulate in September 2012 in which US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
Hardline Islamist groups have since been blamed for that attack but no-one has been convicted.
Our first show of 2014: host & musical guest, @Drake!! #SNL #Jan18 pic.twitter.com/gVG3kuEZkS
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) December 22, 2013
Following his bit part in Will Ferrell’s Anchorman sequel, I expect to see Drake participating in a skit or two as well. January 18th, 2014 is the date.
UPDATE: We’ve included a longer video clip — which shows her explaining the album and it’s release in more detail — below.
****************************************
You can check out more of her interview at the screening over at Huffington Post; below, we’ve added an excerpt of her breaking down the making of ‘Yoncé’:
“We were in the studio, and Justin Timberlake started beating on buckets. So, when you hear the beat, it’s literally a bucket. It was really organic, and it reminded me of being in middle school during the lunch breaks, when you just start freestyling. So we kept the buckets, and we went back and forth. I was very adamant about keeping it organic, because that whole element is what is so beautiful about it. And Dream just started, ‘Yoncé on his mouth like liquor,’ and I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ But I love it, I think Beyoncé is Beyoncé, Mrs. Carter is Beyoncé, Sasha Fierce is Beyoncé. And I’m finally at a place where I don’t have to separate the two. It’s all pieces of me, and just different elements of a personality of a woman, because we are complicated.”
Well well well…..looks like Drake is officially off the market (for now), as he was caught shmoozin’ with Lenny Kravitz’ daughter Zoe during Beyoncé’s concert (above). Some fan gave their account of what was going on:
[He and Zoe] were making out the whole damn show. I asked for a pic when he came up for air lol!
I was like, who he done picked up off the street. I didn’t know about the rumors of who he was dating or anything but it was like she thought someone was gonna steal him or something. I was the first person to ask for a pic, then after I talked to him and took the pic, she grabbed him and kissed him. I was like…um okay!
He also apparently flew her and her friend out to Philadelphia for his tour as well.
Story developing…
….from producer Major Seven (allegedly), who spoke with XXL about the production hijack, which you can check out excerpts of below (you can listen to the song, which features JAY Z, here). Above is a series of Tweets that Major Seven put out expressing his angst over the situation, as well as K.E. On The Track not-so-modest reply. So what’s really going on?
XXL: Not a lot of people in hip-hop know Major Seven, but they know who K.E. On The Track is. Does it happen a lot when a bigger producer tries to take credit?
Major Seven: Its happened with K.E. before. I’ve heard his tag on my stuff online. It’s just K.E. I mess with people that are really only in the industry ‘cause my first look was really Keith Sweat being my manager, so that kind of gave me an advantage a little bit. That happened because my music was good [Laughs].The actual beat that I submitted actually sounds better as far as quality wise because he tried to replay the drums, but they aren’t the same quality as the one that I used. And [he] tried to change the 808s to a bass. The original one is actually better. You know, I guess it’s going to work itself out. It’s going to be a big look for me, for my first placement to be Jay Z and Rick Ross? The track I did before that was on T-Pain’s last mixtape, “Let You Go.” I produced that. I just see this as the start of my career.
Are you guys still beefing with each other? Because you’ve said the situation was already resolved.
I mean, it’s resolved from a business perspective, but I haven’t spoken to him. He was really trying to sign me to his production company [Beat Mechanics], but when that went sour the deal with Keith. That’s when he got upset and pretty much blacklisted me and just took the track. He had the track in the works. He had the whole situation in the works. That’s how that happened. I don’t really want to put it all out just because the situation got resolved. Even though it is what happened, at the end of the day, it is something that he’ll probably do to me, but I am not even that type of person. You know what I am saying? To where I am completely going to take his ability to make money away and make a living.You should get your proper credit. I can understand why you were frustrated.
All I am going to do is make a beat video with me showing every single track that’s in the beat. And it’s going to be a real beat video. I really don’t have to say anything. I mean, the people in the industry will know. Big people already know. I made so many big connections just between today and yesterday.Did you play your version to K.E. and you guys collaborated? How did he end up stealing your beat?
No, we never collaborated. He stole it because I emailed him back in January, along with six other people who I trust. That’s the people who give me constructive criticism in all my stuff, like homies. I knew K.E. for years, so he was one of those people. I knew he could get the record placed and Keith had no problem placing the record for me. And they get what they deserve for placing the record. I even got him on the phone with Keith after he attempted to sign me for multiple days and take 40 percent of my publishing and all of this. Pretty much, got Keith on the phone and just didn’t like that I guess. [He] pretty much tried to blackmail me.