rapper

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Once-Homeless Rapper Now on Mercury Shortlist

Speech Debelle has been compared to Lauryn Hill, Tracy Chapman

(Newser) - A rapper who spent four years homeless in London is one of five female artists on the shortlist for Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize, the Independent reports. Speech Debelle, kicked out of her house at 19, spent time in hostels and other drug-infested stops on the wrong side of London's...

Third Time's a Charm for Jay-Z, Rap's Cash King

Mogul discusses business, music as release approaches

(Newser) - As he comes full circle with the Sept. 11 release of The Blueprint 3, exactly 8 years after the original Blueprint, Jay-Z discusses his journey from the projects of Brooklyn to the top of Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash King list with Billboard. “We—Usher, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, myself—are becoming...

Foreign Policy 101: Jay-Z's Feud With The Game
Foreign Policy 101:
 Jay-Z's Feud With The Game
OPINION
Jul 14, 2009 10:41 AM CDT

Foreign Policy 101: Jay-Z's Feud With The Game

(Newser) - What does the burgeoning beef between rappers Jay-Z and The Game have in common with US foreign policy? Plenty, writes Marc Lynch in Foreign Policy. Like America, Jay-Z is a hegemon: “Nobody, but nobody, in the hip-hop world has his combination of hard power and soft power.” But...

Drake Album 'Compulsively Listenable'
 Drake Album 
 'Compulsively 
 Listenable' 
MUSIC REVIEW
Jun 29, 2009 5:20 PM CDT

Drake Album 'Compulsively Listenable'

Lyrics, though awkward, manage not to be petulant

(Newser) - Somehow, rapper Drake recorded an album concerned mostly with “the stresses and travails of fame, even if he recorded the damn thing when he wasn’t famous in any meaningful way”—and then became famous thanks to said album, writes Tom Breihan for Pitchfork. Though he’s “...

Buzz Aldrin Raps With Snoop Dogg

Astronaut pairs with unlikely collaborators to benefit charity

(Newser) - What’s next for a man who’s walked on the moon? For 79-year-old astronaut Buzz Aldrin, it’s recording a rap song, USA Today reports. “I'm not too good at carrying a tune, but I do have rhythm,” says Aldrin, who collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy,...

Drake Is Next LL Cool J: Jamie Foxx

(Newser) - Drake is not only dating Rihanna and prepping to sign with a new label for his debut album in the next few days. The Canadian-born singer is also winning support from the likes of 50 Cent and Jamie Foxx, MTV and Sohh.com report. "He can go as gangster...

Hip-Hop Busts Out in China
 Hip-Hop Busts Out in China 
Jun 2, 2009 1:30 PM CDT

Hip-Hop Busts Out in China

Youths find freedom through rap

(Newser) - You might not expect to hear freestyle rapping in Mandarin, but that sound is growing in China as youths grab hold of the outlet hip-hop offers, Time reports. “This music is free and creative. We can say what we want,” says one rapper. “There are no restrictions....

Lil Wayne Pupil Drake Thrills in NYC
 Lil Wayne 
 Pupil Drake 
 Thrills in NYC 
Concert Review
May 28, 2009 10:53 AM CDT

Lil Wayne Pupil Drake Thrills in NYC

Kanye, record execs come to hear buzzed-about rapper

(Newser) - Child-actor-turned-rapper Drake had fans and luminaries like Kanye West enthralled at a small New York show Tuesday, where the as-yet-unsigned artist tried to live up to the buzz.
  • “Drake's greatest gift is his ability to translate his love of rap's many styles into his own music,” Chris Ryan
...

Jay-Z Close to Sony Deal— or Maybe Warner

Conflicting reports leave it unclear where former Def Jam artist will move

(Newser) - Following his departure from Def Jam, Jay-Z is close to making a deal with a new label—the question is, which one? Sources tell Billboard a deal with Sony’s Epic Records “is 95% complete,” while the New York Daily News reports a deal with Warner Music Group/Atlantic...

TI Checks Into Jail Early
 TI Checks Into Jail Early 
May 26, 2009 1:39 PM CDT

TI Checks Into Jail Early

Rapper will serve 366 days on weapons charges

(Newser) - Rapper TI began his prison sentence early today, leaving his home in Georgia and checking into the Arkansas federal facility before the noon deadline, TMZ reports. The time is a year and a day in the minimum-security Forrest City prison; the crime was attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and...

Strapped Rappers Don Bogus Bling

They still talk the talk, but their stones are now cubic zirconia clones

(Newser) - Tough times in the hip-hop industry have taken the ka-ching out of bling, the Wall Street Journal reports. Record sales and concert attendance are falling, and jewelers say that more and more of the flashy pendants and chains favored by rappers trying to keep up appearances now contain lower-quality stones,...

Dolla Family Rips Claim of Self-Defense

Rep denies rapper ran in gang; suspect pleads not guilty

(Newser) - Self-defense played no role in the killing of 21-year-old rap artist Dolla, who was not a gang member, his family tells MTV. Aubrey Berry, 23, pleaded not guilty yesterday to murder and assault charges, saying he shot Roderick Burton in self-defense Monday in Los Angeles. His claim "is very...

'Great White' Pratt Releases Rap Single

The only thing truly historic is how bad the lyrics are

(Newser) - Spencer Pratt is a celebrity, and he wants the world to know it. The Hills “actor” and newly minted “rapper” released his first single, aptly titled “I’m a Celebrity,” last week. Pratt—aka “The Great White”—dubbed himself “a part of music...

Killing Dolla Was Self Defense: Suspect

(Newser) - The man accused of killing rapper Dolla claims the shooting was self defense, reports the Los Angeles Times. Police arrested Aubrey Louis Berry, 23, for shooting the rapper in the head at an Los Angeles shopping center Monday. The suspect's attorney said Dolla and friends had recently attacked Berry outside...

Dolla's Shooting 'Sparked by Strip Club Brawl'

Sources believe Atlanta dispute followed rapper to LA

(Newser) - Dolla's shooting in a Los Angeles mall yesterday may have been the result of a fight at a strip club in the rapper's hometown of Atlanta the week before, police sources tell the Los Angeles Times. Accused killer Aubrey Louis Berry, an events promoter, had a row with the 21-year-old...

Busta's Back, in Fine Form
 Busta's Back, 
 in Fine Form 
opinion
May 19, 2009 6:29 PM CDT

Busta's Back, in Fine Form

(Newser) - Busta Rhymes is back with his first album in three years, and if his record release party last night is any indication, he's barely missed a beat, writes Jayson Rodriguez in Rolling Stone. Rhymes—whose Back On My B.S. is out today—"has long been recognized as one...

Dolla Shooting Suspect Held on $1M Bail

Cops questioning 2 persons of interest in rapper's LA slaying

(Newser) - Los Angeles police have charged 23-year-old Aubrey Louis Berry with the murder of Roderick Anthony Burton II, better known as up-and-coming rapper Dolla, E! reports. Berry is being held on $1 million bail. Police have questioned two other persons of interest as well, a man and a woman, but neither...

Rapper Dolla Shot Dead at LA Mall

Man arrested at airport after Atlanta-based star gunned down

(Newser) - Up-and-coming Atlanta-based rapper Dolla was shot dead in the parking garage of LA's Beverly Center mall yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 21-year-old musician, shot in the head, had arrived in the city earlier that day. A suspect fled the scene in a silver Mercedes and was later arrested,...

Eminem: Serial Killers 'Inspire' Me

Rapper talks about how he's never been in a better place

(Newser) - Where has Eminem been since his last album hit the shelves in 2004? At first, mostly drowning in a sea of depression and prescription drugs, the rapper says in an interview with the Guardian. But for a year now he's been clean and focused on getting back to his roots—...

Rapper TI to Serve Time in Arkansas

(Newser) - T.I. has 11 days to arrive at a low-security Arkansas prison for his year-and-a-day sentence on weapons charges, E! Online reports. The 28-year-old rapper, real name Clifford J. Harris Jr., will likely spend less than 2 months at the Forrest City federal prison, thanks to early release and...

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