Lydia Harris Mad Over Death Row Sale
Master recordings of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre were part of the assets of Death Row Records that were sold for $18 million recently to the Canadian development company WIDEawake Entertainment Group.
The selling price was less than expected so a lot of the creditors who are owed money by Death Row will walk away with nothing. One of those creditors is Lydia Harris, who helped Suge Knight start Death Row back in the day.
Harris sued Suge and got a $107 million judgment in 2005. That judgment is one of the reasons Death Row filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lydia Harris expressed her outrage when she told Billboard:
“This was all a scam from the beginning. Everyone wanted me to bring judgment down, and so I brought on the case. But now I’m not getting paid because I’m an unsecured creditor? Yet, administrators are getting paid and Suge’s bills are still getting paid? If it wasn’t for me no one would be getting money. They made sure it happened this way because I was the biggest creditor. There must be some internal thing going on and I’m obviously not in on it.”
Too Gangsta adds: What Lydia needs to remember is she filled for Bankrupcy and there for gave up any assets and rights to Death Row Records. While in bankruptcy she collected 1 million dollars which should have been flagged as bankrupcy fraud in the first place.
Tha Realest Preps Witness Tha Realest
Tha Realest, once signed to Death Row Records, will release his debut album “Witness Tha Realest” via RBC Records on March 24th 2009. The album will feature the single “Eurry Now and Then” and the follow up single “Get It In”. Internet websites have falsley reported that the title track which features Fat Joe was purchased by Tha Realest from Fat Joe’s producer in 2002, however TooGangsta.net can exclusivley confirm this is 100% false. In fact on the track in the opening of the song Fat Joe and Tha Realest speak to eachother before Fat Joe himeself says “Tha Realest its Team Dime!”.
Look for “Witness Tha Realest” March 24th!
Death Row Records Sold to Small Toronto Firm
Legendary rap record label which produced early albums from Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, has been bought.
According to an article in the Toronto Star, a small firm from Toronto placed the winning bid Thursday on the rights to the back catalogue of the recording label, Death Row Records.
The record label was founded by rapper Dr. Dre and Marion (Suge) Knight in 1991. After an $18 million bid, the label’s records, music and publishing assets are in the hands of Toronto company WIDEawake Entertainment Group. Such assets include early albums from rap artists Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, and others. It is likely there are a number of unreleased albums now in their possession.
“It’s a new year for Death Row and all the artists that made the label great,” WIDEawake CEO Lara Lavi told the Canadian Newswire Group Monday. Until now, WIDEawake only had one artist on its roster, R&B singer Sean Jones.
Death Row Records was a pioneer in the West Coast rap genre, which offered more scathing, angry rap than the lighter East Coast rap alternative. The record label, through the enormous popularity of artists like Tupac and Snoop Dogg, helped define the sound of what is often called “gangster rap.”
Death Row Records fell apart due to infighting, members leaving, and numerous lawsuits. Suge Knight declared bankruptcy in 2006 and was forced to auction the label’s assets.
Two earlier bids for the label were reported in 2008. Knight turned both of them down.
Young Buck and T.I. to be Featured in Reality Shows
Rappers will fill the hip-hop reality show gap left by the cancellation of MTV’s 50 Cent-helmed The Money and the Power with two new series.
MTV will catalogue the life of Atlanta rapper T.I. as he prepares to serve a year in jail on a new reality series this winter. The show, titled T.I.’s Road to Redemption, will chronicle his last 45 days as a free man as he tries to make things right with his community, completing the 1,000 hours of community service ordered by a judge.
The series, which will continue filming through March, will take a look how the rapper manages his career, personal life and judicial obligations.
BET will present Played by Fame, where musicians and actors play pranks on their unsuspecting fans. Nashville’s Young Buck is said to be among those participating, along with Ludacris, Bobby Valentino and many others.
In episodes of Fame, fans will be given the opportunity to spend a day with their favorite famous person, however that person will conspire with show host Al Shearer to make that day miserable.
Played by Fame premiers on January 30 and will air at 9 p.m. CST on BET. T.I.’s Road to Redemption will premier on February 10 and air at 8 p.m. CST on MTV.
Snoop Dogg Shoots Hoops For Charity
Rapper Snoop Dogg will be joining fellow musicians, actors and sports stars on Saturday, January 17 to shoot hoops and raise money for The Stepping Stone, a new youth center located in Compton. The center helps kids to learn sports, arts and receive academic tutoring.
Snoop Dogg will compete in the star-studded charity basketball game along with Warren G, Lil Eazy, Allen Payne (”House of Payne”), Arlen Escarpeta (”American Dreams”), Brian McKnight, Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael Cooper, two-time NBA All-Star Champion and former Los Angeles Laker Norman Nixon, WNBA Champion and All-Star Game MVP Los Angeles Sparks Center Lisa Leslie, and former NBA players Khalid Reeves (Chicago Bulls Guard), Pooh Richardson (Los Angeles Clippers Point Guard), and Byron Russell (Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets Shooting Guard).
The event is being hosted by Zion Baptist Evangelistic Temple and PreachBoy Ministries with all of the proceeds going to help finish the construction on the center that is scheduled to open in the spring.
The game will be held at 4 p.m. at Compton High School and tickets are only $10. For more information or to get tickets to the game, call (877) 689-7717.
Jim Jones Named Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch
KOCH Records announces the addition of Hip Hop superstar Jim Jones to its Executive staff. Jones joins the team as Vice President of Urban A&R. Under this new title, Jones will be responsible for signing and nurturing new talent to KOCH Records’ urban roster.
Alan Grunblatt, KOCH Records’ General Manager, states, “Jim Jones put KOCH on the map. He truly knows what it takes to make a hit record. I am thrilled to be working with him for many years to come.”
Jones adds, “It feels good to know that the hard work has been recognized by the same people that have helped me get to this point in my career. They recognize that I’m not only an artist but a person that can smell talent and be able to mold a superstar.”
The first release Jones brings to the table in is the much anticipated debut album from Skull Gang (starring Juelz Santana). The forthcoming album will be released on February 24th, 2009.
Juelz Santana is set to unleash his new group Skull Gang to follow in the footsteps of the Diplomat and Byrdgang movements. The album features brand new music with Juelz heavily featured throughout. The album’s first 2 singles will hit radio shortly: the mixshow single “Body Like Mazi,” and “Rock Starr” feat. Lil Wayne and Starr. Juelz is currently featured on the smash hit/video “Pop Champagne” (Top 5 at Urban Radio) and has been working on music non-stop since the release of his last hit album, “What The Game’s Been Missing.” The Skull Gang movement is an extension of his vision which will help set up his forthcoming new studio album later in 2009.
For more info, please visit www.myspace.com/juelzsantana.
50 Cent Disses Lil Wayne, Kanye As Album Approaches
You can tell 50 Cent has a new album coming out when he hits the radio and starts beefs with other rappers for absolutely no reason. Thus was the case this weekend as Fiddy called into Eminem’s Shade 45 XM/Sirius radio station to unload diss after diss on Lil Wayne and Kanye West — and talk a little bit about his upcoming album Before I Self Destruct.
When Kanye released 808s & Heartbreak, he blogged that 50 Cent would love it, but on the radio 50 finally responded by saying the album was “an R&B record.” “I’m surprised he got away with it,” 50 said. “That album is supposed to be a brick.” 50 also mocked Kanye’s singing skills. 50 had equally harsh words for Lil Wayne, saying the Carter III rapper was a “junkie” and a “little baby.” “[Wayne] had a great album,” he said, “but he makes a lot of records and I think he’s gonna exhaust the public with his sound. He’s a talented artist, but if you put us in a space where we’re in competition, my consistency will break his neck.” Fiddy then dared — almost pleaded — for both rappers to respond, probably in an attempt to keep his name in the papers and blogs before Self Destruct is released.
50 Cent also shed some light on that leaked Dr. Dre track “Could Have You Been,” saying the song, which also features R. Kelly, was recorded two years ago for Detox. “I do this the best,” 50 gloats about his beef-making skills, “I’m relevant year round. To be honest with you, the reality television show [MTV’s The Money & The Power, since canceled] was nothing but a commercial for my album.”
Bizzy Bone Robbed in Los Angeles
Los Angeles police identified the man who allegedly was robbed by a Los Angeles anti-gang worker as a member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
On Jan. 5, Byron McCane, also known as Bizzy Bone, had returned from a restaurant to his room at the Universal Hilton, where he was confronted by several men who beat and choked him before taking his jewelry, police said.
McCane was an original member of the group that began in Cleveland in 1991. He did not contribute to the group’s last album, “Strength and Loyalty,” which was released in 2007.
Police arrested Marlo “Bow Wow” Jones, 30, a contract employee for the anti-gang organization Unity One, which is hired for the city’s L.A. Bridges II gang-intervention program, according to the LAPD. LAPD officials said they are seeking other male and female suspects.
Jones was arrested Friday at 8:50 a.m. in South Los Angeles and is being held in lieu of $1.1 million bail at the Parker Center Jail downtown. An official with Unity One told The Times that Jones was terminated from his contract but that he could possibly be rehired if cleared in connection with the case.
Unity One was founded after the 1992 Los Angeles riots by Darren “Bo” Taylor, a former gang member who became a peacekeeper respected by street toughs as well as by law enforcement and community activists struggling to reduce inner-city violence. Taylor died in August.
Dr. Dre Furious Over Leaked Songs Online
Two new songs by Dr. Dre have been released on the Internet.
Dr. Dre is not happy over the song that was leaked from his highly anticipated Detox album, reports Paste Magazine. The song, called “Could Have Been You,” features verses from 50 Cent, R. Kelly, and Aftermath MC Bishop Lamont. According to MTV, each artist spends a verse telling the story of a woman he can’t please.
R. Kelly, who is now officially divorced, sings, “The reason why you didn’t get picked, ‘cause you got your nose up you’re a** smelling your shi**/ But tonight you met your match, ‘cause I be smelling my sh** too/ Now how do you like that?”
50 Cent raps about a woman who did not appreciate him or his efforts, saying, “You supposed to be sure, baby, you was confused/ I had a thang for ya, had a ring for ya/ A house, car, kids and a pet for ya.”
Another track by 50 Cent, Eminem, and Dre called “Crack a Bottle” has also been released, but it is unknown whether it is for Detox or Eminem’s album, Relapse.
Lil Wayne: Super Bowl Party, Yeah Song Leaked
ESPN have asked and to help them kicking off Super Bowl “Big Weekend” event. While Jean will be performing for ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT party on January 30 at 9 P.M. with DJ , Wayne is going to present live reports from the event’s red carpet.
In addition to Jean and Wayne’s recruitment, has also been signed up by ESPN for a live appearance the following day. Alongside the University of South Florida Marching Band and local Tampa reggae act Impulse, he will be singing at a free gig dubbed “The NEXT Day Tailgate”.
Lil Wayne has been , sharing his knowledge about what happened in sport since September. He also joined MTV’s News Fantasy Football League couple years back.
In related news, Wayne’s new song entitled “Yes”, which features , has been leaked…
There isn’t any word on whether the track will be appearing in his upcoming seventh major studio album “” or not.