Four months ago, Cameron Giles went on 360 and told Andersoon Cooper that he would never snitch on a criminal even if it was a serial killer that lived next door. (Let’s not get into why mainstream media always picks smart rappers like Cam to represent the hip-hop community on these issues.) After the Smoking Gun uncovered evidence of Cam’s own snitching history, Killa Cam did a 180 on his earlier stance on snitching and apologized for his ignorance.

Below, Killer Mike–one rapper who’s both talented and intelligent–weighs in on the issue of snitching. Do you agree with him?

Read the rest of this entry »

::DTP’s Strength in Numbers cover art

>>TIME magazine on why hip-hop needs a new product. Apparently they never heard of Curtis, or Yayo for that matter. [TIME]

>>Dre finally musters up enough courage to sue broke-ass Suge for the rights to The Chronic. It’s not like Suge can afford to hire a professional slugger to punch Dre in the face again anyway. [Rolling Stone]

>>Michael Vick cops a plea deal in dogfighting case. America goes back to regularly scheduled programming. [NPR]

>>Obamability: Why Hip-Hop loves Obama. [HRS]

>>Kanye’s song of praise for Jay-Z. [Post Chronicle]

>>And in case you haven’t seen the September XXL cover, get your late pass from Eskay. Looks like someone ran out of southern rappers to recycle. [NahRight]

Kanye held it down on UK’s Friday Night Project, playing guest host and performing a slew of hits from his catalog. Boo Boo couldn’t afford this type of publicity even if he gave up half of his Vitamin water paycheck.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Nsync. Making The Band. Milli Vanilli have just broken up.”

Cham debuted a portion of this banger along with the “Hip-Hop Police” video. Alas, the full version is even more interesting.

Ultimate Victory is still slated for September 18th. Chamillionaire vs. Havoc. It’s on!

::Fresh off his VIBE cover, Obama does GQ. Is he the hip-hop candidate?

>>Smoking Sessions with Swizz Beatz. [The Smoking Section]

>>Scientists claim hip-hop improves sex life…in sharks! [Practical Fishkeeping]

>>I’m surprised to find Yung Joc on Forbes‘ Hip-Hop Cash Kings of 2006 list. [Forbes]

>>Suspended NFL player Pacman has a new side gig. It’s called hip-hop. [NY Daily News]

>>Kanye’s “Good Life” snippet. [zshare, via BGDB]

>>The Britney Spears of rap is back with a new buzz track, where he likens himself to George Bush. [Nah Right]

>>Are you a fan of good hip-hop? Wanna help victims of the Minneapoliz I-35 bridge collapse but can only afford to give up $1 for that? If you answered yes to both questions, kindly head over to Atmosphere’s website right now and help yourself to a concert ticket. [Atmosphere's Ticketing site]

I’m kidding, of course.

Faux News media manipulator Bill O’Reilly is strongly opposed to Nas’ inclusion in the September VA Tech memorial concert, because he’s a “violent gangsta rapper.” To drive his point home, O’Wildy singled out a couple of early Nas songs that contained the slightest hint of violent material, all this while ignoring the bottomless pile of socio-conscious records by the same artist.

O’Wildy has also placed a message on his blog instructing his brainwashed disciples to express their “outrage at the inclusion of a violent “gangsta” rapper in a memorial concert at Virginia Tech.”

It’s worth noting that hip-hop scholar Bakari Kitwana kept his composure but still held it down all the way.

::David Banner ft. Wayne, Snoop, Akon – Speaker (Banner’s camp insists this is the “official video,” slightly different from this version)

>>Dallas DA tells kids to forget everything they ever learned from Cam’ron and start snitching again. [Dallas News]

>>Eve wants no drama with Chamillionaire, so she pushed her weight back. [GrapeJuice]

>>Fresh flicks from the California Rock the Bells festival. [Dallaspenn]

>>Which way forward for hip-hop? [Socialist Worker]

>>BBC’s Mista Jam has the full bustdown on Graduation. [BBC 1-Xtra]

>>Bun B and Pimp C score their first No.1 after selling 160k of Underground Kingz (each unit counts as two). [Billboard]

>>Free the Jena Six. [Poplicks]

>>You still have time (nomination ends today at 4!) to vote for The Rap Up at the 2007 Black Weblog Awards. Thanks to everyone who showed some love to The Rap Up. Your infinite support is much much appreciated.

Fox Boogie has officially excavated herself from the Black Oasis. According to a press release I received from Foxy Brown’s handlers today, she has now joined the ever growing team of escapees over at Koch Records where she’ll release her next album, Brooklyn’s Don Diva. The album is due out in December, via her Koch-distributed label Black Roses Entertainment.

Update: Foxy Brown Gone Wild…Again