Remember the 80’s rapper that forced her label to fund her education? It never happened. According to an investigative report by Slate, Shante was faking the funk.

• According to Warner, neither it nor any of its subsidiary record labels ever had a contract with Shanté, and it was not obligated to pay for her education. Indeed, there’s no evidence that it ever did.
• Shanté—real name Lolita Shanté Gooden—doesn’t have a Ph.D. from Cornell or anywhere else. Indeed, she admitted it in an interview with Slate. And Cornell has no record of Gooden (or “Shanté”) ever attending or receiving a degree.

Full Story: Roxanne’s Nonexistent Revenge

When you’ve had so many close calls with death, it eventually becomes a numbers game. Unfortunately DJ AM emerged on the losing end of this game. DJ AM (aka Adam Goldstein) was found dead in his New York pad on Friday, nearly a year after escaping a fatal plane crash that killed 4 others. According to the NY Daily News, police found laying on his stomach with a bag of crack and a pipe on his bed. They also found bottles of prescription drugs, including Xanax in his kitchen. Read the rest of this entry »

A woman who may or may not be Juelz Santana’s wifey called one time claiming that he threatened to kill her this morning. Cops showed up at Santana’s house and arrested him on domestic charges.

According to TMZ, the woman did not need medical assistance but she told police the threat was made in front of a child. Santana’s bail was set at $300, which means he’ll probably on his way out by the time you finish reading this. Yeah, I’ll go out on a limb and assume that Jim Jones can afford to part with 3 Ben Franklins.

When a rapper drops out of college, that’s not news. But when a rapper graduates with a Ph.D and gets her record label to foot the bill, now that’s not something you hear about everyday. Some of you were probably in Superman Underoos when Roxanne Shante, a pioneering female MC, had her run with “Roxanne’s Revenge” at the tender age of 14. The single, a response to UTFO’s “Roxanne, Roxanne,” sold an amazing 250,000 units. Shante would go on to release two albums but she found herself constantly being ripped off by her record label. Then she had an aha! moment and remembered one throwaway clause in her contract that required Warner Music to pay for her education. The then 19 year old took advantage of that offer and today, Dr. Roxanne Shante has a Ph.D in Psychology from Cornell University to show for her contract. Why settle for a royalty check when you can get a Ph.D and a royalty check?

[via: NY Daily News]

While everyone else is busy freaking the f-ck out about poor record sales, a few hip-hop artists have found a way to make some extra guap on the side. Hip-Hop All Star, set for release in September, is a DJing game for iPhones and iPod touches that boasts new music from Kool G Rap, Slim Thug, Busta Rhymes, and many others.

• Busta Rhymes, Slim Thug featured on ‘Hip-Hop All Star’ for iPhone [Examiner]

I just got off the phone with a friend who broke this terrible news to me and I’m still not sure what to make of the whole thing.

From Allhiphop:

“Police are investigating the brazen shooting death of a Miami journalist who worked for Don Diva Magazine. Samuel Ferguson, 47, was shot to death on Friday (August 14) when unknown assailants opened fire on his car, as he was driving along the Florida Turnpike.”

It may be convenient to jump into some bizarre conclusions on Ferguson’s death, especially since he’s known to have exchanged words with Rick Ross during that whole CO controversy, but keep in mind that no one knows the exact circumstances surrounding his shooting. He may have been a victim of road rage for all we know.

Police are on the hunt for a black, 4-door sedan car. Anyone with information on the shooters should call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

In today’s episode of You Can’t Make This Up, two police officers in Taft, Texas are about to trade in their badges for termination papers after participating in the creation of a hip-hop video.

Says Allhiphop:

The video for the song “Swangn,” by Stubo, featuring True Enough Of Salty Water Records has caused outrage in Taft, a town of about 3,500. The video was shot in downtown Taft in June, with the permission of City Manager Flo Sauceda.

The song has local police officers in the area up in arms, as the track contains numerous explicative’s and makes references to smoking marijuana and dealing cocaine.

The two cops now face termination for their roles in the video, but I would’ve been happier to learn that they’re facing termination because of how wack the song is.

The cop’s statement about stealing a rapper’s bling is epic.