New visuals from Dancehall artist Popcaan with cameos from Toronto’s own Drake and Preign
Tag Archives: Artist
NEWS: Janet Jackson Reaches A Huge Milestone Michael Never Did! [KingpinTV.net]
Not only is Janet Jackson married to a billionaire, she’s also a 10-figure money maker herself. According to Variety, a tally of the 47-year-old’s earnings from her successful concert tours ($458 million), films like For Colored Girls and The Nutty Professor ($304 million), album sales ($260 million), and sponsorship deals ($81 million) has her exceeding the one billion dollar milestone.
This past February, Janet informed the world that she married fashion tycoon Wissam Al Mana in a hush-hush ceremony. Al Mana is a shareholder in Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain and Kuwait; and director of Al Mana Retail.
Surprisingly, despite her late brother’s massive success, King of Pop Michael Jackson never reached the billion dollar mark. The few who have include Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, J.K. Rowling and Madonna, who was recently inducted after her last tour.
As for Ms. Jackson, she has no plans to stop raking in the dough. The singer confirmed that she is “working on a new project.”
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NEWS: Record Executive Lyor Cohen Pulls Irv Gotti To His New Company! [KingpinTV*net]
Lyor Cohen is reportedly starting his own talent management firm, and has now struck a deal with Irv Gotti to join him.
We reported last week about music industry heavyweight, Lyor Cohen, in the works of putting together his own talent management firm– at least, these are the rumors presently circulating.
At the time, Cohen had been reportedly advising one of the biggest rappers in the game, Kanye West, on upcoming deals and tours. Now it looks like Cohen has another music industry insider on his side, Irv Gotti. Irv Gotti was the former head of the record label The Inc., and is credited with finding Ja Rule and Ashanti.
The NY Post reports that Irv and Lyor struck a deal this past week, and Irv will be joining Lyor’s new company. In addition to this, apparently Irv has been advising another big rapper, Drake. If the two reported partners get Drake and Kanye West on board their company as well, they’ll be managing two of the most sought-after rappers, which definitely isn’t a bad way to start a new agency.
Nothing has been formally announced yet, so we’ll keep you updated as more information comes in.
NEWS: Drake’s Management Sued For Unpaid Royalties! [TekniqueTheKingpin*com]
James “Jas” Prince filed a lawsuit, claiming that Drizzy’s management has failed to pay him and Drake himself in royalties…..
Once again, YMCMB’s business practices have come under fire. Yesterday, James “Jas” Prince filed a lawsuit against numerous parties, claiming Drake’s management have failed to pay the plaintiff (as well as Drake) owed royalties.
In a nearly 70-page court document that surfaced yesterday (July 30), Prince claims after discovering Drake, he introduced the Toronto rapper to the defendants (Aspire Music Group, Cortez Bryant, Laurant Management, Three Kinds, Gerald Roberson and Derrick Lawrence) with the understanding the defendants would use industry connections to secure Drake a record deal under Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint, and promote the rapper after his signing. According to Prince, part of this 2007/2008 oral agreement entailed that profits would then be split between him and the named defendants.
But Prince says that after the agreement was made, Cortez Bryant signed Drake to an exclusive management deal, cutting out Prince’s role in Drake’s career. Additionally, Prince claims he was never paid and was told that Drake hasn’t been paid either. As of press time, neither Drake nor Cortez Bryant have responded to the lawsuit.
This isn’t the first time that people have taken issue with YMCMB’s business practices. This past April, Weezy and producer Darius “Deezle” Harrison, who claims he produced several songs on Tha Carter III, including “Lollipop,” was never paid for his work and was suing for $20 million. The two sides finally settled via a confidential, out-of-court agreement. Producer Jim Jonsin too took issue with not getting paid, but his dispute was resolved as well.
(XXL)
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NEWS: Nas’ Life Is Good Album Enters Billboard At No. 1! [TekniqueTheKingpin*com]
Life Is Good for Nas.
After it’s first week in stores, the tenth album from the celebrated rap vet entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. The release sold 139,000 copies, which was good enough to give the Queens native his fifth No. 1 album. This was his first solo project since 2008′s Untitled, which also entered the charts in the top slot. This time around, Nasty kept the team tight, as Rick Ross was the only rap feature on the album, and the majority of the production was handled by No I.D. and Salaam Remi.
Eager to continue to build momentum for the project, Nas is preparing to shoot new videos for some of the cuts on the album. “I got a record with Mary J. Blige that just gives you that feeling,” he told MTV’s RapFix recently of “Reach Out.” “It just feels like early Mary J. Blige, early Nas. I want to shoot a video to that.” He went on to mention that he plans on working with Chris Robinson on some of the visuals. “He’s a great director,” Nas continued. “I’m looking forward to shooting ‘Bye Baby,’ and making it like a movie. I want to do a lot of videos to this album,” he said. “It’s a video age. I want to do more than I’m known for doing.”
(XXL)
NEWS: Former Lil Wayne Bandmate B.G. Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison! [TekniqueTheKingpin*com]
B.G., the former Cash Money Records rapper and a member of the group Hot Boys with Juvenile and Lil Wayne, was sentenced to 14 years in prison (as well as three years of supervised release following the completion of his sentence) after pleading guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, MTV reports.
The rappers, real name, Christopher Dorsey, was arrested back in 2009 along with two others when police stopped him in New Orleans and found three guns and a loaded magazine in the car. Two of the guns had previously been reported stolen, while it also turned out that the car had been stolen from an Alamo rental car parking lot.
Dorsey was convicted three times on felony drug charges between 1998 and 2003.
One of the other men arrested, 20-year-old Demounde Pollard, claimed that the guns were his, but police later determined that he did so at Dorsey’s request. Both Pollard and the third man, Jerod Fedison, pleaded guilty when the state criminal case moved to federal court, with Pollard recieving a 30-month prison sentence and Fedison receiving 20 years due to previous convictions.
During the trial, prosecutors attempted to link the MC to Telly Hankton and Walter Porter, two of New Orleans’ most high-profile murderers, whom Dorsey mentioned in online videos. The prosecution pointed to the clips as proof of his criminal activity in hopes of securing a 25-year prison term.
Dorsey’s attorney, however, said his client was simply “posturing and marketing” in the video, adding that while “many people would frown upon his art . . . it is art.”
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan said Dorsey’s “career has just been deplorable and sad,” and added that she believed the videos “may have contributed to the murders of young people” in New Orleans.
(Rolling Stone)
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NEWS: Young Buck Talks 18-Month Prison Sentence, Cash Money and MMG! [KingpinTV.net]
A whirlwind of events over the past several years caused Young Buck to be in the position that he’s in today—staring at 18 months in prison on weapon charges, a sentence that he’ll begin August 13.
Sitting on house arrest with a monitoring bracelet strapped around his ankle, Buck recently broke silence and exclusively spoke to XXL about having to turn himself in to begin his prison bid in less than a month.
“There were all the crazy things that happened to me in the last few years leading up to this situation I’m in today,” Buck told XXL. “My mindset moving forward is letting the past be the past. Don’t judge me behind what you think I am or what you thought I did or none of that. Pay attention to Buck because the man that I was yesterday ain’t the man that I am today.”
“I know whatever is at the end of the rainbow…it’s gotta be a pot of gold,” he added.
Buck’s certainly endured a downward spiral during the last several years, starting in 2005, when he accepted felony charges for his alleged stabbing of a man, who sucker-punched Dr. Dre at the 2004 Vibe Awards.
Accepting the charges would come back to bite the former G-Unit rap star five years later in 2010, when a federal raid on his Tennessee mansion for bankruptcy uncovered an old gun. Gun possession charges combined with alleged stabbing and the over $300,000 he owes to the IRS were responsible for Buck getting a three-year sentence, which the judge announced Friday (July 13) that he’ll allow the Cashville MC to serve the two counts concurrently through a year-and-a-half.
Sandwiched between the Federal raid and Friday’s sentence was Buck’s SUV being shot at 11 times in Nashville, Tennessee this past March. Miraculously, Buck walked away unscathed from the incident, but his girlfriend was hit once in the shoulder.
All this being said, it’s been an unbelievable turn of events for the rhyme slinger, who became an instant fan favorite with hits like “Let Me In” and “Shorty Wanna Ride” off his platinum-certified debut album, Straight Outta Cashville in 2004.
“I been put my situation in God’s hands a long time ago,” Buck said.
Buck is spending time with his family and working on music in the days leading up to his incarceration. A free agent, no longer signed to G-Unit, Buck is just looking forward to starting over and finding a new home. Months back, rumors spread of him signing with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group or his former label home, Cash Money. Buck told XXL that either imprint would be a good look.
“MMG has a real push for what they got going,” he said. “I came up with Cash Money, so just to see what they’re doing…”
“But the height of Buck is coming out this penitentiary,” he added.
(XXL)
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NEWS: Frank Ocean Opens Up On Sexuality! [TekniqueTheKingpin*com]
R&B singer and hip-hop artist Frank Ocean is the latest celebrity to open up about his sexuality, revealing to fans in a post on his Tumblr that his first love was a man.
The 24-year-old singer, who is also a member of the rap collective Odd Future, indicated that he’d originally intended to tell fans in the liner notes of his upcoming album, “Channel Orange,” but as rumors began to swirl he put a post on his Tumblr page instead.
“4 summers ago, I met somebody,” the singer wrote, referencing chatter that some of the love songs on his new album are about a man. “I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile.”
Ocean continued, “Sleep I would often share with him … By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiating to the women I had been with, the ones I cared for and thought I was in love with.”
Ocean also expressed pain that the man he had feelings for “wouldn’t tell the truth about his feelings for me for another 3 years.” He indicated that he kept the friendship going even as he struggled with their relationship.
Now, he said, he’s free.
“I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore … I was never alone, as much as it felt like it,” he wrote. “As much as I still do sometimes. I never was. I don’t think I ever could be. Thanks. To my first love, I’m grateful for you.”
The lead member and co-founder of Odd Future, Tyler, the Creator, went on Twitter early Wednesday to express his support for Ocean.
(CNN)
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NEWS: “I Just Might Be One Of The Last Artists That Really Cares About Hip-Hop”
West Coast rapper Game has dished out his thoughts on the rap game and why he may be the last of a dying breed of emcees who still maintains a strong passion for hip-hop.
From Game’s perspective, too many artists have become consumed with the luxurious aspects of having a rap career.
“I just think that every now and then in hip hop, there’s a dead space so we need some substance,” he tells Billboard.com’s The Juice. “I think that I just might be one of the last artists that really cares about hip hop and not rap, not the culture, not poppin’ bottles, not the cars, chains, broads, I just actually care about nurturing and giving back to this sort of foundation on which I grew up on, which is real hip-hop.” (Billboard)
The Black Wall Street leader also provided an update on his long-awaited R.E.D. Album release.
“The ‘R.E.D.’ album is going to remind everybody of what hip-hop is supposed to be in its prime,” says Game. “The ‘R.E.D.’ album will be the best album this year hands down. There’s nobody putting out an album this year that will even be able to compete with the skill level– the bar is gonna be set after this album drops. I guarantee it now from start to finish.” (Billboard)
Last summer, Game questioned the authenticity of rappers portraying a gangster lifestyle.
“All these people thinking they’re gangsta. And after the Rick Ross song [“B.M.F.”] everybody thinking they’re Big Meech again, Larry Hoover,” Game explained in an interview. “Nobody really should wanna be that or aspire to be that ’cause you’re gonna end up in a coffin. And trust me, man, most of these rappers, outside of me, 50 [Cent], and maybe Waka Flocka and some other muthaf*ckas, ain’t never felt bullets man, ain’t never had a brush with really actually having your life erased. So a lot of these rappers out here playing, man; that’s just not the message I’m trying to send across no more.” (Complex)
Earlier this month, Game debuted his “Red Nation” album single.
Red alert! Game paints the town red with “Red Nation,” the first single from his oft-delayed R.E.D. Album. The Cool & Dre-produced banger samples ZombieNation’s techno hit “Kernkraft 400” and features none other than Lil Wayne. “N*ggas would trade their soul to be Drake or J. Cole/Live and die for this sh*t, word to Tupac Shakur’s halo,” raps the Compton MC before the recognizable chorus kicks in. (Rap-Up)
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