Obie Trice Officially Leaves Shady Records

It is now official, Obie Trice has left Shady Records. In his new song “The Giant” where he disses Shady/Interscope Records, Obie makes it known that he was not getting paid enough at the label. Obie also makes it clear that he’s making more money than before and that he’s a real rapper; not mainstream like 50 Cent. The song is a little awkward and becomes a chore to listen to. He is a talented rapper and awaited his chance to shine for a painfully long time but this song probably won’t get him anywhere. Listen for the part where he calls Interscope Records “loco.” Ouch…

Obie Trice- The Giant

Wyclef Jean Working to Develop Haiti

When Wyclef Jean went to Haiti recently, he had in tow the television cameras you might expect of a big-time rapper and producer.But he also was accompanied by a pool of buttoned-down business types, including the likes of Canadian entrepreneur Belinda Stronach and other potential foreign investors.

The Haitian-born Jean, who rose to fame with the Fugees hip-hop group and became a homeland hero with his efforts to bring education and peace to the impoverished Caribbean nation, has set his sights on serious economic change.

The Grammy-winning musician said the poorest country in the Americas, roiled by food riots in April, needs foreign investment and help with sustainable development but not charity that could cause Haiti to become even more dependent.

“I understand that there is a food crisis that needs to be addressed urgently, but at the same time donors need to inject funds in projects likely to bring sustainable results,” he said.

Haiti, struggling to establish a stable government after a long history of political upheaval since a slave revolt threw off French rule two centuries ago, endured its latest turmoil when skyrocketing food prices triggered the ouster of the government nearly three months ago.

Jean, 35, said the most important contribution the international community could make to Haiti is to invest in agriculture, road projects and economic infrastructure.

“Charity will never solve Haiti’s problems,” he said. “Haitians want jobs, they want to develop their agriculture to produce food, not to everlastingly receive food assistance.”

Jean, who enjoys enormous respect in Haiti and was appointed last year by President Rene Preval to serve as a roving ambassador, was followed last week by a team from the U.S. TV news program “60 Minutes” for a show about the artist and his humanitarian work.

Amy Winehouse Climbs off Stage to Fight Fan and Disses Kanye West

Amy Winehouse was packing a punch at the Glastonbury music festival. After taking the stage Saturday, the troubled singer climbed down into the pit and scuffled briefly with a reveler. It was unclear what sparked the altercation but witnesses say a fan tried to grab Winehouse’s hair.

Winehouse sang for about an hour in front of an estimated crowd of 80,000, opening for Jay-Z. She also managed to blurt out “At least I’m not opening for a c**t like Kanye.”

After hearing the news, Kanye West replied with “THIS JUST IN… AMY WHINEHOUSE HATES ME!!! NOW I’VE REALLY MADE IT!!! LOL!!!!”

In the picture above, Winehouse is shown spitting gum at the same fan she punched in the crowd.

She shocked fans last week by performing at a special birthday concert for Nelson Mandela.

Here is the Kanye diss. The word c**t is actually censored with an animal noise. Surprisingly, these 10 words were the only ones anyone could understand throughout the concert.

By the looks of the video below, the above report is a little exaggerated. This is an overview of Jay-Z’s and Amy Winehouse’s performances at Glastonbury.

Amy’s performance of ‘Back to Black’ is a little screwy. Forgotten lyrics and zero dance moves. A random audience member could have performed the song better.

Model Dies from Apparent Suicide in Manhattan

A 20-year-old woman identified by local media as Kazakh supermodel Ruslana Korshunova plunged to her death from a Manhattan apartment on Saturday in an apparent suicide just before 2:30 PM.

Police said only that the five-foot-eight woman was discovered dead in front of an apartment building in downtown Manhattan, near the financial district and the South Street Seaport tourist area.

Korshunova had graced the covers of European editions of Elle and Vogue and walked the catwalks for designers including Betsey Johnson and Jill Stuart.

The window from which she fell had a balcony with construction netting around it that appeared to have been cut (see link below).

Witnesses described seeing her plunge from a ninth-floor balcony in the building on Saturday afternoon.

“All I saw was something moving out of the corner of my eye, and then boom. It sounded like a bass drum when she hit the ground”, said witness Steve Metzger, 36.

“I heard what sounded like a gunshot or a bomb or an explosion,” said a stunned Con Ed worker talking to a cop nearby before the beauty leaped.

“I looked down the street, and I say to the cop, ‘Did that person just get hit by a car?’ ” said the worker, who identified himself only as Patrick, 32, of Brooklyn.

The two men raced over. “Her arms were crushed,” Patrick said. “Her head was on the left side and blood was coming out in a pool.”

Local media, citing police sources, said there was no sign of a struggle inside her apartment and that Korshunova was believed to have leaped to her death.

A friend told The New York Post, however, that Korshunova had just returned from a modeling job in Paris and seemed “on top of the world.”

“There were no signs,” the unidentified friend was quoted as saying. “That’s what’s driving me crazy. I don’t see one reason why she would do that. I’m still in shock. The world lost a great person.”

“There’s no way she would have killed herself,” said her crying friend, Kira Titeneva. “She loved life so much.”

Witnesses to Korshunova’s deadly spill had no idea that the stunner - shoeless and dressed in blue jeans and a purple tank top - was a famous model but noticed her beauty right away.

Korshunova, a native of Kazakhstan, had been profiled in British Vogue in recent years as a new face to watch, and she was featured in ads by Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, and DKNY.

A spokesman for Korshunova’s agency, IMG, which also handles Heidi Klum and Kate Moss, said “We’re shocked and our heart goes out to her family,” the Daily News reported.

Korshunova, who had been sending money back to her parents in Kazakhstan, was in love with the city.

“She really liked New York,” said the friend. “People made her feel comfortable here.”

A doorman at her 12-story building - where Korshunova lived for months in a studio converted into a one-bedroom - said the model seemed happy when she came home about 4 a.m. Saturday.

“She came in this morning, she smiled, no sense of depression,” said Mahmoud Nakeeb, 45. “She was a very sweet girl, always smiling, never depressed-looking.”

Nakeeb said the green-eyed Korshunova was very down-to-earth, often dressed in simple pants and shorts. He had no clue she was an international model. “I feel bad,” he said. “My heart is broken.”

Korshunova’s doorman remembered the catwalker as “very soft-spoken.”

“She always said hi and bye,” he said. “She was beautiful, beautiful.”

Korshunova’s fall is still under police investigation.

Click here to view pictures of Korshunova, her balcony, and the scene of the tragedy.

Ruslana Korshunova in a Nina Ricci Perfume Commercial:

Nina Ricci Perfume Ad: The Making Of

Fan-made: Ruslana Korshunova Tribute

Discussion: Will Tila Tequila Retire After Her Show?

At 26 years old, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila star Tila Tequila is young. Not to mention that her rise to fame (or infamy) had been very quick. From allegedly starring in soft porn movies to acquiring gazillions of friends on MySpace to being featured in a magazine cover to finally doing A Shot at Love, the Houston-native has gone a long way. And if you’ve seen at least an episode of A Shot at Love, you know Tila likes it crazy and wild, and she enjoys every second of attention she can get.

She was, however, recently quoted by Entertainment Weekly as saying that once she was done with A Shot at Love, she was going to walk away from fame and just move to an island and have kids and just live a simple life.

What do you think?

Will she really retire?

Tila Tequila- Paralyze

Master P and Romeo’s Fashion Line in Wal-Mart Stores

Master P and his son, fellow hip-hop hit-maker Romeo, have agreed to relaunch their P. Miller Designs apparel line exclusively through Wal-Mart, Billboard has learned.The father-son duo’s brand of men’s apparel will be available at about 350 Wal-Mart stores starting in July and will include graphic T-shirts, fleece hoodies and fashion denims. The P. Miller line was last available at such retailers as Kohl’s and Mervyns “a few years ago,” Master P (aka Percy Miller) said.

The veteran rapper said that Wal-Mart was a logical vendor for P. Miller Designs, which he described as “high fashion at an affordable cost.” Master P said he has shifted most responsibilities for the clothing line to 18-year-old Romeo.

“Wal-Mart stands for everything P. Miller does,” he said. “It’s America and diversity. Our whole thing is price point. I want to put out affordable clothes where the masses can buy them.”

Wal-Mart’s partnership with a former gangsta rapper like Master P might seem surprising. But the hip-hop artist and entrepreneur has cleaned up his image in recent years, thanks in part to the success of Romeo (formerly Lil Romeo), who has charted with kid-friendly rap hits and starred in his own show on Nickelodeon.

Indeed, Wal-Mart’s sale of P. Miller Designs will be its second partnership with Master P. The big-box chain is the exclusive physical retailer of Master P and Romeo’s 2007 CD, “Miller Boyz: Hip-Hop History,” the first release on the elder rapper’s profanity-free Take a Stand Records imprint. (The album is also available for download at online music stores.)

Master P has launched other urban clothing lines through the years, including P. Miller Signature and P. Miller Shorties, a collection for children. Master P and Romeo won’t be the first celebrities to sell a branded apparel line exclusively through Wal-Mart, though. The retailer sells girls fashions named after tween sensations Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Verne Troyer is Suing TMZ for $20 Million for Playing Portions of his Sex Tape

Verne Troyer has filed a $20 million lawsuit, claiming TMZ violated his rights by publishing and airing portions of his sex tape.

In the suit, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in downtown L.A., Troyer claims TMZ violated his privacy rights and infringed on his copyright and trademark by running portions of the tape on TMZ TV and TMZ.com. He also alleges TMZ violated his right of publicity and misappropriated his name and likeness.

Troyer says the tape was stolen and ended up in the hands of Kevin Blatt, the guy who distributed “One Night in Paris.” Blatt is also named as a defendant.

In addition to damages, Troyer wants an injunction prohibiting further dissemination of the video.

Click here to see some of TMZ’s Sex Tape Footage

Ohio Man Accused of Stalking Two Teen Singers

Authorities have arrested a southeast Ohio man accused of stalking and threatening teen actress-singers Aly and AJ.Lancaster police say 42-year-old Rex Mettler is charged with felony menacing by stalking. Police say he made violent threats against 19-year-old Alyson Michalka and her 17-year-old sister, Amanda Michalka.

Aly starred in the former Disney Channel series “Phil of the Future.” Both appeared in the Disney Channel’s 2006 movie “Cow Belles.”

No attorney is listed for Mettler. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Fairfield County Municipal Court.

I hope the man wasn’t a fan of their music. They may have just lost their only fan over the age of 11. Here is Aly & AJ with ‘Like Whoa’

Wesley Snipes Petitions Court to Leave Country

Lawyers for Wesley Snipes are asking a Florida judge to let the 45-year-old actor leave the country while they appeal his three federal tax convictions.Snipes wants to work on two films, “Gallowwalker” and “Chasing the Dragon,” in London and in Bangkok, Thailand, according to documents filed Wednesday in federal court.

The documents say post-production editing of “Gallowwalker” is set to begin July 14th, and filming of “Chasing the Dragon” will start in September.

Snipes was sentenced in April to three years in prison on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns.

The government alleged that Snipes, star of the “Blade” trilogy, “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Jungle Fever” and other films, hasn’t filed a tax return since 1998.

Kanye West Defends Himself from Criticism after Bonnaroo

Kanye West defended himself from criticism over his delayed performance at Bonnaroo, saying on his blog that the flak he’s taken has left him “the most offended I’ve ever been.”West’s performance at the Tennessee festival was scheduled for 2:45 a.m. in the early morning of June 15. West didn’t take the stage until 4:25 a.m., angering much of the crowd who had stayed up late to see the rapper perform.

The delay was caused by problems setting up West’s elaborate stage set, which included an interplanetary landscape of a wavy black platform and a video screen above. Pearl Jam, who had performed on the main stage earlier that evening, also went an hour over its scheduled time. While waiting for West’s concert to begin, many in the crowd pelted the stage with glow sticks and beer.

At the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which traditionally has favored jam bands, West’s delayed show became a kind of rallying point, leading to “Kanye sucks” chants and criticism from pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph, who played later the same day.

Writing Tuesday on his blog at www.kanyeuniversity.com in almost all caps, West said he was offended that anyone would think he doesn’t care about his fans and blamed the delay on festival organizers.

“This Bonnaroo thing is the worst insult I’ve ever had in my life,” West wrote. “This is the most offended I’ve ever been … this is the maddest I ever will be.”

West was critical of the festival for not releasing a statement in his defense. The morning after the show, The Associated Press asked festival spokesman Ken Weinstein about the delay. Weinstein said it was simply a matter of unloading the Pearl Jam stage after its set (which went until about 1:15 a.m.) and loading the West stage.

In his blog posting, West said he and the festival organizers (Bonnaroo is put on by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment) went back and forth for a month on how his stage could fit at the festival. He said it was clear he was “dealing with … idiots who didn’t really have the capacity to really put on this show properly.”

Weinstein on Wednesday relayed a statement on behalf of the festival that did not specifically address West’s complaints but read: “Our world-class event production team strives to accommodate the needs of every performer.”

West also blamed thrown bottles for malfunctions with his “Jane screen.” (In the concept concert, Jane is the HAL-like disembodied female robotic voice of his spaceship.) But the stage crew appeared to be having difficulty with the screen well before anything was thrown from the crowd.

West’s set was originally scheduled for 8:15 p.m. the night of June 14, but the rapper requested it be moved later in the evening so it was sufficiently dark for his “glow-in-the-dark” performance. But because of the late start, midway through his performance the morning light began to show revealing a substantially thinned-out audience.

“It broke my heart that I couldn’t give these fans ‘Stronger’ in its greatest form,” said West, referring to his hit song. “I’m sorry to everyone that I didn’t have the ability 2 give the performance I wanted to. I’m sorry.”

West concluded by saying his elaborate stage cuts his payday in half and leaves him icing his knees.

“Call me what you want,” he said, “but never say I didn’t give my all!”

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