Eminem Covers XXL as The Punisher

via RapRadar

My vote for comeback of the year still goes to Cam. I don’t think he got it no more, but that’s just my opinion. Shady ain’t it?

On His Drug Addiction

“I wasn’t really mentally. I wasn’t ready to give up drugs. I didn’t really think I had a problem. Basically, I went in, and I came out. I relapsed, and I spent the next three years struggling with it. Also, at that time, I felt like I wanted to pull back, because my drug problem had got so bad. I felt like, Maybe if I take a break, maybe this will help. I started to get into the producer role more…I can still be out there with my music, like with the Re-Up album, but I don’t have to be in the spotlight the whole time.”

On Proof’s Death

“Everyone felt his loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me…Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it. I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became…By the way, I’m just now at the point where I’m better talking about it. It took me so long to get out of that place where I couldn’t even speak about it without crying or wanting to cry…Proof was the anchor. He was everything to D12. And not just the group-for me, personally, he was everything.”

On T.I., Lil Wayne & Hip-Hop

“I stayed up on the music, and obviously I watch TV and saw what was going on. And without naming any name, it just felt like hip-hop was going downhill. And it seemed like kinda fast. You know, in them three years, it was like everybody just cares about the hook and the beat; nobody really cares about substance. But with this new T.I. album, with this new Lil Wayne album of recent, it seems like things are looking a lot better now. You can appreciate Lil Wayne using different words to rhyme and actually rhyming words that you know. Or T.I., where you hear shit and you’re like Whoa, ah, I wish I would have thought of that! You know what I mean? Or you hear all the compound-syllable rhyming and all that. It just seems like now the craft is getting cared about more.”

EPIC FAIL: Phil Spector Found GUILTY!

WTF just happened?

via TheSmokingGun

APRIL 13–Phil Spector, the fright-haired music producer, was convicted today of second-degree murder in the February 2003 death of Lana Clarkson, a struggling actress who died of a gunshot wound in Spector’s Los Angeles home. The 69-year-old Spector, who faces 15 years in prison, was immediately taken into custody after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned its guilty verdict. Spector is pictured above in a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department mug shot taken today.

[pics] 10 DEEP: Spring 09′ Line Arrives

via Vault

Spring is in session, and 10 Deep has landed! We got a serious delivery from the line from Brooklyn. Everything from t-shirts, button ups, hoodies, and some light outwear are in. So “by any means necessary”, let’s get 10 DEEP!!!

Get Malcolm X on your chest!!!

[pics] Electrolime Air Jordan Force 6 (AJF 6)

via Vault Harlem

The Air Jordan Force 6 now comes in electrolime colorway, which features a white body and a black suede rear. Definitely something for the season as the weather gets better.

[video] Ever Cut Cheese in a Restaurant?

[video] Kain (The White Kid That Used To Be On Badboy Records) – Letter To Puff (Deep Track About Diddy Did Him Wrong)

Skeletons is jumping the f*ck out the closet over at Bad Boy, or so it seems…Kev reports “Kain was signed to Diddy for a couple of years and went double platinum with the remix with dream “this is me” were he was featured in the video with puff. this record is the whole situation that happened and him explaining why he left and why things went so sour. explains how he wrote Diddy’s songs and pretty much goes in on Diddy setting the record straight”

Buffet Putting His Weight Behind Electric Car of the Future

This can’t be good news for Detroit auto-makers, Buffet is shifting his resources across the globe to invest in the future of energy-efficient vehicles.

via CNN Money

(Fortune Magazine) — Warren Buffett is famous for his rules of investing: When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is usually the reputation of the business that remains intact. You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will. And perhaps most famously, Never invest in a business you cannot understand.

So when Buffett’s friend and longtime partner in Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), Charlie Munger, suggested early last year that they invest in BYD, an obscure Chinese battery, mobile phone, and electric car company, one might have predicted Buffett would cite rule No. 3 above. He is, after all, a man who shunned the booming U.S. tech industry during the 1990s.

But Buffett, who is 78, was intrigued by Munger’s description of the entrepreneur behind BYD, a man named Wang Chuan-Fu, whom he had met through a mutual friend. “This guy,” Munger tells Fortune, “is a combination of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch – something like Edison in solving technical problems, and something like Welch in getting done what he needs to do. I have never seen anything like it.”

Coming from Munger, that meant a lot. Munger, the 85-year-old vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is a curmudgeon who frowns on most investment ideas. “When I call Charlie with an idea,” Buffett tells me, “and he says, ‘That is really a dumb idea,’ that means we should put 100% of our net worth into it. If he says, ‘That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,’ then you should put 50% of your net worth into it. Only if he says, ‘I’m going to have you committed,’ does it mean he really doesn’t like the idea.”

This time Buffett asked another trusted partner, David Sokol, chairman of a Berkshire-owned utility company called MidAmerican Energy, to travel to China and take a closer look at BYD.

Last fall Berkshire Hathaway bought 10% of BYD for $230 million. The deal, which is awaiting final approval from the Chinese government, didn’t get much notice at the time. It was announced in late September, as the global financial markets teetered on the abyss. But Buffett and Munger and Sokol think it is a very big deal indeed. They think BYD has a shot at becoming the world’s largest automaker, primarily by selling electric cars, as well as a leader in the fast-growing solar power industry.

Wang Chuan-Fu started BYD (the letters are the initials of the company’s Chinese name) in 1995 in Shenzhen, China. A chemist and government researcher, Wang raised some $300,000 from relatives, rented about 2,000 square meters of space, and set out to manufacture rechargeable batteries to compete with imports from Sony and Sanyo. By about 2000, BYD had become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of cellphone batteries. The company went on to design and manufacture mobile-phone handsets and parts for Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500), Nokia (NOK), Sony Ericsson, and Samsung.

[video] Vin Diesel’s WHEELER Trailer

US Gov’t Braces for Surge in Delinquent Taxpayers

via Reuters

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – As a deep recession strips Americans of their jobs, homes and investments, the 2009 U.S. tax season promises to see a large uptick in first-time delinquent income taxpayers.

“Our calls are up 280 percent,” said Richard Boggs, founder and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Nationwide Tax Relief, a firm that helps delinquent taxpayers resolve tax issues.

“We’ve seen a huge rise in what we call the rookie delinquent taxpayer,” he said. “They are incredibly scared, and they have no idea what’s going to happen to them because, God bless them, they’ve never owed before.”

As the weak economy puts job security and a steady flow of income on a slippery slope, many are wary of the U.S. tax man, tax consultants say.

With household balance sheets under pressure, more U.S. households are having trouble keeping up with their day-to-day bills and struggling to pay their taxes.

Allure Mag Presents ‘Stripped-Down’ Celebrities…Nude Issue

via Allure

Padma Lakshmi from Top Chef

Chelsea Handler from Chelsea Lately

Sharon Leal, former Guiding Light actress

Lynn Collins actress

Eliza Dushku actress

Mixtape DJs Make A Site Going After Lil Wayne & Cash Money Records

via RealTalkNY

Ecko Hanging on by a Thread, Drowning in Debt

via NY Post

Hip-hop clothing designer Marc Ecko — who famously bought Barry Bonds’ controversial record-breaking home-run ball and put an asterisk on it — is now in danger of being caught in a squeeze himself.

Ecko has hired investment bank Peter J. Solomon to help refinance at least $170 million in debt owed to two key business partners, sources told The Post. With lenders scarce, sources say his empire may be dismantled as he sells off assets to pay creditors.

After a disastrous holiday season that forced heavy markdowns at department stores including Macy’s — where Marc Ecko is the largest supplier of young men’s clothing — sources said the company owes more than $100 million to Li & Fung, a global trading company that helps manufacture Marc Ecko’s inventory.

To make matters worse, Marc Ecko has defaulted on a term loan of more than $70 million from a syndicate led by commercial-lending giant CIT, sources said.

[video] Rick Ross Visits the Colombian House Where Pablo Escobar got Killed

Ricky Ross has taken his “Boss” campaign to another notch by venturing South of the border for his next video, “All I Want” featuring The Dream.

While in South America, the Mayor of Miami took a trip to the spot in Medellin where Pablo Escobar got rubbed out. Now, the audio isn’t the greatest but listen close and you can hear Ross transform into an expert on all-thing “Escobar.”

Rick Ross & Avery Storm in Medellin, Colombia

Gunplay, Torch, Rick Ross, Avery Storm & Big Teach

Shout out to Big Teach and Avery Storm for this one.

Obama eases Cuba travel restrictions

via CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Obama lifted all restrictions Monday on the ability of individuals to visit relatives in Cuba, as well as to send them remittances.
The move represents a significant shift in a U.S. policy that had remained largely unchanged for nearly half a century. It comes days before Obama leaves for a key meeting of hemispheric powers, the Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad and Tobago.

“President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country’s future,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Obama also ordered new steps to promote the “freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people,” Gibbs added.

The president took “these steps [in part] to help bridge the gap among divided Cuban families.”

[video] WTF? Guest faints during Glenn Beck’s(Fox News) show

I guess he could not take listening to Glenn Beck more than 5 minutes.

UPDATE :[audio] Jamie Foxx Slams Miley Cyrus “Do Some Heroin… Catch Chlamydia… ” (NSFW)

Well here goes that apology that I predicted a couple days back.

I envision an apology in 5,4,3,2…

XXL XXclusive: Rick Ross, Under Oath

via XXL

XXLMag.com: How did you come up with that line about 50′s baby mama and burning down the house? ‘Cause that was the thing that triggered him.

Rick Ross: Most definitely. And what it was, it was a true statement. I was just smoking at home watching the news just like everybody else.

XXL: Did you know he would come back at you with something?

Ross: Of course. That’s why I did it.

XXL: That’s why you did it?

Ross: Of course. You gotta understand this is chess not checkers. You gotta understand a man’s next moves. When a woman is scorned, you have to understand that there’s gonna be a backlash, which is totally fine. I was… As far as him responding, I’m still a little disappointed in the quality of music that’s being released. ‘Cause at the end of the day, all the hoopla, you smoke a blunt, forget about it and people wanna put on they headphones and hear some quality. I’m one of the first artists to admit Get Rich or Die Tryin‘ was a classic. But if I turn back the hands of time five years ago, if I knew the dude who did “Many Men” would wear wigs and buy dildos and, you know, attack people that I look at as legends, such as Jadakiss and the LOX and the list could go on…

XXL: So were you just upset with him attacking everybody else and that made you-

Ross: Nah, it’s not that. It’s not a fact about nobody being upset because his last attacks have relatively failed. So it wasn’t about that. It was just about me deciding when I was ready to engage in 50 Cent.

[video] Common’s AMP Energy Drink Commercial+Diesel Ad

Yeah, according to Cam, Crime Pays but hard work pays out as well (in residuals at that!).  Common has reached his apex as a rapper, is entering his plateau as an actor and these days it seems he is definitely the pitchman of choice for corporations looking to integrate with the Hip Hop dollar.  While some think he is on the cusp of over saturation, I for one beg to differ.  I remember the dedication he put into his craft and those checks are finally pouring in.  Congrats. 

source: Nahright/Woooha

[video] MTV Shows 5 Profile Characters For Wolverine

Spotted this great promo at Latino Review via MTV for the forthcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie that is still set to be the blockbuster it was intended to be before the mysterious leak of the unfinished movie. Can’t wait!!

(Top to Bottom)Wolverine, Sabretooth,Gambit, Wade,Wraith,

more about “untitled“, posted with vodpod

M.Reck -Website Killa Feat. Milian Blu

more about “M.Reck -Website Killa Feat. Milian Blu“, posted with vodpod

Chris Brown’s new R&B chick(Natalie Mejia)?

The good folks over at Thisis50 are reporting that Chris Brown aka Chris Breezy has a new girl and that she is from the group Girlicious. Do we even care? Anyway as Rihanna is back clubbing and partying while Chris is still hiding which makes him look even more guilty. Chris come out apologize and stop the bleeding so you can have some sort of career in the near future.

via Thisis50

Chris Brown has a new piece! The two were seen exiting a Tattoo Parlor in Hollyweird yesterday. The new victim is Natalie Mejia from the Pussycat Dolls girl group, Girlicious. Looks like Breezy is going out for some Mexican eating.

[video] ESPN: The Competitive Drive of MJ

With all of these introspective looks into our iconic greats, past & present (MJ, Tyson & Lebron) I’m hoping that upcoming athletes, rappers, professionals and students are taking note. These men are testaments to hard work, perseverance and determination. Now they are offering up the keys to their success.

[video] Redman Freestyle

I must say, Red sounds like he didn’t miss a step. I think Hip Hop needs to pass a law, that if two rappers group up to create lyrical wizardry then they shouldn’t be allowed to pursue solo careers. This goes for Red & Meth and Rae & Ghost. Lets rush this bill through legislation and make it law, ASAP.

source: Nahright

[video] World’s Smallest BodyBuilder

The Sun reports “33-inch tall Romeo shows off chin-up and weightlifting skills”

Immortal Technique Returns From Afghanistan

via Allhiphop

Harlem rapper Immortal Technique, best known for his hugely influential underground albums Revolutionary V. 1, Revolutionary V.2 and The 3rd World, has just returned to the United States from a two week voyage to Afghanistan.

The rapper personally participated in opening of the Amin Institute.

The Amin Institute partnered with San Francisco’s OMEID International to serve the children of Afghanistan as an orphanage, school and medical facility.

Immortal Technique helped finance the project by performing in benefit concerts as well as donating his own money.

While in Afghanistan, Immortal Technique helped with final construction on the institute, gathered supplies, hired staff and spread the word.

Lupe Fiasco to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for Charity

via Allhiphop

In an effort to bring awareness to the worldwide water crisis, Chicago lyricist Lupe Fiasco has confirmed plans to ascend Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro.

Fiasco was recruited for the stunt by Ethiopian pop singer Kenna, whose father nearly perished as a child due to a lack of clean drinking water.

“My dad almost died as a child from waterborne diseases in Ethiopia, and he had talked to me about digging a well there,” Kenna explained to Elle Magazine. “I thought, ‘I have too many friends who would be concerned with the subject of clean water.’ Maybe I can help out.”

Mount Kilimanjaro boasts the highest peak on the African continent at 19, 330 feet. Most routes to the top of the mountain take a maximum of 6 to 7 days.

Although the voyage is a popular retreat amongst climbers, the journey is not without its dangers.

HIP HOP’s HOTTEST HONEYS- Rosa Acosta

I saw this beauty posted over at RealTalk and personally elected her to represent this week’s Hip Hop’s Hottest Honey. I was actually looking for a flick of her with some clothes on to see if she exudes the same sexiness in 3/4th’s of clothe, but I couldn’t find none so we’ll have to settle for this.

HAL Robotic Suits Rumored to be Mass Produced for $4,200

via Engadget

Years after the HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) suit first debuted, it seems that Cyberdyne’s pride and joy is about to get really real. According to a report over at HPlus Magazine, the company is linking up with Daiwa House in order to “begin mass production” of the cybernetic bodysuit.

You already know what it does — inflates the ego, boosts your strength and scores you loads of nerd dates — but here’s the crucial part: $4,200. Of course, there’s no hard date on when the first of the 400 annual units produced will be made available, but we’d probably get up with someone about a pre-order if you’re serious about going bionic.

[exotic whips] 2009 Lamborghini Murcielago

This is that pretty work of Italian engineering that they showed Jada in over the weekend. You can catch a clear visual of this Bad Boy if you’re in NY, down at the Javits…the Auto Show is in town!

Ato Matsumoto Hiker Sneakers

These remind me of the Air Yeezy’s something awful, and I would actually throw a pair of these on before I chuck up two and change to the “Gay Fish.”   Well, on second-thought…

Steering away from his patented Hi-Strap sneakers, Ato Matsumoto gives us a look into another model from his Japanese brand. This latest Hiker Sneaker takes hints from outdoors footwear along with some influence from the traditional athletic sneaker. Mixing it up with premium leather and patent, this new joint comes in a white/black and reverse black/white colorway. Now available via ZOZOTOWN.

source: Hypebeast

[audio] Nas- LEGENDARY (Tyson Tribute)

Nas- LEGENDARY

CLICK [HERE] for AUDIO

Here goes Nasir’s ode to the People’s Champ Mike Tyson, purportedly included in the upcoming bio.

*snatched from nahright*

Meet the Off-Duty Cop that Saved Lil Wayne’s Life

via NOLA/by way of RealTalk

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Robert Hoobler, a former New Orleans Police officer, stands in front of the apartment where Grammy-winning musician Lil’ Wayne once lived in the Hollygrove area of New Orleans. It is the same home where Hoobler carried out a bloodied Lil’ Wayne after he was shot when he was 12 years old. Hoobler saved Lil’ Wayne’s life by driving him to a nearby hospital.

Lil Wayne never would have made it had it not been for big Robert Hoobler.

The celebrated New Orleans rapper would have bled to death on the floor of his mother’s Hollygrove apartment the afternoon of Nov. 11, 1994, at just 12 years old, after accidentally shooting himself in the chest while playing with a 9 mm handgun.

If not for Hoobler, the New Orleans police officer who cradled the bleeding boy in the back of a squad car that day on the way to the hospital, the Grammy-winning superstar would never have made the cover of the current issue of Rolling Stone.

The shooting, part of the Lil Wayne lore, has been chronicled before, but not its details, nor the tale of the man who saved his life: a 6-foot, 7-inch, 330-pound officer who responded to the shooting while off-duty, as was his habit.

That nearly fatal day, according to police records, 12-year-old Dwayne Carter Jr. left school early because it was report card day. He bought a hamburger, fries and soft drink from Burger King on his way home to 3409 Monroe St., Apartment D. He sat on the mattress in the master bedroom and began eating. But he stopped when he noticed a blue-steel Taurus 9 mm handgun.

XBox 360 Elite Bundle Rumored to Include Halo 3 & Fable 2 for $400

via Engadget

Don’t get all loony just yet — this one’s still a long, long way from panning out — but ArsTechnica has it from a reliable mole that Microsoft is gearing up to ship an even more attractive Xbox 360 Elite. One that comes bundled with hits Halo 3 and Fable 2 for the same $400 that the console alone runs you now.

We already heard last month that Microsoft was considering phasing out the standard Elite in favor of bundled “limited edition” models, so that certainly jibes. Though, we will caution you that the last time Ars’s mole spoke of console price drops, he / she didn’t completely nail it. While said mole did accurately suggest that a $400 PS3 would hit America before the 2007 holiday rush (it happened in late October of that year), the whole “$100 PS2″ thing took a full two years to come to fruition. Then again, E3 is just around the bend…

[video] Spike Lee’s Kobe Bryant Documentary, “Doin Work,” Preview

via RealTalkNY

Hussein’s chrome AK-47 being returned to Iraq

via AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal customs agents say a pearl-handled AK-47 that belonged to Saddam Hussein is being sent back to Iraq.

The weapon had been in the hands of the U.S. Army. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the automatic rifle is chrome-plated and has a photo of Hussein near the sight.

ICE spokesman Lou Martinez said Friday that the Iraqi government had recently requested the return of the rifle. ICE traced it to Fort Lewis in Washington state.

ICE agent Peter J. Smith calls the AK-47 “a priceless symbol of Iraqi history.”

The Army had planned to put the weapon in a museum. Martinez says the military cooperated fully with its return.

Deadbeat Dad of 14 Jailed for Half-a-Mil in Child Support

via MLive

FLINT, Michigan — Fourteen children by 13 different women in Genesee County and more than $530,000 in unpaid child support.

Even in a county with $700 million in uncollected child support, Thomas Frazier may hold the unenviable title of biggest deadbeat dad.

After years of dodging support payments, Frazier was thrown in jail this week and given the choice of doing 90 days or coming up with about $28,000.

Before leaving the Flint area in 2002, Frazier amassed court cases for 14 children born since 1989 and has not paid any money on any of his Genesee County child support cases in at least the past six years, according to court records.

Frazier, 42, portrays himself as the victim.

The victim of a system that he says saddled him with debt for children he claims aren’t all his and the victim of a poor upbringing that he said caused him to seek affection from older women.

“I tried to find someone who would love me for me,” said Frazier, who believes he may have fathered his first child at age 15.

Doctors to introduce microchip that tells if you’ve taken your pills

We attended a Fortune 500 conference in November of 2006 and this was one of the topics of discussion. They were telling people to take their money out of BigPharma and put it in BioMeds because this technology will be the wave of the future. By the looks of things, I can tell they wasn’t lying.

via DailyMail

Microchips in pills could soon allow doctors to find out whether a patient has taken their medication.

The digestible sensors, just 1mm wide, would mean GPs and surgeons could monitor patients outside the hospital or surgery.

Developers say the technology could be particularly useful for psychiatric or elderly patients who rely on a complicated regime of drugs – and are at risk if they miss a dose or take it at the wrong time.

It could also be used for the chronically ill, such as people with heart disease, to establish whether costly drugs are working or whether they are causing potentially dangerous side effects.

The sensors could even remind women to take the Pill if they forget.

The ‘intelligent’ medicine works by activating a harmless electric charge when drugs are digested by the stomach.

This charge is picked up by a sensing patch on the patients’ stomach or back, which records the time and date that the pill is digested. It also measures heart rate, motion and breathing patterns.

The information is transmitted to a patient’s mobile phone and then to the internet using wireless technology, to give a complete picture of their health and the impact of their drugs.

NYPD to Test Camera Guns

via Animal

New York State Police will begin testing gun-mounted video cameras this year, with the hope that the footage “can eventually help clear cops or vindicate victims involved in police shootings around the state.”

While we applaud the move and attempt at transparency, it’s the NYPD that should really be experimenting with these, as well as cameras mounted on batons, fists, walkie-talkie antennas, and tasers too

[video] Assasin – Same Thing Again

VP reports “Hot new video from the Lady Killer, Assassin, you know di Girls Dem Gwan Wild Fi Dis one ya.”

Tesla’s Roadster Rolls 241 Miles on Single Charge! The Days of Petro are Doomed

via Engadget

If one drives the Roadster “as it was intended to be driven,” you’ll probably only get around 125 miles out of it before things slowly grind to a halt. If you toss on your economy shoes and take things a bit easier, it’s apparently possible to get well over 200 miles on a single charge.

As the story goes, Tesla’sfirst all-electric whip managed to cruise 241 miles in a Monte Carlo e-rally, running from the town of Valance in France to the Principality of Monaco. Better still, the vehicle’s battery meter showed 36 miles left on the “tank” when it crossed the finish line, giving it a theoretical range of around 280 miles.

If all these figures hold up under critical scrutiny, Tesla will set the world record for the longest distance traveled by a production EV on a single charge. Now, if only it could set the world record for most EVs actually produced by an EV company, we’d really feel the need to celebrate.