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SAN FRANCISCO -- Nine people were shot and wounded after a fight broke out outside a concert in San Francisco, authorities said today. ... Police did not report any problems inside the sold-out concert, KMEL House of Soul.

* Russia's powerful PM Putin meets local rappers * Rappers chant: "Respect, Vladimir Vladimirovich" MOSCOW(Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rubbed shoulders with rappers and was hailed with "respect" in a television show on Friday that could help boost his flagging ratings. Putin, wearing a turtleneck sweater and jacket, went on stage to present awards to participants in "Battle for Respect", a hip-hop music contest run by Muz TV, a Russian rival to MTV. "It would have been cool to record a joint track with Vladimir Putin because he is a legendary man and our idol," sang rapper Zhigan...

For more than two hours on a dark Saturday night, as many as 20 people watched or took part as a 15-year-old California girl was allegedly gang raped and beaten outside a high school homecoming dance, authorities said. As hundreds of students gathered in the school gym, outside in a dimly lit alley where the victim was allegedly raped, police say witnesses took photos. Others laughed. "As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated," Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department told CNN. The witnesses failed to report...

Great video from PJTV

Orchid Nightclub is crying racism but ready to comply with a selectman’s apparent demand that they stop playing hip-hop music. The flareup comes in the wake of a triple shooting early yesterday in the Saugus nightclub’s parking lot. “It’s absolutely a racial statement. It makes me think the same thing you’re thinking,” said the club’s consultant, Anthony Cagliano, a former Saugus selectman. “I know the town has made it clear they’re not a fan of hip-hop music and the audience that hip-hop brings,” he said. “So we will get away from the hip-hop scene, which is unfair to the clientele.”...

This idea of freedom of speech is going to far with this Tea Party Express. White people in RV driving from city to city disrupting the townhouse meetings. Everyone wants and needs healthcare but the wealthy wants tax cuts, they can pay for healthcare for themselves and others. It won't stiphened their income. I think President Obama's Healthcare reform is great it allows people who can't afford healthcare to have it. That what the Hatians do. It's not socialism it's called taking care of your country so we can stand strong against the enemy. This capital government is a mess,...

Lemme cut to the chase, Kanye West is phony as was his contrived outburst when he rushed the stage to disrupt an acceptance speech from country singer Taylor Swift, during last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. It was a perfectly executed stunt which was designed to make national headlines (which it did). It was designed to become among the top trending topics in twitter and one of the hot key words in google (which it is). It was obviously designed to take away attention from issues at hand as Kanye’s outburst overshadowed many of the performances and presenters including the...

Concert canceled after gays' protest Saturday, September 12, 2009 3:25 AM By Kevin Joy THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion has canceled an Oct. 3 show featuring reggae singer Buju Banton after protests by advocates for Columbus' gay community. Taking issue with some content in the singer's music, several groups -- including Equality Ohio and Stonewall Democrats of Ohio -- circulated an e-mail yesterday urging people to voice their disapproval and shut down the show. "The targeted audience for his message and the proximity to the OSU campus neighborhood creates a tangible threat to the safety and well-being …...

By now, everyone and they mama has heard that controversial green jobs adviser Van Jones has been forced to resign from his white house job. There are many differing takes on the subject, from ultra-rightwing commentators like Glenn Beck and his Fox News cohorts, to the liberal lefties over at HuffPo and Alternet. Whatever your take on Jones as an individual and green jobs in general, there's no question that the media frenzy surrounding him has been deafening. Earlier today, Davey D's website posted a new video by rapper Jasiri X called "The Crucifixion of Van Jones," which intersperses video...

The strange and sad case of Michael Vick got a bit stranger this week when the newly-signed Eagles quarterback appeared on 60 Minutes -- complete with a spokesman from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) -- to deliver his obligatory mea culpa to a waiting world. What makes this incident stranger than most is that America's love of animals, specifically dogs, has trumped the heretofore indestructible use of racism as a defense for wrongdoing and so has not saved Mr. Vick from the wrath of millions. Accusations of racism have long been employed to excuse the behavior of...

Do you know how I know you’re gay? You just read this essay in Slate about the rap meme “no homo.” The phrase, in case you’re not familiar with it, is commonly appended to lines in rap that could possibly be interpreted as, well, gay. The essay — which gives a nice primer on the phenomenon, including how it originated as a way for rappers to distance themselves from closeted “down-low brothers” — argues that there’s a possibility that it’s “helping to make hip-hop a gayer place.” Once upon a time, the story goes, rappers would go around telling other...

Inarguably, hip hop (rap) is one of the leading pop music genres; at least, it is one of the loudest. I did not know which hip hop singer to choose (I do not know any), so I queried Billboard magazine and found, at the time of this writing, a man named “Drake” to hold the top spot in that category, indicating his popularity, at least currently. I searched for “Drake lyrics” and was directed to this site (it was first in the listings), where I navigated to the album that came up first on a YouTube search. Feel free to...

TMZ has just obtained video footage of the heated confrontation between Perez Hilton and Will.I.Am -- in which Perez can clearly be heard calling the Black Eyed Pea a "f**king f*ggot." The footage begins in the middle of the verbal altercation outside an after-party for a music award show in Toronto -- moments after Hilton claims Will went after him like a "heat-seeking missile" and unleashed a verbal tirade at him. With a crowd surrounding Perez, Will and Will's manager, Polo -- the guys argue back and forth for about a minute, until Perez tells Will, "you're not a f**king...

Buoyed by Barack Obama’s election as president, a group of hip-hop artists and other activists is taking to Capitol Hill — trying to harness the wave of support for Obama among young voters into an ongoing political force. The group, the Hip Hop Caucus, has a nine-member Washington office — but its real reach comes from its ability to harness the power of hip-hop artists to put a famous face on issues and draw in their young, multicultural fans. In the next few weeks, the caucus will see a bill it fashioned with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) be introduced —...

Buoyed by Barack Obama’s election as president, a group of hip-hop artists and other activists is taking to Capitol Hill — trying to harness the wave of support for Obama among young voters into an ongoing political force. The group, the Hip Hop Caucus, has a nine-member Washington office — but its real reach comes from its ability to harness the power of hip-hop artists to put a famous face on issues and draw in their young, multicultural fans. In the next few weeks, the caucus will see a bill it fashioned with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) be introduced —...

“The roots of hip-hop subculture are demonic, and are similar to other subcultures with an antiestablishment, “Down with the man” mentality. Fatherless-ness, rebellion, oppression, anguish, poverty, violence, and other negative influences created this subculture.” – G. Craig Lewis G. Craig Lewis gets real about the Rap and Hip-Hop subculture in the world. The devil is trying to erase lines that divide holiness from godlessness – and he’s using hip hop to do it. So says G. Craige Lewis, founder of EX Ministries. Lewis is shouting from the rooftops about the Satan’s strategy to infiltrate the Church of Jesus Christ with...

LONDON (CNN) -- The latest video from Somalia's al Qaeda-backed Al-Shabaab wing is as slickly produced as a reality TV show but with a startling message -- complete with a hip-hop jihad vibe. Experts think Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, dubbed "The American" by al Qaeda, speaks in the Somali video. "Mortar by mortar, shell by shell, only going to stop when I send them to hell," the unidentified voice raps on the video, which runs at least 18 minutes. The video also shows a man reported to be Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, dubbed "The American" by al Qaeda. He apparently is now...

Kanye West has told fans he's working on playing down his "crazy ego" after being ridiculed in a new episode of "South Park." In a blog on his official site, Kanyeuniversecity.com, the 31-year-old rapper wrote: "South Park murdered me last night and it's pretty funny. It hurts my feelings but what can you expect." The episode of the merciless Comedy Central cartoon, entitled "Fishsticks," has a character based on West attempt to tap into his "genius" superpowers to solve a schoolyard joke that only he doesn't find funny. Famous for his over-the-top rants and temper tantrums, West finally appears to...

A judge has sentenced Rapper T.I. to one year and a day behind bars on federal weapons charges. The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was sentenced Friday. He will have between 30 and 60 days to report to prison. He already has completed about 1,000 hours of community service and has warned youths about the pitfalls of guns, drugs, violence. He will need to complete 470 more hours. Harris pleaded guilty last March after he was arrested in 2007, attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. The arrest happened blocks away from where he was to...

Michael Steele, the new Chairman of the Republican Party, has said some things about hip hop which have caused quite a stir. According to Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, whose political expertise everyone takes very seriously, Michael Steele "wants to redefine conservatism; he wants to make it hip hop, put it in a new package and sell it." What Joe the Plumber fails to realize is that, in its heart, hip hop really is conservative.

The Evil Conservative celebrates individuality, and one guy that fits that bill for sure is Republican rapper Hi-Caliber - You don't have to like rap music or hip-hop to dig his stuff... check it when Hi-Caliber talks with EC.

A hip hop artist's visit to a Dallas middle school has sparked controversy. It's not what he said, or what he did, but what students went home with that's drawing concern. National hip hop artist Gorilla Zoe visited Pearl C. Anderson Junior High School on Friday. He was there for a motivational speech but left students with a poster that has some questionable content and left parents wondering why the school allowed it. This poster contained the cover shot for Gorilla Zoe's new album, showing the rapper smoking, drinking and packing a pistol in his pocket. Pearl C. Anderson is...

A self-proclaimed music artist was shot and killed by police Monday evening after he refused to leave his attic and pulled out a weapon when police attempted to arrest him, according to officials. Anthony Levy, 30, was wanted by Miami-Dade police for premeditated attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was also wanted by Miami-Dade School Board police for aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm on school property. Miami-Dade police said investigators attempted to apprehend Levy at a Miami Gardens home Monday afternoon, but Levy would not leave the house. Investigators then called in...

Omaha police and the Douglas County Attorney's Office are investigating whether the shooting deaths of two people Tuesday night were justified. A 16-year-old boy, who told his family that he was going to pick up a mouth grill he had ordered with Christmas money, was one of the two killed inside an Omaha business, relatives said Wednesday. Marcel Davis, a Northwest High School sophomore, had planned to wear his new grill at a funeral Wednesday, a great-aunt said. Instead, the family is mourning his death after police confirmed what relatives already knew: Davis was shot to death at the Midwest...

A party celebrating the release of a movie about the life of Biggie Smalls ended with four people being stabbed in the rapper's home borough today, cops said. The men were hurt around 3:25 a.m. at the event in Canarsie's Djumbala Club, on 1370 Ralph Avenue, which was billed as the "official afterparty" for the movie "Notorious." The film opened across the country on Friday. Three of the men were described as in stable condition in Brookdale Hospital. The fourth was in critical condition after being stabbed several times.

Many people have their feelings on what Hip Hop is, but not many have ever heard a Christian Hip Hop artist...

Echo Park resident Joseph Lee doesn't necessarily look like the leader of a musical movement. Blanketed in thug-like tattoos, a menacing goatee and often photographed in bandanna and Tupac Shakur tee, Lee could easily pass for a long-lost member of Cypress Hill. Yet under the sobriquet Deadlee, Lee is arguably Los Angeles' most prominent gay rapper, having helped organized the first national "homo-hop tour." In spite of frequent censure from the greater hip-hop community, a vibrant gay hip-hop subculture has evolved -- both locally and nationally -- with the clear-cut goals of defying bigotry and realizing self-expression. Los Angeles has...

A Swedish hip-hop artist and songwriter has been arrested following a road-rage confrontation on a Hollywood street in which a pedestrian died. Authorities say David Moses Jassy, a 34-year-old musician also known as Dave Monopoly, was to be arraigned today on charges of assault, battery and leaving the scene of a deadly accident. Prosecutors claim that the victim, John Osnes, slapped Jassy's rented sport utility vehicle on Sunday when it crept into his right of way as he crossed the road. Jassy then got out of his car, punched Osnes in the face then kicked him in the head when...

The mainstream press steadfastly refuses to delve into Barack Obama’s radicalism, his Leftist revolutionary collaboration with self-identified communists from Frank Marshall Davis to Bill Ayers. The McCain campaign, moreover, has contributed mightily to the whitewash by ineptly seizing on the issue’s least important aspect: Obama’s abject dishonesty about the depth of his relationships with committed Leftists — e.g., the portrayal of Ayers as just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” (Petrified of being smeared as a racist, McCain has never mentioned Davis, whom Obama identifies only as “Frank” in his memoir. And, of course, utterance of Jeremiah Wright’s name...

YouTube interview from February with Obama talking about his respect for hip hop. Especially JayZ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFSVG7jRp_g

[Phoenix] - John McCain made it clear who his daddy was Monday morning. Daddy Yankee, the hip-hop star from Puerto Rico, endorsed the Republican candidate Monday morning. Wearing black aviator shades in the library of Central High School here, Daddy Yankee said, “I believe in his ideals and his proposals to lead this nation…He’s been a fighter for the Hispanic community.”

T.I. is joining the Hip Hop Caucus for the newly announced Respect My Vote! campaign to register and mobilize voters: "The campaign, led by T.I. will employ other celebrities, athletes and high profile influential figures to get out the vote in a variety of ways including PSAs for radio, television and online use; in person appearances; press events; mobile and email alerts from celebrities themselves; and an aggressive online campaign." "Famed photographer Jonathan Mannion has been exclusively tapped to shoot portraits of the famous faces adoring the "Respect My Vote!" slogan and t-shirt produced by forthcoming AKOO clothing line as...

If Barack Obama is the most admired black man in America right now, it may be no exaggeration to say that John McWhorter is a candidate for the unpopularity prize. Which is an odd thing to say about a courteous academic from the arcane realm of linguistics. Yet by venturing onto the mean streets of hiphop with a dispassionate critique of a multimillion-dollar industry, he risks becoming a target of drive-by shootings by enraged academics, book reviewers and bloggers. McWhorter is not all that surprised that critics have given him a pummelling. He lets out a sigh of resignation: “By...

nearly hemorrhaged when Lil’ Wayne approached the microphone at the 2008 BET Awards saying, “I am nothing without God, baby! I just want to say thank God, thank my family and thank Universal.” What god is he thanking? Does he worship some ancient god named “Misogyny?” There is a serious disconnect in the hip hop community that allows rappers to evoke the name of God in thanks while producing music that celebrates evil.

It was an Obama lovefest at the Black Entertainment Television awards last night. Puff Daddy/P Diddy/whatever chanted “Obama or die” and urged his peers to elect the “first black president.” Alicia Keys, last heard spreading conspiracy theories about the government killing Tupac and Biggie and creating gangsta rap to perpetuate black genocide, yelled “Obama, y’all!” It was one big race-based ad for Obama. So, who’s obsessing about his race? Oh, yeah. All of us non-black bigots!

Stars like P.Diddy and Alicia Keys rallied up to show their support for Obama at the BET awards on Tuesday. Diddy got on stage and started chanted "Obama or Die." He told the crowd, "If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America." Diddy wasn't the only one overexcited about the possibility of having Obama as our next president. As Alicia Keys picked up her award for Best Female R+B Artist, she said, "Together we can do anything," before adding, "Obama y'all!"

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALICIA KEYS Just in case you didn't know it, Alicia Keys has informed us that Gangsta Rap was invented, apparently by white people, to get black people to kill each other. Also ... just in case you were aware of the bi-coastal feud between Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. ... that was a plot by the government and the media "to stop another great black leader from emerging."

Connoisseurs of political embarrassment might remember the toe-curling scenes as Tony Blair and the Queen grimaced their way through Auld Lang Syne in the Millennium Dome eight years ago. But that’s nothing compared with what awaits Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson at the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony. They will be ‘treated’ to a group of hoodies gyrating to hip-hop music – in a segment intended to celebrate our national identity. For the British political delegation, it will be a test of nerve – do they dare to stay stony-faced as Rap-on-zel, Jaxx and DJ Spinderella rap about life in an...

A Cook County jury on Friday acquitted R&B superstar R. Kelly of child pornography charges, marking the end of a high-profile trial rich in courtroom drama and celebrity intrigue. The 41-year-old singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, long denied charges that he videotaped himself engaging in a variety of sex acts with his then-underage goddaughter. Authorities said the female in the video could have been as young as 13 at the time. The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for 7 ½ hours before finding Kelly not guilty on all 14 counts. As the verdicts kept coming...

There was black, there was white, and then there was black and white: jazz and rock and electric blues and stuff so new you couldn’t categorize it. All along, there was wondrous pandemonium, fevered mingling, one tribe swapping their pretty beads and shiny mirrors for the pelts and dried fish of another. For that we should be grateful, or at least resigned, because American culture has one great theme—race—and one great art form—pop music—and the two will always be inseparable. Race and pop music will always be the twin helices of America’s cultural DNA, or so I would like to...

Barack Obama will be appearing on the new Q-Tip album, according to the rapper. The former A Tribe Called Quest star tells the Guardian, "I've got Norah Jones on there, but Barack is the big one. You'll see what happens, I can't reveal too much." Also set to appear on the currently untitled record - his first studio LP in nine years - are D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq. Nigel Godrich, who has worked with Radiohead and Beck, will help produce the album. Q-Tip says of Godrich: "He's a big fan of rap, (he's) really dope. It'll be cool working with...

American rap music is an industry ruled by machismo. It is a place where reputations are made by shady pasts, the aura of violence and ultra-masculinity. But now an explosive new book is lifting the lid on one of hip hop's most unexpected secrets: that many people in the business are gay.

As family members and friends grieved the loss of an 18-year-old budding hip-hop artist, police on Friday continued to search for at least one and up to three suspects involved in the stabbing that killed the rapper known as "Young Noddo" outside a Bushwick brownstone Thursday evening.

New pastor to head Obama's 8,000-member Chicago church Apr 30 04:14 AM US/Eastern By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - When the Rev. Otis Moss III takes to the pulpit before a congregation that includes Barack Obama, he's as likely to preach about Tupac Shakur or one of his favorite authors as he is the Apostle Paul. The 37-year-old "hip-hop pastor," as he's called by congregants, will become the head of Trinity United Church of Christ in June, taking over at a time of turmoil for the 8,000-member church, the nation's largest United Church of Christ congregation, Moss'...

A British court has overruled the government's decision to deny Snoop Dogg a visa after he was involved in an airport lounge brawl in 2006. The Guardian newspaper says a panel of immigration judges has rejected an attempt by Britain's Home Office to keep the 36-year-old U.S. rapper out of the country. A lower court ruled in January that Snoop hadn't started or been responsible for any public disorder. Police arrested Snoop and five members of his entourage after a brawl at British Airways' VIP lounge at London's Heathrow airport. The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, was...

Map Of Recent Shootings Wednesday afternoon's shooting comes on the heels of a particularly violent weekend in the city. Between Friday night and early Monday morning, 36 people were shot in Chicago, nine fatally, and two people were stabbed.

Honestly, this is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. The DVD and music-sharing website World Star Hip Hop is currently featuring a video of what appears to be an elementary school student threatening to kill President George W. Bush.

Barack Obama, who says he listens to Jay-Z along with his “old school guy” favorites like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Temptations, alluded to the rapper’s 2003 hit “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” on Thursday to sweep away concerns about his pugnacity. After conceding that the Philly debate was tough, he brushed the imaginary lint of Hillary, George and Charlie from his shoulders, in a wordless reference to Jay-Z’s lyrics in his anthem about not letting anyone crimp your ride as you cruise from the bottom to the top: “Got some, dirt on my shoulder, could you brush it off...

Bill Cosby's path has taken him from pudding pops to hip hop. The 70-year-old has recorded a hip-hop CD set for release next month. "Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency'' blends the comedian's concepts and stories with a hip-hop, pop and jazz soundtrack. "I do not rap on any of these things,'' Cosby told The Associated Press on Monday. "I wouldn't know how to fix my mouth to say some of the words.'' What Cosby does know, though, is that the hip-hop music he hears is profane and degrading. His album is "the opposite of what I think is...

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Comedian Bill Cosby's hip-hop album, described as an "unflinching look at life in the 21st century, but without the profanity, misogyny, violence and braggadocio" is expected to reach stores within the next several weeks, a spokesman said. "Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency" is designed as a companion to Cosby's provocative book "Come on People: On the Path From Victims to Victors," which he co-wrote with Dr. Alvin Poussaint last year. The album weaves hip-hop, jazz, pop, funk and other genres around frank, positive messages drawn from Cosby's lyrics, stories and musical ideas. Cosby does...