India welcomes Beyonce..........

Some Indian designer had Bey wearing this at the concert. Boy, did she look good! At least the Indians show their belly.

Keysha Cole's nude on the cover of December's Vibe!

Was it photoshopped or just the natural like Toni Braxton in the 90's? That is the question of the hour. The blonde rappett sure has an article in there. "All that Jeezy stuff!."

Rapper Coolio set to star in his own reality show with his six teenagers!

Rapper Coolio, who topped the pop charts in 1995 with the Grammy-winning tune "Gangsta's Paradise," will star in a reality TV show for women's cable network Oxygen. "Coolio & the Gang," set to air in the second-quarter of 2008, will follow the California rapper as he raises six teenagers by himself, while maintaining his rap career and launching a clothing line.

Debby Beece, president of programming and marketing at Oxygen, likened "Coolio" to a real-life version of "My Three Sons." "Coolio is a single dad raising kids, and it's got a lot of unconventional parenting aspects to it. He wants his kids to do as he says, not as he does," Beece said. Coolio, now 44, enjoyed some success in the mid-1990s with such singles as "Fantastic Voyage," and "Gangsta's Paradise. His career cooled amid various legal problems and as rap took on a harder edge. Wonder how anti-hip-hop music celebrity Oprah Winfrey feels about this? After all she is selling the Oxygen Network for $925 million so I don't think she care a bit........

RIDICULOUS PICTURE OF THE DAY: The rich keeps getting RICHER!

OMG!........It's a Louis Vuitton trash bag! Gosh, how rich can you be?? Word on the online street is that it was found outside Beyonce's house. You sure it wasn't in front of Kanye West's garage? Louis V?

Picture of the Day! This will make a good GQ cover!

Did I mention that this picture of Rapper T.I leaving the Atlanta Federal courthouse yesterday on $3 million bail could make a dapper GQ magazine photo shoot?

Who killed "Jay?": 5 years later............

My last snap of Jay with DJ Reggie Reg, formerly of WERQ, 92Q Jams, top hip-hop station in Baltimore, Maryland USA.

"There are people who may not be directly culpable, but they damn sure know who did it," said Bill Adler, a hip-hop historian and one-time Run-DMC publicist. "And they keep their mouths shut because they know they could be the next one to end up dead." The mother of rap icon Jam Master Jay knows the truth: the people who brazenly pumped a bullet into her son's head remain on the street. So do the witnesses - some of them Jay's friends - who can identify the killers.

Rapper T.I released on $3 million strict bail!

Check out what Alan Baverman gave him. He's the former defense lawyer for Capital Cities/Disney/ABC. Top media and entertainment lawyer now a senior U.S District Judge. Alan, who I must now call "Judge Baverman" was quite TOUGH on the bail conditions!!!! $3 million dollar bond and the posh house, 100% house arrest complete with GPS monitor, everyone visiting has to PASS a criminal background check...........so I guess no one will be visiting. No Snoop, Busta, Jay-Z or Diddy. They all have prior convictions and so does almost every other person in the rap business. THIS IS IN NO WAY MEANT TO OFFEND ANYONE!!!!! (I said "every other") Even Will Smith who has never cursed in his rap albums was my neighbor in West Philly in my pharmacy school days 20 years ago over there told you he "started to get into trouble in the neighborhood." I still have the 1987 article "FRESH PRINCE ARRESTED!" Poor T.I, he's such a sweetie pie and Tiny (baby mama) who was the first to wish me a happy birthday on my MySpace page. T.I has always been my template on my page. The most important bail condition is NO CONTACT with witnesses or "victims" and he will be penalized if anybody contacts them on his behalf. Only the lawyers must do that. So all you groupies and rap producers (everyone's so called job in Atlanta) don't mess with T.I's BIZNESS! Read the whole story from the "horse's mouth." The Atlanta Journal Constitution.......Neigh.............

The chipmunks do "Shawty is a 10."

Alvin and his chipmunk pals did a great job singing this song. This is what happens when rap music producers alter the speed of tracks. Everyone starts to sound like a TV cartoon chipmunk!

The real "Shawty is a 10."

Queen Latifah tells magazine: 'Beauty is not just a white girl'

"Beauty is not just a white girl. It's so many different flavours and shades," the 37-year-old rapper-actress tells People magazine in its latest issue. "It's good for regular girls because the meter (for beauty) has been a slim white girl. She talked about reducing her bust size and declining a tummy tuck! Add some U-N-I-T-Y to those body parts girl!

Quincy Jones's son is filming a DVD about Rappers getting shot!

Roman Wolfe of Allhiphop reports that Quincy Jones III's QD3 Entertainment is preparing a new DVD titled Who Shot Ya, a documentary that examines violence in Hip-Hop. Who Shot Ya will also feature a number of well known rappers discussing their personal experiences of being shot and the impact gun violence has on minority people. Many have been shot and did not live. TuPac, B.I.G, Jam Master-J, Philant Johnson (T.I's assistant) Busta Rhyme's bodyguard, even 50 "9 lives" Cent who got shot 9 times, Camron in his Lamborghini in 2005 and also some like local Toronto Rappers the late Michael George and P.Geezy. Controversial Toronto Rapper "Stik up Kid" of the Smugglaz IMG got shot 15 times and lived. and November 11th 1998 (4 times) and November 11th 1999 (11 times). Nov, 11 is not a good day for him! This rap violence is getting boring, ridiculous and out of control!

Rapper T.I in magazine shoot with a GUN!

When you are gonna shoot a magazine spread and you are already a convicted felon, you cannot possess or buy a gun.............but was the Rapper's Publicist thinking when this photo shoot was done? When cooking a turkey, stick to the turkey rather than staying armed. Gosh! I hope the Prosecutors do not use this in court! Already we have Judges reading our blogs and record company executives telling us to be sensitive about what we write. Don't blame this one on the "media." Check out the gun in his right pocket!!! T.I is still awaiting bail and heads back to court tomorrow Friday.

Foxy Brown gets solitary confinement for fighting in jail!

The Brooklyn-bred female rapper Foxy Brown has been given 11 weeks in solitary confinement after she fought with another inmate in prison. This involves the rapper having to sleep, eat, and live 23 hours a day in a recreation area away from the other general inmates. She is allowed 1 hour a day to see visitors. Brown is serving a year in jail for violating her probation after a fight she had in a New York nail salon back in 2004. This has been followed by a trail of misdemeanours including refusing to attend court hearings, skipping anger management classes, travelling out of the city without permission, charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges put against her

R&B singer LaLa Brown and boyfriend found shot to death!

You may remember her from the video below of Lyfe Jennings's "S.E.X." Yolanda "LaLa" Brown was found murdered on Saturday along with her boyfriend in a recording studio. She has a young daughter. Police are saying NOTHING!

Former FBI undercover doubled as TuPac Shakur's Bodyguard!

An ex-bodyguard for Tupac Shakur claims to have been an undercover FBI agent during the four years he was employed by Death Row. Of course it all has to do with the sale of a product namely a DVD that's called "TuPac Assassination: Conspiracy or revenge." See the video of his statement at Harvey Levin's TMZ. Incredible revelation!

Here we go again! T.I's arrest fuels questions about Hip-Hop!

The arrest on weapons charges of Grammy Award-winning rapper T.I. could fuel the image of violent inner-city black males and undermine efforts to clean-up hip hop, experts said. Exactly who are the experts here? Read on.......

Denzel Washington and T.I's movie "American Gangster" premieres in New York.

Shame Rapper T.I is still locked up as we hear that the movie he's supposed to be in premiered in New York last night. Everyone in the movie was present including Diddy, Common, Methodman, Ice T, Denzel himself and more. Even TV's Judge Hatchett came by. American Gangster comes to theaters in November. More pictures at YBF.

Shar Jackson won MTV's "Celebrity Rap Superstar."

Shar Jackson, aka K-Fed's other baby mama won "Celebrity Rap Superstar" on MTV. We told you so! Read all the stuff here. If you cannot load the video because of your IP address in Canada, log out and log in to MTV.Ca instead of MTV.Com

Media update on Rapper T.I.....Bond request up in air as Judge wants entire $2.2 million in cash!

Despite a pledge to put up $2.2 million in bond, including around $1.5 million in equity on the rapper's two homes and separate $100,000 bonds backed by five of the top executives at Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records, Magistrate Alan Baverman said he would need more time to consider the bond request in the case. We hear from Sandra Rose that the scene at the Richard B. Russell Federal building downtown looked more like a concert. Of course more females than males pack the halls outside the courtroom on the 19th floor (the hearing was moved from the 18th floor to accommodate the crowd). Many of the industry's heavy hitters are in the courtroom to support T.I. including Warner Music Group Chairman Lyor Cohen, Michael Mauldin of Mauldin Brand, T.I.'s mom (wearing her Louis Vuitton) Grand Hustle general manager Hannah Kang and CEO Jason Geter, Exec. VP of Warner Music Kevin Liles is also in the courtroom as is T.I.'s hard-working publicist Sydney Margetson.

Stay tuned for more news this afternoon!!!

I'm on Radio Nigeria assignments this morning. There will be more blogging this afternoon. Also I will be in the "virtual" courtroom for Rapper T.I's bond hearing in Atlanta since I'm covering that one for Radio Nigeria's entertainment news too.There are lots of news stories coming this afternoon so stay tuned........

Kemi Joshua
Managing Editor
Keminications
mediakemi@rogers.com

Welcome to a different kind of Hip-Hop and R&B site!

WELCOME TO HIP-HOSSIP! THE FIRST WEBSITE IN CANADA GIVING YOU IN-DEPTH HIP-HOP NEWS FROM AN AWARD WINNING NEWS REPORTER MS KEMI.

The Diddy assault saga continues!

A man has accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of punching him out during a dispute at a trendy Manhattan nightspot, but the rap mogul's lawyer called it a harmless "disagreement. Police were investigating the report of an assault early Saturday at the club in SoHo, but declined to identify any suspects.

C-Miller/C-Murder gets a new murder trial.

The rapper sometimes known as C-Murder will be tried a second time on a second-degree murder charge. A Feb. 11 trial date for Corey Miller was set during a telephone conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys, Judge Martha Sassone said in court Tuesday. Miller, 36, is accused in the shooting death of Steve Thomas, 16, at a Harvey nightclub on Jan. 12, 2002. The teen used a fake ID to get into the club. So what? Who killed him? C-Miller is Rapper Master-P's (Percy Miller) brother.

Media Reports: Rapper T.I may get house arrest on Friday's bond hearing.

T.I. with his 4 children, King (in his lap), Deyjah (in yellow shirt), Domani (3rd from right) and Bubba (2nd from right). Tiny's daughter Zonnique is behind T.I.

Sandra Rose, celebrity photographer in Atlanta reports: In an interview with the AJC following Monday's hearing, Steve Sadow, one of T.I.'s lawyers said he requested Harris's bond hearing be postponed until Friday to give the defense team more time to prepare. But sources say Sadow and another of T.I.'s lawyers, Dwight Thomas, are preparing to ask U.S. Magistrate Alan Braverman to place T.I. on house arrest under electronic surveillance or require him to wear an ankle monitoring device as a condition of his bond. "This would ensure the public's safety as well as allow [T.I.] to continue to support his family until his trial comes up," said a source who is familiar with the case.

But a prominent Atlanta attorney said T.I.'s background will be a factor in the judge's decision - "I understand [T.I.] violated his probation with a previous gun charge, not to mention the felony conviction on drug charges in Cobb County," said the attorney, who asked to remain anonymous. "The judge will also take into consideration the company that the young man keeps," said the attorney referring to the two rappers signed to T.I.'s label who were named in the federal affidavit for allegedly providing T.I. with guns. "All of those factors will weigh heavily against him when he goes before the judge," the attorney explained. Thanks Sandra, I hear T.I's children will be in the courtroom as the lawyers need to portray him as a family man. He worships his kids!

Was BET right to put two of the "Jena 6" teens on the award show?

Infamous "Jena 6" teens presenting the Video Of the Year award

A picture at the celebrity afterparty taken by Sandra Rose

I normally don't like to get into race issues because it is a very sensitive subject to me. I experienced it so bad in the South when I lived in Georgia with some "animals" that could make you just hate white people altogether! A white Manager at a Toronto Blockbuster shop told me how Georgia was so damn racist and he saw how blacks were treated down there which he thought was a complete mess. In my 21 years up North, it was never like that but why would BET even have two of the "Jena 6" teens come and present awards on their show? Completely bad Public Relations. Carwin Jones and Bryan Purvis, two of the "Jena 6" teens were present everywhere literary treated like celebrities. It sends several racial bad messages as far as I'm concerned!

First of all these kids have been glorified on a TV network for what they did. Though they were never tried, they were accused in a group of beating up a fellow white student almost to unconsciousness. By having them on the award show says they are the victims. They thanked the viewers and hip-hop "for supporting" them. Hip-hop? The main one Mychall Bell was sent back to jail again because of prior convictions and probation violations. Did everyone know this when they went to march up there last month. The officials in that town are already racist pigs (just look at how the DA spoke to CNN!) but it does not give BET the right to glorify these young men on national TV. If we all had nooses under a tree in our yards, we won't go out and beat up someone? The federal, state and local Jena government was irresponsible because the case was not treated as a hate crime so everyone took the law into their hands. Now BET glorifying them is bad in my opinion.

MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar to be crowned tonight.

MTV will crown the champion of "Celebrity Rap Superstar" on Thursday (October 18). Will it be Shar Jackson or will it be Hugh Hef's girl, Kendra Wilkinson? Kendra? pleaaaaaze!

Five fun things to watch for on tonight's BET Hip Hop awards!!

By now we all know the star of the evening was arrested earlier in the day. Put your prayers in for T.I and his family pls. It doesn't hurt. We all make mistakes if in fact that is all proven in court. So much other drama happened during the awards taped in Atlanta last Saturday the 13th of October.

1. The Michael Vick moments. No, the embattled former quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons didn't appear, but when rapper David Banner held up Vick's jersey at the end of his "I Am Hip-Hop" segment, the audience was on its feet. Vick also was mentioned later in the show when host Katt Williams couldn't get a dog to cooperate. Let's just say his name was invoked as a threat.

2. The Kanye West strangeness. No, the bravado-plus rapper and producer didn't top the fit he recently had at the MTV Awards. Instead, he displayed some rare public humility and graciousness, offering to give UGK and OutKast the best video award for their "International Player's Anthem" (directed by Bryan Barber) after he won it for "Stronger" (directed by Hype Williams). "I've been waiting for the [occasion] to win an award that I felt I shouldn't get," West said. (Antwan "Big Boi" Patton of OutKast handed it back.)

3. The Lil Wayne performance. The only one of the night that had people standing in apparent awe.

4. The curious way Melyssa Ford compliments Cee-Lo. Apparently the model and BET personality doesn't know that the "g" is silent in Cee-Lo's group, Gnarls Barkley — though she claimed she was a fan. (Or perhaps that was the TelePrompTer's claim.)

5. The almost unrecognizables. Atlanta R&B singer Keyshia Cole and Banner. Just see for yourself.

ATF Media conference reveals Rapper T.I's alleged arsenal of weapons in home and car!

Picture courtesy of the AJC

"My source informed me that King is still traumatized from the raid which took place at T.I.'s home in College Park on Saturday. ATF agents simultaneously broke down the front door while smashing out windows in the back of the house and tossing stun grenades into the house. King, 3, was in a downstairs room playing at the time of the raid. The other children had just left the home to go to acting class. I'm told T.I.'s 15-year-old nephew ran out the back door and was tackled and stomped by ATF agents."..... The words of my friend Sandra Rose, Famous Celebrity Photographer in Atlanta! King is T.I little 3 year old son. Wasn't this a little bit harsh on the kids? I would think after arresting T.I and Tiny (who is pregnant) in a shopping center parking lot, you should have staked out a house such as that to determine who was inside. Now what if any of those children started shooting thinking it was intruders, ESPECIALLY WITH THOSE KINDS OF WEAPONS IN THE HOUSE FULLY LOADED! The ATF would HAVE a totally different case on their hands today. What makes this a national story as Sandra said is that you have a convicted felon, Rapper and guns obtained by illegal means. Read Sandra's website about the gun collecting issue and her brothers numerous guns, plus the reader's comments!

Should CNN have posted the video of Rapper T.I's home being searched by the ATF online?

Of course this was handed to them via one of my old stations CBS-46 or WGCL. In media ethics we should look at privacy and an ongoing federal investigation. If you live in Atlanta, you know where T.I lives but adding sensation is why the public really hates us........THE MEDIA. This video which has barely any audio and so short has generated about 2.5 million hits in the first 12 hours of the story breaking. At press time the press release from the Justice department had his addressed fully listed and some media outlets XX'd it out for privacy! I think exposing the Rapper's personal information like an address and video of a property can severely damage the case if someone were to break in there.........and steal evidence OR EVEN PLANT MORE!

Details continue to emerge on the big MEDIA STORY of the day!

Details continued to emerge on T.I.'s arrest Saturday night in Atlanta, just hours before he was to take the stage at BET's 2nd Annual Hip-Hop Awards. As the top nominee, with nine total, T.I. was expected to perform with both Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes. Instead, federal authorities took him into custody, alleging that the 27-year-old rap star gave his bodyguard cash to buy firearms.
Here are what fans are saying all over media sites on the internet.

• HiphopDx
• MTV News
• Sohh
• Allhiphop
• Mediatakeout

BET Hip Hop nine time nominee Rapper T.I arrested hours before show!

T.I., born Clifford Harris, was arrested by the ATF (U.S federal agents) at 2.30 p.m. EDT, the day he was due to perform at the BET Networks awards ceremony in Atlanta. He had been nominated for nine awards at the annual show -- more than any other artist. They included the prestigious MVP award for the best artist in the business as well as best CD of the year and best lyricist of the year. His failure to appear overshadowed one of the biggest events on the hip hop calendar and disappointed hundreds of fans who turned up to watch the elite of the hip hop industry. These are the biggest things I always warn these young hip-hop stars about. T.I is a convicted drug felon and I know what he went through in the case of those drug dealing days. Having known that, why would he be buying 3 machine guns with silencers?........But then there is the incident that killed Philant in 2006. That is Philant Johnson his Personal Assistant who was riding in a car with T.I and another woman when someone fired shots badly at the car killing Johnson while they were all leaving a club in Ohio. Was T.I afraid of his life? Why assault weapons WITH SILENCERS?

Four children and a longtime girlfriend who is also a mother to two of the kids, now everything is upside down. "Federal Agents!" The picture above was taken after I finished interviewing him at Visions Night club in Atlanta in 2005. We were swarmed by paparazzi. He DOES not like the papz. I have no further comment but to wish him and Tiny GOOD luck. Meanwhile he won a few awards last night including the coveted Album Of The Year which we congratulate him for. The show airs Wednesday at 8pm. This is a real shame.

Snoop Dogg to clean parks as part of sentence.

Snoop Dogg will pick up trash and perform other park maintenance as part of his sentence for carrying an illegal weapon in an airport last year, authorities said Thursday