BREAKING NEWS: TRAGEDY AS TORONTO RAPPER DON KARTEL IS GUNNED DOWN IN AIRPORT HOTEL LAST NITE!

Aspiring Rapper Don Kartel real name "Donald R. Grant" was MURDERED last night in a Toronto airport hotel. Police were called to the Holiday Inn Express near Pearson Hotel last night for reports of a man shot to death. He had no vital signs. It is NOT a good day today in the Toronto music world. Many artists here are striving so hard to make it while others are merely a joke attacking others music. Don was talented, had his game together and worked hard. Several media outlets called me today. However it goes, this is the 4th rapper murdered in Toronto this year and I knew three out of the four. It is a senseless murder and makes NO sense! It cannot continue. Toronto listen!!!!!!!! Leave the guns alone, let us work it out!! AND WE CAN DO IT WITHOUT A GUN!

One of his last tweets read "I have no respect for pistols." He never supported guns!

Don Kartel's website
Don Kartel's MySpace
Don Kartel's Facebook
Don Kartel's Twitter

Kartel is a Trinidad and Tobago based, Canadian born rapper. No stranger to the game, his affiliations span worldwide from the Caribbean to North America. He has been featured on a series of mixtapes and DVD's- Canadian, American and Trinidadian. Currently a member of Pro Records ( a Trinidadian based label), he is still deemed as an underground artist. Proclaimed the King Of 868, 2009 seems to be the most major year yet for The Don. In addition, he's also a law student with a Trinidadian Institution, hoping to graduate in 2011. Law he says, has also been something of interest to him, and studying such would do no harm to moulding him as an individual.

It's an area African Americans should be more aware of, because often enough our rights are infringed on a daily basis by those in positions of power. He was seen featured on Caught Magazine ( an Atlanta Based magazine) on the Dec' 08 issue, complete with interviews, photographs etc. For the short time spent in Trinidad thus far, he has already graced the stage on virtually every local club, and receives steady rotation on local airwaves.

The most recent release "Kartelevision- Stay Tuned" is Kartel's fourth mixtape thus far. It has received good responses from www.datpiff.com (online d/load site) and on the streets of Port Of Spain, Trinidad and Toronto, Canada. It features production from industry icons such as St. Kittz, Flipo, Neo Tempus amongst others. In terms of collaborations, it features a combination of Trinidad and Toronto's talents with artists including Kash Diggity, Mason Payne, Simplex, Bigg Lexx and upcoming local vocalist Kelly.

Pro Records was recently awarded Best Hip Hop Group for the year 2008 and Best Video for the year 2008 ( Simplex- 30 MILL- which was ranked 1 on Synergy TV's countdown for 5 consecutive weeks). Pro Records can thereby be deemed, the most renowned group in the Caribbean and soon to be world.

Source: T-Dot Wire

REST IN PEACE TO OUR TORONTO RAPPERS

Yung Mecca (Ludlow Gillespie)
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/31/14201426.html

Splitz aka Codeine (Chris Tsilombo)
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/07/23/14801861.html

Philly Blunts (Andrew Dowden)
http://new.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/08/02/1490211

SMOKEY ROBINSON DEVASTATED ABOUT HIS SISTER'S DEATH!

Soul legend SMOKEY ROBINSON is mourning the death of his older sister aft er she lost her battle against stomach cancer. Rose Ella Jones passed away at a Los Angeles hospital on 26 April (10) at the age of 82, a year after she was diagnosed with the disease.

The former nurse played a big part in Robinson's early career, helping him write hits including Quiet Storm and Virgin Man, and the 70-year-old singer is devastated by the loss. A source tells the National Enquirer, "He was the last to say goodbye, and it was a very emotional farewell. He's heartbroken."

R.I.P: TEDDY PENDERGRASS DEAD AT 59.

Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B's reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.

The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery," his son said.

"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you," his son said. "He will live on through his music."

Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album "Love Language."

He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.

Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.

In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The group released it first single, "I Miss You," in 1972 and then released "If You Don't Know Me by Now," which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Pendergrass quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. It was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. With songs such as "Love T.K.O.," "Close the Door" and "I Don't Love You Anymore," he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.

His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit.

Source

SHOCKER: MICHAEL JACKSON FANS COMMITING SUICIDE ACROSS THE GLOBE!

Watch Rev Jesse Jackson who is now suddenly related to Jacko have his own take on the suicide affair.

INMATE SMASH DANCERS TO "THRILLER" PERFORMS TRIBUTE TO JACKO.

Amid the tropical heat of a Phillipine prison, convicted murderers, rapists and drug dealers on Saturday paid tribute to Michael Jackson with a reprise of their YouTube dance hit, "Thriller."

A rendition of Jackson's 1980s smash hit by prisoners at the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the central Philippines garnered more than 24 million views since 2007, when prison supervisor Byron Garcia first uploaded it to the video-sharing Web site.

The prison has since posted other dance videos, including performances to Van Halen's "Jump," Queen's "Radio Ga Ga," and Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder's "Together in Electric Dreams."

Jackson, known as the "King of Pop," died Thursday in Los Angeles, less than two weeks shy of the first in a series of comeback concerts in London, England.

When he heard the news, Garcia, himself a fan of the 50-year-old pop icon, organized a free tribute performance by inmates for local people in the prison courtyard. More at CNN.

MJ DAILY ON HIPHOSSIP.

• Lisa Marie says that she predicted Michael's "end"
• Hear what the CNN i-reporters are saying
• MJ almost crashed the whole internet
• More tests ordered on Jackson's autopsy
• Michael died in debt
• Friend: Comeback concert was not gonna happen.

BREAKING NEWS: MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD AT 50!

Rest in Peace Michael! I just walked in from the Pharmacy and I am hearing all this talk about prescription drug use. I have been a Pharmacist for 21 years and a Journalist of 13 years. It doesn't matter today! Michael lived his life. He is GONE and will never be FORGOTTEN! I am so FOCKN speechless!

R.I.P YSL: The one designer many hip-hop artists didn't KNOW!

......Many hip-hop artists today were not even born in YSL's hey days. These days it's Louis Vuitton this and Louis Vuitton that in all the songs. We heard the sad news that Designer Yves Saint Laurent, who has died at the age of 71, was one of a handful of fashion designers who dominated the industry. Born in Algeria in 1936, at a time when the North African country was still considered part of France, Saint Laurent was fascinated by clothes and already had a solid portfolio of designs when he first arrived in Paris in 1953 at the age of 17.

He rapidly emerged as the heir apparent to the great Christian Dior and took over the fashion house when his mentor died. He struck out on his own in 1960, at a time when the world was changing and there was a new appetite for originality. The reclusive Yves Saint Laurent retired from haute couture in 2002 after four decades at the top of his trade. He had been ill for some time. Such was his success that the world's top models vied to show his garments at the fashion collections. In his later years, the depression that had haunted him all his life became more oppressive, and he admitted to having taken tranquilisers.

A spokesman said the designer died following a long illness.

SENSELESS: R.I.P Remembering BIG HAWK 2 years later........

John Edward Hawkins (November 15, 1969 – May 1, 2006), better known as Big Hawk or H.A.W.K was a rapper from Houston, Texas and a founding member of the late DJ Screw's rap group the Screwed Up Click. He was also the older brother of Fat Pat, who was killed in 1998. Hawk, 36, was married before his death and had two young sons.

He was respected in the Houston underground rap scene and appeared on numerous mixtapes from artists such as Paul Wall, Lil' Flip, Z-Ro, E.S.G., Lil' Keke and Big Pokey. Hawk was featured on the popular single "Swang" by Trae that included a tribute to Fat Pat in 2005. In 2006, Hawk, along with Clint Dempsey of the U.S. National Soccer team recorded a song for Nike's "Joga Bonito" World Cup soccer promotion called "Don't Tread". He was part of Pepsi's Yahoo! "Houston Mic Pass" with Lil' Flip, Chamillionaire, Trae, Chingo Bling, Bun B.

He married Meshah Writa Ayana Henderson in April 2006 (almost a Month prior to his murder) with whom he had 2 young sons. The couple had been together nearly ten years. Most people did not realize that Big Hawk worked for American General Insurance for at least 12 years and was well known and respected within the corporate organization.

At the age of 36, Big Hawk was gunned down on the night of Monday May 1, 2006 at about 10:30pm in Houston. People heard shots but no one saw a thing. As of January 2008, no witness has come forward. It is rumored that Hawkins was killed over a debt that his brother, Fat Pat, owed. But this has not been confirmed. ABSOLUTELY SENSELESS!!