IT'S THE US ELECTION WEEK AND BEYONCE IS SHOWING IT IN THIS GOTHAM MAGAZINE SHOOT.

MORE OF THE TRAGIC DEATH OF DEF JAM'S SHAKIR STEWART.

Shakir and Alesha Renee at Young Jeezy’s VIBE cover party this past July

Def Jam Music has released this statement.......

"L.A. Reid and all of us at Island Def Jam Music Group are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and colleague Shakir Stewart. Shakir was an amazing man, in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people who had the privilege of counting him as a friend. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family at this very difficult time."

Stewart ran the day-to-day operations of Def Jam, the best-known hip-hop label in the country. He was named executive vice president about five months ago, succeeding rap superstar Jay-Z.

Christopher Hicks, a friend of 18 years and fellow music executive, last spoke with Stewart about a week ago.

“Whatever happened over the past 24 hours is not a testament to who we all know,” Hicks said Sunday. “He was a one-of-a-kind individual. If you looked on his Blackberry [stamp] it said ‘One of one.’

“I mean, Shakir is the kind of guy who would get dressed up for a party none of us were invited to,” Hicks continued. “He had no doubt he was getting in. He was a ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’ kind of guy. Always.”

Stewart, a native of Oakland, Calif., came to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College. It was there that he and friends Hicks, Ryan Glover, Henry “Noonie” Lee and others started throwing parties and concerts around the city as Ivory Coast Entertainment.

Stewart, Hicks, Glover and others would go on to develop the Atlanta-based Noontime — a songwriting and production company that launched careers for its founders as well as Jazze Pha, and Grammy-winners Johnta Austin and Bryan-Michael Cox.

The first significant solo success on Stewart’s professional resume, however, was signing a pre-superstar Beyoncé to Antonio “L.A.” Reid’s Atlanta-based publishing company, Hitco.

Stewart was also an A&R consultant at Reid’s now-closed Atlanta imprint, LaFace Records, and Arista Records, to which he signed local Grammy winner Ciara.

Since 2004 he had served as vice president and senior vice president of A&R for Def Jam, during which time he signed Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy and Miami hip-hop star Rick Ross. Stewart split his time between Atlanta and New York.

“Having Shakir on your team is a good thing,” Jeezy noted before the release of his recent No. 1 CD, “The Recession.”

And the week of the July release of his controversial “Untitled” CD, Atlanta rapper Nas said of Stewart: “He gave me some confidence dealing with all of this. He’s about growth. …And you can never catch him off his game. In the club, the office, wherever. He’s always seeing the big picture. Great supporter!”

BREAKING TRAGIC NEWS: DEF JAM'S NEW BOSS SHAKIR STEWART DEAD!!!

FIRST IN CANADA!

The head of rap label Def Jam Recordings died suddenly on Saturday, the company said. Shakir Stewart, who was named executive VP of the iconic label in June, committed suicide, according to reports. But no other details were immediately available......but my sources tell me that he had a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head!

"Shakir was an amazing man in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people that had the privilege of counting him as a friend," Def Jam said in a statement.

Stewart succeeded Jay-Z at the top of the Def Jam ladder, and also retained his duties as senior VP of A&R at sister company Island Def Jam. The Oakland, Calif., native signed such artists as Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and newcomer Karina Pasian.

Def Jam, also home to such artists as Method Man, Nas and Ne-Yo, is a unit of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest record company.

Source: MTV

I still spoke to Shakir just last week via e-mail!!!!!!!!!!!This is shocking!!!! I'm supposed to see T-Pain today and this alone has dampened my day! Rest in Peace Shakir! We never know what we are all going thru. Please people, let's talk about it!

R.I.P

Kemi 8.20am EDT

CityNews Toronto, Canada: HALLOWEEN 2008 11PM SPECIAL BOO REPORT.

Hope you all had a great Halloween. I was off work that day and I decided I will be doing some reporting of my own in this newscast somewhere.....Enjoy it!

HOT: EMPIRE ISIS IS CONQUERING THE NORTH AMERICAN MUSIC WORLD.

After two sucessful songs being premiered on MTV's hit show "THE HILLS", MTV has requested via her publishing house "Pig PACTORY" for another tune. This is now ISIS third song on the most popular show on MTV and her 8th major placement on mainstream television. Watch eps 413 this Monday at 10pm for her new single "Participate". (Scroll down to download) ISIS has solidified herself as the premiere D.I.Y yourself indie urban artist out of Canada. She is making an international spash without any major label support and being invited to play major festivals such as CMJ MUSIC MARATHON, MIDEM, SXSW. and CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK. Visit her myspace to find out more about this artist. Myspace.com/empireisis

Single : Participate
Label : Monumental Records/DEP/UNIVERSAL
Producer : Prayon
DOWNLOAD
1. Participate - CLEAN - MP3
http://rcpt.yousendit.com/ 620852643/ 4e8a78fe2f7cf8639671bd22654d46 f7
2. Participate - CLEAN - WAV
http://rcpt.yousendit.com/ 620852643/ 4e8a78fe2f7cf8639671bd22654d46 f7

VIEWERS STATS

5 Million

ISIS ON THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS:

This is now ISIS 7th TV/Commercial placement including:
1. Welcome to the Captain
(CBS Primetime) 8:30PM Paramount
2. Notes from the Underbelly
(ABC Primetime) 9:30 PM Warner Brother
3. Robson Arms
(CTV Primetime) 9:30 PM Canadian Television
4. Burn Notice
www.usanetwork.com/series/burnnotice/ USA Networks
5. Coors Light
http://www.coorslight.ca/
6. The Hills eps 405
http://www.mtvrealityworld.com/2008/09/15/songs-from-the-hills-season-4-episode-5/
7. The Hills eps 406
http://www.mtvrealityworld.com/2008/09/15/songs-from-the-hills-season-4-episode-5/
8. The Hills eps 413
http://www.mtvrealityworld.com/2008/09/15/songs-from-the-hills-season-4-episode-5/

Did I tell you that she was featured on E-TalkHosted by Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim, etalk is Canada's number one Canadian entertainment news magazine.

BRITNEY SPEARS' ALBUM COVER IS HERE.

You know Brit is releasing the much anticipated "Circus" soon. That is her next single on there. That was her life last year I guess.....

YAWN! Simon Cowell Splits with Girlfriend!

Simon Cowell and longtime girlfriend Terri Seymour have split, Cowell's rep confirms to PEOPLE.

"Terri phoned Simon and finished it in September, about six weeks ago," says Cowell's rep, Max Clifford. "They are going to remain close friends. Simon thinks the world of Terri and that isn't going to change. He also understands her reason for ending it."

The couple were together for six years. Seymour, 34, first met Cowell, 48, when she was 18, but the couple didn't begin dating until she interviewed him for a show in 2002.

"In the past Terri has said that she wants kids but that just isn't Simon," added Clifford. "Nobody else is involved, certainly not on Simon's side." The split was first reported by the UK's Daily Mirror.

Yawn! Do I have to report this every six months? How many times have Simon and Terri split now? There's Terri up there holding Simon's mom.

A PUBLIC MEMORIAL NOW SET UP FOR THE HUDSON FAMILY.......

A public memorial service has now for Jennifer Hudson's slain mother, brother and nephew is planned for Sunday at the South Side Chicago church where the Oscar-winner grew up singing. "The Hudson family welcomes anyone who wishes to attend and pay their respects to these three beloved members of the Chicago community," reads a statement from Hudson's rep.

Neither the singer-actress nor her sister, Julia, the mother of slain 7-year-old Julian King, are expected to attend the public observance. The service will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church, located at 4526 S. Greenwood in Chicago. The memorial will be preceded by the private service.

Track or Treat: 10 Best Hip-Hop Halloween Songs.

The Urban Daily at Black Planet says.....What’s scarier than Lil Kim without makeup? A McCain Presidency? Maybe. But this list of horrific hip-hop Halloween songs will have you clutching your eggs. Hope you enjoyed your Halloween! My fave is the Will Smith one but click here to see the entire list.

“Nightmare on My Street” by The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff
The scariest thing about this track is that Will Smith actually got sued by Newline Cinema because the Fat Boys had their own sanctioned Freddy Kreuger rap, “Are You Ready For Freddy?”

HIPHOSSIP'S AFTERNOON CHAT WITH THE DYNAMIC R&B ARTIST ESTELLE.

Like I said on Sunday's post, we really had fun at the sound check session at the Estelle, Gym Class Heroes and The Roots concert. I arrived with my pumpkin KJ, my PA Gilly and my intern Prince Young both upcoming local artists as well.

Ken Green from Warner Music welcomed us at the door and as we were waiting for our turn to meet Estelle, in comes Travis McCoy and then he runs out and all I could hear KJ saying was "mom, that's the guy from GCH." When Travis passed by again, KJ went to hi-five him and suddenly Travis grabbed KJ above his neck. See, KJ likes that neck thing. Rapper Kid Famous carried him on the neck too at the Flow 93.5FM breakfast birthday back in the Summer.....

Later, Estelle arrived and she was doing her different mini interviews with magazines and online publications but when she got to our area, KJ was so starstruck that he turned frozen and shy. Look at the difference in the video. He didn't believe his eyes! It was really Estelle. They both spoke softly and I had to amplify their voices to the best I could do.

KJ's questions were as follows

1. Estelle, am I the first kid in the world to interview you?--Estelle says YES you are!
   
2. Tell me about Boris Johnson, the London U.K Mayor who called black kids picaninnies!--Estelle told KJ that the Mayor was not very clever when he said that. Picaninnies is a derogatory term used for African children.
   
3. Will you wait outside if you see Mary J Blige go into a store?--Estelle laughed and told KJ that she met Mary J at a club already. KJ asked that as he read on Wikipedia that Estelle would love to work with Mary J and being that Estelle was discovered thru her persistence by waiting outside a restaurant that Kanye West just went into. Their paths crossed and the rest is history.

Later on I asked her about that Kanye path crossing experience and that you have to hear on the video. My interview format was very casual, KJ with me and a simple chat which I was content with along with our nice photo session which KJ stole all of the show with. He later presented Estelle with gifts. Two thank you cards, a key ring telling her they were the keys to Canada and of course a copy of our Canadian themed scarves since Estelle really loves scarves.

While we were there we bumped into the dynamic and wonderful President of UMAC, the Urban Music Association of Canada, Will Strickland above. Strickland even did a drop for HipHossip loving the site you know. That's like Russell Simmons or Kevin Lyles telling you they love HipHossip. Will's Canada's Hip-hop Godfather! LOL! Oh BTW, those drops are coming from the BET awards. Wait till you see what they said about HipHossip.

Above is Toronto SuperMedia guru Andrew Ross Geladaris of GelMedia.net Andy and Will were also doing a project with Estelle on a TV show. What a wonderful day! I wanna personally thank the man below Ken Green at Warner Music Canada and the lovely Joanna Dine at Warner's Media Relations and Publicity who both made this all possible for my HipHossip readers.

The $20 Canadian bill is KJ's paycheck in cash. He earns $20/hr as HipHossip Kid Reporter. He couldn't wait for the payroll office the next payday. Hey kid, better explain that cash to Canada Revenue (Our IRS) Looks like Ken's trying to compete on who's got the larger bill. He made KJ just feel good! BTW, Ken's was a $5 bill. We need to call Warner Music to give him a raise. He TRULY DESERVES IT! Hope you enjoyed the story. E-mail me at hiphossip@rogers.com

NOW LISTEN TO KJ'S ENTIRE INTERVIEW!!!