Join Outkast in The Dungeon
Outkast fans can win a chance to join the Atlanta duo in the studio just prior to the release of their highly anticipated fourth album, Stankonia. Click2Music is sponsoring a contest that will fly one lucky fan to Atlanta on Oct. 30 for a performance that will be broadcast live on MSN.com. The next day Andre 3000 and Big Boi will drop an album that people already are calling a classic. The album is in such high demand that the group released a statement asking fans not to pirate the music from the internet: "As artists, we appreciate the anticipation our fans have for our music. However, it is also very important for us to present the music in a creative format that is representative of our personalities, as our fans expect nothing less. We should have control over how our music is presented to our fans, and we feel that it is a creative invasion to spread our unfinished album over the net, without our knowledge. We feel musically and personally offended." But Outkast shouldn't worry, because you know people are going to be checking for Dre's artwork on the actual CD. At least all the bootlegging doesn't seem to have soured their taste for the internet. The group will participate in several upcoming online chats to promote the release of Stankonia. Besides the MSN chat on Oct. 30 at 10:30 p.m. ET, they also will visit Vibe on Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. and AOL on Nov. 9 at 9 p.m.
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With every Election Day comes controversy, and in recent elections hip-hop has played a role. This year is no different. Last Friday, National Legal and Policy Center president Peter Flaherty called on the media to pursue allegations that Vice President Al Gore helped stop a narcotics investigation into James Prince, the owner of Rap-A-Lot Records in Houston. A joint investigation of Rap-A-Lot by federal and local narcotics agents allegedly came to a halt two days after Gore made a March campaign appearance at a Houston church, at which Prince was present. Prince had previously made a $1 million gift to the church and had bought the pastor a new Mercedes. Last Wednesday, Attorney General Janet Reno ordered an investigation into accusations by narcotics officers that "political interference" resulted in the end of their year-long undercover probe. According to its mission statement, the NLPC "promotes ethics, openness and accountability in government through research, education and legal action." Last month, Gore, whose wife Tipper is responsible for the "parental advisory" labels on albums with explicit content, was given Mos Def's Black On Both Sides album during an MTV public forum and was asked by a fan to listen to it and comment on it via e-mail. Gore's response, published by MTV, was generic and non-specific, and it was hard to tell if he actually listened to the CD. The bottom line is that no politician is going to truly represent hip-hop, so it's on you to choose between the lesser of two (or three or four) evils. Either way, get out and vote. 
Eyedea of St. Paul, Minn., emerged as the Blaze Battle champion Thursday night at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, but Shyne stole the show when he went into the crowd to fight with a fan during his performance. According to sources at the show, a member of the audience threw a helmet at Shyne, who promptly jumped off the stage and confronted the guy. A scuffle broke out that lasted a minute or two before Shyne jumped back on stage to finish his performance, which included an appearance by Bad Boy labelmate Black Rob. Two additional fights broke out during the show, which also featured a performance by Mystikal and was being filmed by HBO. The scuffles did not affect the taping and the special will air Nov. 25. Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh and Puff Daddy were in attendance at the event, which was started by the now-defunct Blaze magazine. Shyne is facing attempted murder charges in connection with the shooting of three people at a New York nightclub in December 1999. His trial is set to begin in January 2001. 
You're only as strong as your weakest link, or so the saying goes. Maybe that's why, just weeks after her debut album dropped, Amil appears to be no longer a part of 
Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, announced the birth of their second child Thursday. Willow Camille Reign Smith, a 6-pound, 10-ounce baby girl, was born on Halloween night in Los Angeles. Willow is the couple's second child. Jaden Christopher Syre Smith was born in July 1998. Will also has an 8-year-old son, Trey, from a previous marriage. 
Plenty of hip-hop artists have come and gone on the Billboard 200 this year, but through all the ups and downs, 
Just because his first album's release date recently was pushed back from Nov. 7 to early 2001, it doesn't mean 
A bench warrant has been issued for ODB after he ran away from a drug-treatment facility in Los Angeles last week. Ol' Dirty apparently fled as he was being transported from the Impact House in Pasadena, Calif., to the Los Angeles Criminal Courthouse downtown. "He physically ran away," Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michael O'Gara told MTV. "It's my understanding that his counselors were taking him to court to discuss his program with the judge." A Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued a "no-bail" warrant for ODB on Oct. 17, which means that once he is arrested, he will not be allowed to post bail. Ol' Dirty was transferred to Impact House in June after serving six months in county jail for violating probation by drinking alcohol. The sentence stems from convictions for wearing body armor and making terrorist threats. Ken Holder, who works for the district attorney in Queens and is prosecuting ODB in a crack-cocaine case told MTV that "no one knows where he is. He decided he'd had enough of the program, and he left." 
Mack 10 and T-Boz announced Monday that the birth of their first child took place Friday at 10 p.m. in Los Angeles. According to an announcement issued by Priority Records, the home of Mack 10's Hoo Bangin' Records, the new parents and the baby -- a girl named Chase -- are all happy and healthy. The birth comes just two months after the couple was married. Mack 10 and T-Boz hooked up during the filming of TLC's "Unpretty" video and announced their engagement in May. The couple married outside of L.A. in August with Ice Cube, W.C. and TLC's Chilli among the guests. T-Boz is featured on Mack 10's current single, "Tight to Def," from his most recent album, The Paper Route. She also appears in the video, which is one of two included on the enhanced CD. 
In a couple of new magazine interviews, Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight unloads on everybody from former sports heroes and political leaders to longtime nemesis Sean "Puffy" Combs and, of course, his former associates, 
Rumors are circulating that Rakim has made a verbal agreement to sign with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. At first glance this might seem to be good news, since combining the best lyricist of all-time with the best producer of all-time would be guaranteed platinum, but there are at least four reasons why it might not be such a good thing: King Tee, RBX, Eve and Dawn Robinson. All four were signed to Aftermath, but none of them ever released an album for the label. And those are just the memorable names. Do you remember Kim Summerson, Miscellaneous, Hands-On, Sharief, Nowl, RC or any of the other artists featured on 1996's Dr. Dre Presents... The Aftermath? Probably not, but at least there's a legitimate reason for all of this. Dre is a perfectionist. He takes his time to do things right and the results speak for themselves. The same thing happened when Dre was at Death Row. At best the label released one album a year (always platinum), and so far Dre is operating at about the same pace at Aftermath. So what is to be expected from the label? Dre proclaimed that Hittman was "who's next" on a commercial that was tacked on to the end of the "Forgot About Dre" video until MTV and BET realized that it wasn't part of the song. Of course, Eminem really was up next... for the second time. Now, Dre's highly anticipated summer production product, Xzibit's Restless, is a delay away from a 2001 release. And the N.W.A album, originally projected for a Christmas 2000 release, already was pushed back a full year, bringing to mind another reunion album that never saw the light of day: Dr. Dre & Ice Cube's Helter Skelter. With all these pending projects, when will Dre find time to fit Rakim's album in? Despite the fact that Rakim is a legend on the mic, he still might get lost in the shuffle. 
Ja Rule, whose single featuring Christina Milian, "Between Me and You," has been a hit for weeks, has transferred some of that success over to the Billboard 200 albums chart. According to SoundScan, Ja's Rule 3:36 sold more than 275,000 copies in its first week and will debut at No. 1, making it 16 out the past 21 weeks that a hip-hop album has topped the charts. Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP started off the streak with eight straight weeks at No. 1. After a three-week run by a hits compilation, Nelly's Country Grammar took over for five weeks. Since then, hip-hop has alternated with pop acts every other week. L.L. Cool J, Mystikal and now Ja Rule all have spent one week at No. 1. Nelly and Mystikal round out the top three this week as hip-hop albums account for 10 of the top 25. E-40's Loyalty and Betrayal debuts at No. 18 and M.O.P.'s Warriorz checks in at No. 25, while Flesh-N-Bone's Fifth Dog Lets Loose stumbled out of the gate at No. 98.
A pair of interesting guests with ties to hip-hop history turned up Tuesday night on Jim Rome's "The Last Word" on Fox Sports Net to discuss the controversy surrounding