by Roman Cooper

                              

UPDATE: Kanye West is expected to settle his dispute with a paparazzi photographer out of court.

Days after Kanye West set forth an edict that no camermen speak to anyone, let alone Kanye, the rapper's famous paparazzi-related temper boiled over.
TMZ.com has provided footage of West attempting to take a camera from a photographer that appeared to be egging Yeezy on off-camera, as Kanye was leaving LAX Airport.
The photographer appeared to be at least shaken up after West let him go, but is apparently in the hospital, with his condition unknown.
Now, West faces felony attempted robbery charges. Police reportedly interviewed the victim, who was apparently injured. The photographer reportedly wants to press charges against West.
TMZ notes that the routine is to "go after the suspect for the most serious charge."
Watch the video of the altercation below:
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Home > News > Kanye West Named Felony Suspect For Attempted Robbery After Altercation With Photographer

Kanye West Named Felony Suspect For Attempted Robbery After Altercation With Photographer

by Roman Cooper

posted July 25, 2013 at 11:46AM EDT | 250 comments

UPDATE: Kanye West is expected to settle his dispute with a paparazzi photographer out of court.

Days after Kanye West set forth an edict that no camermen speak to anyone, let alone Kanye, the rapper's famous paparazzi-related temper boiled over.
TMZ.com has provided footage of West attempting to take a camera from a photographer that appeared to be egging Yeezy on off-camera, as Kanye was leaving LAX Airport.
The photographer appeared to be at least shaken up after West let him go, but is apparently in the hospital, with his condition unknown.
Now, West faces felony attempted robbery charges. Police reportedly interviewed the victim, who was apparently injured. The photographer reportedly wants to press charges against West.
TMZ notes that the routine is to "go after the suspect for the most serious charge."
Watch the video of the altercation below:
Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Kanye West Goes Postal on Another Photog -- Angle #2 - Watch More Celebrity Videos or Subscribe

In 2008, Kanye made headlines for smashing paparazzi cameras at LAX. He also lashed out at the photogs earlier this year.
(July 19)
UPDATE: New reports from TMZ.com allege that Kanye West will not be prosecuted for this month's physical altercation with a paparazzi photographer outside of LAX Airport. Sources tell the celebrity news site that the photographer's police report alleging attempted robbery of his camera will be rejected by the Los Angeles County District Attorney, negating charges. This is due to lack of evidence that the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam Records superstar was recorded actually trying to take the photographer's camera.
Sources told TMZ that Kanye's legal team is looking to settle the matter out of court in lieu of an appeal to the Los Angeles City Attorney's office for misdemeanor criminal battery prosecution, which is the alleged victim's next option, should the files be rejected as reported.
Kanye West has not spoken publicly on the allegations or incident.

2 Chainz Responds To Ludacris' Comments About Profiting From Him

by Roman Cooper

                          

2 Chainz reacts to Ludacris' public announcement that Luda still gets paid off of his former DTP artist.

Earlier this month, Ludacris revealed during an interview that he receives a percentage of the profits from 2 Chainz's solo projects, adding that he still collaborated with Chainz and that he was proud of him.
While 2 Chainz didn't take offense to the statements, it appears that some around him did.
"I mean it didn't bother me, but I think it bothered people around me," said 2 Chainz in an interview with Power 105.1's Breakfast Club.
2 Chainz admitted that he had to pay money to leave Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace label, where he record as Tity Boi from 2002-2010. "For the most part, people probably want me to say or do something negative, so I don't. Truth of the matter is, I been wanting to leave the label, when I left, I guess they knew or had some type of vision that I wasn't gonna stop there, because I was turnt up when I left and I told them, so yeah I had to pay to leave.:
2 Chainz said the deal will work in his favor. "I don't even know who else is on the roster of DTP, but the amount of money that I paid them is not gonna balance out my trajectory."
2 Chainz then specified that he paid $100,000 to get off the label, and that, ultimately, his experience on DTP was a learning experience. "I learned a lot from the previous situation I was in. It is what it is. I learned it a long time ago when dealing with that situation that there's really no such thing as loyalty out here."
In the end, Chainz holds no ill will towards Luda. "For me, I don't have anything negative to say. ...Actually, [Ludacris] was the first person to give me a bank account. I didn't even have a bank account. I just had shoeboxes of money."
During his time on DTP, Chainz released two albums as a member of Playaz Circle, 2007's Supply & Demand and 2009's Flight 360: The Takeoff.
Watch the interview below:

DJ Khaled proposes to Nicki Minaj on MTV: Is Nicki Minaj engaged? (Video)

DJ Khaled proposed to Nicki Minaj on MTV in an exclusive video. MTV News reports on July 25 that DJ Khaled recorded the video in the network’s studio and brought a 10 karat diamond ring to prove he was serious. Although many have accused Khaled of simply creating a publicity stunt, the rapper is not talking about the proposal or explaining the video.

MTV received an exclusive video proposal from DJ Khaled. The 37-year-old proposed to Nicki Minaj and offered her a 10 karat engagement ring. Minaj was not in the studio and has not responded to the proposal. Although they share a music label, they have not been romantically linked in the past.
In the video, DJ Khaled states he is in love with Nicki Minaj and wants to marry her. He mentions that he wanted to propose to Nicki last year but decided to wait and buy a stunning engagement ring. The large 10 karat diamond ring is estimated to be worth $500,000. MTV claims he purchased the ring from Rafaello & Co.

He promises to take care of Nicki and respect her, but he also wants to give her time to respond to his proposal. He holds out the engagement ring inside its black leather box to the camera and asks Nicki to marry him. The video ends with the words “Your move, Nicki.” Minaj has not publicly responded to DJ Khaled or MTV. Her representatives are also staying silent, and Khaled’s reps are not confirming if this was just a publicity stunt.

Get More: DJ Khaled, Music News

50 Cent MLB All-Star Bash Performance Concert Cancelled

by Jake Paine

                            

Major League Baseball booked a Queens, New York superstar in 50 Cent to perform in conjunction with a week of festivities for a Queens All-Star game. That agreement has reportedly changed.

Hip Hop superstar 50 Cent was among the celebrities recruited to participate in this month's 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Bash. With the game taking place on June 16 at Queens, New York's Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, MLB enlisted a local musician to hold a special concert two days prior.
According to TMZ.com, that concert has been canceled by Major League Baseball. The league did not provide reasoning for the 50 appearance, which is said to have been joined by deejay Kaskade at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom. However, the news comes less than a week after charges of domestic abuse on the G-Unit Records head.
50 Cent has yet to address the cancellation or the allegations that he kicked his son's mother in a California incident last month. However, 50's attorney responded to the reports, asserting that the rapper/mogul has not been arrested, and claims no wrongdoing.
TMZ.com's report includes an early flyer for the event.

Teen "Wondagurl" Explains Production For Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail"

by Andres Vasquez

                         

Jay-Z allowed a high school student to craft a beat for "Magna Carta Holy Grail" and the song, "Crown," made the cut. Wondagurl talks about what it's like to be featured on S. Carter's latest release.

Ebony "Wondagurl" Oshunrinde, a highschool student, has a beat on Jay-Z's latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. The teenager from Ontario, Canada produced the beat for "Crown" on the album, an instrumental that was originally meant for Pusha T.
In an interview reported by The Sun, Wondagurl explained how the beat landed on the album. She crafted the beat and sent it to a friend, who just happened to be Travi$ Scott. Scott had been working with Jay-Z and Kanye West.
“Travi$ texted me and said, ‘I’m about to change your life.' Usually, that doesn’t happen to 16-year-olds," she explained soon after completing eleventh grade. "A lot more people want to work with me now. It’s pretty cool.”
In an interview with MTV, she added more about how the track came together.
“I was at home one day and I was looking for reggae samples for a while and I finally found this one that was like crazy, it was Sizzla's ‘Solid as a Rock,’” she shared. “I took it and I cut it up and I put it in the software FL Studio and I started building around it, just adding 808s and the more I built, I knew what I wanted.”
According to Wondagurl, the beat was made with Pusha T in mind after hearing "Blocka" but she's pleased with the outcome.
More from her interview with MTV can be seen below.

Get More: Music News

Hot 97's Ebro Calls Battle Rap "Boring," SMACK/URL Responds

by Andres Vasquez

                          

After Hot 97's Program Director has negative remarks about Battle Rap, URL's Norbes invites him to an event. Then, Ebro says he actually likes Battle Rap.

After Hot 97's Program Director Ebro called Battle Rap "boring and for children," SMACK/URL responded with a video asking him to attend their next event. With Norbes as the spokesperson for the brand regarding this topic, the video was released, explaining how Battle Rap has influenced Hip Hop. In the clip, he also discussed the importance of the culture, from URL's perspective.
Once the video response dropped, Ebro replied, saying he actually likes Battle Rap but wanted to rile up fans and leagues.
The original statement can be seen below.
Following this original tweet, SMACK/URL's Norbes spoke about the comments. In the video for URL which can be seen below, Norbes questions how the culture can be "boring" when so many fans line up outside of their venues. In his clip, Norbes also asks how one can downplay Battle Rap when some of Hip Hop's biggest stars, from Diddy to Drake, have publicly commended the form of rapping.
"I just want you to understand that when you stated what you stated, you upset a lot of fans," Norbes said, speaking directly to Ebro. "Due to the fact that I respect the fact that you are a big part of Hip Hop, I want you to understand what we're doing...I want you to be there to see what these fans love and cherish...If you came through and actually seen it, it might give you a better understanding of what Hip Hop is today."
URL's response video can be seen below.

New Mixtape Alert: Tennessee native, Kizzle Castellano "The Boss Back"

by Jay G

 Most people hear Tennessee and think Memphis or Nashville. But like every other state there are surrounding towns and cities that grind just as hard to make the major cities what they are. 
In the town of Whiteville aka Blackville, Guerilla Hustle Inc artist Kizzle Castellano, shows the result of hard work, dedication and grinding. Kizzle stands out on this project amongst the heavy 808 drums and melodic digital sounds. 
His flow displays confidence, growth, and delivers fly lyrics on any track he jumps on. On the track Windows featuring Young Cocky & Hustle J it is reminiscent of a young Juvenile "400 degrees"album. 
With tracks from some of the industries notable producers, Kizzle should have no problem feeding the masses with this hot mixtape.

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

#NBD: Wiz Khalifa Announces Marriage to Amber Rose in Least Exciting Way

By Tiffany Lee

                                           
                    Wiz & Amber at the 2013 BET Awards [Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic]

For most people, marriage is one of the most life-changing moments of their existence: the point where a boy becomes a man, a girl becomes a woman, and the rest of your lives can begin. But for rapper Wiz Khalifa, he's just checking it off his to-do list.

With the enthusiasm of sharing what he ate for breakfast, the 25-year-old rapper mentioned offhand on Twitter Monday afternoon that he and baby mama Amber Rose tied the knot.
Wiz Khalifa        ✔ @wizkhalifa

Me and Amber got married today. Weddings this fall. Thought I'd let yall know 😊

4:21 PM - 8 Jul 2013

14,548 Retweets 14,306 favorites

Granted, going to City Hall for a marriage certificate isn't as exciting as what will surely be an outrageously star-studded wedding in the fall, it's still a moment to shed a tear—whether in happiness or in fear that a prenuptial agreement can now be enacted.
An hour after Khalifa's spoiler alert, the 29-year-old model put in her own two cents about her new relationship status, briefly tweeting:
  Amber Rose        ✔ @DaRealAmberRose

Yay me & my Baby are officially married!!! 😍😍😍

5:16 PM - 8 Jul 2013

Nothing says "true love" quite like not one, but three emoticons. She's clearly in it for the long haul.

Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose began dating in 2011, got engaged in March 2012 and welcomed their first son Sebastian Taylor Thomaz in February 2013.

Killer Mike Says "Nah" To Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" Download

by Andres Vasquez

                            

After seeing the Samsung app's permission settings, Killer Mike says "Nah" to downloading Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" app.

Killer Mike appears to have an issue with downloading Jay-Z's highly anticipated album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. The Run the Jewels emcee tweeted about this yesterday (July 1), letting followers know that he wouldn't be downloading Jay's album. Attaching a picture of the Magna Carta Holy Grail Samsung app's permission settings to his tweet, Killer Mike said, "Nah, I'm good" to the download. 

As noted, the image showcases the app's permission settings. The Holy Grail app requires permission to users' storage, system tools, location, network communities, phone calls and more. When asked by a fan if this was a real image, Killer Mike confirmed. Below is Mike's original tweet on the matter.
Killer Mike has collaborated with and complimented Jay-Z in the past. He was a guest on The Blueprint 2's "Poppin' Tags." They also appeared together on Outkast's "Flip Flop Rock." In 2011, Killer Mike told XXL that Jay-Z was his "favorite rapper." “Everybody that knows me, knows that my favorite rapper, in terms of who I feel that has pushed the culture, is Jay,” he said, before adding more complimentary statements. “Truthfully he’s my favorite rapper. I just think Jay is an incredible human being. And when I say Jay-Z, I have to qualify that I’m talking about the franchise for Roc-A-Fella. I like the new Jay-Z, he’s dope. But I was inspired by the crew called Roc-A-Fella.”

50 Cent Says Chief Keef Didn't Follow His Advice

by Danielle Harling

                              

50 Cent reveals why he was drawn to helping Chief Keef, says the teen rapper ultimately "didn't listen."

When Queens rapper 50 Cent expressed his interest in working with teen emcee Chief Keef, many were taken aback by Fifty’s decision to serve as what seemed to be a musical mentor to the Chi-Town rapper. During a recent interview with Hartford, Connecticut’s HOT 93.7, 50 Cent spoke specifically on attempting to help Keef and the reason why he chose to do so.

According to 50 Cent, due to his own experiences he felt he knew exactly what moves had to be made to help Keef in his music career, but despite his expertise, the rapper “didn’t listen.”
“I actually was attracted to the Chief Keef thing. Cause I was like, ‘I can help him. I know what to do. Just do this.’ He didn’t listen…He’s a man…So, when I talk to him, [he] don’t have to take it. I’m not his father. That’s his business. It’s certain things that I look at and go ‘If you play your hand this way, you can be good. If you go them other ways, you gon’ have a hard time.’ And them bumps in the road they’re there for you. It’s not like you exempt.”

Similarly to 50 Cent, who notoriously feuded with everyone from Rick Ross to Ja Rule, Chief Keef has also found himself in an unfavorable light due to issues with fellow artists including Windy City lyricist Lupe Fiasco and pop star Katy Perry. That’s likely one of a handful of career similarities that may have led to 50 Cent referring to the Chief Keef project as his own.
Fifty even offered up advice to artists like Keef as he spoke on the evolution that can take place once an artist stops being conscious of their actions and surroundings.

“Chief Keef’s project is the 50 Cent project,” he revealed. “It’s the same project. In the beginning, he’s completely influenced by the environment. That’s the nightmare. He’s gonna go through what actually happened. And he’s gonna get bumped around. If you catch on and you start to actually say, ‘What’s the [roof] of the situation? I want to be at the highest point I can actually take it in this actual situation.’ And you stop being conscious of your actions and things that’s going on around you then you can actually evolve into something significant.”

Video -

Ace Hood Was "Shocked" His Watch Fell Apart At BET Awards

by Soren Baker

                             

Ace Hood says he fired his jeweler after his bezel fell off during an on-camera interview at the red carpet of the 2013 BET Awards.

Ace Hood probably wanted people to look at his watch. But the Florida rapper likely didn't want his timepiece to garner the type of attention it did on Sunday (June 30).
When Ace Hood touched his timepiece while being interviewed by Bow Wow on the red carpet at the 2013 BET Awards, the bezel fell off. The rapper says he was stunned. "When you spend so much money on a watch, certain things are not supposed to happen," Ace Hood says during an interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106. "My jeweler, I definitely had to fire the jeweler. He going through it, man."



The "Bugatti" rapper says during the Power 106 interview that he couldn't believe what was happening while he was talking to Bow Wow, especially given how much the timepiece cost. "I spent $60,000 on that watch, man," Ace Hood says. "I was just as shocked as everybody else was when it did happen. It never happened to any of my other watches or anything. I looked up. I ain't even know what it was. I figured it was my bracelet. It wasn't no thing, though."




As he was realizing what was happening on the red carpet, Ace Hood says he had a conversation with himself regarding his watch. "For it to happen right then in that moment, I was like, 'You could have happened anywhere else. I just performed. I just ripped down the stage, everything. But you chose to let it be there,'" Ace Hood says. "That's how I know the Devil be working."
Even though Ace Hood says he knows people were making fun of him because of the incident, he says it just makes for a good story. "It's no biggie to me," says Ace Hood, whose Trials & Tribulations album is slated for a July 16 release date. "It ain't even that serious...Things happen, man. We all got stories...This'll be a story that we'll always remember forever." 

Game Hopes will.i.am & Pharrell Can Solve Dispute Without Legal Battle

by Justin Hunte

                              

Exclusive: Game weighs in on the legal battle between his friends, label-mates and collaborators, will.i.am and Pharrell Williams. He also reminds that world that Will is from "Compton," so look out.

In the midst of a brewing legal war between Grammy Award-winning veteran Hip Hop artists and producers will.i.am and Pharrell Williams, a mutual friend was asked to weigh in. As news broke of The Neptunes/N*E*R*D front-man counter-suing his Interscope Records label-mate over trademark rights to his i am OTHER creative venture. Last week, Will and his attorney took reported legal action against Pharrell on using the i am OTHER name. This weekend, HipHopDX spoke to superstar emcee Game, a label-mate, friend, and collaborator to both artists.

"will.i.am is from Compton. Did you know that? [The lawyers] didn’t. So that’s what it is, man," began Game, who hails from the same city as the Black Eyed Peas co-founder. "As we grow older, our career, ourselves as human beings and adults our life takes us on different roller coasters—sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes away from the norm. will.i.am is just a guy who in his Hip Hop career has ridden every roller-coaster in the world. He’s been everywhere, man."

Adding some additional context, Game, who has Eazy-E tattooed on his body, continued, "[will.i.am] was first [discovered Eazy E] before he was signed to anybody else—with Ruthless Records—and that’s why we did that track 'Compton,' and I had fun, man." The pair notably made the 2006 song "Compton" from Game's sophomore album, The Doctor's Advocate. He hopes to further the pair's collaborative discography, "I been talking to Will lately, trying to get back in [the studio] with him."

"I know him and Pharrell got a little [legal dispute]. I don’t know what that’s about, I’m going to stay out of it." Playing both sides, Game also stated his allegiance to Pharrell, with whom he worked on 2011's R.E.D. Album single "California Dream." "Pharrell is my man, Will always been good to me. I hope they able to solve it without no legal bullshit. But it is what it is, man."

Game last released his fifth studio album, Jesus Piece is late 2012.

Additional Reporting by Jake Paine.

California Emcee, Jeez gets Tatted @ A Town Tattoo then does a video, "I Look Good" (Video Premiere)