Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Thu, 21 May 2009 10:27:11
Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z has reportedly bought out the remainder
of his business contract with Def JamRecords, including his
unreleased Blueprint 3 album obligation, for roughly $5 million.
While Def Jam has yet to comment on the alleged transaction, details surrounding
the deal have begun circulating online.
As Roc Nation, Jay-Z's new home under the Live Nation umbrella,
 takes shape, the hip-hop superstar has reportedly bought back the
 last remaining
 record on his Island Def Jam deal for what some say is a whopping
 $5 million, raising a number of intriguing questions. How does the
album figure into the plans of Roc Nation's
 brain trust, which also includes the A&R-savvy Jay Brown and
Tata, as well as Jay-Z's business manager John Menielly? How will
it be marketed and distributed? Will Roc Nation
employ a traditional distribution channel or take the LP direct to retail?
Hits Daily Double)
Jay previously discussed his long-awaited Blueprint 3 release earlier
this year.
"For me, the process of making an album is difficult with so many
things going on," he said in an interview. "And me, I wanna make it
beyond and above. I'm gonna take my
time with it. I don't have any quotas, and that's a good thing. It may
be too freeing. It's a good thing and a bad thing. You know, I think
 I need some restrictions. 'Cause if I
had restrictions, I would have done it in three weeks. I would have
 made what I believe to be a great piece of art. I actually recorded
a lot of records already. You know, all those
records that leaked [online] were on The Blueprint 3." (MTV)
Claiming he helped craft Blueprint 3, producer No. I.D. recently
promised
 the finished product would be a "classic."
"Me and Kanye West] have been doing a lot of work, we
worked on
Blueprint together," No. I.D. revealed. "Most of the stuff, I
kinda took an ego, stepped back and said,
'Hey, let's [Dr.] Dre and Mel-Man it. I played Mel-Man.
I'm gonna say, we were doing Blueprint 3 when we did 'Heartless.' 'Heartless' made 808s & Heartbreak happen and all
 that is related but everything in Blueprint 3 is like 808s &
Heartbreak but with more hip-hop. So it's kinda like they related and Jay brings it around to make it hip-hop credible.
It's some records on there. That record is also gonna be something
that's gonna grow on people in a certain way and in a certain
amount of time it's gonna be a full fledged classic." (Real Talk Express)
Jay has been with Def Jam for over a decade.
Together with friends Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs"
Burke , Jay-Z created Roc-a-Fella Records, a risky strategy for
cutting out the middleman and making money for
himself. Once he found a reputable distributor, Priority Records
(and then later Def Jam), Jay-Z finally had everything in place,
including a debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996). (All Music)
A release date for Blueprint 3 has not yet been announced.

News: DJ Whoo Kid Declares 50 Cent & Rick Ross Beef Dead, "50 Promoted His Album Very Well"

Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Thu, 21 May 2009 10:50:00
After nearly five months of verbal jabs, G-Unit associate
DJ Whoo Kid has said 50 Cent's rap beef with Rick Ross
is finished.
In addition to explaining why Fif has moved on, Whoo Kid
spoke on what the rapper-turned-actor has planned next.
"50's done ten freestyles," he explained in an interview.
"I'm waiting on like, two more. I guess he's trying to figure
out the title. And I've been doing a lot of those Radio Planet videos,
so I'm gonna put together a RadioPlanet.TV 50 Cent video.
Those are my video mixtapes I've been putting out, killing the Web waves...The Rick Ross sh*t is outta here. It's over, he's done
his promo, 50 promoted his album very well, so Rick Ross
is outta here. Now he's worried about his own sh*t. They got
the Tia Kemp]
book out there. That should be the last level of anything that
has anything to do with Rick Ross." (MTV)
Ross' baby's mother, Tia, recently announced her association
with 50 earlier this month.
"G-Unit books. It's not a [coincidence]," Tia said regarding
the company overseeing her tell-all release. "I'm affiliated
with G-Unit now, officially. I am G-Unit. I'm waiting on my piece
too, 50. [laugh] Yes I am [serious]...I'm a great mother, I'm
hoping this book with be successful so that I can give my kids
a good life, a better life than I had...[Ross] is not a real n*gga,
 he has no street credit at all. None whatsoever...I don't know
where all of the [swag] came from, the fake shades. I think
that's who he's trying to be now, Biggie Smalls]. Did you see
 him in that new video? He put two earrings in his ear, do some
research, he never put earrings in anything he did. He just got
earrings about a month ago...[With the beard] he's trying
to be Freeway Ricky Ross." (Radio Planet TV)
Despite Whoo Kid's claims, Tony Yayo has recently been heard in interviews taunting the Miami rapper.
"He's so funny and delusional, I love it though," Yayo said in an
interview. "'Cause, now I got the real n*ggas from Miami, not no
fake rap sh*t, not no fake Triple C's
Torch...N*ggas trying to make it seem like Yayo can't get a
pass down to Florida? Are you crazy? Are you kidding me?
And I'm not talking about Disney Land, I'm talking
about Little Haiti, I got the pass to go through there... I been a
little quiet, I let fat boy talk. His album came out, he had a 68
percent drop this week so Def Jam ain't on they
job." (Shade 45)
Aside from music, Fif is reportedly working on an upcoming
horror film.
Director Abel Ferrara is taking another walk on the wild side
with a re-imagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , which will be
 contemporized and titled Jekyll and Hyde. Forest Whitaker
and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson are attached to play the lead roles
in the classic tale about a doctor who invents a
potion that unleashes his violent alter ego. (Variety)