News: Update: T.I. Denied Prison Delay, Must Begin Sentence Next Week
Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Fri, 22 May 2009 17:16:58
The decision to keep Tip in an Arkansas prison was made Friday (May 22) afternoon.
Rapper T.I. must report Tuesday (May 26) to a federal prison at Forrest City, Ark., as previously ordered, a federal judge ruled Friday. HIs request was denied by U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. Lawyer Donald F. Samuel said he would continue to ask the federal Bureau of Prisons to re-classify the music star. ( WMFB News )
The Atlanta-based emcee reportedly made his request yesterday.
Harris asked a court today to let him remain free while he seeks placement in a minimum-security prison closer to his Atlanta home. He claims prison officials miscalculated his criminal history. His lawyer called a 2003 incident a "scuffle" with a mall cop. A pre-sentencing report says T.I. has a "serious history of violence." The rapper is scheduled to report by noon Tuesday to the Federal Correction Institution at Forrest City, Arkansas. He was fined $100,000 and sentenced to 366 days for trying to buy machine guns and silencers
he said he needed for protection. ( Fort Mill Times )
Tip will reportedly serve roughly ten months behind bars.
According to U.S. Attorney's Office Spokesperson Charysee Alexander, the rapper was indeed given credit for the 305 days of home confinement he served while awaiting trial in the case, but that has nothing to do with his prison sentence. The confusion may have stemmed from mixing the credit for home confinement with the prison sentence, which are separate terms, Alexander said. Once T.I. completes the prison term, he will still have to serve out the remainder of his home confinement, she said, which will amount to about two months. Alexander explained that, at best, according to federal sentencing guidelines, anyone who serves more than one year in prison is eligible for a 15 percent "good time" credit, which in Tip's case could shave almost 55 days off his sentence. (MTV)
The rapper is currently required to turn himself in next week.
The 28 year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford J. Harris Jr., will be serving his year-and-one-day sentence at the Forrest City low-security federal prison. Paperwork filed in his federal court case shows he has until noon on May 26 to report for his sentence. Prison officials did not immediately return a call for comment. (USA Today)

News: Dr. Dre On Eminem's "Relapse" LP, "It's Hardcore Dark Comedy"
Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Fri, 22 May 2009 17:10:22
Dr. Dre has weighed in on the overall quality of Eminem's Relapse album and hinted at the rapper's obsessive work ethic.
In addition to the album, Doc also spoke on the young fans' anticipation for the return of Slim Shady.
"It's hardcore, it's dark comedy," Dre said in an interview about Relapse. "I talked to my son about [Em's return] and he was like 'The kids want to him act a fool. We want to hear him be crazy, we want to hear him be Slim Shady and nothing else.'...Once he makes a painting, once he lays a lyric down, it's impossible to get him to change it. If there's a couple of lines he says on a record that's not relevant today, it's 'No, that was that painting. That was for that moment.'" (New York Times)
Em's official deejay The Alchemist recently spoke on the likelihood of Relapse becoming an instant classic.
"I just got back from Detroit, was with Em for like three or four days working," Al explained in an interview. "Got a chance to listen to the whole album and man, I love my album and it's coming out in mid-June, when he played his album I wanted to throw mine away, straight up... Like when he was playing me the album, like, I didn't wanna say it 'cause I was like thinking of his whole body of work and I was like, 'This might be some of his best body of work,' in my opinion. It's 16 Dr. Dre beats, it's like Em kinda decided, I'm assuming, when was the last time you heard a full production of Dr. Dre's music through and through, minus one joint, Em did one joint. The attention Dre put on those beats is the equivalent to the attention Em put on to the writing." (The Maguire)
Known for being compared to Em due to similar flows and racial backgrounds, Asher Roth also spoke on the project's dark side.
"I've heard the Relapse album and, speaking honestly, it's very aggressive and dark and it's...it's not easy-listening," he explained in an interview. "But when you get down to it, it's a grower, because you sit here and you're witnessing somebody who's putting so much of himself out there, and it's just like, 'Whoa.' You feel the depression and you feel how upset and how crazy these last few years and the whole ride has been for him. Like I said, for somebody to keep their cool, as stressful as the everyday world is, and then try to take on the responsibilities of being a public figure, and having all the hardships he's had to deal with and to have him still come out the beautiful human being he is, there's nothing else to say but 'Bravo.' (MTV)
While an official count will not be ready until next week, one-day estimates have Marshall Mathers' fifth solo project debuting atop the charts.
He may be a homophobic, pill-popping, celeb-dissing misogynist, but there are at least 600-650k others who can relate to Eminem. That's the number of people we estimate will pick up the Detroit hip-hop bad boy's Relapse, his first album for Shady/Aftermath/Interscope in almost five years, based on reports from retailers across this great nation of ours who haven't yet hung up a 'For Lease' sign. (Hits Daily Double)

News: Alfamega's Manager Breaks Silence, "People Should Have More Compassion"
Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Fri, 22 May 2009 09:54:34
Alfamega 's manager, Dexter Decks Spencer , has spoken on the recent reports involving his client working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and gave an update on the emcee's current condition.
Spencer refuted claims that Alfa hurt himself by attempting to escape from police earlier this month and weighed in on the rapper's current condition.
"I just feel like people should have more compassion for what Alfa is going through as a human being first and foremost," he explained. "At this point, Alfa has been a victim of police brutality and social injustice...He underwent surgery. Alfa had some injuries to both of his legs as a result of a tussle with the police. Alfa was on his cell phone, sitting in his vehicle in a downtown location in Atlanta. Police came up. Right off the top, they was pickin' at him...Alfa knows his rights, so of course he's gonna fight. Not in a physical way, but he's gonna put up resistance because he knows his rights. From there, a foot chase ensued, Alfa was chased through a building. At approximately 25-30 feet up, while they were tussling, Alfa was pushed by the police department...He is a loyal guy. And when you're loyal, the worst thing that could ever happen to you is that the people you were loyal to kinda don't have the compassion that you wish they would have for you. I know it hurts." (*All Hip Hop)
Reports broke out earlier this month about Alfa's arrest on felony gun and obstruction charges.
He was arrested Wednesday (April 29) and according to an Atlanta Police Department report, police found a stolen .40 caliber pistol in Zellars's SUV during a search of the vehicle following a traffic stop (the Sig Sauer handgun was loaded and had a round in the chamber). After cops discovered the gun, Zellars became "combative and non-compliant" and sought to flee. Officer Antonio Blasini pepper sprayed Zellars in the face, but the substance "had no immediate effect." Cops chased Zellars to a nearby parking garage, where he was struck with a police baton, again to no effect. In a bid to shake his pursuers, Zellars weaved through parked cars and climbed over the garage wall, jumping "25-30 feet to the ground." Zellars was booked into a Fulton County jail, where he remained until Saturday (May 9) when he made bail. Zellars, a predicate felon, has yet to be indicted on the gun and obstruction charges. However, if the gun case were to be handled by federal prosecutors, Zellars could easily be facing more than a decade in prison. (The Smoking Gun)
Busta Rhymes recently spoke with SOHH about his opinion on Alfa and rappers concealing their controversial past history associations.
"Privacy is something that everybody should respect when it comes to people's personal life," he explained. "[But] you're always held accountable for the decisions that you make. The universe will deal with a muthaf*cka through a thing that we call Karma. When you try to conceal some sh*t and you a wolf walking around in sheep's clothing and you misleading the people, even if nobody ever gets to find out what it is that you're concealing as a truth. You still gotta live and die in your own inequity. Something somewhere in your life is going to happen to you." (SOHH)
Upon learning of his DEA past, Grand Hustle CEO T.I. publicly ended his ties to the rapper.
"Even though all of our artists and employees are asked by us to be honest and open about their past history at no time did Alfa disclose to me or Grand Hustle what has now appeared in the media," Tip said in a recent statement. "He essentially deceived us by failing to fully disclose the truth about his past and there is no place in our organization for dishonest and misleading behavior. As I've always said, you must take responsibility for your own actions, we at Grand Hustle do not support or condone blaming others for our own mistakes. I hope and pray to god bless his financial plans but I do not foresee me or my company playing the role of his personal or professional business." (File Factory)
Alfamega has yet to address the public since his reports on his DEA past leaked online earlier this month.