Foxy Brown Doesn’t Talk, Assault Suspect Walks
The woman charged with attacking Foxy Brown outside a Brooklyn housing project this past weekend has been released from Rikers Island after the Brooklyn bred rapper refused to testify to a grand jury about the incident.
As previously reported, Roshawn Anthony, 23, was charged with assault and robbery charges in connection with the attack on Foxy Brown outside the Louis H. Pink Houses on Saturday night (June 23).
Anthony was allegedly one of three women who were summoned by Brown’s boyfriend to attack the rapper after she reportedly dumped him for being a pimp. The women stole Brown’s $500 handbag, necklaces and her hearing aid.
According to New York’s Daily News, the district attorney’s office had until 5 p.m. yesterday (June 28) to indict Anthony but she was let go after Brown refused to testify.
Anthony, who has denied the charges, had been held since Monday (June 25) on $50,000 bail but state law prohibits jailing suspects for more than 120 hours unless an indictment is filed.
Brown’s ex-boyfriend has been identified by authorities as Timothy Collier, 33, a small-time pimp. Neighbors said they had seen Brown and Collier together over the past few weeks but had not seen Collier since Monday.
Brown, who initially cooperated with police, stopped talking to the authorities and denied the assault when reporters approached her the day after news of her attack surfaced.
On Tuesday (June 26), Chaz Williams, CEO of Foxy’s management team Black Hand Entertainment, claims the rapper wasn’t cooperating because she got the bag back with all of her stuff. .
Prosecutors still have six months to persuade Brown to testify so they can file an indictment. Anthony has to return to court on August 9.
Eve Pleads No Contest To DUI Charge; Ordered To Wear Alcohol-Monitoring Device
Eve was ordered to wear an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet for 45 days after pleading no contest on Thursday (June 28) to driving under the influence, stemming from an arrest in April.
According to the Associated Press, the rapper/actress (real name: Eve Jeffers) was not present in court when the plea was entered, but under the plea agreement, a second count of driving under the influence was dropped.
28-year-old Eve was arrested on April 26 after she hit a center median in her gold Maserati on Hollywood Boulevard.
She was taken in, booked on misdemeanor drunken driving and posted $30,000 bail shortly thereafter.
Even was facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, but after her plea, she was sentenced to 36 months of probation and a $390 fine.
With fees and restitution for repairs to the median, her bill could top $1,400, reports the AP.
In addition to wearing the monitoring device, she is required to attend 10 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and a three-month alcohol education program for first-time offenders.
This will not be the last time Eve will have to be in court. She is scheduled back in court on July 20 to show proof that she has enrolled in her alcohol program and has the monitoring device in place.
If she fails the 45-day monitoring period, she will have to start over and if she fails twice, she will be sentenced to 10 days in jail.
TMZ.com Under Fire For Calling Beyonce “Robo-ho”
Gossip site TMZ.com has come under fire by columnist Jasmyne A. Cannick for calling Beyonce “robo-ho” in reference to her performance at Tuesday’s BET Awards. The reference refers to Beyonce beginning her performance of “Get Me Bodied” by entering dressed in robotic like clothing.
The following is Cannick’s unedited column:
We just can’t seem to escape the word ho. It’s everywhere we go. It’s blaring from the speakers in the cars that pass us by on the street. It’s coming out of the mouths of the kids that walk past our homes and offices. Occasionally some white shock jock uses it to refer to a group of women basketball players and then there’s the Internet and infotainment media.
In its recap of the BET Music Awards held on Tuesday in Los Angeles, popular Internet site TMZ.com described recording artist Beyonce’s choice of outfit as “roboho,” and this was among other things.
The website posted the following comment in regards to Beyonce:
…From Beyonce’s roboho performance getup to Eve’s streetwalker chic, check out why it’s time these artists hired new stylists and put the hip back into hip-hop!…
And while I tried to shake it and chalk it up to TMZ.com just being TMZ.com, I can’t.
Not too long ago Black America raised its voices over the Don Imus “nappy headed hos” slip of the tongue which resulted in him ultimately being fired from CBS. Some would argue it had more to do with that fact the women he referred too didn’t deserve to be called that and that they weren’t public figures worthy of such a demeaning name. Others, like myself, believe that there’s no justification for calling someone a ho, directly or indirectly, in the media, and that includes the online media.
So with that said, back to Beyonce and her being described by TMZ.com as having on “roboho performance getup.” For real now. Is that what it’s come down too? There are many colorful adjectives that one could use to describe Beyonce’s outfit. So why then did ho have to come into the equation? And the last time I checked, Beyonce was an African-American woman which to me makes the description worse because it seems that these days it’s us Black women who are always being called hos. If the Don Imus’ and TMZ.com’s of the world aren’t calling us hos, then its our brotha Snoop Dogg who believes that he’s justified in doing so because he’s “talking about ho’s that’s in the ‘hood that ain’t doing sh–, that’s trying to get a n—a for his money.”
But back to TMZ.com, obviously Beyonce doesn’t need anyone to defend her and that’s really not what I am doing. I am more interested in defending the way that Black women and in fact all women are depicted by the media when it’s negative. Like I said earlier, there are a many colorful adjectives that TMZ.com could have used and I am curious to know why they went with ho. Was it subconscious? Was it on purpose? Do they not care how that word, thanks in part to websites like TMZ.com and rappers, is becoming more and more synonymous with Black women?
And before you race off to your inbox to send me an email defending TMZ.com’s use of the word, note this: I get what TMZ.com is all about. I understand fully why they are as popular as they are. My point is that Black America has already made it clear that “ho” is not going to be tolerated in conjunction with describing Black women. Not from Black rappers, white shock jocks, and yes not even the writers at TMZ.com. Today is a new day, and just like when ******, negro, and colored were acceptable descriptions of Blacks, we have now replaced those words with African-American, Black American, and my favorite, just Black.
I think at the very least TMZ.com owes Beyonce and America an apology for using such a derogatory slur in their description of her outfit. I don’t care that they didn’t like it but I do care when they use their platform that’s read by millions to describe her as a “roboho.” That’s just wrong and inexcusable after the Imus controversy and sends a clear message of how Black women are viewed by the TMZ.com writers.
This is one Black woman who isn’t down with the word ho.
Based in Los Angeles, Jasmyne Cannick is a nationally syndicated race, culture, and social issues journalist and critic. She can be reached at http://www.jasmynecannick.com or http://www.myspace.com/jasmynecannick
Controversy Surrounding New Prince Album In The UK
Sony BMG U.K. will not handle Prince’s upcoming album release after a national British newspaper struck a deal to give the CD away.
Columbia in the United States recently struck a worldwide deal, understood to cover just the one Prince album release, “Planet Earth.” The major’s U.K. company had sought, and has now achieved, an exemption from the terms of that deal, a spokesman for Sony BMG tells Billboard.biz.
“The Prince album will not be released in the U.K.,” a Sony BMG spokesperson says. “It’s a one-off situation.”
The unusual development is a direct response to a deal the Mail on Sunday is understood to have struck with Prince’s representatives, which will see the 10-track CD distributed as a “covermount” with an unspecified edition of the newspaper.
As previously reported, the album is slated for an international release July 16, and July 24 in the U.S. Columbia had previously released Prince’s 2004 disc, “Musicology.”
Furthermore, the album will be distributed free to thousands of gig-goers. Prior to confirmation of the Columbia deal, Prince last month announced plans to give-away copies of the album with tickets to his 21-date “The Earth Tour” residency at London’s new O2 Arena, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, beginning Aug. 1.
The Mail on Sunday was at the center of a heated “covermounts” row within the U.K. music industry when it pressed-up 3 million copies of Mike Oldfield’s complete 1973 album “Tubular Bells,” to distribute as a freebie with its April 22 edition.
“We’re not in a fight with anybody,” the publication’s managing director Stephen Miron told Billboard.biz. “We’re just trying to produce the best possible content we can do, and give it to an audience who clearly have an appetite for it. And what we are also able to demonstrate is we can stimulate that appetite, and people then go on to fulfil their appetite with extra product, be it album sales, DVD sales, concert tickets or whatever.”
When asked if the newspaper would continue to covermount core catalog releases in future, Miron said, “Yes. I think we’ve been able to demonstrate that we’ve got a commitment to music and a passion for music.”
The Prince release, however, is threatening to blow-up into another industry dispute.
Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the U.K.’s Entertainment Retailers Association, used his keynote speech yesterday at the London Calling conference to condemn the latest “covermount.” Having said the news “beggars belief,” he added, “If it turns out to be the case, The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores.”
So So Def Producer Nitti Wins ASCAP Award For “Pop Song Of The Year”
Southern hit making producer Nitti received the ASCAP award for “Pop Song of The Year” in Los Angeles on Monday June 25th, adding onto an impressive year with a new label deal under his belt.
Warner Bros. Records recognized the genius of this Atlanta based producer and recently signed a deal to create Nitti’s own label Playmaker Music. Nitti now officially an artist as well as a producer, floods the airwaves with Young Capone’s first single off his album to be released on So So Def/ Island Records “Acting Bad” featuring Nitti on production and on the lyrics joined by his mentor Jermaine Dupri.
Nitti’s first album “Ghettoville USA”, which has attracted an all-star roster of artists such as Young Jeezy, David Banner, E-40, and Young Dro to name a few is set to debut in the first quarter of 2008. Constantly keeping his sound on the airwaves, Nitti is presently producing upcoming projects for southern hip-hop leaders T.I, Rick Ross, Bow Wow, and David Banner.
Nitti is not fixed on producing for one genre, rather he is already in discussion to include Grammy award winner John Mayer to the “Ghettoville USA” debut album. Perfecting the “Nitti Beat” sound of hi-tempo drum and bass beats, Nitti separates his music from other producers, Nitti explains, “I don’t like to use samples; I create 95% of all my tracks with instruments that I play myself. My music is very upbeat and energetic; I think it reflects a southern sound that mainstream airwaves have not heard yet”.
OPRAH TO OPEN STORE NEXT TO HARPO
Oprah Winfrey is about to open a 4,500 square foot store kitty-corner to her Harpo Studios in Chicago that will offer a smorgasbord of her signature products, according to reports.
A rep for Harpo Productions Inc. announced Wednesday that work has already begun on the one-story building.
No details other than the construction site and building size were given at the time, but Chicago’s CBS affiliate learned independently that the store will serve as a bricks and mortar location for items currently available only at Oprah.com, including a beach tote with “O” logo trim for $26, a $10 coffee mug with “The Oprah Winfrey Show” written on the side and a $24 basket made in South Africa.
The news station also got some top-secret information from Jim Giudice, a carpenter who’s working on the construction. According to E! Online, he slipped up and said the site will also feature “a little café.”
Lil Mama Ready To Get It Poppin
Lil Mama isn’t sitting pretty on the success of “Lip Gloss” alone. After working on several remixes and guest spots with big names, she’s ready to unveil her next LP. According to her, she is ready for the spotlight.
“I been waiting a long time for this, because I been writing music for so long,” she told MTV recently. “Now it’s my chance to get out there.”
She also remains confident with the success she’s had, though.
“[My success has come] with a song that’s catchy and fun, so I’m happy it’s not with anything out of my range.”
Her versatility allows her to sing and rap on her debut. Producers Cool and Dre have worked with her and they are praising her talent.
“She’s a little mama for real. She comes into the studio and she runs it. I watched her run people in the nicest way ever. She commands the room. She knows exactly what she wants. She’s definitely wiser than her age. Wise beyond her years. Working with her was real dope.”
Her album Voice of Young People will be released in September. Swizz Beats, Scott Storch and others are slated to produce on the album.
Production Duo Behind Original Music On “The Wire” Secure Deal With MTV/Viacom
Darkroom Productions, the production duo behind the original music on HBO’s “The Wire”, have secured a production deal with media giant MTV/Viacom. The new MTV/Viacom deal has the duo producing original music and songs for all of the reality shows on MTV, including music for Viacom networks VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Spike TV.
Their innovative production also can be heard on Chamillionaire’s highly anticipated sophomore album “Ultimate Victory”, Maino’s new hit video & single “Til I Die”, Sqad Up’s new single featuring 3-6 Mafia “Getting Drunk & High” and more soon to be released classics.
Darkroom has already been featured in Rolling Stone magazine, The New York Times, FADER magazine, XLR8R magazine, Music Monthly, and countless other newspapers, magazines, and internet outlets. They were even nominated for a Justo Mixtape Award for their groundbreaking release “Hamsterdam”.
USHER’S MAMA ‘HAPPY FOR HER SON’
New York Daily News columnists Rush & Malloy add fuel to the fire surrounding rumored animosity between Usher’s mother, Jonetta Patton, and fiancée, Tameka Foster.
With Wednesday’s announcement that Foster is with child, the column wanted to know if a baby would warm the rumored iciness between the two women, which was allegedly sparked when Foster dissed Patton during a radio interview.
“Not a chance,” one source told the column. Added another: “Jonetta is not thrilled, but what can she do?”
Usher’s spokesman, however, denies any drama between the mama and the soon-to-be wife, stating: “She’s extremely happy for her son.”
Usher’s rep is also denying reports that he’s on the outs with fans of his co-owned Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as the organization itself.
Word has it that folks are mad because he was caught up in the pre-Tony Awards hype in New York when his team was struggling in the NBA playoffs. There were also rumors that he was beefing with star forward LeBron James.
In response, the team stopped playing Usher’s music for a period. According to Rush & Malloy, “Tempers cooled recently when Usher accepted one of the team’s repeated invitations to perform the National Anthem.”
A source said: “That was the first step to mending ties.”
Usher’s rep is calling the whole Usher vs. Cavaliers report “ridiculous.”
“Usher made it clear how pained he was to miss the playoffs because of the Tonys,” said the publicist. “No one is more proud of the Cavaliers than Usher.”
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