The ongoing war of hip-hop verbiage between 50 Cent and Fat Joe is about to spill into the one arena that really counts: The marketplace. The blitzkrieg will happen March 3, when both rappers release records.
Fiddy, whose major-label debut, “Get Rich or Die Trying,” was the top-selling CD of ‘03, will do battle with his aptly titled sophomore album, “The Massacre,” which contains one of the most-hyped, most-anticipated, most-talked about songs of the year. “Piggy Bank” is chock-full of taunts to Judakiss, jailed rapper Shyne and newlywed one-monikers Nas and Kelis but has Fiddy making one particularly piquant slap at Joe.
The gansta’s dis? A few obscene lines – unquotable in a genteel family newspaper – in which the dauntless Mr. Cent crows about being way the heck more manly, courageous, powerful and virile than Mr. Joe, especially when it comes to selling records.
But Joe ain’t taking any of this sitting down. He promises that his CD, “All or Nothing,” will respond appropriately to the mighty challenge issued by his nemesis. What those words will be, we can only speculate.
We do anticipate both rappers will enjoy a mighty guffaw (together?) because of the many thousands more records this little spat will help sell.
Meanwhile, 50 Cent’s empire grows apace with news that Sirius Satellite Radio has signed the star to create G Unit Radio, his very own programming to run all day Saturdays on the network’s hip-hop channel, Shade 45.
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JAILHOUSE RAP
In other hip-hop struggles, jailed rapper C-Murder, born Corey Miller, has peeved authorities by making a music video behind bars.
The rapper, who is accused of murdering a 16-year-old inside a nightclub, is awaiting a new trial in New Orleans after a second-degree murder conviction was thrown out of court in April. In his three years as a prisoner, he has managed to put together a 17-song album, “The Truest S— I Ever Said.”
A video for the song “Y’all Heard of Me” shows Mr. Murder in an orange prison outfit in jail, talking about racial profiling.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee is not amused by the CD, which is due out March 22, or the video, which he says was made behind his back.
So how’d the intrepid C do it? The video’s contents are all from footage shot by Court TV and a local cable-access show during interviews with C.
“The bottom line is, we didn’t do anything wrong,” C lawyer Ron Rakosky said.
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PORTMAN’S TRANSGRESSION
Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman has angered dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers who objected to her kissing her costar, Israeli actor Aki Avni, during filming of the feature “Free Zone” next to Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
The site, a remnant of the biblical temples, is controlled by strictly observant Jews, and, because of rules forbidding casual contact between the sexes, it features a barrier that separates male and female worshippers. According to religious and state law, acting and romantic interaction are both forbidden near the wall.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said the protesters charged the couple, shouting, “Immoral, immoral!” Police had to step in. They asked the actors to leave and come back later.
Portman, 23, is studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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KORN’S LOSS
Rock band Korn is minus one founding member. According to the band’s Web site, Brian “Head” Welch is leaving the band because the guitarist “has chosen Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end.”
Welch said he is disenchanted with the morbid imagery and ideas in much of heavy metal music.
“Those guys in the band, they’re not bad guys. They’re just a bunch of kids getting marketed how these guys in the big corporate firms want to do,” Welch told the Bakersfield Californian. “It makes us look like bad people.”
Korn’s eighth album is due this year. No word on a replacement.
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MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) – Bono targeted worldwide poverty in the wishes he was granted as a recipient of the inaugural TED Prize from the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference.
He was among three winners who were given four months to come up with their wishes, with TED agreeing to spend $100,000 on each winner to help make their wishes come true.
The U2 frontman and global activist said Thursday he wished for the creation of ONE, a social movement he hopes will have more than 1 million Americans fighting worldwide poverty. He also wished to tell people of this movement 1 billion times and wants TED to help connect every hospital, health clinic and school in Ethiopia to the Internet.
Bono is believed to be among the list of nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which is kept secret by the awards committee. The final count of nominees includes 163 individuals and 36 organizations. The winner will be announced in mid-October.
The other recipients of the TED Prize were Canadian photo-artist Edward Burtynsky and medical technologies pioneer Robert Fischell.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Michelle Branch is pregnant with her first child, People magazine reported.
The 21-year-old singer-songwriter is expecting a baby in early August with her husband, Teddy Landau, the magazine said. The couple were married last May. Landau, 40, is Branch’s bass player.
A call to her agent by The Associated Press wasn’t immediately returned Friday.
Branch and Landau are scheduled to begin a 23-city tour next week featuring contributors to the soundtrack of the WB’s “One Tree Hill.”
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On the Net:
http://www.michellebranch.net
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NEW YORK (AP) – Sharon Stone says her character will have a bisexual relationship in the upcoming film “Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction.”
“There is lesbian love,” Stone said in an interview on the syndicated entertainment TV show “Access Hollywood,” which aired Thursday. “We’re testing for her now.”
When asked if she would mind if life ever imitated art, the 46-year-old actress said with a smile: “Why not? Middle age is an open-minded period.”
Stone said she was surprised at the attention her interrogation scene in the original 1992 “Basic Instinct” movie – in which she is famously underdressed – received.
“People still want to see some more of that,” she said with a laugh. When asked if that was the plan for the sequel, she smiled and replied, “You can spend your $12 and go find out for yourself.”
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