One of the most popular duos in Hip Hop history is the Grammy Award winning DJ jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, who even after three decades, still have each other’s back and that is proven after what Will Smith’s longtime DJ and friend had to say about “the slap heard around the world.”
On a segment of Closed Sessions Legend Conversationat Dorian’s Through the Record Shop in Chicago, Jeff Townes aka Jazzy Jeff touched on the topic of slapping Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards by defending Smith’s actions, but at the same time admitting that the move was out of character of the otherwise comedic actor.
“Don’t get it twisted that it was something he was proud of,” Jazzy Jeff said. “It was a lapse in judgment, you know? I think the thing that I’ve realized is I don’t know too many people that has had the least amount of lapse of judgment than him. I can name 50 times that [Smith] should’ve smacked the shit out of somebody and he didn’t. So for him to have a lapse in judgment, he’s human. And I think a lot of the criticism comes from the people who don’t think people like that are human.”
One of the biggest music performance occurrences in history is Jay-Z announcing the presence of The King Of Pop Michel Jackson at HOT 97’s annual Summer jam in 2001. Video footage of that performance that has never been seen in over two decades has now surfaced showing the Hip Hop introducing the pop culture icon onstage at the Long Island, NY concert.
The footage shows the moment that Hov brought MJ onstage and how The King received the love and support from the fans. This is also the same Summer Jam that sparked the highly publicized Nas vs. Jay-Z beef on wax.
According to a report from Mississippi Today, NFL legend Brett Favre was involved in a welfare scam in which Favre received over $8 million in funds from Mississippi officials, which has been allegedly proven with texts of the famed QB pressing Miss. officials for the money.
“Hey brother, (we) owe 1.1m on Vball. Any chance you and Nancy can help?” Brett Favre texted Miss.’s welfare director. “You and Nancy stuck your neck out for me and that’s going to turn out very good.”
(Narrator) It did not turn out very good. Nancy could face decades in prison https://t.co/fjlvclCsKF
Anne Wolfe’s exposé revealed that Favre had special access to Gov. Phil Bryant and others who controlled the welfare spending, including the state’s welfare chief and a grant-funded nonprofit director. The allegations came about after the former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and five others were indicted for misappropriating funds within the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Nancy New was among those indicted. She gave Favre $5 million in grant funds to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater at the University of Southern Mississippi, which could be part of the forthcoming civil suit.
A pharmaceutical company backed by Favre called Prevacus allegedly received $2,5 million in stolen funds from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. In comparison, Farve collected over $1 million for himself, but an auditor says he still owes $228,000 in interest on the money he improperly received.
Mississippi Today’s messages allege that Favre told Prevacus owner Jake Vanlandingham to offer Gov. Bryant shares in Prevacus, but Bryant denied ever considering taking the stock. Nancy New is accused of giving the $2.15 million to Prevacus in exchange for shares of the stock.
Farve reportedly received a Ford F-150 Raptor from the state’s then-director of Department of Human Services, John Davis, who was arrested in 2020 on five counts of conspiracy, embezzlement, or fraud.
MDHS Director Bob Anderson said that the department would be filing civil charges against Favre, but Farve has not been charged with any crime.
According to several confirmed reports, Kerrion Franklin, gospel singer Kirk Franklin’ son, was detained yesterday after being pulled over in Beverly Hills in a routine traffic stop, where a gun was discovered. With Franklin already facing criminal charges in Texas, he was arrested and booked in the Los Angeles County Jail.
Podcast host Larry Reid spoke to the Bad Boys: Los Angeles star from behind bars, who says he was “wrongfully arrested and stopped because of his tail light.” Reid said that Franklin got into an altercation with the arresting officers, which led to him getting a charge for resisting arrest.
“Kerrion told me on the phone that they’re trying to slap two other charges on him just because and that the charges were not true,” Reid said. “So, Kerrion is saying he did not resist arrest and that there was no gun that they found that was his. So, I’m assuming that he’s alleging that the gun was planted.”
Reid says that Kerrion maybe extradited to his home state of Texas, but will remain in the L.A. County Jail until his next hearing, but is currently being held without bail.
Go to 33 minutes in the video below to hear more details about this story.
A Black man in Elizabeth, NJ is screaming foul following an incident in which he was denied service at Playa Bowls, an all-natural food store based in the Garden State, after he was already compensated by the store’s owner due to bad service during his last visit and now the man is seeking to file a discrimination lawsuit against the company.
Jason Cleare says that on April 10, he returned to the Elizabeth Playa Bowls store with his child following an incident where the store’s owner had to compensate Mr. Cleare for the store employees’ bad service a month prior. As he proceeded to make his order, one of the employees said that he was banned from the store and consulted with a manager via phone, who confirmed that he was banned from the store.
“The manager yelled over the phone that if I didn’t leave the store, she was going to call the police,” Mr. Cleare said. ” I called their bluff and told them to call the cops. I sat there and waited, but, of course, the police never came. What were they going to tell them? This guy came back that we had to give points for terrible customer service? “
When they realized that he wasn’t leaving the store and was waiting for the police to come, the same employee who claimed that he was banned from the store came back and offered to take his order.
“I wasn’t going to give them any of my money after they threatened to call the cops on me,” he said. “I knew as soon as the cops didn’t come, I was gonna sue them.”
Mr. Cleare says that he is filing a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company because he believes that the alleged ban and threatening of the cops was solely based on the fact that he is Black. He’s seeking punitive damage for the discriminatory treatment in hopes that the all-natural food store doesn’t conduct that type of behavior in the mostly Black Elizabeth neighborhood going forward.
“When you hit them where it hurts, they learn that they can’t treat people however they want and know that some people will hold them accountable for their actions.”
Playa Bowls has yet to respond to the allegations.
Bodycam footage of former Source owner Benzino has surfaced, showing the Love And Hip Hop star being arrested for punching the truck of his ex’s new man.
A Braselton, Georgia Police officer’s bodycam shows the cops questioning Benzino and his ex-girlfriend and son’s mother Althea Hart, who claimed that her child’s father punched her new man’s truck, so they in turn called the police.
Other eyewitnesses say that they say Benzino punch the truck, which had visible damage to the truck’s body. This prompted the Braselton Police to arrest Benzino, who became irate after being detained.
While many people are still shocked that he’s going through with it, but T.I has turned his sights from the booth to the stage with a stand-u comedy act which didn’t seem to go over too well in Brooklyn this past weekend.
he self-proclaimed “King Of The South” has been receiving fair reviews for his stand-ups, but this weekend in Brooklyn proved to be challenge for the rapper turned comic. Standing among comedy greats such as Eddie Griffin, Tony Roberts, Bruce Bruce, Michael Blackson, and Joe Torry, Tip definitely had his work cut out for him.
See the crownd’s reaction to his set below.
Rapper #TI booed at the April Fools comedy show in Brooklyn New York tonight. Tough crowd no matter who you are.pic.twitter.com/4a8WazJm9o
On this day in Hip Hop history, the soundtrack to the cult classic comedy Friday was released by 550 Music and Epic Records. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart where it stood for two weeks and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop chart where it stood for six weeks. The album was just as commercially successful as the film and was certified double platinum only two months after its release.
During the 90s, it seemed that every soundtrack was a hit and the Friday soundtrack definitely followed suite. With tracks from Ice Cube, Scarface, Dr. Dre, Cypress Hill, and 2 Live Crew, the album stacked up to be an amazing compilation of original tracks and poppin’ radio singles while the addition of a few throwback from The Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins, and Rick James gave the album theatrical depth and a sense of nostalgia. Dr. Dre’s original single for the film, “Keep Their Head Ringing”, was able to see great success due to this soundtrack. It ranked in at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. It was certified gold by the RIAA in May 1995.
On this day in Hip Hop history, Biz Markie (real name Marcel Theo Hall), one of the most respected and successful artist/DJs in Hip Hop, was born. Born in Harlem, and growing up in Long Island, The Biz has been moving the crowd with his unique style of rhyming since he was 14. From his earliest gig as Roxanne Shante‘s beat boxer to a headliner at Grammy Awards after parties, he’s done it all. Whether it be on screen, on the mic, or on the 1s and 2s, The Biz has remained a consistent brand in entertainment booking, averaging 175 shows a year across the globe.
Over the past four decades, Biz Markie established himself as one of the most prolific rappers/DJs in music. Since his 1988 debut Goin’ Off (which peaked at #90 on the Billboard 200), he has grabbed hold of the hearts and ears of Hip Hop lovers everywhere. His second album, 1989’s The Biz Never Sleeps, contains his timeless hit “Just a Friend,” which has made a permanent impact on pop culture.
During the ’90s, The Biz reached his apex as an icon. His third LP, I Need A Haircut, unintentionally changed the scope of Hip Hop forever. The closing track from the album, “Alone Again,” contains a sample of the song “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O’Sullivan, which had not been cleared by Warner Bros. Records. In turn, Warner Bros. sued The Biz for his unlawful use of the sample, causing the courts to rule all samples must be cleared by the owning party before reuse from then on. The lawsuit prompted the title of Markie’s fourth LP All Samples Cleared!.After this incident, sample clearing was one of the main hurdles to jump as a recording artist in this genre.
As the new millennium approached, Markie never saw much of a decline in popularity. In 2002, he made his first major motion picture appearance in Men in Black 2. From then, he continued to make a plethora of television and big screen appearances. From Nick Cannon’s Wild N Out to Grand Theft Auto, The Biz is seen and heard throughout visual media.
During this decade, he also started his endeavors as a child educator through the children’s program Yo Gabba Gabba. Through entertainment, Markie has helped educate young children on music and artistic expression on the Nick Jr. hit show.
On July 16, 2021, Biz Markie passed away reportedly from complications of diabetes. H was 57 years old. No one has had a career in the Hip Hop game quite like “the human orchestra” Biz Markie and his impact on the game will never be forgotten. Especially on his birthday!
As the talk of the infamous slap heard throughout Hollywood continues to be a topic at conversation tables, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s post slap actions have received a lot of criticism, but none as brutal as what came from the mouth of comedian Corey Holcomb.
Holcomb gave his take on why Pinkett-Smith goes so hard to remind the world that she was close to late Hip Hop icon Tupac Shakur, but it is questionable as to whether or not they were intimate. Holcomb also brought up the letter that her daughter Willow Smith penned to Shakur after learning of the connection of the slain rap legend to her mother.
Willow wrote when she was 11 to Tupac, telling him, “I know you are alive someplace. I think that my mommy really misses you. Can you please come back so mommy and me can be happy! I wish you were here. I really do!”
