New Hip Hop News

His life may have been cut short back in the 1990s, but Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace’s legacy has stood tall for decades. His memory has been carried on by his family, loved ones, and community of fans who have remained dedicated to placing his hits at the top of their “favorites” lists. During his reign, Biggie helped many artists from his neighborhood find fame alongside him, including his brainchild, Junior M.A.F.I.A.

Member Lil Cease recently sat down with VladTV where he discussed his Rap career. “I really started rapping after Biggie passed,” said Cease. “When I had to write my album. In them times before that, Biggie was writing the raps for me.”

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“Everybody else was writing they rhymes, though,” Cease added before naming his peers. “The main people was the main friends he had was me, Nino, Chico, Capone, and Bugsy. Nino, Capone, and Bugsy is all related. We didn’t rap, Chico rapped, though. He used to live a building away from Big. He rapped. So, most of the artists from Junior M.A.F.I.A. rapped, I just wasn’t a rapper. It was just an idea he had just for me performing with them that whole year before we got our record deal.”

“He got his record deal, his album came out in ’94. We came out in ’95,” he said. “He used to see me rocking with them and he was like, ‘You got it, you just don’t rap.’ He used to try to get me to rap, but I was intimidated because I’m like, ‘This n*gga so nice, he’s so dope, I can’t write nothin’ nowhere near close to what the f*ck this n*gga doin’.”

Still, Biggie would encourage Cease to pick up his pen and test out his skills. The advice Big gave his friend was not to “worry about what you say, but how you say it.” Cease continued to avoid writing his own songs, so Biggie picked up the responsibility to help ease Cease into the spotlight.

Watch Lil Cease speak about the late icon below.

He definitely raised eyebrows after bringing Brittany Renner to Jackson State University, but Deion Sanders is doubling down on the decision. Weeks ago, the college’s head football coach shared an image of Renner, who shares a child with NBA player PJ Washington, speaking to his team. Apparently, she was giving them the rundown about women and how players should interact with their admirers.

“It’s my responsibility as a Coach to prepare my young men for any and everything on the field and off,” Sanders wrote. “I brought in @bundleofbrittany to educate them on how the game is played between man & woman at their age & stage. The message may not be for everybody but trust me it’s for somebody.”

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On a recent episode of his podcast, Renner was a guest and Sanders spoke about how he wishes he would have had that knowledge earlier on in his career.

“Let me tell you something. If I had her in my ear,” Sanders reportedly said on his 21 and Prime podcast. “If I had been sitting in that room at Florida State and I had her come and lay it out like she laid it out. If I would have had that I would be at least $20 million richer.”

“Because everything she elaborated on, I would have been more prepared for the game of life. I was prepared for the game of football, but not that other game. Because I was so locked in. And then I misconstrued what love and some women were. If I would have had that, I promise you, at least 20. At least $20 million richer because of the divorces, the lawyer fees, all the bull junk that I’ve gone through as a man.”

Renner, who reportedly was a soccer player at JSU, added, “People were stunned. They were like ‘why did he bring her.’ But they were like ‘this is genius.’ So honestly, the reaction, it blew my mind. I don’t want to sound surprised but it was like Deion you know, you’re the best to do it.”

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A jury has found Jussie Smollett guilty of orchestrating the attack against him with the help of the Osundairo brothers and his former costar is speaking out about the case. Immediately following the news of an alleged racially-motivated, homophobic assault on Smollett, many of his Empire co-stars came forward to publicly support him. Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard let their voices be heard, but it seems that Smollett’s former on-screen father has more to say now that a verdict has been given.

Howard reportedly sat down with the Mark My Words radio show and was asked about the controversial case. The actor admitted that he first viewed the circumstances under the lens of being close with Smollett.

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“It’s interesting, it’s an uncomfortable question because anyone that’s aware of the show or my relationship with Jussie would know that Jussie is, for six years, he was my son,” Howard said. “He was my son that I had the most difficulty with on that show as far as the character world goes. So, you end up getting very close to individuals that you have the most struggle with. Whose characters you have the most struggle with.”

Although he reportedly also said that both he and his family “love Jussie,” Howard respected the decision made by the jury.

“They judged him and found him guilty, twelve of them that judged from a completely unbiased position… You have to respect that,” said Howard before adding that this incident could have had catastrophic consequences.

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“If they had gotten away with it, whoever orchestrated it. Whatever was set up. If they got away with it, then we would have the potential of Blacks feeling like they need to defend Black people against MAGA, and it could have turned into something very, very scary and very ugly,” he said. “People would have gotten hurt and killed and if that was the case, the blood on someone’s hands would have been massive.”

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When reports regarding the events at Astroworld were first shared, there were unsubstantiated reports that audience members were falling ill after being secretly punctured with needles. That would later be debunked by authorities as the investigation moved forward, but still, a new fear unlocked for concertgoers who are often standing shoulder to shoulder in crowds. 

Now, it is being reported that such a case indeed occurred at a Sleepy Hallow show in New York over the weekend.

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According to a report by ABC 7 News New York, two people attending the Sleepy Hallow show at the Irving Plaza on Sunday (December 12) were reportedly “punctured in the buttocks.” It is unclear what injuries they may have sustained or if they were injected with anything, but the report does mention that their wounds were made “possibly with a needle.”

The victims were reportedly “a 17-year-old male and a 21-year-old woman” who were treated at a local hospital. Authorities believe that the perpetrator is a woman, however, they did not give any descriptors as to what the suspect may look like. Sleepy Hallow’s following show was shut down, causing the rapper to voice his frustrations with the Irving Plaza.

“My show in NY was canceled,” he said. “Security was on some hoe sh*t. They wasn’t even tryna let me in at one point. Apologies 2 all my fans who came out.. A refund is a must and I’m working [on] a free show for y’all rn.”

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Uncle Sam isn’t playing around when it comes to those Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. They were instituted during the quarantine last year to help small businesses stay afloat, but by the thousands, people began taking advantage of the government’s business loan. We’re previously reported on NFL players, singers, and reality stars being hit with serious prison time and fines for falsifying records or spending the money on personal affairs. In Phoenix, it has been reported that a police officer has been accused of cheating the system out of over $1 million.

According to the Phoenix New Times, Officer Toni Richardson collected $1,276,500 in the forgivable loan for her non-profit organization, The Lotto Club. 

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However, she and her business partner stand accused of using the finances for personal gain. The Lotto Club is reportedly listed as a “social club” that acts as a charitable effort for veterans and on the application for the loan, Richardson claimed she employed 85 people. Yet, prior to the application, The Lotto Club did not list any employees, at all, nor did it even have a payroll. The bank account for the non-profit was at zero dollars.

Richardson’s business partner, Blu Mitchell, took out a $200,000 check in his own name, as well as a later $25,000 transfer. Mitchell, it appears, runs multiple nonprofits in the Phoenix area, including Sigma C.U.T.S., which purports to do a wide variety of philanthropic work across the U.S.

Reports state that Richardson has since resigned following the charges of bank fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. Because she stepped down, her department has stated they do not plan on launching an internal investigation.

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Steph Curry came into tonight’s game against the New York Knicks on a mission. Heading into the match, Curry was just one three-pointer away from tying Ray Allen’s all-time record, and he was two away from breaking it. Many were curious as to how long it would take for Curry to nab the record, and as it turns out, it did not take long at all. 

In the first quarter at Madison Square Garden, Curry took a gorgeous three-point floater that swished into the net with ease. It was a massive moment that had every single fan standing up to marvel at what Curry had just accomplished. As you can see in the clips below, Curry’s own teammates were among the first to congratulate him.

The shot ended up causing a bit of a delay as Curry was overcome by emotion. He was congratulated by Allen who was sitting courtside, and he also received a huge pep talk from Draymond Green, who knows firsthand just how phenomenal of a player Curry truly is. Needless to say, the game isn’t even over and it’s already been a special one.

Immediately after breaking the record, Curry also received some praise from the likes of LeBron James, who had just gotten off of a team flight. In the tweet below, James praised his rival, noting that it was amazing for Curry to have done it at a place as historic as the Garden.

“Just landed in Dallas to see @StephenCurry30 broke the record and to make it even doper he did it in the GARDEN!! WOW CONGRATS BROTHER!! INCREDIBLE,” LeBron wrote.

Now, Curry will be able to expand on his record, which will probably never be touched. His consistency has been something to marvel over, and it’s safe to say we will never see a shooter like Curry ever again.

A mystery plaguing authorities in Ohio has finally been solved—sort of. For decades, the whereabouts of musician Frank Frankie” Little Jr. have been widely unknown. He worked as a member of the now-classic group The O’Jays as a songwriter and guitarist, but disappeared sometime in 1982. Like many missing person cases that are decades old, Little’s case was one of the thousands that are filed away with the cold cases or the unsolved, but reports state that his remains have been identified.

On February 18, 1982, a garbage bag was located in Twinsburg, Ohio behind a store. Inside, police found human remains and later determined that they belonged to a Black man between the ages of 20 to 35-years-old.

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The DNA Doe Project worked on the unidentified person case and when testing the remains, it matched with a sample given by a close relative of Little’s. “There were distant DNA matches that were from South Carolina that we reached out to and they were willing to help out and provide family trees,” said Detective Eric Hendershott of the Twinsburg Police. 

Reports state that Little worked with The O’Jays in the 1960s and later had to leave California where he was with the group after he was deployed to Vietnam to fight in the war. Once that was over, it was expected that Little would return to the R&B group but he never showed up. He reportedly decided to go home to Cleveland, but his family told authorities that they never saw him. When his relatives couldn’t track him down they reported him missing.

“If we get anyone who knew him in life, especially in the 70′s, who he was living with, who his associates were, that would be useful information in this case,” Hendershott said.

Unfortunately, there is very little known about Little’s movements or the company he kept. Little’s case is being investigated as a homicide. He reportedly had a daughter who passed away in 2012 and although he is said to have a son, police have yet to identify him.

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