What's Happening To The Roc?

As rumors have swirled recently that Roc-A-Fella Records and their artists had all been dropped from Def Jam, Beanie Sigel's manager Mark Byers confirmed to Billboard.com that this is not the case.

"Beans and Freeway didn't get dropped," says Beanie Sigel's manager, Mark Byers. "I just got off the phone with L.A. Reid talking about the next video for ‘Rain’ featuring Raheem DeVaughn that we're about to release.

We're re-launching Beanie's project and releasing a ‘Rain’ remix with State Property."Despite Byers stance, the departure of Jay-Z from Def Jam as well as his inner circle, including A&R SVP Jay Brown and A&R VP Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith, giving their resignations this month, has left many unsure of the future.

"I don't think there's going to be a Roc-A-Fella anymore," an insider told Billboard. "I do think each artist will have to go to the new people in charge and have a meeting separately. But the Roc artists aren't going to roll over and die."

Hip Hop Album Chart Topperz

The good news for Lupe Fiasco is that for the sixth straight week he is holding down the top spot on Billboard's 'Top Rap Albums Chart.' The bad news is he couldn't even crack the top 25 albums overall.

Fiasco's "The Cool" moved another 17,928 units this week to bring his overall total to 286,211. The number placed him 29th overall, a far cry from the "Juno" soundtrack which took over the #1 spot overall with 65,000 units moved.

Soulja Boy's "Souljaboytellem.com" hangs in at #2 (#37 overall) with 15,887 sold this week, bringing him to 727,069 total.

Meanwhile Kanye West inches closer to double platinum status, as "Graduation" comes in at #3 with 12,368, 1,958,201 overall.

Jay-Z's "American Gangster" is just shy of platinum at 953,276, and lands the #4 spot, while Birdman's "Five Star Stunna" rounds out the top five.

Ludacris & Soulja Boy Preforming At Superbowl?

Hahaha...not.

According to recent reports, Ludacris will be performing at ESPN The Magazine's Next party on February 1, 2008, which is part of a number of events leading up to the Feb. 3rd Super Bowl at Arizona's University of Phoenix Stadium.

Artist Soulja Boy who has also been booked for an ESPN the Magazine event will host a dance challenge featuring athletes who will be reportedly attempting to master the famous "Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)" choreography on February 2, 2008. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

Alicia Keys Is The Top Bill At The '08 Grammies

It was announced earlier today that Alicia Keys will be performing at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, airing Sunday, February 10 on CBS at 8 pm live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The R&B singer will be joined by Beyonce, Tina Turner, Rihanna, Mary J Blige and many other artists that are listed as performers at the event.

I wonder if Britney Spears will be on the bill...LOL!

More Spears Dirt

Just hours after Britney Spears' camp announced that she was seeking psychological treatment, the pop star got into another public breakdown.

The trouble began Monday evening, when she and confidante-manager-hanger-on Sam Lutfi went for a short drive around Beverly Hills, Calif. When they returned to her home, she jumped out of the white Mercedes near the guard gate. Ms. Spears, clutching her Yorkie puppy London, wandered around with tears in her eyes and plopped down on the curb. Meanwhile, a crowd of photographers snapped away.

She then downplayed the incident, saying, "I'm fine. I'm ... having a nice time with my dog."

Later, Brit's paparazzi pal-with-benefits Adnan Ghalib showed up at the gate, but was turned away. He proceeded to show fellow shooters a series of text messages, one in which Mr. Lufti allegedly referred to Mr. Ghalib as a "manic trigger" for Ms. Spears.

Los Angeles police eventually arrived in search of trespassers. They ticketed paparazzi that were illegally parked. (Thanks to TMZ.com)

Snoopy On The Tele?

Big Snoop Dogg is trying to get on day time Soap Opera's now. The New York Post is reporting that Snoop Dogg heard that recently Mary J. Blige finished taping two episodes for "One Life To Live" and called the show to write and perform a new theme song for the day time drama.

Snoop isn't confirmed to be involved with the show yet but the supervising music director seems hopeful, "I'm a huge fan of Snoop and I'd love to hear what he'd come up with," said Paul Glass. Mary J. Blige's episodes of One Life to Live will air Feb. 15 and 18.

Quick News Buzz

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page said Monday he was ready to take the legendary band on a world tour after burning up the stage at last month's reunion concert in London.

M.J. To Record An Album With "Friends"

Pop superstar Michael Jackson has vowed to "surprise" his loyal fans with a host of celebrity collaborations on the remake of his hit album Thriller.

The singer will release a 25th anniversary edition of the 1982 LP later this year. And Michael Jackson has promised a number of big names will feature on the release.

He says, "I'm coming back. And I've got a very special treat for all of my fans. I have been recording Thriller: 25th Anniversary, with a lot of surprise guests."

How To Make Money In Music

Collectively, the games Guitar Hero III and Rock Band have sold a staggering 7.5 million downloadable songs in just three months (two for Rock Band), with tracks selling for 99 cents and up. That's a level equal to seven times platinum.

MTV, noting that only about a million copies of Rock Band itself have been sold so far, said that the numbers were surprising. Says an exec, "We live in a rough time around music where our audience struggles to pay $20 for a CD but don't hesitate to pay $50 for a game. The notion to pay 99 cents or $1.99 to have a song and repeatedly play with it apparently isn't a big hurdle."
And there's the rub: Once you've spent $50 (and in fact, in the case of Rock Band, it's more like $170), adding another buck to the investment is virtually meaningless. It's a clever trick of the mind that convinces you that somehow a 99 cent song is worth more after you've already invested a lot of money beforehand than, say, just buying the same song online without a prior involvement. (Of course, the Rock Band track also comes in the form of a playable game.) The proof? The hottest Rock Band tracks are selling only a few hundred extra copies from services like iTunes vs. hundreds of thousands of copies in game form.

So what are the hottest sellers? For Rock Band, a Metallica pack including "Ride The Lightning," "Blackened," and "And Justice For All" is the top-selling download. Surprisingly, the best-selling single is Foreigner's classic rock jam "Juke Box Hero," followed by Creedence's "Fortunate Son" (a cover version), Weezer's "Buddy Holly," and "My Sharona" (also a cover).

He's Arrested Again

Law enforcement officials say that Lil' Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr., was arrested near Yuma, Arizona last night on three felony counts: possession of dangerous drugs, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia. Cops tell TMZ that the Drug Enforcement Agency was involved in the arrest - which means it's a big deal! Lil' Wayne's tour bus apperently went through a US Border Patrol checkpoint when the narcotics were allegedly found, that's when the DEA was called in.

Wayne is currently in the custody of the Yuma County Sheriff's Department, where he'll be held pending his arraignment at 9:00 AM PT.

Weezy (His Tour Bus) was in possession of Cocaine, Ecstacy, Marijuana, $22,000 in cash and a Pistol! Read on for more info.

Obama Plans To Use Hip Hop As A Positive! What?

If it worked for Schoolhouse Rock, it'll work for Barack Obama. The US presidential candidate says, if elected, he plans to use hip-hop to educate the people. But before you start shuddering at the thought of him interrupting next year's Amazing Race finale to drop some mad rhymes in a presidential address, Obama says he plans to use existing hip-hop superstars to spread a message of positive social change.

In an interview with BET news program What's in It For Us Jan. 8, B-Rock, as he's known in the pages of Vibe Magazine said: "I've met with Jay-Z. I've met with Kanye [West]. And I've talked to other artists about how potentially to bridge that gap. I think the potential for them to deliver a message of extraordinary power that gets people thinking (is massive)."

But if he gets his iPod favourites to join his presidential entourage, Obama will be trying to sneak in a few feel-good re-writes.

"There are times, even on the artists I've named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that's sometimes degrading to women, uses the N-word a little too frequently.

"But also something that I'm really concerned about is (they're) always talking about material things about how I can get something; more money, more cars."

Just sub the rhymes about hos and bling for a few lines about campaign donations, and we smell a hit.

Avril Reaches Settlement

Avril Lavigne has reached a confidential settlement in the lawsuit alleging she plagiarized her hit single “Girlfriend”.

Seventies band The Rubinoos were claiming Avril’s track sounded mysteriously similar to their 1979 song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” Avril said she had never heard the song, and her manager has consulted a musicologist who indicated no similarities between the tunes. Yeah right!

Eminem Sent To Hospital

According To TMZ -The Worlds Most Famous White Rapper; Eminem Was Rushed Into Hospital Over The Christmas Period.

Eminem's publicist told TMZ: "Over the holidays, Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, was under doctor's care at a Detroit-area hospital for complications due to pneumonia. He has since been released and is doing well recovering at home."

It is also mentioned that Em's weight has 'ballooned' to 200lbs, if that's true then he might have to take back the title of 'Slim-Shady'. Still, lets hope he is getting better!

Cash Anniversary Concert Cancelled

What is this world coming too? The concert that would mark the 40th anniversary of the historic Folsom State Prison has been cancelled. According to the Los Angelous Times, the prison and the concert promoter are blaming each other for the cancellation.

If Johnny Cash only knew what was going on. The Man in Black must be rustling in his grave as he always believed that prison inmates should receive second chances.