According to MTV’s Mixtape Monday report, Fabolous is just weeks away from completing a deal that will bring him over to Def Jam:

One of DJ Clue’s signees is in the middle of making a power move — (and one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets is about to come to to the light — in a couple of weeks) as Fabolous is close to finalizing a deal that will see him leave the Warner Music Group and go to Def Jam. Clue says Fab’s contract is almost done.

I think this is a great look for Fab and Def Jam, as long as his album actually get’s released on schedule unlike Redman, Ghost, Buddens, etc. Then again Fab has a pretty impressive commercial track record, so I don’t think that should be a problem.

Sidenote: Check out this Fab freestyle from the new Clue cd and tell me he’s not getting at a certain former minister.  

Fabolous – Whatchu Want Freestyle (YSI link) 

Kevin Powell, journalist and former Real World cast member is considering a run for City Council in his home borough of Brooklyn. Powell would be challenging encumbent Edolphus Towns, who has held the post for the past 24 years. From the New York Daily News:

Kevin Powell, a political activist, former Vibe magazine writer and star of the 1992 season of MTV’s "Real World," also is mulling a run, said his political consultant, Basil Smikle.

"He’ll at some point declare his candidacy officially," Smikle said. "He’s got the fire in the belly, and he knows how to listen to people in the district."

But Towns dismissed his challengers, insisting that voters in the 10th District – which includes East New York, Brownsville, Canarsie and Mill Basin, among other areas – know him well.

Last night Bravo aired Dave Chappelle’s appearance on "Inside The Actor’s studio", but I wasn’t focused so I missed it. Luckily for me 3030Media is on their game and they have already posted it over at their site. I’m downloading it now and I’m gonna Youtube it, but it’s like 180 megabytes, so I don’t expect it to be ready anytime soon. Actually scratch that, I almost forgot, Youtube has a 100 mb limit so you’re just gonna have to download it, sorry! By the way, I got a chance to see the Michael Gondry directed Dave Chappelle’s Block Party flick that’s coming out March 3rd, and it was pretty good, so you might want to check that out when it drops.

Video – Windows (wmv) Real (rm) 

What was he on that night?

More information emerges on Cam’s plans to fight internet predators. I actually think this a great thing for him to do, I’m just wondering what exactly he means when he says he’s going to "talk to them and not let them leave".

A new Game track leaked this weekend called "360". According to DJ Skee over on the Black Wall Street forums:

360…. a/k/a 120 part 3 (120+120+120=360)… a/k/a Zero (360 degress is equal to zero, going full circle) meanin….

No more diss campaigns now… time to take it back to the beginning- raw spittin and takin it back to the essence 

So I guess this is the kind of new beginning that the butterfly tattoo was supposed to symbolize, only this time he really really means it. (UPDATE: Yousendit link)

Fresh has some info on Waist Deep, the movie Game will be starring in alongside Larenz Tate, and Meagan Good.  

Today the New York Times had a feature on Manhattan’s Hush Tours which offers guided tours of some of hip hop’s most important historical locations.

Despite their past differences of opinion, 50 Cent and Sam Jackson may soon be appearing in a film about the Iraq war together.

Do yourself a big favor and stop sleeping on Dallaspenn. There’s some real good stuff being posted over there that really should only be available to the public at Barnes and Noble for 17.99 rather than given away on the internet, so take advantage while you can.  (Please note that the Dallaspenn homepage is sometimes NSFW, but the articles linked above are not.)

Damn, this is just awful. The poor guy was only 32. 

Hip-Hop producer J-Dilla passed away today (Feb. 10) due to an unspecified ailment. Early reports suggest he succumbed to kidney failure, a medical problem which arose in 2004.

J-Dilla, born James Yancey, was a member of Slum Village and worked with various Hip-Hop artists including Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest and Common’s Grammy-nominated album, BE.

Here are some of my personal favorite Jay Dee joints:

Common – The Light 

The Roots – Dynamite!

Elzhi – These Are My Friends 

(Unless a Jay/Nas Cam’ron dis collaboaration leaks this weekend, this will be the last post about these two until at least next Tuesday, I swear.)

So MTV played us all out Thursday night and had us watching their lame ass Grammy pre-show thinking they were gonna air the Jay/Nas interview, then they go and show a 30 second snippet. It’s all good though, I can admit when I got taken. The whole interview is scheduled to air February 16th, so look out for that, if you still care. Here’s a 2 minute preview of what to expect.

Busta attends Ramirez’s wake. (Photo credit: Michael Dabin)

I don’t think anybody envies the no-win situation Busta Rhymes finds himself in after the murder of his longtime bodyguard Israel Ramirez. On the one hand he can talk to the police and tell then whatever he knows about the shooting that left Ramirez dead, a move that could very well amount to career suicide in the anti-snitch world of hip hop. On the other hand he can keep his mouth shut and allow the killer of a longtime friend and employee to go free. Since the hip hop community seems to be split about 60-40 in favor of NOT snitching, there’s a pretty good chance that either move will draw a backlash from fans, something any celebrity wants to avoid at all costs.

After intially angering Ramirez’s family by not attending the first day of his wake, Busta showed up on the second day to pay his respects and has also reportedly promised to take care of the funeral expenses and provide in some way for the 3 children that have now been left fatherless. That’s all good and everything but right now I’m guessing the family would like to see him sit down with homicide detectives and tell them what he knows. I guess at the end of the day, Busta Bus has to decide what’s more important to his conscience and his career, the support of the hood, or the moral responsibility he owes to those 3 kids and that widow.

I honestly don’t even want to think about what I would do if I ever found myself in the same predicament, but I urge those of you who will undoubtedly side with the Never Snitch camp to consider what your advice to Busta would be if that was your father, brother, or son laying in that coffin.

Read Busta’s statement about Ramirez here.

Police now believe two weapons were fired during the incident.  

They world premiered this last night during the Grammy’s pre show. Kanye is dirty dog, kissing  Pam "Hepatitis B" Anderson on the mouth. 

Props to Hashim for being on his Youtube game.

A Dr. Dre produced Jay-Z album? The source is the NY Post, so you know, grain of salt and all:

JAY Z’S EGO-SIZE ALBUM

"RETIRED" rapper Jay-Z, who now toils as president of music label Def Jam, has industry sources snickering – because it seems the narcissistic hip-hop mogul can’t stand life out of the recording booth. One music business insider in L.A. for the Grammys snipes, "The big gossip of the Grammys is about Jay-Z. After saying he was going to retire when he became president of Def Jam so he wouldn’t compete with other artists on his label, he has a record coming out in June. To make matters worse, Dr. Dre is producing the record, which is huge because Dre hasn’t produced an album in years. Dre is on rival label Interscope, and while Def Jam and Interscope are both under the Universal umbrella, people have their noses out of joint. This album will be huge. But first of all, Jay is not using a Def Jam producer, and second of all, he will be competing with his own artists. Not cool. His ego is so big he can’t not release an album. He is a president of a label and should not be doing this." 

For the record, the Grammy’s are wack. That said, here are the winners in the categories that people who frequent this site may be interested in. The winners are bolded.

BEST RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE

"Testify," Common
"Mockingbird," Eminem
"Disco Inferno," 50 Cent
"Number One Spot," Ludacris
"U Don’t Know Me," T.I.
"Gold Digger," Kanye West

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP

"Don’t Phunk With My Heart," The Black Eyed Peas
"The Corner," Common Featuring The Last Poets
"Encore," Eminem Featuring Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
"Hate It Or Love It," The Game Featuring 50 Cent
"Wait (The Whisper Song)," Ying Yang Twins

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION

"1,2 Step," Ciara Featuring Missy Elliott
"They Say," Common Featuring Kanye West & John Legend
"Soldier," Destiny’s Child Featuring T.I. & Lil Wayne
"Numb/Encore," Jay-Z Featuring Linkin Park
"Rich Girl," Gwen Stefani Featuring Eve

BEST RAP SONG

"Candy Shop," (50 Cent Featuring Olivia)
"Diamonds From Sierra Leone," (Kanye West)
"Don’t Phunk With My Heart," (The Black Eyed Peas)
"Hate It Or Love It,"  (The Game Featuring 50 Cent)
"Lose Control" (Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop)

BEST RAP ALBUM

"Be," Common
"The Cookbook," Missy Elliott
"Encore," Eminem
"The Massacre," 50 Cent
"Late Registration," Kanye West