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On the Clock Report: 2008 Year End Wrap Up - My President is Black, Lil Wayne: Platinum Status, The Hudson Murders, ...And then there was X, The Year of 24hourhiphop.com
 The Year of 2008 has come to an end and with all the events that occurred in the world of Hip-Hop, it’s no wonder why the eyes of the real world is always on us. Media outlets, no matter urban or not, indulge in following the Hip-Hop scene from the artists to the music that they create. As the years pass everything becomes history in its due time and we remember talking about them years later, maybe the same will go for everything that occurred this past year. 2008 could quite possibly be the year that the most important historic events occurred from finally having our first Black President to Lil Wayne going platinum in one week’s time. However, there was the violent loss of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and nephew that was also a huge factor in the news in 2008. Another media blitz also included the plane crash that almost killed celebrity drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM, they miraculously survived with only minor injuries. At the same time, DMX has been arrested over numinous amounts of time over the course of the year and media outlets are even tired of airing his apprehensions or warrant issues on the news anymore. These are stories are headlines that stood out for 2008 that we compiled together in our annual year end wrap up.
When Young Jeezy recorded the track, ‘My President,’ it was months before the election was to take place. He predicted what many doubted. We heard the lyrics to the song long before the votes were tallied and somehow we believed. We saw what he saw. This is the year that our first African American President was elected into office, history was made in our time and I’m quite sure this will be talked about for centuries. As the world watched, our nation cheered as Barack Obama surpassed the amount of electoral votes needed to secure presidency and as he took the podium in Chicago, everyone shed tears of joy and relief of finally overcoming the odds. From 2007 towards the election in 2008, Obama preached time for change and that was what we were searching for. All his speeches and his continued fight for a better America gave us hope that it wasn’t too late. He took his endless battle across America to empower people in the belief of change; Obama held his campaign strong and traveled city to city, day and night throughout the course of 2008. By November, it was clear who the victor was. After 8 long years, it was a breath of fresh air that Bush’s time or alas Republican time came to an end. The Obama era has begun and hopefully it will continue for 8 more years. In 2008, the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama is Black, America Stand Up!
Lil Wayne: Platinum Status The heir to the Cash Money throne made history of his own by practically selling over million albums of his third installment to the Carter series in the first week of release. We watched this artist grow from adolescence to adulthood in literally a decade. Hate it or love it, somewhere down the line you got to admit Lil Wayne is a lyrical monster on and off the mic. From mixtapes to albums to feature tracks, he’s unstoppable. Since the beginning of 2008 and probably a little before, anything he puts his craft on becomes a certifiable hit in just a matter of weeks. Weezy is, in my opinion, a serious force to be reckoned with; he was all over the news in 2008. And yet he continues to record material for upcoming albums he plans on releasing, one being the fourth installment to his Carter series, which we thought wasn’t on the agenda, Wayne is quite unpredictable. To date, his sixth studio album, ‘Tha Carter III,’ has sold over 2.7 Million as it continues to dominate the charts. XXL magazine named the album the #1 most anticipated album of 2007 and 2008, whereas Rolling Stone magazine dubbed it the #3 album of 2008. To add to that, he has been nominated for Grammy for the Best Rap Album category. You got to admit, he was the most accomplished rapper of 2008.
The Hudson Murders Academy Award-winning Jennifer Hudson experienced the tragic loss of her mother, her brother, and her nephew towards the end of 2008. In what appeared to be acts of violence amongst the family, the suspect they’ve held in custody since the beginning was her estranged brother-in-law, William Balfour. The bodies of Hudson’s mother and brother, 57 year old Darnell Donerson and 29 year old Jason Hudson were found at the Hudson residence in Chicago the afternoon of October 24, 2008. Later on that same day, an amber alert was issued for Hudson’s missing nephew, 7 year old Julian King. They arrested Balfour as the prime suspect that same day. Her nephew was found days later on October 27 inside a white 1994 Chevy Suburban, parked on Chicago’s West side, dead. Autopsy reports revealed that the young Julian King died of multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities collected evidence and witness testimonies after a several week investigation leading to his conviction. The murder weapon used in all three murders was retrieved on the West side on October 31. As of December 2, Balfour has been officially charged with three counts of first degree murder and one count of home invasion, he has since been denied bail. 24hourhiphop.com expressed our deep condolences to the Hudson family during their time of loss. We are glad that the killer was brought to justice. I’m glad that Jennifer Hudson was able to overcome such a tragedy as she will be returning to the stage in February as part of the events for Grammy week, looking forward to seeing that Travis Barker & DJ AM: Survival …And then there was X! Throughout the course of 2008, one Hip-Hop artist has been in the news quite continuously since the beginning of the year; however his media coverage hasn’t been on positive notes. The ex-Ruff Ryder, DMX, has been apprehended by authorities over numinous amounts of time and has a rap sheet of charges longer than his rap career. His legal problems continue to escalate as days pass. Since February, the artist has secured several arrests and warrants on his behalf stemming from animal cruelty charges, weapons charges, speeding, drug charges, and now most recently failure to appear in court. He has charges in Arizona, Los Angeles, and Miami all throughout 2008. It was stated by his defense attorney most recently that the reason why he missed his court hearing in Arizona was because he was in rehab; the judge didn’t accept the excuse. X undeniably receives the award for most arrests by a rapper for the year of 2008. And his problems will continue to overflow into 09 if he keeps at this pace. It’s quite interesting that 24hourhiphop.com has been covering DMX over the course of the year and the man has literally been on the site the most times more than any other news coverage. Not only has he been in our On the Clock throughout 2008, he’s made headlines all over. I guess without his arrests we wouldn’t have anything to cover on him, so would you say his publicity is still on a high level? Be prepared to see more of X in 2009 as any of his cases has not been closed as yet. The Year Hands down, we are the hottest website on the net. We conquered in 2008 and we will continue to dominate in the 09. Our team has become more organized with a few adjustments and now we will never falter. We appreciate your ongoing support and loyalty to the site, we will continue bringing you the hottest music in the industry fresh out the studio with the most recent news hot off the press. To Big Chuck, Ryan, Chris, Nina Marie, AB, and Jay Carter, this is the year of 24hourhiphop.com, let’s continue to maintain our creditability and rise our ranking and our popularity further into 2009.
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