Lil Wayne Pleads Guilty on Gun Possession in New York

New York, NY – It has been over two years since Lil Wayne’s arrest in New York while his tour bus was on route to the Beacon Theatre for a show that night. NYPD apprehended Wayne on charges of criminal possession of weapon. At the time, Wayne was on top of the world and that night (July 22, 2007) at the New York Beacon Theatre was suppose to be a memorable Hip-Hop event as Wayne was to headline his first NY gig.

This past Thursday (Oct.22), the platinum selling artist returned to NYC to attend his court date. Wayne eventually copped a plea deal and pleaded guilty to weapons possession. Under revisions of the plea deal, Wayne will be sentenced to one year in prison and must give up his passport. The judge inquired if he understood the terms under his plea, Wayne quietly answered yes. In the courtroom alongside him were the two heavyweight CEOs of Cash Money and his closest friends for over 15 years, Bryan ‘Baby’ Williams and Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams.

Both brothers even issued a joint statement concerning their artist’s guilty plea:

“The Cash Money family will continue to support our artist and friend Lil Wayne in his current court case. We have worked with Wayne since he was a teenager, and have seen him grow into one of the world’s most successful hip-hop artists, with a work ethic that is second to none. Wayne has our love and commitment during this difficult time. We always have and always will stand behind him.”

At press time, Wayne is due back in court in February of 2010 for his sentencing. He is expected to serve one year in prison, but will probably only serve between 8 to 10 months and be released on good behavior. During that time he will have to appear before a parole commission to assess his status before he is to be releases.

Keep posted to 24hourhiphop.com for updated news on Wayne’s sentencing.

So Weezy is going to be following in T.I.’s footsteps and serve less than a year. Either way, he does have a enough recorded material to cover at least 4 or 5 albums, so his music won’t suffer severely. Let’s just hope Universal and Wayne decides to release ‘Tha Carter IV’ before he begins his sentence.

Akon Reminsces about Working with the Late King of Pop

For the past several years before Michael Jackson’s passing, Akon has had the honor and the liberty to work with the King of Pop on many projects that were to be Jackson’s future mega hits. To be honest, the duo created great music together and it was something that Akon would never forget. One thing he mentioned about MJ was that he was a pure perfectionist. He recently spoke to MTV News about his work experiences with Michael.

These were his comments:

“A lot of our memories in the studio is a lot about work, because he was so focused on trying to get the right material out that we didn’t really play around. Like, we talked, but we rarely joked, because at that moment, regardless of what we were doing it’s like, ‘Let’s get serious and really do what we came here to do.’

What the guys were there to do was concoct another memorable Jackson song — and the two really vibed while collaborating. It was all about the melody, ’cause we both were melody guys. Everything started with the melody. We both would hum the melody and try to create the biz around it.”

The artist/producer then added that regardless of how great the two would work on music, they would still disagree when it came to releasing the track for public recognition, even when they knew they had a mega hit:

“He was never satisfied. Like, we might have passed up ideas that I know for a fact were smashes. He’d be like, ‘Nah, nah — we got to come up with something better,’ we can never do better ’cause his expectation was so high. It was almost to a point where we would have to get a record and I would believe in it and just put it out, ’cause it would never come out ’cause he always believed we could do better.”

At press time, both artists have enough material together to release an album as a duo. Akon, however, has an upcoming album to released sometime next year, while Michael Jackson has a tribute and a studio album pending after the release of ‘This Is It’ single and documentary movie.

I’ve had the opportunity to hear music recorded by the duo. ‘Hold My Hand’ was an awesome track and had the makings of a certified hit. Both Michael and Akon harmonized the song immaculately. Why they never released it as a single, we’ll never know. Let’s wait and see if Akon acquires the rights to release the material.

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys to Perform at World Series Opening Game

New York, NY – It is official, this year’s Major League World Series has already set its two teams to head to head. The New York Yankees will face off in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at the new Yankee Stadium that was just recently built.

This is seriously a big event in Hip-Hop, especially for many New York artists, as the Yankees and the Yankee cap is a major part of the representation of their city. Now what better than for Jay-Z and Alicia Keys to rise to the masses and perform at their opening game providing the fans with Jay and Alicia smash hit, ‘Empire State of Mind.’ Talk about a perfect song for the first game in the World Series representing for the Yankees.

Jay-Z recently confirmed to MTV News his official involvement in the upcoming World Series.

These were his comments:

“First of all, the new [Yankee] Stadium — it’s the Yankees and it’s game one of the World Series. I’m beyond excited about it, and on top of that, it’s a New York record. It’s a record that pays homage to New York. The timing of that couldn’t be better.”

It was interesting how he knew what he’s going to do anyway; he just had to wait until the Yankees beat the Angels in the last game, then it was a 100% go on the performance on his end:

“The whole time we knew we had the performance. We knew we had the performance last week. I think it was 3-1 [in favor of the Yankees] at the time. [The Yankees] lost that game to make it 3-2. I was like, ‘Man!’ I had to come in [the stadium] with the stage and all that. I was like, ‘Man, these guys gotta come on.’ It was almost selfish.”

 

The first game of the World Series between the Phillies and the Yankees begins this Wednesday, October 28. Hov and Alicia Keys are set to perform before the first pitch.

Now that’s what I’m talking about, Hov is doing his thang at the World Series with the New York Yankees. That’s huge look from both sides.