NEW YORK, NY (12.30.03) -- The Recording Industry Association of America recently published a list of the top selling artists of all time. Tupac comes on a 32nd position shared with Bob Seger and Prince. With 36.5 million records sold, Tupac is the best selling rapper of all time. The only other rappers on the list are the Beastie Boys with 21.0 million records sold and Eminem with 20.0 million. You can view the full list below:

01. The Beatles - 165.5
02. Led Zeppelin - 106.0
03. Garth Brooks - 105.0
04. Elvis Presley - 104.0
05. Eagles - 88.0
06. Billy Joel - 78.5
07. Pink Floyd - 73.5
08. Barbra Streisand - 71.5
09. Elton John - 67.5
10. Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones - 63.5
11. AC/DC - 63.0
12. Bruce Springsteen - 61.5
13. Madonna - 60.0
14. Michael Jackson - 58.5
15. Mariah Carey and Metallica - 57.0
16. George Strait - 54.5
17. Whitney Houston - 54.0
18. Kenny Rogers and Van Halen - 50.0
19. Neil Diamond - 50.0
20. Fleetwood Mac - 48.5
21. Kenny G - 47.5
22. U2 - 47.0
23. Alabama - 46.0
24. Celine Dion - 45.5
25. Santana - 43.5
26. Shania Twain - 42.0
27. Journey - 40.0
28. Willie Nelson - 39.0
29. Eric Clapton - 38.5
30. Simon & Garfunkel - 37.5
31. Chicago - 37.0
32. 2PAC, Bob Seger and Prince - 36.5

story courtesy of hitemup

NEW YORK, NY (12.30.03) Liquid Digital Media has begun a test release of a music downloading service at Wal-Mart's Web site.

Consistent with its overall strategy of deep discounting, Wal-Mart is offering downloads at 88¢ per song rather than the standard 99¢ other services charge. Most full albums, when available, can be downloaded for $8.80 or $9.44. Official launch of the Windows-based PC system will likely take place in the spring.

"It's our first step in working together," said Ole Obermann, Liquid Digital Media VP and general manager. "Our unique position in the market enables us to quickly deliver tailored solutions for our partners with their customers in mind."

Site is offering the same type of material offered in Wal-Mart stores: big hits, edited versions of rap albums and scattered catalog. There are no EMI-released Beatles songs, only four Led Zeppelin tunes and limits on the number of works available in album form. Outkast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" is available on a per-track basis only. To download the entire album would cost $25.62; the two-CD set can be purchased for $15.99 on the site.

"The test phase for this new service is important to gauge customer feedback, so that we can deliver a quality music download service that customers will want to use time and time again," Walmart.com senior category manager Kevin Swint told the Associated Press. Wal-Mart estimates 64% of its customers are online.

story courtesy of variety

KARBALA, IRAQ (12.29.03) -- Lebanese Mohammed Jaber said he went to Iraq on a pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites, he ended up being "tortured" with loud rap music by US troops suspicious he might be a foreign fighter against Americans.

Jaber said an Iraqi taxi driver handed him and three friends over to US troops for $100 each in April apiece as fighters for ousted president Saddam Hussain.

"They asked us why we were there and if we came to fight them. But we said we came only to visit the holy sites in Karbala," he said. "They didn't torture us physically but they did psychologically by raising the volume of rap music all day until it became unbearable and by withholding food," he said.

But Jaber said he kept one secret from his captors, fearing the treatment could get worse. "I mean I like rap, just imagine them playing jazz."

US-led forces in Iraq freed Jaber and sent him and seven other Arab detainees home on Saturday.

The International Co-mmittee of the Red Cross said three of them were seriously injured while in US custody. Jaber said they had stepped on land mines while clearing up rubbish in a field for US soldiers.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International has said it has heard complaints of torture and degrading treatment including prolonged sle-ep deprivation from detainees held by the American troops.

Jaber said he and his friends were first held for six days handcuffed and hooded. They were not given food or allowed to sleep.

story courtesy of gulf news

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA (12.29.03) -- With 50 Cent's growing popularity and a finacial situation that would rival a vertern rapper, 50 is quickly becoming a target for credible and sometimes bogus lawsuits. This time the alleged victim is Jamarr Isom, a music video actor who was supposedly hit by 50 Cent’s bodyguards at a video shoot in the Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California.

Isom says he was standing in line at the wardrobe area when 50 Cent’s bodyguards allegedly told people in line to stand back. Isom said he replied with the request but the guards attacked him and hit him in the face. “The guy just rushes me, and tackles me, and all five, six guys come just on top of me. Just stomping me, kicking me in my head. Just punching me; I couldn’t do anything”, Jamarr Isom told the media. In the lawsuit, Jamarr Isom is seeking payment in full of his medical bills that he has gained from the incident and compensation for lost wages he feels for his “lost” career. “I’ve worked with a lot of people. I never had a problem. They’ve blackballed me from the business and I’m just the innocent guy here”.

In other 50 news, it has been reported that his single "In The Club" is the #1 Single of the year. On its way to becoming the No. 1 song of 2003 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, 50 Cent's "In Da Club" set new audience marks on each chart.

"Club" posted 170.2 million overall listener impressions the week of March 29 after reaching a high of 88.6 million impressions on R&B radio three weeks earlier.

story courtesy of blender

MIAMI, FL (12.26.03) -- Rapper Trick Daddy, who avoided prison by pleading guilty to cocaine and weapons charges, will make 24 free appearances to talk to high school students about the dangers of guns, AIDS, drugs and violence.

Trick Daddy, whose real name is Maurice Young, will speak at high schools in troubled neighborhoods, assistant State Attorney Stacy Glick said Monday.

"I hope that these youngsters will learn lessons from his life that they don't want to happen in their own lives," she said.

Glick said Young entered his plea Thursday. Under the plea bargain, the most serious felony charge, aggravated assault with a firearm, was reduced to a misdemeanor, improper display of a deadly weapon or firearm. He also pleaded guilty to two felonies, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of cocaine, and to misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The prosecutor said Young will be on three years' of supervised probation and will have to attend an anger control course.

Young's lawyer, David S. Markus, didn't immediately return a call Monday seeking comment.

The 29-year-old rapper, known for songs such as "Thug Life Again," "Sweatin' Me" and "In Da Wind," was arrested after a February dispute. He was arrested again in September after police allegedly found cocaine and marijuana in his shirt pocket. Young was convicted in 1991 of cocaine possession, carrying a concealed weapon and violating probation. He served 30 months in state prison.

story courtesy of ap

BROOKLYN, NY (12.26.03) -- Santa spread his yuletide cheer in some unusual guises yesterday - with help from Mayor B, Jay-Z and a helper named Beyoncé. Rapper Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, doled out toys for hundreds of tots in his old neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Jay-Z's two previous holiday visits to the Marcy Houses have been huge hits with the kids. But the atmosphere was electric this year because in addition to $15,000 worth of toys, he brought along girlfriend, Beyoncé Knowles. "Everyone knew Jay-Z was going to be here, but I was surprised to see Beyoncé," said Tiffany Williams, 15, who got a Memphis Bleek CD and a high-tech pen from the Grammy Award-winning hip hop star.

"It's nice," Tiffany said of Jay-Z's largess. "It's the right thing to do. You don't forget where you came from." Jay-Z, 34, brushed off the compliment, calling his deeds "enrichment for the soul."

Mayor Bloomberg began his second Christmas as mayor with a somber visit to Engine 95/Ladder 36 in upper Manhattan, the firehouse where fallen Firefighter Thomas Brick worked.

Brick, who died nine days before Christmas, was the first city firefighter to die battling a fire since Sept. 11, 2001.

Bloomberg later visited the Union Settlement senior center in East Harlem, accompanied by his girlfriend, Diana Taylor.

Bloomberg donned a Citymeals-on-Wheels apron and helped prepare holiday dinners for 300 people who were home alone on Christmas.

"When you get a meal, it says somebody cares," he said.

story courtesy of ny daily news

NEW YORK, NY (12.24.03) -- A federal judge on Monday allowed a hip-hop magazine to publish CDs containing limited excerpts of a previously unreleased recording by rapper Eminem that includes racially charged lyrics like "black girls are dumb."

U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Lynch authorized The Source magazine, which has been instigating attacks against Eminem, to publish up to 20 seconds of material from two Eminem recordings. The magazine said it would enclose the CDs in its next issue.

The judge said limited reproduction of the recording falls within the magazine's right to "fair use" of copyrighted material for the purpose of criticism.

The Source has a rate base of 500,000 copies and claims a readership of several million. It held a news conference last month to publicize its discovery of the recording and to accuse Eminem, who is white, of racism. The Source said it exposed the recording while investigating forces that corrupt hip-hop music.

Source co-founder Raymond Scott, who also is a rapper, has released several recordings attacking Eminem, who responded in kind. The magazine also published a poster of Scott holding Eminem's severed head.

At the news conference, The Source said the recording included the lyrics "Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks." It said three white former friends of Eminem had provided the recording to the magazine. Eminem, 31, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has said the recording was "foolishness" that he made as a teenager "out of anger, stupidity and frustration" after breaking up with a black girlfriend. Last week, the same federal judge granted Eminem's lawyers a temporary restraining order preventing the magazine from distributing the CDs.

A lawyer for The Source said the CDs would go out in the magazine's February issue, which hits newsstands Jan. 12. A spokeswoman said the magazine considered the ruling a victory but declined to comment further.A lawyer for Eminem, Donald N. David, also said the judge made the right call. The Source had lobbied the judge for permission to publish much larger excerpts.

story courtesy of reuters

YONKERS, NY (12.24.03) -- DMX has inked a deal to star in two as-yet-to-be-determined movies for Emmett/Furla Films. Under the terms of the deal, the movies will be co-produced by DMX's production company, Bloodline Films.

The rapper-turned-actor is in discussions to star in "Winners" and "Past Tense." The former is a drama about a man who witnesses a murder, while "Past Tense" is a cop action film. DMX starred this year in the Warner Bros. Pictures action film "Cradle 2 the Grave," whose Bloodline/Def Jam soundtrack also featured the artist.

The next movie from DMX will be the Fox Searchlight action thriller "Never Die Alone," which is due March 19 in U.S. theaters, and is co-produced by Bloodline. In "Never Die Alone," DMX plays a drug lord whose story is told in flashbacks after his murder.

The rapper's latest Ruff Ryders/Def Jam album, "Grand Champ," debuted in October at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 880,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

story courtesy of billboard

NEWARK, NJ (12.22.03) -- Fox has weeded through its development and lit up a sitcom pilot that jointly features hip-hop stars Method Man and Redman.

The duo will play rap stars who encounter sudden success and move into a big house in the mostly white New Jersey suburbs. They take the 12-year-old boy next door under their wing, but the good times are hampered when Method's mom decides to move in. Regency TV is behind the pilot, to be written by scribe Kell Cahoon ("Kid Notorious"), who also will develop the story with Method Man.

Method Man and Redman --- who are known for their love of certain herbs --- began collaborating onstage in 1999, touring with Jay-Z and releasing the CD collaboration "Blackout!" They then reteamed for the 2001 stoner comedy feature "How High," the MTV show "Stung" and even appeared in a deodorant commercial together.

"We allude to it once or twice, but there's so much more to these guys than pot-smoking jokes," said Erin Simon Berenson, senior VP of comedy development at Regency TV. "They are the coolest guys of all time."

Method, a member of the influential and critically acclaimed hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, also has cultivated an enormously successful solo career. Redman (real name: Reggie Noble), meanwhile, came out of New Jersey with his 1992 release "Whut? Thee Album." His other albums include "Dare Iz a Darkside," "Muddy Waters," "Doc's Da Name" and "Malpractice."
CAA packaged the Method Man/Redman project.

story courtesy variety

LOS ANGELES, CA (12.22.03) -- The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has no authority to compel Internet service providers to turn over the identities of their subscribers who use peer-to-peer file-sharing services and are suspected by the trade group of infringing copyrights.

The decision sides with Verizon, which challenged a January District Court ruling in favor of the RIAA and stops the organization's 6-month-old program to halt illegal file sharing by using a so-called information subpoena law.

While the court says it sympathizes with the music industry's plight, it ruled that the RIAA's argument that ISPs are liable as "mere conduits" to disclose the identities of its subscribers "borders upon the silly."

"This is a disappointing procedural decision, but it only changes the process by which we will file lawsuits against online infringers," RIAA president Cary Sherman says in a statmnet. This decision in no way changes our right to sue, or the fact that those who upload or download copyrighted music without authorization are engaging in illegal activity."

story by billboard

NEW YORK, NY (12.19.03) -- A Manhattan judge ruled against The Source Magazine on Tuesday according to court records released earlier this week. Source Magazine owners Dave Mays and Benzino are taking their vendetta with Eminem to new heights. Earlier this month, it was reported that a controversial song, in which Eminem can be heard using racial slurs towards Black Women, was released by the Source. The song, entitled "Foolish Pride" was apparently recorded around 1993 by a disgruntle Eminem. According to Em, he made the song because he had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

Owners of The Source wanted to bring international attention to the song by releasing a free music cd in the February issue of the Source. However, federal Judge Gerald Lynch granted Eminem's lawyers an injunction preventing the magazine from enclosing the CD in the issue. Since the injunction, owners of the Source has released a statement. "The fact that our opinion regarding the prevalence of racism in the music industry is being censored is just another step in the effort to cover up the racial bias destroying hip-hop culture," The Source said in a statement Thursday.

In other Eminem news, his European fans have been given the opportunity to buy his new "Eminem: The Singles" box set. Aside from his past signals such as "My Name Is," "Guilty Conscience," "The Real Slim Shady" and more, it will include some instrumentals, acapellas and other rare tracks.

LOS ANGELES, CA (12.19.03) -- U.S. album sales for 2003 are running 4.7 percent behind last year's level, but the decline is smaller than the nearly 11 percent drop posted at the same point last year, retail tracker Nielsen SoundScan reported on Thursday.

Total album sales, including CDs, cassettes and LPs, through the week ended Dec. 14, reached nearly 593 million copies, down from almost 622 million for the same period a year ago, SoundScan said.

That amounts to a smaller decline than many expected and reflects a turnaround in the record industry's fortunes that began with singer-songwriter John Mayer (news)'s chart-topping release "Heavier Things" in September, according to Geoff Mayfield, director of sales charts for Billboard magazine.

Since then, overall album sales have been tracking generally upward compared with 2002, Mayfield said.

"It's encouraging," Mayfield told Reuters. "We went though all of last year, and the first eight months of this year, and the only times we saw (year-to-year weekly) increases was because of a holiday moving from one spot to another on the calendar."

The year-end commercial picture could brighten further once the last two weeks of the normally busy holiday season are counted, he said.

The recording industry has endured three years of slumping sales, which together with rampant piracy and increased competition from rival entertainment, such as video games, has sparked a wave of corporate consolidation. 2002 ended with sales down 10.7 percent from the year before.

This year's biggest commercial success by far has come from hard-core rapper 50 Cent, whose debut album "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' has sold 6.4 million copies so far, according to SoundScan. He was trailed by songstress Nora Jones' Grammy-winning release "Come Away With Me," which has sold 4.9 million copies this year and 7.6 million units to date

story by reuters

NEW YORK, NY (12.18.03) -- Rapper Nas was charged with assault yesterday (Dec. 18) stemming from a Dec. 10 altercation in a New York nightclub. The New York Daily News reports that the artist, whose real name is Nasir Jones, allegedly smashed a bottle against the head of a fellow patron who entered the VIP area of the club Cielo.

Nas reportedly surrendered to police yesterday and was arraigned last night before posting $7,500 bail. He is due back in court Jan. 20.

"One guy enters the VIP area, and [Nas] clocks him in the head with a bottle," a police source told the paper. The unidentified victim reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Word from Nas' camp is that the whole thing is a mistaken identity. That no one is really sure how the scuffle began but they contend that Nas was not the person that assaulted the unidentified patron.

NEW YORK, NY (12.18.03) -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs will make his Broadway debut in a revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," Lorraine Hansbury's landmark drama about a black family moving into an all-white Chicago neighborhood.

"It is an American classic alongside 'Streetcar,' 'Death of a Salesman' and 'The Crucible,'" producer David Binder said. "And it has never had a Broadway revival."

The production, to be directed by Kenny Leon, will most likely begin rehearsals in mid-February, with preview performances starting in mid-March and an opening a month later, Binder added. The exact dates, the rest of the casting and the theater have not yet been announced.

"We are approaching very seasoned New York theater actors" to fill out the rest of the cast, the producer said, declining to be more specific. Combs has no stage experience, but has appeared in the movies "Made" and "Monster's Ball."

Binder said he contacted Combs last September after a mutual acquaintance suggested that Combs "was interested in doing serious, challenging work in the theater."

Combs auditioned several times for the producer, the casting director and Leon over the course of the fall. "We were all incredibly impressed -- he's focused on the work," said Binder, a producer of such off-Broadway hits as "De La Guarda" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

Binder said he chose Leon, former head of the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, because the director "respects writing. ... He's interested in serving the play."

The original production, which starred Sidney Poitier, Claudia MacNeil, Ruby Dee and Diana Sands, was a success on Broadway in 1959 and later as a 1961 movie with the same lead cast. It was made into a Broadway musical, starring Virginia Capers and Joe Morton, in 1973.

The title comes from a line in a poem by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up/Like a raisin in the sun?"

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (12.17.03)--Last night Naughty By Nature performed in Melbourne, Australia as part of their 2004 Australian and New Zealand tour.

Everything went as planned and the show was almost sold out. Unfortunately about half an hour into their set things took a turn for the worse. As Treach walked across the stage talking to the crowd between songs, he suddenly stopped and held his hand over his eyes. “Someone sprayed mace,” Treach announced as security rushed the stage.

Treach went backstage to rinse his face while Vinny came back out and told the crowd to point out the offender so the security could escort them out of the club. Treach came back out and instead told the crowd to bring the offender up on stage so Treach could handle it his way. Screams and threats erupted from the crowd aimed at the mystery offender but no one was caught.

Treach then told the club to bring out bottles of water for people near the front of the stage who had also been sprayed by the pepper spray and then the show went on as scheduled. Vinny proclaimed that Naughty By Nature will not be scared by things like this and will not stop what they are doing, comparing the situation to terrorist attacks.

Vinny later said that he was shocked by the attack but he is enjoying Australia regardless and looks forward to the rest of the tour.

BROOKLYN, NY (12.17.03) -- Following "The Black Album" and a signature black Reebok sneaker, Jay-Z has teamed with Nokia on a special edition wireless device, the Black Phone. A version of the company's 3300 Music Phone, the Jay-Z-linked edition will be sold exclusively through Sam Goody and Media Play retail outlets beginning Friday (Dec. 19).

"Technology now provides us with the opportunity to deliver music in new ways," Jay-Z says in a statement. "The Black Phone is at the forefront of the future which includes buying music instantly and taking it with you wherever you go."

Selling for $124 after rebates, the Black Phone comes with a multimedia card preloaded with "The Black Album." Released in late November, the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam collection debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.1 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The phone also features Jay-Z True Tones ring tones and registered owners will receive weekly text and monthly voice messages from the artist for a limited time. In addition to its digital music player, the Nokia 3300 phone also features a stereo FM radio, a full messaging keyboard and high-resolution color display.

LOS ANGELES, CA (12.16.03) -- Snoop Dogg's mother and rapper Daz Dillinger's wife have sued Marion "Suge" Knight for allegedly slandering them in a song he produced. Beverly Green and Maria Watkins filed the lawsuit against the rap mogul Tuesday in Superior Court.

They claim the song "Tha