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Patti LaBelle Praises Kanye West for Telling It Like It Is Soul legend Patti LaBelle has hailed Kanye West for his insistence on telling the truth. The rapper caused controversy last year when he declared President George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people" during a fundraising telecast for victims Hurricane Katrina. And LaBelle insists his honesty is reflected in candid rapping too. She tells MTV, "Kanye is somebody who I really love. He says things people should listen to. Rap does not have to be what some people perceive it's about. They think it's gonna be nasty, lowdown and dirty when it's just telling the truth about life itself. You heard what Kanye said about the president - you know the boy tells nothing but the truth."

Hey I thought there was some Tyrese fans here that'd be interested in hearing this mixtape, I've been trying to download it but it's taking too long on my slow computer, hopefully I'll get to hear it soon, has anybody heard Tyrese rap yet? I'm interested to see how he does...

It seemed like it was more something personal than it was about music 'cause they really haven't said anything about each other in songs in such a while that you'd thought that whatever they had was over a while for but this was more of a legit beef that had nothing to do with music if X wanted to physically hurt Ja, whatever it was it's good that they worked it out and are moving forward with their lives, now if Irv Gotti could get 50 and Ja to make peace then he deserves the nobel peace prize 'cause that seems like a beef that'll never end, lol, ain't nothing wrong with battlin' but even KRS talks about "Squash The Beef", he don't promote negative beefin' either, he hasn't really a held a personal grudge with any rapper he battled from Melle Mel to Nelly, it's just about keepin' hip-hop competitive, I really wanted to find what LL said about how current rap beefs are, he explained it a lil' bit on that BET "Blueprint" special when he released his "Todd Smith" as well: LL Cool J Doesn't Like Rap & Hip-Hop Feuds Rapper/actor LL Cool J is calling for an end to hip-hop feuds, insisting battles should only be played out in the music charts. The Ain't Nobody hitmaker is thrilled when he sees rappers striving to be reach the top, but insists public warring should be stamped out. He says, "Peace is always better than war. Competition is fun in hip-hop, but you can be competitive by making good records. "We don't have to dis one another. But at the same time, there's nothing wrong with that either, as long as it stays rooted in fun."

DMX shouldn't even had said anything in the first place about Ja Rule, why even waste time saying that Ja Rule's biting him, they're 2 different artists, Ja Rule's style changed away from what DMX when he started dumbing down with that commercial rap style while DMX always represents that real hip-hop,at this point I don't think people say Ja is similar to DMX, DMX is on another level of credability that Ja has to keep fighting for,the beef was relevant to begin with, DMX is too far above Ja to waste time on him talking about how he wanted to brawl with him, that's just stupid, just like I thought KRS wasted time to call out Nelly, it didn't prove anything really, KRS has always been way more respected so why even call out somebody like Nelly, what's the point?

Beef is weak on the mostpart recently 'cause there's too much negative energy, I wasn't saying that all beef in hip-hop history is weak, I'm saying that in these days of hip-hop it's weak, I'm speaking in present terms, it could lead to violence too 'cause a lot of times it gets more personal than what it should be, after the Pac-Biggie feud all beef should just end period, it's not worth it really, they didn't die 'cause they beefed but they died before they could ever squash their beef which was sad to see really, life's too short for beef, it's not a good look for hip-hop to have everyone go against each other especially if it doesn't always have to do with the music, I think it'd be better if rappers did work together instead of against each other, that'd bring more creativity than it'd be with them dissing each other, it was cool in the early part of hip-hop to have beef 'cause it raised competition but times have changed like you said, rappers got on stage to battle and then shake hands after but now it's like they want to brawl when they run into each other... Now speaking of KRS now, he explains the change between now and the earlier days of hip-hop in "GoodBye": "There was a time when hip-hop was on our mind/without no crimes/just reality rhymes/when you battled me fine but in the end we'd recline/with a bottle of wine/mcs the original kind/ but why did you stray? hip-hop", now even though he's been involved with all these battles in his career, he never really held a grudge with anyone and felt like he wanted to do harm to the rapper off the mic, he's more about just raising competition, KRS is doing an album with Marley Marl now even though he had a battle with Juice Crew back in the days, it shows the growth of really of where mcs need to go, LL explained in his book that battling rappers like Kool Moe, Ice-T and MC Hammer years ago was more like when the Bulls would face the Suns and the Jazz, it was a rivalry that helped him elevate the music he was making but it wasn't nothing personal off the court, off the mic here of course, he wasn't smashing Kool Moe Dee's car or jumping MC Hammer in the middle of the street, it don't really feel that way now on the most part when rappers beef, they do a bunch of things that just ain't necessary...Is 50 Cent really a better rapper since he went around to start battles recently? LL said recently that today's rappers need to quit beefing 'cause it ain't really moving hip-hop forward, now on that note as I think he probably reached out to do an album with 50 to get 50 away from the beef, when rappers get on top they should help each other and raise the level of hip-hop instead of tearing each other down these days

The song was called "It's Murda" which was featured on Ja's "Venni, Vetti, Vecci" album, that's a really dope track there, they were considering doing a collab album around that time but scheduling conflicts got in the way of that

Thanks for the info AJ, definately some stuff to be looking forward to

I think it's good to see rappers ending beefs recently, it could only help bring hip-hop more credability, beefing is weak

He's not really one of my favorite rappers but Luda's definately one of the better commercial rappers over the recent years, he got a hot flow, I'll probably be checking for this album, btw "Money Maker" is getting quite bit of airplay right now, every time I turn on the radio I hear it playing it seems, it's in the top 10 on the Billboard pop charts, he seems to be the only rapper that Def Jam's supporting at the moment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DMX and his rival Ja Rule have "squashed" their long-standing beef thanks to efforts from their mutual friend Irv Gotti. The two rappers have been waging a war of words for years after DMX accused Ja Rule of copying his gruff style on records. Meetings between the two have come close to blows. But when Ja Rule's label boss Gotti insisted the pair stage a secret summit meeting to discuss their differences, the seed of peace was planted. DMX admits he initially wanted to scrap with his rap rival when he was released from jail last year before making peace: "Gotti came to me in jail and said I want to make peace with you and him. "I was like, 'Alright Gotti, let's do it. But I need five minutes in a room with your man. I got to put my hands on him.'" But the tough-talking rapper eventually saw sense and agreed to meet with his one-time foe: "Gotti sat down and we squashed it. I said he (Ja Rule) got to stop sounding like me." http://www.hiphopgame.com/news.php3?id=1411

Yeah this has to be a tough time for the family, that statement Run made shows the type of strong minded person he is btw

Well I was a lil' nervous about getting this album with hearing that JD was gonna have quite a bit of imput on this album 'cause a lot of his recent production has been kinda watered down, and if your review is accurate to what it really is than I think that she's gonna have to seperate her love from music, she should work with other producers to give her music more edge instead of having her man do it

This is an unfortunate situation, Run-Dmc were tight on and off the mic, I find that hard to believe there that Dmc would snub them if they asked for help, I think Big Pun's family came out and tried to say something against Fat Joe not supporting them last year, I don't think that's right, the families should be able to support themselves like anyone else in society at this point, if Fat Joe wants to help Big Pun's family out of the kindness of his heart he could and if DMC wants to help JMJ's family out of the kindness of his heart he could but they're not necessarily obligated legally either, I don't think when JMJ was alive that he was the only one in the family with a job...

Motive Sought in Colo. School Shooting By CATHERINE TSAI Associated Press Writer BAILEY, Colo. - The high school in this tiny mountain town was closed Thursday, a day after a mysterious gunman took six girls hostage in a classroom for hours before fatally wounding one and then killing himself as authorities stormed in. "We are a community in mourning," schools superintendent Jim Walpole said. "Our thoughts, our prayers are with our students, staff and their families. Especially the family of the student we lost." The victim was identified by acquaintances and a co-worker as 16-year-old Emily Keyes, shown in a yearbook photo as a smiling blonde who played volleyball and was on the debate team at Platte Canyon High School. She was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital after Wednesday's standoff, which reminded many people of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High, less than an hour's drive away. There was no known link between Keyes and the gunman, who was not identified by authorities. Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener, who had a son in the school as the drama unfolded, was at a loss to explain a motive. "I don't know why he wanted to do this," Wegener said, his voice breaking. The gunman claimed he had explosives in a backpack and was wielding a handgun, authorities said. He released four hostages one by one, then abruptly cut off communication with authorities and set a deadline that forced authorities to act. Wegener wouldn't say what the man threatened to do. He said authorities used explosives as they entered the classroom, only to have the suspect fire at officers, shoot one of the girls and then himself. Authorities were investigating whether any of the girls were sexually assaulted, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. School was canceled for the rest of the week at the high school and the adjoining middle school. The sheriff, a 36-year resident of Bailey, said he knew the slain girl's family and was "scared to death" as he handled the hostage situation. He said the gunman threatened the girls almost throughout the four-hour ordeal and at one point fired a shot inside the classroom. "I have to go and eventually I have to face a family about the fact that their daughter is dead," Wegener quietly told reporters. "So, what would you do?" Tom Grigg said his 16-year-old son, Cassidy, was in a classroom when the man walked in, fired a gun and began telling some students to leave and others - all girls - to stay. "He stood them up at the blackboard," Grigg said. "He hand-picked the ones he wanted to get out." The gunman told Cassidy to leave, but he said he wanted to stay with the girls, Grigg said. "The guy flipped him around and put the gun in his face and said, 'It would be in your best interest to leave,'" Grigg said. The lines of students fleeing the high school and middle school, the bomb squads and the frantic parents scrambling to find their loved ones evoked memories of the Columbine attack, where two students killed 13 people before taking their own lives. Michael Owens, who has one son at the middle school and another in the high school, said the anxiety was worse because the memory of Columbine was still fresh. "Things that are out of your control, you just do what you can do," he said. "It's like an earthquake." The situation unfolded in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. Ambulances were parked in the end zone of the football field and a tank-like SWAT team vehicle was parked nearby on a closed-down highway swamped with gun-toting sheriff's officers and police. Bill Twyford said he received a text message from his 15-year-old son Billy, a student at the high school, at about 11:30 a.m. It said: "Hey there, there's a gun hijacking in school right now. I'm fine, bad situation though." Jessica Montgomery, 15, said she saw the suspect in a second-floor hallway shortly before noon. She described him as "creepy," with acne and stubble on his face. He motioned her to come over. "I was like, 'the bell just rang,'" she said. "I was like, 'Why isn't he going to class?' And then I was like, 'He's kind of old.'" Sophomore Zack Barnes, 16, said his class moved to a room that turned out to be next to the one where the hostages were being held. They turned out the lights and sat in silence in the dark for about 20 minutes before police guided them out. "I was just praying it wasn't a mass killing," Barnes said. The two schools have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school. Students from both were taken by bus to another school for a head count, and there were cheers from parents as their loved ones arrived

Yeah well her comment's understandable but definately there's an impression that she thinks she has to act like a "gangsta girl" 'cause she's rolling with Hova and in doing that she's gonna lose popularity, she ain't gonna sell a lot of records making songs like "Ring The Alarm"

Well I was watching some of that press conference earlier, it turned out to be on more than just ESPN, actually CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, etc. as well, basically it turned out to be more hype than anything, he's back practicing again and he said that he don't get how it really was just an allergic reaction and then became known as a suicide attempt

I love what JJFP themselves say here on that "JJFP answer the critics" on this site's homepage, JJFP have always been about making positive and fun hip-hop music, they never sold out, the audience tastes' changed basically: When their first hit single "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" led to some cross-over success that laid the groundwork for the pop stardom that was to follow with their sophomore LP - He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. But, after the money started to roll, and their videos started to receive heavy rotation, their original core fans started to yell, 'sell out!' Jeff: When 'Parents Don't Understand' came out, everybody liked it. Once mainstream audiences started liking it, everybody else started looking at it like 'wow, you guys are doing something different'. Will and I had always been on that vibe, y'know, but yes it was hard, because some original fans felt alienated. But how can you be accused of alienating people when we were doing the same thing we were doing for our original fans." Oh yes, hip hop audiences can be fickle, and none were more so than the late 80's, early 90's fans who were starting to discover the highly politicized hip hop of groups like Public Enemy and X-Clan, and/or the experimental sounds of the Native Tongue Family. Backlash was bound to happen. Jeff also realizes that the record company's re-imaging that emphasized the duo's light side caused some long-term credibility problems. Will: The way I maintain, keep it positive man, keep it fun, the original essence of hip-hop was partying and having fun, and im keeping it real for real

Speaking of the whole interview I found it for anyone that's interested in it, it's a long read but I think after reading this I understand why she said what she said, clearly it was taken out of context probably trying to start a negative backlash for her: http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=2065

Well this is the off topic forum where we talk about current events in entertainment, sports, and society in general if you didn't know, and if you don't like the topics don't post in them, btw I'd really like to read the whole interview from Blender and see all that she says, they just throw that one comment in there, I'd like to read the whole thing before I jump to conclusions, Beyonce should just do her thing though and not have to change her style so certain people could feel her, she should just do what comes natural to her that many of her fans enjoy already

Janet is my gurL... ive had every single one of her albums... i may wait awhile on this one tho.... financial reasons. lol. peace, cookie Yeah I feel you on that, there's a lot of albums coming out now that I wanna get but I'm gonna have to wait on, Janet tops my list though 'cause she always brings it

Well Snoop's basically saying there that he wants to make a lil' more mature music, get away from making that kinda derogatory music, he wants to show the critics that he's growing as an artist and I give him props for that, the rap game has been getting quite a bit of criticism and backlash, it's up to the big name artists like Snoop to step up like this, music is entertainment, Snoop is a great entertainer and I enjoy his music

Yeah the media could really twist situations to make it look bad for the celebrities' reputation, it's only natural for record sales to drop every week 'cause there's a lot of music albums coming out, now with Janet's album coming out they wanna bring up her incident with Justin from a couple years ago, when Michael Jackson releases his next album they'll be talking about his trial again I'm sure, I wouldn't be surprised about people calling TO's suicide attempt a publicity stunt, a lot of rap fans said the same thing when 50 Cent got arrested a couple weeks ago, these celebrities live their lives with the media watching their every move to see when they slip up and fans are quick to turn their backs on them, a lot of us go through issues too but nobody watches over us like that, guess that's the price for being paid all that money

Beyonce has had so much success and she's always been humble, what she said here doesn't seem to make sense 'cause that's disrespectful to her audience, not many black people buy albums, she don't need to act thugged out just 'cause she's rolling with Jay-Z

Yeah she doesn't really come across as somebody with an edge like TLC or Mary J., songs like "Ring The Alarm" doesn't really fit her style, btw I don't think her record sales are droppin' 'cause of this, people just ain't buying music that much anymore

I'm watching ESPN now and they're saying that he's out of the hospital already, if it was really suicide attempt I think he wouldn't be out there that fast, it sounds like the information was leaked too fast 'cause he's a big name player