Lil Wayne Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge, Sentenced 1 Year Behind Bars

The Grammy-winning rap artist Lil Wayne pleaded guilty on Thursday to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a felony, and is to be sentenced to a year behind bars under a plea agreement with prosecutors, the Manhattan district attorney’s office announced.

In a 13th-floor courtroom in State Supreme Court, the rapper, whose given name is Dwayne M. Carter Jr., entered a guilty plea before Justice Charles H. Solomon, who reminded the defendant that the plea would have no bearing on charges that he is facing in other states.

Police said a gun was found on Lil Wayne’s tour bus in Manhattan in 2007. Lil Wayne acknowledged in court that there was a gun on the bus and identified it as a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
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Nas Owes the IRS $2.5 Million

Nas may make a lot of money (according to his estranged wife Kelis), but apparently some of that bread hasn’t been going towards taxes.

The Queens rap legend received a huge federal tax lien filed last month, of $2,584,206.31. Nas reportedly owes back-taxes for 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, Nas and Kelis are scheduled to go through with their divorce hearing on November 20.
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Diddy teams with Dr. Dre to release “Diddy Beats” Headphones

A Diddy and Dr. Dre collaboration? What happened to the whole East Coast vs. West Coast thing?

One might say that this is just business.

Diddy has been working with Dre and Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine on his own line of Diddy Beats ear bud headphones. The product was developed through Monster, a company best known for its high-end audio cables, which previously introduced Dre’s own Beats By Dr. Dre headphones and is set to unveil Lady Gaga’s ‘Heartbeats’ audio line in the near future.

“We designed some ear buds called Diddy Beats that will be out next year,” Diddy said of his collaboration with Dre. “We also have an iPod speaker base for your house coming out. That experience as a whole was good, we [Dr. Dre and I] had a great chemistry with each other.”
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50 Cent’s ‘Behind the Music’ VH1 Episode Made Rating History

50 Cent’s Behind the Music episode on VH1 has reportedly made ratings history for the network.

According to Fif’s thisis50.com Website, the rapper’s show scored the highest premiere ratings since 2000’s Faith Hill program. 2.2 million viewers tuned in on Tuesday (October 13), making VH1 the most watched cable channel during that time period. 50’s show beat out other BTM episodes on Lil Wayne and T.I.

The VH1 Hip Hop Honors premiered directly after the G-Unit leader’s Behind the Music. The ceremony, which marked the 25th anniversary of Def Jam Recordings, was also one for the books. It had the highest ratings of the franchise’s six-year history.
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Kanye West Seeking Refuge In India?

The BET Hip-Hop awards went uninterrupted Oct. 10, as Kanye West, who was nominated for nine awards, was a no-show. Just where was he? According to some reports, West was seeking refuge in India.

Friends of the musician say that he’s keeping his location private, but India isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“Kanye might do some dumb things, but he’s smart,” said one source close to West. “He knows he needs to come back from this break changed, and that isn’t going to happen at some rehab overlooking the ocean. He goes to India, he has a chance to come back seeming like he learned something from what happened.”
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Dr. Dre and HP Unveils New HP Envy 15 Beats Laptop

Heralding the arrival of “a new benchmark in sound for the PC,” Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine — together with legendary producer Dr. Dre and HP — unveiled the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition notebook PC. Launching in the United States on Oct. 22, the newest addition to HP’s flagship ENVY line was revealed during a press conference Friday (Oct. 9) at Interscope’s Thom Thom Club in Santa Monica, Calif.

The HP ENVY 15 Beats is the latest rollout by Beats Electronics LLC, co-founded by Iovine and Dr. Dre in 2006. Featuring a piano black high-gloss finish and the Beats Audio design found in the “Beats by Dr. Dre” headphones line, the HP ENVY 15 Beats will also come bundled with the Dr. Dre headphones and state-of-the-art mixing software from Native Instruments’ Traktor LE. Retailing for $2,299, the HP ENVY 15 Beats will be sold at Best Buy, major retailers and through HP direct.

In addition to Dr. Dre, Iovine noted that several of the industry’s prominent producers — including will.i.am, Kanye West, Pharrell, Timbaland and Polow da Don — helped HP engineers fine-tune the project.
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The Game Sued for Unpaid Legal Fees

The Game faces a steep legal bill - he’s being sued for more than $30,000 by his former attorneys who represented him two years ago.

According to a lawsuit filed by Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert at Los Angeles County Superior Court (which was then obtained by TMZ), the rapper failed to honor his $34,683 bill - despite the “successful outcome” of the case they worked on.

In 2007, the team helped The Game escape jail time - it was thought he would be given a five year prison sentence - but ended up serving just 60 days behind bars and 3 years probation upon release.
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Photos From Kanye West’s New Book

Kanye West unleashed this exclusive look on his blog and had this to say in all caps:

“This is the photo book from the Glow In The Dark Tour. Nabil captured the experience like crazy! When I look at the photos it brings me right back to that time! It’s very emotional for me because I didn’t want to have to tour but my pain bought me my greatest creation to date. Thank you for everybody that came to the shows and experienced this moment in time with me.”

You can pick the book which will be about 400 pages and include a CD up for $50 this October.
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Swizz Beatz’ Wife Writes Open Letter to Alicia Keys for Affair

Swizz Beatz’ estranged wife Mashonda is going public with her husband’s alleged affair with Alicia Keys. The R&B singer has written an open letter to the “Superwoman” on Twitter. The couple, who filed for divorce, have a two-and-a-half-year-old son together.

The following letter from Mashonda was issued in response to Keys’ tweet on Friday night: “Having a heated debate n the studio. Question is…N love is it better to go 4 the choice that is ‘SMART’ or the choice that has ‘SPARK’??”
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Abercrombie Sue Beyonce Over Perfume Name

Superstar Beyonce has been hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit from bosses at clothing firm Abercrombie & Fitch over plans to release her own perfume using the name of her alter ego Sasha Fierce.

The Irreplaceable hitmaker revealed on Tuesday she had signed with fragrance house Coty to launch her own scent by spring 2010.

Beyonce, who has previously been the face of Tommy Hilfiger’s True Star range of perfumes and Emporio Armani’s Diamonds, said, “For me, fragrance reflects a woman’s attitude and unique sense of style.
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