Suge
     Knight
Trust Suge Knight to stir up trouble wherever he goes. At Russell Simmons’ West Coast Hip-Hop Summit held this past Valentine’s Day, Suge took the podium to dis other performers including Dr. Dre, Master P, Eminem and Janet Jackson. This came after a keynote speech by Minister Louis Farrakhan which implored the hip-hop community to promote peace and positivity through their music and actions. Talk about inappropriate..

Speaking of Eminem, the rapper’s new album “The Eminem Show” has been given an April release date. With Eminem reportedly having given up smoking and drinking, expect to see a more focused and mature Slim Shady on this LP.

Mariah Carey has had a pretty shaky year to say the least, but things might be turning around in the near future. After being dropped by Virgin Records, Mariah is without a recording contract but the buzz is that both Def Jam and Clive Davis’ J Records are courting the diva. So whose label mate will she be? Jay-Z or Alicia Keys? Stay tuned.

It’s been a while since the world has heard from Lauryn Hill, and it might be a while longer before she resurfaces. Word has it that although she has completed her sophomore solo album, Columbia Records was not happy with it. Apparently dissatisfied with the commercial viability of the mostly acoustic tracks, the label has put her release date on hold. Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen that Lauryn Hill Unplugged that MTV filmed months ago. Here’s hoping we get some new tracks from L-Boogie soon.

R Kelly
In hot waters

R. Kelly is in some hot water. Right before his performance at the opening

ceremony of the Winter Olympics, a videotape was anonymously mailed to the Chicago Sun-Times, allegedly showing over 20 minutes of Kelly having sex with an underage girl. Chicago police are now investigating and Kelly has proclaimed his innocence.
Issues of innocence and guilt aside, one of the primary questions being asked is if this will affect Kelly’s forthcoming album with Jay-Z, due out next month. The official word is that the collaboration, “The Best Of Both Worlds” will be out on time. Jay-Z has also announced the fall release of his seventh solo album “The Gift and The Curse”.

P. Diddy

oTalk is circulating in the industry that Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and his Bad Boy label might be striking out on their own. Although Bad Boy is
currently distributed by Arista Records (headed by Puff’s friend L.A. Reid) it seems that Combs is talking to other major record labels about
distribution deals. If this does come to pass it could be a major business venture, enhancing Combs’ rep considerably. Diddy says there’s no beef between him and Reid or Arista, and that it’s strictly business.

On the weekend of March 22nd, Emixshow Magazine will be celebrating its first anniversary by staging the 3rd Annual Emixshow weekend in New York. The event will feature over 75 DJs from all over the country and several record labels including Loud, Jive, Columbia and DMX’s new Bloodline label. It will also play host to several forums, dinners and parties in an effort to
showcase new talent and promote networking among DJs and record labels.

An interesting album to look out for is the
upcoming soundtrack to Wesley Snipes’ vampire thriller, Blade II. What makes this album so promising and unique is the intriguing pairing of established hip-hop and electronic artists. Some of the collaborations include Redman and The Gorillaz, Eve and Fatboy Slim, and Mystikal and Moby among others.