Radio Ro Blog

Afeni Shakur, the activist mother of late hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, was arrested for felony drug possession in Lumberton, North Carolina, earlier this month. The ex-Black Panther was charged April 16 with felony possession of marijuana, simple possession of a controlled substance and maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance. Since her son was fatally shot in 1996, Afeni has stayed busy upholding his legacy. She founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation in 1997, which provides arts and education programs for young people and mounts an annual performing-arts summer camp for youth from troubled homes. Afeni’s Amaru Entertainment was engaged in a legal battle with film company Morgan Creek last year over a movie about the rapper’s life, according to The Hollywood Reporter Afeni has also managed music from Tupac that was unreleased while the star was alive. Afeni’s battle with drug use is mentioned in Tupac’s hit 1995 song “Dear Mama.” When renovating the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation’s center in 2005, Afeni told MTV News that her tough past was a catalyst for starting an arts foundation. “When Tupac was 13 and I was homeless,” she said, “Tupac was in the 127th Street Ensemble [theater group] right here in New York. Those people, I believe, saved his life. So what we try to do is be that for the next generation of young people.” Source

In the latest issue of OZONE Magazine, Weezy breaks down being a father & how to respect a woman… On whether he considers himself a good father and child support: I’m not on child support with none of my kids cause I’m a great father. So it’s not determined by how much money you’re paying at all. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about being there and being that important person in their lives. It’s about being #1 or #2 in their life. That’s very important for your child, to make sure you’re that #1 or #2. Because if you’re not, you know what #1 or #2 could end up being. That’s the most important thing of all. I just try to make sure I’m of the highest importance in their lives, next to their moms. On respecting woman but still calling them hoes and b*tches in his songs: There’s two answers to that. One is – there are b**ches. There are hoes. There are ladies. There are women. There are girls. Pick which side you’re on. When somebody’s saying something about “b*tches,” if they didn’t say “Julia is a b**ch,” if it doesn’t apply to you then it doesn’t apply to you. The second answer is, you’d have to be a woman who’s met me to know if I believe you’re a b**ch or a hoe or whatever. Did you go through a phase where you were, um… wanting to spread your seed? Or was it just the way things happened? You’d have to be a woman that’s with me to know what phase I was going through. If I was to answer that question for you or for the world or for this magazine, then I’d be the dumbest nigga on the planet.

While Usher and Tameka Foster officially divorced in November, they were still legally married (and together) when Usher started dating former Def Jam exec Grace Miguel. And Usher is clearly continuing his pattern of quickly marrying an older woman and getting her impregnated sooner than he can say “Daddy’s Home.” This past Sunday, Usher was caught in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park with his two sons, Naviyd and “Cinco”, and Grace. When the two were asked to pose for a picture, they both turned and moved very quickly from the cameras. Still, the pic (above) was snapped from behind (Grace on the far left, Usher and the kids on the right). We’re told that Grace, who is still surprisingly legally married herself, is about 3 months along and not showing much yet. But she will be soon, in case Usher predictably tries to deny our story. It’s well known throughout Usher’s circle that Grace is expecting, but folks for some reason are not speaking about it. Source

Actress Pam Grier says she and Richard Pryor broke up in part because his cocaine use had led to a dangerous buildup of the drug in her vagina. Is that even possible? Here’s how Grier recounts the conversation with her doctor: He said, “Pam, I want to tell you about an epidemic that’s prevalent in Beverly Hills right now. It’s a buildup of cocaine residue around the cervix and in the vagina. You have it. Are you doing drugs?” “No,” I said, astonished. “Well, it’s really dangerous,” he went on. “Is your partner putting cocaine on his penis to sustain his erection?” “No,” I said, “not that I know of. It’s not like he has a pile of cocaine next to the bed and he dips his penis in it before we have sex.” I had a nauseating flash of one of Richard’s famous lines: Even my dick has a cocaine jones. “Are you sure he isn’t doing it in the bathroom before he comes to bed?” the doctor asked. “That’s a possibility,” I said. “You know, I am dating Richard Pryor.” “Oh, my God,” he said. “We have a serious problem here. If he’s not putting it on his skin directly, then it’s worse because the coke is in his seminal fluid.” The doctor then asks her if her mouth went numb while performing oral sex on Pryor, which she says it did, and which he links to the Novocaine-like effects of cocaine. Source

According to the NY Post Steven Seagal has been gettin’ it in with the young hotties on the set: Steven Seagal paged young actresses on his movies to come to his hotel room at night and demanded they undress in his trailer, a co-star has alleged. The action hero is denying the new allegations by the actress, who asked not to be named, that he hit on the women in his 1991 movie “Out for Justice,” and made an obscene sexual suggestion to her in a late-night phone call. She told us, “Seagal’s type was young, exotic-looking girls. He asked me and three other actresses to parade through his trailer, then asked me to stay. “The wardrobe girl gave me a tacky corset and a tiny skirt and told me, ‘He wants you to try this on,’ [and] . . . led me into the bedroom. As soon as I undressed, he tried to come in. I didn’t have a top on, so I pushed the door closed and screamed. When I came out, my boobs were hanging out. I was offered a contract. “At least two other actresses on the set had beepers,” our source continued. “He would beep them to go to his hotel room at night. His then-wife Kelly LeBrock was suspicious and showed up on set. She had just given birth to their son. I felt so bad for her. “One night, he called me at home . . . he said, ‘Do you want to come to my hotel room?’ I said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable with that.’ He asked if I wanted to perform a sex act on him. I said, ‘I have a boyfriend and you are married.’ Days later I was released — technically, fired.” Seagal’s lawyer, Marty Singer, said of the claims: “This is totally false. It’s ridiculous that she is coming forward 20 years later . . . It is interesting this person doesn’t give her name to give her claims legitimacy. I suspect she is a resentful one-time actress who has not become a major star.” Seagal’s publicist, Ken Sunshine, added, “They are coming out of the woodwork, but this woodwork isn’t usually 20 years old.” Ex-model Kayden Nguyen previously filed a $1 million suit against Seagal, claiming he hired her as an aide but used her as a “sex toy.” Singer called the claims “absurd.”

A Henry County parent is complaining he wasn’t notified when Atlanta rapper T.I. was invited to speak a his child’s school, he was shocked by the response the school’s principal gave him. Tom Myers declined to talk to an AJC reporter about his concerns, but told WSB that he wanted to know ahead of the March 5 anti-bullying assembly that the rapper would be appearing at the school. Myers was upset that T.I., a convicted felon also known as Clifford Harris, was speaking to students at Woodland Middle School. “Had I had the opportunity to not let them [my children] go, I would have had them sit out,” he told WSB. T.I. served a year-long prison sentence last year on federal gun charges for trying to purchase a machine gun. As part of the condition of his release, T.I. was required to serve more than 400 hours of community service, including speaking engagements at schools. In an e-mail to principal Terry Oatts, Myers said he told Oatts to give parents a choice of whether to “allow our children to be exposed to these questionable individuals.” Oatts’ reply, according to e-mails provided to WSB: “I thought about asking a guy who snorted cocaine and got arrested for DUI when he was 30 to come and speak to our kids, but President George W. Bush was not available.” Myers said he was floored. “I could not believe that he would put that in an e-mail,” the parent told WSB. But Oatts continued in his e-mails with Myers, reportedly pointing out that even the president had made mistakes as a young man, and that T.I. was trying to encourage students was ‘to take their education seriously, put forth their best effort, pursue their dreams and not engage in bullying.’ Henry County Schools spokeswoman Connie Rutherford said school officials are aware of Myers’ complaints and “consider all allegations and concerns seriously.” Rutherford would not, however, say what action, if any, would be taken against Oatts.

Lauren London speaks on Lil Wayne and being hurt by things people said about her during her pregnancy: Mother hood has changed me a lot. I’ve definitely calmed down. I had a temper in the past and I don’t as much anymore. My son definitely puts stuff in perspective. The things I thought were really really important, aren’t. I don’t look at the surface as much anymore. Imma keep it real, I’m human. A lot of things I was doing before were really selfish and now it’s not about me. It’s about him. I’m blessed that I am not parenting him alone. I have help and I get to do what i love. Wayne is a great dad. He’s a great father. No complaints! On getting her feelings hurt: “I don’t feel pressured to tweet or share my business because I feel like my personal life is my personal life. They talked about me so bad during my pregnancy at this point, what can they say. Go ahead. It [was tough], I’m not going to lie. When a woman is pregnant to me it’s her most beautiful and as pure as she can be and I felt like they took everything away from me. At some point it did hurt my feelings and I had to let it go because it was distracting me from what God had me doing. Point. Blank. Period. I love my baby!

(AllHipHop News) Patricia Elam, sister of Gang Starr emcee Guru, has allegedly forwarded the following letter to a DJ Premier Blog in hopes that AllHipHop.com and other media outlets would release the information to fans of the late rapper. The letter states that Guru was comatose and remained unconscious from February this year until his death. The letter also disputes the legitimacy of any foundations purported to operate on Guru's behalf. "The Elam family wishes to thank the fans of our son/brother/father uncle/nephew/cousin Keith aka GURU for the outpouring of love, concern and support. Our hearts are broken by the loss of someone we loved so much. GURU was devoted to his young son, who will most keenly feel his absence. GURU suffered from multiple myeloma for over a year. Accrued complications from this illness led to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. As a result, GURU was in a coma from mid February until his death and never regained consciousness. Early on the morning of April 19th, he became hypertensive due to low blood pressure. He again went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us. GURU died far too young but he was, and we are, proud of all his many legendary musical contributions. The family is not aware of any foundations established by GURU. We know and understand that countless fans want to express their condolences and love and, to that end, we are planning a memorial event in the near future that will be all-inclusive. Please look for further details from the family as they become available. from The Elam Family”

The network announced that 50 will be tracing his family roots for upcoming VH1 Rock documentary titled “50’s Roots”. The rapper, based in South Jamaica, Queens, will head to the deep south and meet with living family members en route to discovering more about his slave lineage. The “Rock Doc” is being produced in conjunction with 50 Cent and Roadside Entertainment and is part of 44 new shows VH1 unveiled today for 2010. The new programming reflects a study VH1 conducted, to gain insight into what viewers of the network actually wanted to see. “They told us that they want to connect even more with our characters, our artists and our celebrities – but in a more genuine way,” said Tom Calderone, President of VH1. “They still enjoy VH1’s signature sense of fun and irreverence, but they also want more storylines that reflect the issues and challenges they are experiencing in their own lives.” An airdate for “50’s Roots” was not announced. Meanwhile, the rapper-turned-actor is in the process of removing his multitude of tattoos so that he can spend less time in the makeup chair on future movie sets. “It cuts down on the amount of time I have to spend in makeup covering them up”.

According to Rolling Stone, T.I. compares himself to Tupac: T.I. is setting the bar high for his post-prison album, King Uncaged, comparing it to Tupac’s 1996 classic All Eyez on Me, which was released months after ‘Pac got out of prison. “This is the most significant return from incarceration that the game has had since then,” T.I. says. “Just given the enormous success of that project, everyone’s expecting the same results. I just want to meet the expectations, if not surpass them.” The Atlanta MC says he didn’t get much work done while serving 10 months in Federal penitentiary in Arkansas on weapons charges (”I didn’t have a lot of time by myself just to think,” he says), but he got cracking on the day he was released to a halfway house in January, recording the defiant single, “I’m Back.” He’s been on a creative tear since, recording more than 60 songs for the album, due out in August, working with the producers who have crafted his biggest hits, including Jim Jonsin, who made the beat for Paper Trail Number One hit “Whatever You Like,” Danja (”No Matter What”), and DJ Toomp (”What You Know”). “Some songs talk about my time in prison — how I was affected by that, the way I’ve grown from that, things I see now that I may have not seen then,” says T.I. “Sometimes I talk about love, some songs I talk about life, some songs I talk about me being the shit on every level.” No songs will talk about T.I. carrying a gun. “Regardless of what may happen, what circumstances may present themselves, how extreme they may be, I will not be the one carrying firearms,” says the MC, who was arrested in 2007 for trying to buy a small arsenal of weapons, including machine guns. He has said he was buying guns in a misguided attempt to protect himself after his best friend Philant Johnson was killed. T.I. considers the new album the last chapter in a trilogy that began with 2007’s T.I. vs. T.I.P. and continued with Paper Trail, which was the eighth best-selling album of 2008. “If it was a film, the opening act would be the night that Phil got shot, and all the emotions and the sentiments that led to T.I. Vs. T.I.P.,” he says. ”From there, the schizophrenia of it all led to an unfortunate chain of events that left me incarcerated with federal weapons charges, which inspired Paper Trail, and now, people are waiting to hear the end of the story.”

Shyne's dissed 50 Cent in the past. A few years ago, he released a song called "For The Record" (2004) and he explained his feelings on 50 Cent. " 'Cause jail only made me a much more ruthless n***a/ And the b***h n***a knew this/ That's why he tried to sign me to G-Unit." Before that, 50 Cent rapped the following in a verse on Funk Master Flex's show: "I heard Irv trying to sign Shyne, so I don't got no love for him/ Tell him 50 said he's soft, he won't shoot up the club again." Shyne said that 50 was a "joke."

Former G-Unit First Lady, Olivia is being slammed by critics around the Internet over her recently leaked unofficial single titled “Control” featuring Young Money all-star Drake. In a recent statement, Drake confirmed that Olivia’s camp released this track without his knowing: “I support artist collaborations and sampling music that inspires you but I don’t support taking unauthorized recordings and marketing them as features. I’ve never worked with Olivia and I apologize to any fan who was duped into thinking that Control was a collaboration of mine.”

Shaquille O’Neal believes his estranged wife Shaunie O’Neal may be cooking up a “televised revenge” plot on her VH1 reality show — and now he’s making legal threats to keep her from Shaq-bashing on the air. Shaq’s lawyer has fired off a letter to the network — obtained by TMZ — in which he demands VH1 immediately halt production on “any further episodes of ‘Basketball Wives’ which make any reference to Mr. O’Neal.” Shaq’s lawyer claims Shaunie signed a confidentiality agreement at some point in their relationship — so if she says anything about Shaq on TV, she and the production company will find their asses in court. The first episode of the show already ran last week and show #2 — which reportedly features a scene centered around Shaunie’s relationship with Shaq — is scheduled to run Sunday. Sources close to the show tell us it’s unclear whether or not the next episode will make air.

Stacey Dash from “Clueless” claims her soon-to-be ex-husband beat her on multiple occasion. TMZ obtained the restraining order — originally signed by a judge January 29 and still in effect — in which Dash claimed her husband, Emmanuel Xuereb, hit her in the face, head and body during their two-plus years of marriage … but she was afraid to report it to police. Dash, 44, also claims a drunken Xuereb once violently pinned her down to a bed and threatened her, saying it would be the worst night of her life. Xuereb must stay 100 yards away from Stacey, her two children (neither of whom are his) and the family home. They’re due back in court in June.

According to FoxNews, Ex-Giants superstar Tiki Barber dumped his eight-months-pregnant wife Ginny for former NBC intern Traci Lynn Johnson. The football star-turned-NBC Today show-correspondent left his wife of 11 years for the 23-year-old blonde, who also worked at the network’s headquarters, sources said. Ginny Barber, who is expecting twins, found out about the relationship late last year after the run-around running back moved out of their home in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Johnson, a model-thin bombshell, was photographed sitting next to Tiki last month at a Washington, D.C., screening of a documentary on Senegal that he hosted for the Travel Channel. Sources believe Johnson also accompanied Tiki to Senegal for the filming late last year, when Ginny was three months pregnant. The affair is particularly stunning in light of the athlete’s long-standing disdain for his philandering father. “I don’t give a (bleep) that the relationship didn’t work,” he said of his parents’ split in a 2004 interview with the Post. “Not only did he abandon her, I felt like he abandoned us for a lot of our lives. I have a hard time forgiving that.” His confidants were shocked. “He was always the nice guy with a million-dollar smile,” a family friend said. Tiki Barber, who reportedly relocated to an Upper West Side bachelor pad, released a statement Tuesday in response to a Post report announcing the split. “After 11 years of marriage, Ginny and I have decided to separate,” he said. “This decision was a painful one, but we are moving forward amicably and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known.” His spokesman declined to comment. Ginny Barber is a former fashion publicist and full-time mom to the couple’s two sons — A.J., 7, and Chason, 6. She, too, declined to comment. Tiki and Ginny Barber began dating 16 years ago when both were students at the University of Virginia.

According to MTV and manager Kevin Liles, Trey Songz has some things lined up: September 14th, new album. He’s not gonna stop,” Liles said last week during a sit-down with MTV News. “He’s gonna keep his foot on people’s necks, and he’s going to make sure they understand that we have to redefine R&B. We have to go work hard every single day to be the best.” That’s not it for the Liles/Songz combo: Trey is the co-star of an upcoming reality show with Young Jeezy. “We’ve got the Blueprint 3 [Tour experience] from the eyes of Jeezy and Trey Songz coming out,” Liles revealed. “The first show airs on BET on June 27, the night of the BET Awards. The show comes first, and then right after that, the BET Awards.”

According to BBC News: Mr Knight is seeking more than $1m in damages after he was shot in the leg at a party hosted by Mr West ahead of the MTV Video Music Awards. The former Death Row Records boss claims the rapper and the Shore Club failed to provide adequate security. Both Mr West and the club’s owners have denied the claims in court papers.

Get interviewed by Alicia Keys! Think you have the chops to write blog posts for Grammy Award winning musician Alicia Keys? Then maybe you could find a job through Monster.com, the job search website with much of its operations in Maynard. Monster said it has partnered with the pop chanteuse to organize a nationwide hunt for the “head blogger” of Keys’ new website, IAAS.com - IAAS as in “I Am A SuperWoman.” The process to apply for this position at Keys’ company kicks off today and continues through May 3. Candidates can log onto Monster.com to apply and find more information on IAAS.com, Monster.com said in a press release. Designed to help empower women, the Keys website is expected to focus on social issues as well as topics that interest women. And what’s wanted is a very special person to be the site’s head blogger. “Our precision search technology will help match the best candidates from the thousands that will apply,” Ted Gilvar, global chief marketing officer at Monster.com, said in a statement. Among the qualifications for the job are writing skills, social media prowess, and the ability to represent Keys’ voice, said a Monster.com spokesman, who added that no money is changing hands between the company and Keys for the head blogger job search. Monster has relationships with many media companies to sell help-wanted advertising. Among those relationships are ones with The Boston Globe and Boston.com, the Globe’s website. Source We’re almost positive this job will pay well. She wants someone with a bachelors degree…… To apply click here!

Nick Cannon laughs when people call him “Mr. Mariah Carey,” even though he’s been married to his wife, Mariah, for two years now. The self-professed “entrepretainer” – an entrepreneur first and entertainer second – is certainly accomplished in his own right. He became a millionaire at 15 and is the CEO of his own multi-media company, NCredible Entertainment and chairman of the Teen Nick television network. “That type of stuff is humorous to me,” he tells Jet. “If I were an insecure individual or if that was true, that type of statement – that I’m a ‘boy toy’ or ‘yes man’ and all that type of stuff – would bother me. But anybody who knows me or talks to me for five minutes knows clearly that’s not the picture.”

That shocking STD accusation in NBA star Dwyane Wade’s divorce is a big nasty lie, according to sworn testimony in legal docs obtained by TMZ. Siohvaughn Wade has claimed in legal docs the Miami Heat guard gave her chlamydia. But during a deposition, Andrea Williams … a close friend of the Wades — claimed Siohvaughn told her she contracted the disease from another man. Williams testified in her depo, Siohvaughn was seeing another man during her marriage — and claims she was present in 2007 when Mrs. Wade accused the boyfriend of giving her the STD.