Chris Lighty, a hip-hop mogul who helped the likes of Sean “Diddy” Combs, 50 Cent and Mariah Carey attain not only hit records, but also lucrative careers outside music, was found dead in his New York City apartment Thursday in an apparent suicide. He was 44. He was found at his home in the Bronx with a gunshot to the head and was pronounced dead there, police said. No note was recovered, but a 9 mm handgun was found and there was no sign of forced entry, said Paul Browne, New York police spokesman. The shooting appears to be self-inflicted, authorities said.

Snoop Dogg has rapped in songs where gay slurs have been tossed about. He’s even said them, part of a long list of rappers who have freely fuck and fag in a rhyme.For years, anti-gay epithets and sentiments in rap have largely been accepted, along with its frequent misogyny and violence, as part of the hip-hop culture — a culture that has been slow to change, even as gays enjoy more mainstream acceptance, particularly in entertainment.

Singer Frank Ocean, a rising star who is part of the rap collective Odd Future, has revealed online that his first love was a man, an admission of same-sex attraction that is seen as groundbreaking for the world of hip hop. Ocean late on Tuesday posted on Twitter a link to his writings on his Tumblr blog page that described his coming to terms with his sexual orientation. But he did not specifically call himself gay. The post, which music mogul Russell Simmons called courageous and a “big day” for hip hop, came as Ocean faced rumors about his sexuality due to content on his forthcoming album, “Channel Orange,” that one reviewer pointed out had love-themed lyrics with the word “him” instead of “her.”

Dated: Monday – March 26, 2012

Diggy Simmons has hip-hop in his blood.

His father is Joseph Simmons, aka Rev Run, a member of Run-DMC and one of the biggest hip-hop artists in music history, and Diggy’s uncle is Russell Simmons, one of the biggest hip-hop moguls in the music business. With these genes, he’s seemingly destined for greatness.

But Diggy did not simply ride the coattails of his elders’ successes; with ambition and talent, he has shown that he can stand on his own.

Diggy started a blog, “Life of the Jet Setter,” which helped him create his own fan base known as “jetsetters.” He posted his freestyle over the Nas track “Made You Look,” catching the attention of hip-hop listeners everywhere and prompting Kanye West to re-post the video on his blog.

Despite the pressure of big-name artist cosigns, debut hype and the family name, Diggy steps up to the plate, with Unexpected Arrival delivering one of the most bold albums any 17-year-old rapper could.

Diggy puts this confidence on display right away on the early tracks of the album. He officially announces his arrival on the track “Hello World,” full of stadium-sounding drums and a distorted voice yelling strongly “I’m here, and I’m here to stay” on the hook.

Simmons continues this show of swagger and confidence with “88,” in which he raps about rising to fame and fortune that could be traced back to 1988 even though he wasn’t born yet. Jadakiss brings his signature gritty rapping style to the song as well, describing his own life and financial success in 1988 when he was just 13 years old, ending his verse saying, “I’m still spending money that’s 24 years old.”

This confidence comes through especially on songs focused on girls, and none does this better than the lead single, “Do It Like You,” featuring singer Jeremih.

Diggy raps to his dream girl about how she leaves everyone else in the dust with the way she carries herself. He even lets out a bit of a serenade when he sings, “You’re such boss but carry yourself like a lady / The baddest out ya crew and that is not up for debating.” Though Diggy acknowledges that it seems “every rapper only wants that sexual healing / Marvin Gaye,” he makes a pretty convincing argument that he wants her for much more than that.

Lyrically, Unexpected Arrival has its share of songs that allow Diggy to simply flow over pretty good beats. “Tom Edison” has an up-tempo rhythm that incorporates rock music, such as electric guitar and drums.

Here, Diggy drops lines specifically intended for his critics, telling them “All you do is talk a good game like Bob Costas.” Similarly, he puts his wordplay abilities on display with lines like “On a scale of one through 10, I come after nine / You half of mine, so that makes you a Jackson Five.”

Diggy’s background is a prominent theme throughout the album, but he specifically focuses on this during the song “Unforgivable Blackness.”

Though the beat has a very cheesy “everyone come together” feel to it, Diggy raps about unity, about all black people being equally black, whether you come from an inner-city neighborhood or a wealthy family.

The first lines of the track are quite possibly its strongest lyrics as Diggy raps, “They wanna take away my black card ’cause I got a black card / Say I don’t rap hard ’cause I don’t act hard / But if I act hard, they would say that’s odd / And they would still hate, man, I don’t get that part.” Here, Diggy’s thorough and logical rap exemplifies just how intelligent and well-spoken he already is, despite his young age.

For such a young rapper to put out an album like Unexpected Arrival, Diggy should be more than satisfied with his work. Though the album seems to cater to a younger demographic at times, Diggy proves that age is nothing but a number for him when it comes to being able to put together a solid rap album. At only 17 years old, there is no doubt that Diggy will continue to improve in every musical aspect.

Though his arrival might not have been as unexpected as his peers, he has arrived, nonetheless.

Date: Sunday, January 8, 2012

Beyonce has given birth to a baby girl. As E! News reports, the superstar welcomed Blue Ivy Carter late Saturday night (Jan. 7), delivering via planned C-section at New York City’s Lennox Hill Hospital. Reps have yet to confirm the story, and according to the New York Daily News, the baby’s name is actually Ivy Blue Carter.

Either way, famous friends have already begun tweeting about the momentous event. Russell Simmons congratulated the singer and husband Jay-Z early Sunday morning, followed minutes later by Rihanna.

“Welcome to the world princess Carter!” the singer tweeted. “Love Aunty Rih.”

The diva’s pregnancy has made headlines from the day Bey announced her baby news at the MTV VMA’s this past August. Since then, Mrs. Jay-Z has been accused of faking her pregnancy bump, reportedly built a 2,000 square foot nursery in her Manhattan penthouse, been given a crystal-encrusted baby bathtub for a shower gift and, oh yeah, released four music videos and a live concert DVD. Girlfriend had one busy pregnancy!

Congrats to both Bey and Jay. We can’t wait to see baby pics!

Posted: Monday, August 31, 2009

A host of Hip-Hop superstars have helped a community in Alpine, New Jersey earn the title of “most expensive zip code” by Forbes magazine.

A new list published today by the popular magazine revealed that the Alpine zip code of 07620 is the priciest place to live in the United States, with the average home selling for around $4.14 million dollars.

A number of notable Hip-Hop acts have helped inflate the value of the real estate in the area, by purchasing expensive mansions in Alpine, which was formed in 1904.

Entrepreneurs and artists like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lil Kim, Fabolous, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, Andre Harrell, Fabolous and Damon Dash have called Alpine home at one time or another.

The neighborhood, which is about 10 miles from Manhattan, edged out zip codes like Atherton, California, which was the second most expensive place to live in the nation with an average cost for a home at about $3.85 million.

New York’s West Village is the third on Forbes list, with the average price of a home selling at about $3.5 million dollars.

Other esteemed zip codes on the list include 81611 (Aspen, Colorado), 90210 (Beverly Hills) and 93953 (Pebble Beach, California).

According to Forbes, all of the top ten places to live in the United States are in California, New York and New Jersey.

Source: Allhiphop.com