50 Cent pulls release of new album

Rapper 50 Cent has pulled the release of his new album, blaming his record label, Interscope, and vowing not to work with them again. 50 tweeted :"Man I'm not releasing a album i can't believe interscope is this f***ed up right now. I apologize to all my fans (sic).

"I will work with other artist on there projects but I will not put out another album. They dropped the ball with me one time to many (sic)."

DJ Cleo accuses promoter of sabotage

DJ Cleo, one of the most successful DJ's in South Africa, has accused promoter Bruce Kgapane of holding a personal vendetta against him and sabotaging his shows. After a performance on Saturday 23 July in Bolobedu outside Tzaneen marred by power cuts, Cleo claimed that Kgapane and his wife had a personal vendetta against him and had sabotaged the gig. He said: "Kgapane and his wife have a personal vendetta against me. They have now sabotaged my performances and unexpectedly cut me twice in the same months while performing on stage."

Kgapane denied DJ's claims, dismissing them as far-fetched. He told Sowetan: "I have nothing personal against Cleo. How can I have a vendetta against him when I am the man behind his success? I have gone out to organise performances at government functions in Limpopo and elsewhere for him."

Justin Bieber and father get matching tattoos

Squeaky voiced irritant Justin Bieber and his father have had matching tattoos done. The 17-year-old "Baby" singer already had  two other tattoos, a star on his elbow and a seagull to his hip, and visited a tattooist in Israel with father Jeremy Bieber in May, where they both had 'Yeshua', the Hebrew word for Jesus, etched onto the left side of their torsos. The pair posed together on fan site TheJustinBieberShrine.com showing their inflamed new body art.

Amy Winehouse remembered at funeral

Amy Winehouse's funeral took place on Tuesday 26 July in London at a private ceremony attended by friends and family including collaborator Mark Ronson and Kelly Osbourne. The "Rehab" singer was laid to rest in a Jewish ceremony with Winehouse's father Mitch providing a moving eulogy which he ended by saying "Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much."

Family spokesman Chris Goodman said: "Mitch was funny, he told some great stories from childhood about how headstrong she was, and clearly the family and friends recognized the stories and laughed along."

Winehouse was found dead at her home in Camden, London over the weekend. The postmortem was inconclusive on the cause of death although drugs are suspected. Results from toxicology reports will take a few weeks to process.

Amy Winehouse found dead in home

Troubled English pop star Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her Camden, London home. Whilst the cause of death will only be announced today, Winehouse had a history of drug and alcohol addiction and recently cancelled a European tour after a disastrous performance in Serbia where she stumbled around, dropped the mike, forgot the words to her songs, left the stage numerous times and mumbled incoherently.

Winehouse was 27 when she died, the same age as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin were when they passed away, so her death adds to the notion that 27 is a bogey year for rock and pop stars.

Katy Perry leads VMA nominations

Katy Perry leads the field for the 28th edition of the MTV Video Music Awards with nine nominations. Her nominations came for her videos for "Firework", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", "Teenage Dream" and  "E.T."

On her heels are Adele and Kanye West each received seven nominations, followed by Bruno Mars with four and Beyonce, Eminem, Lady Gaga, 30 Seconds to Mars and Nicki Minaj with three apiece.

Britney's ex-bodyguard claims drug use, bad hygiene

Britney Spears' ex-bodyguard Fernando Flores, who filed a lawsuit against the singer last year claiming sexual harassment, has filed a new set of court papers claiming the star took drugs and didn't shower for days.

The documents state: "Based on his former experience as a police officer, Plaintiff (Flores) is informed and believes and alleged thereon that Defendant Spears was often under the influence of illegal prescription and non-prescription drugs, such as Ritalin, Narcon (Naloxone) and methamphetamines," and go on to claim Spears "broke wind or picked her nose unselfconsciously and unapologetically before [Flores] and others and she was constantly and gratuitously loud and profane in her speech.

"She did not bathe for days on end, did not use deodorant, did not brush her teeth, did not fix her hair, did not wear shoes or socks."

Spears' legal team have moved to have Flores claims struck, saying he is trying to "embellish on his tale of lewd and sensational allegations".


Flores is claiming damages of R70m, saying he suffered psychological damage, anxiety attacks, depression, and insomnia as a result of her behaviour.

HHP set to release new album

Hip Hop Pantsula, better known as HHP, is set to release a new album, titled Motswafrika. The album features contributions from Teepee, Tuks Senganaga, Talib Kweli, Raheem Devaughn, Nothende, Thasman, Elemente, DJ Hamma, Gabriel Asheru Benn and the Grammy Nominated Carolyn Malachi.

The lead singled from the album, "Past Time", aired for the first time on Live last Friday.

The release date for the album has been set for 1 September 2011.

DMX released from jail

Hip hop star DMX has been released from prison. The rapper spent eight months behind bars after violating his parole by drinking alcohol during a concert. His probation stemmed from an earlier charge of attempted aggravated assault and using a false name to avoid paying a R52 500.00 hospital bill.

Upon his release DMX (40) told Allhiphop.com: "I spoke to my daughter, I just got off the phone with my wife. I'm going to go see my daughter while the sun is up, then I'm going to be in the studio man."

Jennifer Lopez's marriage was a "roller coaster"

Jennifer Lopez reportedly had a "roller coaster" marriage to Marc Anthony before they eventually parted ways. The couple announced their split last Friday (15 July 2011), but friends have now come out and said that the relationship had been rocky for some time. A source told usmagazine.com: "They had a very up and down marriage, they would get into heated, horrible fights. Then, they would also go through times where they were extremely loving and romantic. It was a roller coaster with them from the beginning."

The marriage was Lopez's third, whilst she has also at various times been engaged to P Diddy and Ben Afleck.

Lira tries to break America

Soul African singing sensation Lira is set to release her first EP, "Lira", in the US on 26 July 2011. Already a superstar on our shores with four platinum albums and a DVD, Lira will promote the release of the EP with a US tour from 24 to 29 July with stops including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

The soul star will follow up the EP with the release of a full-length album, 'Feel Good', on 31 January 2012.

Nicki Minaj injured in hotel altercation

Hip hop star Nicki Minaj was injured during an altercation with her assistant, Safaree Samuels, that occurred at the Palomar Hotel in Dallas, Texas. According to TMZ, the argument began poolside and ended with the two in a hotel room where Samuels, allegedly hit her in the lower lip.

Minaj took to twitter to deny that Samuels had hit her. She tweeted: "The fact that you believe a man either slapped or punched me in the face & didn't leave on a stretcher w/his balls handgun off? #getaF*ckinLife."

However, the official incident report described Minaj's injuries: "Reporting officers observed slight swelling and redness to [Minaj's] chin. [Minaj's] teeth struck the inside of her lower lip, causing the inside of the lower lip to cut and start to bleed."

Minaj declined to file a report of the incident with police.

YFM launches TV channel

Radio station YFM has launched their own low bandwidth internet-based television channel, called YTV. The channel was developed over the past three years by immedia, in partnership with the University of Cape Town and the CSIR, and is the first of its kind in Africa.

The station's music and digital manager Mervyn Sigamoney had the following to say about the launch: "It is not meant to be a high-definition offering but rather caters to the bandwidth needs of our audience and in so doing, adds a personal touch by putting our listeners in studio with the DJ in real time. Until now, local radio stations have only been able to offer a video picture that refreshes every few minutes. In comparison, YTV is live, real time coverage or more simply - TV broadcasting on the Internet."

Kwaito star arrested for kidnapping girlfriend

Kwaito star Nkosana Thwala, from the group GP Gangsta, has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping his girlfriend and forcing her to "smoke drugs".

Thwala was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly apprehended his 19 year old girlfriend, "took her to his house which is also in Soweto, kept her in a room, and while pointing a firearm at her, forced her to smoke drugs" Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela told Sapa. The woman escaped through a window and alerted police.

Thwala, also known as "Nsimbi", will appear in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Thursday 7 July on charges of kidnapping and pointing a firearm.

Pete Doherty released from prison

Troubled rocker Pete Doherty has been released from prison earlier than expected. The Babyshambles frontman and former Libertine was sentenced to six months jail on 20 May for possession of cocaine, and though he was not expected to serve his full sentence, his release still comes a month earlier than had been predicted. The following statement was posted on his Albion Rooms website on Tuesday 5 July: "On this bright sunny morning Peter was released from prison and thanks everyone for their valued support whilst inside."

Doherty's troubles are far from over though - he faces more charges of breaking into a record shop in Germany and stealing a guitar and could find himself behind bars once again in the not too distant future.

Eminem's Recovery becomes first album to sell 1m downloads

According to Nielsen SoundScan, this week Eminem's Recovery has become the first album to sell a million downloads in the United States. Since SoundScan began tracking digital album sales in 2005, a total of 12 titles have sold at least 500,000 downloads, but up until now none has passed the million mark. Including physical sales, Recovery has now sold 3.9m copies in America.

Recovery was only just the first album passed the million mark - Adele's 21 is expected to pass the milestone next week.

Freshlyground and Goldfish team up for RWC song

South African bands Goldfish and Freshlground have teamed up to create "Let's Do It Again", the official SARU song for IRB Rugby World Cup 2011. Goldfish's Dave Poole said: "It was a great experience as it developed in a really organic way. We pretty much got together and jammed, then figured out some bits for everyone to play and off we went. Doing a song which is intended to help unite the country is a great task which I think both groups were up to."

"Let's Do It Again" will be available for digital download on Friday 15 July from http://omusic.dstv.com/

2Face and D'banj share BET African award

Two popular Nigerian hip hop artists, D'banj and 2face, were both awarded the Best International Act (Africa) title at the BET Awards.

The pair beat off stiff competition from the other nominated African artists to share the prize.

This year was the first year the BET Awards, which gives acclaim to black artists in the entertainment industry, included awards for artists outside of the US.

Chris Brown dominated the awards, taking home four on the night.