Music Industry

My Hollywood insider is reporting that actor Laurence Fishburne is paying for his nephew’s Lemar Fishburne’s studio recording sessions. Know why? Because rumor has it that Laurence Fishburne is in the music business and he already has a imprint “LOA Records”. Don’t believe me? Ask Ron Artest.

Here’s what was revealed to me:

“Lamar Fishburne is a pretty good rapper and his uncle is working with him. LOA Records has a distribution deal with Universal Records and Laurence’s nephew mixtape is almost done. Continue Reading…

HSK Exclusive - As tension continues to brew in Angola – concerning Nas’ reported “no show” at a New Year’s Eve bash in the African country in which the rapper is said to have booked – HSK has exclusively learned the lyricist, whose real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, didn’t see a cent of the $300K advance collected for his performance at the event.

That’s because sources say the money went straight into the pockets of the William Morris Endeavor agency. Now, the’ U.S. promoter who booked the event, Patrick Allocco and his son, are being held hostage in Africa with demands Nas cough up the $300K lost plus an additional $50K for expenses.

You may recall Allocco was reported to be kidnapped after allegedly receiving the hefty advance from an Angolan concert promoter before sending it to Nas. THAT’S NOT TRUE. Know why? Because entertainment industry insiders are pointing to talent agency giant, WME as the culprit and receiver of the funds. Continue Reading…

Malbon Brothers Farms, the company that provided marketing services for Wiz Khalifa’s album Deal or No Deal has filed a lawsuit against Khalifa’s record label, Babygrande Records, for unpaid royalties.

The lawsuit was filed on December 7, 2011 in New York Superior Court. Malbon Brothers Farms claims that Babygrande was required to pay Malbon Brothers Farms 20% of all the net profits resulting from the commercial release of album Wiz’ Deal or No Deal. In exchange for the 20%, Malbon Brothers Farms provided marketing services to promote the album. According to the lawsuit, the Deal or No Deal album has sold well over 100,000 copies since its original release date. Continue Reading…

The Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week and the legendary California Funk band War is pissed. Know why? Because if it wasn’t for bands like War there wouldn’t be no Beastie Boys mane.

Here’s what War’s Howard Scott had to say:

“We were cranking out gold records when they were still in diapers. How could the Beastie Boys get in before us when they sampled War’s music on their first album?! I’ll eat their platinum records! Felt like I was kicked in the back of my britches.” Continue Reading…

Teddy Riley has filed a lawsuit against former members of Blackstreet, accusing the former members of using the group’s name without authorization. Teddy Riley and group member Chauncey Hannibal filed the lawsuit against Mark Middleton and Eric Williams on December 1, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the lawsuit, Teddy Riley is half owner of the Blackstreet trademark, while long time associate Chauncey Hannibal owns the other half. The pair have held the rights to the name since 1992, prior to the release of any Blackstreet albums.

The lawsuit claims that from 2003 until present, Mark Middleton and Eric Williams have booked themselves as Blackstreet for performances, without the proper permission or consent. Lawyers for Teddy Riley and Chauncey Hannibal claim that the two men have ignored several cease and desist letters, and still continue to book shows as Blackstreet. Continue Reading…