Prosecution, Defense Rest In Lil Boosie Murder Trial

The prosecution and defense rest their respective cases in Lil Boosie’s heat murder trail.

Earlier this week on Monday May 7, the opening statements in rapper Lil Boosie’s trial for the murder or Terry Boyd began. Now, just four days have passed and both the prosecution and defense have announced that they are resting their case.

According to the Advocate, the prosecution announced their intention to rest their case against the Baton Rogue after calling 27 witnesses to the stand. Moments later, the defense team also announced their intention to rest without calling a single witness.

“Based upon the burden of proof lying with the state, the defense rests with the witnesses the state has put on,” said one of Boosie’s lawyers Jason Williams.

Following both sides closing their respective cases, the jury called a recess to deliberate. The trial will begin tomorrow Friday May 11 with the closing arguments from both sides.

Meek Mill Signs To Roc Nation Management

Maybach Music Group’s Meek Mill joins Wale under the management branch of Roc Nation.

Joining his fellow Maybach Music Group rapper Wale, Meek Mill has signed a management deal with Roc Nation.

During an interview with Life+Times, the 23-year-old rapper, who recently released his new mixtapeDreamchasers 2, revealed that he signed with the management branch of Jay-Z’s label.

“Yeah, that’s the new deal I put together. Me coming up in this rap game, I was always an underground artist coming up by myself and making all of the moves by myself,” he said. “And my manager – he’s just like me, we’ve been coming up in the streets by ourselves. So we just decided to partner up with Roc Nation and take things to another level.”

Meek, who said that he’s still considering doing a mixtape with Ace Hood, revealed that he’s working with Jahlil Beats, Cardiak, All Star, Key Wayne and Young Jerz for his debut Dreams & Nightmares, releasing this summer.

Nicki Minaj Pepsi Commercial “Now In A Moment” Premieres

UPDATE: Nicki Minaj becomes the new face of the beverage conglomerate.

Nicki Minaj is making a few big moves in anticipation of her upcoming sophomore album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

According to Forbes.com, Minaj will become the face of Pepsi’s new product “Pop,” with plans for the campaign to begin soon. The Harajuku Barbie already filmed a commercial for the drink last month in South America, with footage taken on set that can be viewed below.

“You’ll see the commercial probably in the next two months,” said Derek Jackson, the Glu agency chief who brokered the deal. “That’ll be a segue into a new beverage Pepsi has, called ‘Pop,’ and she’ll be the face of the brand … it’s going to be explosive.”

Additionally, Billboard.biz reports that the Young Money rapstress has exited her deal with Creative Arts Agency and signed with Blueprint Group for representation. The deal encompasses booking, branding and other representation, and materialized in early March.

Diddy Blames G. Dep Guilty Verdict On Substance Abuse, Addresses Reuniting With Mase

Diddy reflects on his relationship with former Bad Boy artists.

Diddy has remained quiet on G. Dep’s guilty conviction for a 1993 murder, but broke his silence yesterday during an interview with Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex. The Bad Boy mogul said that the confession most likely stemmed from substance abuse and that he wasn’t in his right state of mind.

“None of that was in G. Dep’s nature. When there were certain things that he was going through with the substance abuse situation, he would be a different person. But on an every day [basis], he was probably one of the nicest, most quietest, shyest, most humble cats that was out there. It was just so out of his character that it was mind-blowing and so when I had heard after the main announcement, he had retracted his confession and he basically said he didn’t do it,” he said. “I was like, OK, maybe he was under the influence when he confessed. And then out of nowhere, they said he was convicted which was such a shame, because he’s such a great talent. And it all stemmed from substance abuse.”

He also spoke on reuniting with another Bad Boy alum, Mase, on the remix to Wale’s ”Slight Work” Puff said that he and Mase are “cool” with one another and that if it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

“I didn’t know until I got the record. And then when I got the record, I was just like, whoa. I gotta make sure my part is tight so I could pass it off to my man right. Me and Mase are cool. We’ve kept in touch over the years. I love Mase. If it wasn’t for Mase, I wouldn’t be where I was at today. Me and him were like Batman and Robin. So it felt good to get back on a record with him, and it’s one of the hottest, most intense records in the club. That’s what I specialize in. And then talking that talk.”

Omarion Talks Record Deal With Maybach Music Group

Omarion talks to XXL about his new record deal with Maybach Music Group.

Earlier today, DX reported that Rick Ross announced that he had officially signed R&B singer Omarion to his Maybach Music Group. Now, XXL has caught up with the latest member of Rick Rozay’s music empire to discuss how the deal came about.

Omarion said that the deal came about by accident when he bumped into Ross and asked him for a collaboration. He says that before he even got a response from Ross, the Bawse brought him aside and said that he had been wanting to sign him to his MMG roster before that. Omarion added that he and Rozay already have a number of records in stash that they will release soon.

“Yeah, Maybach O. That’s the new movement, man. I’m so excited. I can’t even express, you know, how excited I am,” he said. “It’s been a blessing…I saw Ross in North Carolina, you know, and I was telling him like ‘Yo I’m bout to do…you know, I need you on these records, man, you know what I’m sayin’? I’m ‘bout to do this ill so and so with so and so.’ And he was like ‘Man, we need to have a conversation before that.’ And we sat down and he said some real important things to me that not even executives have said to me, you know what I mean? He showed that love and he showed that respect and he was like “I believe in you,’ you know what I mean? I can’t even count to you how many times on my hand in my whole career that I’ve actually had people tell me that.”

He added, “[We already have a number of songs] in the stash. Recorded. Probably over the next like couple months, we probably be dropping some stuff, you know. I want to do an EP just for the fans, you know. By the way, I did recently just do a DJ Drama mixtape that I dropped just for the fans, you know. Let them know I’m still, you know, doing music and everything. But, I have to say this. I have to say that this is probably the most interesting time in my life and or career because of the perception of what people think and what they do not know.”

Lil Wayne Settles $20 Million Lawsuit With “Lollipop” Producer Deezle

Lil Wayne and Deezle settle their suit out of court.

Lil Wayne has settled a $20 million lawsuit with producer Darius “Deezle” Harrison over unpaid work for 2008’s Tha Carter III.

According to TMZ, Harrison filed a $20 million suit in March 2011 claiming that he produced several songs on the multi-platinum album including “Lollipop” but was never compensated. He states that the LP grossed more than $70 million and that he would accept a payout of $20 million.

Wayne initially balked at the lawsuit, stating that he had no basis to sue, but they recently inked a private deal out of court that settled the legal matter. The case has been dismissed.

Deezle wasn’t the only producer who claims to have been screwed out of royalty payments. Play-N-Skillz sued Weezy in June 2011 for unpaid royalties on the same LP, as did David Kirkwood that same month.

Jay-Z’s Brooklyn Nets Logo Revealed

The Nets reveal its highly anticipated Jay-Z designed logo.

The new logo for Jay-Z’s Brooklyn Nets has been revealed.

Hov, who designed the logo himself, settled on a black-and-white color scheme and a classic, simple look.

During a press conference earlier today, CEO of Nets Basketball Brett Yormark was quoted as saying, “Today, we launch the next chapter. Boy, this feels good. We’ve been waiting seven years to get to this point.”

Merchandise sporting the team’s logo is already available on NJNets.com, while additional items can be viewed at the team’s Facebook page including hats and tees.

Check out an image of the logo and an alternative logo below.

Flo Rida @ Rain

Date: 04 May 2012 
Time: 10 p.m.

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Who’s Who:

Featuring music by Alie Layus, Mark Stylz and special guests Flo Rida

Description

Flo Rida performing LIVE with Mark Stylz and Alie Layus in Rain Nightclub on Friday, May 4th at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas

Nelly Hosting the Night @ Haze Nightclub

Date: 05 May 2012 
Time: 10 p.m.

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Who’s Who:

Nelly

Description

Nelly hosts the night at Haze Nightclub on Saturday, May 5th.

Description

Diddy hosts the Mayweather vs Cotto fight afterparty Cinco de Drinko weekend at Rain Nightclub.

Jay-Z & 50 Cent Both Launch Facebook Gaming Applications

50 Cent creates a virtual casino with “50 Cent’s Blackjack” while Jay-Z aims to help you create your own “Empire” with his Facebook game.

As rappers, both Jay-Z and 50 cent have battled it out on the charts but now the two Hip Hop moguls turned businessmen have found a new platform to compete with one another on and that is the Facebook gaming platform. 

For his Facebook game titled 50 Cent’s Blackjack, 50 Cent linked up with Game Show Network (GSN) Digital to create a virtual casino where Facebook users can challenge their friends or play the games dealer.

“I am excited to partner with GSN Digital on this venture to create an unparalleled social gaming experience for my fans,” 50 Cent explained to Hip-Hop Wired. “50 Cent’s Blackjack is filled with fun twists and innovative features that is sure to provide hours of entertainment.”

Unlike 50 Cent’s Blackjack, Jay-Z’s Empire will take more of a Sims-like approach where Facebook users can quite literally create their own empires as they work their way from “hustler, to entrepreneur, to business mogul.”

While 50 Cent’s Blackjack is up and running on Facebook, according to Complex Jay-Z’s Empire is currently in its beta testing stage.