DMX Receives Bad News At Arizona Court Appearance

Original Story HERE

Today, incarcerated rapper DMX appeared was reportedly denied bail in court and must remain behind bars on an Arizona probation violation which took place last month.

Details on the court's decision to keep X in jail through next week landed online Thursday (December 9) night.

The rapper known as DMX has another court appearance set for Dec. 16 in Phoenix. A court commissioner continued the probation hearing for the entertainer whose real name is Earl Simmons. DMX was arrested on a probation violation. (KSWT News)

A day before Thanksgiving, X was denied bail for his probation violation.

Rapper DMX, real name Earl Simmons, made a brief appearance Wednesday morning in Maricopa County Superior Court. Simmons, 39, denied violating his probation on drug charges, failing to submit to a drug test and driving with a suspended license. Court Commissioner Christine Mulleneaux ordered Simmons to remain in jail without bond. Simmons ended up behind bars in Arizona -- for the sixth time in 10 years -- last week. He was three months short of completing an 18-month substance abuse program. (KTAR News)

In addition to being locked up for Thanksgiving, X must wait until early December before his next hearing.

Maricopa County Superior Court staff tell us that Commissioner Christine Mulleneaux set another hearing for December 9 at 8 a.m. As we mentioned a couple of days ago, DMX (he's Earl Simmons in the stacks of police and court paperwork about him), told a TV station that he simply took a "sip of alcohol" while performing. The probation department says differently, accusing him of blowing off his required drug treatment program and using drugs. He was arrested after police suspected him of using cocaine and Oxycontin. (Phoenix New Times)

Around late November, X spoke on his arrest and denied using any illegal drugs.

DMX, born Earl Simmons, was temporarily released from a substance abuse program to perform at a concert in Scottsdale, Ariz. The New York native consumed alcohol during the event, an act that landed him in handcuffs. "I shouldn't have done it," DMX says. "I wasn't done with the program. They let me out to do the show. I should have protected myself better." Despite his abundant run-ins with the law, DMX remains optimistic about what's to come. "It's rare that I get fair treatment..." he reveals. "It's love or hate. I'm gonna get through this. Thank you for the support and love, I won't let you down." (The Boom Box)

DMX is due back in court Thursday, December 16th.

Jay-Z Discusses Life-Changing Decision , "I Would Have Been In Jail For 12 Years"

Original Story HERE

Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z discussed a life-changing decision he made in the mid-1990's which helped him avoid serving over a decade behind bars.

Talking with renowned television personality Charlie Rose to promote his new Decoded book, Jay said he gave up drugs for the rap game.

"My first album didn't come out 'til I was 26, so for so long I ignored that talent," Jay explained. "It took a bit of luck. The people I was with daily -- a personal friend of mine went to jail for 12 years. And me and him would be together every single day. So I know that same fate was awaiting me. We would have got picked up the same day. If I wasn't pursuing music I would have been in jail for 12 years." ("Charlie Rose")

Jay's new Decoded book reveals Hov ran into police during his youth.

Jay-Z's first arrest came at age 16. He was dealing in Trenton, because his friend "Hill" had a supplier there. Hill had enrolled in the local high school, and one day when Jay-Z went to meet him, he got caught with crack in his pockets on the campus. Since he had no prior arrests, the police let him go, but they confiscated his supply. In order to make up the cash to the supplier, Jay-Z had to go back to Marcy and deal crack 60 hours straight -- three days in a row, he writes. He kept awake by "eating cookies and writing rhymes on the back of brown paper bags." (New York Post)

Another piece from the book revealed Notorious B.I.G. encouraged Jay to appreciate smoking marijuana.

Biggie made a cameo appearance in the 1996 video for "Ain't no N - - - a," which Jay-Z was filming with Foxy Brown in Miami just when he started to break. Jay-Z says he looked down on smoking pot as counterproductive, and only did so on vacation. "I could count the number of times I'd smoked trees," he writes. But when Big asked him to smoke, he said to himself, "Relax, you're not on the streets anymore." So he smoked, and got stoned out of his mind just before the video started shooting. Laughing at his formerly sober friend, Biggie leaned in and whispered in Jay-Z's ear: "I got ya." It took Jay-Z 20 minutes in his room to gather his wits. Later he told his friend: "Never again my n - - - a." (New York Post)

The book appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers list last month.

Jay-Z is no stranger to sitting high on the charts when it comes to his music career, which makes the Brooklyn rapper's No. 3 debut on 'The New York Times' Best Sellers list an expected achievement. The Roc Nation head honcho's memoir 'Decoded' landed on the Hardcover Nonfiction edition of the newspaper's Best Sellers list for the week of December 5. Coming in at the top of the list are George W. Bush's 'Decision Points' and Lauren Hillenbrand's 'Unbroken.' (The Boom Box)

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Young Jeezy Rep Screams Foul Over Bahamas Arrest Reports

Oringinal Story Available HERE

Southern rapper Young Jeezy's manager has stepped forward to deny speculation that his client was arrested last weekend in the Bahamas.

Although brief with his remark, Jeezy's camp claim the rapper did not get taken in by police.

Young Jeezy's manager, Demetrius Ellerbee, has denied a report that the rapper was arrested in the Bahamas on Saturday. "It's not true," Ellerbee told MTV News. According to Bahamian newspaper The Tribune, Jeezy was on his way to a show in an area of the island called New Providence when he was arrested by local officials. While the reason for his arrest was not specified, the paper says the rapper wasn't held for very long. (MTV)

Confirmation on the rapper's arrest was, however, made by police officials.

"He was here with us a short while. He passed through the station briefly on Saturday," said Superintendent Ashton Greenslade, an officer at the Wulff Road station. "He was booked in here and taken to CDU (Central Detective Unit)." (BallerStatus)

Additional details regarding Jeezy's alleged take down have also landed online.

One of the concert's promoters Jason Cartwright confirmed on his Facebook page that the hip-hop star had been arrested early Saturday, but was later released. "People tried to shut us down, yea' Jeezy was locked up, he out now (about) to beat the stage bad tonight," Mr Cartwright wrote Saturday morning. A well-placed source told The Tribune that the rapper was taken into the Fox Hill area by friends and was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when he was taken into custody. (The Tribune)

Prior to getting pushed back indefinitely, Jeezy's upcoming new album Thug Motivation 103 was set to drop next week.

Young Jeezy has had a tough time motivating the thugs this year. The third installment of his Thug Motivation series, TM103, has been facing delays ever since last year, but reps for Def Jam have confirmed with XXLMag.com that the disc will finally hit shelves on December 14. The Atlanta-based rapper already dropped several singles from the album--"Jizzle," "All White Everything" featuring Yo Gotti and "Lose My Mind" featuring Plies--to little fan fare. (XXL Mag)

No further details surrounding the arrest have been revealed as of now.

Bubba Sparxxx Faces The End, "I'm Already In A Different Place"

Original Story Available HERE

With artists like Dr. Dre recently discusses plans to hang up the microphone, SOHH hit up re-emerging artist Bubba Sparxxx to get his take on hip-hop retirement.

Despite his passion for rap, Bubba said he does not envision himself following the same path as artists like Ice Cube and Jay-Z by dropping new music after age 40.

"I'm really more on that [A&R] stage these days," Bubba told SOHH when asked about his views on retiring from rap. "Music is just something that I enjoy doing and I have a lot of fans, I really do. I have a lot of fans that really support me and have been wondering where I've been and they want to hear something from me. I still enjoy making music but I don't feel any pressure to make [music] to provide financially. I'll never say never, but I don't think I'll be making music in my 40's. Dr. Dre is about to put out an album now but he hadn't put out an album in ten years. So he was in his 30's the last time he put out something, and I will never say never, but I think I'll be in a different [state of mind]. I'm in my early 30's now and I feel like I'm already at such a different place and I know the spirit travels in cycles, but just for me, myself, I don't see me doing music into my 40's. Maybe up until my 40's." (SOHH)

Recently, Dr. Dre said he saw the upcoming release of his next solo album, Detox, being his final benchmark as an emcee.

"I don't ever see myself retiring totally from music, because I have a genuine love and passion for it," he said. "But as far as me going into the mic booth, that sh*t is over. I'm always going to talent scout and try to find new artists to work with. But, yeah, that's it. I don't see myself doing it the way I'm doing it now. I'm in the studio at least five or six days a week for 16, 18 hours. I think I'm going to back off a little bit and spend some time with the family." (XXL Mag)

Earlier this year, The LOX's Styles P opened up about wanting to eventually evolve from rapping.

"I'm still in the [rap] game but eventually I gotta pass the baton but eventually I'll be out of the relay. It'll be all on them and I can just spot check when I want to. I think a lot of rappers and emcees forget to pass the torch and open the door for other people. So when I do do that and I'm not playing the whole game, I wanna do something where I 'can' play the whole game -- around six, seven more years so I can relax and do the whole book thing..." (Mr. Peter Parker)

Sparxxx's career was sparked by the release his 2001 Timbaland-produced hit, "Ugly."

No doubt the first of his kind, Bubba Sparxxx dumbfounded the hip-hop community -- and soon after, the mass market -- when he emerged out of nowhere with Timbaland in late 2001. When his debut single, "Ugly," hit urban radio, it was unmistakably a Timbaland production -- the "Get Ur Freak On" samples being a sort of trademark stamp. This drew initial attention to Sparxxx, who many initially thought of as yet another Dirty South rapper, albeit one lucky enough to be the flagship for Timbaland's start-up Beat Club label. (All Music)

Since 2001's Dark Days, Bright Nights debut, Bubba Sparxxx has released Deliverance (2003), The Charm (2006) and his Miracle On Gamble Road EP (2010).

Yelawolf asks white boys to stop dropping N bombs, "You'll never be able to say it"

Original Story with video HERE

Rap newcomer Yelawolf has shared his thoughts on being a white emcee in a predominantly black genre of music and explained his respect for hip-hop's roots.

Yelawolf feels that despite his rhyming capability, he still gets dealt the race card by critics.

"People are still judging immediately," Yela said referring to critics of his image as a white emcee. "They're not even giving music a chance. And on the flip side, I met somebody last night who had [my album] Trunk Muzik downloaded without any artwork and somehow had never seen a picture of me and said, 'Oh my G-d, I didn't know you was white, that's crazy'.  What the f*ck? I didn't know you was white?' I didn't know how, in this day and age but I think it said a lot about my music and it said a lot about that person too. To me, I make music and I respect black culture. At the end of the day, this is black music and it's American black music. I was watching a documentary on The Rolling Stones and listening to Keith Richards talking about his passion for American black music, that's what created The Stones. We can't forget that here in America. If you're a white boy and you're doing this, it's something you have to respect. The roots of this is black music, black culture. You have to accept it and not just accept it, but embrace it, love it and be proud of it...." (XXL Mag)

Yela also cautioned his Caucasian fans to refrain from using offensive and derogatory terms towards him and in public.

"Be respectful and don't drop the N-Bomb," Yela added. "White boys out there dropping the N-Bomb, stop, please. You'll never, ever, ever be able to say it. It's never going to be cool, just stop. Don't drop it in your music, don't drop it around people, don't drop it to me on Twitter. I see those white boys on Twitter dropping the N-Bomb on me and I'm like, 'Dude? I'm not even gonna respond to you.' Like, chill out. You're never that cool." (XXL Mag)

In August, Yela discussed his struggle with winning over critics' respect.

"I still face it at every show, dog. There's always somebody. It never fails, never. Until I'm selling out my own shows and I'm going to be demo-ing for somebody. And somebody is not going to like me because I'm a white boy on stage rapping and I look different. That's something I will experience until everybody that came through the door came to see just me. I'm used to it though, when you're traveling with groups, you just have to be prepared to deal with it. Do your best to snap and walk off the stage holding your nuts. Always! That's how you got to be. I grew up in Alabama so I've heard and seen it all. Knowing your talent is probably one of the keys to be successful." (VIBE)

Earlier this year, Yela said he felt it may take decades before white rappers would be treated equally.

"Years and years of great white artists. It's going to take more classics from white artists that make international impacts," Yela said about clearing out discrimination. "I mean Rock n' Roll is black music, but there were plenty talented white Rock n' Roll that just kind of made that line disappear. It's going to take decades. It won't happen in my lifetime. The odds are just slim for a white artist in Hip-Hop. This is a black culture... it's just something you have to respect and appreciate. Have to be thankful that you're able to do it. Do what you do and love what you do. You have to be passionate about what you do and let it live." (All Hip Hop)