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It seems like the hip-hop and R&B world are loving the UK and the rest of Europe at the moment.

Jay-Z has just confirmed that he is to play a series of new dates in the UK from June.

He has also planning to do shows in Germany, France, Scotland, Switzerland and Ireland.

Jigga is set to perform alongside Rage Against The Machine, Muse and others on his Germany tour.

Jay-Z’s new tour dates are as follows:

Rock Am Ring, Germany – June 4
Rock Im Park, Germany – 5
Paris Bercy, France – 6
Manchester Arena, UK -7
Birmingham LG Arena, UK – 9
Isle of Wight, UK – 11
Eurockéennes Belfort, France – July 2
Wireless, UK – 4
Oxygen, Ireland – 9
Frauenfeld, Switzerland – 10
T in the Park, Scotland – 11

Source: MTV

Hip-hop outfit Bone Thugs-N-Harmony will preface their long-awaited reunion album with a series of spring club and theater shows that spans the nation.

The Grammy-winning quartet–Krayzie, Wish, Layzie and Flesh-N-Bone–will begin the road trip with a March 24 performance in Minneapolis, followed by shows in 33 major markets. The tour currently concludes with a May 3 concert in Tucson. The full schedule is shown at right, and tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

The group will release their latest studio set, “Uni5: The World’s Enemy,” April 27. The album, which follows 2007’s “Strength & Loyalty,” focuses on themes of unity and adversity, according to a press release.

“You go through things to make you stronger,” Layzie explained in a statement. “All your obstacles, all the things you go through that don’t seem positive at that particular time are only to get you ready for your next phase in life.”

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and worked alongside some of hip-hop’s biggest names, including Easy-E, 2Pack, Notorious B.I.G. and Big Pun.

The group’s latest single, “See Me Shine,” is currently available via iTunes.

Source: Tara Hall, Live Daily

BROOKLYN, New York — On Thursday, Jay-Z told MTV News he has grand plans to have major musical performances once the new Barclays Center — future home to the Nets, the NBA team Jay co-owns — opens in a couple of years. But the Jiggaman obviously still has love for Madison Square Garden. He’s had numerous historic moments at MSG over the years, and last week was no different. His Blueprint 3 tour stopped at the venue, and along with Jay parading out his classic records, his tour guests Young Jeezy and Trey Songz brought out surprises: Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Fabolous all came out.

“It was fantastic,” Jay said Thursday about his latest Garden adventure, the fond memory invoking a grin. “Again, any time you play the Garden is a special moment. It’s special. Wayne, how that worked out, he was supposed to go away for a year. Somehow he was able to perform that last show. He came out to an incredible reaction. Then Drake, Nicki Minaj — all on Jeezy’s set, which was fantastic. Then Trey Songz and Fabolous. It’s one of those magical nights at the Garden. Once again, one of those magical nights.”

Thursday in Brooklyn was a dream come true for Jay. He told the crowd how as a young boy in the nearby Marcy projects, he dreamed of playing basketball — and now as an owner of the Nets, he’s bringing the team to his backyard. The groundbreaking ceremony for the team’s new arena was attended by Jay-Z, Beyoncé, the Reverend Al Sharpton, New York Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and others.

Source: Shaheem Reid, MTV

As reported yesterday, Taio Cruz makes a record-setting jump to No. 1 for a new artist as “Break Your Heart,” featuring Ludacris, leaps 53-1. “Heart” replaces the Black Eyed Peas’ “Imma Be” which dips 1-5 after a two-week stay at the top.

“Heart” sells 272,000 copies, up 781% over the partial week sales it posted during the prior tracking period. That improvement is more than enough to give Cruz’s song the Digital Gainer award for the week.

Ludacris’ featured turn on the track earns him his fifth Hot 100 No. 1, three of which have come as a guest vocalist. The others were his 12-week stint at the top in 2004, along with Lil Jon, on Usher’s “Yeah!” and a two-week command in 2007 on Fergie’s “Glamorous.”

“Heart” joins the rapper’s “How Low” (7-10) in the top 10, upping Ludacris’ top 10 count to 16, equaling Jay-Z for the most Hot 100 top 10 appearances by a rap artist.

If not for Cruz’s incredible rise, Lady Antebellum would have been celebrating its first Hot 100 No. 1. But, the trio’s “Need You Now” has to settle for the runner-up slot (3-2) as it swaps spots with Young Money’s “BedRock” (2-3). The rap act, meanwhile, moves to the head of the Radio Songs chart with its track.

Next week’s Hot 100 is shaping up as a tough battle. An expected slip in sales for Cruz’s “Heart” could open the door for either Lady Antebellum to slip into No. 1 or allow Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” (8-4) to continue its quick ascension up the chart.

Source: Billboard

Listen to the song here

Hip-hop producer Irv Gotti contributed $1,000 to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s reelection campaign, according to the mayor’s latest campaign finance report filed Wednesday.

Gotti is listed in the report as Irving Lorenzo, a music producer at IG Records at a Manhattan address.

He was a last-minute contributor, paying by credit card on Wednesday, according to the report. His fame grew with hits for Ashanti, Ja Rule and Jay-Z, although Lorenzo has since moved into reality TV. In 2005, he and his brother were acquitted of federal charges that they used his record label, then known as Murder Inc., to launder money for a drug kingpin.

Although Fenty’s image has been largely defined by his athleticism and retail politics, Fenty is a hip-hop head, according to friends. Last May, Fenty proved his rap knowledge by joining in with RUN DMC’s Darryl McDaniels when he spat a few rhymes after a news conference on foster care.

Lorenzo’s $1,000 contribution was part of $327,305.51 that Fenty raised from Feb. 1 through Wednesday, bringing his total to more than $3.9 million for his reelection campaign.

He’s closer to earning what political insiders are calling him: the $4 million man. Fenty, however, has spent some funds. He has $3.3 million in cash on hand, according to the report.

Stay tuned to D.C. Wire for more on the campaign finance filings.

Source: Nikita Stewart, Washington Post

On the Web: http://www.fentyreelect.com

She may not have come out looking like a winner in the Tiger Woods sex scandal, but former mistress Jamie Jungers is No. 1 in Howard Stern’s eyes.

According to RadarOnline.com, Jungers took home the title and a $75,000 cash prize in the shock jock’s beauty pageant composed of Woods’ former lovers.

Also vying for the prize were ex-mistresses Loredana Jolie and Jaimee Grubbs, who is said to have won $15,000 for finishing in second place.

Jungers reportedly came out the winner after answering most of Stern’s prying questions, including those about Woods’ endowments and turn-ons.

The golfer’s No. 1 mistress, Rachel Uchitel, was reportedly banned from participating in the contest due to a settlement agreement with Woods, TMZ.com reported.

No word yet on who rated the women, though it’s doubtful Woods’ estranged wife, Elin, accepted Stern’s offer to judge.

Source: Cristina Everett, NY Daily News

On The Web: http://www.howardstern.com

Thirteen years ago Tuesday (March 9), hip-hop lost one of its most beloved, charismatic and talented MCs to ever put rhymes to a beat.

The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, as he left a Soul Train Music Awards afterparty. To date, the assailants remain at large.

Investigations into the murder of the Brooklyn rapper are ongoing, and a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and others against the city of Los Angeles and other defendants is also pending.

The ongoing quest to punish the people behind Biggie’s death, however, continues to leave those involved frustrated.

Ms. Wallace declined to comment on the status of her lawsuit but issued a brief statement to MTV News: “I thank you for the opportunity to touch [my son's] fans and for the network’s continued support of me and the family, but it’s been 13 years, I miss my son, his children miss their father, and the murderer is still at large.”

Theories abound about the murder of the iconic rapper, which occurred only a short distance from the Petersen Automotive Museum where Biggie, Diddy and their entourage were celebrating just moments before. According to author Randall Sullivan’s book “LAbyrinth,” associates of Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, who was embroiled in a feud with Diddy’s Bad Boy Records, conspired to kill Biggie. The book, based on extensive research conducted by Sullivan and interviews the writer held with former Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole, an investigator into Biggie’s murder, those involved in the hit on Biggie were dirty cops.

“They say some cops become gangbangers; well, these guys were essentially gangbangers who became cops,” Poole told MTV News.

Rafael Perez and David Mack, Poole alleged, were just two of the many LAPD officers who were on the payroll of Death Row Records. According to Poole, the officers’ primary sense of duty and allegiance to the police force was tainted by their involvement with Death Row. The two eventually went to prison but on charges unrelated to the investigation into the Notorious B.I.G. murder.

Poole maintains there were clues that pointed to each man that should have been looked into further. “I’ve put away guys for life with less evidence [than I had on Perez and Mack],” Poole said.

Through a complex web of deceit intended to shield the LAPD from a controversial scandal, Poole said, members of the force, including the chief at the time, suppressed efforts to look into policemen who were connected to Suge Knight and Death Row.

Poole eventually resigned in protest, amid his frustrations that the investigation was being sabotaged.

A representative for the LAPD declined to comment when contacted by MTV News about the status of the rapper’s murder investigation. At one point, the FBI picked up the investigation but later announced it had stopped its pursuit. A representative for the FBI also declined to comment when contacted by MTV News.

Ms. Wallace’s wrongful-death lawsuit remains open. The case was brought to trial at one point, but days later it was declared a mistrial after it was discovered the detective who took over as lead investigator in Biggie’s murder hid evidence. The mistrial was announced July 7, 2005, however, no further advancements have been made since in pushing the case to trial again.

Poole alleged that police initially sought to slow down the investigation into Biggie’s murder in order to keep the lid on possible LAPD involvement in the crime. Now, he said, the new administration and Los Angeles’ power players are striving to keep the truth buried for fear that civil-lawsuit payouts could bankrupt the economically challenged city. In any event, the former detective said he’s ready to be a witness in Ms. Wallace’s case and will testify whenever he is called upon.

For now, Poole waits, haunted by a puzzling case in which he seems to have too many pieces gathered to not complete the full picture.

“I want this thing solved before I die,” he said. “Every detective has a case that they think about each and every day, and this is the case right there. This is the case I think about every single day before I go to bed. It never goes away. It’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. The day it’s solved, I’ll be able to relax.”

Source: Jayson Rodriguez, MTV

NEW YORK — After saying goodbye on concert stages and online video streams, Lil Wayne had nothing to add as he was sentenced Monday to a year in jail for having a loaded gun on his tour bus.

The Grammy Award-winning rapper delivered only a brief bow to fans and supporters as he was led out of a courtroom in handcuffs to start serving his sentence.

With that, Lil Wayne headed off to face his punishment in a case that had shadowed him as he became one of music’s most prolific and profitable figures in recent years. Arrested in July 2007, he pleaded guilty in October to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He admitted he had the loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun on his bus.

His lawyer, Stacey Richman, said the rapper was resolute as he was taken away.

“He knew what he had to do, and he’s doing it,” she said.

Lil Wayne will serve his sentence in the Rikers Island jail complex. Richman said she expected he would be held in protective custody, but the city Correction Department said it was still deciding on that. Protective custody is given to inmates who, for a variety of reasons including notoriety, require separation from the general prison population.

The 27-year-old rap star could be released in about eight months with good behavior.

Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter, is going behind bars with his career in full throttle. His “Tha Carter III” was the best-selling album of 2008 and won a Grammy for best rap album. His latest album, “Rebirth,” was released last month.

He made a point of leaving fans with fanfare, from a “farewell tour” in recent months to a series of videos on the Web site Ustream on Sunday.

“Law is mind without reason … I’ll return,” he wrote on his Twitter account Monday morning.

Dozens of fans jockeyed with photographers waiting on the courthouse steps Monday afternoon, cheering as Lil Wayne, fellow rapper Birdman and others arrived. Shouts of “Oh, man” and “Keep your head up, Weezy!” – a nickname he often uses – erupted in the courtroom as he was sentenced.

Although Lil Wayne had agreed to go to jail, a number of roadblocks kept him from starting his sentence in recent weeks.

First, his sentencing was postponed in February so he could undergo surgery on his bejeweled teeth. Then, a fire shut down Manhattan’s main criminal courthouse while he was on his way there last week.

He told Rolling Stone for a story last month that he planned to keep working while behind bars.

“I’ll be still rapping in there, have a gang of raps ready when I come back home,” he said.

As for listening to music, inmates are allowed to buy AM/FM radios at the jail commissary.

Source: Jennifer Peltz, AP

Actor Jamie Foxx and recording artist Chris “Ludacris” Bridges today join the ranks of celebrities who have lent their popularity to push HIV prevention as part of a social media effort targeting young African Americans.

The “i know” campaign is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which aims to draw thousands of young people into a conversation about HIV using Facebook, Twitter, text messages and a website (actagainstaids.org). It launches today with an event at Clark Atlanta University that will be webcast to students nationwide.

If it works as the CDC hopes, young African Americans will no longer be passive consumers of HIV-prevention messages. Instead, they’ll become vocal advocates armed with information that will help them protect themselves and one another from HIV, says Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s national center of HIV/AIDS prevention. “We’re trying to create a movement,” Fenton says.

The initiative is part of a five-year, $45 million effort called Act Against AIDS, announced last year at the White House. The broader effort was designed to “refocus attention on the HIV epidemic here at home” after years of addressing the crisis in Africa and elsewhere, says Robert Bailey II of the CDC.

Public health officials say one of their biggest challenges is to shatter the complacency bred by the misconception that, thanks to effective treatment, HIV is no longer an emergency.

The AIDS virus continues to spread widely among African Americans, who represent just 14% of Americans ages 13-29 but account for half of new infections in that group, the CDC reports. Young black gay and bisexual men account for 55% of infections among African Americans in that age group, the CDC says.

Yet the number of young blacks who say they’re concerned about HIV declined from 50% to 40% from 1997 to 2009, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Tina Hoff, who leads Kaiser’s efforts to convey prevention messages through the entertainment industry and social media, says Internet networking can raise awareness, but only as part of a comprehensive strategy.

Last fall, the foundation set out to bolster the White House initiative with its Greater Than AIDS campaign, launched with the Black AIDS Institute, MTV, BET, Essence and other media enterprises. What’s needed, Hoff says, is a “collective response” in the African-American community: “Building a social network is a useful component of that.”

Source: USA TODAY, Steve Sternberg

Maybe they should call it Cash Money Oil & Gas.

As their star rapper Lil Wayne prepares to go to jail next month, the founders of rap record label Cash Money Records appear to be on the hunt for a new kind of bling — this one involving black gold.

The label’s co-founders, Bryan “Birdman” Williams and his brother, Ronald “Slim” Williams, have launched an energy exploration enterprise under the name Bronald Oil & Gas LLC, which they describe as an “independent oil and gas company focused on exploration and development of assets in several US Gulf Coast states and Osage County in Oklahoma.”

What began as an image on Bryan “Birdman” Williams’ head (above) may turn into a reality as the Cash Money Records mogul seeks a new venture to take the place of the label’s rapper Lil Wayne, who is going to jail.

Details about Bronald are scant, and the Williams brothers have declined requests for details. However, sources said the Bronald name — a rollup of the brothers’ first names — has been around for two years.

The firm on its Web site says it plans to “grow through development and via the acquisition of prospective acreage that complements its existing assets and exploits the abilities of the Company’s technical resources.”

The company also says it is committed to “preserving the environment, promoting worker safety and maximizing the potential output of various oil and gas assets.”

The idea of celebrities diversifying into other businesses isn’t new. Former basketball great Magic Johnson has had an equally successful career in real estate, and just yesterday revealed an interest in publishing by holding talks to buy African-American magazine Ebony. Meanwhile, ex-boxer Evander Holyfield last year outlined plans to build a solar farm on his vast estate in Georgia, with plans to sell the power generated from the farm.

And the Williams brothers aren’t alone in wanting to get in on the energy business, which though well off its highs from a couple of years ago, is still well above historic levels, with some analysts predicting a return to triple-digit crude prices once the economy recovers.

It would also seem the oil business is close to the heart of Bryan Williams, who has an oil drilling rig tattooed on his head.

Nevertheless, the Bronald Web site is short on details of the company’s business, except for a short video featuring a montage of oil rigs and derricks. Further, several attempts by The Post to reach an official at the company came up short.

Instead, the site features as a bio of Bronald’s founders an article titled, “Cash Money Records: Still Blinging After All These Years,” which details the Williams brothers’ rise from a New Orleans housing project to rap superstars.

Source: Mark DeCambre, NY Post