DA BRAT GOES TO JAIL FOR ASSAULT

Rap star Da Brat has been sentenced to three years in prison, with seven years probation and 200 hours of community service, for hitting a woman with a rum bottle at an Atlanta nightclub last year. She must also undergo substance abuse treatment, a mental evaluation, and go to anger management classes.

The occurrence took place last Halloween at Studio 72. The woman, a waitress at the club, now bears permanent facial scarring from the altercation. Brat, real name Shawntae Harris, stood as family members cried as she was taken into custody on Friday. Brat pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, and as she was led out the courtroom, she coolly looked over at relatives and said, “I love y’all.”

WHAT SENSE DOES THIS MAKE?

Daddy Yankee, or Ramon Ayala, officially endorsed Sen. John McCain Monday at the Phoenix high school where McCain’s wife, Cindy, graduated from in 1972, the New York Daily News reports. The reggaeton star said McCain’s support of Latinos and his immigration efforts led him to endorse the Republican presidential candidate. It took just 10 minutes for Ayala to state his backing of McCain after the Puerto Rican star surprised 120 students. He finished by jokingly stating his hit song Gasolina was about “energy independence.”

While McCain proclaimed he was having a Daddy Yankee–related press conference on Monday, he did not tell the media he was accepting his endorsement. In fact, on WABC Radio, midday host Curtis Sliwa recorded a tease for his show that said McCain would reprimand the musician at the press conference.

THIS SHIT IS HILARIOUS!!!!

K-CI PASSES OUT DURING PERFORMANCE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Yes, we’ve all heard that Devante is a crackhead and the reason that my favorite goup of all time Jodeci cannot seem to reunite. But looks here like K-Ci and JoJo may be sharing that crack pipe as well. Dalvin, how you doin’?

JOURNALICIOUS EXCLUSIVE!

PLIES
Real Talk

Whether you’re a hot chick with a “thing” for street souljas, a baller with hood appreciation or an industry insider with a love for the dirty south, one thing is for certain. Everyone is feeling Floridian rapper PLIES. With his subsequent album, Definition of Real, (which offers candid pleas of male desire (for the female, of course,) lucid accounts of street misfortune and genuine displays of love and appreciation,) the Slip N Slide recording artist speaks on success, his brother’s incarceration, industry friendships and the significance of being an astute rapper.

Now that DOR has debuted at #2 on the UK charts, PLIES opens up to The Journalista about his current (as he calls it) “situation.”

An artist’s dream is for their second album to out-do their first. Your second album, Definition of Real has done just that. Was your format for this album the same as the first?
Plies: With the sophomore album…, I followed the same formula. I talked about a lot of things I felt were important to me. A lot of issues I felt that people, especially in the inner city and hoods go through… I just feel like it’s a diverse album just like the last one. At the end of the day, I’m still making music that’s true to me.

What are your favorite tracks off DOR?
Plies: One record that I’m real crazy about is actually a Patti LaBelle sample called Somebody Loves You…. I got another track that I know… is just gonna make the females crazy. It’s called I Feel Like Fu**in’. (laughs) I know it’s gonna be a quick grabber.
I got The Dream on Please Excuse My Hands. I got a record called #1 Fan featuring Keyshia Cole and J Holiday. I got Neo, of course, Bust It Baby. I got Trey Songz on more of a street record called I’m Da Man. It’s pretty star-studded. I still don’t have any rappers on the album like last time.

How does it feel to have yet another song that the ladies are just loving (Bust It Baby)?
Plies: It’s cool, for me to have the track record that I have in radio right now, delivering great records is something I take pride in. I’d like to thank Neo for blessing me with such a powerful hook and record.

On your debut album, the song 100 Years was embraced by many and touched on a real subject, incarceration. Is there a song with a similar impact on DOR?
Plies: I have a track called One Day about a friend of mine that got killed and I wish I could just bring him back for one day. I’m just sticking to my same formula.

There tends to be beef in the hip-hop game (in some form or another.) On the other hand, who is Plies cool with in the industry?
Plies: Flo Rida. He does his thing. Shawty Lo is a good friend of mine.

You have somewhat of a devotion to prison inmates. Is it true that you are planning a prison tour?
Plies: Yeah, actually we got into a couple facilities. Then we had a couple bumps in the road. About four of the institutions we had confirmed backed out. So we’re trying to re-route and restructure it and get a couple more institutions in line. The most important one (for me) is where my brother is; Coleman Correctional Facility in Florida. For whatever reason, they’re playing hardball with me. So we’re still trying to fight that situation.

And you also have a website called Bidlong.com that’s dedicated to inmates?
Plies: It’s a site that’s geared strictly toward people that are currently incarcerated. Since the album was released, I’ve been spending a lot of time making sure it turns out the way I want it to turn out.

Many industry heads and front-runners have acknowledged you as being one of the most articulate and sharp artists in hip-hop. What is it in particular that they notice about you?
Plies: Having the opportunity to conduct interviews and deal with corporate America on a day to day basis is so important. That picture… of Uncle Sam pointing at you… reminds me…that this industry wants as many dumb artists as they can get cause they don’t want you to get it, they don’t want you to understand it. The least you understand, the better “they” are. They give you media training at a lot of labels to make sure you don’t embarrass their logo, but they don’t give you any business training to make sure they don’t rob you…of your money. So for me, I try to get as much knowledge and information as I can all the time. I want to be a sponge and pick up something from everybody. Sometimes the streets have you believe the more ignorant and dumb you are, the more…you’re perceived as being real. I just don’t feel that way. I feel that the most successful people in life…have been well-educated people. So…I just try to get as much… knowledge as I can and prepare myself for any conversation I’m about to have. I try to do my research. I think life is most importantly about preparing. I think any time you don’t plan, you find yourself in uncomfortable situations. I try to be a well thought out person no matter what I do.

So, what is Plies’ “definition of real.”
Plies: A person that’s responsible; a stand up ni**a. Whether it’s good or bad; willing to except any accident or his consequences in life. I think at the end of the day, my definition of real might be a little different. A lot of times the streets want you to believe you got to be broke to be real, a lot of people want you to believe you got to go to prison two or three times to be real. Those things are somewhat different from my definition. My definition is being not only the most responsible…, but the most true person I can be to myself. I tell cats all the time that snitching started from someone who wasn’t willing to except their punishment. So to me, my definition is probably a little different, but it’s my definition.

MALINDA WILLIAMS WEDDING PICS

V

SPRAGGA BENZ’S SON SHOT AND KILLED BY JAMAICA POLICE

Carlton, JR.

Spragga Benz

Carlton Grant Jr., the 17-year-old son of dancehall artist Spragga Benz, was shot and killed by local police in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday (Aug. 24). Cops say they stopped two men on a bicycle in the Kingston 8 area and when they moved toward them, one of the men began firing at them, according to Radio Jamaica. The police said they returned fire and the men fled. When they searched the area; they found Grant Jr. in agony from gunshot wounds and in possession of a .45 semi automatic pistol. Grant Jr. was hurried to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

OOPS! SOMEONE GIVES YUNG BERG THE BUSINESS!

Pictures of a man, identified as rapper Trick Trick’s brother, wearing Yung Berg’s Chain have surfaced. Trick Trick called a local radio station Power 92 and verified the occurrence took place but that he was not at all part of the attack. He said he was by the bar talking to Berg’s bodyguard when the episode took place and that he hurried over to stop the assault. When asked about Berg’s chain, he chuckled and said he heard that Berg needs to call Bow Wow.

50 CENT,JAY-Z TOPS FORBES ALONG WITH OTHERS

While Jay-Z topped Forbes.com’s inaugural Hip-Hop Cash Kings list of the top-earning people in the business last year, in 2008 he cedes the throne to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who raked in $150 million over the past 12 months–almost twice what Jay-Z made.

Fitty banked $100 million after taxes on one deal alone when his stake in VitaminWater’s parent, Glacéau, was bought by Coca-Cola as part of a $4.1 billion deal. The rapper’s business empire also includes the G-Unit clothing line and record label, plus films, videogames and platinum albums, including last year’s “Curtis.”

Also in the works is a partnership with South African mining billionaire Partrice Motsepe that would bring the rapper an equity stake in the mine–and 50 Cent-branded platinum to the world.

For the second year in a row, Sean “Diddy” Combs finished third on the list with $35 million from his revenue streams, including his clothing line Sean John, record label Bad Boy, premium vodka Ciroc and two reality-TV shows.

Kanye West clocks in at No. 4 with $30 million, while Andre “Dr. Dre” Young earned $15 million last year – based solely on his catalog of hits spanning two decades.

Tupac, who died 10 years ago, also made about $15 million, according to Forbes.

OBAMA AND BIDEN

The race for the White House entered a new, decisive phase yesterday as Barack Obama introduced Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, a seasoned Washington veteran, as his running mate, describing him as ready to “step in and be president”.

Obama described Biden as a “statesman with sound judgment who doesn’t have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong”.

In a declaration of war, Republicans swiftly moved to kick Biden by pointing to his criticisms of Obama, their disagreements over the Iraq war and his reputation for verbosity.
As chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, Biden has the experience to play the role of wise counsellor to Obama, 47, and the ability to take the fight to John McCain, the Republican nominee, over the war in Iraq and the battle against terrorism.

Obama presented Biden, 65, as a scrappy “working-class kid” who is as at home in a bar as on Capitol Hill, telling the story of his stutter as a boy, the tragedy of losing his wife and young daughter in a car crash and his familiarity with economic hardship.

He added: “That’s the kind of fighter I want on my side.” The crowd cheered and waved newly minted Obama-Biden placards.

He described Obama as a “clear-eyed pragmatist” with “steel in his spine” and said he had earned his respect on the campaign trail.

With Obama and McCain neck and neck in the polls, the election is likely to get personal. Republican activists are already mooting “Obama Bin Biden” bumper stickers.

JERMAINE DUPRI’S CAFE CLOSES AND OWES EMPLOYEES?

Jermaine Dupri closed the doors of his healthy self-serve restaurant Café Dupri indefinitely, according to a sign on the door.

After three years in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, and within weeks of greivance from workers that paychecks were bouncing. The music tycoon holds the country’s ailing economy accountable for a slump in profits over the years.

“The economy has changed dramatically and people just aren’t eating out as much anymore,” Dupri told AllHipHop.com. “People are cutting back everywhere and a lot of companies, including Café Dupri, are feeling the affect. For the past two months business at the Café has been down and if the business isn’t making money, I feel its a smart move to shut it down. Bottom line: if it doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense.”

Meanwhile, café workers are saying their paychecks have been rejected at local check cashing businesses. According to WSB-TV, workers arriving to work last week found a sign on the door that read “thanks for patronizing Café Dupri. We have closed indefinitely.”

According to the workers, Dupri’s mother, Cecelia Mauldin, acted as CEO of Café Dupri. She issued warnings numerous times to employees positioning that payroll funds were not available.

According to Allhiphop.com, a notice dated Aug. 11 directed the workers to go to “a Sun Trust bank and cash your check. The cash flow will not be in the bank until Tuesday after 12. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Mauldin refutes that the workers were stiffed out of their paychecks, and said it was a business decision to close down Café Dupri.