Wednesday - September 6, 2006 by Anthony Roberts
J-Dilla Sneakers

Sneaker Pimps, the world's largest touring sneaker exhibition, will be coming to Funkmaster Flex's Custom Car and Bike Show in Atlantic City, NJ this weekend.

The event, which boasts appearances from Diddy, Cam'ron, Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Jermaine Dupri, Jim Jones, DJ Premier and Flavor Flav, is set to take place on September 9th.

Sneaker Pimps features over 1,000 pairs of rare, vintage and limited edition kicks along with original artwork by various graffiti and graphic artists.

Having already invaded several U.S. cities this year including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta, Sneaker Pimps is set to hit Baltimore on September 17 and a special stop in New York City at the Avalon in Manhattan on October 13.

"Sneaker Pimps NYC is going to be the biggest in our 80 show history," Peter Fahey of the Sneaker Pimps told SOHH.com. "[We will be] releasing the Sneaker Pimps New Era Cap with over 15 artists painting live and a very special guest music artist performing live."

Garnering an international following, the tour has visited countries like Japan, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and China in recent years.

For more information on the tour, log onto sneakerpimps.net.

Funkmaster Flex's Show will also feature a celebrity poker tournament hosted by Diddy and an international sneaker battle hosted by Fat Joe.

Funkmaster Flex's Custom Car and Bike Show will be held on September 9th from 12 -8pm at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com.

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Wed Sep 06, 1:54 AM ET


The Taliban are on the move again in Afghanistan. And, in other news, Suri Cruise has two eyes, a nose and a full head of hair.

Katie Couric's Tuesday debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News doubled as the coast-to-coast debut of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' supposedly mysterious child.

The Suri Cruise segment did not top Couric's newscast--the feature on the Taliban did--but it did rate a mention in the opening tease, with the successor to Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather promising to show off "the baby picture everyone has been waiting for."

True to her word, Couric unveiled the cover of the October Vanity Fair, featuring an Annie Liebovitz-shot portrait of Cruise making like Paul McCartney on 1970's McCartney album and cradling Suri inside his leather jacket while Holmes looks on. Visit for more:

• Celeb Assistants
• Strangely Sexy
• The Awful Truth
More stories:Photographic Proof: Suri ExistsKatie Couric Settles in at CBS"Paris" Runs into DangerEko of a Traffic ArrestRemembering the Crocodile Hunter


The issue goes on sale in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, and elsewhere on Sept. 12.

The cover photo was taken in July in Telluride, Colorado, Vanity Fair said. Inside, the issue is said to boast 22 further pages of photographic proof that Suri-sighters Leah Remini, Jada Pinkett Smith and Penélope Cruz were not victims of mass hallucination.

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The so-called "family portfolio" also features an interview with Holmes, who has been out of sight almost as much as her daughter since "joyously welcom[ing]" Suri last Apr. 18.

Per excerpts published on Vanity Fair's Website, Holmes sounds vexed by speculation that Suri either didn't exist or did exist, but with antenna or some such abnormality.

"It's really frustrating the amount of shit that's out there," Holmes says in the magazine. "And the stuff they say about Suri?! You shouldn't say that about us, and you can't say that about my child."

Per Holmes, you also can't say what you've been saying about her someday husband-to-be.

"To see how someone as caring and good as Tom is--to see how things can just get so twisted and turned around," Holmes says. "I mean, where does it come from?"

Also speaking to the magazine, Cruise says he and Holmes "always planned to release [family photos of Suri] at the right time."

"[But] then all this craziness began," Holmes says in interview. "This 'Where is Suri?' controversy. Tom and I looked at each other and said, 'What's going on?' We weren't trying to hide anything."

Cruise notes that Leibovitz became the natural choice for Suri's coming-out because she shot Isabella and Connor, his children adopted with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, in their younger days.

Elsewhere, Holmes calls Suri a "glorious girl" who is the "miracle of our life," bats down rumors of a rift between her family and Cruise, and explains that Cruise bought a sonogram for her doctor's use, not his. (According to Holmes, it was easier for the M.D. to come to their house, rather than the paparazzi-tracked couple to go to the doctor's office. Her explanation might come too late for sonogram-aspiring Californians who might be outlawed from purchasing such equipment by a Cruise-inspired bill currently awaiting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's long John Hancock.)

On the CBS Evening News, the Suri Cruise photos were part of a package called "Snap Shots." Tuesday's new-look broadcast also featured theme music by Titanic's James Horner, a Cronkite-voiced intro, a leg-revealing opening shot of the white-and-black-clad Couric and a vow that Wednesday would bring an interview with Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.

Sorry, President Bush.

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Or can Terror Squad hold it down without Remy Ma?



"I swear mothafuckas gonna hear the Squad/Ya’ll betta fear Prospect and Joe the god/Armageddon, Tony Sunshine and Remy Ma"

These few bars, taken from "She's Gone" on There's Something About Remy, were the words that ensured her loyalty and pledge to the South Bronx rap crew. These words appear to be a thing of the past now.

Most guys, primarily the kids from Brooklyn and other lower areas in New York City that don't favor Terror Squad as much as the Uptowners, say the only thing sparking their interest in Terror Squad is the street savvy, 'hood chick swagger that is Remy Ma. They say she's the backbone of the crew's existence, and that they wouldn't even give TS the benefit of the doubt without her present.

tseis.jpgcubanlink.jpg

But Remy's departure comes as no surprise, as Fat Joe and his ways first alienated the original members Triple Seis and Cuban Link after Pun's death, and later coerced Remy to step away from the crew, from whom she later reconciled with after a short period of time. This isn't the first time she has decided to step back. In addition to this, Tony Sunshine, the R&B crooner who isn't an original front man of TS but appeared heavily throughout the first TS album, STILL hasn't dropped his debut. Prospect, another talented rapper on TS' roster, hasn't made much of a sound in the past couple of years. Also, Armageddon is doing his own thing. But why should he even have to if Fat Joe has all the resources and connects necessary to produce an Armageddon (or even Tony Sunshine) LP? My assertion would be because Joe only thinks about himself.

Although he has a little bit of street cred, Joe is something like another Benzino -- years of trying, years of failing. Even my peoples in The X don't even deal with Joe like that. Basically, it's because we see this: Forget all my mans and everyone else who has the potential to be a good artist, I'm gonna keep pushing myself in hopes that I can grab another successful LP. I'll worry about them later.

It was enough that Pun passed away. Even though the Terror Squad hasn’t been that successful, can’t they preserve the memory that once made up the Squad? Pun wouldn't be happy to see where TS is today. And now that Remy's pretty much gone, the streets are pretty much going to sabotage whatever clout TS ever had. They're finished.

terrorsquad2.jpg
Posted by SOHH Reckless at September 7, 2006 04:32 AM
Comments

Yo, who really cares about TS?!?! They haven't done anything since Pun! Remy, do ya thing Ma! You don't need to rock with Fat-a$$ Joe to be real with you. Your skills are dope no matter who you run wit! (Just don't sign with G-Unit, PLEASE!)

Posted by: Jerz609 at September 7, 2006 06:15 AM

Yo, who really cares about TS!??! They haven't been dope since Pun!! Remy, do ya thing Ma! You don't need Joe and them. You were TS, and now it's offical, they DONE!

Posted by: Jerz609 at September 7, 2006 06:17 AM

I'M FIRST PUNK BITCHES....YOU RIGHT SOHH. NIGGAS IN BROOKLYN IS FEELING REMY NOT TS...CUBAN LINK SHIT IS OFF THE HOOK TOO. THAT NIGGA WILL FUCK FAT JOE UP ON LYRICS. ON ANOTHER NOTE NIGGA HAVE TO GIVE IT UP TO 50...HE IS REPPING NYC TO THE FULLEST. ONLY UPTOWN NIGGAS IS FEELING DIPSET(BITCHSET) BUT THE WHOLE WORLD IS FEELING G-UNIT...IT IS WHAT IT IS...THAT LYOD BANKS SHIT IS FIRE....HOVA NEED TO COME BACK. BUSTA RHYMES IS DOING HIS THING AND FUCK WHAT SOHH SAID ABOUT BUSTA ALBUM LOSING STEAM...THAT SHIT IS FIRE. NIGGAS IN NYC JUST DON'T SUPPORT LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE DOES BUT HIS SHIT IS GETTING MAD SUPPORT FROM THE TROOPS IN IRAQ AND EVERYWHERE ELSE. STILL WAITING FOR THE NAS SHIT TO DROP AND WHY AIN'T NOBODY IE. ROCAFELLA, BAD BOY OR WHOEVER TRYING TO SIGN AZ...NIGGAS IS BUGGING. THAT NIGGA IS STILL SPITTING FIRE. PAPOOSE WILL HOLD US DOWN, NIGGAS IS SLEEPING ON FAB, SAIGON GOTS MAD FIRE....PEOPLE ARE STILL SLEEPING ON WU-TANG...METH AND GHOST SHIT IS FIRE. OH YEAH...NIGGAS NEED TO PUMP MOS DEF AMD TALIB KWELI SHIT BECAUSE THEM NIGGAS IS THE TRUTH IN THE LYRICAL AND CONTENT OF RAP. NEW YORK AIN'T GO NOWHERE...NIGGAS JUST HITTING THE PANIC BUTTON TO QUICK...PARANOID NIGGAS. ALL NYC NEED TO DO IS RIDE TOGETHER. ONE.

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There are a couple of big events taking place in Atlanta this weekend and I'm trying to find my way to both of them at some point.

The first event that every aspiring artist, industry professional or anything along those lines needs to attend is The Billboard R&B Hip Hop Conference and Award Show. It's all going down from now until Friday (Sept. 6-8) at The Renaissance Waverly Hotel, so if you're trying to grind this music thing out and really kick in some doors then this is the place to be.

Click here for a schedule of events.




(Yeah you see what Chris is throwing up)

And then... Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Cherish and the rest hit Chastain Parkon Saturday, September 9 at 7:00PM. If you've had a chance to catch "BET's Access Granted" lately then you may have seen some of the behind the scene's footage of the concert. It promises to be BIG -- it's already sold out so if you haven't picked up your tickets yet you might be in trouble.

Not to be outdone, Lil Wayne, Dem Franchise Boys and Juelz are expected to be in the building as well.

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Lil Scrappy has a computer game surfacing now? If that's what you want to call it. I didn't take the time out to play it but maybe somebody can fill me in on what it was like. I'm sure it's not "Madden '07" but hey...

Hit it up at: http://www.lilscrappy.com/game


TooShort1_small.jpg

And lost under all of the Outkast hoopla last week was the fact that Too Short dropped his long-awaited album, Blow The Whistle. This makes what... 16? What ever happened to album No. 10 being the finale?

Check it, before I bought it I asked my boy at the store (the mom and pops store of course... because you know that's where I like to spend my hard earned dollars) how it was and he told me that it was, "O.K. but it wasn't what he expected."

He thought it would be more of that vintage 'Short, and judging from "Blow The Whistle" I thought it would be too. He was right -- it's not vintage 'Short but it is a real good album especially on the production end with contributions from all the big dogs, including Jazze Pha and Lil Jon.

IN THE CHANGER...nappy.jpg

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we all know by now, my highly-anticipated and critically-acclaimed debut album BLUE COLLAR sold about 15,000 copies during the first week. As it stands now in the mass-marketing, single-driven genre of Hip-Hop music, this is considered a flop or a failure.? Or is it?

* Akon, the well-known R&B star, sold about 5,000 copies his first week.? And now, he holds a platinum plaque for his debut album TROUBLE.
* Lyfe Jennings: 6,000 copies his first week; also platinum.
* Maroon 5: 3,000 copies their first week; now multi-platinum.

While none of these artists that I named are rappers, they all understood the ingredients for success:


1. good music,

2. touring & great stage shows,

3. humble attitudes (checking their ego at the door) and finally

4. never giving up.

This is something that rap artists today have yet to fully understand the importance of. Just look at it: 9 out of 10 rap concerts are wack. After one or two singles, the rest of the album is intentionally trash, but we, as the artists, do not care because we have our singles. Also, some rappers are so insecure that if anyone gives us constructive criticism, or [in some cases] is just a little overzealous as a fan, we are ready to spaz out on them. Rappers have become divas (bitches), and the rap industry, radio, DJs and journalists have become complicit, spineless cowards.

Do not get it twisted; I am not heartbroken over my first week sales because I understand that through my appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel [You Tube], Carson Daly & David Letterman, my forthcoming tours with Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest as well as many opportunities that are opened for me through the Creator ALL afford me the chance to do what no other rapper has done: truly earn fans that stick with me because of the quality of the product and not the smoke & mirrors of marketing & promotion.

Keep encouraging your friends to purchase BLUE COLLAR. And know that 35,000 Rhymefest records sold hold more power than 1 Million Laffy Taffy records. I have managed to sell a consistent 5,000 - 6,000 records a week since my debut on the charts. My hopes are to not only continue that trend, but to increase my unit sales through the word-of-mouth of how good BLUE COLLAR actually is, as well as coming to a city near YOU to show you how great Rhymefest is. So, on to the question:

What do first week sales in Hip-Hop really mean?

Talk to me...
Comments

* Hashim says...
*

Lyfe is a great example of going platinum, the slow burn way. He tours like a mad man, which is thinik is more important than the other stuff on your list.

Juelz and Gnarls Barkley are other examples of low first week sales that grew over time.
* September 7, 2006 03:21 PM

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