Every year, Ludacris takes over Labor Day Weekend in Atlanta, turning it into “ Luda-Day Weekend ” in the city. The annual charity weekend features star-studded parties, celeb basketball tournaments, dinners and brunches, all committed to giving back to the Atlanta community through fundraising on behalf of The Ludacris Foundation. This year, you can be a part of the action! DTP is giving 5 lucky winners a pair (2) of tickets to Luda’s 2nd Annual Luda-Day Party at Frank Ski’s Restaurant & Lounge, co-hosted by Tika Sumpter (The Haves And The Have Nots) and Terrence J (Think Like A Man, E! News). To enter to win, just follow Bossip on all our social pages through the link below:
All of the checks have stopped coming in…. Coolio Auctions Off Music Royalty Rights To Songs What do you get the Coolio fan who has everything? More Coolio music of course. Via The Wrap reports: But not in the form of a CD, rather the actual royalty rights to the rapper’s entire catalogue. The Royalty Exchange said Thursday that it is auctioning off the full song portfolio of the five-time Grammy winner, including his chart-topping hit, “Gangsta’s Paradise” from the film “Dangerous Minds.” The auction will begin at noon ET on Aug. 28, ending at 2 p.m. ET the following day. Let the bidding begin at $140,000. Coolio is selling the catalogue to help kick off his second career — cooking. Following an appearance on Food Network’s “Celebrity Chefs,” the rapper became a New York Times bestselling-author with 2009′s “Cookin’ with Coolio.” The entrepreneur plans to invest the funds from the song catalog sale to expand his cookbook series and his online cooking show of the same name. The catalog consists of 123 songs from eight different albums, including other hits such as “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” “Too Hot,” “C U When U Get There,” and “Fantastic Voyage” (which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994). “The Coolio song catalog auction is an exciting and rare opportunity for anyone looking for an alternative investment in music publishing and songwriter royalties,” said Sean Peace, CEO of The Royalty Exchange. “We are thrilled to be able to offer royalties attached to such an iconic artist, and to assist interested parties in the research, registration and bidding process.” Who is his business advisor?? $140K? Never, never, never sell your publishing if you can avoid it. Continue reading →
With everyone’s fantasy football draft just days away, THG is here to offer advice on practically every position on the field. Which quarterback should you take after Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees? What about the best running back after Adrian Peterson? The top receiver after Calvin Johnson ? Now, it’s time for the tight ends. We’d stay away from Aaron Hernandez and then we’d pick the following players in the order listed below: Jimmy Graham : The clear top choice. He’s Brees’ number-one option and he’s in a contract year. Rob Gronkowski : He’s either number-two… or he’s not on the list. Recent back surgeries make it impossible to know his status, but will challenge Graham is healthy. Jason Witten : It doesn’t get much less sexy… or much more consistent. Tony Gonzalez : Ditto, really. No way would he return for another season if he didn’t feel like he could compete at a high level. Antonio Gates : Has fallen considerably from his status a couple years ago, but still among the elite. Pretty big drop-off after him. Vernon Davis : Had a couple big playoff games, but didn’t really connect with Colin Kaepernick prior to them. The loss of Michael Crabtree could also mean more double teams. Kyle Rudolph : Someone has to catch the ball in Minnesota. Right? Brandon Pettigrew : Will be overshadowed by Calvin Johnson, of course, but where do you think Matthew Stafford will turn whenever Megatron draws too many defenders? Greg Olsen : A quality safety valve for Cam Newton. Owen Daniels: Finished at number-8 tight end in regular ESPN fantasy scoring last year despite nagging injuries.
Raz-B is on life support in a hospital in China after the 28-year-old R&B singer suffered an absolutely brutal bottle attack to the face this week. Raz-B’s publicist, Toy Jones, tells celebrity news site TMZ: “He is in a coma and needs as many prayers as possible.” Raz was performing at a club China on Thursday and was hit in the face with a glass bottle – while trying to break up a fight that erupted in the crowd. He received medical attention hours after the incident and underwent surgery to repair a gash in his lip (below), but the next day, he did not wake up. Raz’s backup dancer rushed him to a nearby hospital. Doctors tested for brain activity and found the situation was dire; Raz is breathing from a ventilator at this time and has been slipping in and out of consciousness. The singer (real name De’Mario Monte Thornton) and You Got Served actor is probably most famous for being a founding member of R&B boy band B2K. Here’s hoping he can make a miraculous recovery.
Chris Brown’s probation has been reinstated and he won’t be heading to jail, but the singer has been ordered to complete 1,000 MORE hours of community labor. After the L.A. County D.A. accused him of falsifying his community service records earlier this year, the 24-year-old faced the music at a hearing yesterday. Chris Brown Probation Reinstated He stood accused of reporting to the probation department that he was picking up trash in his native Virginia when he was on a private jet to Cancun, etc. He was required to complete 1,440 hours of community labor as part of his 2009 assault conviction (for assaulting Rihanna), which he said he completed it. The judge wasn’t buying that , but is giving him another chance. Chris’ probation was revoked in July in the wake of hit-and-run allegations, but that case was dismissed this week, so his probation was reinstated. On the condition that the star completes an additional 1,000 hours of community service, that is, due to the discrepancy in his original records. Basically, he won’t get much, if any credit for service he may or may not have completed already, and must do the labor in L.A. County this time. He can pick between highway cleanup, beach cleanup (obvious choice), probation alternative work service (PAWS), or (ironically) graffiti removal . Chris must also report to a probation officer within 48 hours. The probation, assuming his completes these 1,000 hours and doesn’t get it revoked for another reason, is finally coming to an end in October 2014. Mark your calendars.
The drama around Paula Deen continues today as reports say she has fired her legal team, led by the firm of Oliver Maner. Deen also fired her agent last week. Maner was defending her against a civil lawsuit filed by Lisa Jackson , a former manager of Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House that Deen co-owns. A source close to Deen says “she and her team decided the previous attorneys were out of their depth,” so she hired a replacement, Grace Speights. The Washington, D.C.-based partner in Morgan Lewis’s Labor and Employment practice brings “one of the top labor firms in the country,” says the source. Her new legal team also consists of Patricia Glaser, whom The Hollywood Reporter calls one of America’s top entertainment power lawyers this year. Deen is continuing to work with the PR firm The Rose Group and has also hired Judy Smith, the inspiration for the main character, Olivia Pope, on Scandal . In all, she hopes to rebound from her dramatic downfall, in which she lost a multitude of business deals, following her admission to using racial slurs . Deen made that revelation during a legal deposition in connection with Lisa Jackson’s civil suit, which she denies the basis for and wants thrown out.
Luda is definitely enjoying the fruits of his labor these days… Ludacris And Eudoxie Celebrate Memorial Day In L.A. While much of the Hollyweird world headed for Sin City to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend, ATL rapper and actor Ludacris is spending the holiday in L.A. with his bangin’ boo-thang Eudoxie by his side. The two lovebirds enjoyed some R&R with some hookah on the side and were even spotted out in the stands enjoying an L.A. Dodgers baseball game. Gotta love these two! Instagram
Well this is good news … According to Fox Business: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, offering reassurance that the bottom is not falling out of the labor market despite signs of slower growth. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week’s number was revised to show 3,000 more applications than previously reported. Analysts had expected 351,000 new claims last week. A Labor Department analyst said there was nothing unusual in the data and no states had estimated their claims. The report runs counter to several weeks of signals that economic activity has softened over the last two months, a phenomena economists have dubbed the spring swoon because it also happened in the previous two years. The four-week moving average for new claims, a less volatile measure of labor market trends, fell 4,500 to 357,500. That could help to further ease concerns of a deterioration in labor market conditions after nonfarm payrolls posted their smallest increase in nine months in March. However, claims around this time of the year are difficult to adjust for seasonal swings, so analysts will be cautious about extrapolating too much from today’s data. Economists expect the government next week will report that employers hired 145,000 people in April. Employers added 88,000 workers to their payrolls last month after a solid 268,000 increase in February. It was unclear whether there was any impact in the claims data from a brief shutdown of offices in Boston area last week as police hunted for a man suspected of helping plant bombs at the Boston Marathon. State authorities asked hundreds of thousands of Boston-area workers to stay in their homes on April 19. Thoughts?? Shutterstock
Big Sean is the same MC repping the D he’s always been. That’s the theme of his new single, “Switch Up,” featuring Common. Kid Cudi may have defected, but this joint serves as evidence that G.O.O.D. Music will carry on. Over a upbeat, swinging groove, the Detroit rappers drops a pair of verses while Com holds him down for the second…. Continue
Unemployment Rate Drops To Below 8% The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the latest batch of unemployment numbers and the jobs report, and it seems like things might be finally starting to look up. Think Progress According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 88,000 jobs were created last month, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.6 percent largely because the participation rate dropped. Analysts had expected 190,000 jobs. The private sector added 95,000 jobs, while the public sector contracted again, losing another 7,000 jobs. The February job numbers were revised from 236,000 to 268,000, while January’s numbers were revised from 119,000 to 148,000. Although these actual numbers don’t quite add up to those that were projected, it’s certainly an improvement from where we were last time this year. Shutterstock
