Hookers & Blow

R.Kelly's Bodyguard shoots self in foot

True Story.

The Boston Herald reports R. Kelly's bodyguard accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Marietta, Georgia, nightclub after being asked to remove his gun before entering the club. Maceo Price, 32, of Covington, Louisiana, was escorting Kelly and Ronald 'Slim' Williams, co-founder of Cash Money Records, into Vegas Nights on Saturday, according to Marietta police. He was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Zakk Wylde Denies Ozzy Is Singing To Backing Tapes

Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde recently spoke to The Metal Exiles about the rumors that Ozzy has been singing to a tape during some of his Ozzfest 2003 appearances. "No, no that will never happen," Wylde insisted. "Not with my ass up there. I'd rather have Oz when he gets up there and if he's going to hit a clam once in a while, then he hits a clam. Some nights, I'll go, 'How are you feeling, boss?' right before we go out on stage, and before we play 'Paranoid' backstage. I'll be the first one to ask, 'How are you feeling?' and he goes, 'It's going to be a rough one tonight, man.' Then another night he'll say, 'I feel good tonight, man. I got some rest.' And everything like that. So, no, he would never sing to tapes." Check out the entire interview here.

Don't Call It A Comeback...

Liza, over at BURNED BY THE SUN, informed us of 2 important things. How bad 90's music was and the return of the Presidents of the United States of America . I guess 5 years was a long enough break for a band that was never that big in the first place...

Speaking of Presidents, I TIVO'ed last nights Democratic Debates. I'll probably watch them on Sunday since The Wire's season is over.

The best line (according to a friend of mine who's a political junkie) came from John Edwards. "The president goes around the country speaking Spanish. The only Spanish he speaks when it comes to jobs is hasta la vista."

It's not exactly, "I'm Howard Dean, and I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.", but it's nice to see Edwards make a little noise. I'm sure he wouldn't want me to call it a comeback, though.

Britney Spears gives political advice

A gum-smacking Britney Spears told CNN Wednesday that she has never before kissed a woman and never would again -- unless the woman is Madonna.

She also talked about the President: "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that."

Thanks Britney.

Cheaper CDs...Does anyone care?

UMG (not to be included in the NBC-Universal merger) has slashed their CD prices - people are praising this is as exactly the right move: They are wrong.

This may have been a good move if it was 2000, but now it's just too little too late.

Look for retailers to balk. And to do what Best Buy is doing. Start pushing online music. Less shelf space and a bigger inventory.

Want To Direct?

OK, so you got dissed with Project Greenlight? How about a little love from KFC? If you've always wanted to write and direct your own 30-second mini-movie, here's your shot. KFC is sponsoring a contest in which they've asked customers to create and direct 30-second TV commercials for the fast-food chain's "Bigger Better Popcorn Chicken" campaign. The winning spot will air once in prime time in early October, and its creator will win a cash prize.

Justice

Financier Reed Slatkin, a key player in the creation of Internet service provider EarthLink Inc., was sentenced on Tuesday to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to bilking investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

A federal court in Los Angeles also ordered Slatkin to pay more than $240 million in restitution to clients of his fund management business.

The government had asked that he be sentenced to the minimum in a range from 11 years and three months to 14 years after defrauding investors of nearly $600 million, but Judge Margaret Morrow chose the more severe option.

"The havoc that the defendant has wreaked is immense, the loss is immeasurable," she told a courtroom packed with attorneys and victims of Slatkin.

It's nice to see a judge go for the higher sentence when it comes to going after these white collar crooks. As usual the prosecution just wants the maximum for young black kids.

Beastie Boys Return...again

The last time we heard from the Beastie Boys was with the kinda-weak anti-war free mp3 single A World Gone Mad. I dug the sentiments but the production wasn't too tight. Well they may have agreed...After being in limbo for four years, the Beastie Boys are back at it again and have recently put together an all-new recording studio to begin production on their sixth album release scheduled for 2004.

Although it’s been over four years since their last album "Hello Nasty", the group has not seen the best of times in these past few years.

Earlier this year alone the group closed their record label Grand Royal due to what seemed to be apparent as a financial downsizing while group DJ Mike D suffered multiple injuries in a major bike accident this past summer.

The group claims that if anything, they wanted to wait for Mike D to recover before trying to do anything group-wise.

Man On The Run...

DeKalb County (Ga.) authorities say they are looking for Jagged Edge member Kyle Norman after they found two guns, 13 pounds of marijuana and about $6,000 in the singer's home.

Deputies searched Norman's Decatur home Thursday morning and reported finding the drugs, cash, a 9 mm handgun and an InterTec .45-caliber handgun. Deputies arrested seven men who were inside the home. They did not find 27-year-old Norman.

"We want him to know that we are looking for him," said a spokesperson for the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department.

Jagged Edge's next album, "Hard," is due Oct. 14 via Columbia. The single "Walked Outta Heaven" is No. 20 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

Good Times (the Movie)

Looks like the greenlight is on for the Tim Story-directed big-screen movie adaptation of the 1970's sitcom "Good Times". (Tim Story directed Barbershop) And every African-American actor seems to be salivating to work on this film that is looking to be a real hoot. As I type this, Cedric The Entertainer is inking to play Bookman. Every Wayans brother and sister wants a part of this. Angela Bassett (believe it or not) is in talk for the Esther Rolle role ("DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!"). And who has expressed fervent interest in playing the part of sexy, nosey, single neighbor Willona? None other than.. Janet Jackson (the former Penny)! The film is also supposed to have tons of cameos from A-list Black actors playing colorful hoodrats from the projects... Halle Berry, Sam Jackson, etc. And speaking of ghetto hoodrats, Whitney Houston is being courted to sing the theme song ("just looking out of the window / Watching my Afro grow")... how serendipitous is that?

thanks Lean&Mean