Jermaine Dupri Dropped from Def Jam

It’s official, Atlanta music executive Jermaine Dupri has been dropped from his position at Island Records.

Variety reports that after nearly two years the hip-hop mogul’s role as the president of the urban music division at Island was cut short yesterday (1/8).

During his time at the label, JD had several notable shortcomings. He brought his longtime girlfriend Janet Jackson to the label, who subsequently left after her album Discipline failed to move units and she accused the label of not being able to promote it effectively. The rapper/producer also brought Jagged Edge to the label and launched TAG records in conjunction with Island Def Jam and the Proctor and Gamble brand. As of press time the status of Tag records, of which JD signed rapper Q Da Kid, is still in question.

Reportedly Dupri’s position was created specifically for the So So Def founder by Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid and president Steve Bartells. It is not clear if he will no longer be working for parent company Universal Music Group.

The Truth on Dre's Son

The Los Angeles coroner's office has ruled that Dr. Dre's son died from an overdose of heroin and morphine last year.

As reported earlier, Andre Young Jr. was found unresponsive in his bedroom by his mother at their California home on the morning of August 23rd, 2008.

Young Jr. had been out partying and his mother recalled him returning home at 5:30 am. He was only 20 years old.

"[The] case has been closed, it's been ruled an accident due to morphine and heroin intoxication," coroner spokesman Larry Dietz told People Magazine.

Jim Jones is a beast....stomps out Ne-yo and others

December 24, 2008. An ALL OUT war appears to have just broke out in New York between rapper Jim Jones and rival Jay Z. And Jim Jones won the first battle.

For weeks now popular NYC based rapper Jim Jones has been taking verbal swipes against Jay Z. But MediaTakeOut.com EXCLUSIVELY learned that on Monday, things went from verbal to physical – and unfortunately R&B singer Ne-Yo got caught up in it.

Things came to a head on Monday at NYC’s ultra-luxurious Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue. MediaTakeOut.com EXCLUSIVELY learned that Jim Jones and a group of men ran into Jay Z’s best friend Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith and R&B singer Ne-Yo while doing some Christmas shopping.

Then, according to a witness, one of Jimmy’s pals made a disparaging comment about Jay Z to Ty Ty. And when the 5 foot 4 Ty Ty responded – things really popped off.

The insider explained, “It was total chaos – Ty Ty got stomped out right there in the store – I though they were going to kill him. And when Ne-Yo tried to break it up, he got stomped too … someone had their foot on Ne-Yo’s neck!!!”

No word on the extent of injuries that either man faced. But our source claims that neither appeared to suffer serious injuries.

Representatives for Jay Z and Jim Jones were not available for comment at the time of publication.

Flo Rida & Paul Wall are working on their new albums

Houston rapper Paul Wall has been M.I.A. for a while now working on his 4th studio album titled "The Fast Life". The album is due next year through Asylum with the lead single "Bizzy Body" featuring Webbie & Mouse. The album will feature mainly Southern rappers ranging from Young Joc too Z-Ro.

Flo-Rida Is also hard at work on his sophomore album titled R.O.O.T.S. an acronym for "Routes Of Overcoming The Struggles". The album will be out in spring 09 with the lead single hitting the airwaves in late January.

Joe Budden - Padded Room (tracklist)

01. Now I Lay (produced by Blastah Beatz)

02. The Future f/ The Game (produced by Fyu-chur)

03. If I Gotta Go (produced by the Klasixs)

04. Don't Make Me (produced by Blastah Beatz)

05. Blood On The Wall (produced by Moss)

06. In My Sleep (produced by Blastah Beatz)

07. Exxxes (produced by the Klasixs)

08. I Couldn't Help It (produced by the Klasixs)

09. Adrenaline (produced by Dub B)

10. Happy Holidays (produced by Quan)

11. Do Tell (produced by Blastah Beatz)

12. Angel In My Life (produced by Blastah Beatz)

13. Pray For Me (produced by Versatile & Dilemma)

February 24th

Swizzy is dreamin....Eminem woke him up

Looks like swizz might have opened his mouth a lil too soon about working on Eminem’s Relapse project;as the Detroit rapper recently told Billboard that Swizz did not work on the album. The Ruff Ryders super producer who implied that he had produced a track which was a follow up to Stan, the 2000 hit from Em may have a little explaining to do after Eminem firmly stated that Swizz and he didn’t get to work on this album.

“There isn’t a ‘Stan 2,’ and there won’t be,” Eminem reiterated. “Stan drove his car off a bridge and I’m not writing a song as Stan’s ghost. That would just be really corny.”

Young Buck with Grand Hustle?

T.I. addressed the rumor of signing Young Buck to MTV recently saying that he would be interested to sign the former G-Unit rapper to his label but they haven't had any negotiations.

"Buck is a personal partner of mine," T.I. said. "We've spoken, about a month or two ago, but we didn't iron out no particulars. I would definitely be willing to speak to Buck about that, but I haven't."

Despite Buck not being with the G-Unit crew as a performer, he is still under contract to release albums under the G-Unit imprint. For Buck to join Grand Hustle, T.I. would have to buy out Buck’s contract from 50 Cent.

"That's why I would have to speak to Buck first,” explained T.I. "I haven't even begun to deliberate. I haven't even started the conversation with, 'What would it take to get you over here.' That's just the conversation that's been floating around the rumor mill. When I spoke to him, it was more, 'Hey, how you doing?' speaking as partners. We didn't speak professionally. Just him making sure I was all right. Him asking me how I'm feeling, me asking the same of him.

T.I. also has his eyes set on signing fellow Atlanta rapper Killer Mike.

"I have been speaking to [Killer Mike] about connecting and moving forward professionally together," T.I. said. "Mike is an outstanding lyricist and phenomenal talent and very intelligent individual. We get along very well. Always have. It's a real organic fit."

If Young Buck and Killer Mike sign to Grand Hustle they will be joining a roster that includes 8Ball & MJG, Young Dro and B.O.B., among others.