Jay-Z has talked about retirement for much of his 10-year recording career. His 2003 release The Black Album was billed as his last, though since then he found time to tour, record albums with R. Kelly and Linkin Park and usher a feature film into theaters.

But now he has a desk job: The multiplatinum rapper has been named the president and CEO of Island/Def Jam records.

Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter) will assume his post Jan. 3 and report to label chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid. He’ll also continue to work at Roc-a-Fella Records, the label he co-founded that is affiliated with Island.

As much a businessman as an artist ? he also runs a successful clothing line, a vodka company and is a partner in the business group that purchased the NBA’s New Jersey Nets ? Jay-Z had hinted at a desire to become an industry mover and shaker like Berry Gordy, the man who founded Motown Records and turned it into a hit-making institution.

“My next thing is to open up the door for black people to become record executives,” he told the Chronicle this fall. “The music business is stale to me. I want to push the envelope and open it up for future generations.”

Just before dawn on a crisp November morning, federal agents converged on a two-story home in suburban Maplewood, N.J., and woke up Cynthia Brent. They told her to get dressed for court.

Brent, a soft-spoken accountant for rap label The Inc., was facing charges of laundering more than $1 million in drug money.

Over the next eight days, federal and local agents swept from New Jersey to Manhattan and Queens, making arrests in a probe linking one of rap music’s hottest labels to one of New York’s most notorious gangsters.

After filing charges against seven suspects, including rap star Ja Rule’s manager, federal prosecutors appear to be closing in on their ultimate targets: The Inc. founder Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo and convicted crack kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff.

Convicted criminals and artists alike long have boasted about the links between the industry and the drug underworld, but no major charges have ever been filed against a label as successful as The Inc, which has sold about 20 million records behind flagship artists Ja Rule and Ashanti.

Prosecutors have declined to discuss the case. But defense attorneys and law enforcement officials said Brent, Ja Rule manager Ron “Gutta” Robinson and two alleged McGriff associates are under pressure by the government to provide information about the rap mogul and McGriff.

The arrests signal that the investigation, after a yearlong lull, is “gaining momentum,” said one of the law enforcement officials, all of whom spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Longtime friends, Gotti and McGriff are suspected of laundering money from McGriff’s cocaine and heroin operation through Gotti’s platinum-selling label, according to court documents filed in support of search and property seizure warrants.

McGriff, 44, founder of one of the city’s most violent drug crews, allegedly returned to his old ways when he was released from prison in 1997. He had served about nine years for drug conspiracy.

A police official said investigators believe that once free, McGriff set about reviving his drug-dealing operation. They also suspect he and his associates could be responsible for a dramatic rise in homicides there, the official said.

The number of killings in the Queens neighborhood in which he operated defied a citywide downward trend last year by rising to 29, compared to just 13 a year earlier. So far this year — with McGriff behind bars for a minor gun possession conviction — killings total 16.

Cooperating witnesses have told investigators that McGriff admitted to the 2001 revenge slaying of up-and-coming rapper E-Money Bags in New York and arranged the Baltimore killing one month later of an informant in his drug organization. A security camera captured a luxury sport utility vehicle registered to a McGriff associate dropping off another shooting victim’s body at a Queens hospital in 1999, court papers said.

McGriff hasn’t been charged in any of the killings, and he’s denied any wrongdoing. His attorney, Robert Simels, said his client has become a scapegoat for unsolved murders based solely on his criminal history as boss of a former gang known as the Supreme Team.

“I think he’s a convenient person to point to because of the lore of the street,” said Simels, referring to the gang’s reputation in rap circles.

“When you hear talk of the south side, you hear talk of the Team,” rapper 50 Cent says in one song. “See (people) … respected ‘Preme.”

As for Gotti and his associates, they say they’re proud of their friendship with McGriff.

“That’s like my brother, I love this boy,” Ja Rule said when asked about McGriff in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The Inc. was founded as Murder Inc. in 1997. Gotti changed his label’s name earlier this year to deflect negative publicity from the investigation. Its new single, Wonderful, featuring Ja Rule and Ashanti, was No. 2 on Billboard’s list of hot rap tracks last week.

Gerald Lefcourt, Gotti’s lawyer, insists The Inc. is a legitimate business financed by part owner Island Def Jam, a Universal Music label.

“All we see is government pressure on all kinds of people to provide negative information with no justification,” Lefcourt said.

The King of Crunk married his queen this weekend at a resort in Puerto Rico. Lil Jon walked down the aisle at the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort and Golden Door Spa in Fajardo, near San Juan, at a small Saturday afternoon ceremony.

The couple married under a white columned canopy, in front of around 80 guests on a field overlooking the ocean. The bride — whose name is being withheld to respect her privacy — wore a dress by Monique Lhuillier; the rapper donned a white tuxedo. The three bridesmaids were dressed in mauve gowns, while the groomsmen wore white tuxedos.

An early-evening reception was held poolside, and a party later took place in the upper-level ballrooms of the resort’s Grand Hotel. Resort patrons, meanwhile, partied at the hotel’s casino, bar and club, hoping to catch a glimpse of the couple and rumored attendees such as Usher and Snoop Dogg.

Lil Jon’s publicist and label representative declined to comment on his wedding.

This post is for those of you love some Beyonce. I know she isnt naked, but she does have on a sheer top. You can get a good look at those nipples. Looks like these pics were taken from a Destiny’s Child TV interview promoting their new album ‘Destiny Fulfilled‘.

Click on the thumbs for the big pics (REAL BIG)

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The Santa Monica Police Department issued a warrant for the arrest of G-Unit rapper Young Buck on Tuesday (November 16) in connection with the melee at Monday’s Vibe Awards.

After reviewing a videotape of the fight, investigators believe Buck (born David Darnell Brown) stabbed 26-year-old Los Angeles native Jimmy James Johnson after Johnson assaulted Dr. Dre during the ceremony at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport hangar (see “Dr. Dre Attacked, Man Stabbed During Melee At Vibe Awards”).

Buck, who will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, was one of three men seen on the videotape with knives. The other two have not been identified.

“Mr. Brown is seen lunging over another male and swinging the knife at Mr. Johnson’s upper body while Johnson is looking away from him,” Santa Monica Police Department spokesperson J.T. Butts Jr. said at a press conference Tuesday (November 16). “He is clearly depicted holding the knife after the assault and was a number of fight participants sprayed by pepper spray. Brown then fled the scene and was not identified until earlier this morning. … We are asking Mr. Brown to surrender himself to the Santa Monica Police Department immediately.”

The encounter began around 7:25 p.m., when Johnson approached Dr. Dre for an autograph and began punching him several times.

“As private security persons attempted to control Mr. Johnson, several males attempted to assault him,” Butts said. “Two uniformed officers attempted to intervene and they themselves became victims when unidentified men threw chairs at them.”

James was stabbed in the chest and suffered a collapsed lung. He was rushed to a local hospital and is in stable condition, Butts said.

James, who is on parole, has not yet been interviewed, nor has Dr. Dre. “We have a call in to him, he has not responded, but we will interview him at his earliest convenience,” Butts said. “This investigation is continuing and we are in the process of identifying several other assault suspects. We have a lot of people to interview.”

Butts said he has no idea what sparked the assault and made no connection between Johnson and Suge Knight, a longtime Dre rival who attended the awards.

Initially only two officers intervened, but Butts said 56 officers were on the scene within minutes, including more than 30 who were patrolling the Vibe Awards. Metal detectors were used at the doors, Butts said.

Young Buck has several arrests in Nashville on his record for minor offenses, Butts said. A spokesperson for the G-Unit had no comment.

YOUNG BUCK VIBE AWARDS STABBING VIDEO CLIP

The second annual Vibe Awards, an evening meant to honor hip-hop and R&B, was disrupted by a melee Monday night (November 15).

Reports are sketchy, but according to eyewitnesses, as Snoop Dogg and Quincy Jones were getting ready to

present Dr. Dre with the Vibe Legend Award, Dre was attacked near the stage.

Witnesses said Dre was standing next to his wife when the man approached in a friendly manner, and then all of a sudden began throwing punches at the rapper/producer’s head.

When bodyguards and people with the G-Unit jumped in to protect Dre, things quickly got out of control. While there were some reports that a man with the G-Unit’s entourage was stabbed, a spokesperson for the group had no comment on the matter.

After the dust settled at least 10 minutes later, the show went on. Dre picked up his award and told the crowd he wouldn’t let incidents like that one slow him down. Later, the audience at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, was treated to a performance of “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop with Pharrell Williams. Jadakiss also performed and was joined by Anthony Hamilton and Common.

The Vibe Awards are scheduled to air Tuesday at 8 p.m. on UPN.

The rap artist O.D.B., who lived a life as wild as his lyrics, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday, his record label said. He was 35.

O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, according to a statement from Roc-a-Fella records.

O.D.B., also known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt or his legal name of Russell Jones, was a founding member of the hit rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s. With his offbeat, unorthodox delivery, he segued into a successful solo career and released several hit singles.

But he was frequently in trouble with the law, mostly for drug possession.

In February 1998, he crashed the stage at the Grammy Awards and hijacked a microphone from singer Shawn Colvin as she accepted an award, apparently upset over losing the best rap album Grammy to Puff Daddy. He complained that he spent a lot of money for new clothes because he thought he was going to win. The rapper later apologized. Later in 1998, he was wounded in a shooting during a robbery in his apartment.

In 2001 he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for drug possession; plus two concurrent years for escaping from a rehab clinic. He was released in 2003 and immediately signed with Roc-a-Fella.

O.D.B. would have turned 36 on Monday.

Murphy Lee was arrested on Halloween on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs.

The rapper and St. Lunatics member had been pulled over on October 31 near St. Louis for an expired license plate when police found marijuana in his Mercedes, according to The Associated Press.

Lee was arrested for possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana and driving under the influence of drugs after Sheriff’s deputies allegedly smelled marijuana in his car. He is expected to appear in court next month.

An attorney for Lee, born Tohri Harper, told the AP that the rapper expects to plead not guilty.

The ‘breaking news’ reports on some web sites concerning the shooting of New Jersey rapper Chino XL are completely false.

After checking into the story, it seems one site posted it; and since most of these kind of ‘fan’ sites copy and paste news with out looking into the source, the story just spread

The story indicates that rapper Chino XL was shot in the chest 3 times in Pomona California by a young, 19 year old suspect from California, who reportedly screamed “thug life” as he opened fire. Police are looking at the possibility that the feud between Chino XL and the late Tupac Shakur lead to the shooting.

This is just another example of web mis-information and how ‘copy and paste’ news can spread on the web even if it is false.

Reputable and reliable web news sources post a source for their news and check out things before they post them. That is something to keep in mind.

It never happened…