Ice Cube Debuts At Number Five On Billboard 200

The Don Mega debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 after pushing almost 70,000 copies of his latest independent project, Raw Footage.

Ice Cube had the top hip-hop album on the charts, but Lil Wayne joined him in the Top 10. The New Orleans star sold over 61,000 copies of Tha Carter III to land at number seven, according to SoundScan figure. To date, Weezy has sold 2.3 millions copies of his latest album...

Nas is holding steady on the charts at number 25 with his politically-charged LP, which sold over 15,000 copies last week to push past the 350,000 copies overall.

Plies’ sophomore set drops to number 39. Definition of Real sold just under 11,000 copies bringing the 11-week total to slightly under 470,000 copies.

The Florida native debuted the first single from his upcoming album recently on his MySpace page. “Pants Hang Low,” produced by Mannie Fresh is the lead single from Da Realist, due in December.

Source: XXL

Young Jeezy News

Gas prices are going up, but Young Jeezy sure can afford a gallon. Interestingly, the trapper, who usually leans more towards drugs tales than social commentary, titled his third solo album, The Recession to mixed responses. On one hand, fans are applauding Jeezy for addressing the common man’s struggle. On the other hand, skeptics think Jeezy, a millionaire who isn’t subjected to company-wide layoffs, is using the country’s bad economy as a marketing tool.

“It’s the same as my first album [Thug Motivation 101], Jeezy told XXLMag.com. “When money was plentiful, I was the first one who told you to stack it. Live your life with it. Now that money slowed up, I’ma be the one telling you to save it like they ain’t gon’ make it no more...”

Master P. Changes Name

Rapper Master P has followed Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lead - and changed his name. The hitmaker/entrepreneur, real name Percy Miller, now wants to be referred to as P. Miller - because it's a more grown-up moniker.

Miller has been known as Master P since entering the rap game in the early 1990s.

He says, "I'm changing my name because Master. P is who I used to be. I call it my childhood, and P. Miller marks my manhood... People grow mentally and spiritually through life experiences..."

Revolutionary Hip-Hop Icon Paris Preps New Album

Bay Area rapper/activist Paris is preparing to release his latest album, Acid Reflex, on September 9th on his own Guerrilla Funk Recordings and Filmworks, LLC, distributed by Fontana/Universal. The rapper's first single, "Don't Stop the Movement," features newcomer T-K.A.S.H. and will be released early August.

The album comes just in time for election year and contains commentary on a wide range of topics including black-on-black crime and violence, the ongoing problem of police brutality, war, politics and what Paris calls "the need for more of an equal balance between positive and negative influences in entertainment." Acid Reflex is the latest installment of cutting-edge funk-and-rock-inspired hip-hop in a career spanning the sale of over 3.8 million units independently worldwide. It features performances by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and Parliament/Funkadelic frontman George "Dr. Funkenstein" Clinton, Public Enemy leader Chuck D and Paris-protégé T-K.A.S.H...

"There's no time like the present to speak out on issues and use the most popular form of musical entertainment to motivate and inform," says Paris, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist who also serves as the album's producer. "That's why I decided to call the album Acid Reflex - it's an aggressive response to what I see going on. There are a lot of people out there who feel like mainstream music doesn't truly reflect their concerns or how they feel. Our art form is being kept artificially young and artificially dumb. Listeners of all ages are noticing that there's more to what we do than what's given us on the radio and on t.v."

In other news, Paris has expanded his Guerrilla Funk brand to include a film division, with projects slated for release with featured contributions from multi-platinum Grammy™ award winner Common, multi-platinum Grammy™ award winner André 3000, multi-platinum Grammy™ award winners The Dixie Chicks, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, George Clinton, The Coup, NOFX, Michael Franti, Anti-Flag and Tom Morello, among others.