Str8HipHip

According to the Associated Press, Nike has launches its new marketing campaign, The Second Coming: Our Game, Our Time" to introduce the new statement shoe of Nike Basketball, the Air Force 25, while paying homage to the basketball revolution that Nike started 25 years ago with the Air Force 1. To kick it off, Nike premiered a short-form, music-fueled montage featuring in-studio highlights of two of the hottest young talents in hip-hop, Just Blaze and Juelz Santana, creating an exclusive track for the AF25 movement, as well as select footage from the highly-anticipated campaign. The special clip premiered on MTV's Sucker Free, MTV2 and www.nikeairforce.mtv.com two days ago.

In a startling response to DJ Drama and Don Cannon’s arrests, mix tape websites across the globe have taken mix tape products off of their sites.

Details surround the massive stripping of inventory stem from fear of the RIAA and law enforcement agencies cracking down on these business’s activities.

Most notable in this new move is the world’s largest distributor of mix tape products Mixunit.com. To date Mixunit.com has been the world’s leading suppliers of mix tapes to people around the globe and its founder and main contributor Clinton Sparks is also one of its top sellers on the site. The site now only houses DVD’s and albums.

Both DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon have been released from the Fulton County Jail, where they were held overnight on Tuesday (January 16) on racketeering charges. The two DJ's were freed on a $100,000 signature bond this afternoon (January 17). They are set for a second appearance at the Fulton County Court on January 24. The raid on the Aphillates Music Group’s offices in Atlanta were apparently the result of a partnership with a nationwide joint vice task force working to stop the sale of pirated music. DJ Drama, born Tyree Simmons and Donald “Don” Cannon, were arrested on felony charges under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

An Atlanta metro law enforcement task force raided the downtown Atlanta recording studio DJ Drama & producer Don Cannon this Tuesday night in an effort to stop the bootlegging and sale of their mix tapes online and on the streets.

Tens of thousands of DJ Drama & Don Cannon mix tapes where confiscated in the raid and will more than likely will be destroyed once taken in as evidence in the case against the two men.

The battle between The Source and its former co-owners David Mays and Ray "Benzino" Scott continues, as the new owners of The Source have sent a cease and desist notice to the pair's new venture, Hip Hop Weekly.

The letter, which was sent to executives at Hip Hop Weekly and Mays' attorney David J. Finkler on behalf of The Source Enterprises, is dated Jan. 11.

The Source accuses the recently launched Hip-Hop tabloid of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Underground rapper and 2005 Fight Klub battle champion Serius Jones is taking his act to the majors as the newest member of Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP) record label. DTP executives confirmed the signing with AllHipHop.com today (Jan. 16). The signing ends months of negotiations and speculation about which major label the rapper will call home. "I saw him on AllHipHop.com and I saw him doing his grassroots movement and I was impressed. He's going to help the DTP record label expand from the south," DTP Co-founder/CEO Jeff Dixon told AllHipHop.com. "He's focused and he's good with his craft. He's a breath of fresh air. Everybody felt that he was just a battle rapper, but I felt his swagger and he has a career far beyond that. He's a complete artist."

SHOWTIME TO PREMIERE FADER FILMS' CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILM ON THE OUTS

Based On True Stories From The Streets and called "...a fierce and gripping new film" by The New York Times, Film Premieres Saturday, January 20 at 10 p.m.

New York, NY: FADER Films, the film production division of The FADER magazine, the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it, announced today that its critically acclaimed motion picture On The Outs will premiere on SHOWTIME this Saturday, January 20. Directed by Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik (Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius Hook Mitchell) and nominated for a pair of Independent Spirit Awards, On The Outs is a drama that follows the lives of three imprisoned teenage girls from the streets of New Jersey. Oz (Judy Marte) is a tough 17-year-old with a team of dealers working for her, caring for a mentally challenged brother, while Suzette (Anny Mariano) finds herself pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend, and single mother Marison (Paola Mendoza) fights two losing battles: one for custody of her child and the other with addiction.

Jim Jones has hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot Ringmasters Chart(ringtones), with his hit single "We Fly High." According to Soundscan, the ringtone has sold/downloaded 1.1 million times. I has reached platinum ringtone status after 15 weeks on Ringmasters charts. As for the song single itself... It comes in at #8 this week on The Billboards Hot 100 and his Hustler's (P.O.M.E) still sits at the top of Billboard's Independent albums in this first week of charts for 2007.

In an effort to retaliate for being dressed up in a Borat style spandex one-piece thing on the cover of Tru Life’s new mixtape, somebody in the Dipset camp has hacked into the Roc La Familia rappers Myspace page. The culprit has replaced all of Lizzy’s pics with various Jim Jones images including the one you see above. All of the music was removed and replaced with the Jim Jones and Jay-Z Brooklyn remix. I’m guessing it’ll be fixed at some point this weekend, so I took some screenshots for posterity. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to rap beef in 2007. The same tactic was used by The Game supports who hacked into G-Unit members Young Hot Rod & 40 Glocc's MySpace pages earlier this year.

Gnarls Barkley are among the first artists named today to perform at the upcoming 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Known far and wide for their ingenious and surprising live appearances (in costumes ranging from The Wizard of Oz to Star Wars), Gnarls will share the stage with a star-studded line-up slated to include Beyoncé, the Dixie Chicks, and current tour mates the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Gnarls Barkley – the combination of Grammy-winning artist/producer Danger Mouse and 5-time Grammy nominated superstar vocalist Cee-Lo Green – have been honored with five Grammy Award nominations, including nods in the two top categories: “Record of the Year” (for the history-making hit, “Crazy”) and “Album of the Year” (for the now-classic RIAA platinum-certified debut, “ST. ELSEWHERE”).