In our mid-week 'Rap' sheet Lil Kim, The Game, DJ Drama, Beyonce's tour, and news on the UK's Hip Hop scene

Lil Kim to write book
Famed Brooklyn rapper, Lil Kim, born Kimberly Jones is working on a novel called The Price of Loyalty which according to her publicist will not be in anyway autobiographical. The book which is expected to hit shelves later this year will be published by St. Martins Press, who have been responsible for books such as The Da Vinci Code. Lil Kim was released from federal prison in the US last year after being sentenced for a year and a day for perjury stemming from a shooting at NYC radio station Hot 97 back in 2001.
The Game attacks
After the son of his manager was allegedly attacked by G Units Tony Yayo two weeks ago, The Game has verbally attacked 50 Cent and G Unit in his new diss track Body Bags. The Game had recently had discussions with Young Buck and the two were talking about working on a new song together but the recent turn of events have unfortunately deadened that idea.The reported attack on Jimmy Rosemond's son has stunned the Hip-Hop community and a peace rally took place in New York City on Monday. Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis of the HSAN (Hip-Hop Summit Action Network) were scheduled to be present but at a later date declined to be present.Tony Yayo is expected to be in court to face charges stemming from the attack on April 25th. The continuing trouble between G Unit and the Game stems from issues relating to The Games debut album on G Unit back in 2004 which resulted in the Compton rapper leaving the label.

DJ Drama Speaks

After being arrested in January in his offices in Atlanta, one of the biggest mixtape DJs in the world has finally spoke about his recent trouble with the authorities. Drama born Tyree Simmons was arrested along with fellow Aphilliates member DJ Don Cannon on January 16th. Talking to Billboard.com, DJ Drama explained that he hopes some good comes from his arrest as there has to be changes within the mixtape community to appease the RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America)

"There's going to have to be some agreement between labels and artists that makes everyone comfortable. Even if the labels figure out a way of working directly with the DJs to get the mixtapes done by offering an upfront fee that makes sense on their end and on ours. It could create a system that makes mixtapes comfortably buyable," he says.

Mixtapes have become a viable way of marketing music and in promoting new albums from already established artists and garnering attention for those artists who are trying to get a deal.

Because of his success on the mixtape circuit, DJ Drama has a deal for he and his Aphilliate Crew through TI's label Grand Hustle/Atlantic. He is also the DJ for TI.

Beyonce Heads out on tour

Our favorite independent woman is just about to embark on a world tour which will please her thousands of fans. Below are the cities she will be hitting as she continues to promote her BDay album which was released late last year which has already sold over 1.5 million copies. 04/30/2007 Festhalle Frankfurt,Germany
05/01/2007 Schleyerhalle Stuttgart,Germany
05/03/2007 Globen Stockholm,Sweden
05/04/2007 Vikingskibet Hamar,Norway
05/05/2007 Gigantium, Aalborg Aalborg,Denmark
05/07/2007 Olympiahalle Munich,Germany
05/08/2007 Stadthalle Vienna,Austria
05/09/2007 Hallenstadion Zurich,Switzerland
05/10/2007 Forum - Itlay Milan,Assago
05/12/2007 Gerry Weber Halle ,Germany
05/13/2007 Max Schmeling Halle Berlin,Germany
05/14/2007 Colorline Arena Hamburg,Germany
05/16/2007 Bercy Paris,France
05/17/2007 Konig Arena Oberhausen,Germany
05/18/2007 Ahoy Rotterdam,Netherlands
05/19/2007 Sportpalais Antwerp,Belgium
05/24/2007 Atlantico Pavilion Lisbon,Portugal
05/26/2007 Palacio Desportes Madrid,Spain
05/27/2007 Palau St. Jordi Barcelona,Spain
05/29/2007 The Dome Marseilles,France
05/30/2007 Tony Garnier Lyon,France
06/01/2007 NEC Birmingham,England
06/03/2007 Wembley Arena London,England
06/04/2007 Wembley Arena London,England
06/06/2007 Nottingham Arena - NIC Nottingham,England
06/07/2007 MEN Manchester,England
06/09/2007 The Point Dublin,Ireland
06/10/2007 The Point Dublin,Ireland

Beyonce re-released her album in the US yesterday with an additional five songs on the album and has a dvd coming out featuring 13 videos of selected songs from her BDay collection.

UK Hip-Hop
Hip-Hop has failed to make its mark in the mainstream market here in the UK like it has in other countries throughout the world. But taking a look at the Guardian Newspaper on Monday you might see people are finally starting to sit up and take notice.

The newspaper which issued its ETHNIC MINORITY POWER LIST where the UKs top 30 most influential people/organizations in media are recognized, featured jumpoff.tv, a Hip-Hop website which has had enormous success in the UK, promoting Hip-Hop in it's true art forms which has also established itself in America as well.

Established in 2003 jumpoff.tv has "evolved into a leading global Hip Hop Sports Entertainment Brand at the cutting edge of the digital revolution."

Melanie J Cornish