Slick Pulla Interview with Hood Affairs

T.I. Heads To Philly To Promote Peace This Weekend

T.I. will head to Philadelphia this weekend to co-host Charlie Mack’s annual “Charlie Mack Party 4 Peace Celebrity Weekend” from July 23-25th. 

Charlie Mack, a longtime business associate of actor/rapper Will Smith, has held the annual weekend for the past seven years, to help stem the ongoing violence in Philadelphia and its surrounding communities. 

Charlie Mack and Will Smith produced the hit movie ATL, which starred T.I.

In addition to T.I., Charlie Mack has lined up a slew of celebrities who will travel around the city to promote the peaceful theme of the weekend, while enjoying the city ofPhiladelphia. 

Actor Terry Crews (Are We There Yet), Kevin Hart, Essence Atkins, Faison Love, Sheree Whitfield, Doug E. Fresh and Heavy D. 

"As a native Philadelphian, I wanted to provide young people with a vehicle to interact with today's entertainment industry actors/actresses and professional sports players, however, it was after the loss of my two brothers that I saw an even greater need to create a fundraising benefit to assist anti-violence organizations," stated Charlie Mack, born Charles Alston. 

A portion of the proceeds raised by the weekend will be donated to Mothers in Charge and Charlie Cares, a place of refuge for at risk children. 

Other performers during the week include Bel Biv Devoe, Naughty By Nature, MC Lyte, Alex Thomas and others. 

For more information visit: www.charliemackparty4peace.com

Curren$y, Paul Wall & C-N-N Debut on The Billboard 200

Several new hip-hop albums hit the shelves last week, but none were able to take out Eminem, let alone even crack The Billboard 200’s top 10.

For the fourth week in a row Eminem’s Recovery sits at the No. 1 spot on the charts. Shady’s sixth solo LP picked up an additional 195,500 units this go-round, bringing his month-long total to 1,482,500, according to the Nielsen SoundScan.

Drizzy Drake got knocked down one spot to No. 3 this sales cycle as Thank Me Later was beat out by Korn’s new disc. Fans purchased 50,300 copies of TML this week, making the disc’s five-week tally stand at 833,100.

Sliding down from No. 3 to No. 14 is Big Boi’s Sir Luscious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dusty. The OutKast MC’s long delayed LP moved 25,800 units in his second week on the stands, putting his overall figures in the 88,600 range.

The Black Eyed Peas continued to bolster up their numbers at the No. 25 slot as The E.N.D.was scanned 15,600 times this week. After 58 weeks the Peas’ total equals 2,670,100.

B.o.B. landed at the No. 32 position with his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, this time out. The ATLien earned 12,400 more fans this week, which brings his 12-week stats to 308,400. Six slots down at No. 38 are The Roots. How I Got Over was bagged up 10,800 times this week, making the group’s four week tally 96,800.

Curren$y managed to just make the Top 40 in his first week on the charts at No. 39. Pilot Talk, the 2009 XXL Freshman’s first album on Damon Dash’s DD172 New York imprint, sold 10,700 units.

Paul Wall and Capone-N-Noreaga also debuted on the charts this week. Wall’s Heart of a Champion sits at the No. 58 seat with 7,600 units while C-N-N’s The War Report 2: Report the War landed at No. 104 with 4,600.

Come back next week to see if Rick Ross’s Teflon Don can grab the top spot from Eminem. 

B.o.B. Announces The Shootin' For Stars Tour

Bobby Ray is hitting the road for his first North American headlining tour. Billed as The Shootin’ For Stars Tour, the concert kicks off on August 3rd in St. Louis and will continue on through October. See where the adventure begins in your city after the jump.

Lil Wayne Taking Prison 'One Day At A Time,' Birdman Says

Updates about Lil Wayne's jail bid have been pouring in, and in recent weeks Wayne himself has taken to his website, WeezyThanxYou.com, tospeak directly to his fans and chop it up about sports. Cash Money honcho Birdman said that the incarcerated superstar is keeping his head up as he rides out the rest of his sentence.

"Wayne in good [spirits], taking it one day at a time," Birdman toldHipHollywood.com, adding that Weezy's camp has been diligent about supporting and visiting the locked-up Grammy winner. "Everybody there supporting him. The whole family there, we there every week. We write, send him pictures, do everything the family supposed to do. We just taking it day by day, working hard, because that's what he drive on. That's what we do."

Wayne is roughly midway through his yearlong sentence and, assuming he stays out of trouble, is expected to head home on November 4, according to the MC's prison records. Like millions of the superstar's fans, the Cash Money boss is eagerly anticipating Weezy's return from Rikers Island. "He be home in a minute and we can't wait," Birdman said.

When Weezy does return he'll have a lot of business to tend to, including a$1.1 million tax bill. Young Money's Jae Millz recently told MTV News that Wayne might mark his return home by heading directly to the stage.

"I hear when he comes home, he's hitting the stage," Millz said. "I hope they let him keep his inmate uniform. He needs to come onstage with that, the whole Bruce Leroy [jail attire] and take it off and throw all the jewels on and tear it down for everyone. 'Cause they waiting for him."

T.I. Says He Lost Some Of His 'Positive Focus' During Prison Stint

Almost immediately after he finished a jail bid for gun charges in March, T.I.set out to reclaim his status as a hip-hop king — hitting the mixtape circuitand huddling in the studio with Lady Gaga and Swizz Beatz. But that doesn't mean jail wasn't a serious setback.

"It did make me worse in a sense. ... Putting me in prison took me off [a positive] path a little bit, and now I'm working to get back on that path — or at least back on the path to the extent that I was before I went in," T.I. toldComplex magazine. Before heading to jail, T.I. was serving part of his sentence by counseling at-risk kids and notched over 200 speaking engagements warning young people about violence on the MTV show "Road To Redemption."

T.I., who is on the cover of the magazine's August/September issue, says that the jail atmosphere definitely took its toll. "I lost a little bit of my positive focus during that period of incarceration. Being in that environment and having those daily surroundings, it's going to affect you."

One result was that he actually tuned out when it came to music. "I didn't listen much to records when I was in there. Music is what I do every day. That made me more homesick than anything," he said. Instead, T.I. logged lots of TV hours to pass the time. "I watched series like 'Sons of Anarchy.' I'm a fan. It's another form of 'The Sopranos' to me. I watched football and ESPN." But, the most popular show on the cellblock — "True Blood" — held no appeal for him.

"I couldn't really [watch it]. They got into that sh-- heavy," T.I. said. "The whole prison damn near shut down. Everybody left off the yard, like, ' "True Blood" coming on!' They went crazy for it — there's a bunch of sex in it, so they were tuning in for that."

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Jermaine Dupri Talks Downsizing In Creative Loafing

“Everything has been micro’d,” he says. “It’s a totally different business than it was three to four years ago. I don’t really have but, like, three people that work for me.”

Jermaine Dupri sat down with Atlanta weekly Creative Loafing to talk about the new direction he’s taking his So So Def label. In it he speaks about everything from taking down his iconic So So Def billboard on I-75/85 to why strip clubs are no longer the place to break records.