Mikey: Rap Radar was in attendance as Jay-Z held a press conference for his 9/11 Benefit Concert at MSG. Tickets for the “Answer the Call” concert will be $50 and go on sale September 8th at 9 A.M. for Citibank cardholders (12:00 P.M. for general public). All proceeds will be donated to the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s charity.

1. Wale  feat. Jazmine Sullivan “World Tour”
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2. Snoop Dogg “That’s the Homie”
[audio:Snoop_Dogg_-_That’s_Da_Homie.mp3]
3. Jay-Z feat. Mr Hudson – Young Forever (Prod. by Kanye West) via Perajok & Kanye West
4. Jay-Z feat. J.Cole “A Star is Born” via YouHeardThatNew

Another song off the upcoming Blueprint 3 album…

New Music: Jay-Z “Hate” (produced by Kanye West)

Oo, now I like this song…in a weird way, Kanye out-timboed Timbo here.

(spotted on Nahright…today Jay-Z is holding his press conference about his upcoming show at MSG for the Police and Firefighters Widows Fund…I’m sure there will be coverage available soon)

(thank you to Sowmya for the link)

(hmmm…..)

I am definitely going to be watching this Larry King interview tomorrow. But I hope all of Chris Brown’s responses are not this wishy washy.

UPDATE: Necole has more details about tomorrow’s sit-down…including Chris saying that he still loves Rihanna. Oh boy.

UPDATE 2: Chris Brown has released a statement about the clip posted above. He says that the clip was taken out of context and that he does remember the night of the domestic assault on Rihanna.

“There have been reports on the internet that I didn’t remember what happened that night with Rihanna.  I want to try and set things straight.

That 30 seconds of the interview they used of me was taken from a one hour interview during which that same question was asked something like 4 or 5 times — and when you look at the entire interview you will see it is not representative of what I said.

The first four times – or how ever many times it was – I gave the same answer — which was that I didn’t think it was appropriate for me to talk about what happened that night.  I said it was not right for me and it really wasn’t fair to Rihanna.  The fifth time – or whatever it was – I just misspoke.  I was asked, “Do you remember doing it?” and I said, “No.”

Of course I remember what happened. Several times during the interview, my mother said that I came to her right afterwards and told her everything.  But it was and still is a blur. And yes, I still can’t believe it happened because it is not me or who I am or is what happened like anything I have ever done before.

As I have said several times previously, I am ashamed of and sorry for what happened that night and I wish I could relive that moment and change things, but I can’t.  I take full responsibility for my actions. What I have to do now is to prove to the world that this was an isolated incident and that is not who I am and I intend to do so by my behavior now and in the future.”

Mikey: Stretch Armstrong sat down with MTV news, and gave a lil’  insight on DJ AM’s legacy, “I was trying to think of an analogy in music to AM and the only group I could really think of is the Beatles…
“He knocked down and opened so many doors that had never even been knocked on by DJs. These doors might be open but there’s no one that can walk in them right now, and who knows if there will be? He was a singular talent in that way.”

Related: DJ Premier on DJ AM: He was sick on the turntables, and f–k any DJ that

(Props to Jayson)

Mikey: Even though 50’s family day that was supposed to take place today at PS 40 in Queens was canceled in fear of violence, last night Fif and the G-Unit crew bussed hundreds of kids from his old neighborhood to Six Flags theme park in Nothern New Jersey for a fun filled day and free concert. Check out the 6:22 mark for 50’s special dedication to the accompanying popo.

(thanks to ISTATUS)

Mikey: This Sunday, family, friends, and fans of the late Big L will celebrate the life of the fallen emcee by repainting the orginal mural that was dedicated to him on the corner 140th and Lenox Ave in Harlemworld, USA. There will be music, food, and the 1st sneak peak of  the trailer for the Big L documentary entitled,” Street Struck, The Life And Times Of Big L”. This event is open to all, so spread the word! (Larger Flyer Size after the Jump)

Update: Street Struck: The Big L Story [Trailer]

(props to Lowkey)

(thanks to DJ Soul)

(more…)

(thanks to IcedotCom for this video of Hov’s Myspace interview)

(wow, what a photo…DJ AM, DJ Premier, and DJ Stretch Armstrong, spotted at BrooklynVegan)

DJ Premier remember his friend DJ AM last night on his radio show….and talked about how he had just spoken to DJ AM the day before. They were planning a Nike collaboration, a sneaker series called Rivals. Primo says he would be designing an AF1 and AM would be doing a dunk, and that both men were excited to announce the project this upcoming tuesday at Vegas’ Magic convention….

“I met him when he was 14 year old at a Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Hooligans show….he was with Alchemist and Scott Caan, James Caan’s son…..and we took pictures. The other day, he sent me the pictures and Im gonna make a t-shirt of that….”

“Rest in peace to DJ AM. shout to his family. Even his mother, she’s been very sick with leukemia, and every year he has a donation [drive] towards her fund. And every year I donate to his fund…I asked [AM] did you bug out when you fly. He say, taking and landing is the only time I really bug out. Once I’m in the air, I’m cool. He said turbulence doesnt even bother him, it was just taking off and landing….and now he’s taking off to heaven…gotta go somewhere and chill.”

“I already heard people are trying to hate like he wasn’t important, like he wasn’t a dope DJ. Let me tell you something…he is the f–kin’ shit. This dudes’s a f–kin’ maniac on turntables, for real. You have to experience this dude’s tactics on turntables, he’s sick with it. And if I cosign it, f–k any DJ who disagrees. You either haven’t seen him spin…and this dude’s history, his knowledge of music was intense…Ive known this dude for over 15 years so I bear witness to seeing him get busy. So any DJ that feel different, f–k y’all, man, y’all don’t know the dude, and I know him. So f–k all of y’all, f–k you.
[UPDATE 9-1-09: Another one of DJ AM’s longtime friends, Mike B posted a very poignant blog about his feelings of loss (via Jon Shecter)]