As a member of Ruff Ryders, D-Block and The Lox, Jadakiss has enjoyed a lengthy tour of duty. Now he has gotten the attention of the general American population with one song simply titled “Why.” A collaboration with crooner Anthony Hamilton, “Why” has been the subject of various media outlets attention, due to one line in particular – “Why did Bush knock down the towers?” The song, from Jadakiss’ Kiss of Death CD joins Michael Moore’s anti-Bush documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11,” in questioning the president’s involvement with the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center. Kiss said that Interscope respected his creativity and the fans appreciate his candor. Other media outlets have made it a point to mute the direct reference to Bush though. Similarly, there have been many efforts to ban Moore’s cinematic investigation through letter-writing campaigns, online petitions and various forms of corporate sabotage. Jadakiss said he followed he heart. “I just sat down and did it,” Jadakiss told AllHipHop.com. “There was no question whether it was going on the album or not. After I laid it and took it to [Interscope] Jimmy Iovine, he was good. He didn’t even care if I did no more songs. He would have put that on both sides of the CD.” “People say incredible s**t when they come up to me,” he continued. “[Like] you don’t know how much I felt that like right there’…It’s therapy for the listeners. That’s the best part of the whole s**t. Touching the human soul. Once you’re in the zone everything follows.” Since the 9-11 tragedy, many have been left with unanswered questions and Jadakiss remains another individual waiting for an answer. Like “Why,” Moore’s documentary suggests that Bush had knowledge of the terror attacks. Like Jadakiss’ first week success, the movie has already broken single day box office records in New York and Hollywood. “I trust all of you teenagers out there will find your way into a theater to see this movie,” Moore said of the Rated R movie, which requires children under the age of 17 to attend th movie theater with a parent. Other similar films have preceded Moore’s. “AfterMath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11” was narrated by Hip-Hop activist/ rapper Paris and was made in conjunction with the Guerrilla News Network (GNN). Jadakiss’ Kiss of Death is poised to top the charts in his respective field and Moore’s "Fahrenheit 9/11," opening today (June 25), is expected to have overwhelming success despite being relegated to a little over 500 theaters nationwide.

Earl "DMX" Simmons was arrested on charges that he and an aquaintance attempted to steal a car in a parking lot of New York’s Kennedy Airport. Port Authority police arrested Simmons and Jackie Hudgins, after a dispute ensued between the the two men and the owner of the vehicle. A Port Authority spokesman said that Simmons may have falsely identified himself as a federal agent. Simmons and Hudging were arrested and charged with attempted robbery, criminal impresonation and criminal mischeif. The two men were expected to be booked in Queens, New York yesterday (June 24). Representatives for DMX were not available for comment as of press time. It is not clear how the arrest may effect his travel to Dublin, Ireland on June 28, where DMX is scheduled to give his first performance to eager fans.

G-Unit’s Young Buck and 50 Cent have elected to jumpstart G-Unit South Records in an effort to expand the gangstas’ business properties below the Mason Dixon line. For Buck, the move is as much personal as it is business, he said. “I want to see more artists from where I am from get into the game as well as other artists that just deserve something else, so you will hear something from G-Unit South Records,” Buck revealed to AllHipHop.com. “That’s officially 50 Cent and Young Buck. Its going to be coming to a hood near you. That’s real.” Buck said that the label was something the two were developing because their plans for it went beyond a logo deal, where a major label markets and distributes the releases- and owns the masters- in return for slapping the logo on the album artwork. “The goals would be to sell units and to establish myself as a company for the long-term business, not one of them cats that just comes and go,” Buck said. “I want longevity. I love the music before the money so I got a real heart for the s**t.” While Buck said that he is focused on promoting his album, he already has an artist in mind that could potentially be the first signing to the G-Unit South label. “I got a homey that I started with by the name of D-Tay,” Buck continued. “That will probably be the first look that I have as far as the label is concerned because he is me in a sense, another version of Buck. He’s seen the same things I’ve walked through. He’s got the same quality skills that I bring to the table.” Not content with just a new label, Buck said that he was considering a move into the automotive world. “I like cars a lot so I think I want to get my own rim. I want to see that go down.” As a member of G-Unit, Buck has enjoyed luxuries like high-end guest spots, a chart-topping album, a clothing line and a sneaker collection through Reebok. Young Buck’s solo album Straight Outta Cashville drops July 27.

Rapper Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz) has launched chapter 2 of his odd rap battle with basketball star Shaquille O’Neal. Without warning, the pair’s musical clash began with a JiCE-produced Shaq freestyle that hit exclusively on a DJ Sickamore mixtape. Spreading rapidly, the track had Shaq spitting lines that appeared to be directed at Skillz.4 In a song titled "The Champs Is Here," Skillz has returned fire by incorporating Ben Wallace of the NBA Champions The Detroit Pistons. Wallace is tied to Skillz’ home state of Virginia because he played college basketball for Virginia Union. "Shaq picked a battle that we know he cant win and you versus Skillz that’s a sad one/ I’ll kill your rap career as if you’ve ever had one and that’s a shame son/you made 5 hip hop albums and I don’t know anyone that could name one/when you see me you have nothing to say/treat me like your lazy eye and start going the other way/and your eye is giving me the creeps/ matter of fact it don’t even look lazy, dog, its gone to sleep." Shaq’s rap wasn’t weak, but Skillz assured that he wasn’t the hooper’s ghostwriter as gossip and Internet chatter has suggested. "Rumors are rumors," Skillz told AllHipHop.com. "I never wrote anything for Shaq, not recently or back in the day. That s**t is stupid, it makes no sense. Paying for a person to rhyme with a rhyme? Repeat that back to yourself three times and see how stupid it sounds," he reasoned. "The only reason he got an answer is because he threw the first blow. This ain’t no challenge, this ain’t even exercise to be honest with you." While Skillz makes light of Shaq’s skills, he will be delivering a mighty blow with the advent of a mixtape dedicated to his gripe. With "Street Wars: Skillz Vs. Shaq" the VA lyricist collaborated with Washington D.C.’s DJ P. Cutta and DJ Whoa in hopes of keeping the baller on the court and off the microphone. "If you think "The Champ is Here" with [Detroit Piston] Ben Wallace was a problem, wait to ya hear this s**t. I do research fam, I don’t play," he exclaimed. Skillz has been known to shock with his punchlines, yet he assured that he is only defending his honor, not partaking in a publicity stunt. "People want to know my intentions about why I went so hard at Shaq – I’m an MC….that’s the bottom line," he said frankly. "You throw a dart at me, I throw a harpoon at you. I don’t go looking for beef, this one was brought to me." Lastly, Skillz concluded with a message for some of those he feels are preoccupied with his career. "Most of y’all sit in front of your computers too much, worrying about what the rest of the world is doing. I got a new single called "Take It Back," just shot a video and leave for an overseas tour next week. And I’m turning down deals cause I can," he said. "You’re on a computer everyday at work hoping your boss don’t find out you on AllHipHop.com. Be easy. Hop off my d**k…ain’t no more room on it."

Snoop Dogg has entered into a partnership with sneaker company Pony and will release his own footwear line, "The One and Only," described as a "a creative fusion of Snoop’s signature West coast flavor and style with classic Pony design." A nationwide marketing and advertising campaign featuring Snoop Dogg is currently being produced to support the line, which will hit stores in a limited run in early 2005. "I wore Pony’s back in the day playing football and always liked their style," Snoop said. "I’m excited to be a partner in bringing the brand back and adding a little Snoop Dogg flavor, so get ready for The One and Only!" Killick Datta, the CEO of Pony International labeled Snoop one of the "greatest entertainment successes of our time," and said that Pony was committed to bringing forth a quality shoe. "Pony is committed to matching Snoop’s high standards in everything we do under this incredible partnership and it is clear by his exclusive commitment to us that he has confidence in our ability to do so," Datta said. "Snoop Dogg’s versatility and commitment as an artist along with his laid back persona has carved him a place in entertainment and now fashion history. Snoop, who recently inked a deal with The Neptunes’ Star Trak imprint, said that his footwear would differ from the growing list of rappers that are releasing their own brands. "I have more flavor than the other artists. Pony is old school and I’m an old soul."

Rap icon Ice-T and film maker Paul “Paulie Paul” Eliacin are collaborating on an independent film, “Up In Harlem,” and hope to spark a new era in independently funded films. The movie hits stores nationally today (June 22) on DVD. With $80,000 of his own money, Eliacin paid for the film after many African American heavyweights inside the industry refused to help him, he said. Despite the odds, Eliacin managed to finish the movie and pull Ice in as a major selling point. Admitting he did the film for free, Ice-T said, “If you have 100 million, I want my paper. If you ain’t got nothing, then I ain’t gonna ask you for nothing. Now, you just dealing with timing. For people in the game, money is time and time is money. If I can work a day and I can make X amount of dollars and you want a day, you got to find a day I’m not doing nothing.” The pair became friends on the set of “Law and Order,” where Eliacin is a driver and Ice-T is an actor. The movie is about an ambitious seventeen-year-old girl who scores a college scholarship in her native Harlem. However, her dreams are put in jeopardy after she meets a smooth talking Harlem hustler posing as a Wall Street employee. After she sees him murder someone, he threatens her life. Eliacin managed to make something out of his life, because the fortysomething director has had a troubled past that still lingers. Years ago, he accidentally shot a man that owed him money. “I put a gat to his head, it went off. I turned myself in and we know the police aren’t always honest and extracted a confession out of me. I lost most of my life [in jail].” He went through a number of other incidents, equating to nine years in prison before he dedicated himself to his new work. He said even after a lengthy jail term, he was re-incarcerated before he got focused. “I decided to hustle and make up for lost time. So I came out hustling and I ended up getting locked up again for parole violation. So I did a year. Then I came back out again and this time decided to do the drug game. I got arrested for my first deal. When I went in that time, I decided I’m not fit to be a criminal,” he confessed. “I said, ‘So what I’m going to do is, I’ma come out and pursue my dream of being an actor.’ I got involved in “Straight Out Of Brooklyn (the classic film by Matty Rich).” I did everything I could to learn about film. After that I branched out and did “Up In Harlem.” While he still faces many immigration hurdles, he said he intends to remain positive and in control of his fate. “I’m not gonna let these white folks control my destiny. I’m gonna be like Spike. I’m not gonna work for somebody, so that why I’m gonna put myself in my films.” He also has investors interested in his next film, which he intends to start working on in the near future. And perhaps some of Eliacin’s ambition has rubbed off on Ice-T as he has expressed interest in moving behind the camera. “I would love for Ice-T to one day be able to direct. I think I could direct well because I’m an actor, so I know how to bring s**t out of actors. I’ve done music videos. Add the music to it, I got the music,” Ice said. “And the story, I’ve been one of the known rappers to bring ill visuals into music from when I started. Its easy now for people to do it, but a lot of the s**t we were doing, ni**as had no understanding of it. “When people sit down for Ice-T’s directorial debut, I want to have people feeling it.” “Up In Harlem” can be found at retail outlets nationwide. Click here for more information and to view the film’s trailer – http://pauliepaul.com/

The internet has been in a silent uproar over an alleged incident of Jay-Z striking a woman, but the speculation over a 3-second moving GIF image has been proven inaccurate. The image, which has been spread through the internet through websites, instant messenger transmissions and message boards, seems to show the image of Jay-Z assaulting a women considerably smaller than he is. Jay-Z responded to the charges though a Roc representative and categorically denied the accusations. The rep also clarified exactly where the scene came from. “The person in the video is an executive at Roc-A-Fella and a friend of Jay-Z’s. What you see in the video is a scene from ‘Back Stage,’” he said. ‘Back Stage’ is the 2000 movie that chronicled the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour, the roving show that featured Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman, The Roc and other popular rappers like Ja Rule. The female employee’s name is being withheld at the request of Roc-A-Fella. “Specifically, the scene is derived from Chapter 14: ‘Two Months Too Long,’” the Roc-A-Fella rep disclosed. “The context of the play fighting is the tour has gone on too long and she is making fun of Jay-Z and if you listen you hear her teasing [like] “Gimme elbow room, gimme elbow room, I’m the Jigga man.” Another source further detailed Jay’s relationship with the Roc executive. “She and Jay grew up together and play like that which is why no one of people watching look fazed by it,” the source said. “She still works for and with Jay.” “Once you know its [the executive] and you know her, it all makes sense, but for the average person, they are going to run with it.” In the scene, Jays-Z’s former mentor Jaz-O can be seen to the right with a semi-smile on his face as Jay-Z supposedly strikes the women. None of the others in the scene express dismay at the display either. According to the representative, Jay-Z and other sources, the pair is described as “life long friends,” even though the exact length of their relationship was undetermined. The Roc-A-Fella representative stated that the mainstream media has begun to call inquiring about the nature of the “video” hoping for some headlining news. “If Jay was beating up a female, it certainly wouldn’t appear in a movie put out by Roc-A-Fella,” the rep concluded.

Houston rapper Lil Flip has issued a detailed statement to rebuke TI’s comments against him during a concert in Atlanta, Georgia.During his performance, TI dissed the Houston, Texas lyricist and showed pictures of him in a green leprechaun outfit, often seen on his first album. Flip, who was scheduled to go on as the headliner, never had a chance to perform, as the event was quickly ended.”I hear TI is on stage with like 20 of his men supposedly ready to confront me when it was my turn to take the stage,” Flip said in a statement. “First of all, I was late and it was supposed to be over. At that point the police and the venue people kept us off the stage, they were gonna shut it down and leave.”Flip said that TI was on the stage angry, claiming that he was the “King of the South.”Rather than claiming the throne for himself, he gave the title to one of rap’s living legends.“Everybody knows the real king of the south is Scarface,” Flip said adding that he didn’t even know TI. “If we wanna talk who’s hotter, I’ve been all over the mixtape scene, now I’m all over the mainstream scene, off the strength of my own hustle.  A lot of people have been coming at me, and I really don’t have the time to address all of them. Like they say; mo’ money mo’ problems.”Despite the insults hurled at him, Flip said that he didn’t need any more attention being drawn to himself.In March of 2002, Lil Flip was shot and wounded as he was leaving a Houston recording studio.“I’ve been in so much beef in my life, I’m happy to be here and still be living. I don’t know if dude’s been through half of what I’ve been through. I’ve been living with some real demons in my life, and n##### that know my story know what’s up so I don’t need to do anything extra to draw more attention to myself. I mean, I hear he’s calling out my peoples Luda and DTP too so I guess it’s just part of the game for him, a publicity stunt to move some more units. I guess he’s just mad cause I f*ck with everybody else in ATL but him. Look at my album; I got Pastor Troy, Luda, Killer Mike and Baby D. ATL is like my second home.”While TI claimed that Flip started the troubles at shows in Atlanta by bad mouthing him while he was incarcerated, Flip stated there was a more frivilous reason for the friction.“I guess he’s mad ‘cause he did a verse for the Game Over remix and I didn’t use it. Bottom line, I’ve put in my time. If he wanna take it there, I mean he got a team, I got a team too, so its whatever. Otherwise, go find another way to sell records ‘cause I am selling records.”

Civil Rights spark Rosa Parks has finally gotten a date for her legal bout with rappers Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast. The trial has been set for January 10, 2005, but the suit will take on an even more dramatic twist because of the civil rights leader’s ailing health. Lawyers for Outkast have been denied the opportunity to interview Parks by her counsel because of her medical condition. A judge might force Parks to offer a deposition on her arguments on the case. Parks’ lawyers intent to aggressively argue that OutKast defamed her and breached her trademark and publicity. To support her, she has a host of possible witnesses that include U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Coretta Scott King, Detroit’s “hip-hop Mayor” Kwame Kilpatrick and others in government. The 91-year-old helped spurn the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to relinquish her city bus seat to a white man in December 1955 in Montgomery, Ala. A subsequent boycott by African American’s led to the eventual court-appointed desegregation of public transportation across the country. Since the “Rosa Parks” emerged as a hit in 1998, the Civil Rights icon has maintained that the rap group profited on her name and defamed her in the song. The song does not mention her though it does reference moving to the “back of the bus.” OutKast feels that the song is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. Parks has requested that her name be removed from future recordings of the song.

Rapper Hammer was hit with a lawsuit earlier this month due to allegations that he placed his residence in a trust fund to avoid collection of a debt. A lawsuit filed by Newstyle Media, based in Anaheim Hills, California, claims that hammer used his Stanley Burrell Irrevocable Children’s Trust fund to hide ownership of his Tracy, California home. According to local records Hammer has lived in the house since 1997, but between 1997 and 2002, the title was in another mans name. The issues started when Hammer allegedly agreed to pay Newstyle Media over $250,000 to produce and distribute a CD. Newstyle claimed it shipped almost 600,000 CD’s in November of 2001, when Hammer dropped another album, Active Duty, on his own label. Newstyle claims Hammer transferred the house into his trust’s name, so it couldn’t be listed as an asset during the debt collection process. Hammer said that accusations were ridiculous and that he didn’t remember doing business with the company.

Yesterday, Lil Kim was denied permission to travel to perform in the Caribbean resort of St. Kitts by a federal judge. Judge Gerard E. Lynch, who ruled in favor of rapper Eminem in his copyright dispute against The Source, said in his decision that Lil Kim’s handlers were irresponsible for booking the St. Kitts appearance. Lynch noted that the performance was booked just weeks after she was indicted for perjury charges, due to statements she made to a grand jury relating to a 2001 daylight shutout in front of Hot 97’s New York offices. The decision will cost Lil Kim $35,000 in performance fees and she is now liable for monetary damages for failing to perform, should promoters attempt to sue her. According to the law, indicted defendants on bail are usually denied permission to travel outside of the United States. Her lawyers argued that the government of St. Kitts would allow her to enter the country without her passport, ensuring that she would return to the United States. "Tell that to Roman Polanski," Judge Lynch said, in reference to the famous movie director who jumped bail and fled to France to avoid rape charges in 1978. "Just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t mean you don’t jump bail and leave the country." Authorities claim that Kim’s entourage had a rivalry with rapper Capone and that the entire incident was linked to a larger feud between Kim and Foxy Brown. Brown was not present at the shooting and has long denied any involvement. Also yesterday, a man connected with the shooting incident pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges. Suif Jackson, 34, is in prison on other charges and is facing up to 40 years in prison over the shooting, which left a man wounded in his upper back. Kim’s lawyers argue that his plea will not affect her case, because the two weren’t as close as officials claim. Prosecutors claimed that all three were members of Junior M.A.F.I.A and pointed to album notes, in which she thanked Jackson. Lil Kim has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Paris Hilton, heiress to the billion dollar Hilton Hotel fortune and star of the hit television show “The Simple Life,” is working on an album with Lil Jon.”We met at the MTV Movie Awards where we were hosting pre-show,” Lil Jon told AllHipHop.com. “We talked about me doing some s*t on her album and so we hooked up and talked and its going down.”Hilton is negotiating with a major label and according to reports, has already laid down several tracks with Lil Jon for her debut album tentatively titled Screwed.While the release is meant to showcase Hilton’s singing ability, the album may include a rapping Hilton.”The Simple Life 2,” Hilton’s reality show, premiered last night (June 16) on Fox.The show features Hilton and Lionel Ritchie’s daughter Nicole, travelling in a trailer and working odd jobs.