New Orleans police arrested Juvenile and three other men today (Jan. 29) on drug possession charges, after cocaine and marijuana were found in the rental car they were traveling in. Juvenile, whose real name is Terius Gray, 27, Darrell Mitchell, 30, Alvin Gus, 29 and Morris Pete, 39, each faces a charge of possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine. According to police, officers smelled a strong odor of marijuana as the rented 2003 Lincoln Town car proceeded through a New Orleans insurance checkpoint stop. During the stop the officers saw to two lit marijuana cigarettes in the vehicles ashtray. A search of the car turned up a small amount of cocaine in the trunk as well as small amounts of marijuana on Mitchell and Gus. All three suspects were arrested and charged with narcotics violations.

Suge Knight, founder and CEO of Tha Row, is assisting two families in dealing with the murder of two young children. Two year old Osvaldo Martinez was killed at a Burger King in Pomona, while seven-year-old Horace Ray Ferguson was shot in the front yard of his grandmother’s home on Monday, January 20th. Knight is providing funds for the grandparents of Martinez to travel from Mexico to Los Angeles for the funeral, and financially helping the Ferguson family to relocate from their troubled Compton neighborhood to a safer area. "I really feel for these families, and when I heard the news my heart went out to them" Knight told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "Violence in any form is terrible, but violence directed at children is especially horrible. I grew up in Compton, and I know Pomona, and there are good people in both neighborhoods. These kids should never have been killed, but I hope that by helping their families I can set some small example that we must all work together to take care of one another and end such senseless brutality." Knight was preparing to launch his tenth annual holiday toy giveaway when authorities picked him up just before Christmas last year, for allegedly violating his probation.

DJ Funkmaster Flex has teamed up with Lugz to create the first urban driving shoe, designed for sneaker and car enthusiasts. The popular DJ helped design the Funkmaster Flex FMF1, which will be released this week. "I’m really excited to do something that’s never been done before," Flex told AllHipHop.com. "I’m extremely happy about the quality of the driving shoe." The shoe sports all over supple full grain leather, a molded cushion footbed and comes in three colors: wheat cream/Nubuck, white leather and black leather. Flex has endorsed Lugz in various ad campaigns for over two years and decided to take his relationship with the company to the next level, by introducing his own line. "As a fashion brand forward brand, maintaining an urban edge is extremely important for us," said Larry Schwartz, Executive Vice President of Lugz. "Collaborating with Flex made perfect sense. We know response to the FMF1 driving shoe will be huge!" Company representatives stated that pre-orders for the shoe had already surpassed the 250,000 mark. "Cars are my passion, I love getting involved in everything from creating a completely unique car to organizing my annual celebrity car show," Flex continued. "For me, this shoe is a true labor of love; it represents how I feel when I am driving around the town- energy, comfort and class. I wanted to help design a shoe that catered to the driving and racing crowd but that was also great for just hanging out." The show will retail for around $70 and includes a chromed out mini key ring and a bio hang tag. The driving shoe will be available in Footlocker, Champ’s Sports, Footaction, Athlete’s Foot and other retailers nationwide.

Former Priority Records head Bryan Turner’s new company, MELEE has entered into a joint venture deal with DreamWorks to release DVD’s, that will be distributed by Universal Music & Video Distribution (UMVD). The first release under the new deal will be "Entertainer’s Basketball Classic At Rucker Park: The Second Season," due March 4. It is documentary style look at the famed street basketball tournament. The Entertainer’s Basketball Classic, held every summer for nine weeks at Harlem’s Rucker Park, presents some of the most popular NBA stars, the most accomplished street ballers and various hip-hop artists. The DVD features L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant, Phoenix Sun Stephon Marbury, New Orleans Hornet Baron Davis, Golden State Warrior Jason Richardson, Denver Nugget Mark Jackson, Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson and Indiana Pacers Jamaal Tinsley and Ron Artest, along with rappers Fat Joe and Jadakiss and radio personality Ed Lover. It boasts music from Fat Joe, Clipse, Xzibit, Mobb Deep and a roster of rising underground emcees; a bonus CD with tracks from Fat Joe and Mobb Deep, among others, will be included in the "Entertainer’s" package. During Turner’s 16 years as Priority’s chairman, the label racked up over $1.3 billion in sales of recorded music and released historical records from N.W.A., Eazy E, Master P., Rap-A-Lot Records, etc. "This reminds me of where the record industry was in the ’80s. It was full of independents and we could do whatever we wanted; there were really no rules," Turner told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "I started Priority back in 1985 because I saw a lot of frustrated creative people who weren’t getting the opportunities they deserved. There were so many restrictions. It seemed like nobody was ever willing to say, ‘Yeah, let’s just try something.’ I still see that."

Veteran R&B crooner Keith Sweat, reggae kingpin Bounty Killer, and radio and television personality Big Tigger all recent signed to Producer Swizz Beatz new imprint, Full Surface Records. Full Surface will be distributed by J Records. J Records recently merged with RCA to form the RCA Music Group. The Full Surface roster also includes Yung Won, Mashonda and Philadelphia-based rapper Cassidy. "My new label [Full Surface] is on its way, by storm," an excited Swizz Beats told AllHipHop.com. "We are moving like the army on the creep. I wanted something new so I got a mix of talent – Bounty Killa, Cassidy, Mashonda, Yung Wun, Big Tigg and Mr. Sweat – with me the beat man." In addition to his duties as a label head, Swizz Beatz has been busy touting his own solo album, Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories, which is Number 93 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. "I always got something sick for ya!"

VH1 will celebrate Black History month, by featuring various African-American performers. VH1 will premiere two new episode’s of the series "Driven," spotlighting Lil Kim and Jay-Z. "Driven: Jay-Z," will premiere February 9 at 9:00 PM EST and "Driven: Lil Kim," will debut one week later on February 16 at 9:00 PM EST. The network will also feature the poets of Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam On Broadway in special public service announcements throughout February. The network will also rerun their original movie, "Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story," as well as Behind The Music specials on Dr. Dre, Sean Combs and The Notorious B.I.G.

Missy Elliot has earned the distinction of being the most successful "Artist Of The Month" in web property AOL’s history. In a testament to the growing power of hip-hop, Elliot beat out the previous titledholder, Faith Hill. To date, Missy Elliot has received 8.42 million streams, as opposed to Faith Hill’s 1.5 million. Elliot’s popularity is being fueled by her current album, Under Construction, which Elektra Records representatives said has cracked the 1 million sales mark. "Missy Elliott is clearly one of the most popular artists today so it’s no surprise that she received such an amazing response from our members," Bill Wilson, Vice President and General Manager, AOL Music told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "The response is a testament to the fact that Missy is an incredible talent as well as to the popularity of our Artist of the Month feature." The album remains firmly rooted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart as Elliott continues to outrank her fiercest competitors (from Nelly to Nas, Jay-Z to Ja Rule).

Universal Pictures has started an ad campaign on behalf of Eminem’s#### movie, "8 Mile," in various trade magazines and in New York and Los Angeles trade newspapers, aimed at the voting body of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that votes on Oscars. The body is now casting their ballots for best picture and honcho’s at Universal are worried about Eminem’s Oscar buzz, which is almost none, despite the movie being released to critical acclaim and grossing almost $116 million in North American box office receipts. The ad asks "If a film sheds light on vibrant but largely misunderstood aspect of our culture and…provokes a stunning number of editorials and commentaries," should it not be considered? The advertisement implies that there may be a huge generation gap between the voting board and those who love hip-hop music, which fueled the film’s phenomenal success. "8 Mile" could also be suffering from the film’s star and his lack of participation in Hollywood circles. According to the Los Angeles Times, Eminem is unwilling to attend the clamorous industry events or conduct valuable question and answer sessions at movie screenings. "It’s not like he gives a damn whether he gets this stuff or not," Paul Rosenberg told the Los Angeles Times. "He certainly doesn’t want to be seen as a movie star. He wants to be seen, first and foremost, as dedicated to music. He doesn’t want to walk around on the red carpet. That is not his style. That’s not what he wants to be." Eminem’s casual attitude aside, Universal executives believe that Eminem’s picture should have more Oscar related buzz. "This movie was really on everybody’s radar [when it came out]," said Adam Folgeson, Universal’s President of Marketing. "Now, for whatever reasons, "8 Mile" seems to be "out of the discussion pool. "How can a film that generated those kind of reviews, that generated those kind of editorials and commentaries, have fallen off everybody’s radar?"" The ballots for Oscar candidates are due Wednesday, January 29, while the nominations will be announced February 11.  

Pranksters sent a wave of fear through the hip-hop community via a fake CNN website, which reported that rappers 50 Cent and Jay-Z were murdered. "Jay-Z is in f*cking Switzerland right now," Russell Simmons told AllHipHop.com. "This sh*t isn’t true. 50 Cent was just on New York radio too." The URL was cleverly designed to mimic the CNN.com URL, fooling many users into believing a report that 50 Cent and Jay-Z were both killed in Los Angeles. According to the poorly written report, 50 Cent was shot 3 times of shots by a semiautomatic rifle and that Jay-Z died of a stab wound to the neck. The bogus report stated that the rappers were killed in the lobby of an unnamed Los Angeles hotel lobby and that two suspects remained at large. These reports are false. The fake CNN News Generator," enables people to post fake news on what appears to be the official CNN website.

A Brooklyn, New York city councilman will lead a protest in front of Hot 97 today (Jan. 26) to have embattled R&B singer R. Kelly removed from the radio stations playlist. Councilman James Davis, who is also a former police officer, said that he is targeting the radio stations to send a message. "We all should be concerned about who our children listen to," Davis told Newsday. Davis said that he agreed Kelly was innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but said the serious allegations the singer is facing warrant his music being suspended. Kelly was arrested on Wednesday in Miami, Florida, after police allegedly found 12 digital images stored on a camera in his house.

Suge Knight was hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit by his former legal team. The McPherson & Kalmansohn law firm accuse Knight of cheating them out of more that $600,000 in legal fees in the 90’s. Last month, former Death Row Records artist Daz Dillinger and a Philadelphia based company, Organized Crime Family, won a default judgment of $25 million dollars against Knight over unpaid royalties. "You b*tch I got you for 25 million you sucker, f*ck you, f*ck Michelle, f*ck Reginald Wright and all you slob ass n*ggas on Death Row," Daz said. "Kurupt you b*tch ass n*gga, you are getting 10 G’s a month and…fittin to get fired," Daz continued. He also lashed out at Benzino, co-founder of The Source. "Benzino you a b*tch ass motherf*cker for putting my sh*t on your album without my permission, I am down with Eminem, 50 Cent and we gonna keep this sh*t going real hard," Daz said Industry insiders stated that Knight may have to forfeit the valuable Death Row Records back catalog, which includes hit from Dr. Dre, Tha Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg and others. "You sit your b*tch ass in jail, put that vaseline in your booty and..cream on yourself and let the C.O.’s punch ya," Daz concluded.

Pop princess Nivea has come forth to declare that she and Cash Money Millionaire Lil’ Wayne are a serious couple. The singer, who got her big break on Mystikal’s “Danger,” refused to admit that she and Wayne were engaged, as insiders have speculated. But she did acknowledge that the pair was excited to be together and are currently working towards a fruitful union. “Well I can tell you that, yes, we are together. And that’s about it. I just read like our first little bad rumor thing, we knew it was coming, but I just heard it on Allhiphop.com, and I was like, “Uhhh!” and we both laughed about it. It’s whatever, it’s crazy,” Nivea said laughing. Despite the talk, Nivea told AllHipHop that the rumors fail to anger her or her boo. “We was laughing about it. He was like, ‘Whatever. Love You. Bye.’” That’s the end of it. We are trying to maintain. It’s hard, but we’re doing it,” she said. “We’re really trying to make it work.” Like the constant chatter of gossipmongers, Nivea said the inquiring minds of the media nor the haters would stop the pair from achieving romantic bliss. “The media is just now knowing about it. We didn’t want them to say anything. The haters come pouring like rain, but I’m tired of the question. I’m like, ‘Look, yes! We are together. We are dating. Yes, we see each other whenever we can. You know, whatever.’” And we’re happy.

Murder Inc.’s Ja-Rule and Ashanti have confirmed a concert date in New Zealand, and will play at the Mr. Smart Supertop on Friday, March 7. The Grammy nominated pair will perform one show, along side Charli Baltimore. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale next Friday. In related Murder Inc. news, staff producer 7 Aurelius has announced that has launched his own record label, 7th Sign Records. Aurelius has produced songs for Jennifer Lopez, JA-Rule, Eve and others. His songs have hit the number 1 position on Billboards Hot 100 Singles charts for a combined 23 weeks. Aurelius said that while he often received proper compensation for his Murder Inc. creations, there were times were he didn’t receive credit, making his name less visible than that of Irv Gotti, Kanye West, Just Blaze, D/R Period and other top notch producers.

Ruff Ryders Records has inked a distribution deal with Virgin Records for signing new acts and releasing compilations. The Ruff Ryders’ previous distributor, Interscope, will continue to hold the rights to Eve and Jakakiss’ solo material, according to Billboard. Likewise, DMX and his Bloodline imprint will continue dealing with Island Def Jam as they were when Ruff Ryders was with Interscope. The double R camp will join Rap-A-Lot Records and Gangstarr on the Virgin roster, but the financial details of the deal were not immediately released. The Dean family (Darrin, Joaquin and Chivon) is among the recent hip-hop executives who have been looking for new homes in the New Year. Jermaine Dupri recently signed a deal to move his So So Def label to Arista and insiders speculate that Sean “P.Diddy” Combs is in negotiations with Universal for his Bad Boy roster. Fans of the Ruff Ryders gritty sound can expect new releases in the upcoming year from DMX, the LOX, Jin Tha MC and another all-star Ryde or Die compilation.