Bobbito and Stretch Armstrong have split up the long running Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito The Barber Show citing creative differences. NYC heads fear not, they will each host their own shows, alternating Thursdays between 1 and 5 am. been said that all good things come to an end. Well, in the progressive tradition of its decade in groundbreaking urban radio, "89TEC9–The Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito The Barber Show" will now be split into two shows, alternating Thursdays on the same famed 1-5 a.m. shift. This should work out well for Hip-Hop heads, since both DJ’s have different tastes.

Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ras Kass, Black Thought of the Roots and Dres are among the growing list of rappers who will assemble at Sony Music Studios in New York to record a cut for Unbound. The forthcoming CD which will benefit the defense fund of death-row inmate, journalist and activist Mumia Abu-Jamal. This collaborative track will be the first single on the album, according to Frank Sosa, founder of Realized Records, the label that will release Unbound. Unbound is a multi-artist anthology that also will include new tracks from singer Zack de la Rocha of volatile funk-rockers Rage Against The Machine; rappers Aceyalone, Poor Righteous Teachers, Dilated Peoples, Medina Green, Abstract Rule and Talib Kweli; and poets Saul Williams, Ursula Rucker, Jerry Quickley, Mike Ladd and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Slam Champions. Chuck D, Ras Kass, Black Thought and Dres will be joined on the single by Tragedy, Professor Griff of Public Enemy, Aceyalone and p.e.a.c.e. of the Freestyle Fellowship; Slimkid Tre of the Pharcyde, Divine Styler, Channel Live, Goldii Lox, Shabamm Sahdeeq, Dead Pres, and Afu Ra. The cut is going to be produced by Diamond D. If you don’t know, Abu-Jamal, who was once a politcally active Black Panther Party member, is currently on death row in Waynesburg, Pa., following his conviction in the Dec. 9, 1981, shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal claims he was driving a cab through Philly when that night when he saw his younger brother, William Cook, being beaten by Faulkner with a flashlight. In Abu-Jamal’s court trials, police authorities have acknowledged Faulkner was hitting Cook with a flashlight, but say Cook struck the officer first, after Cook was stopped for going the wrong way on a one-way street. Prosecutors contend Abu-Jamal shot Faulkner in the back, was wounded in the midsection when the officer returned fire, and then stood over the officer and shot him in the head. Many supporters of Abu-Jamal say they believe Faulkner’s real killer escaped the night of the shooting. They claim Abu-Jamal was set up because of his work as a political commentator. It is almost uniamosly agreed the he didn’t get a fair trial (the judge was a member of the Fraternal Order Of Police), and that he at least deserves another trial.

Rapper 60 Second Assassin was struck by a car while he was attempting to cross the street in Bensonhurst. A woman ran a red light, and hit The Sunz Of Man member. He was rushed to a nearby emergency room, where he was treated for multiple contusions and a hairline fracture on his right leg. He was released from the hospital later that evening, and is recuperating at his Brooklyn home.

In response to Craig Mack’s copyright infringement lawsuit, Dr. Dre has filed a $50,000 slander suit against the rapper in California. Mack claims that Dre’s song "Zoom" from the Bulworth soundtrack was jacked from his own song, "Get Retarded." Mack’s lawyers sent a letter to Interscope requesting a payment of $60,000 threatening to file a copyright infringement action if the money wasn’t paid. Dre and his team never responded, and Mack sent another letter was sent asking for $40,000. Dre filed the slander suit because of the letters sent to Interscope, which Dre says "caused doubt to be cast on his ownership of the copyright" of "Zoom.", and "suffered damage to his goodwill in the music and motion picture industries, and others have been deterred from licensing or otherwise exploiting Young’s original compositions, and proximately caused damage to Young’s business relationship with Interscope." Sources that were employed by the label that employed Mack, Street Life/WEA, claim that Mack didn’t make too much with the release of his last album, "Operation: Get Down" sold less than 50,000 copies, which is absolutely terrible for a major label release. (Goes to show you, if you take the indie route, you are going to do much much better!)  

Big Daddy Kane is going to be back on the scene with a new album, titled Veteranz Day. Big Daddy was one of Hip-Hop’s first superstars to all of you Master P era heads that don’t remember such classics as Raw, Smooth Operator, and anything from his second album, It’s A Big Daddy Thing. We can also look forward to an updated version of the Hip-Hop Classic, The Symphony, which will feature original song members Kool G. Rap, and Kane, and an appearance by the Supathug himself, Noreaga. As for Kane’s new album, he says it’s going to be "hot". "It’s been pushed back a few times, so I’d say there’s two songs on there that might be a little outdated now, like "Terror in Your Error," but other than maybe one more song, the album is real tight."

Makhendlas, who’s real name is Oupa Makofate shot himself in the head Saturday October 31st. Kwaito, which is a rap derived South African form of music blends Hip-Hop Rave and R&B, and has taken off since the fall of Apartheid. Apparently, he was upset that he shot and wounded an abusive concert goer at a stadium near Nelspruit, about 185 miles East of Johannesburg. The shooting highlights light security and violence that sometimes come with the Kwaito concerts (as it does happen here in the U.S.). Just as Gangster rap made millionaires out of artists over here, the same trend is happening overseas, with black owned record labels and radio stations popping up. Most of the lyrics are in Iscamtho, a street lingo that combines African languages, including Afrikaans, and English. It is said to be named after a township gang, the Amakwaito, or the Afrikaans word “kwai,” or “cool.” The songs deal with the gritty life in the impoverished townships where jobs are few and crime is rampant, but lack the violence and sexism that accompanies some of the American Rap. According to the musician’s manager, Mpho Makhetha, three or four drunken men slipped through security backstage before the concert and began harassing the musicians. Mafokate intervened and the men began swearing at him. The manager said Mafokate drew a gun and fired a warning shot, but by accident shot one of the men. “I guess Oupa thought at the time he had killed the guy. That’s why he did what he did,” the manager said. “He was doing so well career-wise. He was the father of a 4-month-old boy.” The man Mafokate shot was recovering in hospital, and was not seriously wounded. It was unclear what happened to the other men. Industry sources said they were surprised that the musician was carrying a gun, because he was known as peace-loving person. Yet many musicians feel they’re poorly protected and complain that promoters won’t pay for proper security. The Soweto-born Mafokate, 27, was emerging as one of South Africa’s top kwaito stars.

The Hip-Hop Unity Festival is having more troubles. This time the organizers have moved the show from the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles to the smaller LA Sports Arena (which holds 17,000 compared to the Coliseum, which holds a s### load of people with 55,000 seats). The promoters moved the showto weather concerns, not because of slow ticket sales. The show was supposed to be this past September 26, and the show was to be broadcast live via the internet by IEG, for something like ten bucks, but that plan has been ditched. The show will have 15 acts including KRS-One, Warren G and Ice-T.  

Keith Murray has been heard…He called into Buc-Wild and Star’s Player Hater Line. No one had heard from him for the past month, when he went AWOL instead of showing up to prison to start a three year bid. When he didn’t show, the same judge ordered him re-arrested, and set his bail at $2 Million big ones. When asked by MTV reporter Chris Connelly about his whereabouts, Redman said "That’s for me to know and y’all m############ to find out." It was Redman’s DJ that called and put Murray on the line. This is what he had to say: "Yo Star what up? It’s Keith Murray. Listen, it ain’t the fact that I’ll turn myself in for a time. It’s a conspiracy theory against me, yo… And we all know how it’s going to blow over, just like you said Star. That time is going to blow over, but right now I’m in a situation, s### ain’t no game."

Pioneering Hip-Hop label Profile Records has been snatched up by Major Label Arista Records. Profile’s first record was It’s Like That from Run-D.M.C., which was also the first gold album from a Hip-Hop group. This deal should be good for some of the groups signings, which include Camp Lo, DJ Quik, and one of Quik’s acts, 2ND II None. The first release for Profile/Arists will be Hand in Hand, from DJ Quik’s upcoming album, Rhythmalizm, which is his fourth album. Profile was responsible for such classics acts like: Run D.M.C., Dana Dane and DJ Clark Kent, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, Nine, Poor Righteous Teachers, Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock, Smoothe Da Hustler and Special Ed.

Fredro Starr, of Onyx, is hitting the screen along side Forest Whitaker, Usher and Vanessa Williams. Light It Up, the Craig Bolotin film that is being called an urban Breakfast Club meets Taps, according to Variety Magazine. It is to begin shooting in Chicago next month.