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Zaytoven, DJ MLK React To Shawty Redd Murder Involvement

While sitting in an Atlanta jail on charges of first degree murder, associates of producer Shawty Redd have expressed their shock at the events of January 1st.

Redd, born Demetrius Stewart, was arrested on New Years Day after Damon Martin, 35 of Detroit was as shot and killed at the Hip Hop producers home in Hampton, thirty miles outside of Atlanta.

Producers Corner alum, Zaytoven who has worked closely with Shawty Redd after re-locating to Atlanta explained to MTV that the producer who has crafted songs for Snoop Dogg as well as Young Jeezy is simply not a "troublemaker."

"I really couldn't believe it," Zaytoven said. "You hear a lot of rappers going through that type of trouble, but a producer? That's my first time hearing that. I was just shocked."

Speaking about the revered producer, Atlanta's very own DJ MLK expressed his shock upon hearing about the incident. "Hopefully, he'll be good. That's all I could say. I just pray for him. Nobody knows the real situation until he comes out and tells it ... but it's shocking," the deejay explained.

Shawty Redd is being held without bond in an Atlanta jail until he appears in court on January 12th.
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Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 1/3/2010

Alicia Keys and Mary J Blige traded places. Released a week earlier,  Element Of Freedom, Keys' album took the #3 spot (behind Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle). The J Records release still appears three weeks away from platinum, with the holiday sales drop-off taken into effect. Blige's Stronger (With Every Tear), a Geffen project went to #4. The two have been leaders (along with Rihanna and Robin Thicke), of an R&B/Pop takeover on the charts since October.

The Black Eyed Peas climbed seven spots with The E.N.D., placing them back in the coveted Top 10. The Los Angeles-based quartet continues to fluctuate on the charts unlike typical urban releases. The group has now been announced to be included in CBS' People's Choice Awards, likely surging more promotion in coming weeks.

Lil Wayne gave rebirth to the compilation. We Are Young Money slid just three spots to #12. The project remains Universal Motown's top Rap priority leading up to Rebirth. The Rap industry will see whether Drake or Nicki is the first to release a solo album in 2010.



The repackaging of Eminem's Relapse (as Relapse: Refill) with a handful of new songs, continues to prove as excellence in Interscope Records' business plan. This brought the release to #13, and will try to usher the Dr. Dre-produced effort to hard-to-earn 2,000,000 mark.

* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandeth.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
3	Alicia Keys	Element of Freedom	80,000	779,000
4	Mary J Blige	Stronger (With Every Tear)	62,000	394,000
8	Black Eyed Peas	The E.N.D.	47,000	1,787,000
12	Young Money	We Are Young Money	43,000	186,000
13	Eminem	Relapse	41,000	1,735,000

Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 climbed over the 1.5 million mark. In classic Blueprint marketing form, the Brooklyn emcee has two singles rotating in radio: the Mr. Hudson-assisted cover of Alphaville's "Forever Young" and the Swizz Beatz-helmed "On To The Next." As these singles penetrate new Alt and Pop markets, Jay-Z may easily be able to achieve two million units sold on this project as well.

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Tanya Morgan Planning Solo Projects & Next Group Album

Hip Hop trio Tanya Morgan made quite a mark in the music scene last year with the release of their album Brooklynati and an array of performances across the country which included shows at South By Southwest, the A3C Festival, and more.

While Brooklynati continues to receive praise from the music world Tanya Morgan are already preparing for their next group album as well as solo projects from each member of the group (Donwill, Ilyas, and Von Pea).

As far as solo projects, Donwill will be first up to bat with his album Don Cusak In High Fidelity. The album, which takes its inspiration from the flick High Fidelity, will be released on March 23, 2010.

Aside from Don Cusak In High Fidelity, other solo projects for the year include Von Pea's Pea's Gotta Have It and Ilyas' Hello, Hell.

"Pea's Gotta Have It is the album I daydreamed about making one day back when I was in high school so it's told from the perspective of a high school student. It starts on the first day of senior year and it ends right before graduation," said Von Pea.

While 2010 may seem like the year of the solo project for Tanya Morgan the group still plans on hitting up cities across the county for a number of  live performances.


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RZA Gets Green Light On Directorial Debut, Studies Tarantino

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Wu-Tang Clan Abbott the RZA shed some new light on his directorial debut, the Kung-Fu flick, The Man With The Iron Fist. The movie, written and to be directed by Robert Diggs and produced by Eli Roth (Hostel), which sees the musical mastermind utilize his vast creativity for the silver screen has secured financially backing, but it is unclear as to when production will actually commence.

The Staten Island native has garnered strong support for his entrance into the world of directing having studied under Quentin Tarantino. The duo, which shares a mutual respect for martial art movies and cinematography, established a strong working relationship after RZA was asked by the prolific director to craft the scores for his Kill Bill movies.

As a self-professed disciple of Tarantino, RZA spent countless hours on set watching the director of such cult classics as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and last years box office smash, Inglourious Basterds at work and ensured he too paid close attention to details which according to those close to him will only enhance The Man With the Iron Fist.

Eager to impress his ‘teacher’ with the script, RZA was given some welcomed advice after securing Tarantino’s blessing. He said “You are ready, just don't start too much up here,'" RZA explained in the interview. "That meant, don't let my budget exceed $10 million. Don't start like that, yo! You start like that; expectation is going to be so high, you may never come again. That's great advice."

It is unclear if RZA, who has appeared in movies such as American Gangster the upcoming Due Date, directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillips, will be taking a leading role in The Man With the Iron Fist.

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HiPNOTT Records Partner Mixtape Release With HipHopDX

HiPNOTT Records, founded by blogger/music enthusiast Kevin Nottingham, will be releasing the first of its two-part mixtape series HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover on January 11.

2010 Takeover, co-sponsored by HipHopDX.com, features work from Nottingham’s artists as well as guest appearances from the independent scenes more prominent names. Murs, Illyas (of Tanya Morgan), Guilty Simpson and Kyle Lucas are all included on the project.

Describing the mixtape as reminiscent of a special era that influenced many of today’s acts, Nottingham explained to DX, “The Golden Era of Hip Hop was a time when Hip Hop felt good and people made Hip Hop music because they felt good about it... and it was reflected in its sound. A lot of people lump the Golden Era sound into 90’s boom bap, where in actuality, that was just one sound of many. Yeah, you had Gang Starr and A Tribe Called Quest, but you also had acts such as Naughty By Nature and Digital Underground who brought a fun, feel good vibe to Hip Hop. I would never compare any of my artists to these classic acts, but I will say that they each have the potential to reach their level of stardom."

Putting together the mixtape series over the course of three months, Nottingham added, “I came up with the idea with my HiPNOTT COO, Kareem Fort, who thought it would be a good idea to hit 2010 running with new music. We realized that when we announced the signing of Cymarshall Law and K. Sparks recently a lot of people were still unaware about the label. Hopefully after this year, people will see that we're serious about placing a footprint in Hip Hop.”

With part two of the series dropping in February, as well as projects from Cymarshall Law and K. Sparks and G.C. ready for release in the coming months, Kevin stated, “We have some great music lined up for the whole year at HiPNOTT Records with our current roster and we have a few deals in the works to sign on new acts. Just looking over our release schedule yesterday, I think we have enough music to put out one album per month for the whole year. And it's all quality music! Just as the mixtape name suggests... 2010 is the takeover!”

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