A two-alarm fire at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse has resulted in the sentencing of Lil Wayne, which was already postponed for dental-related reasons, being delayed once more. (The "Fireman" joke that you wanted to make has probably already crossed the Twitter transom, but there's still time to get in a "Tha Block Is Hot" pun or two!) @1:54 PM 1
HIPAA privacy rules may prevent Miami dentist Dr. Virgil Mongalo from getting into the specifics of the dental procedure that resulted in the start of Lil Wayne's jail term being pushed back to today, but he's more than free to brag about how much bank he made: "When asked about the $150,000 price Wayne is quoted to have paid, Dr. Mongalo paraphrased Don Quixote: 'A tooth is worth more than a diamond.'" What this means for the relative value of a Google Trends-hopping press release remains maddeningly unclear. @10:10 AM 2
Superstar Rapper Going To Jail Seems More Mundane Than It Should @10:16 AM
Well, Lil Wayne is scheduled to go to jail today, the result of a 2007 gun possession charge. He's pretty much the biggest rap star on the planet right now—well, after Jay-Z, I suppose. He's going to Rikers Island, which is not known for being a nice place. And he'll be there for at least eight months. But with the recent incarcerations of folks like T.I. and Gucci Mane as precedent, this sort of thing is starting to seem pretty normal (again). As Wayne himself told Rolling Stone, "I just say I’m looking forward to it.” 5
New Orleans Rap Moguls Now Also Oil and Gas Moguls @10:50 AM
God, the news is bad. Bin Laden is calling for "drastic solutions." (More drastic?!) The Italian mafia has been sinking cargo ships full of radioactive waste in the Mediterranean. Paul Krugman should basically start ending his pieces on the administration's economic policy with "but I just saved a bunch of money on car insurance." But know hope: I think we may have found the answers to all these problems, and more: New Orleans rap kingpins Ronald and Bryan "Baby" Williams Williams, cofounders of Cash Money Records, have started an "environmentally friendly" energy company, Bronald Oil & Gas. READ MORE 7
New Rap Song (And Its Complicated Roots): Red Cafe, "I'm Ill" @2:30 PM
How rap builds itself on itself: Brooklyn MC Red Cafe has a new song out called "I'm Ill." I like it. But not everyone does. (The Pigeons and Planes website says "This track might be Mr. Marty Mediocre's favorite new song." Ha! Marty Mediocre must hang out with Plain Jane McLame and Norman McNormalson.) The song is interesting, though, at the very least, as a study of how production trends work. The beat is built around a vocal sample of Jay-Z saying "I'm Ill" on a record he released last year called "A Billie." "A Billie" featured Jay rhyming over the beat from Lil Wayne's hit "A Milli." READ MORE 5
Robots Taking Over Sooner Than Expected–They Got Janet, Too! @11:36 AM
I'm starting to think that the singularity has already occurred and I just didn't notice it up to this point. Apparently, computer intelligence has already gotten more advanced that the human brain and figured out how to fuse itself with human cell tissue and that the robots are already reprogramming themselves and re-enhancing themselves and regenerating themselves-into today's leading hip-hop and R&B stars. READ MORE 5
Lil Wayne Going Away At The Top Of His Game? @2:15 PM
Damn. Looks like Lil Wayne might actually go to jail for a while. Seems particularly unfortunate timing. His most recent album, The Carter III, was last year's biggest hit, selling 3 million copies. And he's supposedly readying three new ones for release in December. 3
