Inside Rule #2 – Ja Rule’s Prison Journal Entry

Ja Rule writes us from prison.  He wants us to break the cycle of raising kids to go to jail.

My first night here was crazy, inmates screaming, banging, and kicking the doors calling the male CO’s b*tch *ss n*ggas & f*ggots telling the female CO’s how they gonna f*ck em, throwing plates of food out their cells onto the floor LOL. WELCOME TO THE GREEN MONSTER!  This type of sh*t would never happen upstate, at best you’d be in the box for a month at worst the infirmary. I even got into it wit these stupid n*ggas trying to assassinate  my character talkin about I’m snitching to the guards and that I’m getting special treatment. I barked on these n*ggas and set em straight cause as a man there’s only so much you can take before you snap. At first I tried to ignore there lil comments until they started talkin sh*t like they gonna kick my door and all this clown sh*t. But the funny thing is when I started screaming on them lettin them know they got the wrong n*gga they got excited it was like that’s what they wanted to bring the hood out of me. That’s when I realized that I’m dealing wit kids they can’t be n*ggas my age cause that would’ve lead to instant confrontation not instant admiration. After I set em straight they wanted to talk & ask me about the industry I could tell they wanted to be my friend but just didn’t know how to go about it. So I chatted wit them for a lil bit before letting them know I was tried and ready to lay down. But as I layed I listened to them talk telling there life stories of how one was born in a crack house and grew up selling crack to his mother and how another watched his father get murdered rite in front of him by some dudes he owed money as they robbed his house and how they were now in jail for crimes of their own one for beating his girl friend the other for a murder. One of them them is 19 the other just turned 23 yesterday. Both with kids of their own. When will we break the cycle? WILLIE LYNCH LIVES ON… DAMN!

When I got here I was happy to see some officers of the same skin color not that I’m racist or anything but in this type of situation and where I just came from you’d be happy to see some of your own too. Prejudice does still exist trust me I’ve been treated and seen it  people treated like n*ggers more in 1 month that I have my whole life I feel like a slave and even tho I haven’t heard anyone say it actions speak louder than words. As I walk through the door everyone staring like they can’t believe I just walked in cuffed from head to toe. Even tho I don’t feel like much of a star that’s all they see the star that has fallen. But as I look in their eyes I still see the love they still wanna meet me and greet me as if I’m on their own personal stage except there’s no screaming fans, fancy clothes & bright lights. Only screaming inmates me in my orange jumpsuit and little flash lights they shine in my cell at night.

It’s hard to feel good signing autographs and taking pictures in this predicament but I did it with a smile cause I love my fans and never say no, no matter what mood I’m in after the meet & greet they took me to my cell where I’ll be housed till my court date it’s not the best but it’s not the worst either they gave me some pillows and an extra mattress so I’ll live. This is my 3rd here and IA already came and got me to investigate my lil meet & greet. I basically told them to f*ck off and that those are good cops cause they really were nice to me last thing I wanna see is good people get in trouble cause they got an autograph or a pic from me. You wanna investigate something investigate the crooked Hip Hop Task Force that got me into this sh*t in the first place.

As I sit in my cell listening to their stories I think about me and my Dad and how I hated to love him for so many years and how I vowed to be nothing like him only to have my mother say “your just like your father” LOL. Which made me curious to know him and of course just as we start to get closer to one another he dies. But I have my closure I learned alot about him and him about me in the short time we spent together. Which makes me think about my kids and how I’m raising them I am a great father and I have broken the cycle even though I’m in prison the foundation has already been layed. I hate being away from them for 20 months but sh*t  could just as easily been on tour for that long. I feel compelled I wanna help other kids break the cycle. I’ve been to 5 different prisons and all I see is n*ggas and I ain’t talking about black people I’m talking about ignorance. See the problem wit most people is they don’t smell sh*t until they step in it and by that time it’s all over your shoe and everybody is tryin to get away from you. Now you have 2 choices you can either wash that shoe or throw it away. A lot of people choose to throw it away meaning they didn’t learn sh*t but those that choose to wash that shoe tend to watch their step knowing how hard it was to get em clean. I think I’ll wash my shoes this time cause this sh*t ain’t me. R.I.P William Jeffrey Atkins

BREAK THE CYCLE!

Wale Talks About Jay-Z And His Grind To Deliver Ambition Album

Wale dropped his album Ambitiion at the top of the month and sold 160K copies in the first week.  He talks with Billboard about the advice he received from Jay-Z and how he went hard to get his album Ambition to the top of the charts to peak at #2 spot its first week.

Jay-Z, essentially, is my business adviser, Him, my manager, Rich Kleinman and Roc Nation’s John Meneilly. I know Jay has a personal place in his heart for Ambition. I remember one time I was on the phone with Jay, asking him, ‘What did I do [wrong]? What can I do differently?’ He was like, ‘Maybe you just didn’t come with that single. You made a solid first album. But you didn’t come up with that single.’ That just added fuel to my fire.”

He also spoke on his relentless grind and how Ambition, which bowed at number two on the charts, has inspired him to work even harder.

“Rappers used to take pride in being the best or becoming the best. Now they just talk about who has the most swag. But who wants to be the best?, Come to the table with your albums. I nailed it this time. I’ll keep busting my ass until . . . you’re going to have to respect me. I love hip-hop so much, and I’m really a humble dude. We’re all cocky inside our records-because that’s how rap is.”

T.I. Covers Vibe Magazine And Beefs With 50 Cent

T.I. hit the cover of Vibe magazine Dec/Jan issue which hits newsstands on 12/6.  He take shots at 50 Cent for minding his business and discussing family affairs.

T.I. on people criticizing Tiny for not taking the drug charge
I’ma tell you, 50 Cent and anybody else, we not gonn’a  have no discussion about what my ole lady should’a, would’a, couda done for anything as it pertains to me,” begins his rant. “We ain’t gonn’a do that. I’m the only one in my family that’s gonna take a lick when it pertains to the legal system. Since me, none of my other family members have seen a jail cell. Nobody. I’m the last one. The buck stops here. I feel that a person that stands behind [his woman for a criminal charge] is a coward anyway.”

I doubt she would have gotten any time.
She wasn’t gonna catch it period, ’cause I’m there. That wasn’t even a consideration. Even if she asked me to I would’ve been like, “Nah, you trippin’. “

So you didn’t feel you were more valuable to your family, employees and business partners on the street?
That’s a discussion between me and another man. Not with the mother of my children. Not with the nurturer of my household.

Fifty Cent got wind of this Vibe article excerpt and chirped back via Twitter,

T.I. learned about 50 Cent reckless tweeting and responded his own way,

T.I. Announces New Album Title [Trouble Man] & Next Single [Pyro]

T.I. has been hard at work since being released from prison.  His been a force to be reckoned with in the hip hop industry and easily reclaimed his throne as the Kang!  The ATL representative recently revealed to Billboard that the name of his upcoming album will be Trouble Man.

He also revealed the name of his next single, which will be featured on the Trouble Man album.  The title of this single is Pyro.  Expect this single to drop in the next day or two.

Here’s what T.I. had to say,

“A lot of times I’m taking myself out of my element, ” Tip continued to say of “Trouble Man.” “This is the first project where I’m talking about things that I’ve experienced before that I’m not necessarily experiencing now cause I’m not doing a whole lot of partying. I do a little bit but not alot… nothing like when I was in that life.”

“I have this one record [titled] ‘Pyro’ that I’m proud of,” T.I. told Billboard.com’s The Juice. “‘Pyro’ is a straight party record. It’s nostalgic of those crazy nights, early mornings [but] just turned up.”

Zoe Saladana Calls Off Wedding Engagement To Longtime Boyfriend Keith Britton

Single fellas it’s your lucky day and your odds have just increased tenfold.  The beautiful New Jersey bred actress, Zoe Saladana, who’s starred in dozens of movies including Avatar, Colombiana, Takers, Death at the Funeral, and Guess Who (w/ Bernie Mac + Ashton Kutcher) has broken off her engagement after eleven strong years together with actor, Keith Britton.

Although they’ve broken up as of current, the pair remains business partners in the web project MyFDB.com (My Fashion Database), which is a joint partnership between the couple.  They don’t have any kids together so the web business is the only thing linking them together for right now.

The couple has always been hush about their personal affairs  and this isn’t any different.  Neither have publicly talked about the break up, but on Friday Zoe did tweet:

For all you lucky and single men there’s a new fish on the market!  She’s definitely a keeper!

Erick Sermon Suffers A Heart Attack

Erick Sermon one-half of the legendary rap group EPMD has suffered a heart attack, but DJ Scratch has confirmed that Erick is stable and doing fine.

“Erick Sermon had a heart attack today,” DJ Scratch tweeted. “He’s ok, but still send your prayers. He is not on Twitter.” Apparently there’s a Twitter account out there posing to be Erick Sermon, but DJ Scratch attest that is not the real E Double.  Astounded by the number of messages received for updates on Erick’s condition, later Scratch tweeted, “I wish yall tweet me this much when I tweet good news. Smh”

This heart attack  scare comes on the heels of losing hip hop legend, Heavy D.  Let’s keep The Green Eyed Bandit in our prayers and wish him well.

Juelz Santana Arrested For Making Terrorist Threats To New Jersey Police

LaRon Louis James a.k.a. Juelz Santana was arrested this week for making terrorist threats to the Teaneck police department in New Jersey.  The exact threat verbatim hasn’t been disclosed but its learned that Juelz refused to let police search his vehicle after being pulled over.  He was thereafter booked for making terrorist threats and disorderly conduct.

Juelz vehicle was impounded and his bail was set at $46,500.  It’s reported that he bailed out hours later after being arrested.  Juelz is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law.  Earlier this year, February 2011 he was arrested for drugs and weapons charges, which were found in his NJ recording studio.  In August ’10 he was arrested for driving without a license.  In August 2009 he was arrested for domestic violence charges.