Strictly hip hop news

James Brown’s body is missing from its crypt, according to one of the soul legend’s illegitimate daughters.

The remains of the 73-year-old singer – who died on Christmas Day 2006 of a suspected heart attack — were being held at his daughter Deanna’s house in South Carolina while a public mausoleum is being prepared.

However, LaRhonda Pettit claims the Brown’s body has since disappeared — she believes in an effort to prevent her carrying out an autopsy to determine the true cause of her father’s death. The 48-year-old is convinced the “Sex Machine” singer was actually killed by greedy pals after his fortune.

“My daddy’s body has disappeared. I have no clue where it was taken, but I need to know where. I’m convinced his death was suspicious and I want the people responsible brought to justice. The only way to do that is to exhume his body and have an autopsy. I cannot understand why one was never conducted.”

'Everybody thinks because you're black and you're from the 'hood, you wanna be Jay-Z,' Lu tells Mixtape Daily.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by James Montgomery

Lupe Fiasco
Photo: Atlantic

Celebrity Favorites

Please respect our exclusive game. Just a couple of weeks ago, we told you how one of the underground's favorites, Jay Electronica, said he wanted to make an album with Lupe Fiasco. He also said he wanted to go in on projects with Nas, Mos Def and a slew of others, but who's counting?

On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Lupe popped up on the red carpet for the MTV documentary "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro," which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Not only did Lu say he was down with collaborating with Jay, he's initiating things.

"I reached out to him a couple of days ago with some real serious ideas," Lupe said. " 'Let's put a program together. Something that works out and makes sense for the both of us.' He's a very talented MC. One of the few MCs that I actually listen to what they're saying. I don't listen to 98 percent of the rappers out there. But he's one of the MCs I listen to and I'm inspired to do so. A collaboration is in the works."

Lupe also clarified the comments he made to TheAge.com, when he said he did not want to be like Jay-Z.

"There's a misunderstanding with my fanbase,'' The Age quoted him as saying. ''People [at Warner] feel they know my fans more than I do. They want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don't have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have, but it's more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That's a success to me. I don't want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It's getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem as opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on."

Lupe told us he didn't mean any malice toward Jigga but was speaking up for individuality.

"Jay-Z's a personal friend of mine. [He] executive-produced my first album," Fiasco said. "[My comments were] just an example using him of how people rate success. There's an idea of the status quo that every rapper wants to be Jay-Z. Nah. Every rapper does not want to be Jay-Z. Every rapper don't wanna be Kanye West. Everybody don't wanna be Lil Wayne. They wanna be who they are. ... You're a fool trying to chase that success down and manage it like that. I always look at my success as further than a dollar sign, further than record sales. ... Everybody thinks because you're black and you're from the 'hood, you wanna be Jay-Z. There's kids who wanna be astrophysicists and don't care about rap. That should be OK. You should be OK just being you, working your regular job and being happy. That's why I made that statement. I felt it need to be said."

Don't miss "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro," airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And find out what you can do to help solve the global water crisis now at the "Summit on the Summit" Web site.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: T-Pain, Jay Electronica, Notorious

NFL star Chad Ochocinco just landed his own dating show on VH1.

The father of four will be featured in The Tournament, a new cable docu-soap that will follow the 32-year-old Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver as he searches for a new partner.

“Ochocinco is one of the most electrifying individuals in sports today. His bigger-than-life personality on- and off-the-field and his notorious skills as a social networker, connecting daily with his fans, makes him a perfect fit for VH1,” Executive Vice President of VH1 Jeff Olde said in a statement Thursday. “This show will not only give viewers a look inside his professional life, but also reveal his softer more romantic side when playing a very different kind of game.”

The Tournament will premiere on The Celebreality Network in July 2010.

Lady Gaga and Beyonce debuted their hotly anticipated concept music video “Telephone” Thursday, a nearly 10-minute Tarantino-inspired dance party a la “Kill Bill.”

(an old photo of Jim, with me and Joe Budden at Game’s concert in NYC)

Awww man! Mikey Fresh’s first exclusive new music : )

Mikey was in the studio tonight with our pal Jim Jones, getting the sneak peek at Jimmy’s Ghost of Rich Porter mixtape, which finally drops on March 23rd.

Jimmy blessed us with this premiere…a song that he did with Gucci Mane before Gucci went to jail last November, called “Haunting.” Produced by 1.2 for Jetlag Ash Mgmt.

New Music: Jim Jones feat. Gucci Mane and Sen “Haunting” (Clean, CDQ) (download link)

Related: Jim Jones talks about The Ghost of Rich Porter with Complex.com

I love this! Chained Heat x Grease! x Kill Bill : )

Update….duh, I wrote “Videophone” at first. I need dinner. Also….this video is starring Tyrese and Gaga’s hairmonster.

These are Electron Microscope images of record grooves from Chris Supranowitz, a researcher at The Insitute of Optics at the University of Rochester.

⇑ Vinyl Grooves Magnified 200x: Darkest area is top of groove (uncut material)

⇑ Vinyl Grooves Magnified 500x

⇑ A Single Vinyl Groove Magnified 1000x

⇑ CD Pits Magnified 20,000x

Chris Supranowitz via grandgood