Rap Star Kanye Breaks into Tears at Paris Concert after Mum's Death

The world famous rap star Kanye West broke down

during a concert in Paris, which is part of his European tour he launched just a week after his mother's death, MTV.com reported.Toward the end of the hour-long show, as "Hey Mama" began, West attempted to introduce the song, saying, "This song is for my mother ... " but could not continue."A back-up singer, the DJ and a guitar player came over to console him. It looked like he might collapse. He just couldn't continue. He just stood there in a spotlight, crying, while the band continued playing," eyewitness said. The song, from 2005's album, called "Late Registration", is dedicated to rapper's mother Donda. After the audience encouraged him, West restarted the song but was unable to finish and left the stage, returning few minutes later to conclude the concert. Donda West died at the age of 58 in Los Angeles after cosmetic surgery developed complications.She managed her son's businesses and educational foundation. The 30-year-old star often spoke publicly of his close relationship with his mother. She raised him alone after her husband left when West was three.

FASHION NEWS

The Nostic Apparel offices in midtown Manhattan are a hectic place, but all is in order. Prospective buyers come in for meetings and designer Nancy Jones discusses Nostic while taking care of family business on the phone with her son Jim. In the background are racks full of T-shirts, jeans, and hoodies elaborately covered in gothic imagery and a flashy, dagger-emblazoned logo. The Nostic brand is derived from the religious movement of Gnosticism, which teaches that humans need spiritual knowledge in order to navigate between good and evil.

As Mrs. Jones describes, there is a story behind every skull, dove, grim reaper, angel, and scripture. Taking fashion cues from her famous son, the lady best known as Momma Jones developed a unique design that the Diplomats Capo began to rep proudly. With high profile industry cosigns and distributors from as far as Canada and Japan clamoring for the clothes, Nostic appears to be on the rise.

AllHipHop.com: When did you get your start in fashion?

Nancy Jones: I’ve been doing fashion since I was little. My son gave me this big break to actually explore more of what I love to do most, and God is good - He gave Jim the opportunity to get out there. God gave me for me to do what I do best. I love kids, and I love to create and design.

AllHipHop.com: How did the idea to start the Nostic line form?

Nancy Jones: I was into the women’s [clothing at first], and I had to do some of the men’s stuff due to my son. So I was doing t-shirts at every fashion show. At one time they would call me Ghetto Mom, then it was called Echelon, then it was called Jonez, so now we’re down to Nostic. When [Jim and I] sat down to talk and he said, “Mom, since you like doing the t-shirts, that’s what you should start out with and we can probably get the line out like that.”

I started doing t-shirts that were not to [his] liking [at the time], and we got into this big, huge, nice, lovely, juicy mother and son argument. That’s when Chrissy [Jim Jones’ stylist and significant other] gave me the insight on how and what he likes to wear. We were coming up with all sorts of names, and she came up to me and said, “What about Gnostic?” and I said, “I love it, but I don’t like the ‘G’,” so we made it Nostic.

AllHipHop.com: What were the style pointers you took from your son?

Nancy Jones: Studying my son’s whole dress thing, [I saw that] sometimes he put the shirt on with the cross, next time he might have the shirt looking all vintage and torn up, then he looks like he’s in a gothic kind of world, and then he has a Jesus Christ on his shirt. Nostic fit so perfect, so I just took everything that he likes and how he likes to wear and it and combined it into one. So that’s how we came up with the skulls, the fallen angel, the angel with the reaper - the vintage looking stuff. He likes his stuff fitting him nice. And I love it because Jim likes a lot of the back in the day stuff, and that’s my type too. I was very flashy and I still keep my little flashiness. He honestly got that standing out in his dressing. I’m glad that he loved it because the first shirt that I made, he flipped out.

AllHipHop.com: How exactly did he flip out?

Nancy Jones: Well all this time, he didn’t know that I had started making shirts. I told his [assistant] Chris Lecky, “If something exciting come on, the only time you give him this shirt is in the middle of whatever that is.” So Jim was in the middle of an interview and Chris gave him the shirt, and he said “Where did this come from?!,” and Chris said “From your mother, that’s your line.” He said, “Get out!” Then the interviewer said, “Can I have it?” and Jim said “Hell no! You can’t afford it!” Jim took his shirt off and [put on the Nostic shirt]. So from then it was on and popping.

AllHipHop.com: I’ve seen different people from the Diplomats, such as Juelz and Freekey Zekey wearing Nostic. Who else do you have in line to be spokespersons?

Nancy Jones: They think I’m crazy, I just target anybody. Even when we went to MAGIC [fashion convention in Las Vegas]… I know LL Cool J has his own line and the whole nine yards [and I told him] “I can’t give you the clothes if you don’t wear my s**t.” I told 50 Cent, “I can’t give it to you, I need to see you put it on.” Nick Cannon, Young Jeezy - I don’t play. Boy, I told Scrappy, “If you don’t wear it, you gonna be picking up scraps for real!” I told Rich Boy, “If you don’t wear it, you gonna be Poor Boy!” I’m not gonna give you any of my stuff if you’re not going to wear it, because anything that you make that is your line and you give to me, I’m gonna wear it. The people I love the most in the industry are Gino Green, we support each other back and forth.

AllHipHop.com: Jim, along with Juelz and Lil’ Wayne, has been going hard with the rock star look lately. Where do you think the appeal of that comes from?

Nancy Jones: He’s crazy like his momma. I ain’t gonna lie about it, I go into that mood swing type of thing- one time you might see me dressed like the sexy church lady, another time I might be dressed like the secret squirrel lady, another time I might go into that rock and roll. I know if I want to make a difference, that means I have to dress completely different in order for someone to say, “Wow, who is that person, what’s going on?” I tell my daughters: the way you appear makes the whole difference to anybody.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think the spiritual symbolism of the line will resonate with people?

Nancy Jones: It’s who wants to take it how they want to take it. Nobody said this is just spiritual. If this is on you [points to a Nostic shirt with biblical writings on it] and I read the words and I want to get into that, then fine. If not, if I like the style it just looks hot. But at least I know you got a piece of the bible on you [laughs], so one day it will touch your soul. [With] some of the [Nostic clothes], it won’t be all the way bible stuff, because Gnostic is actually a balance: day and night, good and evil, so it’s all about good balance in life. This [points to another shirt] is the grim reaper and a lady gambling for her life with the dice, and my son plays cee-lo, so that’s the way he saw this. Everybody takes it however they want to take it, but they know there’s a story behind it.

AllHipHop.com: How did Joe Levin get involved as the President of Nostic?

Nancy Jones: [In the beginning] I was doing it all by myself and it started getting overwhelming, because now they wanted more and more and more. And that’s where Joey came in. I came with stuff already built, but he turned and built the sh*t out of it. He’s the greatest. I still have a lot more to learn, but he has shown me things and taught me more things than anybody in this apparel industry would even try to teach me. Because I’ve been through the line of different people and it’s not no honesty thing out there - it’s a dog eat dog world. Thank God, He built me as a nice lady but a tough lady, so I’m not going to back down. That’s my partner for real, my whole family is my partner because they’ve been my inspiration. My daughters Keisha, Precious and Jamillah believed in me real hard. I was determined to get this out one way or another.

AllHipHop.com: In terms of self-expression, what kind of message does someone wearing Nostic send out?

Nancy Jones: They are sending out a good, positive message. It’s spiritual [depending on] how you feel about it. I know when you wear it, you feel good. We have our own Nostic women wear that we just getting ready to start out, and I know I feel good when I wear it. I know for a fact when my son wears it, when the whole Dipset wears it, when his compadres wear it, when the people that call me up at MTV and BET wear it, it gives people a positive feeling. It makes you feel good, like this is what it’s about. I want it to continue ‘cause God is good and he’s going to make sure it gets bigger and bigger. It’s already there, I’m just waiting for it to all start revealing and shining harder.

For more info on Nostic, go to http://www.nosticapparel.com/

Mike Tyson sentenced to 1 day in jail

MESA, Ariz. - Mike Tyson could have received more than four years in prison. He left the courtroom having to serve all of one day in an open-air jail. The former heavyweight champion was sentenced Monday for cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

"I take responsibility for my actions," Tyson told the judge. He left the courthouse flanked by supporters, lit a cigar and drove away in the back of a black Mercedes.

The 41-year-old boxer will serve his day in jail Tuesday for DUI. He received three years of probation for the cocaine charge and also will have to pay a fine, submit to drug testing and serve 360 hours of community service.

He will be incarcerated in Tent City, Maricopa County's infamous jail near a dog pound and trash dump. Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Tyson will wear the standard-issue pink underwear and black-and-white striped uniform. He'll stay in an unoccupied area, apart from Tent City's 1,500 other inmates. Tyson visited juvenile inmates in Tent City in 1999, telling them to stay out of trouble.

"Apparently he didn't listen to his own advice," Arpaio said.

Prosecutors had argued that Tyson should be behind bars, given his violent criminal past. But Superior Court Judge Helene Abrams was impressed with how the boxer has tried to atone following his Dec. 29 arrest in which his car almost hit a sheriff's deputy's vehicle.

"You worked to address your addiction and self-destructive behavior," Abrams said before sentencing him.

Tyson had numerous supporters in court, including former wife Monica Turner and people who worked at a California drug treatment clinic where he was treated, lawyer said.

Prosecutor Shane Krauser recommended one year in prison, although the maximum was four years, three months. Krausner said Tyson was a multiple offender who previously had been convicted of a violent crime and that only now has he sought treatment for his drug addiction.

He noted Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland in 1999.

"Judge, by my calculations, this is his fourth or fifth chance," Krauser said.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas was disappointed by the sentence.

"His intentional criminal conduct seriously endangered the public," Thomas said in a statement.

Tyson, who used to live in Paradise Valley, was spotted driving erratically last year after leaving Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge. An officer said he saw Tyson wiping a white substance off the dashboard of his black BMW, and that his speech was slurred. Police found bags of cocaine in his pocket and in the car.

Tyson told officers later that he used cocaine "whenever I can get my hands on it," and that he preferred to smoke it in cigarettes with the tobacco pulled out, according to court documents. He also told police he used marijuana that day and was taking an antidepressant, the documents state.

In September, Tyson pleaded guilty to a single felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI count. Since his arrest, he checked himself into an inpatient treatment program in California for what his lawyer called "various addictions." Attorney David Chesnoff described the Dec. 29 arrest as a victimless crime that hurt only Tyson.

In court, Chesnoff said his client had taken 29 drug tests without a relapse since his arrest and that he's attended Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He told Abrams that Tyson had become an example of how one overcomes problems with drugs, a violent past and poor upbringing.

"He's tried his hardest despite coming from almost impossible beginnings," Chesnoff said.

In 1986, a 20-year-old Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion when he knocked out Trevor Berbick. He lost his title four years later, knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas. By 1997, Tyson's career hit a low when he bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight.

Tyson recently had been trying to revive his career with a series of boxing exhibitions.

Cam’ron Breaks Hiatus With Street Mixtape

Cam’ron Breaks Hiatus With Street Mixtape
Thursday, October 25, 2007By: Kenny Rodriguez Cam’ron is breaking his recording hiatus with a new mixtape, “Public Enemy #1,” a double-CD street release to drop on Nov. 7. “Killa Season again, you little yentas,” Cam’ron wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. “November 7th. Cam’ron is anonymous. Dipset!” On his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/killacamspace), the Harlem rapper recently posted a web video titled “Where’s Cam?,” a collage of news footage and pictures of Cam’ron, including eerie clips of him wearing army fatigues and walking in a graveyard. According to MTV, Cam’ron is working on an upcoming album, currently untitled. Cam’ron has been relatively quiet after he appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program in a segment which aired in April regarding the “Stop Snitching” campaign. Shortly afterwards, rumors began to surface over a possible rift between Cam’ron and fellow Diplomats’ member Jim Jones. Although neither has confirmed the rumors, Jim Jones admited back in May that “me and Cam’ron haven’t spoke in a year.”

T.I. Files Motion With Court To Celebrate Thanksgiving With Friends

Lawyers for T.I. filed two motions yesterday (November 6) asking a judge to allow the Atlanta rapper to have visitors at his house on Thanksgiving (November). T.I. is under 24-hour house arrest while he awaits trial on allegations that he attempted to illegally purchase three machine guns and two silencers and possessing a cache of weapons in his Atlanta mansion. The motion filed on Tuesday requests that the three-visitor rule imposed by his $3 million bond be temporarily waived from 9:00am until 6:30 pm on Thanksgiving day. The rapper also submitted a list of proposed visitors for the judge to approve, who must all undergo criminal background checks, as does any other visitor to see the chart-topping rapper. T.I. is also forbidden from consuming alcohol even if the motion is granted.

JADAKISS IS ON ROC-A-FELLA - THANK ME LATER!!

There have been a lot of gossip fodder going back and forth for a long time. I told you ‘Kiss was already signed to the Roc and Jay-Z made a statement that threw everything off. Well, here are the facts.
In Jay’s new video for “Roc Boys” Jadakiss unequivocally confirms that he is on the Roc Boys team. From what I have been bless to “hear” ‘Kiss joined the Roc-A-Fella Records team a little over a week ago.
DID I MENTION JADAKISS THROWS UP THE ROC SIGN IN THE NEW VIDEO FOR “ROC BOYS” BY MR. JAY-Z?

You might not believe me now, but unless there is some last second editing going on, Jadakiss is down with Roc-A-Fella, y’all.

The Roc is looking kinda strong right now!

American Gangster Brings $46.3 million in First Week-end

American Gangster opened this week-end as a the top movie in the U.S. and Canada. The film bested Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie which debuted in second place.
Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington lead this movie while Washington stars as the gang boss Frank Lucas who is pursued by a cop (Richie Roberts) portrayed by Crowe.
Among the people who did help to bring heroin to Harlem was the notorious Frank Lucas. During the early 1970s, Lucas was the most powerful drug dealer in New York, a chinchilla-clad kingpin who amassed a $50-million fortune by selling the purest heroin on the market. He imported his narcotics directly from Vietnam, smuggling them back in the coffins of dead American soldiers. In building his crime empire, he was personally responsible for many deaths.
This shady individual is the subject of Ridley Scott latest film, American Gangster, in which Washington stars as Lucas, and Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, the cop who brought him to justice. In the opening act, Lucas is seen distributing turkeys to the people of Harlem, like a latterday Robin Hood. “There has always been a history for those on the other side of the law, who have made a lot of money from it, to spread the wealth,” adds Washington. “I don’t know whether people loved Lucas for that, but they took the turkeys, and in his mind they loved him for it.”
Jay-Z will release his concept album inspired by the movie and also called American Gangster tomorrow (November 6).