R.I.P. Bobby Womack

Legendary singer-songwriter-guitarist Bobby Womack passed away on Friday, his record label XL Recordings has confirmed. He was 70 years old. Bobby left a huge mark on R&B, especially in the 60s and 70s but battled drug addiction later in his career and was also diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012. Many modern artists including 50 Cent, Ghostface Killah, Mariah Carey, Kendrick Lamar and Black Star have sampled his soulful tunes in recent times. Rest in peace. via HHNM

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50 Cent Leaves Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records

After being 12-years on Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, 50’s taking his talents to Caroline/Capitol/UMG. 50 Cent announced today that he has signed an exclusive worldwide distribution and services agreement with Caroline/Capitol/UMG. The superstar recording artist transitions to independent status after a successful twelve years at Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, during which time he sold more than 30 million albums. 50 Cent’s highly successful catalog, including Get Rich or Die Tryin’, The Massacre, Curtis and Before I Self Destruct, will continue to be marketed and released by Shady/Aftermath/Interscope. The artist’s first album under the new agreement will be Animal Ambition, scheduled for release on June 3rd. Album pre-orders will begin on March 18th and fans will immediately receive two instant gratification tracks and the corresponding videos will premiere online. An additional song and video will launch each week leading up to the album’s release. Now here comes the prerequisite comments from all three parties: Curtis, his old boss, and his new boss. According to Caroline President Dominic Pandiscia, “We are thrilled to welcome 50 Cent and G-Unit to our family. 50 is simply one of the most accomplished and creative artists, and his plans for the future are as exciting and innovative as you can imagine. I deeply thank him for his belief in our team and what we can do to help support his creative vision in the years to come. I’d also like to thank everyone at Shady/Aftermath and Interscope, particularly Eminem and Dr. Dre, for offering their endorsement and support of our involvement with

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Nas Announces “Illmatic XX” Release Date

Pre-order the 20th anniversary edition of Nas’ “Illmatic” now on iTunes. Nas has announced illmaticXX, a 20th anniversary edition of his 1994 debut album, Illmatic, scheduled to be released April 15. This anniversary edition is set to include unreleased remixes to the original cuts on the album, along with unreleased versions of “I’m a Villain” and Nas’ appearance on “The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show On WKCR October 28, 1993.” The anniversary edition of Illmatic also includes the 10 original tracks from the album. Tracklist 01. I’m A Villain (Unreleased) 02. The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show on WKCR October 28, 1993 (Unreleased Freestyle) 03. Halftime (Butcher Remix) 04. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Remix) 05. One Love (LG Main Mix) 06. Life’s A Bitch (Arsenal Mix) 07. One Love (One L Main Mix) 08. The World Is Yours (Tip Mix) 09. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (The Stink Mix) 10. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (The Laidback Remix)

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50 Cent Hits The Studio With Jadakiss & Styles P

50 Cent and The Lox going in on the same track would be epic and it looks like it might happen. G-Unit’s head honcho shared an Instagram photo with his 7.3 million Twitter followers of him in the studio with Styles P and Jadakiss. Animal Ambition on the way. It's getting ready to get CRAZY#smsaudio http://t.co/BmlpQILwVc — 50cent (@50cent) February 1, 2014

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