"Well [now], Def Jam are not leaders. They're not leaders plain and simple, because it's changed. They're not leaders like they used to be. In the '90's they were leaders. They were the label that you considered the mechanics of hip-hop; they're under the car. They were the ones under the car getting greasy, getting dirty, fixing that muffler that drags when everybody loved that sh*t and was following it.
Now they're playing the follower. They're followers, they're not building artists no more like they should. And that's just the game. It's not they fault. We got into the Internet world and sh*t is moving fast and came so fast and came so quick that labels couldn't exist, but still they got the money and they're a company. They're supposed to adjust. I think they need to get that going. Being a label, being on top."
"Yeah they have to play catch up," Red added. "They have to catch up now. The way the labels were ran back then in the '90's. We had tapes and even from studio equipment a lot of people weren't prepared for that, like getting rid of their 24 track reel tapes. So yes, it came up quick on a lot of labels with this viral [thing] and [now] you're able to do songs in the comforts of your own home.THOUGHTS?
They shutting studios down, you can get known through Facebook or whatever. You don't have to wait for a label to put you out now, so yes I think the labels are shut down a little bit and sizing down a lot."
"This b**ch needs to be SHOT on site…" Khia wrote. "It smells WORSER than the gas that's coming out of my ASS, from all of the Turkey that I ate over the Thanksgiving weekend. Someone needs to give this B**CH a FLEET Enima and “FLUSH” her IMMEDIATELY, She is nothing but a “Ghostwritten”, Weezy-wannabe WHORE!"Although Khia is most known for her single “My Neck, My Back”, the Floridian made it clear that she was the only one who controlled her image.
“Give me an album without any CAMEOS and then you can talk to the Queen….. Cuz I carry this shit on top of “My Neck and My Back,” Solo Hoe! Hell…….Even on top my head, fruit baskets and all!”Before blasting Minaj track by track, Khia wanted fans to know that she is not a hater and that she earnestly attempted to show support by purchasing the album, which led to her dissatisfaction.
“I don't want to sound like a hater because I did go out and spend my $13.99 on this”Mop-flop” of an album, “Khia continued. “So hopefully this review will give this BLOW-UP doll a little more promotion….. They built this “Bear” right before our eyes! No hate intended…. Real Talk.”Not just focusing on one area, Khia also moved her attack to Nicki's finances and deal with Young Money, claiming that Minaj, “wasn't making no money” off of the album due to executive producers and all of the work that went into the release.
"I can't believe I wasted my $13.99 on this BULL S**T, I told yall that it aint no damn Barbies in the hood," Khia said. "I can't wait for Matel to sue this b**tch for all of the $3.60 that she earned! When is this b**ch gonna learn that they stealing all of the money?"
The first court hearing in the Bishop Eddie Long sexual misconduct case was held Friday, and the case is headed for settlement talks. Lawyers for the bishop and the four young men who have filed suits against him said they want to avoid a trial and resolve the dispute in mediation early next year.
During a status conference held Friday, lawyers for both sides gave a road map of what’s going to happen throughout the case, when it’s going to happen and why it’s going to happen.
On the way into the courthouse, Bishop Eddie Long’s attorney Craig Gillen, and the young accusers’ attorney, B.J. Bernstein, had little to say. But after a short status conference, one thing was clear: Both sides were ready to resolve the case.
“The number one thing is we are ready to move forward in this case,” said Bernstein.
Jamal Parris and three other young men have filed sexual misconduct lawsuits against the popular Bishop and his 10,000-seat New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The lawsuits allege the bishop sent the three young men provocative pictures and lavished money and gifts on the then-teenagers, while having sex with the young men.
Bishop Long has filed an answer to all four lawsuits, claiming in bold letters on the first page the claims of sexual misconduct are not true.
In all four of the lawsuits, Bishop Long admitted he was a mentor to a number of young men, trying to build stability in their lives. He admitted to traveling with the young men and at times sharing a room with them.
In the lawsuit, Bishop Eddie Long admitted young men in the church called him “daddy” or sometimes “granddaddy,” and he specifically denied in every lawsuit that he ever had sex with any of the four young men.
Lawyers for both sides say they want to avoid a trial and resolve the dispute as quickly as possible.
During the status conference, both sides said they want to try to avoid trial, and have a mediator resolve the explosive allegations. Judge Johnny Panos set a February date for mediation. If the case is not settled in mediation, expect the first of possibly four separate trials in July or August.
Attorneys also said that during the course of the case, the court will hear from expert witnesses who will talk about the relationship that should be there between a professional, like a bishop, and a parishioner, like the young men who have filed suit against him.
A Florida debt collector contacted a St. Petersburg woman’s Facebook friends in an effort to get her to repay a $362 car loan. The woman, Melanie Beacham, promptly hit the collector, MarkOne Financial, with a civil suit in Pinellas County circuit court.
Though the suit was first filed in August, Beacham’s attorney amended it recently, and the story broke nationally yesterday. According to the filing, a MarkOne employee going by the name Jeff Happenstance contacted both Beacham and two of her friends. As you can see in the message above, Happenstance asked the friends to have Beacham contact him without making reference to her debt.
While you may never thought of it this way, Facebook is a perfect tool for tracking down debtors and the people they know. LinkedIn and Twitter are, too.
“Now Facebook does a debt collectors work for them,” Beacham’s attorney, Billy Howard, who specializes in debt collection harassment, told a Tampa TV station. “Now it’s not only family members, it’s all of your associates. It’s a very powerful tool for debt collectors to use.”
Debt collectors have long contacted family members and friends of debtors in attempts to locate them — and that behavior is protected by law. “Other than to obtain this location information about you, a debt collector generally is not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney,” a Federal Trade Commission FAQ explains.
MarkOne admitted in a statement that it emailed to The Atlantic that it does use Facebook to track people down:
MarkOne’s policy is to only use Facebook® to locate customers when the customer has a fully public profile, and when the customer has not responded to MarkOne through conventional means. Our policy is to respect privacy disclosure requirements and no negative or account information is shared with third parties.
While this policy strikes me as fairly reasonable, we shouldn’t miss the larger point: a debt collection firm has a policy on how to use Facebook to track people down. This is yet another indication that our online lives are tethered to our offline lives, and not just in the fun ways.
Facebook does not look kindly on debt collectors using their social graph to get people to settle up. Facebook told The Atlantic today that debt collectors using their service may be violating their rules. A spokesperson for the company emailed us the following unusually strong (and speculative) statement to us:
There are state and federal laws and FTC regulations that govern the actions of debt collectors. The collector in the St. Petersburg case likely violates a number of these laws and regulations and we encourage the victim to contact the FTC and her state Attorney General. In addition, Facebook policies prohibit any kind of threatening, intimidating, or hateful contact from one user to another. We encourage people to report such behavior to us, only accept friend requests from people that they know, and use privacy settings and our blocking feature to prevent unwanted contact.
Facebook is clearly signaling that they are taking this novel debt-collecting methodology seriously. And so am I. I seriously doubt that MarkOne is alone in making use of social media to attempt to settle debts.
“I got to see the footage of him walking on South Beach, down Collins Ave…[Tim: it got a little crazy out there.] Yeah, he played himself. You gotta come cross the bridge to Carol City, Lil’ Haiti, that’s where you get your issues. I mean, Washington Ave? Give me a break…..what’s crazy about that, you can see on that same footage, when they asked about my name, they still don’t really have a direct answer. And that ain’t gangster at all. If you really have an issue put it on the table and handle it like a G. Walking down Collins Ave…You played yourself, you’ll get that took from you.”
-Rick Ross
