You might have been wondering where I’ve been. I drove up to DC from Atlanta to catch Rock The Bells on July 12th. The good folks at RTB provided me with a photo/video pass and a free ticket. I’ve got some great footage to drop tonight/tomorrow and throughout the week, so stay tuned!

I’ll be writing a full review tomorrow, but here’s some info via HipHopDX about last night’s show.

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I check TVNewser regularly to see the Cable News ratings, specifically CNN, MSNBC, HLN, and FNC (Fox News). I put together a list of the most influential cable news anchors based on Thursday’s (July 9th, 2009) ratings. The ratings are based on viewers from 5pm through 11pm that are part of the 24-54 demographic. Also, I put a star next to the anchors who’s show is only played once within that time period.

1. Bill O’Reilly  (1394) – FOX News
2. Anderson Cooper (960) – CNN
3. Sean Hannity (660)* – FOX News
4. Nancy Grace (640) – HLN
5. Keith Olbermann (623) – MSNBC
6. Greta Van Susteren (602)* – FOX News
6. Wolf Blitzer (518)  - CNN
7. Larry King  (507)* -CNN
8. Shepard Smith (507)* – FOX News
8. Rachel Maddow (447) – MSNBC
9. Glen Beck (440)* – FOX News
10. Bret Baier (420)* – FOX News

Thoughts?

“Racism still alive, they just be concealin’ it” – Kanye West

A Philadelphia-area day care center said Thursday that members of a private swim club made racist comments about the center’s children, and the club then canceled their swimming privileges.
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Being a drug addict has it’s down sides. Ask Lil Wayne.

Red City Entertainment is suing the New Orleans native for close to half a million dollars after Weezy was a no-show at a planned September 27, 2008 performance in the Bahamas.

The company alleges that it put up close to $432,000 to set up the event, but when it came time for Weezy to hit the stage, he was nowhere to be found. Reportedly when authorities searched for the rapper they found him passed out in his hotel room, that Red City paid for.

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The latest Twista music video is for his song “American Gangster.” In the clip, Twista shows off the best part of America: street gangs! I like the video despite the ignorant imagery, but let’s just hope Bill O’Reilly doesn’t see it. “American Gangster” appears on Twista’s upcoming album, Category F5, due in stores this Tuesday (July 14, 2009).

In my “Death To All “D.O.A.” Discussions post, I made this observation:

I’ve been blown away by the number of people who don’t see “D.O.A.” for what it is…a marketing ploy.

Just a few minutes ago I came accross an article about Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint working out deals with Sony and Atlantic. The deal with Sony is specifically for the artists on the Roc Nation label, such a J. Cole, while the deal with Atlantic is a side-deal specific to Jay’s upcoming album Blueprint III. Here’s what Jay had to say about marketing in this Billboard article published on June 30, 2009:

“That’s pretty much just for this specific album. Roc Nation — we’re experts in marketing and making records. But we do distribution deals,” he says. “On this one, we’re working directly with the Atlantic staff, which is Julie [Greenwald], Lyor [Cohen], Kevin [Liles] and Kyse [Mike Kyser]. For the rest of the Roc Nation artists, we did a distribution deal with Sony.”

Make sense don’t it? Now make dollars.*

*Jay-Z on “I Love The Dough”

Nick Gillespie is editor in chief of Reason.tv and Reason.com and features the staff weblog Hit & Run, named by Playboy, Washingtonian, and others as one of the best political blogs. Gillespie served as Reason magazine’s editor in chief from 2000 to 2008. Under his direction, Reason won the 2005 Western Publications Association “Maggie” Award for Best Political Magazine. Gillespie originally joined Reason’s staff in 1993 as an assistant editor and ascended to the top slot in 2000. In 2004, Gillespie edited the book Choice: The Best of Reason, an anthology of the magazine’s best articles. Gillespie’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, Slate, Salon, Time.com, Marketplace, and numerous other publications.

Props: Reason TV

It’s refreshing to see Sacha Baron Cohen being Sacha Baron Cohen. The Borat star has a new film out called Bruno. I might go see it tonight even if just to see him interviews a terrorist. Check out Cohen’s previous appearance on Letterman, as Borat, after the jump.

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Spotted this at XXL.

Topping the list, and stealing 50 Cent’s title from last year, is Brooklyn rap business mogul, who Forbes believes to have raked in $35 million since last June. Although down from last year’s reputed $82 million in earnings, Jay still managed to pull in millions in profits from his relentless world tour.

Diddy is at #2 with $30 million. Kanye is at #3 with $25 million. 50 Cent and Akon tied for #4 with $20 million. Akon is the only artist on the list to have made more in 2009 than 2008. Word.

Before I get into my Top 5 hilarious Bill O’Reilly moments, I’d like to say a few words about the subject of this post. For those of you who feel like Bill O’Reilly is the worst person/deserves a beatdown, I’d be willing to bet you’ve never watched a full episode of The Factor. Also, how can you hate a guy that’s had Cam’ron on his show? Sure, there are times when I’ve completely disagreed with his position on an issue, but this post is a celebration. Bill O’Reilly, you are hilarious.

#5 O’Reilly Shoves An Obama Staff Member - Bill decided to show up to an Obama campaign rally and wasn’t too pleased when an Obama staffer went out of his way to block O’Reilly’s cameraman from getting a good shot. Bill pushes the guy, calls him a “son of a bitch,” and gets surrounded by Secret Service. Funniest part is the whole time O’Reilly is yelling “you’re blocking the shot.” No wonder the Secret Service was concerned.

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AZ’s “Problems” is featured on his 2001 album 9 Lives.  The songs producer, Chop D.I.E.S.E.L., samples Debarge’s “All This Love.” It was the first single off the album, and AZ absolutely kills it. Check out both songs below.

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Inspectah Deck, member of the legendary Wu Tang Clan, felt the need to defend Method Man after Joe Budden said he’d rip him in a battle. Check out what Joe had to say about responding to Inspectah Deck’s diss entitled “House Nigga.”

“While Inspectah Deck may be considered a legend for the one great verse he had in his 30 year career, it’s 2009…We’ll see how it all plays out. We gotta see how it goes down when I get into the studio,” Budden continued. “He should be dissing RZA for not paying him. When Saigon dissed me, my next dis track was the fact that I got paid from his dis track. I don’t think people really use their heads. He rapped on ‘Pump It Up.’ Me and Just [Blaze] got paid for it.”
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South Carolina’s Sanford Will Not Be Impeached (CNN Politics)
But he will forever be remembered as Governor Scumbucket.

Despite President Obama, G-8 drags feet on Iran (Politico)
Seriously?

Panetta Admits CIA Misled Congress On Interrogation Policy (Huff Post)
I bet Nancy Pelosi did a cartwheel in her office.

White House Threatens To Veto Dem-Backed Intelligence Bill (Huff Post)
President Obama reminds Congress that he’s the boss.

California Citizens Revolt Against Political Class (Reason)
This is encouraging news. I really enjoyed this article.

But there’s another interpretation of California’s rebellion, one with far sunnier implications for those of us who prefer our governments constrained. Faced with a political class that ignored bureaucratic inefficiency, that demanded higher taxes, that filled the newspapers with scare stories about people who will literally die as a result of budget cuts, the citizens of one of the bluest states in the nation collectively said we just don’t believe you anymore. If even California’s famous fruits and nuts can call the statists’ bluff, there may be hope for the rest of the country.