Harvard Law School Hip Hop panel is a HIT

Ryan Leslie, Sid the Kid, Tone Capone, Conrad 'Rad' Dimanche

Cambridge, MA, 3/27/09 – On March 14, 2009 Harvard Law School’s Black Law Student Association (BLSA) and The Hip Hop Entertainment Law Project (HHELP) hosted a mini-music seminar featuring music’s Renaissance man, Ryan Leslie; Conrad Dimanche former Senior Director of A & R, Bad Boy Ent.; Tone Capone, Producer Hot97 NYC, EVP Universal/Motown/CMG; Adrian ‘607’ Tillman, Independent Artist and Activist; Najja Campbell M.A. Juvenile Re-Entry Associate. The seminar titled “The Bizness behind The Business!” was held at Harvard Law School.

The panel received rave reviews from the panelists, the Harvard community, and attendees. Panelists discussed the importance of staying in school, staying out of trouble, and how to pursue a career in the music business. Attendees were able to ask panelists questions about how to obtain internships in the business, the best way to go about pursuing specific careers in music, and how to maximize their exposure to the general public and major labels. One of the major topics of the panel discussion was the important role the internet plays in helping individuals with entertainment industry career aspirations. Of course that is in addition to hard work and education. Over 150 students attended the event including, Harvard alum, Singer and Actress Tatiana Ali, from the long-running hit show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Attendees were from various public schools in the Boston area as well as Berklee College of Music, Boston College , Northeastern University , and Boston University . Check out video from the event at www.thisis50.com and www.amazashow.com

For more information about the panelists please visit their websites:

Conrad Dimanche: www.pmpworldwide.com

Ryan Leslie: www.ryanleslie.com

Tone Capone: www.musicindustryonline.info

Adrian ‘607’ Tillman: www.myspace.com/607

Also, if you would like to find out more about the state of the recording industry and how you can still be a successful artist during these difficult economic times please visit: www.amazashow.com

The event was co-sponsored by The Hip Hop Entertainment Law Project. The HHELP was created to combat the devastating effects the School to Prison Pipeline has on inner-city youth. The HHELP uses the music industry and hip hop music to motivate students in school. The HHELP was also created to give minority law students the opportunity to pursue careers in the music industry.  For regular twitter updates please add: http://twitter.com/LiciatheHHELP For more information on the music seminar or the HHELP please visit: www.thehhelp.com ,or https://thehiphopentertainmentlawproject.wordpress.com <!– p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:”Times New Roman”;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue;text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple;text-decoration:underline;} _filtered {margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {} –>

Y’all remember Fire Marshall Bill????? Well, he’s back!!!!! (I know I’m wrong for this….but I couldn’t help it!)

Ok so I found this while on one of my favorite forums…shouts to L.A. ! I laugh every time I think of this mess! When I first saw it I laughed for a good hour! Everyone remembers Kriss Kross right? Well it seems as though one of the members of the former popular teen group has ummmm changed (or had a change) of appearance…..and yes I’m going to church on Sunday!

Oh and here is his video response…..

T.I. Upbeat As He Enters Atlanta Courtroom For Sentencing

Tip smiles and waves to people in courtroom.

By Jayson Rodriguez

Tip

ATLANTA — It was a dreary, warm and wet morning in Atlanta as T.I. prepared for his sentencing on felony weapons charges at the Richard B. Russell Federal Courthouse Friday morning (March 27).

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., the rapper arrived at the 23rd-floor chamber, where he would appear before Judge Charles Pannell Jr. His manager, Jason Geter, was present beforehand. The sterile building was largely quiet as federal workers, lawyers and citizens slowly filed in. In the courtroom, there was a mix of teens, curious employees from the building, and the rapper’s family, including his longtime partner, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle. A hushed tone overtook the room with T.I.’s entrance. Lawyers were still entering.

T.I. was greeted warmly by his legal team. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit, dark dress shirt and matching tie. His spirits appeared up as he flashed a smile to different people as he scanned the room. Outside, a number of media outlets awaited word, just like T.I., on whether the rapper’s plea deal would be honored or not.

The rapper, who was arrested in 2007 after trying to illegally purchase firearms, had previously worked out a plea deal that significantly cut down his jail time. T.I. — who will discuss how he feels about his upcoming jail time on “T.I.’s Road to Redemption: The Reckoning,” airing Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV — made a plea deal last March that suggested if he completed 1,000 hours of community service before sentencing, paid a $100,000 fine and agreed to complete another 500 hours of community service after his time behind bars, he would be sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

The sentence is notable, according to legal experts, because of the specific length. If T.I. were to be sentenced to one year in prison, for example, he would be required to complete the entire sentence. The sentence of one year and one day could allow T.I. to be released earlier for good behavior, if warranted.

Don’t miss “T.I.’s Road to Redemption: The Reckoning,” airing Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

T.I. Prepares For Prison Sentence

POSTED BY: Jaye Watson

Add me on twitter: LiciatheHHELP

ATLANTA — Rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris will be sentenced in federal court at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Don Samuel, Harris’s defense attorney, says his client will be sentenced to 12 months and one day per a binding agreement with the court. Adding the one day to Harris’s sentence allows for 15 percent of the time to be served to be shaved off.

Samuel says Harris will spend approximately ten months behind bars, in a federal prison yet to be determined.

In October of 2007, federal agents arrested T.I. in a midtown parking lot as he was trying to buy machine guns and silencers. He pled guilty and received the one year sentence in exchange for one year of community service.

T.I. has spent the past year on a nationwide odyssey, trekking through 25 states, speaking to thousands of teens, telling them how not to wind up like him. One of T.I.’s last speaking engagements was at Georgia’s Supreme Court last month.

During his talk he told teens, “I know what’s it’s like to walk outside your house and on the way to the bus stop you see six drug dealers, seven robbers, three or four prostitites, a hundred junkies, all on the way to school. I know what’s it’s like to walk outside your house and look around and say well how am I supposed to be any better than what’s around me. I answer that question by saying you become better than what’s around you by believing you can be better than what’s around you.”

He urged the teens to stay in school so they can eventually have everything they want.

“Those of you who ain’t found out how to sacrifice a good time now for a great time later, you ain’t going to never have nothin’ period,” he said.

Asked what his greatest regret was he said, “If it wasn’t for all the things I’d done I wouldn’t have went through the experiences and I wouldn’t have gained the knowledge that I have right now that allows me to stand up here in front of you and tell you what not to do.”

Samuel says T.I. went way above and beyond what the court required of him this past year, but that he didn’t do it hoping for a reduced sentence. Samuel says the sentence was binding and that there was never any chance it would be reduced. T.I. will report to a federal prison, yet to be determined, in the middle of May.

Russell Simmons Rallies for Drug Sentencing Reform @livesteez.com

Hip-hop mogul, Russell Simmons, joined hundreds of protesters outside the Manhattan office of Governor David Paterson in hopes to end the controversial Rockefeller Drug Law.

Simmons marched alongside a mass of local community organizations such as Families Rally for Emancipation and Empowerment (also known as FREE), the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Correctional Association of New York. Director of the board of directors for the Correctional Association of New York and granddaughter of Nelson D. Rockefeller, Meile Rockefeller, is also planning to rally.

According to Legislativegazzette.com, Paterson, then a state senator, and Meile were arrested in 2002 for civil disobedience for their involvement in the “Drop the Rock” crusade disputing the same Rockefeller Drug Laws that are presently under scrutiny.

Executive Director to the Corrections Association of New York, Bob Gangi, argues that Paterson has abandoned his position on drug reform since he was elected Governor. “He is not exercising his power; we urge him to embrace his better political self, restate past issues, and help the legislature to move toward the drug law reform,” Gangi said.

Simmons told Allhiphop.com, “We are at the pivotal point where our hard work pays off. But we can’t let up now. The fact is the Governor and State Senator both fought for the changes that the assembly has proposed to them. But both the Governor Patterson and the State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith need to hear your voices. They are being pushed by forces that are not interested in changing this horrible law which has devastated black and brown communities for two generations.”

In 1973, the Rockefeller Drug Law was passed and initiated extreme mandatory sentencing of 15 to 25 years imprisonment for anyone attempting to sell more than 56 grams of narcotics or marijuana. The bill sparked criticism by those who have been affected claiming that law unfairly imprisons non-violent, minority offenders mostly in possession of small amounts of crack cocaine. It is estimated that 90% of the 12,000 offenders convicted under Rockefeller laws are African American and Latino.

Simmons also urged the community and anyone who has been a witness to unjust imprisonment to get involved and inspire change. He concluded, “Call or write Governor Paterson or State Senate Majority Leader Smith and push them to be true to the communities that made them. Tell them now that they are in power they can make the difference.”

About the Hip Hop Entertainment Law Project

The Hip Hop Entertainment Law Project (HHELP) was created to:

1.  Stop the School to Prison Pipeline using the music industry to motivate high-risk teens to do well in school.

2.  Provide minority law students with opportunities to pursue careers in the music industry through artist education and empowerment.

HHELP Goals:

1. Educating inner-city youth on the business behind the Entertainment Industry
2. Introducing high-risk inner-city youth to careers in the music industry
   
3. Providing a realistic career track program for teens who want a career in the music industry.
4. Motivating students in school.
5. Closing the generational gap controversial music has created to form a collective fight against the gap between generations to create a collective fight against the School to Prison Pipeline.
6. Providing career opportunities for underrepresented law students in the Music Industry.
7. Assisting artists and groups that find themselves in precarious business situations while simultaneously showing them the key role their knowledge of the business plays in whether or not they succeed in the music business.
8. Using seminars, symposiums, and clinics to teach artists the importance of implementing and maintaining ethics along with integrity in their business dealings.
9. Educating artists on the important role an understanding of legal contract terms plays in their ability to properly develop a viable financial plan during and after their career.
   
10. Stressing to artists the importance of seeking legal counsel before signing contracts or making any agreements.


For more information about HHELP please visit www.thehhelp.com