Archive for May 15, 2009

T.I. HEADING TO PRISON

Only eleven days remain until rapper must report to begin serving his federal prison sentence in connection to his October 2007 arrest for possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

 The Atlanta-based Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist has until noon on May 26 to surrender himself to federal authorities outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, where he will be serving the entirety of his sentence.

 On March 27, in keeping with a plea agreement submitted in March 2008, T.I. was sentenced to serve one year and one day in a federal facility.

 The rapper, born Clifford Harris, was also sentenced to pay a $100,300 fine, property forfeiture, supervised release for three years after he is released from prison, 365 days of home confinement and 1,500 hours of community service.

 At the time of sentencing, he had already fulfilled 305 of home confinement and 1,030 hours of community service.

 He documented a portion of his community service efforts via the MTV reality show T.I.’s Road to Redemption.

 Prior to receiving his sentence, T.I. addressed the court saying that he would like to “thank some and apologize to others.”

 “In my life, I have been placed in the worst-case scenario and had to make the best of it,” he continued. “Most often, things I have learned have been from trial and error. I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself.”

 T.I. will be serving his sentence at the Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex’s low security facility, located approximately 85 miles east of Little Rock and 45 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee.

 Tonight (May 15) T.I. and the Grand Hustle family will host a private “going away” party for in Miami.

JOE BUDDEN VS. METHOD MAN HEATS UP

Lyrically, Joe Budden thinks that he’s Method Man’s superior and the notion has taken on new heights as the New Jersey rapper conducted an interview this morning.

“I will cut that dudes head off his shoulders,” Budden said on the Ed Lover Morning Show.  Budden wasn’t talking physically, but his verbage spoke volumes about how he feels he ranks above his Wu Tang counterpart.

“Method Man’s not going to be able to survive [a lyrical battle],” Budden continued. “Its gonna be hard for him.”

Budden told Ed Lover and Free of Power 105.1 in New York that he had respect for Meth and didn’t want to see anything turn violent.

“That is not a knock against Method Man, Wu Tang or Redman – since he wanted to jump in too.  I mean, I can’t be from Jersey and not love Redman,” Budden said.

The whole matter started after Vibe.com listed their Top 50 rappers in a tourney-style event to determine the best artist.  Budden questioned the credibility of the list and the inclusion of several acts.

Method Man responded quickly by calling into the radio station.

“My folks advised me to take the high road.  I’m a smart n***a so I know off the top this dude is trying to bait me,” Meth said. “He been on medication since he was in junior high school. The n***a is certified crazy.”

“Every week he picks somebody to mess with and I ain’t really heard nobody respond to this dude except other dudes that’s on that same level as him.”

Meth did admit that Joe Budden is a worthy battle rapper, but said he would not be backing down.

“As far as battle rapping, by all means, Joe Budden gets it in.  He’s a battle rapper.  I ain’t never been known for battle rapping,” Meth said. “But I tell you this, I meet any challenge from any challenger.”

“On a lighter note, son can’t mess with me.” Meth said. “Stop being a cry baby.”

Method Man offered two options.

He said he wanted to do a song with Joe Budden and let the fans decide who is best. He also proposed that he and Budden meet “face to face.”