Biggie Smalls
Family Sues City of Los Angeles, Yung Joc on
Violence, Sex and Race Debate.
The Wallaces sue City of
Los Angeles
The family of Christopher
Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. has filed another
wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los
Angeles in connection with the slain rapper's
death. The legal papers were filed in Los
Angeles County Superior Court on Monday, April
16 by the rappers' mother Voletta Wallace, his
singer widow Faith Evans, and his two children.
The new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ.com, follows a
previous court action filed in a federal court
in 2005, but this time names two former police
officers as co-defendants, who are alleged to
have been involved in the "very efficient,
organised and professional" crime. The suit ask
for unspecified general, compensatory and
punitive damages.
Biggie Link Being
Investigated
MTV.com writes... According to a
report in the Boston Herald, an unnamed
witness has told police that Ronald "Tinard"
Washington, 43, was an accessory to the murder
of Jay (born Jason Mizell), who was shot to
death in his Queens, New York, studio on October
30, 2002 (see "Jam Master Jay, Run-DMC DJ,
Killed In Shooting"). Last week, Washington was
convicted of six armed robberies for holdups he
committed in November 2002. Anonymous
law-enforcement sources told the Herald
that Washington is expected to be named in the
Walker and Jay cases when the federal government
unveils a massive indictment soon, charging
several rap artists in a number of violent acts
as part of an ongoing federal investigation in
New York into the link between hip-hop and
violent crime. The unsolved 1997 drive-by murder
of the Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles is also
being investigated as part of that probe.
Washington is "a key player in this rap industry
case," an unnamed source told the paper.
Combs part of HSAN.. No
word if Combs supports
New York Post reports... The Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network, whose leadership includes
top music executives, issued a statement
demanding that recording and broadcasting
companies voluntarily remove the words "bitch,"
"ho" and "n- - - -r" from their songs.
"With freedom of expression, however, comes
responsibility," wrote the group's co-chairs,
Def Jam boss Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis.
"HSAN is concerned about the growing public
outrage concerning the use of the words 'bitch',
'ho' and 'n- - - -r.' We recommend that the
recording and broadcast industries voluntarily
remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words,"
they said. HSAN's board of directors
include Sean "Diddy" Combs of Bad Boy
Entertainment, Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles of
Warner Music Group, and Jermaine Dupri of Virgin
Records. Chavis said some of the group's board
members were aware of the statement but stopped
short of saying all endorsed it.
Yung Joc on the debate
about race, sex and violence
Bad Boy South artist Yung Joc
wonders, why is hip-hop targeted and not movies
and video games on violence and language. "A lot of influential people
are taking a stand on hip-hop," he said. "But
what about the negative images you have in
cartoons like [those on] Adult Swim? Movies, [TV
shows like] 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Sex and the
City'? They off the chain and raw with it."
