The bouncers involved in the assault of two customers at Jay-Z's 40/40 night club have been terminated. Video footage of the brutal attack landed online earlier this month, and led to the suspension and eventually the firing of the 12 individuals while both the police and the club conducted separate investigations.
TMZ spoke with Couri Glen, the former supervisor of security at the club, who said: "We were initially all suspended and then fired for misconduct." Glen claims though that he and his team members were wrongly terminated because they were "just doing our jobs."
Accounts of what happened in the club that day vary greatly. According to Glen, he initially approached the men because of complaints they were groping women. He then tried to escort the men out of the club and that's when they started to swing at the security guards. The patrons have stated that they did nothing to provoke the attack.
In the video footage that leaked you only see what happened after the two men, Tyrell Durant and Leonard Clark, reached the parking lot of the Atlantic City club. In the video, they were being beaten mercilessly by approximately 12 members of the security staff despite pleas of "cool out" and "don't hit him". The video also shows the employees repeatedly kicking one man who was already on the ground and stopping only after being persuaded to do so by a management level employee wearing a suit and tie.
Early this morning Hot 97's DJ Kay Slay debuted, Beanie Sigel's new track Average Cat, which to the surprise of most turned out to be a Jay-Z diss record. At first silent about the status of his relationship with Jay, the latest track by the Philly rapper appears come to fruition due to a culmination of past events. The most recent blow took place at Jay's September 11th concert.
Sigel raps, ""The rapper Shawn called the police on me/ 'cause I was front row at the Blueprint 3/ Sh*t, I just wanted to see him MC, and reminisce on when we was the R.O.C./ But he called all the cops, not only that he brought out the Feds/ So that's telling me 'F*ck You Sig'/ So 'F*ck you too' and 'F*ck Bleek three'."
Approximately four minutes into the seven minute song, Beans stops rapping and starts talking. With noticeable anger he says, "I think I held my tongue long enough about this whole Roc-A-Fella situation. I was the realest thing that happened to the Roc."
Reminiscing over old Roc-A-Fella beefs, he says, "I fought all them battles, me that's who, Jadakiss, Nas, Dipset. Anybody you would've told me to go after. Matter of fact, you ain't even have to tell me. I front-lined that thing of ours, for that diamond that people was throwing up. I'da took a bullet for Roc at that time."
Sigel insists that neither jealously or money is the motive behind his speaking now, spewing, "This ain't about a dollar. This ain't about me hating on you because or anything because I never asked you for a dollar." Beans also speaks on Jay not coming to see him, while he was doing his 1 year stint in 2004, "You didn't come one day to come see me, not one picture or letter."
After Beans was released from prison other labels expressed interest in signing him, but, Jay rebutted with monetary incentives for Beans to stay. "You was in a position to let me get my own money, and you couldn't do that," states Beanie.
Towards the end of the song, Beans warns other rappers, "This ain't a green light for everybody to start making a diss Jay-Z record."
He closes the song saying that, "This is just me taking my brother out in the yard for 5 minutes...Roc-a-Fella for life!"
ay-Z and Beanie Sigel have been engaged in some sort of unspoken psuedo-war since the days of the demise of Roc-A-Fella, one that has now spilled over into a diss track from the Philadelphia native with claims of disloyalty.
Sigel debuted his track, Average Cat, early this morning (October 30) via HOT 97's DJ Kay Slay.
Though he doesn't air out all of their dirty laundry for the world to see, Sig did pull the curtain back on a shocking incident he says occured during Jay's live televised performance at Madison Square Garden on September 11.
"The rapper Shawn called the police on me/cause I was front row at the Blueprint 3," Sigel raps over the track. "S**t, I just wanted to see him MC, and reminisce on when we was the R.O.C./But he called all the C.O.Ps, not only that, he brought out the F.E.Ds/So that's telling me "F You Sieg,/so F you too and F Bleek three."
Sigel went on to claim to have information potentially damaging to Jay's relationship with Beyonce before dropping a non lyrical explaination of why he decided to come at his "brother."
"I think I held my tongue long enough about this whole Roc-A-Fella situation," said Sigel, apparently seething with emotion. "I was the realest thing that happened to the Roc. The Roc was just a rock. I brought the Fellas to Roc-A-Fella Records; Hot 97, State Prop, y'all remember. I brought the street cred to that. I fought all them battles: Jadakiss, Nas, Dipset. Anybody you woulda told me to go after. Matter of fact, you ain't even have to tell me. I frontlined for that thing of ours, for that diamond that people was throwin' up. I'da took a bullet at that time."
Beans continued to throw accusations at Jay, calling him out for not visiting him during his 2004 incarceration.
Although he's taking the emcee to task for what he seems to consider betrayal, Beans concluded his venting with a disclaimer about other rappers coming at Jay.
"This ain't the green light for everybody to start making Jay-Z diss records. I still got love for the nigga. This just me taking my brother out in the yard for 5 minutes because I got a knot in my chest that needs to get unloosened. When you got love for a motherfucker it just don't go away that easy. See many people gone walk in and out your life dog but only real friends leave footprints on your heart dog but I think yours fading in the sand. The richest man ain't the one with his first dollar dog�€¦ he's the one who still got his first friend. Roc-A-Fella for life nigga."
Taylor Swift isn't the only one being asked a myriad of questions about the MTV VMA debacle. But instead of walking out on interviews, Jay-Z is facing the questions head on and taking on 50 Cent's threats in the process.
While he acknowledges the error of West's ways, Jay says he's not mad at him for his awkward awards ceremony announcement. What he says he does take issue with is 50 Cent's comments about blacking West's eye if he were in Swift's shoes, a threat Jay says intimidates no one.
"I think he would have done that if that was 50 Cent, no one's scared of 50 Cent," Jay explained to radio personality Trevor Nelson. "I want everybody to be clear, no one's scared of 50 Cent. So I just think that's what he believed. I think it was rude, I thought it was in appropriate. And I told him this much, but I don't think he was wrong."
Yo! Raps previously reported on 50 Cent's comments about West following the now over publicized incident with Taylor Swift.
"That was interesting," Fif said in an interview. "When you nominated for the first time, what you saw from me in 2004 was The Grammy's . When I went up, Evanescence won 'Best New Artist' and it was like, I sold 12 million records. That's the largest debuting hip-hop album today and I was overlooked and I still don't have a Grammy. It's been 13 nominations. It's because I wrote the harsh realities, I've been overlooked, completely. So when you got an artist there for the first time and you go and you wanna tell them, well, you know, Beyonce is great. There's nobody that's confused in that actual area. But Taylor Swift is great and is new at that point and you can't replace it. Even an apology can't replace what it feels like for the very first time receiving that award. Now in her head, 'My first award was Kanye West.' And it's damaging, I wish he would come take one of my awards so I can black his eye and in front of everybody..."
Jay-Z's highly anticipated new album The Blueprint 3 is currently in the works and after releasing the controversial song D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune), the Hip-Hop mogul is said to debut a collaboration track titled Run This Town featuring Rihanna and Kanye West anytime soon.
Radio station Hot 106 announced on their website, "New Jay-Z single coming this Friday [July 24] called Run This Town with Kanye West and Rihanna!" Hours later the post was deleted for unknown reasons.
Yo! Raps earlier reported, that Jigga is bringing Rihanna, Kid Cudi, and Drake along for the ride on The Blueprint 3. The rapper divulged to Reuters recently that Mr. Hudson, MGMT, and Kanye West will also join him.
Jay's latest effort is the third installment of the rapper's heralded Blueprint series after 2001's The Blueprint and 2002's The Blueprint: The Gift & The Curse. It is currently scheduled to be released on September 11.
Reportedly in order to avoid Internet leaks, the new album will be delivered personally by the rapper to his record label.
Fans awaiting a response from Jay-Z towards West Coast rapper The Game need not hold their breath.
Game, who has been ridiculing Jay-Z about his age amongst other things throughout his European tour, has released a diss record targeted at the New York rapper.
Jay however doesn't plan on responding as he says he hears the age discussion all the time.
"I hear it all the time -- 'Yo, he should let the young guys, the new generation of guys come in.' But you don't become the front-runner in music because someone lets you. You have to claim your shoes," Jay-Z is quoted as saying during an interview with Reuters.
"If you grow up listening to hip-hop, you love hip-hop and that's the end of it.
But if you're a 30-year-old rapper still trying to make music like you're 15, then you're making it narrow. At my age, I can't relate to a 15-year-old.
I deal with mature and relevant topics for my age group -- it has to all be based on true emotions. The more diversity and the more mature we make hip-hop, the bigger the net you cast."
Jay-Z's Blue Print 3 is slated to hit stores on Friday, September 11th, 2009.
How old is my favorite rapper? That's the questions a lot of people ask themselves. Website NappyAfro.com put together a list of major rappers and their birthdays... see below!
After Jay-Z recently criticized the overuse of Auto-Tune with his song D.O.A., the "inventor" T-Pain said that he will still be using the vocal enhancement style on his new album.
"Oh yeah," he said about whether he'll still use Auto-Tune. "Definitely now. Jay-Z said something ... I gotta do it now. It's nothing outta the ordinary, so I'm ready."
"D.O.A. is the best song I've heard in a couple years," T-Pain said on his Twitter page. "Watch me get back out here and do my thang."
The singer also revealed that he plans to push up the release of his new album from next year to this November.
"I'm droppin a new album called UBER," T-Pain wrote.
"The album just got pushed up," he told MTV News on Sunday (June 7). "It was gonna come out September next year. [The record label], they're making me come out November this year. It makes the label look straight. I was gonna chill, because it was so many people that do what I do - now Jay-Z done dropped the Death of Auto-Tune and it's time for me to come back."
Hova's anti Auto-Tune song was debuted last week on New York's Hot 97 and caused lots of controversy. Although he exhibited his power to shift trends in the game, the rapper insists he was merely trying to protect the love of his life -- music.
Jay called in to Philadelphia's Power 99 and spoke on Auto-tune's "gimmick" status. Pointing to a recent commercial for a fast food restaurant, Jay says the excessive use of the singing aid has turned it into a joke.
"There was a Wendy's commercial where they were playing around and some singers were singing in Auto-tune. That's the day you gotta get rid of it... Like Wendy's? Come on, man" Jay said.
"You need to have some type of talent for making music. If it's just a gimmick then you're doing music a disservice. I love music," he added. "This is the thing that saved me, so I feel like I have to protect it."
From the first time the record spinned, Jay-Z's Death Of Auto-Tune had the hip hop world buzzing. Although he exhibited his power to shift trends in the game, the rapper insists he was merely trying to protect the love of his life -- music. In an effort to share his motivation for the record (and speak on his upcoming album Blueprint 3), Jay called in to Philadelphia's Power 99 and spoke on Auto-tune's "gimmick" status.
Pointing to a recent commercial for a fast food restaurant, Jay says the excessive use of the singing aid has turned it into a joke.
"There was a Wendy's commercial where they were playing around and some singers were singing in Auto-tune. That's the day you gotta get rid of it... Like Wendy's? Come on, man" Jay said.
"You need to have some type of talent for making music. If it's just a gimmick then you're doing music a disservice. I love music," he continued. "This is the thing that saved me, so I feel like I have to protect it."
Jay went on to discuss how he has managed to remain relevant in a game where most rappers see few good years, attributing his success to steering clear of age categories.
"I don't chase new generations or things like that. What is consistent in my music is truth. It's emotion and a truth in my music, and that's why I've been able to have 11 albums," he said. "People should follow a point of view and not an age. A point of view is ageless and timeless. When you dialed into an age group, that's when you're only around for two years."
At press time, there was still no release date for Jay's Blueprint 3.
After Hot 97's Summer Jam, DJ Webstar and Jim Jones began voicing their opinions about Jay-Z's new song Death Of Autotune.
On his Twitter page, Webstar posted a question, "Who heard old ass Jay-Z hating? The bottom line is a 40 year old can't relate to a 17 or 22 year old so he could never end my career. I know y'all said he ain't say my name but who else could he be talking about besides me and Browz? He shouted everybody else out that do it and I only have 2 songs wit autotune anyway but still right is right and wrong is wrong legend or not!"
In a previous interview with SOHH, Jay-Z said this in response to Webstar's comments. "He's a young guy," Jay explained. "So he probably, he doesn't have a full understanding of what I'm saying. So, you know, or maybe he'll understand one day, but right now, he's a young guy. He doesn't know no better!"
Jay-Z said the song D.O.A. is a street track and that the official first single Off That featuring Drake will be released sometime next month. Jay said the album is done and ready to go in an interview last week saying, "Blueprint 3, I'm ready, I got the foundation and I'm ready to blast off," Jay said last week.
"I'm pretty much at the launching pad right now. I bought my album back, I overpaid for it because I believe at this point in my career, you know, I wanted to be totally independent and free. Def Jam and Universal did a beautiful thing, they let me pay, they overcharged me a little bit, but I appreciate all the years they put into my career...I'm working with Atlantic, they gonna distribute the album. They're doing a fantastic job and by the way, I get a chance to connect with the people I started my career with."
Blueprint 3 will reportedly be released September 11th... 8 years to the day after the original classic Blueprint.
