Is Ludacris.com Redirection Newsworthy?

I appreciate the work AllHipHop.com does, especially since they do more original reporting than most hip hop news sites.  But this piece about the redirection of ludacris.com to trapmuzic.com is kind of overly dramatic and somewhat silly.  This is no big deal and it's hardly "controversy".  The owner of the domain, or whoever has access to his account, did a simple redirect of the domain.  It takes about a minute and is a common thing to do.  Now it's quite possible that someone reached out to the owner or whatever, but this is not real news unless Ludacris or his representatives take the owner to court to get the domain or some oddball twist occurs.

The weird part is that the reporter apparently called Register.com to get information about the registration of the site.  However, Register.com's WHOIS lookup, where all that information is required and public,  shows that C. Williams is not only the administrator but also the registrant.  Plus, he's got an address, phone number and email that are all required to be updated or he could lose the domain.  Which really wouldn't be that big a deal, either, to be perfectly frank.

Diversification: Formula 50 & Man Alive

50 Cent's partnership with Glaceau to create the vitaminwater drink Formula 50 is deemed a success with unique marketing initiatives to come, including a limited edition version to promote 50's upcoming album. Vibe had an interesting analysis of the drink when it came out in the fall.

The Finish Line recently bought The Hang Up Shoppes which owns Man Alive, a fashion chain that considers itself to be the "nation's leading hip hop fashion retailer".

Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Ludacris

Queen Latifah will host the Grammys in February.

NPR interviews Ice Cube about his new movie Are We There Yet?.

Sum 41 will back up Ludacris for a performance on Saturday Night Live.

Hip Hop Signings and a New Label

Jay-Z signs Foxy Brown to Def Jam.

Motown recently signed Q-Tip.

Tony Wilson, founder of the UK's Factory Records and various alternative and dance music projects, is launching a new label called F4 Records whose first release will be a single from "local hip-hop/garage collective" Raw-T.

Sneaker Culture or Sneaker Porn?

I've been following flytip.com's Sneaker Culture which introduced me to Kicks Finder, an Ebay sneaker search tool with a cool interface, and adidas' Superstar 35 anniversary project.  Plus, great pics and links to other sneaker resources.

In related news, Pharrell Williams is sueing Reebok for breech of contract involving quality control and deadline failures.  However, Williams is apparently sueing no one for allowing him to put his name on some truly hideous sneakers.

Flavor and Brigitte, Sitting in a Tree . . .

Real or not, I think Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen make a great couple and I wish them all the best with Strange Love cause:
"He's a jester; she's a fox
She likes smoking; he likes clocks".

Essence Magazine: Concerns and Response

With Time Inc. buying the rest of Essence magazine, Black Enterprise took a look at the deal while African-American publisher Earl Graves raised his concerns.

Essence Communications founder Ed Lewis discusses the sale and claims that "Essence will continue to be what it's always been."

Kid Rock and the Twins Must Party in Private

Kid Rock won't be performing at the inauguration event for which he, according to the NY Times, was being considered. I'm sure the Twins are deeply disappointed but that doesn't really concern me. The account to which I've linked mentions conservative family groups leading the charge against Kid Rock but, from an Internet news perspective, this game belonged to the WorldNetDaily. WND was the source I kept seeing in news alerts pointing out that the Republican Party's claimed values and Kid Rock's oeuvre did not match. What they failed to consider (because it would undermine everything they've erected) is that the actual partying values of the Bush Family mesh quite nicely with Kid Rock's.

In related news, a copyright-infringement lawsuit against Kid Rock was dismissed this week.

Rapped Stock Analysis Wins Prize

Sixth grader Horatio Chavez recently won the SIA New York District Economic Education Foundation sponsored Research Analysis Contest for a stock analysis in rap form. Audiovox, the topic of Chavez's hip hop analysis, honored the young researcher at an Employee Recognition Day about which he stated, "I was proud and a little nervous." The contest is administered by Newsday's Stock Market Game.