LIL WAYNE BIOPIC TO BE RELEASED IN 2009.

Is it safe to say that Lil Wayne has reached rap icon status since news of a new biopic (produced by QD3) surrounding his personal life and career is now the works? The embryonic project aims to chronicle Wayne’s family background and what drives his famous work ethic. “We at Young Money are thrilled to be working with QD3 on production of The Carter,” explained Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant to AllHipHop.com. “As Weezy’s manager and lifelong friend, I am excited to see Wayne’s story documented with truth and sincerity.” Directed by Independent Spirit Award winner Adam Lough, the film also features exclusive interviews with Wayne and his close personal friends. “Not only is Wayne the hottest musician in the business, but his life story reads something like a Hollywood script enabling this film to break boundaries,” Cortez continued. “And there’s no doubt this film will exceed any and all expectations. He’s a f**king rock star!”

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QD3, born Quincy Jones III is also the creator of the highly successful Beef series. Jones agrees that Wayne has achieved the status of an elite artist. “In my career as a music/film producer I’ve been blessed to have worked with some of the best artists of our time including Tupac, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, and others,” QD3 elaborated. “Lil Wayne is definitely on that same level in that he is a true artist and he’s not afraid to push the envelope on any level which makes him original.” With only one previous bio to his credit, Tupac Shakur’s Thug Angel, QD3 stressed that Wayne’s importance as an artist inspired him to make another biographical release. “Our only bio to date is Tupac Shakur-Thug Angel,” he stated. “I think that speaks for the regard we have for Wayne’s position in music history as a classic artist. The goal is to go beyond a standard doc and create a theatrical product that will serve as the definitive documentation of Wayne’s life and career.”

The Carter film is scheduled for release in 2009.

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THE ANGRY-ASS BLACK MAN WHO MARRED TUPAC'S STATUE EXPLAINS WHY HE DID IT...WITH HIS MAD ASS.

Kenneth Anthony Wilson, the African-American man who defaced a statue of Tupac Shakur at a center bearing his name in Stone Mountain, GA, has released a statement detailing the reason behind his actions. “Yes I defaced that statue of Tupac Shakur because the center is a cancer on the community,” said Wilson, according to Allhiphop.com. “For we reap what we sow…Tupac Shakur is no messiah, that’s why when he stuck his dumbass on his album cover and claimed he was not disrespecting Jesus Christ, God crucified his evil ass before the album came out.”Wilson says he believes Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, are misleading the youth through the late rapper's image and message.“Tupac Shakur is not only a rapist and murderer of his own people, his center of the arts is in the business of molesting the young minds of our youths into believing that Thug Life is the American Dream,” Wilson continued in the statement.“Since Afeni Shakur insists on lying to the youth at her center that her son is the Messiah and he died for the sake of them…So she resurrects a statue of Tupac Shakur dressed as a reverend with the Holy Bible in his right hand… Death Row Records did not destroy Tupac Shakur; smoking crack when he was in her womb did! Tupac Shakur was not only weak he was a complete fool who never for one minute practiced what he preached. I have every intention of proving in a court of law not only the hypocrisy of the Tupac Shakur center, but also its immorality, injustice, and illegality,” Wilson said.

The 43-year-old was arrested on Oct. 22 for defacing Tupac’s statue with handbills of threats against the center, other rappers, and record labels. Initial hate crime charges were dropped due to Wilson being black and there being no racial motivation in the threats. His trial date has not yet been scheduled.

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ACTOR CAST TO PLAY ROLE OF BIGGIE SMALLS IN NEW BIG SCREEN BIO-PIC; ANGELA BASSETT TO PLAY BIGGIE'S MOTHER, VOLETTA WALLACE.

It's official. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Biggie is coming to the big screen. Fox Searchlight has hired Jamal 'Gravy" Woolard, a Brooklyn-based rapper, to play late rap icon Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., in its upcoming biopic Notorious. Derek Luke, Angela Bassett and Anthony Mackie also have been cast in the movie, the art-house studio said. Directed by George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food), it goes into production this month and is expected to hit theaters on January 16 2009. Luke (will play Biggie record producer Sean "Diddy" Combs, who off-screen is an executive producer on the film. Mackie will play rival rapper Tupac Shakur, while Bassett will play Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace. The production held an open casting call last fall in the hope of finding the next Notorious B.I.G., ne Christopher Wallace, the generously built East Coast rapper who was killed in an unsolved Los Angeles drive-by in 1997.

The idea, executives said, was that as with casting for sports movies like "Miracle," the production would be better served with a non-actor who can rap and imitate Biggie than with a pro actor who might need to be taught how to rap. More than 100 Biggie wannabes, many of them non-pros and all with the requisite size, turned out to show off their rapping and impersonation skills. Woolard, who also is known as Gravy, is not a total unknown. He has released a number of albums, though he's perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore. Like Biggie, Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. He had released a number of albums on indie labels in the 1990s before being signed by Warner Bros.

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Voletta Wallace cited "Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile" as reasons for the casting. "He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to life," she said.

Biggie, who drew on his experiences as a drug dealer in his rapping, is considered a seminal figure in the hip-hop world; his posthumously released "Life After Death" was a top seller and is considered one of the most influential hip-hop records of the modern era. "Notorious" is expected to examine his troubled life, his music and his impact.

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MICHAEL JACKSON, WILL SMITH & THE LATE TUPAC SHAKUR SUED BY SYL JOHNSON FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

Blues singer Syl Johnson is suing stars including Michael Jackson, Will Smith and Tupac Shakur for copyright infringement, claiming they illegally sampled his song Different Strokes without giving him credit for the track. The veteran star filed suit recently in an Illinois court, claiming Jackson's hit Blood on the Dance Floor, Smith's Who Stole the D.J. and the late Shakur's Peep Game all used his song - without paying for the rights to do so.

Johnson - real name Sylvester Thompson has also filed papers against the legendary rap group N.W.A. for their song Real N**gaz Don't Die, and KRS-One, for his track Criminal Minded. The respective acts' record labels have also been named in the legal papers. Johnson is seeking unspecified damages, reports TMZ.com.

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TUPAC SHAKUR'S STATUE VANDALIZED IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Shit like this just don't make any damn sense. A statue of slain rapper Tupac Shakur was vandalized in Georgia last Saturday (10/20). Now, it's bad enough that the statue, which was supposedly made in Tupac's physical likeness, looks more like a statue of an 90-year-old crippled man (no disrespect to the dead) than it does the slim and sexy rapper. But to disrespect the man in death (whether you liked him or not) on some KKK sh!t is even worse. According to reports, vandals defaced and tied a damn noose around the neck of the bronze statue which sits on the grounds of The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center of Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Tupac's mother Afeni branded the perpetrators "ignorant". She tells Allhiphop.com, "We thank everyone for their prayers and support. Although our hearts are temporarily in pain, our spirits have already forgiven the perpetrators. Hate comes in all colors and genders; therefore we will use this act of hate and ignorance to bring our community together and to pray for the healing of those who harbor such feelings."

The attacks are being investigated as hate crimes by the De Kalb County Sheriff's Office. One person has been arrested.

Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in September 1996. In 2005, the statue which was designed by Tina Allen, was unveiled on the center's property to commemorate the nine year anniversary of his death.

Click above pic to see the image in full.
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PICS: BIGGIE SMALLS MOVIE CASTING ATTRACTS NEARLY 100 HOPEFULS.

A casting call in New York for Fox Searchlight's upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic attracted nearly 100 hopefuls from across the U.S. and Canada looking to play the late rapper on the big screen. According to the New York Times, the casting call at Chelsea's City Stages on West 19th Street in Manhattan required participants to audition in front of Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace, his former manager Mark Pitts, who is also producing the film, and a group of casting agents. “Finding Biggie is going to be a task in itself,” Voletta Wallace, the rapper’s mother and a producer of the film, said in a video on Biggiecasting.com. Her son, who died a decade ago, at 24, in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, stood about 6 foot 3, weighed nearly 300 pounds, and had a cocksure, easy-flowing but hard-to-imitate style. “Anyone who felt that they can fill that shoe, can do that swagger, can try the lyrical tone, I’m welcoming them,” Ms. Wallace said. And on Saturday swagger, at least, was in great supply.

Each person trying out was asked to perform a few lines from the rapper's track Warning. Some folks who auditioned arrived in attire worn famously by B.I.G., including fur coats, fedoras, sunglasses, Timberland boots and patterned Coogi sweaters. Others chose to rely strictly on acting skills.

After the jump, check out pics of several Biggie wanna-bes.

"I was looking at every aspect - the way he talked, the way he moved, the way he blinked his eyes," said Brooklyn native Ray Louisma, who also told the Times he spent nearly two weeks studying Biggie's videos and listening to his music. "I spent like three hours in the mirror trying to make my eyes look cross-eyed, because sometimes Biggie looked like he was cross-eyed and sometimes he didn't. I actually have a more of high-pitched voice than Biggie does, because I sing. So I gave myself a cold: cold showers, slept with the fan on so my voice would be a little deeper.”

Also, Tupac was there.

“When you think about Biggie, you gotta say Tupac,” said Josh Du Love, 27, a Bed-Stuy resident who came in the guise of Biggie’s foe, Tupac Shakur, complete with shaved head and bandanna. “I said I’d come here, try to start up some beef.”

Is it me or do the majority of these dudes look like a combination of Lil Cease and Aries Spears?

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'DEAR MAMA': THE LIFE OF TUPAC'S MOTHER, AFENI IN THE WORKS

The list of the lives of celebs (and semi-celebs) that will make it to both the small and big screen has just gotten longer. So, how many biopics are we going to probably see in the following year? Let's just say you may need more than one hand to count them on. Now, according to reports, the life of Afeni Shakur, the mother of slain rapper, Tupac Shakur, is now in the works.

Tentatively entitled, Dear Mama: The Life Story of Afeni Shakur, the film, produced by Hollywood Filmz producers, Young Noble and Omar 'Ice Man' Sharif will reveal the activist's life growing up in a small North Carolina town, her reign as a devoted leader of the Black Panther organization, being incarcerated while pregnant with Tupac and her subsequent drug addiction. Additionally, the film will also dwell on Afeni's worst nightmare: loosing her infamous son whose murder remains unsolved 11 years after his death.

"This incredible lady defended herself in court while pregnant with Tupac during a bomb conspiracy trial facing 352 years and was acquitted of 156 counts against her and 20 other members of the Black Panther Party," said Young Noble. "I felt that the world needs to know where Tupac got his mind, heart, spirit and courage so I called Afeni with the idea. She was excited and gave me her blessing."

Dear Mama is being produced in conjunction with Afeni Shakur's Amaru Entertainment. The soundtrack will be executive produced by Young Buck and The Outlawz for Cashville Recordz/1nationentertainment, along with Shakur's Amaru Entertainment. Featured artists will include 50 Cent, T.I., The Outlawz, Young Buck and new comers Stormey and Begetz.

The Dear Mama story is long overdue," said Young Noble. "I'm just so blessed to be in a position to produce this movie and make sure Afeni and Pac is proud when it’s done, this movie will offer hope and be an inspiration to the millions of people who will see it."

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