News Round Up!

BY Dave SynyardPublished Jan 19, 2008

Another week has passed so here is your weekly round up.

Washington DC's Smithsonian will open its doors to a hip-hop exhibit featuring the likes of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, LL Cool J, Common, Erykah Badu and other artists. Titled Recognize! Hip-Hop and Contemporary Portraiture, the exhibition will look at the important role that hip-hop has played in American culture through music, graffiti, poetry and other media. Click here for the full story.
As EMI's popularity with record buyers continues to drop each year, it appears the label's popularity with its artists is also dwindling. Coldplay, Robbie Williams and now the Verve are all threatening to withhold new recordings from the label until it can guarantee the artists financial stability. As if losing Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney wasn't bad enough already! To top it all off, the label's new private owner Terra Firma is in the midst of cutting 2,000 jobs from the record division, which is about one-third of its staff. Click here for the full story.
50 Cent, Timbaland, Mary J. Blige and Wyclef Jean have all been linked to an illegal steroid trafficking ring. An Albany-based investigator claims Florida doctor Gary Bandwein shipped steroids and human growth hormones (HGH) to Long Island chiropractor Michael Diamond, who has been named as a supplier to the aforementioned artists. Diamond is known as an instructor of anti-aging and longevity medicine at New York gym Clay, suggesting Fiddy's worried about his crow's feet. Click here for the full story.
One of Toronto's most revered bands, Republic of Safety, are calling it quits on January 26 with a farewell show at Sneaky Dee's. To accompany their live farewell, they will be releasing their swansong release titled Succession, which according to guitarist Jonny Dovercourt will be released both as a book and CD. Click here for the full story.

The eccentric Bjork decided to throw a few haymakers at a New Zealand Herald photographer in Auckland International Airport after he took a few unwanted snaps of her. On January 13, photographer Glen Jeffery ignored a request made my Bjork's male companion to resist taking any pictures of her, setting off the Icelandic icon's well-known temper. Despite tearing his shirt apart with her Incredible Hulk-like strength, Jeffrey and the Herald have announced they won't be pressing charges. Click here for the full story.

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