Crib Notes

Soulja Boy covers rolling out this week

The hardest working teenager in show business?

Fresh off of his XXL cover and featured on the cover of rolling out this week, Soulja Boy (is he going to drop the Tell ‘Em when he gets older a la the former Lil Bow Wow?) keeps adding new tour dates. He’s already sweeping through the American North, South, East and West, and Pollstar confirms shows in the unlikely burgs of Blackfoot, Idaho, on June 24 and Saint George, Utah, on June 25. St. George is in the heart of Mormon country, while Blackfoot is a town of 10,000 and, you guessed it, the Potato Capital of the World.

Oh, and there’s a confirmed local date as well, June 20 as part of Hot 107.9’s Birthday Bash at Philip’s Arena. Look for a feature story on the former one-hit wonder/sudden critical darling in Creative Loafing that week, in which Soulja will talk about firing his management, his upcoming third album and his money-management secrets. Seriously.

UPDATE: See his 5/26/09 interview with the ladies on “The View” below the jump. (more…)

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Talk about an ironic turn of events.

Earlier this week, Atlanta-based rapper Cedric “Alfamega” Zellars was outed as a former federal informant “who snitched out criminal cohorts and testified as a government witness at the trial of an Atlanta heroin trafficker,” according to TheSmokingGun.com:

Court records show that Zellars began working with law enforcement officials after he was sentenced in September 1995 to 110 months in a federal gun case (Zellars, who had a prior felony robbery conviction, was collared for selling weapons to an undercover federal agent). Zellars “agreed to cooperate with authorities and was debriefed” about the criminal activity of several individuals. “In particular he was debriefed concerning the drug trafficking activities of a Mr. Ali Baaqar,” according to a government court filing, a copy of which you’ll find below. During his cooperation against Baaqar, Zellars met with a DEA agent and a federal prosecutor, and subsequently testified at trial.

No big surprise there. In many ways, trap rap has become little more than a sub-genre made up of dry snitches who boast of illicit activities on wax. Whether real or imagined, you’re bound to draw heat.

But Alfamega’s federal informant past drew particular interest because he happens to be signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label. And, as you know, T.I. is set to begin his year-long prison sentence resulting from a firearms conviction he received at the hands of a bodyguard-turned-informant who snitched him out to the feds two years ago.

So last night, T.I. called into Atlanta’s HOT 107.9 to deliver the news that Alfamega is no longer part of the Grand Hustle family:

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Is she singing about her former marriage to Bobby Brown or her former status as pop’s reigning princess?

Whitney Houston leaves it ambiguous on her new Akon-produced song, “Like I Never Left,” which leaked over the weekend. It’s a far cry from the classic material of Houston’s heyday, but it’s also the first song she’s released in five years.

When local urban radio stations V-103 (WVEE-FM) and Hot 107.9 (WHTA-FM) played the leaked song this morning, it received mixed responses from on-air personalities and listeners. The typically diplomatic Frank Ski said it sounded “aged.” But some were just happy to have the diva back. Remember, crack is wack.

Click here to listen and judge for yourself.

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Almost seven months after an arrest that made national headlines, nearly everything has returned to normal for DJ Drama and the Aphilliates. Last week, the crew took over Hot 107.9 (WHTA-FM)’s nighttime programming. You can now hear Gangsta Grillz radio Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m.-midnight, as well as the usual Saturday showcase from 8-10 p.m. To celebrate, the Aphilliates held a weekend-long series of parties, including a July 29 “celebrity launch party” at Club Motion hosted by T.I.

The crew’s run of now infamous Gangsta Grillz mixtapes has slowed tremendously, but they still come out quietly on occasion. This month, the Aphilliates put out one with Gorilla Zoe and Block Entertainment called Hood Diaries.

Finally, what’s up with the Gangsta Grillz album? A quick call to an Atlantic rep revealed that it’s scheduled for 2007, which means it may come out, or it may not. (Remember how DJ Clue used to drop his compilations in December?)

As you know by now, I like to refer readers to past CL articles, especially if I’ve written them. I didn’t write the first CL article on DJ Drama; that honor goes to Chris Hall, who wrote an April 20, 2005, piece on the one-time king of mixtapes. You can read it here.

For some background on Drama’s run-in with the law, check out my February 21, 2007, story here.

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