The lawyer for 50 Cent’s baby mama, Shaniqua Tompkins, tells TMZ that she heard “someone” come into the house this morning at 4 AM, shortly before the fire broke out around a hour later. Paul Catsandonis, Shaniqua’s lawyer, tells us that his client is “traumatized” by the fire and that the kids are similarly in total shock. Six people, including Tompkins and their 10-year-old son Marquise, were in the house. They all were transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

A photo of the house on fire

The aftermath

The house is worth $1.4M. Shaniqua said, “He’s upset. If he can’t have it, no one can. He said that he was gonna have somebody come kill me and watch what he does, and this is what he did.” Does this remind you of the song “Forgot About Dre” by Eminem and Dre? Lyrics: “Me and dre stood next to a burnt down house / Wit a can full of gas and a hand full of matches / And still weren’t found out.”

Last October T.I. was arrested in Atlanta when one of his bodyguards allegedly tried to purchase guns for him. T.I., who isa convicted felon, cannot legally buy firearms. For each count, he faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

While critics are complaining that the advertisement is plagued by homosexual undertones, I think Lil’ Wayne has got the right idea here. HIV is a big problem in the black American and homosexual communities, and anything he can do to spread awareness is right. XXLMag talks about it a little more:

Launched by the Rap-A-Lot Records founder in 2005, Strapped has embarked on a campaign to educate youth in identifying high risk behavior patterns that contribute to the continuous spread of HIV & sexually transmitted diseases. “In the midst of this crisis where HIV & AIDS is the #1 killer where our race of people is concerned, I salute Lil Wayne as an authority figure for taking a stand to inform our people to use Strapped Condoms & to Stay Strapped for Life,” J-Prince said in a statement announcing the effort.

We could have told you a gorilla can’t rap

Kanye’s third album Graduation also sucks, but not as much. It’s got 4 stars on Amazon, and is currently #1 in music, eclipsing 50’s pathetic new album. There are some great songs–Can’t tell me nothing, Stronger–and some terrible songs–Hot and Drunk Girls, Barry Bonds.

Still not cute, Kanye

The guy to watch out for is Chamillionaire, whose album Ultimate Victory is coming soon…. and let me tell you it’s hot! We’ve already heard Morning News where he raps about “Uncle sam want you to pay your taxes / just to learn gotta pay for classes” and other social issues. I can’t wait:

“MTV can suck my ****. That’s their opinion who they put in this—they put Game number 3 when I wrote the 3 singles that created him. What does that mean? That I’m number 3? Because you’re not in to me this week, I get a chance to sit in the number 8 spot but the project that I created is number 3.”

50 Cent has also offered to stop making crappy music if Kayne outsells him on game day:

Let’s raise the stakes. If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I’ll no longer [perform] music. I’ll write music and work with my other artists, but I won’t put out any more solo albums.

We hope this is true! Just compare Kayne’s new single Can’t tell me nothing:

With 50 Cent’s Justin-Timberlake infused hip-pop:

We’ll probably find out Timbaland ripped the background from the modscene again…

Thank you for pre-ordering 50 Cent’s new album “Curtis.” The release of this album, which was originally scheduled for June 26th, has been postponed until later this year. We will notify you via email as soon as the opportunity to pre-order this album is available again.

The new release date is September 4, 2007. The album tracklist so far includes:

• All of Me (featuring Mary J. Blige)
• Amusement Park
• Come & Go (featuring Eminem)
• Fire (featuring Nicole Scherzinger & Young Buck)
• Follow My Lead (featuring Robin Thicke)
• Fully Loaded Clip
• I Get Money
• I’ll Still Kill (featuring Akon)
• Peep Show (featuring Eminem)
• She Want It (featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)
• Straight to the Bank
• Touch the Sky (featuring Tony Yayo)

This looks a lot better than the recent lame releases from Fabolous (sic), R. Kelly (just ewww), or yesterday’s Mims. 50 doesn’t need to tell us about the diamonds on his damn chain.

As life goes on I’m starting to learn more and more about responsibility
I realize everything I do is affecting the people around me
So I want to take this time out and apologize for things I have done
And things that have not occurred yet
And the things they don’t want to take responsibility for

Tranlsation: I’m Akon, and because I’m not sorry, I’m absolving myself for the stuff that hasn’t even happened yet. That’s right, the scandals I cause in the future are ok–I’m apologizing now! But, it gets better:

I’m sorry I’m not always there for my son
I’m sorry for the fact that I am not aware
That you can’t sleep at night when I am not there
Because I am in the streets like everyday

I’m sorry I’m a deadbeat dad and lousy husband, but I’m keeping it real! I’m real in the streets! I don’t need no family!

I understand that there are some problems
I’ll be the reason for your pain and you can put the blame on me

A good translation of this line from Akonglish to English would realize that it’s a not-so-subtle way of proclaiming “This is how it is; you better learn to live with it, because it’s how I am.” Well, Akon may be able to say “Blame me” and not give a shit, but we know better. This song isn’t a real apology, it’s a sham.

“First, and most important to me, I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I’ve caused to the young woman who joined me on-stage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert in Port of Spain on April 12th. It was never my intention to embarrass or take advantage of my fans in any way, especially those under the age of 18. That is why we tried to make sure that the club did not admit anyone under 18 in the audience. Somehow, that standard was not met.”

The girl, age 14, is Danah Alleyne who uploaded the following photo to her MySpace account with the caption “girls nite out! best time!!”, according to TMZ:

If you want to see the video that sparked all this mess, Shout Mouth has it. It’s odd that a 14 year old girl claiming to be 15 years old would be admitted to a club where you should be at least 18 or 21 (I’m not sure which). Apparently they only checked ID in the VIP section. The long, conflicting, story can be read in it’s entirety at Hollywood Grind… whose name sounds like a really bad pun for a story like this.

On her MySpace page she claims to be 19. She certainly looks older than 14 to me:

After this, the pastor’s daughter probably won’t be going clubbing for a long time. Hopefully her parents have suitably grounded her and explained to her what rap stars like to do on stage.

How Singer R. Kelly has been waiting five years for his sex-tape trial. In that time, he has made six albums and gone on three tours. Kelly will appear Friday for a status hearing in a Chicago courtroom. Judge’s fall from ladder, appendicitis, busy lawyer contribute to delays.

It has be hard to live with a trial looming over you, but for R Kelly it may be a litigation advantage:

Kelly’s lawyers may figure that the delays have worked in their client’s favor, and not only because they’ve given him the chance to keep working and making millions. “You may have a jury that’s going to come in and say, ‘So this happened in the 1990s and this is 2007? I’m just not buying it,”‘ Helfand said.

You can go check out the CNN story for more sordid details. Given his predilection for young women–Aaliyah who was 15, for example, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a conviction and 15 wonderful years without another Sex in the Kitchen.

I’m hot cause I’m fly,
You ain’t cause you not!
This is why I’m hot!

Then, just seconds later, we get this gem:

This is why I’m hot:
I don’t gotta rap!
I can make a mil saying nothing on the track!

It’s clear now that he should have shut up and made that million, because his album which sold just 145k copies didn’t make enough to offset all the expensive consumer goods he bought anticipating his own musical success. Instead of bringing NYC back, ONTD says he’s dug a hole for himself and his career:

Now, this rapper is in debt with jewelers, casinos and creditors. It’s doubtful that he can recover because he alienates the people who can help him: Promoters, agents and the fans who buy his music. It seems as if he has an intense hatred for his fans, he’s been in numerous unreported altercations with fans who simply ask for his autograph. He or his bodyguard-either curse out fans, push them aside roughly or threaten them with their lives.

Bonus music video:

There are two lessons to learn. (1) Learn how to write real lyrics. (2) Don’t rap with your name as an acronym. Then you’ll make a mil!