News: Soulja Boy Strikes Sneaker, Clothing Deal

By Brandi Hopper

The rapper who had an entire generation and then some cranking that to his No. 1 single is about to try his hand at dressing the same crowd.

Soulja Boy will join forces with renowned Dallas graffitti artist and Yums sneaker designer, Tex, to put out his own signature shoe with the label’s Block Star line of sneakers, according to PR Newswire. The two will also design street-oriented clothing for Yums Shoes.

"The shoes and clothing line allow the wearer to express his or her personality, because each shoe is an individual piece of art,” said Yums CEO, JP McDade. “Soulja Boy Tell'em will be able to assist in designing shoes and apparel exactly the way he would want them to look. And with Interscope's considerable marketing savvy, we expect this effort to be our biggest, most far-reaching yet."

But super-producer Mr. Collipark hinted at even bigger things poppin’ on the horizon for the young rapper.

"We are very excited and have high expectations for this opportunity and future Soulja Boy Tell'em endeavors, including movies and television," he said. Soulja Boy is signed to Collipark Music/ Interscope Records.

Not everyone’s as impressed. As SOHH previously reported, Soulja Boy has recently been embroiled in a YouTube war of words with OG rapper Ice-T, who accused him of single-handedly killing hip-hop.

News: Young Jeezy Hits The Big Screen, Stars in New Ice Cube Flick

By Brandi Hopper

Young Jeezy recently sealed his first role in a major motion picture, with a part in Ice Cube’s upcoming flick, Janky Promoters.

The comedy, which is Cube’s first screenplay since 2002’s Friday After Next, will feature Cube along with Jeezy, comedian Mike Epps and actor Terry Crews.

Jeezy plays the “big name hip-hop act” who a pair of shady concert promoters, played by Cube and Epps, try to book for a show. Hilarity follows as the janky promoters face the neighborhood nemesis, Mondo who has Cube’s son -- played by young comedian Little JJ -- under contract.

In other Jeezy news, the rapper who has spoken out for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in a recent Vibe interview he’s down with republican nominee John McCain.

The two met during an appearance on Saturday Night Live last month.

"No disrespect to my man Barack, but I fuck with John McCain. He greeted me like a god," he said. "The fact that he acknowledged me was crazy. I said, 'I'm Young Jeezy, and it's rough out here.' He blew me off at first. I was like, 'Nah, for real. It's rough out here, so what you gonna do to change it?' . . . And he gave me a look back, like, 'I know.'"

Jeezy is gearing up for his forthcoming third major album, The Recession which features the smash “Put On” featuring Kanye West.

Damon Dash Talks $4 Bil Fashion Deal, “She’s Gonna Be As Big As Ralph Lauren”

By Cyrus Langhorne

About a week since announcing a new clothing business venture with his wife Rachel Roy, Roc-A-Fella Records founder Damon Dash has clarified what the deal's value is and how his wife is capable of becoming the female Calvin Klein.

In a recent interview with Peace Magazine, Dame opened up and cleared the confusion of whether the deal with Jones Apparel Group was worth $4 billion and explained his impressions of working with a large company.

"The company is a $4 billion dollar company--I guess we have the potential to make that kind of money. I just never been with a company that big," he said. "Being that it's so outside the scope of what you think an urban individual would do, I'm real proud of that. I didn't just do a deal with a company that's exploiting my culture, I did something that took some respect and some very risky hustling--doing something that doesn't usually happen."

Comparing his wife's deal to when he sold Rocawear clothing to his previous partners including rapper Jay-Z, Norton Cher, and Alex Bize, Dash laughingly confirmed there was no comparison.

"Come on, man. I said $4 billion. Norton was $4 dollars," he joking said. "This is high fashion and volume. This is like elven and minch, you know what I'm saying. It's a class level--they make high-end luxury goods at an affordable price point and they do a lot of it consistency for a long period of time. I don't think they sell their company, they buy'em."

Dash also commented on the limitless possibilities Roy will encounter as she begins to compete against popular lifestyle brand names and name a few high-profile entrepreneurs she will be compared to.

"She has a line it's just gonna be a lot of different lines. It's limitless to what can be done, you don't even know. It means she's gonna be as big as Donna Karen, and big as Ralph Lauren, and big as Calvin Klein. It's that kind of situation."

Speaking briefly on his deal with Pro-Keds, Dame said he has considered selling back his original agreement with the brand.

"I think I'm gonna try to sell stride ride the license back. I don't own it, you know. I would license the brand. It makes no sense to license a brand you don't own."

News: Lil Wayne Breaks A "Millie," Debuts At No. 1

By Cyrus Langhorne

New Orleans, Louisiana rapper Lil' Wayne is preparing to set an even greater achievement as Tha Carter III is expected to possibly close at one million records.

Setting a first -day sales record with 423,000 albums sold, Wayne is on track to take this year's first week sales record.

According to Variety, Universal Motown's president Sylvia Rhode believes there is a strong chance of the album being the only release following 50 Cent's 2005 project, The Massacre,
to sell at least a million in its opening week. She credits this probability to Weezy's ever-growing fanbase and the rapper's constant guest appearances.

"Over the last three years, Lil' Wayne has addressed his fanbase through tours of clubs and arenas, going into markets three and four times, appeared on other artists' records and made plenty of mix tapes," she said. "He nurtured the fanbase, and it grew. Go to [his] show and you see an audience that is 50 percent white and 50 percent white and mostly male. I think this record will start to increase the female audience."

In addition to physical sales, Wayne is also expected to set records on digital services like iTunes, ringtones, and MySpace plays, which totaled 130 million last Friday alone.

As previously reported by SOHH, the self-proclaimed "Greatest Rapper Alive" is in line to out-sell both Mariah Carey and Usher's latest albums total first week sales combined. Carey's EMC2 and Usher's Here I Stand sold 463,000 and 433,000 respectively.

The Massacre is the last album to have reached the one million mark in a week's time span. Released in March 2005, it sold approximately 1.14 million copies in only four days.