St. Lunatic Nelly is back with a blazing new track “Just A Dream” and is prepping the release of his new album 5.0. Complex magazine recently caught up with the Midwest rapper to talk about a few things including his on-and-off again relationship with Ashanti. This summer, Nelly and Ashanti were spotted at T.I. and Tiny’s wedding holding hands which set off speculation that the two were back on again. Well, according to Nelly he’s focused on his career right now and Ashanti’s focused on handling her business as well.

Complex: Yeah. This kind of goes along with that. I don’t know what your relationship with Ashanti is like or what led to an alleged breakup, but then the gossip sites will say you said that you’re back together and have pictures of you two holding hands at T.I. and Tiny’s wedding. Is it an on-and-off situation because you’re not good at cutting people if they don’t hurt you, personally?

Nelly: We never admitted that we were together or back together or separated, but we heard that. Only thing we ever said was we friends and it’s the same way now. I’m focused on 5.0. I got an album coming out on November 16th, she’s working on her project right now.

Complex: But are there things that happened in the relationship that have gotten you to a point where you’re not going to be dealing with her in the same capacity?

Nelly: It’s not like that. My ultimate goal and our ultimate goal is to be individuals, to sustain what we been able to sustain. You wanna make sure that when you get into a time and place that you’re able to do what you need to do, and right now, that’s my album. You don’t want to be into a situation where you do an hour-long interview and 45 minutes is based on something and you’re like, “Yo, what about this?” And that’s something that we’ve been able to maintain. Like, whatever becomes of our relationship. Whatever, whenever, or however, that’s going to be something that we’re going to do and we’re going to judge. It’s not going to be manipulated by outside people looking in, who don’t even know what the fuck is going on. I think that the only way you can maintain that is to just do what you do. I have to be Nelly. She got to be Ashanti.

If these two want to be like Jay-Z and Beyonce and keep their relationship a mystery…well good for them. But, there can only be one Jay and B! I’m pretty sure Nelly is still tapping that anyway…

Believe it or not, prison is becoming Hip-hop’s number one hot spot. Last year, T.I. went in and most recently the p*ssy monster Lil Wayne is currently doing a bid as well. Now I don’t want to predict another rapper getting locked up, but you can probably expect Ja Rule to call a 6×8 cell his home if he doesn’t get his case dropped. Back in 2007, the Queen’s rapper was pulled over by the Hip-hop police while cruising the streets of NYC on suspicion of speeding, having a suspended registration and driving without insurance. While, Ja Rule probably thought he was going to walk away with just a ticket, the feds got lucky and found a gun hidden in his whip. Earlier today, the rapper’s lawyer Stacey Richman returned to court to request another hearing to discuss the problems surrounding the prosecution’s DNA evidence, but her motion was denied and a trial was set for August 18^th instead. Although, Ja Rule has pleaded not guilty to the gun charge, if convicted he faces up to four years in the pen.

Ja Rule has been fighting this gun charge for three years and with the way the Hip-hop police have been on their grind…I see jail time in his future. #Imjustsayin

Is R&B dead? We think so! While Trey Songz, The Dream and Usher are trying to hold it down for the fellas, where are the ladies? We’re glad that veterans like Monica and Faith Evans, Toni Braxton are taking a shot at making comebacks, but we’d like to see a few other R&B chicks from our generation step back onto the scene as well. Now it’s one thing to be the “it” girl of the moment, but it’s another when you over saturate the market like Beyonce and Rihanna are. We’re just hoping that maybe some of our favorite R&B chicks will be able to get some shine.

Here are some of the R&B dames who need to come off life support…

Mya- When Mya bursted onto the scene she let it be known that it was all about her, but lately the world has forgotten about her. Last year, Mya had an opportunity to get back in the game with help from “Dancing With The Stars”, but she blew it. Where the hell is she now?

Amerie- Amerie’s been in the game since 2001, but for some reason her career has yet to take off. While she’s good for churning out a hit every album–we want more! Her former label Columbia didn’t know what to do with her and we thought maybe, just maybe her move to Def Jam would’ve taken her career to great heights…but boy were we wrong! Def Jam was more worried about “Good Girl Gone Rated R” Rihanna so by the time Amerie’s new album “Love & War”  rolled around no one even knew ‘cause we were bombarded with “The Wait is Ova”.

Ashanti- Ashanti was once dubbed the “Princess of Hip-hop & R&B, a title I never agreed with, but hey what do I know? I’m just a regular average Jane. She had a nice lil’ run with Murder Inc and when sh*t got hot she bounced and that’s what screwed up her music career. Without the help of Irv and the whole crew, Ashanti didn’t stand a chance in the music game. Her last album “The Declaration of Ashanti” failed to move units.

Brandy-Brandy’s been in the game since she was 14 years old, but as of late her music career has taken a complete nosedive. She’s gone from singing in sold out arenas to singing in her bathroom. WTF?! Brandy used to “sit on the top of the world”, but now she’s struggling to be on deck. She let other hungry chicks like Beyonce and Rihanna knock her out of her spot.

The second these chicks go Hollywood (acting) they completely forget about their day jobs. As for the hardest working bish in the game Beyonce, although she can’t act a lick shorty sure knows how to handle her business. Maybe Mya, Amerie, Ashanti, and Brandy should hit up Bey for some advice.

Last week, Harlem’s Prince, Juelz Santana celebrated his 27th birthday at NYC’s M2 UltraLounge with celebrity friends, Maino, Ashanti, Snoop Dogg, Lil Kim and more. What was supposed to be a night of endless bottle poppin’ and good times ended up turning into a HOT GHETTO MESS and we KNOW why.

Now, Juelz ain’t no Jay-Z, so the crowd Juelz attracts is definitely of a different stature. And boy was it was evident that night, especially when a fight broke out. Some random Rev Run look-a-like jumped the VIP line and ended up getting his a$$ beat. From the looks of it, Maino was ready to thump on homie too. C’mon son…Maino you should know better! Guess it’s true what they say, you can take a n*igga out of the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of a n*gga.

In addition, M2 is one of NYC’s top hotspots and of course everyone wants to party with celebrities. Which is why is no surprise the whole hood was at Juelz’ birthday bash. From Uncle Roscoe to Aunt Neicy, you name it…everybody and their mama was up in M2! But seriously what do you expect when you have an event that’s open to the PUBLIC! Nothing but goons and bird chicks flock to the scene.

And no matter where you go some people just don’t know how to act… especially at the club! The club is like a theater everyone wants to perform. From the moment those doors open, the stuntin’ begins! Aside from a fight breaking out, word is two clubgoers were also arrested for buying up the bar with a phony credit card! Those fools tried to front like they were highrollers and spent over $28,000 on bottles of vodka and champagne…even sending a bottle Juelz’ way. Yet they were far from ballers…the nerve!

All in all this is why Hip-hop gets clowned on a daily basis. If you haven’t noticed by now, Hip Hop is not what it used to be, but rather a JOKE! This is the very reason why high-end lines like Louis Vuitton and Gucci don’t want us in their store, ’cause a selective group of Hip Hop-ers act like a bunch of wild animals. Sure it’s wrong to assume and albeit stereotype, but when incidents like this break out regularly, especially during happy times… can you blame them for thinking the way they do? Poor Juelz just wanted to celebrate his birthday…better luck next time! Hopefully next time he’ll leave Harlem and his goons at the block. You can’t take everyone everywhere.

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2010/03/01/heres-why-juelz-santanas-b-day-bash-got-crashed/feed/ 2 http://str8nyc.com/2010/02/16/rumors-brandy-celebrates-b-day-in-miami-with-new-boo-ashanti-is-over-nelly/ http://str8nyc.com/2010/02/16/rumors-brandy-celebrates-b-day-in-miami-with-new-boo-ashanti-is-over-nelly/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:36:13 +0000 LexAve http://str8nyc.com/?p=33602 RUMORS: BRANDY CELEBRATES B-DAY IN MIAMI WITH NEW BOO/ ASHANTI IS OVER NELLY!

It’s ironic that just a few years ago The Game was throwing shots at Murder Inc. when he was riding hard with G-Unit. Now that he’s no longer part of 50′s crew, he’s made amends with Ja Rule, Irv Gotti and more recently a collaboration with the former leading lady of the Inc., Ashanti.

“Hey, man, it’s ‘No beef 2010.’ That’s the trending topic on this interview, man. Dre called me and he was like, ‘You got any current-day problems with Ashanti?’ I was like, ‘Nah. I ain’t got no problems with Ashanti.’ She can sing like mutha—-a and you put her on a hook, it’s automatically radio. So he was like, ‘I’mma have her come down.’ ” Adding, “Dre was going through beats and I picked one. I was like, ‘Let’s try her on this hook.’ Me and Ashanti wrote the hook, I went in on the verses and that was it. The song me and Ashanti did, it don’t even have a name for it yet. It’s crazy. We just did that a week ago and I ain’t even name it.”

Earlier this month, we reported that R&B singer Ashanti was being stalked by a crazy and deranged man who resides in Indiana. Well, yesterday the singer’s momager Tina Douglas had her day in Manhattan Supreme Court with Devon Hurd, the man accused of harassing and sending threats to her family. Ashanti’s mom told jurors that she doesn’t have  the slightest idea of how Hurd got her contact information, but did mention that managing Ashanti means dealing with a lot of people—which is too many contacts to just simply change her number. She explained to jurors,

“My job is to be her manager. But she’s my daughter, first.”

According to Tina, she tried to ignore him and even tried telling him to stop bothering her which eventually led her to curse him out on the phone. But that didn’t phase his crazy ass one bit, as he persisted and the situation eventually got ugly. This past summer while Ashanti played Dorothy in a revival of The Wiz at City Center, Hurd sent lewd text messages indicating he knew where Ashanti worked, her home, and her plans for the night. Apparently, Hurd began calling Ashanti in 2006 and according to MaMa Tina, the first year of messages were just annoying.

“He’d be going on about her music and Ashanti, and who she is and what’ she’s doing,” Tina Douglas told jurors. “It was just rhetoric and garbage. He wrote that ‘I want to f— her; I want to do this to her; I want to marry her; I might f—you.

Peep pics of MaMa Tina leaving court earlier today.

One thing’s for sure…MaMa Tina definitely knows how to clean up nice!

According to the NY Daily News, a crazy and deranged man living in Indiana has been charged with stalking Ashanti– harassing her mother Tina Douglas with lewd text messages and pictures of his private parts. Prosecutors say that Devar Hurd sent Ashanti’s mom 32 messages between May 29^th and July 18th and called her numerous times in February. Fortunately for Ashanti, cops caught up with her stalker and he was arrested on July 22^nd and his crazy ass has been locked up at Rikers Island ever since. As expected, Hurd pleaded not guilty to the charges and faces possible trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday. According to court documents,  he sent a message to the R&B singer’s mother on May 29^th which reads,

“Hey Tina baby, how u doing sexy. Tell Shani I’m coming straight home from work to put in sum overtime. U know how I do, LOL.”

Another text came with an X-rated picture of himself and a special message for Ashanti and her lil’ sister.

“Here’s a pic I had laying around for the ladies in sum of my birthday suit lol,” read a text sent May 30th.

Ashanti’s mouthpiece, Judy Katz refused to go into detail, however she said, “The authorities are handling the matter as we speak”.

According to the stalker’s mother, her son earns a living selling cars, time shares and home alarm systems. Hurd is charged with 28 misdemeanor counts of stalking and aggravated assault and faces up to two years in prison if convicted. Orders of protection were issued for Ashanti, her mother, her sister and her father.

Wondering what Ashanti’s been up to? The R&B singer has been keeping herself busy by helping a Buffalo, NY family’s dreams come true! Ashanti will make an special appearance on an episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” which will air next year, however taping for the episode took place yesterday. Buffalo’s Eyewitness News cameras caught up with the songstress who was  in a hurry to get on the set to get her hands dirty.

Peep the clip below of Ashanti surprising the “Extreme Makover” family at a high school football game.

Glad to see Ashanti’s keeping busy by giving back!

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/14/ashanti-set-to-appear-on-extreme-makeover-home-editions/feed/ 1 http://str8nyc.com/2009/10/05/good-hair-nyc-premiere/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/10/05/good-hair-nyc-premiere/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:14:16 +0000 LexAve http://str8nyc.com/?p=25785 “GOOD HAIR” NYC PREMIERE…