The murderer of rapper Dolla has admitted that he shot the gun that killed the artist, but said that the act was done in self-defense, according to his lawyer.
Howard R. Price, lawyer for 23-year-old Aubrey Louis Berry, said that he had a previous altercation with Dolla that lead to a fatal confrontation.
Price alleged, through his lawyer, that he was scared for his life when he killed Dolla and shot at two other people.
Price has since been charged with murder and a pair of assault charges related to the Monday shooting. Additionally, his bail has been raised to $5 million. Berry is slated to enter a plea on Friday, a postponement from Wednesday.
Earlier in the month, Dolla (Roderick Anthony Burton II) and Price had an altercation in an Atlanta nightclub. By pure coincidence, the two crossed paths again in Los Angeles at a P.F. Chang's and the conflict quickly resumed. Price said that Dolla was affiliated with the Crips gang and threatened him in the restaurant bathroom.
Full details of the shooting have yet to be released and a motive has not been announced by the police.
Price was arrested with a loaded 9m handgun on him at Los Angeles International Airport.
Dolla is a rapper that was signed to Akon's Konvict Music label and was working on his debut album.
For the last few years, Block Entertainment has been a consistent force in Atlanta’s music scene due to the star power of Yung Joc, Gorilla Zoe, and Boyz N Da Hood.
The joint deal will initially focus on promoting the national debut of Atlanta artist Diego Ca$h.
Locally, the Eastside rapper has been making a name for himself on mixtape collaborations with DJ Drama (Gangsta Grillz), DJ Smallz (Kill Ya Self), and DJ Paperboi (800 Bodies).
With ‘Melo’s roster already including Philadelphia emcee Cassidy, Diego Ca$h feels blessed to come into a label situation surrounded by experienced industry professionals.
“I am privileged to be in a position where I am able to work with such seasoned individuals in the music industry,” Ca$h stated to AllHipHop.com. “I plan to continue to create quality rap music while furthering my brand as a rap artist.”
Carmelo Anthony is aware that many fans don’t take basketball player labels seriously.
With his recent signing and joint label venture, the Denver Nuggets star expects fans to begin recognizing Krossover Entertainment as a legit entity in Hip-Hop music.
“By joining forces with Block Entertainment, I am looking forward to a great business relationship,” Anthony stated to AllHipHop.com. “In addition to long term musical success, this movement will mark new territory in not only the Atlanta market but all over the country as well.”
Diego Ca$h’s latest mixtape, 800 Bodies, is available at www.krossoverent.com.
According to Los Angeles attorney Howard Price, his client Aubrey Berry killed Dolla in self-defense despite the rapper being unarmed.
“He believed [Dolla] was armed,” Price told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He [Berry] believed he was in danger.”
The two men had crossed paths two weeks ago, when Dolla and his entourage allegedly attacked Berry at an Atlanta gentleman’s club named Platinum 21.
Regarding the accusations that Berry followed Dolla to Los Angeles to execute him in revenge, Price argued their chance second encounter in the restaurant stall was simply fate.
Berry, a self-styled music promoter, is said to have been at the eatery conducting a business meeting.
“He [Berry] was there [at P.F. Chang’s] first,” Price explained. “[During the strip club incident], Mr. Berry inadvertently bumped into a woman he didn’t know. It was a stupid, silly incident that should’ve never escalated to this point.”
According to Price, his client decided to flee the restaurant after the bathroom stall encounter, as friends warned him that Dolla had Crip affiliations.
While waiting for his vehicle in the Beverly Center parking lot, he was allegedly approached by Dolla, his friend, Sidiq Abawi, and the rapper's cousin, Wilbert Robinson.
Around this time, Berry discharged four to five shots from his 9MM handgun.
Dolla was hit several times in the back, and died from a wound that pierced his heart.
Police have charged Aubrey Berry with two counts of assault with a deadly firearm and one count of murder.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Dolla's stepfather George Viera explained his stepson’s true personality was league’s a part from the rap persona fans knew.
"It was a character he played. To us he was just Roddy,” Viera revealed in a statement. “When he was home, you couldn't pry him away. [He] loved to play with his nieces and nephews, loved to play on the Wii. He wanted to go to theology school. He was very interested in religion. People think rapper, they think hard, but he wasn't that way."
At press time, Aubrey Berry’s bail has been set at $5 million.
Queens, New York Hip-Hop star 50 Cent is in Grand Rapids Michigan, where he is currently shooting scenes for a new movie Caught in the Crossfire. While details on the movie have yet-to-be revealed, the rapper will star opposite Adam Rodriguez and Chris Klein.
Eminem’s latest album Relapse has already topped the British pop charts, it was announced today (May 24). The album bumped Green Day’s latest album 21st Century Breakdown out of the top slot, down to the #2 position. The album, which is Eminem’s first in four years, was also named the year’s fastest selling album in the U.K., according to the Official Charts Company. Relapse is also expected to top the U.S. charts this Wednesday, having moved an estimated 700,000 copies during its first week in stores.
U.K. Rapper Dizze Rascal has landed his second #1 single with his latest track “Bonkers (Dirtee Stank).” The rapper’s latest single is the fastest selling single of the year so far. The track was produced in collaboration with Armand Van Helden and is reportedly selling double the amount of the #2 single, Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow.” Dizzee Rascal’s last single “Dance Wiv Me” spent four weeks at #1.
Hundreds gathered at Word of Faith Love Center to pay their final respects to 21-year-old Roderick Anthony Burton Jr., affectionately called “Buck” by his friends and family.
In keeping with the Janazah ceremony used by the Muslim faith to pay homage to the dead, several friends and family were dressed in traditional white attire.
Dolla’s body was wrapped in a cream-colored sheet.
The funeral was held in keeping with Dolla’s wishes. His cousin, rapper Scrapp DeLeon, told Atlanta CBS affiliate WGCL-TV that Dolla once told him that he did not fear death and when it came he wanted people to wear white and celebrate his life.
Scrapp, born Wilbert Robinson, was with his cousin at the time of the shooting that took his life on May 18 at the Beverly Center.
Atlanta-area music promoter Aubrey Berry, 23, has been charged with Dolla’s murder and is currently being held on $5 million bond.
On Friday (May 22), fans, friends and family gathered at Murray Brothers Funeral Home in Atlanta for Dolla’s wake.
Among those present were his Konvict Muzik labelmate Ray Lavender, Smallville actor Sam Jones III, and O’neika El-Amin, who works closely with the Konvict family and had known Dolla since he was 16.
El-Amin told AllHipHop.com she was shocked by how beautiful the young man looked in preparation for his final resting place.
“I even Tweeted about it,” said El-Amin, who shared with her followers at the time that “he looks like a Handsome Prince, wrapped in a white sheet & a beautiful garb on his head.”
Roderick “Dolla” Burton was buried at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.
Conway testified in Hackensack, New Jersey Superior Court that Max, real name Charly Wingate, masterminded the September 2006 murder of David Taylor in a botched robbery.
According to Conway, the real target was Taylor’s friend, Allan Plowden, who she had begun seeing shortly after splitting with Max.
She explained to jurors that Plowden drove a $120,000 Mercedes Benz and routinely carried around cash in excess of $35,000.
The two became romantically linked, and Plowden testified that he spent lavish sums of money on Conway at high-end department stores.
When she relayed this information to Max, she claimed the rapper became very jealous and promised “he was going to get him.”
Based on Conway’s testimony, the prosecution alleges that Max B began to plot the robbery, and recruited his step-brother Kelvin Leerdam to carry out the crime.
In between sobs, Gina Conway recounted how the robbery was botched from the beginning, as she and accomplice Leerdam got lost on the cab ride to New Jersey for several hours.
A cab driver corroborated the story, stating they stopped at two different Holiday Inn locations, one in Bergen County and one in New York before locating the correct establishment in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Upon arrival, Conway and Leerdam duct-taped Plowden at gunpoint and demanded his money.
Plowden revealed that his funds were in the possession of friend David Taylor, who was staying a few floors down.
Plowden was forced to place a call, and when Taylor arrived he was shot in the head at point blank range, stated Conway.
Plowden freed himself and gave chase, and was able to strike Conway with a punch before both perpetrators escaped in a cab.
Plowden was able to make a positive ID of Conway, who was apprehended several days later and charged with murder.
After giving a 169 page statement and cooperating with authorities, her crime was reduced to armed robbery and manslaughter.
Even with her testimony, she will still serve 18 years for her role in the crime.
When asked about Max B’s reaction to the murder, Conway claimed he expressed regret and promised to support her.
“Charly told me that if I pulled it off, then he would love me forever,” she stated. “Charly said he was sorry for what happened and that he was going to take care of me.”
Next Tuesday (May 26), lawyers for Max B and Kelvin Leerdam will cross-examine Gina Conway.
Both camps have stated that Conway, a stripper at the time, was the one who planned the fatal robbery.
Max B and Leerdam face life sentences if convicted.
Floyd Mayweather is the target of lawsuit from a company that claims the boxer stole their artist.
Just for You Entertainment, a Long Island-based company, alleges that the Mayweather-owned Philthy Rich Records signed Freck Billionaire even though the rapper was signed to them in 2005.
Just for You claims the company spent $155,000 in recording studio time, travel expenses and other costs when Billionaire was an artist on their label.
Philthy Rich Records now must contend with a $600,000 civil claim from Just for You Entertainment, according to the New York Post.
Freck Billionaire hails from Philadelphia.
Floyd Mayweather, who retired for 17 months, has returned to boxing and has a fight set for July 18 with lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez.
It doesn’t look like Nas and Kelis are on good terms. After filing for divorce last month against her husband of three years, Kelis - who cannot work because she is pregnant with the Queens rapper’s son - is asking for Nas to pay for her lawyer fees in the case.
TMZ reports today (May 20) that not only does Nas not want to pay for his ex’s attorney, but he doesn’t want to fork over any money for spousal support.
Both Esco and the R&B singer are seeking custody of the child that Kelis is just weeks away from birthing. Rumor is that Kelis filed for the split because she believes Nas was cheating on her.
As of press time neither artist has offered any statements about the case.
on July 7 hip-hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse - which conisists of Brooklyn’ sown Joell Ortiz, New Jersey native Joe Budden, Los Angeles rapper Crooked I and Detroit staple Royce da 5’ 9” - will be dropping their debut CD on E1 Music, formerly known as Koch Records.
It has been confirmed that Streetrunner, DJ Khalil and The Alchemist, whose new disc is coming out on the same day on E1 as well, will be providing beats on the album. Currently untitled, the LP will include such songs as “Not Tonight,” Microphone,” “Number 1” and “Cuckoo.”
In addition to the album, Slaughterhouse are a part of this year’s Rock the Bells lineup. The national tour will also feature Nas and Damien Marley, Big Boi from OutKast, Common, Rza, Raekwon, The Roots, KRS-One, a reunited House of Pain and Reflection Eternal and a slew of other independednt favorites. The tour is scheduled to kick off next month
Famed producer/rapper The Alchemist managed to get superstar Eminem to record a track on his upcoming album Chemical Warfare 2.
Following up on 2004’s critically acclaimed compilation 1st Infantry and last years The Alchemist’s Cookbook EP, Alc’s new disc will feature a superstar guest list of MCs including Em, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, Juvenile and Twista, who appears on the lead single “Smile” with R&B singer Maxwell. Along with providing the gritty soundscape, the Beverly Hills bred beatsmith will also be spitting on the disc.
The Alchemist is currently on a promo tour with Em, serving as his DJ, where he has already performed at several stops in the UK and the U.S. including Em’s Relapse release party in Detroit earlier this week and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Alc also served as the Detroit rapper’s DJ in 2005 for the Anger Management 3 tour.
Here is a full track listing of the album hitting stores on July 7 on E1 music, formerly known as Koch Records. - Elan Mancini
1. Intro
2. “ALC Theme” feat. Kool G Rap.
3. “Lose Your Life” feat. Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss and Pusha T.
4. “Chemical Warfare” feat. Eminem
5. “Grand Concourse Benches” feat. KRS-One
6. “Therapy” feat. Evidence, Blu, Talib Kweli and Kid Cudi.
7. “That’ll Work” feat. Three 6 Mafia and Juvenile
8. “Smile” feat. Twista and Maxwell
9. “Keep The Heels On” feat. Prodigy
10. “Gangrene” feat Gangrene (Oh No and Alchemist) Roc C and Crooked I.
11. “Lights, Cameras, Action” feat. Lil Fame
12. “Some Gangster Sh*t” feat. Fabolous
13. “From Now To Then” feat. Jadakiss
14. “On Sight” feat. Dogg Pound and Lady of Rage
15. “Take A Look Back”
Brooklyn duo M.O.P. will be releasing their new studio album, Foundation, on E1 Music (formerly known as Koch Records)/Blaze this June.
The disc will feature collaborations with Beanie Sigel, Redman Styles P, and Busta Rhymes, who will appear on the first single “Blow The Horns.” The video for the song is set to debut soon, with a video, shot in New York, soon to follow.
E1 Music General Manager Alan Grunblatt is excited about Billy Danze and Lil Fame’s latest effort. “M.O.P. is one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time,” he said in a statement. “I was fortunate to sign them when I was running Relativity and am thrilled to be working with Billy, Fame and Laze again.”
“Thanks to Alan for believing in us and allowing us to do our thing,” Danze added. “This is a big thing for us and a big thing for hip-hop. Right now, hip-hop needs M.O.P. It needs the foundation.”
Adding to a growing list of releases on E1, rapper/producer The Alchemist and super group Slaughterhouse will also be dropping albums on the label on July 7.
Foundation hits shelves on June 30. M.O.P. will also be rocking the Rock the Bells tour and are currently prepping their new website MOPUniverse.com in the coming weeks