ENTERTAINMENT THE CIVIL WAY!

The Entertainer’s Basketball Classic (EBC) — the most recognizable streetball tournament in the world — taped NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens (T.O.) as celebrity guest coaches yesterdat at Harlem’s renowned Rucker Park.  Sprite, Nike Basketball, VH1 and Power Balance have come on board to support the EBC as title sponsors for this year’s tournament.

The EBC, well known for bringing in the hottest celebrities during its summer streetball tournament, continues to live up to its reputation by bringing in two of NFL’s biggest names — Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens — who took off their cleats and go toe-to-toe on the court as celebrity guest coaches during its Monday night streetball game.  Both athletes star in their own VH1 reality shows, “Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch” and “The T.O. Show Season 2” both premiering on Sunday, July 11th at 9 PM ET/PT and 10:30 PM ET/PT, respectively. Donating their time and names to guest coach the tournament is the ultimate gift of giving back to their fans and the community and mirrors the community service efforts of the EBC and its overall mission of community support.

Thanks to Kamye West of www.smileforthekam.com for the photos.

Hello world… I’m good. Counting the days and still smiling. Most of those smiles come from hearing my kids’ voices over the phone. The others come from reading fan mail. Let me just say that I have the best fans in the world! The devotion, dedication, support, love, and most of all, prayers are simply the best. I never imagined that I could have such an impact on people’s lives. Because of this, I vow to be a bit more careful of what I say.

So I’ve been writing and let me be the first to tell you that the lyrics that I’m writing are… well there’s no word that I can think of that properly defines them. Amazing would be too typical and perfect would be unfair. I listen to the radio sometimes, emphasis on sometimes, and I hear the new music. I like some. I applaud my Young Money family for what they’re doing. As I’m not surprised. This is what we’re supposed to do. Congrats to Drake and Nicki for all their recent success. Those 2 are going to have me retiring early. I love my team. Much love to Tez and Mack. I know that people are inquisitive of what I do all day, so here goes. I wake up around 11AM. Have some coffee. Call my kids, and my wonderful mother. I then shower up. Read fan mail. Have lunch. Back on the phone. Read a book or write some thoughts down. Have dinner. Phone. Pushups. Then I listen to ESPN on the radio. Read the bible, then sleep. That’s my day.

I’ll end this letter, but never my love. I’m gone. Oh, and how ‘bout dem Lakers!?!

P.S. I thank my fans for appreciating me the way you do.

Tunechi.

This is actually the second B.G. “Catalog Catch Up” in recent weeks, but this is well deserved. At least, I believe so. Leave it to the internet to show its value at the drop of a hat. I consider myself a respectable B.G. fan. Not the most diehard in a sense, but I am the owner of a nice catalog from the New Orleans O.G. The other day, my homie Dre from DGB uploaded a “Duffle Bag” worth of rare B-Gizzle records that most people do not have in their possession. Myself included.

In 1995, Cash Money Records was in its infant stages – still three years away from making a mainstream impact. B.G., who actually was a ‘baby gangsta’ at the time, released True Story. One of the records was the bouncy, yet rugged “From The 13th To Tha 17th” which featured a young N’awlins upstart, Baby D.

After a short break…Asher Roth is back in action and preparing to release his second studio album The Spaghetti Tree. The first single “G.R.I.N.D.” (Get Ready Its a New Day) was produced by 1500 or Nothin and  is shaping up to be a summer anthem. In an attempt to keep his fans involved, Asher’s created an opportunity for fans to create the visual for his single. For contest details, watch the video below.

DL: Asher Roth – “G.R.I.N.D.”

The only competition, at least in recent memory, for premiere club anthem is probably Waka’s “O Let’s Do It.” At this point, I’m not even sure Ross intended for this song to be as big as it has. It’s safe to say that unless some other song blows up within the next two weeks or so, “B.M.F.” will go down as the summer song of 2010. And it may not even be close. Taking advantage of the momentum, Ross shot a video to create even more anticipation for the release of Teflon Don – which is a mere eight days away at this point.

I’ve been away from a computer all weekend, so excuse me if this comes off as “late.” That being said, Young’s back with an alternate version of his ode to all things white. Memphis kingpin Yo Gotti tags along detailing his affection for the color. I would suspect a video for this to be around the corner, but that’s just intuition speaking. That and the song is touted as a single.

Speaking of Jeezy, when is the album coming, you ask? Rap-Up got to the bottom of things.

Lil Wayne’s Carter IV is in heavy contention with Kanye West’s Good Ass Job for most anticipated. The bad news: Weezy fans have to wait until the enigmatic rap star’s November prison release to experience the Carter series’ fourth installment. The good news: “I’m putting out a [Wayne] album called I’m Not A Human Being and I’ll probably drop it on his birthday, September 27,” says Cortez Bryant, Lil Wayne’s co-manager and Young Money CEO.

According to Bryant, the album will be an EP of all new Wayne material to serve as theCarter IV prelude. Fans are also warned not to expect any marketing and promotion bells and whistles.

“We not about to roll out no three month set up,” says Bryant. “I’m not even putting it out in stores. We just gonna put it out virally and maybe package it up for Christmas. Give ‘em a hard copy later for fan appreciation.”

For Weezy fanatics, looks like Christmas is coming early this year. —Bonsu Thompson of Vibe.com