January 2005

Heated face-off - Posted by Denz on Friday, January 14 2005

While Eminem waves a white flag on his current single "Toy Soldiers," word is Slim and The Source magazine's co-owner Dave Mays recently had a heated face-off at a Detroit radio station. Sources say Mays was visiting a Detroit radio station and made comments aimed at Slim during the interview. Em reportedly arrived on location with 10 men shortly after and confronted Mays. Though the two-minute argument didn't turn violent, sources say there was a lot insults and shouting involved.

Eminem's Studio Owner Shot Dead - Posted by Denz on Wednesday, January 5 2005

Amjed A. Abdallah, the owner of the studio where Eminem recorded his debut album, The Slim Shady LP was shot and found dead inside the recording facility earlier this week. Abdallah, 36, was found lying on the studio's 8th floor by one of his business associates. According to Detective Lt. Norman Raymond, police found three bullet casings from a .357-caliber revolver and ruled that Abdallah was shot twice. Raymond also stated that Abdallah had likely been killed two days prior to being found. Investigators have yet to determine a motive in the slaying. "There's a possibility of robbery," Raymond told the Associated Press. "People who use the studio told us to look for some fairly pricey equipment and it was missing." Abdallah apparently never reported any threats or problems and was good person who didn`t have any foes according to people. "Everybody says he was a prince of a guy," Raymond revealed. "He did record for rappers, gangster rap and hip-hop, but we haven't found anyone who had any particular problem with him yet." On December 15, the studio's building was listed on eBay's auction site by real estate firm Grubb & Ellis. The asking price began at $215,000. Abdallah had reportedly decided to sell the studio because he was spending more time in New York. Eminem began recording his The Slim Shady LP at Studio 8 in 1997. The album was later released in 1999 and went on to sell 5 million copies, won multiple awards and launched Slim's career.

Eminem sues The Source - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, January 4 2005

The conflict between Slim and The Source magazine owners is now scheduled to go to court. Manhattan federal judge Gerard Lynch stated he needs to see all the evidence before reaching a verdict on whether or not the publication violated Shady Records' copyrights by publishing snippets of two allegedly racist songs, "Oh Foolish Pride" and "So Many Styles" without permission. The song features an teenaged Slim using the "N" bomb and spitting offensive lyrics like, "Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks." The lyrics were published as part of an ongoing feud between The Source co-owners Dave Mays and Ray Benzino and Slim. Em then apologized and now contends that the magazine violated his copyrights by publishing the song. Em also addressed the issue on songs off his recently released LP, Encore.

Eminem returns - Posted by Denz on Sunday, January 2 2005

Eminem has returned to the top of the US album chart a month after Encore first took the number one spot. His album, which was number one on both sides of the Atlantic in November, sold 430,000 copies to make it the best-selling album in the US over Christmas. Sales of the top 50 albums on the Billboard chart increased by 10% in the week leading up to Christmas, with Encore's sales alone up 36%. Overall US album sales were up 17.5%, a 4.4% increase on the same week in 2003. Encore took over the top spot from 2Pac's posthumous Loyal to the Game, which slid to number 13 with sales of 219,000 copies.

School Tips - Posted by Denz on Sunday, January 2 2005

Eminem never misses his daughter's school plays - and has even read story books to her class. The controversial rap star, who has joint custody of eight-year-old Hailie with ex-wife Kim Mathers and full custody of niece Alaina, also eight, is such a devoted dad he gets involved with school life. He revealed to Rolling Stone magazine: "In school, when they have plays, field trips, all that stuff, I don't miss them, even if I've got to deal with the craziness. And the teachers are really good about telling the kids, 'When Hailie's dad comes in, he's Hailie's dad, Mr. Mathers.' "Last year I went and read to the class. Two books. It was reading month or something."