With a new album on the verge of being released the leader of DTP has linked up with the Apphilates main DJ [DJ Drama] to bring us all a preview of what’s in store from the master of rap music with a “Gangsta Grillz” mixtape. Check it out below.

Here’s what Drama and Luda told MTV News:

Ludacris still feels that he is still on top of his game lyrically:

“I feel there is no rap style I cannot do,” ‘Cris said in Atlanta, standing next to DJ Drama during a round of pool. “Unlimited amounts of ways I can come on the microphone. I feel like I’m the best doing the damn thing.

Ludacris and Drama are putting the last touches on Luda’s new mixtape, The Preview.

“Album number six is on the way. It’s called Theater of the Mind,” Luda said. “So with that said, we got the mixtape, The Preview — the preview to the damn movie. It’s all about lyrical exercise. I been gone, opening up a restaurant [in Atlanta], doing a couple of movies here and there, just a little bit of everything. It’s time to get back in the music game. It’s been a long time, but we back on that ass.

“You gonna get a mixture of freestyles, new songs, snippets from Theater of the Mind, [past] songs where samples couldn’t clear and make the album, but they still crazy-ass records. And me and Barack O’Drama talking a gang of sh–. It’s as simple as that.”

“The first-ever Luda/ DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz!” Dram jumped in. “This sh– is history. It’s the preview, the coming attractions. Get your popcorn. This time, [the production of the tape] worked out through the conversation. Luda already had the concept of the tape, it being the preview … for the Theater of the Mind. When I heard [the word] ‘preview,’ my mind started immediately racing of how we should put it together. I said, ‘Every beat, everything you get on has to be a movie.’ On the microphone, he’s already a monster, so it’s kind of an easy thing. I like to give everything a beginning, middle and end. With a concept like The Preview, ['Cris] kinda made it too easy.”

By Charlie Rem
Rick Ross has charged that images depicting him as a young correctional officer are totally fabricated, the result of savvy graphic artists.

He told AllHipHop.com exclusively, “My life is 100% real. These online hackers putting a picture of my face when I was a teenager in high school on other peoples’ body. If this s**t was real don’t you think they would have more specifics, like dates and everything?”

Earlier, a single image was in circulation on the internet suggesting that Ross previously worked as a correctional officer at an unnamed jail or prison.

The Miami-based rap artist, known for his gritty street rhymes, said envious people have conspired against him for his success and stature.

“I’m in the entertainment business and a lot of people who like to hate because I’m on top of my game,” Ross told AllHipHop.com. “Like I said before my life is 100% real. I live by this die by this. Fake pictures are created by the fake, meant to entertain the fake.”

While the image appears very realistic, boxer Oscar De La Hoya was involved in a similar scandal that made the pugilist appear to be a cross dresser.

The images were proven to be doctored and De La Hoya was completely exonerated. Ross is already moving on.

He stated that he was working on a new album called Deeper Than Rap, which would come at an undetermined date in the near future.

Game phoned into Phoenix, Arizona radio show “The Nutz in the Morning” on Power 98.3, to break down his intentional distance from his family.

“Ain’t never been like a real family,” he disclosed. “They fight at every single funeral I’ve ever been to. My uncle wants me to go to the hospital to see my cousin and I really want to see my cousin, she’s dying, she’s on her death bed and I don’t want to be around these people ‘cause I know how they are. They’re cruel…”

Claiming the family’s motivation was purely for financial support, Game said they began calling him non-stop.

“My phone was just going off the hook,” he continued. “And everybody was calling [and] asking for money and just, you know, asking me to pay for the whole funeral, you know, which I didn’t have no problem doing but that’s not really my obligation. I just felt like they were trying to play me out for 17 grand.”

The Compton rapper said his mother recommended only paying for the casket and flowers, but his cousin’s family refused the offer wanting him to cover all costs.

Game also said his cousin Robert “Kirky” Kirkwood called his brother Fase to plan an altercation at the funeral.

“When I see him, I shake his hand and I go sit down and tell him I love him,” he recalled. “And then after the funeral, you know he’s a pallbearer. He’s supposed to be carrying my cousin to the hearse and getting her to the cemetery so she can go in the ground but he coming at me, pulling at me, and the first thing he said was ‘Eh homie, what’s up with that cheese.’ And I’m like ‘What, what’s up with that cheese’ and then he like ‘You The Game, right. You supposed to be big rapper, why you ain’t pay for the whole funeral, cuz?’”

Game then said his cousin became upset once he explained he had his own family to care of which led to him pushing the rapper. He justified punching Kirkwood as a defense and claims the entire family joined the fight.

Game’s third album L.A.X. is scheduled to hit stores August 26th.

Last year, Ronnie Bookman, the head of Houston’s Studio 7303 filed a $10 million lawsuit against Prince claiming that Rap-A-Lot CEO lured him into a gym to be attacked. According to KPRC Local 2, prosecutors dismissed the case against Prince on Wednesday because of inconsistencies in some of the witnesses’ stories.

“The big problem in Houston is that for the last 20 years, Rap-A-Lot and James Prince have dominated the music scene,” said Prince’s attorney Kent Shaffer. “So, you have up and coming artists (and) companies that want to compete with Rap-A-Lot and sometimes they’ll sort of go (resort to) outlandish means to do it.”

And the beat rolls on. I really, really don’t understand why the industry doesn’t look at Rap-A-Lot as one of the biggest label period. Their track record is flawless. Screw sales for a second. I’m talking about the fact that they have put out classic albums for over 20 years now. Cash Money right behind them. Forget what you read Rap-A-Lot is the dynasty when it comes to this rap sh*t. Hands down I don’t see anyone touching their legacy. I don’t care what coast you from. Show me a label that has stayed this consistent with reality rap content.

How time flies when you are having fun; we all remember Ms. Melyssa Ford hosting the BET’s How I’m Livin’ series, and BET’s lifestyle show entitled BET Style. You can now catch Melyssa on the national Satellite Airwaves on Sirius Radio, HOT JAMZ weekly, during the day.

Now-a-days Melyssa and her business partner, Ms. Daniella Cobb are moving in another direction to inspire young women across the country with their new Foundation “Less Is More”. The Foundation stands for literacy, etiquette, self and strength and will focus on literacy within girls/women. The Foundation will target girls and women between the ages of 13 to 30. The foundation will also focus on finances, job ideas and mentoring. “We want to show that within the entertainment arena there are other areas girls can work besides modeling if they choose”, stated Co-Founder Ms. Daniella Cobb.

“We will be working on having Melyssa and Daniella participate in our Annual It’s Cool To Be Smart “Smart Girls with Cool Jobs” Celebrity Women Panel Discussions throughout the year in Atlanta, which involves powerful and inspirational women from the Entertainment Industry” stated Executive Director, Curtis B. Past women panelist have included, Keshia Knight Pulliam(The Cosby Show), R&B Group, Cherish, Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee and up and coming movie with Ice Cube called “The Long Shots” premiering this summer) and women executives, from top networks such as BETand Radio One including Hot 107.9’s own Rashan Ali, from the A-Team Morning Show.

Melyssa and Daniella will also become music mentors for the It’s Cool To Be Smart program for selected teen girls in New York City from the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Clubs of the Bronx. “What Melyssa and I have found is that quite often we are asked to speak at schools and colleges about being women in entertainment, however we have discovered that the lack of choices and positive images of girls are from making bad decisions. There are several areas within entertainment that can be as rewarding and fun. Melyssa and I say this all the time; sometimes less is more! We are excited to share our story with girls everywhere”, stated Daniella.

INTERVIEW WITH HEATHER HUNTER

KINGSMEN: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO PUT THIS BOOK TOGETHER? AND HOW MUCH OF THE BOOK IS TRUE COMPARED TO YOUR LIFE STORY?
HEATHER HUNTER: WELL I’VE BEEN ACTUALLY WRITING THE BOOK, WELL IT STARTED OFF WITH ME ACTUALLY WRITING MEMOIRS, ITS BEEN OVER 10 YEARS. AND IN 2002 I DECIDED TO PUT ALL MY EXPERIENCES IN MY LIFE AND FICTIONALIZE EVERYTHING. THE TIMELINE OF THE BOOK I CAN TRULY SAY IS MY LIFE. THE BOOK IS SUCH A PUZZLE NOT ONLY HER CHARACTER, BUT A FEW OF THE CHARACTERS I PUT MY EXPIERENCES IN. SO TO ME IT’S A GREAT FUN READ. LIKE UNPUZZLING A CODE. BUT I CAN TRULY SAY 50 PERCENT IS TRUE AND THE REST IS FANTASY THAT’S THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT FICTION. YOU GET TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND STIMULATE PEOPLE.
K: LETS GET INTO THE MUSIC SIDE OF THINGS, IS THERE ANYONE YOU WANT TO WORK WITH THAT YOU HAVENT YET?
HH: FAR AS MUSIC, LIKE RIGHT NOW I WOULD LOVE TO AND LOOKING FORWARD TO PUTTING OUT NEW MUSIC NEXT YEAR BECAUSE IVE BEEN DOING SO MUCH WITH THE BOOK. RIGHT NOW IM WORKING WITH KWAME IN THE STUDIO. I WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH TIMBALAND AGAIN. I’VE WORKED WITH DJ PREMIER. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO WORK WITH PUFFY ONE DAY.
K: AS FAR AS YOUR ACTING CAREER WHO WOULD BE SOMEONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH?
HH: RIGHT NOW.WOW. I JUST HAD A GREAT TIME DOING THE AMERICAN GANGSTA MOVIE WITH DENZEL WASHINGTON. THAT WAS A REAL BIG HIGHLIGHT FOR ME. AND IF ITS ANYBODY ELSE I CAN TRULY SAY I WOULD LOVE TO BE IN A MOVIE WITH AL PACINO AND ROBERT DINERO.
K: HOW WAS THAT EXPIERINCE WORKING ON THE SET WITH DENZEL?
HH: THIS WAS MY SECOND MOVIE WITH DENZEL. WE DID THE “HE GOT GAME” WITH SPIKE LEE BUT THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I WAS ON THE SET WITH HIM AND JUST TO WORK WITH A PROMINENT ACTOR LIKE HIMSELF THERES NOBODY BETTER TO WORK WITH. IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND IM GLAD I WS THERE.
K: RIGHT NOW WHATS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR CAREER?
HH: RIGHT NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT PART WOULD BE MY WRITING. IM WORKING ON MY SECOND BOOK AND I SHOULD HAVE THAT OUT NEXT YEAR. ANOTHER THING WOULD BE GOING BEHIND THE SCENES WITH SOME NEW PROJECTS THAT I CANT REALLY TALK ABOUT BUT ITS FOR T.V. AND FILM. IM DOING MORE PRODUCING AND I JUST WANNA KNOW ALL AND BE APART OF ALL AREAS OF MY CAREER. I FEEL ITS VERY IMPORTANT TO OWN YOUR OWN PRODUCT