YA HEARD: Fake actions and theme rapping

Diddy Speaks to Shyne . . . Or Maybe he didn’t

Jamaal “Shyne” Barrow, one of the central figures in the infamous Sean “P. Diddy” Combs gun case back in early 2001, has just completed an eight year prison term. To refresh your memory, Barrow,
Combs and Combs’ then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were in a New York nightclub in December of 1999 when the music mogul became entangled in an argument with a group of men inside the club. Feeling
that their lives were in danger, Barrow who was an artist signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Record Label, fired shots inside the club wounding a woman in the process.

Combs, Lopez, and Barrow then fled the scene in a limo but were pulled over by police not too far from the club. A handgun found inside of the limo led to Combs, Barrow, and another man being charged
with felony gun possession among other charges. Following a high profile trial, Barrow was eventually convicted of the charges while Diddy was acquitted.

Fast Forward to 2009 — Diddy recently spoke on the news of Shyne’s release, saying that he had spoke with his former co-defendant/artist a few week ago before adding, “Shyne was in good spirits and
couldn’t wait to get home and heat the whole scene up.”

Fair enough right, except for the fact that the imprisoned rap star has released a statement expressing that the two men never had such a conversation.

If this is the case, then it’s somewhat disappointing that Diddy couldn’t pay Shyne at least one visit.

Common says a change is comin’

Hip-hop artist/actor Common recently spoke with CNN regarding President Obama’s influence on hip-hop. The Illinois-born emcee says that the bling-and-rim era of hip-hop is on its way out. “I also don’t
find as much gangsta talk.” Says Common. “You see the whole chain-shining-and-rim era is gone. That’s like super-played out. Just to have that, I think, is part of the Obama effect. I think Obama is
definitely bringing people to be able to inspire people to create for themselves. What America was built on was being able to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to come in and use our resources to build for ourselves
and our communities and build around that. We’re not going to depend on others…I think that’s what hip-hop is starting to do to a certain extent. I think it’s a great thing.”

That much is very true. The music is definitely in transition. Artists now are trying to entertain above the old thresholds of violence. The exact direction of today’s hip-hop artist is still a bit misguided and
has a ways to go, but the change is good.

‘Run this Town’ now features Yankees

Jay Z’s “Run this Town” has been turned into the official theme song for the New York Yankees’ 2009 playoff run. The hook to the song has been redone to sing, “Winning games like it’s not fair/ The
Yankees rule so we don’t care/ 26 World Series rings/ Time to pop some more champagne/ Victory’s within the mile/ Almost there, don’t give up now/ Only thing that’s on my mind/ The Yanks gonna run
this town tonight.”

New York radio station Z100 is responsible for the new sound as it originally began as a radio spoof. After a great number of responses, the song eventually found its way to the speakers inside of
Yankees stadium. The station’s producer hopes that Jay, being a huge Yankees fan himself, will agree to redo the hook himself to bring the track more credibility.

Now if we can just get the Redskins to start playing T.I.s “Dead and Gone” at their home games, we’d be onto something here.

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.