Bye-Bye Fat Beats

A number of world renowned Hip-Hop artists and producers will gather in New York all this week, to pay homage to legendary record store Fat Beats (est. 1996).

Fat Beats announced they would close their remaining physical locations in New York and Los Angeles.

To celebrate the company, DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Ras Cass, Artifacts, J-Live, Pacewon and others will perform in-store at the New York location.

The free events begin today (August 30th) with Artifacts, Da Beatminerz and Immortal Technique and end on the store's final day on Saturday (September 4th), with Just Blaze, A-Trak, Pete Rock and DJ Premier.

Organizers are in the process of launching a similar farewell event later this month, leading up to the stores' final day on Sept 18th.

All performances will be from 4-9PM.

The schedule for the New York location is as follows:
Monday, August 30th: Artifacts, Da Beatminerz, Immortal Technique, and more
Tuesday, August 31st: Ras Kass, Sav KIllz, DJ Ready Cee, panel discussion, and more
Wednesday, September 1st: Bobbito, Mayhem, Riz, Juggaknots, Sputnik Brown, and more
Thursday, September 2nd: Rob Swift, Torae, DJ Concept, DJ Amir, and more
Friday, September 3rd: Masta Ace, J-Live, Pacewon, Tanya Morgan, and more
*FINAL DAY* Saturday, September 4th: Just Blaze, A-Trak, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and more

'Takers' Killed 'The Last Exorcism'

The real numbers are in and Takers has the highest-grossing film for the weekend ending August 29.

Takers took in an amazing $20.5 million from the box office, beating it’s rival, The Last Exorcism, by just a little less than $200,000.

The independently-produced crime drama originally drew attention for its diverse ensemble cast, including movie veteran Matt Dillon, franchise stars Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, and recent award-winners Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana. Takers also stars singer Chris Brown and rapper T.I. in their second and third major film roles.

Both artists also served as executive producers for the project, which was produced by Rainforest Films and T.I's Grand Hustle Films.

Box office estimates originally had Exorcist leading the weekend by $300,000 over Takers, bringing in $21.3 million. The numbers were close, but Takers, which went into theaters as the weekend’s underdog, came out on top. Rainforest Films co-founder Will Packer stated: “Hollywood expected us to do closer to $10 million since we were smaller and on far less screens.”

The cast, particularly Idris Elba, T.I. and Chris Brown, thanks all their Twitter followers, as they created a campaign where followers were encouraged to post pictures and tweets about the film.
 LOOKOUT!:  According to Variety, T.I.’s second Screen Gems offering will be a drama titled Boulevard, which was being developed at the time the agreement was signed.

Suge and Kanye Feud Over $1mil Lawsuit

According to Marc Brumer, former Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight's attorney, Suge and Kanye West feuded over Knight's allegations that West is responsible for injuries he received after he was shot at the VMA party West hosted at The Shore Club, in 2005.

In addition to being shot in the leg during the celebrity event, Knight claims he lost a diamond earring valued at $135k.

The Associated Press reports that the latest meeting took place yesterday (August 26th) in Miami, with Knight present and West attending by telephone. Brumer's report is that it ended fruitlessly. Knight's lawsuit claims West is responsible for his injuries because there was allegedly not enough security at the event.

This is the second attempt to reach a settlement over the dispute. The pair met in a lawyer's office in New York in June, but an agreement could not be reached. 

According to Brumer, the case will most likely go to trial.