The Underground Railroad returns once again tonight at midnight. You can tune in here, or on WBAI 99.5 FM if you live in the tri-state area. And while you're listening you can talk to us live in the chat room.

When I talk about that corporate world I also mean the hip-hop cops, the prison industrial complex and every other institution that benefits from us f**king up..

John Edwards endorses Obama in Michigan. Interesting timing. I'm glad he started with kind words for Hillary.

John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama tonight at Obama's event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Partly inspired by this post. May return to that thought later.

Nate Dogg is NOT DEAD. The internet is going nuts with this rumor today, but the source of the story, the ever-unreliable mediatakeout.com, has now retracted it.

BREAKING NEWS: RAPPER NATE DOGG DID NOT PASS AWAY!!!

May 13, 2008. The perenially unreliable MediaTakeOut.com received reports earlier today that rapper Nate Dogg died. Well it turns out it was just a nasty hoax. We recahed out to Nate's people who told us that he's "alive and doing fine."

Thanks, thanks a lot. but maybe we can try confirming the rumor BEFORE we publish it, next time? Best wishes to Nate Dogg in his continued recovery.

So sad. She may have no one to blame but herself, but still sad to see.

Remy Ma 8 Years in Prison
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Remy Ma has been sentenced to eight years in prison in the shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub.

The state Supreme Court sentence was handed Tuesday to the 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Remy Smith, for assault, weapon possession and attempted coercion.

Remy Ma, who could have faced up to 25 years in prison, was teary-eyed as she heard the sentence.

She says last summer's shooting was an accident; an appeal is planned.

This Just in:

Fox News Now Officially Shocked By Everything That Was Ever Said By Any Black Preacher Anywhere
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The Reverend Jeremiah Wright may have stepped down as pastor, but the Trinity United Church of Christ may continue to haunt Barack Obama.

Newsmax reports the new Senior Pastor, Otis Moss, has called biblical patriarch Abraham a pimp, said Noah and Moses were thugs and said Jesus had a "soft spot for thugs." Moss has also praised late rapper Tupac Shakur as a prophet despite his profanity-laced lyrics that glorify violence and a criminal record including assault and sexual abuse.

Cybercast News reports another pastor as the church, reverend Reginald Williams, has written in the church bulletin that the Pentagon trains Latin Americans to become terrorists and the major TV networks are run by right wing racists who see blacks as subhuman...

If I were Fox News I'd be mad about that last part too.. "hey that's not every network, that's our thing that we invented!"

I'm not going to take any pleasure in seeing violence perpetrated against anybody. Not at all. So uhh, yeah. No further comment.

Suge Knight Knocked Out
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Rap impresario Suge Knight refused to file a police report or cooperate with police after being knocked out outside a Los Angeles night club, TMZ.com reports.

The entertainment news Web site said Knight got into an argument with another man, and then he and his companions allegedly knocked the other man to the ground. The man allegedly landed a blow on Knight's face that made him unconscious for about three minutes.

"I want my money," Knight was overheard saying to the man.

The altercation took place Saturday night outside Shag nightclub.

His companions put Knight into an sports utility vehicle. A woman at the wheel tried to drive away but was removed from the vehicle after she hit a parked car and then reversed into another one. Another driver then took over.

Pictures here.

Would be great to see this open up some discussion and thought on the issue, just hope it doesn't lead us down the same old gossipy "who's the gay rapper?!??1?" path.. the tone of coverage so far, focusing on "secrets" being "exposed" etc, makes me worry a bit:

Gays In Hip-Hop Exposed, New Memoir Tells All
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Following in the footsteps of Karrine Steffans, former MTV producer Terrence Dean has written a memoir unmasking the secret gay culture in the world of hip-hop.

Hiding in Hip- Hop documents his encounters with some of hip-hop's biggest names as well as his own tumultuous upbringing. Raised by his grandmother, Dean lost his mother, [a drug-addicted prostitute] and both of his younger brothers to the AIDS virus.

Unlike Steffans, Dean protects the identities of those mentioned in Hiding in Hip Hop. As to why, Dean said, "I have no desire to ruin anyone's dreams or careers. That's not why I'm writing this book. What I'm truly hoping for is the start of a real conversation about why, in this very contemporary day and age, we as black people are still made to feel that we cannot be comfortable in our skin?"