Quote


Queens man revisits borough's musical culture with hip-hop tours, museum, walk of fame
BY Clare Trapasso
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Friday, July 15th 2011, 4:00 AM

alg_orville_hall_hollis_famous_burgers.jpg

Thirty years ago, southeast Queens was at the center of the hip-hop movement - the stomping ground of lyrical legends Russell Simmons, Run-DMC and Ja Rule.

But the years have not been kind to Hollis.

While some residents say that the area has lost the energy that once made it famous, a local entrepreneur, Orville Hall, is trying to change all that.

The owner of Hollis Famous Burgers and the Hollis Hip Hop Museum, which temporarily closed down in April, is hoping to capitalize on the area's rich musical history to revitalize the community where he grew up.

Hall, 46, is looking into creating a hip hop walk of fame to stretch along Hollis Ave. to capitalize on the platinum-selling artists that have come out of the community. He also plans to offer tours to the homes of local rappers.

"This was the corner that, in the 1980s, you would drive by and see all of the hip-hop stars," said Hall, who played in his middle school band with Jam Master J. "There is a resource here that can be used to restart this neighborhood."

The goal is to make residents proud of Hollis, he said, while bringing in tourist dollars to stimulate the local economy.

"If I can put something back in this neighborhood that people are proud of, people will start coming back," he said. "When a neighborhood has some glimmer of hope, it thrives."

City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) agrees that southeast Queens has the potential to become a tourist destination.

"I like [Hall's] vision for the area," Comrie said.

He added that Hall's restaurant - one of only a handful of sit-down eateries in Hollis - has been important step in the right direction for the neighborhood.

Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Simmons and LL Cool J, from nearby St. Albans, are just a few of the customers that have visited Hall's memorabilia-encrusted burger joint since it opened three years ago.

But there have been more than a few bumps in the road for Hall.

He closed the restaurant and the museum on April 15 after a series of run-ins with city agencies that culminated in owed back sales taxes.

Hall said that he decided to padlock the doors for awhile because he was running low on funds and needed a chance to secure corporate backing and partnerships.

"I thought. 'I need to protect this business,'" he said. "They could hit me with something I couldn't pay for and couldn't fix, and then the restaurant was gone."

He plans to reopen Sept. 11 after renovating the space and installing a sneaker shop. Within a year, he hopes to expand into the business next door.

Seth Bornstein, executive director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation, said he will support Hall's efforts because they are a boon to the local economy.

"Orville [Hall's] dream is to let the world know that Hollis is a great place," Bornstein said.

"His restaurant-museum is a little gem in the borough. It brings visitors from all over the world."

Quote


Rapper Soulja Boy spends $55M on private jet
NEWSCORE

Last Updated: 9:56 AM, July 29, 2011

Posted: 7:44 AM, July 29, 2011


ATLANTA -- Hip-hop artist Soulja Boy celebrated his birthday Friday by giving himself a lavish gift -- a private plane worth $55 million.

The 21-year-old "Crank That" MC bought the opulent G5 jet this week, his management told TMZ.

The craft itself cost $35 million, but Soulja Boy -- born DeAndre Way -- paid for $20 million in improvements, including custom Italian leather seats, flat-screen TVs, four liquor bars, a special travertine tiled floor and Brazilian hardwood cabinets.

He is also dropping a comparatively paltry $300,000 on a birthday party at a Miami nightclub Friday. Dwight Howard, Bow Wow and Sean Kingston all are expected to attend.



Read more: [www.nypost.com]

Quote
CBS News
(CBS) - MC Hammer is too legit to quit...launching new businesses, that is. The '90s rapper, whose name is Stanley Kirk Burrell, is planning to launch a search engine called WireDoo.

The announcement was made at O'Reilly Media's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Hammer told O'Reilly Media's Alex Howard in an interview that WireDoo's goal is to improve search by providing "relationship-driven searches" and "go beyond the generalities that give you more relative information in a consistent way in a new environment."

So how is WireDoo search different?

An example Hammer gave is searching for a zip code. On top of basic search content, WireDoo would also give related information like schools, homes and hospitals.

Let's say you click on "schools." Related content would include detailed information, like academic performance index scores, teachers' credentials and truancy rates.

Skeptics must be wondering how Hammer's new search engine will perform in the Google-dominated market. WireDoo sounds similar to Microsoft Bing's "decision engine," but even with Bing's customized results, it hasn't been able to take down Google.

Although, we're still bitter that Hammer inspired us to wear "Hammer pants" for family photos in the '90s, we're still willing to give WireDoo a shot.

WireDoo is currently in closed beta and is tentatively planned to launch around December 2011.

Quote
AllHipHop.com
The Odd Future member jumped on stage in the middle of a Gucci Mane concert and was dragged off stage by his collar by Gucci’s security, who thought he was just an out of control fan. Tyler had a huge smile on his face while he was being hauled off, like he enjoyed being mishandled. This kid is weird.