Janet hospitalized and reschedules a tour date

Janet Jackson has been hospitalized due to an unspecified illness, according to TMZ. The singer, who is currently out on her Rock Witchu Tour, "got suddenly ill during the sound check" in Montreal and had to be rushed to the hospital, a rep for W&W Public Relations told the Web site.

Jackson is currently being monitored, but at press time no further information had been given about her illness or condition. E! Online reports that the singer hopes to reschedule the tour stop.

It's been a bumpy year for the singer. On Friday, she called off a show in Detroit due to "production constraints," according to TMZ. She plans to reschedule that stop as well. The tour, which also features LL Cool J, is slated to continue through October 22.

Full story can be read here.

Courtesy of MTV.com

DMX arrested... again... my goodness

In honor of the Olympics, DMX is apparently trying to break some sort of record.

The arrest-addled rapper was busted again Thursday, this time in Miami on an outstanding warrant for skipping another court date in Arizona related to his pending animal-cruelty and drug-possession case.

Pictures taken by TMZ show that police nabbed him outside a Wal-Mart this afternoon.

Although DMX's attorney did appear on his client's behalf Tuesday afternoon to provide documentation that his client couldn't make it because he was hospitalized in Miami (he wouldn't say why, though), the judge opted to issue a bench warrant anyway and raised his bond to $25,000.

"We provided intake documentation, and the judge said it was insufficient," Maricopa County public defender Charles Kozelka told MTV News Wednesday. "The judge said he should have informed the court sooner, and because it was the second time he'd missed court in this case, she issued the warrant."

The lawyer wouldn't comment on reports that DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is in rehab, although he did say that the Cradle 2 the Grave star's camp is "working towards getting him some help, and we hope that will be taken seriously by all parties in this case."

Also asked why a man of DMX's presumed financial stature needs a public defender (the whole "if you can't afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you" part of the Miranda Rights), Kozelka would only say: "He qualified for us, and he feels comfortable with me."

At the time, Kozelka was still hoping that his client could avoid yet another smear on his rap sheet.

"We are in court again next week on other matters, and my hope is we can get the warrant resolved by then and get back on track," he said. "We have some things in the works to get the warrant taken care of. My hope is that we can resolve it without an arrest, but he's been arrested at the airport before, so they obviously have an eye out for him, so I'm not sure."

In addition to an Aug. 19 court date related to his aforementioned pit bulls and pot case, DMX is due in court Aug. 26 to answer to identify-theft charges for allegedly trying to get out of paying a Scottsdale, Ariz., hospital bill by posing as someone else.

He was also arrested twice in one week during a June trip to Miami, once for driving with an invalid license and a few days later for allegedly trying to buy a small amount of marijuana and cocaine from an undercover cop.

Courtesty of E!

Death Row Records falls to it's knees

Los Angeles - How far the mighty have fallen.

Death Row Records, the legendary West Coast hip-hop label that launched such seminal rappers as Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre to superstardom and made mint at the front of the early '90s gangsta-rap boom, has been auctioned off for a relatively measly $24 million.

New York-based Global Music Group released a statement today confirming it was the top bidder at a June 24 auction and had purchased Death Row, including its hits-laden catalog and any outstanding recording contracts, for a relative song.

Death Row filed for bankruptcy in April 2006 after company kingpin Marion "Suge" Knight was unable to pay a $107 million judgment to former partners (and former couple) Lydia and Michael Harris, the latter a convicted drug dealer. The Harrises successfully sued the label claiming they were owed a lion's share of the profits for providing start-up funds.

After Knight failed to respond to the suit and skipped several court hearings, a default judgment was entered. That forced Knight to file for Chapter 11, posting debts of $137.4 milion and only $4.4 million in assets.

According to his camp, the move also allowed him to retain control of the masters to such classic rap albums as Dre's The Chronic, 2Pac's All Eyez on Me and Snoop's Doggystyle and prevented a judge from appointing a trustee to take over managing the firm and its assets.

Not so, according to the Global Music Group, which was started by former skin-care magnate Susan Berg and also has offices in Tennessee. The company dabbles in country, rock and R&B, as well.

A board member for the music company, who did not wish to be identified, told E! News that GMG had gotten "everything," beating out competitors like Warner Music Group and EverGreen Copyrights, and said Knight no longer has a relationship with the infamous label he cofounded with Dre.

"We've got people out in L.A. masquerading like they own everything when they don't," said the exec. "We're going to be in the process of not only putting out new stuff for the catalog but signing new artists as well."

Upcoming releases could include a new posthumous Shakur compilation, made up of unreleased tracks from the vaults.

The board member said that Global Music Group was still going through what it acquired, including figuring out what artists still have contracts with Death Row.

Knight and his lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

SOURCE: E! ONLINE