New York - R&B singer R. Kelly has filed a new lawsuit against rapper, mogul and Def Jam President Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, stemming from last year’s disastrous “Best of Both Worlds Tour.”

Kelly filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that the man who peppered sprayed him at the Oct. 2004 Madison Square Garden tour stop was rewarded with a job at Def Jam.

The embattled R&B singer claims the hiring of Tyran “Ty-Ty” Smith – who is currently awaiting trial for assault over the incident – proves that Smith was “acting within the scope and course of his employment by Jay-Z."

Handlers for Jay-Z claim the entire lawsuit is a publicity stunt meant to divert attention away from his upcoming felony trial involving an alleged sexual incident with a 14-year-old girl.

A Chicago, Illinois Judge recently ruled that Kelly must stand trial over the alleged violations.

The “Best of Both Worlds Tour” was a disaster from the beginning. The tour was supposed to capitalize off of an album of the same name, which was shelved when an alleged videotape of Kelly having sex with an underage girl surfaced and spread.

The album was retooled and released as The Best of Both Worlds, Unfinished Business, but was greeted with lukewarm sales, despite the superstar status of both artists, who have sold over 60 million records combined.

“The first night [in Chicago] was terrible,” Jay-Z said directly after the Madison Square Garden fiasco. “I’m waiting in my white suit for two hours. The guy don’t come downstairs…you don’t do that. I’m like, ‘I don’t work for you, B.’ I gave him that leeway, because that’s his town.”

Kelly claimed that several songs into his performance, unidentified men in the crowd flashed guns in his direction, prompting him to storm off of the stage.

He said that when he tried to return to finish his performance, Smith maced him and several associates, prompting a trip to the hospital, where Kelly and crew were treated and released.

In November of 2004, Smith was arrested and formally charged with misdemeanor assault violations over the incident.

Kelly was booted from the remainder of the tour and filed a $90 million breach of contract lawsuit against Jay-Z, who answered Kelly’s suit with his own.

Jay-Z's suit alleges Kelly would cry “hysterically" at times and even left a show in St. Louis where he went to a local McDonald's and “began to serve food to patrons at the drive-thru."

Credit: Nolan Strong/Allhiphop.com

Trina will make her television acting debut in the new sitcom “With Friends Like These” on The Black Family Channel on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at 8:30 pm EST.

The rapper/actress also co-produced the sitcom and plays a character named “Cleo Taylor” who owns a modeling agency that runs into tax trouble.

Taylor then inherits her deceased aunt’s beauty salon, Hair We Are and her aunt's arch nemesis as well.

The sitcom will debut on The Black Family Channel, which airs in 25 of the top African-American TV markets in the United States, reaching 14 million households.

The Black Family Channel is the United States’ only minority owned and operated cable network and focuses on family oriented programming.

Veteran actor, producer and director Robert Townsend is President and CEO of Productions for the network.

“With Friends Like These” was co-created and produced with Ty Johnston of T.Y. Entertainment, a South Florida based film and television production company.

The series is directed by Melvin James and also stars Ki Toy Johnson (Outkast’s “I Like the Way You Move video), Luz Whitney (“Bamboozled”), Prince Markie Dee (The Fat Boys, 103.5, Miami)

Repeat dates are as followed:

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 @ 12:00am
Thursday, November 10, 2005 @ 9:30pm
Saturday, November 12, 2005 @ 9:00 pm

Credit: Nolan Strong/Allhiphop.com

One of hip-hop's most recognized DJs in Kid Capri is giving fans instant access to all of his parties across the globe. How is he gonna do it? He's gonna send out mobile alerts to give any fan who wants up-to-date info on where he will DJing at.

The world-renowned DJ has partnered with UrbanWorld Wireless -- a leading Urban geared wireless company -- to offer his fans Party Alertz. His Party Alertz service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to fans who want direct access to Kid Capri's hottest parties via their mobile phones or wireless devices.

"I'm excited about the partnership with UrbanWorld; it gives me the opportunity to connect with my fans on a more personal level and give them special, VIP treatment through mobile discounts at all of my parties," said Kid Capri.

The free service will offer discounts to some of the DJ's select events just by showing their cellular phone/wireless device with the Party Alertz mobile discount at entry.

To subscribe, fans can text the letters K-I-D to 65690 and be instantly connected.

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Photo Credit: Ray Tamarra

California - A federal jury in Los Angeles has convicted Ronald Isley of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return, putting the singer at risk of spending up to 26 years in prison.

Prosecutors claim Isley attempted to evade the IRS by demanding that his millions of dollars in performance fees earned between 1997 and 2002 be paid in cash.

In addition to the tax charges, Isley was accused of cashing royalty checks issued to his late brother, O'Kelly Isley, and others, using the money to support a luxurious lifestyle. At one time, he owned an 87-foot yacht, expensive cars, and homes in Los Angeles and St. Louis. The government said Isley created a network of bank accounts and shell corporations to hide his income.

The 64 year-old Isley Brothers frontman, who married his 20-something background singer this past August, must return to court for sentencing on January 9th .

Credit: Foxxlady/Sixshot.com

San Antonio Spurs basketball star Tony Parker is following in the footsteps of such athletes as Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest and others and is working on a Hip-Hop album.

The untitled album will feature Parker rapping in his native language of French.

Production is being handled by Polygrafic of Texas' Sound Scientists, a collective of producers and audio engineers.

Parker, 25, recently recorded a song with Brooklyn, New York rapper Fabolous called “Top of the Game,” which also features popular French rapper Booba.

A video for “Top of the Game” was shot recently and features Spurs teammates Robert Horry, Tim Duncan, Nazr Mohammed and Brent Barry.

Parker, who was born in Belgium and raised in France, is a French citizen.

He entered the NBA in 2001 and became the second French player to play in the NBA, behind Tariq Abdul-Wahad.

Parker helped the Spurs win NBA titles in 2003 and 2005.

After winning his 2005 NBA championship ring, Parker performed a rap song in French in front of 65,000 cheering fans.

No release date was available for the album at press time.

Credit: Nolan Strong/Allhiphop.com