When was the last time on an artist from your city REALLY grinded HARD? Don’t worry; I have a few hours to spare while you think. Not to say that other artists don’t grind but other artists don’t grind like Roccett. He’s still in the streets, him and his team, like he isn’t even known. The CTE/Get Your Green Up rapper has had a busy summer. Everywhere you turn; he’s doing another interview or promoting a new song via Facebook or Twitter. Not to mention promoting the hell out of his “Another Day, Another Dollar” street album with DJ Scream that has made a substantial amount of buzz. Roccett gave me an interview and I asked the questions fans wanted to know but didn’t think of. He talks about getting your buzz up, the west coast, reveals information on his next project, and much more.?

Sermon: Today is a good day. Roccett from CTE/Get Your Green up Ent. Has invaded the Domain. How is everything going sir?

Roccett: All is good, just grinding, making music and trying to figure it all out.

In this day and age, you have to do a lot more than just put music out to get your buzz up. What tactics did you use/still use on the come up to get noticed out of a huge crowd in this industry?

I have been in National Ad Campaigns, I’ve been city to city passing out my music, networking with the right people, and my team is thorough in promoting and marketing me.?

Your team is full of hard workers like no other up and coming rapper. Haha. You said that Hip Hop is “More trendy” than it used to be. How are you going to make an impact when you do hit the mainstream so you aren’t just a trend?

I just keep it 100. There is no gimmick or fakeness with Roccett. I make music from my heart, not worrying about what’s on the radio or what’s hot for the moment. I am not one of these Mr. Potato Head rappers basically.

What do you feel are the 3 things needed to have longevity in the hip hop industry and how do you plan to use these things in your own career?

You need good quality music, a good team, and you need a great work ethic. I am gonna make sure I always have all 3 of those things. I will always give the people good music, always keep good people around me.?

Let’s say you never met Jeezy and you never got down with CTE. Would you be somewhere else or be on the independent route?

I would be grinding as I am. Get Your Green Up is our movement, u can’t wait for no person, company, or anything in this game. So basically I am grinding like I never met him now.

Truer words haven’t spoken. If you could have a 5 minute conversation with any deceased rapper, who would it be and what all would you say?

Pac. Just tell him how his music and how he as a person affected myself and the world.

Since we’re on the topic of the west coast, here’s another one. The West is still heavily slept on despite containing some of the most lyrical and versatile artists in the whole USA. Why do you think that we’re still slept on?

We are far from everything, so most people don’t even come to the West Coast or if they do come they only experience pieces of it. It’s hard for music too spread because of that. People never get too experience or see the movement first hand. Also the West has so much politics that it is hard for there to be the unity that is needed.

In another interview you said that music moves in season and in due time the West will get the respect it deserves. When was the last time you felt like the West Coast was on top of the music scene??

It’s been a long time since the West Coast as a whole has had it. We talking since Pac, Cube, Snoop, Dre was all doing they thing at the same time, that’s damn near been 10 yrs.

I’ve noticed that a lot of the time, you just do your own thing. A lot of West coast artists work together but you are like the opposite. Any particular reason for this?

Really, I just be on my grind. That whole rapper friends thing really isn’t my thing. I support all these artists grinding and doing they thing though.

Since it’s still a huge topic in the music world, how has the loss of Michael Jackson affected you, if it has and how do you feel about the way the media is portraying a lot of his news?

I mean MJ was MJ; everyone came up off his music. It’s unfortunate that he passed. MJ has been doing his thing in the media and had a whole lot of circus like events happen in last ten plus years so I am not surprised his death has been covered like a circus.

You’ve broke the title of your next mixtape which is titled “Detoxification.” Give us all the information you have on it from beats you going to use to who’s hosting and everything in between.

Detoxification is gonna be Detox before Dre’s Detox. Straight Bangers. I been talking to DJ Drama about doing a tape, so he may host Detoxification or he may host another project that I am doing.??This joint gonna be crazy, I got beats from Drumma Boy, 21, and all types of producers on this joint. This tape is really letting the world know I am a Free Agent and letting these labels know how we bringing it… Just making a statement really.

I appreciate the time you’ve given me today. To end, finish this sentence. Roccett’s favorite song he’s recorded is….

I like different songs for different reasons, but I got a song called “Questions” that I really like because I address some interesting topics.

Link to the interview on Sermons Domain:

http://sermonsdomain.blogspot.com/2009/07/roccett-interview-moving-forward-for.html

ROCCETT & DJ SCREAM RELEASED STREET ALBUM “ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOLLAR”

Click here to download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d878a1d8fe589e2db163b6bb5b09832a55c326562bf36113

FOLLOW ROCCETT:

www.twitter.com/iamroccett
www.iamroccett.com
www.facebook.com/roccett
www.roccett.com
www.myspace.com/roccett
www.youtube.com/RoccettTV

Link:

CNN “Black in America 2″ featuring Cicely Tyson and John Legend. CNN’s “Black In America 2″ airs July 22 and 23 at 8pm (ET).

From health to education, CNN’s “Black in America 2” continues to investigate some of the most significant and challenging issues facing African-Americans.

Airing on July 22 & 23 at 8PM (ET), host Soledad O’Brien focuses on emerging leaders, innovative community programs and business ventures that are addressing the most persistent and pressing issues and disparities facing African-Americans. Here is the trailer and some brand new clips, as well as the episode summaries for both nights.

On July 22, Black in America 2: Today’s Pioneers will examine the programs and progress of people working in ways large and small to make a difference. This is the story of community organizers across the country and the progress and improvements that they are creating locally.

On July 23, Black in America 2: Tomorrow’s Leaders will look at solutions aimed to developing leaders of tomorrow. We meet those that have already achieved heights of power, education and influence. And, we learn how others are reaching out to the next generation to ensure their success and achievement.

This is an occasion for genuinely tiny knickers: Bridget Jones is coming back to the big screen.

Renee Zellweger will reprise her role as the charmingly befuddled British publishing exec in the third installment of the franchise, Variety.com reports.

The script will likely be based on author Helen Fielding’s columns for British paper The Independent about Bridget trying to have a baby and her continuing search for love.

The first two movies, “Bridget Jones’s Diary” in 2001, and “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” in 2004, were based on Fielding’s best-selling books of the same titles.

The film will be produced by Working Title and is expected to go into production at the end of next year. There is no writer or director as of yet.

And now that the films’ heroine is into her 40s, it remains to be seen whether Zellweger will have to put on even more weight than usual to literally flesh out the character.

(source)

Since breaking up with Jessica Simpson the night before her 29th birthday on June 10, Tony Romo has been a busy man.
In addition to parting with a group of friends on the night that would have been Simpson’s Barbie and Ken-themed party, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback has taken full advantage of his newly single status in Los Angeles.

Romo spent Saturday lounging poolside with friends at the Sunset Marquis Hotel and was back on the scene hanging out at West Hollywood’s Key Club Monday night, People.com reports.

In between his party schedule, Romo, 29, reportedly filmed a Pepsi commercial and is expected to attend the Tahoe for the Celebrity Golf Week July 14-19 in Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Before his training camp starts on July 29, the football player tested out his acting skills while making sure to plug plenty of his sponsors in a new Funny or Die video.

The spunky star’s new show on Bravo this fall will be called “Skinny & The City.” Our tipster said, “The show will follow her planning her wedding to [fiancé] Jason Hoppy.” Life & Style also reports Frankel is penning a second book about “romance, money and friends” inspired by her feud with co-star Kelly Killoren Bensimon. Bravo had “no comment.”

(source)

The recently signed Buffalo Bills wide receiver has been spotted in Los Angeles and Buffalo with upstate New York native and Maybelline model Jessica White. “She’s in the trailer for his new VH1 show, and they’re always out together,” says a spy. A close friend of White con firmed that the pair are dating. A rep for Owens declined to comment.

(source)

Us Weekly magazine has obtained video it says shows never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson’s head catching on fire during filming of his 1984 Pepsi commercial.

Jackson suffered severe burns after a pyrotechnics mishap caused his hair and scalp to catch afire. Still photos of the accident have been seen before, but the new video on Us Weekly’s Web site shows the moment Jackson’s hair caught on fire and the top of his head became engulfed in flames.

Jackson didn’t realize his hair was on fire. In the video, he’s still dancing as the flames are on his head. When he spins, the flames go out. People on the set tackle him to extinguish the fire, and his brother Jermaine Jackson, playing the guitar in front of him and oblivious to the commotion, turns around. When Michael Jackson emerges from the pile of people trying to help him, the top of his head is bald.

The accident, witnessed by thousands of stunned fans at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, came at the height of Jackson’s fame, about a year after the release of his best-selling “Thriller” album. It marked what would be the beginning of serious, lifelong pain for Jackson, who had been treated for painkiller addiction and has been described by relatives and friends as being hooked on pain medication at the time of his death last month at age 50.

Jackson, who was photographed in an ambulance with a bandage on his head and his trademark sequined white glove on his right hand, required several surgeries and needed skin grafts to treat the injury.

In his autobiography, “Moonwalk,” he described the cause of the accident as “stupidity, pure and simple.”

As he described the accident, he wrote: “… bombs went off on either side of my head, and the sparks set my hair on fire. I was dancing down this ramp and turning around, spinning, not knowing I was on fire. Suddenly I felt my hands reflexively go to my head in an attempt to smother the flames.”

As a result of the accident, Pepsi gave Jackson $1.5 million, which he donated to a burn center named after him.

A representative for Us Weekly had no immediate comment on where the video came from.

Shocking photos have emerged showing how drugs ravaged Michael Jackson’s legs as it was revealed that detectives are treating his death as homicide.

Bruises, needle marks and a gruesome black wound can be seen in the previously unseen images which were broadcast to millions by U.S. TV network ABC.

They had been released by the singer’s father Joe to show his son had vitiligo, the skin-whitening disease, which Jackson had always claimed he’d had.

However their release has raised more questions about the star’s drug use.

The black wound appears to have been caused where an intravenous line, fed into his leg, was removed and fluids dripped into his lower leg.

Normally, IV tubes go into the arms.

There are also puncture marks (circled in a picture below) peppering the skin on his legs which appear to have been caused by needlemarks.

Dr Debra Jaliman, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology, told the ABC network: ‘It looks like there are multiple punctures from intravenous placement.

‘If the IV fluid went into his skin it may have destroyed it.’

The specialist said of the 2002 pictures it was ‘unusual’ to inject drugs into the legs, but that the measure would be taken if no veins in the upper body were accessible.

The blackness of the wound is believed to be the result of necrosis, the death of most or all the cells in tissue due to disease.

The website TMZ, which broke the news of Jackson’s death, reports that the initial investigation has pinpointed the anaesthesic Propofol as the primary cause of his death. Vials of Propofol were found in Jackson’s home after he died.

The site stated: ‘The evidence includes various items found in Jackson’s house, including the Propofol, an IV stand and oxygen tank.’

It also reported that the Los Angeles Police Department has had ‘multiple conversations’ with the L.A. County District Attorney’s office, although the case has not been formally presented to the district attorney who would decide on any prosecution.

The developments come as a Los Angeles coroner’s official visited the office of Jackson’s dermatologist to serve a subpoena seeking additional medical records.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter went to Arnold Klein’s Beverly Hills office and spoke afterwards to reporters.

He said Klein had been co-operating in the investigation. Craig Harvey, the coroner’s chief of operations, says it’s the second time coroner’s investigators have served Klein a subpoena.

They are focusing on the role drugs played in causing Jackson’s death.

Klein has recently given TV interviews saying he sedated Jackson for medical procedures. He denied ever giving the pop star an unnecessary dose of drugs.

Jackson was taking a combination of painkillers when he died on June 25 and had been regularly using the drugs since he burned his hair during the filming of a Pepsi advert in 1984.

Video footage of the star’s hair catching on fire, which it has never been seen before, has been obtained by magazine US Weekly, it claims.

The incident happened during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984.

Jackson suffered severe burns after the pyrotechnics mishap.

Still photos of the accident have appeared, but the new video on the magazine’s website shows the moment Jackson’s hair caught on fire and the top of his head became engulfed in flames.

Jackson doesn’t appear to know his hair is on fire. In the video, he’s still dancing as the flames are on his head. When he spins, the flames go out. People on the set then tackle him to extinguish the fire. When Jackson emerges, the top of his head is bald.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s older brother Tito, 55, said the family once raided the singer’s former home Neverland looking for drugs.
Tito said his younger brother had ordered his bodyguards to prevent the family from visiting his California ranch without permission.

Tito told the Daily Mirror: ‘I never saw him on drugs. Not once. He deliberately did it away from us. He didn’t want his family to know anything about that part of him.

‘He did almost everything in his power to make sure we didn’t know.

‘We had to act. It was me, my sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and my brothers, Jackie and Randy.

‘We bust right into the house and he was surprised to see us to say the least.

‘We kept asking him if it was true what we had heard that he was using drugs.

‘He kept denying it. He said we were over-reacting. We also spoke to a doctor and he assured us it was not the situation. He said he was there to make sure Michael was healthy.’

In a further development, the lawyer of Jackson’s former wife Debbie Rowe angrily denied claims she’d accepted $4million from the Jackson family in return for giving up custody claims for her and Michael’s children, Paris and Prince Michael.

(source)

Whitney Houston appeared at the world premiere of her new album, “I Look to You” (Arista), in London last night (July 14).

A healthy-looking Houston appeared briefly on stage at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge after Sony Music chief creative officer Clive Davis played nine tracks from the album, due to be released Sept. 1 in the U.S. The U.K. release is via RCA on Aug. 31.

Houston thanked Davis for his work on the album, saying: “When Clive called me I was pretty ready to buy my island home [and retire] but he said, ‘No, you’re going to sing again, people want to hear you.’”

Describing the album as “a labor of love” she said: “I hope that these songs stay with you for a lifetime.”

Davis - who worked with Houston for the first time in 10 years on the album - stressed the album is “by no means done,” while many of the songs played were still in unfinished form.

“We didn’t try to fit Whitney Houston into the market,” Davis said. “The copyrights associated with Whitney in the 1980s and ’90s are part of the fabric of music today.”

Nonetheless, collaborators on the album read like a who’s who of contemporary pop/R&B, with songwriters and producers including Alicia Keys, Diane Warren, Stargate, R Kelly and Akon, who duets with Houston on “Like I Never Left.”

The tracks played were “Million Dollar Bill,” “Nuthin’ But Love,” “Call You Tonight” (which Davis said was a likely lead single), “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” “Like I Never Left,” “For the Lovers,” “I Look to You,” “Worth It” and a cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song for You.”

The overall feel of the album was notably contemporary, while retaining Houston’s trademark vocal flourishes. The up-tempo songs “Nuthin’ But Love” and “A Song for You” received the best reaction from the invited audience of international media, while Davis particularly praised slower songs like the Warren-penned ballad “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” and R Kelly’s title track, hailing Houston as “the premium balladeer of our time.”

(source)

A couple of weeks ago Jon and Kate announced: “During this very difficult time we will be working to focus solely on the needs of our family. This includes no longer commenting publicly or reacting to media stories and speculation.”

But then the magazine covers stopped and the couple began to slip into irrelevancy, so guess who’s now commenting to People on his relationship with his 22-year-old party girl Hailey Glassman?

“Hailey and I have been family friends for several years and only very recently began dating,” Jon Gosselin explains. “What began as friendship has grown into something more.”

He goes on: “I genuinely enjoy spending time with her. It’s nice to be with someone who I can confide in and trust and who accepts me for who I am.”

Now, the TLC reality star understands that parading around the French Riviera with some new ladyfriend right after filing for divorce is kind of a douche move, but he just wants everyone to understand he’s a regular guy and that’s what regular guys do to move forward.

“I know that my decision to appear publicly with Hailey this weekend will be scrutinized, but I hope that people can see I’m a regular guy who is going through a very difficult time in [my] life and wants to move forward.”

And as for anyone questioning his devotion to his eight, he assures People he thought of his kids every 10 minutes in between smoke breaks and challenging Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier to a tan-off.

You know what would make this more fun? An engagement rumor!

Oddly, it’s now just In Touch Weekly pushing engagement on the new couple, and Audigier and his people are also trying to make it happen.

One member of the Ed Hardy posse told People he referred to Hailey as Jon’s fiancée, while Audigier proclaims, “This guy is in love. No question about it.”

However, Jon denies any engagement plans to the mag, “No. We’re just having a cool time and enjoying each other.”

That cool time has sadly come to an end for now. Jon told photographers Hailey is staying in France while he had to come back to the States last night in order to “work” (i.e., spend time with his family for the cameras).

(source)