When we last left off, TJs DJs was in full swing and the Bad Guys were busy getting healthy dosages of Southern Hospitality while keeping it Vanglorious with a few Failed Missions. The Zookeepers (cops) infiltrated every possible event but the only incident thus far had been Lil Boosie’s stomp out of some aspiring chain snatcher at Club Glo.

It’s the day before the Ozone Awards and the last day for TJs DJs conference. All has been pretty peaceful thus far at the zoo. The day begins with a phone call from Derrty Ent’s Blu Bolden who asks the Bad Guys to visit her room for a fresh pair of kicks. It only makes sense that Nelly’s newest single “J’z” come fully equipped with a Jordan campaign. Free Jordans = VANGLORIOUS MISSION + 1! Great way to kick off the day!

Asylum would book a suite during the weekend to allow media an opportunity to sit down with a few of the labels artists. The suite was filled with free Corona and Heineken which is the perfect breakfast beverage. Paul Wall would enter the suite first and talk with DX about the recent situation when an erratic email stating that he had been shot and killed had surfaced.

“I don’t know how it got confused to being me but I was just so shocked that my homeboy got killed,” he explained. “I got so many calls from people thinking that it was me, it really threw me for a loop.”

Paul mentioned that numerous websites asked him to blog about the situation. Although reluctant because of the notion of being insensitive to the situation, Paul knew that he had to let people know he was alright.

“It let me know that so many people have so much love for me.”

A healthy looking B.G. would come through shortly after and discussed his upcoming album on Atlantic titled Too Hood to be Hollywood and how T.I. was instrumental in bringing B.G. to Atlantic [click to read].

Back in the conference area the Producers Panel was taking place. TJ Chapman and Dereca Davis moderated the panel that featured the likes of Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne "Lollipop"), J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (2 Pistols "She Got It"), Mouse & BJ (Webbie "Independent") and others offering useful information for all those trying to get their foot in the door on the production side of things.

While the panel was great, there was a distraction that really caused the average Joe to forget what the hell was going on.

See, shit like that makes it all worth the while [VANGLORIOUS MISSION +2].

At this point, the Bad Guys split up as Anthony Springer returned to the Asylum suite to catch up with Youngblood Sean Paul while I had a chance meeting with former EIC of The Source magazine Kim Osorio. On my way to meet up with Ms. Osorio, I suddenly realized that Bun B had been following me everywhere. Nah, not really but Bun was in so many places that weekend that it sure felt like he was on my tail. Bun easily was the hardest working man this weekend, outside of Julia and TJ.

Speaking with Kim Osorio – who is currently with Russell Simmons newest venture, Global Grind – was one of those moments when you realize that you are in the presence of a big part of Hip Hop history. Kim gave me a sneak peak of her book Straight from the Source. While I won’t give away much, it definitely is a must read for those who are really trying to understand what happened to the Hip Hop Bible.

After leaving Kim, my phone began to blow up. Text messages, aims and phone calls seemingly came all at once and when I finally snagged a text it read the following…

“DJ Vlad just got fucked up by Rick Ross”

Holy shit! It finally popped off.

The funny thing was, there were NO zookeepers to be found! As a matter of fact, upon my arrival at the hotel, you would never have thought anything took place. So why were there so many zookeepers around if they weren’t going to do their job? Good question with no answer. [FIGHTS +1, COPS -1}

Prior to the artist panel, I began to notice just how many fat chains there were swinging about. It really made me wonder just how in the blue hell can EVERYONE afford one of these diamond studded chains. I mean, seriously, all of you aren’t making that kind of loot. And if you are, shame on you for spending it on a dumbass chain instead of an education or a marketing budget. It’s just like Uncle Ruckus said on The Boondocks, "It's like someone threw a million dollars in the monkey cage at the zoo, it breaks my heart."

Look the part but don’t play the part right?

While scouring the lobby area, I noticed one interesting thing…

Oh the irony! How are you going to have a song called “Chain Hang Low” and you have the most modest gotdamn chain of them all? Maybe Jibbs realized how silly it is to spend your life savings on a necklace or maybe Jibbs just doesn’t have bread like that to be throwing money around. Continued on page 2 »