Bizzy Bone
Photo: Joe Corrigan/ Getty Image

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member Bizzy Bone has been identified as the man who was beaten and robbed at a Los Angeles hotel last week, allegedly by an employee of an anti-gang organization.

While returning to his room at the Universal Hilton on January 5, Bizzy (born Byron McCane) was confronted by several people who beat and choked him before stealing his jewelry, according to the Los Angeles Times.

On Friday, Los Angeles police arrested Marlo "Bow Wow" Jones, 30, a contract worker for the anti-gang organization Unite One, which does work for L.A. Bridges II gang-intervention program. Law-enforcement officials told the paper they are still seeking other male and female suspects in the case.

Jones is being held on $1.1 million bail. An official at Unity One told the paper that he was terminated from his contract but that he could possibly be rehired if cleared in connection with the case.

The Unity One program was founded after the 1992 Los Angeles riots by former gang member-turned-peacekeeper Darren "Bo" Taylor, who died in August.

Bizzy is an original member of the Cleveland rap crew best known for their intricate double-time flow and for being mentored by late N.W.A. member Eazy-E. Bizzy was kicked out of the group in 2003 for frequently missing shows and public appearances. He was not involved in sessions for their 2007 album, Strength and Loyalty, but he is rumored to be working on a reunion album with the rest of the group — including long-missing member Flesh-n-Bone, who finished an 11-year stint behind bars last year.

• Bizzy Bone
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
• N.W.A.
• Eazy-E

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

When you've been interviewing people for, oh, a hundred years or so, you build up quite a backlog of banter and chat. A lot of this stuff is inevitably ephemeral — the day will surely never come when anyone cares what Vanilla Ice ever had to say about anything. On the other hand, it is kind of interesting to look back on the vintage natterings of people who are still on the scene and still entertaining us, either with their work or with their dotty behavior.

We've been exhuming a ton of this stuff over the last several months — interviews from the vaults going back not only to the early '90s, but even beyond. Most of these ancient tapes are fun in one way or another; some are scary, which is even more fun. We're going to be posting these old interactions every Tuesday from now on, and if some of what you see seems a little silly at times, well, the past is filled with silly things. Much like the present.

N.W.A may not have been the first gangsta-rap act (ask Schoolly D), but they were the most sensational at the time, and probably the most lastingly influential.

Their classic 1989 album, Straight Outta Compton, with seminal beats by Dr. Dre and his partner, DJ Yella, and furious-young-man lyrics by Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E, was packed with brutal street-gang fantasies, a chillingly ambivalent portrait of a ghetto crack dealer, and bursts of unfortunately prophetic misogyny. The album also contained a broadside against the race-based harassment of black kids by the L.A. police force — a track called "F--- Tha Police" — that was so incendiary ("gonna be a bloodbath of cops dyin' in L.A.") that it drew an angry letter from the FBI, complaining that the lyrics encouraged "violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement officer," and warning N.W.A's record company to "be aware of the FBI's position relative to this song and its message."

Naturally, the album got zero mainstream radio airplay. And the group's live appearances were targeted by a national police faxing campaign, which sometimes resulted in either a refusal by local departments to provide security for N.W.A concerts, or a determination to break the shows up. Despite all this, though, after Straight Outta Compton was released in 1989, it went on to sell a couple of million copies strictly on buzz.

MTV News set up an interview with Ice Cube in September of that year, at his parents' house in Compton, where the 20-year-old rapper was still living. By that time, this L.A. suburb was nationally perceived (thanks in part to N.W.A) as a pretty nasty place. (It's still rated as one of the most dangerous towns in America.) Ice Cube and his folks, however, lived on a deceptively sunny street of tidy houses and neatly mowed lawns. The gangs and guns, Cube said, came out at night. In fact, just recently there'd been a drive-by attack on this very house, which had sent even his father running to grab a weapon. Cube didn't seem particularly worried by this incident, but clearly the self-fueling proliferation of guns hereabouts made daily life a tense business. "I gotta ride around with my stuff now," he said, "just in case they pull up on the side of me."

DJ Yella stopped by to sit in on the interview, and afterwards Cube took us out in his van for a tour of the 'hood. We only saw one gangbanger on the street — a guy perhaps unwisely wearing too much red. Apart from that, however, things seemed quiet. At least nobody pulled up alongside us with a Mack-10 blazing. We never saw the gangs that came out after dark. As veteran white guys, we were gone by then.

Shortly after this interview, Ice Cube left N.W.A in a dispute over money. In 1990, he released the first of three powerful solo albums — records showered with both acclaim (for their music and for Cube's rhyming skills) and condemnation (for their racial and sexual hostility). He's still putting out albums, of course, and in 1991, he launched an acting career with a key role in John Singleton's classic drug-gang movie, "Boyz N the Hood." He's gone on to write, produce or act in a number of hit films, among them "Three Kings," "Barbershop," and a trio of pictures with "Friday" in the title (not to mention his recent turn toward family flicks with "Are We There Yet?" and "Are We Done Yet?").

DJ Yella moved on into movies, too, in a way. Over the years since N.W.A fell apart in 1991, he's been a very busy director of porn films.

Enjoy digging through The Loder Files? You'll find more here, and there's much more to come from the vaults — check back every Tuesday!

• The Loder Files: A Trip Inside The MTV News Vaults

• Ice Cube
• N.W.A.

N.W.A's MC Ren and Ice Cube in 1990
Photo: MTV News

Stop us if you've heard this one before.

A rapper releases an enormous hit record, fans go crazy, the song skyrockets into the greater pop stratosphere ... and then everyone the song wasn't intended for — from politicians to school principals to talk-show hosts to religious activists to social-rights organizations — decries hip-hop as a virus attacking civilization's immune system.

And no, we're not just talking about the Don Imus incident (see "Hip-Hop On The Defensive After Imus Incident; Sharpton Calls For 'Dialogue' With MCs" and "Hip-Hop Hits Back At Imus, Critics: T.I., Snoop, Fat Joe, Common Weigh In"). Sure, the recently fired shock jock stirred up the latest controversy over hip-hop's lyrical content as he attempted to defend his insensitive remarks aimed at the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team.

Imus told his listeners that rappers routinely "defame and demean black women" and if his remarks had been in a song, it would more than likely have been a hit.

Probably not, I-Man.

Still, major dust-ups over hip-hop lyrics seem to occur every four years or so — whether it's the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination taking Eminem to task over what it believed were homophobic lyrics or Ice-T and his rock band, Body Count, tangling with Time Warner over perceived endorsements of violence against police. And through it all, MTV News has been there — when Luke Skyywalker exited a Florida courthouse after his First Amendment case, sitting down with Tupac to discuss Congress analyzing his songs, and getting the word from Young Jeezy about his banned Snowman T-shirts.

Now, with Russell Simmons, Oprah Winfrey, the Reverend Al Sharpton and anyone with a blog weighing in on what rappers should and shouldn't say, we look back — in this exclusive MTV News video timeline — on the artists, the songs and the words that have stirred up such strong emotions.

(For an even more in-depth examination, watch "Hip-Hop Lyrics Under Fire: A Look Back in Anger.")

1989: N.W.A vs. the FBI

» Offending line: "F--- tha police, coming straight from the underground/ A young n---a got it bad 'cause I'm brown," from N.W.A's "F--- Tha Police."
» History: These five Cali natives gave just about everyone the middle finger on their debut LP, Straight Outta Compton, but saved the biggest kiss-off for the Los Angeles Police Department. The FBI and Secret Service even sent a certified letter informing N.W.A's label of the authorities' displeasure with the song.
» Defense: Ice Cube and MC Ren claimed they were just writing about reality as they saw it in their neighborhood.
» Outcome: "F--- Tha Police" helped push their largely underground album — with little video or radio play — into a double-platinum success. However, the controversy led to many show cancellations and even greater scrutiny from legal authorities.

1990: 2 Live Crew vs. the American Family Association, the State of Florida and the Supreme Court

» Offending line: "I'm like a dog in heat, a freak without warning/ I have an appetite for sex, 'cause me so horny," from 2 Live Crew's "Me So Horny."
» History: 2 Live Crew hit it big with the massively raunchy track "Me So Horny" from their As Nasty as They Wanna Be LP. But a lawyer with ties to the AFA filed a motion with Florida's then-governor calling for the album to be deemed "obscene" and any sale of it a crime — which led to the arrest of a Florida record-store owner and, later, three members of 2 Live Crew.
» Defense: Luke invoked his First Amendment rights and even noted Harvard Professor Skip Gates testified the song had merits based on oral African traditions.
» Outcome: Luke took the case to the Supreme Court, where it was eventually dismissed. Luke went on to record his solo debut, Banned in the U.S.A., featuring the popular title track.

1992: Ice-T and Body Count vs. Time Warner

» Offending line: "I got my 12-gauge sawed off/ I got my headlights turned off/ I'm 'bout to bust some shots off / I'm 'bout to dust some cops off," from Body Count's "Cop Killer."
» History: Ice-T had a successful rap career but had garnered little attention for his hard-rock side project, Body Count, until they released the highly controversial "Cop Killer." Their label at the time, Warner Bros., and its parent company, Time Warner, denounced the track, threatening to drop the group from its recording contract. A group of police responded by recording "Role Model," a dis track (of sorts) aimed at Ice and his crew.
» Defense: Ice rallied against the corporation over what he claimed were censorship issues.
» Outcome: Ice-T eventually removed the track — by his own choice, he has said — and eventually parted ways with Time Warner.

1993: Tupac Shakur/ Snoop Dogg and Death Row/ Interscope vs. Congress

» Offending line: "Cops on my tail, so I bail till I dodge 'em/ They finally pull me over and I laugh, 'Remember Rodney King?' and I blast/ On his punk ass," from Tupac's "Souljah's Story."
» History: Born into the Black Panthers, 'Pac had a strong sense of anti-establishment long before Vice President Dan Quayle and activist C. DeLores Tucker targeted his and Snoop's work. Quayle, meanwhile, made ripples in the media while campaigning with President George H.W. Bush and said that Tupac's words have "no place in society."
» Defense: Tupac turned the tables on politicians by explaining they also played a role in creating the reality his lyrics depicted.
» Outcome: After protests and considerable public uproar, Time Warner eventually dropped both Interscope and Death Row Records. The two labels immediately entered into a partnership with Universal; Death Row fell apart in the wake of founder Suge Knight's legal problems, but Interscope's relationship with Universal thrives to this day.

1996: Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown vs. social activist groups

» Offending line: "I used to be scared of the d---/ Now I throw lips to the sh-- / Handle it like a real b---h," from Lil Kim's "Big Momma Thang."
» History: Sex sells, yes, but these two Brooklyn, New York, beauties upped the ante with their explicit expressions of sexuality (to put it mildly) and a get-it-by-however-means mentality. Decency groups heavily targeted Kim and Foxy over the messages they felt the rappers were sending to teen girls.
» Defense: Kim and Fox claimed they were empowering women with their message.
» Outcome: Both rappers weather that particular storm but have suffered significant legal setbacks over other incidents.

2000: Eminem vs. the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Organization for Women

» Offending line: "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head whether you're a f-- or les," from Eminem's "Criminal."
» History: Em burst on the scene in the late '90s, but when his sophomore project, The Marshall Mathers LP, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2001 Grammy Awards, GLAAD and NOW protesters rallied outside the venue for days (see "Eminem Protesters Few But Passionate"). In a display of solidarity and support with the rapper, Elton John angered many in the gay community by performing Eminem's "Stan" with the mercurial MC during the awards show (see "Eminem: Performance With Elton Was Statement Enough").
» Defense: Em claimed his lyrics were misunderstood.
» Outcome: Although Em didn't win the Album of the Year Grammy, in his interview with Kurt Loder immediately following the broadcast, the rapper said he felt vindicated after performing alongside John and braving the controversy.

2002: Ludacris vs. Bill O'Reilly

» Offending line: "I'm DUI, hardly ever caught sober/ And you about to get ran the f--- over," from Luda's "Move B---h."
» History: Ludacris' raunchy sense of humor garnered the multiplatinum rapper thousands of fans and even an endorsement deal with Pepsi. But after O'Reilly got wind of a few of Luda's lyrics, he mounted a protest from his cable-news program to call for the soda giant to drop the "Gangsta" rapper from its ad campaign.
» Defense: Luda, with the help of Russell Simmons, trumpeted his notable charity work and pointed out O'Reilly's detachment from the culture.
» Outcome: O'Reilly's viewers mounted pressure on Pepsi, and eventually the company dropped Luda (see "Ludacris Barks Back At Pepsi, O'Reilly; P-Roach Antics Not An Issue For Soda Giant"). Ludacris' career has continued to thrive, although he hasn't landed an endorsement deal since and he's remained a target for O'Reilly as well as Oprah, largely because of his high profile after winning a Grammy Award and appearing in the Oscar-winning film "Crash."

2004: Nelly vs. the women of Spelman College

» Offending line: "I said it must be ya ass 'cause it ain't ya face/ I need a tip drill, I need a tip drill," from "E.I. (The Tip Drill remix)."
» History: Propelled largely by its video play on the now defunct late-night show "BET Uncut," Nelly's "Tip Drill" video stirred up the female students on Spelman's campus, largely owing to the image of Nelly swiping a credit card through the buttocks of a female stripper in the video.
» Defense: Nelly claimed the women in the video participated willingly.
» Outcome: Spelman student leaders removed Nelly's affiliation from a bone-marrow drive at the school.

2005: Young Jeezy vs. public schools

» Offending line: "Get it, I'm Jeezy the Snowman/ I'm iced out, plus I got snow, man," from Gucci Mane's "Icy" (featuring Jeezy).
» History: Jeezy's trademark ad libs may have caught on quickly, but his Angry-Snowman T-Shirts took the 'hood by storm. From Harlem to Hotlanta, kids could be seen rocking the menacing Snowman tees, even in school.
» Defense: In interviews, Jeezy claimed the Snowman was just a cool dude and the character represented upward mobility (see "Young Jeezy Explains Symbolism Of The Snowman").
» Outcome: His response didn't satisfy school administrators, who deemed his Snowman a blatant endorsement for kids to sell drugs. The Snowman controversy has cooled down, but Jeezy is still hot.

2005: Cam'ron's "Stop snitchin' " stance vs. the police

» Offending line: Nothing.
» History: Cam angered police and public officials when he refused to cooperate with authorities — a tacit endorsement of the "stop snitchin' " attitude — following his 2005 shooting in Washington, D.C. (see "Cam'ron Says He's Not Sure Incident Was A Failed Carjacking After All"). The murder of Busta Rhymes' bodyguard Israel Ramirez at a video set in February 2006 followed a similar pattern (see "Busta Rhymes Issues Statement On Bodyguard Shooting").
» Defense: Cam said business interests and the way he was raised prevent him from speaking with authorities and revealing further information.
» Outcome: Critics say Cam's silence speaks volumes; they feel he's encouraging inner-city residents to continue their stance against cooperating with police. The MC recently appeared on "60 Minutes" to further explain his stance.

Amid all the controversies of the past three decades, one thing is certain: Hip-hop lyrics will continue to enthrall fans and enrage critics for many years to come.

• Hip-Hop Lyrics Under Fire: A Look Back In Anger

• Tupac
• N.W.A.
• Snoop Dogg
• 2 Live Crew
• Lil' Kim

Chris Rock in "I Think I Love My Wife"
Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

It's been a couple of weeks, but everyone is still responding to MTV News' recent "Greatest Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time" piece. One of the funniest men in America, Chris Rock, says he's torn between #1 and #2.

(Click here for our Greatest Hip-Hop Groups list, plus see photos and videos of the top 10 squads and more.)

"The first concert I ever went to was Run-DMC," he said recently at a New York press event for his new film "I Think I Love My Wife." "My Run-DMC concert was probably my most 'Ooh, I'm gonna be in show business' moment of my life. Run-DMC at the Nassau Coliseum [in Uniondale, New York]. I was sitting over the crowd, I had kinda a bad seat, but it was a good seat because I didn't get robbed. Run and DMC were incredible. But when I saw N.W.A, probably my life was never the same. It made me realize I could say absolutely anything I wanted to say. N.W.A in San Diego. They were the opening act for LL Cool J and they absolutely blew him off the stage. I love rap music."

Chris isn't so sure how much he loves his wife in "I Think I Love My Wife," which opens Friday (March 16). He plays a married man who may or may not be led astray by the very sexy Kerry Washington.

"I think I'm funniest as a real guy," the 42-year-old said. "That's the discovery I made through this movie — I like playing a grown-up. I think most guys play guys who won't grow up. This is a grown-up movie. It's a movie about a guy who might f--- somebody else. Not roses and ... he's thinking about f---ing around.

"It's like my standup," he added later. "Some jokes you love, some jokes you're like, 'F--- him.' I wanted that type of movie experience. I wanted people arguing. There's things in there that didn't test well that I kept in because I thought it was a better movie. It's jokes and departures from reality, but the movie is based in reality."

Rock says he's thinking about going out and doing a stretch of standup concerts, but he's also interested in a project that nobody would associate him with.

"I'm working out, so I may go on tour. I'm doing research. Here's what I'm probably gonna do if I can raise the money: I want to do a documentary on the Bronner Bros. Hair Show in Atlanta," he said of the long-running hair competition. "That's what I been thinking about. It's bigger than the Super Bowl and it's nothing but hairdressers. I'm not making fun of anybody. It's very entrepreneurial; there's something real interesting about these people. There'll be some humor in it, but I won't be making fun of anybody."

The creator of "Everybody Hates Chris" is also linked to the upcoming animated films "Madagascar 2" and "Bee Movie" with Jerry Seinfeld. Meanwhile, there are also talks of Rock playing opposite Eddie Murphy in a yet-untitled heist film.

Check out everything we've got on "I Think I Love My Wife."

Visit Movies on MTV.com for more from Hollywood, including news, reviews, interviews and more.

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• Greatest Hip-Hop Groups Of All Time
• Greatest Hip-Hop Groups: The Postgame

• "I Think I Love My Wife"

• Run-D.M.C.
• N.W.A.

Run DMC
Photo: Priority

• UGK
• The Fugees
• Salt & Pepper
• Wu-Tang Clan
• Run-D.M.C.

Omarion's <I>21</I>
Photo: Sony Music

Well, Axl Rose didn't make good on his holiday promise: delivering Chinese Democracy before the end of the year. But a few artists — and by "few" we mean "not many" — are rushing in their efforts before last call ends in 2006. Omarion, Matisyahu, Switchfoot and the rest of the Forget-Me-Nots are hoping you haven't put your year-end top-10 lists in ink just yet.

But while those artists will be duking it out in the CD racks this week, expect another item to soak up a lot of the attention: Good Charlotte's "Fast Future Generation" DVD. The band is hoping consumers pick up the long-awaited flick when they make their post-Christmas returns Tuesday (December 26) — after all, fans have been waiting for the film since it premiered at Sundance way back in January.

While we won't know for another week who's going to be entering 2007 with a smile and who'll be mumbling "good riddance, 2006" under their breath, we do have some new year's resolutions to offer each of them:

Good Charlotte's "Fast Future Generation" DVD: No, this isn't their take on "Fast Food Nation" — it's a rockumentary immortalizing the band's 12-day tour through Japan in September 2005. Stitching together concert footage with the Madden brothers and the gang on the streets of Tokyo and beyond, the DVD was directed by Nylon magazine Editor in Chief Marvin Scott Jarrett. Featured songs include "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "The Anthem" and "Predictable," sung in Japanese.

New Year's Resolution: Get that Good Morning Revival LP out in March — with or without exclamation point.

Omarion's 21: The gist of the ex-B2K singer's new LP is that he's all grown up, but there's actually a second implication to the title: It's the highest number in blackjack, a game the classily dressed O appears ready to play on the album cover. Pre-release contests involved a phone call from O and autographed copies of the CD, but everyone will be able to enjoy production by Pharrell and Bryan-Michael Cox, as well as songs like "Made for TV," "Ice Box" and "What Are We Doing."

New Year's Resolution: Don't forget to bring copies of 21 on the road during the Scream Tour with Yung Joc and Ne-Yo.

Matisyahu's No Place to Be: If Israel is no place to be, then why are you releasing a CD/DVD package immortalizing your concert there? Why, Matis, why? Well, actually, the audio portion of the set encompasses four new studio recordings and three fresh remixes, while the 90-minute video has a show shot in Tel Aviv coupled with interviews and street performances the Hasidic MC staged in Jerusalem. The CD boasts a few production luminaries too: dance-hall kings Sly & Robbie, avant-garde master Bill Laswell and even a remix churned out by Texas' esteemed Swishahouse rap label.

New Year's Resolution: Maintain kitsch factor while not becoming a jam-band-festival mainstay and addressing the Israel/Palestine conflict without ticking too many people off. Now that's called walking a tightrope.

Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity: "Like a puppet on a monetary string/ Maybe we've been caught singing/ Red, white, blue and green/ But that ain't my American dream." That's not a bad stanza from singer/songwriter Jon Foreman, and one you'll hear on "American Dream," featured on his band's sixth LP. The San Diego quartet is hoping production by Tim Palmer (U2, Pearl Jam), executive production by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band) and songs like "Faust, Midas, and Myself" and "Burn Out Bright" do the trick.

New Year's Resolution: Stay spiritual but distance themselves from soft Christian artists like Matt Redman and Steven Curtis Chapman, who also have LPs dropping this week. This is another tightrope, albeit a slightly thicker one thanks to the success of acts like P.O.D.

Various artists' The Family Values Tour 2006: Feeling Korny? Look no further than the CD and DVD surrounding this year's umpteenth metal festival, which features them alongside loud-rocking partners Deftones, Flyleaf, Deadsy, 10 Years, Dir en Grey and Stone Sour. The CD features those much-discussed guest-vocal appearances paid by Deftones' Chino Moreno, Stone Sour's Corey Taylor and Army of Anyone's Robert Patrick during Korn's sets, while the DVD chips in dressing-room footage, bandmember chats and outtakes.

New Year's Resolution: Perform in an airborne jet. Get a street named after them. Record "Unplugged." Oh wait, they did all that this year. New resolution: Get some rest.

N.W.A's - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge: Seventeen classics by the trailblazing rappers are cobbled together to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary. But the real news here is the deluxe edition: It's hitched with a bonus DVD corralling unreleased interviews with Ice Cube and DJ Yella, not to mention a spicy unissued clip capturing Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Yella and MC Ren arguing in the studio. Videos and "street" versions of four tracks cap off the disc.

New Year's Resolution: Go spelunking for more unreleased songs to tack onto future collections and reissues.

Various artists' 15 Years on Death Row: Tangentially related to the above — both packages feature epistles by noted writer Soren Baker — this one culls 13 previously released tracks by Tupac, Snoop and Dr. Dre. The deluxe version of this release also has a DVD, but all 14 clips have already seen the light of day.

New Year's Resolution: See above.

Gang Starr's Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr: Also featuring notes by Baker and also available in deluxe form with a DVD, this set pulls together two songs originally released on soundtracks, so there's at least something rare here. The DVD has 11 videos by the hip-hop duo.

New Year's Resolution: Sigh — see above again.

Incognito's Bees + Things + Flowers: Just when you thought there wasn't any lovin' left for acid jazz ... London's long-running jazz/soul/funk project sinks its teeth into songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Roy Ayers and America this time around, chalking up three new songs and fresh versions of four vintage Incognito tracks while they're at it. A 16-piece string section ices the cake.

New Year's Resolution: Try not to be so incognito.

Song Title of the Week:

"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" from Matt Redman's Beautiful News

New Releases:

· Incognito - Bees + Things + Flowers (Narada Jazz) · Matisyahu - No Place to Be (with DVD of live material; Epic/Or/J-Dub) [Buy Now] · Omarion - 21 (Epic/ Sony Urban) [Buy Now] Read: "Boy To Man: Omarion Grows Up On The 'Personal' 21" · Matt Redman - Beautiful News (Sparrow) · Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity (Columbia) [Buy Now] Read: "Life, Death, Social Entropy? Switchfoot Get Weighty On Oh! Gravity" · Various artists - The Family Values Tour 2006 (Firm)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Steven Curtis Chapman - Now & Then (Sparrow) · Barbara Cook - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Earth, Wind & Fire - Beautiful Ballads (Columbia/Legacy) · Enigma - Love Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collection (Virgin/ EMI Music Catalog Marketing) · Gang Starr - Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr (deluxe edition with DVD also available; Capitol/ EMI Music Catalog Marketing) · John Hammond - Southern Fried (Water) · Julio Iglesias - Romantic Classics (Burgundy) · Gladys Knight - Beautiful Ballads (Columbia/Legacy) · Isley Brothers - Beautiful Ballads, Vol. 2 (T-Neck/Legacy) · Patti LaBelle - Beautiful Ballads (Epic/Legacy) · Angela Lansbury - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · N.W.A - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge (deluxe version with DVD also available; Capitol/Priority) [Buy Now] · O'Jays - Beautiful Ballads (Epic/Legacy) · Bernadette Peters - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Chita Rivera - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - The Real Deal Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Epic/ Sony Legacy) · Various artists - 15 Years on Death Row (two CDs; version with DVD also available; Death Row) · Various artists - Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky (Capitol)

Music DVDs:

· Good Charlotte - "Fast Future Generation" (Epic/Daylight) Read: "Good Charlotte's 'Future' And Jennifer Aniston's 'Friends' Get Sundance Started" · Guns N' Roses - "DVD Collector's Box" (MVD Video) · Various artists - "The Family Values Tour 2006" (Firm)

Coming Attractions:

January 2: · Carly Simon - Into White (Columbia) · Unwritten Law - The Hit List (Rocket Science) [Buy Now] · Various artists - L-Tunes: Music From and Inspired by "The L-Word" (Columbia)

January 9: · Green Day - 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (enhanced; Reprise) and Kerplunk (Reprise) [Buy Now] · Mario - Go! (J) [Buy Now] · Mos Def - Tru3 Magic (Geffen) [Buy Now]

January 16: · America - Here & Now (Burgundy) · The Smithereens - Meet the Smithereens! (Koch) · Various artists - "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" soundtrack (Atlantic)

• Good Charlotte
• Omarion
• Matisyahu
• Switchfoot
• N.W.A.

Jay-Z
Photo: Walik Goshorn

• Jay-Z
• Nas
• N.W.A.

Rapper Will Smith began shooting a new TV sitcom this week in 1990 called "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

"I'm playing a kid from West Philadelphia and I get into a fight with a couple guys and my moms is like, 'You know, the neighborhood is pretty bad, you're a good kid, I think that you should have a better shot at life, I want you to move in with your aunt and uncle in Bel-Air,' " Will Smith explained. "So I move out to Bel-Air and it's like I'm a fish out of water, and I'm just like, 'Oh yo, this is all that,' and my head is spinning and everything. I'm just tripping out."

While the show had roots in the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," it was also loosely based on the life of Warner Bros. Records executive Benny Medina. Medina grew up in South Central Los Angeles and moved to Beverly Hills to live with his wealthy Jewish family.

("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" aired from 1990-1996.)

Tone-Loc was in the studio working on his Cool Hand Loc album, the follow-up to the hugely successful Loc-ed After Dark.

"I think I'm more funky this time," Loc said. "And before I never really paid attention to my voice until everybody made this big deal about it after the album. So now I try to use it to every advantage I can on the album. I think it will be better than the last one."

On the last one, Marvin Young, a.k.a. Young MC ("Bust a Move"), was brought in to help out with the lyrics, but Loc said don't look for Marvin this time out.

"I wrote the 'Wild Thing' song. I wrote it nasty ... it was all my concept and the fellows who made the music were really hyped on the music and they knew the song was gonna get played in the radio," Loc said. "They didn't wanna have those types of [nasty] lyrics on there so they went to Mr. Marvin and asked him to write the song. But they didn't tell me they went to him. They said that they just wrote it down and just to try it this way. I didn't have a problem with it, but you know after a long time you get tired of it, hearing somebody else take all the recognition for that you did."

Out in SoCal, gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A were throwing a pool party. The shindig boasted a wet T-shirt contest, a lot of bikinis and, of course, a lot of hip-hop.

"If we woulda done this in Compton it woulda been a big mess and a lot of people wouldn't have come," N.W.A's MC Ren said of the group's home turf. "We wanted to do a lot of stuff in Compton, it's just police woulda turned it over and stopped it and everything. Out here, it's cool. They got it. The guy they renting the house out from, he owns the whole canyon, and most everybody in here's from Compton, so it's cool."

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N.W.A.'s <I>Straight Outta Compton</I>
Photo: Ruthless/Priority

All the "muthaf---ers" who "act like they forgot about Dre" will soon have a strong reminder where the lyrical flow, confrontational approach and innovative production techniques of many contemporary hip-hop acts originated.

This fall, two seminal N.W.A albums, 1988's Straight Outta Compton and 1991's N---az4life, will be re-released with bonus tracks. In addition, look for The N.W.A Legacy 2, a 19-song collection that includes the final two N.W.A cuts, "Chin Check" from 1999's "Next Friday" soundtrack, and "Hello" from Ice Cube's 2000 release War and Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc).

That compilation, which comes out August 27, will be composed of tracks that feature members of N.W.A and artists who have worked closely with the group. Highlights include the title track from Ice Cube's first solo album, 1990's Amerikkka's Most Wanted; the title cut from Eazy-E's first solo disc, 1988's Eazy-Duz-It; Snoop Dogg's "B Please," featuring Xzibit, from 1999's Top Dogg; and Snoop's "Lay Low," featuring Master P, Nate Dogg and Eastsidaz, from 2000's Tha Last Meal.

The N.W.A Legacy 2 will be followed on September 24 by the N.W.A releases and Eazy-E's Eazy-Duz-It.

Straight Outta Compton was one of the most influential rap albums ever, steering MCs away from smooth rhythms and boastful rhymes and into an aggressive zone ruled by drive-bys, drug deals and crooked cops. The disc featured the innovative production of Dr. Dre (Andre Young), and the combative wordplay of Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson), Eazy-E (Eric Wright), MC Ren (Lorenzo Patterson) and DJ Yella (Antoine Carraby). The album's centerpiece, "F--- Tha Police," invoked the ire of national politicians, the F.B.I. and law enforcement officials, and provoked a wave of angry protests across the country. The digitally remastered reissue features the bonus cuts "Express Yourself (Extended Mix)," "Bonus Beats," "Straight Outta Compton (Extended Mix)," "A Bitch Iz a Bitch" and a live version of "Compton's in the House."

N---az4life, N.W.A's third and final record, was created following three years of intense controversy and internal tension. Instead of going for the jugular with songs that communicated "the strength of street knowledge," as they had with Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A assaulted listeners' moral sensibilities with egregiously violent and misogynist lyrics that sometimes overshadowed Dre's creative, inspiring beats. The re-release includes the 1990 EP 100 Miles & Runnin'.

Eazy-Duz-It, Eazy-E's first solo album, featured guest performances by Ice Cube and DJ Yella. The promising album demonstrated Eazy's knack for provocative lyrics, and paved the way for his work on Straight Outta Compton. The reissue is capped with the 1992 EP 5150 Home 4 Tha Sick.

As Eazy was working on his follow-up solo record he contracted AIDS. He died in early 1995, and Str8 Off Tha Streetz of Muthaph---in Compton was released later that year.

• N.W.A.

Dr. Dre
Photo: MTV News

Formerly victims of cops and censors, today's N.W.A members are victims of their own success.

At the turn of the century, Dre and fellow original members Ice Cube and MC Ren as well as Snoop Dogg (filling in for the late Eazy-E) recorded a track for the "Next Friday" soundtrack, performed together on television and the Up in Smoke Tour, and talked of an N.W.A reunion album called Not Those N****z Again (see "Dr. Dre Talks N.W.A Reunion; Track Surfacing On 'Next Friday' ").

Two years later, the reunion album is still just talk.

"I would love to do it, but it's just like, that seems like a project that is close to impossible to get done because all of us are doing so much other stuff," Dre said recently. "You can't make a record if you can only get together once a month. It would be really difficult."

As one of the most in-demand producers in the game, Dre's 2002 schedule includes albums by veterans Eminem, Xzibit and Rakim as well as newcomers Truth Hurts, Knoc-Turn'Al and Shaunta.

And Dre, who along with his production work is also recording his next solo release (see "Dr. Dre's Final Album Will Be Hip-Hop Musical"), is not the only rapper straight outta Compton with a busy schedule. Cube and Snoop are both recording albums and working on their burgeoning acting careers.

"This is how it would take place," Dre explained. "All of us would have to get together and go out of town for like a month. If we just stayed around each other for a month just to get it started and get it rollin' and get everybody excited about it, then I think it could happen. All of us being here in L.A., [it will] never happen."

Actually, the N.W.A reunion album is not the only high-profile project Dre has set aside because of his cluttered calendar. He also has yet to begin work on Chairmen of the Board, a dual album with Timbaland.

"We're still talking about it, actually," Dre said. "The idea hasn't dissolved away. Again, it's just a matter of us finding the time to come in and get it down. I'm not sure how we would do it, but it would definitely be most of the new artists we [are] working with involved in it."

Dre's Detox isn't due until 2003, but plenty of his production work will be heard in the next few months with the releases of The Eminem Show and Truth Hurt's Truthfully Speaking.

For a feature interview with Dr. Dre see "Dr. Dre: At Home In The Studio."

• N.W.A.
• Dr. Dre

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