Soul group Earth, Wind & Fire are recording an album that will feature appearances by rappers Wyclef Jean and the Roots, as well as four tracks with singer Eric Benét. The group, which also appears on Wyclef's upcoming album, hopes to have the album out early next year, according to their publicist, Rick Scott. ...

SoleSides Greatest Bumps, a compilation featuring rare material by DJ Shadow, Blackalicious and Latyrx, will be released Oct. 31. ... Eminem won't be playing at England's Reading and Leeds festivals this month as planned because the rapper isn't allowed to leave North America. He is awaiting trial for two Detroit-area weapons charges, and he could be put behind bars if he travels beyond the 48 contiguous U.S. states or Canada, a spokesperson for Eminem said. ...

Johnnie Cochran, whose high-profile clients have included O.J. Simpson and Sean "Puffy" Combs, is representing civil-rights icon Rosa Parks in her appeal of a 1999 decision that affirmed OutKast's right to name a song after her. Parks, who has said she objects to the profanity in "Rosa Parks" — which was nominated for a 1999 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance — is appealing to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, said Joseph Beck, OutKast's lawyer. Cochran could not be reached for comment Monday (Aug. 7). ...

Shyne, the Sean "Puffy" Combs protégé who faces attempted-murder charges in connection with the shooting of three people at a New York nightclub on Dec. 27, will release his self-titled debut album Sept. 26, according to his spokesperson, Andrea Murphy. The disc's first single "Bad Boyz," featuring reggae singer Barrington Levy, is getting radio play. ... Snoop Dogg has formed a female rap trio, Doggy's Angels, who will release their self-titled debut Oct. 24, according to Doggystyle Records publicist Barbara Pescosolido. Snoop Dogg is the album's executive producer. The group members — Coniyac, Kola and Big Chan — are joined by Toi on the first single, "Baby If You Ready," due in stores Aug. 29. ...

Rapper Ice-T, notorious among police as the singer of the Body Count song "Cop Killer," will play a police officer in a recurring role on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Ice-T, who also played a police officer in the 1991 movie "New Jack City," will play Detective Odafin Tutuola. The rapper's greatest-hits collection, The Evidence, is due in stores Tuesday (Aug. 8). ...

Jeru the Damaja says he will release his fourth album, The Magnificent Seven, Armour of Gold, at the end of the year "if I can finish it up the way I want it to be." The Brooklyn, N.Y., rapper, who released Heroz4Hire on his own Knowsavage label in February, said the new one, also to be released on Knowsavage, will be subtitled Dirtier Than Ever. He's producing it himself. ...

Wyclef Jean will orchestrate the first hip-hop show in New York's Carnegie Hall on Jan. 19 to benefit the Wyclef Jean Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes social programs and helps poor communities worldwide, according to MTV Radio. The Fugees co-founder will release his next solo LP, The Ecleftic, on Aug. 22. ...

Rap-lyric manuscripts, memorabilia and other items from Run-D.M.C., Afrika Bambaataa, the Beastie Boys, Salt-n-Pepa, Tupac Shakur, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Eminem and Missy Elliott will be on display Sept. 22 at the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Museum of Art, according to a museum publicist. The "Hip Hop Nation: Roots, Rhyme and Rage" exhibit, which will run until December, also will include an FBI letter to Priority Records expressing its concern about N.W.A, spokesperson Sally Williams said. ...

(hed)pe have posted an MP3 of the song "Bartender" on their Web site. The track is the first single off (hed)pe's second album, Broke, due Aug. 22, a Jive Records spokesperson said. ...

The soundtrack to the upcoming Spike Lee movie, "Bamboozled," offers up a who's who of hip-hop and R&B artists. Tentatively scheduled for September release, the album will feature rappers Goodie MOb, Canibus, Chuck D and Common, along with soul artists Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Prince. ...

— sonicnet.com and MTV News Online staff report