Sherri L. Smith, BlackWeb20.c0m

You don’t have to be a big name producer or a media mogul to see that things have changed in the music game. Gone are the days of spending millions to push a new artist. Hell, it’s hard for an established artist to get that kind of promotion now. And with the stations that were formerly music television turning into barren wastelands of reality shows, the video stars that hunted the radio star into extinction are also going the way of the dinosaur. Music needs a new business model — stat. Read the rest of this entry »

With the housing market in the toilet, foreclosures on the rise and lenders keeping a tighter grip on mortgage money, hip-hop stars are still urging people to get their money right. The event, called Urging People to ‘Get Your Money Right!’” drew a crowd of about 2,000 people, who came out to get home finance tips Friday night from hop stars like Ludacris, Yung Joc, Gorilla Zoe, D. Woods and Danity Kane. Sponsored by music mogul Russell Simmons, along with mortgage consultants and entertainment figures, the Hip-Hop Summit at Clark Atlanta University is prequel to the Oct. 23 BET Hip-Hop Awards show. “There are opportunities out there, but people just don’t know about it,” Simmons said. “With financial stability, it’s a great time to buy when [housing prices are] low. It’ll pick back up in the long run.” The participants received a 86-page booklet, half in English and half in Spanish, stressing the importance of home ownership, a solid credit score and other vital steps for first time home buyers.

King’s former church protests leadership. A dispute at the church where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King once preached his message of nonviolence, caused the National Park Service to handcuff one protester Sunday. A handful of church members protested Sunday morning in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church in a dispute over the ouster of the historic church’s choir director and demanding the Rev. Raphael Warnock step down as senior pastor. Carrying placards that read “Warnock Lies” and “Bring Back Dr. Uzee Brown,” a reference to the recently departed choir director who heads the Department of Music at Morehouse College, six protesters marched in front of the church on Sunday, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. One former choir member was handcuffed and taken away by National Park Service rangers in front of the church because she refused to leave the sidewalk. But she returned minutes later holding a criminal trespass warning. Church leaders said Warnock, who preached his first sermon at Ebenezer three years ago, wasn’t available for comment Sunday morning. But shortly after the 11 a.m. service started, a dozen members of the church’s board of deacons walked out of the modern Horizon Sanctuary and across Auburn Avenue to the historic church where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached his message of nonviolence. Deacon Chairman Phillip Finch said the officers and members of the church “stand firm” in support of Warnock. “The current protest by seven members of Ebenezer’s more than 3,000 members clearly does not represent the consensus of the body,” said the 55-year-old Finch, a lifelong member. The protestors, who included Choir President Lydia Walker, insisted that Warnock has shaken up the church staff without regard to the feelings of some longtime members. And they said he has refused to share the church’s finances with them. Warnock addressed the controversy during the 8 a.m. service, telling worshipers that while they might not understand everything he does, they must trust in his plans for the future. “Any effort to plant the seeds of dissension in the church is by definition a demonic effort,” he said to cheers from the congregation. “I’m glad that the devil has no power here.”