Chamillionaire Says "Houston Is Dead," Vows To Save It

After dropping his Mixtape Messiah 4 [click to listen] tape just over a month ago, Chamillionaire [click to read] recently spoke in his hometown of Houston XXL magazine on video.

Chronicling the competitive tension in Houston that helped get Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Mike Jones and Chamillionaire signed to major labels several years ago may have been a more progressive climate. Reminded of when Chamillionaire would try to outdo his Swishahouse rivals, or had a less-than-amicable relationship with Slim Thug, he said, "I feel like [the unity right now] has got us a little bit lazy. Everywhere I go, they like, 'What happened to Houston?' And that's a problem for me."

"It makes me look weak if everywhere I'm going, they think that just everybody from Texas fell off. It's easy to put out an album and put out a hit, but after that, what do you do?" Moments later, Chamillionaire forecast the controversy that would follow the statement as he declared, "Maybe they're right. Maybe Texas is dead."

Referring to his anticipated third Universal album and abundant unreleased mixtape material, Chamillionaire said, "I want to help everybody else and motivate them to be like, 'Look man, we need to get up off of our you-know-whats and go out there and get it."

ESPN Recruits Lil Wayne For Sports Blog

After learning a surprising number of Major League Baseball players, including Tampa Bay's B.J. Upton, Boston's Coco Crisp and Philadelphia Phillies' 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins play his tracks during batting practice, ESPN The Magazine asked Lil Wayne to write a blog on their website. The double-platinum rapper, who has cited ESPN's Pardon The Interruption and SportScenter as his favorite TV shows, gave his thoughts on everything from playing football as a child to his NFL fantasy picks. Wayne's blog could raise a few eyebrows, as he unexpectedly turns out to be an avid tennis fan.

"I had a lot of people over to my place to watch the Wimbledon final this year, and we went crazy," writes Wayne. "I love [Roger] Federer but [Rafael] Nadal is my favorite. He's the man. I love his motivation and his heart is big. He leaves it on the court. And when I found out he still lives with his family despite his success, that was it for me."

ESPN The Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Gary Belsky says he was honored Wayne offered to blog for the digital version of his magazine, and that Thursday's edition will be the first in a series of blogs. Read Lil' Wayne's ESPN blog in its entirety here.

50 Cent: 'No One Knew Jay-Z Until He Married Beyonce'

50 Cent, long-known for taking jabs at other Hip Hop artists, had some interesting things to say about Jay-Z in a recent interview.

The Queens rapper said it was Jay's marriage to superstar singer Beyonce - and not his own music - that made Hov the international star he is today, according to PR-Inside.com.

"I'm a big fan of Jay-Z, but outside of the States and Hip Hop circles, no one really knew who he was until he married Beyonce'," said Fif in the interview.

The G-Unit general also said that reports of Jay-Z's total estimated worth of $1 billion is inaccurate. "I don't believe he's worth that much! It's all been exaggerated. I'm comfortable. I don't want for anything so I'm not in a race."

This far from the first time 50 has had less than flattering comments towards Jay-Z in the past, as 50 has criticized Hov's previous work as Def Jam president. The two had a very minor dispute years ago, when Jay-Z responded to 50's underground hit "How to Rob" by rhyming at a Summer Jam concert: "I'm about a dollar/Who the fuck is 50 Cent?"

Wife of Big Pun Blasts Fat Joe in New Interview

Liza Rios, the wife of late rapper Big Pun recently sounded off on a number of industry issues in an interview with Forbez DVD, including Fat Joe and Pun's finances.

One issue Rios has with those close to Pun is the lack of effort to keep his memory alive. She likens the situation to people close to 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. since their deaths in the 90's.

“Like Puffy was in a position with Biggie, to keep his memory alive… the people that was in that position to do it with Pun should’ve did it," she says of the lack of attention Pun has received since his death.

The first deal [Pun] got was a $275,000 deal. Any payments were split with [Fat] Joe. There was a point where [Joe] was asking for his royalties.

Rios says her lawyers haven’t been as aggressive as she feels they should be in contacting Fat Joe, and according to her, all of Pun’s royalty money goes through him first.

“It’s been ten years,” she says. “It’s been recouped.”

Rios also says that her finances have been stretched between taking care of her children and maintaining household expenses. She denies the allegations that she’s blown much of her late husband’s money on material things.

“I do what I gotta do,” she says on how she gets by since Pun’s passing. “I’m going back to school, that’s gonna be good. My whole point is that I’m not asking anybody for anything.

“I don’t want Joe to take care of me, I just want what’s due to Pun.”

Rios also believes that Fat Joe is purposely keeping Pun's memory in the background, in hopes that the late emcee will be forgotten. She also levies the allegation that Fat Joe owes much of his current success to Pun.

“Pun had mad love for [Joe] and put him on the map, wrote all his shit. Every song that Joe’s on, Pun wrote everything. He was the creative force behind Terror Squad. Everybody write’s [Joe’s] shit.

“If he was alive, none of this would be going on.”

While Rios lays much of the blame on Fat Joe, she also says that Pun shares some of the blame for not being up on the business aspect of his deal.

“Hell yeah, he should’ve been smarter.”

Rios also revealed that she’s trying to set up a foundation in Pun’s name, possibly focusing on addressing the issue of obesity in the Hip Hop community.