HHC Digital’s rap round-up…
By Richard Watson

Proving that the Tax-Man, as well as those pesky stick-up kids, is out to tax, Method Man found himself in serious bother for tax evasion – and here’s us thinking that ODB was the Wu’s answer to Ken Dodd… Xzibit, on the other hand, became hip-hop’s Nick Knowles by landing the hosting gig on Extreme Home Makeover, while Snoop Dogg fancied himself the rap Cilla Black as he took credit for Dr Dre’s reconciliation with The Game.

Disregarding Calvin’s peacemaking credentials, Wyclef appealed to Dave Chappelle to orchestrate a Fugees reunion, and Jay-Z cut out the middle-man by announcing that he’d be happy to bury the hatchet with Noel Gallagher on wax – although he may already have shot himself in the foot by deading rumours that he’s a Manchester City fan. Meanwhile, Shyne rubbished his supposed reconciliation with Diddy as porky pies on Puff’s part, and there was further aggro for Mr Combs as former employee Mark Curry suggested that, prior to his death, Biggie wanted out of Bad Boy.

Eminem’s omission from MTV’s annual ‘Hottest In The Game’ list (us, neither) irked Jigga and Jermaine Dupri. The snub also puzzled Lil Wayne, who, speaking to Westwood, revealed, too, how his mum made him smarten up his appearance by erasing one of his teardrop tattoos. A journey of a thousand miles and all that…

Public Enemy announced plans to have fans finance their next album (HHC Digital will cough up, but we want a liner note mention as one of the ‘Funky Fellas On The Web 23’), while the crew’s onetime label-mate Erick Sermon addressed those infamous gay rumours. He’ll scotch them fully in his forthcoming book, but in the meantime haters can get the bozack (no Erick Sermon).

Finally, don’t forget to check out Home Grown: The Story Of UK Hip-Hop. Kicking off on October 15th, it promises to be the definitive look at the UK scene. Curated by Urbis’ Andy Brydon and HHC’s Ancient Britain man James McNally, the exhibition looks back over three decades of home grown history. Featuring rarely seen photos from the likes of Normski, Beezer, Al Baker, Richard Reyes and Jake Green, plus flyers, film and fashion from some of the country’s best personal collections, not to mention a shrine to HHC’s print days, it’s a must-see experience.

Even better, we’ve managed to proffer five pairs of tickets to the launch night for faithful readers – details here.

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