Prince Announces New Tour!

This past summer we saw Prince being paid tribute to via the 2010 BET Awards. His facial expressions were priceless maybe because he knows through all the tributes; no one does it quite like him! The singer is embarking on a new tour; read below for more info. Also T.I. headed back to jail and Dirty Money finally releasing their debut album?

Pop icon Prince held a press conference at Harlem's historical Apollo Theater this evening to announce his upcoming 'Welcome 2 America' tour, which Prince vaguely told the crowd will take kick off "on a purple night in December 2010." Prince added that he's bringing some friends along for the ride. Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson will join the legend on the forthcoming jaunt.

BET's Vice President of Entertainment Stephen Hill introduced Prince and informed the crowd that as a lifelong fan of the singer, he was equally as excited for to hear the announcement. Hill ran down the list of dates and venues in which he'd seen Prince perform -- Apollo in 1994 was on his list.

"Bring your friends, bring your children and bring foot spray, because it's going to be funky," Prince told the crowd of media gathered in the theater. "Come early, come often. I have a lot of hits... no two shows will be the same," he added.

Prince also introduced a new track entitled 'Rich Friends,' a bluesy song that reportedly will be included on a deluxe edition of his recent European release in support of his overseas tour. During his groundbreaking three-decade plus run, the artist born Prince Rogers Nelson has sold over a 100 million records with such landmark releases as 'Dirty Mind,' '1999,' 'Purple Rain' and 'Sign O' The Time. In 2004,' Prince made a remarkable comeback as his Musicology tour became that year's highest grossing trek. Most recently, the Oscar-winning talent was named the seventh Greatest Artist of All-Time by VH1.

The significance of Prince making his announcement at the Apollo Theater appears to be due to his upcoming donation to the Harlem Children's Zone, a charter school in Harlem founded by social activist and educator Geoffrey Canada. Hill revealed that Prince will play a gold-plated Fender guitar during the tour and will auction it off, with proceeds benefiting the Children's Zone.

T.I. Headed Back To Jail!

T.I. is heading back to prison, after a federal judge revoked the rapper's probation and sentenced the rap star to 11 months in prison for possessing drugs in September in Los Angeles. T.I. appeared in court today (October 15th) for a hearing that started at 2:00PM, flanked by his team of lawyers that included Ed Garland, Steve Sadow, Don Samuel, Janice Capek, Kristen Wright and Dwight Thomas. The courtroom was packed, as he stood before Judge Charles Pannell Jr. Prosecutors chastised the Grammy Award winning rapper for violating the terms of his federal probation for attempting to purchase machine guns and silencers in October of 2007 and wanted to send him away for two years. During the hearing, a small fire broke out on the side of the courthouse, causing a stir, but the proceedings continued. The rapper's defense attorneys argued that drugs in his system were the result of a root canal and T.I. admitted to using the drugs, after he had dental surgery. The rapper asked the judge to sentence him to rehab for a drug addiction, but he was sentenced to the 11 months in prison, instead.

Diddy-Dirty Money Finally Sets Release Date!

After over a year of delays, Diddy-Dirty Money’s debut album Last Train to Paris is finally ready to pull into the station. The LP is officially set for a December 14 release, a date when fans can see what Diddy, Kalenna, and Dawn Richard have been cooking up in the studio.

Last Train, described as an “electro-hip-hop-soul-funk experience blending elements of U.K. grime, Mediterranean techno, and the 808s of American hip-hop,” will feature guest appearances from Grace Jones, Usher, T.I., Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake, Drake, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, and Bilal.

Additionally, producers for the project include Danja, Polow Da Don, Sean Garrett, Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, Rodney Jerkins, D’Mile, and Mario Winans.

The album has already spawned the singles “Hello Good Morning” featuring T.I. and the Drake-assisted “Loving You No More,” for which the group shot a video with director Gil Green in Miami.

The trio will put out their new single “Coming Home” in the next two weeks. The saga continues!

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