T.I. & Tiny Tie The Knot & Celebrate In Three Cities!

T.I. wed his girlfriend of nine years Tameka “Tiny” Cottle over the weekend in a private ceremony in a Miami courthouse. Rumors about the nuptials have been popping up all over the Internet since the southern rapper was released from prison earlier this year.

After exchanging vows on Friday (July 30), the couple then held a star-studded intimate ceremony on Miami’s Star Island on Saturday (July 31). Those in attendance included TLC singer Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas, Kandi Burruss, Toya Carter, and Grand Hustle rappers Young Dro and Yung L.A. T.I. wore a custom-made white Prada tuxedo, reports People magazine, and Tiny walked down the aisle in a white Valentino gow.

The couple then returned to Atlanta for a reception later that evening and according to US Weekly, flew off to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate their union some more.

While talking to VIBE magazine in March, Cottle said: “We’re living, we’re happy, we’re in love. I mean, it’s no doubt in my mind that he doesn’t love every piece of me and vice versa, so we’re just doing what’s comfortable and what works for us.”

The two have dated off and on since 2001 and have two children together. T.I. also has three other children from previous relationships.

YORAPS.COM

Milk says she's a 'Rider Forever'!

Milk is on the comeback trail. She landed a job as a celebrity judge, she is one of the major female leads in the much-acclaimed 'Against His Will' play which will kick off soon and her singing career is t aking off. She is dating the Portmore Empire's Shawn Storm and she seems to have picked up a few pointers because her 'Rider Forever' song is her best recorded effort to date, at least, she is not making any music to scare crows like some other media personalities who shall remain nameless. Do your thing Milky.

ONE876ENTERTAINMENT.COM

Popcaan shoots "Dream" video!

In the last three months, deejay Popcaan has emerged as one of the Portmore Empire's top lieutenants because of his brilliant delivery and his witty lyrics. And after an amazing stint on Reggae Sumfest where he got huge forwards for his hits Clarks and Gangsta City, it appears he is ready to take the next step and become the next superstar out of the Portmore Empire.

He shot a video for his latest single, Dream, in Portmore over the weekend.

ONE876ENTERTAINMENT.COM

Alicia Keys Marries Swizz Beatz!

Against all the rumors of the past few days that wanted Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz secretly married, the couple officially exchanged the “I do” on Saturday (July 31) on a 260 foot yacht along the coast of French island Corsica.

Because neither Alicia nor Swizz are European citizens, it is assumed that they got officially married in New York and then decided to have the wedding ceremony in the Mediterranean a few days after.

Alicia wore a Grecian-inspired long white gown and headband by Vera Wang, while the groom wore a white Tom Ford tuxedo with a pink shirt, along with Louboutin footwear. The yacht was filled with other celebrities such as Queen Latifah and U2 lead singer Bono.

The R&B singer, who is pregnant with her first child, and her new husband, had been spotted few days ago enjoying the sun along the French island coast, as well as the Sardinia waters of Costa Smeralda.

Alicia Keys is expected to deliver the baby in November. In an interview with People Magazine, Swizz claimed that: “Alicia is definitely one of those great parents-to-be. She's super ready. Super glowing. Super happy."

Swizz Beatz has recently finalized his divorce from his ex-wife, singer Mashonda Tifrere.

YORAPS.COM

Wyclef Jean To Run For President Of Haiti; Announcement Next Week!

Hip-Hop star Wyclef Jean will announce his bid for the President of Haiti, a source has confirmed with AllHipHop.com exclusively.

Sources close to Wyclef confirmed with AllHipHop.com that the rapper will announce his bid for the country’s highest office next Thursday, on August 5th.

The 37-year-old was born in Haiti, but immigrated to the United States at the age of 9-years-old, when he landed in Brooklyn, before settling in South Orange, New Jersey.

As a member of The Fugees and as a solo artist, Wyclef has sold millions of records, in addition to collaborating with artists like Paul Simon, Gloria Estefen, Destiny’s Child, Carlos Santana and others.

The rapper sprung into action on January 12th, when his native land was leveled by a 7.0 earthquake that left 300,000 people dead over a million others displaced.

Even prior to the earthquake, Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti organization raised funds for the country, but after the deadly earthquake, the rapper helped raise over $10 million dollars in less than three months.

The rapper will make his official announcement just two days prior to the country’s August 7th deadline to submit his plan for running for President.

Analysts are predicting that Wyclef Jean will easily win the race with his financial connections, influence among the Haitian youth and his political influence around the world.

The news of his candidacy has stoked fears in opponents planning to run for the head office in November.

"I think if Wyclef is allowed to run he will have a straight victory," political leader and former presidential candidate Himmler Rebu told Reuters yesterday.

Jean, who maintained his status as a citizen of Haiti, was in the country yesterday, where he was preparing for his upcoming campaign.

The rapper/musician also has political clout in the country.

His uncle, Raymond Alcide Joseph, has been the Haitian ambassador to the United States since 2005 and helped Wyclef’s drive to raise money and relief aid for victims of the massive earthquake.

Elections are slated for November 28th.

ALLHIPHOP.COM

Sean "Diddy" Combs Reveals Ten Easy Steps To Success!

Sean Combs, Hip Hop business mogul and CEO of Bad Boy Records, reveals ten ways for any individual to discover success. Having a non-stop work ethic summarizes the list, but he explains to VIBE in depth, the key to it all: 1. Work hard. Then work harder. 2. Believe. Never loose your faith! 3. Count your pennies. 4. Be humble. 5. Listen. 6. Love. 7. Don’t make the same mistake twice. 8. Never settle. 9. Be confident. 10. Don’t get comfortable.

Working hard, and then working harder is self explanatory. However, Puff is living proof of someone who continues to work hard. From being a rapper, to owning a successful clothing line, being the CEO of a multi-billion dollar record label, being an actor, having a reality television show, and having his very own alcoholic beverage.

In a recent interview with Toure of FUSE TV, Puff even revealed an explanation to rule number 7. “I think one of my biggest business mistakes was not realizing that everybody wasn’t like me. Everybody didn’t have the drive and determination; everybody’s just not built for that. I think that some people need more time, and more nurturing...I mean artists that I’ve had. I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a little bit more nurturing and I’ve been a little more patient.”

Combs recently launched a new website entitled DiddyBlog.com. This website was designed specifically to motivate people.

“The blog is an all 100 percent positive blog. It’s about inspiring you, motivating you, empowering your dreams. It’s not about any news about who’s dating who, who’s not doing good, who got exposed today, who’s this, who’s that, you can go to the other sites for that. It’s about motivation and inspiration and love -- the love movement has begun. Even haters are allowed to come to DiddyBlog.com. It makes your teeth whiter. We want all of your advice, your constructive criticism, your positive notes because we want to make DiddyBlog the best it can be and we want you guys to give us the time to make it the best it can be. Can you imagine that I will not be selling CIROC on there? I will not be selling Sean John, I will not be talking about my movies or television shows. I can’t believe I’m saying this but yeah, I’m saying it. No Diddy promotions. It’s all about the love. I love you guys, DiddyBlog.com.”

In an exclusive interview with radio personality Tim Westwood, Diddy speaks about finding peace and happiness within himself.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just a point in my life, being in the industry, I have nothing but good things to say to people, I have nothing but positive energy to give, I don’t care if you like me, you don’t like me. I love you and I’mma keep doing my thing. Hopefully you’ll get it one day but I’ve been blessed to have a lot of fans and a lot of people love me and I just want my injection to be what I feel is great about people. I wanna inspire people -- I don’t wanna bring them down. I don’t wanna talk about no BS. I don’t have no time for none of that. I wanna uplift us.”

YORAPS.COM

Richie Loop psyched by Sumfest performance!

As he prepares for appearances as a Smirnoff ambassador for this coming Dream Weekend, Richie Loop was this week still savouring his break-out performance
on Reggae Sumfest, dancehall's biggest stage.

From all accounts the rapidly rising entertainer did nothing to hurt his cause when he performed on International Night. This during the same week when his hit song, My Cupp, was named the Hot Pick of the Week on the Heineken World Charts show. In short, the past few days have been especially good for Scikron/Big Yard's newest shining star.

"The impression I got for Sumfest was, wow," Loop said, as he prepared to start working on a new rhythm in his 'lab' at Big Yard on Tuesday night. "Seeing that I am not that experienced at performing, I got remarkable feedback," he said.

In what has been described as a very good debut performance Richie Loop performed his hit song My Cupp, Cupp Cupp, Party Time, All I Really Know, Gal Whine and Me Want Me Own, creating a party atmosphere for the thousands in attendance. Richie said when he left the stage he went in search of Livingston (his manager) eager to find out how well he did. He was pleased with the critique. "Good one," he said Livingston told him.

But his manager's words weren't the only words of praise he received. "Members of the media and others from other countries expressed an interest in having me perform overseas," he said, his tired eyes brightening at the recollection. "People were handing me cards telling me they wanted me to perform in Canada, Cayman, Trinidad and other countries."

Richie Loop believes his Sumfest performance now sets the bar for his performances from this point on. "Every time you step on stage you have to make sure you entertain the crowd. Me, at Sumfest was me just being myself, enjoying myself and entertaining the crowd," he said, adding that he was thankful to the promoters for giving him the opportunity as well as his support team who helped him do so well.

He also believes his performance will show people that there is much more to him than meets the eye. "I want people to know that I am not a one-hit wonder or just a laid back guy who doesn't know how to work a stage. I am a fun guy at the studio and on the stage and I just want people to enjoy the music," he said. "It will only get better from here."

THE JAMAICA STAR

Preacher seeks clash with Kartel - Says he is leading the generation astray!

A local evangelist is demanding a musical clash with Dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel.

Evangelist Taylor, who didn't want the name of the church he attends published, says he wants Isaiah Laing, the promoter of the annual Sting show, to arrange a clash between himself and Kartel.

"I want Laing to organise that clash, because Mr Vybz Kartel has been leading the generation astray for too long and we have to stop him. He is deceiving them," said the evangelist.

He accused the deejay of several immoral actions: "He's high in the demonic world, says he reads The Da Vinci Code book ...," the evangelist claims.

"We need to trample Vybz Kartel, we're fed up of him now. Other pastors and I sit down and we listen to his songs, he is the one, there is a great force behind him," he further stated.

gun lyrics

He said in the deejay's music you can feel the power behind it. "His words are powerful. I want to clash him and after I beat him we will baptise him in the name of The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. We'll put him in the church and let him teach Sunday school," he said.

The evangelist said that Kartel is a well-educated young man, who is fooling around and not using his education in the right way. Pointing out how sensible the deejay was, the evangelist referred to his song Thank You Jah in which he quotes a section of the Bible.

He complained, however, that instead of doing more positive things, the deejay is passing on gun lyrics to the children.

"He sings that the barba boy run but the preacher will never run. We don't want the Portmore Empire, because once I get him, I get the whole Gaza. I will call him up and tell him that he's destroying the youths, the spirit of the Lord will speak through me. I want him to become a speaker for the Lord as he has the ability to turn Jamaica around. He's the only one we see with that power," he added.

repent

"We want him to surrender his life to the Lord. When I win we're going to bring him to Caymanas Bay and baptise him and put him in the church to preach the gospel. If he repents and turns his life to the Lord he will get back his visa," said the evangelist.

Taylor said Kartel is the only artiste he is interested in changing. "He is the only one I want. Mavado, Bounty Killer and all those others artistes are nothing compared to him. If we get him we get a whole multitude of young people back into the church. The church will be filled with young people because he's the leader of the next generation," he added.

According to the evangelist, "I will clash Kartel for free, no money, just want him to turn over him life and stop leading the youth in the wrong direction."

Efforts by THE WEEKEND STAR to get a comment from Kartel in reference to the evangelist's wishes, were unsuccessful up to press time.

*Name changed on request

THE JAMAICA STAR