Compton Hip-Hop star The Game has announced the release date for his highly anticipated third major label release, L.A.X. (Los Angeles Times ).

According to The Game the album will hit stores on June 24, the first day of summer.

“I have a highly controversial album coming this summer and not the typical controversy you are used to in rap,” The Game said. “On L.A.X. I’m addressing real issues that other artists might be scared to talk about on record; issues that need to be heard.”

The Game released ‘Big Dreams ‘ right after he was released from jail. It was produced by Cool n Dre. The Game was released from jail on March 10, after spending eight days incarcerated at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.

According to a lawsuit filed by Rodrick, The Game, born Jayceon Taylor, allegedly punched Rodrick during a game of basketball in February 2007 at the Rita Walters Educational Complex in South Los Angeles.

Rodrick claims The Game threatened to “blast” him while brandishing a gun during the game.

The rapper pleaded no contest to felony possession of a firearm in a school zone in February of 2008.

In addition to the time served, The Game is currently serving 150 hours of community service and three years probation.

here are bands that play the South By Southwest Music Conference - skinny, unwashed four-pieces who soullessly schlep gear from showcase to showcase - and then there are bands that play South By Southwest, starry-eyed dreamers who attack any stage with reckless abandon in hope of landing that big record deal that will make them unspeakably rich. Paramore is not one of those bands. Neither are N.E.R.D. or Britney Spears (she’s not even a band, but we digress), although on one glorious night in Austin, two-thirds of them sort of were.

Confused? Welcome to Friday at South By Southwest, a day that featured a pair of big-name headliners, one-supersized rumor and a whole lot of not making sense. (Don’t worry, we’re here to sort everything out.)

First and foremost, pop-punk heroes Paramore, who sat down with MTV News earlier in the day to let fans know they’re not breaking up, headlined one of the most un-SXSW events of the entire week: a multi-band pileup for the MySpace generation, sponsored by spooky-ooky retailer Hot Topic, packed with local kids who wouldn’t know a SXSW badge from a dial-up Internet connection.

Held on the outskirts of town at hangar-esque rock club La Zona Rosa, this was to be the group’s first performance since they canceled a string of European dates to work out some rather pesky (and nefarious sounding) “internal issues,” and clearly, the band were treating it as a rather huge coming-out party.

“I know there’s been a lot of craziness going on, and you’ve probably all heard about it,” frontwoman/firecracker Hayley Williams told the crowd, pausing to allow appropriate time for the squeals to pass. “We all just wanted you to know that music is the one thing we love, and no matter what you’ve heard, we won’t stop doing it.”

And then they got down to doing just that, ripping through a set full of their hits (”Misery Business,” “Crushcrushcrush”) and older (at least for them) songs, like “Woah” and “Emergency,” from their 2005 debut, All We Know Is Falling. Through it all, Williams - who, according to label reps, has been battling vocal strain for awhile now - belted out as best as she could, and when her voice faltered, she simply thrust the microphone into the crowd, who were more than willing to do the work for her. Guitarist Josh Farro and bassist Jeremy Davis flanked her, busting out chords and pulling out some truly Trohman/Wentz-worthy onstage acrobatics. Oh, and drummer Zac Farro totally barfed up some Mexican food he had eaten for dinner.

Truly, Paramore were giving it their all - and then some more. And at the end of the set, the band joined hands and bowed in unison as their fans held up a countless array of hand-held devices. Paramore left the stage amid a blizzard of cell-phone camera flashes, and their message was clear: We’re a band, we’re united, we’re not going anywhere. It was the kind of context you rarely get from a SXSW show, and though Paramore aren’t your typical SXSW band (they’ve sold more records than 14 Vampire Weekends, 100 Times New Vikings and 2,000 Lightspeed Champions combined) - it’s something we could get used to seeing more often ’round these parts.

Meanwhile, as Paramore were exiting the stage, something potentially huge was bubbling up across town: namely, rumors that Britney Spears would be making an SXSW appearance, performing with Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D. during their late-night set at Stubb’s. It seemed improbable, but hey, stranger things have happened (though not many) and within hours, it had been texted from handheld to handheld with such veracity that it had seemingly become fact.

Of course, it never happened (Britney at SXSW? Come on!) and, to be quite honest, Pharrell didn’t need her anyway. The line to get into Stubb’s stretched for miles up Red River Street, and when Skateboard P and his N.E.R.D. cohorts finally took the stage, all the struggle was worth it. With a pair of funky drummers, a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and sampler, N.E.R.D. played a rock-star set that mixed nearly punk thrash with funk keyboards, outer space effects, acid-rock guitar and hip-hop swagger.

Williams commanded the stage, bounding back and forth during hard funk jams on “Brain” and “Rock Star,” which found the stage filled with nearly two dozen posse members, waving red flags, parading their Mohawks and snapping photos of the thousands of fans in the crowd bouncing up and down in unison. Williams has clearly spent time in a mosh pit - as evidenced by his scissor-kicking, arm-swinging dance moves - but as loose as he got at the start of “Lapdance,” the man is a meticulous professional and when the instrumentation got a bit sloppy, he made the band start over.

By the time the set ended with a punk-funk take on “She Wants to Move” (which slipped into Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” for a few bars), Williams had proven to the crowd that while his genius might be in the studio, his heart is on the stage, where he breathes new life into his creations. And you thought Britney had a Jeckyl and Hyde complex …

Former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland has labelled her former bandmate Beyonce Knowles a “slob”.

The 26-year-old told music website urbanplanet.co.uk that touring with the hugely successful three-piece became nightmarish because of the slovenly habits of Beyonce and Michelle Williams.

Though Rowland refused to rule out the chance of a Destiny’s Child reunion, her comments suggest she is delighted to be touring solo, ahead of the release of her new album Ms Kelly.

“They’re both slobs,” she explained. “We would get on a tour bus and they’d flick off their shoes. And I’d be like, ‘No! That’s the corner for shoes!’

“I’m a neat freak. I make them crazy,” she added.

Rowland, who sold over 100 million records with Destiny’s Child, admitted to feeling frustration at continual comparisons with her glamorous bandmate, saying: “People should respect me in my own solo right.”

The singer also rubbished recent rumours that she’s been dating Radio 1 DJ Reggie Yates.

Rowland has been linked with Yates while promoting her new single Work but laughed off the claims, saying the former Top of the Pops presenter isn’t her type.

“He’s not tall, dark and handsome! He’s tall, bright, and… I guess cute? Reggie’s more like a friend. We were just hanging out at a party and exchanged information,” she said.

“I’ve been linked to three British men here,” she continued. “And it’s ok because you know it happens, I’m gonna be linked with someone else by the end of the year. Who cares?”

Rowland also admitted that while she loves the Destiny’s Child smash Say My Name, the songs Bootylicious and Bug A Boo became further reasons to look forward to a solo career.

Hip-hop star P Diddy was allegedly seen attacking a man at a post-Oscars party by four witnesses, court documents reveal.

Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, is accused of attacking Gerard Rechnitzer after hitting on his girlfriend at the swanky Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

When Rechnitzer tried to escort his gal pal away, he claims was floored by Combs, who reportedly shouted: “I’ll smack flames out of you’re a*s.”

No criminal charges were ever filed, but Rechnitzer is suing Combs in a civil case. “I just kind of remember seeing Rechnitzer go flying, not flying as in like his feet off the ground, but he went back significantly,” Marianna Ruiz said in her sworn deposition.

Rechnitzer, 27, is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, after prosecutors decided not to press any charges.Combs’ lawyer has branded the allegations as ‘completely baseless.’

Palestinian hip hop group DAM, which has spawned a cult following and a small army of imitators, was featured here in a new film at the Sundance Film Festival on the emerging Middle East music scene.

“Slingshot Hip Hop” by director Jackie Salloum offers a peek into contemporary life in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Middle East hip hop culture inspired by the political rants of US rappers such as Public Enemy, Tupac Shakur and Eminem.

Rapper Mahmoud Shalabi from the village Akka, is featured in the documentary, as is female hip hop duo Arapeyat. The movie also highlights the work of the group Palestinian Rapperz (PR) among others.

Critics said Palestinian rap groups offer an alternative form of resistance against “Israeli occupiers,” reinforcing entrenched Palestinian views of pre-1948 history.

Their message has left audiences and critics wondering if the new music might not simply reinforce longstanding cultural differences.

But Salloum offers a different take.

“Palestinians are steadfast and a very proud people,” she said in an interview with AFP.

“When I visit my family in the West Bank, the situation just gets worse and worse. But these rappers gave me hope,” she said.

The filmmaker said the rap groups often bring positive messages to youths, encouraging them to express their anger through rhymes, not violence.

And although they are not topping the charts in Israel, they have attracted a small, leftist Jewish fan base. “It’s still underground, but it’s getting through,” said Salloum.

“Palestine’s First Lady of R & B” Abeer, who is also in the film, established herself in hip hop singing on the song “Born Here” with DAM. She has collaborated recently with Los Angeles-based Palestinian-American rap crew The Philistines, and also is working on a solo album.

DAM meanwhile, recently launched a small record label to distribute Arab and Palestinian music.

Salloum first heard Palestinian hip hop on the radio — the song “Meen Erhabi” (”Who’s the Terrorist?”) by DAM — which launched the group’s stardom in the region.

She decided first to make a music video for the song, later to make her documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop,” which shows scenes of rappers Tamer, Suhell and Mahmoud in their early, awkward recording attempts and their politicization during the Second Intifada.

By embracing rap “a form of music that is among the most popular around the world — the music of the oppressed and the marginalized — it’s easier to sell their message to young Palestinians,” Salloum said.

“It’s having a huge effect on the new generation,” she said.

Salloum added, however, that some Palestinians do not agree with the music.

“There might be a tiny few who don’t like it. Some say, ‘Why are you dressed that way? You shouldn’t wear baggy clothes.’ At one show, some kids protested (on religious grounds).”

At one point in the film, a female rapper’s family is threatened against appearing on stage again.

In the movie, the rap artists encounter crushing poverty, difficult cultural boundaries, daily border checkpoints, and other obstacles.

“They’re also always broke,” Salloum said. “It took them five years to make an album, they’re struggling financially, and there is no music infrastructure available to them,” she said.

“Hopefully, that will change.”