Hip-hop pioneer Dr. Dre will be presented with the ASCAP Founders Award during the organization's 23rd annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. The ceremony-which will also honor the songwriters and publishers of 2009's most performed ASCAP songs on the R&B/hip-hop, rap and gospel charts - will take place June 25 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
 
The ASCAP Founders Awards is given to songwriters and composers whose musical legacies have inspired and influenced fellow music creators. Dr. Dre, a founding member with Eazy-E and Ice Cube of the seminal rap group N.W.A., is also a Grammy Award-winning producer of the year, songwriter and label chief who has directed such hits as BlackStreet's "No Diggity," Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair" and 2Pac ("California Love"). In addition to helping launch the careers of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent, Dr. Dre is a hit-making artist in his own right, including "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" from his pivotal 1992 solo debut "The Chronic." Dr. Dre joins such previous Founders honorees as Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney, Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson.
 
"Dre is one of the most important voices in modern music," said ASCAP president/chairman Paul Williams in a statement. "He created a unique, recognizable sound that dominated rap music in the early '90s...and continues to inspire artists and producers across all genres with his musical techniques."

B.o.B. has the top album on the Billboard charts right now, but even so, Lupe Fiasco remained the No. 1 star of the pair's Steppin Laser tour, which finished strong in Seattle Friday night.

Until last week's release of The Adventures of Bobby Ray, B.o.B, aka Bobby Ray Simmons, was an ATL-bred mixtape king. But his major-label debut is a mainstream crossover grab that seems to have worked -- the uber-produced, hits-heavy album sold 84,000 copies in its first week, beating out America's sweethearts Justin Bieber and Lady Antebellum.

B.o.B.'s crowd — teenagers, mostly, chanting his name before and after opener Dosage hit the stage — came for the hits, and eventually he gave them. He's a talented MC, at his best when hypeman Playboy Tre had his back.

Halfway through his set, B.o.B. ditched Tre and brought out a band — guitar, keys, bass, and drums. They were strong on "Airplane," "Bet I Bust," and other songs from The Adventures of….

"I'll Be in the Sky," a mixtape favorite, remains B.o.B.'s best song, and after a 45-minute set he closed with "Nothing on You," the lead single to the nation's No. 1 record. Overall, the set was solid, if unmemorable.

Soon, though, the crowd switched from chanting "B-O-B" to screaming "Loo-pay!!"in tribute to the night's headliner.

Fiasco has come a long way in the past few years. Backed by a five-piece band, including a DJ on two laptops and a drummer with a kit that would have made Neil Pert jealous, he essentially debuted his upcoming album: "My record label was @@cking with the release date, so I came to show you the album live," he said. "None of these songs were singles — that's all album filler, mother$@ckers!"

His band was tour-tested — loud, confident, and tight. Their 80-minute set featured songs from 2007's The Cool: "Streets on Fire," "Little Weapon," 'Hip-hop Saved My Life," "Go Go Gadget Flow, and "Superstar," the obvious blueprint for B.o.B.'s hit "Nothing on You." In between, came new songs that maximized the group's funk-rock chops in a hard, sophisticated way.

"Kick Push," which inspired mass synchronized hand waving, was a bona-fide hip-hop classic. By the time "Daydreamin'" came up in the first encore — the crowd chanting, "Where's the champagne? We need champagne/ Now look as hard as you can with this blunt in your hand" — Lupe had full control of the evening.

He ended by introducing the entire tour staff — band, production dudes, merch dudes, light dudes, lingering on stage as long as the audience let him.

B.o.B. fans had nothing to be ashamed about, but Fiasco fans left with real validation. B.o.B. is right now, but Lupe's already looking into the future.

The Hip-Hop world has lost a legend. Hip-Hop icon Keith "Guru" Elam died Monday as a result of cancer-related causes, MTV reports. He was 43 years old. If you consider yourself to be a true Hip-Hop fan then you must possess at least 1 of his groundbreaking "JAZZMATAZZ" collection. Guru truly was  a lyrical genius. I've spent countless hours on planes or just chilling with the headphones on listening to his music. They say a song can take you anywhere and for that I thank you Guru. May you rest in peace knowing the millions of fans whose horizons were broadened. When I'm doing a show of course I love watching the dance floor fill. But there is one moment that I constantly strive for. That moment when you drop that one track that you just FEEL. And as you look around the venue you get it, "the nod". It's that very action that makes me want to DJ. Guru, wow, I can't even remotely comprehend the number of "nods" you've been given around the world. In your honor, I'm going to kick back throw some jazzmatazz on the turntables and just nod my head to the beats..........

Under-inflated tires — a problem that may be widespread on business jets — caused a Learjet crash 18 months ago that killed four people and seriously injured Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and the celebrity disc jockey DJ AM, federal safety investigators said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board also said that a design flaw in the Learjet 60 and a decision by the flight's captain to abort takeoff in Columbia, S.C., were also at fault in the accident.

Investigators told the board they found that operators of air charters often aren't aware how rapidly the tires of some business jets can lose pressure and aren't checking tire pressure frequently enough.

"This accident didn't have to happen," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. The crash, she said, should be a warning to everyone in the aviation industry that "there are no small maintenance items because every time a plane takes off lives are on the line."

The board also said the Federal Aviation Administration and Learjet Inc., a subsidiary of Bombardier Aerospace of Canada, didn't take aggressive enough action to correct a design flaw involving the Learjet 60's thrust reversers despite knowing that the flaw played a role in a similar 2001 accident in Alabama in which two people were seriously injured.

Barker and DJ AM, also known as Adam Goldstein, had just wrapped up a concert in Columbia and were taking off from a local airport in their chartered jet with two of Barker's staff members and two pilots on Sept. 19, 2008.

As the plane hurtled down the runway at about 150 mph, all four tires of the plane exploded only seconds apart. Pieces of the tires, hurled at high speeds, damaged the plane's hydraulic system, causing the brakes to fail.

The flight's captain, who had only 35 hours of experience flying a Learjet 60, made a split-second decision to abort the takeoff even though the plane had already exceeded the speed at which the takeoff could be safely rejected, investigators said. Pilots are trained not to halt a takeoff after reaching a certain speed as long as the plane is still capable of flight.

Adding to the problem, and eliminating all ability of the pilots to stop the plane, was damage to an electronic sensor that caused the plane's computers to conclude the plane was airborne when it was still on the ground. This automatically closed the thrust reversers — which can be used to slow a plane — and increased the power propelling the plane forward.

The jet hurtled off the runway, crashed through a fence, crossed a five-lane highway, hit an embankment and was engulfed in flames.

Barker and Goldstein were the only survivors. Goldstein died of a drug overdose a year after the accident.

The charter company that operated the plane, Global Exec Aviation, estimated the last time the pressure in the plane's tires had been checked was three weeks before the accident, investigators said. However, the type of tires on the plane lose about 2 percent of their pressure a day and, if not maintained, would need to be replaced after eight days, investigators said.

A pilot would be unable to tell that the tires were under-inflated simply by looking at them, investigators said. FAA regulations also prohibit commercial pilots from using instruments to measure tire pressure, they said.

The board said there was no problem with the design or manufacture of the tires. However, they faulted Global Exec Aviation for not maintaining proper pressure, and issued a series of recommendations to the FAA regarding tire pressure, including requiring that all commercial passenger planes have tire-pressure monitoring systems.

The board also recommended FAA require Learjet to fix the flaw that caused the problem with the thrust reversers. The plane involved in the accident was manufactured in 1993. However, FAA didn't require that model — whose original design was approved in 1966 — to be updated to meet more modern safety requirements that aircraft designs be evaluated for what kind of impact the failure of one system might have on the aircraft's other systems.

Barker and family members of his bodyguard, Charles Monroe Still Jr., and his assistant, Chris Baker, who were killed in the accident, have reached legal settlements with several companies, including Global Exec Aviation, ITAS Inc., which owned the plane, Learjet Inc. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Global Exec Aviation and ITAS have filed their own lawsuit against the plane's manufacturers.

Chris Brown is begging fans to help put his music back on the radio, insisting stations across America are denying him airplay.

Brown has been working to rebuild his image ever since his infamous fight with Rihanna last year, issuing a public apology for his behavior and carrying out community service for the attack.

But the "Kiss Kiss" hitmaker admits he's struggling to make his comeback -- and feels there's "nothing else" he can do to atone for the incident.

In a message uploaded to SayNow.com, Brown says, "I ain't (sic) never really did this but right now I need all of my fans' help. It's crazy because a lot of radio stations aren't playing my records. They're not being that supportive and I wouldn't expect them to. It's on the fans and what you guys do in your power to bring me back because that's all I need. Nothing else will do that except for the fans.

"There's nothing else that I can do. I'm doing everything that I need to do. I'm doing me as a person and I'm a better guy.

"My singing and my music I do it for you guys and everything else but it won't be possible if I'm not relevant on the radio and it wouldn't be possible for me to be an artist if I don't have any support. I can't be an underground mixtape artist. That's where we are. I just want all my fans to help me. I love y'all. Peace."

WHAT A CRY BABY........