Urban Thought Collective

Celebrate the memory of South African singer Miriam Makeba, who died this week of a heart attack at the age of 76 just after her performance in Italy. Miriam was the first African woman to win a Grammy award, and we’ll always remember her appearance before the U.N. Special Committee on Apartheid to call for an international boycott of South Africa. May she rest in peace.

KATT WILLIAMS ARRESTED
It seems that Comedian Katt Williams is just beside himself these days. Not only is the word on the street that he has become more demanding, shows up late or is a straight no-show to his shows or press events to promote his movies. Your boy got nabbed by New York’s Finest along with six other individuals, just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the infamous Carnegie Hall.

There must have been a whole lot of “Cheech & Chong” coming from your boy and his crew’s car. The cops claim to have observed two parked vehicles; one of which was a Cadillac Escalade with no license plate. Katt and his entourage were taken into custody around 1:45 am, after an investigation of two vehicles yielded a total of three guns. As the cops searched their rides, they discovered a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun and a 9mm Taurus in the Escalade. An additional handgun, a .45 caliber Glock, was discovered in the second vehicle; hopefully that wasn’t a plant.

Now at 37-years-old, Katt whose government name is Micah S. Williams, was arrested alongside three men and three women. Katt was charged with criminal possession of a handgun and taken to Manhattan Criminal Court, as were his co-defendants. What a co-ink-ee-dink that Katt was arrested on similar charges in Los Angeles two years ago today. Your boy made headlines on November 7, 2006 after a stolen handgun was discovered in his suitcase during a security check at Los Angeles International Airport.

Now how much weed did he smoke not to know better or to let one of his boys check the luggage…damn…!

R. KELLY’S NEPHEW SHOT IN ROBBERY ATTEMPT
Well, I’m sure the R’ra got tired of lending family money…look what happens when folks start acting like they are too fly to get a regular 9-5. Then, playing devils advocate, being related to a millionaire makes you all of a sudden look like “ransom.”

R. Kelly’s 15-year-old nephew was shot in the abdomen/chest and is currently in intensive care. Word is, Brayel Kelly and his brother Brandon Kelly were allegedly involved in an attempted robbery at a Chicago barbershop. Now if y’all are thinking like I am, unless the barbershop is a cover up spot, hair cuts, (all cash or not) ain’t gonna give you a whole lotta dough to be fly with for more than a few hours.

It seems the jacked up robbery went down like this: one of the brothers walked into a barbershop requesting a haircut. After receiving the cut, the boy allegedly pulled out a weapon and instructed the shop’s owner to put his money and jewelry into a plastic bag.

The owner complied, but eventually pulled out his own weapon. Gunfire ensued and the owner told authorities that he believes he hit the boy. Meanwhile, police were responding to another call a few blocks away from the robbery and found the older Kelly brother, Brandon, who they arrested. Police are investigating whether or not Brandon was acting as lookout for the crime.

The boys’ father Carey Kelly, who is estranged from the singer, confirmed that his son had been shot twice. One of the bullets collapsed his lung while the second pierced his liver. Pops also went on to say that he believed that his children were the victims of a robbery, not the suspects. “People have tried to rob us,” he said. “They think we got money. That’s R. Kelly’s money, that’s not our money.” R. Kelly has made no public comment regarding his nephews’ involvement in the burglary. Smart move Kells, keep it quiet and keep it moving.

BEYONCE SHUTS DOWN MAGS FOR HER WEDDING PHOTOS
Beyonce has said “hell-to-tha-naw” regarding accepting any magazine deals for her wedding photos.

Since B & Jay-Z got hitched in April of this year in a secret ceremony away from the cameras and media she says, “Now, they offer crazy money that’s just ridiculous. But in the end, absolutely not. It’s so not worth it. If anything, if you wanna put something out, then put it out, [but] not for [money]. We worked really hard at keeping it private. I’ve always been this way, and he’s always been this way, so that’s why we complement each other. We always knew that it would be private and quiet, for all the right reasons,” Beyonce added.

Make sure you scoop up Beyonce’s new album ‘I Am… Sasha Fierce’ available this week.

NEWS BLAST
MAYA ANGELOU TO PEN POEM ABOUT OBAMA…

FORMER BEATLE, PAUL MCCARTNEY WANTS TO SERENADE MICHELLE OBAMA…
NEW CD RELEASE DATES: Ludacris’ “Theater of the Mind” and Kanye West’s
“808s & Heartbreak,” now available Monday, Nov. 24 in both physical and digital formats…

WILL SMITH FINALLY IN TALKS WITH SPIELBERG…they are in talks to team for director’s remake of Korean drama ‘Oldboy…’

Big Lez has interviewed everyone from Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. to Mary J. Blige and Tom Cruise. She was host of and producer of BET’s landmark show “Rap City” and has enjoyed an extensive tenure in radio as co-host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show in Los Angeles, plus stints at New York’s WQHT/Hot 97, Atlanta’s WAOK/V103, LA’s Big Boy Morning Show at KPWR/Power 106 and Sirius Satellite Radio. Currently, Lez is partnered with DVA Media + Marketing as producer and host of the syndicated urban radio report, “The Urban Eye,” which launches nationwide first quarter of 2009.