VOLUME 1 NUMBER 2

50¢

LOUISIANA CA$H

www.teambayoupresents.com

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2

EXECUTIVE EDITORKATIMA EPTING

PRESIDENTMARCUS BAKER

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

BIG HOOTCEDRIC HENDERSONGRAVE DIGGAMASHI PEREEVANDY JENKINS VITUS SHELL

GRAPHIC DESIGNERVITUS SHELL

STORIESFEATURE STORYLOUISIANA CA$H BYKATIMA EPTING LOCAL OPINIONSLOCAL ARTISTLOCAL BEAUTYLOCAL BUSINESS POLITICSWHAT’S HAPPENINGS SPORTS CORNERWORD FROM THE STREETZENTERTAINMENTINDUSTRY INSIDERGRAVE’S CORNER

ROE CITY LIGHTSTEAM BAYOU MANAGEMENT1002 WINNSBORO RDMONROE, LA 71202318.699.9966

A note from the editor: I’m not a 10; I’m a 31! (By: Katima Epting)

Many women have allowed themselves to be rated, defined and even degraded just to be called a 10. They wear such a small num-ber (in meaning) with a false sense of pride. Women strive hard just to be called a 10. That really bothers me, because I feel like we are worth so much more. We settle for being 10’s when we should strive to be 31’s. What I mean by this is, a Proverbs 31 Woman: (10) Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. (11) The heart of her hus-band safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. (12) She does him good and not evil all the days of her life..... There is so much more to a Proverbs 31 woman and so much more to us. We have to love ourselves and respect ourselves more than we do now. No man will ever truly love a woman that doesn’t know how to love herself. We can never really truly love ourselves if we don’t seek God first, because God is love. He is the source, the originator from where love flows. He wants us with the best, so why are we settling for being a 10, when in reality, we are so much more? I am not judging or criticizing any one. I just want to touch the minds and hearts of my sisters and say that since we know better, let’s do better. Don’t wait on a man to tell you your worth; you should have that already established. Stop comparing yourself to others and hating on others. You are so special and no one will treat you that way, if you don’t treat yourself that way! Hotels and cars get rated with 5 stars and so much gets rated on a scale of 10. Our worth should remain immeasurable. I’m not saying that we are perfect or won’t make mistakes, but I am saying that striving to want better, do better and have better puts us well above 10 and takes us right into 31- Proverbs 31. No, I am not 10, because that just insults my worth. I’m so much more and so are you! For that husband you have or are praying for, your kids, your parents, your com-munity and especially for God and self, be more than a 10! God bless and see you next time!(These views expressed are those of my own. These are not the views of Roe City Lights as a whole. This is truly my thoughts and my corner.)

The Word Of The Day By: Brother Vandy Jenkins “A Prisoner For Preaching The Good News about Jesus Christ”

The Word of The Day comes from Romans 12:1 (NLT). And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Our subject for today is: “Giving your best to the Master.” God’s gift of salvation in Christ requires a response. God is not satisfied simply with forgiving our sin, but he want us to tranform our lives through services. As Christians we are “Called to Serve.” So as servant we have to give our Master our best. Being called to serve is very challenging because it calls for each of us to do as Jesus did, and that is to serve others. Even if it means denying ourselves in order to give our Master the best. Jesus gave us the greatest example of “Giving your best to the Master,” because Jesus exalted and praise God and stayed focused on God and others rather than on himself spiritually and physically. Jesus came down from heaven to earth not to be serve, but to serve others under the authority of God our Father. Jesus examples show us the depths that He was willing to go to meet our needs. Jesus is the greatest!!!! But if we give our best to the Master. We to can be great and we can serve and can find great joy as we see and act upon the needs of others. As Christians today, “Giving your best to the Master” through service is pleasing to God and is a reasonable service and is truly the way to worship God. Amen. Be blessed and may the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all.

LOCAL OPINIONS

“To be a better per-son overall and stop letting little things worry me.”

Brennan Hunter

“To let all negative things go so all pos-tive things can come in.”

Kakwa Ross

“Progression over procrastination.”

Doharam Epting

“To represent God better in 2010 andlive a life that will attract others to Him and not be.”

Robert Tanzy

WHAT’S YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION?

REST IN PEACE TO KANESHI LOGAN AND DELLANOR TILLMAN

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH LOUISIANA CA$H??? BY KATIMA EPTING

A while back, we all were walking with a dip, listening to the wonderful, swagged out sound of artist Louisiana Cash! We enjoyed seeing the powerful artist perform and make the screen on BET. He even came to Monroe for his album release party and then what? No one here heard anymore about Louisiana Cash. Did he fall off or is he still on? I’ll answer that for you. He’s still on! You may not have heard much from the artist, but Louisiana Cash has been anything but quiet and has been working harder to reach his greatest heights. Cash has been putting on for states everywhere, including, North Carolina, Nebraska, Arkansas, West Virginia, Texas, Kentucky, Massachusetts and many more with popular hits, “She Knows How” ft. Dorrough, “My Chucks”, “Toot it Up”, “My Bounce” and more. This headliner is definitely making a name for himself. Cash was born in Jonesboro, La. and raised in Grambling, Louisiana where he was also a star athlete. Cash got a good start in Grambling, La. his home town. Cash and the Boot Camp Family is in full force and don’t call it a come back, because he never left! I interviewed Cash so we can get to know more about the entertainer and what’s next! Enjoy!

Interview (Between Cash and I)

Q: At what age did you realize you could rap?A: I wrote my first rap at 9 years old. I don’t think I realized I could rap until I was bout a sophomore in high school.

Q: Who are your biggest influences in rap (famous and not famous)?A: My biggest influences are probably myself, Boosie, Lil Wayne, Webbie, T.I., Jay-Z, and a local rapper round my way by the name of Smuve Cuz. I looked up to him because of his sound.

Q: Name something you had to give up because of your rap career?A: freedom of life, college, and just getting involved into regular things somebody would- like going out, because I put so much time into this

Q: What is your biggest accomplishment in your career?A: My biggest accomplishment is yet to come; but thus far, I would say having a song in the top 50 on billboards. Thats pretty big for a country boy ya dig.

Q: What is your biggest motivation?A: It’s the music; coming up with new jams, new sh** to make people say, “Cash go hard” is what I like. I love da music more than I love a lot of things. I put people and other stuff to the side all the time for it and don’t even think about it.

Q: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? 10 years from now? A: 5 years, on top of the game, and 10 years on top of the world!

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever seen a fan do to get your attention?A: I’ve had girls flash every part of their body, already at the hotel when I get back to it, all the above really. It be going down- trust me!

Q: What was the turning point of your career?A: The turning point of my career was when the rapping became my job. My only way of getting money then it got more serious. It changed my outlook on it because now it’s my job and it’s by all means.

Q: What’s the best thing about being an artist? The worst?A: The best thing I think is the possibilities in the music. You can really make millions doing this ya feel me. The worst thing is probably the pressure of satisfying other people with my own thoughts, tryna get everybody to listen to me and feel me.

Q: What record label are you signed with?A: I’m signed to my own label DBC Music Group/ Hustle Fam.

Q: Has it been hard breaking through in the industry?A: I don’t think it’s been no harder than what I thought it would be. It’s supposed to be hard.

Q: Tell me about Boot Camp Ent.A: The Boot Camp is my own label along with my manager Jay Classik and my DJ Dj Samp. We pushing right now and we building and expanding throughout the Midwest and the South. We coming and we gone be as powerful as No Limit, Cash Money, Roc a Fella, etc; so be on the lookout and hit us up at www.dabootcamp.com

Q: Is it hard to stay humble once you’ve reached a certain level of fame?A: Nah. I’m a humble person off top. I don’t even get caught up into the whole rapper thing. I just stay focused on my mission and treat everybody with respect because I want the same respect.

Q: If you weren’t rapping, what would you be doing?A: I don’t see myself doing nothing else but rapping- no plan B

Q: What does “being real” mean to you?A: It’s simple. Do what you say you gone do, have love for the ones who really got love for you, keep it 100, and be comfortable with the person you are and don’t try to be someone else.

Q: What’s one powerful word of advice that upcoming artists need to know?A: Don’t think inside the box. Everybody want to be the man in their own city or town but its over a million other rappers tryna do the same thing. It’s a whole lot of work and it don’t happen over night.

Look out for Louisiana Cash’s New Mix Tape with hits “Welcome to Louisiana”, “Candy Land” & much more! Also coming: Leader of The New School The answer to “What happened to Louisiana Cash?” is- He’s just been going harder!

I am Relda S. Apperley, a 21 year old se-nior at Southern University majoring in Elementary Education. Originally I am from Monroe, Louisiana, but I reside in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After graduation, I will open my own daycare cen-ter possibly in Monroe. While modeling has never been a dream of mine, I have done a few album covers for local celebs, calendar shoots, & posed for two magazines. So far, I love it, but right now, I am basically building my portfolio until after gradu-ation. For me, 2011 the year of PANDEMONIUM, UPROAR,& POSITIVE CHANGE! Although I’m not doing much right now, don’t sleep on me because I’M COMING...you’ve been warned! You can find mewww.facebook.com/ReldaApperleywww.twitter.com/TheRedHeadChic & For booking relda.apperley11@gmail.com

LOCAL BEAUTY

LOCAL BUSINESSWhat’s the Business? (by: Katima Epting)

I would never wish to have my child or anyone’s child come up missing! That has to be the worst feeling ever, but so many go through that every day. That’s why Guard-A-Kid has come up with ways to help in this matter. Local business owners Tillman Watkins and Au-thorized Rep Phyllis Davis have brought a much needed business to our community. They want to help our community and we have the information available so that you can reach out when they reach out to you. Read below on how they can help!According to www.guardakid.com: A child in the the U.S. becomes missing every 40 sec-onds. Law enforcement officials urge parents everywhere to keep an updated picture, all 10-fingerprints and critical information about their child at their fingertips. They believe that access to photo, fingerprints and other critical information in the first 30 minutes after the child is reported missing can play a critical role in the quick and safe recovery of the child. Guard-A-Kid™ has developed a convenient, yet advanced method to aid parents through-out the United States. In order to develop a system that provides parents with an easy solu-tion to this issue, we considered the following points:

We knew that the system had to provide the parents with a physical I.D for their child that could be carried in their wallet. We knew that it is not feasible to fit complete critical informa-tion about the child such as “Doctor’s name and phone number”, “Dentist name and phone number”, “10-finger-prints”, etc. on the small wallet-size card. So therefore, we knew we had to provide the parents with a larger full page ID of their child that would be filed safely at home. We knew that the information must be delivered to the parents in both digital and printed format. Printed critical information about the child is not easily and quickly transfer-able to other law enforcement agencies in those critical first 30 minutes. However, digital images of the fingerprints, the photo and the critical information can be emailed to other law enforcement agencies within seconds. Therefore, we knew we had to provide parents with a CDROM that containing their child’s complete information. We knew that in order to speed up the process for the police, it would be advantageous to format the digital information on the CDROM in a way that is best suited for their system. We knew that an important issue for parents was the fact that the information about each child is private and should not be stored in any database. In fact the information from a child must be deleted from our system, after the information is delivered to parents. Since parents are usually first to know about a missing child, having this information on hand would be their quickest alternative. We also knew that most parents need to be trained and educated about child safety. Therefore we knew that our child ID kit had to include literature about child abductions and child safety.

After months of research and development, Guard-A-Kid™ unveiled its state-of-the-art Child ID system in 2004. This system provides parents with a complete set of identification and safety package regarding their child. This service is offered to parents in day cares, preschools and private as well as public schools. Thanks to Guard-A-Kid™, today, thou-sands of parents are better prepared and more educated about child Safety. Through our network of franchises, our goal is to offer the Guard-A-Kid™ service to all concerned and responsible parents nationwide.Phyllis Davis (318) 791-9478 or Tillman Watkins (318) 512-2288 Email:Watkinst3@hotmail.com

Mayor Mayo (Speaking Out)Maybe Mayor Mayo has been heard in other places, but for the “hood”, many have proclaimed to hear very little from him. Roe City Lights heard the cries of many of you who just simply wanted answers. We heard you when you said that you haven’t gotten any information or an-swers about the condition of our community; therefore, we interviewed the mayor, in hopes of answering some of the questions that you’ve longed to get answers too.

The Interview (Between Mayor Mayo & RCL president- Marcus Baker & Editor- Kaima Epting)

RCL: What was the state of Monroe financially, politically and socially when you took over as mayor and how has it changed?

Mayor: Well, I became mayor in 2001, in June of 2001, because the mayor before me, Mayor Ramblim passed away in office and I became the interim mayor and then ultimately the mayor and at that particular time, the state of Monroe financially was very, very umm difficult, be-cause our fund balance was very, very low. We had some financial issues throughout the entire city and so it was incumbent upon me,

along with the city council to come up with innovative ways to rectify that. I appointed a citizens financial review committee to assist in that effort. Well they came back with about 25 to 26 recommendations so we sat out in trying to address some of those recommendations in addition to things that needed to be done here and that consisted of, unfortunately having to lay off some people and we had to come up with some other expenditure reductions, as well as coming up with some ways to increase our revenue. So if you fast forward, several years after that, we’ve been able to put the city in the best financial shape in the history of the city. We have the largest fund balance, general fund, a surplus of about 12 million dollars. That’s the largest the city has ever had. We’ve sat out to try to improve the city’s efficiency. We made some progress there. We still got some work to do. We also created a couple of economic development funds to be able to help us to recruit perspective businesses as well as help current businesses expand and grow.

RCL: So you’re telling me that you have the city in the best state it has ever been in, even when Mayor Powell was in office?

Mayor: Yes. It’s in the best financial shape in the city’s history. Now, one of the things that, in fact the News Star is about to do a story on is what we call long term debt. They say that, well the city is in, probably has the most debt than it’s ever had and that’s probably a true statement. The reason we do is because we’re working on improving the roads, the sewer lines, the water lines, the sewer treatment plant, the water system- you know like the water meters, the water lines, the water plants because the water is good that we have but it has to go through 80 year old pipes and they are wearing out. They’re rusting so all of that has to be replaced because once it goes through, it can contaminate it. So, those are the things people don’t think about because it’s under the ground. And if you live like me, I live in King Oaks, so people in the King Oaks area, Robinson Place, Parkview, Trishell-you know for a long time, they couldn’t hardly go outside because all they would smell is a stench. Well, they hardly smell that any more. We put over 20 million dollars in correcting a lot of that; you know that is a health hazard. So you know we’ve improved streets, all the recreation centers, community centers been worked on. Well the political and social part, we try to just create an environment, an atmosphere that’s conducive to development; so, in a lot of these projects we’re working on, we have to work with- the city council and I have to work with more than just the city folks. We have to work with the school system and their rep-resentatives. We have to work with the police juror. We have to work with the state representative, the state senator, congressmen. So we have to work with all levels of government. So, that’s why you hear, “He gave money to West Monroe; to the port. He gave money to Grambling. He gave money to Louisiana Tech. He gave money to Bastrop.” Because more than just Monroe citizens spend money in Monroe; so, you try to create an atmosphere where more people from outside of Mon-roe would want to come in to shop and that builds up our revenue. A lot of people don’t understand that but that’s the part of the big picture. That’s how you build a city and the region is strengthened if the HUB city is strengthened and Monroe is the Hub city; so, if we get stronger, the rest of the region is going to get stronger because the rest of the region is making

POLITICS

us stronger.

RCL: One City One Future? What do you say to those who say that you only care about the north side of the city?

Mayor: Well, my actions will say otherwise and that’s based on things that we’ve done, that I care about the whole city. I live on the Southside. My family lives on the south side and we’ve done more than or as much as anybody has done for the south side. Usually those are my critics, who try to paint the picture that I only care about the north side, because I can go and tell you things just like I’ve pointed out some things that we’ve done. For instance, I like to give examples, because I know when they say north side, south side, let’s look at for example: Taco Bell is on the south side and it has come on since I’ve been mayor. Churches Chicken has upgraded on the south side. Hotels been built on the south side. All the recreation centers, Berg Jones Lane’s recreation center has pretty much been rebuilt, refurbished. We put a lot of money into that; we got a federal grant. Down by Robinson place, where this building was just sitting up there; we’ve made it a boxing facility. Nothing was going on there. Now it’s active again because we’ve put money into it. It’s got a boxing facility; it’s got a weight room. A lot of people come there. I put a city hall on the south side. Did you know City Hall was on the south side- City Hall Annex, where Ford Bacon & Davis is. We got 200 employees there.

RCL: Okay, I do see work being done everywhere else, but what can be done in the South 3rd, South 4th areas?

Mayor: South 3rd, South 4th- has been a sore spot with us. At first it was Parkview and South 3rd and 4th didn’t use to look like that. They looked like South 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. It has just gone down over the last several years. There are a lot of houses in Bryant’s Edition that we’ve torn down. Bryant’s Edition and Booker T are two of the oldest areas in the community. The highest crime area- believe or not- are on 3rd and 4th. We’ve been trying to work with New Light Church; I go to that church and United Way came over and others; we’re trying to see what we can do to redevelop. A lot of that property is private. We went to the state legislature to give us more teeth in our laws to try and get these private property owners to clean up their property. If you go over there, you’ll see the sidewalks we put on 3rd, both ends of Plum and Orange St. That has been a slow developing part of what we want to do. Those are eye sores. We’re trying to help through our CDBG (Community Development Block Grant). We have money to help senior citizens renovate their houses. It is a federal funded pro-gram the city gets; it based upon the formula they use. If you are an entitlement city, you are automatically going to get a certain amount. We use to get 2 million dollars but because our population has decreased, we only get 1.5. We use some of that money to give 10% to non profits every year. That is 1.5 million dollars that go into low to moderate areas. Bryant’s Edition, Booker T, 3rd and 4th are where most of the challenges are.

As the interview proceeded, we asked about the programs for the community. We also asked about help for the youth-where he gave different information on, includ-ing scholarships available for those in our area high schools. We established that there isn’t enough effective communication. Mayor Mayo stresses that the media is depended upon to put out the information. The mayor said that he is open for sug-gestions, saying that he doesn’t have stronger enough participation from the people. One thing that was agreed upon is that even with all that is said and done, there is still so much more that needs to be done in some areas of Monroe. We agree that communication is a two way street; so, we suggested some things on the community’s behalf, but we need the community to speak up and discuss further, the things that ail you about the assistance that you are or are not receiving.

This edition has all eyes on star athlete, Roderick Williams, who has run right into his destiny. Roderick, a 5’10, 182 lbs Monroe native (born and raised) played football at Richwood High School for four years. After graduating, he attended and starred on Alcorn University’s football team in the cornerback position and where he also was a four year letterman and two times All Conference player. He also was a HBCU All- Ameri-can as senior. He moved on to sign as a free agent with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos in June 2010. Williams began the season on the practice roster. He played for the first time there, in the third game of the season in Saskatchewan and got his start in Game 5. He played a total of twelve games (six starts this season) where he had 23 defensive tackles, 3 knockdowns and an interception for 10 yards. Williams is excellent at the running and corner back positions, but loves the kick return position he played most. Roderick says his faith and family are what keep him going. He is the son of Tonia and Roderick Williams Sr. and has a beautiful four year old- Tayler Epting. Roderick feels the world has yet to see the best of him and will found out just how dynamic of a player he is! I don’t know about you, but I think someone in the league better stay on it, cause Roderick sure is!

SPORTS

HEY HEY HEY , IT’S TIME FOR ME TO TELL YOU “WHAT’S HAPPENING? “

I’m Mashi Peree’ and it’s up to me to let you know the latest of what’s happening. Thursday night at Bobo’s Sports Bar and Grill was the happening. When I came in the energy was right and so was my first drink of the night and the next one. The Dj’s had the music on point and as for the ladies we were getting it in all night. I loved the fellas that where in there just my kind of place to be to get me ready for the weekend. Friday night was Silas White Birthday Party at O’Charley’s and it was all the way turned up in wacka voice! OMG just thought of how much fun I had. He throw the type of party’s you do not want to be tardy for. I spoke with Silas White about where did all his great party throwing come from? I had to ask because I have been partying with Silas before my time to party. “ Silas said, it began in my one bedroom apt on Churchill, then to the little build-ing we had, later to Pie Works (his parties out grew them too), again to Washington Square, then last to where we are now at O’Charley’s! Silas says, this all came about when he realized there was nowhere for the grown (25andup) to come and get loose! Silas knows that there is no limit to where his great party hosting/throwing will go.” The next big party is planned to go on around Mardi Gras. Wheeew , Im tired thinking about all the partying went on. So everyone remember Thursday Night at BoBo’s, Friday nights at Infiniti, Saturday’s at Domino’s and Club Rozay, and you Novo on Sundays.

LOCAL HAPPENINGSCapricorn Spot Light Affair, The Newly Remod-elled Club Maxwells. Friday Jan. 14, 2011. Dress Fly & Fancy. Doors Open at 10pm. 35 Gone Wild, Tamiko’s Bday Party on the Wildside. Saturday Jan. 15, 2011. Wild Ladies $5 Before 10:30pm.

Kuntry Boyz Ent. Frank Gezzy B-Day , Live in Concert Webbie, The Grand Opening to the Concert Hall, Dominos Dome, Club Dominos, Jan. 21, 2011. Doors open at 10pm.

Bobo’s Sports Bar & Grill- Monday Nite Football Mondays, Snap Snap Tuesdays Poetry Nite, Thursty Thursdays Live Dj Ladies free before 9, Drink spe-cials all nite, Feel Good Fridays $3.50 drinks all nite, Martini Saturdays, Big Six Sundays with Domino Tournament.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Circle Bar- Monday thru Thursday Happy Hour from 6 to 10, $5 Fridays, Saturday is regular club nite, Seductive Sundays. 318.884.0227

Club Dominos- Each every Saturday it goes down with Go DJ Star and DJ Phat on the 1’s & 2’s. Doors open at 10pm. 3 Dance floors.

Club Mandalay- Thurday Nites, Local Artists, $4 Entry. Drinks Free before 12. DJ Regg on the 1s & 2s. Freaky Friday & Wildout Saturdays for Gentle-men. $5 Entry. Sunday Nite, $4 All nite.

Club Maxwells- Friday Ladies Nite. Saturday Ni-tes, Special Events Nite (Parties, Receptions, Etc) Doors Open 10pm. Party Booking 318.280.9621

Club Nuvvo- Each and Every Sunday Nite with the Go Dj’s amd Kuntryboyz Ent in the building. Doors open at 10 and Ladies $5 before 11.

Club RoeZay- First Class Friday each and ev-ery Friday. Dj Slym B on the 1s & 2s. The Ulti-mate Ladies Night Every Saturday. Ladies $5. Hosted by 100.1 the Beat BJ Bell & DJ Make A Move on the 1’s & 2s. No Tennis Shoes, No T-shirts, No Shorts.

To be added to the Local Happenings Cal-endar, please contact 318.557.6303 or email teambayoumanagment@gmail.com before the 1st or the 15th.

WORD On the Street

by Big Hoot

It’s 2011, a New Year, and with a New Year comes plenty of changes. I know a lot of people have geared up to get into the gym to shed those pounds, stop smoking, or simply said “January 1st, I’m quitting.” All of those are great, but we all know no one never sticks to their Res-olutions, you should take the time out to develop a plan to help you achieve your goals, start out small with a daily plan and go at your own pace working your way up weekly and moving forward as you see fit, the smaller the time frame the greater the achievements will seem. Create a vision board of where you would like to see your-self by the middle of the year, or a “prove them wrong” list where you write down 5-6 people you’d like to prove wrong who said you couldn’t do/achieve something, once you complete that list of 5-6 start another list and keep it going until you’ve proved everyone who doubted you wrong. This list is not to show them that you done it, but to prove to yourself you can do it re-gardless. You’ll do better if you knew bet-ter. 2011 is a new year and for some peo-ple this means change, so let’s eat better, think better, and treat each other better for the new year.

Checkout music by Big Hoot at www.myspace.com/bighoot318

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Local sensation, Fred “Lil Fred” Finister is an upcoming star to look out for. Born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana- Fred hit the scene with cuts like, Nasty Walk and Tear it Up, in which he opened up with for big stars like Rick Ross and worked with Hurricane Chris before his fame. He’s performed in vari-ous clubs and at various events in Monroe and surrounding areas. His music made a big impact in the Winnsboro area also. He’s not just an artist. He played basketball (which he still has a passion for) in high school and attended Woss-man, Neville and Carroll High Schools. Fred said he realized he was a rap star when school mates and teachers encouraged him give them more of his talent. He made the decision to go with rap instead of basketball, because rapping started bringing in a good income. One of his biggest influences is his older brother who first rapped. “Lil Fred” spoke on how good of a rapper his brother is and how he would do his brothers raps, which inspired him to do his own. It’s a good thing he did, because at only 23 years of age, Lil Fred is taking major steps towards greatness. The young star has no manager but does a lot, including making his own beats. His record label, Like it ~R~ Luv It (Producers: Drey Style & Big Lonnie) is what he is working to get as large as or larger than Bad Boy Ent. He confidently says that he is called “The Diddy of the City”. His goal as an artist is to become more than an artist. He desires to actually become what Diddy has become in his career. His family members are his biggest supporters and motivators and has learned how important family is after the passing of his father in his childhood. He stresses how important it is to stay humble and count his blessings. He said that right now, he hasn’t found that special one. He is single and searching ladies!! He is looking for someone saved and someone to complement him. He said he is tired of finding ladies with nothing to talk about; so, ladies, get your conversation game up! Look out for “She Ain’t Scared” and “Ms. GotDam* if you haven’t heard them. He’s currently at work but is available for features and more. Fred wants everyone to look out for artists Lil’ Joe and Yung Starr coming soon!To contact Lil Fred for features or other business, Call: 318.737.9417

3 Things All Successful Music Producers Must Have To Sell Beats

You know what you want – to get paid as a music producer selling beats – but you don’t know how you’ll reach that goal. You need three things. Three things that will guarantee you success at some level no matter what happens along the way. With these three things, you im-mediately separate yourself from the dreamers and talkers. You can read all the articles, blogs, or books you want about how to sell beats – and those are great – but you still need these three things. Without them, all the steps in the world won’t get you anywhere.

1. Initiative. In this situation, initiative is simply the action. I consider ini-tiative to be a critical ingredient in obtaining any goal. You can take the exact steps to reach your goal of selling beats laid out for you but if you don’t take the action, you lose. Plain and simple. One thing to mention here is that initiative is not ambition or anything like it. Ambition is like a form of desire – without the action. Everybody’s got some measure of ambition, a lot less have the initiative to take action on that desire.

2. A plan. Initiative or action can be wasted if it’s not applied to some sort of plan. Your plan adds focus to that action. You have a starting point, an end goal in mind, the initiative to get moving, and with a plan you have direction. Now here is where many get tripped up by plan-ning and not acting on that plan. Plans are never perfect. You get to work on your plan and learn along the way. You Take what you learn and modify your plan but you don’t abandon your plan. Without it you risk spinning your wheels and not getting any closer to that end goal you’ve set for yourself.

3. Persistence. Over time, while taking focused action against your plan, you will hit snags and roadblocks. You may even at times have to change your entire goal. What you can’t do is quit. With an open mind, a strong enough desire, and the initiative to go for it, you can’t lose. The only way you can lose is if you give up. It’s impossible to fail if you take focused action and adjust along the way for whatever life throws at you. Simply keep moving forward and don’t give up.

With these three things you can sell beats or work toward any other goal you may have. Get started, get focused, and keep stepping.

INDUSTRY INSIDER ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Legendary Hip-Hop imprint No Limit Records is be-ing relaunched by founder Master P.’s family mem-bers as No Limit Records Forever.

No Limit, which was found-ed in 1990 by Master P., sold over 75 million re-cords. At various points, the label featured a num-ber of major acts, includ-ing Snoop Dogg, Mystikal, Soulja Slim, 504 Boyz, Silkk The Shocker and oth-ers. The label is being in reborn in 2011 as an all-digital record label under the steward-ship of Romeo Miller, who serves as the President of No Limit Records Forever. Romeo’s brother Valentino is Vice President of No Limit Records Forever, Master P.’s brother Silkk The Shocker is the label’s Chief Operating Officer and their cousin Black Don acts as Senior VP of A&R.

The digital label is currently ramping up the business and seeks rappers, singers, producers, A&R’s, music executive and radio and video promotional executives.

“I can relate to the new era of this music business. I have a lot of on-hands experience working with one of the great-est music company execs ever, my father,” Romeo Miller told AllHipHop.com in a statement released today (January 6th).

“He [Master P.] taught me the marketing of this business and I took the time out to complete my education at USC where I studied technology and business,” Romeo continued. “I feel that I have the best of both worlds. I’m a hard worker with a billion dollars worth of knowledge and many resources. My goal is to build a digital hub where artists can become en-trepreneurs and make instant revenue off of their music. My resources and I have created a technology to stop online pi-racy.”

No Limit Records Forever roster currently consists of Romeo, Silkk, Black Don, Suni Blac, Eastwood, G5-J, Lil D., Gangsta and Bengie.

The label is also producing a reality TV show, an animated cartoon series, a mixtape and a nationwide talent search to find new artists.

Courtesy of allhiphop.com

50 Cent continues to put his money to work, with a new investment in a direct response marketing company.

The Queens, New York rap star revealed his latest investment is with TVGoods, which de-velops and markets consumer products on networks like HSN and QVC, as well as retail outlets, the Internet, print media and other out-lets.

“You better get in now TVG I’m never saying this again. Watch how this company blows up. Follow my lead there [sic] going to get bigger trust me even if its a small investment it will pay off,” 50 Cent tweeted.

TVGoods was founded by Kevin Harrington and includes a company of executives that have made a number of commercials, including the first ever infomercial with Wolfman Jack and the longest running infomercial for the Medicus Golf Club.

The company has managed over 500 infomercial spots, which have raked in rev-enues in excess of $4 billion dollars.

Additionally, TVGoods, which itself is owned by Florida-based H & H Imports, Inc., also controls MilitaryShoppingChannel.com, TVGoods Inventor Center.

As of press time, TVGoods is currently creating and promoting informercials for products like “The Cellphone Assistant,” “Bright Feet Slippers,” and the Hulk Hogan endorsed “PumMagic” all-purpose cleaning fluid.

An altercation with family members at a funeral in July of 2008 continues to haunt Compton, California rapper Game, who was ordered to pay $50,000 for beating his cousin during the altercation.

Game became involved in a physical al-tercation with his cousin Robert “Kirky” Kirkwood, over the cost of a funeral for Kirkwood’s sister, who died after a six-year illness.

According to TMZ.com, a Los Ange-les judge recently ordered Game to pay $50,000 for Kirkwood’s medical expenses and other damages, although Game’s

cousin has yet to receive a cent.

The fight began when Kirkwood confronted Game outside of the church, over an alleged promise to pay half of the $14,000 funeral bill during the services.

In October of 2008, Game was also sentenced to 36 anger management courses over the fight, which erupted when he showed up to the funeral unan-nounced.

“Crabs in a bucket- Uhm, what do they mean by that? Well have you ever seen crabs in a bucket? You got that one crab that works his way to the top and the rest of the crabs are just trying to pull him down. When that crab gets up out of that bucket, that crab gets the hell out of that bucket and ain’t trying to reach back and grab nothing at all! In today’s so-ciety, it’s much like crabs in a bucket. We have people that start from the bottom up and work their way to the top and once they get to the top, the folks at the bottom do every-thing they can in their power to pull them back down. In reality, what they really need to do is do everything they can to help that person, because once that one crab get out the bucket, we can all learn from that one crab and get everyone out the bucket. With that being said, we all need to start supporting our own. Look at the Jews; that dollar goes around more times in that community than a blunt goes in a circle. Instead of supporting one another, we are quick to put each other down. Say for instance, someone opens up a restaurant, ‘Umm girl, that food ain’t good. I heard they got roaches! I heard this and that.’ You can take that same business and put a foreigner or a white person in there and we’ll support it, patronize it- ‘Oh man, it’s the best in the whole wide world.’ And nothing changed but the face on it. When we do decide to patronize one of our local businesses, the first thing we say is, ‘Can I get a hook up?’ The business wasn’t open on a hookup. People have to pay bills and everything else. When you go to a major place, do you ask for a hook-up? Nah, and they are the ones who really can give you a hook-up. All I’m saying is support and give your own a chance. Until the next time, holla at’cha boy.Diggamanent@gmail.com or give me a call: 318.599.9802 Until then, think B.I.G. Believe in God. I’m out this thang! Bow!!”

GRAVE’S CORNER