Los Angeles, CA -- Legendary rapper and social pundit Chuck D will host UrbanCampfire Live: YouthSpeak 2001, a forum on youth violence, today May 10th at the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance. Chuck will moderate a panel in front of 300 students brought in from high schools in Compton, the Valley and the Westside of Los Angeles. He will be joined by female activist rapper MC Lyte, Nickelodeon television star Nick Cannon, MTV Real World and Road Rules star (and former Boys and Girls Club counselor) Syrus Yarbrough, and Latina actress Idalis De Leon. It will be co-hosted with Urban Campfire founder Kwame Anku. We should also note, later that night Chuck will appear on the TV show Politically Incorrect.

Beginning at 10:00am, the two-hour event will focus on the current state of youth violence and will ask for the perspective of the students in attendance, their first-hand insight into some of the causes of violence in and around their schools, and provoke discussion on what local government, school administrators and role models should do to help.

Following the panel, the students will participate in breakout sessions, where they will be encouraged to come up with comprehensive proposals for addressing youth violence and counseling potential offenders. The City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission will then compile the results and use them as the basis of a program to meet the needs of the city’s schools. Yours truly Davey D will be a host for one of those break out sessions.

UrbanCampfire Live: YouthSpeak 2001 is jointly sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, Hyundai Motor America and UrbanCampfire Live.

Location: Museum of Tolerance

Simon Wiesenthal Plaza

9786 West Pico Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90035

(310) 553-8403
Bad news for former No Limit rappers Kane and Abel [Daniel and David Garcia]. They have decided to plead guilty to drug conspiracy charges which were first levied against them back in 1997. Apparently the pair had concelaed some information about the activities of a drug kingpin named Richard Pena including 8 murders. The duo hooked up with Pena when he decided to finance their rap career while they were attending college. When all the drama surrounding Pena's arrests and the twins possible involvement went down, authorities were trying to see if there was any connection between Kane and Abel's involvement and their former label head Master P. Fortunately for P there was connection made. Kane and Abel may now be sentenced to 3 years in prison. The pair have been making quite a bit of noise with their new single 'Shake it Like A Dog'.

In unrelated news Juvenile pleaded Not Guilty to assault charges that were made against him last month. If you recall Juvenile was out celebrating his birthday at a Coconut Grove comedy club when an altercation broke out. Juvenile was accused of smashing his opponent over the head with a bottle of Moet as well a grabbing an officer. In fact if you may recall, Juvenile grabbed the officer and demanded to be taken to jail..Hence he was also charged with battery on a police officer.

After entering his 'Not Guilty' plea Juvenile issued this statement;

"Juvenile is a young, hardworking, extremely talented and gifted artist who is beginning to enjoy the fruits of his hard work and talent. Juvenile regrets any incident that may have occurred on March 28, 2001. It is unfortunate that some people seek to cash in on celebrities in the hopes of gaining fame, fortune and notoriety. Because of the status that he enjoys, Juvenile is extremely vulnerable to this type of incident. ... Juvenile and his attorneys are confident that his innocence will be conclusively established in a court of law and he will be vindicated by a jury of Miami-Dade County citizens."

Rosa to Outkast: You Tainted My Legacy!

Rumblin's and grumblin's .. It looks like the mother of the Civil Rights Movement Ms Rosa Parks is still mad at Outkast. In fact she's so pissed that she decided to take her lawsuit against the group on up to Appeals Court. For those who are unfamiliar with all this, Ms Parks filed a lawsuit against Outkast in April 1999 for violation of her right to publicity when they named their Grammy nominated song 'Rosa Parks'. The case was dismissed in November of 1999. Parks is being represented by famed lawyer Johnny Cochran.

Now Outkast has maintained that they were inspired by Rosa Parks which is why they named the song after her. They never intended to show any sort of disrespect.. However, because the song has some profanity and racial slurs Ms Parks was offended. She has gone so far to note that Outkast has defamed her and violated the federal Lanham Act. This particular statute forbids any sort of marketing or business practice which leads to consumer confusion. The song's title implies that Ms Parks actually endorsed the song. She is maintaining that her connection to the song has hurt her in future business dealings. Remember there are people out there who don't wanna have anything to do with Hip Hop. Ms Parks also states that the song has tainted her legacy..

Outkasts camp is saying that they are protected by freedom of speech.. However, Ms Parks is a fighter and at 88, she may pull one more feat out her bag. A victory in this case will no doubt change litigation history and have a chilling effect upon Hip Hop..

Here's a couple of juicy tidbits to ponder over.. First, congratulations to Nate Dogg.. He just inked a deal with Elektra Records. The deal went through last week and it appears that all concerned parties are excited. Nate will now have some major league fire power behind him.. Plus Elektra recently lost Busta Rhymes who bounced over to Clive Davis' new label J Records. This mmeans Nate , Missy and Angie Martinez become the big men and woman on the label.

Taje of Hieroglyphics and North Oakland rapper Superstar Quam Allah, have teamed up to form a group called Superstars. The duo will do some over the top lyrics about marterialism and the way it impacts Hip Hop and ourlifestles i