Here's a round-up of the latest news in the hip-hop world...

->UPDATE ON THE DEATH OF PIMP C
After yesterday's unfortunate news of the tragic death of Texas rapper Chad "Pimp C" Butler, the circumstances of his passing are still unclear. As the news spread, the entire hip hop community was left in disbelief and many have been mourning the loss of one of the South's most outspoken and well-respected hip-hop pioneers ever since. As of tonight, details surrounding his death are still sketchy, as the only confirmed information thus far is that he was found unresponsive in the bed of his room at The Mondrian Hotel in California early Tuesday morning after concerned family members called the hotel searching for him. Once hotel security went to his room and found him not breathing, a 911 call was placed at around 9:20AM. The LA Fire Department were the first responders and they ultimately pronounced him dead upon arriving at the scene. At this point, the LAPD do not suspect any foul play, however their homicide department have launched a formal investigation into the death. Although it may seem shady to some, it is standard procedure anytime a death occurs that was not of natural causes. There has also been an autopsy and toxicology report scheduled to find out the exact cause of death. Those results should be released in the coming weeks. Now I don't like the speculate all too much...but if there is no foul play suspected by the police, and judging from Pimp C's well known drug use, I'm guessing that he may have passed due to an overdose. I know the drug of choice down in South is sipping on that lean (see: codeine laced cough syrup), and the dangerous drug has caused many deaths over the years in the hip hop community, including DJ Screw & most recently Big Moe. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what happened in the upcoming weeks.



-> THE CLIPSE'S PUSHA T RESPONDS TO LIL' WAYNE
Ya'll probably remember my last news post and the story about Lil Wayne's comments about the Clipse in the new issue of Complex magazine. Needless to say, after throwing subliminals back and forth for quite some time, Wayne's comments about Pusha & Malice sparked quite a lot of controversy online and in the streets. So it wasn't surprising to me when a new video clip surfaced today featuring Pusha T, who briefly updates fans on The Clipse's new label & record deal, decides to respond to Weezy's comments and throws some barbs right back at the self proclaimed "Best Rapper Alive". Although Wayne constantly states that he refuses to get into a lyrical battle on wax, I'm very curious to see if this escalates any further than tough talk in interviews just because a battle between Pusha & Wayne could be historic. Oh and aside from all the tough talk...how about that track preview at the end of the video...WHOA!! I need "We Got It 4 Cheap 3" or the "Re-Up Gang" album in my life ASAP!!!