I thought I’d do a little charity and bring Xscape back to the forefront, seeing as how Tiny, a group member and embattled life partner of T.I., is rumored to be shopping around for a record deal. She probably knows she’ll be supporting the kids for a while. Also, “Who Can I Run To” is a damn good song.

• Black teens love them some Michael Vick, dog fighting and all. [ET]

• Environmental racism could be going on right under your nose. Literally. []

• Minorities, young people, hip hop, and the internet — a recipe for profit. [BW]

• T.I. sincerely looks forward to being exonerated. He said so himself. []

• LL Cool J is still pouting about Def Jam. [EUR]

The Thanksgiving turkey may be on the back burner at T.I.’s house, but, according to Entertainment Weekly, there’s something stewing in his in-home studio.

A representative for the Grammy-winning artist, 27, says he has already completed six new tracks in a studio inside his Georgia home. T.I. hopes to release the disc, which he’s calling Paper Trail, in September 2008. The album’s title refers to the fact that T.I. is writing his new lyrics down — a practice he abandoned after his 2001 debut, I’m Serious. Each of his four subsequent albums, including this year’s T.I. vs. T.I.P., was composed without the aid of pen or paper. “He wanted to take more time to really put something down [this time],” explains his rep.

…because these days he has nothing but time, right?

Big Shit Poppin:

• An impending illegal weapons trial

• Lots of press about said trial and arrest

• A very strict bond agreement confining T.I. to his house and limiting his visitors.

• American Gangster’s in theaters!

Little Shit Stoppin:

• T.I.’s request for a Thanksgiving feast at his home.

Will a judge find it in his heart to waive one of the stipulations of T.I.’s bond, which is that he is allowed no more than three visitors to his home at a time, so that he can host a Thanksgiving dinner? If it might be his last for the next, oh, decade, it would be a nice holiday gift from the judge.

Harris, 27, wants the exception only for Turkey Day, only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and only for a group of visitors whose names he submitted for approval.

In another motion Tuesday, Harris also asked the judge to allow access for workers who can come clean his yard, pool and home.

A guy’s gotta have turkey and a clean pool, even when charged with serious crimes. These are unalienable rights. [AJC]

With the recent arrest of T.I. and the historically bad relationship between rappers and the police, a debate rages about whether or not law enforcement unfairly targets people in the hip hop industry (we sort of tack black athletes onto that, too). Stereohyped TV took to the streets yesterday* to get some opinions.

*_{You’ll see a couple Halloween costumes.}

Friday night, Stereohyped hit up the red carpet at Ciara’s 22nd birthday party (one of 7 parties on a 5-city birthday tour) at Runway in NYC. It was raining*, which caused attendees like Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliot, and Fabolous to skip the red carpet and duck into the club. Ciara, of course, was on hand to talk to Stereohyped. And I’d like to think that it wasn’t because she had to, it being her party and all, but because she wanted to. She discusses T.I., her love for blogs, and crazy rumors on the premiere episode of Stereohyped TV.**

–Not on the video, but important to note. She stands by the “good friend” story, but her face pretty much lights up when 50 Cent’s name is mentioned. True story.

*_{Note to self: after getting rained on, touch up makeup before stepping in front of the camera.}

**_{Courtesy of Zach Golden, videographer extraordinaire.}

Say what you will about T.I. being targeted because he’s a rapper, but the average convicted felon caught illegally purchasing an arsenal of machine guns and silencers probably doesn’t have $3 million for bail. So while the average criminal in his situation would probably still be languishing in jail, T.I. was released from jail today with an ankle bracelet and (I’m just guessing) a smile.

[AJC]

• A new African American-run group just formed to promote same sex marriage in the black community. [WJLA]

• Some African this person is! [AA]

• T.I. is probably really regretting all of his pre-jail interviews. [Jossip]

• Black and Hispanics in need of residential alcohol treatment need facilities. [MNT]

• A lack of diversity in the sports coaching world? Why, whenever did that start happening? [OS]

If it wasn’t official this summer, it is official now. David Banner officially needs to close his mouth and not reopen it until he has something intelligent to say.

“Tip was feeding this man’s family,” Banner said of the bodyguard. “We don’t do it like that, dog. We don’t talk to them boys. However it went down, we sit down [and do the jail time,] where I’m from. Dude, you don’t tell it. You hope the people you holding down is man enough to hold your people down. [The bodyguard] wasn’t a convicted felon, my dude. He could have held [Tip] down. We gotta start making the environment in our neighborhoods not conducive to snitching. How I’m doing this song, I’mma make it uncomfortable for snitches.”

Banner admitted that he does not know the specifics of the case but supports his friend regardless.

I don’t know the circumstances of this bodyguard’s relationship with T.I. any more than David Banner does. But I do know that if I’m ever in the position, I won’t be taking the fall for my millionaire rapper boss because he likes to commit totally frivolous felonies between albums. Then again, I’d never take a position for which that sort of thing was implicitly required. Call me old fashioned!

After the jump, RZA and Akon (no way) talk some sense. Relatively speaking.

CONTINUED »