T.I. Denied Bail
After being arrested this past Sunday on charges that he’d instructed his bodyguard to purchase a cache of machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, T.I. faced another legal setback this afternoon when he was denied bail by Judge Alan Braverman. T.I. will appear before Braverman again this Friday, at which time it will be determined whether probable cause for his arrest can be established, and whether he will be released on bail before his trial begins. This isn't T.I.'s first fracas with the law — he was arrested in 1997 on drug charges and then again in 2004 for violating the terms of his probation. What's surprising about T.I.'s current imbroglio is that it comes after a particularly striking wave of success. His recent album nearly T.I. vs. T.I.P. went gold during the week of its release, and "My Love," his collaboration with Justin Timberlake, spent 29 Weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. If convicted, T.I. could face a minimum of five years in prison.





Led Zeppelin, Digitized
It’s like some kind of sudden renaissance for Led Zeppelin. After what felt like an eternal skirmish in the battle of evermore, the group has announced that their catalog will finally be available through all major online retailers on November 13. Guitarist Jimmy Page, in a candid quote that doesn't read at all like a prepared statement, said "The addition of the digital option will better enable fans to obtain their music in whichever manner they prefer." The announcement comes a month before the group's one-off reunion show, tickets for which can still be obtained with a certain degree of luck and a healthy barrel of cash. What’s more, a separate deal signed with Verizon Wirless will allow the Zep catalog to be julianned into ringtones, presenting longtime fans with the unfortunate task of determining which portion of “Whole Lotta Love” makes the better calling card for the cleaning lady: the opening riff, or the galloping chorus?





Ghostface/Wu-Tang Beef?
In an elliptical video post on his MySpace profile last week, Wu-Tang rapper Ghostface Killah announced that his new record (inexplicably/awesomely titled The Big Dough Rehab) would be released on December 4th — the same day as the Wu-Tang comeback record, 8 Diagrams. This kind of Wu co-release is curious but not without precedent. In The Wu-Tang Manual, RZA argues that two Wu artists sharing a street date actually works to the greater benefit of both. Now, though, it seems the double-booking is not as benign as it initially appeared.

In an interview with MTV, Ghostface lashed out at what he called “the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan,” claiming he’d set a December 4th release date months ago and that the decision to move 8 Diagrams to that date is the result of dalliances within the Wu-Tang camp. “I had December 4th for the longest,” he says, “but the Wu album, brothers were…late on whatever they were doing.” The charges get gradually more severe, with Ghost finally alleging that Loud records chief Steve Rifkin has put in calls to Def Jam to try to get his record indefinitely postponed.

Tensions have been escalating between Ghost and the rest of the Clan for months. This past summer, Ghostface failed to show up for several scheduled Wu-Tang appearances on the Rock the Bells Tour. Though Ghost stops short of naming which particular members of the Clan are responsible for the 12/4 bottleneck, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killah and GZA are summarily exonerated.