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Rapper T.I. was arrested in Atlanta yesterday [October 13] by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after he allegedly attempted to purchase three machine guns and two silencers from an undercover agent, acting as an arms dealer.

In addition to the three machine guns found in his College Park home, police also recovered six additional firearms from a closet in the rapper’s house.

T.I. has been charged with felony possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

According to U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias, T.I. allegedly sought to purchase an unregistered machine gun, as well as numerous other weapons.

T.I. allegedly paid almost a total of $21,000 in cash to his bodyguard to purchase over 25 firearms on his behalf.

The bodyguard, who was acting as a cooperating witness, told agents that he was purchasing the machine guns on T.I.’s behalf because the rapper is a convicted felon.

The man, who had been employed since July 2007, allegedly purchased nine weapons for the rapper as well as one weapon on behalf of another, unnamed individual.

The bodyguard purchased a total of nine weapons for T.I. and 17 for others on behalf of T. I., because of his prior felony conviction, which prevents him from legally owning firearms.

“Machine guns pose a serious danger to the community, which is why they are so carefully regulated,” said David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. “The last place machine guns should be is in the hands of a convicted felon, who cannot legally possess any kind of firearm. This convicted felon allegedly was trying to add several machine guns to an already large and entirely illegal arsenal of guns. Thanks to the good and quick work of ATF, he is now in custody and his firearms have been seized.”

The bodyguard, acting as a Confidential Witness [CW] placed a series of phone calls to T.I., which were recorded by the ATF.

The CW called T.I. and said “he had everything,” referring to machine guns he was allegedly supposed to purchase on behalf of the rapper.

On October 12, T.I. called the CW and ordered him to deliver the weapons yesterday [October 13].

“This investigation developed very quickly,” said Vanessa McLemore, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Atlanta Division. “We learned only this Wednesday that the cooperating witness was allegedly buying the machine guns for Harris. The cooperating witness told Harris on Thursday that he had obtained the items, and on Friday Harris made it clear that he wanted them delivered to him today. Harris then agreed to meet and took possession of the machine guns this afternoon. He now faces serious federal charges and a potentially long prison sentence.”

T.I. will remain in federal custody until Monday, October 15, when he will appear before US Magistrate Judge Alan J. Baverman at the United States Courthouse in Atlanta.

A week after BET premiered “Hip-Hop Vs. America,” a town hall meeting featuring Nelly, T.I., Chuck D, Reverend Al Sharpton and columnist Stanley Crouch, Pimp Juice caught up with SOHH to address hip-hop’s alleged glorifying ways.

In addition to the aforementioned panelists, “Hip-Hop Vs. America” also featured Mike Jones, Professor Michael Eric Dyson, author Nelson George and model turned actress Melyssa Ford, among many others. Moderated by BET’s Jeff Johnson and Toure, the discussions had the speakers weighing in on hip-hop’s relationship with crime, its degradation of women, lyrical accountability and the glorification of the black community’s ills. Discussions often heated up with panelists sitting on opposite sides of the issues.

“This is what is sort of misleading from the show if you look at it in a way,” Nelly told SOHH. “‘Cause once the cameras are off, everybody is cool. But, it also was some debating when the camera goes off, ’cause everybody is speaking from their view point. And the point is, nobody is wrong. I just think people are pointing the finger at the wrong thing as far as the blame.”

“People wanna say that rap is glorifying the problems from the neighborhood,” Nelly continued. “The thing is, even if you gon’ glorify it, it’s still a problem. People wanna end the glorification and not end the problem. We’re attacking hip-hop as a copout and it’s an easy way to diverge everybody because older people don’t like it. When we first started listening to hip-hop, my granny and them thought Run-DMC and them was straight hoods. She didn’t get it. She’s from a different era in music and it’s the same thing as what’s going on right now.”

At one point during the discussion, former Essence Magazine editor Diane Weathers, who had previously been “angry with Nelly” because of his controversial “Tip Drill” video, acknowledged that she had misjudged the rapper.

“You know Nelly, it’s nice to sit here and see how intelligent you are and that your children are doing well, because I was very angry with you over ‘Tip Drill,’” Weathers told Nelly during the telecast.

“That’s the whole point. When she said that, that should have been the end of the show,” an animated Nelly stressed. “Because that’s all you gotta do. Nobody comes to us and talks to us. Nobody gets our perception because they take in our entertainment.”

“We’re entertaining because we do go to these clubs,” he added, before pointing how sweet Weathers was in their post show conversations. “Of course you’re not gonna get the music, because you don’t go to clubs. When’s the last time she’s been to a club? When’s the last time she’s been in there partying off of Miles Davis. I’m sorry, Miles ain’t gon’ get the club crunk. It’s just that simple. You have to understand the era that you live in and understand the people before you can judge what it is that they’re doing. You’re judging what they’re doing and not knowing where it’s coming from.”

Nelly’s Brass Knuckles is scheduled to hit stores in November

Southside (Queens). The warning came from a young man, who was walking through Rochdale Village, a project in Queens’ Southside (photo Jean-Cosme Delaloye). “If you want to find people, who could tell you about 50 Cent, check the strip. But it might be hard for you to find somebody to talk to considering the fact that you are White”, he said before politely declining a request for an interview. The “strip” is in fact group of a dozen of shops on the other side of the Guy Brewer Boulevard, where the rapper 50 Cent was arrested in 1994 for selling drugs to an undercover police officer.

In Southside, Queens, 50 Cent’s “hood”, young people respect the millionaire rapper, even if “Fif” has been thumped by rival Kanye West in an epic sales battle following the September-11 release of their latest LP’s. In the first two weeks, West has sold 957,000 copies of his Graduation compared to the 692,000 copies of Curtis sold by 50 Cent. For the young people of Southside, the new hip-hop war can only have one winner: 50 Cent.

Inside Butter Cutter barbershop, a few tattooed young men were getting a haircut on a Saturday morning of September 2007. “I am getting my due done, you know what I’m saying”, said a man called Pop. The 25-year old who describes himself as a milkman added he respected Fif’s “word game”. As he was talking to this reporter, 50 Cent, who had decided to pay a surprise visit to his old neighborhood, waled into the barbershop. “Oh shit, shouted Pop. I cannot believe it. Yo Fif, I love your new album, man”.

One of the unwritten rules of Southside, is that you cannot walk up to 50 Cent and ask him to talk about his neighborhood without asking permission. “Who allowed you to that?” the former boxer asked this reporter, when the latter first asked him a question. “I have got nothing to say”. After a couple of pictures with kids from his neighborhood, the star walked out. Next try.”50, can you tell me about the impact of Southside on your career?”, the reporter asked. “(expletive) yourself”, replied 50 Cent (Listen to the encounter with 50 Cent here). One of his bodyguards shouted something about the media looking for controversy before the rapper quickly left the barbershop in a black SUV.

What 50 Cent would not talk about is that Southside was an epicenter of gang wars in the 1980s. At the age of 8, 50 Cent, born Curtis James Jackson III, lost his mother. The cocaine dealer was murdered at the age of 23 over drugs. The violence has subsided in the neighborhood but drugs and gangs continue to be a problem only in certain areas of Southside. In 2000, 50 Cent was shot in his neighborhood. Asked before 50 Cent walked into the shop how kids could make it out of Southside, one of the barbers had replied: “You go to school and you sell drugs”.

Kanye West’s background is very different from 50 Cent’s. He was born in Atlanta but grew up in Chicago’s middle class. Ray West, his father, was one of the first black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and is now a Christian counselor. Kanye’s mother was an English professor before serving as Kanye’s manager.

50 Cent had first claimed he would retire from making solo albums if West won the sales battle, but in Southside nobody believed he would stop making music. Fif has already backed down from this claim. His next album is due next year. Its title: “Before I self-destruct”.

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears was ordered Monday to surrender custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon ruled that Federline will take custody of Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, beginning Wednesday “until further order of the court.”

The order stemmed from an unspecified oral motion made by Federline’s attorneys and was handled in a closed-door hearing. The judge’s order didn’t state the reason for the change in custody and all transcripts of the proceedings were ordered sealed.

Phone messages left for representatives of Spears and Federline were not immediately returned Monday.

Last month, Gordon said Spears engaged in “habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol.” He ordered the pop star to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week as part of her ongoing custody dispute with Federline.

Spears also was previously ordered to meet weekly with a “parenting coach” who was to observe and report back to the court about her parenting skills. Both Spears and Federline must complete the court’s “Parenting Without Conflict” class.

Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, were wed in October 2004. She filed for divorce last November and it became official in July. The two have joint custody of their sons, but Federline is seeking a greater share of custody.

Since Spears became single, her troubles have played out in the tabloids. First she was photographed at various Hollywood hotspots partying with Paris Hilton. Some photos captured Spears without panties. Then Spears shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and ended up spending a month in rehab.

An MTV Video Music Awards performance last month meant to herald her comeback was universally panned. The following week, Spears’ management firm dropped her and her divorce lawyer resigned.

She then was charged with misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run and driving without a valid license for allegedly crashing into a parked car in August.

Spears’ new album will be released Nov. 13.

Houston, Texas rapper Chamillionaire is preparing to shoot the video for Industry Groupie, the latest single from his critically acclaimed sophomore album Ultimate Victory.

The video re-teams the rapper with veteran director Marc Klasfeld, who shot the video for his single “Hip-Hop Police” featuring Slick Rick.

“Most of the time before you choose a director for your video, you have to look at different treatments in order to pick out the right one, but with Marc I just sat down and talked to him and he completely understood where I was going and what I wanted to do creatively with that record,” Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com.

The rapper also clarified the conceptual song’s subject matter, despite the message the title conveys.

“It’s a conceptual song. A lot of people listen to it and think I am talking about a female that has slept with a whole bunch of rappers, but I am actually talking about the industry overall and how it has changed,” Chamillionaire revealed. “All my songs have a concept and if you just sit back and really listen to my album, you will realize that all the records where it sounds like I am talking about a female, I am really talking about music.”

Chamillionaire, who snagged a Grammy Award in Feb. 2007 for his single “Ridin,” hopes Ultimate Victory will reap the same rewards.

The video for “Hip-Hop Police” was recently nominated for a BET Hip-Hop Award for Best Hip-Hop Video of the Year.

“To me gaining a nomination is a blessing,” Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “It feels good to be recognized for doing something different and being creative. At the end of the day, people fail to realize that we are artists and as artists we have to constantly change and reinvent ourselves so that we can push the envelope and take creativity to a completely different level.”

Chamillionaire, who is currently in Paris, France on a tour of Europe, is also planning a tour of the United States.

He is also developing new artists Tony Henry, an R&B singer and rappers Lil’ Ken and Young Low.

“A lot of artists start to feel like they are too big to go one the road,” Chamillionaire said, “I feel that is the best way to reach people is to go where they are, that is why I am talking to you from Paris. My artists are here with me learning the in’s and out’s of the business because I want them to be the best artists they can be and help them develop creatively, so that Chamillitary can one day be a dynasty like Roc-A-Fella, No Limit and Bad Boy.”