.::Hip-Hop Street::.: 09/01/2006

Dipset Affiliate Max B Arrested In Murder and Robbery Plot

Dipset affiliate Max B was arrested today (Sept. 29) in connection with a recent murder at a Holiday Inn hotel in Fort Lee, NJ.

According to sources close to the case, Max (born Charles Wingate) was arrested under suspicion of masterminding the murder of a Florida man, 29-year-old David Taylor, during a botched robbery last Friday (Sept. 22). Four Bronx, NY people were also arrested on robbery conspiracy charges for allegedly conspiring to rob Taylor and his assumed business partner, 41-year-old Allan Plowden, earlier this week. None of the four initial arrested were charged with Taylor's murder and they all plead not guilty in BergenCounty's Superior Court yesterday (Sept. 28). Meanwhile, Plowden was charged with money laundering and possession of identity theft.

According to the sources, 23-year-old Maite Castro and 24-year-old Gisselle Nieves allegedly posed as prostitutes to lure Taylor and Plowden in for 27-year-old Julio Cruz and 30-year-old Edward Blancaneaux to rob them.

Initially, one man rejected another alleged prostitute brought to them by Cruz and Blancaneaux. Being scorned by the men, that unnamed woman allegedly suggested to her boyfriend, Max B, that they should rob Taylor and Plowden. Max's crew then apparently beat Cruz and Blancaneaux to the punch and robbed the two men, shooting and killing Taylor. Though he's not believed to be the triggerman, Max is suspected to have allegedly orchestrated the robbery.

According to The Star Ledger, Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Catherine Fantuzzi told a Superior Court Judge that the botched robbery was "related to the homicide" committed in the hotel room at 4:40 a.m. this past Friday. The probe is still ongoing according to James V. Santulli, BergenCounty's Assistant Prosecutor. Santulli initially wouldn't name any suspects in fear that it could affect the investigation.

According to the police, two unidentified men reached the hotel around 3 a.m., entered the rooms and bound and gagged Plowden without hurting Nieves as both were in the room. Taylor, who had been in a separate room with Castro, was called into the other room and shot in the head upon arrival, police said. Castro remained in the other room. Plowden later informed the hotel clerk that a man had been shot in room 408 where cops eventually found Taylor. Officers also caught Plowden walking out of the room with $30,000 of his own money, police said.

According to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, no drugs or weapons were found in the room. He also said that the others present during the shooting didn't notify the hotel clerk until 35-40 minutes later. All the defendants are presently being held in the Bergen County jail. Fantuzzi had a search warrant for Plowden's 2007 Mercedes, but didn't reveal whether anything was uncovered. They are hold being held on $100,000 bails expect Nieves who is being held on $35,000 bail.

Max B is presently signed to Jim Jones' Byrd Gang Records. He has previously appeared on countless Dipset songs, including Cam'ron's "You Got It," the pink panther's Jay-Z dis.
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Source: SOHH

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SoundScan F's Up, "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" Debuts at #1 On Top Rap Albums Chart

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Fabolous' New Album Pushed Back To Feb, Rapper Gives New Producers A Chance

Fabolous' Def Jam debut, tentatively titled From the Bottom to the Top, has been pushed back until February 2007, according to the Brooklyn, N.Y., rapper.

Due to conflicts with the original October release date, Fabolous said the album was pushed back to December and is now slated to hit stores next year, featuring production by Just Blaze, Jazze Pha, and Kanye West, among others.

While Fabolous remained tightlipped about the cameos on the album, he revealed that many of the tracks were crafted by up-and-coming producers.

"We got a lot of new producers, because it's not really about names," the rapper said. "Some of joints on the album that are dope are by guys you may not have heard of, or heard them on a smaller scale. I took joints from everybody."

Fabolous also took advantage of new technology, by auditioning producers using popular Internet sites to find new and untapped talent.

"I set up a MySpace page and put a Gmail [Google mail] account where anyone could send beats and I checked them out," he said. "Of course it got to be too much to handle, but at first I got to listen to a lot of the beats on there. It was definitely helpful, even if I didn't get to use them on the album. I will, for future mixtape stuff as long as they are cool with that."

Fabolous' most recent effort, Real Talk, spawned the single "Breathe," his highest-charting single to date as a solo artist, but failed to match his previous successes, selling only 500,000 units.

His platinum-selling 2001 debut Ghetto Fabolous generated the hit singles "You Can't Deny It," featuring Nate Dogg, and "Young'n," while 2003's Street Dreams has also sold over a million copies.

Slow sales of Real Talk and a rift in his relationship with Atlantic prompted Fabolous to leave the label last spring and sign a deal with Def Jam, which is headed by fellow Brooklyn MC Jay-Z.

"There are no hard feelings. Our business relationship over there [at Atlantic] went sour," Fabolous said. "I moved on and it's time to do some new deals."

Fabolous plans to precede his Def Jam release with the second installment of his mixtape Loso's Way, which will arrive in December.

"I wanted to do it during December when people are home from work and school," Fabolous said. "Give them [fans] a chance to zone out, to get them hype for the February release."

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