Cypress Hill, Juvenile, DMX, Kanye West

Rap group Cypress Hill is being sued in Chicago Federal Court by songwriter Glenn Watts for copyright infringement over a track contained on their platinum-selling sophomore album Black Sunday. Watts penned the song "Is It Because I'm Black," which was recorded by R&B legend Syl Johnson. The songwriter claims the group illegally infringed on his copyrights to "Interlude," a track on Black Sunday, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release in 1993. The song was originally released on Winight Records. Juvenile has been named in a lawsuit alleging that fans were charged twice for VIP tickets during a concert at a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in Montgomery County Court, fans were charged $100 to attend a VIP area of The Foundry nightclub. When they attempted to enter the VIP area, another $100 was demanded. The Foundry, Hot 102.9 FM, Juvenile, and clothing store Hip-Hop Culture are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Representatives for Hip-Hop Culture told AllHipHop.com they were unaware of the pending litigation. DMX is filming a new movie in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, titled Death Toll. The straight-to-DVD film centers around gang violence in New Orleans during the early '90s. According to reports, Baton Rouge was picked because many potential shooting locations in New Orleans were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Death Toll is due in October and also stars Lou Diamond Phillips and Keisha Knight Pulliam. Kanye West will perform during a private concert hosted at Cipriani Wall Street tonight (June 22) as part of the New York nightclub's Wall Street concert series. Tickets for the event start at $1,500 and tables are fetching up to $18,000 to attend the entire seven-concert series. Proceeds will be donated to the Foundation for AIDS Research. Previous performers include Lionel Richie and Gloria Estefan. In related news, West has been nominated for seven Billboard Awards, while rapper Young Jeezy has earned four nods. The Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B Awards take place during Billboard's 7th Annual Hip-Hop/R&B Conference, which runs Sept. 6-8 at The Renaissance Waverly in Atlanta.