Z 104 - Thursday, April 17

Thursday, April 17

Akon talks a big game about his criminal past, and the hard time he's done. But the Smoking Gun website is finally calling him on it. They conducted a pretty extensive investigation, and determined that most of what Akon says is bull. Over the years, Akon has boasted about spending a total of four and a half years in prison. Most of that was for his role as the, "ringleader of a notorious car theft operation" that catered to celebrities and drug dealers. It all collapsed, however, when some employees cut deals with the cops and ratted him out. That got him a three-year sentence in a Georgia prison. But according to the Smoking Gun, Akon's criminal legacy is, "to an overwhelming extent exaggerated, embellished or wholly fabricated." After going over police, court and corrections records, they found six arrests on Akon's rap sheet. He only had one felony, for gun possession, and all he got for it was three years probation. As for his supposed international car theft and chop shop operation, Akon was busted in suburban Atlanta for possession of one stolen BMW. He spent a few months in the DeKalb County Jail, before prosecutors dropped all the charges. No comment yet from Akon or anybody at his label or in his camp.

The Game is crumbling under the pressure of it all. So much so that he's even had suicidal thoughts. In the June issue of "XXL" magazine, Game says, "My life is (effed) up right now. I'm in a (effed) up place. My fans love me, and I know what they want but in a minute, I'm not gonna be physically capable of pleasing the world with music because my mind isn't right. People are driving me under God's good earth. Sometimes I wanna be at peace so bad that I wish myself off of the earth." Regardless, Game isn't only "crying" for himself. He's also crying for hip-hop. He says, "The tears coming from my left eye are from my (stuff) that I'm dealing with in my life, and the tears down my right cheek are tears for hip-hop."

Snoop Dogg was at Monday's "CMA Music Awards" as a guest presenter. "People" magazine was interviewing Snoop backstage when he suddenly caught site of Leann Rimes and he liked what he saw. He stopped mid-sentence and said, "Wow, damn. Who is that? She is beautiful." Snoop and LeAnn were introduced, but with all the chaos, they eventually went their separate ways. But Snoop Dogg wasn't the only one who came away impressed. Reflecting on it later LeAnn said, "He made me feel like the most beautiful woman there with all of his flattering comments. You never know, there could be a Snoop and LeAnn duet sometime soon! I never rule anything out."

She’s only 15. But Disney wants Miley Cyrus to write her autobiography, detailing her pop-star life to date. Disney Books is looking for a ghostwriter to put her story on paper. The plan is to move her away from Hannah Montana, which she’s outgrown. How do you outgrow such a huge success? Sure a money-making empire like that should be retired!

Are you ready for "Making the Band 4" the tour? Yesterday, the details were announced. "Making the Band" creations Danity Kane and Day26 will headline the tour, which will also feature Donnie KlangandCheri Dennis. It's scheduled to kick off May 24th in Orlando and run through June 10th in Los Angeles. Here’s the whole line up:

May
24 Orlando, FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
25 Miami, FL The Fillmore Miami Beach
29 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
30 Baltimore, MD Pier Six Concert Pavilion
31 Detroit, MI Fillmore
June
1 Chicago, IL Chicago Auditorium
5 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
6 Las Vegas, NV The Pearl Concert Theater
7 San Diego, CA Viejas Casino
9, 10 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern

It took Mariah Carey Week to do what seems to have been coming for a long time, get Kristy Lee Cook off "American Idol". Kristy's comrades in the bottom three last night were Syesha Mercado and Brooke White. Next week's theme is Broadway with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber as the guest mentor.