OutMind Reckordz

Yung Joc recently addressed allegations made by the mother of his seven-year-old son claiming that the Atlanta rapper was behind on his child support payments. As reported earlier, Fatimah Jester went public last week claiming that Joc owed over $2,000 in court-ordered child support payments and has refused to stay in touch with her. Joc called Atlanta radio station V103 yesterday (August 18) to clarify the issue.  The rapper stressed that he pays child support monthly and that Jester made a big deal out of the issue because the process to send the money was delayed. “I never missed a payment,” Joc said.  “I don’t pay it directly to her; I pay it through [the Georgia Department of Resources Office of Child Support Services].  My banker wires the funds to DHR; they wire the funds right to her account.  However long that takes, she needs to discuss that with them, and not put me out there bad like that.” Joc, who also emphasized that he spends quality time with his son, revealed he was dismayed by how the media portrayed him as a dead beat dad and pointed out his past offences. “They brought up all the charges I been through but they never brought up the fact that since I been on I’ve contributed over half a million to charities and I do charitable work every week,” Joc stressed. “You got cats out here that don’t even be with their kids.  And it hurts even more because I am a black man…you born into this world as a black man, your back’s against the wall.  So I’m trying to do everything I can to go against the odds”.

A Los Angeles judge presiding over an assault and battery lawsuit filed against The Game by a local basketball coach is urging both parties to resolve the suit via mediation. As reported earlier, Shannon Rodrick filed the lawsuit against Game in March claiming that the Compton rapper punched him and threatened with him with a gun during a basketball game at a Los Angeles high school in 2007. The Game would plead no contest to a felony charge of possession of a firearm in a school zone as part of a plea bargain and only served eight days behind bars. According to The Contra Costa Times, Judge Elihu M. Berle told Rodricks's lawyer today (August 19) to notify The Game that an agreement should be reached. If both parties cant come to an agreement, Rodrick could win a default juidgement against Game or the case will go to trial on March 30th, 2009. Rodrick's suit is seeking unspecified damages for the physical injuries and humiliation he suffered from the incident.

Joe Budden will be giving his fans a chance to watch him wrap up his long awaited sophomore album titled Padded Room. Budden and his label, Amalgam Digital, will offer a live webcast of  the  rapper's final studio session for Padded Room on Thursday (August 21) from 4pm-7pm ET  via www.AmalgamDigital.com/TV. Padded Room, which hits stores on October 28th, will be Budden's first official release in 5 years. The first single off Padded Room is “Touch & Go” .  Budden will be releasing a video for the song in September.  [Listen to "Touch & Go"]

Kim Osorio, the former editor-in-chief of The Source Magazine, will be releasing her tell-all book about her tumultuous tenure at the self proclaimed "Hip Hop Bible" next month. The book, titled Straight From The Source: An Expose from the Former Editor of the Hip-Hop Bible, chronicles Osorio's experiences at the magazine including the sexual harassment she faced. Osorio sued the magazine in 2005 for sexual discrimination and was awarded over $5 million by a judge. The book will hit shelves on September 9th via Pocket/VH1 Books.

So So Def honcho Jermaine Dupri reportedly shut down his Atlanta restaurant Cafe Dupri last week and his employees claim that they haven’t been paid for weeks because of faulty checks. According to WSB-TV, the restaurant’s employees claim that prior to the business shutting down they had been receiving bounced checks and no action was taken to get them fully compensated. “Just about everybody in the restaurant got checks that were no good” said former bartender Amy Fosse.  “Every time I go to the bank, they say ‘Maybe come back tomorrow, there is nothing here’”. “It's a mess,” added Lakeisha Ross, a former cook. The workers claim they were not notified of the restaurant’s closure and only found out after coming to work to find a post on the doors saying the eatery was "closed indefinitely". Dupri’s mother, Tina Mauldin, who serves as CEO for the restaurant, claims that all the workers have been paid and the restaurant’s closure was a “business decision”. Mauldin would take a swipe at her former employees saying that if they had worked harder, the restaurant would still be open.