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| Beanie Sigel Signing With G-Unit? May Be Best Way For MC To Avoid Picking Sides |
10/1/2005 |
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With most of his legal troubles now behind him, Beanie Sigel is going to be honored like a hero on Saturday in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Over the summer while Beanie was in jail, a 20-year-old pregnant Philadelphia woman named Latoyia
"I didn''t want to be in the situation where I had to pick between my homies." — Beanie Sigel
Photos, audio and video from this story
Beanie Sigel
"Change"
The B.Coming
(Roc-A-Fella)
Figueroa went missing. Beanie put up an undisclosed amount of money as a reward to help find her. She was eventually found slain, but a tip led police to her alleged killer, her boyfriend, who later confessed to the murder in court.
On Saturday, the woman''s father, Melvin Figueroa, along with Councilman Juan Ramos, radio personality Golden Girl and her station Power 99 FM are presenting Sigel with an award of appreciation for his aid in the case.
"I was booked when I heard the story about the girl missing," Sigel explained on Thursday from his hometown. "Wasn''t nobody really doing nothing. They had a reward for $10,000 but ain''t nobody really going to try to do anything for that. I wanted to start something. I was like, ''Damn, I''m in jail.'' I wanted to do anything I could. All I had was a radio. I felt like if I''m in jail and I could make a move to find this girl, everybody else could do what they could do too. I wanted to just motivate people to try and find the girl."
When asked how much he put up for the reward, Sigel said the figure eventually went up to $100,000.
As for his own legal battles, Beanie was just acquitted of attempted murder and is feeling relieved (see "Beanie Sigel Acquitted In Attempted-Murder Trial").
"It feels good," he said. "It''s a real burden off my shoulders. I can do everything I was doing but do it to the level I want. [With the trial looming] everything was limited. I was praying for the best and preparing for the worst. Now I can sit back and really plan out everything. It feels good not to have to worry about that sh--."
Since his release from prison last month (see "Beanie Sigel Released From Prison"), Beanie has appeared in the video for Young Jeezy''s "Soul Survivor" and recorded the "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" remix for Sheek Louch. Now he''s ready to get in the lab and work on his own project.
"I really was just concentrating on these [legal] troubles," he said. "Now that they''re gone I''m ready to go back in the studio ASAP." Sigel said he doesn''t necessarily have to work with big-name producers for his whole album, but is looking forward to trying to secure beats from Scott Storch and Mannie Fresh.
"I like Mannie Fresh''s energy," he said. "I''m feeling him. I wanna sit down and build with him. I just don''t want a track from him. I wanna sit down and me and him create what we do."
Beanie said he hasn''t had a chance to sit down with Jay-Z yet, but the two have talked briefly over the phone and he still considers Hov a great friend (see "Beanie Blasts ''Disloyal'' State Property, Explains Why He''s With Dame And Not Jay-Z") — so great that he''s chosen not to stay with the Dame Dash Music Group. Don''t get it twisted, though — Beanie hasn''t fallen out with Dame, either. In fact, Dash was at the courthouse this week when Sigel won his trial. The Broad Street Bully said he just doesn''t want to get in the middle of everything going on between Jay and Dame.
"I got my own [State Property imprint] with Universal," he explained. "I didn''t want to be in the situation where I had to pick between my homies. They both good homies of mine. I didn''t wanna pick one way and go the other. Then they going through whatever they going through and I didn''t want to be in the middle of that equation. I just said the best thing for me to do as a man and true friend was to back up from both situations. I would have my friends on the same level. I don''t gotta worry about one feeling no type of way because I''m riding with this one. That''s a real uncomfortable feeling."
One person Sig may be aligning with, however, is 50 Cent. Beanie has heard the rumors, just as his fans have, that he''s signing with the G-Unit. Sigel said nothing has happened beyond a few conversations with 50, and noted that even if they do business together, it would have to be some type of co-venture. Beanie can''t see himself being anyone''s artist anymore.
To read about how a prison connection linked Beans to 50, be sure to check out the next edition of Mixtape Monday.
— Shaheem Reid
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