BV Entertainment Wire Nov. 16, 2005

In the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical 'Rent' -- opening on Nov. 23 -- Rosario Dawson tackles her most challenging role to date. As Mimi Marquez, the 26-year old 'Sin City' star takes on the leading role of a teenage drug addict who is HIV positive.

"I'm so encouraged by her vitality and her chutzpah ...I love Mimi, but I'm also glad that I am not Mimi," Dawson said in an interview with Black Voices last weekend.

"I grew up in a squat on the lower east side and my mom was so much of what Mimi could've been, or was," she continued. "She was a young woman and she was struggling and she moved into a building with no heat, no water or electricity, and thought that was a better opportunity for her even though her family thought she was crazy."

Dawson, who has two films in production -- 'The Passion Of The Clerks' and 'Killshot', both due out next year-says she was more than ready to play the coveted role of Mimi, who sings and dances her way into audiences hearts in the Chris Columbus-directed film. "Doing something like 'Rent' and discovering it when I did -a few years after it came out-gave me the articulation to look back on my life and be really proud of what it taught me and where it puts me now."

Her mother was the plumber in their squatter tenement. According to Dawson the family had to bootleg electricity -via an extension chord-from a neighboring building and shared one refrigerator for the entire apartment complex.

With serious fare such as Spike Lee's '25th Hour', 'Shattered Glass' and Oliver Stone's critically-panned 'Alexander' under her belt, Dawson stunned Hollywood power brokers during her audition for 'Rent.' "It was amazing because she came in for the audition and I had no idea that she could sing or dance and by her account she was nervous, but there was a fragile quality to her performance and I was blown away,' Columbus tells Black Voices. "So the producer [Michael Barnathan] and I ran after her and said 'You've got the role.' And that never happens. We just knew it was right."

"I was actually discovered; it wasn't something that I'd ever wanted to do," she added. "But singing and dancing have always been my dream and my fantasy. Some kids wanted to be a ballerina, want to be a princess... I always wanted to sing and dance."

And she does it so well that she's won the endorsement of discerning 'Rent' heads - like the Tony Award winning show's original cast member, Adam Pascal (who stars alongside her in the film). "I'm thankful and I think the audiences are going to be thankful that [she is] in this movie," he said. "As soon as we got together and met, our chemistries clicked. We were all so excited to be about a part of this project."

"I'd never done it before but I was really excited because I knew I could do it even if I was delusional," she concluded.

Murder (Inc.) Was The Case

Today marks the official start of racketeering trial of Murder Inc Records moguls Irving Lorenzo (a.k.a. Irv Gotti) and his brother Christopher Lorenzo at New York's U.S. District Court for the Eastern District.

Irv, 34, is the former DJ of Jay Z and DMX , and responsible for crafting the careers of Ashanti and Ja Rule. The 34 year old record executive and his brother, 38, are accused of laundering drug money for drug lord Kenneth 'Supreme' McGriff -- who allegedly ordered the assassination of 50 Cent after the rapper dissed him in a song called 'Ghetto Qu'Ran (Forgive Me).'

"This is a narrow money laundering case, so the feds either have evidence backing up their claims that Irv laundered Supreme's cash--or they don't," Ethan Brown told Black Voices today. "It's a simple as that."

Brown is the author of 'Queens Reign Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler,' out Nov. 22. The book delves deeply into the history of the Murder Inc. empire and its association to Queens organized crime figures.

Brown tells BV that he was inspired to write the book after researching a cover story about Gotti, McGriff and 50 Cent for New York magazine two years ago."Their reign during the 1980s was one of the most important eras in New York City history: they ran drug crews with unparalleled profits and brought violence to the streets," he comments.

About the case, Brown offered: "One thing that's dismaying about the feds, however, is that they appear to be bringing all manner of unrelated, unproven accusations -- for example, that Supreme had 50 shot -- into the courtroom."

Now called The Inc, the fledgling record label plans on releasing an Ashanti 'hits' package - titled 'Collectables' - next week. Her latest album, released last year, was the most recent set of original music released on the beleaguered Def Jam imprint. Titled 'Concrete Rose,' the set sold 846,907 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Recently, there's been some music industry scuttlebutt that pending the outcome of the current legal woes, the publicly-traded Warner Music Group -helmed by rap titan Lyor Cohen-will pick up The Inc, after it parts ways with Def Jam.

The Lorenzo brothers, who are out on $1 million bail, stand accused of using seed money provided by McGriff, their childhood pal and convicted narcotics czar, to launch Murder Inc. in 1999. The trial, initially set to begin Tuesday, was delayed a day after the defense requested more time to prepare for a key prosecutions witness, a former Murder Inc. employee who handled large amounts of cash.

Hip Hop Honors

Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network are set to fete Destiny's Child, Jermaine Dupri, Nelly and corporate giant Chrysler Financial tonight at New York City's Lighthouse. According to a spokesperson, the annual awards is an exclusive fundraiser for the Action Network. Past honorees include Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris and The Ludacris Foundation, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Pepsi-Cola, Tommy Hilfiger and MTV's 'Choose or Lose' Campaign.

Guests expected to turn out include Dave Chappelle, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Chingy, Doug E. Fresh and Warner Music Group Executive Vice President Kevin Liles, who will deliver a keynote speech.