In your Hip Hop round-up we have reports on Akon, Lloyd Banks and G-Unit, Russell Simmons and the Jay-Z death rumour

Akon loses sponsorship
Akon - after his recent outlandish behavior which involved him simulating sex with a minor after he pulled her on stage to dance with him in Trinidad, the R&B sensation has found himself in the middle of more controversy . Akon who was going out on the road with Gwen Stefani this Summer as the No Doubt front lady's opening act, has upset Verizon the main sponsor of the tour so much with his antics that the telephone company has pulled out of the tour.

Talking to FOX news the company said "This week the partnership ended. We have music services on our cellphone service and we were promoting him as one of the artists. The other part of the sponsorship was the Gwen Stefani tour, of which he was an opening act. We are no longer sponsoring the tour."Officials on the West Indian island where the controversial incident took place between the singer and 14 year old Danah Alleyne are attempting to ban the SRC recording artist from performing there again.

Lloyd Banks Concert Cancelled in the UK
A club in Derby was forbidden from opening for 24 hours over the weekend as local officials discovered that G Unit member Lloyd Banks was set to perform at the T Five venue in Derby city center. 600 people had bought tickets to the event. Police received a court order to shut down the event to avoid the concert for fear of violence erupting the city. Chief Inspector Gary Parkin said: "It's not particularly the individual, although it is a music genre that glorifies guns and violence."

There was no comment from the owners of the club in regards to this turn in events, but police did say that they were working with promoters to guarantee ticket holders got a full refund.

Russel Simmons book makes NY Times list
Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success, the new book by Russel Simmons has been granted a coveted spot on the New York Times best selling book list.

The book which offers want to be entrepreneurs a step by step guide to achieving success and wealth was released on April 24th and the Def Jam founder was aided by critically acclaimed journalist Chris Morrow in writing this, his second book.

Jay Z alive and well
There were rumors circulating this week that rapper and CEO of Def Jam had been involved in a plane crash while traveling to Las Vegas this weekend for the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

The story had been reported on gossip column TMZ.com, but sources at Def Jam told reporters that the rumor that Jay Z was on the plane were false.

There was however a plane crash involving three men when their plane came down in North Carolina, but Jay Z was not on board. Jay Z actually threw a lavish after-party after Mayweather won the WBC super welterweight belt in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The party was attended by the creme de la creme in Hip-Hop, including Sean Combs, 50 Cent and Nelly.

Melanie J Cornish