A raging fire broke out at a Long Island, New York home owned by rapper 50 Cent early this morning. Speaking to TMZ, the local fire department have labelled the fire ‘highly suspicious’. Check out the report below:

The fire broke out at the six bedroom, five bath house in Dix Hills, NY around 5:00 AM. Six people, including the rapper’s ex Shaniqua Tompkins and their 10-year-old son Marquise, were in the house. They all were transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

The Chief of the Dix Hills Fire Department tells TMZ that dogs are currently searching the burned out rubble, as the intensity of the fire made it highly suspect. The Chief says they’re searching for what substance possibly could have been used as an igniter.

The house has been the subject of a bitter dispute between Fiddy, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, and Tompkins. The rapper reportedly bought the home — one of the biggest cribs in the area — for a cool $2.4 mil in January 2007. Last month he tried to evict Tompkins and Marquise from the house, demanding she pay him $4,500 a month in rent.

Story developing …

UPDATE 10:25 AM ET: Suffolk Police tell us they received a call at 5 AM. An off-duty police officer was driving by and stopped to help rescue the victims inside the house. We’re told injuries to all six victims — including Tompkins — are non-life threatening and they have been treated and released from the hospital. While they are currently investigating the fire’s cause, we’re told 50 Cent is not a suspect at this point.

Without doing the inevitable finger pointing, this is the most suspicious ‘ish’ I’ve heard heard in a long while. I mean 50 & Shaniqua were seen having a heated arguement on a New York street just this Monday; 50 even had to be restrained. SMH…

Diddy is currently putting the wheels in motion for the follow-up to his last LP 2006’s collabo heavy ‘Press Play’. Speaking on who he’d like to work with on the record, the music mogul revealed that he has his sights set on UK singing sensation Leona Lewis:

The rapper explained that, following his pairing with Christina Aguilera on his last album, 2006’s ‘Press Play’, he wants Lewis to feature prominently on his next.

P. Diddy, real name Sean Combs, told the Daily Mirror: “I want that girl on my next album. I’m a huge fan. Not only is she so, so beautiful, she has a great voice. She is extremely talented, and it’s great she’s from England.

“She has one of the best voices I’ve heard. I’m already thinking about my next album and definitely want to make it work, so she’s on it.

“I had Christina Aguilera on my last album, but it’s all about Leona Lewis on my next.” {Source}

Hmm. Here’s hoping he tends to the Making The Band 4 clan first, all of whom are in dire need to new singles, promotion etc. Then again, this is Diddy…

Your thoughts?

The ladies nailed it, both vocally and with the choreography. They really are seizing the previously vacant title of hottest girl-group out at the moment and running with it. Pussycat Dolls, who?

What do you think of the performances?

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Part 1: Moving Mountains, Here I Stand

BET aired an Usher ‘Here I Stand’ special to celebrate the release of the singer’s album earlier this week. The 29 year old performed select tracks from the record as well as an old favourite (‘Yeah’).

Part 2: Yeah, Love In This Club

Great performances.

In other Usher news, despite reports that ‘Here I Stand’ has been illegally downloaded more than half a million times, the singer is still on course to have one of the highest first-week sales so far this year with first day sales of 146,000 according Nielsen SoundScan. To get an idea of what the album is set to sell first week, one need not look further than Mariah Carey, whose ‘E=MC²’ LP sold 154,000 on its first day out, going on to shift 463,000 units by the week’s end back in April. Though the numbers are looking very promising, it’s a far cry from the 1.1 Million Usher’s last LP ‘Confessions’ sold first week. {Source}

Any thoughts?

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What do you think of the pics?

The third and final video for Kanye West’s ‘Flashing Lights’ surfaced just a few hours ago. Though better than the second, I’m still out of the loop as to what the vids are actually about. Kudos to Kanye for continually thinking out of the box, though…

What do you think of the vid?