Lil Wayne performs at Cruzan Amphitheatre on Tuesday. (Aaron Gilbert / Luum Photos)

How would you like to gross $60 million doing what you love?

Gil Smith II and partner Adrian “AP” Porter are doing just that. They are the musical directors for one of the biggest names in rap, Lil Wayne, as well as Wayne’s Young Money labelmate Nicki Minaj.

The list doesn’t stop there: There’s Cee Lo Green, Keri Hilson and their latest addition, Frank Ocean of Odd Future. The tours Smith has directed for Wayne and Young Money alone have grossed over $60 million.

More: Visit this writer’s website | Photos from Lil Wayne’s show at Cruzan

Most of us buy tickets, mark the date on the calendar, pick out something special to wear and show up for the show. What we hope and expect is to be entertained, to feel that we were privy to an intimate experience between us and the performer, getting to hear our favorite songs live and go home with music playing in our head.
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Lil Wayne performs at the BET Awards, held in June. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

It doesn’t matter if you’re 12 or 50, it seems everyone these days has heard of Lil Wayne.

That’s a pretty broad age group — considering that his field is rap, the fan base of which is usually limited to the young. But that’s the kind of impact the man born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. has had.

Lil Wayne will put his skills as a rapper on display Tuesday at the Cruzan Amphitheatre, the latest stop on his I AM Music tour. Also performing Tuesday are rapper Rick Ross, singer Keri Hilson, electronic/hip-hop act Far East Movement and singer Lloyd.

Directions, nearby food | Visit this writer’s website

Lil Wayne’s words reflect his education, which came from the streets and everyday life. Musically, his style can come from anywhere on the map, from R&B to hard rock.

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Cover of Ja Rule

Rapper and actor Ja Rule faces sentencing in federal court in New Jersey for failing to file income tax returns.

The platinum-selling rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, faces up to three years in prison at his sentencing in Newark.

Atkins admitted in March that he failed to pay taxes on more than $3 million in income that he earned between 2004 and 2006 while he lived in Saddle River.

Ja Rule was sentenced in New York City last month to up to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted criminal weapon possession. The case stemmed from a gun found in his luxury sports car in July 2007.

Rolling, with the p-i-e, got my rag top down....I got nothing. Sorry. Never mind.

I’m a huge fan of the Travel Channel’s “Man Vs Food Nation,” hosted by food enthusiast Adan Richman, because it’s an edible tour of the country’s eating challenges, and because I’m fascinated by how food challenge-loving Richman’s heart hasn’t exploded yet. The most recent episode mainly involved a conch fritter eating contest in the Keys, featuring a tiny University of Miami student (Richman’s wisely letting the Nation do his challenges now), but took a detour to Blue Heaven, one of my favorite Key West spots, to sample its sky high key lime pie.

And guess who was there with Richman to sample said key lime scrumptiousness? One Rob Van Winkle, also known as Wellington resident Vanilla Ice. I’m not sure why he was in Key West, or why he’s an expert on key lime pie, but he told Richman he’d been coming to the area since he was a kid. And Richman, always a clever sort, was right there with the “Ice Ice Baby” references. It was a funny bit, and Van Winkle seems to know his pie. It certainly made my hungry, and reminded me of that girls weekend we all took there once, when a chicken running through the Blue Heaven courtyard chasing another chicken hit my friend Stephanie in the head.

But that’s a story for another time.

The rapper Tone Loc has been arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence in Southern California.

Burbank police Sgt. Tracy Sanchez says 45-year-old Anthony Smith was arrested Saturday. That’s Tone Loc’s real name.

Sanchez could not confirm that the man arrested is Tone Loc, but Smith’s birthdate and description in Los Angeles County jail records match those of the rapper. Sanchez also could not provide any details about the alleged victim or the circumstances.

Smith was being held in a Burbank jail on $50,000 bail.
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Tupac Shakur was shot five times in 1994 in a robbery attempt at Quad Studio in Manhattan, two years before the rapper's death. (AP)

A man serving a life sentence has come forward as the shooter in a 1994 robbery that resulted in Tupac Shakur being shot five times, according to several news reports.

Originally reported by AllHipHop.com, Dexter Isaac admitted to shooting Shakur at Manhattan’s Quad Studio — the confession coming on the eve of what would’ve been the rapper’s 40th birthday.

Isaac, who according to The Village Voice is currently serving a life term in Brooklyn, told AllHipHop.com that he was paid $2,500 and all of the jewelry he took during the robbery by James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond, who is a fugitive from federal authorities in a drug case.

In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob 2Pac Shakur at the Quad Studio. He gave me $2,500, plus all the jewelry I took, except for one ring, which he wanted for himself. It was the biggest of the two diamond rings that we took.

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Hey, SunFesters! I’ll keep this as brief as possible, because if you were at every or almost every day of this year’s SunFest like I was, you’re probably exhausted and don’t have a lot of patience for the words and the comprehension and such.

I enjoyed this year’s SunFest. Was it my favorite of the eight I’ve attended? No. Was it the worst? Not even close. All in all, it’s still an amazing value for the money – there is nowhere else where I could’ve seen Earth Wind and Fire and Jeff Beck down the street from each other for under 40 bucks. I probably couldn’t have seen even one of those acts for that price. And yeah, so the parking and the food is expensive. Where isn’t it? Park and walk, y’all. Eat first. Get hand-stamped, go outside to eat and come back. No one is tying you to the gyro stand with a bungee cord and a hot poker.

I also don’t get people who say “It’s a scam.” It’s costly, depending on how you do it. But a scam is when you pay money for something and get bait and switched. You paid for a bunch of shows that you had the schedule for, so it couldn’t have been a surprise to you. You went to those shows or you didn’t. You didn’t pay for Jeff Beck and get his cousin Joe Beck.  You weren’t scammed. You had a good time or a disappointing one. But I don’t get how anyone was scammed.

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Rapper Nate Dogg first came to prominence in 1995 with the song 'Regulate', recorded with Warren G. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

Photos: 2011 notable deaths

Hip-hop star Nate Dogg died Tuesday at the age of 41, according to media reports.

The cause of death has not been released. But the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram reports the musician, whose real name was Nathaniel D. Hale, suffered strokes in 2007 and 2008.

Nate Dogg collaborated with a who’s who of hip-hop artists and received four Grammy nominations for his work. The latest came in 2007 for his collaboration with Eminem on “Shake That.”

In 2002, Nate Dogg was nominated for a Grammy with Atlanta’s Ludacris for “Area Codes.” He also worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Warren G and many others rap stars.

Click here for more from our sister site, AccessAtlanta.

Snoop Dogg performs at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: Snoop Dogg in Pompano

Friday night, Snoop Dogg made his second appearance on a South Florida stage within the last six months. Last September, Snoop met up with his adoring fans from the Sunshine State at Roxy’s in downtown West Palm Beach. This time, it was at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach.

According to Ticketmaster, the show was slated to start at 9 p.m., but as with most Snoop performances the show was delayed a bit with the man of the hour going on sometime around 1 a.m. The anticipation, mixed with the sound of screaming fans chanting “Snoop!” was almost more than the average clubgoer could handle. At times it sounded like the waiting fans were booing the DJs spinning trying to keep the crowd at bay. It was apparent that the club was filled with people who were there to see Snoop and only Snoop.
From the moment he walked on stage with his trademark button down Dickies shirt and matching pants it was clear that he was there to entertain. With his completely mystifying personality and rhymes, Snoop enchanted the crowd from the first word spoken. It was as if the entire club had forgotten that they had just waited several hours for the rapper to emerge from the wings.

Snoop spat his most infamous tracks including, “Who Am I (what’s my name)?”, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, “Gin and Juice”, and “Sensual Seduction”. When Snoop performed his new hit, “Wet”, he called on some of the ladies in the audience to come and help him. As Snoop snaked his way through several tunes with the ladies on stage, eventually, he had to ask them to leave. But before he could go onto the next song, a girl in the front row caught his eye. As the two shared their special moment, the most romantic words ever uttered came out of his mouth, “I see you there big mama, I know big girls need love too”. He then went into a rap about it. Snoop’s set was about an hour and 20 minutes long and every minute was captivating.
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Snoop Dogg will visit Pompano's Club Cinema on March 11. (David Becker / Getty Images)

Snoop Dogg is one of those guys who could likely fill an arena pretty easily. But in his case, sometimes a club setting seems to be much more fun for him.

Snoop will be visiting Club Cinema down in Pompano Beach on March 11. He is in the process of seeing his newest album, Doggumentary, near release on March 29, so fans will get the chance to hear some new rhymes.

Any question about Snoop Dogg’s love of the little clubs can be answered with his performance last summer at Roxy’s in downtown West Palm Beach. By all accounts, that show was amazing.
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