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      *In the wake of recent shootings surrounding 50 Cent and The Game, top industry insiders tell “Newsweek’s” Johnnie L. Roberts that federal investigators are looking into various hip-hop-related crimes, ranging from extortion and robbery to the industry’s persistent violence and mounting casualties—including the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.

      Although the probe is months, if not years, old, these sources say, buzz about it has increased in recent days, fueled by the recent gunplay involving the entourages of The Game and his former mentor 50 Cent, who are now beefing. As previously reported, a member of The Game’s posse was shot and wounded outside New York’s Hot 97 radio station last Monday. Later, several shots reportedly were fired in front of 50 Cent’s manager’s office.

       As New York police take precautionary steps to prevent a rap war between the two camps, “Newsweek” reports that the U.S. attorney for Manhattan is leading an overall Federal probe into hip hop-related criminal activity, either as part of a Justice Department Task Force, through a federal grand jury or both.

       “It’s a revolving grand jury that basically has been going on for a couple years now,” the prominent entertainment attorney told “Newsweek.”