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      *KOCH Records has announced the addition of three new labels under its belt: Damon Dash Music Group, Kedar Entertainment and an imprint from Atlanta's Big Oomp. The first release under Damon Dash Music Group will be Sizzla’s album "The Overstanding" (music inspired from the movie "Shadow Boxer"), due this summer.  Kedar Massenburg, the former CEO of Motown/Universal, will release a new album by Buffalo native Sansom as the first product from his label.  The debut project under Big Oomp will be a new album from DJ Unk, whose single "Walk It Out," is climbing the charts at urban radio in the south.

       *Dash, meanwhile, has joined former "Sex and the City" star Chris Noth, former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre and actors Jesse Bradford and Simon Rex as investors in New York nightclub The Plumm, where Axl Rose and Tommy Hilfiger got into a fight last week. The club is "semi-private" and 500 New Yorkers, mostly celebrities, have been invited to be members and receive a special key chain that allows them entrance into the venue. Since its April 28th opening near the hip Meatpacking District, Plumm has already hosted the likes of Halle Berry and Lenny Kravitz.

      *Rapper Nelly, the boy band NSYNC and Neptunes producers Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams have been sued for copyright infringement by Pittsburgh, Pa. songwriter Ben Freeman. Freeman claims the defendants’ collective hit “Girlfriend” infringes on his song, “Be My Girlfriend,” which he registered and copyrighted in 1995. The civil lawsuit, filed in the Southern District Federal Court of New York, alleges that NSYNC was given a copy of the song in 1999 for review.

       *Ghostface Killah gave special recognition to the Staten Island, New York firemen who saved his gold records from being destroyed in a house fire. The firemen were battling a blaze at the home of the rapper’s friend when they noticed the discs on the wall and carried them out to safety. The Wu-Tang Clan rapper invited the firefighters to watch him perform at Blender magazine's fifth anniversary party at Studio 450 in Manhattan, reports Page Six. Other celebs in the house included Ice T and Carmelo Anthony.

       *DMX says he’s having second thoughts about his rap moniker and plans to change it to a less ominous title. The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, feels he may be attracting bad vibes with the DM portion of his handle, which stands for “Dark Man. “I think I am going to have to change that soon for spiritual reasons,” he says, according to Contact Music. "It's just the whole 'Dark Man' thing. If you look at it from a spiritual point of view, the Bible teaches us we can speak things into existence. And Dark Man may not be the best name for me."

      *The Black Eyed Peas spent Memorial Day weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa as part of their charity, the Peapod Foundation. The group, will.i.am, Fergie, Apl.de.ap and Taboo, performed a benefit concert in the city on Sunday. Peapod Foundation founder will.i.am, 31, told reporters that, when he saw shanty towns and witnessed extreme deprivation during his first visit, "That hurt me, that hit a nerve in my heart. That's when I said we need to come back to South Africa and do a show for the people who can't afford tickets." On Monday, the band was scheduled to meet former South African president Nelson Mandela.

       *Gunfire at a New York City barbecue attended by G-Unit rapper Lloyd Banks has left a teenager paralyzed over the Memorial Day weekend. Destin Mills, 18, was struck at about 1 a.m. on May 28 while attending a party at the Queens home of Jeffrey Jay Shields. According to the New York Post, a number of people on motorcycles rolled up to the house and began shooting over the fence. Mills, the only person hit, was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital. His mother, Colette, tells the Post: "He'll be paralyzed for the rest of his life. It's devastating. I really feel the city needs to do something about all these guns on the street." While witnesses claim Banks was at the party, Shields insists the rapper was not in attendance: “He wasn't here... They're gonna say 50 (Cent) was here, too."