JUST WHAT THE DR. ORDERED
Dr. Dre has settled his civil rights violation lawsuits against the cities of Detroit and Auburn Hills, after officials issued apologies to the rapper. Dre's July 6, 2000 "Up In Smoke" concert date in Detroit was censored, and he was wrongfully arrested for showing the banned sexually explicit video clips at a show the following day in Auburn Hills. In the settlement, Dre received reimbursement of his legal fees and written apologies from both cities, with promises to be more sensitive to unlawful censorship and prior restraints of freedom of expression. The criminal charge against Dre was dismissed last November. Proclaimed Dre: "Free speech remains alive in America. Except of course, in Brill's Content."

BACK THAT LABEL UP
Cash Money rapper Juvenile has launched his own label, Uptown Project Records, to be distributed by Orpheus/EMI. The first release from Uptown Project, Live From Holly Grove, from new artist Skip, debuted Oct. 23. "UTP is going to be a major player in the rap/hip-hop game," said Juvenile, who has now fulfilled his lifelong dream of owning a label. Juvi financed the company and named his brother, Corey Gray, as CEO, then fulfilled his second lifelong dream, appearing in a hitsdailydouble.com music news story.

BETTER RED THAN, UNH, RED INK
MC Hammer has signed an exclusive distribution deal with RED for his new album, Active Duty. The LP is Hammer's first album of new music since his little-heard '95 Warner Bros. album, V Inside Out, and will hit stores Nov. 20 on Hammer's own WorldHit Music Group label. The first single, "No Stopping Us Now—USA," a fortuitously timed patriotic anthem, impacts Oct. 30. In addition to "Active Duty," the deal requires that WorldHit release three other new records in the 2001's fourth quarter. Hammer, who shot the video for the new song with Jesse Jackson Jr., U.S. congressmen JC Watts and Earl Hilliard, among others, is currently planning a national tour with Vanilla Ice, Gerardo and Snow.