In a potentially controversial chat with Blender mag, Alicia Keys, 27, says, "Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. Gangsta rap didn't exist."

Ms. Keys, sporting a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck, says she has been reading books by some of the members of the Black Panthers.

She says the feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers, which led to the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing." [Dallas News]

DOWNLOAD: Larry Silverstein on 7 WTC demolition? (WMV)

"7 World Trade Center, a building in New York City, is located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name 7 World Trade Center has referred to two buildings: the original structure, developed in 1985 and the current structure. The original building was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks and replaced with the new 7 World Trade Center, which opened in 2006. Both buildings were developed by Larry Silverstein who holds a ground lease for the site from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. [Wikipedia]"

Lou Reed, Brazilian Girls, Suzanne Vega, and others, helped celebrate the opening of the new 7 World Trade Center in May 2006. The Hold Steady, Old 97's, M Ward, and others played (and are playing) free concerts there this week.

Free concerts are good, but is real estate developer Larry Silverstein? Not acccording to the many conspiracy theories floating around.

Larry Silverstein, the controller of the destroyed WTC complex, stated plainly in a PBS documentary that he and the FDNY decided jointly to demolish WTC 7 late in the afternoon of 9/11. In the documentary "America Rebuilds", aired September 2002, Silverstein makes the following statement;

"I remember getting a call from the, er, fire department commander, telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, 'We've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.' And they made that decision to pull and we watched the building collapse." [What Really Happened]

Larry went on to convince the courts that the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center was in fact TWO ATTACKS. That means he profited on 9/11 by collecting 3.5 billion dollars in insurance money TWICE - for a total of 7 billion dollars. More on that conspiracy theory and/or fact (depending on how you look at it), at What Really Happened.

Nick Lowe plays a free concert at 7 World Trade Center tonight (Sept 19, 2007).