Ron Artest has officially changed his name to Metta World Peace, but it’s ironic because he had trouble keeping the peace seven years ago. In 2004, Artest (ahem) World Peace started a brawl with a fan at a Pacers-Pistons game.

World Peace is a changed man and TV One’s series “Life After” caught the sincerity of his new alias; check out the proof below.

TELL US: Are celebrities getting out of hand with their name changes?

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5 Reasons Ron Artest Was Set Up By “Dancing With The Stars” [ORIGINAL]

Ron Artest Now Officially Metta World Peace: “Ochocinco Started It” [VIDEO]

Who’s That Chick?
Instead of pairing Ron Artest with one of the popular professional dancers, he was paired up with new addition Peta Murgatroyd. Maybe this move prevented him from some additional votes?

My Name Is
Ron Artest’s name was officially changed to Metta World Peace before “Dancing with the Stars” premiered on September 19th, but he was more often referred to by his former name. Maybe there was voter confusion?

Up First
Ron Artest was the first to perform on the two-hour show on a competitive night of television. Maybe voters missed his chuckle-worthy performance?

Laker Haters
Either the Los Angeles Lakers are no longer as beloved as they used to be, or the Laker Haters unified and sent their votes to other dancers. Maybe the strength of the Laker Haters was too powerful?

The “Crazy” Factor
Ron Artest has earned a reputation for being a little nutty, but he danced to a song called “Crazy” by Pitbull! Maybe the song subconsciously turned voters against him?

Was Ron Artest robbed by “Dancing With The Stars”? Take a look at his first and last performance on the show, and please leave your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Check out this ESPN video of Metta shouting out Chad Ochocinco for his name change and taking it to another level.

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What’s Hot Week 8:

RELATED: Ron Artest Should Be Ejected From The Rap Game

With just 24 seconds remaining on the clock and the Lakers down by eleven points the one-time defensive player of the year inexplicably clotheslined Mavericks player JJ Barea. Artest was ejected from the game and now the league will have to determine if he will be playing in Game 3.  Lakers coach Phil Jackson thinks Artest will be suspended.

The bigger problem for the Lakers is that they are heading to Dallas down two games in the playoffs. The Lakers failed to defend their home court and have given the Mavericks serious momentum heading into American Airlines Center.

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Ron Artest Gave Chris Brown His Game 7 Jersey

Ron Ron really has a good heart, but I’ve already made it clear how I feel about his musical aspirations. So I’ll let you all tell me what you think of his latest work.

“Run my fingers through your hair/ caress your face just to show you that I care...”

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Ron Artest Gets Pulled Over In L.A. While Driving A Go-Kart

Ron Artest On Life After The Brawl

Ron Artest Should Be Ejected From The Rap Game

Ron Artest ran afoul of the law yesterday while driving an Eagle Roadster on the streets of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Laker was pulled over in the street-legal vehicle because its registration had expired.

Law enforcement told TMZ that the registration didn’t belong to Artest, but to someone in Tennessee.

Artest was eventually sent on his way.

RELATED: Ron Artest On Life After The Brawl

RELATED: Ron Artest Gave Chris Brown His Game 7 Jersey

I will never be a believer in Ron Artest’s rap skills but I respect the man for what he’s achieved on the basketball court. In the next installment of TV One’s Life After the Los Angeles Laker reflects on his humble beginnings in the Queens Bridge Housing Project and the infamous brawl at the Palace in Detroit.

Tune in tonight at 9pm on TVONE!

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In an interview with Vibe.com Ron Artest explained why he gave his psychologist a shout out after winning game 7, making his song “Champions” and giving away his jersey to Chris Brown.

On his psychologist:

My psychologist was the one who helped me focus on accomplishing what I wanted which was winning a ring. She taught me how to tune everything out because I lost confidence in myself over the last couple years. And she was the one who put that confidence back in me. [I’ve bee seeing her for two years, but even before that I was seeing a psychologist. You got to find the right people to help you win. I was so zoned in during game seven. I kept hearing her say “Ron, what’s important to you? Ron, what’s important to you?” That’s all it is.

RELATED: Ron Artest Should Be Ejected From The Rap Game

Rumors of being mentally unstable and taking medication:

Man… look yea I see a psychologist but for only one reason and that’s to win championships. I don’t see one for any other reason. I never got a DUI, or got caught smoking Marijuana or any of that crazy stuff, so when people want to start rumors about me being on any medication or drugs, it’s just crazy to me. I look at it like this, 'Jesus was stoned, there’s no reason I can’t be stoned.' I’m definitely not better than Jesus. I’m not better than Martin Luther King and he was hosed down. I’m not better than nobody, so if people want to put me though mental or physical abuse or whatever else might come my way I have no other choice but to deal with it. I don’t care. It’s just talk.

On “Championships” remix:

Actually, I’m trying to get T-Pain on the remix. Also I want to get 50 and Game … it’s sounds crazy but that’s my plan. That’s what I’m working on right now. I can’t really say nothing else about it.

RELATED: The 10 Worst Rapping Athletes

On working with Dr. Dre:

Well, Dre is my man and a couple of his writers helped out a lot on the record, but he didn’t actually produce “Champions.” Me and Dre wrote a brand new verse for the song but depending on the remix if we can get Game, 50 and T-Pain on the hook than we’ll decide what we want to do with it. Dre was just coaching me and telling me the verse was stupid. Right after the game, I went straight to Dre’s studio and recorded that new verse. Chris Brown was actually there, and I gave him my jersey.

Why did he do that? Does he like playing with Kobe Bryant? CLICK HERE TO READ MORE @ VIBE.COM

After winning the championship this past week- Ron Artest decided to drop a new song called “Champions” (Slaps forehead). Why is it that being a millionaire athlete isn’t enough- you have to conquer the rap world too?

Listen to Champions:

Now let’s check out the worst of the worst. They are in no particular order- they’re ALL bad.

Shaq- I Know I Got Skillz

In case you are wondering, yes he did say “I lean on the statue of liberty when I get tired,
than I’ll punch you in the stomach, I don’t give a heck,
(hey yo, why you bug a hooker like that?)
yo, she breathed on my neck”

Kobe Bryant- K.O.B.E

Roy Jones Jr.- Ya’ll Must Of Forgot

Stephan Marbury- Freestyle

Allen Iverson- 40 Bars

Deion Sanders- Must Be The Money

No, it must be your raps!

The Cincinnati Bengels(1989) -Who Dey Rap

Cedric Ceballos- Flow On

The Chicago Bears- The Superbowl Shuffle

This is the worst thing I have ever seen in my life.

Chris Webber- Tell Me How Ya Do It

SHOTS FIRED: Kobe Bryant Says “I’ve Got One More Ring Than Shaq”

]]> http://theurbandaily.com/theurbandaily-original/shamika-sanders/the-10-worst-athlete-rappers/feed/ 81 http://theurbandaily.com/music/jbarrow/why-is-ron-artest-rapping/ http://theurbandaily.com/music/jbarrow/why-is-ron-artest-rapping/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:23 +0000 Jerry Barrow, Senior Editor http://theurbandaily.com/?p=434397 Read more..]]>

Ron Artest, the latest addition to the Los Angeles Lakers, decided to jack Jennifer Hudson’s jam and put his gawd awful singing/rapping  abilities in the “spotlight” with this song, “Blind.”

This is like a SNL  sketch gone wrong. All that’s missing is a giftbox taped to his crotch. “Touch me like I’m blind”?? WTF? Kobe come get your boy. Wait, YOU lost your damn mind[CLICK HERE] like this once, too. Forget it.

“I got my heart open and you gotta show your booty a little so I can focus..”-Ron Ron

Every rapper from Queens Bridge--Get.Your.Boy.

*SIGH* Wait…YA’LL already co-signed this foolishness TOO [CLICK HERE]

I quit.

VIA EUR:

New Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest has donated his $45,000 diamond watch to a Chinese teenager, apparently to sell so that he can fund his education, according to AFP.

Artest made the generous gift after playing basketball with 15-year-old Zheng Fengyu, who is from a poor family, in the central city of Wuhan on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“He is great. Never let me shoot easily,” Artest was quoted as saying. “Hope this can help realize his basketball dream.” After receiving the gift from the NBA star, Zheng, who is the captain of his school team, said: “August 14th is my birthday, this is just the perfect gift for me.”

Artest, who signed with NBA champions Los Angeles last month, also enjoyed a game with young players at a local university.

Around a dozen NBA players have visited China in the past few weeks, including Kobe Bryant who has been teaching his skills to youths and launching his fund to raise money for education and health programs in China. Wherever they go they have been mobbed by adoring fans, AFP noted.

VIA ESPN:

The newly minted NBA champions made what amounts to a daring trade Thursday night, shaking up the league’s second day of free agency by essentially swapping out on-the-rise swingman Trevor Ariza for the versatile, physical and famously unpredictable Ron Artest.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Artest have struck an agreement in principal on a multiyear contract that, according to sources close to the process, will total roughly $18.7 million over three years or $33.5 million over five years, depending on which contract structure Artest ultimately prefers. But they had to let Ariza go to create the financial flexibility to do so.

It was Artest, not surprisingly, who was the first to announce his forthcoming partnership with Kobe Bryant and his long-awaited move to the glamour capital of the Western Conference, sharing the news with CBSSports.com and writing in a text message to ESPN.com: “I am happy to say I am goin’ to L.A.”

ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard reported late Thursday that the financial aspects of the deal have not been finalized, in part because Artest’s camp wants more time to weigh its options. Wednesday is the first day players can sign new contracts for the 2009-10 season, after the league announces the new salary-cap ceiling and luxury-tax threshold.

A five-year contract, which Broussard reported would include a player option on the fifth season, would bring Artest added security in case of injury. The shorter three-year deal, though, would enable Artest to return to free agency at 32, with full Larry Bird rights and the potential to sign a more lucrative deal with the Lakers or another team.

Either way, L.A. has made a surprising splash, when it was widely expected the Lakers would merely try this offseason to re-sign Ariza and Lamar Odom.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday that Ariza was growing frustrated by the Lakers’ reluctance to start his new contract higher than the projected mid-level exception for next season of $5.8 million and giving strong thought to signing elsewhere.

VIA SI:

The Boston Celtics made their pitch to Rasheed Wallace on Thursday. And Wallace was receptive.

A contingent from the Celtics organization — including owner Wyc Grousbeck, President Danny Ainge, head coach Doc Rivers and All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — descended on Wallace’s suburban Michigan home on Thursday for a three-hour meeting with the free-agent forward.

“Solid, thorough, cogent and very impressive,” Wallace’s agent, Bill Strickland, told SI.com about Boston’s recruiting trip. “[They] definitely gave Rasheed and his wife something to think about.”

During the course of the meeting the Celtics offered Wallace a contract using their entire mid-level exception. It is unclear how many years Boston offered Wallace, who will be 35 at the start of next season.

Multiple league executives believe Wallace is deciding between Boston and San Antonio. Both the Celtics and Spurs can offer Wallace the full mid-level exception ($5.6 million). With Ron Artest agreeing to terms with the Lakers and Trevor Ariza agreeing to a deal with Houston on Thursday, league sources expect Cleveland to make a late push for Wallace’s services. Orlando, should they choose not to re-sign restricted free agent Marcin Gortat, is also a possibility.

However, Boston and San Antonio stand as the strongest candidates. The Celtics can offer Wallace a chance to stay in the Eastern Conference as well as the opportunity to play with Garnett, who is a close friend. San Antonio, which traded forwards Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas last month in the deal for Richard Jefferson, can offer Wallace a starters role. Boston’s interest in Wallace is believed to be as a backup.

Wallace has given no indication as to when he will make a decision.

With the Chicago Coulda Shoulda Woulda’s putting on a highly entertaining game versus the Boston Clowns [click here to read], Houston Rockets’ Ron Artest felt the need to have his own hoopla surrounding… him.

The basketball brawler spoke with Craig Sager during practice to drop dime about NBA legend Charles Barkley.

Check out what he had to say below:

What do YOU think?! Share your thoughts in the comments section below!