Wednesday Roundup

It seems rapper Kanye West, who usually shuns the media spotlight, has had a change of  heart recently. He's made several public appearances and it's unclear if there's more to come. One motivation for the sudden change may be the fact that West's latest album has sold far less than it's predecessors. Let's hope he gets back on track soon. Rapper Game put up $10,000 to cover funeral expenses for Tiana Ricks, a 6-year-old girl who was gunned down in front of her family's Moreno Valley California home, according to celebrity web site TMZ. Ricks' mother Marquia Macklin was stated that the Los Angeles native heard her story, said he was sorry and wanted to help then put her in touch with his financial team. Ricks and her father Tyrell Ricks were attending a relative's college send-off party, when two men approached the driveway they were standing in, one shouted, the other open fire. Both Tiana and Tyrell were hit  and as she lay dying, she reportedly asked her father, "Are you okay, Daddy?". Game tweeted that "This very sad story has hit me in a place nothing ever has. Tiana did not know she was shot and kept asking was her father okay". According to the local NBC news station, Tyrell had just moved to Moreno Valley from the Midwest and says he does not know why he and Tiana were shot. He was transported to a hospital and treated for a gunshot wound to the  pelvis. Tiana died early Sunday morning. Her funeral will be held this Saturday. Police ask anyone with information on the shooting contact the Moreno Valley Police Department at 951-486-6700. For those unaware, there's a battling brewing between two of hip hop's brightest young stars. During a recent performance, rapper Kendrick Lamar, who received quite  a bit of backlash for calling himself the King of New York, took things to another level by calling out rapper Meek Mill, who recently released a scathing response (Oh Kill Em) to Lamar's controversial "Control" verse. Lamar took the time to address the matter during a recent concert in Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn. Now that the competitive juices are flowing, it's a matter of waiting to see what will happen next. The hit talent show "The X Factor" makes its return and it should be an interesting season. On the tube: "The X Factor" on Fox, "Big Brother" on CBS, "Shark Tank" on ABC and "The Million Second Quiz" on NBC. Happy hump day!