An auction of James Brown's stuff is going forward. A judge in Columbia, South Carolina, has lifted a temporary stay that could have held up the sale of the late soul singer's possessions. The ruling paves the way for Christie's to begin taking bids on the more than 320 items for sale. Brown's former business managers, Buddy Dallas and Alfred Bradley, had argued that the auction should be stopped. They claimed the court shouldn't have been allowed to appoint new trustees to replace them as handlers of Brown's estate. Brown died on Christmas Day in 2006.  He was 73.

The hip-hop label that was the home to rappers like Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg is now in new hands. Global Music Group has purchased Death Row Records at auction. The sale went through last month and includes the label's back catalog and current artist contracts. The sale price: 24 million dollars. The purchase ends the saga of one of the most famous labels in modern music history. Under the control of Suge Knight, Death Row sold tens of millions of albums during the rap era. But the label collapsed under the weight of its own debt and mismanagement. Among the assets now under Global's control are unreleased material from Shakur that could result in another post-death release from the rapper.

Barack Obama is calling on blacks to ask more of themselves. Speaking at the annual NAACP convention, the likely Democratic presidential nominee said while Washington must provide more education and economic aid, blacks must also demand more of themselves. The speech is similar to ones he's made in the past about responsibility among African-Americans for their own lives. It's also similar to comments that drew a crude rebuke from Jesse Jackson last week. Jackson apologized after muttering into an open microphone that he wanted to castrate Obama for what he described as speaking down to blacks.