BMF leader, Big Meech broke his silence and shot down all claims of T.I. being a snitch.

In a recent letter sent to StraightFromTheA, Big Meech says:

There is no person in the Federal or State system that can say or saying that “T.I. Clifford Harris” snitched on them.

I’m tired of people spraying his name when his plea deal and sentencing transcripts is “ONLINE.” You pay $40 to get on “Pacer” and you have access to all court documents on any person in the “UNITED STATES.”

- Big Meech

Source – VIBE

It’s that time again, MTV has put together a list of the hottest MCs in the game and it’s time to get your opinion on who’s the hottest. It’s actually allot better this year since allot of new artists have emerge and the vets have been putting out allot of quality work.

The bottom 5 (from the 25 nominees) will be revealed next week and top 5 will air on MTV2 February 19.

Thoughts?

Rapper Young Jeezy has officially reached Gold certification by the RIAA for his album, TM103: Hustlerz Ambition.

In just a little over a month since his release, Jeezy managed to ship 500,000 copies. Not too shabby for a rapper who they claimed fell off and had no buzz.

Jeezy also just announced his 25 City North American tour, starting March 3rd. Check out the tour dates at here.

Also check out my TM103: Hustlerz Ambition album review.

After finding out ASAP Rocky was named after Rakim and how his mother met Rakim back in the day, Angie Martinez set-up ASAP Rocky to meet Rakim live on the air. This is mos def a classic Hip-Hop moment.

Another segment below.

Bow Wow stopped by The Breakfast Club on 105.1 to talk about his Father, his daughter as well as which women he has and hasn’t smashed in the game. Some of the names include Kim Kardashian, Angela Simmons, Ciara, Dollicia Bryant, and Supahead.

Contrary to numerous reports Swizz Beatz was actually not the CEO of the popular file sharing website Megaupload, which was recently shut down by the Feds under piracy laws. Megaupload’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, confirmed with VentureBeat that Beatz had no formal role with the company.

“To my knowledge, Swizz Beatz was never involved in any meaningful way,” Rothken said. “He was negotiating to become the CEO, but it was never official.”

The news comes as surprise, given that the site listed Swizz as their CEO, as well as his publicist confirming with The New York Observer‘s BetaBeat that Beatz was in fact the CEO.

Come on now, anyone with half a brain can see what this is – no is just going to list you as CEO of a website without paper work being put together. This is plausible deniability,  who wants to be connected to all the shit going on with MegaUpload right now? I’m sure his attorneys already gave him the 360% on what to do and what not to say to the press. Get ready to see a bunch of interviews where Swizz denies any official affiliation with the company.

It’s the only play..

Source: HipHopDX.com

Federal prosecuters have shut down popular file-sharing site Megaupload.com and charged its founders with a number of felonies, according to a statement by the Department of Justice and the FBI.

The DOJ indictment alleges that a vast criminal enterprise led by Kim Dotcom has caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright owners, while generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds. Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited, and has vigoursly defended Megaupload as a legitimate website and said previously that the site took down piracy violators in accordance with DMCA rules.

Megaupload was at one time the 13th most popular website on the Internet. Similar sites to Megaupload likeMediaFire, YouSendIt and Rapidshare provide file-sharing services, so we wonder if the government intends to target them as well.

The government has also charged the following individuals in the indictment:

• Finn Batato, 38, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the chief marketing officer;
• Julius Bencko, 35, a citizen and resident of Slovakia, who is the graphic designer;
• Sven Echternach, 39, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the head of business development;
• Mathias Ortmann, 40, a citizen of Germany and resident of both Germany and Hong Kong, who is the chief technical officer, co-founder and director;
• Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and resident of both Turkey and Estonia, who is a software programmer and head of the development software division;
• Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, a Dutch citizen and resident of both the Netherlands and New Zealand, who oversees programming and the underlying network structure for the Mega conspiracy websites.

Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann and van der Kolk were arrested today in Auckland, New Zealand.

Also coming out today is the surprising fact that musician and producer (and Alicia Keys’ husband) Swizz Beatz is actually the CEO of Megaupload. The New York Post “outed” Beatz yesterday, and said Beatz got his musician friends in hot water for making a music video promoting the service. Beatz was not named in the federal indictment.

All the iHipHopMusic.com fan cherish this site, the end of days might be near us and many sites like ours, fortunately I do have a feature that allows me to remove all download links and streaming with just one click.

Personally I think MegaUpload brought this on them selves with this stupid video.

Original article published on VentureBeat

When Derwin rehires Irv it sets off Melanie searching for her role in life and Tasha searching for monies owed.

Watch: The Game Season 5 Episode 2 – No Money, Mo Problems

After a volatile rain filled trip to Miami, Yandy seeks some advice from the people that mean the most in her life. She prepares to move on to greener pastures & possibly take on a new client.

Watch: Love And Hip Hop Season 2 Episode 9 – Back To Reality

Hank passes on scripting rapper-actor Samurai Apocalypse’s (RZA from Wu-Tang) film, but the performer won’t take no for an answer and drags Hank to a meeting with director Peter Berg, whohas a lot more common with Hank than they both care admit.

Watch: Californication Season 5 Episode 2 – The Way of the Fist

Common and Drake have been firing shots at one another over the past few weeks, and many people have assumed it’s over Drizzy hanging out with his ex-girlfriend Serena Williams, but Com says that’s not it.

“Well, the song ‘Sweet,’ for me, was a song where I was really talking about Hip Hop. A lot of the softer side of Hip Hop is just being the example of what people think Hip Hop is. To me, you can express yourself in many different ways, but I was just missing that hardcore Hip Hop, that raw Hip Hop sound, and I was just talking about it.”

“I was saying, man, the song ‘Sweet’ was cats out there doing sweet music. Dude must have took offense to it, so he came out and said some things, and once he said something on record, I said something on record.”

Common said that he didn’t intend to specifically diss Drake, but once he responded in concert, that was it.

“That was the first thing that he responded and said something. I was like, well, I wasn’t trying to address you specifically, but if you feel like you are that person and if you’re addressing this to me, then I have to address you back,” he continued. “But my whole mentality was that I’m doing this for Hip Hop music. I’m not trying to bring somebody down. At the end of the day, I just expressed what I felt about Hip Hop. And I’ma keep it on that level, just as an emcee. That’s how I battle. I don’t try to battle any other way than emceeing.”

Common insists that Serena has nothing to do with the beef.

“We know that things can get like that, but that’s not what we want for the culture, for ourselves as men. I think we learned enough from those days to be like, OK, if you’re going to challenge me as an artist, an emcee, I’ma let you know who I am.

You just gotta know what you in it for. I got in this because it’s Hip Hop. I was speaking up on the song ‘Sweet’ about, over and over we’re hearing a lot of singing. I listen to R&B, I listen to good R&B and soul music, so I’m not opposed to singing. I’ma be frank about that. But I just spoke up for the art of Hip Hop and what I feel about it, and I want everybody to know that Hip Hop is a diverse culture and it does have that boom bap to it too. Once he said something back, that’s when I said, aight, I guess you want to get in a battle with me. And if that’s what you want, then I’ll battle.”

Do you believe Serena Williams has nothing to do with the beef? I don’t don’t, I just think Common put Sweet on the hook and Drake took the bait for whatever insecure reason.

Source: HipHopDX.com

Watch Californication Season 5 Episode 1 – JFK to LAX: It’s a few years later as Season 5 begins and Hank is living in New York but hoping to relocate. His opportunity arrives via an invitation from Charlie to come to L.A. to write a screenplay for a project starring rapper-tuned-actor Samurai Apocalypse played by RZA from Wu-Gang.

Megan Good plays Samurai Apocalypse’s girlfriend.

Watch: Watch Californication Season 5 Episode 1 – JFK to LAX

A few months ago, Young Jeezy hinted at the possibility of linking up with Tip for a collabo effort, and during a recent interview T.I. bolstered the rumor even more.

“Jeezy and I, we have discussed doing a collaborative album. Right now, we’re both focused on putting Atlanta back on top where we once knew it to be,” T.I. explained.

“In my absence, I’ve seen the city take a backseat, if you will, to other areas and other regions. I’m not trying to sleight nobody’s efforts or nobody’s contributions to the game, but I know what my city represents and I know what my city’s capable of. And if I feel like we’re not living up to our full potential, I’m going to gather all the cats who I know who supposed to ride for the town like I ride and we gon’ get it back right. So that’s what we focused on right now. After we do that, then we can focus on anything else. But first is first.” (Los Angeles Leakers)

Back in October, Snowman touched on the possibility of getting together with T.I. for a Watch The Throne type of effort.

“Me and Tip actually were together and we [talked] about it,” he said. “We’ve just hit the ground running and been doing so many records that I don’t think it’s impossible. And we’ve known each other [long] enough to put something like that together, and I definitely think that the city would need it, because it would be a good look. And it would be an amazing album release party, by the way.” (Billboard)

I could definitely fux with a joint album from TIP and Jeezy, could you?

source: sohh.com

Things aren’t going well for 50 Cent and his label these days.

In recent posts on his Twitter account, 50 Cent lashed out at his label Interscope Records, stating that he’s lost faith in his music. 50 cent says:

I have lost all the faith in the team I’m on. I having nothing left to say I will not be promoting my music. I’m going to deliver this album then I have a film I wrote to focus on. I’m not upset, I’m just convinced this is not how I want to remembered. Ill be honest I don’t think I’m gonna live much longer. That’s why I started my street king movement. I want to mean more in other peoples lives.

I mixed the big 10 because everything I do has to be the best I can make it cause other artist will create after hearing the ideas. This morning I was look out the window. I saw a bird fly right on to ledge. It felt like he was looking right at me. I hit the window he just looked at me like he new I couldn’t do anything threw the glass. I was tripping he sat there a minute then flew off. I’d like to be a bird so I could fly and shit on the world. Then you all could say 50 shit on me. That’s luck right ? Then don’t wipe the shit off.

It’s odd 50 Cent would be saying something like this when he just released The Big 10 mixtape less than a month ago and it’s fire.

Spotted at Real Talk NY

The numbers are in, and it seems that Young Jeezy’s TM:103: Hustlerz Ambition sold 232,938 units in his first week, taking the number one spot on the Billboard Rap/R&B charts and number 3 spot on the Top 200.

Common moved 69,000 units for his album, The Dreamer/The Believer, in its first week, landing at the number 17 spot, while Drake pushed 131,000 more copies of his Take Care LP, boosting him up to No. 5 on the charts.

Jeezy surpassed expectations for his album sales, which were at 200,000, despite lengthy delays. This is his third highest selling LP, following his 2008 release Recession, which debuted at number one, selling 260,000 units.

And to think he did with no radio single either.

Congrats to Jeezy!

Rick Ross tooks shots a Jeezy for his album being pushed back, but now his album has been delayed until 2012. In the meantime, he will be releasing a free mixtape to make up for it. Here is a look at the artwork for Rich Forever, which will feature all original music.

Just so we’re clear it’s December 22nd 2011, there is no excuse for this happening in this day and age. A fashion magazine out of the Netherlands published a story on how to dress like Rihanna. The headline? “De Niggabitch.” Really.

Below is a quote from the Dutch mag translated by Parlour magazine:

“She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate niggabitch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”

Please note: Rihanna is not Jamaican, but we fux with her though.

TheYBF asked one of their Dutch readers if, by some chance, that word meant something different in the Netherlands. Nope. “The term means exactly what it means in English,” the reader said. “The problem with Dutch people is that often they know exactly what they are saying but as soon as someone confronts them about it we are being too sensitive and wasn’t meant to be offensive…This is not a ‘fashionsta’ term, we say bitch here as well and it means exactly the same as in English, as well as ‘nigga.’ No different meaning whatsoever.” So that clears that up.

And as with all racist slip-ups, there’s always a half ass apology that follows, that ends up pissing you off more than the original offence. Below is an apology letter written by EIC (Editor-In-Chief) Eva Hoeke, which was posted on the magazine’s Facebook page.

 First: thanks for all your responses. We are of course very fed up over this and especially very shocked. However I’m glad that we’re engaging in a dialogue on this page — not everybody does that. Thanks for this. Other than that I can be brief about this: this should have never happened. Period. While the author meant no harm — the title of the article was intended as a joke — it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my, the editor-in-chief’s, fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine. Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We make our magazine with love, energy and enthusiasm, and it can sometimes happen that someone is out of line. And then you can only do one thing: apologize. And hope that others wish to accept it.

From the bottom of my heart I say it again: we never intended to offend anyone. And I mean that.

Google translator might have screwed up on a couple things in the translation but the apology is there, but so is the admission that the headline was meant as a joke. Not funny. Jezebel writer Anna North points out that “this is an especially racist time of year for the Netherlands — it’s the time when people put on blackface to imitate Zwarte Piet, Santa’s ‘servant.’ Maybe Jackie was just infected with the racist-Christmas spirit.”

I hate flip-floppers, if your racist be racist but don’t two-face it. At this point black people don’t care about racism anymore, it’s a given as so long as it doesn’t affect our day to day living. What we do care about are people who are racist and don’t own up to, that’s dangerous! There is no way this wasn’t racist, it’s not like it’s a bar fight between a white and a black  guy and the white guy says stupid nigger in the heat of moment. This was premeditated, an article was written then had to be reviewed before publishing. Come on, we all know how the Dutch get down, we seem them at the soccer games…….SMH, they’re crazy!

Just own that racism, nobody likes a closet racist….Be like Kenneth Eng on why He Hates Blacks, stand your ground.

Young Jeezy sits down with Young Jeezy Funkmaster Flex to talk about his highly anticipated collaboration with Jay-Z and Andre 3000 on “I Do”, The reason behind all the push backs, the sort-of-kinda beef with Rick Ross, “A Hustlerz Ambition” documentary and more.

Fabolous is back to kill the game again with yet another release for his “There Is No Competition” series, this one is cleverly titled Death Comes In 3′s. His last one “The Funeral Service” which came out last March became a instant classic, and was even re-released as a EP. I have no doubt that this tape will be just as hard.

On the philanthropy side of things Fabolous and his foundation A Fabolous Way, recently wrapped up the hugely successful 3 Kings Coat Drive, reportedly collecting over 100,000 pieces of clothing for the less fortunate.

The Wall Street Journal sat down with 50 Cent to ask him about SMS Audio and why he chose that company, in a game where everybody wants to drop their own line of headphones. He also talked about Vitamin Water and his Street King venture which introduced a new type of business model 50 Cent coined “Conscious Capitalism”, I like that. He also talks about his music and how to combat online piracy.

This guys hustle has always inspired me.

Hova has become the hip hop artist with the most Billboard Top 10 hits with his Kanye West-assisted smash “Niggas In Paris” jumping to the number eight spot on the charts. The song jumped seven spots in one week. It gives Jay his 18th Top Ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 single, surpassing Ludacris and Lil Wayne.

That gives Jay and Kanye’s Watch the Throne album its first Hot 100 top 10 after “H*A*M” reached No. 29 and “Otis,” featuring the late soul legend Otis Redding, rose to No. 12; and, “Who Gon Stop Me” peaked at No. 44.

Watch The Throne has sold 1.1 million copies. As “Niggas In Paris” climbs. The hit gives West his 14th top 10 single.

50 Cent’s recent interview with XXL magazine, and inside he made a surprising comparison of himself and Lil Wayne.

When asked about his thoughts on Lil Wayne, 50 responds:

“He’s turning into 50 Cent.He’s going through that process of being successful, ’til people go, “You know what? Get the f*ck outta here. We don’t want you here no more.” Because you’re successful. … For me, the music is an artistic choice. I’ll say, from the very beginning, that I can care less about a critic or how someone judges me for the actual music. You see, people understand within hip-hop culture that I’m passionate about actually trying to do something different. I want to make a change in a different way. This is about me personally feeling like I wanna mean more after I’m dead, when I’m gone.”

What’s your thoughts on 50 Cent’s comments?

Source: SOHH

Tracklist and cover to Vado’s upcoming Slime Flu 2 project coming soon.

What’s Poppin’
Tales from The Cotton Club
SLime Anthem
Louis V Bag
OK Y’all feat. Fabolous
NY Ride
I See You (Black People)
Keep It Goin’ feat. Young Chris
U Know What It Is
Bed Piss feat. Raekwon
All The Drama
I Got That (Frankie Lymon) feat. Jae Millz
Somebody Gotta Die feat. Paul Cain & Freck Billionaire
Paid In Full

Ms. SLime Booty (freestyle)
All I Know
I Need U feat. Remo The Hitmaker

Eminem & Yelawolf cover VIBE’s year end issue. Below is a excerpt Em and Yela talk about joking around about their whiteness.

Eminem, what advice do you offer, if any, on being scrutinized for being a white rapper. Do you guys ever talk about race in that way?
Eminem: We make jokes about it, but I don’t think we talk about it in depth. As I was listening to his music, I am not even thinking about any of that shit. It’s just the music. That’s one of the things that’s great about it. I’m not even thinking about it when I hear the music.
Yelawolf: We do poke fun of it because it’s funny. Like, he calls me White Dog.

Oh, you called him that on the BET Awards Cypher. I didn’t realize it was an ongoing joke?
EM: Yeah, or Beige Sheep. [Laughs]
YW: Cracker Nuts. Whatever, I think it’s kinda unspoken.
EM: We deal with it enough as it is. So now, let’s make music.
YW: Let’s make great records. At the end of the day, that’s all there is to do.

For the December/January issue of XXL magazine, they feature 5 special covers about the 5 Faces of 50 Cent. Floyd Mayweather appears alongside 50 Cent on one of the five covers. Below is a excerpt from the story where Fif speaks on his upcoming album.

“For me, I’m still up against what I’ve done. So in order to top it, I know it’s a difficult task. You know, I see the bloggers. My audience hasn’t grown with me. They keep saying, “Aw, man, I want the old 50!” ’Cause those people, it would take them on a safari. I was bringing them close enough to the animals, without being able to get hurt. I was taking them into my neighborhood, where you can very well get your ass killed.”

Drake sits down with Angie Martinez to talk about his new album, Rihanna and over critical fans.

The official artwork for the soundtrack to Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa’s Mac + Devin Go To High School movie.

The film, set in a Los Angeles high school, sees Valedictorian hopeful Devin Overstreet (Wiz Khalifa) struggling to pen his graduation speech when it becomes clear that all his academic overachievements have left him with little to no real-life experiences. He finds an unlikely inspiration in the least-achieving student on campus, Mac Johnson (Snoop Dogg.) Mac, a 15-year senior and consummate ladies man, is smitten by the school’s new substitute chemistry teacher. He soon realizes that the only way he’ll truly have a chance with her is if he finally graduates high school. In 3 weeks time, Mac must cram four years of high school academics, while Devin must cram four years of teenage experience.

When he first left Toronto to chase his dreams, Drake just wanted to be successful. Instead he found himself lost in a world that wasn’t too welcoming. Three years later he’s returned triumphant, bossing up and building his T-Dot movement, with more to take care of than ever before. There’s a lot of hate out there, but can a young spitter find love in the heart of the city?

Read the cover story here.

Fans may be disappointed to hear that Drake and Lil Wayne have decided to scrap their highly anticipated collaboration album. Their reason for scraping the deal, as Drake explained to XXL, was because they felt fans would compare it to Watch the Throne, and not take it for it’s own artistic merit.

“Me and Wayne scrapped the idea of a collaboration album. We just agreed that it would be looked upon as…It would be sort of this competition [with Watch The Throne]. I feel like it would get caught in this whirlwind of hype. [Wayne] agreed. We just said, ‘If we do it, we’ll do it down the line. But right now is not the time.’”

Smart move, because that “Watch The Throne” album turned out to be something quite special; and if they were to put out something this close to that album’s release and it didn’t deliver, they would never hear the end of it.

Do you think Drake & Lil Wayne should drop the album anyway?

Source: xxlmag.com

Drake recently told XXL that he’s been putting in work on a new joint mixtape with Rick Ross, called Y.O.L.O. – short for “You Only Live Once”. Rick Ross mentions it at the beginning of his “Lord Knows” verse and that was later also the inspiration for the Take Care bonus track with Wayne.

“I have been working on a mixtape with Ross,” Drake said. “A mixtape called Y.O.L.O. [That means] ‘You Only Live Once’. I’ve been working on that for the last couple of weeks. We haven’t really connected because he’s been going through this thing with his health. I’ve been stashing my little beats and verses.”

Drake says there is no release date for the tape as of yet and if it were up to him, the project will drop without a lot of pre-hype or warning; he wants to make it a surprise for the fans.

Drake also said that he’ll be on Rick Ross’ God Forgives, I Don’t.

Here is a look at the tracklist for Pac Div’s latest album The DiV. The Deluxe Edition edition will have 3 more records.

1. The Greatness
2. Posted
3. Useless Feat. Asher Roth
4. Move One
5. She Feat. Tiron
6. Chaos (The Recipe)
7. Life Is Good
8. High Five
9. Top Down Feat. Casey Veggies & Skeme
10. Number 1
11. Brown
12. Thank You

Preview of this is available at AmazonMP3

50 Cent called into Angie’s show today to talk about his new Street King Campaign, Rick Ross’ seizures, and why he doesn’t think Weezy should be skateboarding, in addition he also briefly touches on the Ray-J and Fab beef or lack thereof.

Def Jam reveals the official artwork for Rick Ross’ God Forgives, I Dont LP which will be released December 13th.

Thoughts?

For the November issue of GQ magazine, Eminem & Lil Wayne join Rock legend and founding member of The Rolling Stones Keith Richards on the cover. Alongside them GQ interviewed 43 other artists for their ‘The Survivors’ feature. The interviews can be read here starting with Eminem’s. A new one will be put up each day.

Below is some behind the scenes footage from the shoot.

“Dawg, I was naming my album Life Is Good because of how happy I am about how happy things have turned out,” Nas answered. “Sometimes I may wake up and wish my kids were living with me. That’s the only thing, you know what I mean? Our loved ones that are not around no more, like my mom. That’s the only thing. But other than that, everything is great, even when I’m alone. Even when there’s no one around.”

Along with the massive story on Nas—which includes a story on the Queens rapper reflecting on the 20 year, 15 year, 10 year and 5 year anniversary of his respective milestone releases, “Live at the Barbeque”, It Was Written, Stillmatic and Hip-Hop Is Dead.

Rihanna says that she’s in support of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and his resurgent music career. The pop star famously split from Brown after the two were involved in a domestic violence dispute in 2009 that led to Brown being put on probation and Rihanna filing a restraining order.

But now, Rih-Rih says the bitterness has passed.

“It’s incredible to see how he pulled out of it the way he did,” she says. “Even when the world seemed like it was against him, you know? I really like the music he’s putting out. I’m a fan of his stuff. I’ve always been a fan. Obviously, I had some resentment toward him for a while, for obvious reasons. But I’ve put that behind me. It was taking up too much of my time. It was too much anger. I’m really excited to see the breakthrough he’s had in his career. I would never wish anything horrible for him. Never. I never have.”

Those waiting for Drake’s Take Care to drop on October 24th will be a little disappointed to know the album has been pushed back to November 15th. Drake explained that he’s waiting to release the album, because he’s waiting on three samples to include on the album.

“I have completed 19 songs (17 on physical and 2 on bonus), and have run into a roadblock of clearing 3 samples in time to make the October 24th date. My options were to take the songs off and make the birthday release happen, or to take an extra couple weeks to get the paper work right and give you the album they way I NEED you to hear it. The choice was clear as day for me. November 15th you will get Take Care the exact way I created it with no trimmings.”

Wale’s ‘Ambition’ album in stores Nov 1st. Pre-order here. Thoughts on the album cover?

J. Cole sits down with Angie Martinez to talk about his first time coming to NY, the Rihanna rumors and rumors of him being dropped from Roc Nation. He touches on how proud he is to represent Roc Nation, how he felt about the Lil Wayne and Jay-Z beef and Drake tweeting his support of his album.He also talks about other famous people from his hometown, where he will be in 4 years, his GQ Magazine spread, having a girlfriend and dealing with all the rumors.

Complex.com publishes their J. Cole online cover story and got their in-house writer Damien Scott, Cole’s ex-College roommate from St. John’s University, to write the story of Jermaine’s come up and describe the time they stood in the rain in front of Baseline Studios back in 2005. This is definitely one of the most clever magazine covers Complex has made, the cover story and the cover fits in nicely with J. Cole’s persona and personal life.

Feels like it’s been so long. Is life moving so fast in this generation that when we desire something it begins to move in slow motion? Are we just used to getting what we want right away? Or do we require one another to feel right about all that is going on around us? Maybe our anticipation is justified by the fact that we genuinely cannot wait to share a moment again? Either way, your life and mine are scheduled to meet on October 24…I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

See you soon.

Drake

Here’s the cover for 50 Cent’s new work of fiction, Playground, which is set for a November 1st release.

Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn’t have much going for him. He’s teased mercilessly about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to and wishes he still lived with his dad in the city. And now he’s stuck talking to a totally out-of-touch therapist named Liz.

Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground – a day that landed one kid in the hospital and Butterball in detention. Butterball refuses to let her in on the truth, and while he evades her questions, he takes readers on a journey through the moments that made him into the playground bully he is today.

This devastating yet ultimately redemptive story is told in voice-driven prose and accented with drawings and photographs, making it a natural successor to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Loosely inspired by 50 Cent’s own adolescence, and written with his fourteen-year-old son in mind, Playground is sure to captivate wide attention – and spark intense discussion.

50 Cent calls up Funkmaster Flex to talk about speaking at the UN about the Street King project feeding 2.5 million kids in it’s first week, he quickly touches on his new music; and then he talks about the alleged altercation between Ray J and Fabolous that took placed in Vegas after the Mayweather fight. Fif confirms that Ray J did not hit Fab, and says Ray J might have been twisted of that juice.

Well it’s been quite some time since I’ve ventured into the news/gossip/rumor realm on this site, it’s really not my lane but since the site will be going through some major changes in the coming weeks I figured I might as well get you familiar with more news related content.

Lets talk about this guy Swizz Beatz, I mean c’mon fam who the hell cheats on Alicia Keys? It doesn’t get any better than that, that being said Christina Elizabeth is a one hell of a side piece.

Christina Elizabeth the 23 year old Texan singer-songwriter claims to have slept with Swizz Beats before his marriage to Alicia Keys, and further claimed that Swizz wanted to a few more shots at the box after his marriage to Alicia Keys.

Swizz and Keys swiftly went into damage control mode to discredit the claims via their Twitter pages.

After the claims hit the Twitterverse Christina did her own damage control as well in a exclusive statement made to Bossip.com

I’m only making this statement because I’m being put out there as a liar and I am very embarrassed. I would like to confirm that the rumor about Swizz Beatz cheating on Mashonda with me is absolutely true. I would also like to confirm that the rumors about Swizz “sexting” me, even in his present marriage, are absolutely true. I am also confirming that I lost my cell phone and someone else posted all the stuff that you see on the internet.

I’ve known Kasseem since 2007. We met at Solange Knowles’ (whom I do not associate with) birthday party in Houston, TX. A gentleman from Kasseem’s entourage approached me and said that someone wanted to talk to me. After I asked who it was, he pointed at Kasseem. I knew he was “Swizz Beatz”, but I did not know anything else about him. I gave him my phone number and he called me right away and invited me to eat at Katz’ Deli on Montrose Blvd. The next morning, he invited me to accompany him at Radio One (979 The Box) for his interview. Afterwards, we went back to his hotel room but we DID NOT HAVE SEX. A couple of hours later, he had to leave so he could catch his flight. He hugged and kissed me in public as if he were a single man.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later. He invited me out to Miami with him and I gladly accepted. I met him in Dallas and we flew to Miami together. My last minute ticket placed me in coach and his ticket placed him in first class, but he switched his first class seat with the guy sitting next to me so he could sit next to me. In Miami, we stayed at his friends beautiful home. This is where we became sexually active and this is where I found out he was married. He snuck me through the house and it was all odd to me until I found a gift with Mashonda & Kasseem’s name on it. I asked him later on why he was cheating on her and he basically said she wasn’t being the wife he needed. He also said that if she asked if he was cheating, he would not lie to her, but he wouldn’t come right out and tell her.

After that trip, he invited me to meet him in Philly. I was picked up from the airport and taken to a club where he was performing at. Him and his crew jumped in the truck and we drove to VA from there. In VA, we got on a tour bus and drove to multiple destinations. After that, I flew back to Miami, he got sick and I got stranded in the Miami airport overnight. I flew back home to Houston the next day.

Later that week, he went on an overseas trip with Mashonda. I received a call from him saying “My wife is about to call you. Tell her nothing happened.” When Mashonda called me, this is exactly what I did. He did not contact me after that. They got a divorce and although we stayed in contact afterwards, there was nothing too drastic. I’m guessing this is when he was dating Alicia. Recently, we’ve been contacting each other (as you’ve all seen), but I haven’t physically seen him. We were making plans to, but I had to work and I wasn’t going to take off work to go see him. I live on my own, I have responsibilities and I strongly believe that if you are not contributing to those responsibilities, there is no reason for me to neglect them to entertain you. I am a very independent individual and the people who know me will tell you that I would never hold my hand out and ask for anything and if I do, I have a very hard time doing it.

Even though Swizz offered and offered and offered to buy me things, the only thing I accepted was plane tickets to go see him. He’s a wonderful man and I had a great time with him as well as a great relationship. Of course he’ll deny the whole thing and of course Alicia will stand up for her man. It’s understood.

Chris

Damn Swizzy, if your gonna step out at least keep your side pieces in check.

KiD CuDi covers complex magazine October/Novembe issue for the 3rd time in 3 years, he speaks about cleaning up his act, recent career moves such as his highly publicized separation from managers Pat & Emile, his relationship with women, not working with other people musically, making up with Wale, working on a rock album, being sober and the TV show.

Read the full story at Complex.

Fabolous called up DJ Clue to give his side of what happened between him and Ray J over the weekend in Vegas.

Ray J Gets Into Fight With Fabolous, He called up to Power 105.1 to tell his side of the story on what led to his fight with Fabolous in Vegas. Ray J talking crazy on the phone, check it out.

50 Cent spoke to G-Unit Radio on Shade 45 yesterday about Floyd Mayweather, Street King selling 2.5 million in the first week and feeding 2.5 million kids so far, other artists using the same business model, All Things Fall Apart movie, SMS Audio headphones, his album and more.

The brand that Lil Wayne is so strong that he can get away with anything, I remember telling my home girl about it and her response was “So what? He’s Lil Wayne, he’s hot, he can do that” What? Why can he do that? So basically once the women love you, your solid no matter what. Even if you kiss another man in the mouth, don’t even let me relapse on that fuckry.

Either way, we’re all still bumping his now platinum in 2 weeks album…Shame on us! LoL…

Lil Wayne has made a little bit of Billboard Hot 100 history. The Cash Money superstar has landed eleven songs on the Hot 100 chart; tying David Cook and Taylor Swift for the most songs on the chart simultaneously by a solo artist.

The Beatles are the only act to have more. They had fourteen songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time on April 11, 1964.

Despite a decidedly mixed reception from critics and fans, Tha Carter IV continues to soar commercially. The album will hit the platinum sales mark sometime next week.

“I’m enjoying my last few moments at No. 2,” Ross says. “It’s like I’m watching the No. 1 man on stage, my legs crossed, I’m smoking big, hollering at the bitches in the crowd. And this album gonna do it. I got the formula.”

“When I make music, I go back to my late nights of me by myself, listening to Curtis Mayfield or R. Kelly’s 12 Play,” he says. “There’s certain depths that music can take you to. There’s certain feels that you need to have. When you get to the last song on the album, I want you to have that feeling of being whole. I want to give these muthafuckas classic joints. That means more to me than anything else.”

Source: XXL

Big up di Gully God.

T.I. is a free man and immediately took to twitter to let the people know.

Glad you out T.I.P, now please stay out. Don’t end up like that other guy.

MyFoxPhoenix reports:

MESA, Ariz. – The rapper known as DMX was arrested on Wednesday by Department of Public Safety officers on the U.S. 60 westbound at Power Road. The 40-year-old whose real name is Earl Simmons, was caught on radar at 102 miles per hour in a Chrysler 300. There was another vehicle following him and both were stopped.

A check showed Simmons’ license was revoked.

He was cited for criminal speed, driving on a suspended and revoked license and reckless driving.

Simmons’ passenger was the registered owner of the Chrysler.

Damn X, you just can’t seem to get it together huh? I mean I’m all for “fuck the police” and everything but c’mon DMX your destroying your legacy by not being able to keep yourself out of trouble.

SMH!

Check out J. Cole’s “Cole World: The Sideline Story” album cover which continues with the same theme as most of his other covers: The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, “Workout” and the first Any Given Sunday EP.

MTV announced yesterday that Tha Carter IV will drop digitally at midnight following the MTV Video Music Awards this coming Sunday.

New York, NY (August 22, 2011) – In a music industry first, Hip-Hop megastar and super mogul, Lil Wayne will release his highly-anticipated album, Tha Carter IV, in its entirety online via retail sites including Itunes, Amazon and more when the clock strikes midnight following the “2011 MTV Video Music Awards” this Sunday, August 28th. The physical CD will be available at all major retail stores on August 29th. This innovative album release designates Lil Wayne as the first artist ever to release an album digitally after an award show and is the culmination of what is already a huge night for him with his performance and nominations for “Best Hip-Hop Video” and “Best Collaboration.”

“I am extremely excited to be the first artist to utilize such an amazing idea. I hope that I can open the door for others,” stated Lil Wayne.

Ronald “Slim” Williams, CEO, Cash Money Records said, “The MTV Video Music Awards are one of the most watched and respected shows in the industry. Wayne is one of the most respected and prolific artists in the industry. By pairing the release of Tha Carter IV with the VMAs, it will certainly add to the overall anticipation and excitement for fans everywhere for what will surely be an unforgettable evening.”

“Lil Wayne continues to change the game, this time with a new release strategy that demonstrates the power of the VMAs to grab the attention of music fans,” said Stephen Friedman, President, MTV. “After our millions of viewers experience the VMAs, they can go online at midnight and download the album they’ve all been waiting for.”

Hip-Hop’s Top 20 Earners

The success of hip-hop’s top earners shows just how powerful the genre has become as a commercial force. Led by Jay-Z and Diddy, the top 20 on our list combined to earn $271 million, taking home cash from live shows, recorded music, endorsements and a wide range of other entrepreneurial ventures. Read on to see the full list.

1. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, $37 million

Hip-hop’s reigning Cash King continues to reap the benefits of a 10-year $150 million Live Nation deal, as well as stakes in the New Jersey Nets, the 40/40 Club chain, ad firm Translation and others. This year marked the first time he out-earned wife Beyonce since their marriage in 2008.

2. Sean “Diddy” Combs, $35 million

Music now accounts for less than 20% of earnings for the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, thanks to big stakes in clothing lines Sean John and Enyce, record label Bad Boy and marketing firm Blue Flame. But it’s his Ciroc vodka deal that led FORBES to estimate his net worth at $475 million this winter.

3. Kanye West, $16 million

The self-proclaimed Louis Vuitton Don returns to the top three for the first time since 2009. His new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, hit stores in November, earned critical raves and quickly went platinum. His follow-up, Jay-Z collaboration Watch the Throne, debuted on August 8th.

4. Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter, $15 million (tie)

The lyricist reportedly wrote his first song at age 8 and signed a record deal with Cash Money a year later. Today he’s one of rap’s richest, despite serving eight months in jail last year. His latest release, I Am Not A Human Being, made him the first artist since Tupac Shakur to have a No. 1 album while incarcerated.

4. Bryan “Birdman” Williams, $15 million (tie)

The Cash Money chief continues to rake in cash from the label he cofounded, home to fellow Cash Kings Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj. Excluded from previous lists because we deemed him more executive than rapper, Birdman was included this year because most of his peers now have a similar job description.

6. Marshall “Eminem” Mathers, $14 million (tie)

Eminem doesn’t tour as much as many rappers and his outside business interests are limited, but music alone was enough to blast him back into the upper reaches of the list this year. His album Recovery sold 5.7 million copies worldwide and earned 10 Gramm nominations. Normally non-commercial, he added to his coffers with Super Bowl spots for Lipton and Chrysler.

6. Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, $14 million (tie)

The man who launched the careers of fellow Cash Kings including Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent keeps bringing in cash—namely from producer fees and Beats by Dre, his lucrative headphone venture with Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine.

6. Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus, $14 million (tie)

The ageless wonder of the West Coast turned in another strong year, boosted by new album Doggumentary, heavy touring and endorsements with companies from Metro PCS to Pepsi Max. Icing on the proverbial cake: A verse on Katy Perry’s smash hit “California Gurls.”

9. Aliuane “Akon” Thiam, $13 million

The Senegalese-American singer-songwriter-producer extraordinaire caked up on a string of international concerts from Australia to Zimbabwe, a lucrative World Cup spot with Pepsi, a host of business ventures and hit song “I Just Had Sex,” which has garnered over 115 million YouTube views since its December debut.

10. Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges, $12 million

The self-proclaimed Mouth of the South makes money from much more than just music. This year, he earned big on movie roles including Fast Five, No Strings Attached and New Year’s Eve, as well as endorsements with Tag body spray and Trojan condoms. He also struck partnership deals to launch Soul By Ludacris headphones and a cognac called Conjure.

11. Cameron “Wiz Khalifa” Thomaz, $11 million (tie)

Riding high off hit single “Black and Yellow,” Pittsburgh’s most famous rapper has been touring nonstop, playing well over 100 shows in the past 12 months. Adding to his coffers: a robust merchandise business centered on his identity as a marijuana enthusiast.

11. Aubrey “Drake” Graham, $11 million (tie)

His debut Thank Me Later debuted last fall and quickly went platinum; another record is in the works. Touring and endorsements generate plenty of cash in the meantime: he shills for Kodak and Coca-Cola’s Sprite, and even has a Drake-emblazoned Virgin America airplane already in the sky.

13. Pharrell Williams, $10 million

The Virginia-born super-producer continues to earn industry-leading production fees even while touring and releasing albums with his funk-rock group N.E.R.D. Not included in this year’s tally: proceeds from the recent licensing deal struck between his Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Jay-Z’s Rocawear.

14. Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley, $7 million

The superstar beat-maker had something of a quiet period in between album cycles, leading to a steep earnings drop from last year. But he still makes a killing by peddling his production talents and should earn more in the coming year–his third solo album, Shock Value III, is scheduled for release later this fall.

15. Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, $6.5 million (tie)

It’s been more than a decade since Swizz burst onto the scene by producing DMX’s “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” at age 16; since then, he’s added hundreds of credits to his catalog, most recently on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne. He tied the knot with singer Alicia Keys last summer and recently announced a lucrative partnership with Reebok.

15. Onika “Nicki Minaj” Maraj, $6.5 million (tie)

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Nicki Minaj grew up in Queens and is now the first female rapper to grace our Hip-Hop Cash Kings list. Her debut Pink Friday went platinum shortly after its launch this fall, and she’s not shy about her earnings: on Kanye West’s “Monster,” she boasts that she gets $50,000 for her guest verses.

17. William “Rick Ross” Roberts, $6 million (tie)

The rotund rhymester makes his third-straight Cash Kings appearance on the strength of solid album sales and touring. His latest, Teflon Don, was certified gold; he’s been supporting it by hitting the road with Lil Wayne and performing lucrative gigs on his own.

17. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, $6 million (tie)

Though he holds the record for the highest single-year earnings of any Cash King—$150 million in 2008, fueled by a nine-figure Vitamin Water windfall—50’s fortunes have fallen of late. But he still earns from his G-Unit empire, as well as acting roles, concerts and recorded music, most notably a verse on Michael Jackson’s posthumous album.

17. Armando “Pitbull” Perez, $6 million (tie)

Better known by his stage name, Armando Christian Perez is one of the most prolific artists on our list, releasing two albums and performing 50-plus shows over the past 12 months. But it’s his endorsement deals that really set him apart; he earned seven figures for a deal with Kodak this year.

20. Faheem “T-Pain” Najm, $5 million (tie)

AutoTune may be dead, but T-Pain’s earnings are alive and well. The “I’m On A Boat” crooner has racked up over 60 guest appearances since the beginning of 2010. He also beefs up his bank account with concerts and side ventures like the I Am T-Pain iPhone app.

20. Bobby “B.o.B” Simmons, Jr., $5 million (tie)

The 22-year-old rapper-singer-songwriter burst onto the scene in 2010 with the smash hit “Nothin’ on You,” featuring Bruno Mars. The duo performed the song at the Grammys, helping to fuel sales of B.o.B’s first album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Touring, guest appearances and a viral Adidas commercial boosted him to his Cash Kings debut.

Well it’s about damn time, Def Jam just announced that Young Jeezy’s TM103 will be seeing the light of day on 9/20.  It was exactly 6 years ago that the TM101 album gave birth to a new era of Trap Rap, and sent Jeezy into instant super stardom. It’s funny because I used to think Jeezy was a horrible rapper when I first heard him on “So Icey” with Gucci Mane. Now he’s one of my favorite artists from the 2000s. Just like all his mixtape projects he released over the passed 2 years I’m sure TM103 will deliver.

After the “H.A.M.” single dropped a few months ago, things went dark for “Watch The Throne” with no real follow up information about the collaboration album from Kanye West & Jay-Z. Now the project finally gets a release date: August 2nd, you can already pre-order the album at WatchTheThrone.com.

Who’s looking forward to this project?

Yesterday was the 15th Anniversary (Yesterday) of the release of Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. In honor of the occasion Philly Radio OG Colby Colb has released a rare, mostly never heard interview and freestyle from 1995.

What can I say, this is a historic moment in Hip Hop. At the time I knew of Jay-z from Original Flavor and he had a cameo on this Big Daddy Kane song that was out that summer.

This was before Rocafella, this was best friends Jay and Dame driving down to Philly in twin Lexus GS Coupes with records in the trunk. This was one of Jay-z first interviews outside of New York. You could see the potential in him, he was nervous yet confident. During this interview he talks about life before Reasonable Doubt which didn’t come out until 10 months later. Check out the freestyle over some Wu beats.

It’s crazy hearing a unpolished young and enthusiastic Jay-Z talk about is plans for the future and his minor accomplishments at the time. He was super excited about the video he shot for the “In My Lifetime (Remix)” and the album that would later the classic and legendary Reasonable Doubt. Then he stumbles a couple times through a freestyle over the “Criminology” and “Method Man” beat. Who’d would that guy would become the Jay-Z he is today.

J. Cole took to Twitter last night to announce his debut album title and also provided a release date. It will be called Cole World: The Sideline Story is due out September 27th.

Finally!

Swizz Beatz on the cover of Paper Magazine’s music issue.

Swiveling on a stool in the control room of Jungle City Studios, Swizz is playing me selections from his new album, Haute Living. At 32, he’s nearly twice as old as he was when he first started out in the business. He’s a family man, a new dad with a superstar wife; a creative consultant, collaborating with the luxury automobile company Aston Martin to create their first four-door model; a fashion designer, working with Reebok and Christian Louboutin; and Producer-in-Residence at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

“Man, I crossed bridges in the industry that should stop water,” he says. “Me coming from the South Bronx and partnering up with Christian Louboutin — we’re not supposed to be in that world!”

Read the full story here.

On the latest Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times has a feature on Vybz Kartel covering his unique position in dancehall, his new album on Mixpak and the growth of the Vybz Kartel brand.

SHORTLY before 10 p.m. on the final night of Best of the Best, a reggae and hip-hop concert held over the Memorial Day weekend in Veterans Park in Miami, DJ Nuffy, the master of ceremonies, began to introduce the dancehall reggae artist Vybz Kartel. But Vybz Kartel wasn’t actually in the park, in Miami, or even in the United States. He was more than 500 miles away at Jamaica Jamaica, a fancy nightclub just outside Ocho Rios, because he has been denied a United States visa.

“And now for your feature presentation, the biggest thing in Jamaica,” DJ Nuffy roared, adding “him look like Michael Jackson.” The sly remark — referring both to the artist’s enormous celebrity in the Caribbean diaspora and to his controversial practice of lightening his skin — drew laughter and mischievous cheers from the crowd of some 10,000 who stared intently at a screen on the stage where artists including DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and I-Octane had performed just moments before. “Let’s welcome via satellite, live to you, Vybz. Vybz. Vybz.”

The crowd shouted “Kartel” in unison as his image filled the screen. He wore a purple suit with a loosely knotted silk tie and button-down shirt, his pale brown tattooed face framed by aviator glasses and a mane of black hair extensions. “Yo, Miami, you know what time now?” he asked, checking his wristwatch as the stuttering digital beat for “Touch a Button,” his chest-thumping challenge to rivals, started to play. Before long Vybz Kartel’s rapid-fire flow had the audience spellbound.

Grab a copy from your newsstand or read the full story online.

The audio below (and above) is from New York Times Music Popcast with Jeremy Egner which features a 15 minute interview with journalist Rob Kenner who just wrote a feature on Vybz Kartel. This is a big look for Kartel, NY Times doesn’t just write talk about or give just anybody a feature. it’s crazy because Kartel hasn’t been able to leave Jamaica for more than 6 years now.

Damn, this guy was putting hits out on everybody huh? Last month federal prosecutors charged Rodney Johnson, 37 and Brian McCleod, 40 with the 2009 murder of Tony Yayo associate Lowell Fletcher. The FBI say tha Johnson and McCleod arranged and carried out the murder of Fletcher as retaliation for the widely publicized assault on Henchmen’s teenage son back in 2007. You might recall Fletcher pretty took the rap for Yayo, who most believed actually slapped the kid around. Back then you would never have thought it would all turn out like this.

In related news, it appears that the confession that Dexter Isaac’s made is already starting to look shaky, The Smoking Gun received the same statement from Isaac as AllHipHop, but chose not to publish it. They analyzed the confession and found a few holes in the story, which was also supported by a post Miss Info made. Currently the feds are investigating Isacc’s claims and are also trying to locate Henchmen, who is still M.I.A..

Tupac Shakur was shot in Manhattan’s Quad Studios in November of 1994 and the identity of the shooter has been revealed as Dexter Isaac, according to exclusive information from Allhiphop.com. Isacc alleges that James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond paid him $2,500 for the shooting.

According to AllHipHop.com

A man has admitted to shooting rap star Tupac Shakur in 1994 after being paid $2,500 dollars by James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond in inside Manhattan’s Quad Studios in November of 1994.

Dexter Isaac, a former friend of Rosemond, is an inmate currently serving life in prison for murder, robbery and other offenses.

Isaac came forward Wednesday (June 15th) with the information on the eve of what would be Tupac’s 40th birthday.

He confessed to his involvement in the November 30th, 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur to AllHipHop.com, after Jimmy Henchman identified him in a statement, relating to Henchman’s indictment for dealing numerous kilos of cocaine.

“I want to apologize to his family [Tupac Shakur] and for the mistake I did for that sucker [Jimmy Henchman],” Dexter Isaac told AllHipHop.com from prison. “I am trying to clean it up to give [Tupac and Biggie's] mothers some closure.”

Henchmen, who is currently on the run from Federal officials, claimed that Dexter Isaac, along with other incarcerated inmates were cooperating with the government in an investigation of his alleged drug dealing activities.

Oh man, what the f*ck Fif? Really? Your rocking the Jerry curl! I’m a fan for life but there is no way I could possibly flip this and make it work, this cat definitely popped open a  box of S Curl and went in. LMFAO, this shit had me rolling. I mean you can fux with S Curl but that shit just isn’t for you Fif, and it was a bad job at that, SMH.

A new message from the king T.I. just went up on his website, read it below.

What up world? Been a minute. I’d like to thank you all for the thousands of letters, cards, books, pictures and words of encouragement. I’m truly grateful. I’m sure you already know I’m nearing the end of this chapter of my life, and looking forward to taking all of the things I’ve learned with me while leaving all the rest of the “BS” behind. I’ve been tuned in somewhat to what’s been happening out there. I can’t even begin to tell y’all how much being on the outside looking in, having to witness all that’s going on (and not going on) in the game affects me. Not being able to do what I love especially. It’s like a whole other sentence within itself. But I really do appreciate all the love, respect, shout outs and salutations during this very difficult period in my life. Everybody from da homies Weezy, Killa Mike, R. Rozay my lil bruh B.o.B, Terrence J (106 & Park) and my “durty” Nelly. Regardless of whether the gestures were the greatest or the smallest, they still meant the world to me. REAL TALK. The separation from my art has definitely sparked an inferno of inspiration that will soon be felt by all. As a matter of fact, to show my appreciation to those that have been in support of me and granted the requests of TEAM T.I. I’ll be releasing a record in the near future (couple of weeks tops) to hold y’all over til I get back in action. During this time of seclusion I have developed a mind full of thoughts, ideas, plans and strategies of change to incorporate into my professional endeavors, as well as my personal lifestyle. But none of them is as strong as my determination to conquer my own imperfections and my will to WIN NO MATTER WHAT!!!
I love, respect and appreciate all those who have stood beside me and I have accepted those you didn’t. But one things for sure and two for certain. As long as the Most High blesses me with the ability to live and breathe….My campaign will continue!!! Stronger, smarter, bigger and better than ever. For those that doubt that…See me when they free me.

Love King

First off let me just say I’m a huge T.I., ever since I’m Serious I’ve been sold on this guy and his album K.I.N.G is one of my favorite Hip Hop albums of the last ten years, period. Not to mention around that time I was doing some street related things and when I listen to that album it takes be right back. That being said I don’t know if T.I.P. can return to his former glory, he messed up big time the first time around and then as soon as he gains his freedom he’s right back in the slammer over some dumb shit. Only time will tell though, I just hope he doesn’t go the route of DMX because that would be tragic, what y’all think?

Pill spits a freestyle to DJ Khaled, Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne’s “I’m On One” beat, check it out.

50 Cent appears on the cover Smooth magazine for the 10th anniversary special edition, the the tagline “Smart is The New Gangsta”. I think they’re about 5 years late on that one though, smart has been the new gangsta and the new sexy too.

A year later Beanie Sigel finally comes to to the conclusion that he no longer has any quarrel with the big homie Jay-Z, pretty much saying that without Jay-Z he wouldn’t have the platform that he has now to diss Hova.

Sigel told XXL:

“What Mike Epps say? ‘Gangstas fuck up too,’” Sigel exclusively told XXLMag.com over the phone, while in his native Philadelphia today (May 31). “Whatever I felt this dude Jay did wrong to me, it can’t outweigh the one thing he did do for me – he gave me an opportunity. Dude gave me an opportunity. A lot of people don’t get opportunities. He gave me that. That outweighs everything. I need that in black and white. I got caught in the moment and put my feelings out there. I should have never done that.”

You might want to think things through before you act next time Beans, now this is forever indexed in the Hip Hop beef archives. He also told XXL that he has a album worth of material going at Jay-Z and speaking on the problems that went down at Roc-A-Fella, but he says he wouldn’t feel right putting them out. We all know how that goes, those tracks will all leak sooner or later whether Sigel wants them to or not.

Eminem & Royce Da 5’9 grace the cover of RESPECT magazine, the issue hits news stands June 7th.

Amber Rose is back and thicker than ever, check out here new KING Magazine cover for the June/July issue.

Jay-Z on the cover of Delta Airlines’ Sky Magazine, check out the cover story in full here.

What Jay had to say about the Watch The Throne delay:

“Ye is just in an extraordinarily creative place—so much so I need to get him to focus so we can finish this,” Jay says. “But music is his refuge right now.”

As part of the terms of the deal, Bang was supposed to get a Tunechi feature for his upcoming album but has yet to receive anything.

No word from Cash Money team yet.

Some of what Lachappelle had to say about the shoot:

DM: I feel that a lot of your work emphasises on beauty in people, regardless of colour or size. One of my favourite pieces of your work is “Becoming Clean” with Tupac Shakur amongst others. How was it like work with him?

DL: Tupac was great, he was very sensitive and is truly a good person. I wrote to his mum when he died and she sent me flowers and gave me his last song, “Ghetto Gospel.” When we did the shoot, he had just come out of prison and every shot has a reason, it’s never random, so this was the idea of the photo shoot, him becoming clean. He had given this interview when he was still in prison and he really opened up and was so honest. I had read it and thought it was so truthful so for the work I did with him, there was this idea of washing away and rebirth. And we did another shoot where he posed as a slave on a cotton field. They traced rapping and rhyming to “call and repeat” during slavery time in sugar cane and cotton fields to pass the time. It’s on the Hotel Lachapelle book. Tupac came to the shoot 2 hours early, which was very unusual for a rapper. So I wasn’t ready for the shoot and he didn’t care. He reminded me of my black friends whom I went to art schools with, he was so cool, open-minded and chill. He wasn’t judgemental. Then later on, I found out that he had gone to an art school. He left behind a big bag of socks and underwear because he had just come out from prison and never picked it up. He died shortly after. I still wear his socks sometimes (laughs).

Source:  Urban Empire via RR

The artwork for DJ Khaled’s 5th studio album “We The Best Forever” due out on June 28, 2011. I’ve never copped any of this guys albums but I do enjoy the singles though.

Giving the history between Eminem & Royce Da 5’9″, the fact that they now have a joint EP dropping in June isn’t surprising if anything it’s long overdue. Though I must say after the beef Em, D12 and Royce went through a few years ago, I didn’t think it would all come together like this. That’s Hip Hop for you.

Says Em about the project:

“Royce and I started hanging out again and inevitably that led us back into the studio. At first we were just seeing where it went without any real goal in mind, but the songs started to come together crazy, so here we are.”

Says Royce:

“I’m excited to see this project come to fruition considering the long lapse in time between when we worked before and now. We had a blast doing it and we just hope everyone enjoys it while we’re working on the ‘Monster’ that will be the Slaughterhouse album. #TeamShady”

The EP is set for a June 14th release and will feature production from DJ Khalil, Havoc, Mr. Porter, Bangladesh and others.

Here’s the Artwork to Lil Wayne’s “The Carter IV” album, due out June 14. When I saw this for the first time I had a blank stare for about 7 seconds.

Eyebrow raised at the suspect little dance Wayne did, smh!

Oh and Skylar Diggins can get it.

Drake snuff the shit out of C-3PO, lmfao.

50 Cent sits down with Angie Martinez to talk about his new movie, his album and relationships. He also talks about his relationship with Dr. Dre and Eminem, his verse on the Pusha mixtape, Chelsea Handler, Drake getting robbed at the Grammy’s and just how Hip Hop is overlooked in general plus more.

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Rapper/entrepreneur Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter continues to expand his $450 million empire with the announcement his Roc Nation, www.rocnation.com, will acquire German-American netlabel Block Starz Music LLC, www.blockstarmusic.com, in a move that has taken industry insiders by surprise.

Mr. Carter, who sold his Rocawear clothing label for $204 million in 2007, signed 10-year $150 million Live Nation deal in 2008 and holds stakes in the New Jersey Nets, 40/40 Club chain, ad firm Translation and various other businesses, reportedly won a bidding war between Universal and Jive Records for the fledgling Block Starz imprint.

While terms of the deal had not been disclosed at press time, the purchase of Block Starz, a full service online music company founded in 2008 to scout, develop, and market new independent talent, culminates a busy month for Jay-Z.

Earlier it was announced that Roc Nation had signed deejay/producer Mick Boogie, singer and songwriter/producer Santi “Santigold” White to its management division. It is unclear in what capacity Block Starz Music will operate under the new business arrangement, but experts speculate it will involve A&R and talent scouting.

Representatives for Jay-Z, who Forbes recently revealed as the second “Wealthiest Artist” in Hip-Hop, were not immediately available for comment.

It’s crazy how much I fux with Rihanna now, I never thought much of her musically or visually, but her last two albums and consistent visual transformations have turned me into quite the stan.  Check out her Rolling Stone cover for the April 2011 issue.

Lil Wayne stops by Hot 97 yesterday to talk with Angie Martinez to talk about life after prison mainly not being able to smoke or drink. He says he hasn’t heard Drake or Nicki Minaj’s albums yet. He also talks about Mack giving his beat away to Nicki and him finding out while he was in jail.

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Gunshots rang out early Sunday morning claiming the life of the young DJ.

Police rushed to the scene where witnesses say the heard a single gunshot around 2am in the Clifton area of Staten Island. DJ Megatron was fatally shot in the stomach, and police pronounced him dead on the scene. His stepfather, Keith Robinson said that the family was obviously distraught over the death of the Hot 97 resident DJ and BET’s 106th and Park regular. Lisa Torres, a close friend of Megatron, arrived to the scene at 4am, after just talking to him hours earlier. She became distraught and inconsolable when the news finally sank in saying ”He’s right there on the ground. I can’t believe this! You’re lying, you’re lying!That’s not Megatron right there!”

Our condolences go to the family and friends of DJ Megatron.

R.I.P

Read more at NY Daily News

50 Cent and touches the cover of Vibe’s international issue. Vibe released a few excerpts from their interview one of which is about 50 Cent commenting on Dr. Dre’s claim that he never heard of those Sleek by 50 headphones.

“I have a strong personality, a strong character. And I can be difficult to deal with at certain points because I’m vocal. If you upset Em, he’s just gonna not talk to you. You’re not going to get him in the next room you wanna get him in. With Dre, the same. He’s not comfortable with friction. That [tweet] is, “Hey look, I’m here. Is everybody still paying attention?” So they go, “Why he say that? Why he say we mad?” Then the meeting happens.”

I swear if this turns into a beef, I quit. The world can most certainly do without a 50 Cent vs Dr. Dre beef, SMH!

Wiz and Danny McBride aka Kenny Powers cover the 9th Anniversary edition of Complex, this cover is classic these two need to be in a movie together. Check below for the behind the scenes footage from the photo shoot, and you can read their joint Q&A at Complex.

News just came in that Wyclef Jean was shot in the hand while in Haiti on Saturday night (19/03/2011).

He was travelling in a vehicle with Busta Rhymes and Jimmy Rosemond when armed Gunmen shot at his car. Luckily Wyclef was only shot in the hand and has been treated and released from hospital. No other members of his entourage were hit.

Wyclef’s team released this statement via his twitter.

Wyclef is currently in Haiti campaigning for Presidential candidate Michel Martelly.

Source: KC

Birdman’s appearance on RapFix Live serves as a preview for the new MTV series “Deep Cover” (exec. produced by Sway Calloway and Rahman Dukes,) in which Sway will take viewers deep into the daily operations of Birdman and his Cash Money Records operation.