I Am Young King CJ: April 2010

Fat Joe rides through the Big Apple in a drop-top Phantom with Young Jeezy and Diddy in the Parris-directed video for his street anthem “(Ha Ha) Slow Down,” which has spawned a series of freestyles from Game, Talib Kweli, and The Lox. Joey Crack goes to The Darkside with his new album on June 29.

The summer just got a little colder. The Snowman, better known as Young Jeezy, has finally announced a release date for his long-awaited album.

The Atlanta rapper has claimed June 22 as the drop date for his fourth major label LP TM103, Rap-Up.com has learned. He will go up against Eminem’s Recovery, Diddy-Dirty Money’s Last Train to Paris, and labelmate The-Dream’s Love King the same week.

A video for Jeezy’s street single “Lose My Mind” featuring Plies debuted earlier this week, while his Don Cannon-hosted mixtape Trap or Die II: By Any Means Necessary is expected to arrive Tuesday, May 4.

Lil Jon bounces from city to city blasting his LMFAO collaboration in the high-strung video for “Outta Your Mind” from his oft-delayed album Crunk Rock (June 8). Travis Barker, David Guetta, A-Trak, and Benny Benassi turn up the volume with the King of Crunk. Forget Red Bull. This video is the only energy boost you’ll need. YEAH!!!

Actress Stacey Dash has talked about working alongside Rick Ross for his new music video, "Super High."

Dash claims director F. Gary Gray reached out to her for Ross' Teflon Don single.

"F. Gary Gray called me and he's a director that I wanted to work with for a very long time. He's like 'Look I'm doing this music video, it's based around Harley Davidson and it's going to be amazing, will you do it with me?' I said, 'Of course! You're F. Gary Gray! I love your vision, yes! We shot it Sunday and Monday at Palm Desert--both 18-hour workdays. I play the video vixen. I'm in a Lamborghini and he pulls up on me. I'm not having a good time with my man and he's like 'Come with me.' There's about 20 guys in Harley bikes surrounding me. I'm like 'Heck yeah, I'm getting on the bike!'"

Photos from their shoot hit the internet last weekend.

Rick Ross & F. Gary Gray have moved on passed the treatment and began shooting the video for Rick Ross' first single off Teflon Don, "Super High", this week-end in L.A.. I guess Stacey Dash is a video vixen now? She still looks good for her 40 something year old self. Sheesh! More images and footage coming soon!

Ross recently talked about working with Gray for his new video.

"I think so highly of the record," Ross continued. "When I started brainstorming about visual ideas, I started flipping through some of my favorite movies, such as 'Friday,' such as 'Set It Off,' such as 'The Italian Job,' 'The Negotiator.' Most recently, 'Law Abiding Citizen.' What all these films had in common was they was all directed by F. Gary Gray. That's when I decided: 'This is my favorite director of all time.' Shout out to F. Gary Gray. I reached out to my homie, he just came aboard to direct 'Super High.' This is gonna be special. It means a lot to me. Coming back for my fourth LP. My first three #1's. My first album #1, second #1, third. We following up with this one. We coming with a lot of big surprises. You gotta stay tuned, though. You gotta stay tuned."

The upcoming music video stems from Ross' forthcoming Teflon Don album.

Along with Ne-Yo, who appears on the first official single for the disc, "Super High," the Miami Boss also recruited such hip-hop heavyweights as Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I. and Drake. Known for his collaborations with the R&B elite (John Legend, The-Dream), Ross's new LP also boasts features from Raphael Saadiq and Chrisette Michele. Producers on the project include DJ Clark Kent, the Olympics and past co-conspirators J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, the Runners and the Inkredibles.

Check out some behind-the-scenes footage of "Super High" down below:

Dipset leader Cam'ron has opened up about re-connecting with Jim Jones and stressed the importance of handling his own business ventures before launching a Diplomat album.

Cam did, however, say he keeps in constant contact with Jones.

"Realistically, we working out business," Cam'ron told website Nowwut.com today. "Me and Jim are speaking. I don't want people to think me and Jim aren't speaking," Cam'ron said. "We speak a few times a week. Right now, we talking out the business. The deal is on the table. But until the business gets situated, it's [Cam's group], the U.N.; me and [protégé] Vado. We not about to stop. All the bosses meet at the roundtable. To be honest, we missed out on a lot of money on the Diplomat thing the first time. I'm not moving on nothing Diplomat until the business gets done. But it's close to getting done. Right now I don't want to mislead nobody and say it's not U.N. right now."

Known for producing tracks from Dipset's debut album, producer Rsonist recently said he was ready to once again step behind the boards for Cam and Jim.

"I actually just spoke to Cam for the first time in about two years just a couple of days ago," he revealed in an interview. "We're going to get back into the studio and make music again. At first, it was a little weird because we haven't spoke on a personal level in so long. But I sent him some music a few months ago, and he reached back out to me. But it's still all love. I'm actually supposed to meet with him later on today...I still think they're talented dudes and people want to hear their music. So why not? People are still interested and there's money to be made there. I know people had problems, but we're moving forward. Anytime the Dips want to reach out, I'm with it."

Speaking in third-person, Jones confirmed his reconciliation with Cam earlier this month.

"I heard about the announcement," Jones said referring to his reunion. "I heard there's two gentlemen that put aside their differences and things like that. That's kinda good for the rap culture. I'm glad two young gentlemen as theyself get money and could put their differences aside and say they're gonna do another album for the people. Big up to them...I'm waiting to hear the next press release or the next cover or maybe song, I'm waiting like everybody. [laughs] These guys are good, Dipset."

Cam also revealed there were possible plans to reconnect.

"There's nothing really Diplomats-related to show you yet. We all have our own obligations right now, our own projects. I have this Boss of All Bosses Pt. 2.5 mixtape with Vado and DJ Drama dropping soon. But yes, me and Jim have been speaking, we're working out the mechanics of this, and looking at our options right now. If it makes sense, it can happen."

Check out Cam'ron's interview below:

Grammy-winning rapper Nelly's cousin, Michael Johnson, was murdered this week in Missouri after being fatally shot.

Based on reports, the murder took place on Wednesday (April 28).

A murder investigation is hitting close to home for St. Louis rap star, Nelly. Multiple sources close to Nelly tell News 11 the victim was one of Nelly's bodyguards. The victim is 36 year old Michale Johnson sources describe him as Nelly's left hand man, or someone who was by the rapper's side providing security. St. Louis county police responded to a home on Nola, near north Hanley Wednesday night just before midnight. Johnson was shot several times.

Further details suggest Johnson's death occurred at his home.

A man who St. Louis hip-hop star Nelly referred to as his cousin (or, rather his "cuzzen") was killed Wednesday night outside a home in the 8000 block of Nola, near the intersection of N. Hanley and St. Charles Rock Road. Michael Johnson, 36, was shot multiple times while leaving or entering the home in unincorporated St. Louis County. Police have no suspects or motives for the crime.

Nelly has since confirmed the reports and aired out a local news station for its false reporting.

"Contrary to some reports micheal johnson wasnt my bodyguard!he was my cuzzen and my friend!!I will always luv n miss u MJ!!!!!," he wrote late Thursday night. "Channel 2 stl don't Ever have 2worry about another interview from me or a stlunatic ever again!!There not invited 2any of my functions!! Why would you channel 2 mix me giving away scholarships 2students with the murder of my cuzzen after I told u I didn't want 2talk about it Ino its your right chnnel 2 but Y is it when a brother goes to do good they wanna make the bad the headline?thanx for the home town support After watching channel 2's broadcast its clear to me about motives!my cuzzen deserved his own segment as well as the 2 deserving students!! I'm NEVER WATCHING CHANNEL 2 news in stl ever again!!! STLOUIS SPREAD THE WORD!!!"

Earlier this month, Nelly confronted alleged groupie Kat Stacks in an interview.

"Sweetheart, all you have to tell me is what hotel did we f*ck in," Nelly said during a radio interview. "You have to tell me one that we've been f*cking around at for two months. Tell me one of them, please...I've been exposed? You lie. You can't tell me one hotel. You can't tell me one hotel in two months that you've seen me at ever in your life...And find that hotel we f*cked at because you said it was several of them. Why is it you can go into details about everybody else but me? Why we ain't got no details? What happened? Get the f*ck out of here. I can't even understand her. Let me go get my son. It's to your best interest to quit with the lies. She knows she's lying. I know one motherf*ck that didn't touch her. I know one for sure."

No further details have been revealed as of now.

Check out Nelly's "Let It Go" down below:

Mobb Deep's Havoc has confirmed his involvement on Eminem's upcoming Recovery album and said he has been seeking an opportunity to produce for Slim Shady since 2008.

Hav also talked about getting his beat chosen over Em's road deejay, The Alchemist.

"I been trying to get placement on an Eminem project for the past two years with no success at doing it 'cause you know they pretty picky over there and rightfully so," Hav revealed in an interview. "So I almost landed a placement on [Relapse] but for whatever reason it didn't happen. I was never mad, but my philosophy was keep hitting them 'til something [stuck]...Whenever [me and Alchemist] both get a big placement we always patting each other on the back, and there's no animosity or jealosy cause it almost feels like if I made it, he made, and if he made it, I made it. And it just makes us go that much harder."

Yesterday, Em revealed Hav's involvement on the production side of Recovery.

"I think the only one that you didn't mention is Havoc," Em revealed to radio host Angela Yee. "He sent me a couple of tracks and one of them, they were both cool, but one of them was crazy with that sh*t and I just had to do something to it and I'm just happy I got to work with him...There's a variety of different things, modes, it's not just one thing. And I think that's one of the cool things that I got the chance to do with working with a variety of producers or whatever. There's not just one overall sound or one overall anything to the album, it's just a bunch of different sh*t."

Em recently talked about scraping his Relapse 2 project for Recovery.

"I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year,"Eminem said via a statement. "But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapsestarted to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on 'Recovery' came out very different from 'Relapse,' and I think it deserves its own title."

Producer Jim Jonsin opened up about Em's interest to experiment on the new album earlier this month.

"He was open to ideas," Jonsin revealed in an interview. "He was real respectful to my craft. He let me do what I do. He asked me ideas on some of the lyrics. We had ideas for lyric changes. Certain words may or may not work on radio. We talked about that. He had a setup outside of the room to do production, but I'd rather be in the room where he was at, and he was cool with that. And I knocked out a couple of joints in there while he was in there with me. He was pretty open and he let me do my thing. He did his thing. It was a pretty good experience...We touched on something that I haven't done anything like that before."

Check out Eminem's interview with Angela Yee down below:

Jeezy creates another anthem for the ‘hood and shows us his lavish surroundings in the black-and-white video for “Hood Politics” from his upcoming Trap or Die II mixtape. Bring on Thug Motivation 103 already.

Southern rapper Paul Wall has talked about working with former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker on his upcoming album.

Wall claims Barker has an amazing talent for making hip-hop beats.

"That's what a lot of people are assuming [as it being rock], but his Hip-Hop production is amazing," he said in an interview. "You wouldn't even guess that the worlds most popular/talented drummer is producing these tracks. Since he plays the drums, I think he has a different perspective on production. His style is definitely very unique. But I really don't feel that there is a rock sound in the tracks he produced for my album. There is one song called 'Heart of a Hustler' that does have it, but the other six songs he produced don't."
Barker will produce half of Wall's fourth solo project, Heart of a Champion.

Fresh off a month-long tour with former partner-in-rhyme, Chamillionaire, Houston rapper, Paul Wall, is all set to drop his 4th major label album, Heart of a Champion, on June 29th through Swisha House/Asylum Records. Almost half of the tracks featured on the album are produced by long-time friend and Expensive Taste band-mate, Travis Barker. The album will also feature several songs from Expensive Taste, the group which includes Skinhead Rob (Transplants) in addition to Paul and Travis.
Wall will also feature a variety of guest appearances on the album.

Feature duties for "Heart of a Champion" include a diverse list of cast members including Jim Jones, Yelawolf and Raekwon but do not ignore Paul's Houston roots; Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude and Lil' Keke each get their turn at the mic. Another Houston feature is Johnny Dang aka TV Johnny with whom Paul Wall shares a grills and jewelry business which caters to A-list celebrities and average Joes alike.
Recently, Wall talked about racial boundaries in hip-hop.

"Everybody raised me to believe I was a kid and an individual. So me being White or any other characteristic didn't define who I was," he explained in an interview. "So I didn't carry myself as a White person. I am who I am. I also think I'm wise enough to know you can't compare me to Eminem due to his success and style. Also my sound was different. Coming from Texas there's a large Mexican and Jamaican population so it's multiracial. So my fan base is extremely multiracial so that has something to do with it, too."

Despite past speculation, West Coast rapper Game has reportedly said Dr. Dre is not yet confirmed to executive produce his upcoming R.E.D. Album.

According to Game, Dre's role on the album has not yet been solidified.

"When we talk, it's just life check up. It was never about music. Until the day came where he'd ask if I wanna work, or 'Let's get into the studio', it wasn't for me to bring up," Game said. It was reported by MTV that Dre would executive produce Game's upcoming LP alongside Pharrell, but when we spoke with the rapper last week, he said Pharrell has the title all on his own. Still waiting for confirmation on this. Dr. Dre, however, is confirmed for a guest spot on the album, but it's still unknown how many, or if, he'll have any production credits. Stay tuned...
Game recently released a statement discussing the project being co-produced.

It has been was announced that Pharrell will be co-executive producing the album, along with Game. Previously, the Star Trak founder did this with albums from Snoop Dogg and Slim Thug. Additionally, Game released a statement, "[Dr.] Dre is a Hip Hop legend and one of the reasons I'm making music. To be working so closely with him again...man, I don't even have words to describe it...my two favorite producers are helping me with the direction of this album, I couldn't be in a better position."

He has also addressed dropping on the same day as Drake's Thank Me Later debut.

"Nah man, it's just a package deal, you should go and support hip-hop, go get Thank Me Later and go grab R.E.D. and you good," Game said in an interview. "You know you're good, then the next week you come back and buy Eminem, great. June is gonna be a big month. So no, it's no competition. Everything don't gotta be a competition and we're not even the same type of [artist,] we're not in the same lane. I respect what he does and I talked to him before, he's a fan of mine so we'll just keep it like that and put it out, people will go and buy them and who cares who's number one, number two, it don't make no sense to me because I've been around and sold millions of records already. I have nothing else to prove."
Earlier this year, Game said he would be open to collaborating with pop star Lady Gaga.

"I'm trying to get [Interscope co-founder and chairman] Jimmy Iovine to throw me in the studio with Lady Gaga," he explained in an interview. "She's a rebel, and I go against the grain every day, so, if it happens, it'll be monumental for the state of music...Dre and I have always been on the same team, I've just been too wild for him at times. He's older and legendary and he's been through enough drama in his career and doesn't have to jump into my drama. So, I understood that and why he pulled back."

Kat Stacks' web designer has stepped forward to call out the self-proclaimed Young Money groupie and said she is telling multiple lies.

Showing personal Twitter messages sent from Stacks, web designer "Steve" alleged she was broke and could not afford to run her site.

"Hey guys, what's up, this is Steve, I'm exposing Kat Stacks for the lies she's told everybody on Twitter today and I have lots of proof for you guys, you're going to be really excited about this," he said. "I'm the web designer behind Kat Stacks' website -- I finished the site last week and Kat Stacks' manager Big Tone kept stalling on me and he finally told me Kat couldn't even afford to take care of her children, let alone pay for food and clothing and she was dead broke. So he basically begged me to wait until Monday -- we agreed on a small donation payment of just $600, she couldn't even afford $600 so when I messaged her on Twitter -- she was so embarrassed...so after not hearing anything from her or Big Tone, that's her manager by the way, I find out she's trying to change her password and login credentials so that she could steal the website behind my back...."
Earlier this month, rapper Nelly also claimed Stacks was selling lies.

"Sweetheart, all you have to tell me is what hotel did we f*ck in," Nelly said during a radio interview. "You have to tell me one that we've been f*cking around at for two months. Tell me one of them, please...I've been exposed? You lie. You can't tell me one hotel. You can't tell me one hotel in two months that you've seen me at ever in your life...And find that hotel we f*cked at because you said it was several of them. Why is it you can go into details about everybody else but me? Why we ain't got no details? What happened? Get the f*ck out of here. I can't even understand her. Let me go get my son. It's to your best interest to quit with the lies. She knows she's lying. I know one motherf*ck that didn't touch her. I know one for sure."

Last weekend, West Coast rapper Jay Rock claimed Stacks was tricked by one of his friends.

"im in the studio and my n*gga @ my spot stealing some p*ssy from @iHateKatStacks and @prettilyric10 pretending 2 be me..thats a kold n*gga," Rock wrote early Saturday (April 24) morning. "man, my just hit me and said he had the time of his life prettilyric10 This b*tch a** n*gga bought us hennessy & pretended to be @jayrock and we f*cked him I'm so pissed right now @angelayee i have footage of her ill send u 4 your site. once i prove shes a lie nobody's going 2 believe her @iHateKatStacks dont lie 2 your fans keep it real..we have video footage why did you erase your tweets @iHateKatStacks. you felt stupid huh.lmao @iHateKatStacks lmao you've been exposed ladyluvmusic finally dude was on point enuf to catch this b*tch up! everyone thank @jayrock for exsposing this fake b*tch 4 trying to ruin ppls lives @iHateKatStacks now look @ my pic and tell me do the n*gga that f*cked u look like me...@angelayee never ashame of anything i do..im a real n*gga..if i hit i wud say it. so when i tell u something dont doubt me nomore!!!!!!!! RT. iHateKatStacks @jayrock ya boy calling me ugly but he was toungue kissing me the whole time he trynna hit with his lil d*ck."
Stacks has also blasted model Rosa Acosta.

"So I got this b*tch Rosa Acosta hating on me like the b*tch cut all her hair off, the b*tch is bald headed now, this video h*e who f*cked Soulja Boy and Fabolous and everybody, this b*tch wants to be hating on me and making motherf*cking YouTube videos on me," Kat said in a video. "Well b*tch I got a lot of dirt on your motherf*cking a** h*e because you f*cked the same rappers I f*cked for free! At least I got paid, b*tch! And you want to use me to promote your wack a** website, h*e? I don't think so. Y'all holla at Rosa Acosta if you want your d*ck sucked for free. The b*tch number is....."
Check out Kat Stacks' alleged web designer below:

Find more videos like this on hiphopbeef.com

Actor/Rapper Kid Cudi has shared his two cents on the new Nightmare On Elm Street movie and encouraged fans to head to theaters tomorrow.

Writing on his blog, Cudi took on doubters and showed support for the horror flick.

"go see it go see it go see it WHY: its a perfect date movie and the rebirth of Freddy Krueger with a modern day twist. the new Krueger played by Jackie Earle Haley did his thing and made freddy his own. him and Robert Englund are 2 diff freddys to me but both good at being creepy, psychotic and scary as f*ck WILL I GO SEE IT AGAIN ON FRIDAY? hell yea, this time on shrooms haha (joking...kind of) in the beginning your goin to be VERYYYY skeptical. if ur into horror like me, you dont wanna see a icon get rebooted the wrong way. but its cool for a remake, wayy better than a lot of remakes. NOT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL, only because NOTHING f*cks with the original. the new Krueger played by Jackie Earle Haley did his thing and made Freddy his own. him and Robert Englund are 2 diff freddys to me but both good at being creepy, psychotic and scary as f*ck. IN CONCLUSION: if u wanna have a lil fun at the movies with a date or your homies this friday, go check it out. its not a waste of time. its mandatory actually. i mean cmon its Freddy Krueger!!!!"
Earlier this year, Cudi said he wanted to eventually leave music for an acting career.

Kid Cudi's first acting gig is for the new HBO series "How to Make It in America." When we caught up with him last night at a screening for the show, we wondered if he'll ever give up music for acting. "I'm trying to evenly balance them out right now, but eventually I want to leave behind music and just do acting," he said. "I only got into the music business to tell my story and inspire some people. I think four albums will do it, and when I'm done with my four, five albums, I'll switch it up. Once the story is told [musically], there's nothing else to say."
Last year, Cudi spoke with SOHH about his role in the HBO series "How To Make It In America."

"I can't really reveal too much," Cudi explained to SOHH. "But, I'm really excited about it, it's a great story it's kinda like the grind part of 'Entourage.' It's from the ground up, I mean these guys working five jobs and trying to be entrepreneurs and trying to be successful. It's a great show, I can relate to that story because I came to New York and I knew I wanted to make it so it's a topic that hits close to home with me so I'm just happy to be a part of it. It's a real series, yeah, I signed off for the season, so it's a legitimate show, it's the real deal."

He also has publicly turned down ventures into the fragrance and clothing industry.

"Never," Cudi said about launching his own lines. "I'm a fan of fashion; I want to be the consumer. I know it's cliche for artists to have their own brand and sh*t, but that's too much stress. No colognes, no perfumes, and if I did, it'd probably be, like, eau de Egyptian musk...[In New York], people's style is expressed more through their personality than what's in at the time. You see all different styles in New York, and that's what made me want to stay here. I experienced more in the first six years I was here than I did the whole time I was in Cleveland. It's cool."

Check out the Nightmare On Elm Street trailer down below:

The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams has decided to delay the release of his upcoming N.E.R.D. album, Nothing.

According to reports, the project will move from a June to July release date.

If you were planning to bump some new N.E.R.D. at your Fourth of July barbecue, you'll have to wait. The trio's album has been delayed three weeks. Nothing, the fourth effort from Pharrell, Chad, and Shae, is now set to arrive on July 6, Rap-Up.com has learned. It was previously scheduled for a June 15 release. Albums from Kelis and Big Boi are also due the first week of July. Click here for our summer release schedule.
Pharrell recently talked about trashing nearly 30 recorded tracks for the album.

"We scrapped 27 records because they weren't good enough, they sounded great - but what were they saying? So we went back in (to the studio) and just focused on feeling...," he revealed in an interview. "It's almost like we did this whole entire album with our eyes closed, not because it was that easy but because it was that important to reconnect to what we feel and I would say this album is like scrapping everything and starting with nothing...The musichas been especially tuned in frequencies to speak to women... women will literally feel this, we are doing some other next level experimentation with this music...You know what's so funny, It's that not once do we say t*t or a** or anything that you think could be automatically erogenous but I think that the right mentality and good and pure intention is the sexiest thing that I could ever give to a woman."
Earlier this year, sources close to the camp claimed the crew's female member, Rhea, was dropped.

Although Rhea performed with N.E.R.D. throughout the year and Pharrell confirmed her as their newest group member in October it seems that Rhea is no longer part of N.E.R.D. According to BOSSIP sources Rhea was kicked out of N.E.R.D. VERY RECENTLY "because they didn't think her sound matched with N.E.R.D.'sstyle, which I don't understand, because she never really did. Her sleeping around was also a problem." Our source confirmed that while she claims to be in her twenties Rhea is actually 32.
The group is known for releasing nearly a decade of music together.

The acronym N.E.R.D. stands for "No One Ever Really Dies," but childhood friends Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams, and Shay most certainly used the group to proudly emphasize the nerdier aspects of their musical personalities. Before this side project took shape, Hugo and Williams -- as the Neptunes -- had established themselves as giants in the field of pop production, whether they were working with hardcore rappers, smooth crooners, or teen pop groups.
Listen to N.E.R.D.'s "Hot N Fun" down below:

"Golden Girls" actress Betty White has shared her reaction to co-headlining an upcoming "Saturday Night Live" appearance with rap star Jay-Z.

White said she was excited to meet Jay.

When Betty White hosts Saturday Night Live May 8, the musical guest will be Jay-Z. And as the TV legend told reporters on a conference call today (April 28), she's getting into an Empire State of Mind, so to speak. White told reporters that she has been familiarizing herself with Jay-Z's music. "Oh, I'm thrilled to meet him, thrilled that he's going to be on the show because he's the hottest thing since sliced bread," said White. "I will certainly enjoy him; I hope that we get along well."
However, there are no details on whether Jay and White will be performing together.

There's no word yet whether Jay-Z and White will team up on any of the Mother's Day episode's sketches. ( Mother Lover, version 2.0, perhaps?) As White explains, she has yet to meet with the show's writers. "I haven't a clue what I'm going to be doing," she said. "So I'm getting a little bit panicky, but I look forward to maybe sitting down with the writers and hearing what they have in mind." (The Province)
Jay's appearance on the program will also be highlighted with a strong line-up of comedians.

White will host the May 8 "SNL" with musical guest Jay-Z - maybe they will rap together - and guests Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch. With that group around, White's debut should be better than Sidibe's.
The rapper's performance will mark his third appearance on the show.

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z has signed up to be the musical guest on an upcoming episode of "Saturday Night Live" in New York, NBC said Monday. The rapper is to perform on the May 8 edition of the sketch comedy show, which is to feature television icon Betty White as guest host. This will mark Jay-Z's third appearance as musical guest on "SNL." It will be White's first turn as guest host.
Check out a promotional video for the upcoming show down below:

A former Rikers Island prison guard was reportedly fired for spying on incarcerated rapper Lil Wayne and plans to file a lawsuit against the facility.

According to reports, Amelia Negron was terminated from her post last month.

Negron admits she did go into the unit, but denies she was there to see the rapper - who is serving a year-long sentence on gun possession charges - insisting she wanted to speak to a colleague. The 33 year-old is adamant the charges against her aren't true - and she's consulting lawyers over plans to file suit against her former bosses at the prison. A spokesman for the Correction Department claims Negron's dismissal was "entirely appropriate".
Negron claims she did not have any reason to spy on the rapper.

"I don't even like rap," said Negron. "I like rock and alternative music and didn't know much about him when they said I tried to see him. None of it's true. The door to the area was unlocked, and so I went in to say hello, and that officer said, 'Hey, you can't be here. We've got a celeb here.' I said, 'Okay, no problem,' turned around and left."
Behind bars, Wayne is reportedly involved with the facility's suicide prevention watch.

Turns out he is working as a Suicide Prevention Aide patrolling the suicidal inmates in his unit. According to a Riker's corrections insider there are three SPAs for each unit in the Eric M. Taylor Center where Wayne resides. "He works the midnight shift in his unit," says the source. "He starts at 11pm and ends at 7am." And after one month down and possibly 11 more to go, the source says that Wayne still has his panic-button clad escort. "He only works in his unit and all the inmates there have escorts. He's only accompanied when he leaves that unit.
The rapper's long-time friend and Cash Money Records' head Baby recently visited Wayne.

"He been locked down a month," Birdman said in an interview. "Seven more to go. You know he's built for that. We been around convicts and killers all our life. We from New Orleans...That's what the No Ceilings [mixtape] is about. Paradise on Earth. That's how we living. Sh*t. YM/CMB, we built to last. That's what makes us. That's what we built on. That's just a nap. But when he comes home, best believe, big money poppin'. Big money sh--. Moolah!"

Dipset's Jim Jones has talked about teaching an eight week music course and revealed what actions he has taken so far.

Although he has more than a decade of music business experience, Jones says he is still learning himself.

"I think the business is pretty easy to learn especially the way the kids are so susceptible to music ... they could learn a song in one day," the rapper explained in an interview. "But, one of my angles I am coming with is building a bridge between music and real education. It seems that they learn songs in a way that they should be learning their lessons, but they don't...I think I am still a part of the next generation of executives. I'm not a full blown executive yet, but I hope that I can lead by example as far as my hustle and my work ethic. I'm trying to make the classroom into a makeshift label, where we deal with publishing, marketing, and promotion. We could have an artist, a manager run through it and see how that would work."
Earlier this month, Jones revealed that he was approved to teach high school students.

"I finally got the teacher thing cleared with the Board of [Education] -- I'll be teaching a curriculum for eight weeks before the school year's out," Jones told radio host Angela Yee. "I'm teaching all parts of what goes on in the music from the artistry part, from the executive part of it, from the label owner part of it, marketing, promotion, publicity, we gonna go through the whole motion with how important a lawyer is to an artist, what exactly a lawyer's job is, what exactly a manager's job is."
He initially announced his move to teaching in an interview last month.

"Yeah, should I make them call me Mr. Jones? I'll be teaching for eight weeks, I'll be teaching a real curriculum, right now they're actually going back and forth with the Board of Education to see what goes on and sh*t. I fully don't know the whole logistics of everything -- it's definitely going to be fun...I'ma have to go home the weekend before and write out my lessons -- this will be the funnest class you can go to and sh*t but you gonna learn a lot. We all went to school, n*ggas didn't like homework, but we knew every single song that was out. Word for word, ad libs, all that...I think they'll get this common sense. Music 101 I guess [is the course title.] I've done music business since I was a teenager, I had major executive positions, I've been successful as an artist and successful as a label, we've been successful as a movement..."
Last December, Jones left his post at Columbia Records for independent distributor E1 Music.

XXLMag.com has learned that Dipset Capo Jim Jones has left Columbia Records and recently signed a deal to release his next solo studio album on E1 Music, formerly known as Koch Records. According to the contract, the Harlem rapper will also drop a mixtape vie E1 as well. Jones has a long history with the E1. Along with releasing a handful of records on the imprint, last January he was appointed vice president of urban A&R.
Check out Jim Jones speaking about teaching down below:

Fans of late rap pioneer Guru have come together to launch a new website called "F*ckSolar.com" aimed at exposing the emcee's producer/partner.

Based on the site's profile, documents and facts will be used to expose Solar.

We started this website because we believe that there is one place for "Superproducer" Solar, and that is jail. We are not going to sleep, rest or eat till Guru gets the proper respect he deserves. Solar is tarnishing Guru's legacy, and we ain't going to let that happen! Solar, you better start praying, because we are going to follow every step you make. Why we are doing this? For the love of hiphop, for the great music he blessed us with.....But most of all, for Guru. We are ready for war. Are you? If you have any comments, scoops or any information, you can contact us at info [at] f*cksolar.com
The site also publishes daily posts from multiple outlets going after Solar's reputation.

"Many people asked me to actually do this and I come clean, I didn't really enjoy writing this. However, the truth has to be written to the public. The people who wrote me asked for my help. About the whole Solar Guru situation... We should have known people. We should have known this would come this far. Superproducer Solar is a manipulator of the highest degree and loves to control people. I really hate making a post on DJ Premier Blog about Solar, I even promised last year not to mention Guru ever again (because I saw no ending with that Solar dude)."
Following Guru's passing last week, Solar denied claims of being romantically linked to the late emcee.

"That's untrue, completely unfounded," he said. "Guru is a familyman, I'm a family man. I don't want to say anything against anybody living a certain type of lifestyle -- everybody is free to live their life how they choose to live it -- but that's not my lifestyle or Guru's lifestyle. We're straight men. He dealt with women and family. I dealt with women and family. There's never been any blurring of the lines whatsoever."
In addition to Guru's estranged family, Gang Starr's DJ Premier also blasted Solar over his mistreatment of the rapper while hospitalized.

"If you love him, and you're taking care of him, why the f**k did his nails look longer than a f*cking ruler?!" Premier accused during a Sirius broadcast. "[And] a clump Afro?! I've taken care of people in the hospital [before]. You can wash their hair and cleantheir nails off. His feet were swollen and his toenails were really disgusting...I took the logo on my shirt and rubbed it against his whole body and told him a message from me about how much I loved him, and that we were for life and still were for life. Then I kissed him on his face and let him know that I was going to miss him because it seemed like he was already gone."
Check out Raekwon speaking on Guru's legacy below:

Triple C's leader Rick Ross has opened up about his Teflon Don Jay-Z collaboration and said he is awaiting the right time to release it to the public.

Ross also hinted at Kanye West being involved on the song too.

"The majority of the details of the album I've been trying to keep under wraps so the fans can savor the music that much more," Ross said in a recent interview. "I most definitely have confirmed Jay-Z being on the album. [The song] is like an atomic bomb. I'm just waiting to push the button. Shout-out to Roc Nation. Shout-out to Kanye West...The funny thing is the way the record was done. I followed him to a few Blueprint 3 tour dates. I was chillin' in the back, smoked out. As soon as he gets offstage, we was chillin', vibing. His last date, which was in Vegas, he killed the show. We left the show, went to Tao for the afterparty. It was 30 bottles of Ace of Spades [champagne]. He left there, went and killed the craps table, the poker table. Then we got in the studio, and he laced me. It was the most phenomenal verse....It's not 'Maybach Music 3.' You could kill the rumors. This is something totally unexpected, and we talking that talk. I'm just excited, man. I'm expecting big things from this Teflon Don project."
Ross recently said fans could expect a lot of surprises on his fourth solo album.

"We got a real nice line-up," Ross told DJ Envy in an interview. "I haven't actually picked all the records that's actually gonna make the album but for sure, my man Jay-Z is on the album. And we got some more surprises so you just gotta keep your ear to the streets...We got a lot of surprises man. We got a lot of big records on this project and you know, we're just keeping it intimate so we can surprise the fans and give them what they really want."
The project is led by Ross' Ne-Yo collaboration, "Super High."

Rick Ross has been dropping more freestyles than Lil Wayne lately, but the Bawse is finally coming clean with the first official single from his fourth album Teflon Don, due June 29. Ross breezes through "Super High" with help from labelmate Ne-Yo and production by DJ Clark Kent and The Remedy. "Magnificent (Part 2)," anyone?

He has recently been spotted with actress Stacey Dash filming a new music video.

Rick Ross & F. Gary Gray have moved on passed the treatment and began shooting the video for Rick Ross' first single off Teflon Don, "Super High", this week-end in L.A.. I guess Stacey Dash is a video vixen now? She still looks good for her 40 something year old self. Sheesh! More images and footage coming soon!
Teflon Don is slated to be released Tuesday, June 29th.

Listen to Rick Ross' "Super High" below:

Southern rapper Rick Ross has justified his decision to partner with Diddy and be managed by the Bad Boy Records CEO.

Ross believes Puff will help him take his brand to the next level.

"The experience and the knowledge that Diddy possesses is priceless," Ross said in an interview. "The relationships that he's accumulated over the last 20 years is priceless for a young artist such as myself. We developed a mutual friendship. We just stayed in contact. I was calling him for advice anyway. He was doing it for free...He was doing so many different things for me on that level..I expressed my interest in developing and designing my own clothing label. I expressed interest in branching off into liquor endorsements, book deals. I've yet to headline my own major tour yet, which I've never had a problem with, because I love the intimacy of clubs. I love when I can run in the club with 2,000 people in there, and I can look the majority of them in the eye and make sure they feel Rick Ross and understand what Rick Ross brings to the game."
Last week, Ross confirmed making Diddy his new manager.

"Most definitely, we making a lot of big moves," Ross told radio host Ricky Smiley. "We making a lot of big moves, you know what I'm saying? Shout-out to Diddy, the Ciroc Boys. You know what I mean? We got a big announcement we gonna be making real soon. And we got a lot of big ventures we're looking into so I'm excited. June 29th is the tentative date [for my album] we're looking at right now.

Earlier this month, Ross spoke on his upcoming solo album, Teflon Don, and his relationship with Diddy.

"Teflon Don, that's actually the first moniker I ever went by," Ross revealed in an interview with DJ Envy. "It was my first rap name so I'm coming back doing the full 360 and it just makes it more intimate. It makes it more special, it brings back so many memories so that's why, the project, I put even more into it...I'm having more fun with the records, I'm just in the spotlight, in a good spot right now...Shout-out to the big homie, Diddy. We gonna make a big announcement soon. We got a lot of plans laid out for this year. You know what I mean? It's all love."
Reports of Diddy managing Ross circulated online last week.

A source close to the entrepreneur/rapper has confirmed to Billboard.com that Diddy is not only co-managing Lil Wayne protégé Nicki Minaj but also Rick Ross. According to our source, Minaj subsequently went on to seek management from Troy Carter, Lady Gaga's manager. Although some websites claim to have confirmed that Carter is co-managing Minaj with Diddy, our source says it isn't the case and that Gaga pumped the breaks on the deal, threatening to find another manager if Carter took on Minaj as well. When that happened, Carter stepped back and Diddy stepped in, asking one of his own managers, James Cruz, to co-manage Minaj with him instead.
Check out some Rick Ross footage below:

Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris has teamed with Trojan Magnum condoms to help launch a safe sex campaign.

The rapper will play judge to contestants sending safe sex rhymes for a contest.

Contestants can visit MagnumLiveLarge.com to download a base track to which they can record their own Magnum-inspired lyrics. Visitors will vote for their favorite and a panel of judges, including Ludacris, will narrow judge the top ten based on creativity, melody, music, lyrics and entertainment value. The winner will get $5,000, as well as having their creation played on national radio and winning a trip to a hip-hop festival in Atlanta on June 19. The winner will also be brought on-stage during one of Ludacris' shows.
Last year, Drake was seen in an advertisement for Stay Strapped Condoms informing fans of the importance of using protection during sex.

"Yo what's going on man," he said in the advertisement. "This is your boy Drake and I'm out in the H-Town. You already know. Get informed, not infected. Use strapped condoms and save lives. I approve this message. Yeah."
Rappers have previously urged the importance of condom usage including 50 Cent who said he planned to launch his own line of protection.

"The kids become immune when you constantly beat them over the head -- read a book, read a book," he said in a 2007 interview. "We have to be a little more creative about it. It's the same with safe sex. As opposed to being part of a safe-sex campaign, I'm going to make condoms and donate a part of the proceeds to HIV awareness."
Artists like Alicia Keys and Nas have also participated in past BET Rap-It-Up campaigns to help spread awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Rap-It-Up is about taking a stand in your life and community to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Rap-It-Up is about protecting yourself and those you care about, being informed, getting tested for HIV annually, talking openly with your partner, friends and family and taking action in your community. (Rap-It-Up)
Check out Drake's Stay Strapped Condoms commercial down below:

Producer Just Blaze has given a small update on Eminem's upcoming Recovery album and said he is placing his final touches on the solo project.

Blaze also talked about his experience working with the Grammy-winning artist.

"I have a few more songs that I have to finish mixing," Blaze said in an interview. "It's a great experience working with him, he's such a hands-on artist... Most artists come in and rap and the rest is up to you. It's good to collaborate with someone on the other end of the spectrum."
Producer Jim Jonsin recently talked about Em's interest to experiment on the new album.

"He was open to ideas," Jonsin revealed in an interview. "He was real respectful to my craft. He let me do what I do. He asked me ideas on some of the lyrics. We had ideas for lyric changes. Certain words may or may not work on radio. We talked about that. He had a setup outside of the room to do production, but I'd rather be in the room where he was at, and he was cool with that. And I knocked out a couple of joints in there while he was in there with me. He was pretty open and he let me do my thing. He did his thing. It was a pretty good experience...We touched on something that I haven't done anything like that before."
Em's manager, Paul Rosenberg, confirmed reports of the project's first single being called "Not Afraid" this week.

"It's not a dark song, it's an uplifting song," Rosenberg tells Billboard.com about the Boi-1da-produced track, which is scheduled to be released this week. About the album's new direction -- reflected in the album's recent title change -- Rosenberg says the set will be "more accessible to more fans. [Eminem] had pretty much completed a whole second album worth of material but at some point he took a step back, looked at it and said, 'I think I want to record some more,'" he says. "But in recording, the album started to sound so different and was going in such a different direction that he decided to keep it going and turn it into a whole new album. The last album was really for the core Eminem fans. I think this record will open that up a bit." Producers confirmed on the album include Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Jim Jonsin and Mr. Porter.
The album replaces his originally titled solo project, Relapse 2.

"I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year," Eminem said via a statement. "But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on 'Recovery' came out very different from 'Relapse,' and I think it deserves its own title."
Check out Just Blaze's interview down below:

Grand Hustle rapper B.o.B.'s Adventures of Bobby Ray debut is projected to top the charts next week with estimated sales up to 85,000.

Based on one-day reports, B.o.B. should dominate his competition.

Atlanta-born Bobby Ray Simmons, better known as B.o.B., looks to top the HITS album sales chart next week with his Grand Hustle/Atlantic debut, B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Based on one-day sales reports and the abacus employed by our crack(ed?) retail department, the album is headed for between 80-85k in sales, which should put it comfortably on top.
The Southern rapper recently talked about his anticipation to release the long-awaited debut.

"Getting to this point and finally getting an album out -- I know I speak on behalf of all my fans -- it's been a very long wait and I feel like everybody's finally ready for it," he explained in an interview. "Even though I've had a lot of music in the past, I feel like now it's timing, because timing plays a huge role in the success of things -- especially me, and getting here really took a lot of online presence, a lot of performing. It took a lot of shows..."I think now people know what they should expect, and even still, playing the album for people they're still like, 'Wow, I didn't know it was going to be that.' I think the fans know to expect decent music. I don't think anybody's expectations will be low for it, but I feel like it will definitely have some surprising factors to it."
His project features guest appearances from T.I., Eminem, Bruno Mars, Hayley Williams and more.

"Don't Let Me Fall" "Nothin' On You" (featuring Bruno Mars) - 4:30 "Past My Shades" (featuring Lupe Fiasco) "Airplanes" (featuring Hayley Williams) "Bet I" (featuring T.I. and Playboy Tre) - 4:14 "Satellite" "Ghost in the Machine" "The Kids" (featuring Janelle Monae) "Magic" (featuring Rivers Cuomo) "Fame" "Lovelier Than You" "5th Dimension" (featuring T.I. & Ricco Barrino) "Airplanes (Part II)" (featuring Eminem and Hayley Williams)
Last month, Bobby Ray talked about his project's cover art.

"Basically, the concept of the album cover is, I'm gonna give enough but I'm gonna leave it open for interpretation," B.o.B. explained promising to not take away from consumers' imaginations. "Of course I incorporated the four elements, earth, wind, fire and water, and it's an adventure. So I'm basically traveling through these elements during my adventure but even though, the elements are dangerous in themselves, but I still use it to my advantage, going through these elements. [The album] is done, finished. I'm done, it's like my homework's done...Lupe [Fiasco] is on it, T.I. is on it, I got a lot of outside production on it."

Be sure to check into Sales Wrap next week for an official charting run-down.

Actor/Rapper Ice Cube will portray a Los Angeles Police Department officer in the upcoming film, Rampart.

According to reports, Cube will share screen time with other distinguished actors.

Ice Cube has joined Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster to star in Oren Moverman's police drama "Rampart," centered on the scandal at the LAPD's division in the 1990s. Project reunites Harrelson and Foster with Moverman, who directed them in "The Messenger," his helming debut. "Rampart," based on James Ellroy's screenplay, has been developed at Light stream Pictures and set up with "The Messenger" producer Lawrence Inglee and Clark Peterson ("Monster").
Details on the actors' roles have also been revealed.

Moverman will direct from a James Ellroy script, which revolves around the 1990s LAPD scandal involving the CRASH (Commmunity Resources Against Street Hoodlums), an anti-gang program that became corrupt and lead to unprovoked shootings, beatings, planting evidence and much more. Harrelson will play the lead, an LAPD officer who gets caught up in the scandal, while Cube and Foster will also play fellow LAPD officers. Filmingis set to begin this August in Los Angeles.
Outside of films, he is also putting together a new rap album called I Am The West.

"['Man Vs. Machine'] is talking about our obsessions with machinery and how it's taking over," he said in an interview. "Automation is taking over human beings in all our relevancy in this world. Pretty soon, machines are gonna take over and that's just real...['Hood Robbin'] is talking about how big corporations is now stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. It's a whole thing about the things we're going up against with housing and medical insurance ... just everything people are going through. Real sh** that ain't got nothing to do with money, cars, [and] all the sh** most rappers talk about."
His album is slated to come out this summer.

"I AM THE WEST...is the name of my new record. After completing about 65% of my music, this is the perfect title. This sh*t is cocky, no apologies, West Coast gangsta sh*t. I can't help it. That's what I do. June seems too tight for a release, but July is very doable. We'll see how things go. Now that I have my title, I can work on the concept of my photoshoot and artwork. I want to provide..."

No further details have been revealed as of now.

Check out some of Ice Cube's acting down below:

Actor/Rapper Ice Cube recently talked about the status of his Friday movie franchise and the possibility of a sequel.

Cube said he would only consider rolling the cameras once again if his original co-star Chris Tucker would be involved.

"I want to. But I don't want to do it without Chris Tucker," he revealed in an interview. "That's what people want. I really want to give people what they want, especially doing it for a fourth time. We can't just go through a movie without giving the people exactly what they want. I've been trying to convince Chris to do it. Just say 'yeah,' it's alright...I see Smokey working at a rehab center. [laughs] Craig and Day-Day are probably selling weed by now, get busted, have to go rehab with Smokey, try to convince Smokey to smoke a joint. [laughs] That'd be pretty cool."
Since the original came out in 1995, Friday has spawned multiple sequels.

The film has spawned two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. The sequels were successful at the box office but a failure with critics. Another sequel, tentatively titled Last Friday, was rumored to be in the works in 2007. The film was to star all of the original cast from the previous Friday films. However, no news on production was ever confirmed. An animated television series based on the film was premiered on MTV2, on Sunday, June 24, 2007.
Cube will be starring in a new police film later this year.

Ice Cube has joined Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster to star in Oren Moverman's police drama "Rampart," centered on the scandal at the LAPD's division in the 1990s. Project reunites Harrelson and Foster with Moverman, who directed them in "The Messenger," his helming debut. "Rampart," based on James Ellroy's screenplay, has been developed at Light stream Pictures and set up with "The Messenger" producer Lawrence Inglee and Clark Peterson ("Monster").
He will also release his I Am The West solo album later this year.

"I AM THE WEST...is the name of my new record. After completing about 65% of my music, this is the perfect title. This sh*t is cocky, no apologies, West Coast gangsta sh*t. I can't help it. That's what I do. June seems too tight for a release, but July is very doable. We'll see how things go. Now that I have my title, I can work on the concept of my photoshoot and artwork. I want to provide..."

Check out a portion of Friday down below:

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