Back in June, when it was Summer Jam madness in New York, there was rumors that Kanye West was upset that Jim Jones was slated to close out the show. While it was never confirmed, Jim Jones recently backed them.

In a recent interview on Philadelphia’s 100.3 radio station, the Dipset Capo revealed that he too heard that the Chicago rapper wasn’t happy with him closing out the show.

Jones says Kanye can eat his heart out. When asked, by host Kendra G., if the two rappers were cool, Jones said he doesn’t take Kanye’s comments too serious … because he’s just not that intimidating.

"Kanye is the one in the industry who throws tantrums and people become used to it and we don’t take things he says to personal because he is like the ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ to me," Jones said.

As he continued, he took it upon himself to diss Kanye’s style of dress, noting that his pants would fit a female.

Little part of an interview with The Game:

Your third album, L.A.X., is set to drop any day now. Why should people go out and buy it?
People shouldn’t go out and buy it. They should do something else with their money.

That’s not much of a sales pitch.
I’m not trying to sell anybody anything. I just make good music. If you want to buy it, buy it. If you don’t want to buy it, then buy the album next to it. Who cares? I have a core fan base. They love me and I love them. If you really want to listen to dope hip-hop, then you’ll take my album home from the store and listen to it. Or you can leave it there.

Then, what can we expect from L.A.X. if we bring it home?
You can expect one of the dopest, modern-day rap artists to deliver another dope hip-hop album. I’ve sold eight million records to date. That’s eight-times platinum on two albums, and everybody is saying L.A.X. is my best one yet. I think it’s a dope album, but my favorite is still Doctor’s Advocate. That’s the one where I was fighting a lot of turmoil and beefs and had to prove that I could overcome the sophomore jinx, which I think I did. It didn’t sell as much as The Documentary, but anything over platinum pleases me. L.A.X. is going to be a fun album. You’ve never heard Game like this.

You’ve already worked with heavies like Dre, Kanye, and Timbaland—and, obviously, G-Unit before the beef. If you could choose anyone in the world to collaborate with next, who would it be?
If I could work with anybody today, I’d work with Curtis Jackson.

50 Cent? Are you serious?

After a 2 year hiatus, veteran LL Cool J is gearing up for the release of Exit 13, his 13th and final LP under his Def Jam recording deal.

Unlike his other albums, the Farmer’s Boulevard legend has worked closely with another Queens native, rapper 50 Cent.

“I did a whole album with 50, I did an album by myself, then I went and did another album by myself,” LL disclosed to AllHipHop.com. “I decided to use like two or three songs from the album I did with 50, one from the second album I did by myself, and the rest is all new material.”

Some have expressed concern that LL may pattern himself after 50’s more successful albums, such a Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a claim the MC quickly denied.

“Watching him work made me hungry again, but it was also important for me to come out with an LL Cool J album that doesn’t sound like I’m trying to be 50 Cent,” LL clarified. “I’m not doing that.”

LL also dismissed rumors that he was attempting to sign to G-Unit over his dissatisfaction with Def Jam’s promotion of his last album.

Lil Wayne’s proved to be the biggest star in hip-hop this year and he’s be rewarded by receiving eight nominations at the upcoming Ozone Awards, including Best Lyricist and the TJ’s DJ’s Hustler Award.

Weezy’s recent best-selling album, however, Tha Carter III failed to earn a nod for Best Album. The LP was released after the cut off date for nominations.

The Cash Money star and Baby were also nominated for Best Rap Group. And Weezy was tapped for Best Rap Artist, Club Banger of the Year (”Lollipop”), Mixtape Monster Award, Best Video (”Lollipop”), and the Pimp C Award for Trillest Artist.

Pimp C and Bun B combined for six nominations together. The group earned nods for Best Rap Group, Best Rap Album, and Best Video. Bun was recognized in several categories, including Best Lyricist, and Best Rap Artist. Pimp C was nominated posthumously for the TJ’s DJ’s Tastemaker Award, recognizing trendsetters in music, fashion, and style.

After speculation last week that Busta Rhymes had severed ties with Interscope Records, or vice versa, it has been confirmed today that the veteran rapper and Flipmode Squad leader will indeed drop his Blessed album on Aftermath Records, Dr. Dre’s imprint at Interscope.

"I want everybody to know that the new Busta Rhymes album is coming through blazing the streets crazy. It’s the most incredible album in Hip Hop. Stay tuned – it will be out late September on Aftermath, all day, every day," Busta Rhymes told Chris Faraone of The Boston Herald this afternoon, who shared the information with HipHopDX.

Nas is the rapper who said Hip Hop Is Dead a couple years back, but according to him, someone has saved it.

In a recent interview with Complex, the Queensbridge rapper said he thinks Kanye West has saved the genre.

"I think Kanye West saved rap. I think Lil Wayne is showing there is a future for all kinds of artists to continue doing this. You know, I love it," Nas said.

So if the genre is no longer dead, who still gets Nas excited when he hears them? Kanye, Outkast, and Eminem.

He later touched on the issue with his the controversial title he chose for his upcoming album — which was later changed from ****** to Untitled — and said if had had it to do over, he wouldn’t.

"I think the Hip Hop Is Dead and the ****** album, they were for that time. … People may think it’s a controversial title, but it’s really what I’m feeling," he told the mag. "I’m not going to make the title less controversial because it’s going to offend people."

50 Cent thinks we could see another MC sell a million copies in the first week before 2008 is over: him! He plans on dropping his next solo LP, Before I Self-Destruct, within the next few months.

"Fourth quarter," he said of the release date. "I got some music. But I’mma make music until I reach a closing date. I’mma stay creative and continue to try and progress.

"I want to focus on the positive, and I feel I’m one of the more vocal people in hip-hop," he added. "Even when it’s not about music, people pay attention to me, because I have something to offer. I’ll continue to create quality music at a pace they haven’t seen."

This past Fourth of July, 50 supplied the perfect music for the holiday weekend barbecues, his latest mixtape, Sincerely Southside. Fif inserts his vocals on classic R&B songs such as Yarbrough and Peoples’ "Don’t Stop the Music" and Alicia Myers’ "I Want to Thank You."

He didn’t say T.I.’s name but the general consensus by hip-hop fans, journalists and bloggers is that 50 Cent took a jab at the King of the South on the G-Unit’s album cut "You So Tough." Fif’s alleged implication about Tip? The unbelievable: that T.I. is a snitch who’s working with the authorities to get a lighter prison sentence. On the record, which appears on the Unit’s new Terminate on Sight LP, 50 raps "Nowadays this rap sh– ain’t adding up/ How n—-s get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months/ Oowee, don’t talk to me/ You talk to him, you talking to them."

"I got the best lawyers that money can buy," 50 rapped on Monday, finishing his verse for MTV News, alongside Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. "They say at best they would’ve got me 10 or maybe nine/ I said, ‘How do you explain how homie breezed?’ They said, ‘You keep your mouth shut or you eat the cheese.’ "

Of course, everyone is inferring that 50 was talking about Tip’s recent legal woes. Charged with a slew of gun-possession charges, the Atlanta rapper would have faced a severe sentence if he had gone to trial and been found guilty. However, with a plea bargain, T.I. is only expected to do a year in prison, starting his sentence sometime in 2009.

So why the swipe at Tip, who 50 has been known to be cool with? What swipe? Fif noted that he didn’t mention anyone’s name and even clarified that he had no beef with T.I.

Dipset member Jim Jones recently revealed he will be releasing his fourth solo album in September via Columbia.

Jones divulged to Billboard that the currently untitled set will feature production from Rick Rubin, Chink Santana, No ID, Supa Dave, Ron Brownz and Chris Styles.

The album will feature a guest spot from Juelz Santana but they will be no appearance by Dipset honcho Cam’ron.

Jones and Cam’ron have not been on speaking terms and have not collaborated publicly in the past year.

“No, there won’t be any Cam, which is a shame,” Jones said. “But you know, we’ve got to keep it moving.”

Next week, Jones will be releasing the first Byrd Gang project titled M.O.B.

Nasty Nas’ controversial upcoming Def Jam album, Untitled, recently leaked online weeks before its scheduled release date.

Unlike previous album leaks like Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III, which was intentionally leaked after Weezy made a controversial statement against mixtape DJs, Nas’ album had experienced a slow release of individual tracks before being completely released. The first batch of leaked songs included “Breathe,” “Black President,” “Y’all My N*ggers,” “Fried Chicken,” “Sly Fox” and many others.

In a video clip released earlier this morning, the lyrically renowned rapper reacted to the project’s leaks.

“Eh yo, what’s up y’all, this is Nas,” he says. “And you know we get leaked. You know I been getting leaks forever. And it’s so f*cking exciting.”

Combined new release totals by G-Unit, Tech N9ne, and Jim Jones’ ByrdGang are reportedly going to have opening week sales under 200,000, a fraction of Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III first-day sales.

Despite making headlines with controversy stemming from his taped conversation with former member Young Buck, 50 Cent’s G-Unit album Terminate On Site is projected to even out around the 110,000 range based on first day sales. According to Hits Daily Double, the follow-up to their 2x platinum Beg For Mercy should land the No. 4 spot on the Billboard 200 charts as Weezy F. Baby looks to have another big week in the top three.

Indie rapper Tech N9ne’s Killer has been projected to sell roughly 40,000 while Jim Jones’ ByrdGang group album M.O.B. (The Album) is expected to do half as well with totals around 20,000.

Weezy F. Baby is still hot. The Cash Money star moved just over 200,000 copies of his latest album, Tha Carter III, to push the project over the 1.5 million sold mark. Lil Wayne is sitting in the number two position on the Billboard Top 200 chart for the second consecutive week behind Coldplay.

Oscar winners Three 6 Mafia debuted on the charts with their new album, Last 2 Walk. The long-awaited LP landed them the number five slot, however, the project only moved 76, 722 copies.

Plies, who debuted in the top five with his sophomore set Definition of Real, is still sticking around. The Florida native is currently at number 11, just missing the top 10 by a few thousand copies. His latest single, “Please Excuse My Hands,” featuring Jamie Foxx and The Dream, has just been sent to radio.

On Tuesday night in New York, 50 Cent mocked former G-Unit mocked former G-Unit member Young Buck onstage during the group’s concert, crooning "Shorty wanna cry with me" instead of the lyric from Buck’s 2004 single "Shorty Wanna Ride."

Also on Tuesday, Buck himself dropped another dis record directed at the Unit called "Terminate on Sight" (also the name of the new G-Unit album). "Ah sh–, they done kicked me out the crew, I’m cool now," he raps. "Nose running, but I ain’t snorted nothing/ Took a sniff of myself and I smell like money." Buck also antagonizes G-Unit’s Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, saying, "50’s money ain’t yours."

Oddly enough, 50 Cent still seems to have a soft spot in his heart for Buck. The Queens MC said he’s not going to war with his onetime group member.

"Buck is a disappointment for me," 50 told MTV News on Monday. "I treated him like a younger brother. … He’s not a enemy now. He’s like a relative that decides to do something to you that you’re uncomfortable with, so you don’t bring him around you. I don’t view Buck as my enemy. If he feels that way about me, those are his personal feelings. I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt that [I was his enemy]. He’s like my younger brother — even if he sees me in this interview saying it to him — he won’t understand. He’ll just go on how it feels."

Everyone knows that 50 recently released a recording of a phone conversation with Buck where the Cashville MC broke down about financial difficulties and begged to rejoin G-Unit.

Props to Busta Rhymes for not wanting to get involved in the tomfoolery of hip-hop beef. Bus is cool with rivals Game and 50 Cent, partly due to his unwillingness to insert himself in their never-ending feud.

Way back when Game was really going hard at G-Unit, Busta gave his West Coast friend some tough love.

"We were both going to New York once on a flight," Game recently remembered about being ignored by Bus. "It was in the midst of the scuffle when I was just brain-dead in hip-hop, doing whatever. Not listening to nobody. Just going in [like a] chicken with his head cut off. Busta stopped me [in the airport]: ‘Son! I don’t like what you’re doing. I don’t!’ Just walks off. Ironically, me and Bus were sitting next to each other on the flight. Me, I’m joking, punching him the whole time. ‘Son, stop punching me. I’m reading my book!’ "

Game said that Busta just sat there and read XXL magazine the entire time and wouldn’t engage in a conversation with him. In fact, he barely acknowledged that Game was there.

With buzz beginning to stir for the upcoming Game and Young Buck mixtape, SOHH caught up with the man responsible for the project, Black Wall Street producer Nu Jerzey Devil to explain how the two former enemies joined forces and what to expect from the G-Unit dropouts.

News recently hit the net that Game and Buck will be releasing joint mixtape next month. Game associate Nu Jerzey Devil hit SOHH up with the details.

"The mixtape is not gonna be totally Game and Buck, but Buck will have some features on there, couple of songs," Nu Jerzey Devil told. "Not even on some disses or none of that, we just gonna go ahead and make good music, ‘You Know What It Is Volume 5.’"

Nu Jerzey Devil also confirmed that California’s DJ Skee will not be involved with the mixtape, despite prior reports that stated that he would contribute. As of yet there is no official release date but the producer offered his predictions for when the final project should hit the streets.

"We ain’t got an exact date, ’cause you never know what’s gonna happen," he said. "Everyday is a new day and the music gets better. We’re shooting for the second week in July."

Hip-Hop’s number #1 drama is back. That’s right folks, the G-Unit saga continues and this episode is a real tear-jerker. Just when you thought there was a cease-fire in the beef between Young Buck and the Unit, Buck reportedly shot off a resounding "F*ck G-Unit" at a recent show in Tampa, Florida.

50 Cent, being the willing combatant that he is, wasted no time in responding to the insult. The G-Unit general unleashed the heavy artillery, to say the least. Curtis sinisterly leaked a phone conversation he had with Buck, in which the Ten-A-Key rapper tearfully begs for mercy in their dispute. [Listen to Part 1 Here]

With 50 assuring him everything would be alright, Buck’s cry for help became that literally, as he wept during parts of the exchange. [Listen to Part 2 Here]

To save face and his career Buck shot back with a diss record called, "Taped Conversation." [Listen here]

In this week’s Hip-Hop and R&B charts, Lil’ Wayne’s oft-delayed Tha Carter III lives up to it’s expectations, Plies is the definition of a hustler, N.E.R.D. sees the Top 10 and Usher stands down.

The self -proclaimed "best rapper alive" Lil’ Wayne’s, long awaited and highly anticipated album, Tha Carter III, cashes in on the Cash Money Records President’s declaration, as Young Moola’s sixth studio set debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with 1,005,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With Tha Carter III, Weezy becomes the first artist since 50 Cent in 2005, The Massacre, to sell more than 1 million copies of an album in a single week.

The sunshine state goon, Plies sophomore studio album Definition of Real enters Billboard 200 at No. 2 with 215,000. The follow-up to 2007’s The Real Testament, matched the peaked position his certified gold debut achieved. Powered by his smash hit single "Bust It Baby Part. 2" featuring Ne-Yo, the set also features appearances from Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday on "#1 Fan," the Trey Songz assisted "I’m Da Man," and "Please Excuse My Hands" with The-Dream.

Jim Jones is preparing to release a new album next month with the members of his ByrdGang crew. One of the members, NOE, has a voice that is strikingly similar to Jay-Z’s.

"The way they comparing him just ain’t about his voice," said Jones. "They’re saying they’re comparing the content of his lyrics. That’s a different comparison. That’s a great thing."

But the Jay-Z comparisons were not always such a great thing for the 29 year-old rapper from Baltimore, MD. NOE recalls a time when A&Rs were reluctant to sign him because of his similarities to Hov.

"When I met Jim my self-esteem was damaged," he said. "I had A&R’s throwing my CDs out of windows and sh*t like that."

After taking a meeting with Diplomat Records CEO Jim Jones, NOE’s luck turned around. Jones, who describes NOE’s lyrical skills as "dead nice," offered to sign the rapper.

"It wasn’t a gimmick with him," said NOE. "I had skepticisms like damn, maybe he may be using me to get back at [Jay-Z]. None of that. He believed in me."

The internet has been abuzz since Tuesday (June 17) over a leaked phone conversation between 50 Cent and Young Buck, in which the southern rapper is heard getting very emotional.

According to Buck’s camp, the phone call was record over a year ago when he was first relieved of his duties as a member of G-Unit, and further claims it’s doctored.

"Just so that it is clear, this obviously edited and doctored recording was made from a phone conversation between Young Buck and 50 Cent — recorded and leaked by 50 Cent. It was made over a year ago, the first time Buck was kicked out of G-Unit for being a man and communicating with people that 50 deemed his ‘enemies.’ You only hear one side of the conversation," said Buck’s new manager, Blue Williams, in a statement.

Despite the possible damage the recording could potential do to Buck’s rap career, Williams says they plan to remain quiet, and that it shouldn’t have any effect on the rapper’s future in the business.

With the highest weekly sales figure since 2005, Lil Wayne crashes in at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with "Tha Carter III. As reported yesterday, the Cash Money/Universal set moved just over 1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the first time the six-figure threshold was crossed since 50 Cent’s "The Massacre" in March 2005.

Sales for "Tha Carter III," Lil Wayne’s first No. 1 on The Billboard 200, were helped along by several of the rapper’s new singles, including the Hot 100-topping "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. His previous biggest sales week was a 238,000-unit start for "Tha Carter II" in 2005, which entered The Billboard 200 at No. 2 and became his fourth No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Despite a recent leak of his latest album, Cash Money Records rapper Lil Wayne is expected to sell one million copies of Tha Carter III.

Billboard reports that the Cash Money/Universal release could reach the milestone by the time SoundScan closes out its tracking week on Sunday (June 15) night.

The last album to sell one million copies in a week was G-Unit frontman 50 Cent’s sophomore project The Massacre, which sold 1.1 million units upon its March 2005 release.

On Thursday (June 12), Tha Carter III boasted unweighted sales at 630,000, the largest number the SoundScan Friday Building chart has seen since it began in September.

Rapper Kanye West produced a similar result when his album, Graduation, moved 600,000 copies the Friday of its release. The Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam album ended up selling 957,000 units in its first full week on store shelves.

News of Tha Carter III reaching the one million mark comes as Lil Wayne enjoys the success of his number one single "Lollipop" and follow-ups "A Milli" and "Got Money."

In New York yesterday afternoon, The Game told about the two week push-back of his projected magnum-opus L.A.X. After the label confirmed a new date yesterday morning [click to read], the Compton rapper explained the reasoning and forces behind the move.

"Interscope/Geffen/A&M President Jimmy Iovine slammed the gavel. We was supposed to go on July 8th, but at this point, I really don’t give a fuck when the album comes out. ‘Cause a week later, two weeks later, a month later, people are gonna wait on L.A.X. ’cause it’s probably the biggest record of the year. When it comes, it comes. Every time they push it back, I make sure to let everybody know," said The Game sitting at a desk in the Geffen Records offices.

In trademark cockiness, the rapper who has previously released The Documentary and The Doctor’s Advocate previously, said of his third, "If you go the store on July 8th, and it’s not there, they’ll tell you it’ll be there in two weeks. We’ll get it all figured out. July 22nd is the new date, and it’s a date that I’m not runnin’ from. If you’ve got an artist or you know somebody droppin’ on that date, push that shit back ’cause it’s not gonna do what you think it’s gonna do."

A jury acquitted R. Kelly on all counts of child pornography after less than a day of deliberations Friday, ending an ordeal for the R&B superstar that began when he was charged six years ago.

The Grammy award-winning singer dabbed his face with a handkerchief and hugged each of his four attorneys after the verdict was read. The singer had faced 15 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors had argued that a graphic sex tape showed Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13 at the time. Both Kelly, 41, and the now 23-year-old alleged victim had denied they were on the tape. Neither testified during the trial.

The prosecution’s star witness was a woman who said she engaged in three-way sex with Kelly and the alleged victim. Defense attorneys argued the man on the tape didn’t have a large mole on his back; Kelly has such a mole.

Usher’s made a splash with his Polow Da Don-produced smash “Love in This Club,” featuring Young Jeezy. The remix pits Ursh’s vocals alongside Beyonce and Lil Wayne. But according to Plies, he and Mariah Carey were suppose to take the “Club” track to the next level, not B and Weezy. “At the time, it was conveyed to me that it was supposed to be Usher, Mariah Carey and me,” Plies explained.

“Obviously, that was a no-brainer as far as putting down what I had to do. I sent two verses to them. Then I get a call from a friend of mine at a radio station that they was getting ready to go with the record, but the version they had didn’t have me on it.”

T.I.’s recent legal trouble apparently hasn’t tarnished his big screen cachet. According to Variety, the Atlanta rapper has just signed a deal with Screen Gems to star in three movies.

First up, Bone Deep, a drama in which Tip will share screen time with Idris Elba and Academy Award-nominee Matt Dillon. The film follows bank robbers who make a big score before being pulled into one last heist by a newly paroled accomplice. Tip is also scheduled to star in Boulevard, a drama presently in development. Details have yet to be revealed on the third picture.

Shakir Stewart was appointed to the top post at Def Jam Recordings, but he wants to make it clear he’s not replacing Jay-Z.

“I was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Def Jam and what we put out was simply that,” Stewart told XXLmag.com. “I don’t look at it as replacement to Jay-Z. I think Jay-Z is, obviously, an iconic rapper, a good label president, and a good friend of mine. These are big shoes to fill for anyone to come in and say they’re replacing Jay-Z. I don’t lend any thought or attention to that.

“I need to come in there and build on the legacy that was there before me as well as the legacy I’m going to build in the future, and Jay-Z is a part of both of those,” he added.

Lil’ Wayne’s highly anticipated forthcoming studio album, The Carter III, was leaked over the internet, last night. And the DJ openly responsible for the act, DJ Chuck T, is vehemently lashing back at Weezy for the comments he made against mixtape DJs earlier this week.

In a statement explaining his act of vengence, DJ Chuck T wrote, "Lil’ Wayne said f*ck mixtape DJ’s…so now i’m about to show that boy the meaning of bootleg," he explained. "I’ll be damned if I let [anyone] get away with saying f*ck me without him facing some type of repercussions, including Lil’ Wayne. Free Carter III download.

Li-li-li-li-like number one. Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop” returns to number one this week on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The lead single from the Cash Money star’s forthcoming Tha Carter 3 makes its mark back on top after a three-week break. It’s the longest gap for one song to make it back to number one since Usher’s “U Got It Bad” went four weeks between number one status in January 2002.

Weezy also hosted Bun B’s album release party this week in Houston’s Bar Rio.The Texas veteran performed in front of an audience that included Chamillionaire, Rap-A-Lot head J. Prince, among others

50 Cent has just added 106 & Park’s Rocsi to his long dis list.

The Queens rapper phoned into Washington, D.C.’s WKYS radio station yesterday during Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks’ “G-Unit Takeover” to respond to the BET host’s recent jabs towards him.

“What’s the girl’s name from 106 & Park?” Fif mockingly asked. “She said something crazy on the tape. My first reaction towards it was, I should probably tell people who she is for real. She’s a pop. I know like four people she slept with.

[Trick Daddy has inked a deal to bring over his crew and record company, Dunk Ryders, to Cash Money.

The Miami-based outfit are currently working on their debut group album. Before the Dunk Ryders release their proper debut, however, fans can hear them on their new mixtape, Dunk Ride or Die.

The mixtape is hosted by Philadelphia’s DJ Beatstreet and features the Dunk Ryders’ hit “Fuck the Other Side” as well as several Trick Daddy freestyles.