Lil Wayne took a step closer to becoming a true rock star by performing alongside Kid Rock during the Country Music Awards in Nashville last night (11/12).

Birdman Jr. assisted Rock in performing his song “All Summer Long.” But rather than rap as he did with Rock at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, Wayne, sporting a Tennessee Titans football jersey, played the background as he strummed his guitar. Reports say Weezy wasn’t actually playing, but mimicking as Rock’s actual guitarist played the tune.

Weezy became the first rap artist to perform on country music’s biggest stage. Self-proclaimed “Hick-Hop” artist Cowboy Troy appeared in the event back in 2004.

Source: Marvin Brandon

Think you’ll be fed up with your family by the time Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close? Fear not, because Snoop Dogg and his will be back to provide some comic relief for you and yours, as “Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood” returns to E! for its second season on Sunday, November 30 at 10:30 pm.

This season, Snoop and co.—including wife Boss Lady (Shanté), sons Spank (Cordé) and Rook (Cordell), and daughter Choc (Cori)—are back to bless viewers with their always amusing day-to-day antics.

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Despite the delay in his solo project, Big Boi says Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty is back on track for next year, coinciding with his partner, Andre 3000, who will also release a solo effort. The duo also plans to release an album as a group, making the release of three projects from Outkast official.

“Me and ’Dre were on the conference call [recently].” Big Boi told MTV. “He’s working on his album; my album is done. We’re gonna wait until the top of the year— January or February—to put it out. Then ’Dre is gonna come hit y’all, and [then] we’re gonna do the Outkast album. So y’all gonna get three records from the ’Kast next year.”

Suge Knight apparently has his eyes on Kanye West’s money. The former Death Row mogul reportedly blames Kanye West for being shot at his Pre-MTV party at Miami’s Shore Club back in 2005.

Knight recently (09/12) filed a lawsuit in Bankruptcy Court suing West and The Shore Club for negligence, personal injury and premises liability. The court document states that in addition to being wounded, Knight also lost a 15-carat diamond studded earring worth $135, 000 inside the Shore Club. Suge claims an employee found the earring and assured it would be returned to him. The earring has yet to be returned. Knight also claims he was so embarrassed he had to flea Miami in a private jet.

It looks like Kanye West fans will get to purchase 808s & Heartbreak a day earlier. Def Jam has reportedly pushed the album up one day to capitalize off the holiday season.

West broke the news during a Def Jam conference call earlier today (11/11). The call came only hours after Ye’s fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak leaked onto the internet.

“Basically, the label moved it up,” Ye revealed during the call. “They’re trying to get more sales and shit. If I get the sales, then cool. If I don’t, then I have to sure bear the burden cause I’ve been a cocky motherfucka, talking my shit and all that.”

Chamillionaire is putting Houston on his back. While most of the city’s MCs have been quiet since becoming hip-hop’s hottest city three years ago, Cham is prepping to release a new mixtape, Mixtape Messiah 5 and his third album, Venom.

Cham will first be unleashing Mixtape Messiah 5 on November 23rd to prepare the terrain for Venom. A release date as yet to be set for the album. Meanwhile, the mixtape will be available for download on chamillionaire.com.

As previously reported, Cham is looking to bring H-Town back to hip-hop’s forefront with his next release. “Everywhere I go people are like, ‘What happened to Houston’ and that’s a problem for me,” Cham told XXLMag.com earlier this year. “I could be one of these people that only cared about myself and be like, ‘I’m just gon get it. Forget everybody else in Houston,’ but I’m not like that.”t]

Source:  Marvin Brandon

Time to hit the road. MTV reports that Lil Wayne is set to headline an eight-week nationwide tour featuring T-Pain, Keyshia Cole and Gym Class Heroes starting December 18th.

Wayne is also scheduled to release his highly anticipated Dedication 3 mixtape with DJ Drama this Thursday(11/11). Similar to the two previous installments, the tape features Wayne rippinng known instrumentals like DJ Drama’s “The Art Of Storytelling Pt.4,” Soulja Boy’s “Shootouts” and Lil Jon and Too $hort’s “Dick Pleaser.”

The usually easy-going T-Pain has apparently developed diva-ish tendencies. Jive Records, T-Pain’s recording home, reportedly sent media outlets a list of regulations to follow should they want to interview the self-proclaimed “ring leader,” according to TMZ.

Mos Def is a wanted man. Las Vegas Police recently issued a warrant for the rapper/actor’s arrest regarding an alleged fight with a photographer this past August.

The photographer, Volker Correll, contends that a scuffle ensued when Mos ripped a camera from his neck. Per the Vegas Police Department, the Brooklynite will face robbery and destruction of property charges when turning himself in. The warrant was reportedly issued nearly a week ago (11/04), but Mos has yet to surrender to the authorities. Police expect Mos to turn himself in by week’s end.

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New Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest has partnered with DJ Drama to release the latest edition in the long-running Gangsta Grillz mixtape series.

Entitled World Wide Warier Presents King of Queens, the next installment features a collection of songs and freestyles from Artest himself, and up and coming artists from his Tru Warier record label, including Challace, MR QB, Foul Monday, and D. Artest.

Previously, Artest worked with Sean “Diddy” Combs, Juvenile, Nature, and Capone of CNN on his 2006 debut My World. Two years later, Artest feels the new Gangsta Grillz collaboration will show his growth as an artist and CEO.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has issued a warrant for the arrest of Brooklyn rapper/actor Mos Def yesterday evening (November 5).

Mos, born Dante Smith, was allegedly involved in an altercation with a professional photographer at the most recent MAGIC showing in August.

Dogg Pound group members and brothers Kurupt and Roscoe will drop their first album together as a duo next week. The album is titled The Frank and Jess Story, a nod to the infamous brothers and American outlaws Frank and Jesse James.

NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony has inked a deal with Philadelphia rapper Cassidy, who is planning to release a new album on Anthony’s Krossover Entertainment.

Cassidy’s upcoming album, tentatively titled Language Arts, will feature rappers like Rick Ross, Cool & Dre, Jadakiss, Gorilla Zoe, Raheem Devaughn and Cassidy’s Runnin Mates family, which also features label mate Berg.

“Krossover Entertainment is positioned to experience immediate growth in the mainstream entertainment industry by assembling a high powered team of management professionals and industry tastemakers,” Anthony told AllHipHop.com about the long-term vision for the label.

As Cassidy prepares his debut release for Anthony’s Krossover Entertainment, Eastside, Atlanta rapper Berg aka Diego Ca$h will be the first artist released on Anthony’s fledgling imprint.

You could end up on a track with Ludacris.The Atlanta MC has just launched (11/05) “The Undisputed Open Mic Throwdown,” a nationwide MC Competition via his new social networking web site wemix.com. Competing MCs will get the chance to land a guest verse on the official remix to “Undisputed,” Luda’s first single off his forthcoming Theater Of The Mind.

Each contestants must record a 16-Bar verse to enter the competition. Luda will handpick five finalists while the prize winner will be selected by the wemix.com community. The winner will be revealed in early December.

Hard to believe it’s already been eight years since The Lox’s last album, We Are The Streets. Since then, the trio has been busy releasing solo albums while keeping a unified front through their D-Block label and collective.

Jadakiss, who has released two solo LPs (Kiss The Game Goodbye, Kiss Of Death) to date, is gearing up for a third go-round, The Last Kiss December 9th. Sheek Louch (Walk With Me, After Taxes, Silverback Gorilla) and Styles P (A Gangster And A Gentleman, Time Is Money, Super Gangsta, Extraordinary Gentleman) also dropped three solo efforts apiece during the group’s eight-year hiatus.

Former Three 6 Mafia member Lord Infamous will release a new album titled After Sics on his own Black Rain Entertainment.

After Sics, which is the second release since his departure from Oscar Award winning group Three 6 Mafia, is the follow up to his 2007 release The Man, The Myth, The Legacy.

The rapper, revered for his drug laced, dark lyrics, had been with Three 6 Mafia since the group’s inception in 1991.

“This project was a must for all my fans,” Lord Infamous said of After Sics. “Everyone asked if I’m gonna keep doing the dark sound, but I never changed my music, it’s still the same.”

The rapper, born Ricky Dunigan, experienced legal challenges while preparing his latest solo effort.

Lord Infamous, who is half-brothers with DJ Paul, was arrested in March of 2008 during a domestic dispute with an unnamed family member.

He insists that despite the album title After Sics, he still maintains a working relationship with the group, although the latest album introduces his new alliances.

“With this album, we took it back to the underground days, and the only difference between this album and the last is that you get to hear all the Black Rain artists, Tha Club House Click,” Lord Infamous explained.

Lord Infamous’ third solo album After Sics is due in stores January 27th on Black Rain Entertainment. 

Source: Allhiphop

Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am is expected to release “It’s A New Day,” a congratulatory song on Barack Obama’s presidential election victory later today. (11/05).

The song and video will premiere on Dipdive.com, the same site on which he released his Webby award winning “Yes We Can” clip earlier this year. The star-studded clip featured appearances by Common, John Legend, actress Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Sherzinger, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and many more. “It’s A New Day” picks up where “Yes We Can” left off, praising Obama’s win and the American people for making his triumph possible. Will put the finishing touches on the song last night.

Add another plaque to T.I.’s stat box. The self-proclaimed “king of the south” just cleared the million mark by selling 76, 560 copies of The Paper Trail this week. Resting at the no. 10 slot, Tip has sold 1, 047, 627 copies according to Nielsen’s Soundscan.

Meanwhile, Lil Wayne seems to have found Michael Jordan’s number. Landing at no. 23, Tha Carter III moves 23, 037 units this week -bringing its grand total to 2, 624, 722 units sold.

He’s a mogul. He’s a millionaire. And he told you he won’t stop.

Well, actually, he told you he was retiring. But like Diddy, Jay-Z keeps going.

Hov joined Kanye West on stage last night at Madison Garden in New York City. The pair relayed a message to the audience that erupted in cheers with the Roc ringleader arrived.

And with that, The Blueprint 3 is on the way. ‘Ye yelled over and over again, that refrain, as Jay spit a new song titled “Jockin’ Jay-Z.” West even revealed he’ll be producing records for the LP.

The opening bars of the track feature Hov taking aim again at his detractors (Ahem, Noel Gallegher) during the Glastonbury Festival.

“That bloke from Oasis said I can’t play guitar/ Somebody should have told him I’m a fucking Roc star.”

T-Pain’s schedule is shaping up nicely. He just finished his video to "Can’t Believe It" with Lil Wayne, and he and the collaboration king now have a slew of songs in the vault for their duet LP. But first, Pain is releasing his third solo LP in September.

"I got my new album, Thr33 Ringz, dropping this fall," he recently told MTV Base. "I got my artist Tay Dizm, and I’ve already got his single ‘Beam Me Up,’ featuring me and Rick Ross. I’ve also got Young Cash coming out right now, Jay Lyriq — I’ve got a lot of stuff coming [on my Nappy Boy label]."

And as usual, Pain’s plate is filled with a who’s who of music. "I’m working with a lot of new people," the Florida native said. "I just worked on Ciara’s album. Me and Kanye did it again; we did another hook like two days ago."

T-Pain failed to mention that he and Timbaland just recorded a couple of tracks together as well. But Timbo got us up to speed.

In this week’s Hip-Hop and R&B charts, Lil’ Wayne position holds steady, Nas hangs on to Top 10, and G-Unit suffers another loss.

After reaching the double platinum mark last week, Lil’Wayne’s run at “3 millie” gets off to a start. According to Nielsen Soundscan Weezy’s sixth studio album Tha Carter III, remains at No. 5 on top of Billboard 200. With the release of the third single “Get Money” featuring his auto-tune partner, T-Pain the ubiquitous set shifted 80,000 units. In eight weeks, Young Moola’s double platinum set has moved 2,100,000 units.

Nas’ controversial ninth studio album Untitled narrowly stays in the Top 10, dropping down two spots to No. 10. Impacted with a 35% decline in sales, the revolutionary LP shifted 41,000 copies this week. Untitled is charged by the Polow da Don produced and Keri Hilson assisted lead single, “Hero,” and FOX news network diss track “Sly Fox.” After three weeks, the Queensbridge MC set has sold 290,000 units.

The feud between 50 Cent and Young Buck has died down quite a bit since last month, when all the talk on the internet was about the leaked phone conversation in which Buck was heard crying to 50.

Since the leak, we’ve only heard from the Tennessee rapper via responses recorded in the form of songs. Now, nearly a month later, he’s starting to get out, making his rounds again, and is speaking out about the fallout with his former family at G-Unit.

In a recent interview with Buckie Naked Radio, the rapper addressed the ongoing feud with 50 Cent. He downplays the whole situation, saying the two going just need to go their separate ways.

"At this point, I’m just trying to do what I got to do as a man," Buck said. "My departure away from the group … I’m still signed to this label [and] I’m trying to get away from that situation because we just can’t work out. At this point, it’s just about me moving forward."

"I think what I’m going through, as far as my situation with G-Unit, is something that’s just making me stronger. It made me more weary of my surroundings. It taught me a whole lot," he continued.

‘All the pictures of me and Em, I burned them,’ he raps in the L.A.X. song.

Coming off his song "Game’s Pain," it’s clear the Game’s mood isn’t getting any brighter. "My Life," another track from his L.A.X. LP was leaked Wednesday night. It features Lil Wayne and showcases more of Game’s wordplay and his very vocal torment.

"All the pictures of me and Em, I burned them," he raps, referencing Slim Shady. "So there ain’t no proof I walked through 8 Mile/ And so since it ain’t no Proof, I’ll never walk through 8 Mile/ Sometimes I think about my life with my face down/ Then I see my sons and put on my Kanye smile."

Later, he references Notorious B.I.G. "Biggie, Brooklyn’s Jesus, shot for no f—in’ reason/ And you wonder why Kanye West wears his Jesus pieces."

The wait for Detox is almost over. Dr. Dre says his long-anticipated third solo album is starting to take shape in the studio and could arrive before the end of the year.

"I’m just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that it’s going to be right and it’s something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it," says Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young). "In a perfect world, I’m shooting for a November or December release."

If that happens, it will come nine years after his six-times-platinum 2001, which was itself a long-awaited follow-up to his revered 1992 debut, The Chronic That album’s bass-fueled G Funk sound dominated rap for years and propelled Snoop Dogg to superstardom. Both albums raised the bar for hip-hop production values.

"I’ve never set out to do that," says Dre, 43. "I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel and I don’t put it out until I’m totally happy with it. Then it does what it does."

"He’s a master of crafting a complete album, which is rare these days with everything being singles-driven," Creekmur says. "We’ve been waiting on this almost a decade, and that ridiculous level of anticipation will translate saleswise. It would be on par with Lil Wayne (whose Tha Carter III recently sold 1 million copies its first week out), if not more."

For Eminem fans, the four-year wait since the Detroit MC released his last studio album, Encore, has been painful. But according to Dr. Dre’s latest protégé, Bishop Lamont, the end of the drought could be right around the corner. “Em is excited,” Lamont said, according to an Entertainment Weekly blog report. “He’s been quiet too long, and he’s got a lot to get off his chest.”

No release date has been set yet for the album, but Em’s label confirmed that he’s in the studio at work on the album. The 35-year-old MC has been on hiatus for the past two-plus years, in part to deal with his emotions about the 2006 death of best friend and fellow D12 member Proof in a bar shooting in Detroit, but Lamont said Slim Shady is emerging from his grief.

After chart-topping success from the Static Major-assisted "Lollipop" in spring, the subsequent Kanye West-spotted remix in summer and "A Millie" in between, Lil Wayne has confirmed his next single. The Deezle-produced "Mrs. Officer" will hit airwaves this week from the platinum-selling Carter III album.

“Working on this album was a great experience. The chemistry that I have with Wayne is incredible,” said Deezle. “It’s creative, exciting and fast moving. I can throw an idea to him and get it thrown back to me not only as a great concept, but as a finished idea. This happens in just minutes. I thank him for believing in me.”

The song features former Disturbing Tha Peace crooner Bobby Valentino.

‘This T-Wayne movement is getting crazy,’ Pain says on the set of album photo shoot.

We’ve had it all wrong: T-Pain isn’t actually Teddy Penderazdoun. They’re two different people … well, entities. Pain is still Pain, but Teddy P is about a foot taller and North Carolina Tar Heel blue.

Pain introduced the mascot to MTV News last week on the set of his album photo shoot. Pain’s LP Thr33 Ringz is due in September. DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and Pain’s partner in crime, Lil Wayne, are all present and accounted for on the record. T-Pain also told us that the project between him and Weezy is definitely taking shape.

"T-Wayne is an entity that’s just gonna take over a side of the game," Pain prophesied.

50 Cent has become vocal about his difficulty in marketing hip-hop within today’s music industry and it’s effects on making his final Interscope solo release, Before I Self Destruct.

In a video from ThisIs50.com, the G-Unit leader weighed in his opinions on the tough times most rap albums are experiencing and his need to regain the top spot he once held. “I feel like I got something to prove again, musically,” he said. “It feels like it’s not based on the actual music. It’s just a weird climate right now.”

Admitting that in the past record sales were based on how many plays a particular song received on the radio, 50 explained the industry is even more complex today.

“It doesn’t even go based on radio spins,” he explained. “Like it’s so confusing because I wanna say it’s radio spins and then it simplifies the situation. And it makes it about that and then it’s not about that. I mean it’s confusing because these people are appreciating the music I’m making now and I don’t see the same response, like according to the G-Unit album.”

The latest round in the ongoing fight between Nas and Fox News hit the airwaves Wednesday night (July 23). Shortly after Bill O’Reilly said on his show that protesters who called his network racist were "zombie followers," Nas appeared on "The Colbert Report" and performed his track "Sly Fox."

On the very day his Untitled topped the Billboard album chart, Nas joined members of the organization ColorofChange.org and others in front of Fox News’ New York headquarters with a petition signed by over 620,000 people expressing concern over what they felt have been racist portrayals of Barack and Michelle Obama.

On Wednesday’s episode of "The O’Reilly Factor," the host called Color of Change’s parent company, MoveOn.org, "the new Klan" during his "Talking Points" segment.

"The Move On organization espouses a radical left agenda and attacks those who oppose that nonsense," O’Reilly said.

Titled or not, Nas’ 9th LP, Untitled lands atop the Billboard charts this week. The set sold 187, 078 copies according to Nielsen’s Soundscan, moving enough units to push Lil Wayne off the No. 1 spot.

But don’t expect Escobar to rest on his laurels. The Queens lyricist is keeping busy with a protest against Fox News in NYC today and an appearance on Comedy Central’s hit show, The Colbert Report, later today.