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Red Cafe had the Ciroc flowing when he visited Shade 45 recently for a chat with DJ Kay Slay. Red gave an in studio performance of "Hell's Kitchen" off of his mixtape with the same name.

Directed by Street Heat TV

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50 Cent was the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live yesterday (February 7). He and G-Note artist Governor performed "Wait Until Tonight" off of his mixtape, The Big 10.

Check it out below.

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Check out the official music video for Don Trip's "Cheers." The song is featured on his Human Torch 3 mixtape.

Song produced by Cool & Dre.

Directed by Spitty

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It's been way too long since we've heard some new Too $hort. The Oakland representative is back with a new album entitled No Trespassing which drops February 28.

Here's new visuals for "Hey" directed by Joslyn Rose Lyons.

Jay-Z is worth $420 million dollars according to Forbes. No doubt he's worked hard for it. The question is, when you're that wealthy do you have an obligation to give back to those less fortunate? Or at the very least break off a chunk of cash for your own charity?

Those are questions Jay-Z is probably thinking about today after The Daily published a report claiming the superstar rapper made $63 million dollars in 2010, but only gave $6,431 to his own charity. The Daily came up with those numbers by examining tax records for the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund.

Hov's wife, Beyonce, reportedly made $87 million dollars that same year, but did not donate any money at all to the Foundation.

According to the report, the average American gives about 3.5 percent of their income to charity. Jay-Z gave about 0.01 percent of his estimated income to his own charity in 2010.

The Foundation was established in 2003 by Jay and his mother, Gloria Carter. According to it's mission statement "Shawn Carter Scholars are studying at nearly 100 institutions of higher learning throughout the nation." Scholarships awarded help students with "the costs of books and lab fees, food, travel and other self-care expenses." But where exactly is the money to fund these endeavors coming from if Jay-Z is contributing so little?

Hov's representative, Jana Fleishman, told The Daily that the rapper contributes in other ways.

“Jay, along with his family, provided office support, overhead support, [mother] Mrs. Gloria Carter’s 100% effort and time, computers, FedEx expenses, accounting, and treasury function support. This was at no cost to the charity,” Fleishman said.

The Daily noted that tax records show the charity only had to pay $1,209 for office expenses, $1,401 for telephone, and $4,696 in other expenses in 2010.

Fleishman also said that in 2011 Jay-Z helped raise $1.25 million for the charity at its Carnival at Pier 54 event. The Daily couldn't verify those numbers because tax records for 2011 are not yet available.

To be fair to Hov he is playing two Carnegie Hall concerts for free (the first was last night, the second is tonight). Proceeds are being spit between the United Way of New York City and The Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, but it's not known exactly how much money that will translate into for the foundation.

To read the rest of the report head over to The Daily.

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2 Chainz hit up Shade 45's Toca Tuesday's show with Tony Touch and dropped a freestyle.

His Def Jam debut will be on the way soon.

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The 54th annual Grammy Awards is fast approaching. With just a few days left before the big event the Associated Press caught up with Best New Artist nominee J. Cole.

"I feel blessed first and foremost, but I'm already back to work. I'm already on to the next one," Cole told the AP. "I'm grateful for everything that happened, but I'm not satisfied. There's still accomplishments that keep happening from the work that I put in last year and the last two, three years. The single goes platinum, the album goes gold...Grammy nomination. But those are just reminders of the work that I did. That's in the past, I'm already on to the next move."

Cole was so confident in his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story and it's lead single "Work Out" he made sure they were released before the Grammy deadline, because he felt like he had a shot.

"Around the time of Work Out I was like, 'yo this is the single we gotta move.' And everybody at the label [Roc Nation] knew we had to move, just like I knew 'this is the one.'" he said. "Because I was telling my management and telling the label, 'I have to beat the Grammy deadline. I gotta do it.' If you look at the date my album came out like 2 days before the Grammy deadline. It's because I knew, 'Yo I got a shot.' I thought my album was that good. But then the crazy thing is, even though I thought that when it was time for the Grammy announcements to come out I really, truly had already given up. I was like, 'Ahh nah' it didn't feel right. I didn't think they saw. I didn't think anybody noticed or whatever, but they did."

Cole went on to give props to Nicki Minaj and Skrillex for being two hip hop influenced acts who are also nominated. Those three will be in competition with The Band Perry and Bon Iver for the trophy.

The 54th annual Grammy Awards airs Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

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2012 is going to be a very busy year for Slaughterhouse. The group will be releasing it's sophomore album, Welcome To: Our House on May 15th. That will be preceded by a 43-city tour that kicks of March 8th in Dallas.

Group member Royce Da 5'9 is going to get a head start on his band mates by launching a solo tour of Canada in support of his solo album, Success Is Certain.

The 14-city tour kicks off February 9th in Sydney, Nova Scotia and ends March 4th in Waterloo, Ontario.

I really enjoy touring in Canada because the people are so live. They have so much energy and show so much love up there,” Royce Da 5’9 said in a statement to AllHipHop. “I can’t wait to reconnect with friends there.“

Check out the dates below:
THU, FEB 09 Sydney, NS @Joan Harris Pavilion
SAT, FEB 11 Peterborough, On @ Club 172
SUN, FEB 12 Oshawa, ON @ Status Nightclub
WED, FEB 15 Winnipeg, MB @ Marquee Room
THU, FEB 16 Saskatoon, SK @ Odeon Events Centre
SUN, FEB 19 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
MON, FEB 20 Jasper, AB @ The Horseshoe Club
WED, FEB 22 Vancouver, BC @ Red Room
THU, FEB 23 Whistler, BC @ Garfinkles
FRI, FEB 24 Nanimo, BC @ The Queens
SAT, FEB 25 Victoria, BC @ Temple Bar
FRI, MAR 02 Windsor, ON @ Boom Boom Room
SAT, MAR 03 Bellville, ON @ Little Texas Nightclub
SUN, MAR 04 Waterloo, ON @ Cameo Nightclub

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Video And Pics After The Jump

Jay-Z played the first of two benefit shows at Carnegie Hall Monday (February 6). Hov will perform there again tonight. Proceeds from the concerts will go towards the United Way of New York City and The Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.

The event marked the first time Beyonce had been seen in public since giving birth to daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Her husband celebrated having his wife in the building by performing "Glory" for the first time live. The song dedicated is to his baby girl. It was an emotional moment for the Brooklyn MC.

“I didn’t think I was gonna make it through, that one was tough,” he told the crowd at the end of the song.

Nas joined Jay onstage to perform "New York State Of Mind." Alicia Keys was also on hand. She and Jay performed their hit record "Empire State Of Mind."

Check out videos and pictures from last night's event below.

Jay-Z talks to MTV about going from Crooklyn to Carnegie

Jay-Z performs "Glory"

Jay-Z performs "PSA"

Nas performs "New York State of Mind"

Jay-Z Performs "99 Problems"

Sources: MTV, Rap-Up

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Eminem was crowned the 'Hottest MC' in the game for 2010. Will the Detroit rapper be able to hold onto his crown? 

MTV has rolled out it's 25 '2011 Hottest MC List' candidates. That number will be pared down to the top 10.

Next week we'll find out 10-6, with the top five coming on a special roundtable show on Sunday, February 19th at 10:30 p.m. EST on MTV2.

Peep the list below.

MTV ‘2011 Hottest MC List’ Nominees:

2 Chainz
50 Cent
Big Sean
Common
Drake
Eminem
Fabolous
French Montana
Jadakiss
JAY-Z
Jim Jones
Kanye West
Lil Wayne
Lloyd Banks
Maino
Meek Mill
Nas
Nicki Minaj
Red Café
Rick Ross
T.I.
Wale
Wiz Khalifa
Yelawolf
Young Jeezy

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Precious Paris got surprised earlier today when she found out the cover to Smooth Magazine, on which she is featured had leaked.

"The "SmoothMagazine" came out today????" she tweeted.

No worries for G-Unit's Rida Gang member because the fellas are digging the look. Paris will be releasing her debut mixtape on Valentine's Day. The Smooth Magazine with her on the cover is also dropping soon.

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Today "Extra" tv host Maria Menounos had to face the music and pay up on the best she lost to fellow host A.J. Calloway. Menounos, a native of Medford, Massachusetts bet Calloway that if the New England Patriots lost she would wear a tiny New York Giants' bikini. If A.J. had lost he would have had to wear a Patriots' cheerleader outfit.

The Giants beat the Patriots 21-17 so Maria had to wear her bikini in the cold New York weather surrounded by Giants fans.

Source

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Rapper Rick Ross' career has been fueled by the cocaine dealing he often refers to in his lyrics. In his song "Hustlin'" off of his debut album Port of Miami he rapped that he knew former Panamanian dictator/drug kingpin Manuel Noriega.

"I know Pablo, Noriega.The real Noriega, he owe me a hundred favors," he rapped.

In a subsequent interview with AllHipHop, Ross admitted he didn't actually know Noriega.

AllHipHop.com: What did you mean when you said “Noriega owes me favors”? [Manuel "Manolo" Noriega, the Panamanian military leader who was tried and convicted for drug trafficking. He resides in a Miami federal prison]? What does that mean?

 

Rick Ross: Noriega owe a hundred favors, you know what I’m sayin’? It’s just like, you know, I kick it with [Pablo] Escobar nephew. He live down here. That’s my n*ggas, you know what I’m sayin’? So I just meant like, you know, real ties with real n*ggas. That’s what that meant. I don’t know Noriega personally, but I know n*ggas who have met Noriega. I know n*ggas who was in federal prison two, three cells down from Noriega. You know what I’m sayin’? And when I talk to them, I let ‘em know you know that’s something I meant to ‘em in the movies. I’m into sh*t like that. So I’m gonna stand to that. That’s all that means.

So began the rapper's mantra of fake it until you make it that has worked for him thus far.

In a just published article titled 'The Sound Of Success: Rick Ross’s Confidence Game,' writer Sasha Frere-Jones of the New Yorker places the blame on the Miami rapper's shoulders for making it acceptable for rappers to embellish what they say in their lyrics to the point that the motto "keeping it real" has all but left the genre.

Check out an excerpt from the article below.

A central motif in contemporary hip-hop is rapping about drug dealing by artists who may not actually sell narcotics. Among others, Jay-Z, Clipse, and Young Jeezy have rhymed about a past or present involvement in the trade on the street. It’s typically impossible to determine whether they are telling the truth about themselves or simply the truth about their environment, and it’s never been clear whether listeners care. The Miami rapper Rick Ross, who is both physically and culturally very large, talks endlessly about extensive work in the cocaine trade. His involvement with drugs remains a mystery, but, in 2008, the Smoking Gun published documents revealing that Ross—who named himself after the Los Angeles drug dealer Freeway Ricky Ross—was once a Florida corrections officer with a perfect attendance record. He has become more popular, critically and commercially, since the revelation, and has modified his stories of drug selling only slightly. So rap fans must be either very poor listeners or fairly sophisticated ones—much more likely the latter.

 

Ross’s success in mimicking drug lords has brought him the ability to live like one of them. Profiles have documented his large homes, his fleet of cars, his shopping sprees at watch stores, his solicitous entourage and flexible schedule. Ross may represent the final abandonment of hip-hop’s mandate to “keep it real,” a concept that goes by different names now but has not gone away. Perhaps listeners know that this is a version of “Miami Vice,” a show that Ross claims to have been inspired by. The appeal is less some kind of documentary thrill than Ross’s ability to transmit the confidence that comes from blithely running up roaming fees while driving a Rolls-Royce through Samoa.

Frere-Jones's article reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend recently who asked me if I watched reality tv. (I do not). He explained that even though people know shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" are totally scripted and anything but "real" some people can't stop watching them.

Has rap become the new reality tv? And if so is Ross it's leading actor?

To read all of Sasha Frere-Jones' article head over to the New Yorker.

Originally spotted at HipHopWired

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Hundreds of "Soul Train" fans displayed their best dance moves Saturday (February 4) in New York's Times Square in memory of Don Cornelius.

Fans sported bell bottoms and wigs. A few even brought out their children as they transformed Times Square into a "Soul Train" dance line.

"Don Cornelius brought soul to the whole world," Ramona Hamm, 37, who came to Times Square with her 9-year-old daughter, Kayla Charles told Billboard.

The event lasted about 45 minutes before police broke up the party.

Cornelius died last week at the age of 75.

ABC News coverage of flash mob

"Soul Train" flash mob footage

More flash mob footage

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Machine Gun Kelly and DMX have recently formed both a friendship and working relationship. Mikey T The Movie Star recently caught up with MGK to talk about what fans can expect to hear from their collaborations.

"That's my idol," MGK said. "I'm on DMX's first single. That's like big bro. He got a joint on my album. That's the man, shout out to him."

MGK was asked how he felt about exposing Dark Man X to a whole new generation of hip hop fans.

"All these people are f*cking jabronis, 'Jay-Z is the best rapper alive, Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive' ass motherf*ckers. I f*ck with them don't get me wrong. I'm just saying there are other people--you don't have to say what everyone else says and be like, 'the underground kid that nobody knows is the best rapper alive,'" MGK said. "I just feel like X is unpredictable. You never know what he's going to do. He has a f*cking priceless story. All I'm saying is be different. Dare to be different you b*tches."

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A couple of weeks ago Birdman tweeted that he was willing to bet anyone $5 million dollars on the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl against the New York Giants.

Stunna said he felt confident because his nephew was Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. A day after the Patriots lost Birdman tweeted nobody would take him up on his bet even though Vibe reported this morning that Sportsbook Brand Manager Dave Mason of BetOnline.com tried to reach out to the Cash Money boss prior to the game to make the bet.

“If Birdman is prepared to put his money where his mouth is, we are prepared to accept his $5 million wager on either the point spread or the money line of Super Bowl XLVI," said Mason.

Of course we now know the Patriots lost the game 21-17.

Less than an hour ago Birdman sent out a tweet claiming that nobody would step up to the plate to accept his offer.

Do you think Stunna is being honest or just doesn't want to admit losing such a large sum of money?

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It looks like Janet Jackson's "n*pplegate" is happening all over again.

When M.I.A. threw up a middle finger during her performance with Madonna at halftime of Super Bowl 46, she managed to steal Madge's shine and stir up lots of trouble.

Both the NFL and NBC issued apologies for not blurring the middle finger.

“The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.”

The NFL also blamed NBC's delay system for not catching the obscene gesture in time.

“The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said. He also added that M.I.A. didn't display the middle finger during rehearsals, so they had no idea she would do it during the live event.

The Parents Television Council isn't buying the apologies from the NFL and NBC. They blame both organizations for hiring acts who have based their careers "on shock, profanity and titillation."

Tim Winter of the PTC released the following statement:

“NBC fumbled and the NFL lied because a performer known as M.I.A. felt it necessary to flip off millions of families. It is unfortunate that a spectacular sporting event was overshadowed once again by broadcasting the selfish acts of a desperate performer.

 

“Last week the NFL formally told the PTC – and the American public – that the Super Bowl halftime show would be ‘appropriate.’ Most families would agree that the middle finger aimed directly at them is not appropriate, especially during the most-watched television event of the year.

 

“The mechanism NBC had in place to catch this type of material completely failed, and the network cannot say it was caught off guard. It has been eight years since the Janet Jackson striptease, and both NBC and the NFL knew full well what might happen. They chose a lineup full of performers who have based their careers on shock, profanity and titillation. Instead of preventing indecent material, they enabled it. M.I.A. used a middle finger shamelessly to bring controversial attention to herself, while effectively telling an audience filled with children, ‘F– you.’

 

“A simple apology rings hollow after yet another slap in the face to families, especially when NBC has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be allowed to air all manner of indecent material at any time of day, even when children are watching.

 

“Either the NFL and NBC will take immediate steps to hold those accountable for this offensive material in front of a hundred million Americans, or they will feebly sit back and do nothing. The nation – and the PTC – is watching.”

The Super Bowl was watched by an estimated 110 million viewers. It's a family event and the NFL has gone to great lengths to hire acts they consider to be safe ever since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004.

M.I.A. throwing up the middle finger during Super Bowl performance

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Gisele Bundchen was in no mood to hear trash talking from New York Giants fans after her husband Tom Brady's New England Patriots team lost to them in the Super Bowl yesterday.

Bundchen was leaving her luxury suite at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis following the 21-17 loss when a fan yelled at her.

“Eli rules!” the fan exclaimed, referring to Giants quarterback Eli Manning. “Eli owns your husband!”

Bundchen didn't reply directly to the fan, but told a friend walking with her the Patriots receivers were to blame for the loss.

“You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball,” she said. “My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.”

Bundchen had to be referring to wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Aaron Hernadez, both of whom dropped key fourth quarter passes.

After the game Welker seemed to agree with Bundchen.

"It's a play I never drop. Most critical situation and I let the team down," he said. "It comes to the biggest moment of my life and I don't come up with it. It's discouraging."

Wes Welker's critical fourth quarter dropped pass

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