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Via Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando Magic's Dwightmare appears to be nearing an end.

The Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ershave reached a deal in principle on a four-team trade that will send Howard to the Lakers.

The Magic are set to receive Denver shooting guard Arron Afflalo, Denver power forward Al Harrington, Philly center Nikola Vucevic, Philadelphia rookie small forward Moe Harkless and at least one future protected first-round pick from each of the three other teams and perhaps other assets, ESPN reported late Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the deal also would send Orlando swingman Jason Richardson and L.A. center Andrew Bynum to the Sixers and Philly swingman Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets. The Magic also could send point guard Chris Duhon and power forward Earl Clark to the Lakers, Yahoo! Sports reported early Friday morning.

Andrew Bynum

The complicated trade could be approved by the league as early as Friday, but any deal would be contingent on Howard passing a physical.

Magic general manger Rob Hennigan and CEO Alex Martins did not return messages Thursday from the Orlando Sentinel.

But the deal could leave many Magic fans underwhelmed as the franchise begins a massive rebuilding project.

Earlier Thursday, it appeared that the Magic might receive all-star big man Pau Gasol from the Lakers, but Gasol is no longer in the mix, a league source familiar with the deal told the Sentinel.

The Magic wanted to gain draft picks and trade away the long-term salaries of players such as Richardson and Duhon. But the protected draft picks will be coming from three teams — the Lakers, Nuggets and Sixers — that are playoff contenders.

Afflalo, 26, is slated to earn about $31 million over the next four seasons if he invokes his player option for the 2015-16 season.

Afflalo tweeted about the pending trade early Friday morning. He wrote: "Orlando .... above all i love this game .... destiny and opportunity ... excited".

Harrington, 32, is owed about $6.7 million this upcoming season. His salary of $7,148,600 for 2013-14 and $7,609,800 for 2014-15 are only 50 percent guaranteed, according to the website ShamSports.com.

Howard desperately wanted to be traded, and he made that point clear to Hennigan during a face-to-face meeting in Southern California on July 25.

The Lakers emerged as Howard's preferred trade destination once a potential deal between the Magic and the Brooklyn Nets fell through last month.

Howard would not answer a question about the potential trade to the Lakers when a TMZ paparazzo confronted him Thursday afternoon.

The Magic showed little interest in acquiring Bynum, who arguably is the NBA's second-best center. Magic officials were concerned about the health of Bynum's knees, and it was unclear whether Bynum would have considered re-signing with the Magic in free agency.

Orlando is scheduled to begin its training camp on Oct. 1. Although Hennigan had not ruled out the possibility of Howard starting camp with the Magic, Howard's presence — and the resulting distractions — would have made it difficult for first-year coach Jacque Vaughn to instill a team-first culture.

The Magic selected Howard out of Southwest Atlanta (Ga.) Christian Academy with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.

In the eight seasons that followed, he played in the NBA All-Star Game six times, was named first-team All-NBA five consecutive seasons and won the Defensive Player of the Year Award an NBA-record three consecutive seasons.

In 2009, Howard led the Magic on a storybook playoff run, beating the defending champion Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals. The Magic lost in the NBA Finals to the Lakers in five games.

Howard ranks as the Magic's all-time franchise leader in points scored (11,435), rebounds (8,072) and blocked shots (1,344).

It appears now that he'll be doing all those things for the Lakers.

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Trae Tha Truth recruits an all star cast of Houston rappers for his latest. Produced by 1500 Or Nothing.

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Common Sense paid a visit to Shade 45's Sway in the Morning show recently. During his visit he spit an off the top of the head freestyle while Sway tried to trip him up by throwing him random names and phrases.

Check it out below and let us know how you think Common did.

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Whitney Houston died tragically on February 11, 2012, but her memory lives on through her music, friends and family.

Today would have been the singers 49th birthday. She is being remembered and honored by those who were closest to her. R. Kelly and Monica spoke to MTV about what they remembered most about Whitney.

"Whitney was a ball of fun," Kelly said. "She reminded me of my sister whom I used to argue with all the time over music. We challenged each other a lot in the studio from the first moment we laid eyes on each other, but it was a lot of fun."

Whitney was a great friend and inspiration to Monica.

"Losing somebody that you idolize is one thing, but losing a friend is another thing," Monica told MTV News "I look back over many, many years of my life, and Whitney wasn't the type of person that would call and ask if I was OK — she would actually fly to me. She would come looking for me, she would sit with me. I really appreciate the fact that for almost three decades she gave us music that will last. My grandchildren will know exactly who she is; my great-grandchildren will know exactly who Whitney Houston is."

Whitney's daughter, Bobbi Kristina and her adopted brother-turned-boyfriend Nick Gordon visited Inksomnia Tattoo in Alpharetta, Ga., Wednesday night to get matching dove tattoos on their wrists.

Bobbi Kristina and Nick Gordon's matching tattoos

"The doves have a spiritual connotation, flying free I suppose,” Inksomnia owner Mike Cummings told the New York Daily News. "They were happy at times, and sad at others. When you would talk about their mom, they got sad, but we tried to keep their spirits up."


The couple sent out tweets marking the occasion.

Whitney's final movie Sparkle opens on August 17th.

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Known as much for her beefs as her rhymes, Azealia Banks is definitely making a name for herself. The 21-year old Harlem rapper burst onto the music scene with her catchy hit "212," but then quickly found herself in the middle of squabbles with the likes of Kreayshawn, Iggy Azalea, Lil Kim, T.I. and most recently Jim Jones.

If she's bothered by the various conflicts she isn't letting it show. She released her 1991 EP in May, then followed that up by dropping a mixtape titled Fantasea. She now finds herself on the cover of Vibe alongside red hot producer Diplo.

Check out an excerpt from her cover story with the publication.

VIBE: You’ve come a long way since riding the Uptown 4 train. How are your peers reacting to your early success?
AZEALIA BANKS: The energy I’m getting is kinda, “Yo, what up?” and keep it moving. There’s no like… I don’t know.

Why do you think there’s hesitance?
Because I’m kinda this UFO that floats above wide ground. And nobody really gets it, but they see this weird floating object there [laughs]. When I spoke to Missy, she was like, “Yo, where did you come from?” Because you usually see people on their come up.

And now people are waiting to see if the UFO will crash?
Sometimes it is scary because you drop down in this territory where people feel like it’s their space. So then it’s kinda like, “Errr, hi…” And they don’t know how to react to you, and you don’t really know how to react to them. But they like your shit and you respect their shit. And it’s cool.

Besides feeling territorial, there are folks who take the hierarchal, respect-your-elders adage very seriously. Is that voided once someone disses you?
When people come at my head it doesn’t faze me enough to be sad. It’s just, “Listen motherf*cker, let me tell you about yourself and what I got and am about to get. You’re trying to knock me off my feet; I’m trying to stand tall, ’cause I’m here for a reason. I wasn’t even thinking about y’all, y’all came at me.”

Right, but not every 21-year-old newbie has the balls to publicly mouth off at T.I. Were you raised to be this fearless?
My mother was always like, “Anybody say something you don’t like, punch them in the mouth. Do it!” [Laughs] If I had a fight, when she came home I would get another a$$ whupping just for being a little bird. And she’d be like, “Why you letting these people bring you down?” I was a really fresh little girl, always arguing back, trying lipstick on, trying to shake my a$$—knowing in the back of my head I’m gonna get f*cked up [by my mother]. But fuck it, I wanna get f*cked up.

Do you think your American buzz so far has been built more off controversy than music?
Of course, because Americans are distracted by sh*t like that. It’s like, “Listen, T.I., if I was a f*cking boy you wouldn’t say anything to me.” But when I’m a girl and I say something back, the media wants to turn it into all these different things. Rappers beef all the time. I said what I said about [Iggy Azalea] and kept it moving. Then a month later you said what you said. And it keeps coming up. Leave it alone. I didn’t say she couldn’t rap. I said something very real. Out of everything, she had to [call herself] “a runaway slave master”? C’mon, that’s not swag. That’s not fly sh*t.

Continue.
And that’s all it was. For T.I. to drag me through the dirt… It’s silly. In Europe they leave it alone and keep playing my songs on the radio and I keep getting booked for fashion shows because they’re about the art. All I’m doing is making myself look bad by getting engaged with y’all because no one in Europe gives a f*ck about y’all. All I’m doing is giving y’all n*ggas exposure. So if you notice I’ve backed up off Twitter the past days [laughs].

Speaking of that wonderful social network, that’s the main thing you’re slammed for—calling out other artists on there.
Exactly. And that’s the only thing n*ggas could hold against me, because I’m hot. So you know what? I’ma back off and [tweet] about random sh*t and make these records. I’m trying to just reach out, do a little record…

Which brings us to Lil’ Kim. Why address her publicly instead of sending a private message or e-mail?
That’s what we did, and that shit is over. Yo, listen, [Lil’ Kim], this black cloud you got over you—don’t try to push that over me. You can keep that, because as soon as I released “Jumanji” is as soon everybody forgot about you. I have my hand on the dial; I can control how hot and cold you are right now. So I’m not even going to give it to you. I tried to make a legitimate track with you, tried to collaborate. I was bigging her up and she keeps throwing it back in my face. I tried.

Do you regret getting into these Twitter clashes?
Of course, because it’s e-thugging… Who wants to look like that? But how else am I gonna reach y’all? I don’t have a T.I. to get on a radio show and defend me; I’m the one behind me. Y’all expect me to agree like, “Oh yea, I’m wack. I only have one song.” That’s one song y’all niggas don’t f*cking have. You might win some, but you just lost one.

Kanye certainly doesn’t think you’re wack. Tell me about the time you guys first met in London last year.
He hit me up like, “You’re mad talented. What do you eat for breakfast?” The whole conversation was pretty dense—two Geminis in one room. So it was so many ideas flying.

To read the rest of the interview head over to Vibe

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Eminem will make a rare live appearance tonight in New York City when he performs at a special G-Shock 30th Anniversary party being held at a secret location. Slaughterhouse is rumored to be performing as well.

Eminem let the cat out of the bag with a tweet earlier today.

Eminem has been working day and night to finish the new Slaughterhouse album welcome to: Our House. Slim is featured on three songs on the album. If fans are lucky they might get to hear one or two of them tonight.

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Philadelphia rapper Mike Knox heads out on the road to promote his new single "Hands On You" featuring singerGuordan. We follow Knox and Guordan as they hit the club for a hot performance.

Knox explains the meaning behind the song then does his thing. Check that out below.

Filmed by @willKNOWS

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Machine Gun Kelly will be dropping his Lace Up album on October 9th. In the meantime the Bad Boy rapper will release a new mixtape titled EST 4 Life on August 14th.

DJ Whoo Kid, DJ E-V and DJ Xplosive will be hosting the tape.

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If you don't know who Jhene Aiko is, it's time you familiarize yourself with this talented singer/songwriter from Los Angeles. Jhene has just dropped the official music video for "3:16 A.M." The track was produced by Fisticuffs.

Look for Jhene's Def Jam album to be on the way soon.

Directed by Topshelf Junior.

When Nivea signed Rihanna as a spokesmodel last year they said they were "very excited" to have her on board.

"Over the past 100 years, Nivea has been an iconic skin-care brand across the world," Board member Markus Pinger said in a press release at the time. "Rihanna is a music icon and her digital footprint will help us bring our anniversary celebration to consumers wherever they are."

A year later it seems the company has changed it's tune and decided to part ways with the sexy singer.

The company's new CEO, Stefan Heidenreich, has told German media Rihanna is a "no go" according to the Daily Mail.

"The advert starring Rihanna was a no go. I do not understand how Nivea can be brought into association with Rihanna," Heidenreich reportedly said. "Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability."

That Heidenreich doesn't think Riri is wholesome enough for his brand shouldn't come as a surprise since she often appears in public wearing as little as possible.

It will be a big blow financially to the singer though. In July Forbes credited Nivea with helping Rihanna become one of the highest paid stars under 30 with earnings of $53 million in the last year.

Rihanna responded by tweeting a picture of Heidenreich and writing "no caption necessary."

Rihanna Official Nivea Skin Commercial 2011

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. got his freedom back after being released from a Las Vegas jail last Friday following a 2 month stay. The boxing champion had not granted any interviews since his release, but PopStopTV was lucky enough to chat with him on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of 50 Cent's new movie Freelancers.

Floyd kept his answers brief because he didn't want to steal the spotlight away from 50, but he did comment on 50's success in movies, Manny Pacquiao and gave some advice to kids who wanted to follow in his footsteps.

"I'm always gonna support my friend 50 Cent. He's a great guy," Floyd said. "In the music industry he's done some record breaking things and I think he can do it also in the movie industry."

Floyd said that kids wanting to duplicate his success need to dedicate themselves and believe.

"Don't worry about failure," he said. "If you fall get right back up and keep striving for the best."

Regarding a Manny Pacquiao fight, Floyd had nice things to say about the Filipino boxer.

"I think Pacquiao's an unbelievable fighter and hopefully we can make the fight happen in the future."

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Mystikal doesn't waste any time getting back into the swing of things after being released from jail recently. The Cash Money rapper drops a new music video for "Bullsh*t" off of his upcoming mixtape Origins.

Peep the latest from the New Orleans rapper below.

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Meek Mill recently sat down with Nessa from Bay Area radio station Wild 94.9. The two talked about his upcoming Dreams and Nightmares album and his desire for it to be a classic like 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Tryin or Nas' Illmatic. 

Meek also talked about how he got his rap name, the kind of girl he likes and his top 5 favorite dead or alive rappers (Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur and Lil Wayne).

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Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday tour rolled into the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles last night. The Young Money princess brought out a special guest during her performance of "Roger That" as Tyga joined her onstage to lend a hand.

Check out their performance below.

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When Wiz Khalifa unveiled the official cover for his O.N.I.F.C album on Wednesday, some people weren't digging it.

In the picture the Pittsburgh rapper is decked out in a snow leopard fur coat and tight red and white pants.

Wiz got wind of the criticism and took to Twitter to repond.

"To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected #BossUp," he wrote to his 7.4 million followers on the social networking site. "Im Helpin Everyone Get In Touch With Their Inner Sleaze. If U Dnt Wanna Let It Out, Ill Express It For You. I'll Be Brave Enough. Onifc Is Not For The Scary. Iss About Taking Risks So The People Who Believe What We Believe In Can Feel Free. The Cover Art Should Give You Confidence And Let You Know You Can Fully Be Yourself In Front Of People No Matter What They Say Or Think. You Dont Have To Hide That Shit. Let It Out!!! Thass What The Artwork Really Represents. And If Your Still Scared, I'll Do It For You."

The album will be released on September 18th.

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It's about to snow over at Atlantic Records. That's because according to various reports Young Jeezy has been named Senior VP of A&R for the label.

Obviously Atlantic didn't have a problem with Jeezy being signed to one of their competitors, Def Jam. Jeezy has already shown that he has a good eye for talent having signed Freddie Gibbs, Tone Trump and others to his CTE imprint.

Congrats to the Snowman on his new gig.

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Machine Gun Kelly just came off the road from the Warped Tour. In Kellyvision II the Cleveland rager gives us a behind the scenes look at his chaotic life while traveling from state to state.

MGK's Lace Up album hits stores October 9th. Pre-order your copy now at http://www.mgklaceup.com/order/

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CTE's Freddie Gibbs and producer Madlib team up with BJ The Chicago Kid for "Shame" off of their EP of the same name. The clip is directed by Jonah Schwartz and presented by Madlib Invazion and DD172 Films.

You can cop the EP from the official Stones Throw Records store.

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Despite recent rumors he may be looking for a new label home, Drake doesn't appear to be going anywhere in the near future. DJ Scoob Doo recently caught up with Drizzy backstage at a show and the Toronto MC was more than happy to show off the original 1993 Cash Money chain he had just received.

"You gotta understand that you can buy the biggest chain in the world. You can put a bunch of wack a$$ diamonds in your sh*t or whatever. I see all y'all with that bullsh*t. But this right here is that original," Drake said, "This has history to it. So I'm excited about this sh*t. This probably like in the 'Bling Bling' video. YM, I'll remain that forever. I'm in the same place that my brother Wayne at forever."

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