Rain – Come Home To Me (prod. J. Cole)

via Mr. X

Previously: Video: J. Cole & Rain In The Studio + American Dreaming Pt. 2 (Mixtape) | J. Cole – The Warm Up (Mixtape)

Crooked I called in to The Backstage Pass last night to talk about the upcoming August 11th release of the Slaughterhouse album. I chop it up with Crook about how the boys got together (pause), if they plan on doing more work together than just this one album, performing on the Rock The Bells tour, and of course, his new tattoo. Make sure to cop the Slaughterhouse album in stores August 11th.

- Jessie

I had the opportunity to be in the studio with @mousebudden and interview one of my favorite artists. People can say what they want about this guy but his work ethic has to be respected. ANYWAY, we chopped it up about upcoming releases from him and his fellow slaughterhouse members, as well as the business aspect of the relationship between him and Tahiry. Joey also briefly spoke on the Nas vs Kelis issue, Wu Tang/Method Man situation etc. etc.

- D. Omen

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via MTV:

The Young Money album is slated for November 24, as is Lil Wayne’s Rebirth LP, according to a source in his camp.

No doubt about it, the New Orleans Fireman is loaded. Rap’s most popular mic king just kicked off Young Money Presents: The America’s Most Wanted Music Festival, and one of Weezy’s main goals on the tour is to make sure his Young Money artists get shine. While you know all about Drake (he’s a Fire Starter alum), Nicki Minaj and newest member Omarion, we thought we’d put you onto game about the rest of the clique.

“Gudda, he’s got this aggression about him,” Wayne told us about the artist who’s been with him the longest. Gudda Gudda has been riding with Wayne since he was a teenager on Cash Money.

“What people don’t know, Gudda started rapping several years ago,” Weezy added. “He started rapping because I said, ‘I like your look. You should rap.’ I wrote his first rap for him, and I never written another rap for him ever since that day I told him he should be a rapper.”

Representing the younger faction are Lil Twist, who’s on the tour riding his Segway scooter around, and Lil Chuckee, who uses his feet to cover ground backstage.

“His energy, he’s a pure entertainer,” Weezy said of Chuckee. Wayne is also a fan of Chuck’s swag. “I know that kid is gonna make it. It’s like in sports when you got that Kobe Bryant. You don’t know what to do with him, whether to play him the guard, center, small forward — you just know we’re gonna win with him.”

Rounding out the clique are mostly names you’ve heard of: Mack Maine, Tyga, Jae Millz, D. Woods’ sister Shanell (also known as SNL) and T-Streets.

“He’s more like my brother,” Wayne said of Streets. “He’s been with me since Gudda. He’s like my protector. Anybody wanna play games, T-Streets is right there. So I make sure T-Streets is on everything I do, always around.”

Props to Andrew/FSD.

Cooler than a polar bear’s toenail:

Whats cooler than bein cool? Ice cold! Big Boi, also known as Antwan Andre Patton, one-half of the Grammy Award-winning duo OutKast, found out first-hand this week as he spent some time inside SeaWorlds chilly Penguin Encounter.

Penguin Encounter is home to hundreds of penguins. The air inside is a chilly 30 degrees Fahrenheit and the water is an icy 45 degrees Fahrenheit. A total of 6,000 pounds of snow fall daily inside. Big Boi was in Orlando this week, vacationing with his family.

*dead* at the opening line. Spotted at TheAwl, shouts to Rockabye for the heads up.

Related: Big Boi Feeds The Penguins At SeaWorld (PHOTO)

Previously: Big Boi Leaving Jive, Signing to Def Jam

Look out for the follow up to Truck North’s Truck Jewelz mixtape, entitled I Told You So… (presented by Truck North & DJ Bear One) dropping by the end of August.

Truck North – Jill Jawn

PUSH! Montana – Run This Town Freestyle

Bonus: PUSH! Montana – Gram Fam Freestyle | Amazing Freestyle | Defeat Freestyle (prod. Dame Grease)

Previously: PUSH! Montana – Defeat Freestyle

Drake x The Karate Kid – Best I Ever Had Around

Gooch explains how the remix came about.

Other remixes: Kool G Rap and Nas + The Ramones= “The Sedated Fast Life” | Wu-Tang Clan + Def Leppard= Cream and Sugar

via MTV

Shorty’s kinda crazy, but it turns him on. Kanye West said it, not us, in the song that’s becoming a video staring his girlfriend, Amber Rose.

“I have Kanye’s ‘Robocop’ video,” Rose told MTV News Monday night in Scranton, Pennsylvania, during the launch of the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival. “I’m playing a robot through the whole video. Ninety-five percent of the video is just me.”

Rose, who has appeared in such videos as Ludacris’ “What Them Girls Like,” said the rise of her profile over the past few months has been a welcome surprise.

“I have Complex mag, Elle magazine, Persona magazine — I have the cover to the back, the whole issue is dedicated to me,” she said of her upcoming publicity appearances. “I’m excited about that.

“I definitely welcome it,” she added. “I appreciate all my fans. I definitely never expected it. I don’t wanna say I never wanted it. But … I just know a lot of girls, they go to modeling agencies every single day. That’s their life. A lot of stuff … just landed in my lap. I thank God for that; it’s really a blessing. I thank God for that — and Kanye, of course. Kanye definitely gave me the fast track to the top.”

Rose was in Scranton to support her girl Nick Minaj. The two first met on Twitter, then face to face on the set of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” video, which Kanye directed.

“She’s a dope girl,” Minaj said of Amber. “You can tell she’s dope. I’m all about girls that are spearheading a movement. She’s doing her own thing in her own lane. The world has yet to see what she’s going to accomplish. Be on the lookout for that.”