Here’s the cover for Boo-Boo’s new work of fiction, Playground, which is set for a November 1st release.

Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn’t have much going for him. He’s teased mercilessly about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to and wishes he still lived with his dad in the city. And now he’s stuck talking to a totally out-of-touch therapist named Liz.

Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground – a day that landed one kid in the hospital and Butterball in detention. Butterball refuses to let her in on the truth, and while he evades her questions, he takes readers on a journey through the moments that made him into the playground bully he is today.

This devastating yet ultimately redemptive story is told in voice-driven prose and accented with drawings and photographs, making it a natural successor to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Loosely inspired by 50 Cent’s own adolescence, and written with his fourteen-year-old son in mind, Playground is sure to captivate wide attention – and spark intense discussion.

Pre-order here.

Spotted: HHNM

Previoulsy: Curtis – Street King Energy Track #7

A sober and clear-minded KiD CuDi speaks to Complex Editor In Chief Noah Callahan-Bever for their October/November issue. In the magazine’s third cover story with the rapper/actor in three years, he speaks about cleaning up his act, recent career moves such as his highly publicized separation from managers Pat & Emile, his relationship with women, fucking with other people musically (he still doesn’t, btw), making up with Wale, working on a rock album, being sober and the TV show.

So not a lot of features in your future?
I’m not interested in being someone’s look. And that’s what it is nowadays—a look. It’s hard for me to charge people, because I do my stuff for free. I do all my stuff with Jay and Kanye on the house, because it’s a brotherhood. Besides them, I can’t really hit nobody with a fee, because then that’s a dispute. What I want to charge, motherfuckers might not have a budget for!

On top of that, it’s a commitment when you do a song with somebody. Like, “We need a single, we need the video.” And then—like I said in the last interview, being that I don’t fuck with most people musically—it’s tough for me to want to bend and be a part of people’s projects.

Full story: Complex.

Behind the scenes from the cover shoot after the jump.

Continue reading this post…

Scans of the first couple of pages of Rozay’s feature in the new issue of GQ courtesy of Def Jam.

Spotted: RR

Previously: Rick Ross Photoshoot for GQ

Here’s the cover for Tip’s upcoming novel Power & Beauty which he penned with author David Ritz. The book is due out through Harper-Collins in October and is available for pre-order now.

Previously: T.I. Is Out of Jail

Some behind the scenes footage from P and Wiz’s Urban Ink cover shoots.

Continue reading this post…

Steve Stoute speaks to some of his friends in the music business about the Tanning of America (the name of his new book out today) for Huffington Post.

Related: Rewriting the Rules: Steve Stoute’s Interview w/ Life+Times

On newsstands now.

Previously: Theophilus London – I Stand Alone (Video)

Rick Ross talks about what he’s preparing with God Forgives, I Don’t as well as the crew he’s raised with the Maybach Music Group signees.

“I’m enjoying my last few moments at No. 2,” Ross says. “It’s like I’m watching the No. 1 man on stage, my legs crossed, I’m smoking big, hollering at the bitches in the crowd. And this album gonna do it. I got the formula.”

“When I make music, I go back to my late nights of me by myself, listening to Curtis Mayfield or R. Kelly’s 12 Play,” he says. “There’s certain depths that music can take you to. There’s certain feels that you need to have. When you get to the last song on the album, I want you to have that feeling of being whole. I want to give these muthafuckas classic joints. That means more to me than anything else.”

Props: XXL

Related: Meek Mill Says He’s Holding “Ima Boss” Remix For T.I. + Self Made, Vol. 2 Out Before 2012

Previously: Rick Ross Receives “I’m On One” Gold Plaque (Video)

Game and 3 naked chicks cover this week’s edition of L.A. Weekly. Read the full cover story here and hit the jump for a behind the scenes look at the cover shoot.

Continue reading this post…

YN released the unauthorized Watch The Throne cover for the Fall issue of RESPECT. Mag. Out on newsstands September 6th.