Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz continues to make headlines this week after now revealing he was offered an opportunity to join the same label made home to rap stars Drake and Nicki Minaj.

“I was one of the first people invited to Young Money, before the album. Wayne asked me,” Chainz said when he appeared on Wednesday’s “RapFix Live.” “From the outside looking in, I hate to see people look like they clique hopping,” Chainz said. “But when you just look at an artist that went from here to this subsidiary, to this subsidiary — for me I felt like I’m smart enough to sign 2 Chainz slash Def Jam like I did.” Instead of signing to another artist, with Def Jam the “Spend It” MC was able to become his own boss and partner his new label T.R.U. with the deep-rooted record company. As soon as he signed, Chainz sent Wayne a text thanking him for being a true friend. “Lil Wayne is one of the realist dudes in the game as far as opening up doors for people to eat and trickling down to their families,” he said. “He’s one of the most unselfish, talented people that I’ve been around.”

(MTV)

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Cash Out signs to L.A. Reid’s Epic Records. He talked with J. Nicks of the Durrty Boyz about his deal that he inked the night before. He goes on to say that the process took nearly 9 hours to complete the deal.

Check out the exclusive HotSpotAtl.com interview below.

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The pioneering media mogul, 75, was found dead in his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home Wednesday morning. He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden passing of my friend, colleague, and business partner Don Cornelius,” said Quincy Jones in a statement. “Don was a visionary pioneer and a giant in our business. Before MTV, there was Soul Train, that will be (his) great legacy. … His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched. My heart goes out to Don’s family and loved ones.” Read More

Harlem’s rapper A$AP Rocky is covering the February/March issue of Complex with fashion designer Jeremy Scott. In the cover story, the 24-year-old emcee talked about his issues with West Coast rap crew Odd Future. Rocky found time to clear the air, after Hodgy Beats of Odd Future threw shots at him. Below are some excerpts:

We talked about the Hodgy Beats thing and you got interviewed a shitload about it.

Yeah.

Have you spoken to them yet?

No.

And has there been any reaching out from his side?

No.

Is the question getting annoying for you?

It’s really irrelevant. Fuck annoying, it’s irrelevant. Put that in there. Quote: “Fuck annoying, it’s irrelevant.”

What do you see as the biggest difference between your two crews?

East Coast, West Coast. Lifestyle. Culture. Not culture, but just day-to-day, everyday shit. It’s really fucked up because I know that they don’t like us. A lot of my crew members don’t like them niggas, but I like them niggas. I’m being honest. I like them.

Why don’t you think they like you?

Nah. I know they don’t like us.

How do you know that?

Because Hodgy went out his way to show that he doesn’t like us. He doesn’t have to like us. That’s fine with me.

Do you think they feel threatened by you guys?

I don’t know what it is. They shouldn’t because we’re not coming for their necks or nothing like that. Personally, like I said, I want to work with Tyler, The Creator.

How big do you think that could be?

I mean, I don’t really want to speak on it because it’s going to be corny. Like, if we work together, we work together. If we don’t, we don’t.

Source: Complex

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Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Ne-Yo launched his new label “Compound Island” in Jamaica, over this past weekend. Artists including Keri Hilson, Shaggy, Adrienne Bailon and Rockmond Dunbar were there to support Ne-Yo and his new label. Guests were treated to the Red Tails movie premiere, pool party at Secrets Resort and a performance at the annual Jazz Festival. Peep the pictures below:

Ne-Yo was recently appointed VP of A&R at Motown Records. He will also bring his Compound Entertainment imprint to Motown Records. Adrienne Bailon was recently released from Def Jam and signed a management deal with Ne-Yo’s Compound Entertainment.

Pictures via TheLifeFiles

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The Hip-Hop battle between Drake and Common is somehow dying down. This past November, Common released a song called “Sweet”, a couple of lines from the track were directed toward Drake. Common admitted that those shots were in fact aimed at the YMCMB rapper, after people questioned him. Drake wasn’t feeling Common’s diss and responded on  Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin” track. Nah Right caught up with Drake and they asked him about his lines from “Stay Schemin” and whether we should expect a second Common response.

So people want to know: will you respond to Common?
No. Because despite how it’s been worded by him that situation is not a “hip hop moment” or a “battle for the sake of musical integrity”…it’s a ploy for attention around the release of an album. More than anything it was just disappointing cause what kid isn’t a fan of what Common has done for our genre. A guy who made such an incredible career for himself based off expressing genuine feelings about life and love is now targeting me for sharing my story.

There’s a line from your “Stay Schemin” verse about Kobe’s soon to be ex-wife Vanessa that has gotten some negative attention. Can you speak to what you were trying to express with that line?
That line came from a conversation about being this young and making this much money and the fear of losing it all. I just used his potential situation to address my own life. I never intended to offend Vanessa or anyone else. That line had everything to do with me and what goes on in my head as a 25-year-old man with this much income flowing in. Kobe is and always will be a friend and an icon to me.

Source: Nah Right

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Maybach Music Group recording artist Meek Mill stopped by The Angie Martinez Show on Hot 97 in NYC, yesterday Monday (January 30). After their interview, Mill dropped a freestyle over Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin”. The Philly native is in the studio working on his forthcoming mixtape, entitled Dream Chasers 2, which is scheduled to drop in February. Watch the video below:

Source: Angie Martinez

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Bad Boy recording artist Machine Gun Kelly really is a wild boy. According to TMZ, the Eastside Cleveland native “was busted by police in Florida for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.” MGK was busted at 4:12 AM and released a few hours later after posting $100 bond. MGK also tweeted about the arrest, saying, “Just spent my entire night in a f**king Florida jail…s**t escaladed way to quick last night, it always does with us though.” MGK is currently touring and will be in Los Angeles, at Key Club on February 8.

His debut album, entitled Lace Up is scheduled to hit stores and online sometime this year. On December 14, 2011, Machine Gun Kelly was named the Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011 by MTV.

Source: TMZ

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YMCMB rapper Tyga recently announced his 41-date “Careless World” tour, which kicks off February 17 in Salt Lake City and travels to major markets across the U.S. such as New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Toledo and wrapping April 15 in New Orleans. On February 21, Tyga’s new album entitled, Careless World: Rise Of The Last King will be in stores. The disc has collaborations with Nas, Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, J. Cole and Robin Thicke, among others.Peep the dates below:

“CARELESS WORLD” TOUR DATES

02/17/12 Salt Lake City, UT Maverick Center
02/21/12 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
02/22/12 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution Live
02/23/12 Tampa, FL Ritz Ybor
02/24/12 Gainsville, FL The Vault
02/26/12 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
02/27/12 Charlotte, NC The Filmore
02/28/12 Philadelphia, PA TLA
02/29/12 New York, NY Best Buy Theatre
03/01/12 Boston, MA Wilbur Theater
03/02/12 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
03/03/12 Providence, RI Lupo’s
03/04/12 Sayerville, NJ Starland Ballroom
03/05/12 Silver Springs, MD The Filmore
03/06/12 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
03/08/12 Des Moines, IA Val Air Ballroom
03/09/12 Toledo, OH Omni
03/10/12 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
03/11/12 Minneapolis, MN Epic
03/13/12 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Music Hall
03/15/12 Chicago, IL Metro
03/20/12 Denver, CO Ogden
03/21/12 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
03/22/12 Tucson, AZ The Rialto Theatre
03/23/12 Phoenix, AZ Clubhouse
03/24/12 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst
03/25/12 Ventura, CA Ventura Theatre
03/26/12 San Luis Obispo, CA The Graduate
03/27/12 Sacramento, CA Sunrise Event Center
03/28/12 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
03/29/12 San Francisco, CA Regency
03/30/12 San Diego, CA House of Blues
04/01/12 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
04/04/12 Pullman, WA Washington State University
04/06/12 Yakima, WA Dos De Oro Buy tickets
04/07/12 Seattle, WA Showbox
04/11/12 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
04/12/12 Houston, TX Warehouse
04/13/12 Dallas, TX Southside Music Hall
04/14/12 Austin, TX Emos East
04/15/12 New Orleans, LA Howlin Wolf

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On February 12th, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show is hosted by Hip-Hop legend LL Cool J and broadcast on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET. LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj pose with a Gramophone for the official promo pictures released by Grammy.com. Are you watching the Grammys and how many awards do you think Nicki Minaj going to win?

Spotted: yodonbleekraps.com

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