B13 Peer Review

Juvenile Announces "Mardi Gras" Mixtape, Reveals Cover Art by Steven J. Horowitz posted January 22, 2012 at 8:28AM PST | 13 comments Juvie the Great is teaming with DJ Smallz for the street release. Juvenile has announced the release of a new mixtape entitled Mardi Gras , which is set to be hosted by DJ Smallz . Smallz, aka Mr. Southern Smoke, took to his blog to reveal the cover art for the street release. Artist Blake Gaston created the image for the cover, a portrait of Juvie with a Mardi Gras mask on his face. Check the artwork and announcement below. @juviethegreat JUVENILE GET READY, ITS OFFICIAL- JUVENILE "MADI GRAS'" THE MIX-TAPE is COMING SOON, SHOT OUT TO @BlakeGaston for the dope artwork !!! Jan 20 via web Favorite Retweet Reply RELATED:   Juvenile Names His Top Five Rappers Of The Moment, Enlists Drake For "Rejuvenation"

Rihanna Wears Thong Bikini In Hawaii; Nicki Minaj Drops ‘Stupid Hoe’ January 21 | Posted by Popular Critic Filed Under:  Hollywood ,  Music News ,  Nicki Minaj ,  Rihanna ,  Video Rihanna  continues to enjoy her off time in Hawaii with her girlfriends despite previous reports she crashed Kobe Bryant’s table at a party in Los Angeles recently. After  tweeting sexy pictures of her wearing a white string bikini showing off her envious body Rihanna was spotted on Thursday in a black thong bikini on a surfboard. According to Celebuzz, some people may find Rihanna’s choice of sexy swimwear inappropriate. What do you think of Rihanna’s thong bikini? Nicki Minaj Drops ‘Stupid Hoe’ Music Video UPDATE- Nicki Minaj  released the explicit music video for her new single ‘Stupid Hoe’ off her upcoming sophomore album ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded’. In the colorful video directed by Hype Williams, Nicki takes on the persona of Roman Zolanski – no relat...

POLICE OFFER $25,000 REWARD IN M-BONE MURDER CASE Sunday, 22 January 2012 Cali Swag District founder Wytony 'Big Wy' Dillon has praised police in California for offering up a $25,000 reward for information about group member M-Bone's murder last year (11). The 22 year old, real name Montae Talbert, was killed on 15 May (11) while sitting in his car outside a store in Inglewood, California. His bandmates appealed for anyone with information to contact police, and now cops in Inglewood are offering a reward for any information that can lead to an arrest and a conviction for the murder. Group creator Dillon tells AllHipHop.com, "It's a good thing to try to add some help to the case. Some of the leads didn't materialise like they (the police department) thought they would. "Hopefully this will help bring justice to Montae and bring closure for his family. This kid had no gang affiliations and I don't know why they picked him as a target." ...

Nicki Minaj’s sophomore album, entitled  Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded  was scheduled to hit stores Valentine’s Day (February 14), but the disc was recently pushed back until April 3. A reason for the album delay has yet to be announced. Minaj’s “Stupid H*e”  video premiered yesterday. “ New Album Date: April 3rd. Pink Friday: ROMAN RELOADED. But have no fear. Tons of surprises before then   . Love Always, HB ,” Minaj tweeted. Minaj will embark on an overseas tour London (Feb. 19-25), Paris (Feb. 26-27), Berlin (Feb. 28), and Tokyo (March 1-4) tp promote the album. She will also be performing at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on February 1. Follow me @ willybill1

  Meek Mill  stopped by Power 106 tonight. Here’s a couple clips from the interview.

Philly’s own Meek Mill was recently in L.A. and he stopped by  The LA Leakers   on Power 106. While on air, the MMG rapper dropped a freestyle over Drake and Lil Wayne’s “The Motto”. Mill will be releasing his new mixtape, entitled  Dreamchasers II  next month. During his interview with Justine and J Cruz, Mill also talked about his situation with T.I., new mixtape and  “House Party.” Listen to the entire interview   here.  Watch Mill’s “The Motto (L.A. Leakers Freestyle)” below:

"Popped Off [Prod. Dr. Dre]" posted  January 06, 2012 at 6:00AM PST  |  314 comments Download T.I. f. Dr. Dre Ringtones Get ringtones from your favorite artists sent directly to your cell phone. Choose from 1000's of the best names in Hip Hop! Get Your Ringtones → Play  ▶ 32,212 plays AVERAGE USER RATING: 4.16 119  people have voted. 5  is the most popular ranking. 70  people gave it a perfect five. Cast your vote » Just as Tip announces Dr. Dre will be on "Trouble Man," the track leaks.

  Battle of the music moguls: Simon Cowell furious at Will.i.am's The Voice being broadcast in same slot as BGT By J J Anisiobi Simon Cowell has returned to Britain's Got Talent with a bang. The veteran judge has not only made a few changes to freshen up the show, but he has also vowed to beat the BBC. But the 52-year-old is reportedly seething after finding out that the Beeb are going to broadcast their new talent show, The Voice, at the same time as Britain's Got Talent. It's on: Simon Cowell is ready to battle the BBC for ratings on Saturday nights An angry Simon told The People: 'It is 100 per cent a declaration of war. 'They have gone head-to-head with us - it's their decision. We'll make it a competition.' The maneuver from the BBC will reignite the feud that began when ITV1's X Factor and BBC's Strictly Come Dancing were pitted against each other last year after the Beeb moved the time slot of their popular show. ...

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger settles lawsuit with woman who claims he lured her into his hotel suite and raped her Ben Roethlisberger settled out of court with hostess Andrea McNulty No word if money was part of settlement McNulty claims quarterback asked her to fix his TV in Nevada hotel and then forced her to have sex with him By Beth Stebner Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a woman who accused him of raping her at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino in 2008 have reached a settlement, ending her civil suit against him. Andrea McNulty, a former VIP hostess at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe casino hotel, accused the Super Bowl star of luring her into his penthouse suite and forcing her to have sex with him. Neither Ms McNulty’s lawyers nor Roethlisberger’s would say if she received compensation as part of the settlement. Over and done: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger settled out of court with a woman who accused him of raping her in 20...

Last night Monday (January 16), New York’s Power 105.1 radio personality Cherry Martinez interviewed Philly’s emcee Charli Baltimore for #GirlPowerMondays. The twosome covered a variety of topics during their interview, such as The Notorious B.I.G., Murder Inc, her album and movie Gang of Roses 2. Baltimore album will be out in April. “ W orking on an album, well actually, we’re finishing up the album. The album will be out in April. About to put out the first single, and we got a lot of interesting stuff coming up,” said Baltimore. Watch the interview below: Please be sure to tuned into “The Cherry Martinez” show weekdays on New York’s Power 105.1 10pm-2am.

Lil Wayne Reportedly Engages In Altercation With NFL Star Dez Bryant by Steven J. Horowitz posted January 18, 2012 at 7:30AM PST | 185 comments   Weezy and the Dallas Cowboys allegedly scuffled this past weekend. Lil Wayne and NFL star Dez Bryant reportedly engaged in an altercation on Sunday at Fountainebleau’s Club LIV in Miami, Florida. According to Miami New Times , the fight occurred outside of the club over someone mocking the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver about his “subpar season and a mounting personal debt crisis.” Miami Beach Police have no record of Bryant being detained, but say that there was “a bit of a melee outside LIV that night with a drunk patron striking a security guard.” Bryant’s name is not mentioned in the paperwork. But according to a Herald reporter, Lil Wayne and his entourage were involved in the scuffle. The story is yet to be confirmed, but several sources say that the fight occurred between the two parties. HipHopDX will kee...

Swizzy reveals that he's at work on a new project. Though his third album Haute Living  is yet to surface, Swizz Beatz has revealed that he's working on a new mixtape. In a post on Twitter, Swizzy announced that he's in the studio recording for the release. Swizz initially intended to release his album Haute Living  on a song-by-song basis in lieu of a full album release, but the plan was never played out. Check the announcement below (via HHNM by Steven J. Horowitz posted January 11, 2012 at 7:00AM PST | 3 comments

UPDATE : It turns out that Swizzy ISN'T the CEO of the file-sharing site. The Internet was buzzing today with news about Wikipedia and a host of other websites' blackout protests over  the impending SOPA/PIPA legislation . Now, the anti-piracy issue has taken a turn with the recent news that rapper/producer Swizz Beatz is the acting CEO of Megaupload and that he's now facing a major lawsuit. MTV reports that  the multi-platinum producer for DMX and Jay-Z is now fighting a major lawsuit against Universal Music Group and his involvement with the popular storage and file sharing website. Last year, Swizz enlisted Diddy, Will.I.Am, Kanye West and a host of other musicians and media personalities to help film a promotional video in support his site, which has come under fire in the past for it application in the music and video piracy. These artists' support apparently didn't sit too well with Universal Music Group. The music conglomerate - which...

Common explains that he's said everything he has to say in their war of words . Common and Drake have been trading disses over the past few months, most recently culminating with a scathing track aimed at Drizzy on a remix to Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin.” But in an interview with RollingStone.com , Com says that he actually enjoys the Young Money rapper’s music and refers to it as “clever.” “I think he makes good music," he said. "He's definitely said some real clever things and made some cool songs. I like his music." Despite their heated war of words, Common says he’s ready to move on from the beef. The Chicago, Illinois explains that he’s expressed everything he feels he needs to say in the situation. "I feel like I said what I had to say, and I'm just going to let it be at that point," he said. "Now, if something else happens, then I'll just have to act accordingly. But right now, I feel like, man, I said what I ...

Swizz Beatz gets roped into a legal snafu, while Lil Wayne reportedly engages a brawl. Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Terrace Martin announce themselves as the new West Side Connection. This week, Swizz Beatz was in the eye of the media storm. After he was implicated as the CEO of Megaupload , the government shut down the site and it was revealed that Swizzy wasn’t a part of the company on paper. Meanwhile, Lil Wayne reportedly engaged in an altercation with NFL player Dez Bryant, a fight that wasn’t dismissed by either party but was played down on the beef tip. And finally, Jay Rock , Kendrick Lamar and Terrace Martin introduced themselves as the new West Side Connection , discussing work with Dr. Dre and how 50 Cent has come into the fold. Swizz Beatz Implicated As Megaupload CEO, Later Denounced Rumor had it that Swizz Beatz had a hand in the Megaupload conglomerate when that mysterious celebrity-packed promotional music video was released in Sep...

What do you think?  Blast or Trash Check out The Foundation Music Group’s own LP Casso repping for New York. The MC released the “Go” music video Directed by Qwiz. The single “GO” was produced by Mad Beatz who is Mr. Cheeks brother. Watch the clip below! Tags: LP CASSO , Music Video , Video

Harlem Talks: News travels fast in Harlem and Yandy has got the blocks buzzing. It’s The Harlem Don of this blog shit, Jazzy F . giving you all another edition of HARLEM TALK . Word on the streets of Harlem, Yandy Smith is pregnant and plans to announce on the Love And Hip Hop reunion. This is what has been buzzing around Harlem for a while now. I don’t know who started the rumor but people are saying the source is very close to Yandy. This is actually old news but the blogs has already begun spreading the news. I already know what you gossip heads are wondering. Who Is Yandy’s Baby Father? Well, the father is said to be the same guy who got into the altercation with Jim Jones. I don’t think you guys understand how much Harlem is buzzing about Love And Hip Hop. It has become uptown’s own live soap opera. Yandy responded to the rumors and spoke about Missy Elliott gearing up to release her new album via Twitter. The rumors are probably the least of Yandy’s worries. I...

Nicki Minaj releases the first music video, “Stupid Hoe” off her sophomore album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded due out April 3. The clip was directed by Hype Williams. The Young Money barbie kept things colorful and playful. Check out the video below.

In part two of Charli Baltimore’s interview with New York’s  Power 105.1 radio personality Cherry Martinez, Baltimore talked about Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, why she parted ways with Murda Inc and her rumored beef with Vita. Be sure to check out Part 1 of the ladies interview . The twosome covered a variety of topics such as The Notorious B.I.G., the upcoming movie  Gang of Roses 2 and Baltimore’s new album, which will be out in April. Please be sure to tuned into “The Cherry Martinez” show weekdays on New York’s  Power 105.1 10pm-2am. Source: CherryOnTop

Earlier in the week, Taylor Gang’s first lady Lola Monroe dropped a freestyle to Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’.” On the track, the D.C. former video vixen and model rhymes about hustling, getting money, the bulls**t in the industry and putting her brother through college. Monroe is really spitting some hardcore bars on this track. Don’t let the pretty face and fat a** fool you. She is going in! Listen to the track below: Follow me @ donbleek88

What do you think?

by Steven J. Horowitz posted January 21, 2012 at 8:10AM PST | 53 comments   Hov's New York City, New York club was shuttered just a day after its grand reopening. Shortly after the reopening of his 40/40 Club in New York City, New York, Jay-Z is now dealing with the closure of his swanky sports bar. According to NY Post (via HHW ), Hov’s Big Apple franchise has been shut down due to food safety violations. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued the bar with 69 violation points, with critical violations including workers not using proper utensils to eliminate bare hand contact with food, insufficient or no refrigerated or hot holding equipment and more. “If you have a walk-in place with food like this, you put a hell of a lot of people at risk,” an anonymous source said. “A night of dinner and dancing should not include the risk of contracting food-borne illness.” The 40/40 Club reopened the previous evening (Jan. 18 th ), with celebrities...

Etta James died on Friday (January 20) at the age of 73 after a lengthy battle with leukemia. The singer is being remembered by Beyoncé , who has quite the history with her. This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. I am so fortunate to have met such a queen," Beyoncé wrote on her blog . "Her musical contributions will last a lifetime. Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed." Photos: The life and career of Etta James. B famously portrayed the blond jazz singer in the 2008 biopic "Cadillac Records." Her version of "At Last" from the film's soundtrack would later win a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Bey...