It’s no secret Drake is a huge fan of the late, great, iconic Aaliyah as most of us are. She’s been a constant source of inspiration for him both personally and creatively, evident on the track “Unforgettable” featuring Young Jeezy from his debut album Thank Me Later. That record features a sample from Babygirl’s “At Your Best.” You’ll also remember the letter he wrote in August 2010 which exposed some rather emotional and very revealing thoughts. Then there’s the infamous tattoo Drake inked on his body.

I came across this photo on Tumblr the other day and thought it was unique. Keep in mind, Aaliyah would have only been 33 this year (crazy, right?), so there’s a good chance the two would have ended up in a studio together at some point. Both understood what it was like to be famous from a young age. And both create/created music that put their emotions on front street making them extremely relatable to those appreciative of their music. Given the way the universe decided to structure things, this situation will unfortunately remain hypothetical until the end of time. It’s fun to imagine and even more thrilling to debate. Still, the question of “what if” speaks volumes.

“When da ball drop…We drop!!!! Out wit da old, in wit da TRUE!!!! Atown….Weeee Baaaaaack!!!!!” At the top of the year T.I. released his mixtape entitled “Fu*k Da City Up,” so it’s only right the first video shot for the tape is “Fu*k Da City Up” featuring the snowman himeself Young Jeezy. Dressed from head to toe in nothing but ATL memorabilia and brand jordan, we got an exclusive photo op of the two A-Town rappers on set of the new video.

On a freezing cold January night, both celebs and athletes came out to attend Jay-Z‘s reopening of his flatiron sports club The 40/40. Celebrity’s such as Spike Lee, Ashanti, Swizz Beatz, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, even Billionaire Warren Buffet walked the red carpet into the newly renovated sports bar to celebrate with Hov. Jay-Z himself walking through the red carpet with a noticeable glow, the birth of his daughter Blue Ivy Carter and the reopening of the 40/40 club along with other endeavors must be in fact due the reasoning behind the fresh faced Hov. The year has been quite gracious to the Carters thus far and we’re eager to see what else Jay-Z has up his sleeves for the remainder of 2012.

I’ll do my best to restrain the real excitement I have seeing what’s going down with this photo. However, it leads me to this. Word around town is that K-Dot’s “debut album” is done – I put that in quotations because the line between what’s an official album and mixtape and street EP is all but nonexistent these days. What’s the chance Skateboard P ends up on the album?

In an ideal world, this is the future. Kendrick’s already loved by Hip-Hop purists, and truthfully, he’s one productive single away from capturing an entirely new audience. Pharrell’s done that for several artists in the past, so here’s to hoping history repeats itself this time around. As long as it’s that authentic Neptunes sound, consider me all in.

Source

After releasing his Rich Forever mixtape and continuing with plans to release his God Forgives, I Don’t album, Rick Ross is showing off yet another chain.

The Bawse tweeted a picture late Wednesday of his huge new Maybach Music pendant, along with several of his other signature pieces.

God Forgives, I Don’t is expected to hit stores “early this year.”

 Months after Drake covered The Source’s ‘Power 30′ issue, unreleased pictures from his photo shoot have been released.

As previously reported, Drizzy was featured in the Hip-Hop Mag in November before releasing his now platinum Take Care album.

In it he spoke on his competition in the rap game,

“When I was a kid trying to figure out what I liked, it was [Kanye] who I related to the most. He was an artist, in every sense, from his cover art to his music. Now, I would say he was a really great competitor…“

 

Check out more of Drizzy’s unseen Source photos shot by Mark Squires below.

Last week, I ended such an amazing year off on the right note. I did my last interview for 2011 with Cherry Martinez of Power 105.1 in New York City. Cherry started a new segment called Girl Power Mondays which is geared to inspire and uplift the women listeners of her late night show. I was given the chance to “pop the cherry” of the show by being its first guest. Check out the video footage above, featuring the whole interview. Be sure to check out Cherry Martinez every weekday night from 10pm-2am.

Selah Marley, the daughter of Rohan Marley and Lauryn Hill, has released another set of modeling pictures.

The 12-year-old was previously featured in Teen VOGUE this year where she spoke on what it’s like to have Hill for a mother and offered her take on being the granddaughter of Bob Marley.

Now the pre-teen sensation has released a new set of modeling photos showcasing her unique style and her resemblance to her mother.

Check out little Selah below.

Too cute!

Source

The Dream has released the cover for his new project.

The singer/songwriter who released his 1977 mixtape this year is back in the studio this time for his Love: The Gift, The Curse project.

Terius was previously expected to drop the follow-up to his Love King album, Love Affair, in June (6-7-2011) of this year.

Instead he dropped 1977 and pledged to release a different project titled, Love IV: Diary Of A Madman.

Diary Of A Madman is still pending.

In addition to those projects, Dream has announced plans to release an “international” album, 1984: Persona of Love in Spring 2012 and now it looks like Love: The Gift, The Curse is on the horizon.

No word on when The Gift, The Curse will hit the internet or retail stores.

Are you excited for new music from The Dream?

I know I am…

Kimmy Blanco is preparing to get back on the music scene now that she’s released a new promo photo.

The Queen Bee debuted a new picture via Twitter of her dressed in all black with the words “Lil Kim 2012 coming soon” underneath her.

Speaking to her fans on the photo she said,

“Hey Guys!!! I have a little Gift for U. A little preview of what’s to come. Merry Christmas !!!!!”