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If you haven’t heard from Donny Goines in a minute, don’t trip. It’s all apart of a bigger plan. The album, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, is still brewing and will be available sooner than later. In the meantime, take this as a peace offering. Goines jumps over Dirty Money’s “Hello, Good Morning” and adds his own flare to the party anthem.

DL: Donny Goines – “Hello, Good Morning Freestyle”

Any time an artist attempts to drop two albums in one year, comparisons to a 1998 DMX (and a 2003 50 Cent) are only sure to follow. That’s exactly what happened when this MTV clip of Mack Maine surfaced earlier today. Mack, who is one of the biggest players in the YMCMB movement, said that he recently spoke to Drake and that the wheels are in motion for another album very soon. As in before next summer, soon. Sooner or later, Drake will let go of the R&B tape he’s been speaking about for weeks, but according to Mack, the intro for the new album is already done.

Really, I don’t feel one way or the other about it. They know what’s going on in those offices more than I do. You want to give the fans what they want, but you also don’t want to oversaturate yourself to a point where people don’t want to hear from you. It’s a thin line but one that has to be balanced perfectly in order to achieve the success they have (Cash Money) throughout the years. At this point, however, Young Money could be looking at a line up of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne again and Drake all before next spring hits.

I love Justin Bieber. Openly. Without shame. There’s no denying his appeal with the thousands of teen girls who cry when he takes stages around the world. He’s a heartthrob phenomenon,who went from posting webcam videos on Youtube to performing at Madison Square Garden. Truthfully the kid’s latest album had some great tracks, and production.  There is a little bit of soul in his voice that reminds me of another fair-skinned pop-tinged R&B singing Justin that took the industry by storm a few years ago, and I’m the not the only one who took notice.

Kanye West and Wu Tang legend Raekwon added a couple of verses to JB’s latest single “Runaway Love” after they traded pleasantries on Twitter. This track is the first product of their vow to team up, released yesterday via Kanye’s blog…and I see an original collaboration coming in the near future.

DL: Justin Bieber x Kanye West & Raekwon “Runaway Love (Remix)”

MTV News OG Shaheem Reid, spoke with  Ms. Lauryn Hill about her Rock The Bells experience when she brought out a who’s who of industry collegues.

On a side note, Rock The Bells came to Columbia, Maryland, this past weekend. A few of my friends attended the concert and happened to be vocal before, during and after. Before, the excitement level for Lauryn was extremely high. During, they began to get more and more pissed as it too over an hour for her to even hit the stage. After, damn near all of them left with the feeling Lauryn’s prime had long since passed her by and that feelings of yesteryear did not match the results of the present. Crazy stuff. Upsetting even.

UPDATE: Well, it seems that Takers ended up taking the top spot away from The Last Exorcism. EW says that after the final box-office numbers were released, T.I.’s caper flick earned $20.5 million over the weekend whereas Exorcism made $20.4 million. A slim victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Does T.I. have what it takes to become the next rapper to successfully move into the world of film? Based on the performance of his latest film Takers, he just might.

Takers, a heist thriller starring T.I., Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Chris Brown, and Zoë Saldaña, placed second in the weekend box-office race, earning an estimated $21 million over the three-day period. The film wasn’t expected do that much business, and lost the top spot to horror film The Last Exorcism by a razor-thin margin of $300,000. Make no mistake—Takers‘s weekend performance is quite impressive.

What makes the success of Takers even more noteworthy, however, is that T.I. not only stars in the film but serves as one of its producers as well. It’s the first film project to come from his Grand Hustle Entertainment, which has secured a 3-picture deal with Sony. (more…)

I was out last night when this came on, but due to the world’s greatest VCR/TiVo – Twitter – it’s like I saw the entire thing. Weeks away from the release of his (still) untitled debut album, the house that Bob Johnson built caught up with J. Cole as he gives a glimpse into what life is like for a budding superstar on “Rising Icons.”

During the near 20 minute clip, Cole runs through two of his more well known records “Who Dat” and “Lights Please” as well as the newer (and a favorite of mine) “It Won’t Be Long.” In between those performances, Cole gives the 4-1-1 behind the inspiration of his rhyme scheme, his relationship with Jay-Z and how his mother and their bi-racial background influenced his love of music and even showcases his on-the-court basketball skills.

He’s not too bad either.

I keep hearing Lauryn Hill’s performance at Rock The Bells yesterday did not live up to the hype. Part of me kind of expected such seeing as how she’s been away for over a decade and that’s not something you can just exactly pick back up in a matter of weeks. Then again, part of me was being illogical thinking her vocals, the band and the set would flow perfectly.

That being said, even an alleged half assed Lauryn Hill performance will still bring the stars out. Ms. Hill had special guests who graced the stage with her: Chris Rock, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and John Legend.