AllHipHop.com

(AllHipHop News) The late Don Cornelius was remembered in grand fashion on Saturday (February 4) with one of the staples of his iconic dance show, “Soul Train”.

About 100 dancers invaded New York’s Times Square in a “flash mob” organized through the Internet, the Associated Press reported. The group united to recreate one of the weekly show’s “Soul Train lines.” The segment, which became a popular fixture on “Soul Train”, featured people taking turns as they danced toward a TV camera while showing off their most outrageous moves. The gathering went down Broadway for about 45 minutes until police arrived to tell the crowd to disperse.

In addition to the outdoor tribute, Cornelius was remembered during the weekly community meeting at the National Action Network headquarters in the borough of Harlem. The Rev. Al Sharpton led the tribute, which was attended by singer Roberta Flack.

The vocalist praised Cornelius for inspiring other Black performers and entrepreneurs, saying, “He didn’t have a great big light telling him, `Go over here, don’t go over there, watch where you step, there’s a hole right there.’ He stepped.”

[Watch a video of the Soul Train flash mob HERE:]

Cornelius died on February 1 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In the years prior to his death, the 75-year-old TV personality was plagued with health problems, as well as a difficult divorce and legal problems that included pleading no contest to a misdemeanor spousal battery charge in 2009.

Despite his personal trials and tribulations, Cornelius was viewed as a trailblazer for creating, hosting, and selling “Soul Train” to television stations that were initially doubtful about programming targeting Black viewers. Cornelius hosted the show – the longest, continuously running first-run syndicated program in television history – from 1971 to 1993. Comedian Mystro Clark and actors Shemar Moore and Dorian Gregory served as hosts during the “Soul Train’s” final years from 1993 until 2006.

News of Cornelius’ death sent shockwaves with entertainers and fans voicing their shock and sadness via Facebook and Twitter.

As he spoke to those attending the tribute, Sharpton noted Cornelius’ death as a reminder for people to look at themselves to avoid Cornelius’ tragic fate. The activist’s connection to Soul Train dates back to 1974 when he appeared on the show to present an award to soul music legend James Brown.

“One of the things that Don’s death brought us to is that we’ve got to look in the mirror before we end up in this kind of situation,” Sharpton said.

(AllHipHop News) Jay-Z’s hold on music may be secure, but the Rocawear clothing brand the rap mogul aligned with over the years is on shaky ground.

Rocawear is faltering so much so that Jay-Z is taking the bull by the horns and leading the effort to put the brand back on top with its first-ever television commercial.

The Anthony Mandler-directed black and white clips, titled From “Marcy to Madison Square,” will chronicle Jay-Z’s rise from selling CDs from his car in the Marcy Projects of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn to headlining Madison Square Garden with Kanye West on the “Watch The Throne” tour in November 2011.

The Rocawear commercial arrives amid troubling times for the apparel line, which experienced a global sales dip of $500 million. As a result, “Roc Apparel Group LLC laid off 28 of its 56 employees at its Manhattan headquarters,” Women’s Wear Daily reported.

Speaking with the publication, Iconix Brand Group president and chief executive officer Neil Cole revealed that things are looking up for Rocawear, despite a “rocky winter.” Iconix bought Rocawear for $204 million in 2007.

This winter has been especially hard for Rocawear. In November, the company came under scrutiny for allegedly selling “Occupy All Streets” T-shirts without giving any of the profits to the Occupy Wall Street movement which inspired the clothing. In addition, rumors swirled that Jay-Z was about to leave Rocawear. As it stands now, sales of Rocawear’s men’s clothing account for just over 15 percent of their overall intake.

Talk of Jay-Z’s departure has since been silenced. The entertainer is committed to staying on with Rocawear until 2014, after renewing his contract for another three years. While the rap star has a lot on his plate, Cole maintains that Jay-Z is still in control and doing his part to ensure that Rocawear continues to thrive.

“Of course, he’s a busy guy between his tour and his new baby and his music,” the executive said. “Are there times when he’s not on tour and not in the studio where we get more time with him? Yes. And are there times when we have to work via e-mail and through other channels? Yes. But we are lucky enough to get a lot of his time and caring.”

In addition to the new commercial, Rocawear plans to rebound by focusing on children’s and international sales, which have proven to be more successful. The Jay-Z-featured Rocawear ad is set to hit the small screen this spring and air on MTV, BET, and TNT during NBA basketball games and online.

(AllHipHop News) U.S. rap star 50 Cent will get major exposure this weekend during the Super Bowl, thanks to a new commercial by American Suzuki Motor Corp.

50′s track “Movin’ On Up” is being featured in Suzuki’s “Sled” Super Bowl ad, promoting the new all-wheel-drive 2012 Kizashi sports sedan.

The commercial features an Eskimo, who upgrades his sled to the new Kizashi sedan by Suzuki.

“We are thrilled to show off the Kizashi’s fun-to-drive capabilities during the most-watched sporting event of the year,” said Jeff Holland, director of social media, American Suzuki. “We feel that 50 Cent’s upbeat music brings the Kizashi to life in a way that viewers will relate to.”

The Suzuki 2012 Super Bowl ad will continue to air both in 60-second and 30-second formats, as part of a new Suzuki advertising campaign that is scheduled to debut in March.

Tonight (February 4), 50 Cent will join Lil Jon and Pitbull as the headliners of the Bud Light Hotel Super Bowl XLVI party in Indianapolis.

Check out the Suzuki Kizashi commercial below:

(AllHipHop News) Cleveland, Ohio rapper Kid Cudi has officially disconnected from social networking site Twitter.

The rapper made the announcement to his 389,000 followers yesterday evening (February 3), along with a message about his new album, WZRD.

“Going away for awhile,” Kid Cudi tweeted from his official account. “For WZRD updates follow @DotDaGenius or visit http://wzrd.co.uk/v1.html.”

According to Kid Cudi, his new album WZRD will be out at the end of February.

In his last message, Kid Cudi no indication on when he plans to return, or why he was stepping away from Twitter.

“Since y’all won’t hear from me, I hope you all like the album when it comes out Feb 28th,” the rapper tweeted. “I really worked hard to do my best. Thank You.”

In 2009, Kid Cudi deleted his official account and stayed offline for over two years before his return in January of 2011.

According to the rapper, after the release of WZRD, he will release a project with fellow Cleveland native Chip Tha Ripper as The Almighty Gloryus.

Following that album, Kid Cudi said he will drop another, untitled solo project.

(AllHipHop News) Rap star Lil Kim was recently hit with an $86,347 tax bill, from the year 2009.

TMZ.com reports that the $86,000 bill from 2009 was recently tacked on to an already swollen tax bill.

The Queen Bee owes the government taxes for every year, from 2002 – 2009.

According to documents filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office, Lil Kim owes a total of $1,026,862.42.

Lil Kim is currently working on an untitled EP that has no release date attached to it.

(AllHipHop News) Educators/activists/rapper Dr. Cornel West and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are leading a group of artists and executives who are demanding cultural diversity from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).

NARAS is the organization that produces the annual Grammy Awards, which honors the top performing music artists, producers and engineers, in a variety of categories.

But The Grammys has been under fire for sweeping changes the organization has made to the categories.

Dr. West and Rev. Jesse Jackson are working with artists/organizations like Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Grammywatch.org and now, Presente.org, in the battle to restore diversity to The Grammys.

Presente.org, which is the largest online Latino advocacy organization in the U.S., has joined in the growing criticism of The Grammys.

The artists and activists are upset that NARAS eliminated a number of categories, comprised mostly of ethnic music.

Categories like Gospel, R&B, Traditional and Contemporary Jazz, Latin Jazz, Traditional and Contemporary Blues, Cajun/Zydeco, Polka, Mexican Norteña, Native American and Hawaiian music have been eliminated.

To make matters worse, the activists say the changes were done without the knowledge of the organizations 21,000 members.

“Neal Portnow and the big bosses at the Grammys have committed a deplorable act of greed and racial discrimination by deleting music categories that are so central to the lives of so many,” Presente.org Executive Director, Arturo Carmona, said. “Portnow and the Grammys have nothing to celebrate and deserve an lifetime achievement award for putting profit over people. We are honored and highly motivated to join the fight to re-institute the deleted categories on behalf of the millions who love Latin jazz, Gospel, R&B and other musical genres.”

Over the past year, the Grammys have come under fire for their alleged lack of diversity in honoring all forms of music.

Last year, music industry/advertising executive Steve Stoute wrote an open letter to The Grammy’s in a full-page ad in The New York Times .

He most recently sat down with the Associated Press, where he further discussed The Grammys’ lack of ethnic diversity, along with their alleged exploitation of Hip-Hop music.

Check out the article, which contains commentary from 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Quest Love and Steve Stoute.

(AllHipHop News) Two-time Grammy Award winner T-Pain is hosting this year’s incarnation of the “Your Next Record” contest, presented by Guitar Center and several sponsors.

The rapper/singer will be joining artists like Travis Barker, Country singer Keith Urban, and iconic guitarist Slash, who previously partook and hosted the competition in years past.

Complex reached out to Pain and asked how he would go about picking the winner for the contest. He responded, “Me and Young Fyre, we’re going to literally just take days and listen to all the music. I’m just looking for something new, you know? Something I’ve never heard before.”

The contest prize for the winner includes:

• A three-song EP produced by Young Fyre
• T-Pain as co-writer and co-producer of your single
• Complete Pro Tools HD Native recording studio
• Akai MPC 5000 music production center
• New gear and products from Shure, Izotope, and Rockstar Energy Drink
• Worldwide music distribution from Tunecore

All submissions for the “Your Next Record” contest will be accepted until April 4 at www.YourNextRecord.com

(AllHipHop News) Rappers G. Dep and Domination have been locked up on Rikers Island for the better part of a year, with both men awaiting trial for serious crimes.

Feed DA Wolves CEO/former G-Unit associate Domination is currently facing a manslaughter charge, as well as several counts of gang assault.

G. Dep is currently awaiting trial after he walked into a police precinct in December of 2010 and admitted he shot a man during a 1993 robbery.

Unbeknownst to G. Dep, the man died from his gunshot wounds, resulting in a murder charge against the rapper.

In an exclusive interview with AllHipHop.com, Domination said that he has been in touch with G. Dep.

“I just bumped into G. Dep you know I’m in the same building as Dep,” Domination told AllHipHop.com. “We was cool before we got in here, we used to go to the studio in Manhattan. Dep used to be there.”

According to Domination, G. Dep is holding up well, despite the unusual circumstances of his case.

According to G. Dep’s own admission, he copped to the shooting as part of a rehab program, during his recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.

He had no idea that John Henkel, the man he shot in October of 1993, died from the three gunshots he took to the chest.

“His spirits are up…at the end of the day, you don’t know why that man chose to do what he did,” Domination told AllHipHop.com. “He dealt with his demons the way he dealt with his demons. He felt like he owed something to God. He doesn’t owe nothing to NO man on earth. He’s definitely good though, from my perspective. I see him, he’s definitely good peoples.”

Both rappers are facing stiff sentences if convicted for their alleged actions.

Earlier this year Domination rejected a plea deal and will stand trial sometime this Spring/Summer for his crimes.

He is facing between 5 and 25 years for the charges.

Despite his confession, G. Dep rejected a plea deal in January of 2011 and is currently awaiting trial.

G. Dep faces 25 years to life for the murder.

A compilation of Domination’s material is being put together for release entitled FreeDom while G. Dep has a full album for sale on ITunes titled Ghetto Legend.

Check out Mikey T The Movie Star’s interview with Domination below:

(AllHipHop News) Industry veteran John Monopoly recently spoke with AllHipHop.com about his new label Lawless Inc. and his reemerging relationship with his former client Kanye West, among other things.

John Monopoly and real estate/property preservation businessman Larro Wilson are developing Lawless Inc.’s flagship artist from Southeast Chicago, King Louie.

King Louie has been getting prominent placements and developing a buzz since his signing with Lawless Inc.

“We found Louie through my protege Young Hustle who works with me through my event production company and he also works with Lawless,” John Monopoly told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “My plan is to just build the brand. I got a couple of collaborative mixtapes, I can’t say who they are with, but they are going to be some interesting pairings to widen his audience base and widen his demographic.”

While Monopoly was tight lipped about Lawless Inc.’s plans for the future, he did allude to the fact that he has been fielding offers from majors for King Louie.

“We have gotten a couple of offers from people who have major situations, or a major situation, but I don’t know if we are going to go necessarily go in that direction as of right now,” John Monopoly said. “You will definitely see some music on iTunes within the next couple months for some projects, but I can’t say if we stay independent, we are just in a blessed situation to have options right now.”

Monopoly also took the time to answer questions about his relationship with Kanye West and whether or not he has had contact with his former friend and business partner.

John Monopoly was a part of Kanye’s inner-circle from 1991 until 2008, when the pair had a falling out over business matters.

“I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in years and then at his concert in Chicago, he had some really nice things to say about me on stage,” John Monopoly told AllHipHop.com. “I saw him back stage and we kind of really got a chance to see each other and spend a little time, so that was really cool.”

Monopoly remained humbled about his past association with Kanye West, who has gone on to become one of the world’s best known entertainers.

“I got to be a part of the development of one of the great iconic figures of our time, so it was a truly a blessed situation,” Monopoly continued.

“I’m so happy and proud of is success, and I hope to do something with him in the future,” John Monopoly told AllHipHop.com. “We had a great positive, profitable run over the course of three historic albums. My name will be on those albums forever, I’ll never forget the world tours, the studio sessions, the marketing campaigns, and just all the stuff we were involved in together as a team.”

John Monopoly is also actively involved in Pheed, a new online platform that allows celebrities to monetize and copyright exclusive content via a pay-per-view like medium.

John leads the urban initiative, signing artists like Big Sean, Game, Jim Jones, Keyshia Cole, Young Jeezy and Mike Epps.

King Louie – Too Cool (Official Music Video)

IM ARROGANT- KING LOUIE

(AllHipHop News) 2011′s Grammy Award-winning album by Eminem, Recovery, was officially certified 4x platinum yesterday (February 2).

Recovery exploded on the charts in June of 2010 when it sold over 750,000 copies in its first week.

The album, which was executive produced by Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Paul Rosenberg, contained a wide range of tracks that made their way across both Urban and Pop radio for most of 2010 and 2011 off of the sound and success of the hit singles “Not Afraid,” the Rihanna-assisted “Love The Way You Lie,” and “No Love” which featured Lil Wayne.

In 2011, Eminem released Hell: The Sequel, a collaborative album between himself and Royce Da 5’9″. The two went under the monikers of Bad and Evil for the album, playing off of their acclaimed song from Em’s 1999 album The Slim Shady LP, which featured Royce on the song “Bad Meets Evil,” for which the newly released album was named.

Eminem is currently helping to put some finishing touches on the upcoming Slaughterhouse album, which is scheduled for release this May, as well as his own currently untitled ninth studio album.

(AllHipHop News) WWE superstar John Cena will use Machine Gun Kelly’s hit song “Invincible,” as his theme music for Wrestlemania XXVIII this April.

The track has already started running in promotional spots promoting Wrestlemania XXVIII.

“The reaction to ‘Invincible’ has been amazing,” Machine Gun Kelly told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “First, Verizon picked it to run in their campaign and now it’s an official Wrestlemania song. It’s crazy.

Additionally, John Cena will walk into the ring to “Invincible” during his main event showdown against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, during the famous PPV event.

“John Cena and myself are both underdogs and the song is about struggle, I think it’s so cool they chose it,” MGK continued.

Wrestlemania XXVIII takes place April 1, 2012 at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL.

(AllHipHop News) Rapper, producer, and all around entrepreneur Kanye West will be heading to the Middle East next month to shoot a new short film according to a recent report from The New York Observer.

West reportedly sent representatives to scout locations in the Persian Gulf, including Abu Dahbi, Dubai, and Doha Qatar, for the short which is scheduled to film in March and will be presented in a similar manner to 2010′s “Runaway” from his Grammy-nominated album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

According to the Observer, “A number of local municipal officials and film companies are said to be engaged in what is characterized as a heated bidding war for the contracts involved in bringing Mr. West’s vision to life.”

One source involved in the talks stated, “In Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha all of the film initiatives are government controlled. A bidding war is going on between various government entities and private investors to fund the film. There’s pretty intense rivalry here between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar. They all want to claim the film as their own and take credit for generating the publicity.” Currently, details on the plot of the short and the shoot itself are being kept under wraps, even to those who are closely involved.

“Mr. West’s creative team is moving to the region for a few weeks, as part of an effort to create an “authentic” depiction of the culture. They plan to utilize local talent and production crews, and are said to be eager to portray the locales and their cultures in a positive light,” the source added.

Check out Kanye’s short film for “Runaway” below:

(AllHipHop News) Wu-Tang Founder The RZA & Good Charlotte co-founders Joel and Benji Madden have been officially added to BMI’s ‘How I Wrote That Song’ Lineup.

The pair join Rev Run, RedOne and DJ Khaled for the pre-Grammy panel, to be held February 11 at the Key Club in Los Angeles.

The RZA and the Maddens will discuss the process of writing producing and performing hit songs.

Previous “How I Wrote That Song” participants have included will.i.am, T-Pain, Nas, Colbie Caillat, Common, T-Pain, Keri Hilson, Zac Brown, Seal, Cee Lo Green and others.

The conversation will be moderated by Catherine Brewton, BMI Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations.

BMI’s “How I Wrote That Song” is open to members of the public, ages 15 years old and up.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day-of the panel and can be purchased at http://www.keyclub.com/.

Doors open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday February 11th and the panel discussion will be held from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

(Week Ending On 1/31/12)

Drake held it down for Hip-Hop releases in the Top 10 with his sophomore album Take Care claiming the #9 spot and selling 26, 433 copies. Along with the platinum album, Drake’s new single “The Motto” which features Lil Wayne, has just gone platinum as well, securing the #16 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Young Jeezy announced his fourth album, TM103 (Def Jam), going gold after a month of release with the following tweet: “Half a MILLI #TM103 Certified GOLD thanks to yall. Half way there! Men and Women lie #’s don’t. #ITSTHAWORLD Coming Soon. Stay Tuned!” Last week TM103 (Def Jam) sold 15,575 copies, a 7 percent decline from the week prior.

Coming in at #28 this week are Jay-Z and Kanye West with their platinum-certified album, Watch the Throne (Roc-A-Fella/RocNation) which dropped two spots from last week with a 1 percent decline in album sales. Watch the Throne (Roc-A-Fella/RocNation) sold 12,723 copies in the last week.

Surprisingly, two weeks after her daughter’s birth, Beyonce, saw a 3 percent increase in sales for her album 4 (Columbia) selling 8,302 copies and coming in at  #41 on the charts.

Memphis native Yo Gotti released his debut album, Live From the Kitchen (RCA) last week to disappointing numbers, with 15,000 copies sold of his #14 debut. Gotti, who had been very vocal in the past few weeks about the lack of marketing from the label, fell out of the Top 50 this week altogether.

Lil Wayne’s platinum-certified Tha Carter IV (Cash Money/Universal) moved another 10,000 copies this week and came in at #37 with a 4 percent decline in sales from the prior week.

Dropping This Week (1/31/12)

Alchemist and Oh No will be dropping their psychedelic-rap collaboration, titled Vodka and Ayahuasca (Decon), under the name Gangrene.

Dropping Next Week (2/7/12)

No notable Hip-Hop releases next week.

(AllHipHop News) Mississippi’s own Big K.R.I.T. is prepping for the release of his Def Jam debut, Live From the Underground, which is set for release this spring.

However, before he releases his first major label album, K.R.I.T., will supply the fans with a new mixtape entitled 4evaNaDay, which drops for free on February 20.

Last week, K.R.I.T. posted a picture of an iTunes playlist called “4evaNaDay” that featured a 14-song tracklist, which includes “Wake Up,” “Ride Clean,” “Red Eye,” “Package Store,” and more.

K.R.I.T. took to the Internet yesterday (February 1) to release the first single from 4evaNaDay, “Boobie Miles,” with the following message:

“The 1st song I wanted 2 release from #4evaNaDay is called Boobie Miles. It’s about over coming all the obstacles that block your dreams, the sacrifices that come with how hard you have to go to obtain your goal, giving your all no matter what the situation, the only difference between a winner N a loser is a winner plays until he wins“

Listen to “Boobie Miles” below:

(AllHipHop News) Young Jeezy has announced that he will launch the Hustlerz Ambition Tour, this just a day after it was announced that his album TM103 was RIAA Certified Gold.

“Half a MILLI #TM103 Certified GOLD thanks to yall. Half way there! Men and Women lie #’s don’t. #ITSTHAWORLD Coming Soon. Stay Tuned!” Jeezy told fans from his Twitter page.

The Hustlerz Ambition tour will trek through the United States and Canada, starting in Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Harford and Philadelphia.

The tour concludes with seven Canadian dates starting in Vancouver and ending in Montreal.

Young Jeezy does not make a stop in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia on the tour.

Jeezy is currently on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with “I Do,” feat. Jay-Z & Andre 3000, moving from No. 7 to No. 4 this week.

This is Jeezy’s highest charting single since “Put On,” featuring Kanye West, hit #3 on September 13, 2008 according to Billboard.

Take a look at the tour dates below:

March 3 Washington DC Fillmore

March 4 New York, NY Irving Plaza

March 5 Boston, MA House of Blues

March 6 Hartford, CT The Dome

March 8 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts

March 9 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s

March 10 Detroit, MI Fillmore

March 11 Cleveland, OH House of Blues

March 12 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room

March 13 Chicago, IL (TBA)

March 20 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues

March 21 San Diego, CA House of Blues

March 22 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues

March 24 San Francisco, CA (TBA)

March 27 Seattle, WA Neptune

March 28 Vancouver, B.C. Gossip Nightclub

March 29 Edmonton, Alb. Edmonton Events Centre

March 30 Calgary, Alb. Flames Central

March 31 Saskatoon, Sask. The Odeon Theatre

April 1 Winnipeg, Man. The Pantages Theatre

April 5 Toronto, Ont. Sound Academy

April 6 Montreal, Que. Olympia Theatre

(AllHipHop News) Yasiin Bey a.k.a. Mos Def is set to star in Switch, the film prequel to Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film, Jackie Brown.

Bey, along with John Hawkes, will play the the younger versions of Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara respectively, characters made famous by Jackson and De Niro in director Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown, which also starred Pam Grier in the role of the title character.

Credited as Mos Def and having starred in over 13 films including Cadillac Records, The Italian Job, 16 Blocks and Next Day Air, Yasiin Bey is no stranger to acting. He also had roles on television show like Dexter, The Boondocks, and Chappelle’s Show.

Switch is based on the 2002 novel The Switch, written by Elmore Leonard. The film, set 15 years before Jackie Brown, is being written and directed by Dan Schechter. Production on the film is set to begin in May.

See the book description for The Switch below:

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they’re out, they’re joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. But they didn’t figure the lowlife husband wouldn’t want his lady back. So it’s time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing — with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who’s hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

(AllHipHop News) Bow Wow took to his blog yesterday (February 1) to reveal the tracklist for his upcoming Cash Money records debut album, Underrated.

The 17-track album currently boasts features from the likes of Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Ace Hood, Jadakiss, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, Miguel, Chris Brown, and Musiq Soulchild.

Production on the album was handled by Cardiak, Jahlil Beats, Drumma Boy, AraabMUZIK, No I.D., and more.

In addition to the revealing of the Underrated tracklist, and the announcement that the deluxe addition of the album will features appearances from Boyz II Men and Machine Gun Kelly, Bow Wow also released the music video for his Lil Wayne assisted single, “Sweat”.

Underrated is currently scheduled for release on March 13.

Check out the full tracklist below:

1. Intro
2. Where My Dogs At [Prod. Cardiak]
3. Must Be Stupid ft. Busta Rhymes [Prod. AraabMUZIK]
4. Why Y’all [Prod. Jahlil Beats]
5. We Going Hard ft. Ace Hood [Prod. Cardiak]
6. Right Now ft. Miguel
7. Heart Stop [Prod. Drumma Boy]
8. Sweat ft. Lil Wayne [Prod. Detail & Bei Major]
9. Aint Thinking About You ft. Chris Brown [Prod. K-Mac]
10. Wrong Time ft. Musiq Soulchild [Prod. Musiq Soulchild]
11. I Try [Prod. Beat Bully]
12. Boy Or Girl [Prod. Soundsmith & Neenyo]
13. If You Were Down ft. Talib Kweli [Prod. No I.D.]
14. The Cypher ft. Meek Mill [Prod. Jahlil Beats]
15. Lifestyle Aint For Me [Prod. Lodi]
16. Ohio To Yonkers ft. Jadakiss [Prod. Jahlil Beats]
17. All That I Know ft. Wiz Khalifa & Juicy J [Prod. Sledge]

(AllHipHop News) Public Enemy frontman Chuck D just released this video sharing his thoughts on the importance of Black History Month and the upcoming documentary from basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called “On The Shoulders Of Giants.”

The documentary, narrated by Jamie Foxx and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is a tribute to sports legends and pioneers who have been long forgotten in the course of time. The film includes interviews with many sports and cultural icons such as Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Maya Angelou, Coach John Wooden, Jerry West, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins, Samuel Jackson, and Spike Lee, just to name a few.

“On The Shoulders Of Giants” will be premiering February 9 at 8:30 pm EST on the Showtime cable network.

(AllHipHop News) Apparently, jail is a walk in the park for Hip-Hop star Ja Rule, who is serving a two-year sentence for gun possession.

Ja Rule is being held at Mid–State Correctional Facility in Oneida, New York.

In an exclusive interview with the New York Daily News, Ja Rule said that he was networking and getting advice from some of the United States’ most infamous criminals.

The New York Daily News reveals that disgraced politician Alan Hevesi and former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski mentored the rap star, who is due to be released from prison in February of 2013.

“Outside, you don’t meet guys like this every day. This place is amazing…” Ja Rule told the Daily News. “Koz just got out on work release. Not to say I wish he was still here. But they’re both great, smart guys”

Former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, 72, began serving a one to four year prison sentence in April for accepting bribes and using state employees to help care for his sick wife.

Dennis Kozlowski, 65, is infamous for his time a CEO of Tyco, where he spent hundreds of millions of dollars of the company’s money improperly.

Ja, who has nicknamed Hevesi “Hevey D” and Kozlowski “Koz,” said both men have encouraged his education, while sharpening his knowledge on politics.

“Hevey’s a Democrat like me, so that helps,” Ja Rule quipped. “He told me how it’s like pulling teeth with the two parties trying to get bills passed.”