A label rep says the Atlanta rapper will recover from Tuesday's shooting.

Up-and-coming Atlanta MC Waka Flocka Flame was shot Tuesday (January 19) in his hometown, according to Fulton County Police.

Flocka (real name: Juaquin Malphurs) suffered a gunshot wound to the arm as he was stopped at a carwash on National Highway. He was rushed to nearby Grady Hospital. A spokesperson for his record company said Flame will be fine.

Kelly Rowland is in the process of switching record labels from Columbia Records/ Music World Entertainment to rumored Universal Motown but that hasn't stopped her and producer Jim Jonsin who have been in the studio heavily working on her third solo album in which the title hasn't yet been released.


"I've been working on her album with songwriter Rico Love, we've done four songs. She's doing a pop-house and R&B sound, like a mixture, it's really cool, some up-tempo stuff, some ballads, all around really nice - more like a Donna Summer sound."

The release of Tha Carter IV has been delayed by Lil Wayne’s jail sentence, but one producer assures it will be worth the wait when it does come. “Carter IV gonna change your life,” Dow Jones, one-half of hitmaking duo Tha Bizness, tells Rap-Up TV. “It’s something that you ain’t never seen before. We thought Carter III  was incredible and he took it a couple steps up.”

Foxy Brown allegedly became embroiled in a brawl in New York City on Thursday - after a fight erupted in the lobby of a luxury apartment building.


The hip-hop star, real name Inga Marchand, is said to have been visiting a building on 43rd Street in Manhattan when trouble flared on the ground floor.

According to TMZ.com, Marchand was one of "several people" pushing and shoving in the melee and another 10 people intervened in a bid to break up the fight.

He'll miss a little over a month, but if things go according to schedule, Lil Wayne will be out of prison in time to catch most of the NFL season. Last week, the season kicked off with Wayne's home team, Super Bowl champions the New Orleans Saints, beating Weezy's favorite player, Brett Favre, and the Minnesota Vikings.

As Young Money President Mack Maine told MTV News recently, Weezy is elated that Favre didn't hang up his shoulder pads and go into retirement.

Kanye West has never been afraid to extend his shine to some of the most creative people in music, fashion, art, design, film, athletics and literature. In fact, he loves all mediums of art to such an extent that fans have picked up some great recommendations from Ye's extensive catalogue of favorites  (aka his blog) at any given moment. Last Wednesday, he took to Twitter to name his list of the coolest creative people in the world.

After inking a deal with Def Jam earlier this year, Shyne has hit up SOHH to reveal his issues with the renowned record label and hint at plans to possibly join Lil Wayne and Baby at Cash Money Records.

Shyne blames Def Jam's lack of interest in promoting and pushing hip-hop acts as a reason for him to seek another label home.

In 2008, Jay-Z teamed up with a megawatt crew to bring some star power to Obama's campaign trail, and most recently, the Brooklyn rapper released a new PSA urging voters to hit the polls during the upcoming elections. Now comes news that Obama's team might recruit Hov for an official position in the next presidential campaign.

Dr. Dre paid J. Cole the ultimate compliment when he said that he was a fan. But this isn’t exactly news to the Roc Nation rapper. Cole reveals to Rap-Up.com that he has met the hip-hop icon before and the two may even have a collaboration in the bag.


Without disclosing too much, Cole acknowledges that he and Dre have something brewing. “I did some work with Dr. Dre, without going any further than that,” he says.

This experience is truly a pain I have never felt before and that's saying a lot for a nigga who's been down locked up as many times as I have. I see this as a real ass whoopin'. The kind you don't just go back outside to play afterwards. You take ya ass to bed and don't come out of your room until it's time to go to school. I don' t know what effect this will have on my life moving forward but I'm certainly sick and mother f*cking tired of going to jail, juve, prison, the pen, correctional facilities or whatever else you want to call it.

While the rest of the world continues to wait for Dr. Dre's 'Detox,' Polow Da Don wants to assure fans that the album will be well worth the wait. The producer, who has worked with the likes of Usher, Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown has been in the studio with Dre cooking up some musical magic.

10-year-old Willow Smith already knows how to work the Internet and music gossip rags into a tizzy. When asked in a recent interview about potential songs for her debut, her father's hip-hop classic 'Parents Just Don't Understand' came up and Willow revealed that she just might be working on a cover version.


"There's a possibility that I will," she said. "It's a really great song."

Game and 50 Cent haven't spoken in years, but that doesn't mean that a possible collaboration is totally out of the question. The BoomBox caught up with Game, who is currently working on his upcoming release 'The R.E.D. Album,' and with a new outlook on both life and his career, the Compton native explained that when it comes to 50, he's ready to put the past behind him.

All the ladies in the back: Scream! J. Cole is teaming up with Drake to make a video for their 'Friday Night Lights' collaboration 'In the Morning.' The video is actually set to drop on Feb. 14, so fans can think of it as the ultimate Valentine.

Roc Nation signee J. Cole and Top Dawg Entertainment’s Kendrick Lamar are set to team up for an as-yet-untitled collaborative mixtape. XXLMag.com spoke to Lamar, who’s been busy in the studio working with Dr. Dre on Detox, to find out more details on the joint disc.

Rick Ross is continuing to beef up his Maybach Music Group, having just added Meek Mill to the roster earlier today (February 8).


“I’m feelin’ good—feelin’ great, man,” Meek told XXLMag.com shortly after letting the ink dry on the papers. “That’s why Twitter’s a good thing. You let people know what’s going on live and direct.”

Eminem cleaned up at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, beating out newcomers B.o.B and Drake, and vets the Roots and Jay-Z for Best Rap Album with his chart-topping release, 'Recovery.' Eminem's 'Relapse' album took home the Grammy for Best Rap Album last year, marking Em's second gramophone for Best Rap Album in two years. The rapper's sophomore album 'The Slim Shady LP' and third album 'The Marshall Mathers LP' grabbed back-to-back Best Rap Album awards. This will also mark the fifth time the Detroit-bred rapper has won the award for Best Rap Album.

"The album is totally finished," he told MTV News last week on the set of his "Roll Up" video in Los Angeles. "We're putting, like, the last little bit of touches on it, and we're turning it in next week."

"Roll Up" is the follow-up to "Black and Yellow," and despite a number of tracks that have leaked online in recent weeks, Wiz said there won't be any more singles before the album — though the green-friendly lyricist has some tricks up his sleeves.

Two weeks ago, J. Cole announced that his debut album for Roc Nation was finally complete, approximately two years after signing with the imprint. Now, the North Carolina native is gearing up to drop its first official single.


At the BET Awards nominations press conference earlier this week, Cole told Ms. Drama TV that he will release the album's first single within a few days. "We finally married a single and we picked it, so that's next week. There's no more holdup," J. Cole explained. "As of next week, you'll see me on full-fledged promo mode."

Jonas Bevacqua was a college dropout and a DJ who had moved back into his parents' home when he met up with Robert Wright and created a street clothing company that resonated in Southern California and the nation. According to the Associated Press, Bevacqua and Wright "sketched out some of their earliest fashion ideas in his bedroom." The two went on to found Lifted Resesarch Group (LRG), a popular street clothing brand, in 1999, and the line enjoyed a rapid rise "as a major fashion force."

Kanye inks a deal to turn G.O.O.D. Music into an official label, with Big Sean serving as its flagship artist.


Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music has inked an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with Island Def Jam Music Group. The first release under the terms of the new agreement is Big Sean’s Finally Famous, cementing the Detroit, Michigan up-and-comer as G.O.O.D. Music’s flagship artist.

Legendary Houston rapper Scarface is still in police custody for failure to pay child support.

As XXLMag.com previously reported, 'Face was originally locked up in Montgomery County Jail in Texas back in October 2010 for four separate cases of not paying child support.

The former Geto Boys leader has since been moved to Harris County Jail as of last week where he is being held for two active child support warrants totaling $123,372. He also faces two other child support charges as well as charges from the federal government.

The Roc Nation rapper also runs down his wish list for collaborations.


J. Cole has a treat in store for fans before dropping his debut Cole World: The Sideline Story. Speaking with Rap-Up.com, the Roc Nation rapper explained that he plans to release a new mixtape this summer, a collection of leftover tracks that he wants fans to have.

J. Cole still waiting on a verse from Jay-Z for "Cole World: The Sideline Story,” says he will no longer release a new mixtape.


Although J. Cole initially announced that he would be dropping a new mixtape before the September release of Cole World: The Sideline Story he has now revealed that he will longer be releasing that mixtape.

Rather than release the full mixtape Cole will instead leak the songs that would have been featured on the mixtape in the weeks leading up to Cole World: The Sideline Story.

Mary invites Drizzy to guest on the song "Mr. Wrong" for her upcoming album, which also features Nas and Rick Ross.


Rap-Up.com learned that Drake will act as a guest on Mary J. Blige's upcoming album, My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1). He'll drop a verse on the Jim Jonsin and Rico Love produced "Mr. Wrong."

Bun B was recently interviewed by Daniel Isenberg for the The Tanning Effect website. The interview is quite lengthy, ranging on topics from the neighbourhood he grew up in, working with Jive Records, and what UGK's biggest hit record was, but here are some of the highlights:

On UGK's Biggest Hit:

Drake covers Complex's December/January 2011-2012 issue, where he discusses everything from the critcisim of his sweaters, to becoming a Canadian rapper to blow up in America, and his many women.

Read some of the interview below.

On His "Headlines" Video:

Eminem & Yelawolf will cover Vibe's December 2011/January 2012 issue. As Vibe puts it, "In our exclusive interview, the posterboys of colorless hip-hop opened up about their views on race, past issues with substance abuse, similarities and differences."  The issue hits stands December 6th, check out some excerpts below.

Cee-Lo Green has caused some controversy in the new year by changing a line in John Lennon's "Imagine."

He performed on NBC's  Times Square New Years Eve telecast, singing John Lennon's classic "Imagine." He upset many Lennon fans by changing the line "no religion too" to "all religion is true."

After his performance Twitter blew up with tweets from many people who were upset with Cee-Lo's interpretation of "Imagine."

Kreayshawn definitely isn't lacking haters, and Harlem native and up & coming artist Azealia Banks seems to have added herself to the list.

Yesterday on Twitter Kreayshawn tweeted the visuals for Azealia Banks' track "212," and Azealia Banks hit her back with unfriendly words, saying, "you think you're funny? you're a dumb bitch. And you can't rap. I'll sit on your face. ... Fall back slut."

Complex's February/March 2012 issues features hip-hop's favourite rookie, A$AP Rocky, along with hip-hop style-maker, Jeremy Scott. The photoshoot seemed like a pretty dope one, peep some photos and the cover below.

In the interview the two, who had never met before, chop it up about the usual- fashion, music. Read some excerpts below.

The controversy surrounding Amber Rose continues.


In recent weeks, the former stripper-turned-socialite has been making her rounds, promoting a new Wiz Khalifa-assisted single and an upcoming movie role ... but has also come out making claims that Kim Kardashian was the contributing factor to her break-up with Kanye West.

Rose's former publicist has come forward making his own set of claims, though, which contradict her story.

Yasiin Bey, previously known as Mos Def, sat down to speak to Hypebeast and gave an update on what's coming up for him, including his new series Top 40 Underdogs. Read some excerpts below.

In a recent interview with MTV, Iggy Azalea, the up & coming female Australian rapstress, spoke on her debut album The New Classic.

The New Classic is set to drop in June, and Azalea announced that none other than T.I. will be an executive producer.

Word up HNHH viewers, welcome to a new feature on HNHH where we will discuss some relevant shit going on in the hip-hop world. It shall be called Word Up. Let us begin.

Chris Brown has been ordered by a Judge to remain on Supervised Probation as he completes his sentence for beating his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna.

This Thursday Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, showed up without the r'n'b singer himself for a hearing. Geragos asked that his supervised probation end because of Brown's good behaviour.  Superior Court Judge George Lomeli agreed that Brown was on good behaviour however ordered that he continue to report to a probation officer in his home state of Virginia.

Nicki Minaj covers the magazine Paper, changing it up with green hair on the cover, but she rocks her pink hair for the rest of the shoot. Peep some photos below and excerpts from the interview.

A recent trend that has surfaced in hip-hop is to do collaborative projects with another artist. I'm not saying that artists haven't done this before, I'm saying that it's become a trend. Arguably two of the greatest, Kanye West & Jay-Z, may have gotten this trend going when they dropped Watch The Throne. That was definitely a successful collab that everyone was (and still is, it seems) pumped about. And now there have been rumours of a lot of other joint efforts coming up (and some have already dropped).

If you recall, Jay-Z and Kanye chopped up a Maybach in their video for “Otis.” Now the $350,000 will hit the auction block at Phillips de Pury auction house for a charity called Save the Children. The Maybach is expected to bring in some serious money for the charity. Find out exactly how much below.

Big Sean recently sat down and spoke to Bootleg Kev, and he gave us some details on his Sophmore album. The follow up of "Finally Famous: The Album," will feature production by Kanye West and No I.D.

Ozone Magazine caught up with Trick Daddy Dollars at the NBA All Star Festivities in Orlando this weekend for an interview and boy did he have some things to say about fellow Florida Rappers Plies & Rick Ross. See excerpts below.

On Rick Ross:

2012 XXL Freshman Kid Ink reached out exclusively to HotNewHipHop.com to announce the Official Release date and Artwork for his highly anticipated debut Album "Up & Away."

"Up & Away" which will be distributed Independently via Kid Ink's label Tha Alumni Music Group is slated to drop on June 12th.