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."

After announcing numerous delays on 'The R.E.D.

Wale's debut album, 'Attention Deficit,' received lack-luster success compared to the hype that was built around it. But never one to quit, Mr. Folarin returned on Tuesday, Aug. 3, with his new DJ Omega-hosted mixtape, 'More About Nothing,' to reclaim his throne as one of the most buzzed-about young rappers.



Download Mixtape Here

Black Wall Street associate DJ Skee recently revealed that Game's "Street Runners" Nas collaboration, which send a subtle diss 50 Cent's way, was recorded over four years ago.

According to Skee, the Brake Lights track had been kept under wraps.

Wale brought the buzz of his new 'More About Nothing' mixtape to New York City on Monday night (Aug.16) with an energetic set at the Highline Ballroom. Download Mixtape Here.



Diggy Simmons held down the mic with his popular viral freestyle over Nas' 'Made You Look' before handing things over to Wale, who kicked off a one-hour set with the Bun B-featured track 'Mirrors,' followed by 'World Tour' off his 'Attention Deficit' album.

Petey Pablo ran into some legal trouble this past weekend after he was arrested  at North Carolina's Raleigh Durham Airport for carrying a Smith & Wesson pistol in his carry-on luggage. Pablo was arrested with the handgun on Saturday, Sept. 11, nine years after the terrorist attacks on America. But after posting $50,000 bond, Pablo, born Moses Barrett III, claims that the gun wasn't actually his, nor that it was a publicity stunt to promote his new music. Pablo says he was simply protecting a friend from doing something stupid.

While Drake's R&B mixtape, It's Never Enough, might not drop in October, he does plan to put it out before the end of the year.



"I don't know if it'll be next month," he told MTV News on Saturday during his VMA rehearsal. "I'm hoping for Christmastime. I'd really love to get it out for Christmastime. Next month, I'll be on tour. I'm gonna really get to put the finishing touches on it in November and December. Because it's a mixtape, I don't have to wait for the production of it."

Review by @SermonsDomain

Leaving Pretty Ricky was a risky move for Pleasure P. After releasing his solo debut, getting a Grammy nominee and providing good music on his own, he began work on a bunch of new material for his sophomore album. In the mean time, 4 Ur Pleasure Vol. 1 is his first solo mixtape and he rides with DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar.

 

Drake recently revealed that he's taking a break from working on his highly-anticipated R&B mixtape, 'It's Never Enough,' to focus more seriously on rapping.

Justin Bieber is apparently very serious about his "rap" career, so much so, that the youngster is planning on releasing a mixtape with Young Money member Lil' Twist. According to Twist, the teen heartthrob will take his flow to a full album.

Having a mixtape with extraordinary features/production is becoming a little more common in 2010. It makes sense since your tape is like your introduction to the world, a demo in a way. Have tapes gotten a little out of hand and became better than albums? That remains to be seen and formed by your own opinion. One thing is for sure though, with more power comes more possibilities.

Atlanta-based trio Travis Porter spent the past few years on the independent grind, releasing heralded mixtapes that put them on the unsigned map. But after climbing the ladder near the top of the underground food chain, Strap, Quez and Ali are ready to take their career to the next level with the announcement that they have signed to Jive Records to release their official debut.

Business partners fight, but brothers unite. That's the case between DJ Drama and Don Cannon. The two unceremoniously parted ways a few years ago and went their separate ways, signaling the end to the Aphilliates crew that dominated the mixtape game with their jointly hosted "Gangsta Grillz" project.



Drama continued to do his thing with the "GG" brand, helming projects by Gucci Mane, among others.



And Cannon made a name for himself on the underground scene, championing acts such as The Cool Kids.

From the looks of things over the past 12 months, the mixtape game has never been healthier.

In 2010, the standout projects and the MCs who helmed them took a page out of Drake's book from the previous year with So Far Gone, making mixtapes that were put together like albums with a majority of head-nodding original material populating the track lists.

As I was sifting through the list of Grammy nominees a couple weeks ago, I saw a lot of familiar names. 

Eminem? Check.

Jay-Z?  Of course. 

Kanye West? This dude can’t stay off the list.

The mixtape game took a shot to the heart a few years ago when DJ Drama's office was raided by the feds. Artists increasingly opted to make mixtapes that were essentially albums, projects produced without help from DJs and comprised mostly of original material.

KiD CuDi rejoined Twitter earlier today and took no time to reveal some info on his upcoming projects. A new rock album called Wizard, a mixtape called A Man Named Scott and the video for his Man On The Moon II single ‘Maniac’. Read.

After his hugely popular mixtape There Is Not Competition 2 last year, Fabo is readying another free offering for his fans set to drop sometime in February, 2011. As of now, the tentative title is The S.O.U.L. Tape since he’ll be rapping over soul sampled beats and will have no DJ drops. #Win.

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.”

After years of perfecting their debut album 'Last Train to Paris,' Diddy and his Dirty Money ladies are getting right back at it with some brand new music. The crew has just announced that they have a mixtape dropping next week on Valentine's Day.



Entitled 'LoveLOVE Vs. HateLOVE,' the news was, of course, broken by none other than Diddy via his well-oiled Twitter account. "LoveLOVE vs HateLOVE," he wrote. "The Dirty Money Valentine's mixtape coming Feb 14!!!!"

After Lil' Kim proudly proclaimed she sold 113,000 copies of her new mixtape 'Black Friday,' her nemesis Nicki Minaj has written the next chapter in their everlasting saga. Last night, the Harajuku Barbie took to her Twitter account to tweet mocking words to Kim, who is depicted decapitating Nicki on the cover of the 'tape.

As one of the most publicized feuds in rap over the past decade, Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj's beef has amplified in recent months. But the spar has surprisingly deep roots. The Queen Bee, who recently released her 'Black Friday' mixtape sporting a decapitated Nicki on its cover, explains that the problem doesn't alone lie with the Harajuku Barbie, and that the disrespect from her label Cash Money actually sparked the back-and-forth between the rapstresses.

Two-and-a-half months after his epic '6 Foot 7 Foot' single dropped, Lil Wayne is finally debuting his music video for the Bangladesh-produced banger on Thursday (March 3) at 7:54 PM EST on MTV.



The song is Wayne's first single since his release from Rikers Island prison in November, and the typically hyper-productive rapper has been keeping a uncharacteristically low profile since, only popping up on a handful of remixes and leaking a mixtape verse here and there.

Young Jeezy doesn't have a confirmed release date for his new album, 'TM103,' but his mixtape does. The Atlanta trap rap star has reunited with DJ Drama for a new mixtape called 'The Real Is Back,' due out tomorrow (May 28) at 1:03PM.



The mixtape will serve as an appetizer for Jeezy's long-delayed fourth album, which is now scheduled to hit stores sometime this summer, according to the Snowman. Although July 26 had been reported to be the album's proper release date, Def Jam representatives shot down those assertions.

Fat Belly Bella will serve as the producer of her first mixtape under the moniker DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown.



Erykah Badu is gearing up for the release of her first mixtape, set for release this July. According to Pinboard Blog, the soulstress will mix the offering under the name DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, the alias that she has used for DJ gigs in Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas.

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.

The Michigan crooner will premiere cuts from his upcoming mixtape on his fall tour.

Mike Posner has announced the dates for "The Layover Tour" as well as his upcoming mixtape, The Layover, which comes in anticipation of his sophomore album due in 2012.

Joey Crack is gearing up for the release of his first mixtape, which will have a "street" sound.

MORE Drake news incase you haven't had enough yet...  Drake tells XXL he is working on a collaborative mixtape with Rick Ross and that his joint project with Lil Wayne might be shelved for good.

50 Cent covers XXL Magazine's December 2011/January 2012 Issue with not one, but five covers. Check em all out below.The five covers are in celebration of the 5 faces of 50 Cent and in honor of the 50's fifth EP coming this January. It will have been ten years that 50's been in the game, since his first mixtape "50 is the Future" back in 2002. He will be discussing the current conditions of music and his, as of yet, untitled fifth studio album.

Ludacris is back in the game and reminding us who thafuck he is with his new mixtape “1.21 Gigawatts (Back To The First Time).”

Ludacris goes in on this mixtape with the flow we've expected to hear from him ever since “Phat Rabbit”. I'm sure this mixtape will please his fans as a far as flow goes. The content is nothing we haven't heard before, that is to say, it's pretty typical. But this entire mixtape isn't Ludacris doing anything drastically different-- I mean, the title alone is a pretty good indication that he's trying to get back to his roots.

Earlier this week, Ludacris surprised everyone when he aired out Drake and Big Sean on a mixtape record titled, ‘Bada Boom’ and ‘History Lesson’. The records were in response to Drake and Big Sean’s past interviews were they alluded to him using their flows. In a recent interview with a Seattle Radio Station KUBE 93, Big Sean responded to Luda’s diss by saying that he has no issues with Ludacris:

Waka Flocka spoke to Billboard's the Juice on his upcoming album, "Triple F Life," his single with Drake and a collaborative project with French Montana. Check out what he had to say on it.

On The Album:

A$AP Rocky spoke to HipHopDX about his mixtape, he identified the girl in the video for "Purple Swag," and spoke on a joint A$AP project; as well he clarified that the "Deep Purple" mixtape was not official, but created by a fan in Paris (& more). Check out excerpts below.

On The Girl In "Purple Swag":

Juicy J's new mixtape "Blue Dream & Lean" is out now, and AllHipHop spoke to him about it, about him joining Taylor Gang & the possibility of a new Three Six Mafia album. Here's what he had to say on it.

On Taylor Gang:

“Yea man it’s going down, that’s it, it’s real, it’s done, I’m in. That’s my brother, we going on the road and we gonna impact.”

Although T.I. has only been out of jail for a few months, the King of the South has been hitting the studio hard, dropping acclaimed tracks like "I'm Flexin'"  and "Pyro,"  as well as lending his talents to the remix of Yelawolf's single "Hard White." Now, the Grand Hustle impresario has announced that he's planning to drop a new mixtape new year.

50 Cent, who recently dropped his mixtape "The Big 10," spoke to XXL about one of the artists featured on that tape, Paris. Paris, a female emcee from Queens, was recently signed to 50's label.

50 says Paris has been working for sometime, and we can expect a mixtape from her in the near future:

Hate it or love it, the underdog is on top! Since he first began to make noise with his 2010 mixtape Lace Up, Machine Gun Kelly has worked his way into hip-hop's collective consciousness. It wasn't always pretty (see MGK's August flash-mob arrest or his tiff with Yelawolf), but it's always been passionate.



Now, thanks to that passion, Machine Gun Kelly can stand alone as MTV News' Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011, it was revealed on "RapFix Live."

A sextape involving the late Tupac Shakur was sold to a private collector, according to TMZ, although for how much exactly it was sold for is unknown. The tape dated back to 1991,  and the background music alone, which was an unreleased, original Tupac song, had reached a bidding price of $1,000,000.

T.I. recently released the second trailer for his upcoming mixtape Fuck Da City Up, dropping New Year’s Day, and included footage of him in the studio with Dr. Dre. Speaking with MTV News, Tip said that the two were “creating chemistry” for the tape and that he wants to work closer with the West Coast veteran.



“Dre was here. He sent for me over to the spot. We really just turned up more than anything else. It was about creating chemistry," he said.

Gucci Mane and V-Nasty's mixtape, BAYTL, saw weak sales in the first week, with the questionable album selling 4,449 units.

The pairing came as a surprise, with the controversial White Girl Mob member joining forces with the ice-cream loving Gucci Mane. The album gained recognition when V-Nasty claimed she was "more hood than David Banner," but music critics weren't buying her street cred. 

One of the most talked about tracks on Rick Ross’ Rich Forever mixtape has been “Stay Schemin” featuring French Montana and Drake, the latter of which dropped subliminal disses throughout his verse. During an interview with LA Leakers’ Justin Credible, French addressed Drizzy’s verse on the track, stating that while Driz wouldn’t even admit to who he addressed, listeners can connect the dots.

Rick Ross is bringing out the big guns.

Shortly after releasing his mixtape Rich Forever, Rick Ross has gone back to working on his fifth studio album God Forgives, I Don't. But now, Ross revealed on Twitter, he's recording with hitmaker Timbaland.

Recently,Timbo has produced for the likes of Lil Wayne, Drake, and T.I., but he has yet to record with Ross.

Despite the fact that the Rick Ross’ Rich Forever was undoubtably the most downloaded mixtape last week, many hip-hop fans have paid closer attention to the Drake verse that was seemingly directed at Chicago rapper Common on the French Montana assisted, “Stay Schemin’” track.

Although Drake didn’t say Common’s name, Common has already replied with a diss record over the same beat and has specifically called out Drake for his use of singing during his raps and the sensitive nature of some of his songs.