Joell Ortiz released "Battle Cry" from his upcoming free EP Farewell Summer. Click below to access.

Click to access JOELL ORTIZ's "Battle Cry"!

WASHINGTON – The stately White House East Room, home to many a bill signing and ceremonial gathering, becomes a stage Tuesday for pirouettes, jetes, gravity-defying leaps and maybe even some bumps and grinds as Michelle Obama inaugurates a new dance series.

Dancers of all types — ballet, modern, hip hop and Broadway — take over the room, first for an afternoon workshop, during which students from around the country will have the chance to work with some of the biggest names in dance.

Then, after a short break, the students return to see their mentors perform in an hour-long, star-studded show. Even Broadway's young "Billy Elliot" will be there — four Billys actually, from the show's rotating cast.

But the main attraction is the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and that's because its celebrated artistic director, Judith Jamison, soon to retire after two decades in the job, is the honoree of the event.

"What a rare opportunity, to be invited by your country's first lady to be honored like this," Jamison said in a weekend interview. "I've been to the White House a couple of times before, but this event is totally unique. It's so terribly important to recognize this art form and to understand how important it is to the fabric of this country."

"This will be another clarion call to people: Pay attention to your arts!" Jamison said. "My dancers are so excited."

The 67-year-old Jamison is an icon of the dance world. She joined the Ailey company in 1965 and became the choreographer's muse, her dramatic power as a dancer epitomized in the unforgettable 1971 solo piece "Cry." In 1989, after Ailey's death, she took over as artistic director. She is scheduled to step down in 2011.

Tuesday's program is directed by Damian Woetzel, the recently retired star of the New York City Ballet who is on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He had a dizzying array of choices from which to cull an hour of the country's best dance. And he said it wasn't exactly hard to find dancers, no matter that the event comes just after a summer vacation weekend.

"Everyone was so excited to be a part of this," Woetzel said in an interview. "It's really an exciting opportunity to present the variety of dance in this country. And the student component makes it especially unique. It's a great way to start the school year."

Though the Obamas have spotlighted many varieties of music since they came to the White House — there have been events celebrating Latin music, rock, jazz, country, classical and Broadway show tunes — the dance world might have felt ignored, until now.

But Michelle Obama seems to be a dance fan. Jamison noted proudly that the Obamas and their daughters spent one of their first nights out as first family taking in an Ailey performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"They came backstage, took pictures — the dancers were thrilled," she said.

Also on the program Tuesday: the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Broadway's "Billy Elliot the Musical," The Washington Ballet, Super Cr3w and the New York City Ballet.

The students are from dance schools around the country: The Alvin Ailey School, Ballet Hispanico, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center and others.

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Kanye West

Kanye West drops another track from his upcoming album. Click below to access "Devil In A New Dress"!

KANYE WEST's "Devil In A Dress" - Download

Rick Ross performing @ 3rd Annual Rick Ross Be Out Day

Rick Ross looks a lil crazy in this vid but I'm sure his fans will enjoy it.

Jadakiss

Styles P

Jadakiss and Styles P link up to drop the street heavy "Top 5 Dead or Alive".

Big Boi starts his tour to help promote his current project, "Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty". The debut concert is in Atlanta and closes in Australia

Big Boi spokespeople confirmed that he will be performing hits from Outkast as well as his solo material

Tour dates are listed below.

08-26 Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
09-02 Iowa City, IA - University of Iowa
09-04 Atlanta, GA - Heineken Red Star Soul
09-05 Atlantic City, NJ - Casbah
09-06 New York, NY - Brooklyn Bowl
09-17 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
09-18 Providence, RI - Brown University
09-22 Arcata, CA - Arcata Community Cente
09-24 Las Vegas, NV - The Palms Casino
09-25 Fontana, CA - Epicenter
09-28 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle
10-01 Bloomington, IN - Indiana University
10-08 Columbia, SC - University of South Carolina
10-15 San Diego, CA - UC of San Diego
10-23 Seattle, WA - Showbox Sodo
10-28 Charleston, SC - Charleston Visitors Center
10-29 Asheville, NC - Asheville Civic Center (Moogfest)
10-30 Houston, TX - Tom Bass Park Amphitheater
11-12 Chattanooga, TN - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
11-18 Sydney, Australia - Fox Studios

Kat Stacks

Soulja Boy

Here's what I don't understand: this chick kisses and tells on every celeb she sleeps with and they keep messing with her! Also, all these cats claim they gangsta but nobody has "silenced" this chick (or Superhead for that matter). Y'all Hip-Hop cats lookin real phony.

Black Milk

Royce Da 5'9

Shout out to my city! Let's go 313!

Jay-Z

Lil Wayne

NEW YORK - Rap star Jay-Z came first in a list of the richest rappers in 2010, earning more than double that of runner-up Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter took in $63 million in personal income between June 2009 and June 2010, according to Forbes.com.

Diddy took in $30 million, followed by Senegalese-American rapper Aliuane "Akon" Thiam at $21 million.

Despite beginning a jail sentence in March for weapons charges, New Orleans-born rapper Dwayne "Lil Wayne"Carter came in fourth, earning $20 million, ahead of California rap icon Andre "Dr. Dre" Young, who took in $17 million.

Almost all stars at the top of the list all share a common strategy - diversification.

The top-earning rappers pulled in cash from alcohol sponsorships, clothing lines, nightclub properties and film appearances, in addition to concert tours and record sales.

Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 nightclub chain. Diddy promotes Ciroc vodka and appeared in the feature film Get Him to the Greek. Dr. Dre and Lil Wayne have record labels. Akon appeared in a Pepsi World Cup ad campaign.

The real money isn't in record sales, said Zack O'Malley Greenburg, a Forbes writer who compiled the list.

"Eminem tied at number 14, even though he's sold more records than any artist since 2000," Greenburg said.

Eminem earned $8 million this year, despite the release of his album Recovery which sold 741,000 copies in the first week of sales.

"It's pretty shocking to see him so low down on the list," said Greenburg. "Compared to his peers, he doesn't really do much outside of music."

Rappers have responded to the current era of the digital download, when record sales don't reach the numbers they used to.

"Artists don't put out albums anymore, they put out single hits, so they have reasons to tour. Hits and tours make you relevant, and they get you sponsorships, and earn you money from merchandise," said Greenburg, who is the author of a forthcoming business-focused biography of Jay-Z.

Greenburg looked at male recording artists who primarily produced rap or hip-hop, and estimated their earnings from record sales, song downloads, touring, film and TV appearances, endorsements and other sources.

The full list can be found on http://www.forbes.com/hiphop




Source: Reuters

Three-O Vodka has announced Lil' Kim's status as celebrity endorser of their new Purple vodka. Her "O-Face", shown above, will be featured in a national ad campaign and as part of in-store merchandising support:

"Three-O Purple is a dynamic blend of imported English Vodka and the wildly juicy taste of frozen crushed grapes. The launch of Purple will also mark a change in appearance for the brand, with a 360° packaging design, displaying lively purple stripes in a variety of shades around the frosted bottle. The vodka itself will also take on a purple hue, reflecting the vibrant essence of the new flavor."

I think Lil' Kim is an appropriate choice for such a vodka, especially given the popularity of purple products in the world of hip hop, as well as her own somewhat naughty reputation.

That said, given that "O-Face" emerged as the term of choice for the facial expression made while achieving orgasm (only a man could think in terms of presenting a single facial expression during such an experience but that's a separate discussion), I get the feeling Lil' Kim has been faking hers all along. Or else, she just won't give the goods up publicly even for Purple vodka.