Black Vibes

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

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

Click for NE-YO's "Try Me Out"!

Jermaine Dupri

Don't know about this one JD...

Click for JERMAINE DUPRI's "She Like Me (MC Hammer Freestyle)"

Lil Wayne

A guard on Rikers Island could face disciplinary action for allegedly giving superstar rapper Lil Wayne preferential treatment in the prison.

An investigation has been launched over the alleged actions of Captain Latanya Brown, who is accused of spending extra time with Lil Wayne.

Additionally, the New York Post reports that Captain Brown allegedly allowed the rapper to stay in his cell, while other inmates were ordered out of their bunks and into the recreation yard.

The prison has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to showing favoritism towards any inmate.

In April, just one month after the rapper started his year-long sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a guard at the complex was fired for allegedly spying on Lil Wayne.

Amelia Negron was fired for glimpsing at Lil Wayne, although she denied the charges, claiming her union boss forced her to make a confession.

This is not the first time a rapper has caused controversy on Rikers Island.

In June of 2009, it was revealed that Foxy Brown allegedly received preferential treatment during her 9-month stay on Rikers Island in 2006.

The rapper held a photo shoot and allegedly received unlimited phone/TV use, makeup, luxury clothing and outside meals.

In October of 2009, Correction Chief Peter Curcio and a Rabbi named Leib Glanz resigned over the scandal, after the Brown reports, in addition to allegations that Rabbi Glanz arranged a lavish bar mitzvah for an inmates son.

Source: AH

Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean may not be president but he's got some high-profile critics.

When the singer and musician launched a highly-publicized bid for president of Haiti in August he had a lot of support, but also some very vocal detractors — namely actor and fellow activist Sean Penn and Jean's former Fugees bandmate Pras. Both stars publicly questioned 'Clef's political credentials and at a New York City on Friday, Jean lashed out against the critics.

"I got a message for Sean Penn: Maybe he ain't see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine," Jean sang at Hot 97's On The Reggae Tip concert, switching up the lyrics to his 2004 song "President." "I got a message for Praswell, even though you don't want to support me, I got love for you, even though you only kicked 8 bars in the Fugees." A few weeks after announcing his plans for the presidency, Jean was declared ineligible to run by Haitian electoral officials.

Wyclef's lyrics are the latest swipes in a series of public comments between the musician and Penn and Pras. When Jean spoke about his plans to run for Haiti's head of state on CNN, Penn, who was also a guest on the show, expressed his concerns about the singer's motivations for seeking political office.

"Right now, I worry that this is a campaign that is more about a vision of flying around the world, talking to people. It's certainly not one of the youth drafting him. I would be quite sure that this is an influence of corporations here in the United States and private individuals that may well have capitalized on his will to see himself flying around the world," Penn said. The actor also wrote in a Huffington Post column that despite Jean's public support for the island nation, the MC wasn't around during critical moments after Haiti's devastating January earthquake.

"I was there for those six months after the earthquake and so many of us on the ground wondered where he was when that kind of attention was so necessary and absent, and why he was NOT helping to keep this desperate situation in the news," he wrote. "None among us felt or expressed anger toward it, but rather a universal sadness for his silence, as he is America's most admired cultural...Click for more!

Source: MTV New

Alicia Keys

Now Available "Alicia's Keys" Allows Musicians of All Levels to Capture the Realism of Her Yamaha C3 Neo Grand Piano

LOS ANGELES, CA - Guitar Center has featured Alicia Keys on the cover of their September "Hi-Tech Guide" issue to discuss the creative need and use of her Native Instruments piano software, "Alicia's Keys." Keys' collaboration with Native Instruments in designing a virtual piano software is a first of its kind. The new and innovative software emulates Keys' Yamaha C3 Neo Grand Piano and allows musicians of all levels to recreate the rich sounds that embody her soulful music. Together with her Engineer, Ann Mincieli, Sample Specialist Thomas Skarbee, and Impuse Response Specialist Ernest Cholakis, Keys created a virtual piano software that would also simplify her recording process.

In her interview with Guitar Center Magazine, Keys says, "I wanted to be able to take my piano sound on the road with me as well as have it any time I wanted to record." Keys continues, "We all got together in my studio and started to create it by going through this long process of sampling, recording every note, sound and expressive nuance. We ended up with my entire piano in virtual form."

Keys used her piano software exclusively to record her latest album, The Element of Freedom, and also used the software heavily throughout her most recent world tour.

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

Soulja Boy is set to release Teenage Millionaire, a book where he talks about the effects of making money at such a young age, along with his new album next month. Here's a brief excerpt:

"It talks about me making my first million dollars at 17 years old. I talk about how my life changed. It talks about the music industry, everything I learned about the music industry — how I got into the music industry with my mind set, all the ins and outs that I go through. All the chapters break down my beliefs and what steps and methods I took to get in this position. I just go and break [them] down into detail. I just want all my fans to read it when my album drops and have a good read and feel where I'm coming from."

Three New Styles of Headphones Celebrate Unparalleled Sound Quality in Distinct Style

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - HARMAN International Industries Incorporated, today announced the arrival of the Quincy Jones Signature Line by AKG. The premium headphone collection represents a momentous partnership between AKG and one of the most accomplished musicians of the 20th century - Quincy Jones.

Musician, artist, humanitarian - Quincy Jones is an American icon. His productions, which include the best-selling album (Thriller) and single ("We Are the World") of all time, have garnered him an unprecedented 79 GRAMMY® nominations and 27 GRAMMY awards, more than any other living artist. His list of notable achievements is unrivaled in the music industry. The list of legendary and contemporary artists with whom he has worked includes Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Michael Jackson, Ludacris, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra and Usher, among many others.

"Music is so much more than notes on a sheet of paper," Jones said. "When it's created with passion, with soul, we get something that is greater than ourselves - and it can move us deeply. Throughout my entire career, I have trusted only AKG to deliver the highest standard of sound - the same standard I hold myself to when I make my music."

The Quincy Jones Signature Line includes three models: the Q701 reference-class premium over-ears, the Q460 high-performance portable on-ear mini headphones and the Q350 in-ear headphones that will boast distinctive AKG®-built quality and unrivaled audio engineering in an elegant, portable design, so music lovers everywhere can experience sound the way every artist intended for their music to be heard.

"Quincy Jones and AKG have shared a long-running passion for quality sound and the infinite power music has to connect people and touch lives," said Dinesh C. Paliwal, chairman, president and CEO, HARMAN International. "We have partnered to introduce products into the marketplace that shine a light on how important sound quality is when you're experiencing music in all aspects of your life."

A share of the proceeds from every set of headphones sold in the Quincy Jones Signature Line by AKG will go toward the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, a foundation dedicated to making music education an ongoing part of the lives of American children

Trick Daddy

The self-proclaimed "Mayor of Miami" Trick Daddy exploded onto America's pop culture landscape as one of the pioneers of Dirty South rap. His 2001 album, Thugs Are Us, established him, as one critic wrote, "alongside Ludacris and Mystikal as one of the few nationally championed Dirty South rappers, and … catapulted him onto the playlist of every urban radio station in America, not to mention MTV." Widely credited with infusing hip hop with new life, he has been one of the most prolific southern talents since his introduction on Uncle Luke's timeless 1996 dance floor staple, "Scarred".

Born and raised in poverty as one of twenty-seven children, Maurice Young aka Trick Daddy, is considered by many as a thoughtful thug. His unsparing portrayal of life in the southern ghetto has earned him a legion of fans. Over a twelve-year career, he's released two platinum selling albums and numerous Billboard chart toppers. The recent merger of Trick's label, Dunk Ryders, with the high profile Cash Money Records, the home of Li'l Wayne and other platinum-selling stars, along with the upcoming release of the debut Dunk Ryders group album, is currently causing quite a buzz in music circles.

Magic City: Trials of a  Native Son, chronicles Trick Daddy's story against the backdrop of  Miami, the Magic City. It is an extraordinary story, of a childhood marked by poverty, a crime-laden adolescence, an incarceration, a meteoric rise to fame, and a struggle with a potentially fatal medical condition. It's the story of a boy whose father was a pimp; who, left to his own devices, learned to hustle to survive and whose only role model was his brother, the drug dealer he watched plying his trade on the block. But while his story is remarkable, the most astonishing part is that he is not only still alive, but that he got out.

Magic City: Trials Of A  Native Son is the story of how that potent mixture of extremes, the dazzling beauty and glittering wealth of the Magic City, and the crime, the corruption and the despair playing out in its shadows gave rise to what has now become the most dominant sound in hip hop, in the process revitalizing a stagnant art form. MAGIC CITY, told in Bailey's artful prose, is an ode to the city of Miami, a riveting tale of a paradise lost.