Rihanna’s new album “Rated R” is scheduled to be released on November 23rd and already, there are lots of speculation and excitement about it. In this album, she is portraying herself in a tougher image, unlike her previous glamorous self. On the music video of her single “Wait Your Turn” shows a grainy, sexy clip of Rihanna that shows her as a tough renegade. This is the type of image she and her music-video collaborator, Anthony Mandler, were going for. The video was shot in the middle of October on a cold day in the Big Apple. The first video is just a preview of what’s to come. The two talked about creating something that’s a bit more raw and gritty, so they decided to create a more “Street” video than a classic beauty piece.

They reviewed early hip hop videos and liked how they weren’t created with few resources — they mostly used their environment and surroundings; the textures and shapes. In the video Rihanna is wearing an eye patch and heels, giving a hard-edge feel to he usual glam self. Some of the videos that inspired her featured artists like Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep and Nas. The words behind the song were carefully thought up in order to create the same image audio-wise: aggressive bravado. Rihanna is a young artist that is always pushing boundaries. She has changed her identity so many times, so you never know what she’ll come up with next. She is a true artist, someone that knows how to transform the picture and make it into anything she wants to portray.

Hip hop has long since been related to the violence in African American communities and artists like Lupe Fiasco has been tooting the same note. Not sure if you heard about the Derrion Albert murder in Chicago — he was a teen walking home from school and got caught up in a gang fight and was beaten to death.The young man was not a gang member and he was a good student in school. Lupe Fiasco was on the Chicago radio station WGCI saying that it was a possibility that hip hop influenced that incident. Lupe is from the Windy City and says that it has to take some credit for it. He claims that there is a lot of violence in hip hop itself and it attributes much of the negativity that is found in the hood.

But this isn’t the only hip hop artist that thinks this way. Others like Nas, Twista and Common have the same views. They all condemn the “culture of violence” hip hop has established and is believed to have led the group of teenage gang members to commit that horrendous crime that day. Lupe also argues that the artists themselves are partially responsible for inciting various influences, from poverty to violent films. It’s true that hip hop does have some positive songs and messages out there, but the negative far outweigh the good. And the negativity in hip hop is a lot more popular because it is considered more “hard” or “gansta”. The communities are too at fault for taking hip hop too seriously and trying to implement them into their own lives.

We’ve heard those words before,”I’m going into retirement”, from sooo many different hip hop artists, such as Jay-Z, Master P, Eminem and so forth. But for some reason, they just can’t leave the game alone. They all come back one or two years later with a debut album. Jay-Z is by far the worst, if you ask me. He has retired like 4 times, but just keeps coming back. I don’t and won’t believe it anymore if he says it again. Now, it just seems like a big publicity stunt to get people to buy their CDs because it’s the last time they will hear from them.

Now, Lil Wayne is claiming that he will retire, but no time soon. His retirement plan says that he will stay in the game no longer than 8 more years.Wayne claims that he always said that he wouldn’t rap anymore after the age 35. Ha, he says that now. A lot of people agree that rappers and hip hoppers shouldn’t be old and should retire to allow new game to come into the industry. But Jay-Z being an old head, of course, doesn’t agree. He says that it shouldn’t be made easy for the youngsters coming into the hip hop game. If they want to be on top, they’re going to have to work hard for it. Heck, it wasn’t made easy for Jay. Back then, there wasn’t as much competition as there is now, even if a lot of them are low-level rappers. People like these stars because they make good club bangers. After Lil Wayne retires, he’s looking to own a basketball team.

So it seems hip hop artistLil Wayne has been quite busy producing these past two years — no not music…babies! With all of the rumors and speculation surrounding Lil Wayne’s and Nivea’s hook-up, it has been recently confirmed that the two are now expecting a baby. This will be Lil Wayne’s fourth child and Nivea’s first. Come to find out, she is so far along that they already know that it will be a Lil Wayne jr. Yes, a lil boy is on the way, how glorious. But this boy won’t get the blessing of being the first, he is actually the third son of Lil Wayne in a little over a year. And Nivea makes the fourth baby momma. Wow…hasn’t someone been busy? With all of this counting, you could easily get thrown off track. Okay, let’s try this.

Lil Wayne’s first son was born last October in Cincinattti and then in September of ‘09, his second son came from the actress Lauren London and now Nivea is having his third son. He has a daughter, Reginae, from an older relationship with his ex-wife Antonia “Toya” Carter. When Lil Wayne was asked if Nivea was pregnant with his child, his response was “Yessir”. Then one reporter stated, “Two women pregnant at the same time. Congratulations.” Lil Wayne replied “Three.” No, he doesn’t have three women prego at the same time, what he actually meant was that it would be son number three. Hopefully all goes well and he takes care of his children and be a bit more responsible. Marry one of these women at least!

The new album from the Black Eyed Peas is named The E.N.D. (say it isn’t so!), but don’t be sad because it’s an acronym for the Energy Never Dies. This is very true, especially when it comes to their performances. During their first show in Australia, the group clambered out onto the stage with wide-eyes, looking really loony as though they just escaped from the crazy house. It appeared as though the spaceship in the background delivered them from a different planet. Then a voice explodes from the speakers, it’s will.i.am, “Everything around you is changing, nothing stays the same.” The Black Eyed Peas are known for their whacky party bangers.

But if you look back in time, they weren’t always party-starters. In the mid ’90s, when they first got together, they enjoyed their moderate commercial success, which was produced from their mellow thoughtful hip-hop songs. Then in the new millennium, around 2003, they introduced Fergie as the front woman and since then the band has become one of the hottest in the world. They’ve become renowned for their party anthem songs, such as “Let’s get it started” (a remake of “Let’s get retarded”) and “Rock that Body”. They had everything that was expected of a stadium pop show, the huge projection screens showing red planet images and bright colored paisley prints political video montages that were pseudo-inspirational. Then, of course, there were the back-up dancers that were constantly changing their costumes.

The Black Eyed peas may not be the thinking person’s type of hip hop, but their catchy melodies and big, dirty beats are likable like that (think “My Hump”). I can’t wait to hear more of what they have to offer on their E.N.D. CD and the others to come.

This past Saturday, 50 Cent held his first ThisIs50 music festival, which was held on Governors Island (an old military base on the New York Harbor that’s being transformed into a public park). Along with G-Unit, other artists like D-Block, Red Cafe, Cory Gunz, the Diplomats and Maino performed. Fans at the premiere festival also saw an introduction of the newcomer Trav. Fifty Cent stated that the festival wasn’t for artists who necessarily had a single out because that would’ve been like a marketing spiff. And that wouldn’t have been a good representation for hip hop, which is what the whole festival was about.

Opening the show was Wale and Kid Cudi, who performed songs from their young careers, like “Chillin” and “Day N Nite”. Next, Papoose, Slaughterhouse, Cory Gunz and Trav entered the stage. Then Diplomats (performing “Gangsta Music” and “Hey Ma”), D-Block and G-Unit closed the show. The event brought together fans from all over New York. It was a great mix of artists (Jadakiss, Jimmy Jones, Juelz Santana); and a lot of people think that such artists can’t get together, but truth is, they all know they can make more money together than they can apart.

50 Cent performed his popular hit “I get Money”, along with others like “Baby by me” (his new single). When Fifty wasn’t getting the reaction he wanted from the crowd, he instructed DJ Whoo Kid to turn off the music. He then asked the crowd who they came to see; and then said that he was gonna take the crowd back because he knew they didn’t wanna “hear the lovey dovey sh–”, as he said. When the beat came back on, it was “What Up Gangsta”.

The show turned out to be so much of a success that he is planning to take it on the road.

As you may have all heard, Def Jam has been sold and taken over by none other than Jay-Z. Now, this may sound very nice, especially to all of you Jay-Z fans, but not everyone is feeling the same glory. KRS One, for instance, isn’t too thrilled about the news. He is known for always going against the system and big corporations that neglect and abuse the little people. So nothing is stopping him from targeting Def Jam. The record company was established by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin back in the day when hip hop was fresh and new. Today, KRS One complains that hip hop has been damaged and that the Jay-Z take over of Def Jam may down it some more. I guess he figures someone like Jay isn’t the solution to hip hop’s ordeal.

Def Jam is the father and mentor of a lot of artists in R&B, pop and rap. It brought and still is bringing out lots of artists and many of the same artists are still signed under their label. KRS One told XXL Magazine that Def Jam single-handedly destroyed hip hop. According to KRS, everything from the lyrics, commercialized music and one artist being played on the radio all day is all thanks to Def Jam. There’s really no competing with Def Jam, so everyone else had to respect what the record label was doing. Hip hop groups like X-Clan and Public Enemy used to be with Def Jam, which were also against the system and big corporations, now Def Jam is a big corporation — how ironic.

Well, according to his twitter page and a couple of buddies pages (Tony Ya-Yo), the rap mogul 50 Cent has reportedly been admitted to the hospital. Now, supposedly, it all started when 50 was listening to a new album from Fat Joe, J.O.S.E.2. Fifty suddenly collapsed and when he reached the E.R. they gave him a cat scan and figured out what the problem was. His auditory cortex was damaged! Lol.

Obviously this is a joke, so don’t get all worked up. 50 Cent is being creative by using the web, where so many false claims are made, to make his own false claim against himself. Kinda smart if you ask me. The beef between Fifty and Fat Joe has yet to diminish. You can see the actual posting on Thisis50.com where you will also find a link to pirate Fat Joe’s new album — the link has a warning label that says “DOWNLOAD AT YOUR OWN RISK!” Very funny 50.

I wonder what Fat Joe has to say about this and if he’s gotten word on the link that pirates his album and the “fat” diss Fifty just gave him. If so, what will he come back with, if he decides to do a comeback? I’m sure he will — men just can’t eliminate that testosterone or allow their ego and image to get bruised, so there will be a swing back, I’m sure. Destroying careers is what Fifty likes to do and between me and you, I heard that his next target is Lil’ Wayne (I wonder what dirt he has on him!)

At the Michael Jackson Memorial, Mariah Carey, among other singers, attended the event and performed different songs in the memory of the great MJ. Mariah’s performance was a bit shaky – you could hear that she was having a hard time hitting certain notes to the song, “I’ll be there”. She went onto her Twitter page and apologized for her shakiness and blamed it on her front-row view of Mike’s gold coffin. It choked her up and she tried her not to cry. Completely understandable.

What I don’t understand is why she regretted speaking about her performance publicly. Maybe it made someone in the Jackson family upset. Who knows? She says that she regrets sending that message on Twitter and that she is very emotional and unhappy with her performance. Then she goes on to say that she forgot the whole world could read what she wrote and thought she was just talking to her friends. (I still don’t see the big deal). “I shouldn’t have done that because that was really only meant for Michael. That was about him,” Mariah said.

Just like the rest of us, Mariah Carey grew up listening to and singing Michael Jackson’s songs. She says that the whole world is going to feel the impact of his death forever and feels blessed that she got a chance to know Mike and perform with him and for his memorial.

Since 1996, Jay-Z (also known as Sean Carter) has been taking the world by storm in all shapes and forms. He has practically dominated hip-hop and rap, easily dubbing himself as the “King of Hip Hop”. This year, he will be releasing his 11th (that’s right, 11th!) album called “J to the Z of Jay-Z”. His music grew into an empire that later became known as the record label we are all too familiar with, Rocafella. He and his buddy Damon Dash started it in the 90s, developing a more professional outlook in the hip-hop culture. Jay-Z stays doing big things and doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. He’s got his hands in just about everything, from his own music, producing new talent and even creating a clothing line. In 1999, Jay-Z and Damon Dash refined the rap game with Rocawear fashion.

Once again, Jay made big changes happen by showing the world that hip-hop can mature. Going from wearing throwback jerseys and baggy jeans to button-up shirts, slacks and suede shoes – Jigga was making the statement that he was a professional entrepreneur who had grown up. Pushing 40, Jigga transformed his wardrobe to suits and top hats that showed a more serious individual. Back when he was 30, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be taken seriously wearing the stereotypical hip-hop wear, so from then he began to change how he presented himself. In 2007, the Rocawear line has been sold for $204 million, but he is still invested in the brand and is in charge of product development, licensing and advertising.