It's FASHION WEEK in NYC!!!!

Marc by Marc Jacobs

LiL MAMA.....

"I didn't know what Jay said," Lil Mama explained in an interview. "I thought he was like, 'OK, enjoying the moment with me, interacting,' which was after I walked up. But after watching it from home, watching myself on the Internet, I'm bouncing and I'm coming up toward Jay-Z and he's backing up. And my emotions at the time was like a vibe, like, 'Yeah, New York.' I was definitely caught up in the moment. He was backing up and when I got home I realized [he said], 'Oh, you gonna T-Pain it, huh.' I realized it when I got home. Now that I'm home, I was like, 'Wow, Jay-Z wasn't feeling it.' I would never get up there and try to disrespect Jay-Z or take a moment that someone else created and try to live it. I'm too original for that and I respect him too much for that. To Jay in particular, as a Brooklyn native -- who I am also -- in that moment it was nothing but respect and honor...It was a joyous moment. Whenever we share happiness or a celebration takes place, usually it's graceful, it's never to disrespect. I never meant any harm. I was enjoying myself and I was enjoying his performance. I got love for him and I love you, [Jay-Z]." (MTV)

And... The Blueprint 3 Album Review!!!!

Even during an off season, you're guaranteed thrills from the Yankees. With the biggest payroll in sports, New York's finest will always field teams with talent, even if all the position players don't congeal into a world championship team. On the shiny new CD from Jay-Z, a rapper almost universally heralded as the greatest MC of all-time, a lack of urgency keeps the product a significant distance from greatness. There are flashes of brilliance, indeed, most of the biggest names in urban music from the last decade appear on the album, but the record sounds like something put together by a greedy owner: someone assembling pieces without first having a solid idea of where everything goes. The record doesn't have much soul.

Confusion surrounded the album's release, with a leaked copy on the internet pushing the on-sale date from September 11, when Jay-Z released his original, classic Blueprint record, to yesterday, although the new album was only available for download in the U.S. and was never for sale at Canadian record chains like HMV. For a businessman like 39-year-old Shawn Carter, who was Forbes highest-grossing rapper with an estimated earning of US$34-million in 2006, mucking up the release date, where first week sales can determine an album's success, is startling: This is where Jiggaman is supposed to shine. Anyway, the record came out under uncertain terms and maybe this means nothing, but it seems to signify the lack of focus behind the entire project.

Let's get to the tunes. And make no mistake, there are some doozies on The Blueprint III. Empire State of Mind, with a catchy Alica Keys hook, shows Jay-Z flaunting his ownership of New York with clever lyrics and a pulsing, disco-infused beat that should become a massive single when released after D.O.A., Death of Auto-Tune, the record's first single and a good idea if not exactly an honest pronouncement: even without a T-Pain chorus, crazed auto-tuned computer voices pop up all over the album like b-list celebrities at the new Yankee park. Perhaps those songs were recorded after the D.O.A. song. Venus vs. Mars sounds like a reheated LL Cool J track from the 90s until the third verse, where Jay-Z shows why he's "every rapper's favorite rapper," and uses the album's wittiest couplets in describing a relationship gone bad. Talent is never the issue here, hunger is.

Elsewhere, the Swizz Beats song On To the Next One may be too close to Lil Wayne's A Milli, but it's still a super-hot record with the album's most irresistable beat and A Star is Born is an instant classic: Jay-Z's history of the last decade of rap superstars in which he says, "Drake's up next, let's see what he do with it." Lil Wayne was the last rapper Jay-Z anointed, but Jay-Z may have lost a step with age. Run This Town, with the Rihanna chorus and Jesus Walks church choir and verse from Kanye West, is just another example of where the album falters -- not only have we heard this before (and better), but this is The Blueprint III from Jay-Z, where scoring a six out of ten means failure.

"I made the Yankee hat more famous than the Yankees did," raps Jay-Z early on in his album. Let's hope that when he fields his next record, it will have more heart, and more brains.

XXL gives KID CUDI's album a XL rating

Beats: L
Lyrics: L
Originality: XL

In terms of hip-hop, the only artists of note to emerge out of Cleveland, Ohio are Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Although he sings as well as he raps, Kid Cudi has a sound all his own. Thrust into the national spotlight by last year’s smoker’s anthem “Day ‘N’ Nite (Nightmare),” the rap rookie gained the attention of Kanye West and wound up contributing to the platinum rapper/producer’s auto-tuned fueled 808’s & Heartbreak. Now Cudi’s ready to hit a high note of his own with his debut, Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day.

Broken into five acts and narrated by Common, the album takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster ride through Cudi’s mind. The journey begins with the melancholy “Soundtrack 2 My Life,” where he confesses, “I was close to trying some coke/And a happy ending would be slitting my throat.” The downtrodden diatribes continue on the eerie Emile production “Mr. Solo Dolo (Nightmare),” before Cudi pops an upper, which results in slightly more uplifting tracks like “Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music)” and “Sky Might Fall.”

It’s not until the tail end of the third act that Cudi sees the silver lining to his perpetual dark cloud, as “Enter Galactic (Love Connection Pt. 1)” finds him willingly embracing happiness. “Make Her Say” also displays a cuddlier Cudi as he teams up with Common and Kanye for an infectious radio-ready single.

While depressing undertones dominate, Man On The Moon is not all doom and gloom as the folksy “Up Up & Away (The Wake & Bake Song)” illustrates. In true stoner fashion, Cudi delivers an album of uppers and downers that make for some high times. —Anslem Samuel

AMBER ROSE PICS IN ELLE MAGAZINE

XXL Magazine gives Wale's new "Attention Deficit" a XL Rating

Washington, D.C., is ecstatic. After years without any representation, there’s finally a brother running the city. His swagger is impeccable. His sense of style is on point. His way with words is captivating. His African roots give him universal appeal. He’s the people’s champ, and his name is Olubowale Folarin, but you can just call him Wale.

Much like President Obama’s rise to power, Wale had to put in a lot of legwork to become Chocolate City’s first nationally celebrated MC. The 24-year-old’s push actually kicked off back in 2006, when his go-go–fueled track “Dig Dug (Shake It)” got regular radio play in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas. That led to the release of two well-received mixtapes—Paint a Picture and Hate Is the New Love—and DJ/producer Mark Ronson signing on as Wale’s running mate. The joint ticket went on to rally more public support with “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.,” off Wale’s 2007 mixtape, 100 Miles & Running. The record’s success earned the rapper a major-label endorsement from Interscope, in 2008, and paved the way for Wale’s inaugural album, Attention: Deficit.

Every rapper on the campaign trail makes promises of changing the status quo, but few actually deliver on that lofty goal. Consider Wale the exception. Staying true to his hometown roots, the 2008 XXL Freshman 10 alumnus infuses his opus with heavy doses of go-go funk, while still maintaining his hip-hop edge. The Cool & Dre–produced lead single, “Chillin’,” finds Wale teaming up with techno-pop star Lady Gaga for a distinctly D.C.-sounding anthem. Known for their signature synths, the Miami beatsmiths switch their sound up even further on the Jazmine Sullivan–guested “World Tour,” which is a nod to A Tribe Called Quest’s 1993 gem “Award Tour.” Over a summery sound bed of sparkling piano keys and rugged percussion, Wale spits, “Mama ain’t raise no fool, true/But me and my brother never made it outta school.”

What Wale manages to avoid is regurgitating the same frivolous concepts and mundane subject matter that so many rookies feast on. In fact, on the Ronson-helmed “90210,” he boldly touches on females suffering from bulimia and coke addictions (“She throws up whatever she eats/She leave the bathroom with her nose bleed/She live her whole life like TV/And she do anything for everything”). The rapper pens another introspective tale, in the form of “Diary,” featuring Floetry’s Marsha Ambrosius. Local producers Sleepwalkers provide the melodic backdrop for a heartfelt letter to a woman too hurt to love. After his promises of eternal devotion fall on deaf ears, a frustrated Wale retorts, “Every problem that you ever had with another man I gotta face.”

After baring his soul for the ladies, Wale puts his armor back on in the company of men. Holding his own alongside hip-hop heavy weight Bun B on the reality checkin’ “Mirrors,” Wale employs a stutter flow that barrels through Ronson’s sonic collage of strumming guitars, funky bass line and fading horns. The upstart MC does his thing on his hypnotic duet with Gucci Mane, “Pretty Girls,” but meets his match on the high-octane “Beautiful Bliss,” where North Carolina native J. Cole exhibits and undeniable hunger when he drops witty bars like, “You see me, let me in/All I wanna do is eat like a freaky lesbian.”

Aside from a few head-scratchin’ lines on “Mama Told Me” (“I would invest in a poncho/’Cause I won’t punch-out like Glass Joe”) and his narcissistic tendency to say his own name ad nauseam, Wale creates an impressive body of work for his first term in office. Not only does he stock his cabinet with a diverse list of musical advisers, ranging from DJ Green Lantern to rock band TV on the Radio’s David Sitek, he tackles key issues like education (“Be Right”) and suicide (“Contemplate”) head-on. With hip-hop continuing to take a creative downturn, Attention: Deficit is a long-overdue stimulus package. On the robust “Triumph,” Wale makes one resounding promise to his rap constituency: “I ain’t tryna be politically correct/But I won’t stop until I get my respect.”—ANSLEM SAMUEL

We're BACK!!!!

Sorry for the break.. we shall explain.... someday! lets get it!!!!