Trent Fitzgerald

The death of hip-hop impresario Chris Lighty has left the hip-hop community in mourning. Rapper Fat Joe, whom Lighty managed during the early years of his career, pays tribute to the late rap mogul on Slaughterhouse’s elegiac remix to ‘Goodbye,’ which was produced by hit maker Boi-1da.

We have some good news and bad news. The good news is Wiz Khalifa and his Taylor Gang crew are hitting the road this fall. The bad news… the Pittsburgh rapper has pushed back his second LP, ‘O.N.I.F.C.,’ again for the umpteenth time.

Everybody loves Elle Varner including First Lady Michelle Obama. The R&B songbird received a shout out from FLOTUS at the Democratic National Convention Monday night (Sept. 3).

Veteran hip-hop producer Dr. Dre is the new king on the throne of Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings list. Despite not dropping a full-length album, the good doctor was able to make his money selling his ubiquitous headphones.

Not everyone was feeling Nicki Minaj‘s verse on Lil Wayne‘s flip of ‘Mercy,’ in which she implied that she was a Republican and voting for Mitt Romney. Her rap line has garnered her a slew of hate from radical Democrats on Twitter.

Michael Jackson was remembered with a birthday celebration fit a king — the King of Pop, that is. R&B superstars Ne-Yo and Melanie Fiona, along with Swizz Beatz, performed at a star-studded event on Wednesday (Aug. 29) to celebrate what would have been Jackson’s 54th birthday.

If you can’t make it to Jay-Z‘s curated Made in America Festival in Philadelphia over the Labor Day weekend, don’t fret. The two-day music extravaganza will be streamed online via YouTube and Internet radio service Pandora, according to Philly...

Rita Ora has just released her debut album ‘ORA’ in the U.K. Although her U.S. fans will have to wait a little while to hear it, the singer’s LP is getting rave reviews from two of her biggest supporters — Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Since the announcement that a posthumous Aaliyah album was in the works, the project has been mired in controversy. Recently, the late songbird’s label, Blackground Records, went on Twitter and posted the cover art of the album, which has everyone in a tizzy.

G.O.O.D. Music artists Kanye West and Pusha T are some of the rappers who are appearing on the RZA’s hip-hop soundtrack for his upcoming kung-fu film ‘The Man with the Iron Fists.’

After releasing the provocative ‘B—- Bad‘ video, Lupe Fiasco reverts to a softer yet earnest tone in his new clip ‘Battle Scars.’ The song is clearly for pop radio consumption with its yearning vocals from ‘Australian Idol’ winner Guy Sebastian.

Expect to see a lot of Frank Ocean next month as the R&B crooner will make appearances on two major television platforms. First up, NBC has announced that Ocean will be the musical guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’ when it begins its 38th season on Sept. 15.

Veteran rhyme-slinger Snoop Dogg says that hip-hop is ready for an openly gay rapper. In an interview with the Associated Press (via HipHopDX), the West Coast native feels that fans are becoming more receptive to people’s differences.

As promised, Nicki Minaj plans to travel across the pond for her international Pink Friday: Reloaded tour in October. The trek is in support of her platinum-selling album ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.’

Maniacal rap group Odd Future shocked concertgoers at the Leeds Festival on Sunday (Aug. 26) with their attack on a blow-up sex doll while performing onstage. The Los Angeles collective was there to close out the festival and showed audiences just how rowdy they could get during a concert set.

Wiz Khalifa has over a hundred tattoos on his body, and over the weekend he decided to get one more. The rapper showed off his latest ink — the Buddha’s face tatted on his left thigh — on Twitter.

OutKast rapper Big Boi is 90 percent done with his second solo LP ‘Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.’ The collection, which has a tentative Nov. 21 release date, boasts collaborations with Kid Cudi, Sleepy Brown, T.I., A$AP Rocky and Boi’s favorite singer Kate Bush.

Usher is all wet in his new video for ‘Dive,’ his yearning love ballad from his latest album ‘Looking 4 Myself.’ The aquatic clip features the Grammy-winning singer aboard a luxury yacht which is being overrun with water.

Wiz Khalifa has been hinting about this remix to his platinum-selling hit ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ for a while now, and finally the rapper dropped the track on Friday (Aug. 24). Rappers Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne are on it sans Drake, who was supposed to be featured on the song.

After going bonkers in B.o.B‘s video for ‘Out of My Mind,’ Nicki Minaj finally releases a visual for the Hit-Boy-produced banger ‘I Am Your Leader,’ one of the standout tracks from her ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded’ album.

Lil Wayne‘s five insolent words, “I don’t like New York,” have upset many New Yorkers. But one person who is standing by Weezy’s comments is his Cash Money boss and surrogate father Birdman.

Azealia Banks has been summoned to the Throne. The Harlem rapper informed her fans on Twitter that Kanye West requested her appearance in Hawaii. “When Kanye West Calls…. You Go To Honolulu,” she tweeted to her followers.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Lupe Fiasco‘s cover art for his upcoming album ‘Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part 1′ is totally black. Pitch black. WTH?

Lupe Fiasco will have everyone talking about his powerful video for ‘B— Bad,’ which features depictions of blackface and stereotypical images often associated with African-Americans. The Chicago rapper doesn’t want to incite controversy with his clip, he wants to provoke conversations about the negative images found in hip-hop music.

After uniting 1 billion people together in a show of humanity, Beyonce is ready to take on the fashion world. The R&B queen has unveiled her new Fall/Winter 2012 House of Deréon ad campaign starring herself. Ms. B is looking fierce and fabulous in the photographs, which were shot by fashion photographer Jean-Baptise Mondino.

It’s been over a year since Big Sean released his debut album ‘Finally Famous,’ but it looks like he’s finally going to release some new music of his own. The G.O.O.D. Music artist posted a teaser video for his upcoming mixtape titled ‘Detroit,’ which is named after his native hometown.

Chris Brown and Drake have been slapped with another lawsuit stemming from their infamous champagne bottle-throwing brawl at a New York nightclub back in June.

When Wiz Khalifa unveiled his cover art for ‘O.N.I.F.C.’ on Twitter he didn’t know it would ignite a tweet-storm of negative comments on his timeline. The Pittsburgh rapper sat down with Karen Civil to discuss the backlash he received for his, uh, unique album artwork.

Australian rap vixen Iggy Azalea has been garnering a lot of buzz lately now that she is part of T.I.‘s Grand Hustle team. The ‘Murda Bizness’ rapper recently found an unreleased track and decided to share it with her fans on Twitter.

2 Chainz keeps it real on his debut LP ‘Based on a T.R.U. Story,’ but he wasn’t ready for reality television. During an interview with Baltimore radio station 92Q, Chainz revealed that he was asked to join the cast of ‘VH1′s Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta’ show but declined.