VIA DX:

After a two-year hiatus, Yung Joc has finally announced a release date for his third studio album, Grind Flu. The album, which was previously titled Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood will see a mid-August digital release.

But more than just the title has changed for Yung Joc’s latest project. The upcoming album will be the first time the rapper has released a CD on his own record label Swagg Team Entertainment. Originally slated to be released on Bad Boy Records, the project was halted after Joc made the decision to sue Diddy’s record label as well as Block Entertainment for allegedly failing to fulfill contractual obligations such as paying royalties. Clearly expressing his anger and disappointment about the situation back in May, Joc told Billboard.com that he would “use some independent record promoters to promote my record.”

“Fans all over the world have been eagerly waiting for me to release a new album,” Yung Joc said in a recent statement, “and I felt the time was right at this very moment to release Grind Flu for free, gift it to my fans, and do things my way.”

With the decision to release Grind Flu through Jive’s Swagg Team Entertainment imprint, Yung Joc joins groups Hot Styles (of “Lookin’ Boy” fame) and the GS Boyz (who recently smashed digital sales with their hit “Stanky Legg”) as an official artist of the label.

The new album will feature Shawty Lo, Bobby Valentino, Chris Brown, Pleasure P, and others. Grind Flu will be available free for download on August 11th.

Power 92.1’s TT Torez sits down in an exclusive phone interview with Atlanta’s very own Bobby Valentino. This must-hear-first clip is something that you should check out!

Hear the interview below:

Be sure to check out the first 10 songs from Bobby Valentino’s album – The Rebirth – by clicking here!

Check out yesterday’s celebrity photos here!

See RAVEN SYMONE’S latest get-up over at HelloBeautiful.com!

Now that the dust has settled from Bobby Valentino being dropped from Def Jam, the self described “shawty from the ‘A’” has since moved on– teaming up with Lil Wayne, signed a new major label deal with Capital and has a new song seeking heat on the charts.

In this exclusive interview, we caught up with the former DTP crooner just moments before all hell broke loose at the Radio One Dirty Awards, to talk about the overcrowding at Def Jam, his relationship with rapper Ludacris and what he hopes the future holds.

“Don’t get me wrong, Def Jam is a great label. But I wanted to be somewhere that I could get my just due– where I can shine,” admits Bobby in hindsight. “There was a lot of competition over there. You got Ne-Yo, Rihanna. You got Jeezy, you got Luda, you got Jay-Z. I couldn’t compete with that. If you on a power house team, it’s hard to get your shine on.”

“To make a long story short, I sat down with Luda and Chaka and we had a real conversation. I told them I wanted to step out on faith and they understood that.”

Since being dropped from Def Jam, which led to him asking to be released from DTP, Bobby is prepping his first release on his own label, Blue Kolla Dreams, at Capital.

“I am on Capital now. That’s a label where I can grind at. They are on the come up too and I feel I can be safe at Capital and get more attention put on my project,” says Bobby.

Bobby insists that things are still all gravy between he and Ludacris, however don’t expect the two to collaborate on Bobby’s new CD, The Rebirth, which is due out on Valentine’s Day.

“I don’t need Luda to make me hot,” defends Bobby when asked about naysayers who believe he is just hip-hop arm candy. “Even when I was at Def Jam, a lot of the things y’all seen happen, I really did them myself. Although Luda helped me out with some good looks like “Pimpin’ All Over The World” and other records, I A&R’d my own projects, I picked my own producers. But sometimes that all gets overshadowed when you are working underneath someone else.

When asked about the seemingly unlikely pairing of him and Lil Wayne on the radio hit “Mrs. Officer,” Bobby was quick to correct me by reminding me just how far back the pair goes.

“A lot of people don’t remember, but Wayne was on my first album, and it was around the time when he wasn’t getting as much mainstream love as he is now. I think ‘Tell Me’ might have been one of the first R&B songs he got on,” says Bobby. “He kinda was returning the favor.”

With his new single “Beep” featuring Yung Joc [view video here], Bobby hopes to continue to realize what he calls his “blue collar dreams.”

The Rebirth featuring production from Raphael Saadiq, L.O.S., and Tim & Bob hits shelves at the top of the year.