It has just been announced that Lil Wayne and Kid CuDi will be doing a rare UK gig on 6th July at the Hammersmith Apollo.

The self proclaimed ‘best rapper alive’ (since the best decided to retire – and then come out of retirement) will be gracing our shores once again with the Day and Night artist as special guest.

Young Weezy has been buzzing these past few years, his last album Tha Carter III was the top selling album in US in 2008 tallying up to a staggering 3 million copies sold, and has sold at least 130,000 copies CDs in the UK. Dubbed by The Guardian as “The most exciting MC in rap” he picked up an impressive four awards at the Grammys (Best Rap Song, Best Album, Best Performance and Best Performance by a Duo or Group).

Now going beyond the realms of hip hop the young Cash Money millionaire will be dropping his next album The Rebirth which promises to be a proper rock-fest which is dropping on 8th June.

The tickets for this momentous occasion will be up on sale on Ticketmaster from Friday 3rd April at 9am. Tickets will cost you a standard £32.50 (not including the booking fee), make sure you get you tickets quickly as they’re sure to sell out quickly.

SOURCE: RWD Mag

Michael Phelps has apologized after a controversial photo that apparently shows him inhaling from a marijuana pipe was published in a British newspaper Sunday.

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” the all-time Olympic swimming champ said Sunday in a statement released by his marketing agency, Octagon.

“I’m 23 years old, and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

The photo published in News of the World and his admission are not likely to affect Phelps’s eligibility to compete, though it remains to be seen what this could mean to his millions of dollars in endorsement deals.

The U.S. Olympic Committee also issued a statement Sunday. It said: “We are disappointed in the behavior recently exhibited by Michael Phelps.
 Michael is a role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability that come with setting a positive example for others, particularly young people.”

“In this instance, regrettably, he failed to fulfill those responsibilities. 
Michael has acknowledged that he made a mistake and apologized for his actions. 
We are confident that, going forward, Michael will consistently set the type of example we all expect from a great Olympic champion.”

When he was 19, in 2004, just before winning six gold medals and two silvers at the Athens Olympics, Phelps also swam into hot water – and pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge. He also apologized at the time.

SOURCE: People

Lil Wayne promised a “rebirth” when he dropped Tha Carter III and won big. Literally, Weezy F. (can’t forget the Baby) leaked this track “Prom Queen” off of his experimental rock album entitled Rebirth.

Rebirth will be in stores on April 7th.

Check out the song (with tags) below:

As 2009 is starting to unravel, it’s clear that Lil Wayne is not ready to fold. With the Grammy Awards coming up, eight nominations to his name, and ESPN red carpet hosting duties, Weezy is ready to unveil even more plans. Recently, GQ caught up with “The Martian” to speak on new information on a Hurricane Katrina-inspired film he’s on board with, working with Forest Whitaker and early Cash Money music. Pressed with questions about an apparent improvement in the lyrical department, Wayne noted that there was a good reason for him to not be as prolific back then.

“If you ask my boss, Baby, he would tell you I’ve always been prolific, always tried to do too much with my words, and they always would tell me, bring it down,” Wayne explained. “Because that didn’t fit their formula. It just had to be their way…it was just like a basketball player, he plays within the team when he plays professionally, but you may see him on the court in the park doing some shit that you’ll never ever see in a game. That how it was with me.”

When asked about working with Forest Whitaker, Wayne acknowledged that the actor took the film seriously, calling him “intense and serious.” Noting how Whitaker’s work ethic affected him, Wanye said, “And if I ever thought I was slipping on what I’m doing around here? I would remember those experiences of being around him. He looks at you once, speaks to you once, he’s not ever going to make eye contact with you again.”

On his vault, Wayne admitted to recording too many songs to remember and giving an entire iPod of his unreleased work to Michael Phelps as a gift. In turn, Phelps has yet to leak any of it. Finally, he opened up about his upcoming album, one that is reportedly a Rock album, claiming he did not want labels on his music.

“It’s not hip-hop, it’s not gangsta rap, it’s not R&B, it’s not reggae, it’s not reggaeton, it’s Wayne,” he said. “Because Wayne do all those fucking things. That’s why it be easier not to put no categories on it, and just call it Wayne.”

An uncut Q&A, which also features Lil Wayne sounding off on awards, album sales and his desire to direct a movie, is available at GQ’s Web site or by clicking here.

In other news, Lil Wayne has been tapped to perform at the 51st annual Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 8 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and broadcast on CBS.

The rapper – along with the Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney and Katy Perry – were the first performers to be announced Wednesday by organizers of the annual ceremony.

Perry’s performance will be interactive. Fans can upload short videos of themselves singing along to her hit “I Kissed a Girl” to CBS.com/Grammys through Feb. 6; voting will determine which of them will be shown during Perry’s segment.

Each of the performers is nominated for awards; Lil Wayne leads the field with nods in eight categories.

SOURCE: HipHopDX

Rapper Drake revealed recently that Lil Wayne’s latest project will be a rock album.

“Wayne’s coming out with a new album, it’s a rock album,” said Drake in an interview with MuchMusic.com. “A complete rock album. I have a song on there.”

The rapper likened the project to Kanye West’s latest project. “It’s something different in just that whole 808s and Heartbreaks, just throwing individuals off.”

Drake will be touring with Wayne in North America, stopping at Montreal on Jan. 14 and Toronto on Jan. 15. He has also signed a management deal with Kanye West managers Gee Roberson and Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua and Lil Wayne manager Cortez Bryant.

SOURCE: HipHopDX.com

A throwaway track that was supposed to be on Madden 2008. I bet you they’re kicking themselves now. Produced by Young Yonny!

Lil Wayne has ingrained himself in the wide world of sports with his appearance in LeBron James Nike commerical, narrating the G – Gatorade campaign and now matching wits with ESPN’s own Skip Bayless.

Let’s just hope that he doesn’t go too far in his love of the game…

Oops, too late!

Check out the video, it’s quite lengthy, but entertaining nonetheless, below:

Rapper Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” (Cash Money/Universal) is far and away the top seller of 2008, netting 2.88 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. However, it’s the first time the best selling album of the year has sold less than 3 million since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Lil Wayne’s producer Deezle told Nodfactor.com that Lil Wayne is a “genius” and talked about the making of hits like “Mrs. Officer” and “Lollipop.” Click HERE for the audio.

For his work on Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, formally trained producer Darius “Deezle” Harrison has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. The New Orleans native received one nomination for his songwriting credit on hit “Lollipop,” and two more for production and mixing respectively on the top-selling Hip Hop album of 2008.

“I’ve worked so hard to get to this point in my career. This is the key that will open many doors to what I see is the start to what God has planned for me,” said Deezle. “Working on this album was a great experience and I’m honored to be nominated for my work on Tha Carter III.”

Presently, the producer, who also co-produced “Let The Beat Build” with Kanye West, is at work developing his Drum Major imprint, with more Cash Money Records work promised in 2009.

SOURCE: HipHopDX.com

Family and friends, we’ve had a beautiful 2008. The year is almost over, and when you see what we’re bringing to the table in ’09, you’ll be proud and entertained.

But before we get to next year, let’s reflect a little on the last 350-plus days. A lot of MCs stepped up with quality material, and, wow, so many records floated around that disintegrated the dance floor, straight disrespected the speakers in your car and just about ignited your iPod. Our usual suppliers (Weezy, Jeezy, Rick Ross, Hova, ‘Ye, Fif, Tip) delivered crack music, while new connects (Mr. L.O., Maino and even overseas princess M.I.A.) dropped off face-numbing product.

1. Lil Wayne – “A Milli”
2. Kanye West – “Flashing Lights”
3. Shawty Lo – “Dunn Dunn”
4. M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”
5. Fat Joe (featuring J. Holiday) – “I Won’t Tell”
6. T.I. (featuring Rihanna) – “Live Your Life”
7. Lil Wayne – “Lollipop”
8. Snoop Dogg – “Sexual Eruption”
9. Young Jeezy (featuring Nas) – “My President”
10. Rick Ross (featuring T-Pain) – “The Boss”
11. Plies (featuring Ne-Yo) – “Bust It Baby Pt. 2″
12. The Game (featuring Keyshia Cole) – “Game’s Pain”
13. Young Jeezy (featuring Kanye West) – “Put On”
14. David Banner (featuring Chris Brown and Young Joc) – “Get Like Me”
15. Maino – “Hi Hater”
16. Shawty Lo – “Foolish”
17. Rick Ross (featuring Nelly) – “Here I Am”
18. T.I. – “Whatever You Like”
19. Lil Wayne (featuring Babyface) – “Comfortable”
20. The G-Unit – “Rider Pt. 2″
21. Busta Rhymes – “Don’t Touch Me”
22. Lupe Fiasco – “Hip-Hop Saved My Life”
23. Jay-Z – “I Know”
24. Kanye West – “Heartless”
25. Lil Wayne (featuring Bobby Valentino) – “Mrs. Officer”
26. Red Cafe (featuring Fabolous, Fat Joe and Jadakiss) – “Paper Touching” remix
27. Ron Browz and Jim Jones (featuring Juelz Santana) – “Pop Champagne”
28. Busta Rhymes (featuring Ron Browz) – “Arab Money”

SOURCE: MTV News

Sibling duo Play-N-Skillz are in the Grammy spotlight for the second year in a row.

Their production of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” earned them their first trophy in 2007 for best rap performance by duo or group. This year, their Lil Wayne single “Got Money,” featuring T-Pain, is nominated for best rap/sung collaboration.

Wayne’s CD, Tha Carter III, is also among the contenders for album of the year, which puts Play-N-Skillz in position to pick up one of the most Grammy’s most prestigious trophies.

“This was a little bit more shocking than the last one,” Play tells Billboard.com. “I wasn’t as surprised for ‘Tha Carter III’ to be nominated for best rap album, but album of the year? That’s like the biggest accolade you can receive. Of course, for the song to be nominated itself was shocking. But, at the same time, it justifies all the hard work.”

The nomination is extra sweet for Play-N-Skillz because not only was the original version of “Got Money” lost after an engineer mistakenly erased it, but the track wasn’t even meant to appear on Lil Wayne’s album.

“After we remade the song, which is tough to do, we laid the chorus idea and gave it to Pitbull, but it didn’t make it to him in time,” says Play. “T-Pain ended up singing the chorus, he put it in Wayne’s hands, and the rest is history.”

The producers, who recently worked with Hurricane Chris, Yung Joc, Slim, Cassidy, Slim Thug and Lil Wayne’s upcoming project, are now preparing to release their own album.

Titled Out the Box, the set is slated to drop in summer 2009 via their independent label, G4 Recordz. Promotional single “Checking My Fresh” samples Jay-Z’s “Swagga Like Us” and was serviced to radio last week. The first official single, “Angel Eyez,” featuring Akon, will be released in the coming weeks.

Talib Kweli, Bun B, Slim Thug, 112, Yung Joc, Tego Calderon, Pitbull and Maino have all contributed guest vocals. Play-N-Skillz will also release a mixtape in the next few months leading up to the album.

Although a teaser trailer of Lil Wayne’s The Carter documentary has been around since the summer, it was recently revealed that it will be unveiled in its entirety at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film is directed by respected music documentary film maker Adam Bhala Lough. According to various sources, Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Wayne’s manager Cortez Bryant will also be featured in the film.

In the trailer for the film, Wayne says, “I wrote my first rap at eight, talking about fuckin’, smokin’, shootin’ guns. Same shit. All that crazy shit that everybody love.”

The film will be on display on theater screens at the Park City, Utah festival, which runs from January 15-25 ot the upcoming year.

In related news, Weezy F. Baby kicks off this winter tour in less than a week.

SOURCE: HipHopDX

Check out this track!

His first show was postponed due to sound problems and the replacement show has been canceled because co-headliner, T.I., has an appearance on Saturday Night Live that night.

The rapper will begin Dec. 6 with a makeup date in Rochester, NY, and then play more than a dozen shows across the US into January. Several stops along the way will include Keyshia Cole, T-Pain, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson. Details are included below.

A couple of Lil Wayne performances have been scrapped at the last minute in recent weeks. Halfway through the Oct. 26 Rochester show at Blue Cross Arena, the audience reportedly was told the rapper would not show because he didn’t like the venue’s sound system. The next night in Boston, Wayne pulled out of a concert because he “was apparently unable or unwilling” to comply with a security checkpoint at TD Banknorth Garden, according to the Boston Herald.

Here are Lil Wayne’s tour dates:

December 2008
6 – Rochester, NY – Blue Cross Arena
14 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
18 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center*
19 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center*
21 – Universal City, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk
23 – Oakland, CA – ORACLE Arena*
26 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena*
27 – Chicago, IL – United Center/WGCI Big Jam
28 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center/Power 99 HollaDay Jam
29 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum Complex
30 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
31 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena*

January 2009
2 – Charlotte, NC – Time Warner Cable Arena
3 – Hampton, VA – Hampton Coliseum

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