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Nicki Minaj Says She 'Deserves' Her Pink Friday Success

Posted 1/5/11 12:34 pm EST by in Music News, Spotted!

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway

Nicki Minaj is on the cusp of releasing her "Moment 4 Life" video, and the Queens native is celebrating 2011 in style — platinum style, that is.

Barbie's debut album Pink Friday has garnered 851, 841 to-date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The first official LP by the MC has gone platinum, according to the RIAA, after just six weeks on the shelf and even Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, also released on November 22, has only sold approximately 30,000 more units than Nicki thus far.*

"He got a good head start, he beat me the first week," Minaj told MTV News. Read More...

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Kanye West, Jay-Z's Watch The Throne Release Date Changes?

Posted 1/4/11 5:33 pm EST by in fashion, Music News, Spotted!

Kanye West may have released "Eyes Closed" featuring John Legend on January 4, but his flair for winter furs has our eyes open — especially with his knack for pairing the piece with Air Jordans and leather pants. Check our photo gallery on 'Ye's recent fashion picks.

The MC also recently announced that he and Jay-Z's Watch The Throne collaboration album would be available to the public at the end of this week. Then, the Internet buzzed that the LP would actually hit shelves on March 1. MTV News contacted Def Jam, West's record label home, but the house that Russell Simmons built had yet to comment at press time. Still, as a fan, there really isn't ever too much G.O.O.D. Music, right? See what we did there ... Read More...

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Rick Ross Talks Ashes To Ashes Collaboration With Chester French

Posted 1/4/11 2:18 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting by Spiff TV

Rick Ross has come a long way from his "Hustlin' " days.

The Florida MC premiered the first single, "Made Men" featuring Drake, from his forth-coming LP, God Forgives, But I Don't but it's his Ashes To Ashes mixtape that's ruling our iTunes. The Bawse spoke to MTV News about stretching himself creatively on this tape with a name you might not expect — or at least we didn't.

"On this mixtape, it's all new music which I recorded at the Maybauch Music studios," he said. "We've got Wiz Khalifa, T.I., Aaliyah, Barry White, Ne-Yo and of course my team's on the mixtape. We tried some different things, shout out to Chester French."

Interesting, right? We haven't heard much from the Pharrell Williams-affiliated pop group since their 2009 LP Love The Future, but we're definitely curious to see what they did with Rozay. Read More...

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Michael Jackson's Doctor Conrad Murray Heads To Court: Should He Be Tried For Jackson's Death?

Posted 1/4/11 11:27 am EST by in Music News, Things That Aren't Hip-Hop ... But Are

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting by Gil Kaufman

While many fans are still deciding what to make of Michael Jackson's first posthumous single "Hold My Hand," Conrad Murray, the late singer's doctor, will appear in court on January 4 for one felony count of involuntary manslaughter. The court date will determine whether there is enough evidence against the physician to try him for the death of the pop singer and we want to know what you think.

Helmed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, the hearing is expected to last two weeks and feature testimony from more than two dozen witnesses, most of whom are medical experts. Jackson's former choreographer Kenny Ortega is also rumored to testify, according to TMZ. Ortega is expected to testify that Murray said some "terrible things" during the meeting and displayed a lack of concern and respect for his patient, comments that could be "damaging" to Murray. Read More...

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Magnolia Shorty Says Birdman 'Raised Me' In Last Interview

Posted 1/4/11 7:00 am EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Travis Laurendine

In late December, Cash Money artist Magnolia Shorty passed away to the surprise of many on the New Orleans Bounce music scene. In November, the MC spoke to MTV News during the annual Cash Money-Young Money Thanksgiving turkey drive, organized by label head Birdman.

"That's like my daddy, he basically raised me," Magnolia Shorty said of Birdman last year. "It's more like a father, it's bigger than the business. He kinda helped me out like all my life. I do my own thing basically, but he's like a father to me." Read More...

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Birdman Says Magnolia Shorty Was 'Family'

Posted 1/3/11 5:22 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting by Akshay Bhansali and Rahman Dukes

New Orleans Bounce music holds a special place in our hearts here at RapFix and the scene was recently hit hard with the passing of Magnolia Shorty. The Big Easy native, born Renetta Lowe, was an MC and a part of Cash Money Records' crew.

"Shorty was brought to me [by] B.G. a long time ago," Birdman told MTV News. "It wasn't much about signing [her], she became my family, my blood, my daughter, so it wasn't much about the music. It was just family, hood. We were from the same project, I took her in like my child. I brought her up.

"When you lose a loved one that's a hell of a feeling," he continued. "Words can't even describe so when you lose someone like your child, it's another type of feeling that you've got to live with. So we just take it like it comes and live with what's put before us." Read More...

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Is Nas Leaving Def Jam?: The Pros And Cons

Posted 1/3/11 4:38 pm EST by in Music News

Last year wasn't so great for Nasir Jones.

From splitting with his ex-wife Kelis to publicly fighting with his current record label Def Jam, 2010 was filled with mires for the MC. However, MTV News caught up with the Queens native in December and it looks like things are looking up — with the oft-delayed The Lost Tapes, Vol. 2, specifically.

"It's not safe to say that it's gonna be on Def Jam," Nas told MTV News. "You know, news at 11. We coming with the information on that soon ... Because I kind of lost time, I really wanted to release [the album] in December but I'm starting my next album. So I feel like I'll probably give The Lost Tapes as a deluxe, maybe, on the next album for free. I'm trying to figure that out now."

The kicker in all of this? Nas admitting that though he's still signed to the house that Russell Simmons built, he's moonlighting as a free agent. Read More...

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Lil Wayne, Drake Rock BET's New Year's Eve Show

Posted 1/3/11 2:38 pm EST by in Spotted!

Mostly we here at RapFix talk about news, culture and the conversation behind the our scoops, but sometimes, just sometimes, we catch MCs doing things that aren't always best described as hip-hop. We support everyone's right to live their lives and it just so happens that it's pretty fun to watch our favorite rappers do just that. So this, dedicated rap fans, is why we've hatched Spotted!, also known as our very own excuse to observe your favorite MCs in the "real."

While you were out toasting to the 2011 or maybe curled up on your couch rethinking your ambitions for the next 12 months, Lil Wayne and Drake's pre-recorded performance of "Miss Me" and "Right Above It" aired on BET's annual "106 & Party" show. Read More...

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Lil' Kim Vs. Nicki Minaj: The RapFix Quote Of The Day

Posted 1/3/11 12:31 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Jayson Rodriguez

"I think this other bitch got a song with Keyshia Cole, right. Coming at me and the muthaf---in’ other queen, Mary J. Blige. Me and my girl Mary J. Blige about to eat these bitches alive where they won’t even f---ing exist no more and erase their f---ing social security number! We gon’ remind them who the f--- we are! I’m not playing with this bitch for 2011. I’m saying, we can rock together but bitch you ain’t taking nothing from me!"

- Kim told the Hippodrome club audience on Friday (December 31), citing Cole’s single "I Ain’t Thru" featuring Nicki Minaj.

What's Kim's fixation with social security numbers? Does her repeated mentions of deleting Nicki Minaj's numeric identifier remind anyone else of Matt Damon vs. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed? We digress. Read More...

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Kanye West: How The MC Charmed Us In 2010

Posted 1/3/11 11:18 am EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Steven Roberts

Few people can anger what seems to be the entire world and then win them over with tweets about fur pillows being difficult to sleep on. Enter Kanye West.

The Chicago MC reigned as 2010's comeback kid proving, like many fallen and reborn artists, that music really can heal most dust-ups. We here at MTV News checked in with a few media taste makers about Mr. West and here are the highlights. Do you agree?

"I think the thing with Kanye, he really just stuck to the same script, which is basically, Iove me or hate me but the music is gonna be so great you have to deal with me," Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever told MTV News. Read More...

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