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Watch 'Soulja Boy: RapFix Live' On MTV2 On January 2

Posted 12/30/10 10:00 am EST by in RapFix Live

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Happy (almost) New Year!

On Sunday (January 2) — we can barely believe that it's 2011 either — we'll be airing our Soulja Boy edition of "RapFix Live," also titled "Soulja Boy: RapFix" with MTV News' own Sway on MTV2 at 1 p.m. ET.

The Young MC recently stopped by our couch and talked about meeting the elusive producer and West Coast icon Dr. Dre.

"Everybody knows Dre," Soulja Boy said of meeting the West Coast icon. "I was in shock at what he was saying. It was just like, I couldn't believe that he was there."

Apparently, Dre was so unassuming that he caught the young MC off-guard. Read More...

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Eminem To Diddy: 10 MCs Who Should Have Made NBC's 'People of the Year'

Posted 12/29/10 7:00 am EST by in Music News

By Chris Yuscavage

December is here — and you know what that means: It's time for a whole bunch of "Year End" lists to start making their way onto your television and computer screens!

Recently, NBC unleashed the first of the bunch when they presented Matt Lauer's "People of the Year" special in order to honor the most important people of 2010. From NBA superstar LeBron James and the guy behind the machinery that helped dig up the Chilean miners to Justin Timberlake and (of course!) Kim Kardashian, "People of the Year" captured a handful of folks who made an impact on the country — and the rest of the world — this year.

But after sitting through the first of many lists that will no doubt come across as the year comes to a close, the choices are already unsatisfying. We couldn't help but notice that no rappers were selected to receive the "People of the Year" honors. Despite the huge impact that some of them have had this year, Lauer didn't select a single MC to hold down a slot on the list. And it's fair to say that he made a mistake. To help prove that at least one rapper could have been recognized by the "People of the Year" list, we generated our own list of 10 potential nominees. Maybe next year, NBC? Read More...

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Don Cannon And More React To MTV News' Top DJs List: Mixtape Daily Year-End Awards

Posted 12/23/10 2:40 pm EST by in Mixtape Daily

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting from Rahman Dukes and Jayson Rodriguez

On Monday (December 13), we announced our Mixtape Daily Year-End Awards picks for the Top DJs of 2010. Some mix masters were thrilled like DJ Drama and Bigga Rankin, others like Don Cannon ... not so much. Like Lil Wayne and 50 Cent before him, we respect everyone's right to their opinion.

Late Tuesday (December 14), Cannon fired off a series of tweets lamenting his name's omission from our Top DJs round up. To be fair, here are the list of the Top DJs of 2010 — in no particular order — in our humble opinion:

Bigga Rankin

DJ Drama

DJ Holiday

DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar

DJ Scream

DJ Teknikz

Cannon crafting Trap Or Die with Young Jeezy and Big Sean's Finally Famous 3, along with his other tapes, put the lanky DJ, frankly, as just outside the wrap up. He almost made our Top DJs list, but after we argued long and hard about each selection, he became essentially our honorable mention for this year. Like Fabolous, Lloyd Banks and Wiz Khalifa during our Hottest MCs countdown, we see you and we salute your grind. Read More...

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Nicki Minaj Celebrates With Behind-The-Scenes Video + The RapFix Quote of the Day

Posted 12/22/10 1:44 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Sway Calloway

"I hate to say it, but a lot of people harbor just a lot of just hate, envy. It almost feels like, because I'm where I am, they're where they are. I didn't do this to you; I didn't do this to your career. I'm responsible for Nicki; you're responsible for you."

On Tuesday (December 22) Nicki Minaj chatted with our own Sway between takes of her filming her forthcoming "Moment 4 Life" video. In addition to alluding that she and Drake would have a mini-romance in the clip — did you see that bed behind Drake when Sway interviewed? Whoa — she also spoke indirectly on Lil' Kim and other detractors who've said hurtful things about her and her career. Read More...

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Waka Flocka Says He Doesn't 'Care Nothing' About Being A Lyricist

Posted 12/21/10 1:14 pm EST by in Hottest Mcs in the Game 2010, Music News

In October, we debuted our coveted Hottest MCs in the Game for 2010 and Waka Flocka, our #8 MC, is still a hot topic of conversation. On Friday (December 17), the Brick Squad MC talked to Jenny Boom Boom of Hartford, Connecticut's 93.7 radio station about his ranking.

"I thought that was a lyrical list. I thought all the lyrical rappers were supposed to be on that list," Waka said, of his initial surprise on being included. "But you know I'm good, as long as I make hits and money, I'm straight. When I got on that list I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna sit back for two hours, watch some blog sites and see how many haters I get.' "

But the MC didn't get the reaction he expected.

"I got more good comments," the Brick Squad rapper said. "A lot of people was like 'Eh man, your work showed dog,' you know how it go ... I personally don't feel like I'm a success, I'm not successful yet. All my friends ain't got it all yet, I ain't fed my fans right." Read More...

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Lil' Kim On Nicki Minaj, Diddy: A RapFix Twee-Cap

Posted 12/20/10 5:23 pm EST by in Music News

On Friday (December 17), New York's Hot 97 reminded us why we love radio.

Lil' Kim stopped by the station's lower Manhattan, NY offices for a salacious chat, reaching far back in the the MC's history with current rival, Nicki Minaj. As we did with Nicki Minaj's equally salacious interview with Hot's afternoon jock Angie Martinez, we reported on the situation as it happened. Some of our @MTVRapFix followers tweeted that we were "stirring" things up, but like we wrote in less than 140 characters, RapFix is just reporting the facts.

In keeping with that tradition, we thought it prudent to round-up a Twee-cap of Kimmy Blanco's most interesting moments from the conversation that may or may not have encouraged the returns of Eve and Foxy Brown. Will there be enough space? But we digress.

Without further ado here are Kim's Hot (abridged) Highlights:

"That ain't the Faith I knew. She was a stalker on me and Big ... I was his girlfriend." - Lil' Kim on the portrayal of Faith, Notorious B.I.G.'s wife, in the "Notorious" film. The two dated while Big was married to Faith. Read More...

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Joe Budden On DJ Drama And 2010's 'Return Of The Mixtape'

Posted 12/20/10 4:22 pm EST by in RapFix Live

By Hillary Crosley, with reporting by Sway Calloway

2010 was a healthy year for mixtapes and we were grateful, considering there were a few years where it was all too quiet on the tape front.

During our annual Mixtape Daily Year-End Awards last week — where we announced our Top Mixtapes, Top Mixtape DJs, Fire Starter, Top Mixtape Artists and Top Mixtape Producers — we spoke to DJ Drama about his own comeback and how the last 12 months chronicled a resurgence of the mixtape industry. During "RapFix Live" on Thursday (December 16) MTV News' Sway spoke to Joe Budden about the game.

"I think there was a time when mixtapes stopped becoming so important," Joe Budden said. "I'm not really sure about the time frame but there was a time where they fell off a little bit. So to see so many people, I don't know who's responsible for the comeback, whether it be artists like Wayne or Drake or Fab, I don't really know but I'd say they're pretty important now." Read More...

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Kanye West Is Only Man To Win MTV News' Most Fashionable Celebs

Posted 12/20/10 1:08 pm EST by in Music News

By Hillary Crosley, with additional reporting by Jocelyn Vena

As if winning MTV News' Man of the Year wasn't enough, Kanye West's also snagged a spot on our 2010 Most Fashionable Celebs round-up. In fact, 'Ye is the only man on the list.

Kanye West
There aren't many guys who are able to stand up in the fashion ring alongside the ladies, but Kanye West isn't just any guy. He's a guy who can wear a grill, a giant chain and a red suit all at once and somehow make it look sophisticated and not gaudy. On his Twitter page, he always shows love to high-end designers like Lanvin and has us salivating over his taste in couture.

Standout Moments: His VMA performance suit was red-hot and a reference to the similar outfit he wore to the BET Awards earlier that was equally eye-catching. His suits from the "Runaway" film were so well-tailored, and the plaid blazer he wore to the "We Are the World" recording session was gaudy and purely Yeezy.

RapFix dissected 'Ye's style transition earlier this year when the MC was just beginning his Rosewood movement, peppered with hard bottom shows, suit jackets, velvet slippers and actual roses. Read More...

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Diggy Simmons Talks Past Presents Future, Working With DJ Premier

Posted 12/20/10 11:16 am EST by in Music News

On Saturday (December 18), Diggy Simmons released an old song with a new twist.

Following his first remix of Mobb Deep's classic "Shook Ones" from his upcoming Past Presents Future mixtape, the young MC dropped "Digg is Like" riffing on Nas' "Nas Is Like." MTV News spoke to Diggy about the plan behind the jams.

"With 'Shook Ones,' me and my dude Rashid just really strategized everything music-wise," Diggy  said. "We’re tight, everything we think about [is] on the same mindset. We had the idea of doing the Past Presents Future mixtape and we decided to go with '90s and '80s classic beats to [rhyme] over and some of them are flipped. The mixtape is gonna be hosted by the legendary DJ Premier." Read More...

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Eminem And Lil Wayne Rock 'SNL': Fans Hope For Duet LP

Posted 12/19/10 11:55 am EST by in Music News

Eminem and Lil Wayne gave rap fans exactly what they’ve wished for the holidays — a collaborative performance to send off 2010.

"The energy in the building is historical and its extra special to see everybody fight for position backstage to see Lil Wayne take over 'SNL,' " DJ Scoob Doo told MTV News.

On Saturday (December 18), Eminem performed on NBC’s comedy sketch show, "Saturday Night Live" with Lil Wayne. The New Orleans-native-turned-Miami-resident took the stage alongside Detroit’s golden boy to perform a live version of "No Love," flanked by a full band. Lil Wayne, dressed in a white t-shirt, jeans and a White Sox baseball cap, perfectly complimented the toned-down performance of Eminem. Sporting a brown leather bomber, t-shirt, jeans and knitted cap, Eminem ran through his lyrics with the ease of a professional.

Later in the show, Eminem performed “Won't Back Down," dressed in a black jacket and grey skull cap, with his band as producer and D-12 member served as his hypeman. As Em wrapped his song, the musicians began playing the acoustic version of Lil Wayne’s recently released "6 Foot 7 Foot" track featuring Bronx upstart Cory Gunz. While the young MC wasn’t present to spit his bars, Lil Wayne’s presence more than made up for his absence. Read More...

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