Uh-oh, here we go again. This year, VIBE‘s putting together the battle of the beats with their Greatest Producer Of All Time tournament. First round of voting begins today. The winner will be announced May 24th. Choose wisely. Got that, Joe Budden. HOMEGROWN SOUND Dr. Dre (1) VS DJ Toomp (16) Mannie Fresh (2) VS David Banner (15) The Bomb Squad (3) VS Mr. Lee (14) Prince Paul (4) VS Shock G (13) Juicy J (5) VS Rick Rock (12) […]

You know the track. It’s the theme song from the HBO series, How To Make It In America. And now, it has a video. Also Toshi over at Complex recently spoke to Aloe Blacc about how the song came to fruition.

Ride ’em cowgirl! Ci Ci is saddled up in the upcoming video for her collaboration with Ludacris. No Luda in sight, but who cares. That’s one lucky mechanical bull. More snaps on the other side. This Is R&B

Take it from 40 Water, nice guys finish last. With that said, flip the script and watch his new video off Revenue Retrievin’ Nigh Shift.

Call Crooked I old fashioned, but in the How To Rap audio excerpt, he says putting pen to pad is better than jotting lyrics in your head.  Ever since Jay-Z admitted to writing with the hand that don’t write, rappers like T.I. and Lil Wayne have claimed to do the same. Ironically, T.I.’s most successful album Paper Trail was spawned after transcribing his lyrics. Write on! Previously: Royce Da 5’9″ Perfers Flow Over Subject Matter

Not only did Andre 3000 choose the first single for his other half, but Antwan tells DJ Delz that he has 3 Stacks onboard for three tracks off Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. With one produced by the man himself and the other by Boi-1da. Hey ya! HHNM

Has Busta switched it up on us again? Swizzy speculates to Rap-Up that Bussa Buss changed his album title from The Chemo. On a related note, the pair have completed a song for the LP inspired by Tony Stark.

Before tip off of the NCAA basketball championship last night, CBS aired a Dirty Money’s promo video for “Hello Good Morning”. Where we going to for breakfast? Crystal F

Last night, Drake kicked off his Away From Home Tour at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. And during his set, he premiered the opening number off Thank Me Later. Produced by Crada and 40. UPDATE: A closer look. Team Supreme Previously: Drake’s Debut Pushed Back To June 15th

[vodpod id=Video.3376166&w=425&h=350&fv=] We’ve heard this story before. Earlier this year, Dre told SLAM magazine that Detox was dropping next year. But now, the Doc is singing another tune. At the 6:50 mark of his CNBC interview, the Doc says his single “Under Pressure” is coming within the next two weeks and that the album is dropping before the end of the year. Seeing is believing. ATB