In TIME’s annual most influential list, Dwayne beat out folks like Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to take the number 12 spot. 

“His Grammy-winning, multiplatinum album, Tha Carter III,

He’s unstoppable.

Props: Broken Cool 

Today, Woooha reports that retail chain Sears is ceasing production of Mr. Smith’s clothing due to cut backs and an overall shitty economy. In the meantime, Sears is slashing the lines prices by 50%-70%. Look out David Brown, LL’s coming to join ya!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzitZv8Enmc]

Can’t keep up with all the material Mr. Rhymes is unleashing until May 19th. But DJ Scratch made a believer out of me with this one. Joy minus the joystick. Pause. Ha!

“Respect my conglomerate/ I don’t even know what that word means.”—Fame up in Prospect

“The Game Room”

{mp3}the game room dirty{/mp3}

“Listen boy you should play your role/ Like rap don’t need a brand new De La Soul.”

Here’s some real rap shit for your late night. The formidable first single off Statik Selektah’s third album, The Hangover. Damn, I thought I work hard. Smh. Ha!

“The Thrill Is Gone” Featuring Styles P and Talib Kweli

{mp3}01 the thrill is gone ft styles p talib kweli{/mp3} 

Links after the jump cuz Statik says so!

Here’s an oldie but goodie. Click the link and take a listen to Neighborhood Nip Hussle’s two year old demo tape. From what I understand, this is the music that got him signed to Epic. Don’t forget to clear up some space for Bullets Aint Got No Name Vol. 3 dropping sometime next month.

“T.I. king of the South, but I’m from South Central/ And I’m the next nigga out the West, pay attention.”

Duly noted.

Sidebar: Sorry folks, no tracklist.

 [vimeo http://vimeo.com/4360086]

Now, this is getting interesting. In the third installment of Choke No Joke’s footage, Dame Dash vehemently herbs Def Jam employees and Island General Manager, Randy Acker.

“Get the fuck out! Your not a leader, you don’t know shit about my culture, get the fuck out! You don’t know shit about Jay!…That’s why you been smacked. Not by me, by other people. Get outta here, beat it! No one needs you, get out. Clear a sample or something. Call security.”

Classic.

Sidebar: At the 4:54 mark, Dame learns of Jay’s performance at the Mixshow Power Summit in Puerto Rico. Beginning of the end, anyone?

Previously: Part 1 x Part 2

Props: Minya Oh

My homegirl Angela Yee went down to Atlanta for the Core DJ’s conference this past weekend, and Diddy pretty much scolded all the turntable assassins for being copycats and afraid to embrace and break new music. Yup, Yee got some Flip Cam on the way, but Puff advises: “Don’t be afraid to clear the dance floor.” Um, ok. Good advice.

Anyway, according to a Bad Boy promo guy who couldn’t resist Yee’s charms, Red Cafe is the newest member of the Bad Boy team. And he’s gonna make that nigga Puff… nevermind. Hey if you’re still scoring at home, you’ll recall Cafe is signed to Akon’s Konvict label. But supposedly, this is gonna be some kind of big business co-venture. The lengths Combs will go for A level lyrics for his Last Train to Nowhere. Smh. “What else?” Nothing. That’s it.

UPDATE: Joni Mitchell YN never lied.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpfumwDnrCk] 

BONUS: “Hottest In The Hood (Remix)”

{mp3}red cafe- hottest in the hood all star remix{/mp3}

Props: HHNM

And the beat goes on.

Richie Cunningham Ron Howard talks to EW (No Elliott Wilson) about his appearance in Jaime Foxx’s video, “Blame It“.

“We were at the inauguration, and there was this tent full of showbiz people and their families. Jamie came over and said, ‘Hey, I’m shooting a video in L.A., will you come by?’ I was picturing a sort of ‘We Are The World’ thing. So I showed up, and Jamie said, ‘It’s this party scene, and you’re going to drive up with Jake Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker and me. The only thing is that you’ve got to wear your party face.’ I said, ‘I don’t think you want my party face, because this is it . That may not be what you want.’ Jamie and the director, Hype Williams, said, ‘No, we want your game face, very serious.’ So we’re getting ready to roll and all we hear from the director is, ‘Uh, hey Ron, no smiling, remember, real serious, real serious,’ and, ‘RON, NO SMILING, NO SMILING,’ and, ‘RON, NO SMILING!’ and, ‘ACTION!’ So we did that a couple of times, and then we went in and sat with the girls and toasted champagne. I had no idea what in the world it was or what I was doing. I do not have a secret night-clubbing side. I’m the opposite of a big pimpin’ kind of dude. Probably the last time I was in a club was doing research for Night Shift in 1981. Discos, they were called then. When I saw the finished result I did ask around: ‘Is it okay that I did this?’ I mean, I am one of the whitest men in the world. I like singer-songwriters. But I thought it was funny that I was in it. Jamie sent me a case of champagne and I asked him if I could now blame everything on the a-a-a-alcohol. I haven’t heard back from him on that.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkGDrV_2ehI]

If your name is David Brown…