Mr. Combs wasn’t the only legendary hip-hop figure to check into the Shade 45 Morning Show today. Mr. 5 Mics talks his favorite albums of 2010 and his Rice University teaching gig. Yup, YN believes in edutainment, my niggas. Ha! My laugh > Wiz’s.

Al returns with two more viral testimonials from Elliott, Angela Yee and friends on hip-hop’s Rookie of The Year and 6th Man. Interesting choices to say the least. Let the great debates begin. Previously: Al Lindstrom 2010 Most Improved MC

Diddy traded the train for the yacht this morning and called YN on Shade 45 from St. Barts. During the conversation, Puff spoke on the true meaning of Last Train To Paris, missing out on Jay Electronica, and G.Dep turning himself in for murder last week. Hug a hater today and listen below. Break 1: Link Break 2: Link Break 3: Link Break 4: Link

There’s only 11 days left until the New Year, which means more end of the year lists are coming. Allindstrom asks YN, Angela Yee, Riggs of Shady Records, and others their choice for the most improved artist of 2010. Some selections may surprise ya. What’s yours?

In tribute to the best to ever do it, I personally put together seven comps of some of my favorite MJ joints. Shout-out to EMZ for the help out. R.I.P. The King.

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 1

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 2

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 3

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 4

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 5

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 6

YN’s MJ Music Vol. 7

UPDATE: Tracklists after the jump.

Game, Game, go away. Please come back another day. Ha. Seriously, I shrug when talk of Chuck Taylor comes up. (Does he still call himself that anymore? Oh well. Insert shrug.) Mr. Miller has done a thankless and tireless job of keepin’ you up to date with dude’s stop-and-go path to album number four. But now with a legit single with Pharrell (“It Must Be Me“) and a mixtape droppin’ on Monday, am I really supposed to get excited… again? […]

What does it take to be #1 ? Plenty of things. And patience is one of ’em. I first heard of B.o.B. in the fall of 2007 when we were working on XXL‘s Leaders Of The New School issue. “He could sing. He can rap. He’s got this song, “Cloud 9″. He’s dope!,” the staff told me. So even though he was less established than most of his counterparts on the 10 runners-up list, his profile was featured first. Seems […]

With rumors swirling around Jay’s Def Jam contract buyout, Hov exclusively spoke to Rap Radar to confirm the speculation.

“I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely.  I’ve been in the family for almost my entire career.

I thank him for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music.”

YN: What is this coin toss about?

Hov: That takes a phone conversation, I’ll save it for our interview… classic.