Soulja Boy in Studio with Kanye After Arrest

Soulja BoyAfter a party at an abandoned Atlanta suburb house had Soulja Boy running from the police, the rapper told fans on Monday that he was in studio under the production of Kanye West, MTV.com reports.

The unusual pairing was enhanced by a previous rumour that West had fled to India after missing the BET hip-hop awards last weekend.

Soulja Boy was reportedly booked during the filming of the music video for his new track “Gangsta Muzik.” After spending a night in prison he was released on $550 bond.

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Jay-Z Wraps Up Hottest MC list

Jay-ZLast night MTV’s expert panel capped off their top ten “Hottest MC’s” with long-time heavyweight Jay-Z coming out on top. The controversial list was compiled by Hip Hop critics and enthusiasts, and for the first time included the opinion of fans across North America. The criteria: lyrics, flow, impact, buzz, sales and intangibles.

The final list: 1. Jay-Z, 2. Lil Wayne, 3. Drake, 4. Kanye West, 5. Rick Ross, 6. Gucci Mane, 7. Young Jeezy, 8. Fabolous, 9. 50 cent, 10. Raekwon

A few names are mysteriously absent from the list, most notably, Eminem. The rapper should not only have appeared on the list, he should have been in the top five. His recent album wasn’t his best of all time but its popularity continues to grow, and his verse on Drake’s new ‘Forever’ remix was the best on the track.

Kid Cudi’s name has spread like wildfire in the music industry, and TI continues to maintain his popularity; yet neither of them appear on the list.

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Matt & Kim Get Soul, and Other Collabs This Week

Matt & KimThe line between electro-rock and hip-hop was never exactly straight in the first place, but this year has more or less witnessed its disappearance. The most recent installments in the collabo hall of fame popped up on Pitchfork this week.

First, there was Matt & Kim’s reworked “Daylight (Troublemaker Remix).” Now, this song is perfect just the way it is but with rap legends De La Soul on the remixed track, there is a whole other dimension of mind-boggling pop mastery.

The signature chorus (”Cause in the daylight I don’t pick up my phone”) is looped atop an amplified version of the song’s backbeat, with a spaced out synth riff to boot. In between, De La Soul spit their classic rhymes (”Leave your message after the tone/while I lay around actin’ like I’m too old for this shit”), transforming the song from hair-shaking hipster dance party to a groovy soul redub.

The song will be featured on the NBA Live 2010 soundtrack when the game is released on Oct. 6. It will also appear in every playlist I make for the next month.

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Under The Rock: The Long Way ‘Round To Lady GaGa

Lady GagaThey say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I don’t know who “they” are but I’m going to assume they were talking about Lady GaGa. After all, it seems the entire musical universe is clamouring for a piece of her instant stardom.

It started with Kanye, Common and Kid Cudi, or at least that’s where I first caught on. They roughed up her acoustic version of “Poker Face” to the point of making it tolerable, even enjoyable. (I’m not even going to touch the fact that she has gone acoustic, except to say that watching the video is possibly more painful than the hangover of the drugs she has to be on.)

Despite the very obvious gibes at GaGa’s not-so-double entendres, “I Poke Her Face” is actually an incredible step up from anything the songstress has released on her own.

“Just Dance” was nearly my demise last summer as it somehow circulated more frequently than Sarah McLachlan on the soft rock radio station I listened to at my 9-5 desk job. So I made it my mission to publicly rally against her budding career for the rest of 2008, hoping she would have drifted off the airwaves come December. But now it’s June, and she has three more singles revving up for a summer of heavy rotation.

I could feel my protest deteriorating as 2009 wore on. I found myself joylessly bashing the ridiculous rhyming in “Disco Stick” while flinging my hair around to its beat at the club.  Just the other day, someone asked me if I’d heard “Paparazzi”.

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