• ESPN Counts Every Jay Z Athlete Shout Out; Michael Easily Dominates Competition...As Always (Kudos to Bo Outlaw)

    No genre incorporates pop culture as much as hip-hop and few genres of music embrace professional sports as much as hip-hop (shout out to '90s rockers representing Seattle and Los Angeles). Few rappers have catalogues as deep as Jay Z's, so ESPN decided to track down every reference made to an athlete across Jay's discography and graphed it out for viewers. No surprise that Michael Jordan is the most popular topic.

  • Jay Z Is Not Buying Hot 97: Funkmaster Flex Introduces Show On 'Hov 97'

    The rumor mill ran off the tracks the past few days with speculation that Jay Z joined a group of investors that included Carmelo Anthony (what else is he going to do now that the Knicks are so bad) to buy major New York City hip-hop radio station Hot 97 from its parent, Emmis Communications after he was attacked on air by popular and influential host and DJ Funkmaster Flex. This rumor, which came from homophobic gossip blog MediaTakeOut.com who vehemently defended their "rock solid source," has proven to be very false. We reached out for comment and a spokesperson for Emmis Communications, Kate Snedeker denied the story, stating plainly, "it is false."

  • Jon Stewart Rips Mike Huckabee Over Beyoncé Comments in New Book on 'The Daily Show' [WATCH]

    Jon Stewart went at it with former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on "The Daily Show" last night, Jan. 19. The discussion, which touched on the differences in city and country culture as well as Beyoncé, never got heated and was an extremely enjoyable seven minutes of television. Stewart, as always, was respectful and deliberate during his chat with the Fox News personality.

  • The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Announce New Album 'Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015,' Share Lead Single "Do The Get Down" [LISTEN]

    New York punk trio The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have announced a new album titled Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015 (that's the cover up above), and have shared a music video for the album's lead single "Do The Get Down," which you can check out below. According to Pitchfork, the album is set for release on March 24 through Mom + Pop, and is a concept album about New York City, "a chronicle of grit and terror and love."

  • Is Jay-Z Trying to Buy Hot 97 After Funkmaster Flex Beef?

    Things are not well in the New York hip-hop family. Two of the biggest players in the community, Jay-Z and Funkmaster Flex, are at odds over actions reportedly taken by people at Jay-Z's site "Life + Times." There appears to be more at stake here, though. According to a report on "mediatakeout.com," citing a "rock-solid source," Jay-Z is a part of a group of investors that includes New York Knicks basketball star Carmelo Anthony who are currently in negotiations to buy Hot 97. According to the site, both sides are serious about getting the deal done. Hot 97 is the radio station where Funkmaster Flex has his own radio show.

  • Funkmaster Flex Verbally Attacks Jay-Z on Hot 97 — Twice

    Funkmaster Flex is not happy with Jay-Z. Fed up with recent misconduct revolving around Jay's Life+Times website, Flex has now ripped into the Brooklyn rapper twice on Hot 97 this week.The problem stems from an interview Flex did with L+T about an app he designed. Flex claims that one of Jay's reporters asked several questions about said app but did not use any of the material.Later, Jay released a similar app, which obviously ticked Flex off.Skip ahead to Jan. 15 when an L+T reporter emailed Flex requesting an interview about a Dipset reunion. That was when he decided to hop on Hot 97 and sound off.

  • Travi$ Scott Says Album 'Rodeo' Will Be Released in March

    Houston rapper Travi$ Scott has revealed the tentative release for his debut solo artist album Rodeo. In an interview with CR Fashion Book, Scott revealed that the album would be arriving sometime in March. It was a very typical way for the "Don't Play" rapper to make the announcement that was raised by a mother who was a retailer for Louis Vuitton. He commented on the meaning of the album title, Rodeo in the same interview.

  • Stream 20-Year-Old Jay-Z Demos Recorded Before Hova's Debut Album 'Reasonable Doubt' [LISTEN]

    A recently unearthed collection of demos show off Jay-Z's genius prior to his 1996 debut "Reasonable Doubt." The 11 tracks are truly a special gift for any Hova fan since they show off his skills prior to becoming a multi-millionaire. Tracks like "What's in a Name?" and "Pass the Roc" were made by a 25-year-old lyrical mastermind hungry for a life beyond the streets.Mass Appeal discovered the demos, which feature a few guest spots by Sauce Money. What is most upsetting about the collection is that tons of record labels passed on the rapper after hearing the tracks. Wow. Listen to the compilation below."Jay-Z was never really a coke rapper. He was also never really the club rat, the jeweler's best friend or the menacing kingpin," "XXL" wrote about the demo collection. "What he was was a carefully constructed latticework of all those things, borrowing bits and pieces of other archetypes and putting them over the day's most forward production."

  • Beyonce Pregnancy Rumors Circle Around Mysterious New Instagram Post [PHOTO]

    When you are a high profile celebrity, in a high profile relationship with another famous person no less, pregnancy rumors can be a dime a dozen. Most recently, pregnancy rumors have been fading in and out regarding Beyonce, who currently has one child with hip hop mogul Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter. Now, however, there may be some truth to the rumors.

  • Beyoncé Criticized by Animal Rights Groups for Photos with Tiger, Elephant in Thailand

    Over the weekend, Beyoncé posted a photo to her Instagram account of herself, Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy petting a tiger cub during their recent trip to Thailand, and though the picture is absolutely adorable for a number of reasons — as you can see up above — not everyone is happy about it. According to "Vulture," animal rights organization World Animal Protection criticized Bey for her photo-op, which took place at Phuket's FantaSea theme park, saying that the animals in these parks are subjected to abuse and suffering."When you look behind the scenes, vacation snaps like these support an industry that relies on animal cruelty," World Animal Protection wrote in its criticism. "Many tourists unwittingly contribute to the suffering of wild animals like these. They're simply not aware that their 'once in a lifetime' photo means a lifetime of misery for that animal."During this same trip, Mrs. Carter was also photographed riding a baby elephant, which summoned the wrath of One Green Planet, who said that "there is an incredible amount of suffering involved in Thai elephant tourism," and that the elephant in the photo "was likely taken from his mother and forced to endure a six-month 'breaking' period, during which time he was locked in a small enclosure and continuously beaten by his mahouts (trainers)."This is not the first time Queen Bey has been criticized by animal rights groups. In 2013, French designer Isabel Marant created a pair of sneakers for the singer that were made out of the skins of stingrays, crocodiles, anacondas, ostrichs and calfs, which greatly upset PETA. She is not alone, though: You can check out a list of musicians who have angered PETA here.
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