Common reveals and explains the concept behind the cover art for his highly anticipated album, Nobody’s Smiling, due July 22nd on No I.D.’s Atrium imprint via Def Jam. Check out the video about the creation of the cover art, as well as standard and deluxe editions below.

Cam’Ron will deliver the first volume of his 1st Of The Month EP series on July 1st. Check out the artwork and tracklist down below. 1. Other Side (feat. Sen City) 2. Talk About It 3. Funeral 4. Put It In The Sky (feat. UN KASA) 5. Homicide

Las Vegas’ highly anticipated second annual Life Is Beautiful festival will happen October 24-26, with the official line-up revealed today. Headlined by Kanye West, The Foo Fighters, Outkast, Artic Monkeys, and Skrillex, the complete line-up is as follows: Kanye West, Foo Fighters, OutKast, Arctic Monkeys, Skrillex, Lionel Richie, The Flaming Lips, The Roots, Girl Talk, [cont.]

Killer Mike and El-P will form as Run The Jewels for a 13 city North american tour, throughout the U.S. and Canada. They are currently working on their second album, which will include collaborations with Zach De La Rocha and Travis Barker. Dates below: 07-31 Salt Lake City, UT – Pioneer Park * 08-02 Chicago, [cont.]

Police are in search of a suspect who fired several shots at an SUV with Schoolboy Q riding inside, after his show at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, CO on Thursday. Three men in the car were wounded, although Schoolboy Q remained unscathed. The injuries were not life threatening. After the shooting, the SUV [cont.]

Universal has released the first photo of the cast of F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton, featuring the film’s Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube. It was news broke earlier in the week that Dr. Dre would be played by Marcus Callender, however this has turned out to be incorrect, as the role will go [cont.]

Double-dose of news today regarding Game’s next two albums. His previously announced Blood Money: Year Of The Wolf for Ca$h Money Records is slated for release September 16th. Not one to be outdone, 50 Cent, has announced on Hartford, CT’s Hot 93.7 Morning Show that his next album, Street King Immortal, will see release on [cont.]

Jeru The Damaja has returned with The Hammer EP, an eight song release that was first previewed with last year’s “Solar Flares”, produced by Large Professor. Additional production by P.F. Cuttin’, JuJu Of The Beatnuts, The Polish Kid, and Engineer Lou Sabor. Check out the cover art and tracklist for the project below, as well [cont.]

It was revealed last week that Ice Cube cast his son, OMG, to play him in the upcoming N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, directed by F. Gary Gray. Today, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Dr. Dre will be played by Marcus Callender (Dinner At 40), while Eazy-E will be helmed by Jason Mitchell (Contraband, Broken [cont.]

Legendary hip-hop group Souls of Mischief announce that they’re releasing a conceptual collaboration with renowned producer and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge entitled There Is Only Now on Adrian’s newly launched record label, Linear Labs on August 26th, 2014. Inspired by a near-fatal incident involving group members A-Plus, Opio, Tajai, and Phesto early in their careers, the [cont.]

Statik Selektah reveals the cover art to his August 19th Showoff / Duck Down Records release, What Goes Around. I dig my man @StatikSelekt new LP cover, but all I can think about is the tonearm bouncing & the needle breaking ;) pic.twitter.com/4YQa6mI2SH — DJ Pizzo (@djpizzoHHS) June 13, 2014

Modelled after the classic Street Fighter II artwork, video game giant Capcom will sponsor the upcoming Drake vs. Lil Wayne tour. Who knows if that will extend to character merchandise or add on DLC for Drake and Wayne modelled in the same fashion, but the 30 date tour kicks off September 27th.

Eminem is the first artist to receive two Diamond certified singles – that is, singles that have sold and streamed over 10 million. Both “Not Afraid” and “Love The Way You Lie” (feat. Rhianna), both from his 2010 LP, Recovery, have been awarded the prestigious Diamond plaques from the RIAA. “We are delighted to recognize [cont.]

Madlib took to Twitter to announce his next project, Rock Konducta, will drop on July 15th, with a shot of the cover artwork. Rock Konducta. July 15. http://t.co/elHIlmLSIr pic.twitter.com/yfTRo5WrrY — Madlib (@madlib) June 10, 2014

Cage has announced and released a trailer for his Destroy The Archetype tour, which you can see below. Dates for the 40 city North American trek can be seen here. Additional support from Sam Hill, Sadistik, and Maul Skull.

After their performance of Gambino’s “The Worst Guys” at The Governor’s Ball this past weekend, Donald Glover announced via Twitter that he and Chance The Rapper are working on a collaborative EP. Check out the tweet below, along with some smartphone footage of the performance. now that chance finally released his verse on "worst guys", [cont.]

Mike Will Made It’s got a star-studded single about to drop, featuring each Future, Lil Wayne, and Sir Kendrick. Here’s a peek at the cover art.

50 Cent speaks with local Philadelphia Fox affiliate Fox 29. He reveals that a G-Unit reunion album will be released this November. “You’ll see an album by late November,” Fifty confirms when asked about the G-Unit reunion album.

Two-time Grammy Award®-winning Chicago rapper, actor Common has fulfilled a life-long goal with the announcement of his signing to No ID’s Artium /Def Jam Recordings. “Kingdom” featuring Vince Staples out now, Common’s lead track from his upcoming tenth studio album Nobody’s Smiling, set for July 22nd release. Nobody’s Smiling marks a creative reunion between Common [cont.]

Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, delivered the second episode of his Deep Web Tour blog, in the form of an animated video, that looks like a cross between Second Life and Grand Theft Auto V. The mysterious animation, is backed by his music, features a character that shares his likeness, and announces “Because The Internet: [cont.]