Dr. Dre and Diddy today in New York City.

As we reported a few months ago, 50 has had to dramatically slim down for his role in the upcoming film Things Fall Apart, of which he will star and produce. Notice the tattoos have been removed as well.

Fat Beats will release this album on July 27th. Bold claim in that title, considering all the heat dropping in 2010…… TRACKLIST: 01. 365 02. Welcome (Gotta Go) 03. Keep Going 04. Oh Girl feat AB 05. Deadly Medley feat Royce Da 5’9 & Elzhi 06. Distortion feat Melanie Rutherford 07. Over Again feat Monica [cont.]

Here is the cover art for the upcoming mixtape, F*ck A Mixtape from T.I., DJ MLK and DJ Drama. As of now the mixtape is slotted for a May 27th release.

The press release reads as follows….. “SunStorm” is the latest album from Detroit-area born, DC-area based producer/multi-instrumentalist Zo! Best known for his 2008 collaboration with Phonte on the cult classic “Zo and Tigallo Love the 80′s” as well as his work on The Foreign Exchange’s Grammy-nominated LP, “Leave It All Behind,” “SunStorm” is an extensive [cont.]

El-P released the following statement in regards to Camu Tao’s King of Hearts LP, which will see release on August 17th on Definitive Jux / Fat Possum. Who said Jux was done? Not us. Two years ago today  Tero “Camu Tao” Smith died after a grueling battle with cancer.  He was a friend, a son, [cont.]

According to papers obtained by TMZ, Nas and Kelis’s divorce is now final. Even with the termination of the marriage, the former couple will continue to battle over child and spousal support. Nas was previously forced to pay more than $47,000 in back child support and more than $40,000 in back spousal support as a [cont.]

The lineup for the Rock The Bells festival has been announced, which will include the Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, KRS-One, Slick Rick, Street Sweeper Social Club, Murs & 9th Wonder, Wiz Khalifa, Clipse, Immortal Technique, DJ Muggs + Ill Bill, Brother Ali, Jedi Mind Tricks, Supernatural, Yelawolf, Big Sean, DJ Rocky Rock, and surprise guests. Also, [cont.]

Phonte recently opened up to The Onion AV Club’s longtime hip-hop contributor Nathan Rabin about his forthcoming solo LP. AVC: What can you say about your solo album? PC: I started it last year, and I kind of got into it, but once we got nominated for the Grammy, I was like, “Okay, fuck a [cont.]

According to URB Lauryn Hill has been confirmed to perform her Grammy award winning album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill at the Rock The Bells 2010. Rock The Bells has not confirmed or denied this as of yet and the final press conference for Rock The Bells comes later tonight. A Tribe Called Quest is [cont.]

Opinions?

Well, guests haven’t been revealed, but you can guess it will include some of the Cash Money allstars. Yeah, he’s going up against Drake on June 15th….. Think Lucas wants a piece of the action with the Star Wars font up there? TRACKLIST: 1 I Made It (Cash Money Heroes) (feat. Birdman, Lil Wayne, Jay [cont.]

Another killer off of The U.N.’s Heat In Here Vol. 1., with Vado and Young Chris bringing heat. It’s also good to see Cam back at it full tilt again. Heat In Here Vol drops on May 25th. Vado feat. Young Chris – “Kill ‘Em” (MP3)

Aubrey Berry was recently found not guilty of killing rapper Dolla from last May 18th. The jury found that Mr. Berry was using self defense when he shot and killed Dolla. Dolla was signed to Akon’s Konvict Muzic label in 2007 and was in the process of working on his debut album.

According to sources Lil Kim has officially signed a new deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. Lil Kim has been working on a new album for some time, and her new album will be executively produced by Jay-Z. More information to come.

Official tracklisting for Drake’s Thank Me Later was released today – in stores June 15th. Tracklist: 1. Fireworks (Feat. Alicia Keys) (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib) 2. Karaoke (Produced by Francis & The Lights) 3. The Resistance (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib) 4. Over (Produced by Boi-1da) 5. Show Me A Good Time (Produced by [cont.]

OkayPlayer chimes in with new info regarding the “official tracklist” as released by Def Jam this morning. It reads: While the 6/22 release date for How I Got Over was something we had heard a while back, The Roots’ were still working on the album as early as last week when the label pushed the [cont.]

A Def Jam press release this morning revealed some interesting details on Curren$y’s long awaited Pilot Talk debut. The release states that the album is “set for release in June” and will be “produced (entirely?) by Ski Beatz”. We dig a little deeper inside Universal’s retail database to find an official street date – the [cont.]

Brooklyn Bodega, producers of the 6th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival (BHF) announces the details of their new event “Salute the DJ.” This event is on July 8th as part of the week-long 2010 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. Salute the DJ honors this invaluable foundation of Hip-Hop with a portion of the night’s proceeds being donated to [cont.]

Nas and Junior. Gong chat with Hard Knock TV about K’naan’s affect on Distant Relatives. If you still haven’t copped the album, check out where to cop it.