Freestyle Battles and Rap Battles at Hiphopmadness.com

DMX's Arizona home is reportedly under foreclosure and has been put up for sale by a local bank.  The realtor selling DMX's home, Andrew Wheeler, revealed to AZFamily today (January 2) that the home was left unprotected and in shambles after it was raided for the second time by authorities in May 2008.

Wheeler divulged that the house's doors and windows were blown during the raid and it made it easy for thieves to enter the house.

Kanye West is well-known for two things: his awesome rapping and his arrogance. The guy's music is so intensely good it (almost) justifies his God complex. Every time the rapper gets onstage at some awards show and accepts one statue by claiming he should have won another one, we usually have to agree. West has encouraged us to expect such a superhuman level of perfection from him, it was inevitable he would one day not be able to meet it. 

Soulja Boy isn’t known for controversy and beef – unless you count the Ice-T fiasco awhile back - as much as he is known as being a fun rapper.  But now it appears that the rapper, who has cashed in on youtube fame and a dance craze, has become the target of up and coming NYC emcee Charles Hamilton.

When Lil Wayne found out he was named MTV News' 2008 Man of the Year, he responded in typical Weezy-ian fashion: He wished everyone happy holidays.

To be fair, that's not all he said, but it's how he signed off in the e-mail he sent to MTV News, in between stops on his I Am Music Tour. He also thanked his fans and his pals here in the newsroom, and he promised bigger things to come in 2009, if that's even possible. (Fans and detractors alike weighed in on his Man of the Year status here.) And while he was also plenty grateful for the honor, the way he chose to end his e-mail just struck us as being completely hilarious — something that could have only sprung from the wild mind of Wayne.

The Boston Herald reported, a Boston postal worker and former art student, Timothy McGee, is claiming "characters, artwork, storylines [and] concepts" were stolen from a show he proposed nearly ten years ago titled The Music Factory of the 90's.

The suit says Andre "3000" Benjamin of Outkast "was credited with the creation, executive production and starring role in 'Class of 3000,'" which aligned very closely to the themes previously detailed by McGee in The Music Factory. The suit also states the allegedly stolen characters included "a tough full-of-attitude female executive, a young techno-whiz sound engineer, and a talented young Asian singer and a central energetic young singer/rapper," were nearly duplicated.

Just in case you thought Yung Berg was somewhere loving a light-skinned shorty, think again. The young rapper has been criticized for statements made on a Shade 45 radio show where he cited his preference for light-skinned women in a very unique way. Berg said he didn't like "dark butts" and for a number of weeks after, he paid for that statement. Now, almost six months later, Yung Berg is still trying to correct his flawed quote by casting dark-skinned women in a new reality dating show.

There is also talk that the Notorious B.I.G.'s son will appear on a 'One More Chance' remake for the disc. It would have to be Bad Boy. You can't imagine a Notorious B.I.G. project without some sort of association with Diddy's label. It has been confirmed that the soundtrack to the Biggie biopic "Notorious" will, in fact, be released by Big's former recording home.

Although most of the performers and producers are still being confirmed, an album trump card has already been revealed: Big's good friend Jay-Z. Hov has the first track we'll hear off the album, "Brooklyn (We Go Hard)." Kanye West produced the song, and Santogold is featured on it.

Ludacris will bring holiday cheer to 500 Atlanta families this Thanksgiving, via his non-profit organization, The Ludacris Foundation. This weekend (November 22 & 23rd), Luda and the foundation's LudaCares program will distribute Thanksgiving turkeys and pies to underprivileged residents of metro Atlanta.

"This is the foundation's sixth year giving away turkeys and distributing food boxes for Thanksgiving," Ludacris revealed. "I especially look forward to this time of year because it allows me directly touch the people we are trying to help."

Lawsuit takes aim at 50's persona of 'belligerence and arrogance.' The lawyers for Taco Bell may know about the law, but it seems they're not too up on the rules of the hip-hop game. 

In a trash-talking countersuit filed in U.S. District Court in New York in September that recently surfaced, the food chain's lawyers shot back against a trademark-infringement suit filed by 50 (born Curtis Jackson) last summer, in which the MC sued the chain for allegedly making him an unauthorized spokesman in a campaign in which they suggested he change his name to "79 Cent" or "99 Cent" to match prices on the Taco Bell menu.

Rap star Kanye West addressed his most recent encounter with photographers via his blog yesterday (November 15).

In a lengthy entry, West, who was momentarily detained in London Friday morning (November 14), explained his side of the confrontation outside a nightclub in Newcastle in the United Kingdom.

“I am protecting my personal space since there are no laws to protect that for me,” West wrote. “I’m a normal person that’s just famous. I refuse to sneak in and out of back doors and kitchens of hotels, etc.”

Kanye West is to music what Michael Jordan was to basketball — at least that's what West thinks, in his humble estimation.

"I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "It's me settling into that position of just really accepting that it's one thing to say you want to do it and it's another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan."

It looks like Lil Wayne is getting that diverse tour he wished for — on Monday night (November 10), T-Pain's camp confirmed an eight-week trek with Teddy P, Keyshia Cole, Gym Class Heroes and Weezy starting December 18. There should be no problem filling the set lists up, as Pain's Thr33 Ringz comes out November 11; Cole's next album, A Different Me, drops December 16, and Wayne is set to release his latest street massacre, the Dedication 3 mixtape on Thursday. Once again, the New Orleans Fireman teams up with the Mixtape President, DJ Drama.

Recently, 50 Cent explained that he had spent some time over in Detroit at Eminem's home to work on a few songs together - one of which yielded the highly anticipated "Norman Bates Motel.

After shouting out slave masters during an interview with BET journalist Touré, Soulja Boy tries to explain his statement, sayin the comment was “blown out of proportion.” He cited the mock interview the journalist did with Bow Wow and Omarion for the response given.

Philly rapper Cassidy was recently signed to NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony's Krossover Entertainment label, where he plans to release a new album. While Cassidy works in the studio on his as-yet-titled album, the label prepares for the release of their first artist, Berg, who will release his debut album, tentatively titled Language Arts.

Prolific MC Mos Def has found himself in hot water with the law once again. Earlier this year, Mos Def was being investigated by Las Vegas Police for larceny after a run in with a fan outside the local Hilton hotel.

The "fan" turned out to be Volker Corell -- an official photographer for the Men's Apparel and Garment Industry Convention (MAGIC) in Las Vegas.

Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon will receive an upgrade from Samuel L. Jackson and Wu-Tang Clan rapper/producer RZA.  Jackson  is preparing to star in a remake of the 1985 cult classic.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the entertainer will play “Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem,” a role played by the late Julius Carry in the original film. For Jackson, the chance to portray the iconic villain was too good to pass up.

The lines between 50 Cent "the rapper" and 50 "the actor" are slowly, but surely blurring into one cohesive being, so it only makes sense that he adds an element of drama to his new video for the single 'Get Up.'

Superstar Lil Wayne is capping off his record-breaking 2008 year with a personal milestone in the birth of his first son.

The newborn, named Dwayne Carter III, was born this afternoon at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Despite rumors and leaked pictures, Wayne has not confirmed the identity of the child’s mother. 

MILWAUKEE - Celebrating in the new economy could mean more time at home and less time in the bars, Sean "Diddy" Combs says.

The entertainment mogul's new ad for his superpremium vodka Ciroc is a throwback to the 1950s, featuring Combs and his friends, clad in tuxedos and gowns, drinking and dancing to Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me."