Drake held a listening session for his debut album, Thank Me Later, for select members of the press in Canada.

Here’s what one writer had to say!

In Toronto this afternoon a few of us got an invite from Universal Music to meet Drake and listen to some new tracks from his soon–to–be–released album. It sounds like a monster to me. It was really good stuff. And Drake is a nice kid. Here’s what I can tell you…

1) There’s a song on the disc called “Fireworks” that has the greatest beat ever. Drake has this sidekick producer called 40, and he’s talented. I met him as well this afternoon and he’s also a good kid. He’s about to be very, very busy. “Fireworks” has a hook on it courtesy of Kings of Leon. It’s catchy.

2) There is a Kanye West–produced track on the album that comes with a story. The track was made by Kanye for Beyonce, but Drake really wanted it so he wrote her a handwritten letter asking if he could use it. She read it and thought it was sweet and e–mailed him to give her permission. It’s a great track.

3) There’s a Jay–Z/Drake track that he played for us – minus Jay’s verse. Jay–Z doesn’t let anyone hear his stuff before it comes out. Drake claims it is the greatest verse Jay’s ever done.

4) I think the final track on the album is called “Thank Me Now” or something. He played us a recorded verse then did another one live and it was one of the best. Really cool.

5) He sings on a bunch of tracks on the album.

6) This Saturday Drake will be in L.A. doing a track with Dr. Dre and Eminem.

7) Yes, there is a Timbaland beat on the album.

Spotted @ HipHopSite.com

Are you excited about Thank Me Later???

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Stacey Dash is back in the public eye.

She appeared arm-in-arm with Jamie Foxx last Sunday, and in only five days, she’s managed to keep her name on our tongues.

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She sat down with Wendy Williams and discussed sleeping with all three husbands on their first date, why she’s keeping her sex on lockdown, the death of her “Clueless” castmate Brittany Murphy, and her upcoming VH1 reality show!

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And in this clip, she reveals if she and Jamie are officially an “item,” how the Oscar date came about, and why she hasn’t been single since her teen years.

La La Vazquez perfectly fits the description of an independent woman, even if she shares her bed with her multimillionaire baller fiancé Carmelo Anthony. “I don’t think people understand how hard I’ve worked to achieve the things I have,” she tells Latina.

She tells us in the April 2010 issue of Latina magazine,

“Even with all that I’ve accomplished on my own, I know the story out there about me: ‘[Carmelo] ain’t gonna marry her. She got that ring but now he’s making her wait. He don’t really love her…’ For once…I’d like to tell the story as it is. Not as it’s told.”

What does her fiance have to say?

“I wasn’t making her wait. If anything, I was waiting for her to slow down. She was doing her own thing, handling her business and we were happy. When it was time to take it to the next step we did. Period.”

So has he ever doubted for a minute that La La Vazquez is Mrs. Right, one with life, mindset (and bank account) of her own? Melo speaks slowly, but surely:

“I wouldn’t be with her if it was any other way.” “Understood?”

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On her early hustle:
“I would get off the air at 6, take a shower, and go straight to school,” recalls La La of her early radio days as a 16-year-old on-air personality during the overnight shift in Atlanta. When Ludacris got his own show, La La had to hold her own as his sidekick. “They didn’t want me there,” she told Latina. “We joke about it now. But I had to fight to hang on to my spot.

And on her black Puerto Rican roots:
“The essay,” she says solemnly. “The responses hurt.” She’s speaking of a first person piece she recently wrote for Latina.com on being Puerto Rican, in which she explained that, since childhood, people have often assumed that she is black. “Which I am!” she says, almost yelling. “But I am also 100 percent Puerto Rican and I’m proud of that. People got it twisted and thought I was saying, I’’m Puerto Rican. I’m not black. That isn’t what I was saying. It’s just that when I tell someone I’m Puerto Rican, I don’t want to hear someone say, ‘You ain’t Puerto Rican. You black.’ As if I can only be one or the other. Do I look like Jennifer Lopez? No. Clearly, I’m a black woman. However you want to define that, that’s what I am. And I’m also a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican woman. Period.”

Check out behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot:

The man who directed the Fugees’ breakout music video for “Killin’ Me Softly”  has been charged raping his daughters and fathering six children with them.

From the NY Daily News

Aswad Ayinde, who won an MTV award for directing The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly,” fathered six kids with his daughters from the mid-1980s to 2002 – and delivered the babies himself, New Jersey prosecutors said.

Ayinde, 51, who most recently lived in Paterson, N.J., also had nine kids with his ex-wife, Beverly, and at least three more with two other women in Brooklyn, court records show.

“He said the world was going to end, and it was just going to be him and his offspring and that he was chosen,” Beverly Ayinde testified at a pre-trial hearing.

Also known as Charles McGill, Ayinde faces the first of five trials next month – one for each daughter he allegedly violated, said Lisa Squitieri, the Passaic County prosecutor handling the case.

Ayinde, held on $1 million bond, was hit with 27 charges including aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, lewdness, child endangerment, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact.

His arrest prompted a probe by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services to determine how the suspect allegedly turned his daughters into sex slaves without their knowing.

Some of the crimes allegedly occurred while the family was under scrutiny by the agency – and after the dad admitted to a 2000 attempt to snatch his children from a hospital while the state had temporary custody.
Prosecutors said Ayinde kept the kids from blabbing by beating them with wooden boards or kicking them with steel-toed boots.

Read the whole story at the NY Daily News.

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The Jigga Man picked up his shovel and broke the ground that his team’s new home. Here’s what he had to say about the very special day:

“What I stand here and represent is hope for Brooklyn, New York City. I’m a son of Brooklyn, I’m from Marcy projects,” he told hundreds of onlookers.

“I think about growing up in Brooklyn in the Marcy projects and shooting jump shots, thinking I can make it to the NBA.

Source: gigwise.com

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MediaTakeOut.com learned that VH1 Reality star Lava (from the hit show “For The Love Of Ray J”) may be knocked up with track star Usain Bolt’s seed.

According to one of her gal pals, “Lava” and Usain have been dating for a few months. And word is that she’s now claiming to be pregnant.

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Watch Taneish, better known as Lava, confess to dating Usain at the “For Love Of Ray J” reunion.

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Some of the DC area’s swankiest restaurants are among nearly two-thousand eating establishments in the region recently cited for health code violations. The “Washington Examiner” says over a recent three-month period, health department records indicate problems including rat infestations and slime-covered water faucets. At the top of the list of critical violations were Gordon Biersch Brewery and Georgia Brown’s with eleven. The Palm Restaurant and Toscana Cafe were next with ten. According to the Examiner, both the Palm and Georgia Brown’s kept crab cakes and gravy past their expiration dates. At least 116 restaurants were forced to closed because of their infractions between November 2009 and February 2010, although none of them were upscale establishments.

Copyright © 2010 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company

Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco (formerly Chad Johnson) is using his off-season to pursue happiness off the field in his new VH1 reality show “The Tournament” (working title).  The series will follow the drama of the dating pool played out in a bracket-style tournament.  

“The Tournament” will start with Ocho Cinco finding his “first 85″ by traveling all over the country meeting women that may be interested in dating him.  Then, during the first episode, he will narrow the playing field down to the sweet sixteen – four women from each of the four regions of the country – Northern, Western, Southern and Central Divisions. The sixteen chosen women will be invited to join Ocho Cinco for the rest of the tournament-style dating competition.

Once the competition begins, Ocho Cinco will follow a tournament bracket where each of the ladies will have an opportunity to spend quality time with him while also facing off against one another in double-dates.  The winner of each dating face-off will receive a game ball from Ocho Cinco and move on to the next round of the tournament, while the loser goes home.  Ultimately the sweet sixteen will be narrowed down to eight and then the final four.  In the end, the championship date between the two remaining women will result in Ocho Cinco awarding his chosen love the coveted Championship Ring.

The 10 episode, one-hour series is set to premiere in July 2010.

You can even apply here!

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Sadat X of Brand Nubian teamed up with Pete Rock for this slice of unadulterated boom bap from Sadat X’s forthcoming Wild Cowboys II album.

Wild Cowboys II hits stores, both physical and digital, on March 23rd!

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After claiming that radio stations refused to play his music and crying for fans’ support on SayNow (Chris Brown Needs Your Help), Chris Brown decided to come back to popular micro-blogging site Twitter. After several posts, he then began promoting his music, writing ” ‘Too Freaky’… mixtape on fire right now.”

Chris Brown left Twitter back in December 2009 after he threw tantrum on the social network (Chris Brown Has Meltdown On Twitter), claiming that Walmart and other major stores had boycotted his album “Graffiti”. Before closing his account, he gave fans short message, thanking their support but providing no explanation about the exit.

The “Run It!” singer opened a new Twitter account under the name of @chrisbrown.

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He also read to students at Sisulu-Walker Charter School’s annual “Family Read Night” school in Harlem yesterday.