Guardian Music — With labels scared to sign an artist that might not sell, no wonder this was the year the free hip-hop mixtape flourishedThe free mixtape has long been a platform for emerging artists to get themselves noticed, but in 2011 the format came into its ow... more info

Perez Hilton — Michael Buble's Christmas debuted seven weeks ago, and it's been atop of the charts for four weeks now with an anticipation of 500,000 sold by December 18. This makes Buble's jingle jamz the fourth best selling album of the year, right behind Adele,... more info

ContactMusic — Hip-hop superstar Lil Wayne is branching out into the fashion industry with a clothing line inspired by his love of skateboarding The Lollipop hitmaker has been working on Trukfit a unique collection featuring bold graphics and quality fabrics all ba... more info

The Hip Hop Chronicle — Below is T.I.’s verse on Ke$ha’s new track. Later tonight the full remix with Lil Wayne, Andre 3000 and Wiz Khalifa will be released. 57thAve more info

The Hip Hop Chronicle — Celebrity impersonator Affion Crockett has launced a mobile app packed with his trademark spoof videos, brand new impersonations of Kayne, Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Chris Brown, Erykah Badu and Russell Simmons. The application also has the Aff Samuels radio ... more info

411 Mania — Beating out Nicki Minaj and more... more info

Stereogum — Big week for Hov, with regards to milestones; not only did he topple Lil Wayne’s Billboard record for “Most Top 10 Singles By A Rapper” with 18 (“Niggas In Paris”), he announced that he’ll play a pair of benefit shows at one of NYC’s mo... more info

Detroit Free Press — Billboard has declared Adele the No. 1 artist of 2011. Rihanna was No. 2, followed by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne. The list, announced today, takes into account album sales, charting singles, radio airplay and other factors. more info

Topix — New Orleans rapper B.G., an original member of the late-1990s rap group Hot Boys that included big-name rappers such as Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Young Turk, has pleaded guilty in a gun case that could lead to 40 years behind bars. more info

Topix — Adele's "21" is the year's top-selling album with 4.8 million copies sold. Some of those numbers came from iTunes, where the album was the most popular; following behind was "Sigh No More" by Mumford & Sons, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV," Jay-Z and Kan... more info