Guardian Music — (Universal)Between Kelly Rowland's profile-raising stint as an X Factor judge and the ubiquity of her autumn hit Down for Whatever, this album should have been packed with enough "plot" to send it straight to the top 10. Yet it stalled at 43 (though ... more info

The Hip Hop Chronicle — The highly anticipated video has finally dropped.   more info

Stereogum — Drizzy cruises the Bay in the clip for Take Care bonus cut “The Motto,” a track whose video version now features YMCMB’s Tyga. Direct homage is paid to E-40, who nods in approval in the background. Do I need to get some batting gloves? Watch th... more info

Guardian Music — Artists such as Lil' B and Lil Wayne are tackling hip-hop's anti-gay sentiments, but it might have been Kanye West who set the ball rollingTo say that hip-hop has enjoyed an uneasy relationship with homosexuality would be an understatement. Since tim... more info

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