Nicki Minaj Tosses Diddy As Manager

 Nicki Minaj made news last year when she ditched her longtime manager Debra Atney for Diddy just months before the release of her platinum-selling Pink Friday. But it seems that the business honeymoon is over between the two as the Young Money princess has chosen to switch managers again, this time selecting Hip Hop Since 1978 to take the responsibility of her marketing and promotional ventures.

According to XXL.com, while the split was amicable, Minaj and her team cited limited involvement and initiative on behalf of Diddy as the reason for their parting ways. Even with his minimal engagement, it has not seemed to hurt the Queens native as she spends another week in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 and her fourth single is resting very comfortably on the charts as "Super Bass" is currently #11 on iTunes.

Her new management has managed Lil Kim before (ironic, don't you think) but more successfully has represented Kanye West, Drake and Lil Wayne. Do you think this management change is a good thing?

Drake Scores Six Nods At Juno Awards; Arcade Fire With Five

The U.S. may have the Grammys, but their northern neighbors have the Juno Awards and leading in the upcoming 2011 nominations is none other than Young Money and Toronto's own Drake with six.  The six categories in which the rapper is nominated include album of the year, artist of the year, songwriter of the year, rap recording of the year, single of the year, and the JUNO fan choice award.

Rihanna and Drake Performing At Grammys

You can now officially add Rihanna to the list of Grammy Award performers after the singer just announced that she will perform at this year's ceremony. Due to a "twitition" (twitter petition) and overwhelming support for the singer to perform, she has confirmed on twitter that she and Drake will perform her single "What's My Name?"

VIDEO PREMIERE: "Moment 4 Life" by Nicki Minaj featuring Drake

Nicki Minaj has invoked the many stage personalities for which she has become known in the new video for "Moment 4 Life." Her Godmother Martha Zolanski (mother of Minaj personality Roman Zolanski) tells the femcee of her moment for life, after which Nicki, wearing a headdress of yellow gold and cascading diamonds, moves through the palatial mansion of partygoers. The train of her turquoise gown trails the "Right Thru Me" rapper/singer, before a cotton candy pink-wigged Minaj meets with her fellow Young Money star, Drake, with open arms.

The dapper Canadian emcee raps his part, before the two approach the altar, against a backdrop of flowing fireworks. The two never officially lock lips, but as the clock strikes midnight, their lips near and retract as the fireworks display overtakes the two.

Watch the music video below (before it is yanked from YouTube by the evil music labels):

Who Might Dominate? 'Ye and Jigga or Drizzy and Weezy?

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We know for sure that Kanye West and Jay-Z are working on a hip-hop collaboration album, but is a reported Drizzy Drake and Weezy album on the back burner, and if so, who might dominate? According to sources, the oft-discussed collaborative effort is in the process of being recorded and a Drake interview with Tim Westwood seems to corroborate these reports.

Drake and Florence + The Machine to Collaborate

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When word leaked that Kanye West had teamed up with 11 different artists on "All of the Lights" on his recent album, with Elton John and La Roux's Elly Jackson among the list, most were scratching their heads. The final product, while one of the strongest songs of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was more of a Kanye/Rihanna collaboration than anything else. Hopefully, the news of a Drake and Florence and The Machine collaboration will yield more artistic originality as the pairing of hip hop's newbie and British Indie band is certainly an unusual one.

The two met during Florence Welch's critically acclaimed performance of their hit song "Dog Days Are Over" during the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. After that meeting, the two have been in communication about working on her band's follow up album. She has even gone so far to name Drake as one of her favorite hip hop artists, and accompanied the Canadian emcee at his UK show at the Apollo in London. She also told People Magazine that Drake and hip hop influence her music.

Rick Ross & Drake Lovin' on Rihanna

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Rihanna's got the men of hip hop around her little finger, doesn't she? At least, that's what a new Rick Ross and Drake collaboration reveals, in which both Rick Ross and Drake name-drop the singer. The song, which was intended to lead off his Ashes to Ashes mixtape, features a polished, looping beat and lyrics in which Ross mentions Katy Perry, T-Pain, Wiz Khalifa and Rihanna, among others. In it, he rhymes:

"That 65, I call it Rihanna / It got a red top but it's white like Madonna"

2009 BET Hip Hop Awards

The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards aired yesterday evening with Jay-Z leading the pack of winners with four awards under his belt.

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The award ceremony was nothing spectacular but entertaining nonetheless, with hip hop A-listers Gucci Mane, Snoop Dogg, Mario, Fabolous, Ludacris, and Young Jeezy taking the stage among others. As for the winners, T.I. came in second with the most wins, scoring three awards (two of which he shared with Rihanna for their hit single "Live Your Life"), while Drake and Kanye West came in with two awards. While I do have some disagreements with the nominations of some awards, I think BET did a good job in awarding the winners of each category, since I had virtually no disagreements with the winners. As for awards shows, there is still a ways until the 52nd Grammy Awards, which are slated for January 31, 2010.

Click here for some of the performances of last nights show.