Watching the "Throne" - When Will Kanye & Jay-Z's Album Get Released?

The number of push-backs Jigga and Yeezy's collaboration album has experienced are too numerous to count, but rumor has it that a digital version may hit the web on the 4th of July. The Source magazine was the first to hint at this date and sources close to the label are suggesting the early release as well. This comes after the physical release date for the album was pushed back further to January 2012, ten months later than the original release date in March 2011 and a year after the lead single "H.A.M." was released.

The reasoning behind it is to prevent an early leak of the tracks from cutting into sales, a fear that has plagued virtually every artist in the digital age. In particular, Jay's wife Beyonce witnessed her entire album leak nearly a month before the album's release date this past Tuesday, but first week sales seem to not be taking much of a tumble from first-day sales predictions.

Do you think we'll get an Independence Day treat from the two?

Chris Brown Leads BET Award Nominations

Chris Brown has had quite the comeback year. He has scored his first number one album this year along with his first top ten since 2008 along with three Grammy nominations. Now he can add another six BET Award nods as the singer is the highest nominated artist at this year's ceremony which airs on June 26th. Among the nominations include "Video of the Year" and "Best Male R&B Artist."

Coming second in nominations is none other than Weezy with five, which include a few overlapping nods with Breezy for his contributions on the hit single "Look At Me Now." Up next with four nominations include Rihanna (who has recently followed her ex on Twitter), Kanye West and Drake. To view the full list of nominees, check below:

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?

Kanye West & Jay-Z Perform At MoMA

Kanye West honored New York City's Museum of Modern Art by performing at their annual charity event which raises funds for the museum's budget. A connoisseur of modern art himself, West performed a string of his biggest hits such as "Gold Digger," "Runaway," and "Monster." In addition to his own songs, the Chi-town emcee performed a cover of Stevie Wonder's song "They Won't Go When I Go."

After thanking the crowd and his fans, the rapper surprised everyone by inviting his biggest mentor (and advocate) Jay-Z to the stage where the two performed a version of "Empire State of Mind" and "H.A.M." The performance has been included after the jump.

In other Jay-Z and Kanye news, their collaboration album Watch The Throne is expecting a summer release (tentatively July) and will include several collaborations, including one with Mrs. Carter herself (Beyonce for those who are confused) and Bruno Mars.

Katy Perry's 5th Week at Number One; "Judas" & "Girls" Tumble

Katy Perry' "E.T." spends a fifth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after selling another 300,000 copies this week. This is the fourth week the song has pushed 300k or more and its seventh week atop the Hot Digital Songs chart. Equally impressive is the song has spent a second week atop the Radio Songs chart, making it even less likely that the song will be overtaken atop these charts anytime soon.

Although Perry's reign atop the charts is impressive, a charging late-bloomer is rapidly catapulting up the charts in the form of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Although the song was released in late November, the song has steadily risen up the charts. This week the song, who undersold "E.T." by just a few hundred copies, rises to number two on the charts.

Interestingly enough, some of the most highly anticipated songs have not performed as many might have expected. Lady Gaga's controversial "Judas" falls out of the top ten Digital Songs chart from 9-16 (81,000), while Beyonce's lead single from her upcoming fourth album falls 23-39 with 47,000 sold. Their exact spots on the Billboard Hot 100 will be released tomorrow.

Check out the rest of the top five on the Hot 100 below.

NEW MUSIC: "H.A.M. (Travis Barker Remix)" by Kanye West & Jay-Z

Remember when Travis Barker remixed Soulja Boy's "Crank That?" Well the drummer of Blink-182 has chosen to add his percussion magic to the lead single off Kanye West and Jay-Z's new album Watch The Throne.

Listen to the track below:

The Gaga/Kanye Coulda Should Woulda Moment That Never Was

October 2009 was a great time for Lady Gaga. Her new release "Bad Romance" was storming up the charts and it appeared that the singer was well on her way to securing herself among the pop star elites of contemporary music. The Fame Monster looked as if it would further propel the singer into greater and greater successes, while headlining a major international tour was within an arm's reach.

Look at the stage set up below:

Kanye West, Jane's Addiction to Headline Lollapalooza Chile

Kanye West joins Jane's Addiction and The Killers to headline the first ever Lollapalooza festival in Chile. The Chicago-based music festival will take place on April 2nd and 3rd and will be the festival's first overseas endeavor.

Check the full list of performers below:

New Kanye Album Coming Soon!

Although Kanye West had taken some time off after the VMA incident back in late 2009/early 2010, it appears 2011 will not follow suit. The rapper, who has been enjoying the commercial and critical success of his fifth studio album My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy and his Jay-Z-assisted collaboration single "H.A.M.," seems prepared to embark on new music.

Kanye's and Jay-Z's "Watch the Throne" Official Release Date

Kanye West has let his twitter followers in on the release date (or at least month) of the most anticipated hip-hop album of the next few months. According to the "Runaway" rapper, "I'll be back this SUMMER!!!!!!!!!! WATCH THE THRONE COMING IN 2 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!"

Listen to "All The Lights" below:

Critics Love Them Some Kanye!

Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy received rave reviews when released and now it appears the album has won the Pazz and Jop music critics' poll by a record margin. With a 33.1 percent margin of victory, 'Ye's album has easily taken the top spot for 2010 and as if that was not enough, he has dominated the top 10 songs of 2010 by occupying three spots with his music.

Britney Storms the Billboard Hot 100

Britney Spears has a lot to be happy about today, this after her new single "Hold It Against Me" becomes the 18th song in Billboard history to debut atop the Hot 100 and the first since Kesha's "We R Who We R" achieved that feat late last year. If that isn't enough, she earns the distinction of having the greatest debut sales week for a digital song by a female with 411,000 copies sold, besting Taylor Swift's "Today Was A Fairytale" which sold 325,000 copies its first week back in February 2010. 

Check out the other big debuts and the top ten on this week's Hot 100 below:

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.

Kanye Pulls Another "Taylor Swift Incident" on Britney Spears?

Well, not really, but would anyone really put it past 'Ye? Anyways, Kanye West tweeted today with some levity about the fact that his new Jay-Z-assisted single, "H.A.M." is stuck at number two on iTunes, being held off by Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me." In the tweet, the rapper said, "Yo Britney, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you be #1, but me and Jay-Z single is one of the best songs of all time! LOL."

Lupe Fiasco Postpones Project for Yeezy-Jigga Album

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Remember CRS? If not, Child Rebel Soldiers are three independently successful rappers who had great plans of releasing an album as a super-hip hop band. Consisting of Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco, the trio had formed after working together on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothing - EP back in 2007 and headlined the Glow in the Dark Tour with Rihanna. However, the past three years have essentially led to little new music.

However, the G.O.O.D. Friday mixtape released by Kanye West before his recent album last year renewed hope of the group returning to the studio for the long-awaited album after appearing on the track "Don't Stop!" The good news is that they will be hitting the studio. The bad news is it won't be happening anytime soon.

REVIEW: "H.A.M." by Kanye West & Jay-Z

Are you hard as a motherf*****? Well that's what the acronym H.A.M. represents, the title of the first Kanye West/Jay-Z collaboration from their upcoming album Watching The Throne, and both rappers want to convince you that they certainly are. The Lex Luger-produced track features a one minute verse from each rapper, beginning with Kanye West informing his enemies that he is back, so "forgettaboutit!" Surprisingly, for the hype surrounding the song, West's verse is largely subdued and hardly as hard as the chorus alludes: "I'm about to go H.A.M. Harder as a motherf*****, let these n*****s know who I am."

Nicki MInaj on Album Success: "I deserve it this time!"

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Last Christmas, Nicki Minaj had dreams of success; this Christmas, she's reveling in it. And for good reason too, as the 26 year-old emcee has sold 852,000 copies of her debut album, Pink Friday in less than two months of release. The singer/rapper talked with MTV about her success this past year, including the platinum-certified album of hers and how its sales are stacking up with the other big name of hip hop who released the same week as her.

"[Kanye] got a good start, he beat me the first week," she said, as she has narrowed down the 100,000 sales advantage of West's first weeks sales to a mere 30,000, a number that will likely continue to narrow if her recent sales edge over her peer emcee persists.

U.S. Billboard 200 Chart Update

The thing about releasing a holiday album is that although it may dominate sales during the holiday season, it will inevitably spiral down the charts after Christmas, something most evident in this week's Billboard 200 chart. Some of last week's strong chart players have tumbled down the charts, such as Susan Boyle's The Gift, which loses 92 percent of last week's sales and free-falls from number 2 to number 31 with 19,000. Jackie Evancho's O Holy Night has 89 percent of last week's shaved off to fall from number 4 to number 34, while the Glee Christmas album collapses from number 3 to leaving the top 100 at number 108, a sales hit of 96 percent.

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.