Alicia Keys is set to release her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, on December 1.

For the follow-up to 2007's As I Am, Alicia Keys is set to release her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, on December 1. Keys worked with longtime collaborator Kerry "Krucial" Brothers along with Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Jay-Z). Her latest single "Doesn't Mean Anything" has already impacted radio.

"The music is really strong, and the drums are really aggressive, but my voice is vulnerable and delicate," Keys said in a statement, adding that the album sum ups her process of "eliminating all of the boundaries and all the limitations, so that you can feel your freedom and express your freedom in every way you possibly can, and that's what I did with this album."

Keys said the album is diverse but has an overarching pattern. "There's a feeling theme," she explained. "And I think somewhere in there, there's a balance. It's like one side is strong and one side is vulnerable. So that's the theme throughout the album. It has this kind of strong, edgy feel. But it's also intimate and vulnerable and delicate."

The Game Accused Of Not Paying $34K To Lawyers, Slapped W/ Lawsuit

The Game is reportedly being taken to court for not paying the lawyers who helped him avoid a five year prison sentence in 2007 on gun charges.

According to the lawsuit, Game owes over $34,000 to his past defense team.

The Game is in a serious feud with the wrong gang of homies -- the lawyers who saved him from 5 years of hard time. The legal team who repped the rapper in the wake of his 2007 arrest on gun charges claims Game never forked over $34,683.90 in bills for the work they did. In the suit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, the firm, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert, claims they even got the guy "a successful outcome." ... and since Game was facing a potential five-year sentence in state prison ... and only ended up serving eight days ... you'd think he got his money's worth. (TMZ)
The incident took place around February 2007 in California.

The charges relate to an alleged fight that the 27-year-old was involved in at a basketball game in Los Angeles back in February. Police said he pulled a gun from his red Cadillac Escalade after punching a player on the opposing team and threatening to shoot him. (BBC News)
He was taken in by police nearly three months later.

The rapper wasn't arrested until May 11, when police descended on his home in the suburb of Glendale. After he was handcuffed, Game stuck out his tongue and yelled to a camera crew, "I want to say I'm not guilty." The chart-topping emcee spent several hours in the pokey before posting $50,000 bail. All the while, investigators executed a search warrant on his 5,000 square-foot home. (E! Online)
An account of what went down was released online shorty afterward.

During a time-out, he allegedly approached the coach saying "Your team is garbage" and "You guys are nothing but a bunch of busters," according to the suit. Turning from his players to approach Game, coach Shannon Rodrick was allegedly punched in the face before the rapper went to his car to grab a gun saying "I'm going to blast this fool." He then proceeded to run into the gym and hide until Game left the basketball court. Pleading no contest to possession of a firearm in a school zone and serving eight days of a 60-day sentence, Game was later ordered to 150 hours of community service and required to spend three years on probation. (Contra Costa Times)

T.I. wins BET awards from prison; Kanye a no-show

ATLANTA – T.I. didn't need to attend the BET Hip-Hop Awards to win two trophies on Saturday.

The rapper, who is locked up in an Arkansas penitentiary on a federal weapons conviction, won the best collaboration award with Rhianna for the song "Live Your Life" and the album of the year award for "Paper Trail." His fiancee Tameka "Tiny" Cottle accepted his awards at the ceremony in Atlanta and read a letter by the rapper, who began serving a yearlong sentence in late May.

"Although I'm not there with you all, I'm there in spirit," Cottle quoted the rapper as writing. "My road to redemption is almost over. ... Thanks for the support."

Jay-Z was honored as the "MVP of the Year," while Drake took home "Rookie of the Year," and Ice Cube received the "I Am Hip-Hop" icon award.

Ice Cube said he was humbled by the award, and he believes his career as filmmaker could earn him more honors in the future. He helped launch the gangsta rap genre with the group NWA, and he starred in "Barbershop" and "Friday," which he also co-wrote.

"When you get recognized by your peers for a life of work, you got to be humbled," the rap veteran said. "I'm honored by this. I have 20 more years of work left in me. I hope (BET) is ready to give out two of these awards."

Rapper Busta Rhymes presented the award for "DJ of the Year" to DJ AM, the celebrity spinner who died of an accidental drug overdose in August.

Kanye West, meanwhile, couldn't hijack the stage, because the rapper was a no-show. West had been expected to attend the fourth annual awards show. He fell under scrutiny for interrupting Taylor Swift's award-winning moment at last month's MTV Video Music Awards.

Jay-Z took the stage with Young Jeezy to perform "Real as It Gets" and rap group Goodie Mob performed its 1995 song "Cell Therapy."

The award show will air on Oct. 27.

Jay-Z Named ‘Hottest MC in the Game’ By MTV

After unveiling their list one-by-one each day last week, MTV has revealed that Jay-Z tops their "Hott MCs In The Game" list for 2009.

With everything he has in the mix, it makes sense that Jay would land atop MTV's annual list. He has a brand new album (The Blueprint 3) that's approaching platinum status; landed atop this year's Hip-Hop Cash Kings list by Forbes; he has a huge clothing empire with Rocawear; logged beefs with some of hip-hop's best; and even most recently, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey" show, a rarity for the daytime talk show.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. His no. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 in September was his 11th, helping him pass Elvis Presley's mark for most no. 1 albums. He's now at no. 2 with only the Beatles ahead of him.

If that isn't hot, what is?

Right behind Jay was Lil Wayne, which is a no-brainer; then Drake at no. 3, another no-brainer; followed by Kanye West, Rick Ross, and so on. Check out the full list over at MTV.com.

We'll run down the list for you below:

1 - Jay-Z
2 - Lil Wayne
3 - Drake
4 - Kanye West
5 - Rick Ross
6 - Gucci Mane
7 - Young Jeezy
8 - Fabolous
9 - 50 Cent
10 - Raekwon

Florida Politicians To Discuss Ban of Hip-Hop Concerts, Due To Stabbing At Plies Concert

The Fort Myers, Florida City Council are set to discuss security concerns at hip-hop concerts thrown in the city's downtown area, after one councilman asked for a ban following a stabbing at a recent concert for hometown artist Plies.

According to local news channel WINK, Councilman Warren Wright said that concerts of the hip-hop genre brings violence to Fort Myers' downtown area and is bad for business.

He knows, however, that a ban is impossible.

"Do I think that we could ban them? I don't think that that would be possible," Wright told the news station. "I think we would have to ban all concerts, and I don't think anyone wants that."

Wright believes rap-related events are responsible for "violence and disruption," citing a September 2008 stabbing of a bouncer, following a Plies performance at the Harborside, as an example.

While the ban is unlikely, Wright says safety issues need to be addressed.

The ban has the vocal support of the city's newly elected mayor, Randy Henderson, who complained that he finds the music "vulgar," and is in favor of quieting Plies

"If there's a legal way to do that, it's a worthy idea," Henderson said.

According to WINK, statistics from the Fort Myers Police Department do not show an increase in crime on concert nights compared to other busy nights.

The City Council discussion will be held during the regular council meeting on Monday (October 5).

Lady Gaga Fights Madonna, Debuts “Bad Romance” on “Saturday Night

Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera stepped up to kiss the Queen of Pop’s ring — well, Madonna herself — at the 2003 VMAs, and Lady Gaga got her chance to pay homage this weekend on Saturday Night Live. But rather than play it straight, SNL cast the two in a mock catfight that pit Gaga (the night’s musical guest) against Madge (in town promoting best-of collection Celebration). It all went down during a “Deep House Dish” sketch when DJ Dynasty Handbag (Kenan Thompson) announced “two exciting entertainers, performing together for the very first time.” The pair of slight blond stars spun around and while Gaga nailed her first lyric — “What’s wrong, Madonna, can’t get into the groove?” — Madonna seemed to blank on her lines, recovering in time to try to yank Gaga’s hair. “What the hell is a disco stick!?” Madonna shouted as the two struggled.

When their mock scuffle moved to the couch, Gaga said, “Hey, guess what Madonna, I’m totally hotter than you” to which Madonna retorted, “What kind of name is Lady Gaga, it sounds like baby food.” Touché. The horrified look on T’Shane (Andy Samberg)’s face said it all: WTF. Like many SNL sketches, there was no clear road out of this bizarre scenario, so Thompson suggested the two kiss and make up.

Get a look at Lady Gaga’s wildest wardrobe moments.

Lady Gaga returned just minutes later for her first performance, in which she put on her best red vinyl and danced to a version of “Paparazzi” that included a brief keytar solo. She was also careful to carefully enunciate the line “To that shit on the radio,” marking the second time this season profanity made it to the air on SNL — and it’s only the second episode of the year.

Gaga debuted an outfit that could double as a third-grade model of the atom for her second performance. The get-up called “The Orbit,” according to her Twitter, was eye-catching but a bit troublesome — it whacked Gaga on the head a few times and caused drama when she segued from “LoveGame” to the piano for a some riffs on life in New York (”cheered for the Yankees with my dad in section six”), “Poker Face” and a bit of new song “Bad Romance.” But Gaga took the time to stretch out and show off her considerable chops on the piano, and shout out “Saturday Night.”

But Lady Gaga was not done there: she showed up again in the night’s final sketch dressed in the bubble outfit the cover of Rolling Stone helped make famous this May. In fact, she was thumbing through the issue as Samberg approached wearing the exact same outfit (now he knows how Pink and Shakira felt at this year’s VMAs).

Jay-Z, Ice-T/WWE, Bounty Killer, Wyclef

Jay-Z has announced a new show in the UK next month. Tickets for Jay-Z’s latest date at Alexandra Palace are slated to go on sale this Friday (October 9) at 9:00 am. Jay-Z is in the UK promoting his latest album The Blueprint 3, as well as “Empire State of Mind,” his new track with Alicia Keys taken from the release. A recent show in London featuring Jay-Z sold out in less than :20 seconds. Jay-Z’s show at Alexandra Palace is slated to take place Wednesday (November 4th).



Pioneering West Coast rapper/actor Ice-T may try his hand at a new career this Fall. The rapper said in a recent interview that Vince McMahon’s WWE contacted him and his wife Coco recently with an offer to appear on the company’s popular Monday Night Raw wrestling show. According to reports, Ice and Coco are working out the scheduling details. The appearance could be delayed, as rumors are spreading that Coco could be pregnant with her first child by Ice-T.



A truce concert between Jamaican artist Bounty Killer and rival artist Vybz Kartel was cancelled yesterday, Bounty Killer was barred from entering Trinidad. Immigration officials cited security concerns and a past performance on the island, where the dancehall artists recited anti-gay lyrics and promoted the use of guns. Vybz Kartel was an artist in Bounty Killer’s group The Alliance. The pair had a falling out in 2006, which led to a number of diss tracks from both artists as well as physical altercations. Bounty Killer, who was featured on No Doubt’s track "Hey Baby," has been featured on songs with Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, , Busta Rhyme and others.



Rapper Wyclef Jean has teamed with Timberland to create an eco-friendly boot to help aid his native land of Haiti. According to reports, Jean will donate a portion of the proceeds of the 16-piece collection to his Yele Haiti Foundation, which he established in 2005. Jean will also raise money by selling a line of t-shirts at his concerts, which were designed by children in Haiti. In related news, the rapper recently revealed that he is attending Berklee College of Music, where he will receive a Bachelors degree in music theory. Jean’s first class is on Monday. His curriculum this fall includes ear training, theory, improvisation and guitar. The rapper left college after one semester to pursue his career in music as part of the chart-topping group The Fugees. His first class is today.