hip hop

I guess Jay-Z wasn't actually rapping about March Madness.

"Reanimated corpse" isn't entirely accurate. It's actually a hologram of the late, great West-coast rapper, which gave a surprise performance to finish off the first week of Coachella 2012. This proves that (a) industry executives can own your body as well as your soul, and (b) '90s nostalgia has gotten WAY out of hand.

If P. Diddy can change his name and Willie Nelson can release a reggae album, why can't Snoop Dogg do both? The 40-year-old rapper formally announced today that he would be changing his name to Snoop Lion and abandoning rap to focus on reggae.

At a recent press conference, the newly-christened Snoop Lion described his life-changing visit to a Rastafarian temple while in Jamaica recording for his new album:

"I didn't know that until I went to the temple, where the High Priest asked me what my name was, and I said, 'Snoop Dogg.' And he looked me in my eyes and said, 'No more. You are the light; you are the lion.' From that moment on, it's like I had started to understand why I was there."

[news.com.au]

I'm a little disappointed to discover that Lil Wayne was not, as a child, what the cover to Tha Carter III suggested he was.

Vinyl junkies and nerdy hip-hop heads are no doubt salivating at this awesome R2D2-styled turntable. It looks like a heavily modded Technics 1200, so it's not too out of the question to find one on Craigslist to build a C3PO counterpart.

[boingboing]

No, really you guys. It's really him.

How DARE you sully the name of DJ Yella. IS NOTHING SACRED?

Better ask Inspectah Deck (badum tss!).

This kid is only four years old, and his rhythm and beats are impeccable. Maybe when he learns to read and write, he can be an even better lyricist!

Product placements aren't just for movies and tv shows.