Trent Fitzgerald

In Usher‘s somber video for ‘Numb,’ the R&B singer breaks through the turmoil and pain that have boxed him in for the past several months.

The wait is finally over Barbz! Nicki Minaj announced on Wednesday the in-store date for her re-release album ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Reup.’ The collection will hit stores on Nov. 19 just in time for the holiday season.

One of the most touching performances at the 2012 BET Hip-Hop Awards was the tribute to Chris Lighty, the visionary manager of hip-hop stars, who died from an apparent suicide in September. The tribute was a powerful display of unity among rappers rarely seen in the genre.

The urban legend that many of hip-hop’s prominent rappers are members of the Illuminati is parodied on the season premiere of FOX’s animated series ‘The Cleveland Show.’ The episode, which airs on Oct. 21, stars Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, will.i.am and the Roots‘ drummer Questlove.

Jay-Z did something this past Saturday (Oct. 6) that millions of New Yorkers do everyday — he rode the subway. Instead of parking the beamer in the arena, the rap mogul took the R train to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

What’s up with Kanye West? After deleting all of his tweets from his timeline for no reason, he returned to Twitter on Friday (Oct. 5) to salute Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs on the one-year anniversary of his death.

Rapper Big Boi recently unveiled his new single ‘Mama Told Me’ from his upcoming album ‘Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors.’ Produced by the Flush Music, the sunshine-y funk-synth track hints at the OutKast rapper’s ’80s musical inspiration of Prince.

Not only is Nicki Minaj ready to conquer ‘American Idol,’ she will also star in her own reality series.

Uh-oh! It looks like Wiz Khalifa is in trouble with the law again. Authorities reportedly wants to speak with the Pittsburgh rhyme-spitter after supposedly leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident last Wednesday (Sept. 19).

Missy Elliott would like to see an end to the on-going feud between Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj. The veteran rhyme-slinger dreams of maybe hitting the road with the two artists on an all-female rap tour.

Usher leads the pack of nominees for the 2012 Soul Train Awards with five nominations, including Album of the Year for ‘Looking 4 Myself.’ Following behind Usher is R&B songbird Estelle with three nods including Song of the Year (‘Thank You’).

When Chris Brown is not getting a controversial tattoo placed somewhere on his body, he’s working on his rapping skills. The R&B singer recently posted a WhoSay video of himself in the studio working on a new rap song.