It’s finally here!  The Queen Bee of Rap Lil’ Kim is back and ready to reclaim her throne with ‘Hardcore 2:  The Mixtape.’

Teasing fans with drops like that of her newly risen Jadakiss-assisted single ‘Real Slick,’ the highly anticipated mix tape comes as the rap potentate’s first full body of work since 2011’s ‘Black Friday.’  Originally scheduled to drop tonight at 9:11 pm, the demand for the digital album was so great that it temporarily shutdown Kim’s site – sending fans into an uproar over the extended wait.

Now that the wait is over, did she deliver a critical masterpiece worthy of being pegged the sequel to her classic 1996 debut ‘Hardcore?’

Take your first listen to ‘Hardcore 2’ and tell us below:

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It’s finally here!

Unsigned but more than equipped to go toe to toe with Pop contender is Carmen, the exotic beauty behind the budding smash that is ‘Cold.‘

Love big hair, wind machines, fierce moves and vocals? She’s your girl, serving all of the above in abundance in the song’s official video, releasing the clip alongside a team made up of creatives pulled from Camp J.Lo and Camp Nicole Scherzinger.

Why we can’t get enough of her?

Urban Contemporary excellence after the jump!

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Jagged Edge take a mature step in the right direction with their new single ‘Ready’ today, releasing the love song before the October 27th release of their new album ‘J.E. Heartbreak 2.’

Why it’s a step in the right direction? It’s theme, which sees the quartet leave the club-hopping escapades to their genre sons (Chris Brown & Trey Songz) to court the ears of older audiences with talk of marriage, commitment and true love.

Good music from a great group, below…

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Responsible for her introduction to the game back in 2006, Ryan Leslie‘s short-lived run at the top with Cassie may seem to have spawned nothing more than a hit in the single ‘Me & U’ and modelling career for the stage-shy singer.

Fortunately for the pair, looks are often deceiving- doing very little to tell a story that’s been anything but short-lived for the producer, who has revealed just how much he has earned from the aforementioned ‘Me’ and its parent album, ‘Cassie.’

A ‘Hot 97’ exclusive below…

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Their struggle to sell albums may be real, but it would seem very little can stop Jason Derulo and Jeremih from rockin’ and rollin’ on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’!

How the pair are causing quite the scene on the US singles chart?

Good news after the jump…

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Has the chart-slaying beauty that is Rihanna eyed Yung Berg material to complete her new album?

Maybe…maybe not. Why the confusion?

Well, yesterday saw the ‘Work For It’ rapper reveal that he was hard at working on new music for the Grammy winner, hinting that he was to nab a placement on the hotly anticipated release.

His tweet below…

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Today’s the day!

Lil Kim releases her first body of work in three years later this evening when ‘Hard Core 2k14’ is unleashed on the masses.

The set, which follows 2011’s ‘Black Friday’, has been hyped (and delayed) in earnest. Will it deliver, though, now that it’s finally nigh?

New number ‘Real Sick’ –  featuring rapper Jadakiss – aims to serve up an early answer. Take a listen to the track, which premiered early this morning on Shade45 radio, below…

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It would seem Adele isn’t the only Sony chanteuse set to make major moves this quarter.

For today has brought news with it revealing that ‘A Star is Born’ icon Barbra Streisand is to deliver a rare Late Night performance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.’

Epic news below…

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We’re still over here cracking up at Ellen‘s viral spoof of Nicki Minaj‘s latest hit ‘Anaconda.’

Dropping just a day before the Harajuku Barbie was due to visit, the visual featured a big bummed Ellen getting down with the likes of Minaj and her slew of booty-ful background dancers.  Pushing the already hit song into the stratosphere (where it now boasts over 145 million views on Youtube), Minaj dropped by to weigh in on Degeneres’ rendition of her Amazon-inspired video and more.

Also dishing on that now-infamous wardrobe malfunction from the 2014 MTV VMAs, tuck in to hear what Nicki had to say about all of this below:

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Ariana Grande is playing approximately no games.

Embracing this era’s need for artists to be more than just forces on the charts, the petite powerhouse is prepping her first US arena trek.

Christened ‘The Honeymoon Tour’, the major jaunt (which kicks off in Kansas next February) is being launched in support of Grande’s sophomore album ‘My Everything’, which rocketed straight to number one on the Billboard 200 upon release last month.

Excited? Find out when the ‘Problem’ belter is hitting a city near you below..

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New wig, new album?

Rihanna has been noticeably quiet of late, which is hardly surprising given the wealth of competition on the charts at present.

However, it appears Ms. Fenty is readying a return to the spotlight if her new shoot for Tush magazine is anything to go by.

Surprisingly clothed, the model played up her strongest attribute by striking many a fierce pose in the tribal-themed feature.

The look, which is somewhat consistent with her edgy editorial lensed for W Magazine recently, has many speculating about the direction of her upcoming eighth album – which fans have tentatively tagged ‘#R8’.

Realistically, we doubt ol’RiRi even knows herself. After all, it’s not as if she has much of a hand in the musical side of her career.

We just hope she comes on her vocal game proper. Because neither the Candyman or Freddy Krueger were a patch on the horror that was her voice during  The Monster Tour last month.

Anyway…peep more pics below…

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Swedish photographer Camilla Akrans is to thank for Katy Perry‘s spread in October’s Harper’s Bazaar, capturing the ‘Teenage Dreamer’ for snaps that accompany a tell-all interview.

What she discussed? Her relationship woes, on which she shared:

What I’ve learned is that if you don’t have the foundation of self-love first, you really have nowhere to pull love from to give it away. I had to learn about taking care of myself before I could take care of others.

 

More below!

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