Eminem has earned yet another accolade. Rolling Stone has bestowed the rap titan with its current King of Hip-Hop title based on his album sales, YouTube views, and social-media scores.


Not far behind Marshall Mathers is Lil Wayne, who claims second place based on his album and ticket sales, online rankings, and awards, while his Young Money cohort Drake comes in third.

The list is not a ranking of all-time greatest MCs. Instead, the magazine selected 20 solo rappers who have dropped an album from 2009 through the first seven months of 2011. The positions were determined by album sales, rankings on the R&B/hip-hop and rap charts, YouTube views, social media, concert grosses, industry awards, and critics’ ratings.

Contenders included Big Boi, B.o.B, Diddy, Drake, Eminem, Fabolous, Lupe Fiasco, Gucci Mane, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, T.I., Waka Flocka Flame, Kanye West, and Wiz Khalifa.

Despite the “king” title, Nicki Minaj is the sole female on the list, beating out some of her male peers for the No. 6 spot. See the full list below.

Rolling Stone’s “Kings of Hip-Hop” List

1. Eminem
2. Lil Wayne
3. Drake
4. Kanye West
5. Jay-Z
6. Nicki Minaj
7. Rick Ross
8. Ludacris
9. Gucci Mane
10. T.I.
11. Snoop Dogg
12. Diddy
13. Pitbull
14. Fabolous
15. Wiz Khalifa
16. B.o.B
17. Waka Flocka Flame
18. Lupe Fiasco
19. Kid Cudi
20. Big Boi

Detox may still not have a release date, but that’s not stopping Dr. Dre from pumping out the singles. The hip-hop icon is prepping a second collaboration with Eminem for his long-delayed album. In a surprise announcement at the end of Showtime’s “Fight Camp 360°: Pacquiao vs. Mosley,” the narrator says that Dre will premiere his new Em-assisted single “Die Hard” during the show on Friday, May 6, at 10 p.m. This follows Dre’s previous collaboration with Eminem “I Need a Doctor,” which currently sits at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Eminem and Lil’ Wayne performed their hit single “No Love” on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. Em was spotted rocking out on stage in a Gucci College Blouson jacket ($1,390). This jacket features a nylon body with leather sleeves and ribbed cuffs, detailed with a knit stand up collar, snap button closures, and side welt pockets.

Eminem and Lil Wayne shared musical guest duties on the last new “Saturday Night Live” of 2010. First up, the rap titans united to perform their collaboration “No Love” together for the first time. Em later rocked the stage with his Recovery joint “Won’t Back Down” before handing the mic over to Weezy who debuted his Carter IV single “6 Foot 7 Foot” for the first time on TV.

Eminem (Getty Images)Eminem is in the running for some of the most prestigious prizes at the 2011 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record Of The Year.

Singer-and-songwriter Bruno Mars got the second most nominations when they were announced last night with seven, while Lady Gaga, rapper Jay-Z and country act Lady Antebellum all scored six.

Bruno -- who, among his nominations, is up for Best Male Pop Vocal for his hit "Just the Way You Are" -- said: "It's just been a great year, incredible, incredible year, and I can't believe this is happening to me.

"We've worked so hard trying to make a living doing music and the fact that we're here right now is incredible, incredible."

Another track co-written by Bruno -- Cee Lo Green’s "F**k You" -- was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and Cee Lo said he never realized the track, which was edited to "Forget You" for the radio, would be such a hit.

He said: "It wasn't meant to be a radio song. It was meant to be something with flair and first impression and it really took on a life of its own, and I had no idea it would become what it is today."

In the Best Newcomer category, Justin Bieber found himself nominated alongside his fellow Canadian, rapper Drake.

He told LL Cool J -- who hosted the nominations show at Club Nokia in Los Angeles: “It feels amazing -- I can't believe I'm in this position! I don't know what to say!"

Among the performers at the nominations show were Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, rapper B.o.B and indie group Train.

The 53rd Grammy Awards will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 13, 2011.
 
Grammy Awards 2011 list of main nominations:
 
Album of the Year:
‘The Suburbs’ - Arcade Fire
‘Recovery’ - Eminem
‘Need You Now’ - Lady Antebellum
‘The Fame Monster’ - Lady Gaga
‘Teenage Dream’ - Katy Perry
 
Song of the Year:
‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’ - Ray LaMontagne
‘Forget You’ - Cee Lo Green
‘The House That Built Me’ - Miranda Lambert
‘Love the Way You Lie’ - Eminem feat. Rihanna
‘Need You Know’ - Lady Antebellum
 
Record of the Year:
‘Love the Way You Lie’ - Eminem feat. Rihanna
‘Nothin’ On You’ - Bruno Mars
‘Forget You’ - Cee Lo
‘Empire State of Mind’ - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
‘Need You Now’ - Lady Antebellum
 
Best New Artist:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding
 
Best Country Album:
Up On The Ridge - Dierks Bentley
You Get What You Give - Zac Brown Band
The Guitar Song - Jamey Johnson
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
Revolution - Miranda Lambert
 
Best Rap Album:
The Adventures Of Bobby Ray - B.o.B
Thank Me Later - Drake
Recovery - Eminem
The Blueprint 3 - Jay-Z
How I Got Over - The Roots
 
Best Contemporary R’n’B Album:
Graffiti - Chris Brown
Untitled - R. Kelly
Transition - Ryan Leslie
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae
Raymond V Raymond - Usher
 
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
‘Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)’ - Glee Cast
‘Misery’ - Maroon 5
‘The Only Exception’ - Paramore
‘Babyfather’ - Sade
‘Hey, Soul Sister (Live)’ - Train
 
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
‘Airplanes II’ - B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
‘Imagine’ - Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
‘If It Wasn’t For Bad’ - Elton John & Leon Russell
‘Telephone’ - Lady Gaga & Beyonce Knowles
‘California Gurls’ - Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg 

Best Dance Recording:
‘Rocket’ - Goldfrapp
‘In For The Kill’ - La Roux
‘Dance In The Dark’ - Lady Gaga
‘Only Girl (In The World)’ - Rihanna
‘Dancing On My Own’ - Robyn

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: 
‘Ready To Start’ - Arcade Fire
‘I Put A Spell On You’ - Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
‘Tighten Up’ - The Black Keys
‘Radioactive’ - Kings of Leon
‘Resistance’ - Muse

Even though his Rihanna-assisted smash “Love the Way You Lie” is still top 10 on the charts, Eminem is already on to the next one. The Grammy-winning superstar is set to premiere the video for “No Love” featuring Lil Wayne tomorrow at 7:56 p.m. EST on MTV, simultaneously premiering on MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, and MTV Tr3s.

“No Love” is the third single off Em’s platinum-selling Recovery, following his two consecutive No. 1 singles “Not Afraid” and “Lie.” The rap titans previously collaborated on Weezy’s Rebirth single “Drop the World” and Drake’s “Forever.” Set those DVRs now.  I know I am, Say It!!!

Hip-hop reached stadium status once again when Jay-Z and Eminem co-headlined the first of two sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Monday (Sept. 13). After performing at Comerica Park in Detroit last week, it was Jay-Z’s turn to take it back home.

The King of New York knocked it out of the park with an all-star lineup that included Drake, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Swizz Beatz, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and his wife Beyoncé. The audience was just as star-studded with LeBron James, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Naomi Campbell all throwing up the diamond.


After B.o.B and J. Cole opened earlier in the evening, Eminem took the stage with his own special guests Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, B.o.B, and D12. “Do not think that I don’t know where I’m at right now,” Em told the 50,000-plus crowd. “I’m also honored to be on this f**kin’ stage in the Bronx, the f**kin’ birthplace of hip-hop.”

Then it was time for Hov, who brought out Drake to perform “Miss Me” and “Light Up” live for the first time, while Chris Martin accompanied him on “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” “Most Kings,” and “Viva La Vida.” Kanye—wearing his Horus chain, red suit, and cheetah-print shirt—stood by his big brother for “Run This Town” and “Power (Remix),” with Nicki Minaj joining the party for “Monster.” If that weren’t enough, Mrs. Carter helped closed the night by assisting on “Young Forever.”

The concert was not only a milestone in the rappers’ esteemed careers, but also for hip-hop. “This is historic,” said Jay as the epic night drew to a close. “There ain’t never gonna be another night like tonight.”

Ever since Eminem and Rihanna teased their music video for “Love The Way You Lie” with a couple shots from the set, and then taunted by performing the song together during RiRi’s gig at L.A.’s Staples Center a couple weeks back, we’ve known this one was going to be fire. Wipe the smoke from your eyes and watch the powerful Joseph Kahn-directed epic—which co-stars Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan—after the jump.





In the dramatic clip, Megan and Dominic play a couple who alternate between violently fighting with one another and briefly making up (by making out). Fox literally plays with fire in the video, which follows their relationship as hurtles toward tragedy, flames spreading all the while. It’s not a huge leap to see those roaring flames as a representation of the far-reaching pain triggered by domestic abuse, or of the cycle of violence itself.

“Joseph and I worked pretty closely together to make sure we got this right,” says Eminem, who is up for eight MTV VMAs (including Video Of The Year for “Not Afraid”) in a release about the clip. “Trying to make this tough subject work visually is a challenge. It was great to have Rihanna, Megan and Dominic on board for this. They really brought it and made this video super-powerful.”

MTV notes that Rihanna told Access Hollywood that recording “Love The Way You Lie,” which deals with abuse within a relationship, was something that she “needed” to do.

“It’s something that, you know, [Eminem and I have] both experienced, you know, on different sides, different ends of the table,” she said. “It just was authentic. It was real. It was believable for us to do a record like that, but it was also something that needed to be done, and the way he did it was so clever. He pretty much just broke down the cycle of domestic violence, and it’s something that a lot people don’t have a lot of insight on, so this song is a really, really powerful song, and it touches a lot of people.”

The vid’s star, Dominic Monaghan tells MTV that the relationship depicted between he and Megan Fox in the video is based on Eminem and his ex-wife Kim. Says Monaghan:

“I think we tried as hard as we could to not glorify the violence, to try and explain that this was a relationship that is by no means ideal and a relationship that probably should have ended a lot sooner than it did,” Monaghan told MTV News. “The concept of ‘Love the Way You Lie’ was essentially a look at the relationship that Eminem was in with his wife, Kim, so I kind of felt like I was playing Eminem a little bit, and Megan Fox was kind of playing Kim.”

And if the sole purpose of music videos is the promotion of singles and albums, Em really didn’t need to bother (though we’re glad he did). This week “Love The Way You Lie” notched a third week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 1oo chart, while Recovery has racked up sales of nearly two million copies since its release in June. The album also relinquished its perch at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 this week after a five-week stay.

What do you think of Rihanna and Em’s collab? Best video of 2010, or were you expecting more?

MTV is going gaga for Lady Gaga. The reigning pop queen dominates the nominations for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.


Gaga racks up a whopping 13 nods, including Best Pop Video, Best Female Video, and Video of the Year at the 27th annual show. She also claims bragging rights with the most nominations ever in a single VMA, as well as being the first female artist nominated for two different videos in the Video of the Year category for “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” featuring Beyoncé.

“I’m so honored for all the little monsters and self-professed freaks of the universe, to have more VMA nominations in a single year than any artist in MTV history. Ironically, I’m even more proud it’s an unlucky number; 13,” said Gaga. “A long time ago the world told me and my little monsters we would never be heard, together we changed the rules. God put me on Earth for three reasons: to make loud music, gay videos, and cause a damn raucous. Thank you MTV!”

Eminem follows his labelmate with eight nominations including Best Male Video and Video of the Year for “Not Afraid.” “Apparently MTV doesn’t care that I have two massive stadium shows on the other side of the country the day after the VMAs. F me, right?!?!,” joked Eminem about his co-headlining concerts with Jay-Z. “I mean, I’ll be there but don’t expect me to be nice about it.”

The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, September 12, at 9 p.m.

A selection of this year’s nominees can be seen below. Click here for the full list

Those yearning to see Eminem and Rihanna’s on-screen chemistry won’t have to wait much longer. The highly-anticipated video for the superstars’ No. 1 collaboration has a premiere date.


The clip for “Love the Way You Lie,” the second single from Eminem’s chart-topping album Recovery, will debut Thursday night (Aug. 5) on MTV. “Got the new @Eminem video featuring Rihanna,” tweeted the MTV Jams account. “Very cinematic…Good shit! We’re premiering it too. This has been a good season for videos.”

Director Joseph Kahn finished editing the video on Monday and had one request of his viewers. “Watch it fully streamed, volume turned up, quiet room, turn off your phone. Thanks,” he wrote on Twitter.

In addition to Eminem and Rihanna, the blockbuster video also stars Hollywood hotshots Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan.

Rihanna conducts business on a cell phone while leaving Ago Restaurant in West Hollywood before heading to the Record Plant recording studios on Monday night (July 19). She is working on her new album with producers including Alex Da Kid, Sean Garrett, Timbaland, and David Guetta.

Today RiRi is shooting the video for Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” with director Joseph Kahn. Despite several canceled shows in other cities, she will play L.A.’s Staples Center today on her “Last Girl on Earth” tour. Will Em make a surprise appearance?


Eminem and Rihanna proved to be a potent force on the singles chart. The pair’s collaboration “Love the Way You Lie” dethroned Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. This is Eminem’s second No. 1 single from his album Recovery (the first being “Not Afraid”) and fourth overall. It also becomes Rihanna’s seventh No. 1 since her debut in 2006, the most by any artist during that period of time.

Rap Radar has shared the first photo from the Los Angeles set of the video. According to E!’s Marc Malkin, Megan Fox and “Lost’s” Dominic Monaghan play the lead roles in the Joseph Kahn-directed clip. “It gets really intense,” Malkin’s source says about the steamy scenes.

Two of the biggest rap stars in the world will share the bill for two nights only. Eminem and Jay-Z have teamed up for a couple of concerts in September.


Jay will open for Eminem at Comerica Park in Em’s hometown of Detroit on September 2, and the tables will be turned when Slim Shady opens for the Brooklyn MC at New York’s Yankee Stadium on September 13.

An official announcement was made on Wednesday (May 12) during the third inning of the Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees baseball game at Comerica Park in the Motor City.

“We got so much love for our hometowns and we wanted to stretch the genre of hip-hop music and show that it can play live audiences, so we’re gonna do two concerts—one here in this stadium, Comerica, and then we’re gonna do Yankee Stadium,” said Jay.

Hov wrapped his Blueprint 3 tour in March and Eminem will release his new album Recovery on June 22. The rappers have collaborated in the past on “Renegade” off The Blueprint and performed together at a private concert for the DJ Hero video game last summer.

“We’ve done things together. We’ve done smaller shows, but I don’t know if we’ve ever done anything this big between me and him,” shared Em. “But yeah, it’s going to be exciting.”

Jay-Z performed “Empire State of Mind” at Yankee Stadium during the World Series, but this will be his first time headlining the famed venue. “That’s like a dream. You dream of playing Madison Square Garden and then you say, ‘Maybe I can play Yankee Stadium,’ but it’s so far out there,” he added. “I’m overwhelmed by the idea that we can play [Comerica] and play Yankee Stadium back to back. It’s just a great thing.”

The unlikely friendship struck up between Elton John and Eminem is apparently deeper than the duo's 2001 Grammy Awards show performance of "Stan." The British singer said in a radio interview he's been helping the Detroit rapper kick his addictions to prescription drugs.

Elton John and Eminem at the Grammys in 2001 (From bbc.co.uk)
"I've been helping Eminem over the last 18 months and he's doing brilliantly," he told BBC Radio on Friday. Elton himself battled drug and alcohol problems earlier in his career, but has claimed sobriety since the early 1980s. He didn't elaborate on how he's helping Eminem, but Elton said in the interview he helps people if they need it.

"I'm there if people want my help," he said. "If people ask for help you tell them where to go but there's no point advising people if they don't want to do it."

Eminem's addictions were a recurring theme in his 2009 hit album, Relapse. In an interview with Vibe, he said  he was taking "10 to 20" Vicodin pain pills daily. He also admitted to abusing Valium and Ambien, and said his abuse got so bad that he couldn't remember how many pills he was taking daily.

In a historic moment for hip-hop, two of the greatest that ever did it, Eminem and Jay-Z, took the stage together at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Monday. The private concert was thrown by video game maker Activision to announce DJ Hero, the hip-hop version of the best-selling video game Guitar Hero, due this October.

The rap titans performed solo sets before coming together onstage for “Renegade,” their collaboration off Jigga’s The Blueprint.

The flamboyantly gay character Bruno, better known as Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame, pulled the stunt of all stunts by descending from the ceiling and landing bare-assed on Eminem at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.

After the incident, a fight broke out, curse words were exchanged, and Eminem stormed out. But no acting could lead us to believe that was not staged.

MTV’s Featured Artist Eminem returns to high school in the mini-movie “Eminem, Where Have You Been?” Marshall Mathers explains his four-year absence in this mockumentary.