News:Rick Ross Hosts Strip Club MMG Listening Session in NYC

Exotic dancers with bags of money circled the floor, while others worked the pole in a humid and crowded Sin City Cabaret in the Bronx. That set the ambiance for Rick Ross and the rest of his Maybach Music Group, as they hosted a special listening event last night (June 13), for their highly-anticipated album, Self Made 2. Apart from the MMG camp, Drake, Busta Rhymes, French Montana, Def Jam President Joie Manda and DJ Khaled were also in attendance.

Nicki Minaj Crashes Hip-Hop's Boys Club

Brent Staples argues in his New York Times column that it was just a matter of time before a hip-hop star would blow through the lines separating pop from rap and appeal to two lucrative audiences at once. Nicki Minaj just happens to be a woman.


It is too early to tell whether she has the creative power to show a way out of the current situation or open up a broader space in rap for women generally. But she has been difficult to miss, raking in music awards and posing on magazine covers in the Day-Glo wigs and makeup that summon up Japanese anime. She raps in hyperspeed in British, Caribbean and New York accents, and channels her engaging zaniness through alter egos, one known as Harajuku Barbie. She refers to the young girls among her fans as Barbs.