The last time we left off, Justin Bieber was flowing over Gang Starr’s DWYCK with Hot 97’s morning crew. During a visit to Bootleg Kev’s show on Hot 97.5 in Las Vegas, the Biebster let off some raps from the top to Biggie Smalls’ “Who Shot Ya.”

After the jump, watch McDonald’s latest commercial which features Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear”…..

The Golden Arches recently dropped their new viral ad which features Craig Mack’s 1994 classic, “Flava In Ya Ear.” During that time 17 years ago, bad Boy Records actually had a “B.I.G. Mack” campaign to promote both artists. Funny how things come to full circle huh?

via B.Dot/RapRadar

Previously: Drake & Justin Bieber Perform At Stevie Wonder’s Holiday Benefit Concert (Video)

Thanks to Tuma/MTVJams for the link to Wale’s latest video “Bait.” His album Ambition drops on Nov 1st (pre-order link), and I’ll be hosting a special release week celebration show with Hot97 in NYC!

In related news, Wale and DJ Khaled dropped by Rick Ross‘ Wingstop fried chicken franchise in Memphis…
Watch video of that…
After the jump

Wale and DJ Khaled visit Rick Ross’ WingStop…

Related: Rick Ross Opens His Own Wingstop Rick Ross: Phillipe’s Vs. Wingstop

HAHA! “El Forkqueta Satanica!”
I am crying after watching this clip from The Daily Show about the real reason why Donald Trump (remember Obama’s ether?) and Sarah Palin’s lunch date in Manhattan was a smack in the face in all New Yorkers…The Crimes Against True New York Pizza.

Everything about this is genius.
-The mock Trump restaurant: “The Trump All You Can Eat “Fwoah”-Gras and Caviarteria (Where you are guaranteed to contract gout…the disease of kings)”
-The seething anger over the fact that Donald Trump took Palin to a Famiglia’s Pizza….a horrid franchise that you find in every airport food court where they serve rubbery triangles of motor-oil soaked dough with ketchup and cheese whiz on top.
-Jon lists some obvious options that any assistant with a friggin’ cell phone and Yelp could have found for them instead: Lombardi’s, Grimaldi’s, Totonno’s, John’s, Arturo’s on Houston St., Denino’s, Joe’s on Bleecker….Seriously, how sad is it that Trump is so removed from the city whose heavy accent he flaunts. He probably eats lunch in hotel ballrooms. Feh!
-Then, at the 5:29 mark, Jon works himself into a froth over Trump’s blasphemous fork-use and demos how a real New York slice should be eaten! “You fold it, you eat it, one hand!…maybe you use your other hand to take an irresponsible amount of napkins!”
Church!

Now I haven’t had all of the famous and revered pizzas in NYC, but you know, I’m serious about my food, lol….and I do have some favorites….
And some pizza gripes…
And one bucket list pizza, lol…
after the jump

-I totally agree with Jon’s endorsement of Lombardi’s: just a great simple NYC medium crust pizza. I love the fact that they have very few menu choices. All I need is the pizza, and a great spinach salad with mushrooms.
-I also loved Grimaldi’s in Dumbo, BK, but honestly the hassle of waiting in line endlessly….that’s for tourists. Locals don’t have time for that.
-Never had pizza in Staten Island, I know I’m missing out.
-Arturo’s on Houston, surprising lowkey choice. Also great pasta dishes and a live band sometimes.
-Joe’s on Bleecker is everyone’s favorite stand-up-while-eating pizza stop in the Village. But personally….I prefer Bleecker St. Pizza just a couple blocks west on Bleecker because their sauce is more tangy. Amazing grandma slices.
-I don’t do John’s, again because of the waiting and the touristy-ness.

Other pizza spots I’ve loved:
-Singa’s out in Queens…imperfectly shaped, unique almost indian-nan-style bread. Delish!
-New Park in Howard Beach….you may never find yourself out here, but if you do….this is purist pizza.
-On the fancy side of pizza eating: In Manhattan there’s tons of new fancy pizza places with elaborate imported brick ovens and gourmet toppings. Yes, it’s offensive to pay $20-plus for single-person pie….but the atmosphere, the wine, the sides…it’s for a night out. The only thing that pisses me off is when everything is fancy but the pizza is trash. Then, I’m ready to riot. Places I’ve enjoyed….
Rubirosa in Nolita: Went here for the 2nd year anniversary party of Immaculate Infatuation. Good pizza, but even better non-pizza dishes and pastas. Rice balls! (This is run by Staten Islanders, btw)
Keste on Bleecker: My cousins love this spot.
Co. in Chelsea: Roman-style pizza. Like great thin crust with fancy stuff like fennel and ham on top…sometimes without sauce or cheese. So not a traditionalist’s spot. But yummy.
L’Asso in Nolita: lots of choices here, maybe too many, but very high quality. I really liked a spicy pie that I had there, one that had pear on it, and the San Daniele with prosciutto on it.

Pizza I did not love:
Artichoke Basille’s in Chelsea and soon to be everywhere else in the country: The original take-out only Artichoke’s in the East Ville was yummy, but now they’ve partnered up with nightclub moguls Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss (owners of Marquee, need I say more?). So there’s a bunch of new faux-authentic locations and more on the way. The crab pizza, the artichoke pizza…it felt like everything was just laying on a thick layer of cream sauce. *shudder* Avoid.
Pulino’s: Keith McNally’s casual spot has a great look (vintage lighting that makes everyone look nice), great location (Houston and Bowery), and lively energy….but the pizza is just okay. I’d still go again though. It’s a good dinner with friends standby.

Pizza I’m dying to try:
Di Fara’s: everyone raves about this Brooklyn legend. There’s even a short film documenting their dedicated pizza man Dom DeMarco, who does things the old fashioned way. “He started at age 26, and has hand-made every single every single [Di Fara] pizza himself.”

The Best Thing I Ever Done HQ from Margaret Emily MacKenzie on Vimeo.

Ok, I’ll stand in line for this. This man is a pizza saint.

Related:
The Ethering of Donald Trump: President Obama and SNL’s Seth Meyers Clown Trump While He Watches
Jon Stewart Defends Common And Goes Head-to-Head With Bill O’Reilly
Awesome! The Daily Show and Slim Thug break down the Hip Hop Recession
Where in the world is…Miss Info?: Madrid (and Toledo) Part 2
Eating Out with Miss Info x Immaculate Infatuation: Macao Trading Co.: Blech!

In my opinion, 10.Deep is one of the few, still wear-able, “street-wear” brands out on the market. They stay consistent without going over the top, just for the sake of it. Check out what they got cookin’ for this spring.

That highly potent and deceptively sweet alcoholic concoction known around New York City as the Nutcracker has been around for years, but lately, its been getting alot of attention. We all heard N.O.R.E.’s ode, and now even the New York Times have taken notice. The drink is a home brew often made in a Nutcracker peddlers’ kitchen or living room. The recipe varies but generally consists of  the highest proof liquors and fruit juice. “Kool-aid”, the Nutcracker dealer from the NY Times article, makes his with 160-proof Devil’s Springs vodka, 151-proof Bacardi 151 rum, Amaretto and cranberry, mango, pineapple and peach nectar. Fruit and jolly ranchers can also be tossed in the mix for added flavor. The beverage is than packaged in plastic bottles (even quarter water bottles) and peddled from apartments, from car trunks, from bodegas and more, all throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem and the Bronx. A  New  York EZ-Pass to a quick buzz .

Of course, the NYTimes is a bit extreme with their characterization of the drank, but its crazy to see how this ‘hood favorite’ has found its way to the mainstream…

“People in the neighborhood said selling nutcrackers had become more prevalent in the dismal economy, a means some have used to supplement their incomes with quick and easy money. Some who remember the crack boom of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, and the destruction it heaped upon the community, justify the sales, seeing them as akin to marijuana dealing or numbers gambling.” – NYTIMES

Well, we did a little investigative reporting of ourselves and asked a man who has done more than his part to help Nutcracker become a household name….

Full article after the jump…

In Harlem, a Hint of a Previous Era

as Peddlers Stealthily Quench a

Thirst – (New York Times 9/21/10)

“In Prohibition-era Harlem, bootleggers sold cheap and sometimes toxic liquor and moonshine at rent parties and speakeasies for as little as 25 cents a pop.

Rotgut whiskey was sold in basement barrooms, drugstores and delicatessens on Lenox Avenue. Mom-and-pop operations doled out home brews from bathtubs and backyard stills.

Some semblance of those days are back in Harlem, where potent sweet liquor drinks are being mixed at home and sold illegally off stoops, in apartment hallways and in bodegas and barbershops.

The drinks, a blend of various hard liquors and fruit juices, are called nutcracker, and they are being sold in sealed plastic bottles or Styrofoam cups for $5 throughout Harlem.

Sales of the drink have been part of the underground economy for years, but with this summer’s heat and the economic slump they have become more visible. Visitors to any block party or outdoor event in Harlem this summer could not have missed the chant of “Nutcrackers! Nutcrackers!”

People in the neighborhood said selling nutcrackers had become more prevalent in the dismal economy, a means some have used to supplement their incomes with quick and easy money. Some who remember the crack boom of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, and the destruction it heaped upon the community, justify the sales, seeing them as akin to marijuana dealing or numbers gambling.

But others in Harlem, including parents and pastors, say they are worried, particularly because of the drink’s potency, popularity with teenagers and easy availability.

“I think adults and young adults are being very selfish and using greed to raise money,” said the Rev. Vernon Williams, an antiviolence activist who sees a correlation between nutcracker sales and youth violence. “And they are taking this toxic combination of multiple high-level alcohols and selling it indiscriminately to anyone who has the $5.”

Police officials said they were aware of the nutcracker sales and had done what they could to address the issue. They said the department had used both plainclothes and uniformed officers to issue summonses to stores and individuals caught selling it. People found buying the drinks were issued summonses for having an open container of alcohol, the police said.

Sellers include young and older women, blue-collar workers, street hustlers and the underemployed. To give themselves an edge, some sellers even make home deliveries.

Their customers are teenagers, men and women arriving home after a day at work, and young adults who have made it a staple of the party scene. The drinks can also be found in neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens but have been ubiquitous this summer in Harlem and Washington Heights.

“It’s definitely a summer drink, and I try to serve them as cold as possible,” said a regular nutcracker seller, a man in his early 30s who goes by the name of Kool-Aid and asked that his full name not be published. “It’s a fruity drink, so you don’t have to sip it with your face all scrunched up; you feel really nice without getting totally bombed out.”

The man said he made six gallons at a time in a big plastic water cooler jug, mixing 160-proof Devil’s Springs vodka, 151-proof Bacardi 151 rum, Amaretto, whatever sweet liqueur he had on hand and a variety of juices depending on the desired flavor, including cranberry, mango, pineapple and peach nectar.

The juice and liquor typically cost him about $300, he said. He also spends about $85 on plastic bottles and sealable caps.

For each $200 or $300 he spends, he said, he makes about $700 in profit.

To distinguish their drinks from others, some nutcracker sellers use various colored caps and infuse the drink with fruit or Jolly Ranchers. Kool-Aid said he added liquor-soaked fruit salad.

People in the neighborhood said they had no idea how nutcracker caught on. But local legend has it that the original nutcracker was created 10 or so years ago at a Chinese restaurant on the border of the Upper West Side and Harlem, where bartenders hid their hands below the counter as they mixed the drink. When people asked what was in it, the bartenders refused to say. The story goes that at some point the bartenders started allowing customers to leave with their drinks, and soon people started dissecting the recipe and making their own.

For some the drink’s presence in Harlem conjures up an era 80 years in its past, when selling and consuming home-concocted alcohol was an illegal, dangerous pastime.

“As a phenomenon it evokes both the romantic and repugnant concoctions of Jazz Age Harlem, the illicit elixir of bathtub gin on the one hand, the toxic tonic of wood-alcohol-based wild whiskey on the other,” said Eric K. Washington, a Harlem historian and author of “Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem.”

Kool-Aid, who has a couple years of college under his belt and lives in the West 140s, says nutcracker helps him pay the bills. He said he had not been able to find full-time work, only occasional maintenance or data entry work through an agency.

But, he said, business had become more risky lately. After a series of articles in The Daily News that raised alarms about sales to minors, police and community leaders began to rein in the sales. A year ago there were as many as six people selling nutcracker on his block, he said, until the police cracked down, emptying bottles on sidewalks and handing out summonses for $250 to $500 to dealers and customers.

He says he abides by a few self-made rules of self-preservation: Don’t sell to teenagers. Never sell to strangers. And never sell it openly in the street, always by phone call or text message and always delivered in the kind of black plastic bags that bodegas use.

“It comes with risks,” he said. “I don’t have a criminal record, so I don’t want to get one for selling drinks.”

Most sellers are not checking buyers for an ID. But because of its sweetness, it is liquor candy to teenagers.

“Alcohol is unquestionably the drug that is most abused by kids; there’s nothing close,” said Joseph Califano, president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. “We read about marijuana, cocaine, heroin, meth. The reality is that alcohol is the entrance of kids into that world, and to sell that stuff to young kids, I think it’s child abuse.”

Mr. Califano said that studies had shown that 80 percent of the people in prison had substance abuse issues, and that there was scientific evidence that alcohol could stunt the adolescent brain.

Kool-Aid said most nutcracker sellers were not thinking about the impact on their buyers. “Hustlers just think it’s all about the buck,” he said. “They don’t care about the families or the parent who’s looking for their child at 1 in the morning, and they’re passed out drunk on somebody’s stoop from too many nutcrackers.” – New York Times, written by Trymaine Lee

Foxy Brown performed on Sunday night at BB Kings (just days after being arrested for allegedly mooning her neighbor, the same neighbor who got hit in the head by Foxy’s cell phone in 2007). According to Nigel/RealTalkNY, Foxy announced she’ll drop a new album before 2011…and that The Firm is back together. Now, by The Firm, she means herself, Cormega and AZ, but no Nas. Maybe a new group name would be warranted. Foxy also made a statement that seemed directed at the oft-targeted Nicki Minaj….

“They tried to keep a bitch down…..I’m the only rap bitch in the game that fucks with all hip hop all dancehall and I’m the only bitch that can do that for real.”

Well, technically….Lyte and Latifah did it pretty “for real” too. And honestly, I just don’t think you can claim that someone is biting your style if you’ve been inactive for more than a couple years. The same way I think Gaga’s Madonna-aping is permissible because they’re of different generations.
But anyhoo, look at these photos (from RealTalkNY and TheSocietyOnline). No, seriously, look at these photos.

In all fairness, the crowd goes nuts when Foxy brings out Cormega, AZ, and Spragga Benz…watch video….after the jump

wow….so not only does Christina Milian have to suffer the humiliation of seeing her husband and baby father, The Dream, cheating on her with his own personal assistant Melissa Marie…..but we, the innocent public, have the image of these two porpoises doing remedial kama sutra in the ocean.

double indignity.

And just to think that a year and a half ago, it was The Dream was canoodling with Christina in Maui. Let’s compare the visuals.

I must be doing something wrong in my life because I’ve never been courted with a sensual headlock on a tropical island. *deep sigh*

UPDATE: Soon after the photos leaked, Christina Milian reacted on twitter….and basically agreed with the general consensus….

UPDATE 2: Now The Dream’s reps have released a statement to US Magazine, claiming that he and Christina have been “separated” since late 2009…..word?

read both, Christina’s reaction and Dream’s statement….after the jump

UPDATE 1: Christina Milian’s reaction after the photos leaked this morning…..

UPDATE 2: The Dream’s statement to Us Magazine…

“Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash is saddened to announce that his marriage to Christina Milian was unsuccessful. The couple reached this decision in late 2009, but decided to keep the news private in efforts to protect their baby daughter Violet. They ask for consideration and respect for their family moving forward”

So basically DreaMilian split up at the end of 2009, while Christina was pregnant with their daughter Violet, and just 3 months after their princess-diaries wedding ceremony in Rome. Dude, you don’t break up after you’ve worn equestrian boots with your woman. It’s just not right.

Let’s look at more from the world’s least sensual love affair….(via Fame via Rap-Up)

This is an old photo of Dream’s assistant/cutbuddy hanging out with the boss’ lady.

UPDATE 3: Speaking of Fif, I love my boys over at G-Unit, but one of them needs to check whoever at Thisis50 blatantly ripped off my post. I don’t mind folks sampling and I’ve always showed them love so all I expect is some proper credit.

Fashion: Lord Dream and Lady Christina’s Wedding Photo, and more
Christina Milian and The Dream are pregnant
The Dream and Christina Milian: Hip Hop Love….lets watch it unfurl

Ok….I hope y’all aren’t sick of me (I am) but anyways…
asking all the Hip Hop Honors artists about their favorite Southern cuisine was the most fun because….I am a bonafide stretch-belt semi-professional eater. Mannie Fresh talks about roux, (that’s the flour and fat base of a good gumbo), Drama and Bonecrusher talk about some spot they go to called Busy Bee’s (I want to go to there!), and Uncle Luke tries to get me to become one of those unsanitary Sex and the City human sushi platters…a HELL NO!
But my favorite moment is Gucci Mane’s comment at the end, and my delayed lightbulb reaction….Hellooo!

previously:
Hip Hop Honors x Miss Info: Pick your favorite city! (aka who has the best strip clubs, lol)
Hip Hop Honors x Miss Info: Nelly, Gucci, Asher, Luke, and more describe the Dirty South!
Paul Wall’s History of Grillz: Paul counts down his favorite chompers with Mikey Fresh
Gucci Mane x Miss Info at VH1 Hip Hop Honors rehearsals: “I’m just happy to be here”

50 Cent has been keeping a low profile lately, but the real reason was because he was losing weight for a movie role, and knew that the change in his looks would be so dramatic that fans may react with horror….Thisis50 posted an US Weekly story on the transformation, in which Fif says he dropped from 214lbs to 160lbs in 9 weeks….by basically starving himself. Now that he’s done with the film, and going back on tour, Fif will probably reunite with his trainer Jay and get back to fighting weight.

Now the movie, Things Fall Apart, called for 50 to play a football player who has cancer, but Hollywood has had other examples of extreme dieting….and it’s interesting because it always becomes the actor’s badge of “dedication to the craft.” See, below, Christian Bale’s scary skin over bone look in The Machinist, and Matt Damon’s turn in Courage Under Fire.

more pics of 50 after the jump…

(how awesome is this sculpture in the lobby of Madrid’s Atocha Train Station? An awake baby head was on the other side.)

Still out in Spain….getting more used to the time zone (6 hours ahead of NYC) and pace (late mornings, afternoon naps, 10pm dinners)…but had a bad run-in with a shiesty gypsy who somehow managed to bump me so slightly and slip my blackberry out of my purse in about 3 seconds. The crazy thing is that I’m almost positive I know exactly which gypsies did it, they were parked on the same corner by the Reina Sofia Museum the next day too. This time, I gave them the ice grill and they left us alone…but obviously, my blackberry is long gone : (

On the plus side…not having my BB has been really liberating. For one, it’s forced me to look at the sights around me, without constantly relaying them to an audience back home. (And, being unreachable also means that I couldn’t keep checking for emails or calls that weren’t coming. Which was the emotional break I definitely needed on a personal level.)

Today we took the bullet train** from Madrid to Toledo, the old capitol city of Spain. Toledo was home to Christians, Moors (Muslim) and Jews, and you definitely see the influences of all 3 in the architecture, etc.

(Me and Jules in Toledo, in matching Barbour jackets…rockin’ our James Herriott “All Creatures Great and Small” steez, lol.)

More from Toledo, and then foodie-heaven with crispy baby pig at Botin….after the jump

(The Toledo city archive was this modern brass-like frame, added to an ancient stone building…def my favorite structure there)

(there were small holes drilled straight through the outer wall, and that’s Jules’ eye on the other side of it)

(Back in Madrid, we went to El Sobrino de Botin, which is allegedly the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. Hemingway was a regular, and Goya was a dishwasher. They specialize in roasted suckling pig….behind that man are rows of splayed crispy brown Babes and Olivias, waiting to be inhaled by me.)

(the best part is that crunchy baby pig skin….behind it, is a hunk of tender, juicy shoulder)

(Oh, Linda [and Jeff] Marcowitz…you bring shame to Bo (?), Illinois when you leave your tag on the bathroom door of Botin…and I bet you drew that dirty dilz on the right too! It’s a women’s bathroom, you cornhusker!! What female doodles cockenballs while on the pot!?….smh)

(this Caixa Forum cultural center was designed by Herzog & de Meuron…totally amazing…the top is rusted steel that has lace cutouts, and then there is one wall that is completely planted, like a forest that was turned on its side. Herzog & de Meuron also designed the Prada building in Tokyo’s Aoyama district…one of the most amazing buildings I’ve ever seen…look at it here, its like a quilted block of ice or soemthing.)

Ok…that’s all for now. Sorry to get all artsy fartsy…but, there is life beyond rap ; )

**(unrelated/related: why the frig don’t we have bullet trains in the US? So convenient and efficient.)