Rita Ora’s steady rise has been a long 3-years, reminiscent of how artists used to be nurtured and branded before making it on the mainstream scene. Before hitting the road for some promo spot shows, the Roc Nation signee made a visit to Billboard HQ for a one-on-one interview with The Juice’s Erika Ramirez. Along with performing her singles “R.I.P.” and “How We Do (Party),” the U.K. native spoke on finding herself as an artist, and the learning experience recording her debut album, along with the lessons she learned from her boss Jay-Z.

“When I signed to Roc Nation, I was 18. At 18, I was basically singing anything [and] talking about something that I  didn’t really know. When we recorded a few songs… the good thing about having a musician who is also your boss, is [having him] say, ‘Are you happy with it?’ Rita Ora said of Jay-Z and recording,”I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ He taught me about patience and they [Roc Nation] taught me how to find myself. i came back one day, and I swear, and I was like, ‘You know what? We need to do something else. And we flipped it.”

Rita’s album is set to drop this summer with contributions from Ester Dean, The-Dream, Tinie Tempah, Drake and more.

Watch Rita’s interview and performance with Billboard below…

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With The Weeknd set to perform his first live show in New York City this evening, it’s only right to ask about the working relationship the often illusive singer has with Wiz Khalifa. While in the Big Apple promoting his new single, Hip Hop Wired’s Kazeem Famuyide spoke with Wiz on the upcoming Taylor Gang x XO collaboration that’ll appear on Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C album due this August.

“It’s good you know, because he’s a trippy dude. Actually, he reaches out to me and he calls me and he is really excited about it. He sent it to me and we got it done, and he follows up on it. It’s really away from the character people know him for, so with me and him and Juicy too, we work really well together. And we’ve got a lot of stuff that people are going to hear from.”

“I think people will definitely hear the difference. Taylor Allderdice was a lot of fun, and O.N.I.F.C. is a lot more fun. The stuff that people wanted to pay for and was worth of them going into their pockets. And I feel like these songs on O.N.I.F.C. are more than worthy of that, so I’m happy.”

via HipHopWired

Previously: Wiz Khalifa and Peter Rosenberg Tackle Drinking & Driving Awareness (Video)

Drake took the time on Tuesday for a conference call preceeding his “Club Paradise” U.S. tour which begins on May 7. During the conversation, Drake let listeners know to expect him on songs with both 2 Chainz and Meek Mill in the coming days. Both artists will be openers on the summer trek along with J. Cole and French Montana. Not only has October’s Very Own built great relationships with Tity Boi and Meek, but he wants to ensure that he’s recorded with all five artists joining him. Expect Drizzy to appear on 2 Chainz’ new single “No Lie” due May 1.

“I have very strong alliances with these guys that are on this tour with me,” Drake said during a conference call Tuesday (April 24). “I guess it’s safe to say now that anybody that I didn’t have a song with before, I have a song with now. I made sure of that.”

“Along with this tour, fans are also going to get some exciting musical material that will probably end up dropping a few days before the tour, so that we can perform it on tour,” Drizzy said.

via MTV News

During the same conference call, Drake speaks on the theme of his third solo album which you can read below….

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Turns out, “no” means…about 9 days.
After deleting her twitter account on April 15, Nicki Minaj seems to be making a move back to the social network. Her page is accessible but her full 11 million followers aren’t accounted for…yet. Over the past hour, the numbers have jumped from 34k to 60+k and more. So it seems as though it just takes time to fully “reboot.”
However, there has been no official comeback tweet from Nicki just yet.

Last week in London, Nicki talked to Tim Westwood about how she didn’t think she would be restarting her powerful page. And she also explain to Capital FM’s James Barr that she deaded her twitter, not just because of a fan site that angered her, but because she needed time to herself…

Listen to that audio,
And see a screenshot of the restarted twitter page
after the jump
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Yesterday, we dropped two exclusive snippets of Nicki’s interview with Tim Westwood which aired last night. In case you missed out on the juicy interview, we’ve got the full audio. Aside from her Twitter controversy and her frustration with an undisclosed number of people, she also reiterates the loves she has for her fans by talking about some of the recent fan havoc she has caused during her time in the UK. Nicki, Safaree and Tim also pay a small homage to Cam’Ron for being the first hip hop artist to wear pink, and also discuss her life outside of rap, including her fragrance, clothing line and working with Pepsi. She also declares herself not “famous” and simply a “little girl going all around the world.”

“This is my 4th mixtape really, you know what I’m saying? The kid did like that to feed her fans. But really, now, the kid thinking maybe she should leave the game.”

Hit the jump for a full breakdown on Nicki’s interview on the Tim Westwood Show….

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Ever since Nicki Minaj deaded her twitter account, cutting off nearly 11 million followers, many of the extremely active members of her Barbz fan community have been frantically trying to figure out if this was just a temporary hiatus? Like a social media time out for some fan sites that angered her?
Meanwhile, Nicki has been in London doing press all week, along with her right hand man Safaree, and new team addition Manny Hailey (Keyshia Cole’s former manager). She told UK TV host Graham Norton that a “voice inside her head” told her to delete her twitter page.
But when she sat down with my UK radio boss, Tim Westwood…Nicki was much more blunt. Not only does she seem adamant about not re-activating her massive twitter account, but she also talks about “leaving the game.” All of this delivered in a mix of British and Lil Wayne impersonation voices.

Tim gave us two exclusive snippets of the Nicki interview which will air on the Tim Westwood Show, this Saturday 9pm-11pm (London time) on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra.

Tim Westwood: We miss you on twitter, baby. We can’t stalk you properly when you’re not on twitter. We started a trending topic… Here was our hashtag…
Nicki Minaj: (*reading outloud*) #NickiMinajPleaseComeBackToTwitterWeLoveYouAndItIsntTheSameWithoutYouDoItForTheBarbzAndKenAndEveryoneThatLoveToWearPinkOnAFridayGiveMeLife
TM: Are you gonna come back?
Nicki: (*pauses*)….No.
TM: For real? Come on, baby.
Nicki: Tim, I can’t.
Tim: We miss you.
Nicki: I miss my Barbs.
Tim: We want you back.
Nicki: (*English accent*) But I can’t come back. I just can’t. Don’t make me, Tim. Please don’t.

But then Nicki also expresses some frustration with not being appreciated…and confesses: “The Kid is thinking maybe she should leave the game.”

Listen to our clips of Nicki Minaj x Tim Westwood…
After the jump
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Nicki Minaj has been making her rounds in the UK. This week she was in London and stopped by the famed Graham Norton show. According to the DailyMail, Nicki was grilled about her decision to leave Twitter and why she deleted her account. About 4 days ago, Nicki got into a spat with one of her fans over the leak of authorized material. Without hesitation she deleted her account and has stayed off since. I’m not sure if she was being totally honest or just playing around, but here’s what she said.

‘A voice in my head told me to delete my Twitter and that’s what I did. I had 11 million followers and I hope they will wait for me.
‘I reply all the time and get to know them by name and I have a really personal bond with them… not all 11 million, but at least 10 of them a day.’
I don’t know yet, I’m thinking about it. I miss my Barbz (her name for her fans), please bear with me.’

Watch Nicki showing off her bilingual skills on Big Boy’s show after the jump…

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After being found guilty of second-degree murder, G-Dep spoke from behind bars on his reaction to the verdict given on Tuesday. His sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15.

“However it went down, it was just one of them things where I knew I was facing some type of charge, so whatever the verdict was, I knew it was God’s will. You know, someone was taken from [the Henkel] family, so I can’t feel like I was robbed in any kind of way. I just want to thank everyone that was involved in the case. I don’t have no ill thoughts towards anybody.”

via MTV News

Previously:
G-Dep Convicted of 1993 Murder in New York City
G-Dep Confesses to Involvement in 1993 Murder (Video)
Former Bad Boy Artist G-Dep Confesses To Murder

While most of still marvel from Sunday night’s win for hip-hop, many skeptics were left wondering how did the mother of Tupac Shakur feel about Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s tribute to her late son. According to a rep speaking on the behalf of Afeni Shakur, she was thrilled with Tupac’s virtual performance. Not only that but she gave Dr. Dre her blessing when he approached her about the idea. To show his appreciation, Dr. Dre made a charity donation to the The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation.

Spotted at XclusivesZone via TMZ

After the jump, the company behind the virtual hologram, AV Concepts talks with MTV News…..

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Meek Mill had everyone proclaiming it in 2011, and last night at Coachella 2012 it happened. For a brief 5-minute span, Tupac Shakur emerged from the darkness onto the festival’s main stage during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s set on Sunday night. The moment confirmed previous leaked reports that a hologram image of the late west coast rapper would appear. Immediately during and after the life-like image performed “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” Twitter went into a frenzy as Rihanna (who was in attendance), Questlove, Katy Perry, and other notable celebrites and industry figures reacted to the resurrection of Tupac. While Dre and Snoop return next weekend for the festival’s second go-around (April. 22), there’s no word if the image will appear again.

Read the reactions from Katy Perry, Rihanna, Meek Mill, Tyler The Creator, Questlove, and more after the jump…..

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