Drizzy kicked off his Club Paradise (with special guest Kendick Lamar & A$AP Rocky) tour last night at Penn State University. We’ve heard Drake talk about this tour extensively and explain how he really wanted to hit the colleges and smaller venues this go around. Surprisingly, I’m not seeing much quality video and photos floating around, but we’ve compiled a few things for now.

Before closing out his set, Drake dedicated a few words to the prestigious campus, currently knee deep in controversy.

“I want to truly thank you for being able to come together and have a great evening. Like I said, despite everything that’s going on around you, this is one of the greatest schools in the motherfu**in’ world. I love you,” he said to cheers from 15,000 concertgoers. “I’d love to come back some time, maybe with some of my family like Nicki Minaj. So while I work on making that happen, you work on being the beautiful people that you are. And until next time I see you, take care.” - via RapUp

more photos and video after the jump…

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Our girl Nitty Scott, MC just released her project, Doobies x Popsicle Sticks, which features 8 original tracks of pure hip-hop. Nitty grabbed up the likes of 6th Sense, J. Period and Mick Boogie to help out on the boards. Her fan fav. “Auntie Maria’s Crib” is also featured on this tape.

download link and track list after the jump…

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The first annual MTV2 Sucker Free Awards is going down on Dec. 4th at the club Liv in Miami. I’m guessing it’ll be some kind of YMCMB takeover from what I gather. MTV announced more details today and said Weezy and Baby will be performing “Y.U. Mad” from Birdman’s Bigga Than Life album /‘Billionaire Minds’ mixtape as a part of their set. The big show airs on Dec. 4th on MTV2.

FAN VOTED SUCKER FREE AWARDS CATEGORIES AND NOMINEES:

Must Follow Artist in Social Media – To vote via Twitter, use #suckerfreeawards and #twitterking · Tyler, The Creator · 50 Cent · Fabolous · Chris Brown · Lil Duval

Rookie of the Year (Best Debut Album) – To vote via Twitter, use #suckerfreeawards and #RookieoftheYear · Tyler, The Creator · Big Sean · J. Cole · Wiz Khalifa

The Best Crew of 2011 – To vote via Twitter, use #suckerfreeawards and #bestcrew · Maybach Music Group · Odd Future · YMCMB · Slaughterhouse/Shady 2.0 · GOOD Music · Roc Nation · Taylor Gang

Check out the Tastemaker nominees after the jump…

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This one slipped past the cracks yesterday but I love these dudes music so I had to post. NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Eric Gordon make guest appearances in this flick. Also take a peak at the cover art for their upcoming album, The Div, below.

new videos from Kidz N In The Hall and Freddie Gibbs x Statik Selektah also after the jump…

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Trey Songz really went for it today. He just dropped two brand new mixtapes: one R&B  and one rap. Even with the overflow of rappers these days, I guess I can’t be mad at this. Let’s just hope this doesn’t influence rappers to drop R&B mixtapes (except Drake).

Download Links for Anticipation 2 and #LemmeHolDalBeat2 after the jump…

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In support of his book The Tanning of America, Steve Stoute gave the Huffington post an exclusive clip from his interview with Jay-Z.

Check out part one of the exclusive interview above, featuring Jay-Z discussing the meaning of his joint album with Kanye West, Watch the Throne, which debuted at number one in 23 countries; on his epiphany that his music has a substantial impact on mainstream America; and on being an unpaid spokesman for Cristal champagne.

Jay also talks about the significance of the Hard Knock Life Tour. I would have stabbed somebody with a rusty screw driver back in the day for a ticket to go that tour. *sigh*

Excerpt from Stoute’s chapter: “Hard Knock Life” after the jump…

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I’m diggin this remix a whole lot. It’s DJ Premier, Nas and The Berklee Symphony Orchestra coming together to make hip-hop harmony. Beautiful music.

VIBE recently linked up with DJ Premier, Nas, and the Berklee Symphony Orchestra as a part of their RE:GENERATION project. Presented by Hyundai Veloster, RE:GENERATION is a documentary film that follows DJ Premier, Pretty Lights, The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson, and Skrillex as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. Learn more at ReGenerationMusicProject.com

Take a listen to Premo’s official remix after the jump…

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MTV UK threw some questions at Action Bronson while he puffed on some cheeba. He runs down his carrer as a cook, upcoming album with Statik Selektah, his style and more. I think the most interesting part was when Bronson says his main influences are Kool G Rap and Cam’ron. Hilarious combo.

Action Bronson’s feature on Last Call with Carson Daly after the jump…

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XXL did the artist-interview-artist thing for their upcoming November issue. They chose Tyler, The Creator to interview hip-hop street’s disciple Nasir Jones. Their topics of conversation: music, religion, family, decision making, drugs, the Internet, and… Star Wars. Man, this could be really dope or really awkward, but I’m looking forward to it. Tyler even names God’s Son as his favorite Nas album and Street’s Disciple as his second fav.

“Tyler: Are you, like—this question might catch you off guard, but I ask myself this—like, when you wake up, like, are you happy,” Tyler asked. “Like, are you satisfied how everything turned out?”

“Nas: Dawg, I was naming my album Life Is Good because of how happy I am about how happy things have turned out,” Nas answered. “Sometimes I may wake up and wish my kids were living with me. That’s the only thing, you know what I mean? Our loved ones that are not around no more, like my mom. That’s the only thing. But other than that, everything is great, even when I’m alone. Even when there’s no one around.”

Related: Nas Takes Us Through Queensbridge In “Nasty” (New Video)

more Nas content after the jump…

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One of the finer men’s magazines, Esquire, named Rihanna the sexiest woman of 2011. The issue drops on Oct. 16th but they posted some interview excerpts and photos from the full spread. In an honest moment, RiRi talked about being happy for Chris Brown’s success and a fan of his music.

It’s incredible to see how he pulled out of it the way he did. Even when the world seemed like it was against him, you know? I really like the music he’s putting out. I’m a fan of his stuff. I’ve always been a fan. Obviously, I had some resentment toward him for a while, for obvious reasons. But I’ve put that behind me. It was taking up too much of my time. It was too much anger. I’m really excited to see the breakthrough he’s had in his career I would never wish anything horrible for him. Never. I never have.

behind the scenes video and photos after the jump…

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