Ralph McDaniels talks about his 30 years hosting the hip hop show "Video Music Box" and the birthday party where Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z serenaded him with "Get Money."

With the Summer months approaching, R. Kelly aims to heat up the charts with his 11th studio album ‘Write Me Back’ – the release date and covers for which were unwrapped today.

Find out what date the R&B crooner has set for the LP below, along with its deluxe cover…

Joining the already beefy June release schedule (see: Usher, Justin Bieber, and the like), the follow-up to 2010′s ‘Love Letter’ has been ascribed a June 26th store date.

The deluxe version (artwork below) boasts four extra tracks and a postcard to write the Pied Piper back. Cool, right?

R. Kelly Announces 'Write Me Back' Release Date; Will You be Buying? | ..::That Grape Juice // ThatGrapeJuice.net::.. || Thirsty?

Akon – ‘Konkrete Jungle’ (Mixtape Artwork)*|*HipHop-N-More

It’s great having Eminem for a boss. Just ask Slaughterhouse.

The four-man contingent, consisting of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5’9”, have laid out all their bars for their upcoming Shady Records-debut album, Welcome to: Our House. Now, they’re just waiting on Em to sprinkle his final touches on the LP.

“The album is done. In terms of vocal recording, we’re done. Marshall is still in the process of mixing, we still got a couple of records that we’re missing,” Royce da 5’9″ recently told MTV News.

They hope to keep their scheduled release date of June 12, but if they have to push it back, it will only be by a month at most, Royce says.

“We’re on pace for June, worst-case scenario, we’re looking at July,” said Royce, “but it’s definitely coming, 100 percent.”

Just like their fans, the fellas in Slaughterhouse can’t wait to hear the finished product. In fact, they told MTV that their music for this album has been safeguarded tremendously.

“We don’t have the music, it stays in the studio. It’s safe there,” Joell Ortiz said. “But every time we go to record or just get up and meet in Detroit with Em and everybody at Shady, I personally ask them to hear records.”

Back in February, Crooked I told XXLMag.com that Eminem is taking a very hands-on approach with their LP.

“Em is putting in incredible effort with this album,” Crooked said. “He’s arranging, he’s being featured on songs, he’s producing. He’s putting in just as much, if not more work, than everyone else as far as Slaughterhouse. If he’s not featured on it he produced it, if he didn’t produce it he arranged it, if he didn’t arrange it…when it’s all said and done, his presence is going to be felt throughout. He’s the fifth member of Slaughterhouse at this point.”

Eminem Putting Finishing Touches on Slaughterhouse Shady Records Debut LP | XXLMAG.COM

Shyne Launches Petition For U.S. Entry | DDotOmen

HOUSTON Drake's ties to Houston run deep. It was the city made famous by Rap-a-Lot Records, the Geto Boys, UGK, DJ Screw and a litany of chopped-and-screwed odes to purple syrup that sired, cultivated and ultimately catapulted the Toronto native into the stratosphere of chart-topping, award-winning artists, so it was only fitting that the MC born Aubrey Graham would pour more of his heart and soul into Thursday night's Toyota Center performance, an earmarked leg on his mammoth Club Paradise Tour.

Before Drizzy took the stage for his nearly two-hour set, he was preceded by a coterie of hip-hop radio fixtures: French Montana, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, Waka Flocka Flame and J. Cole. Each artist was allotted an average of 30 minutes to run through their budding catalog of hits as the crowd an amalgamation of ages, races and backgrounds filed into the expansive arena to see the YMCMB MC.

Dressed in a simple black T-shirt and jeans sans garish bejeweled pendant, necklace or watch and backed by a five-piece band, the Canadian spitter took the stage just before 10 p.m., bursting with nostalgia and reverence for H-Town.

"I love Toronto, but this (Houston) is my favorite place in the mother----in' world!" he declared.

Drake jumpstarted the throng with last year's undisputed summer anthem, "I'm on One," before igniting the crowd with the Weeknd-assisted "Crew Love" from his critically and commercially successful sophomore opus, Take Care.

In between sips of mystery drank from a grande-sized Styrofoam cup, Drake bounced across the stage like a whirling dervish, looking as if he were unchained from the restrictions and restraints of the criticism he's faced since solidifying his brand of moody, self-reflective braggadocio in the hardened, self-policing pantheon of hip-hop.

Songs like "She Will" and "Up All Night" flowed from the multiplatinum MC's happy place like an unrelenting wave crashing on a sandy beach. Drake was having so much fun onstage he felt compelled to share it with his co-stars.

"Every n---a you wanna hear is right f---ing here!" Drake said before bringing out 2 Chainz for the newly released banger "No Lie." The record has yet to gain the kind of traction it deserves, but one thing is clear: You haven't heard "No Lie" until you've heard it in a live arena setting.

Next up was Waka Flocka, whose high-energy flow on "Round of Applause" was punctuated by pyrotechnics on the "Baby make that ass clap" refrain.

Drizzy briefly put his parade of guest stars on hold to offer up his current crossover hit "Take Care" before Meek Mill stepped into the cypher for "House Party" and "I'm a Boss." The biggest surprise literally and figuratively of the night emerged from stage right to thunderous applause: Rick Ross. The Teflon Don and French Montana joined Drake and Meek Mill for the first-ever all-hands-on-deck live performance of "Stay Schemin" from Rozay's groundbreaking mixtape Rich Forever.

Drake's growth as a live performer was evident as he took time to single out fans for various compliments, comments and jokes, making 15,000 fans feel as though they were in a small, intimate venue meant for 1,500. Drizzy crooned and pandered to the shrieking females in the audience as a prelude to "Make Me Proud," but the exuberant pirouettes and middle-fingered Mazel tovs were back with "HYFR" and "The Motto."

The only blemish on the evening came when a young fan managed to hop onstage ala Lil Mama before being promptly removed by herculean security guards. "Shout out to that f--- ass n---a that ran onstage," Drake said. "He probably getting his ass beat right now."

To close out his set, Drizzy thanked the fans for their unyielding support and offered up the defiantly brazen "Headlines," lest there were any haters left in the building or in the industry, for that matter "overdosed on confidence" enough to think they can keep Drake from being Drizzy. Because, as he so eloquently put it on this night, Drake doesn't care about what the naysayers have to say: He only cares about making music for his fans.

Drake Showers Love On Houston With Club Paradise Tour - Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV.com

2 Chainz’s “No Lie” Debuts on the Billboard Chats at #45 | THEHIPHOPUPDATE.com | The Latest in Music, Videos and News

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