Trent Fitzgerald

Rapper Wiz Khalifa is keeping himself busy in 2012 as he’s locked in the studio working hard on his new LP ‘O.N.I.F.C.,’ which will be his follow-up to his platinum-selling debut ‘Rolling Papers.’

As we reported, Kanye West put on his DJ hat and spun at the grand opening of the 1 OAK club at the Mirage in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. Under his new alias Yeezy World Peace, he played an array of music that included oldies from Michael Jackson and a selection of Top 10 hits.

Kids say the darnest things and in this case it’s Kanye West‘s tweets. Entertainment website BabelGum.com produced several brief clips of children acting out Yeezy’s random thoughts on his Twitter account. The comedy series ‘Kids Reenact Kanye’s Tweets‘ is the funniest, cutest and surrealist thing on the Internet right now.

First it was a deranged fan, then it was Drake and now it’s Bizarre’s turn to show his appreciation of his favorite music artist. In a video posted on YouTube, the D12 rapper got a tattoo of Nicki Minaj to show how much he loves the Harajuku Barbie. Luckily, for us, he didn’t get her name tattooed on his forehead.

Drake was at the right place at the right time to help a fellow karaoker in need. While eating his meal at the Saddle Ranch restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, he decided to help a female fan sing Rihanna‘s hit single, ‘What’s My Name?’ The best part? A fellow patron was on hand to catch the performance on video.

It’s the most busiest time of the year for Santa Claus and he’s hard at work making sure all the kids will get their presents on time. But even old St. Nick can get a sluggish during the day. Enter 50 Cent. In his new animated commercial for his energy drink Street King, the rapper finds an exhausted Santa taking a rest on a city bench.

In Common‘s 20-year music career, his songs have inspired generations of rap fans. However, the Chicago rapper left one person “surprised and disappointed” by his words on a song they did together. Author-poet Maya Angelou said she was horrified that Common featured her on a song where he uses the N-word, the New York Post reports.

Hip-hop heavyweights Lil Wayne and Rick Ross are re-imagined as baby Wayne and baby Ross in a YouTube video that was posted online. The clip features a young kid plucking the guitar like Weezy, while another youngster is mimicking Rozay.

Powerhouse rappers Rick Ross, Common, LL Cool J and Lupe Fiasco have been selected to join DJ Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five members Melle Mel and Scorpio for a special performance of ‘The Message’ during the Grammy Nominations Concert, airing live on CBS.

The Roots caused some controversy this week with their unique intro song for Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann when she appeared on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ early Tuesday (Nov. 23).

As expected, Drake‘s second LP ‘Take Care’ debuted atop the Billboard 200 album chart. The collection pushed 659,000 units in its first week of release, according to estimated totals from Hits Daily Double (via Boombox). Those are impressive numbers considering that the album was leaked online several days before its initial release.

Nicki Minaj and Willow joined forces to shoot the video for ‘Fireball‘ in Los Angeles over the weekend. This is the ‘Whip My Hair’ singer’s latest single from her upcoming still-untitled debut LP. Minaj stayed true to her ‘Pink Friday’ motif with her teddy bear-adorned skirt and pink-colored hair, while Willow was dressed in a black-and-gold outfit with boots.