Born 8^th September 1987 in Minot, North Dakota, Thomaz moved around a lot as a child, living in Germany, England and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA to attend high school. He took an interest in rap and hip hop music from a young age and chose his stage name in his early teens – choosing ‘Wiz’ as a shortening of ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Khalifa’ because it’s an Arabic word meaning successor. He released his first mixtape Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania when he was eighteen, and this led to a deal to record his first full-length studio album with Rostrum Records.

Show and Prove was released in September 2006. It sold over 10,000 copies, produced the single Pittsburgh Sound (All in My Blood) and led to Rolling Stone magazine rating the rapper as an ‘artist to watch’ over the next few years. Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007 and released two more mixtapes that year: Grow Season and Prince of the City 2. The latter included the single Say Yeah, which reached number twenty on the US Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. He released a further two mixtapes over the next year – Star Power and Flight School – before parting ways with Warner Bros. in early 2009.

Following the release of his sixth and seventh mixtapes How Fly (ft. Curren$y) and Burn After Rolling in 2009, along with the single Teach U to Fly, Khalifa put the final touches on his second studio album. Released on 24^th November, Deal or No Deal reached number 25 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and produced two hit singles: This Plane and Red Carpet (Like A Movie).

Wiz Khalifa released his eighth official mixtape Kush and Orange Juice in April 2010.

“Me and Gotti kind of came up at the same time,” Jeezy told MTV News. “But I respected his grind just as well as he respected mine. Same thing with Plies.” He also revealed it was important to show his Southern roots with his collaboration. “Of course I’ve sold records in other places, but I don’t ever want to forget [where I come from]. So look who I’m bringing with me. You heard of them, but you don’t know them. But now you know them.”

Plies is featured on the track Lose My Mind while Yo Gotti appears on All White Everything – two of the first three singles on the album – while Lil Jon also features later on the track Jizzle. The album itself is due for release on 28^th September 2010. To download these and any other Young Jeezy ringtones, visit mobijoy.com

Although the rapper was released from jail after posting bail and is yet to be formally charged, the police are currently testing the confiscated pills, and if he’s found guilty he could end up behind bars. It’s not the first time the rapper, famous for hits like Be Easy, Bring ‘Em Out, Front Back, Big Things Poppin’ (Do It), Live Your Life and Swing Ya Rag, has been in trouble with the law – but recent appearances at schools talking about the pitfalls of drugs and violence seemed to show he was trying to move forward.

T.I. is currently in the studio working on his seventh studio album.

The Elle 25 is a list compiled the mag of what its staff are most looking forward to before the end of 2010 – and Kid Cudi’s new album topped the list! The staff were given a preview of Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, which is set for release in October, and gave it glowing reviews. “A sophomore effort that up-stages his first” wrote one staffer, “with booming choruses, raging electro beats, and a rock-rooted single, Erase Me, which features that other hypercool skinny-jean-clad rapper, Kanye West.”

Two singles from the album, Wylin’ Cause I’m Young and Mr. Rager, have recently been leaked online.

The US rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, had his Twitpic account blocked after he uploaded a number of X-rated photos, including a photo of a woman in a bikini with a hamburger between her buttocks. The rapper also wrote ‘Y’all like my Kim K Burger?’ in reference to socialite Kim Kardashian.

Fiddy, who is famous for hits like In Da Club, P.I.M.P., Candy Shop (ft. Olivia) and I Get Money, didn’t react well when he realised his picture account had been blocked. He Tweeted: ‘Twitpic just suspended my account damn. They got 30mns to get it back or ima go haywire.’ When it wasn’t resolved within his  deadline, he launched into a tirade of foul language. ‘I told them mother****ers put it back… don’t touchin my s**t’ was just one of the Tweets he posted shortly afterwards.

The rapper has since apologised for his use of language, although his account remains suspended.

Mariel Concepcion, associate editor of Billboard says “There hasn’t been a female rapper in nearly ten years to make as much noise as she’s made”… while Brendan Frederick of Complex Magazine claims that “Nicki’s flow is so creative that you can count on her delivering at least a few instant, easy-to-remember quotables, which is the key to having a successful verse on a pop or R&B song.”

XXLMagazine’s Deputy Editor Rob Markman points to her crossover ability as the reason for her early success. Her solo single Your Love reached the Top 20 in August and she has appeared as a guest artist on a number of hit tracks over the last few years, including Ludacris’ My Chick Bad, Usher’s Lil’ Freak, Christina Aguilera’s Woohoo, Sean Kingston’s Dutty Love and Jay Sean’s 2012.

Minaj’s record label Young Money Entertainment are just hoping her status as the next big female rapper will be cemented with the release of her debut album on 23^rd November.

“I’m just gonna wear rocket boots the whole night. And nothing else”, he joked. “Buck naked, rocket boots. That’s how I roll.” But when he was asked about his chances of walking away with an award, he became a lot more humble. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. There are a lot of very talented artists and musicians in the categories I am nominated for so, really, I feel like just being nominated is cool.”

The 2010 VMAs will be broadcast live from Los Angeles at 9pm (ET) on 12^th September 2010.

The 22-year-old rapper explained that he was flattered by the offer, but wants to focus on his solo commitments for now – including his own upcoming Waken Baken Tour. “Just the fact of me being on his radar is tight, to me,” he said. “But I think to keep me poppin’ and keep me relevant I gotta stay buildin’ on top of what I’m doin’ and what I been doin’, I gotta keep focusin’ on what it is.”

Drake, who has scored hits with singles like Best I Ever Had, Successful, Every Girl (with Lil Wayne), Over, Find Your Love and Miss Me, says the tour will still go ahead as planned, but hasn’t ruled out getting in another rap support act. It starts on 21^st September at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

The rapper, who has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide and is famous for hit singles like Tha Block is Hot, Go DJ and Lollipop, is currently serving a one-year jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon. However, he deliberately recorded the EP and single before being imprisoned so it could be released in the middle of his sentence.

As well as the single, Drake has recently revealed that the duo will be recording a joint album once Wayne has been released. He confirmed that “there will be a Lil Wayne/Drake album. It will probably be one of the most exciting things in my life, because we make music on a different level.” If you are a real Lil Wayne’s fan, be sure to download Lil Wayne ringtones.

The Los Angeles group, comprised of vocalists Fergie, Apl.De.Ap and Taboo and the musician Will.I.Am, recently released their fifth studio album The E.N.D. (an acronym for Energy Never Dies) – but music critic Kevin Johnson claimed that at their sell-out concert “the energy felt curiously dim.” He also said “the show the group brought to town was all spectacle, never spectacular, and always by the numbers.”

The group have had a successful couple of years – with their latest album spawning the US number one singles Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling (which topped the Hot 100 for an unprecedented 26 weeks between them) and Imma Be – but while critics agree that their succession of hits is a big achievement, many believe they need to up the energy at their live shows to secure their place in history as pop icons.