Dubbed as a surprise performance, NYC’s recently re-elected mayor, Mayor  Bloomberg, introduced Young Hova to the thousand dedicated Yankee fans on hand to celebrate their teams 27 World Series victory.

Of course, it was only fitting that Jay and Bridgette Kelly (follow her on Twitter @TheyCallMeBK) take “Empire State of Mind” out the holster and crown it as the official N.Y Yankee victory anthem.

Check out a brief clip of Hov and Bridgett’s performance, below.

Sincerely

Low “Let’s hear it for NEW YOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRKK!” Key

Earlier today MTV.com was scheduled to release the premiere to Beyonce’s new video, “Video Phone” which features Pop sensation, Lady Gaga. But for unspecified reasoning, Columbia Records and Team Beyonce have altered the premiere for later this month.

From what I heard, the clip was supposed to debut last night, but an inside source over at Columbia Records informed me the green light on “Video Phone” had turned red.

MTV.com had the debut scheduled for 5:30pm today, but when the countdown concluded (they set up a ticker for the premiere), the video was nowhere to be found.

“Sources” claimed the visual would debut at around 8 or 9pm tonight, but a little birdie confirmed late November as a delivery date for “Video Phone”. “Video Phone” was supposed to air directly after the airing of MTV’s EMA’s in Berlin on MTV channels across the globe.

THOUGHTS???

Sincerely

Low “Enjoy your Thursday evening, I know I’m about to” Key

The North American leg of Hova’s “Blueprint 3″ set is scheduled to commence on February 22nd in Houston Texas and end March 26 at L.A.’s Staples Center.

Jay-Z’s BP3 North American tour will make a cross-country trek in 2010 stopping at arenas in major markets including Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Greensboro, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Indianapolis, Denver, San Jose, Los Angeles and more.

Additional day of show and on sale information will be announced shortly for stops in East Rutherford, Uniondale, Atlantic City and Detroit.

Tickets for the second leg of the “Blueprint 3″ tour are slated to go on sale November 13 at LiveNation.com. Citi® cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning November 10th at 10am local time through Citi’s Private Pass® Program.  For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.  Citi® cardmembers will also have access to VIP Ticket Packages that include VIP Lounge seats, personal concierge, a private pre-show VIP party and more.

Below are the scheduled tour dates for the 2010 “Blueprint 3″ tour. ENJOY!

Sincerely

Low “Ain’t NOTHING like a Jay-Z concert” Key

Feb 22                    Houston, TX                Toyota Center

Feb 23                    Dallas, TX                   American Airlines Center

Feb 25                    New Orleans, LA         New Orleans Arena

Feb 27                    Atlanta, GA                Philips Arena

Feb 28                    Greensboro, NC          Greensboro Coliseum Complex

Mar 03                    Washington, DC         Verizon Center

Mar 07                    Norfolk, VA                 Scope Arena

Mar 11                    Boston, MA                TD Garden

Mar 16                    Pittsburgh, PA            Mellon Arena

Mar 19                    St. Louis, MO             Scottrade Center

Mar 20                    Indianapolis, IN           Conseco Fieldhouse

Mar 22                    Denver, CO                 Pepsi Center

Mar 24                    San Jose, CA             HP Pavilion

Mar 26                    Los Angeles, CA         Staples Center

*** More cities and dates to be announced soon.

For the first time since the “night in question, Rihanna has finally opened up about what actually happened on the night of February 8. She explains to ABC’s Diane Sawyer how the incident made her feel and different ways she’s had to cope with it.

Personally, it’s good to see RiRi talk about the aforementioned because it’s a sign of her moving past it, though I think she’s done that already. Hopefully, she won’t go a media blitz like our @MechanicalDummy (it should’ve been a one shot deal with him as well).

Anyway, the full interview airs tomorrow night on 20/20 tomorrow night at 9pm on ABC. Chris’ “The Interview” airs on MTV at 6pm. Boy, Team Chris and Team Rihanna are putting in OVERTIME!

Sincerely

Low “One day this will alllll be over” Key

Rihanna Speaks With Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America from LowKey on Vimeo.

“The Interview” will dig deep into the mental of young Chris to see exactly what he was thinking the night in question. Call me a pessimist if you’d like, but I think this could be a waste of time judging by the rhetoric from Chris’ previous interviews.

He didn’t say much on Larry King other than he was sorry and he still loved Rihanna. And the commentary didn’t alter much during his interview with HOT 97’s Angie Martinez a couple weeks prior.

To make things worse, “The Interview” is airing the SAME day as Rihanna’s 20/20 interview on Good Morning America- the singer’s FIRST interview since the night in question. C’mon Chris, give shorty doo wop a little breathing room.

I can assure you TiVo sets throughout America will serve their purpose come Friday, November 4th.

Check out a sneak peak of  “The Interview”, below!

THOUGHTS?????

Sincerely

Low “I’m sure Team Rihanna isn’t happy with Team Chris right now” Key

I was curious as to how Mr. Bridges was going to tackle the project, so I did what any nosey hip-hop blogger would do, I raised my hand and put homey on the spot (but in a good way, of course).

Said of Luda of the joint project, “The ‘Battle of the Sexes’ album is just geared towards relationship issues and how we feel about certain things. I don’t feel like you’ve ever had a male and a female’s perspective on an entire album. Basically, you’ll have a male’s perspective on a song, but a lot of times you may not hear both perspectives on one song and this is an album that’s full of it.”

Ok, I can dig that- equal opportunities for all those involved. Nice (c) Fabolous. Luda then divulged into some more specifics about who would actually appear on the set aside from Shawnna and himself.

Luda said of the “Battle of the Sexes” guest features, “I have a lot of different female guest appearances on ‘Battle of the Sexes’, but I can’t name them as of right now because a lot of them are a surprise, but it’s also me trying to get a female presence back out in hip-hop. It’s starting to comeback, but I would like to be one of the individuals responsible for it also because I feel like more females need a voice out here.”

Hmm, surprise appearances from an array of female spitters? This. Will. Be. AWESOME. But wait, here’s the problem, the only consistent female MC out right now is @NickiMinaj. Does this mean he’s pulling all stops by yanking Foxy, Lil Kim, Rah Digga, Eve back to the studio. Hell, he might even pull off a jailhouse verse from Remy Ma. What, they did it with Shyne for Usher’s “Confessions” remix.

I applaud Luva Luva for taking on the task of slapping female hip-hop smack dab on the cheeks of the hip-hop consumer.

So, with all  that, I’m turning to you guys. If you had your A&R way, what female MC (s) would you place on Luda’s “Battle of the Sexes”?. Hell, What female artist would you place on the project. For some reason, I don’t think Luda’s going to limit this effort to just female spitters. I can damn sure see Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole and/or Ciara lending some sing/rap vocal assitance.

SOUNDDDDDDDOFFFFFFF!

Sincerely

Low “It’ll always be a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ in this day and age” Key

P.S. Check out Luda’s “How Low”, right here!

Obviously Beans’ been holding a lot inside over the past 6-8 years. Frustration has an evil way of manipulating your plan of attack. Now don’t get me wrong, I can picture Beans reaching out in a diplomatic manner and trying to resolve the aforementioned issues because the respect level is that high, but things are going to far now. Especially when you invovle the an individual who published a book entitled “The 50th Law Of Power”. Hello 50 Cent.

I have a tendency to digress with these type of posts, so let me throw some back information at your forehead before I attempt to prove a point. Last weekend, Beanie Sigel delivered a scathing open letter to the likes of Jay-Z entitled “Not Your Average Cat”. On the said “real record”, Beans wore his heart on his Philly fitted (I heard the Phillies were going to lose Game 5, tonight) and aired out EVERY dirty piece of Roc-A-Fella laundry known to mankind.

Some of the logistics to “Not Your Average Cat” took many by surprise, but left others with the “disgruntled employee” taste on their tongues. Why now we all inquired. Why at THIS particular moment did Beans feel the need to give it to Shawn Carter so blunt.

And while many were still puzzled, we sort of felt Beans’ pain. He just wanted answers. And after all, we all deserve answers to situations that confuse us. But then, like ALWAYS, things started looking suspect. A 38 minute interview with radio personality, Charlemagne Tha God popped up the next morning. Beans divulged into more specifics about “Not Your Average Cat”. More personal facts/non-facts were slapped on the table and some started to questions Beans’ motives.

Then ANOTHER interview, this time video, popped up and Beans laid it on thick. Yet and still, the pity cloud was still as fresh as can be over Beans dome. Me, however, started to wonder. Is this really about the true “brother to brother” dialogue Beans was searching for? Or did it click in Beans’ head that this could actually work in his favor.

Throughout the entire debate, Beans always insisted that his was nothing but a mere family tussle. And while that’s all fine and dandy, I can’t help but question why was it made so public? Here’s where things get illy (whad up @illionaire).

Curtis Jackson began to chime in. Early yesterday morning he stopped by Power 99FM in Philly to discuss the matter and even offered some logistics to the situation as well. Fif claims Hov stopped Beans from collecting $800,000 had he switched to the G-Unit imprint. Of course, Fif has his hand in everything, but to SoundOff on this issue so quick and thorough raised another set of eyebrows I had stashed in my pocket.

Fast forward to last night, Fif was made another appearance on Philly radio again, but miraculously and coincidentally Beanie Sigel joined the interview. This is where I’m going to fall off the “pity” train. The big homey, Miss Info has the entire interview for listen (click here).

Here’s what I don’t get (you listened to the interview right?) This debate started out as a “Family” issue right? This was basically an open letter to commence a “brother to brother” discussion between Jay and Beans. Now what this has turned into is, “Jay did me dirty and I’m going on a media blitz to inform ya’ll.”

I just can’t get with how Beans is rolling this “production” out. The intimate details, contract specifics, label mate payment details- WHAT? This isn’t a “brother to brother” dialogue. Your dry snitching family business. And what’s even more hilarious is you EXPECT Hovito to put together an actual response after spewing all this BS? So if Hov hits the booth and REALLY airs out some of the logistics on HIS end, then what? Your feelings will be damaged.

Oh and Jay did respond, just not to Beans’ liking.

Matter fact, your feelings will be non-existent. And don’t get ninjas started with what Fif is doing with this situation right now. Fif lurks in the woods for days like this. Fif’s been tapping Jay’s chin for the longest- thirsty for a response. So in reality, you’re serving as a real life pawn.

You made this waaaaay to easy for, Fif. Hey Beans, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but your new boss has an album coming out November 16- just thought you should know.

I was praying Beans would ride the “real record” and 38 minute interview out until Hov made a thorough enough response, but I guess that can’t happen when motives are planned and schedules are made. To be fair, I still respect Beans as an artist cause the dude is still one of the most lethal spitters, but this whole ordeal is just another way to remain relevant.

Call me a hater if you want, but seeing how ish works in this business, I can sense a publicity stunt a MILE away. Damn shame it had to come from one of the REALEST in the game. Sighs, someone PLEASE come get this fool!

Sincerely

Low “This aint a DISS blog, this a ‘REAL’ blog. SMH” Key

P.S. Taking a record to DJ Kayslay (THE DRAMA KING) will of course lead us to believe “Not Your Average Cat” wasn’t a diss record. #Sarcasm-Wednesday

Well, last week I had the pleasure in kicking it with Flex during a meet and greet/pow wow session for the revealing of his new customized FORD Taurus SHO. Flex explained to us how missing an MTV shoot changed his whole perception on the automotive industry and how he blew a NICE size advance check for the fifth installment to “The Mix Tape, Vol. 5: 60 Minutes of Funk” to start up his own automotive establishment.

After touching on FORD and the differences between the automotive industry and the music industry, I thought it would be interesting to see where Flex’s head was at in regards to the current state of hip-hop. Out of left field, Flex went in (insert HOT 97 explosion here).

I found Flex’s perspective very intriguing. However, I’ll tuck that in the holster and reveal it later this week. What I found even more interesting is Flex’s positive and even remorseful rant towards Dwayne Carter.

Based on our conversation prior, I could see exactly where his Weezy commentary derived from. It just shocked me he was so open with his admission. And to be quite honest, I agree with him %86. At times, as a culture, we do expect A LOT from Lil Wayne.

But in my opinion, it’s only because he doesn’t believe in a hiatus, instead he stays put in the lime light. I still, however, hold firm on my “So, Lil Wayne Is Going To Jail” post. There’s NO excuse for that one right there, Flex.

Anyway, enough of my babbling, let’s get a taste of Flex’s. ENJOY!

After viewing the clip, let me know your thoughts on the amount of pressure Lil Wayne receives from hip-hop community.

Oh and make sure you check out Flex’s 2010 Ford Taurus SHO that  tricked out for this year’s SEMA Convention in Las Vegas, below!

Sincerely

Low “Good points, Flex” Key

SoundOff TV- Funkmaster Flex: “We Put To Much Pressure On Lil Wayne” from LowKey on Vimeo

“Hard”, which was written by The Dream and produced by Tricky Stewart, comes off as an aggressive effort to display the hard as a rock persona she’s currently broadcasting (and I’m actually digging it to be honest).

As for a visual? Not sure, but I can tell you the video, for “Wait Your Turn” is scheduled to leak SOMEHWERE online today.

Check out Rihanna’s new single, “Hard”, below.

Rihanna ft. Young Jeezy- Hard | Prod. By Tricky Stewart |

Like it, Love it or Leave it?????

Oh, Dior Nior from our Entertainment Spotlight blog pulled together an interesting blurb discussing the industry’s perspective on Rihanna’s edgy new “image”. Check it out, here!

Sincerely

Low “Did Jeezy diss Gucci Mane, again? Sighs” Key

A couple days prior, The-Dream revealed specifics about one of the projects contributors on a track entitled, “Hard”. Said The-Dream, “Me and Rihanna, she just cut the last of the two records we did. It’s a record called ‘Rock Star.’ “The first record is a record called ‘Hard,’ which features [Young] Jeezy. Both of those records are pretty insane.”

Rihanna and Young Jeezy? Talk about odd pairings. But I guess since The-Dream and Tricky Stewart had a hand in that pot, I’m sure we won’t be disappointed. I mean the last time Jeezy and The-Dream collaborated, “I Luv Your Girl” was born. I have yet to retire the tune.

In other Rihanna news, Ms. Fenty is scheduled to break her silence this Friday in an exclusive 20/20 interview on ABC. Not sure if RiRi plans to break her silence, but I’m sure we’ll ALL tune in to find out.

Check out the tracklisting to “Rated R”, below.

1. Mad House
2. Wait Your Turn
3. Hard featuring Young Jeezy
4. Stupid In Love
5. ROCKSTAR 101 featuring Slash
6. Russian Roulette
7. Fire Bomb
8. Rude Boy
9. Photographs featuring Will.I.Am
10. G4L
11. Te Amo
12. Cold Case Love
13. The Last Song

Sincerely

Low “Let’s see what you got, Rihanna” Key