Tally up the records sales, total up the hits, and check the longevity - T.I. will let you know nobody did it OR does it better than him.  We got the deets on why TIP feels he has no true rivals except Lil Wayne plus Diddy defending himself against folks saying he treats his Bad Boy artists dirty. 

And we’ve also got video of Lauryn Hill working it out on the Rock The Bells stage when you read on…

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Lauryn Hill is officially back.  Here’s pics and video of her performance at Rock The Bells in Cali this past weekend:

Yay!  L-Boogie, Wu Tang, Mos Def, and several other folks will all be headed to DC and NYC this upcoming weekend as the tour goes on.

We know lots of celebs talk that "ish" about themselves but very few can actually back it up. Well T.I. is definitely talking that ish about being "The King of The South" and outlines EXACTLY why you can’t deny it in a new clip posted online.  He does give props to Lil Wayne, but you can tell T.I. just sees Lil Wayne as "Prince of The South."  TIP is KING.  

About his rivals, TIP says:

"It doesn’t bother me at all.  Another point I often make is the success of another person, the rise or fall of another individual has no bearing on my title. No matter how much a person does from this day forward, it doesn’t take away from the things I’ve done to this day. I’m gonna have to stop for a long time to let you start for a long time in order for you to catch up, no matter how much you do, and not taking away from anybody, not saying nothing bad about nobody — you gonna have to do what you’re doing right now times two, times three, seven times over in order to be where I am right now…As far as from a standpoint of success, the only person who is in a position to make a claim like that sort would be [Lil] Wayne, as far as success, from a numbers standpoint. As far as longevity and success, that’s the only person I feel like can say that."

Check out the interview…

In the new August/September JUICE issue of Vibe magazine, Diddy sounds off about people who claim he rips off Bad Boy artists:

….There’s an off perception that needs to be addressed about me that I have ever robbed somebody or mistreated somebody. Or tried to be ruthless or whatever in this game. Like, all this year I’ve heard people say, “Where’s Carl Thomas, where’s Black Rob, where’s G.Dep? Where are these artists?” And for some reason they go ahead and equate that, cause those artists aren’t with me, that I’ve done something wrong or malicious or conniving.  It’s something that I do have a problem with because they don’t have no proof that I’ve ever done nothing like that.
 
It’s a misconception. Especially someone who’s been brought up like me. I’ve been brought up to work hard for mine and never take from nobody. And to always try and help people. But people don’t understand this game that were in. You have a short life expectancy. It’s rare to a me, to be a Jay-Z, an LL, a Nas. That shit is a rarity. That’s not even one percent of the rappers. If you look at any artists that were on Ruff Ryders, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Def Jam at the time we started, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Roc-A-Fella, Jive, where they at? It’s not like anything was wrong with them. It’s just that you have a four, five-year average in this game. That’s just something I wanted to address. 

Diddy is right–kinda.  Not many artists become icons and there are stories about artists getting ripped off at just about every label ever founded.  Music is a tough business.  But I still have unanswered questions about Total.  What happened to their comeback?  Y’all know "No One Else" was the jam!  And what about Carl Thomas and 112?  We need answers Diddy.

The Young, Black, and Fabulous