The rapper, who scored a third week at number one with New York anthem Empire State of Mind on Thursday (03Dec09), is now one of the coolest 40-somethings on the planet and, as he celebrates his birthday with his stunning wife Beyonce, WENN would like to wish him the very best. WENN trawled through the archives and dug out 12 fascinating facts about Shawn Carter:

- Born to Gloria Carter and Adnes Reeves on 4 December, 1969, Jay-Z is the youngest of four children. – He went to the same high school as the late Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes.

- He began his music career as part of a local New York rap group called Original Flavor; he joined the crew with his childhood friend Jaz-O. – He claims to be able to count the number of women he has slept with on one hand. – Jay-Z wed his longtime love Beyonce on 4 April, 2008 in New York.

- He became the first non-athlete to have his own line of sneakers when he launched the S. Carter Collection in partnership with Reebok in 2005. – While serving as president of Def Jam from 2004 to 2007, Jay-Z successfully launched the careers of Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Kanye West and Young Jeezy. His four proteges have all gone on to earn multiple Grammy nominations; the only one who’s yet to win the prestigious prize is Jeezy.

- He became part-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team in 2005 after paying a whopping $4.5 million (£2.81 million) for his share. He plans to move the NBA team from their current home in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to his native Brooklyn, New York by 2011.

- Jay-Z partnered with Budweiser in 2006 to serve as a brand director and oversee their TV and print campaigns.

- Jay-Z holds the record for the most number one albums in Billboard 200 chart history with 11. He surpassed Elvis Presley’s tally of 10 when The Blueprint 3 hit the top of the countdown in September (09). The only other artists who can boast the same accolade are the Beatles, who also have 11.

- Jay-Z has been nominated for an impressive 35 Grammy Awards in his career to date and has claimed eight. He has five Grammy nods for the January (10) awards.

- He is one of the big name producers behind new Broadway musical Fela!, joining forces with Hollywood couple Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. The musical celebrates the work of late Nigerian star Fela Kuti.

Brown split from the Bajan beauty in February (09) after he assaulted her in a vicious fight that landed him a community service order and five years probation. The Umbrella hitmaker returned to the spotlight last month (Nov09), finally speaking out about how her life has changed since the altercation – and now Brown admits it’s clear how much his ex-girlfriend has struggled.

He says,

“I can see what damage it does, mentally, more than physical… I was wrong for what I did. And I would definitely say that it’s not something that I look past or look over. Something that’s really, really touchy. And, and like I said, I’m really sorry for what went down. And what happened.”

But the Kiss Kiss hitmaker insists the criticism he’s received for appearing happy and moving on with his career is unfair – because he is still deeply tormented by the incident. He adds,

“I think what it is when people see me smiling and kind of nonchalantly getting answers or, or saying things. I’m human, really, I’m like really hurting inside. And it really is devastating to me.” Brown’s comments will be aired in an interview with U.S. news show 20/20 on Friday

Jackson faced a $50 million (£34.2 million) lawsuit earlier this year (09) from his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of his young son Marquise, who alleged the rapper reneged on a deal to share half of his future earnings with her. The suit was dismissed, but Jackson insists he’s now wary of new lovers. German magazine Bild quotes Jackson as saying,

"I’m single and haven’t had a girlfriend for quite a long time. It’s difficult for me to trust a woman. Men are attracted to beautiful women. Women are attracted to men who offer security – financial security. And if you have money and you are famous, women find that sexy. "You never know what she really wants. A lot of people marry without knowing the true motive of their partners. I won’t get ripped off."

Lil Wayne has had an outstanding year. A top selling album, the voice behind the Gatorade, What’s G, commercials, and now performing at the grammy’s.

Lil Wayne leads the nominees at the 51st Grammy Awards, will join the Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney and Katy Perry onstage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on 8 February (09).
Perry’s performance will be interactive – fans have been invited to post videos of themselves singing along to her I Kissed a Girl hit on the official Grammys site. Voting will determine which of them will be shown during Perry’s live segment, dubbed My Grammy Moment.

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will-smith-barack-obama

Will Smith feels the same way that most other Barack Obama supporters feel, that Obama will “change the world forever”.
Will Smith has been a passionate supporter of the Barack Obama and appeared in a star-studded public service announcement advertisement to encourage people to go the polls. He was delighted to see Obama elected in November and views the historic appointment as life changing.

Smith tells British morning show GMTV,

“It’s not just revolutionary, it’s evolutionary. Never before in the history of the planet has someone, a group of people, moved from the slave class of empire to be elected to the top spot.”

And Smith will always look back on the day Obama was elected with fond memories – it brought his whole family together to witness the momentous occasion. He tells the BBC,

“It’s just such a huge moment for America and for the world, it’s something I believed was real and possible for so long. I carried myself around the world in that way as if it could be true, possible, so there’s a deep truth in me that was validated on November 4th. We watched it together as a family. With my kids it was no big deal, whereas for myself and for (wife) Jada, and even more so for our parents, who lived through the struggle for equality, it was so huge, but for our kids the world is different. The worldhas changed forever. The ideas and the fibres that are created for America have never been more true than today.”

Fortunately, for Obama, President Bush has set the bar so low that improvement should be easy. The difficult part will be living up to the expectations that have been set for him and he, indirectly, set for himself. Somehow, I don’t think he is too concerned.

Jennifer Hudson will get her chance to try.

Jennifer Hudson will make her return to public performance by singing the American National Anthem before the SuperBowl in Tampa, Florida. The Oscar-winning singer/actress went into hiding following the brutal murders of her mother, brother and nephew in October.

But she won’t be waiting for 6 February (09), when she’s billed to perform at a MusiCares Neil Diamond tribute in Hollywood, to return to public life – she’s planning a trip to Tampa. Hudson has not appeared in public since her mother Darnell Donerson, brother Jason Hudson and nephew Julian King were shot to death. Her sister’s estranged husband, William Balfour, has been charged with the murders.

She was reported to be among the stars performing at Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. next week (20Jan09), but that rumour was shot down by her publicist.

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T.I Road to Redemption

A TV documentary following T.I. in the final days before his incarceration has been given the greenlight by an Atlanta, Georgia judge.
The Whatever You Like hitmaker – real name Clifford Harris, Jr. – is due to begin a jail sentence this year (09) after pleading guilty to illegal possession of three machine guns and two silencers following his 2007 arrest.
Cameras will follow the hip-hop star before he’s due to sit behind bars on MTV series T.I.’s Road to Redemption – on which he reportedly serves as producer and will receive royalties.
The project will show the rapper as he completes 1,000 hours of community service before returning to court in March (09).
And according to the New York Post, the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia has signed off on the project – despite a federal Son of Sam law prohibiting individuals from profiting from their crimes.
The U.S. attorney’s office spokesperson, Patrick Crosby, tells the newspaper, “If he is making money on it, it is not going to count toward his community service.”
But the rapper insists he’s not making money off the show: “I am not profiting from a crime. I would have been able to do this show with or without the crime that was committed. I am looking forward to putting all this behind me and moving forward with my life.”

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Prince is supposed to be one of the legends of our time and he is out here stealing songs? Ouch!

An appeals court in Italy has ruled pop superstar PRINCE stole his THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD hit from two European songwriters. Officials at the Court of Appeal in Rome have decided the 1994 hit borrowed heavily from Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino’s Takin’ Me to Paradise.

Under the ruling, Prince must stop distributing the song on Italian territory. He also faces having to pay the royalties he has so far accumulated to Bergonzi and Vicino and their publishers, but only if a final hearing confirms the Italian songwriting duo was plagiarised.
Bergonzi and Vicino’s tune was a small European pop hit in 1983.
Bergonzi tells Billboard.com, “When we first heard Prince’s song we immediately took action, but this case has been dragging on for 15 years and it isn’t over yet, such is the slowness of the Italian legal system. We only decided to go public with our story now.”
A court originally rejected the songwriters’ claim in 2003. For a sentence to become definitive in Italy, a “third degree” ruling is necessary.

Claudio Buja, the head of Prince’s new label Universal Music Publishing in Italy, tells the website, “We are waiting to see the outcome of the third and final sentence. We’re wary of making a comment at this stage, but I can say that plagiarism cases are invariably delicate and difficult.”

Maybe this is Prince just getting even with other people stealing his music.

After watching Part 1 of the Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric, it is almost sad what the Republican party has done with Sarah Palin. It is very clear to anyone that is paying attention that she is thoroughly unprepared, but the real tragedy is that she could have possibly had a political future. Her inability over these last few weeks to answer any questions is almost frightening that she could still possibly end up only a heart beat away from being the President.  Palin has only been asked rather basic questions and almost nothing in regards to policy. Saying it is nice as I can, she is proving to be an absolutely terrible selection for VP.

Every time that the media is given access to Palin, which I sure will be rare, she will further embarrass herself and show that John McCain’s selection of her was simply an underestimation of women and their intelligence in the belief that they would support another woman although she is grossly unqualified.

Now it makes more sense why the McCain camp is trying to reschedule the debates. They are trying to train her behind closed doors very quickly, but it’s hard to teach a pit bull with lipstick new tricks.

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Hunter says, “Ludacris and I were sitting around and thinking of ways to get urban kids into baseball, and one was through music.”

Hunter will promote the initiative by stepping up to the plate at upcoming Angels baseball games as tracks submitted to the WeMix.com competition are played over stadium sound systems. (KL//IG)