Busta Rhymmes, T.I. and Three 6 Mafia are among the acts announced for New York radio station Hot 97’s 13th annual Summer Jam.

Over 50,000 concertgoers are expected to attend this year’s show, which is highly anticipated each year. Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Mary J. Blige, Young Jeezy, Mobb Deep , Remy Ma, Sean Paul, Dipset, Jamie Foxx, Jermaine Dupri and Dem Franchise Boyz have also signed on for the show taking place June 24 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Additional performers will be added in coming months.

This marks the third consecutive year that Boost Mobile has signed on as an official Summer Jam partner. Boost will offer special front row seat ticket promotions through Hot 97’s website Other event sponsors include Xbox 360, Whiteboy Clothing, The Tobacco Coalition and XXL Magazine.

Tickets for Summer Jam 2006 go on sale April 28th at 10am.

Cafeteria lunches which are usually horrific in both taste and effect on the body; is at the center of a new contest from rapper 50 Cent as part of his new campaign to encourage healthy eating habits among today’s youth. The artist is the spokesman and judge for a new nationwide cooking competition sponsored by Glaceau, which is partly owned by the rapper and distributes his grape-flavored Vitamin Water drink, Formula 50.

The contest,aimed at preventing childhood obesity by improving eating habits, students in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle are invited to create the most “nutrient-rich” cafeteria lunch recipe, with the winner receiving a $100,000 college scholarship. Fifty, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, says his famous arms and six-pack abs are the result of regular exercise and healthy eating, but he admits his attitude toward nutrition wasn’t always on point.

“I had all of the unhealthy habits,” says the 29-year-old Queens born rapper. “Soda … a lot of fast food, all those things.” But with platinum selling records, a label and a Reebok sneaker line contributing to his bank account these days, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is much easier for the New York native.

“I have someone that I can actually have prepare the food for me, so it’s a huge difference than just getting McDonald’s or Burger King,” he said, adding that he tries to avoid sweets, and sneaks soda only when it’s “available.” He chooses instead to keep his fridge stocked with Glaceau beverages. “It’s a better reflection of my lifestyle,” he said. “I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t need an energy drink.”

50 Cent recently stated that he won’t rush out a new album as he had initially planned to do this summer. Instead he is going to focus on his G-unit family and their upcoming releases: Mobb Deep, Olivia, M.O.P. , Young Buck and Lloyd Banks.

Born Todd Anthony Shaw on April 28, 1966, Too $hort brought pimp life into Hip-Hop as seen in his first album title, Born To Mack.

Did you know that you can Search the Web right from Hip-Hop Toolbar?

Next time you need to search for anything — from a new car to Carmen Electra, from a hot club to a golf club, do it right. Search for it with the Hip-Hop Toolbar.

Roc-A-Fella’s Freeway has been working hard on his upcoming album Free At Last, which will be co-executive produced by Jay-Z and G-Unit’s 50 Cent.

The album is slated to drop July 25 and features guest appearances by people from both camps including 50 Cent, Young Buck and State Property.

Other rappers that have already recorded for this project include Scarface, and Kanye West. In addition to the major collaborations, the project features production by Kanye, Just Blaze, Chad Wes, Scott Storch, Dangerous LLC and Needlz, among others.

“Freeway is like 85 percent done,” Freeway’s manager Ryan Press, of Press Conference Management of the album’s progress. “You can check that out at freewayatlast.com.”

Freeway is also currently working with Atlanta’s mixtape champion DJ Drama to produce a Gangsta Grillz mixtape, which should drop sometime in May.

His tour kicks off this Friday (April 28) in New Jersey, taking place at Brokers nightclub and featuring live performances by Freeway and Diplomats/Koch Records artist JR Writer, along with music from DJ Whoo Kid.

A single featuring 50 Cent and the King of Pop may be headed toward the next mix tape to be released by 50’s G-Unit member, DJ Whoo Kid.

The producer told Billboard.com that he will travel to Bahrain in two weeks to retrieve tracks Jackson has been working on in his home studio. However, a rep for 50 said the rapper has not yet made an official decision to appear on the mixtape, or on Jackson’s next album under his new label Two Seas. According to word on the street, “the situation is a done deal” says a close affiliate of the G-Unit camp.

The first single from Jackson’s as-yet-untitled album, “Now That I Found Love,’ is scheduled to drop on Nov. 21 with production by the singer’s longtime collaborator Bruce Swedien, the engineer on Jackson’s “Thriller” and co-producer of his album “Dangerous.” Two Seas was founded by Jackson and Abdulla Hamad Al-Khalifa. U.K. record executive Guy Holmes has been hired as CEO of the label and as Jackson’s manager.

With their debut dropping next month ( May 9th), the tandem of Danger Mouse and Cee Lo , better known as Gnarls Barkley , will be hitting the Big Apple for the first time next month. On Monday, May 22nd at the Webster Hall, Gnarls Barkley will be performing joints from their highly anticipated debut, St. Elsewhere.

Their first single, “Crazy”, is already taking the airwaves by storm. In fact, it has made UK history by being the first song to reach #1 on the charts solely through downloads.

For ticket information for their upcoming N.Y. show visit ticketweb.com or the Mercury Lounge Box Office.

Did you know that you can Search the Web right from Hip-Hop Toolbar?

Next time you need to search for anything — from a new car to Carmen Electra, from a hot club to a golf club, do it right. Search for it with the Hip-Hop Toolbar.

Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith, close associate of Jay-Z and vice president of Def Jam Records has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for pepper-spraying R. Kelly during 2004’s Best of Both Worlds tour.

Smith stood trial in a Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday regarding the incident, which took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 30, 2004.

During the show, R. Kelly claimed to have seen two men with guns in the audience and left the stage fearing for his life. He agreed to continue his performance after police were called, but on his way back to the stage he and members of his entourage were assaulted with pepper spray wielded by a man identified as Smith, the lawsuit charges.

In return for his guilty plea and the successful completion of four days of community service and two days of anger-management counseling, Smith will be cleared of all charges. Kelly accused CEO Jay-Z and affiliates of offenses ranging from physical assault via pepper spray, breach of contract and deliberate sabotage.

In 2004, documents stated that Kelly would be suing Jay-Z, Smith and the tour’s promotion company Atlanta Worldwide Touring Company for $75 million.

Later reports state that Kelly heightened the lawsuit to $91 million, claiming that Smith was “acting within scope and course of his employment by Jay-Z.”

Looks like Comedy Central is making good on its promise to air a third season of “Chappelle’s Show” featuring new, unseen sketches that host Dave Chappelle left behind in his sudden departure last year.

Apparentely, an invitation-only audience was on hand as the network staged four tapings of the wraparounds — the monologues used to introduce each sketch — for the show’s pieced-together third season due to premiere in July. “It was definitely funny,” says Alex Smith from Blue Bell, Pa., who attended two tapings. “But compared to his other seasons, it wasn’t as good. I guess because with the other seasons, everything seemed so new. They really weren’t as funny as his older stuff.”

On the other hand, audience member Sheldon Sampson of Brooklyn told press: “It was all hysterical. I would say they were just as good as anything from the other seasons, even the controversial stuff.” Comedy Central says it actually has enough material to produce four new episodes, but at this point, is only planning three shows. The network believes each new episode will be a ratings winner.

“We wouldn’t be putting this stuff on the air if we didn’t believe in it,” says Lou Wallach, the network’s executive in charge of original programming. “The stakes with this material are just too high.” The wraparounds, filmed at Sony BMG’s midtown studios, were performed by the show’s co-creator, Neal Brennan, and cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. Among the new sketches is a parody of MTV’s “Cribs,” which features a wealthy Chappelle making an omelet using 4 million-year-old dinosaur eggs and sprinkling diamonds on his food instead of salt.

The controversial final sketch Chappelle filmed before walking away will also be included.

On Wednesday, April 6, 2005 Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records, released a video series of Hip-Hop yoga. “Yoga Live” is compiled of 72 Hip-Hop tracks with instructional yoga.

Did you know that you can Search the Web right from Hip-Hop Toolbar?

Next time you need to search for anything — from a new car to Carmen Electra, from a hot club to a golf club, do it right. Search for it with the Hip-Hop Toolbar.

If Snoop Dogg announces, “You are about to witness the power of gangsta music,” listeners can’t help but be reminded how long (over a decade) that Tha Dogg Pound has been creating what the world recognizes as “gangsta music.”

The genre defined and created by artists like Tha Dogg Pound seems tied in the hands of most artists, but when Kurrupt, Daz Dillinger, and Snoop get together, it is nothing short of a relaxing reunion. With Snoop’s smooth, laid back flow, Daz’s punchy style, and Kurrupt’s intricate lyricism, Tha Dogg Pound is stronger than ever.

This funky 70’s cut separates the imitators from the originators and hopefully will usher in the classic album from the trio that fans have been looking forward to for so long.