Rap megastar & producer Kanye West made fashion magazine Vanity Fair’s 67th Annual Top 10 Best Dressed list.

Kanye was included in the Top 10 best dressed men along with actor George Clooney, CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

Over 1,000 fashion industry industry insiders vote each year on the world’s best dressed people. West was the only male musician that appeared on this year’s list.

“He goes far in new directions and is very watched, imitated and admired,” Vanity Fair said of West’s dressing style. “He feels good about himself and it shows. Kanye is a college boy. He knows about the Lacoste preppy collegiate look, but he’s not going to leave it at that. Instead, he takes elements of that and almost makes inside jokes on it. He never looks like a slob, even if he’s in jeans.”

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 the Hip-Hop Archive reports the Topps, an international marketer of picture cards, made a deal with Island/Def Jam CEO and part-owner Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter to feature him as a rookie basketball card for 2005-2006. Carter will have a Rookie Card, a Relic Card, and an Autographed Card in the collection.

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Rapper Ludacris will head to Miami to shoot the video for “Money Maker” with Pharrell Williams on Monday (July 31) and the video will debut a new look for the Disturbing Tha Peace CEO.

Ludacris, born Chris Bridges, has cut off his trademark braids and afro for a shorter haircut. According to the rapper, who is preparing his new album Release Therapy, the time had come for a new look.

“Release Therapy marks a new phase in my life,” Ludacris told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “I’m very excited to move forward and try new things. Life is all about change and this album will hopefully reflect some of my growth as an artist and a person. With that said, it only makes sense that I ’shake things up’ and try something different. Who knows what I’ll come up with next?”

The video for “Money Maker” will debut on MTV in the fall. In related news, Ludacris and Disturbing Tha Peace will host AllHipHop.com’s invitation only Battle Royale “The War” during AllHipHop Week. Various MC’s will square off at the invitation event to compete for the $5,000 prize and championship.

Three 6 Mafia has signed a huge three-year deal with Warner Bros. Records for its production company Hypnotize Minds Productions.

Under the deal, worth upwards of $30 million, Warner Bros. will market, promote, and distribute new HMP artists as well as work together on movies and video games.

Additionally, Hypnotize Minds will produce for Warner Bros. artists.

“It feels good to still be signing big deals like this 11 years later,” DJ Paul said. “A lot of people can’t do that, you know what I’m sayin. We blessed to be in the game so long and still have blessings like this come to the door.”

Three 6’s deal with Warner Bros. came via the label’s vice president of urban A&R and fellow Tennessee native Naim Ali. Warner’s ability to handle a various tasks while promoting their artists was a plus, according to Paul.

“I like the way Warner Bros. stayed behind their records and worked multiple singles and stuff, like Trillville and Scrappy and different artists that I’ve seen,” DJ Paul noted “I like the way they did that and keep it rollin. Just keep pulling singles out the albums and pushin’ it. They distribute DVDs, so we could put movies out through them too”

As far as movies are concerned, the group revealed that they have finished writing the third movie in the Choices series, Choices III: The Return of Big Pat, as well as a feature titled The Streets of Memphis and another film on hip-hop.

“Be on the lookout for our our independent DVDs,” said Juicy J, who stated the group is still signed to Sony Records.

“We’ve been doing the same thing, the same sound, since 1990,” Paul said. “It’s been working and we just kept it the same and all kinds of things been jumping off and been happening for us. We got the Oscar and all that. We did the big deal with Warner Bros. It’s been a big year. “Stay Fly” blew up. That’s like one of our first records to get like10,000 spins. Then we had the second single, ‘Poppin’ My Collar,’ that blew up. We never really had a lot of good luck with second singles. We always had strong first singles. Now we got a third single that’s blowin up, ‘Side 2 Side.’ So everything been looking good. This Warner Bros. deal has really just sealed

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Belo, from the Chicago rap group Do or Die, has been charged in a murder case that took place in 2002, while his girlfriend is being charged for witness tampering.

According to reports, the rapper (born Darnell Smith) is currently on trial for the death of Raynard Pinkston. Prosecutors allege that Belo shot and killed Pinkston in November of 2002.

Recently the prosecution ran into some obstacles that may amount to witness tampering. According to the prosecution, there were eight or more witnesses to the shooting, but recently several have changed prior testimonies to defense attorneys.

Felicia Hamilton, Belo’s 34-year-old girlfriend, has been charged with two felony counts each of communication with a witness and obstruction of justice. On July 27th she was ordered to be held without bail.

“There are four total witnesses who say they got paid off,” Cook County Assitant State’s Attorney Brian Sexton said “We suspect they all got paid off.”

Hamilton became a witness tampering suspect in March, after allegedly paying $500 to one of the witnesses in Belo’s case. After reporting the payoff to police, the witness wore a wire during another meeting with Hamilton where he was told “not to come to the trial” Sexton said.

Currently on probation for possession of a controlled substance, she will appear in court again Tuesday August 1st to face the obstruction of justice and communicating with a witness charges. A judge will determine whether her probation was violated in court on Wednesday (August 2).

Queensbridge rappers Prodigy and Havoc of Mobb Deep landed in Japan on Friday (July 28), kicking off a series of international shows.

The group is performed last night (July 30) at Shibuya-AX in Tokyo. A host of Japanese artists are featured on the bill including Naomi Yoshimura, DJ Muro, DJ Mikan, DJ Masako, Ryu Butcher and Shige KiXxxxx.

On Aug. 1-5, the group will then head to Australia to play four different shows throughout the country, making stops in Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

On Aug. 8-9, Mobb Deep lands in New Zealand for two shows, one in Auckland and one in Wellington.

While the Mobb haven’t faired to well on the charts as of lately, the two talented mc’s have enough hits in their carrying bag to divey out while performing across seas.

Tour dates and venue’s are listed below:

July 30: Japan Tokyo Shibuya AX
Aug 1: Australia Gold Coast Bedroom
Aug 3: Australia Sydney Metro Theater
Aug 4: Australia Melbourne Metro Club
Aug 5: Australia Brisbane Mercury Club
Aug 8: New Zealand Auckland Logan Campbell Center
Aug 9: New Zealand Christ crunch Westpac Trust Stadium

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Criminal charges against controversial radio jock Star will be dropped in six months, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Star (born Troi Torain) was fired in May Power 105. FM for what Clear Channel Radio, said were “wholly unacceptable” comments about rival, DJ Envy.

Star was accused of making anti-Asian comments about DJ Envy’s wife, Gia Casey. In addition Star made remarks implied a threat of sexual abuse against the couple’s four-year-old child and threatened to urinate on the girl.

He also offered $500 to any listener who provided details about where the girl went to school.

Star was arrested by two days later and charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Star’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman said his client’s words were the culmination of a long-running verbal battle that had “spiraled out of control.”

The charges against Star will be dropped if the 42-year-old on-air personality serves three days of community service and stays away from the four-year-old victim of his comments.

Star labeled the ruling a victory for freedom of speech.

Reported by Allhiphop.com on July 28, Mona Scott, President of Violator Management & Marketing, opened J’s Southern Express in Lower Manhattan in 2005. Scott guided the careers of Missy Elliot, 50 Cent and Mobb Deep to name a few. The restaurant was inspired by Scott’s Mother-n-law’s red velvet cake, which is available on the menu as Ma Dell’s red velvet cake.

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Wu Tang Clan legend Method Man is unhappy with radio personality Wendy Williams revealing the status of his wife’s health.

Williams recently broke news to her listeners that Meth’s wife has cancer. The rapper, who kept the status of his wife’s health a secret, was angered by Williams’ disregard for his privacy.

“Wendy gets on the air and said [Method Man] ‘his wife is sick and she not doing too well,’ and I’m like this f***king b***h man,” Method Man said “This [is] the big “C,” big “C” [for cancer]. I was ready. I was so mad, I was crying right there and I’m like I’m gonna kill some f**king body and these [Wu Tang friends] kept me in there, kept me in L.A.”

Since the show, Method Man has had to deal with increased exposure from the fallout.

According to the rapper, his wife, who is going through chemotherapy treatment, had not told family members about her battle with cancer.

Method Man’s frustration continued to build upon hearing that Williams allegedly insinuated that he was having an affair with a doctor, who is treating his wife.

“She said me and [the doctor] was f**king. What kind of s**t is that, man?,” he said. “You don’t do that to nobody. You say the f**k you want to say about me, say nothing about my family, man.”

This comes as Method Man prepares for the August 29 release of his new album, 4:21…The Day After.

The Museum of African American Music is set to launch its 1st Annual Music Festival in Newark, NJ this weekend.

The event, which will be three free days of festivities, is meant to showcase the many musical contributions that African Americans have made to the world.

The festivities include a film screening of Afro Punk on Friday (July 28th), a Skateboarding camp and concert featuring dead prez’s M-1 on Saturday(July 29), and performances from Rhymefest, Large Professor, Big Daddy Kane and DJ Red Alert, among others on Sunday (July 30th).

“This is the first in a series of events which will promote Lincoln Park and Museum of African American Music developments and connect the entire community of Newark and fans of this music everywhere” said Baye Adofo-Wilson, Chief Project Executive of the Museum of African American Music via a statement.

The 1st Annual Festival Concert will take place in Newark’s Lincoln Park while the movie screening and photo exhibits will be held at the City Without Walls Gallery.

For more information on the event visit www.myspace.com/moaamevents.

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