Take a crack at these three questions for a chance to snatch this week’s CD contest. Same rules as before.

1) What’s the name of Lupe’s old group? Hint: The group disbanded after their first single failed to take off.

2) Former B.I.G. manager Mark Pitts helped bring Lupe to his current home at Atlantic. Name the three record companies that failed to put the Chicago emcee on the map.

3) What was the main thing Lupe said he wanted to have on his contract? (e.g. full ownership of his masters; an expensive Porshe; a $500,000 rolex, access to Mya’s phone number, etc)

What better way to show off bling than to paste them on Bey’s hangers?

-Video: Jim Jones - We Fly High

-The Doctor’s Advocate pushed back, as Game readies a new Scott Storch-laced single, “Let’s Ride.”

-The Jay-Z/Water For Life site is up. There, you can view photos from Jay-Z’s world tour as well as his diaries. Sample entry: I went jogging in the park and was being followed by kids in Roc-A-Wear T-shirts. They had their hats just right. The only way to tell they weren’t from New York is when they spoke,”Yay Zee you are thee best, always.”

-XXL needs a new Managing Editor. Four years of magazine managing editor experience required.

-Lupe says that the only guests on his album are Jay-Z and Jill Scott. (But you already knew that.) Watch him catch some flack for saying that he’s not ready to work with “crazy, violent, shoot-’em-up” people.

-One of my favorite producers RjD2 says “F*ck Hip-Hop” and signs to XL. (spotted via spinemagazine.com)

-If Whitney has been undergoing rehab in Cali since April, then how did she find the time to file for divorce?

-Is the KKK dispanding because hip-hop is doing a better job of degrading/killing black people than they could ever imagine? True or not, there’s an element of reality there.

-Xzibit: “Rap is a reflection of society. If society wasn’t violent, then hip-hop wouldn’t be violent.” So, the only thing going on in society is violence? F*ck outta here.

Ras Kass - Hush Baby (The Game Diss) (mp3)
Considering the fact that Ras Kass is the west coast’s last standing lyricist extraordinaire, I expected nothing short of an etherization. On the contrary, I imagine that this will horrible diss will barely deflate Game’s ego. *Keeps an eye out for 1000 Bars.*

Raekwon - Roof Top (mp3)
Now that Jay-Z has decided to swing back and takeover the game, I doubt anybody is still checking for Cuban Linx II (or Hip-Hop Is Dead for that matter). Still, it makes me smile to see Rae in top form after 12+ years in the game.

Bonus Bites:

• Elliot Ness - Temptation
• Akon - Walk Away
• Michael Jackson - Escape
• Ras Kass - Get It In
• A.G. - Hip-Hop Quotable (Produced by J Dilla)

Like Food & Liquor, the album art is in perfect disagreement with the title, but it works.

(Via the other Rap-Up)

And here’s Game on E! Channel sharing his thoughts on Jay-Z’s comeback and what it means for hip-hop.

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Ras Kass shows off his black eye from the fight gives Hip-Hop Police something to worry about.

-Ras Kass gets his jaw broken by The Game. Must have been a “nigga moment.” (Where’s Riley Freeman when you need him?)

-Jim Jones’ new album, Hustler’s P.O.M.E. is slated to drop in the some month as his best friend Nas’ Hip-Hop Is Dead.

-If “Lonelygirl15″ was black or hispanic, I wonder if it would have been such a big deal.

-Here’s the Entertainment Weekly exclusive article on Jay-Z’s return.

UPDATED
–More pictures from Nas’ birthday party. They had an 80’s theme going on there, I see. Surprised Capo didn’t crash the bash to try and slap the kufi off Nas’ head.

-Gawker launches a shitty music blog.

-Hardly Art, Hardly Garbage joins Nastack.com in blog retirement home…I think.

-Ghostface Killah loses $50,000 after failing to submit a manuscript for his book. (Look in the Side Dish section.)

(Props to Bill)

You should really see the evil smile on my face as I type this. Never mind that Ras Kass is a monster on the mic, he’s an asshole in person. Turns out Game managed to pick up a few Publicity Stunt 101 tricks from his ex-boss, Fitty, and decided to break a bottle over Ras Kass’ head.

Ras Kass sez:

“The n—a tried to jump me 30 to 2, yet I’m alive and chillin’,” Ras Kass said in a statement. “My sweater is still white and all my jewelry intact. Game is a ‘Change Of Heart,’ stripping, fake-ass blood, who sold some records riding Dr Dre’s shirt tails.”

“I guess he thought this would help him sell some more records. I was so unfazed by it all that I went up to his car afterwards and challenged him right there. Game is no match for me physically or lyrically,” explained the rapper.

The Game sez:

“Aint nobody hit that dude but me, he’s crazy talking about 30 people,” Game told AllHipHop.com. “I never had beef and never met Ras Kass, unless it was a quick exhange saying hello. He talked about my son by name. You can say what you want about me, but what does my son got to do with it? I seen the n***a in the club. I walked up to him in the club and it was my mans birthday, so I didn’t want to mess up his party. When the lights came on, at the end I asked him about the freestyle. He said it wasn’t nothing, but he started in on that ‘it’s whatever I’m Ras Kass and punched him in the face before he could finish.”

I find it amazing that both artists were eager to speak on the incident afterwards.

Other than the fact that Young Hot Rod (worst rap name ever?) sounds like he’s reading his rhymes directly from a sheet of paper, I don’t have much of a problem with this song.