-Don’t you wish all rappers would be nice like King Koopa and make their single available on the net for $free.99? [Ultimate Victory E-Card]

-Video: 6th Sense - I Wanna Tell Ya [GooTube]

-The misadventures of Lauryn Hill: Concert-goers are dishing that L’Boogie’s recent show was so flawed that she even tripped and fell on her face at some point. smh. [Vibe]

-I don’t always have the strength (or time) to call out shark bloggers, but this guy takes swaggerjacking to the next level. [Young N Nosey]

-Barry Obama digs Jay-Z and Beyonce. Who woulda thunk it. [About]

“We’ll be re-united and it feels so good.”

According to a poll conducted by MTV, CBS, and the New York Times, youth support in the next presidential election is split almost evenly between Barack Obama (18%) and Hillary Clinton(17%).

If the election were held today, a majority of 17 to 29-year-olds (54 percent) say they’d vote for the Democratic candidate, while 32 percent would vote Republican. (Source)

Not so fast. What liberal pundits forget to tell you is that, young Americans are not as interested in politics as they make it seem. How else do you explain the 45% of the polled who said they were uninterested in any of the candidates? That’s higher than all the people who indicated support for Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, Thompson, and Romney combined.

Understandably, young people don’t trust the political landscape, and it’ll take more than some exciting statistics to win over their trust and solidarity.

::Andre expands his hustle with a new musical compilation from his show, “Class of 3000.”

-Curtis breaks the south’s winning streak on the cover of XXL. [NahRight]

-Top 5 indigenous emcees. [Street Census]

-Sample and Example: Common and James Brown. [Hip-Hop Is Read]

-Lil Weezy gets a reality check. Gotta love the producer’s shameless concession: “We’re using Lil Wayne’s popularity to create a buzz.” [DefSounds]

Coming from a guy who never really understood the whole anti-big-forehead campaign, take this with a large grain of salt.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I’m aware that Rihanna’s vocal range is ridiculously shallow, but that’s all “Umbrella” needed–for Rih to remain in her comfort zone. Minimalist pop music at its best. I don’t need these pop crooners getting all melismatic in my ear all the time. Sometimes, less is more.

For his part, Hov does nothing to add or detract from this track. In fact, whenever “Umbrella” comes on, I usually forget that he had anything to do with it until I’m painfully reminded by that uninspired verse of his. Still, the man deserves some points on effort, if only for his ability to bob and weave on an instro that’s neither hip-hop nor R&B. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that he’s presence was irrelevant, seeing as “Umbrella” and its gajillions of remixes helped land Rih-Rih her best first week figures. Ever.

Maybe it’s the fact that she’s finally embraced her weaknesses as a vocalist by redirecting her energy elsewhere to melody and warmth.

Either way, “Umb-a-rella” reigns.

Nice shades.

So my lazy ass finally put down the damn PS 2 and picked up the pen and whipped up that Monchichi interview.

Was he really signed to Shady Records? Is L’Boogie on the new album? Where does he stand on the Indy vs Major debate? Faroe Monk has the answers. Dig in.

• Rizoh Interviews Pharoahe Monch

::GFK’s reaction after Gabe briefed him that Fishscale and More Fish have sold fewer than 10k copies collectively. (Photo: Prefixmag.com)

-100+ photos from Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. [Prefix Mag]

-T.I. vs. T.I.P. vs. TSS: Act 1 - The boy who would be King. [Smoking Section]

-A rare Q & A with the ever evasive Black Thought. [Thaformula.com]

-Suge Knight and P Diddy share couch, the world stops breathing. [Eurweb]

-Yao Ming ready to tie the knot. Meanwhile, Rockets welcome their new coach with an exlcusive party at Harlem Knights. I keed, I keed. [HC]

Who wants an autographed copy of Desire?

The good folks at Cornerstone Promotions have hooked us up with three signed copies of Pharoahe Monch’s new album, Desire (in stores today), as well as free copies of the limited edition Gun Draws newspaper (see pic above).

Take your best shot at these Monch chi chi-related questions for a chance to win:

1) In a bid to capture a Rocky Balboa raw feel for his album, Pharoahe Monch recorded the bulk of Internal Affairs in:

a) a low-budget studio
b) a closet
c) a boxing ring
d) a dressing room

2) How many songs did Pharoahe Monch ghostwrite on Diddy’s Press Play?

You know the drill, send your answers to therapup at gmail dot com.

Update: Contest is over. Thanks for playing.

::Weezy dishes on Tha Carter III leak, upcoming projects, being America’s Greatest Rapper, etc.

-What if artists could sue music critics for negative reviews? [Guardian]

-A thorough review of Power 106’s annual summer concert, featuring Game, Ludacris, Lil’ Wayne, Mims, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. [OCRegister]

-Top 10 Biting MCs of All Time. [StreetCensus]

-50 Cent goes to court for baby mama drama hearing. [JamShowbiz]

-Mad Rumors: Game dissess Mims; Weezy gets Superhead. [HHNLive]

-Larry Johnson’s secret relationship with Jay-Z? [Bossip]

-Foxy Brown mugged by a pimp, weave still in place. [HHC]