I guess getting under her “umbrella” isn’t as easy as the song makes it seem! Rihanna told PEOPLE she found out from a friend that Jay-Z makes himself out to be a brick wall between her and her potential dates.

“I just found out from a mutual friend that guys will talk to Jay first before they try to approach me. He’s very protective,” she says of her mentor, who discovered her and signed her to his Def Jam label. “Jay has my best interests in mind. If it’s a good guy I know Jay won’t shut him down. But if he’s not, Jay will be like, ‘No, no, no.’”

And exactly who are the guys trying to court Rihanna? “He actually never tells me. I have no clue who they are and I guess I’ll never know,” she says. The singer, admits that her busy schedule makes dating difficult, but hopes to “get a date in sometime soon.” The Barbados-born chanteuse says she prefers “tall guys who have a sense of humor, love to laugh, have a good time and good conversation,” and describes her idea of a good date as “low key, just hanging out and watching a movie.”

Aww, “big bro” Joe Camel’s lookin out for his hot little side dish! Maybe that’s why Beyonce’s been in such a PISSY mood lately! Go figure.

There has been an empty seat amongst the ladies of The View “and it will be a tough seat to fill” an ABC insider tells Star magazine. This decade long talk show lost Star Jones last season and now her replacement Rosie O’Donnell. O’Donnell made her exit on May 23, 2007. And now the question is - who will replace the outspoken O’Donnell this fall? Looks like the new host of “The View” is going to be Whoopi Goldberg.

“As far as everyone at ABC is concerned, she has the job. They have been meeting with Kathy Griffin, Roseanne Barr, Ricki Lake and Gayle King. While Kathy was a strong contender, Whoopi has won everyone over. Everyone is acting like Whoopi already has the gig,” the show insider says. “Whoopi has a radio show, she lives in NYC and she is an institution there. She also is liberal and outspoken but not crazy like Rosie was. She will be a perfect fit as far as the ladies on The View are concerned. Nothing has been officially announced,” says the insider.”

But it is 99 percent Whoopi at this point. They will have a few guest hosts throughout the summer but the executives and producers at The View are set on Ms. Goldberg to start in the fall and the hosts like the idea too. Goldberg, 51, is more than qualified. She’s hosted the Oscars four times and holds a Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and Tony Award. And even talk show host Rosie O’Donnell has stated on her official blog (rosie.com) that she would like Whoopi to assume her role as moderator after she exits “The View.” Goldberg has appeared in over 150 movies and is currently the host of Wake Up With Whoopi, which premiered in 2006.

The view needs somebody like Whoopi on the panel. I only watch certain clips on youtube when something goes down (a lot of that has been happening lately), but never-the-less Whoopi’s gonna do good on The View. But damn! They change more than Destiny’s Child, don’t they?! Let’s hope this is the last one…

FABOLOUS - FROM NOTHIN’ TO SOMTHIN’ » BUY, BUY, BUY!!! » People, if you go out this week, please make sure you go out to your local record store to purchase Fab’s brand new forth studio album, From Nothin’ To Somethin’, in stores today! Featuring the hit singles “Diamonds” with Young Jeezy, “Return of the Hustle” with Swizz Beatz and one of my favorites from the album “Make Me Better” with Ne-Yo - I truely recommend this album, it’s crazy production and all, I could literally play the whole album without skippin’ SHIT! Not to mention this IS ranked the eighth most anticipated album of 2007, that much I can agree with, this is probably one of the biggest rap albums to drop this year.

EVE » SWIZZ BEATZ » KELLY CLARKSON » LIL’ MAMA

Eve feat. T.I. » “Cash Flow” » LISTEN » (Full) » Love Eve and glad she’s back, “Cash Flow,” will be the “official” second single following “Tambourine”. The song features rapper T.I. and production by Swizz Beatz I believe, if so, this really is Swizzy’s year! I know he making money, anyway “Cash Flow” sounds like a strong follow up, I like the alarms and horn in the background, and beat is crazy. T.I. did his thang on the track as well, this will be another “fiyah” album to look out for this summer!

Swizz Beatz » “Money In The Bank” » LISTEN » (Full) » Speaking of Swizz, that brings me to the hypnotic club banger “Money In The Bank,” the second single off the album, One Man Band Man, which is set to drop on August 23rd. The song was released on his MySpace page at first and then on iTunes on May 29th. The Song is very upbeat and talks about young girls that are broke that go to parties to meet men for money.
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Eddie Murphy was seen entering a Beverly Hills doctor’s office Monday where he reportedly underwent a court-ordered paternity test to determine whether he is the father of his ex-girlfriend Melanie Brown’s baby, as she has claimed. Murphy assured photographers waiting outside the clinic that he would “absolutely…do the right thing” by Brown and the infant if the test comes back positive. Earlier in the day, Brown dropped by the same office with her two-month-old daughter, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, presumably to have the child undergo a DNA test of her own. There is no word on when the results will be revealed. So for now … we must wait! I’m going to resurrect the dead and bring up an old poll that was started a few months ago. After all this, he better be the baby daddy! ‘Cause if he’s not? Let’s just say all jokes will be on Scary Spice and her bastard baby.

T-Pain held a concert celebrating the release of his second studio album “Epiphany” in his hometown of Tallahassee Florida at the Walker Ford Community Center with the help of Yung Joc, Kanye West, and more. Check out the photos below and after the cut!

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Didn’t we get enough of Rihanna the WEEK OF MAY 7?? Apparantly her slave-driving promo team doesn’t think so! Anyhow, she was on TRL yesterday. From what I’m hearing Good Girl Gone Bad didn’t do so well and probably won’t reach the 100,000 mark by day’s end…

Here are a few snapshots of some celebrities who were at Disney World yesterday at the new “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.” Who showed up? Kobe Bryant and his family, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Melissa Joan Hart, and a few others! Check out more pics after the cut…

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Superproducer Timbaland spent an hour behind bars in Germany early this morning after a violent bar brawl. The music mogul was temporarily held in custody in Cologne after a fight in the city left a 29-year-old Croatian man in the hospital with injuries to his rib cage and multiple bruises. Cologne police spokesperson Juergen Goebel says eye witnesses confirmed a heated argument between Timbaland - real name Timothy Mosley - and an unidentified man in the bar of the Intercontinental Hotel at 11:30 pm last night. The pair took their argument outside where it allegedly escalated into violence, with members of Timbaland’s entourage also reportedly joining in the brawl.

Sources claim the fight began when Timbaland began flirting with the man’s girlfriend. In an ensuing war of words, it is believed the producer took offense to a racial slur. According to Goebel, Timbaland was questioned and held in custody for approximately one hour. He was later released.

Damn Timbo! So we rollin like THAT now?!

UPDATE: PICTURES ADDED!

Rappa ternt sanga T-Pain has one of the top singles in the country with ”Buy U A Drank,” but just a few years ago, the Florida Native couldn’t even by himself a drank, or a cheeseburger for that matter!T-Pain, born Faheem Najm, had tried for years to make it big in the industry, producing music for others as well as performing in the rap group Nappy Headz. But, operating on aspiration alone doesn’t pay. T-Pain was broke. Luckily for him, singer and producer Akon stepped in and signed T-Pain to his label Konvict Music.

AP: Did you ever think about giving up your musical dreams?

T-Pain: “Yes. The most horrible time was the day that Akon called me. He called me right when I went to get my application from McDonald’s. I was giving up. I was literally in my dad’s house renting my studio out, running it off of a generator outside. People couldn’t even record. The people who lived behind us was calling the police because of the noise ordinance because they heard the generator all day and all night. I was eating mayonnaise out of the jar. It was bad. I used to sit in front of McDonald’s and ask people for dollars to get me a cheeseburger. It was bad. Then that one day I went to go get that application. I had been hanging out in front of there so much I knew the managers and all. I had no problem getting a job or anything. I went to go get that application and that’s when Akon called me.”

Hmm, I wonder what life would be like for T-Pain (and the rest of us) if his phone was turned off!!