The beautiful and talented Alicia Keys is currently featured on the cover of the May 2008 issue of Blender Magazine. The magazine isn’t scheduled to hit stands until this Tuesday, but a snippet of the article has been making its rounds online and causing a lot of controversy in the process. She believes that the government was involved in the shooting deaths of slain rappers 2-Pac and Biggie, and she also expressed her feelings about “gangsta rap.”

There’s a knock on the hotel-room door, and a minder enters with a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich: lunch. We’ve been talking about Keys’s early jones for the Notorious B.I.G. “My favorite Biggie song is ‘Me & My Bitch,’” she says, licking a stray globule of jam off her finger. “That title doesn’t make you think he’s speaking about the love of his life, but he is. She throws his shit out the window, she flushes his drugs down the toilet—she’s crazy! But if you grew up like that, then you understood, that was love in that world.”

We ask what other gangsta rappers she liked. And that’s when Keys drives a steamroller through the wall.

“‘Gangsta rap’ was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other,” she says, putting down the sandwich. “‘Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist.”

Come again? A ploy by whom?

She looks at us like it’s the dumbest question in the world. “The government.”

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE » Rapper Common was spotted at the Red Bull Season Launch party over the weekend. During his song I want you, he chose a fan to come onstage for a special performance. Looks like she enjoyed it.

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PHOTOS: KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES

Kanye West (photographed above) performs “Stronger” at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, held at the Staples Center last night in LA. Towards the end of the performance, recording artists Daft Punk made a special cameo appearance. The show featured a lot of performances, and even though we posted the majority of them throughout the night as they came in, a few slipped through the cracks. Here are the remainder of the photos that we didn’t get to post last night. More can be found after the cut.

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PHOTOS: FRANK MICELOTTA / GETTY IMAGES

Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, and Ne-Yo (pictured above) chilling backstage at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Here are a few candid shots of some of the celebrities who attended the show. More can be found after the cut.

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Before I call it a night and take my ass to bed (I have class in the morning and it’s damn near 1 AM lol). I just have one burning question: Did Prince, Rihanna, and Alicia Keys share the same hair stylist for the night?

KANYE WEST PERFORMS STRONGER / HEY MAMA »

Well I have to say it has been a great evening/night for me with this year’s 50 Annual Grammys, especially with memorable performances like Kanye West performing “Stronger” and then giving a sincere tribute to his mother with the song “Hey Mama”. Other great performances at this year’s 50th Annual Grammy awards included Rihanna, Morris Day and The Time, Alicia Keys with Frank Sinatra, and of course Beyonce and Tina Turner. You can view all of these performances after the cut!
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PHOTOS: WINTER / GETTY IMAGES

Now that we got the majority of the Red Carpet photos out of the way, let’s get into photos from the show! Alicia Keys opened up the show with a special performance with a hologram of the late Frank Sinatra. After the performance, Prince presented her with her Grammy for “Best Female R&B Performance.” I didn’t really get to catch this performance, or Carrie Underwood’s, so I can’t write up a review. Check out more photos after the cut.

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PHOTOS: VESPA & SHEARER / WIRE IMAGE

Here are a few photos of Keyshia Cole, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, and Chris Brown on the GM Red Carpet. Interested in seeing who else was photographed on the GM Red Carpet? Check out more photos after the cut! CONTINUE READING

PHOTOS: FRANK MICELOTTA / GETTY IMAGES

Here are some photos from the Pre-Grammy Cocktail Party hosted by the legendary Clive Davis. The party was held at the Beverly HIlton Hotel last night in California. The guest list included the likes of Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Lil Mama, and more. Check out the rest of the photos after the cut. CONTINUE READING

CHRIS BROWN - WITH YOU // EXCLUSIVE

Sara Bareilles rises three spots, at number 9, to number 6. Rihanna rises up just two spots, number 5 to number 3, from last week’s chart with the electro-single “Don’t Stop The Music”; Chris Brown climbs to number 2. Meanwhile Flo Rida’s smash hit “Low,” featuring T-Pain, retains it’s number 1 spot on the charts once again.

#1 - Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - Low
#2 - Chris Brown - With You
#3 - Rihanna - Don’t Stop The Music
#4 - Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic - Apologize
#5 - Alicia Keys - No One
#6 - Sara Bareilles - Love Song
#7 - Fergie - Clumsy
#8 - Snoop Dogg - Sexual Seduction
#9 - Yael Naim - New Soul
#10 - Sean Kingston - Take You There

If you want a more detailed view of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart or would like to view the remaining 90, continue on here.