T-Pain says there’s no beef between him and rapper Jay-Z and the only reason he said what he made those comments at that club in Vegas was to get the New York rapper’s attention so that he could clarify exactly who he was targeting with his song, “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune).”

“Every time I saw his interviews, he just said, ‘T-Pain is a talented dude,’ ” Pain told New York radio station Power 105’s Ed Lover Wednesday morning (September 9). “But I will say the interview he did yesterday” — in which Jay said, “I made it very clear I wasn’t talking about him” — “that made me feel better.” T-Pain said his issue with Jay-Z stemmed from the two’s appearance onstage at Hot 97’s Summer Jam concert in New Jersey in June. T-Pain joined Jay-Z during his performance of “D.O.A.” just days after the rapper premiered the track. In the song, Jay-Z jabs at artists who have been relying on Auto-Tune too much for their vocals; he absolved Lil Wayne and Kanye West from his complaint, but wasn’t quite as vocal in defending T-Pain, who played a major role in bringing the vocal-enhancing device into the pop consciousness.

T-Pain said he was a fan of the song from the onset, and said he even reached out Jay-Z to join him onstage during Summer Jam. But Jay-Z told him he was overseas in Switzerland, he said, and wouldn’t be able to make it. When Jay-Z did make a surprise appearance at Summer Jam, T-Pain said he was shocked. Hov went onstage with Young Jeezy; T-Pain said he joined the pair onstage at the recommendation of one of Jay-Z’s associates. Afterward, though, according to T-Pain, Jay-Z snubbed him.

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It looks like Jay-Z will be on Oprah after all! The Brooklyn bred rapper took the famous television talk show host on an exclusive tour of the Marcy Projects of Bedstuy, Brooklyn in New York City (Jay’s old neighborhood) and talked her about his past as a teenage drug dealer and bullet dodger. They also discussed his rise to fame in the late 1990’s which led to his current success in the late 2000’s as a hip-hop mogul and household name, in addition to touching on his marriage with superstar Beyonce. All of this will be featured in an upcoming issue of Oprah’s “O Magazine,” but Jay-Z revealed to New York’s Hot 97 radio station that the interview will also air on The Oprah Show on September 24th.

Jay-Z told Hot 97’s Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg exactly why he wanted to bring Oprah to the hood.

“I brought her around there really for the neighborhood,” he explained. ” ‘Cause a lot of times, when you see people or you hear about Oprah Winfrey, she seems almost untouchable. When I saw her, it was shocking to me. So I know how that feels, to see someone on TV and hear their name and know they’re so hugely successful. They seem unattainable … but for them to be around the way and for kids to just see that.”

Her surprise appearance, along with Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kevin Liles, was shocking to the residents of the neighborhood and they definitely appreciated it, but precautions did need to be in place. Jay says her security was equipped with helicopters in all to make sure everything was okay. It’s not everyday you have people like Oprah, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kevin Liles walking through the projects.

“There was a lot of people out there,” he said. “It was Oprah, you know? You don’t want people to come snatch her up. [There was] like secret service and helicopters all around.”

SOURCE: MTV

According to a new viral video making its way around the Internet, T-Pain is no fan of Jay-Z and his “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” song. T-Pain is a regular user of the voice enhancing effect in his music and he had a few choice words for Jay-Z during a DJ set at a club in Las Vegas over the weekend.

“Jay-Z is 59 years old. I don’t think he has the right to say what’s good and what’s not,” Pain said at the club Rehab while on the mic. “I think if anything is dead, it should be him. … To any Jay-Z fans out in the crowd, excuse the f— outta me. But you don’t see me saying ‘rap is dead,’ even though it is. ‘Cause apparently all the rappers are trying to do T-Pain.”

Pain then started singing, “All rappers out there are using Auto-Tune …”

This is definitely a huge contrast to how he appeared to feel about the song early this summer when Jay-Z performed it for the first back in June at the Hot 97 Sumer Jam in New Jersey. Jay-Z says he felt like a fan was coming up to him when T-Pain made his surprise appearance during Jay-Z’s set.

“I look, and I see somebody to my right, and I swear I thought it was a fan coming up to me to hug me,” Jay told Hot 97 a few months back. ” ‘Cause I didn’t see who it was. I thought it was some cool, rock-star stuff. And then I saw him move again, and I looked back. I guess [T-Pain] wanted to get close to me … It was a little awkward, but it was cool.

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Rapper Jay-Z took Oprah Winfrey to his old neighborhood in the Marcy Projects of Bedstuy, Brooklyn and opened up to her about his past as a teen drug dealer, his superstar hip-hop status and his marriage to one of the biggest female entertainers alive, Beyonce Knowles, for the October 2009 issue of O Magazine. He also talks about getting shot at, usage of the N-word in hip-hop lyrics and offending people due to the fact that he and Beyonce had to keep their surprise wedding a secret.

Oprah: So tell me how you got into the drug dealing.

Jay-Z: It was natural.…

Oprah: Because drug dealers were your role models. There wasn’t a teacher or a lawyer or a nurse or a doctor or an accountant in the neighborhood?

Jay-Z: Well, we were living in Marcy by then, so, no. And if anyone did become something like that, they moved out. They never came back to share the wisdom of how they made it. If anyone made it, you never knew it. That’s why I’ve always said that if I became successful, I’d come back here, grab somebody, and show him how it can be done.

Oprah: So by the time you were 13, this was a way of life. Did the lifestyle frighten you?

Jay-Z: No. It was normal. And at some point, you become addicted to the feeling. The uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle.

Oprah: This is where we differ. This is where we differ. Because I’d be very scared! Weren’t you shot at three times—within six feet—and you lived to talk about it?

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At Rhapsody.com you can listen to Jay-Z’s new album, The Blueprint 3, in its entirety. And to promote this, Rhapsody and Jay-Z teamed up for a dope commercial, which shows the rapper recreating each of his album covers in a creative way while “Run This Town” plays in the background. Definitely the best commercial we’ve seen in a while! Check it out below…

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Beyonce and Jay-Z took in the 2009 Barclays Golf Tournament at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City Sunday afternoon (Aug 30). The couple watched Tiger Woods tee off and followed the golf champ around the course.

Later that day, the two of them headed to the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn to watch the Grizzly Bears perform at the Jelly NYC Pool Party. Check out all of the pics from their eventful Sunday afternoon below.

Rapper Jay-Z hosted a press conference early Monday (Aug 31) at Madison Square Garden in New York City for his upcoming “Answer the Call” charity concert, due to be held at MSG on September 11th, the day his album, Blueprint 3, drops. The show’s purpose is to raise money for the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.

Beyonce and Kevin Liles, Executive VP of Warner Music Group, were also on hand at the press conference for the benefit.

Rapper Jay-Z took a few shots at TV personality Bill O’Reilly and raido personality Rush Limbaugh in his new song, “Off That” (featuring Drake). The lines that target the political commentators go like this:

This ain’t black versus white, my n*gga, we off that / Please tell Bill O’Reilly to fall back / Tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my balls / It’s 2010 not 1864

O’Reilly mentioned the song in his popular “Reality Check” segment where he let out a loud sigh and called Jay-Z “a regular Otis Redding” before shaking his head and smacking his teeth and moving on to the next story. Limbaugh, however, had this to say:

“I have been mentioned in a rap song by the rapper Jay-Z,” Limbaugh said. “The new song mentions me and the moderate Bill O’Reilly. As far as I know, I have never been mentioned in a rap song by anybody. It means I’ve made it — I’m now on a rap tune by the famous rapper Jay-Z.”

Looks like both guys love them some hip-hop. The song leaked Monday and both Rush and Bill responded less than 24-48 hours later!
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Just in time for the release of his 11th studio album, Blueprint 3, rap star Jay-Z is featured on the cover of the October 2009 issue of XXL Magazine. Check out a few excerpts from the issue, which asks if Hov is indeed “bigger than hip-hop” below:

CRITICISM OF “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)”
“I’m not hating on young people. Like, when people say that, I’m like, What are you talking about? It’s just stupid. I’m not hating on young people… I’m not Bill Russell, [saying] Michael Jordan ain’t shit. I’m saying Lil Wayne and Kanye are like LeBron and Kobe. My job as someone at the forefront of the game is to leave it in a better position than when I came in. Same way that Russell [Simmons] left it to me. ’Cause this thing saved my life. Literally. So I have a responsibility to it karmically. And after that it’s on you. I did my part. I made ‘D.O.A.’ I said it. I made the statement. I made the push. Here, y’all take it from here.”

HIS LEGACY AS FORMER DEF JAM RECORDS PRESIDENT
“So if you ask me to grade my performance as the president, I’d say A-plus. No one can bat a 100. It’s impossible. I mean, everyone is looking at my sh*t. But if we really looked under the hood [of] every single [record exec] and the acts they put out in that time, I’d be comparable to anyone.”

HIS STANDING IN THE GAME
“But when I say I’m the best, I don’t say that outta my ass. I say that with all my stats behind me. I put that against anybody. I mean anybody. I really believe that… I believe in a lot of things. ?I believe that ‘SportsCenter’ is the best thing on TV. I shouldn’t have to prove it. But I do have these stats to prove it. I’m talking about real run. I’m not talking about years off. I’m talking about straight—boom, boom, boom—back to back. We’re not talking about heritage acts either. We’re not talking about respect what I’ve done. I’m talking No. 1 [albums] 10 times. The Beatles is the only one [to have more ?No. 1 albums]. They got 19, and if I get a surge of creativity, I could make nine albums next year.”

Pick up the issue when it drops September 15th!

Rapper Jay-Z has partnered with Absolut Vodka to kick off a series of high-profile concerts to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Jay-Z will perform at the venue on September 11th, the day his highly anticipated Blueprint 3 album drops, to aid the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund. The performance will air live and commercial free on Fuse TV at 9 P.M.

The events that occurred on September 11th challenged Jay-Z not only as an entertainer, but also as a native New Yorker. This charity concert will not only honor the lives lost on that famous date, but it will serve as a way to look towards the future and the hope that arose the following day on September 12th.

“This charity and concert encompass the true spirit of New York City,” Jay-Z said in a press release. “We are asking everyone to ‘answer the call’ and support and honor the families of those that lost their lives in the line of duty. There is a true camaraderie and resiliency this city showed the world in 2001 and we continue that today by taking care of our own.”

For this live event, 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and concert merchandise will go directly to the “New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund,” which has already given over $114 million to the families of New York City police and fire personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty following the events of September 11, 2001.