LeBron James and his longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson are getting married!

With a number of his Miami Heat teammates and close friends and family members watching, the NBA baller reportedly popped the question to a surprised Brinson on New Year’s Eve (Sat. Dec 31 2011) at a private NYE dinner party in Miami hosted by Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union.

“It was beautiful,” LeBron’s Heat teammate Chris Bosh said. “It was nice. It was real nice.”

Reps for James confirmed the news early Sunday morning just hours after LeBron and Savannah’s friends like Chris Paul, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, Chris Bosh’s wife Adrienne, and others were spotted sending out congratulatory tweets.

“Happy for my brother @KingJames and sis @SavannahRB on their engagement!!! Extremely happy for them and the good times to come #HappyNewYear” Chris Paul tweeted.

Miami Heat owner Micky Arison tweeted, “Congrats to LeBron. @KingJames and Savannah so happy 4 u guys.”

“Love Trumps All #2012 Congrats to @SavannahRB & @KingJames :),” Adrienne Bosh tweeted.

The engagement party, attended by Nas, Queen Latifah, Chris & Adrienne Bosh, LeBron’s mother Gloria James, supermodel Jessica White, and more, also doubled as a 27th birthday party for LeBron.

The L.A. Times reported that LeBron’s Heat teammate Dwyane Wade was in charge of holding the ring right up until the big moment, and a group of about 50 guests toasted to the happy couple.

“A special night,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.

LeBron James and Savannah Brinson are high school sweethearts, and have been together for over 8 years. They also have two young sons together: 7-year-old LeBron Jr. and 4-year-old Bryce.

Congrats guys!!!

VH1 hosted their “Divas 2011″ concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City Sunday night (Dec 18).

Among the celebrities who walked the red carpet just before the ceremony took place were R&B singers Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott and Chaka Khan, as well as rappers 50 Cent and Common, Pop singer Jessie J and country music legend Dolly Parton.

Some of the other celebs who were spotted on the VH1 Divas 2011 red carpet were Nas, Mary J. Blige, Travie McCoy, Florence Welch, Lala Anthony and more.

Check out 25+ pics from the red carpet of the VH1 Divas 2011 concert in NYC below:

50 Cent was in New York City Thursday (Dec 15) promoting his new “Street by 50″ and “Sync by 50″ headphones at J&R Music World, where the rapper met with fans and signed autographs. 50′s new headphones are in stores now, just in time for the Holidays.

Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks and their on-screen son Thomas Horn shared a moment on the red carpet of the premiere of their new movie “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” in New York City Thursday.

Rapper Nas — pictured here with Jessica Rivera (VP of Urban Music for Universal Music Publishing Group) — was spotted at Universal’s 2011 Holiday Party Thursday night in Santa Monica, California.

All the way on the other side of the country in Atlanta … rappers/producers T-Pain and Polow Da Don and music industry executive DeVyne Stephens attended the 14th Annual BMI Atlanta Holiday party Thursday evening.

Up in New York … R&B singer/songwriter Kandi Burruss hung out with radio personality Egypt at the 2nd Annual Nonstop Day of Giving telethon, hosted Thursday night at the NBC Experience Store.

Kevin Jonas brought his wife Danielle along as he attended the holiday celebration to benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital at Brooks Brokers in New York on Wednesday (Dec 14).

Fashion designer Rachel Roy posed for a photo with Lauren Bush (fashion model/designer and niece of former president George W. Bush) at the FEED Project’s 4th annual FEEDraiser charity event at Urban Zen Wednesday evening in New York City.

Actresses Regina King and Judy Greer announced the nominations for the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Wednesday afternoon in West Hollywood.

Singer/rapper turned TV personality Olivia from VH1′s “Love and Hip-Hop” was spotted at the Amoy Couture Hair event Wednesday in New York.

And stylist Rachel Zoe — pictured here with her husband Rodger Berman — hosted a Holiday-themed party Wednesday night to celebrate the launch of her new company the Zoe Media Group in Hollywood.

Rappers Nas and Rick Ross team up for “It’s a Tower Heist,” a track from the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, which stars Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Gabourey Sidibe, Matthew Broderick and others.

Listen to “It’s a Tower Heist” below:

[See post to listen to audio]

Nas gets “Nasty” in his new music video for the first single off his upcoming tenth studio album “Life is Good.”

Check it out above!

They were each other’s worst enemies at one point, but now it seems like that’s all water under the bridge, as Jay-Z and Nas partied it up together Wednesday night (Sep 14) in New York City for Nas’ 38th birthday!

Held at NYC night spot Catch, the celebration also featured notable appearances from Lala Vazquez & Carmelo Anthony, Zoe Saldana, Ne-Yo, Common and NBA player Matt Barnes.

Check out 10+ pics below!

Lady Gaga stepped out in this all red ensemble Friday night (Aug 26) as she arrived on the red carpet of the Atom Factory’s pre-VMA dinner, of which she hosted.

The event, sponsored by Ciroc Vodka and Streamline Records, also featured appearances from R&B singer Mary J. Blige, producer Dallas Austin, rapper Nas and singer Nicole Scherzinger.

Check out the pics below:

Common and Nas have finally released the music video to their “Ghetto Dreams” collaboration. Check it out!

“She was struggling with a lot of things in her life, but she was a real artist. She was like a little sister to me. We had the same birthday so she just had this big, big spirit for this little body. I wish she was here today. God bless her soul,” he told show host, Rocsi.

The Illmatic rapper also gave a small hint as to what his work with Dr. Dre on his Detox album sounds like. Without giving away much of anything at all, he said it’s “a nice record.” (And we can’t wait to hear it!)

Peep the footage from the interview below:

Nas gets “Nasty” in the first single off his upcoming album Life is Good. Check it out below:

[See post to listen to audio]

The stars were out last night (Sun. May 22) at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards!

Among the many celebs who walked the white carpet outside the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas were Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson and Ne-Yo.

Check out 25+ pics from the red carpet below:

According to TMZ, Nas has caught a big break on his child and spousal support obligations.

The emcee was originally ordered to pay $50,000 per month….but that now has been cut in HALF!

He now owes $5,000 a month in child support, and $20,000 a month in spousal support.

Guess that’s better than what it was…

What do you think?

“Hip Hop is Dead” rapper Nas was seen arriving at his hotel in the SoHo district of New York City this past Saturday (Nov. 13). Kelis‘ former boo was in town to perform at the Heineken Inspire concert series’ encore show which took place the same day.

Check out more pics of Nasir below!

In a newly leaked e-mail to his record label, rapper Nas pulls no punches as he goes completely OFF on Def Jam execs for stifling his creativity by not putting out a long-awaited album of his titled Lost Tapes 2, a sequel to the previously released Lost Tapes (2002).

In the message, addressed with the subject “PUT MY SH*T OUT” to L.A. Reid, Steve Bartels, Chris Hicks and others, Nas makes tons of valid points as he reminds his bosses that consumers generally care about the artists, rather than the labels behind them, and they (the labels) shouldn’t stand in the way of artists putting out their music.

Peep the full letter by clicking below!

From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!

Peace to all,

With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800?s, respect me and I will respect you.

I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation

This isn’t the 90?s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.

Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.

You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!

-N.Jones

We hope they got the message because it was definitely LOUD. And CLEAR. And dude has a lot of child support/alimony money to hand over so those label heads better get right! (LOL)

Thoughts?

TV stars/business women Kourtney, Khloe and Kim Kardashian launched their new Beach Bunnies swimwear line during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week festivities in Miami Friday (Jul 16).

Actress Vivica A. Fox hung out with basketball player Chris Bosh at his dinner at XI4 Restaurant in Los Angeles Friday evening.

Nas & Damien Marley performed at Manchester Academy in Manchester, England.

Rapper Flo Rida performed at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

Kelly Osbourne hung out with rapper Common backstage Thursday night (Jul 15) at Haze Nightclub after Common performed in concert.

R&B singer Jeremih celebrated his birthday at TAO Nightclub at the Venetian Resort & Casino in Vegas.

Over in New York City, actress Gabourey Sidibe attended a party at the Highline Ballroom.

Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning hosted their annual charity Summer Groove Golf Classic at the Doral Golf and Country Club in Doral, Florida Wednesday afternoon (Jul 14).

An unconcerned looking 50 Cent posed for photographers at a press conference launching his G-Unit clothing brand at Yo shop in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

BET‘s Rocsi Diaz attended the Aventura and Hennessy privelege tour wrap party at The Hotel on Rivington Penthouse Tuesday (Jul 13) in New York City.

We all know that Kelis and Nas‘ divorce was recently made final and there was a lot of chatter about Nas being late on child support payments, which typically pisses most mothers off and put them in pit-bull mode. Well, Kelis is taking the high road now. Instead of bad mouthing Nas in the press, she has decided to refrain from doing so for the sake of their child. Here’s what Kelis told The Associated Press:

“My kid is the center of my world. I don’t leave him ever. I take him with me everywhere. I was married. It didn’t work out. The most amazing thing came out of it. I am good with that. (Knight) will never read anywhere that I said anything negative about his father. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not. Because at the end of the day he needs to know he did come from love.”

We commend Kelis for being mature about this. She could have easily used an attack on Nas as a way to stay in the media and raise relevancy for herself and her new album. But she didn’t. Good girl!

R&B singer Kelis insists that she and her ex-husband Nas don’t absolutely hate either other as most people would assume. In fact, the ex couple have become “friends” in the months following their nasty divorce battle. Despite Kelis making it “hell” for Nas to see their nearly 1-year-old son Knight and attempting to take him for everything he has, she tells UsMagazine.com that “everything’s fine.” Continue reading to see Kelis explain how she and rapper Nas are all buddy buddy now…

“Everything’s fine. We are divorced, but there is no point to fighting – there is nothing to fight about. I am super happy; my life is awesome. We are friends, we get along now and it’s all good.

“After (the split), everyone was like, ‘You are going through a rough time, you should write something personal.’ I wear my feelings on my sleeve. The hardest decisions are the best ones and for me that was really the case. I am definitely better today than I was a year ago. And I’ll be better next year.”

We don’t know about Nas, but it’d be hard for us to be cool with someone who was trying to wipe our bank account CLEAN and keep us from seeing our kid. Don’t you think? It’s hard to believe that after all that, Nas and Kelis have “nothing to fight about” and “are friends.”

Michael Strahan and his fiancee Nicole Murphy hung out with NYC club promoter Noel Ashman (pictured to the left) last night (Wed. Jun 30) at Noel Ashman’s birthday party at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge.

Fresh off of her big appearance/performance at the 2010 BET Awards in Los Angeles this past Sunday night, singer Janelle Monae performed at the Hoxton Bar in London, England Thursday evening (Jul 1).

NFL player Devin Thomas, who recently starred as Fantasia‘s leading guy in her new “Bittersweet” music video, and singer Wynter Gordon attended Honey Magazine’s The Hive Spot at Animazing Gallery Wednesday (Jun 30) in New York City. You might remember Wynter as the girl who sang the hook on rapper Flo Rida’s Summer 2009 single “Sugar,” and Devin Thomas is a Wide Receiver for the Washington Redskins.

R&B singer John Legend and his girlfriend Christine Teigen hit up the Edeyo Foundation’s 3rd anniversary fundraiser at The Bowery Hotel in New York City.

Def Jam Records exec. Kevin Liles stopped for a quick picture as he relaxed at the Def Jam Rapstar Video Game Launch at the Palais De Tokyo in Paris, France.

Actress Eva Longoria helped LG present their new refrigerator at “Mercado de San Miguel” in Madrid, Spain.

And Nas and Damien Marley, still heavily promoting their joint album project Distant Relatives, were spotted performing live on stage in concert at the Zenith de Paris in Paris, France Monday night (Jun 28).

Oh yeah, that’s right. I’m doin’ me! I’m doin me!  I’m livin’ life right now, mayne. And this what I’ma do ’til its over, Til it’s over, But it’s far from over….

The epic battle between rapper Nas and singer Kelis is far from over, but at least now both can feel a little relieved because their pending divorce has been finalized.

Back in April of 2009, Kelis filed for divorce from her then husband Nas over irreconcilable differences after being 7 months pregnant with their first child. Since the filing, life has been pure hell for Nas who has been caught up in between child custody issues and child/spousal support payments.

Earlier this month, the poor lad even asked a judge to lower his spousal support payments of $10,000 a month. According to Nas’ lawyer, the rapper makes “substantially less than that a month.”

Well, there is a clear lesson that could be learned from all of this… never love anyone whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!!

Boxer Laila Ali was spotted as she arrived at the NFL Players Premiere League Flag Football Tournament and Skills Challenge yesterday (Sun. May 23).

Singer Leona Lewis performed during Day 1 of Rock In Rio over the weekend (Sat. May 22) in Lisbon, Portugal.

Two of the Kardashian girls (Kim and Kourtney) met up with Mario Lopez at the Svedka Vodka “R.U. Bot Or Not?” Battle of the Bots Party at Wonderland in Los Angeles.

Pro skater Rob Dyrdek, Pharrell Williams, The Game and Interscope recording artist Yelawolf posed for this picture on the red carpet of the Sk8 For Life Benefit at Fantasy Factory Saturday in Los Angeles.

Rapper/actor Ice Cube (pictured above with TV personality Toure) attended a taping of “On the Record” at Fuse Studios Friday (May 21) in New York City.

Friend to GOT Shontelle Layne performed in concert at Greenhouse in New York City Thursday night (May 20). Peep her latest music video release “Impossible” here.

Rapper Nas and reggae artist Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley paid a visit to Fuel TV’s “The Daily Habit” in Los Angeles to promote their new joint-album Distant Relatives.

Singer/songwriter Alicia Keys kicked off the UK leg of her “Freedom” Tour Wednesday night (May 19) at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

UK singer Alexandra Burke walked the red carpet at the Blur video game launch party at Sound in London, England.

Actor Gary Dourdan was spotted having lunch with friends Wednesday at a restaurant while in France for Day 8 of the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival.

R&B singer/songwriter John Legend performed at the EIF/City Year Celebration of Hope & Achievement at Paramount Studios in Hollywood Tuesday night (May 18).

Country/Pop singer Taylor Swift took home an award last night at the 58th Annual BMI Pop Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in California. The 20-year-old singer/songwriter won the trophy for “Pop Song of the Year” and made history as the youngest songwriter to receive the honor.

Actress Tatyana Ali attended the Carousel of Hope kickoff luncheon Tuesday in Beverly Hills. Tatyana stars in the new thriller “Locker 13.”

Model Cassie was seen at Dirty Money’s “Last Train to Paris” album listening party hosted by her boyfriend Diddy at Daddy’s House in New York City.

Actor/comedian Chris Tucker and actress Angela Bassett were spotted at the 9th annual Power of a Dream Gala hosted by the U.S. Dream Academy at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

And Reggae artist Damien Marley and rapper Nas continued the promotional efforts for their newly released joint album Distant Relatives by paying a visit to BET Studios in New York City Monday (May 17) to record an episode of 106 & Park.

The always eccentrically fashionable singer Kelis took to the stage and performed for her fans Saturday night (May 8) at G-A-Y Heaven Nightclub in London, England. Check out a few pics below:

In related news, Kelis’ estranged husband rapper Nas told Vibe Magazine that Kelis gives him hell whenever he wants to see their son Knight.

How’d it feel to be awaiting you first son while recording Distant Relatives?
It’s amazing. It just made everything feel like it was right on time, you know? To have a daughter is amazing too, but when you’re a man, to have a son is different. My daughter is my princess and now I have a prince, so it’s a beautiful thing to have a son and a daughter. Now I have a little man. It’s the coolest shit ever.

How old is Knight? Is he walking yet?
He’s like nine months. He’s crawling, pulling himself to stand up. He said the word ‘stick’ about a month ago. He’s been talking for about two months, saying little words here and there.

Any of them rhyme?
Nah. [Laughs]

What was his first word?
I don’t know, it sounded like he was trying to say ‘hello.’ He was picking up on things very young, like two to three months if not sooner. It just throws you that we’re born knowing what’s up.

How often are you able to see him?
My son was born with ice grills, so when his mom feels in the mood she sends pictures. If not, its hell. It’s hell trying to figure that out, trying to get him—I’ll just leave it at that. It’s hell. A man shouldn’t go through that shit, but it’s another story I’ma tell at a different time.

I hear you.
Overall he’s super good, and when I do get him there’s nothing better in the whole world. When I get both my kids together its beautiful.

Just last month, rapper Nas was ordered to pay more than $87,000 up front in back spousal and child support. In addition to that, the judge ordered the New York rapper to pay his soon-to-be ex wife Kelis $10,000 a month in spousal support and an undisclosed amount for monthly child support until he makes up the nearly $300,000 that he owes.

But Nas (real name: Nasir Jones) says there’s no way he can afford to pay all of that right now!

Originally, the judge presiding over Nas and Kelis’ divorce case based the amount Nas was to pay off of an estimated $152,031 per month income, but in new legal documents obtained by TMZ, Nas says he makes “substanstially less than that amount.” So now his lawyer Marc Vincent Kaplan wants the judge to take another look at his finances to adjust the payments accordingly.

Hopefully his new project with Damien Marley will pay off so that he can finally finish making payments on that expensive azz milkshake!

Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley have released the official music video for “As We Enter,” the lead single from their joint “hip hop meets reggae” album Distant Relatives, due in stores May 18th through Island Records. Check out the new video below…

We recently told you guys about Kelis hitting the jackpot when she received over $700,000 in back AND ongoing pay child/spousal support from her soon-to-be ex-husband Nas. And now TMZ is reporting that Kelis has asked the judge to make their divorce official as soon as possible.

According to documents filed last week, Kelis said in a declaration, “… it would be in the best interest of both of us if our marital status is terminated as soon as possible.” Because she fears that the legal proceedings could take years to figure out, Kelis has requested that the judge immediately terminate their marriage — and wait until a later time to resolve “all other issues.”

As for the odds that the two will rekindle their romance — Kelis stated, “I believe there is no possibility of reconciliation with [Nas].”

Kelis also says that there’s no possibility of she and Nas ever getting back together and she wants out NOW!

Is it just us or does it sound like Kelis played Nas for the green? For someone who is a celebrity and has made some good money in her music career, she sure is acting like a broke groupie who managed to convince a wealthy rapper to marry her and then demand a divorce several years later after getting pregnant just to get a payday. Either this is the case or Nas really did something shady to her.

Nas must have really pissed his wife Kelis off!

The NY rapper went to court Monday to handle some legal business involving his ongoing divorce battle with his estranged wife, singer Kelis. And TMZ is reporting that Nas was ordered to immediately pay over $87,000 in back child/spousal support.

He was also ordered to fork over $10,000/mo in spousal support until he pays off the $299,015.50 he already owes her. In addition, The 36-year-old emcee must pay 90% of Kelis’ legal fees, which amount to $155,787.28. And lastly, Nas was ordered to pay over $48,000 to cover his soon-to-be ex-wife’s accounting expenses.

Did this dude just get raped or what?!

Rapper Nas and Bob Marley‘s youngest son, reggae singer Damian Marley, held a press conference announcing their several upcoming collaboration projects, including an album and a tour, at Digiwaxx Media Thursday (Apr 1) in New York City.

Nas and Damian are putting out a joint-album together next month (May 18th) called Distant Relatives. The project will also feature collaboration from Damian’s older brother Stephen Marley, and rappers Lil Wayne and K’Naan.

Check out a few pics of Nas and Damian at Digiwaxx in NYC below…

Nas appears to be having a really hard time paying that $50,000/mo in child support and alimony to his soon-to-be ex wife Kelis, whose lawyer claims that the rapper is $200,000 behind on payments. And the judge presiding over the case believes that Nas is ignoring court orders. But his lawyer says he needs a little time to get his paperwork together to prove that he can’t pay all of that money.

Judge David S Cunningham III, who is overseeing the divorce proceedings, said it was starting to look like the rapper is trying to evade court orders. One of Nas’ attorneys, Anthony Ukran, told Cunningham the rapper needs more time to prepare his defence and show he is unable to pay the court-ordered support amounts.

SOURCE

Nas pleaded not guilty to charges of missed payments and Judge Cunningham ordered the 36-year-old rapper to appear in court in March to answer to more charges relating to his nasty divorce case.

A large number of celebrities took part in helping BET raise money for Haiti relief Friday night (Feb 5) at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL during the BET SOS Saving Ourselves – Help for Haiti benefit concert, which was hosted by Queen Latifah, Diddy and Pharrell Williams. Artists like Chris Brown, Monica, Ludacris, Justin Bieber, Nas and Haiti’s own Wyclef Jean took to the stage and performed while folks like Common, Spike Lee, Trey Songz, Mike Tyson and more manned the telephone lines.

Continue reading for 30+ pictures of celebrities at the BET SOS Saving Ourselves – Help For Haiti concert…

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / WIRE IMAGE

Kelis, who is currently going through a very public divorce from her estranged rapper husband Nas, spoke to Honey Mag recently about a lot of hot topics, including her new life as a mother, her divorce from Nas and what she thinks about newer artists on the scene like Rihanna and Cassie “jacking her style.” And believe it or not, she really doesn’t mind which is pretty surprising.

Going back to your site, the first thing that caught our attention was your hair. What inspired the silver and gold look?
Oh, I don’t know, I just feel like an animal. I kept thinking of a wolf or a husky and that’s what they look like.

Are you the type to wake up and say “I want to switch my hair up today” or is it premeditated?
Um, it’s a little bit of both.

Is this your favorite look?
Mmm, no, it’s just for right now. Every look I’ve had is my favorite look (laughs).

In regards to you, that seems to be the consensus for a lot of today’s female artists as well. How do you feel about all these half-shaved heads on chicks like Cassie and Rihanna?
Well I was definitely the first to do it. The only other person I would give credit before me is Pepa. Other than that, I expect them to copy me. What else are they supposed to do? They’re young. God bless them.

It gets interesting though because you’ve reached a point where you can actually see the artists of Generation Kelis, yet it’s not like you’ve retired.
Yeah. At the end of the day, everyone is just waiting for someone to do something new and if it’s generally me, then I’ll take that responsibility (laughs).

For more of this in-depth interview, hit up HoneyMag.com!

Nas was ordered to pay his his estranged wife Kelis $40,000/mo in a court hearing back in July, but a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ordered the rapper last week to increase his monthly child-and-spousal support payments to his soon-to-be ex-wife and their infant son Knight. Judge David Cunningham believes Nas can afford to pay a little more per month and bumped his payments up to $51,101 per month.

The judge came to this conclusion after a 2-day court hearing in which Judge Cunningham determined that due to the money the New York MC made in the past few months, he should be required to pay more for support, but should no longer be required to pay for the former couple’s LA residence, which is where Kelis and their son are staying.

So Nas comes out ahead in the end because we’re sure $11k is a lot cheaper than the expenses of that crib!

While on the stand, TMZ reports that Kelis tried to reconcile with Nas to no avail back in September. She also talked about the difficulty she had making money due to her new child and her lack of work experience outside of the music industry. The “Milkshake” singer even brought up the fact that Nas was releasing two albums next year.

One of the big issues in the case — how much money Nas makes. Kelis testified she knows Nas is set to release two albums next year. The judge asked Kelis what she heard about the albums on TMZ and other newsworthy entities. She said, simply, “Loved it.”

SOURCE

Kelis is working on an album herself following her signing a record deal with Will.i.am and Interscope. She told MTV News that the album, inspired by her current divorce situation and the birth of her son Knight, will have a “futuristic disco” sound.

“Pregnancy, it’s this insane … you feel like an animal on so many levels,” she said. “It’s from the level of protection and health and wanting to take care of yourself, to what’s happening to your body and feeling this other creature growing inside of you. I’m in love with this little creature I made. It’s amazing. How everything finally makes sense — it’s like, ‘I made this. This is the music, this is the real tune.’ No one can prepare you … to be able to write in that moment, it’s very validating. I’m so female with mounds of estrogen, [so] everything comes from that perspective. I had to step back to have any other perspective. To be pregnant and writing, it’s like, ‘This is who I am and this is what I’m doing. And if you don’t like it, it’s not for you.’ ”

Kelis recently announced a new record deal with Interscope through the Will.I.Am Music Group.

“Don’t hold ‘em to it — I’m leaning towards Flesh Tone,” she said of the LP’s title. “Going back to it being very animalistic. Flesh and blood, sort of — it’s life. This is what it is. When everything else is stripped away, you’ve got yourself.

“Originally I wanted to do something electro,” she added about the album’s feel. “I kind of went through all these different phases of what I wanted it to be. In recording stuff, it kept changing. Finally it got to this really electronic, dance, really melodic vibe. Everything started to come in that space. I started to fall in love with it. It took a life unto itself. It wasn’t calculated. … All the stuff I fell in love with and stuff I was writing fell into that space. It’s sort of a new-age disco — futuristic disco.”

SOURCE

The already nasty divorce between Nas and Kelis just got nastier! The rapper recently filed legal papers requesting that the judge presiding over the case block his estranged wife Kelis from getting child support.

The legal papers, filed by his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan, also state that Nasir is asking for joint custody of their two-month-old son Knight.

Back in July, the judge ordered Nas to pay Kelis over $50,000 per month in spousal and child support. And now Nas wants that number to be dropped down to only include money for his son.

Sorry Kelis!

According to a new report from TMZ, the $44,000 per month Kelis is already getting from her estranged husband Nas isn’t enough. She wants more! And not just more. A helluva lot more!

According to docs filed by Kelis’ lawyer, disso queen Laura Wasser, the financial wizards have reviewed the earning of both parties to the divorce, and they’ve come to these conclusions.

– Nas pulls in $244,826 a month
– Kelis rakes in a relatively paltry $13,744 a month
– Kelis should get child support totaling $17,225 a month
– Kelis should get spousal support totaling $72,728
– Nas should pay retro child support totaling $29,522
– Nas should pay retro spousal support totaling $281,571

You’ve gotta be f**king kidding us!!! How the hell is Nas going to give her more than what he makes a month?! This chick has that dude by the balls and she’s not letting go anytime soon. Poor guy…

“It’s unfortunate when business is out there about your personal sh-t, especially when you’re really not the guy to be having his sh-t out there,” he says. “The sad thing is, you’ve got to get used to it. My skin is so thick that I probably need to write a book for people who are not ready for anything crazy. It’s funny that someone would even care about some Nasir Jones sh-t,” says the MC, on the line from Atlantic City. “I’m still that kid from the block at the end of the day.… So when I watch this sh-t, it’s surreal. We get a good laugh off it and say, ‘Hey, they’re talking about me again and it’s some funny sh-t.’”

All of this adds fuel to fire that is his very public divorce from R&B singer Kelis, who recently gave birth to their first child Knight last week and will be receiving over $40 grand a month from her future ex-husband in spousal/child support. She also put out that Nas was a cheater, a claim that Nas himself denies.

“I heard that I was a cheater,” says Nas, who takes on a more determined tone when discussing the matter. “It almost sounds like I was a bad husband. Not to say I was the greatest—I’m not perfect in anything I do—but I think I deserve a fucking trophy. If I do say so myself, without sounding too cocky, I gotta say I was a hell of a husband and a hell of a dad”

He also spoke on being “fruitful” and having more kids:

“I’ve been around the Marleys, and children and being fruitful is the Marley way, so I want to have more kids,” says Nas, who also has a teenage daughter, Destiny Jones, from a previous relationship. “I want to be surrounded by my kids, and I want to watch them grow. I was thinking about getting my Bob Marley on.”

SOURCE: STRAIGHT.COM

Per the court order, Kelis will receive $30,471 in spousal support per month, while Knight, their son, will get $9,027 per month. A hearing on whether the payments should be changed will be held on September 8th. Mark Vincent Kaplan, Nas’ lawyer, proposed a one-time payment of $20,000 until a settlement could be made on appropriate spousal and child support at a later hearing, but the judge rejected that offer, saying that Nas needed to pay more to accommodate the lifestyle Kelis has grown accustomed to since marrying Nas back in July 2003.

Nas was also ordered to pay $45,000 to cover Kelis’ attorney fees and for a forensic accountant, in addition to paying for the new baby’s nurse, prenatal expenses, medical insurance, and for the mortgage on their L.A. home, of which Kelis has 30 days to decide whether or not she would like to return to.

Well damn … Kelis must be a very happy woman right now!

Kelis skipped out on court yesterday due to an emergency: she went into labor! The 29-year-old singer gave birth to a baby boy named Knight Tuesday (Jul 21), as announced by her estranged husband Nas, who we hear wasn’t even allowed in the delivery room!

Nas’ lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan stated that Nas rushed to the hospital to witness Kelis deliver his first son. A source close to Nas told AllHipHop.com that the Queen’s rapper missed the actual child birth.

“Nas is in New York City today, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his son. It was his intention to be there for the birth, but unfortunately he has not been allowed to be present,” a source close to the rapper told AllHipHop.com. “While this is clearly heartbreaking to him, Nas continues to offer his support and love to his new baby boy and his mother.”

SOURCE: AHH

Drama, drama, and more drama…

CORRECTION (JULY 23RD): Kelis went into labor Monday (Jul 20) morning at about 2 A.M., but didn’t have the baby until Wednesday (Jul 22) after over 48 hours of labor. According to a statement released by her spokesperson, Kelis went through with a natural birth.

“Kelis gave birth to Knight Jones last night on July 22nd around 9p.m.,” a statement from Kelis’ spokesperson read. “Weighing a healthy 7.8 lbs, the beautiful baby boy and his mother are doing wonderful.”

Rocking a fresh pair of Air Yeezy’s, rapper Common took the stage Sunday afternoon (Jul 19) in Wantagh, New York as he performed in front of thousands of fans at the 2009 Rock The Bells concert at the Nikon a Jones Beach Theater. Fellow hip-hop artists Method Man, Nas and Big Boi also performed at the annual concert.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Singer Kelis is out of money and according to a new report from TMZ, she doesn’t even have a pot to piss in. And she has a baby on the way. She recently filed legal papers claiming that despite her future ex-husband Nas being “filthy rich,” he refuses to financially support her and isn’t paying her pre-natal expenses. So to alleviate this problem, the “Milkshake” singer is asking the judge over the case to order the New York City bred rapper to pay spousal support, child support, all expenses related to the pregnancy and one-half of all medical expenses after the child is brought into the world.

But that’s not all. In addition to everything mentioned above, she also wants $3,500 for a baby nurse and $20,000 in cold hard cash for strollers, cribs and other baby supplies. Why? Because according to Kelis, she’s entitled to maintain the lavish lifestyle she’s grown accustomed to during their nearly 6 year marriage.

“My survival is based on [Nas'] will at this time. If he does not want to pay for an expense, it does not get paid,” she said.

But instead of pawning her $190,000 princess-cut diamond tennis bracelet … or her engagement ring (which is approximately a 9 karat cushion-cut diamond solitaire) … or even her expensive collection of Cartier, Rolex, Frank Muller and Chopard watches, she wants Nasir to dig deep into his pockets and pay up.

She’s way to used to their five homes, first class flights, fancy restaurants and so on and so forth to just give it all up due to a divorce. And her lawyer, Laura Wasser, agrees saying in a separate declaration that she’s asked Nas to fork over some cash for Kelis and the unborn baby (due later this month) but he hasn’t responded.

Craziness…

SOURCE: TMZ

It has been confirmed by various sources that hip-hop super couple Nas and Kelis are filing for divorce! This sad news comes just months before the birth of their first child together. Kelis is currently 7 months pregnant.

“I can confirm that she has filed for divorce,” a spokesperson for Kelis told VIBE. “We request the media to respect her privacy during this very difficult time.” At around 3:45pm PST, high-powered attorney Laura Wasser (who has also represented Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, and Stevie Wonder) filed a divorce petition today on behalf of Kelis, citing irreconciable differences.

SOURCE

The two have been married since July 2003. It’s sad to see one of GOT’s favorite couples call it quits, but hey … it sort of comes with the territory. Besides, being married for 6 years in Hollywood is like being married for 30 years in the regular world.

Trey Songz was a featured performer and headliner Thursday night at the BMI Urban Unsigned Talent Showcase, held in Atlanta at E.S.S.O. Nightclub. Nas and new Capital Records signee Novel also performed at the showcase. The 12th annual event gave hopefuls from across the country a chance to display their talent in front of Atlanta’s influential, superstar-spotting music community, and the showcase finalists were chosen by a group of top BMI songwriters, producers and industry execs from a whopping 300 submissions. Continue reading for a gallery of photos from the show.

713 were winners of the BMI Unsigned Urban Music Showcase. Above, they’re pictured with rapper Lil Jon, who was the recipient of the “BMI Legends of Atlanta” award, along with BMI Execs Wardell Malloy and Catherine Brewton.

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

Rappers Nas and Young Jeezy showed off their A-list celebrity status by posing for a few photos courtside Wednesday night as they watched the Hawks take on the Miami Heat in Playoff Game 2 in Atlanta.

T.I.‘s fiancee/baby mama/main chick/ride or die (whatever you wanna call her) Tameka “Tiny” Cottle and Chef G. Garvin also gave the camera a little face time Wednesday night at the game.

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

Ex boxing champs Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier posed for a pic together on the red carpet of Sony Pictures Classics’ screening of “Tyson” at the AMC Loews Monday night in New York City. Mario, Nas, Nick Cannon and more all hit up the screening too. Continue reading for the full gallery of photos.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Queen Latifah celebrated her 39th birthday Saturday night at SIR Studios in Hollywood, and the celebrity guest list included the likes of Kim Kardashian, Lil Kim, MC Lyte, David Banner, Vivica A. Fox and more. Continue reading to peep the rest of the pics and to see who else hit up Dana’s birthday party!

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

As we reported last week, T.I. is currently on a 12-city “farewell tour” to promote his latest album, Paper Trail, before he begins his year-long prison sentence this month. Friday night in Miami, the Atlanta native brought along fellow entertainers Young Jeezy, Lloyd, Sean Paul and Nas to perform a special show for Miamians at the American Airlines Center. Continue reading to peep the rest of the pics!

PHOTOS: WENN / WIRE IMAGE / FILM MAGIC

Rapper Nas is excited at the news of his wife Kelis being pregnant with his first son. This is what he posted to his blog over at Global Grind:

Yoooo! I’m back! I aint ever done this sh** before, but I got ya’ll, this will change in 2009. 2009 is the year of change. We have a black President, and what he has accomplished gives me hope for the future of our f****d up country.

Personally, life is good. I’m sure that y’all heard K is expecting. The internet seems to be more excited than I am. It’s crazy! I got too much to think about, and I didn’t wanna leave all my fans out the loop. But I wanted to let ya’ll know from me personally that I’m having my first SON!!!!!

I been celebrating life ya’ll. Also I want you all to know that the Nas and Damian Marley album is coming in the next few months. It’s something we have been secretly working on. Tour this summer too!

Stay high my n*ggas!

Peace,
-NAS

This will be Nas’ second child and Kelis’ first. Nas already has a 14-year-old daughter named Destiny from a previous relationship. Congratz the Jones family!

As we reported last month, R&B singer Kelis is definitely pregnant, according to her husband Nas. They’ll know the sex of the baby as soon as next week, the rapper told MTV Sunday on the red carpet at the 2009 Grammys.

“Yeah, man, I find out what it’s gonna be next week, so I’m happy,” said the rapper, who has a 15-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. “I got another one coming in ’09, yeah! That’s what’s up!”

“Right now, I’ll tell you first, I’m working on an album with Damian Marley, and we tryin’ to build some schools in Africa with this one, and trying to build empowerment,” he said. “We’re tryin’ to show love and stuff with this album. So, the record’s … all about really the ‘hood and Africa also as well. That’s coming out real soon.”

No release date yet, but the rhyme legend is looking tentatively at this spring.

“Too early to tell the title or anything like that,” he said. “Shout out to my man Jr. Gong, we getting it in right now.”

Nas was guest at L.A. Reid’s post-Grammy party. We’ll give you one guess which label the album is coming out on.

SOURCE

While we wait on Beyonce & Jay-Z, Janet Jackson & Jermaine Dupri, and Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon to decide what they want to do as far as making babies and sh*t, I guess we can settle with news of Nas & Kelis expecting their first-born. And a couple tells US Weekly that, “they are so excited!”

Hip-hop star Nas and his wife, singer Kelis, are expecting their first child together, Us Weekly reported Wednesday (January 14). A source reportedly told Us that the “Milkshake” singer is in her first trimester. “It’s all they are talking about,” the source told the magazine. “She is carrying hip-hop royalty! They are so excited.” The source said mother-to-be Kelis already has a baby bump. Nas has a daughter, Destiny, from a previous relationship.

The couple wed in January 2005 after a two-year courtship. The New York natives were married in Atlanta, where they keep a home. Nas’ brother, Braveheart member Jungle, served as the best man. The pair raised eyebrows on the 2008 Grammy Awards red carpet. The rapper was in the midst of promoting his project, then titled N—er and later released as an untitled album, and his wife showed her support by wearing a jacket adorned with the racial epithet.

Nas said their personal life isn’t nearly as attention-grabbing. The two were set to appear in an MTV reality show about their life together, but the introverted rapper put the kibosh on the project before it could air. Nas cited privacy concerns, in addition to his marriage just being a normal relationship. He called their lives “boring” and said the only reality he was comfortable with was his music. At press time, representatives for Nas and Kelis had no comment about the reported pregnancy.

SOURCE

We already know what that baby’s first word is gonna be!

With only 3 days left until President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, Young Jeezy and Nas have officially released their brand new video for Jeezy’s latest single, “My President (is Black)!” The music video, directed by Young Jeezy and Gabriel Hart, was filmed late last year in Atlanta.

Rappers Young Jeezy and Nas were recently spotted on the set of their brand new music video for “My President is Black.” The video, directed by Gabriel Heart, was shot in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. The homie Xilla was on the set in front of Martin Luther King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. The official music video should hit GOT this month, and we can’t wait!

More pics at Exclusive Access!

Recently Nas & Kelis were caught in Brazil pulling a Kanye on the Brazilian paparazzi, who bombarded the superstar couple with flashing lights. Looks like Kelis didn’t like the man placing the microphone so close to her face.

[ SOURCE ]