GQ Men of the Year Wale and Drake attended the party celebrating their honor at the Chateau Marmont Wednesday evening (Nov 18) in Hollywood. According to the popular men’s magazine, Wale, Drake and Kid Cudi have “killed” gangsta Hip-Hop, earning each of them the “Man of the Year” title.

GQ says: Have you been listening to hip-hop this year? If not, we’ve got good news: The gangster persona is finally dead, and these are the kids who killed it. One song at a time, they build a new era in which duct-taped kilos, exotic firearms, and freaky girls are out and real life is the focus. … Wale is as famous for his live shows as for the slick-witted lyricism of his debut Attention Deficit. Kid Cudi is the cut up who scored with the stoner anthem “Day N Nite” and his album Man on the Moon. And then there’s Drake, who found himself turning down multimillion-dollar offers after his single “Best I Ever Had” exploded. (It helps that the girls like Drake. A lot.) Drake’s debut, Thank Me Later, is easily the most anticipated album of 2010.

So what do these underdogs think about being cast as gangster slayers? “The dope boy is going to be a fixture of black culture as long as ‘thug’ is a legitimate option alongside ‘job,’” Drake says. “But I’m not going to rap about how much crack I’ve sold.” Cudi also laughs at the idea of talking tough. “Anybody from Cleveland will tell you I wasn’t in the streets,” he says. “Ask them, They’ll say. ‘Scott was the goofy class clown.’”

The celebrity guest list for the 14th annual GQ Men of the Year Party also included Kobe Bryant, Gabrielle Union, Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian and more. Continue reading for the rest of the pics!

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Up and coming rapper Wale recently sat down with Honey Mag and touched on a few things, including relationships, his female fans, his new album and a hot topic we all would like to know more about … his “relationship” with singer Solange:

“I do love her,” he admits of Solange, flashing a Cheshire. “We’re friends. She’s amazing. She’s a good person. Any single mother contributing to society the way she does — I got a lot of love for them. She’s got to do a lot on her own and raise a young black man in this day and age, so my hat goes off to her. She’s definitely an anomaly. And the way she can do that and manage to do the same things that I complain about having to do.”

His affection is as obvious as a set of flushed cheeks. And impossibly adorable. Wale, the former mixtape rapper from inner city DC, is borderline giddy.

“Did you interview Solange about me?” Wale asks. He’s sprawled across his bed; head practically buried in the pillow. “Did she smile when you mentioned my name?”

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Sorry about the big gap in updates today, we had some biz to handle … just like these celebrities we caught on the scene handling their business this past Tuesday! Rapper Wale visited Fuse Studios in New York City Tuesday (Nov 10) to appear on Fuse TV’s “Hip Hop Shop” to promote his new album Attention Deficit, which dropped that day. In a series of tweets following his debut album’s launch, the D.C. born emcee said that each song on his album tells a story:

“On the train, bumpin’ my album,” he wrote. “I feel like telling y’all facts about Attention Deficit. Why not? There’s a story behind every song. On ‘Mama Told Me,’ I had something stuck in my teeth. At the beginning you can hear me making this weird noise tryin’ to get it out.” (Warning: Once you know that fact, that’s the only think you can hear.)

A few minutes later, he added that producer Mark Ronson actually encouraged Wale to tone down the lyrics of “90210,” where he skewers Paris Hilton (among others). “I admit i was too mean on that,” he wrote. Finally, he said that the album’s best track almost fell by the wayside. “‘Contemplate’ almost didn’t make the album. Jay-Z was a writer on the song sampled and we couldn’t reach him until the last minute.”

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Here’s Chrisette Michele’s new “Fragile (Remix)” music video. Directed by the R&B songstress herself, the video features rapper Wale and was put out by her label Def Jam earlier this week. Continue reading to check it out!

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Rapper Jay-Z, pictured above signing autographs for fans outside MuchMusic Headquarters in Toronto, Canada, hit up MuchOnDemand this past Saturday (Oct 31) to discuss his new album, The Bluepring 3, among other things including his current Blueprint 3 album promo tour, which went down at the Air Canada Centre later that night.

Wale, Pharrell Williams and Rhea were also in the building. Continue reading for the rest of the pics!

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The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards went down in Atlanta, GA Saturday (Oct 10). We hear Jay-Z and Young Jeezy opened the show in a big way with a surprise performance! Other tidbits from the show include the late DJ AM being the recipient of the “DJ of the Year” award, Kid & Play popping up during New Boyz‘ performance and Gucci Mane performing like 3 or 4 times. The show also featured performances from Soulja Boy, Ludacris, Jim Jones, Snoop Dogg and more.

The show, hosted by comedian Mike Epps, airs on BET on Tuesday, October 27th at 8/7c and we hear it was actually the best out of the few that have gone on over the past few years.

In the meantime, check out all of the photos/happenings from the events surrounding the show by hitting up our BET Hip-Hop Awards ‘09 section and continue reading below for more pics from inside the show!

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The biggest names in hip-hop entertainment hit up the 2009 BET Hip-Hop awards, held in Atlanta, GA this past weekend. Folks like Soulja Boy, Gucci Mane, Monica, Tiny & Toya, Pretty Ricky, Shawty Lo, Plies, Rick Ross and more all walked the red carpet before making their way into the building to enjoy the show, which will air on BET Tuesday, October 27th at 8/7c.

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Flavor Flav’s big grown, 50 year old azz showed up at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors looking like this. It’s not outside of his usual character, but got dayum. And is that a tag on his jacket?

Flav, Kid Rock, Warren G, Wale and more attended the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors after party to benefit to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation at One Hanson Place Wednesday night (Sep 23) in New York City. Continue reading for the rest of the pics!

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Ashanti sure is looking good these days! It’s hard to believe Nelly let all of that go. She and Ja Rule reunited on stage at the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors Wednesday night (Sep 23), which saw performances from Wale, Kid Rock, Method Man & Redman, Eminem and more. The ceremony honored the pioneers of Def Jam along with the people, past and present, who helped create the label and build it into what it is today. Hosted by comedian Tracy Morgan, the show is set to make its television debut only on VH1 on Tuesday, October 13th at 9 pm.

It’s only right that the first Def Jam artist to be honored was the label’s foundation and face for so many years, LL Cool J. The Roots started it off with “Rock the Bells.” Black Thought ripped the first verse of the record, then gave way for a special guest: Eminem. Last year, Slim Shady publicly expressed his love for LL during a phone prank on DJ Tony Touch’s Shade 45 radio show. Spitting the second verse of “Rock the Bells” on Wednesday night, Em sounded almost exactly like the legend who inspired him. “Now I’m worldwide known/ Whether you like it or not/ My one-man band is Cut Creator…/ When he’s on the fader/ What’s my DJ’s name?” “Cut Creator!” The crowd yelled. Later, Kid Rock paid tribute to LL with “I’m Bad.” The Kid also DJed during the show, as did Ed Lover.

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Rapper DMX walked the Red Carpet of the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors Wednesday night (Sep 23) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. His appearance at this year’s show marked his first public appearance/performance in at least three years. And we all know all of the drama he’s been getting himself into in the meantime.

Also on the red carpet were Wale, Ashanti, Fabolous, Ludacris, Eve, Trey Songz and more. The show, hosted by Tracy Morgan, airs October 13th at 9 pm on VH1. Continue reading for the rest of the pics from the Red Carpet.

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