Outkast's Big Boi
Photo: Annette Brown/ Getty Images

The news happens all the time, even while you're catching up on your beauty sleep. Check out this brief rundown to bring you up to speed this morning — a quick heads up from your friends at MTV News.

Here's what we've got:

T.I. deals with his dueling personas on T.I. vs. T.I.P., but trying to mediate Eminem's Marshall Mathers/ Slim Shady conflict wasn't easy, T.I. told us. "T.I. is trying to tell Marshall how to deal with Slim based on how he deals with Tip," T.I. detailed a song he's working on with Em. "Then Tip butts in, like, 'You can't tell nobody nothing.' Then Em comes in and tells me, 'Who are you to tell me anything?' I was like, 'I'm just trying to help, homie.' " ...

Hitmaker Danja — one of the production minds behind "SexyBack" and "Promiscuous" — told us that he's Timbaland's co-pilot, not his assistant. "He doesn't call me and hand me work that he doesn't want to do," he explained. "We're teaming back up for Madonna. [And] we teamed up for Duran Duran. We did a 50 Cent [track] together. We did a T.I. joint together. ... I think we both do things that are inspiring for the both of us. If the energy ain't right for him, it ain't right for me. That's how we work." ...

And Ne-Yo's Because of You hits stores today, facing some competition in the form of the "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack (featuring the Killers, Snow Patrol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) as well as new discs from Feist and "High School Musical" star Corbin Bleu.

Quote of the Day: "Before anyone really knew who I was I already had four #1 hits and two Grammy Awards. So now I kind of got to work backwards." — Danja

Here's what everyone else is talking about:

Big Boi joining the ballet? The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Outkast rapper is working with the Atlanta Ballet and will perform onstage in an unnamed piece featuring Purple Ribbon Entertainment artists, set to premiere in April 2008. Big Boi and the Atlanta Ballet are expected to discuss the project further this week, according to the paper. ...

Rumors of Britney Spears' secret surprise shows may have spoiled the secret, but if she cancels two of the three "M+Ms"-billed concerts scheduled at House of Blues venues in Southern California this week, as PerezHilton.com reports, a whole lot of ticketholders will be surprised. ...

If Yahoo! searches are any indication, "American Idol" Blake Lewis could be the next Sanjaya Malakar. Blake tops Yahoo!'s buzz list after a 26 percent surge in searches over the last month. Chris Richardson follows at #2 after a 41 percent increase (thanks, in part, to talk that he'd been seen with Lauren Conrad of "The Hills"). And Jordin Sparks comes in at #3 with the biggest bump of all — her searches are up 85 percent in the last month. ...

Green Day's cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" is now available on iTunes. GreenDay.com reports that the band plans to shoot a video for the song, which will be featured on the forthcoming charity album Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur," benefiting Amnesty International's push to call attention to the crisis in the Sudan. ...

AllHipHop.com reports that T-Pain was detained by police in Miami on Saturday after the singer and his crew had several altercations with authorities over whether his performance at the Radio One's Spring Fest concert was over. ...

""The Lord of the Rings" is over and "The Hobbit" is out of his hands. Now Peter Jackson has moved on to "The Lovely Bones," a 2002 novel about a murdered girl who keeps tabs on her family — and her killer — from beyond. Variety reports that Jackson started shopping his script for the drama on Monday. No studios have bit just yet. ...

Hip-hop magazine The Source filed its second bankruptcy claim in less than a year on Friday, The Associated Press reported Monday. Source Entertainment claims that the brand has lost advertisers due to the bad business practices of its former managers. Founders Dave Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott were fired in 2006. ...

And E! Online's Planet Gossip dug up Nick Carter's big weight-loss secret (he's doing Nutri-System and training like Joey Fatone, he's down 30 pounds, great — how about some photos?). Way down at the bottom of the story is the Backstreet Boys news — their comeback LP is "close to being finished" and will be followed by a tour of the U.K., then the U.S., according to a Carter rep.

• Blake Lewis: The Accidental Idol

• Big Boi
• OutKast
• Britney Spears
• Green Day
• T-Pain

Nate "Danjahandz" Hills
Photo: Charley Gallay/ Getty Images

Working in Timbaland's enormous shadow isn't for everyone. Just ask Scott Storch.

But then again, not everyone is as prodigious as Timbaland's current production co-pilot, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills.

The low-profile Danja has quickly amassed an impressive résumé, lending his talents to works by Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado and co-producing Timbaland's latest album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value (see "Timbaland Still In Shock Over Jay-Z, Madonna, Elton Collaborations"). That's all without attracting the type of attention lesser producers get after their first hit — apart from showing up in the dis track Storch aimed at Timbaland, that is (see " 'I Had To Speak Up': Scott Storch Responds To Timbaland's Jabs").

But now, on his own, he's laced what are arguably the hottest rap and R&B tracks out at the moment in DJ Khaled's all-star collabo "We Takin' Over" and Trey Songz's "Wonder Woman."

"I think I got all the success first, before stating my presence," Danja recently explained to MTV News over the phone from London. "Before anyone really knew who I was I already had four #1 hits [Timberlake's "SexyBack" and "My Love," and Furtado's "Promiscuous" and "Say It Right"] and two Grammy Awards. So now I kind of got to work backwards."

With that MO in mind — and, conveniently, while Timbaland has been out promoting Shock Value — Danja has finally been able to make some serious noise of his own.

He's been spreading his "ringtone" sound, which he describes as the way he tests his melodies to make sure they're catchy right away.

Danja, however, is quick to note that his star turn isn't coming by way of Timbaland's scraps. He explained that in light of the duo's recent successes, both of their phones have been ringing nonstop, but that Khaled specifically sought out Danja's services, as did Trey Songz's camp.

"Me and Tim got a lot of the same phone calls once all of these hits started hitting," Danja said. "We'll call each other and be like, 'You trying to do this?' So we'll just do it together. Of course me and Tim are partners, and while he's on the road, I kind of just been holding down the studio. We're teaming back up for Madonna. [And] we teamed up for Duran Duran. We did a 50 Cent [track] together. We did a T.I. joint together. So we were kind of back and forth. But he doesn't call me and hand me work that he doesn't want to do. That ain't our relationship. I think we both do things that are inspiring for the both of us. If the energy ain't right for him, it ain't right for me. That's how we work."

But the pairing of these two Virginia natives almost didn't work out.

Danja was introduced to Timbaland in 2001 after a music symposium in their home state. Afterward, the young producer was able to land a meeting with Timbaland that very night through a mutual friend, and Danja played beats for him.

According to Danja, Tim was impressed with what he heard, but negotiations between the two led Danja to decline an invitation to meet Timbaland in Los Angeles.

Two years later, Danja was able to score another sit-down with Timbaland through the same friend. This time, Timbaland did most of the talking and offered the younger producer advice.

"He was just kind of explaining the road he wanted me to take," Danja said. "At that particular time, he said he was ready to share a lot of his knowledge and everything going into the future."

By December 2003, Danja had relocated to Miami to work with Timbaland. Ever since then, they've amassed a number a hits for big names like Jay-Z, the Game and Diddy.

It wasn't until recently, though, that an experience actually made Danja put into perspective how far he'd come since first meeting Timbaland.

"I just had that moment recently in the shower," he said. "After sessions are over I'm kind of focused on what I'm doing. But for some reason a lot of things were hitting me at once. I felt grateful for being here. I went straight from Madonna to Duran Duran [in one day]. So I had to sit back, understand and realize where I am."

• Danja
• Timbaland
• DJ Khaled
• Trey Songz