Polow Da Don
Photo: MTV News

Behind The Beats: Polow Da Don

Two down, nine more to go. Polow Da Don is about to start an incredible run. Look for the producer to start flooding the airwaves. He already has 50 Cent's "Baby by Me" and the Gucci Mane/ Usher deluxe combo "Spotlight" hitting. Now, PDD reveals that he has a wide array of hitmakers who are unleashing their collaborative tunes.

"Man, I got nine singles coming out in the next month," Polow told us earlier this week in New Jersey. "50, Gucci [Mane] and Usher, Robin Thicke, Game, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, Weezer featuring Lil Wayne, Juelz Santana featuring Chris Brown. ... Oh, by the way, I got an Akon single coming out and a Monica single coming out. So that's 11."

Well, we only count 10, so we'll have to catch up with Polow to find out what we're missing. 'Low said he and Usher are going to be rampaging through the A celebrating "Spotlight," as well as being ambassadors for music unity.

"Usher's in that same vibe he was in when he was 23, 24 years old, with more knowledge," Polow said of the singing superstar. "We're out kicking it, having fun. We're doing something this weekend. Me, him and Gucci gonna hit all the clubs, probably spend like 15,000 in each club making it rain. We gonna break the ['Spotlight'] record. Bringing that energy back to the game, where you just see stars messing with other stars, making it exciting for the people. That's really where he's at. He's like, 'C'mon, Polow.' He'll hit me up like, 'What are you doing? Let's go out and kick it.'

"Just really trying to get that energy back in the game, because people don't really mess with each other no more," Polow continued. "Everybody looks at each other as competition when the game overall is losing. So he'll call Chris Brown, ask him how he's doing. He'll stay in touch with Gucci after they do the record. Or call me or Nelly or whoever. We're trying to bring this thing back together as far as the vibe."

Next Wave Of Flav

Polow already told you about all those potential hits he's dropping. He's especially excited about his song with Game.

"The Game record is a hip-hop classic," Polow promised. "It's called 'Would I Be Wrong?' featuring Akon. It's talking about coming from the 'hood. [The song's perspective is] I work all my life trying to get out the 'hood, then when I get to a point where I could get out of the 'hood, the 'hood keeps calling me number one. Then the 'hood is hating on me for trying to get out of the 'hood. So what am I supposed to be doing at this point? Did I risk my life every day to stay in the 'hood, or am I supposed to make a better life for my family? That's kinda what the song is about.

"His verse is crazy," the producer added about Game. "It's going through the whole 50 Cent beef, when he first went to the studio with [Dr.] Dre, he's a painting a picture with his verses. With his new album, he's already considered one of the best rappers, and he's rapping like he's angry [that] people don't consider him one of the best rappers. He's spitting. He's painting the pictures every song."

Streets Is Talking: News And Notes From The Underground

Shawty Lo told us earlier this month that he and Gucci Mane were putting a mixtape together called Fright Night. "I'm Jason, he's Michael Myers," Lo said at the time.

Plans have changed, however. "He's gonna be on a couple of records," Shawty said via cell from Atlanta. "We was gonna do this one together, but we're gonna do one in December."

This mixtape is stilled called Fright Night and has all original production.

"I got a couple nice records," he said. "I got one called 'Birds.' It's talking about the work. It's real crazy. I got one called 'What Comes and Goes.' I got one called 'What the Baby Gonna Do?' Dudes out here crying so much. All that crying, 'What the baby gonna do?' I got one for the clubs, for the ladies. It's something different I ain't never did before. I did it with my man Nate. It's a whole different rap style. It sounds nice."

Lo's LP I Am Carlos drops sometime in the first quarter of 2010. ...

Earlier this week, Glasses Malone got the Halloween frenzy started with his mixtape Nightmare on Seven Street. But the actual holiday is looking like the mixtape game's Super Saturday. In addition to Shawty Lo's Fright Night, Soulja Boy Tell'em is dropping three tapes: Cortez (that tape has leaked already), Dat Piff and the spooky Paranormal Activity. The big gun is going to be one people are already talking about: Lil' Wayne's No Ceilings. Some tracks have leaked, but Wayne has everything covered. He has more songs in the can and the complete, proper version lands Halloween. Check back here later Friday (October 30) for a full preview of the tape.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Polow Da Don, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, More

• Polow Da Don
• Shawty Lo
• Maino

Photo: So Icy/Aphiliates

We're fresh off the plane, mane! The Mixtape Daily family was in ATL for the BET Hip-Hop Awards last weekend. We must have about 3,000 mixtapes in our bags from everybody out in the streets giving away music, trying to get their buzz going. We got tons of info from our trip, so stay locked here all week. Our first offering is all about Gucci Mane: He dropped a tape with DJ Drama over the weekend and has one more coming in a couple of weeks.

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtape: The BurrPrint (The Movie 3-D) Headliner: Gucci Mane Co-Starring: DJ Drama Key Cameos: "Real as They Get" (featuring OJ Da Juiceman and Wacka Flocka), "Foreign" (featuring Shawty Red), "Flexin' " (featuring Brick Squad), "Watch Cost a Bentley" (featuring Bun B and Rocko)

Essential Info: When does Gucci Mane stop making music? The dude keeps a mixtape on deck, and he dropped yet another freebie to the streets over the weekend, teaming up with DJ Drama to continue their "Movie" series. This one, they say, is in 3-D and they also added the tag The BurrPrint on there. As the mixtape begins to circulate, the streets are beginning to ask if Mr. Laflare is dissing the man who authored The Blueprint? During an interlude called "Gucci Speaks 2," Mane questions Jiggaman's status.

"Brick Squad survey," Gucci begins. "First question, Jay-Z is the greatest rapper alive? Survey says that's a lie."

Later in the interlude, LaFlare turns his attention to himself.

"Gucci Mane is not the hottest rapper in Atlanta? Survey says that's a lie," he continues.

Asked by MTV News, Gucci declined to comment further on the interlude, and DJ Drama didn't shed too much either. "You gotta talk to Gucci about that," Dram said. "I just put the tape together after I got the music."

However, Dram was able to enlighten us about the title of the tape.

"We had a conversation," he said of him and Gucci. "The Movie 2 didn't do what we felt it should've done. The initial conversation was, we gonna put it back out and do The Movie 2: In 3-D. Then Gucci came to me and said 'F--- that, I got enough songs for a new project.' So we needed a new title. Shout out to Green Lantern for the idea on the BurrPrint: He came to me with music and now the streets is in a frenzy. The big [songs are] 'Dope Boys,' 'Trap Goin Crazy,' then the 'Frowney Face,' which is a crazy record seeing that he was on [Trey Songz's] 'LOL :-)' and he did a darker version, 'Frowney Face.' If you really listen to the guy and his concepts, he's creative.

"I've been getting a lot of feedback about the tape, people saying it reminds them of previous classics," Dram continued. "Just watching this weekend and Gucci performing at the BET Awards and the feedback of this tape, this is definitely his time."

Gucci and Drama are also linking up in a couple of weeks to put out the Fright Night mixtape. That street CD co-stars Gucci's good friend Shawty Lo.

"Halloween man! I'm Jason, Gucci Mane is Michael Myers." Shawty told us just before the BET Hip-Hop Awards. "We're going in, we drop our mixtape this Halloween. It's gonna be real crazy. Fright Night! Y'all look forward to it. DJ Drama, DJ Scream, they gonna do the mixtape together. [Me and Gucci], we're going back-to-back, all-new material."

Lo also shouted out his homie for getting on MTV News' Hottest MCs in the Game list. "It feels real good to see where my partner came from to be on that list."

Other Heat This Week: Saigon's Warning Shots 2 (independently released album)
Z-Ro's Cocaine
Waka Flocka's Waka Flocka Myers
DJ Drama, Juicy J & Project Pat's Play Me Some Pimpin' Mane Pt. 2,
Mick Boogie and Terry Urban's Wild Young Heartbreaks
Lil Chuckee's Rappers Market (Just a Sample)
Duck Down Records' Download the Right Thing

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily Video: Lil Boosie, Big Gates, Young Jeezy More

• Shawty Lo
• Gucci Mane

Shawty Lo
Photo: MTV News

ATLANTA — Shawty Lo's hair and beard look like they were drawn on his skull.

"They tell me that," Lo said with a grin as he drove into his old neighborhood of Bowen Homes. "Man, you know I got a crazy barber. His name is Bobby. He's a fool with it. He charges $50 for a shape-up, $100 for a haircut. He doesn't even work out of a shop. He's got a pair of gold clippers, and this is what he do."

Lo gets his hair cut twice, maybe three times a week, depending on his schedule. "Basically, the projects I was born in, Bowen Homes, they tearing it down, I guess because there's been so many murders and assaults and so much stuff went on in the apartments," Lo said, driving at a snail's pace through the 'hood. "They decided they should tear it down.

"It's like a town of its own," he said about the low-income housing complex. "It's a baby Atlanta of its own [inside Bowen Homes]. A lot of people are gonna be lost. A lot of people didn't pay rent. Rent is probably $13 or $20. They're giving people vouchers to move out, but a lot of people are gonna be lost."

Back in the day, when Shawty was just a shorty, you would hear tales of a hustler blasting from cars as the local dope boys would post up. Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z, Master P, UGK and 8Ball & MJG were all neighborhood favorites, and while the hip-hop music articulated what Lo would see the hustlers do outside his window, he developed dreams. He wanted to be just like them — the hustlers, not the rappers.

"I used to live right here, apartment 479," he said, pointing to a now-boarded-up apartment. The place where Lo used to live with his grandmother and sister mirrors most of the cribs in the housing complex: They are boarded up and the residents have moved out.

"I used to see the dope boys doing their thing," Shawty described. "I didn't idolize Michael Jordan or nothing like at. I used to see the dope boys talking to the girls in their Cadillacs."

	It's Atlanta Week on MTVNews.com! Stay locked here for all we have to offer from the city's heavyweights.
	»Young Jeezy Boosts His Homies: Mixtape Monday
	»DJ Infamous Is Taking Over Atlanta
	»T.I. Says It's A 'Great Pleasure' To Help New Atlanta Artists
	»Shawty Lo Sets Up Shop In ATL For New LP
	»Ludacris On 'Battle Of The Sexes' Album
	»Gucci Mane: Atlanta's Next Mainstream Star?
	»Shawty Lo Recalls Fast-Paced Youth
	»Atlanta's B.o.B Seeks 'The New Thing' In His Music
	»Young Jeezy, T.I. Among Atlanta Hawks' ATL Favorites

Despite the negative influences, Lo, who was known just as Carlos while growing up, still acted like a kid. One of his favorite activities was balancing himself on a steel barrier that still stands outside of his old house.

"I don't know if I can still do it," he said with a grin as he walked up to it. "It done got smaller. I got my Ballys on."

After getting help climbing on top of the barricade, he walked like he was walking a tightrope in the circus but quickly started to lose his balance and jumped off.

"I can't get it no more," he laughed. "It's shaking. I used to walk it all the way down when I was younger. ... I'm too old now."

When young Carlos was growing up, his mother was on drugs, his father wasn't around, and his grandmother had meager means to take care of him and his sister. As a teen, he began running wild around the Bowen Homes, sticking people up and eventually selling drugs. He was living life so fast, he didn't even know he had his first child until a year later.

"I wasn't in no delivery room," he said. "I didn't know about the first one until the next summer. I was a teenager. My grandmother was taking care of me. I was 16 going on 17. The girl would come out here; she used to stay with her auntie. She came back the next summer talking about, 'I got a baby.' I took the baby to my grandmother. My grandmother was like, 'Boy, get that baby outta here.' It was crazy."

Lo has nine kids now: seven girls and two boys. He said he was in the delivery room for the birth of the last two.

Lo almost missed the birth of his rap career. After 10 years of skullduggery in the street, he decided to slow down and concentrate on music in 2003, because the heat was on from the police. His life of crime caught up to him in 2005 — when his group D4L was blowing up with "Laffy Taffy," he was behind bars.

Now reformed, and with the successful debut LP Units in the City under his belt, he's ready to further his career with his second album, I Am Carlos, due in June. Lo said he's lucky to have a career and even more grateful to be alive. He got a reminder of his brush with death as he drove out of Bowen Homes to his D4L Studio, which is less than eight minutes away straight down the block.

"There was an explosion in my nursery school," he said, pointing to a school located in the complex. "The ceiling fell. I was in school that day. They told us to line up [to leave]. I was one of the kids that didn't line up. I ran outta there. Some of them kids died, some got out."

• It's Atlanta Week!

• Shawty Lo

Photo: MTV News

ATLANTA — How smart is Shawty Lo's marketing plan? His D4L Studio is right on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, better known as the Bankhead Strip, and you can hear his music blasting all hours of the day and night. So anybody coming in or out of the 'hood hears what he's cooking up.

You can get some fried chicken at the restaurant across the street or get your car fixed at the store right next to it. A strip club is down the block; so is the housing project where Lo grew up, the Bowen Homes. It's all boarded up now, and most of the residents have moved out. Right outside the D4L Studio doors, there's a barbecue brewing. A grill is being put together, and the food is on deck.

Inside, Lo isn't grilling anything — he's baking.

"I had to stop doing shows for a minute," said Shawty, wearing all white except his red Louis Vuitton scarf, which matches the walls. "I'm not a freestyle [artist]. I take my time and write. So I had to stop doing shows and dedicate myself to being in the studio and making quality music, what people wanna hear. I call it putting it in the oven. I bake my music and put it out."

The popularity of Lo's 2008 debut, Units in the City, caught everyone off guard — including Shawty himself. He hurled three club bangers with "Dey Know," "Dunn Dunn" and "Foolish." The night wasn't complete if a DJ didn't play a mini Lo set. He's been in demand for live performances for more than a year.

	It's Atlanta Week on MTVNews.com! Stay locked here for all we have to offer from the city's heavyweights.
	»Young Jeezy Boosts His Homies: Mixtape Monday
	»DJ Infamous Is Taking Over Atlanta
	»T.I. Says It's A 'Great Pleasure' To Help New Atlanta Artists
	»Shawty Lo Sets Up Shop In ATL For New LP

"I was a new artist," Shawty said. "I hadn't been rapping no longer than three years. People took to it. People was going crazy and I thought it was luck, but I was inspired to keep writing."

Lo's new album, I Am Carlos, is due in June.

"What everybody knows in the streets of Atlanta is Carlos from Bowen Homes," he continued. "It is more than Shawty Lo the rapper, and I'm finnin' to let the rest of the world know that it was more than Shawty Lo the rapper. I'mma give them a little more of me, like my negative side when I was a D-boy. I'm giving them my story of how I've been able to turn a negative into a positive."

Since L.O. is still recording, he hasn't chosen his first single yet, but he played MTV News a gaggle of tracks. The first, "About My B.I.," features Mya on the hook.

"I'm not really good with the computer; I'm good with the pad," he said as he pulled up the track. "One of my fellow members from my projects, Bowen Homes, he just died. He was murdered. I gave him a shout in the song: 'Rest in peace, Marlo.' "

"It's Miss M.Y.A.," we hear Mya belt to start off the record. "I'm about my B.I./ I be on the grind, steady pushin' all the time, OK?/ I'm about my B.I."

"I've been a fan of Mya for long time too," he said after the record played. The two met at the Ozone Awards, and Mya sent Lo the track with the hook on it. "She had the concept and everything. I thanked her for the record. It's a song called 'About My B.I.,' and I'm just telling the story why I'm about my B.I., my business."

Rick Ross, Bun B, Lil' Kim, T-Pain and Gucci Mane also appear on the album.

"It means a lot. I grew up listening to them," the father of 12 said about working with some of his more tenured guest stars. "I was listening to UGK when I was coming out seventh or eighth grade. Lil' Kim is a diva. I messed with her from long ago. Ross is my man — the boss! We been doing it since day one. When he brought out 'Every day I'm hustling,' that's when I brought out 'I'm the Man.' We connected off the rip like brothers."

On "Sick of Myself," Lo stays connected to cash. "What's happ-ninnnnn?" he raps on the lead verse. "I hear you talking/ Your baby mama, bi--- still stalkin'/ I'm in the Lambo, bi--- still walkin'/ Ice got my chest cold, I'm coughin'."

"I'm talking about [people] being sick of me," he smiled. "Like, 'Yo, boy, I'm sick of you, you doing too much. Ballin'!' "

• It's Atlanta Week!

• Shawty Lo

Sway and T.I.
Photo: MTV News

On Friday night in Atlanta, T.I. put his beef with rapper Shawty Lo to bed, inviting his former rival onstage during a performance of "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" at Tip's Club Crucial.

On Monday night in the Bronx, after he finished speaking to kids at a Boys & Girls Club, T.I. finally broke his silence about why he decided to end the feud.

"See, I'm a grown man. These situations are not that major for me, you know? It's always more blown up in the media than it is in my mind. That's nothing to me. I never even considered it to be a big deal to begin with. So, something like that, I just didn't do it for publicity," Tip told MTV News. "I'm not doing it for the purposes of taking pictures, and for people online to talk about it and people on TV to talk about it. As a man, I don't mean anybody no harm, I wish everybody the best, I ain't never been a hater, I congratulate success, and I move on and keep doing what I'm doing."

And to hear him tell it, the whole beef between him and Shawty — which started with the pair trading verbal jabs but quickly escalated into a brawl between the rappers' cliques at the Dirty Awards late last year — wasn't even legit ... it was the product of the overzealous media and some self-righteous bloggers. Which is why he had no problem putting it behind him.

"That word 'beef' is used too loosely, to me. 'Beef' is kind of like 'swag.' People just throwin' that word around," T.I. said. "To me, man, if I don't mean you no harm, we can't be beefin'. If I see you, and I don't attack you, it ain't no beef, and vice versa. Everything else is just entertainment to me."

• T.I.
• Shawty Lo

DJ Infamous at Atlanta's Velvet Room on Sunday
Photo: MTV News

ATLANTA — DJ Infamous, congratulations. You are officially big-time. Last night, the jock had a coronation of sorts. The party at ATL hot spot the Velvet Room — Hotlanta's place to be on Sunday nights — was billed as DJ Infamous' fourth-anniversary party to celebrate his stint on radio station V-103. Instead, it felt like a declaration to his city that he really is a big deal.

Young Jeezy, Fonzworth Bentley, Fat Joe, Diamond D, DJ Khaled, DJ Drama, DJ Don Cannon, Jim Jones, Rich Boy, porn star Mr. Marcus, producer Ron Browz, singer Trey Songz and Playaz Circle were among those who attended. And Inf got most of his star-studded guest lineup to perform.

Packed times 10 is the only way to describe the Velvet Room on Sunday. At points, you literally could not move because it was so crowded. Up in the VIP room, Infamous — who has made a name for himself nationally in the past year by releasing mixtapes with the likes of Rick Ross, Bow Wow and Young Jeezy — took the mic and began introducing his supporters.

"Everybody is going to perform," the DJ promised, which got a real chuckle from Fat Joe. Joey Crack took the mic, right after Khaled did his part live from "I'm So Hood."

From his seat in the VIP section overlooking the crowd in the club, Joe started with "Make It Rain," then went into "Lean Back" and his current single, "One."

"If you gotta ride or die, bi---, put one [finger] in the sky," he said. "This [song] is gonna be so big in America. We call this hit mania. Infamous, happy anniversary."

Next was Ron Browz's turn to rep. Browz, who stood on a coffee table next to Joe, held a bottle of Moët Rose in one hand and the mic in the other.

"I'm jumpin' out the window on this one," he began singing, bringing out his current single.

The house DJ then turned everyone's attention to Jim Jones, who was in a whole 'nother part of VIP.

Jones politely declined to perform until he had drinks for his section. Yeah, we know the order, bottles of rosé champagne and some bottles of water. Even if you didn't have his lyrics from "Pop Champagne" memorized, he announced his prerequisite on the mic.

"I ain't got no champagne," Jones said. "Who got that pink liquid?"

Shawty Lo took the mic while the Harlem Diplomat waited for his fuel.

Lo pulled out all of his hits, mostly in succession: "Foolish," "Dunn Dunn," current single "Supplier" and another classic "Dey Know." The crowd still responds to all the right parts in the song that call for them to sing along. Lo's made his own waves on the Atlanta club-scene circuit recently. Two nights ago, he and T.I. made amends for their long-standing musical feud by appearing onstage together at Tip's club, Crucial.

Now, back to Mr. Jones. The wait staff got him and his crew right with their drinks. Time to perform. Jim hit the people with "We Fly High," "Na Na Nana Na Na" and "Pop Champagne." Jones then asked the DJ to play Jamie Foxx's "Blame It (On the Alcohol)."

"Ladies, if you're tryin'a get a superstar tonight, take your pick. It's a lot in here," Jones said as Foxx's club smash played.

Next up was Young Jeezy. The Snowman had a paid gig out of town but was able to make it back to surprise Infamous. Jeezy's club battle cry "Who Dat" tore through the speakers, and he followed up with pieces of "Don't Know You," "Bottom of the Map" and "Crazy World."

"I came to party," Jeezy said with a smile on his face and a bottle in his hand. "I don't wanna perform. What's up?"

Inf and the gang kept things going until a little after 4 a.m.

Besides spinning on the radio and heading on an international tour with Don Cannon, Infamous has a mixtape with Jim Jones called Risky Business that drops any day now. Inf is also preparing to work with Young Jeezy on a mixtape that showcases Mr. 17.5 as well as Young's CTE Family.

• DJ Infamous Celebrates His Anniversary

• Young Jeezy
• Fat Joe
• Shawty Lo
• Trey Songz
• Jim Jones

Shawty Lo in Atlanta on Monday
Photo: MTV News

ATLANTA — Stranger things have happened in hip-hop, but it was a shock to fans nonetheless: On Friday night, T.I. and Shawty Lo united onstage at Tip's Club Crucial.

The two have been going back and forth with dis songs and humorous jabs in interviews for more than a year. Everything came to a head November 24 when members of T.I.'s Grand Hustle clique clashed with Shawty Lo and his crew during the Dirty Awards in Atlanta. Tip and Lo apparently decided enough was enough.

"After that last altercation at the Dirty Awards, I told him my side of the story," Lo said Sunday in his studio, located in Atlanta's Bankhead neighborhood. "We talked for, like, 15 minutes. We decided in 2009, we're coming into a clean slate. And he's finnin' to go in. What better place to do it than in Bankhead at Club Crucial?

"It was unexpected," Lo continued. "We already talked. Me being a man, I just went up there, and the crowd went crazy. They was shocked. We dapped each other as soon as I hit the stage. It was a good feeling."

Despite the beef between the two being dead, Lo said making a song with Tip is probably premature thinking at this point, but it isn't impossible.

"We don't know," Lo said with a smile before going off to join the likes of Fat Joe, Jim Jones, Young Jeezy and DJ Drama and DJ Infamous' party at the Velvet Room. "Stay tuned. Everything is in the mix. We haven't talked about doing music since 2006, but at least we have been talking. It feels good to be here."

Lo is working on a new album, now titled I Am Carlos. The LP, due in June, features T-Pain, Mya, Trey Songz, Rick Ross and Bun thus far.

• Shawty Lo And T.I. Squash Their Beef

• Shawty Lo
• T.I.

Rick Ross
Photo: Jason Campbell

Cruel intentions or just witty hip-hop referencing? Everyone is talking about Rick Ross' new record "Mafia Music," where he name-checks everyone from Shawty Lo and T.I. to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. For four minutes and 21 seconds, the Ross relentlessly praises his own success and admonishes some of his enemies.

The most notable person he talks about on the record is 50 Cent.

"I love to pay ya bills, can't wait to pay ya rent/ Curtis Jackson baby mama, I ain't looking for a cent/ Burn the house down," Ross raps, referring to the "suspicious" fire at a home owned by 50 (in which his son and ex-girlfriend lived) last year. "You gotta buy another/ Don't forget the gas can, jealous, stupid muthaf----r."

It's not hard to figure out what the G-Unit general thinks about the song: 50's camp has already posted the track on Thisis50.com and labeled it "50 Cent Dis." Early in 2008, 50 warned Ross not to stay too close to Fat Joe during the Bronx don's beef with the G-Unit.

Recently, during an interview with MTV News, Ross warned that some of his peers would be catching feelings once "Mafia Music" was leaked.

"It's titled 'Mafia Music' and it's gonna cause a lot of problems," he explained. "It's a scathing four-and-half-minute nonstop flow, me being autobiographical about my life and my come-up and my triumph. Of course, I had to address a few things, I had to address a few people. I love it. The thing is, some people are gonna be — um — they're gonna be f---ed up. That's the best way I can put it."

The Miami native also told MTV News that an official single, "I'm the Magnificent" would be coming soon. Ross' new LP Deeper Than Rap, is due this spring.

• Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)
• 50 Cent
• Shawty Lo
• T.I.
• Whitney Houston

T.I.
Photo: Getty Images/ Evan Agostini

"No one on the corner got swagger like these four guys." Lil Wayne was correct; it was an event, a milestone — Weezy, Jay-Z, Kanye West and T.I. on "Swagga Like Us."

The record brought together a cross section of cities on wax and four out of the top-10 MCs in the game. "No one on the corner got swagger like us." Hell yeah, M.I.A. — the track's producer Kanye West used her voice as a secret weapon, another musical firearm to go along with that sumo-heavy bass and marching-band drum line. It arrived out of nowhere (leaked several weeks before its strategically planned debut) and immediately became an anthem for sports teams and anybody in the club. The record also became a favorite of some MCs to freestyle on, trying to prove they too belonged on the all-star track.

"Swagger" might have been our Hip-Hop Song of the Year (an honor that went to Lil Wayne's "A Milli" instead) if the vision for the record were fully realized — there was no video and not even a proper live performance with all four of its stars. Still, it makes the top spot on our list of Underground Joints of '08 ("Swagga" was released as a single on iTunes prior to coming out on T.I.'s Paper Trail.) Here's a list of seven other songs you may have slept on but definitely need to have in heavy rotation.

Eight Essential Underground Joints of '08

1. T.I. and Jay-Z (featuring Lil Wayne and Kanye West) - "Swagga Like Us"
2. Joe Budden - "Who (Parts 1, 2 and 3)"
3. Jay-Z - "Jockin' Jay-Z"
4. Shawty Lo (featuring Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Lil Wayne and Plies) - "Dey Know" remix
5. Lil Wayne (featuring Jay-Z) - "Mr. Carter"
6. Big Boi (featuring Andre 3000 and Raekwon) - "Royal Flush"
7. The Game (featuring Nas) - "Letter to the King"
8. Nas - "Breathe"

Honorable Mentions

»Gucci Mane (featuring Yo Gotti and Yung Ralph) - "Bricks"
»Plies - "Ol' Lady"
»DJ Felli Fel (featuring Kanye West, Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous) - "Finer Things"
»Kid Cudi (featuring Jim Jones) - "Day 'N' Nite remix
»The Game - "Big Dreams"
»Fat Joe (featuring Lil Wayne) - "Crackhouse"
»Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth and B.O.B. - "Change Gone Come"
»Nas - "Testify"

• T.I.
• Big Boi
• Shawty Lo
• Joe Budden

T.I.
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — While his band and DJ Drama took a break, T.I. stood in S.I.R. Studios, practicing for a dance battle with Chris Brown.

"That's exactly what I'm doing," the always cool King of the South joked before busting out a few moves.

Tip's friend C. Breezy has nothing to worry about. The playful choreography isn't that great. What Tip was really rehearsing for was his musical performance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend.

"We just putting on the hits, baby," he said with a smile when asked to reveal his set list. " ... The good ones."

MTV News did walk in on him going through "Whatever You Like." For the other song he'll be rapping, check out "SNL."

Tip and his band might be heading out on a tour come 2009. Ludacris and Young Jeezy have both told MTV News they would be willing to do a huge outing with the Rubber Band Man. T.I. agreed that it would be great.

"I'm definitely down to do it," Tip said of the tour. "Those are definitely two people who are up there when you talk about Southern performers. I'm definitely open to do it. We just gotta figure out what makes the most sense as far as getting it done."

"First of the year" would be the Atlanta native's ideal launch date, with the trek lasting a couple of months.

One person from Atlanta you probably won't see on that A-Town tour is Shawty Lo. Lo's camp and members of T.I.'s Grand Hustle clique got into a couple of scuffles during last week's Dirty Awards in Atlanta. During the first altercation — which happened before T.I. even got in the venue — chairs went airborne. During the second scuffle, fists and pepper spray went flying. In between the chaos, T.I. and Shawty Lo actually had a closed-door meeting about quashing their differences.

"We spoke," Tip said. "I don't know what that conversation meant. Shortly after we spoke ... I felt that that conversation, those words, weren't upheld. It was just a lot of nonsense. There's no place in my life for that. There was a time in my life where I wanted no more than to indulge in that kind of activity. I went around looking for it, welcoming it. Now, I just done blown way past that. There's no place in my life for it. What I told him really was, 'I'm not trippin'.' "

Tip and Lo have been going back-and-forth on record for more than a year, mainly over Lo's jabs that Tip really isn't from the 'hood he claims to be from: Bankhead.

"It's been over for me," Tip said. "I'm looking way past this. I got way too much stuff that I'm involved in, that I'm looking forward to, to even be bothered with it. I wish you the best. Go do your thing. Peace unto everyone."

Tip claimed that Lo's words were insincere, because after that meeting, another fracas occurred.

"[After we talked], me and my artists go out there to do our song, and there's a lot of negative feedback from right here in front of the stage," he said. "That kinda sparked some things that I, once again, cannot condone, support or entertain. So I had to separate myself form the whole situation.

"I'm done," he added. "Like I said, it's a non-issue for me. I'm cool. I'm not trippin'. I wasn't trippin' before then, and I'm not trippin' now."

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