The singer skips out of jail and says he “ain’t trippin’.” Ray J was arrested following an altercation Friday (May 30) in Beverly Hills, California. “He somehow made contact with a woman’s butt and that’s why cops were called,” TMZ reports. “They determined it was not a sexual battery. The contact was ‘incidental.’” Ray J…

In preparation for the release of his documentary, Time Is Illmatic, which is slated for October, Nas recently sat down with Charlie Rose on PBS to talk about his past, the documentary and more. During the interview, the two talked about who the Queensbridge native’s biggest influences are and among them were Michael Jackson and…

Mike Myers spent years lobbying Shep Gordon to let him make a documentary about the veteran music manager’s life and career before Gordon relented a couple of years ago. Why did Gordon change his mind? “I sort of started to feel a little bit sorry for myself,” Gordon told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of Thursday…

Following his GMA performance, Fif returned to Power 105. He spoke new album, Beats By Dre deal with Apple, Jay and Solange incident, his pitch at Citi Field, Floyd Mayweather and Tiny and more.   [RapRadar]

Jack White doesn’t want to feud with anyone right now. The rocker issued a long statement on his website Saturday, apologizing for comments he made about the Black Keys, Meg White and others in the current Rolling Stone cover story and attempting to explain the context in which he made the comments. White began by…

Benedict Evans is partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Previously, he was a strategy consultant in London, and worked in strategy at NBC Universal, Channel 4 and Orange. Follow him on his blog, and on Twitter @BenedictEvans. Apple’s Beats deal is a Rorschach Blot: people’s reactions slot into their existing view of whether Apple still has ‘it’. If you think Apple’s lost…

As I wrote previously, new and transformative online services enable artists to expand their “communities” of fans, directly engage with them, and monetize in myriad ways never before possible. But how about using online technology to fuel richer experiences, deeper engagement, and greater monetization offline, in the physical world of live events? Few artists and…

Talib Kweli, a longtime collaborator of Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), has addressed recent reports that Bey cannot return to the United States. “I haven’t spoken on Yasiin cuz it seemed obvious to me that these rumors are unsubstantiated lies. But y’all believe blogs so I must,” he says via Twitter. “Think about…

One of the most solid and dynamic rhythm sections in modern music belongs to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, with drummer Chad Smith and bassist Flea about as good as it gets. Here’s the isolated bass and drums to one of their first hits – “Give It Away,” from the groups 5th studio album Blood…

Sean C and LV find out that Marco Polo re-made their Roc Boys beat for the New Jersey Nets. [BeatMakingVideos]