It ain’t no Hard Knock Life for Jay-Z! He may have 99 Problems (and a bitch ain’t one)…but neither is putting food on the table. . Brotha’s bring in that cash-money! He makes more money than any other rapper out there. How much? Last year, he brought in $63 million! The shitty deal for him is that because of his tax bracket, he’ll be shelling over approximately $22 million to Uncle Sam – man that’s gotta hurt! That is almost as much money as the runner up made, P Diddy who made $28 million. Kanye West went South, going from making the 3rd most last year to 10th at $12 million this year – perhaps because of his douche comments about Taylor Swift earlier this year. Pharrell made just a bit more than him this year, at ninth place. Drake raked it in at 11th.

To be on this list, artists have to make their primary earnings off of hip-hop or rap and it includes all record/digital sales, tours, TV shows, endorsements, movies, books, etc.

Check out the Full Top 20 List after the jump…

The nominations for this year’s MTV Video Awards are out, and it’s all about the Gaga. The Fame Monster leads all nominees with a record 13 nominations, the most ever by a single artist in one year. On top of that, Lady Gaga is also the first female artist nominated for two different videos for the prestigious “Video of the Year”. Here’s what the Bad Romance singer had to say about her accolades:

“I’m so honored for all the little monsters and self-professed freaks of the universe, to have more VMA nominations in a single year than any artist in MTV history. Ironically, I’m even more proud it’s an unlucky number; 13,” said Lady Gaga. “A long time ago the world told me and my little monsters we would never be heard, together we changed the rules. God put me on Earth for 3 reasons: To make loud music, gay videos, and cause a damn raucous. Thank You MTV!”

Coming in with the second most nominations is Eminem, while rapper B.o.B. scores five and newcomer Ke$ha Tik Toks with three nods. Also scoring first time nominations are: Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence + The Machine and Mumford and Sons.

The “2010 MTV Video Music Awards” will air live from Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 9PM (Live ET/Tape delayed PT.) I wonder if anything well top the Kanye West/Taylor Swift debacle from last year. From a publishing editorial point of view, I DEARLY HOPE SO. MTV will announce additional performers, presenters and host on a later date.

BEST COLLABORATION

• B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams, “Airplanes”
• Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga, “Video Phone (Extended Remix)”
• Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé, “Telephone”
• 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha, “My First Kiss”
• Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”

SHOULD WIN: Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé, “Telephone”
WILL WIN: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”

Beyonce & Lady Gaga in one video. How can they not win? Thank God they worked out the kinks of working together in that less-than-stellar Videophone. I fear Gaga and B will cannibalize each other, therefore giving Jiggaman and Keys the win. Also, MTV won’t pass up on the chance to get those two on stage.

view nominations for the top categories after the jump

We’re halfway through 2010, and I thought it’d be the perfect time to recap all the albums that have topped the Billboard 200 Album Charts. So far 14 albums have claimed at least one week in the pole position on the respected magazine. Not surprisingly teen sensation Justin Bieber has spent the most weeks (4 weeks) at No. 1 with his “My World 2.0″ CD, with Susan Boyle and Sade in second with 3 weeks apiece. It’s worth noting that Boyle also spent an additional three on top in 2009.

Boyle along with Ke$ha, B.o.B. and Drake are all freshmen successes with their first released album. Special kudos also go out to the “Glee” cast for spawning three hit albums from the show. Fox and Ryan Murphy must be making a killing from the hit freshman show.

The long-awaited album “Recovery” from Eminem holds the record so far for selling the most copies in its first week of release. The rapper moved 741,000 units in one week. Runner-ups for that record include Sade’s “Soldier of Love” (502,000), Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” (481,000) and Drake’s “Thank Me Later” (481,000).

check out which other albums hit number one after the jump

In case you missed the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards last night, which Jonny got to witness live, I’ve compiled a list of some of the key performances. I gotta say, the MMVAs keep getting better and better each year. Love the intro listing the names of who was attending, and definitely loved the list of attendees. Co-hosted by Miley Cyrus, the list of performers included Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Drake, Justin Bieber, Hedley, and Miley herself. Other familiar faces presenting included Snooki (Jersey Shore), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl), Kristin Cavallari (The Hills), and Whitney Port (The City) to name a few.

Overall, the show was great and Miley Cyrus did a great job co-hosting the night – much better than one of her Sarah Taylor who was helping her. Taylor seemed totally thrown off when technical difficulties stalled Drake from being able to perform his number for an uncomfortable amount of time. It reminded me of the situation in the opening ceremonies when one of the arms wouldn’t come up for the lighting of the torch. Awkward! VJs Tim Deegan and Devin Soltendieck also helped co-host, but they managed to keep their cool.

Performances after the jump…

So naturally I am little behind the curve in reporting GQ’s Men of the Year from 2009, as to be quite honest I didn’t realize the list had already rolled out on the news stands. Each year in December, GQ pulls together a collection of some of the amazing men from around the world and summarized the impact they’ve had on the globe over the last 12 months (or so). The portfolio is compiled annually by Martin Schoeller with interviews conducted by an assortment of different writers and journalists. With Donovan’s recent post on Glee and his mention of Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) potentially landing a supportive role, I felt re-inspired to comment on this list, and NPH in particular.

Before I jump into the sappy NPH dialogue that moved me beyond imagination, I wanted to touch on the other fantastic men that just happened to be splashed across the pages (you know, just for fun…)

First up to bat were the men from ‘The Hangover’ – Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Bradley Cooper. Seriously, these three were epic in the film and Bradley Cooper recently launched himself into my personal ‘to be watched constantly, but not to the point of becoming a stalker’ list.

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Apparently, his concert was supposed to start at 6:00pm at GM Place here in Vancouver and people were informed at about 5:15pm that the concert was canceled. A few sources have said that it is because the artist was not able to cross the border into Canada. “The Lil Wayne show has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond Live Nation’s control,” the promoter said in a news release. He was going to be performing with Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, and Canada’s own Drake.

His sixth album is called Tha Carter III and it has earned him a whopping eight Grammy nominations this year, garnering the most nominations! This year so far he has won the MTV Europe Music Awards Artist’s Choice Award, MTV’s Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video, seven BET Hip-Hop Awards and has also received three nominations in the American Music Awards and won.

UPDATE: His management company has just released the following statement…

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Get ready to be singing this hook over and over all summer long: “Baby you the best, baby you the best… best I ever had…”

I am a huge R&B fan. Growing up outside of Detroit (AKA Windsor, ON) I was fortunate enough to have early exposure to Hip Hop, Rap, Old Skool jams and my all time favourite RnB.

Commonly as a youth, Anita Baker and DeBarge were heard in my home (at least while Dad was at work). Mom was a fitness instructor and would plan out her aerobics while I played the role of ghetto blaster DJ. I’d sit on the floor rewinding music clips that she would teach the class, get the next cassette tape ready and such. I worked for candy, part time doing this from the ages of 5-8.

But, I digress (it’s the Rose Nylund in me).

Fast forward to this past weekend’s MMVA’s, which my radio station sent me to cover and escort contest winners. In the press room, I was able to be a part of the “circuit”, where performers/stars like Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Perez Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Brody Jenner, and Girlicious all came through for interviews (the Jonas Brothers were too busy hosting the show).

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