Biggie Smalls covers the upcoming issue of The Source. Notorious the movie drops in theaters January 16th. Make sure you go get that soundtrack as well on the 13th.

In the documentary, there’s mention that Jay-Z stole the beat for “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” from you and Cam, that Kanye agreed to give the beat to you guys. What’s the story behind that?

Jim Jones: Kanye came to our studio session at Sony, and he was playing some beats back when we were all signed to Rocafella. Cam was about to come out with Come Home With Me, so we told Kanye we wanted to buy the song “H to the Izzo.” It was an understanding we had between us and Kanye because we were all under the same label. So then, I’ll never forget it, we’re at Cam’s house and this hip-hop award show comes on [BET Awards, 2001], and Cam and I are watching it on his couch, and we’re like, “Next year we’re gonna be up there.” So they announce that Jay-Z is about to perform his new single off The Blueprint, and the dude comes out with the “H to the Izzo” beat. Cam and I look at each other like, Oh, we’re going to kill Kanye. Oh my God, when we catch this nigga,we’re going to do something terrible to him. And that’s how Cam ended up getting the “Down and Out” beat. Kanye gave it to him free of charge as payback.

Check out the rest of the interview at Complex.

Curtis gives us his best impersonation of the Rock on the December/January issue of XXL.

Plies is the future of rap? I’m not sure I fully agree with that statement. Spotted at Splash’s neck of the woods.

Absolutely amazing. For those of you who aren’t familiar with who she is, she’s part of Danity Kane. Check out the photos of her at Complex Magazine.

Damn is all I can say. What do you guys think?

The Source 20th Anniversary covers show love to Ice Cube and Queen Latifah. The back of each magazine will also feature the first covers that the two artists appeared on. Check the jump to see them. Spotted at nahRight.

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Check out the covers of Nas & LL after the jump. Spotted at MissInfo.

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London based Blag Magazine shows love to N.E.R.D. on the cover of their August 2008 issue. Blag Magazine met up with N.E.R.D. at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms for an exclusive photoshoot and interview. Look for the issue to hit newsstands at the end of August.

Peep the rest of the covers and an interview with Jigga on Sirius’ Shade 45 morning show after the jump.

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In the September issue of Blender, senior editor Jonah Weiner travels to Miami to get an inside look at the life of unhinged rock star Lil Wayne. Blender also got its hands on an EXCLUSIVE new song from Lil Wayne. For a limited time, newsstand copies of the September Blender will include a free download of the track before it is available anywhere else.

The Hustle: “It’s a faucet I can’t turn off, I can try and ignore it, but I can’t ever turn it off. And I gotta keep going, ’cause I still don’t have the crown. Someone else just won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards. Why not me? Huh? That tells me I’m not going hard enough. That tells me I’ve done something wrong.”

Jigga covers the upcoming 15th Anniversary issue of VIBE. Spotted at X

Mariah Carey graces the cover of the August 2008 issue of Elle Magazine. You can check out more pics of her after the jump. And yes, Nick Cannon manages to make it into one of the photos.

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