Kimberly Locke Wants Eminem?

Kimberly Locke, of "American Idol" fame, recently revealed just who she would love to do a collaborative project with. The sweet Southern belle's artist of choice couldn't be further removed from who most fans would expect.

"I would love to work with Eminem," Locke told SOHH. "I would. I love Eminem. I love everything that he represents. I love his [talent]. He is so talented. I love his storytelling and the passion behind his raps and what he raps about. He's not afraid to tell a story when a lot of people shy away from telling certain stories. He just puts it all out there. He likes 'Whatever, this is what it is.'"

No idea what an album with the two of them could sound like.

Eminem Show Canceled After Accident

Eminem was scheduled to headline the Pukkelpop Festival in Pastels, Belgium but the show had to be suspended after a stage collapsed and killed three people. A storm hit the area just as the band Smith Westerns was set to perform. The stage collapse immediately, killing three and injuring more than 40. According to reports, high winds caused large screens and other stage materials to collapse into the audience.

Artists like The Foo Fighters, The Offspring, Wiz Khalifa, D-12, Tinie Tempah and numerous others were also slated to perform.

All performances for tonight have been suspended as organizers were debating whether or not to discontinue with the entire festival after the deaths. But it was subsequently announced that the Eminem show would take place tomorrow.

"We will clean up the grounds tonight and ensure that everything is safe again so that we can start tomorrow at 11 am with a new start for Pukkelpop 2011," organizers said.

Introducing the King of Hip-Hop

Now more than three decades old as a recorded medium, hip-hop is deeply embedded in popular culture – to the point where its stars seem not only larger than life but also, as Rick Ross once put it, "deeper than rap." But even as they sell out arenas and top the pop charts, rappers still court the respect and esteem of their hip-hop peers. The title King of Hip-Hop still means something.

In that spirit, just as we did in June with the Queen of Pop, we've crunched a pile of data to try to determine who is the current King of Hip-Hop.

We're not looking for the all-time greatest, although many of our contenders would vie for that crown. Some of them have only been recording a couple of years; others have been in the game since the 1990s. But that's what makes hip-hop exciting – it's plausible for someone who was watching cartoons when Jay-Z dropped his debut album to emerge as a contender for the title.

As with our Queen of Pop tally, in naming the King of Hip-Hop we focused on the very recent past: from 2009 through the first seven months of 2011. We ranked 20 solo rappers (no groups – sorry, Beasties) who have dropped an album during that time. We looked at album sales, rankings on the R&B/hip-hop and rap charts, YouTube views, social media, concert grosses, industry awards and critics' ratings. In alphabetical order, our contenders are: Big Boi, B.o.B, Diddy, Drake, Eminem, Fabolous, Lupe Fiasco, Gucci Mane, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, T.I., Waka Flocka Flame, Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa.

All of our contenders are men except for Minaj, who reappears from our Queen of Pop survey. We like to think of "King" as a gender-neutral term, and the fact is that Minaj has earned the right to compete in this arena. It would feel strange to leave her out – as a rapper, she's had a world-beating couple of years, with a chart-topping album, block-rocking singles and a slew of killer guest appearances. Frankly, she deserves to be called a hip-hop king just for her giant-killing appearance on West's hit "Monster," in which she crushed West and fellow guests Rick Ross and Jay-Z with one blow.

Fans of the rappers, and the acts themselves, take these sorts of rankings pretty seriously. (We learned that firsthand in the comments section of Queens of Pop.) We stand by our data, but of course we know that no King of Hip-Hop index can capture swagger or flow – if it could, the all-time title might go to Q-Tip or Rakim. As you'll see, it turned out to be a fairly exciting contest. Our top overall contenders were pretty evenly matched, with five different rappers leading at least one tally each.

Let's start with the tally that comes with the biggest bragging rights: album sales.

9 pages of FACTS By ---> Rolling Stone

Fabolous Names His Wish List

Fabolous revealed who are the two emcees he'd most love to work with at this point in his career. Fab has done more than his fair share of collaborations, but a legendary Queensbridge emcee and a chart-busting rapper from Detroit are at the top of his wish list of future collaborators.

"I haven't worked with Nas yet ever in my career," Fab shared. "I would love to work with him just because, you know, what Nas means to Hip Hop. Just what he's done in his career. I don't know what the song would be about, just wanna work with him and get in the studio and see what comes out."

"I wanna do something with Eminem," he added. "That's another person. I really respect his lyricism, we'll see what a song between us would come to be. It's hard to say, because I kinda worked with everyone."

Eminem Rocks Lollapalooza

Eminem took the stage this weekend at the Lollapalooza festival, performing hits from his latest album Recovery and its lesser-celebrated predecessor Relapse. The rapper gave a show-stopping performance that was part-retrospective, part-remainder of how he can still put on a killer show.

Em surprised many in attendance by bringing out special guests Bruno Mars, Skylar Grey, and Royce Da 5'9.

The rapper also decided to go even farther into his past by performing a medley of his wackier hits; such as "My Name Is...", "Real Slim Shady" and "Without Me," as well as performing more serious tunes, such as "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "Lose Yourself," in their entirety.

50 Cent On Album Delay

50 Cent's follow-up to 2009's Before I Self Destruct has seen numerous delays and changes. 50 has been recording something for over a year, but he hasn't been able to keep any of his previously promised release dates. The rapper acknowledged that he's been focused on dropping the hottest album possible.

"I've worked longer on this album than any of my other projects," 50 explained in an interview. "I've had the opportunity to evaluate the things that I created initially, and go back and revamp things and change things around a bit. Both [Eminem] and [Dr.] Dre have had opportunities to critique themselves, when I was always on the shot clock. So this time, I get a chance to really make sure I feel like it's going to be the right music for this time period."

Kanye West Snags Seven VMA Nods

Rapper Kanye West has landed seven MTV Video Music Awards, leading all male nominees for the 2011 ceremony. West's videos “All of the Lights” and “Power" are among the nominees. He's also nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Male Video, and two for his Rihanna and Kid Cudi-assisted “All of the Lights.”

Eminem and Nicki Minaj both garnered three nominations each, with Tyler the Creator, Wiz Khalifa, and Big Sean also among nominees. Notables Lil Wayne and Pitbull are nominated, as well.

. The 2011 MTV VMA's will be at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on August 28th.

50 Cent Talks Big

50 Cent sounds confident in his upcoming album. But then again--50 always sounds confident. But this album has been delayed numerous times and even shelved indefinitely at one point--so how good can it be, really? According to Fif--it's very good.

But again--that's according to Fif.

"I can't wait till my album comes out. I think things will shift," 50 said. "Everybody who fell in love with what I fell in love with in hip-hop will respond to it because it's got the right tones on it...I did four songs in Detroit with [Eminem]. I did two with Just Blaze, a Boi-1da joint, and I did something with Alex Da Kid. I got some heat...We made two that are definite singles and the other two are the kinds of records that we been making, more aimed at my core audience, more aggressive, more of a different kind of energy to it...I say, which one makes me feel good when I hear it? That's the one I'm keeping."

Lil Wayne, Eminem Hit the Record Books

Lil Wayne and Eminem have gotten into the Guinness World Records. It was announced that, to coincide with Social Media Day, the two rappers have both reached historic numbers in terms of online fan-dom.

Lil Wayne's Facebook page has the Most "Likes" on a Facebook Item, Weezy's fans posted 668,198 comments, in response to a challenge posted on February 15, 2011 to break the record set by Oreo cookies. Wayne's fans posted over a half-a-million comments in less than 24 hours.

Eminem's official page has 42.5 million "Likes," alongside major brands like Facebook itself, YouTube.com, Zynga and pop artist, Lady Gaga.

"There's still a world of possibility in the social media space for new records as services emerge and existing ones increase their penetration," Barrett told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "There are a few landmark figures which will surely be passed in the next few years, who will be the first Twitter user to amass 100 million followers? Which Facebook page will be the first to reach 100 million likes? Whoever it is, you can be sure that Guinness World Records will be there to recognise all of these milestone achievements."

50 Cent Thanks Dre & Eminem

50 Cent is his own man and his own artist, but the Queens-born rapper can never forget the two mentors that helped him become the superstar that he is today. 50 shared his appreciation for Dr. Dre and Eminem and all that they've done throughout his career--and especially the faith that they had in him early on.

"You don't really expect to have someone come into your life... that you know has nothing but good intentions," said 50 of Eminem. "He made so much money selling records that he don't really have interest in a lot of the other stuff... So for me, they'll be asking me questions...about the deals I do away from music. For Dre, the big thing was the 'Beats,' the headset."

"I love Dre...Without 'In Da Club' and Dre's guidance on the first record...none of those other things would've happened!" 50 added. "That's the biggest record of my career still! Dre can be difficult at times, and not intentionally. He can be on his own and in his world...like the [headphone thing], we had to clear that up face-to-face, me and Dre, personally."

50 Cent On Crossover Appeal:

50 Cent recently spoke to MTV about the difference between his career and his mentor/cohort Eminem. Despite the two being affiliated for years, 50 acknowledged that Em has had a different road than 50 Cent as he discussed the benefits and detriments of being a crossover artist in hip hop.

"You can't compare Eminem and 50 Cent's career on any level," 50 added. "Eminem doesn't know what the inside of Hot 97 looks like. He's never even had to go there. So the top 40 and crossover-radio platforms are detrimental to the success of an Eminem project, and for me to get to the top 40 or crossover space, I have to have music that performs so well on your Hot 97s and Power 106s of the world until it actually goes up to that point."

Ice-T Dropping Hip Hop Doc

Ice-T is releasing his own hip hop documentary called The Art of Rap. The rapper/actor has recruited 50 different emcees, including Eminem, Kanye West to discuss lyricism in hip hop. Ice-T says he wants to emphasize the seriousness of rhyme skills.

"I've interviewed 50 emcees - everybody - [from] Kanye West, Ice Cube, Eminem to Melle Mell, Grandmaster Caz," explained Ice. "The Hip Hop scene [has] bec[o]me so pop. I was like, 'I'm gonna do a movie about real rappers and what inspired us.' Maybe that'll hit a reset button on the game and let these kids know it's not just about a pop record. Rap can do a lot."

Eminem Sues Audi

Eminem's 8 Mile Style LLC is suing Audi AG. Em's brand filed a lawsuit against the car company claiming they are using the rapper's hit song "Lose Yourself" illegally in a new commercial.

8 Mile Style filed a lawsuit in Hamburg Regional Court in Germany. "Lose Yourself" is the same song that featured in the popular Chrysler 200 ad that debuted during the Super Bowl.

“We believe Audi not only used 'Lose Yourself' to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler’s commercial campaign,” Eminem's lawyer Joel Martin said.

Eminem Praises Odd Future

Eminem had praise for West Coast hip hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. The shock-rappers have drawn many comparisons to Em's earlier, over-the-top Slim Shady persona, and the man himself acknowledged the similarities between his younger self and the new crazy kids on the block.

"I think that from the stuff that I've heard -- I haven't heard a lot from them, I still have to go check out everything that they're doing -- but I've heard enough to know that it feels like they're pushing boundaries and buttons, and that's definitely one of the things that I'm familiar with, especially when I first came out -- I love it, I love the fact that they're doing that. And the dudes can rhyme."

Eminem Not Done With Hollywood

Fans have been wondering when and if Eminem would take another stab at the big screen. The rapper most famously starred in the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile back in 2002, and has appeared in The Wash and Funny People. According to Em, he hasn't turned his back on Hollywood--he's just waiting on the right project.

"There are some things in the [works], a couple of scripts," Eminem answered. "I guess it's more so of just waiting now to see how they come together. Obviously it's gotta be something that I feel is dope enough to make me want to say, 'OK, let me put the mic down for a second and go do this movie.' There are some things that are in the works. I guess we'll just see how they come together."

Eminem Boosted Chrysler Sales

Automotive giant Chrysler Group LLC post its first profitable quarter since it filed for bankruptcy two years ago. It is being speculated that the popular Detroit-themed “This is the Motor City and this is what we do” ad featuring Eminem helped boost the company's sales over the past few months.

The Eminem ad was debuted during this year's Super Bowl. Last year Chrysler suffered a $197 million net loss during the same time period that, this year, posted a $116 million profit this quarter, increasing its net revenues 35 percent to $13.1 million.

“It clearly had a fairly big impact also on market levels with (the) Eminem Super Bowl ad being extremely well-viewed on YouTube,” said Chrysler CFO Richard Palmer. “And introducing the tag line ‘Imported from Detroit.’”

“I think it’s fair to say that we are certainly - internally - very pleased with the results Chrysler has been able to achieve in the first quarter of this year,” said Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Dr. Dre Releasing New Single

Dr. Dre has announced the release of his next single. The track is called "Die Hard," and features Eminem. "Die Hard" is the second Detox single to feature Em, who also contributed verses to the previously-released "I Need a Doctor."

The single will be premiering after the May 6th episode of "Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao/Mosley."

Though more and more material from the Detox album has begun making the rounds to the public, it should be noted that the album still does not have an official release date.

Dr. Dre Partners WIth Chrysler

Dr. Dre, like his protege Eminem, has developed a new partnership with Chrysler. The legendary producer's Beats By Dre technology will be included in the 2012 300 Sedan, with Dre helping to design and tune the 10-speaker sound system that comes in the new vehicle.

Dre and Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine will also be working on the sound for other models after the 300S rolls out.

"Our partnership with the Chrysler Group will set the bar for the way music should be heard in cars," said Iovine. "Beats By Dr. Dre has always been about restoring the emotional music connection between an artist and the listener, and Chrysler vehicles beginning with the Chrysler 300S will let drivers hear music the way the artists intended, replicating the feel and the sound that artists and producers work so hard to achieve."

It was also announced that Dre will be starring in a new Chrysler commercial.

Nick Cannon Still Feuding With Eminem

Looks like Nick Cannon still isn't ready to put his feud with Eminem to bed. The entertainer is prepping his comedy special for Showtime, which airs next month. In a statement, a rep for Cannon shared some details about the subject matter of the show, which will include references to his long-standing beef with the Detroit-based rapper.

"In his first ever comedy special, the popular comic actor and musician reveals surprisingly edgy, hysterically honest tales of his failed attempts at being a gangster, his humble roots, marriage, fatherhood, and his thoughts about the rapper Eminem," said the spokesperson via statement.

Lupe Fiasco Talks Big

Lupe Fiasco may have been spent the past few months criticizing his own album and oversharing his own emo tendencies, but let's not forget the man can rhyme. Lupe reasserted his lyrical dominance in a recent interview with XXL. The Chicago emcee wants everyone to know that no one in the game is even standing close to him right now.

"I can actually make the argument, seriously, that, Yo, I'm better than all y'all," he boasted. "You have people who can say that. Jay-Z can say that. Eminem can say that. Canibus can say that--if we are going line for line. If you want to relate me to the newer cats, let's go. Let's go line for line and bar for bar. If it's all about spitting and metaphors and MCing and lyrics and entendres, I will eat 99 percent of you dudes up."