Nicki Minaj & Drake May XXL Cover + Nicki's new video...

Lil Wayne might be gone ’til November, but Young Money is still in the house. Nicki Minaj and Drake take center stage next month as Weezy’s protégés grace the cover of the May 2010 issue of XXL. Both have built a deafening buzz throughout the past year and change, with standout verses and chart topping singles under their respective belts. With fans clamoring for their highly anticipated debut albums, Drake and Nicki stand on the cusp of being crowned hip-hop’s new reigning king and queen. XXL Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten sits down with Nicki for a candid Q&A, while senior editor Benjamin Meadows-Ingram documents Drake’s rise.

In addition to our in-depth interviews with the Young Money all-stars, this blockbuster issue also includes investigative pieces on the struggles of female MCs and the death of the New York rap star, complete with a borough-by-borough breakdown of the Big Apple’s hip-hop history. Other issue highlights to lookout for are profiles covering the triumphant return of Reflection Eternal and the tragic demise of Little Brother. Also, Bun B gives us an early preview of his upcoming Trill O.G. album and Joell Ortiz goes on a fake-booty scavenger hunt in The Cool.

XXL’s May 2010 issue with Nicki Minaj and Drake hits stands nationwide on April 20. In the mean time, stay tuned to XXLMag.com in the coming weeks for more exclusive excerpts and issue leaks.

Props to: thisis50.com

Lil Wayne Covers New Rolling Stone...Tattz are CRAZY!!!

Speaks on the Carter 4 and going to jail...

For a decade, Lil Wayne has been hip-hop’s great unstoppable force, a 24-hour-a-day recording machine without an off button. But on February 9th, Lil Wayne will have to stop — for 12 months, when he reports to prison to serve a sentence for gun possession stemming from a 2007 arrest in New York City. Rolling Stone stays up all night with Weezy as he prepares to get locked down in our new issue, which is on sale at newsstands today.

“I don’t like to stop,” Wayne tells RS‘ Chris Norris. “I believe you stop when you die.” So in the weeks before he reports to Rikers Island, Wayne is keeping busy — recording tracks bound for Tha Carter IV (the album Cash Money staffers call “C4″ because it’ll be the bomb), shooting videos with his Young Money protégés, spending time with his growing family, and deliberately not asking anyone for advice about life on the inside. “This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that’s like,” he says. “I just say I’m looking forward to it.”

While Weezy’s away, his label is relocating to New York to be near him, and his manager Cortez Bryant is exploring ways to keep Wayne in his fans’ minds for the duration — from jailhouse Twitter accounts to endorsements. “I’ll have an iPod, and I”ll make sure they keep sending me beats,” Lil Wayne says. Tha Carter IV — which Norris is told features tougher, faster beats — is scheduled to arrive shortly after he gets out.

Read the full story in the new issue for Wayne’s comments on giving up drank, growing older and fearing God, plus a close-up look at one of his intense late-night recording sessions. And check out Norris’ essay on his time with Wayne, Weezy Phone Home: Is Lil Wayne Hip-Hop’s Alien or Simply the Greatest?, only online.

Rolling Stone

Diddy Vogue Mag shoot...dude killed it...