Rap icon Jay-Z has tied Elvis Presley on the U.S. album charts after claiming his 10th number one. The rapper's new release, American Gangster, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 countdown with opening week sales of 425,000.

NEW YORK (AP) - Hip-hop has such a negative connotation in some circles that some people equate it with thuggery or crime - an unfair depiction that DMC of the legendary rap group Run-DMC is trying to dispel.

Kat de Luna is the girl next door, no matter where you're from. To say shes a crossover artist is an understatement. Hip hop, R&B, Merengue, Pop, Spanish Jazz, ballads, and dance, she does it all; in English and Spanish. Want proof?

Rapper Cassidy is in a critical condition after being involved in a serious traffic accident in New Jersey on Wednesday night. The star, who was a passenger in a sports utility vehicle, suffered a fractured skull and many bones in the left side of his face were broken. He was rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

Rapper Cassidy has reunited with his family after being released from a prison in Philadelphia on March 2nd. The Hotel hitmaker served eight months for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges, and is now keen to put his jail spell behind him.

Jailed rapper Cassidy is already planning his return to the charts, only a week after being sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges. The 'I'm a Hustla' hitmaker was sentenced to a maximum of 23 months behind bars on January 24, 2006 after he was found guilty of supplying the firearms which led to the murder of his friend Desmond Hawkins and the wounding of Bobby Hoyle and Daniel Irvin at the star's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home in April 2005.