So he knew all along. While anyone with even half a brain could see that something must have been worked out beforehand, it seemed unlikely that Eminem, of all people, would consent to having another man's backside that close to his face. Apart from anything else, what if he'd just been for a number two? That 8 Mile stuff obviously wasn't a fluke: Em really seemed badly vex, so he can obviously act. With that extra long paper, i was expecting to hear of some misfortune befalling Bruno's creator, Sacha Baron Cohen, in the not-too-distant future. No slouch himself, Cohen obviously has extra-long movie money, but let's face it, he grew up in an upper-middle-class family in North London rather than the wrong side of Detroit, one of the most dangerous cities in North America. Yet it ain't where you're from, it's where you're at - and Em rolls with D12, Dre and 50; SBC rolls with Isla Fisher - you do the math. Of course there's goons behind the scenes, but I bet Em's goons go harder. He's also gonna go platinum next week so he could probably care less. On reflection, finding out it was planned is not that much of a surprise. I can remember seeing Em live twice in the days when My Name Is was fresh - when that line about a fat girl falling on her ass was still the most controversial lyric he'd come out with. 

This Jay-Z Blueprint 3 stuff keeps getting more and more complicated. Now Atlantic are gonna handle the promotion. Where does that leave all of the other interested parties? Jay certainly knows how to build anticipation. But as long as hip hop heads get the music, and it's good, who cares which fat cat makes the money? On a similar level, does it really matter who Drake signs to? It matters to Drake, 'cos he wants his career to be handled in the best possible way, But it's not as if he's signing to a movement. This ain't Pac joining Death Row or, to bring it a bit more up to date, Killer Mike joining Grand Hustle. If he was officially joining Young Money, fair enough - but he seems to want to be his own man. Smart move. Big shouts to all my cousins in Toronto! It's only right. Lastly on the label tip, big congrats to Freeway. Freeway is one of the best emcees to come out in the new millennium. He has a distinctive voice, his ever-changing flows are ridiculous, and he deals with the harsh realities of trifeness without gloryifying it. He also loves hip hop. Who heard him on U Nomsayin' from The Beatnuts' Milk Me? Crazy. I strongly believe that if the second single from his debut Philadelphia Freeway, Alright, had received better promotion he would have reached the status he's about to hit with his new Cash Money album. Big up Baby, and don't sleep on that Free at Last joint either.

It's good to see that Elektra Records is back in effect, if only for sentimental reasons. If you have even a half decent hip hop record collection their logo will be very familiar to you. A quick look through the crates reveals classic albums by Brand Nubian, KMD, Ol' Dirty, Lords of the Underground, Leaders of the New School and Pete Rock & CL Smooth. There's a lot more. Let's just hope that new joint from Cee-Lo doesn't mean that the Goodie Mob reunion is postponed or cancelled. We want new classic albums! You can never have enough.

Even with all the high level, buzzworthy jidoints about to drop in '09 the album that seems set to be the most bumpworthy is Ghostface's forthcoming R&B-based LP. He's been threatening this ever since his debut solo. I can remember how surprised I was on Ironman to find those little skits changing up the lyrics to soul classics like Michael Jackson's The Lady in My Life. A few years later his versions of No, No, No and then Holla were real groundbreaking moments. Only someone with a strong voice like Ghost could rhyme over a singer and still make you pay attention to his lyrics rather than those on the classic old school soul or reggae song. His version of Computer Love made the cipher complete. Also, I Can't Go to Sleep proves no other emcee in the game can do emotion like Ghostdeini. Let's hope the label promotes it properly.

If you missed last week's news, catch up HERE.