Cee-lo & Danger Mouse have announced completion of their collaborative effort, Gnarls Barkley. Through a statement last week Cee-lo said, "We are the perfect combination. This album is one of the best platforms for me to express all of me. I get to expand my range and hit all categories, from urban, crossover, pop, and rock n' roll. Danger Mouse's production is so futuristic and my lyrics are used as a vehicle to bring it home."

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Look for the next Public Enemy comeback album, Rebirth of a Nation, produced by Paris and will appropriately feature Paris, Dead Prez, Kam, and Immortal Techinique, Ren (yeah, NWA Ren), and Conscious Daughters.

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After making major headway into the mainstream with his production on Jay-Z's Black Album while maintaining his underground integrety, look for a plethora of 9th Wonder collabo's this year. 9th is producing entire projects from Jean Grae (Jeanius) and Buckshot (Chemistry). He will also produce tracks for Mary J. Blige, Ruben Studdard, Ness, Memphis Bleek, Obie Trice, and Mos Def, as well as the Little Brother sophomore project, The Minstral Show due fall 2005.

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Just when you thought the G-Unit and D-Block battle had fizzled, Tony Yayo has just released "f#@$ D-Block." While the Queens rapper repeatedly shouts "f#@$ D-Block" in the song's intro, the actual cut mysteriously doesn't feature any references targeting the Yonkers collective. Instead, Yayo takes another shot at Fat Joe and throws a sucker punch at The Inc. Over the dancehall-flavored instrumental, the self-proclaimed "Talk of New York" boasts, "Homie I'm gangsta/ Fat Joe the boy is a wanksta/ I'll come to the Bronx and I'll spank ya." He later ends his verse with, "G-Unit the click we ride for the cause/ We getting money brethren you better get yours/ We'll kill yo ass, homeboy you better think/ We the ones that took the murder out The Inc."
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Though 50 Cent's The Massacre opens up with a cut entitled "In My Hood," the Queens rapper recently admitted that he never returns to his old stomping grounds. Yet, according to him, he's not scared of neighborhood thugs, but of what he might do to them. "It secures the fact that no one gets hurt. See, if I go back to the 'hood and they mistake me for being different now and do something out of pocket, I may not respond right there myself," 50 explained. "But when I send them a gift... a ni99a laid out in the street over there, I would feel like I gave them the opportunity. I'm preventing them from hurting themselves by not being available for them to make that mistake. As long as I keep myself away from situations that I know will aggravate me to the point that I could possibly do something that ain't healthy for me, I'm happy. The only thing I'm afraid of is me."

50's Queens history has long been documented, especially his past as a drug dealer. In a recent interview with Breaking News, 50, who began hustling at a very young age, shared that some of his family members were also loyal costumers. "Cocaine was like weed. I used to get a quarter gram. So whenever my aunts and them would have a party or friends over, I'd offer to go get it for them. Since I had it already, I just walked around the block a few times," 50 detailed.