Rap

When it came down to determining who'd appear on his latest rap album, Spurs forward Stephen Jackson remained adamant that Lakers forward Metta World Peace wouldn't have a guest spot. "I can't vouch for his music," Jackson said of World Peace during a recent appearance on Power 105.1. But the reasons went beyond Jackson apparently disliking World Peace's single, "Champion," his various mix tapes and his lyrically deficient 10-minute music video that is no longer viewable.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil - The MTV Music Awards in Brazil had until recently been the domain of tinny pop and smiling boy bands. But last year, one of the show's stars took the stage and unexpectedly delivered a set of rap bars through a deadly serious face: We are the debunkers of Carnaval/ Runaway slaves on digital drums/ The phoenixes of Ash Wednesday/ The Landless Workers Movement of the social networks Emicida, now...

Online sleuths have been busy over the last 15 hours uncovering what could be a new Lady Gaga track called "Cake Like Gaga. " If so, the queen of the Monster's Ball has released her first rap song. Yes, you read that correctly. Here's the backstory, which Spin reported on Wednesday evening. It seems that one of Gaga's producers, DJ White Shadow, took to his Twitter account on Wednesday to announce a competition to craft lyrics for a new instrumental hip-hop track he'd written in a hot subgenre style called Trap.

After what felt like months of rampant speculation, Fox has finally announced that the “American Idol” judges' panel will include pop-rap vixen Nicki Minaj and country statesman Keith Urban. The two are joining fellow newbie, pop diva Mariah Carey, and returning leader Randy Jackson. The big unveiling was done just under the wire for auditions in New York on Sunday for the show's 12 th season, which will premiere in January. With gossip sites already attempting to stir a supposedly brewing rivalry between Carey and Minaj, let's take a look at what the new panel can bring to the aging competition.

Nicki Minaj's strength has been her ability to pair her pop sensibilities with her raw, underground rap roots. On her new single, “The Boys,” the pop-rap minx has seamlessly married the two styles, perhaps in hopes of highlighting the rerelease of her sophomore disc, "Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up" (due in November).    “The Boys,” the reissue's first single, pairs the bawdy rapper with R&B songstress Cassie (known less for her music and more for her long-rumored romance with labelhead Diddy)

Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced Tuesday that his government has agreed to a road map to launch peace talks with the country's largest and oldest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Santos said the talks will begin in October in Norway, and continue outside of Colombia. The negotiations mark the first time since 2002 that the government and the FARC will sit down to discuss a possible end to the brutal, nearly 50-year-old civil conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.

The last time she was in court, Doris Thompson - then 80 years old - was pleading guilty to burglarizing a medical office in Torrance. Old age infirmities appeared to be catching up with her. When the judge asked her if Doris Thompson was her name, she answered, "I can't hear you. " The prosecutor moved closer, and Thompson moved closer. "Can you hear well now?" Judge Thomas Sokolov asked. "Yes, I can," Thompson answered, although the judge asked her four more times whether she could hear.

Say what you want about Jerry Jones -- he's a great team owner, he meddles too much in the Dallas Cowboys coaches' business, he spent way too much on that palace of a stadium, he built one heck of an amazing stadium ... whatever you want. Just don't say he's a good rapper. Please. I beg of you. Even if you're joking. We don't want to encourage more commercials like the Papa John's spot above. The advertisement is a follow-up to what was apparently a successful Papa John's bit featuring Jones, or at least his likeness, break dancing . But this hip-hop commercial is Jones all the way. After all, if they were going to fake it, you'd think they'd get someone with at least a little rhythm.

MUSIC If the world was ever really flooded Noah-bible-story-style, then you'd definitely want to seek shelter on the Funk Ark. The group straddles jazz, R&B, go-go, Afrobeat and pure booty-moving music that's earned praise from rap, Latin, jazz and experimental music circles. The Mint, 6010 W. Pico Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Sun. $8. themintla.com.

Twenty years into a prolific career, the man born Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones has changed the game again. On "Life is Good," his 10th album, the rapper known for his sharp wit and biting social commentary taps into one of his most honest and compelling subject matters yet: himself. More than a week before he would take the stage to close out hip-hop festival Rock the Bells on Sunday, Jones sat down with The Times to smoke Cubans -- one of his favorite pastimes -- at West Hollywood's House of Cigars and to talk about commercialism in hip-hop, what makes a classic and why “life is good.” You're preparing to hit the Rock the Bells stage.