Recently, Jay-Z announced that he would be curating the lineup at Budweiser’s Made in America Festival this year, and now his extremely eclectic lineup has been announced. Among the headliners are Pearl Jam, D’Angelo and Skrillex – along with Jay-Z himself, of course.

The Philadelphia festival will be held on September 1 and 2 this year at the city’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The event will be one of Pearl Jam’s only American concert dates this year.

Other notable artists include Odd Future, Passion Pit, Santigold, Miike Snow, Afrojack, Calvin Harris, Dirty Projectors, X, Janelle Monae, Rita Ora and Prince Royce.

The first slew of artists announced to the lineup is being called “Phase One,” so we can likely assume that more artists will be announced before the Labor Day Weekend Festival.

At a press conference announcing the event, Jay-Z said he has a few questions he asks himself when he gets involved with a project like this.

“Whenever I enter into a project, I try to hit on some touch points. The first thing is: Is it great?” he said at the press conference, which was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The second one is: Is it gonna push the culture forward.”

Some artists also wanted to make their own announcements about their appearances at the festival.

“We are pleased to announce that Pearl Jam is headlining Made in America Festival curated by Jay-Z,” read a post on Pearl Jam’s website. “Made in America takes place Labor Day Weekend (Saturday, September 1^st – Sunday, September 2^nd) at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park.”

Prince Royce took to Twitter to announce his excitement.

“Proud to announce that I’ll be performing at #MADEINAMERICA Fest Sept 1-2 Thanks to Jay-Z for having me & for curating this great festival!” he tweeted.

With the beginning of the music portion of this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) festival less than a week away, acts are still being named to the lineup. And one of the biggest was announced today.

Jay-Z will be performing at the festival for the second year in a row. Also announced was the fact that the rapper and hip-hop mogul will team up with American Express for the “Amex Sync Show,” which will air live the concert on YouTube on March 12 at 7 p.m. Additionally, the show will be rebroadcast on-demand at YouTube March 13-19, which covers the duration of the official dates for the music portion of SXSW.

As part of the sponsorship, American Express cardmembers will be able to tweet song requests during the live stream, and they can also unlock a digital concert poster. Further, cardmembers can use special hashtags for exclusive offers to stores including Best Buy, Zappos and McDonald’s.

Jay-Z appeared at last year’s festival as a surprise guest during Kanye West’s showcase for the G.O.O.D. Music label. That showcase also featured John Legend, Big Sean, Pusha T, Kid Cudi and Mos Def.

Later last year, Jay-Z and West released their first full album collaboration, Watch the Throne. That album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums charts, and has sold over 1.3 million copies in the U.S. since its release in August 2011. The duo toured the U.S. at the end of last year, and is set to take the music to Europe beginning in May.

In December of last year, Jay-Z told MTV News that fans of both artists may have a lot to expect from the two rap icons this year.

“We – I say ‘we’ because I’m in Throne mode – we’re in a great place creatively, “ he told the network. “You might see a Jay, then Kanye and a Throne album next year… We really found our Zone.”

After an extensive tour for their collaborative album Watch the Throne kept them on the road for the majority of the end of last year, Kanye West and Jay-Z have announced that now they’ll be taking the show to Europe.

The European leg of the Watch the Throne Tour will begin on May 20 at the O2 Arena in London. In all, the duo currently is scheduled to play 12 shows on the tour, which will wrap up in Birmingham, UK on June 13. The group also will play Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Belgium, German and Ireland. There will be two shows in Paris.

If the U.S. shows are any precedent, European fans can expect the two hip-hop giants to play songs off of Watch the Throne, as well as selections from each of their individual catalogs.

Watch the Thone was released on August 8 of last year and has gone on to be certified platinum in the U.S., selling over 1.3 million copies. Jay-Z hinted to MTV News in December of last year that fans may also expect a new collaboration between the two this year, as well as solo albums from each.

“We – I say ‘we’ because I’m in Throne mode – we’re in a great place creatively,” he told the network. “You might see a Jay, then Kanye and a Thone album next year… We really found our zone.

If that news becomes true, it will mean that Jay-Z will have a particularly busy year. In addition to the new albums and the tour, he and wife Beyonce just had their first child a little over a month ago. And already, the child is following in the footsteps of her famous parents.

Billboard reports that since “Glory,” the single Jay-Z released two days after the birth of his daughter, features a recording of her crying and is credited as “featuring B.I.C,” standing for Blue Ivy Carter, the child is the youngest person ever to be featured on a Billboard chart. The song debuted at number 74 on the Hot 100 singles chart.

Though he did not graduate from high school himself, Shawn Carter, more popularly known as Jay-Z, still places great value on the importance of education. In 2003, he established the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation as a way to send students from economically challenged backgrounds to college. Now, Jay-Z will perform two nights at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall venue to raise money for the foundation.

The shows will take place on February 6 and 7 next year, and tickets will range from $500 to $2,500. Proceeds also will benefit United Way of New York. At a press conference announcing the shows, Jay-Z said, “Education is super important. I don’t have a high school diploma or a college diploma… I had to have some form of schooling to articulate my thoughts.”

The event is also notable because it will be the first time a solo hip-hop act has performed at Carnegie Hall.

The website for the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation notes that the organization has given awards totaling over $1.1 million to more than 750 students since its inception, and not only for tuition. The website notes, “Oftentimes students’ educational progress is derailed by financial burdens unrelated to tuition. That is why Shawn Carter Scholarships can be used to defray the costs of books and lab fees, food, travel and other self-care expenses.

Jay-Z currently is on tour with Kanye West, supporting Watch the Throne, the collaborative record the two hip-hop superstars released earlier this year. The last shows for the tour will be held December 17 and 18 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. Watch the Throne was released on August 8 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The record has since gone on to sell over one million copies in the United States.

Since first announcing a tour to support their album Watch the Throne back in July, Kanye West and Jay-Z seem to have continually been modifying the itinerary. It would make sense, considering the tour consists of not one but two of top names in hip hop (or any genre, for that matter). Yesterday, the two rappers were at it again, adding more shows to the already extensive tour.

Two shows at Madison Square Garden were announced, which will take place November 7 and 8. A new Chicago concert will be held at the United Center on November 30, and a second show was announced at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 13. The tour kicks off on October 29 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta and runs through a Vancouver date on December 18.

In additional Kanye andJay-Z news, today it was announced that the pair is being sued for a sample they used on Watch the Throne. Syl Johnson, a successful soul and blues musician in the 1960s and 70s, claims the song “The Joy” on Throne illegally samples his song “Different Strokes.” “The Joy” also features (and credits) R&B and soul legend Curtis Mayfield. “Different Strokes” was one of Johnson’s first and most enduring hits, released in 1967 on Chicago’s Twinight Records.

Johnson claims the sample was a knowing and willful misappropriation because West contacted him about using the sample for his solo album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but he never received clearances. A veteran of copyright infringement cases, Johnson has brought court cases against musicians such as Michael Jackson, Jefferson Airplane and Cypress Hill. He’s successfully forced payments for samples from both Wu-Tang Clan and Kid Rock. In addition to the two performers, the lawsuit also names their record labels, Universal Music Group and Def Jam Records.

The MTV Video Music Awards every year are noted for having outrageous moments.

The show in Los Angeles this year is making headlines as usual thanks to Beyonce making a major announcement.

Ben Tracy, a national correspondent for CBS News, reported there was no host for the show. However, a guy character that was vaguely familiar opened the show, then throughout the night kept returning.

The guy was actually Lady Gaga, who was there with a cigarette that was ever-present and slicked back hair.

Among the other performances that were attention getting were those from Chris Brown, taking his dance moves up into new heights, and Adele, the British singer.

However, the show was stolen by Beyonce, with her news that her andJay-Z, her husband, are expecting the couple’s first child.

Britney Spears, the pop star mom, accepted two awards. However, she turned the chance down for a kiss with GaGa, similar to the infamous one her and Madonna had. Britney said, I’ve already done that.

Nicki Minaj appeared as if she had raided the closet of Lady Gaga’s. Although she won two awards, Katy Perry was most noticed, perhaps, for her yellow cube hat. Her two awards included video of the year, the biggest award of the night.

The show turned serious when a poignant tribute was offered by Tony Bennett for Amy Winehouse.

Bennett remarked, Amy was truly a jazz artist, just like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. She truly did have the gift.

Bennett offered a moving video that was a duet of him and Winehouse recorded only weeks before she died.

Kanye West and Jay-Z, after altering their tour so that they could add more cities onto the itinerary of their outing “Watch The Throne” have announced these new dates. Now their trek of North America will kick off in Atlanta on October 29. New shows that were just added include visits to New Orleans, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Fort Lauderdale. Fans purchasing tickets for the tour online will be receiving the album “Watch The Throne” in digital format. It will be available starting August 8 exclusively on iTunes. On August 12 it will become available at additional digital and physical retailers.

Jay-Z, in the meantime, has been squelching rumors that West and he have disagreed over the amount of money that should be spent on the stage production. Earlier this week there was a report in The New York Post that the two rappers were hardly speaking with one another due to the dispute. Reportedly West was pushing to have a next-level production and flashy concert, while Jay-Z’s focus was more on keeping their costs low so they could pay the long-term advance back to Live Nation, the tour promoter. On Monday Jay-Z made an appearance on Hot 97 in New York to squelch the rumors.

Jay-Z told host Angie Martinez on Hot 97, I kind of would like spending a gazillion dollars. The story is backwards. However, it’s all good. Right now we are doing something I know. When I saw all of that I thought, right now we must be very hot.

Just when you thought the hype over “Watch the Throne,” the joint LP from Jay-Z and Kanye West couldn’t get more over blown, now we are learning that the pair have established a group with plans to support their joint release with a huge tour of North America. They will perform under the name “The Throne.” These two world-renowned emcees will be launching their one month outing on September 22 in Detroit and will be visiting cities across Canada and the U.S. through early November.

Starting Thursday July 28, pre-sale tickets will be going on sale through Live Nation. On August 8, the public on-sale will follow. There are a total of 24 confirmed dates.

Jay-Z and Kanye, in addition to announcing the tour, have confirmed as well that on August 8 “Watch the Throne” is being exclusively released through iTunes. On August 12, the set will become available via additional digital and physical retailers.

The release date for the collaborative LP from Jay-Z and Kanye West “Watch the Throne” will be reportedly be three days from now.

Earlier this month, thesource.com, a hip hop news site, reported the highly anticipated album would be released on July 4.

It is more than one month later from the date first tweeted on January 23 by Kanye West. However, the initial digital release may be imminent. CyHi The Prynce, a G.O.O.D. Music client of West’s and rapper said on Rap Fix Live, the MTV program, that the album was ready to go.

All the music right now is done. But you know this guy. We’re here with Kanye. He will add a last little minute pizazz. It will ready soon for you guys.

He could put the album out tomorrow if that’s what he wanted to do. That is what you want him to do.

Jay-Z and West have worked together in the past on singles. However, “Watch The Throne” represents the first full-length set that the two have worked on together. The project was planned originally as an EP. In 2010, Jay-Z and West recorded five tracks in New York and France. However, the material that was left over sparked an announcement from West last October on MTV where he stated their effort was going to be released in full-length format.

Rihanna switches management gears just in time for the unveiling of her fifth LP “Loud”. She told The Associated Press today that she is now formally under Jay-Z’s wings when she signed under the rapper’s management firm Roc Nation.

The 22-year old Barbados native tells AP that she is “excited” about the move especially now that she is also planning to consolidate all her future business endeavors such as film, music, fashion and beauty and even book deals into one firm which will be named as Rihanna Entertainment.

Music biz insiders agree that the move to work hand in hand withJay-Z as she tries to expand her reach in the industry is definitely a smart move. Jay-Z, whose name is practically a business empire, was on the cover of last month’s issue of Forbes magazine and for good reason. The man is not only a top selling rapper but an entertainment mogul as well who dabbled into music producing, talent scouting and management to name a few. And who better to guide Rihanna in her future business dealings than the man who discovered her, signed her shortly after auditioning and took her under his wings and helped her become a chart topper just like him.

Rihanna will now join the likes of rapper Wale, DJ Mark Ronson and singer Melanie Fiona in her new home in Roc Nation.

“Loud”, from which Riri’s new single “Only Girl in the World” is taken, is due in stores next month.