Diddy x Aqua Hydrate. Even though Diddy is the face of Ciroc Vodka, apparently there is no “beverage endorsement” clause in his contract preventing him from endorsing other beverage companies. More likely, he just can’t promote other alcohol brands…so bring on the endorsements and bring on the money as Diddy now pushes Aqua Hydrate water.

Here he is in Hollywood shamelessly promoting the sports water with Mark Wahlberg in a promotion with Jimmy Kimmel and The Toyota Grand Prix. Is there anything this guy won’t do for a dollar? Via: Rap-Up

Dame Dash x DD172. We like what Dame is doing now with his added emphasis on creativity and pushing things to the limit. His new attitude is personified in his creative space called DD172 in TriBeCa which incorporates an office with a music studio and art gallery. He gives the LIFE Files a tour of the space and talks about what’s up and coming for the music business.

I swear I hear some Auto-tune in there as well but it just might be Kobe’s robotic voice. The NBA drops one of their most creative TV ad campaigns in awhile as players get re-mixed. Check the rest of the ads after the jump…worth the watch. Via: KissMyBlackAds

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Nicki Minaj x Diddy. Rumors of this have been running around the internet blogs for the past couple days but Billboard apparently has the legit scoop that the deal is real. According to Billboard’s sources, Minaj originally approached Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter but Lady Gaga found out and killed the deal threatening to leave Carter if he also managed Nicki. When that happened, Carter stepped back and Diddy stepped in, asking one of his own managers, James Cruz, to co-manage Minaj with him instead.

So there you have it. Diddy continues to grow his business empire not only signing and developing artists but now managing them as well. While none of the record labels or parties involved have made a public announcement it looks like this is a done deal. Considering Diddy’s past experience managing and working with his Bad Boy slate it’s going to be a toss up which Diddy Nicki Minaj will get. Will he be the Diddy that built Bad Boy, found Biggie, Mase and 112? Or will he be the Diddy that quickly disposed of his Warner Brothers deal and left his artists hanging? One can only wonder though…what does Cassie think of all this?

Public Enemy x SellaBand. Public Enemy was the first major band to partner with the SellaBand website where fans would donate money so that upcoming bands would have the proper funds to record an album. The much publicized deal with Public Enemy called for a requested donation of $250,000 from PE fans around the globe. If the $250,000 was raised…well then PE fans would get a new album. Problem is, Public Enemy is such an established group that fans were reluctant to pay up and had a hard time believing that a group of this stature would need help raising money. As a result, only $67,000 of the $250,000 (26.8%) was raised and the album never happened. So what next for PE and SellaBand?

If you fail…try, try again….and that’s exactly what they are doing. PE and SellaBand are going at it all over again but this time the requested donation total is significantly lower at $75,000. The group officially stated:

“We have learned that the fan-funding model is still not fully developed and, as a result, a $250,000 fund-raising effort, while possible, will take too long to accomplish…As a result of our SellaBand experience and all that we have learned, we now believe that a $75,000 fund raising target will fulfil the needs for a new recording project and is much more appropriate for the strength of the existing SellaBand model and the current economic climate.”

As of today, the total is at $56.4K so it’s pretty likely that they will hit their $75K goal. If you want to contribute, go to Public Enemy’s official SellaBand site.

Jay-Z x 40/40 Club. This news already has hit the mainstream but for those who don’t surf sports websites, looks like Big Papi is in some big legal trouble with Hova. Jay-Z has officially sued the Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz for illegally operating a Forty/Forty club in the Dominican Republic and for running the domain name www.fortyforty.net all without Jay’s permission.

Hova’s legal team claims Ortiz is capitalizing on the fame and value of the club, by using the name according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court yesterday. Jay is a huge public supporter of the New York Yankees and friends with A-Rod so this could just be a ploy to put a Red Sox member out of commission. Considering Big Papi’s recent hitting woes though, they should have gone after Dustin Pedroia. Via: Reuters

Last year Rhapsody partnered up with Jay-Z to promote “The Blueprint 3” album, the results of which have helped sell over 2 million records.

It was through Rhapsody’s “Fans Get It” campaign which celebrates the culture and iconography of an artist career, that enabled the company to do high-profile promotions with top artists in genres from pop, hip hop to country. The campaign serves as a great vehicle to further connect music fans with the artists they love. Through previous partnerships with Green Day and Jay-Z, the company heavily promoted their album to 700,000 subscribers and with their joint venture with MTV Networks they were able to televise creative commercials for that artist.

Since Jay-Z had great success with Rhapsody’s partnership, should the company continue to help promote hip hop artist? This years anticipated albums are expected to be released by T.I, Lupe Fiasco, Juelz Santana, Jeezy, Kanye West, The Game, Drake, and Diddy-Dirty Money. Can future partnerships help record sales and help the company gain revenue?

will.i.am x The Boondocks. If this video is any indication of how season 3 of “The Boondocks” is going to be then we can’t wait.  will.i.am is featured in this somewhat tribute Obama. Season 3 begins May 2nd at 11:30pm on adult swim. Via: NahRight