Ever wonder how Pharrell turned from a mere 17 year old to music producing genius? Look no further as he is featured in MTV’s upcoming episode of “When I  Was 17.” Show airs Saturdays at 11am ET/PT as MTV continues to slowly get back to some actual music themed programming. Via: HERfection

Sighting #1 was just a couple of days ago in New York when his extreme V-neck was black. Now sighting #2 took place yesterday when Kanye randomly appeared at LeBron James’ big ESPN “The Decision” broadcast. But this time in a white extreme V-neck. Maybe it was Amber Rose helping Kanye with his fashion sense because lately this guy has been pretty EXXTREEEEME with his clothing choices.

Ciara tones it down for her new album cover Basic Instinct and goes the more classy/sophisticated angle.

Snoop Dogg gets in on the Cognac partnership business as W.J. Deutsch Sprits LLC has announced Snoop and Landy Cognac have formed an official marketing partnership.

“The partnership between Landy and Snoop Dogg creates the perfect platform to launch Landy’S affordable luxury product,” said Stephen Lewin, Senior Vice President, Spirits Division at WJD. “Snoop Dogg epitomizes confidence, innovation and is known to be the life of the party, making him the ideal choice to partner with Landy Cognac — a brand that mirrors these characteristics. Snoop leads the hip, fashionable and smooth lifestyle that Landy Cognac represents, and is sure to resonate with the strong urban following that Landy is rapidly growing.”

As part of the business deal Snoop will appear at Landy Cognac events and promotions, and of course…after-parties. Terms of the deal were not discussed but various sources state that deal does not include Snoop as an equity owner in the company like Diddy does with Ciroc.

Regardless, Landy is a legit Cognac brand and he should be able to do some great things with it in the young adult lifestyle marketing arena. Maybe him and T.I. (see partnership details with Remy Martin) can have a Cognac battle now.

Def Jam Rapstar is getting closer and closer to finishing up in time for their October 5th release date. Def Jam has just announced that a whole new roster of artists and producers will be featured in the game. Kotaku reports that Rapstar will include more than 40 songs and a number of producers with the producers providing instrumental beats for the game’s freestyle mode.

New additions include:

-A Tribe Called Quest’s Scenario
-Big Pun featuring Joe with Still Not A Player
-Jim Jones’ We Fly High
-LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out
-Ludacris’ Stand Up
-Onyx’s Slam
-RUN DMC’s Run’s House.

New producers confirmed are Cool & Dre’s Epidemic and DJ Khalil’s The Good Doctor. All in all, from a music choice these are great songs to rap/Karaoke to but the question is are these music rhythm based games over and done with already?

Now you can officially get your BMF on with these new Rick Ross “Blowin’ Money Fast” t-shirts. If Mr. Ross ever goes bankrupt I hope he wears one of these shirts to court. Get them at the official Blowin’ Money Fast website…no this is not a joke. Via: Cavi

Pharrell gets in front of the camera again to pose for the latest BBC/Ice Cream Look Book. Check the behind-the-scenes footage of the photo shoot as Pharrell shows us how it all goes down. Via: BBC Blog

The business lines between hip-hop artists and NBA players continues to blur together as Fat Joe states he was approached by the New York Knicks to help in recruiting then free agent Amare Stoudemire. Joey Crack tells MTV:

The Knicks organization called me and said, ‘Yo Joe, we’re trying to get Amar’e.’ By the way, he’s my favorite player, no hype! That’s who I wanted to come to New York. It’s been a long time since New York had a guy to dunk on people, pound his chest, go crazy. That’s my type of player. Hard body. So they was like, ‘Joe, we want you to call him up, start talking to him. Tell him to come to the city, tell him how beautiful the city is.’ ‘Mare, I’ve known him for years — since he came in the league as rookie.”

Looks like the plan worked as Amare recently signed a max contract with the Knicks for a five year $100 million deal. Now let’s see if Jay-Z has the same luck recruiting LeBron over to the Nets. Guess we will find out later this afternoon. Via: RR