That's right, DJ Nick Cannon. The actor is known for making people laugh, but behind the turntables he's no joke. DJing has been a talent and passion Cannon had kept on the low until the last few years. Last night, he played records by New Edition, Madonna, Kris Kross and of course the whole Bad Boy Family (circa 1994-97).

Much of the cast, including the film's star, Jamal Woolard (Biggie), and Naturi Naughton (Lil' Kim) were on hand at the Vibe-hosted party. Big's real-life partner in crime, Lil' Cease, also came out, as did sexy model Melyssa Ford and Vibe editor in chief Danyel Smith.

The "Notorious" DVD comes out April 21, in both the original format and the uncut version.

Surrounded by the likes of Puffy, Mrs. Wallace, Biggie's managers Marc Pitts and Wayne Barrow, Mary J., Lil' Cease, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Nas, Jadakiss, Faith Evans, a host of family and friends of the late rapper, virtually all of the cast from the film and just about anyone who matters in the hip-hop industry — it's hard to believe I even managed to score a seat in the theater! Besides being privileged enough to enjoy the premiere of the film in such company, I also got a chance to hear and see the reactions of the crowd during the movie and as we flooded out of the theater.

Like the scene in "Notorious" when Puffy is telling Big about the deal he made with Clive Davis — for $42 million — someone in the audience snickered out loud, "That's it!?" It got a good laugh. Seeing people's faces as the murder scene and funeral unfolded was pretty amazing too. You could feel the tension — and believe me, we had tears (yours truly got pretty caught up in the moment!).

Leaving the theater, I saw Diddy congratulating and hugging everyone from Mark Pitts to Lil' Cease. He took tons of pictures with fans and even Julia Pace Mitchell who plays Jan in the film, was excited to meet him and take a picture. You could hear everyone saying how good the film was, rappers and crews shaking hands and hugging it out. Industry execs and interns gave glances of congrats ... the love and feeling of accomplishment was there for fans, and for people who knew Big personally.

Back in 1995, after he had dropped one of the top 10 greatest hip-hop LPs ever (Ready to Die), after he was considered the best rapper in the game, after all the money, a string of commercially successful hits, he just wanted to be "hard."

Big had his eyes on the prize, but still, he wasn't trying pander to any audience or water himself down. He was trying to do him! That's something I see less and less nowadays from MCs. It feels like a lot of guys want to jump on whatever bandwagon has the hottest pipes at the moment.

Take it from Frank White: The only way to be bigger is to ride your own course.

There's a spine-tingling moment in "Notorious" when Biggie and Puff Daddy are surrounded by an auditorium full of angry Tupac fans during a performance at an Atlanta college. At the height of what had become a bicoastal rap war led by the two kings of hip-hop, B.I.G. and Tupac, Biggie Smalls had had enough of the heckling and decided to react.

"Who shot ya?" Big rapped. "Separate the weak from the ob-so-lete/ Hard to creep from Brooklyn streets/ It's on, n---a, f--- all that bickering and beef."

"Who Shot Ya" would become one of the greatest hip-hop records to date — and one of the most misunderstood. The song's interpretation played a role in the demise of the MCs' relationship.

With countless attacks sent B.I.'s way, "Who Shot Ya" was immediately digested as a dis record. The song brainwashed listeners into believing that Big was poking fun at 'Pac over the infamous Quad Studios shooting that left the West Coast rapper with three bullet holes — holes that 'Pac held Biggie, Puffy and others responsible for.

But was "Who Shot Ya" a response to the Quad shooting? Lil' Cease says no. Mr. Cee says no. Hell, even Diddy shot down those claims. Only the late, great B.I.G. could clear matters up, but we all know that's not possible.

Which leaves us with a bit of hard-core evidence. Upon our research for the "Notorious" movie and piling over our Big catalog, we stumbled across a freestyle rap from the late great Frank White who spit a few bars you may have heard before.

Check out the video, and judge for yourself.

Booyahs from Manhattan! Not to big-up myself, Citizens of Cramerica, but yesterday was a really great day to be me. After writing a brief blog on our dear leader's fixation with "Notorious," I received an on-air shout-out from Jim Cramer himself on last night's "Mad Money"!

Naturally, this was done while he plugged his book (now in paperback!), "Real Money," but he was quick to point out that "according to Cramer fave Rya Backer of MTV News," "Notorious" was coming to theaters "tomorrow." Unfortunately, that's not actually the case: I was referring to the film's premiere — not its nationwide release, which is on January 16. Fortunately, he pronounced my name correctly, which is a feat very few have accomplished.

In any case, this was probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me all year. If I may overreach like the kind critics who have already dubbed Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion as the best album of the year, my Cramer shout-out is likely to be the highlight of my 2009. Unless, that is, bigger things are to occur within the coming days.

See, I think it'd be sort of fun to see "Notorious" with the man whose visage graces the screen on my cell phone — and apparently, enough of my co-workers agree to have helped make this video invite.

So, Jim, what do you say? Maybe after the flick, you can explain to me exactly what a "commodity" is!

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we're kind of in tough economic times.

Unfortunately, that's about as far as my knowledge of money extends (no, Dad, I'm not proud of that), but you can't say I'm not proactive. See, in an effort to learn why we're all going to be working until we're 80, I've made a habit of watching/ nursing an obsession with Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" on CNBC. OK, so maybe I don't watch it for the stock tips as much I just enjoy watching the host — what with his sound-effects board, those squishy bulls that line his desk and whose heads he bites off, and his "boo-yahs." And, ideally, if I watch enough of the show, I'll gain worlds of financial literacy strictly through osmosis.

Anyway! Last night, I violently rolled up the sleeves on my button-down shirt and prepared to hear my favorite television personality (who isn't Tim Kash, Kim Stolz, Jim Cantiello or Sway) wax recession-y ... but something a little different happened.

I guess we here in the MTV Newsroom aren't the only people gearing up for the release of "Notorious," or maybe Mr. Cramer knew I was watching (a gal can dream!), but out of nowhere, he started plugging the flick, dancing to the Biggie classic, "Juicy," promising to help us "make juicy investments" and rounded it out with a plug for his book now in paperback. This all leaves me wondering: Will Cramer be at the film's premiere tomorrow? And what's prompted his obsession with the Notorious B.I.G.?

Unfortunately, the video of Cramer swaying to the beat has been removed, but fast-forward to the five-minute mark to take in the magic.

Signing off from Cramerica!

Like most Notorious B.I.G. fans who are eagerly anticipating the biopic set for release January 16, I was concerned about how true-to-life "Notorious" would be.

Luckily, some folks who were close to the legendary artist signed on as consultants for the film to ensure accuracy, including rapper Lil' Cease, who gave details about his contributions to the film during our set visit back in May.

This afternoon, Lil' Cease and friends DJ Mazi O and Rich Nice dropped by the newsroom to visit Sway. Being a big fan of Cease's style on Lil' Kim's debut album, Hard Core, I couldn't help but take the opportunity to snap a photo.

After our impromptu photo shoot, Cease shared some info with us about his latest project, "Hard Body Fitness," a series of unconventional fitness videos directed by Mazi O that are available on YouTube and a DVD soon to be released on HardBodyMusicGroup.com.

The rapper describes the videos as " 'hood official," featuring techniques similar to calisthenics with a street perspective. Lil' Cease and surprise guests demonstrate routines that can be done anywhere — from the gym to right on your block.

When asked what makes these videos different from other workout series, director Mazi O grinned, "You just have to check out the trailer."

A quick search on YouTube revealed a clip dated November 4 that features Cease with Cardan and Havoc from Mobb Deep. In the video, Lil' Cease is in a gym pumping some serious iron. It all seems like your average workout session until 1:31 into the clip, when Cease straps two huge car rims to his waist and does some pull-ups. Ouch! But it looked effective. Check it out for yourself.

The "Hard Body" videos are just the beginning for the franchise. They plan to release several series that will target all fitness levels and age groups.

Lil' Cease is keeping busy with "Hard Body Fitness," so he doesn't currently have any tour plans, although he did let us know that he has a solo project coming out soon that will feature Cancun, Cardan (of Harlem World) and J Bonkers, all part of his Hard Body Entertainment roster.

Oh, and ladies, they are also now accepting applications for women to be in the next DVD: "Hard Body Women."

What do you think about trailer? Which artists would you like to see in a fitness video online? Let us know in the comments!