The first record that really brought Kanye West to my attention was Beanie Sigel's "The Truth" — just an undeniable collection of good old-fashioned 'hood-street bop mixed with gangsta zoot-suit grace. I had no idea that the producer of the song would grow to be a superstar. Then, Kanye hit me with the whammy on Jay-Z's Dynasty album: "This Can't Be Life." Incredible. My favorite song off the album and one of the best album cuts you'll ever hear. The soulful loop was drenched with so much pain and hope — it was the perfect musical backdrop for Hov's, Beanie Sigel's and Scarface's tales of weariness. Then I started to research Kanye. "He's gonna be one of the best producers in the game," I thought. 'Ye confirmed my suspicions on Beanie's "Nothing Like It," from The Reason album.

Luckily, I was in place to tell the world about the guy whose beats just captivated me. His music sounded like the civil-rights movement mixed with backwoods juke-joints and Sunday-morning church services. (The kind of "sister Johnson just passed out praising the Lord, throw the white blanket over her and let her lie there sweet Jeee-sus" church services — you know, the good ones.) Even back then, Kanye could hit you with so many emotions in his tracks. Once I decided to profile him on MTV News, it didn't really take me any time to set up the interview — I was in great standing with the Roc-A-Fella family then.

So, during our first interview in 2001 — Kanye's first-ever interview, I believe — we talked about his producing and, surprisingly, he revealed to me that he would also be rapping. I was unsure until he played me some early recordings of "Jesus Walks" and "Hey Mama." The guy had so much aggressive passion about his music — and still does, to this day — how could he have not been a winner?
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· Mos Def is going to have to start learning the duck walk. He has signed on to play rock pioneer Chuck Berry in Cadillac Records, a movie about the influential blues and rock label, Chess Records, and the Chicago music scene in the 1950s. Gabrielle Union, Adrien Brody and Cedric The Entertainer co-star. Meanwhile, at a headlining gig last night in New York City, Mos previewed new, unreleased material and promised that his new album will be out this summer. We believe him.

· U2 already have more money than you and everyone you know, combined, ever will in your entire lifetime. And now, they will have even more. The band have formalized a deal with concert promoters Live Nation for merchandising, branding and digital rights (let's call this a 270-degree deal; U2 will continue to release albums on their label, Universal), reported at $100-million/12-years. Live Nation, who recently signed Madonna to a (reportedly) $120-million/10-year deal, has promoted U2's tours since the mid-1980s. Said Bono, "We've been dating for over 20 years now, it's about time we tied the knot."

· Beanie Sigel is back behind bars. The rapper, who spent a year in jail after a 2004 drug and weapons conviction, was in court on Friday where a judge sentenced him to three months in prison for allegedly giving a fake urine sample to his probation officer on February 29, and testing positive five times earlier in March for controlled substances, including Xanax and the pain killer Percocet. Faking a urine sample, not The Solution.