50 Cent has certainly kept busy on his way to landing in spot number nine on the MTV Hottest MCs list. He put out two mixtapes, unleashed a couple of videos and even took the time to take a few shots at Fat Joe. But the main event for 50 is the release of Before I Self Destruct, his long-awaited and oft-delayed fourth album. It has had a number of release dates (it was even teased to come out the same day as Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3), and the most recent date — November 17 — just seemed like another guess.

Until today, because now Before I Self Destruct has an album cover, which 50 unveiled via his Twitter feed this afternoon.

As you can see, 50 has taken the "self-destruct" imagery very literally, as the cover shows him literally about to burst into flames. The imagery is consistent with 50's insistence that this album will be a departure for him and will set up the next series batch of records for him. It's as though he's doing away with his old persona in order to allow for a career rebirth. (Or perhaps Curtis is just a big fan of Spike's death scene on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"?)

So it looks like the hotly-anticipated Before I Self Destruct will actually hit stores on November 17. Album details are still unclear, though you can bet that it'll feature top-shelf production and intense guest spots from 50's many friends in the extended G-Unit family.

Three months ago, former Dipset affiliate Max B (real name Charles Wingate) was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery (among other charges) stemming from a 2006 incident in northern New Jersey. Today, the Harlem rapper was sentenced to 75 years in prison.

A jury found Max B guilty of nine of the 11 total counts he faced during his trial, all of which stemmed from an incident wherein the rapper and two other men attempted to steal $30,000 from another pair of men at a Holiday Inn, leading to one of those two getting shot. Max fired his attorney Gerald Saluti shortly before the sentencing and plans on appealing the sentence.

The rapper was first introduced to the rap world as a member of Jim Jones' Dipset offshoot crew Byrd Gang a few years ago and is known best for delivering a scathing verse on a Jay-Z dis track called "You Gotta Love It," which was anchored by Cam'ron. He was just building a healthy mixtape portfolio when he was arrested in 2006. He has still managed to release music, most notably the Coke Wave mixtape (a collaboration with French Montana) and a proper full-length album that has seen its release delayed by a falling out with Jones and his ongoing legal troubles. In fact, G-Unit's Tony Yayo talked to MTV News correspondent Shaheem Reed back in December and said that he was considering trying to acquire Max B's contract. However, B's musical future is clearly in doubt, though incarceration hasn't stopped other rappers — like Shyne and C-Murder — from putting out albums.

By Selina Kaye

On Tuesday, I hung out with MTV News' Mixtape Daily crew on their trip to G-Unit headquarters in New York City to check in on Tony Yayo. The rapper was promoting his latest mixtape: A project called Gangsta's Paradise that is hosted by DJ Drama, one of the hottest DJs in the game.

Though he always projects a steely cool alongside fellow crew members 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks, Yayo was energetic during the Mixtape Daily shoot. He shook my hand like a real gentleman and asked me about working for MTV while wearing a killer pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses (which easily must have cost him $700) with a matching Vuitton headband.

Yayo talked about his mixtape as well as his upcoming projects for G-Unit and how he feels about former crew members Young Buck and the Game. And of course he weighed in on MTV's "Hottest MCs" countdown, which will be unveiled next month.

The biggest challenge of the shoot? The weather. We got all the equipment set up on the building's balcony (which gave us an amazing view of the city) only to bring everything back in once it started raining. Once it finally cleared up, Yayo and Drama unveiled a few Gangsta's Paradise tracks before Yayo headed downstairs to give an interview sitting in his cream-colored Cadillac Escalade. Pretty soon a crowd formed around the car, and I heard a girl on her phone saying "Oh my god, that's Tony Yayo!" He signed a few autographs for his fans before heading back into the building. Like his always glad-handing G-Unit cohort 50 Cent, Yayo remains a man of the people despite his stardom.

(By Joseph Patel)

We've already established a few things with G-Unit's recent trip to Africa. First, 50 Cent is huge down there. Not just, "Oh hey, it's 50 Cent" huge, but huge in the way that thousands of people sacrificed their regular weekly expenditures on, say, water or food, so that they could go to a concert.

Second, 50 Cent might just be bored with all his fame and wealth, enough that he was genuinely interested in learning about South Africa's struggle with Apartheid. He met with Nelson Mandela, Mandela's grandson and toured two Apartheid museums in Soweto and Johannesburg, taking it all in.

And third, I'm a lucky bastard for getting the assignment.

Now while 50's G-Unit mates Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks are, by proxy, pretty famous down there themselves, they didn't really pick up the social-consciousness vibe that 50 was feeling. Case in point, on the day we went with Curtis to the Apartheid Museum and to Nelson Mandela's house, Yayo and Banks were sleeping in.

On the third day of our trip, we followed 50 to a platinum mine in Steelpoort, South Africa, a 45-minute plane ride north of Johannesburg. 50 joked about wanting to see "where his platinum plaques" came from, but he was really there to see the working conditions of a mine he said he may or may not be investing in. OK, he won't win a spot on our "Hottest Humanitarians in the Game" roundtable — but it's something. Where were Yayo and Banks that day? They decided to take a trip to a lion park in Johannesburg with the rest of the concert production crew.

It's a tough call for a producer when you only have one camera and one cameraman (hey Nick!). Follow 50 deep into the earth or go on safari with Yayo and Banks. What'd we do? The only thing you could do: Follow 50, but give Yayo one of those hand-held Flip-Cams. Hilarity ensued!

Yayo had the camera for the entire week we were in South Africa, and while we certainly can't show you ALL the footage, there's certainly more than enough to keep you laughing. This man needs his own TV show! Enjoy ...

Yayo Meets The Hotel Guests

Arriving At The Lion Park

Yayo Wants To Play With The Lions

My good friend Miss Info wasn't exaggerating (not that she ever does) when she said a horrible revelation would be hitting her blog, www.missinfo.tv, on Tuesday: She said there would be another round in the G-Unit/ Young Buck fallout saga. She later posted audio of a phone conversation between Buck and 50 that was pitiful: Buck seemingly sobbed on the phone to 50, apologizing for any uncalled-for comments or actions he may have committed and basically pleaded to be back in the family. 50 coddled him as Buck went on about serious financial difficulties with the IRS. 50 told him everything was going to be all right, he just had to "stay close."

But things are far from OK. Buck has been estranged from the camp for months, and 50 has made some strong comments and allegations against him. But this audio signals the official end of an era. Now, this is nothing as drastic as Ice Cube leaving N.W.A, but over the past five or six years, we've become accustomed to Buck bringing that Southern brashness to 50's crew's records. Buck's presence added regional diversity.
Read more...

(by Nick Neofiditis)

As most of you have begun to see by now, we have started to roll out our coverage of G-Unit's recent trip to Africa. We went everywhere from a platinum mine to the Apartheid Museum, from the notorious former prison Robben Island to 50 Cent/G-Unit shows in South Africa and Tanzania — as well, of course, as the meeting of a lifetime with none other than Nelson Mandela himself. That's a story that my colleagues Joseph and Phoenix hate to remember, but here is a little reminder for you folks.

Now, as you go through and enjoy the wild coverage the crew and I were so lucky to experience, remember that not everything is always as it seems. With a little TV magic, we bring you the dopest footage from all the places we went and the amazing performances we saw ... but we've also got this great peek behind the scenes during what turned out to be one of the few hiccups in our week-long trip. As DJ Whoo Kid so bluntly explained it, "Help! There is an overload of gangstas in one elevator!" Enjoy!

· Bonnaroo fans love glow sticks, flashing lights, fat beats and banging jams. What they don't love, Kanye, is waiting until 4:25 a.m. for a headlining set.

· Young Buck finally dissed his old crew, as 50 Cent predicted he would months ago. During a concert in Tampa, Florida, the ousted MC yelled, "F--- G-Unit!"

· The mug-shot hall of shame got a new resident on Saturday when a dejected-looking Shante Broadus, 32, better known as Snoop Dogg's wife, was arrested early in the morning on suspicion of drunk driving.

· Coldplay have been vying to be the biggest band in the world for several years now, and they've just passed one of the crucial milestones: Unknown Brooklyn group Creaky Boards have accused the British rockers of ripping off one of their songs for the Viva la Vida title track. The tune's title? "The Songs I Didn't Write."

· The boss of the Federal Communications Commission has given his thumbs-up to the long-brewing deal between former satellite-radio rivals XM and Sirius. A final vote could be just three weeks away.

· Microsoft's Zune MP3 player hasn't exactly set the world on fire among the hipster set. But we don't, ahem, see a Club iPod mentioned in the L.A. weekend entertainment listings.

· Kid Rock had to duck out of England's Download Festival over the weekend when he was sent to the hospital by a bout of dehydration and stomach cramps. He may have caught the nasty bug the night before, which he reportedly spent at London's Whisky Mist nightclub.

MTV has just greenlit an “Apprentice”-style reality competition in which 16 contestants try to prove their business savvy to none other than the G-Unit general himself, 50 Cent. Because, you know, Fiddy feels really strongly that America needs another “street-smart” business mogul.

Eight episodes have been ordered, with Fiddy on board not only as the latest incarnation of Donal Trump but also as one of the executive producers.

Question: If Trump has his unique hair-piece, what will Fiddy’s signature look be? The bulletproof vest seems sort of last year. Thoughts?

This in from MTV News producer Joseph Patel, who’s currently on assignment in Africa with 50 Cent. That’s right: Africa. The rest of us are either at our NY desks, in LA traffic, or otherwise chained to the Tri-State area. (We hate you, Joseph.) Here's his report on just one of the incredible moments MTV News has captured in South Africa this week:

It's a crazy thing, my job.

Yesterday, super-production manager Phoenix Higgins, super-camera guy Nick Neofitidis, and I flew 18 hours from NYC to Johannesburg, for an assignment documenting 50 Cent and G-Unit's tour of South Africa and Tanzania.

This isn't JUST a tour. 50 is here to see and learn about the region and continent in a way that perhaps he didn't appreciate the last time he was here, in 2004. This morning, for example, we rushed to Hector Pieterson Memorial museum in Soweto to meet up with 50 and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, who was giving 50 a lesson on Apartheid and its effect on South Africa. Mandela's grandson is the spitting image of a young Nelson, and has a lot of his grandfather's austere diplomacy -- except he's young enough to know who 50 and Jay-Z are. After the tour, guided by Mandela's grandson, 50 gave out 20 dollar bills to the local kids before his car got mobbed and his manager made him speed away.

The picture above is a shot of the younger Mandela and 50, mobbed by some local Soweto kids outside the old Mandela family home. Everyone here knows who 50 Cent is, and is in a state of suspended disbelief that he is in their country.

We were on our way to the Apartheid Museum, at the entrance, in fact, when we were told by 50's tour manger that we had to turn around and head straight for Madiba's house.

(Find out who Madiba really is, after the jump...) Read more...

Super-shooter Akshay Bhansali reports from the set of G-Unit's "Like the Way She Do It," the first video for their upcoming album, T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight):

While most of you enjoyed your sleepy Sunday, Tim "TKO" Kash and I trucked out to Brooklyn to join 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo on set. While the back-and-forth between G-Unit and exiled member Young Buck is the latest hip-hop playground spat to make news -- Buck released a dis track over the weekend, in case you thought 50 was wrong -- his absence at the shoot hung in the air amid wafting clouds of...other stuff.

Check back with MTVNews.com for more on G-Unit's T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight), and the ongoing feud with Buck. And see lots more pics from the video shoot right here.