We're only a few weeks away from the release of Before I Self Destruct, the new album from rapper/actor/Vitamin Water enthusiast 50 Cent. The first single, the Ne-Yo assisted "Baby By Me," is already picking up traction on radio and iTunes, and the recently-premiered video is a delightful fantasy. It stars 50 as a hustler trying to convince a woman (played by Kelly Rowland) how blissful it would be if only she would bear his children (hence the chorus "Have a baby by me, baby/ Be a millionaire"). The alternate reality features 50 and Rowland living in a palatial suburban estate (complete with sprinkler on the lawn and a grill out front for cookouts) where 50 has some sort of job that requires him to wear a cardigan and carry a briefcase (perhaps he's an obstetrician, a la Cliff Huxtable). They have three sons (just like Fred MacMurray!), each of whom wears an adorable sweater vest. But the real fantasy shows up about half way through the clip where 50 and Kelly lie in bed.

Apparently, Kelly Rowland wears a full-body stocking made of black lace to bed at night, and that's wear the fantasy goes completely off the deep end, as there's no possible way a woman who has pumped out three kids can still maintain that sort of figure. (Though considering she became a millionaire by having said babies, it's probably that she could have paid for a personal trainer, a chef and a little bit of plastic surgery.)

But by the end, it's back to reality for both of them: Rowland's husband shows up with her kid and 50 jumps back into his Maybach to find another suitable partner.

"I'm listening to the track, and all I can see is Rihanna and some random person sitting across from each other at the table with a gun sitting in the middle of the table and playing Russian roulette. And I just started thinking, 'What would go through your mind if you was in that situation?' It just all started coming together, and Rihanna has never been one to be afraid to take a chance, especially with me. She's always game to do something a little different. I played it for her, and she loved it — went in and knocked it out. The rest is history."

-Singer, songwriter and producer Ne-Yo, explaining what was going on in his head while he was constructing Rihanna's new single "Russian Roulette," which premiered yesterday. He co-wrote and co-produced the song, which is the first single from Rihanna's upcoming album Rated R. "She wanted to be dark, but not just dark for the sake of being dark," Ne-Yo told MTV News. "Dark with kind of a meaning, dark with some kind of thing to it." He added that the dark, mature song is the result of their working relationship, which is based on a complete trust of one another. "I trust Rihanna to be Rihanna, and she trusts me to be me," he said. "That's the coolest thing about our relationship. I don't expect anything more from her. I must say this song is a step in somewhat of a different direction for both of us. We kind of both took a chance."

By Steven Roberts

It's always nice when celebrities give back. Yes, it sounds cliché, but it's true. Last night, Ne-Yo hosted a fundraiser for his Compound Foundation at the Stephen Weiss Studio in New York City. The foundation was founded by Ne-Yo and his manager and business partner, Tango Hay, to increase awareness about the status of children in the child welfare system in America.

"Basically, our main goal is the betterment of child welfare. Be it foster care, be it group homes, you name it, we're there to lend a hand and just improve the system a little," Ne-Yo said.

He said that a lot of people that work for him, as well as many of those in his entourage, were raised in the system. They told him about the shortcomings, and even took him to visit a few group homes. Clearly, it affected Ne-Yo very deeply. "In a lot of cases a group home becomes preparation for another controlled environment in the future if you know what I mean. We want to change that," Ne-Yo said. "We want to make sure these kids are being helped as opposed to just being housed."

He said his foundation, which was started in 2007, was still very much a work in progress. They've been on the ground working their way up, but they've been lending a hand to foundations that are more developed. He said it's refreshing to work with like-minded charities.

"It's just the kudos that we get from other foundations. We work really closely with Ronald McDonald House charities. We do a lot of things with them, and it's just refreshing that our vision for what it should be, and their vision for what it should be are the same."

The MTV Video Music Awards are just a few short days away, and though there is all sorts of buzz surrounding the performances, the parties and the New York-centric stunts that will be happening all this week into Sunday's broadcast, it's important to remember that the reason the biggest stars in music will gather in Radio City Music Hall is to see who wins the coveted Moonman in each of the 15 categories. We'll be taking a look at each of the top categories this week, starting today with the Best Male Video award. The nominees are Eminem's "We Made You," Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," T.I.'s "Live Your Life," Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" and Kanye West's "Love Lockdown."

Best Male Video has been around since the first Video Music Awards in 1984, where David Bowie's "China Girl" beat out Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, Herbie Hancock and Michael Jackson for the prize. Past winners of the award include legends like Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Will Smith and Beck, as well as recent noisemakers Chris Brown and Justin Timberlake.

Two of the men nominated for the award this year have already won it, as Eminem took home the Moonman for Best Male Video at 2000's event for "The Real Slim Shady" and again in 2002 for "Without Me," while Kanye West took home the Best Male Video prize in 2005 for "Jesus Walks." Jay-Z's "99 Problems" snagged a nomination for Best Male Video in 2004 but lost out to Usher (though he still grabbed four awards — including Best Rap Video — that same year). This is the fourth consecutive Best Male nomination for T.I. (who has never won a Moonman in any category) and the second year in a row that Ne-Yo has been nominated for an award (he lost out to Pussycat Dolls in the Best Dancing in a Video category).

Of the five videos, Jay-Z's is the newest and the one with the most buzz. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" is on The Blueprint 3, which hits the streets today. The next newest comes from Eminem, whose album dropped earlier this year and whose first single "We Made You" announced the return of Slim Shady to the top of the music world. The other three clips all come from 2008 albums (Kanye West's performance of "Love Lockdown" even closed last year's show). So it seems like it will be a showdown between Eminem and Jigga, though the person who has the best chance of scoring a Moonman in this category is director Anthony Mandler, who helmed both "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" and T.I.'s "Live Your Life."

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are less than 20 days away, and anticipation continues to build. More performers will be announced later this week, fleshing out the lineup already overflowing with stars like Jay-Z, Green Day, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Pink and Muse. In honor of the Video Music Awards' return to New York City (after dalliances with Los Angeles and Las Vegas), MTV recruited Swift, Cobra Starship, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry and host Russell Brand to participate in a variation on the classic song "Tonight," from the iconic Broadway musical "West Side Story." In the clip, which is in its full-length form below, the performers each hang out in iconic New York locations (an alley, a subway station, a rooftop garden, the back of a cab) and sing customized verses that drop in portions of their own tunes.

The whole show goes down on Sunday, September 13, at New York City's legendary Radio City Music Hall. For the second straight year, Russell Brand will assume hosting duties for the show, which features Beyoncé and Lady Gaga tied for nine Moonman nominations each. Will Pink and Katy Perry kiss? They might! But you won't know unless you tune in.

By Gigi Abrantes

Since he first dropped his debut album in 1996, Jay-Z became an instant classic on the hip-hop scene. Now that he is about to drop his 11th album The Blueprint 3, MTV News takes a look back at the history of one of the greatest artists in rap history with The J to Z of Jay-Z.

Last week, Jay-Z joined forces with former protégés Kanye West and Rihanna for his new music video "Run This Town." It's a testament to Jigga's reach, as it featured two stars whose careers he helped nurture — something he has done time and again over his career.

21-year-old Barbados native Rihanna first brought her Caribbean flavor to the United States in 2003. She spent over a year shuttling between New York City and her home, shopping her demo, writing songs and making connections. She finally caught the ear of then-CEO of Def Jam Jay-Z, who signed her on the spot. Ne-Yo, the 29-year-old songwriter with lyrics that tug at everyone's heartstrings, has been writing hit ballads since he was a teenager, and before he was a performer, he penned hits for Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans and Musiq Soulchild. But despite being the name attached to R&B's hits like Mario's "Let Me Love You" and Marques Houston's "That Girl," Ne-Yo failed to receive the attention and fame as a solo artist himself. It wasn't until 2006 when Ne-Yo sparked Jay-Z's interest and was also signed to Def Jam.

Kanye West, the 32-year-old rapper/producer got his first taste of popularity as the architect behind much of Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint. Read more...

Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with staff members. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

Has anybody had a better recovery than 2009 Video Music Award nominee Britney Spears? It seems like it wasn't too long ago when she was shaving her head, running around with Kevin Federline, getting into traffic accidents and generally looking like a disaster. But with a big comeback album, a massively successful world tour and a general sense of calm, it seems like Britney is back and better than ever. Not a bad turnaround really. While on a break from the "Circus" tour (she resumes next week in Canada before coming to Madison Square Garden for a huge three-night stand), she took some time out to go shopping at Vionnet, an arty clothing and jewelry boutique in Los Angeles.

(Click here for more Spotted! photos of Britney Spears, Ne-Yo, Chris "Captain Kirk" Pine and more!)

Yesterday was a busy day not just for Britney but also for Ne-Yo (another VMA nominee), who unveiled the new fall ad campaign for Alfani in New York. Meanwhile, the cast of "Gossip Girl" got back to the business of that show, Fergie ducked into an L.A. recording studio and former "American Idol" winner David Cook signed autographs in Hollywood. Be sure to check out those photos plus the entire "Spotted!" archive at the link above. Or hey! Here it is one more time.

Does anyone really need to hear yet another "American Idol" contestant sing "Turn the Beat Around"? Tonight's disco theme is another reminder that "Idol" has begun to scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to theme nights.

Last year's theme weeks included the first trip through the Lennon/McCartney songbook, another "Year They Were Born" night, as well as the rehash of inspirational songs, a Neil Diamond night and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame themes. In years past, we've had nights devoted to the British Invasion, American classics, Bon Jovi, Queen, love songs and Elvis Presley. All fine themes, but at this point, the show is running on fumes when it comes to mixing things up.

I understand that there are always issues with getting songs cleared for the program, but how about a few unsolicited suggestions for spicing things up?
Read more...

Check out what Ne-Yo had to say about what went down between Rihanna and Chris Brown. Ne-Yo has worked with both musicians and said he's holding back from any judgment.

Did Beyoncé lip-synch at the Oscars? While host Hugh Jackman's breathing and laughter could be heard at times, B's vocals appeared to be mimed.

In the four years between Blink-182's hiatus and reunion, these guys didn't exactly sit on their hands. Take a look at what Mark, Tom and Travis have been up to since 2005. Read more...

By Steven Roberts

There was a lot of hype surrounding the nominees for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Coldplay are, well, Coldplay. Let's face it: We all wanted to know the name of the song in the iTunes commercial.

While no one believed that the Recording Academy would really give Lil Wayne or Radiohead the award, there was always that question in the back of our minds, like, "Wouldn't that be crazy?" And while everyone knew Robert Plant and Alison Krauss would win, we still thought, "Wouldn't it be so cool if Wayne or Thom Yorke mumbled through their acceptance speech?"

For all the hype surrounding those albums, there was one odd man out. Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman was also nominated. It didn't garner nearly as much attention — neither did Raising Sand, but I digress — and nobody really thought it had a chance. Chivalry is dead after all.

That didn't seem to bother Ne-Yo, however. He told us in December that he was excited he had six chances to win a Grammy. "One nomination would have been enough for me," he said. "How do you do anything but smile at that?"

He also wasn't too keen on the idea of Year of the Gentleman being seen as "soft." Sway caught up with Ne-Yo on the Grammy red carpet, and he asked him whether or not he was fearful of how the record would be perceived: