NEW YORK — He's spun at parties for Will Smith, and back in the day he carried crates for Biz Markie, and last night, DJ Nick Cannon showed off his skills at the Pink Elephant for the big shots who were out to celebrate the DVD release of "Notorious."

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.

By Rya Backer

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!

By Jayson Rodriguez

It took nearly 12 years after the tragic shooting death of the Notorious B.I.G. to bring the larger-than-life rapper's story to the big screen. But now, as the release date of "Notorious" is creeping up upon us, the lobbying for which rapper's life should next be lionized in film has begun. Derek Luke — who portrays Sean "Puffy" Combs in "Notorious" — naturally says it should be Diddy. And it shouldn't be any surprise that Anthony Mackie, who plays Tupac in the same film, thinks the Thug Life icon should get a movie of his own.

Well, we here at MTV News have our own suggestions.

Since Luke and Mackie have already had their say, we're gonna skip those picks, for obvious reasons. And apologies to Hammer ("Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story"), Eminem ("8 Mile"), 50 Cent ("Get Rich or Die Tryin'") and even Russell Simmons ("Krush Groove"), but you guys can't be on the list since you've already told your stories. But we also wanna hear from you on this topic, so, after the jump, join the conversation and weigh in.

Jay-Z: Like Biggie, Jay's story is a story about Brooklyn — Marcy Projects, to be exact. So it's about the streets — and by extension, the people — that paved the way for Jay to become the man he is today. And let's not forget his VH1 "Driven" special was filled with as many twists and turns as the curves on Meagan Good's body. Sounds like a no-brainer to us, and even more so after Hov scrapped his "Black Book" memoirs a few years back. Suggestion: Cast Idris Elba to play Jay.

Eazy-E: He was a mogul before anyone in hip-hop really even knew what it meant to be one, from launching N.W.A into hip-hop superstardom to signing Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to fathering enough kids to take up a full row of seats in the L.A. Coliseum. How chilling would it be to see a scene of estranged friends Eazy and Dr. Dre's last conversation before the pint-size gangster rapper passed away from an AIDS-related illness? Suggestion: Use Jerry Heller's book "Ruthless" as the starting point for the screenplay.

(See the rest of our list and share yours, after the jump!)
Read more...

By Daniela Capistrano

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.

It was all a dream ... come true.

The trailer for the Christopher "Biggie" Wallace biopic "Notorious" premiered on Yahoo! today. If MTV News hadn't done a set visit several months back, if Derrick "D-Dot" Angeletti and Diddy hadn't given me a personal co-sign of the film, and if the movie weren't being spearheaded in part by Big's managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, I might have been very nervous about pressing the play button today.

Big is my favorite rapper ever, and his life story shouldn't get the Hollywood treatment. By that, I mean it shouldn't have some sham of a story that focuses strictly on the glitz and glamour of the Notorious B.I.G.'s hip-hop life without depth. Let me rephrase that: essential depth. Read more...