I interviewed a lot of celebrities yesterday at the Grammy radio forum and Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party rehearsals, but the highlight of my day had to be when Wayne Brady decided to freestyle rap.

He said he was a fan of the radio show I do, "The Wake Up Show," and that he listened to a lot of freestylers on our show and that he was gonna freestyle in his pre-Grammy show that he's hosting for CBS. And I said, "Well, give us a demonstration." Check it out!

While debate continues to rage about the validity of actor Joaquin Phoenix's rap career — is he keeping it real or simply fronting? (I am extremely white, BTW) — there's one dude out there who refuses to believe this is anything less than legit ... so much so that he's actively looking to work with Phoenix.

His name is Dan Suh, the former tour manager for Fall Out Boy who now earns a living as a jet-setting superstar DJ. Fans of FOB might recognize him as "Korean Tom Cruise," a handle Pete Wentz stuck him with a few years back. And he would like very much to be Joaquin Phoenix's DJ.
Read more...

Upon hearing that actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix now has a MySpace page featuring alleged "demos," I instantly had two (fairly obvious) questions:

1) Is this for real?

2) Are the songs any good?

So, first things first: I am about 85 percent sure that the page is a hoax — even though there are photos of a portly, heavily bearded man rapping in a booth on it. From the (very) little I've heard of Phoenix's "rapping," the voice on the songs just doesn't sound like him. It sounds like some crusty white backpacker kid from Florida (I should know, I grew up there). And upon further examination — lo and behold! — it appears that the songs are the work of a pair of DJs (Heart Collapse and LeStereo), one of whom is most definitely from the Sunshine State, both of whom are white and sort of hairy. Read more...

Not only does Chicago rapper Yung Berg have his debut album, Look What You Made Me, coming out Tuesday, but he's also teamed up with the Declare Yourself campaign in an effort to encourage young people to register to vote.

The campaign hopes to empower young people and show them that by registering to vote they can make a difference. "We can't complain about change if we don't get out there and vote," Yung Berg told MTV News. "I'm exercising my rights now so my voice can be heard in this presidential race."

Yung Berg also recently talked to MTV News about his album. "I'm an R&B dude at heart," Berg revealed. "And I like rap. I started with [DMX]. My craft has evolved. I try to be a jack-of-all-trades where I can sing R&B and write R&B as well as me doing my rap thing and producing as well. I'm multitasking."

And now he's multitasking for his country! You can learn more at the Declare Yourself Web site.