By Daniela Capistrano, with additional reporting by
Rob Fields

KRS-One once said, "Rap is something you do. Hip-hop is something you live."

Since founding Boogie Down Productions in the mid-1980s and incorporating Jamaican melodies that continue to influence rhyming styles today, the artist has embodied hip-hop expression in all forms. Influencing artists from Rage Against the Machine to Sublime, KRS has supported the culture for more than 20 years, including founding the Stop the Violence Movement and lecturing at more than 500 colleges, universities and other venues.

Now, the Teacha is ready to share his 20-plus years of knowledge with "The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument."

Once a homeless teen who witnessed hip-hop's birth in the projects of the South Bronx, the young MC drew from this life-altering experience to form his philosophy of self-creation. The 818-page book will be the first in a series from the I Am Hip Hop imprint with PowerHouse Books, set for launch in September.

(Check out photos from KRS' performance at the I Am Hip Hop release party.)

In the introduction for "The First Instrument," KRS answers the question of why "it's important to know hip-hop." Encouraging readers to explore what they can do without technological assistance, the artist challenges: "How human do you remain in a society where we can't even live without technology? Hip-hop reminds us of our humanity." Read more...

By Daniela Capistrano

Rapper and former Fugees producer John Forté, who was recently released halfway through a 14-year sentence, debuted a new video today called "Life Has Just Begun" along with an exclusive recount of his first day out of prison.

In "Life Has Just Begun," a cinéma vérité-style video promoting the acoustic ballad, Forté is overheard calling his mother for the first time after being released and seen reuniting with friends and family.

Along with harrowing details of his living conditions in prison, the memoir on DailyBeast.com describes his transition into a world now full of "BlackBerry addiction and iPod accessorizing." Forté recalls using his new gadgets to call "a half-dozen people who fought tirelessly in my defense over the years."

The artist was convicted in 2001 of "possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute," and after many appeals, he had his sentence commuted by President George W. Bush on December 22.

On Monday, Amazon.com posted a listing on its site for a forthcoming Eminem album, claiming the set would be in stores on December 23. Later that day, a spokesperson for Em's label, Interscope, told us that "there's been no date scheduled" for Relapse yet.

And sure enough, on Tuesday Amazon removed the release-date information for the record, the title of which the site listed as "TBD." The site has a spotty record in terms of the reliability of such information: In recent years, they've listed several different release dates for Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, all of which were not November 23, 2008, which is now apparently the album's officially official release date.

In short, this all probably means that there won't be a copy of Relapse in your Christmas stocking this year. As soon as we find out an official release date, we'll let you know.