By Josh Rosenstrauch

After four months of training and plenty of trash talk, it finally went down. This morning, I competed against Wyclef Jean in the push-up competition he challenged me to during my internship at MTV this past summer. It took place at a free concert he put on at the Nokia Theater in Times Square.

When I first entered the venue, I was greeted by Wyclef's manager and a few of his band members. After explaining to them what it was I was doing backstage, one of them told me that an artist will never let someone upstage him on his own stage. I should have taken the hint.

I had been training for a head to head push-up competition with Wyclef. This meant we each do push-ups until one of us drops. If you ask me, I was pretty prepared.

When Wyclef arrived backstage, he shook my hand and said, "This is the guy who I am going against?" He looked me over and then quietly said, "You look like a killer." I think it was at this point that Wyclef may have begun to have second thoughts about the challenge he had issued.

The concert began and I waited on the side of the stage for my time to come out. I was getting very pumped up listening to him favorites of mine like "911" and "Sweetest Girl." After waiting for almost the entire show, Wyclef finally gave me my introduction. As I walked out onto the stage, I was surprised at the amount of people in the crowd who cheered for me. He explained how the challenge had come about, and then added in a twist. He told me to do a handstand against the speaker on stage and do my push-ups upside down. Since balance isn't really my strong point, I was only able to five before I fell back to the ground. Wyclef then ran over and doubled me up with 10.

Did I lose? Yes. Was it a great experience? Absolutely. Would I like a rematch with standard push-ups? Definitely.

After the show, I shook Wyclef's hand and thanked him for the opportunity. When I told him I would be writing something about this experience, he told me, "Make sure you tell everyone with MTV that the old man can still show everyone how it's done."

By Josh Rosenstrauch

I seem to keep finding myself in these interesting situations with the artists I meet. A few weeks ago, Tony Yayo suggested that I become a UFC fighter, and now Wyclef Jean has challenged me to a push-up contest.

I sat in on an interview with Wyclef at his studio in Manhattan today. I was very excited to meet him being a big fan of his music ever since he dropped "Gone Till November" back in 1997. Wyclef recently released a track that I love called "Warriorz," which is supposed to be featured on his upcoming mixtape Toussaint St. Jean. I planned on telling him how much I loved the track and was hoping maybe he would spill a little information about the tape. Needless to say, my plan was not carried out very well.

Once Wyclef walked in the room, he shook my hand and introduced himself. Before I could say anything, he stared me down and said "Do you work out?" It became clear to me at this moment we would likely not be discussing music.

He asked me if I thought I could do more push-ups than he could. Now, this was a tough question. If this were any regular guy, I likely would have responded with a quick "Yes," but this is a man whose music I have been listening since I was 9 years old. Noticing my hesitation, he told me to throw out the number that I thought I could do. I told him I could likely do about 100 consecutive. This didn't seem to faze him.

He began telling me that growing up in Haiti, he was forced to learn how to fight at a young age. He claimed to be able to do 200 consecutive push-ups. I told him I was a little skeptical of that. Wyclef then proposed the challenge. "I'm performing at the Nokia Theater in September. You have two months to train. I'm bringing you on stage and well see who can do more push-ups then."

Bring your cameras — it's going to be a showdown.

Wyclef Jean has never been shy to tell the world about his devotion to Barack Obama. He says he's been an "Obama groupie" from the very beginning. When MTV News caught up with the rapper, who was kicking off Obama's inauguration festivities at the Green Inaugural Ball Saturday night in Washington, D.C., he shared with us a little-known factoid about the president-elect: The admiration is mutual.

"Yes, I met Senator Obama, President Obama," said Wyclef, who did his share of stumping for Obama during the campaign, in performances, interviews and mixtapes. "I met him when he was a senator, at the Black Caucus." Read more...

Wyclef Jean announced on Thursday that he's joining the bill for Jay-Z's "Last Chance for Change" free voter-registration concert in Miami's Bayfront Park Amphitheater this Sunday. The show, hosted by Obama for America, will encourage young attendees to get involved with the Obama campaign. Jean will not be on the bill the previous night at Jay's free show in Detroit, which like the Miami show, is open to fans 18 and older.

And it looks like that other staple of Obama's playlist, Bruce Springsteen, is upping the ante in supporting the candidate. In addition to the Obama benefit with Billy Joel on October 16 in New York, Springsteen has also announced a series of free solo acoustic dates that will double as Obama rallies and voter-registration drives, Billboard.com reports. The Boss will play an open-air rally on Saturday in Philadelphia, followed by a Sunday show on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus.
He'll also perform next Monday at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. Anyone interested in attending the Philly show has to sign up on Obama's Web site. Tickets for the Eastern Michigan show will be available on campus on Friday, and Columbus residents can get tickets at the Obama campaign offices on the OSU campus.

By John Ochoa

Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabov, New York diamond and jewelry merchant known for supplying an all-star clientele of rappers with blindingly flashy bling, is suing Wyclef Jean, claiming the rapper owes him money for watches and jewelry he purchased between March 2002 and January 2006, according to The Associated Press.

Jacob and Company Inc. claims in papers filed Tuesday that the former Fugee bought $765,100 worth of goods and still owes close to $320,000, according to the report.

Last month, Arabov was sentenced to federal prison for two and a half years after lying to investigators about his role in a multistate drug ring.

· We kind of thought Taco Bell's name-change offer for 50 Cent was a joke, but apparently the rapper didn't think it was so funny. He's mad ... that his team didn't get a chance to review the offer before the taco chain went public, and he's now considering litigation. That's ... gangsta?

· In other 50 Cent litigation news, the rapper plans to file a defamation suit against his 11-year-old son's mother, Shaniqua Tompkins, for claiming that he was behind the mysterious fire that burned down the $4 million home she was living in.

· Panic at the Disco, Lupe Fiasco, Wyclef Jean, Death Cab for Cutie and Erykah Badu have joined the list of performers for this year's Voodoo Experience in New Orleans.

· After several years of minor activity and major drama, D'Angelo is finally at work on his first album since 2000. He's already collaborated with Raphael Saadiq and plans to hook up with John Mayer soon.

· OK, so Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme may have gone a bit off the rails last week when he verbally lashed a fan for pelting him with a shoe. But if this is his apology, whoa, we'd hate to see him in confession!

To celebrate June as Black Music Month, iTunes and Apple will host performances by black artists at Apple Stores around the country. Wyclef Jean, Talib Kweli, David Banner, Michelle Williams, and a slew of others will be getting in on the action.

Now if only they would offer up a few of those mysterious new iPhones for free too, we'd be totally hooked.

A list of performances thus far -- with dates and venues tentative, and more artists to be added -- after the jump. Read more...

· Coldplay are releasing "Violet Hill," the first single off their upcoming album, as a free download tomorrow. Oh, and they're cocky enough to play MSG for free, too. Take that, Jay-Z.

· Wyclef Jean's new album, Carnival Part II, features guest spots by Norah Jones, Paul Simon, and...someone special.

· Howard Dean said that either Obama or Clinton must drop out by June.

· Best animated video…ever.