Fans are hyped over the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys duet performance (sans Lil’ Mama) on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Listening to these two heavy hitters on the “Empire State of Mind” track recalls to mind all the other collaborations in music. Songs with one superstar are good, but songs with two or more superstars are even better.

Watch the music videos for some of the hottest track collaborations over the years:

Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West – “Run This Town”

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”

Jay-Z and Mary J Blige – “Can’t Knock the Hustle”

T.I., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and M.I.A. – “Swagga Like Us”

T.I. and Justin Timberlake – “Dead and Gone”

Ciara and Justin Timberlake – “Love, Sex and Magic”

Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, Murphy Lee and Snoop Dogg – “Welcome To Atlanta (remix)”

Diddy, Faith and 112 – “I’ll Be Missing You”

Busta Rhymes, DMX, Mary J Blige, Missy, Rah Digga, Papoose and Lloyd Banks – “Touch It (remix)”

Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson – “What’s It Gonna Be”

Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson – “Scream”

R. Kelly and “Mr. Biggs” (The Isley Brothers) saga -

• “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)”

• “Contagious”

• Kelly Price’s “Friend of Mine (remix)”

Drake and Trey Songz – “Successful”

Left Eye, Lil’ Kim, Missy, Angie Martinez and Da Brat – “Ladies Night”

Brandy and Monica – “The Boy is Mine”

No summer’s complete without two things; a hot Jay-Z single and a banger from Sean Paul. So far we’ve gotten three Jay-Z songs and whether or not they’re hot is debatable, but for Sean Paul his latest release Imperial Blaze (Atlantic) shows that even out of the commercial spotlight he can still bring that dancehall fire. On sale starting today, August 18, 2009, the album features ”So Fine”, “Press It Up” and “Now That I’ve Got Your Love.”

But before you go out and illegally download buy Sean Paul’s new album, check out GIANT’s video playlist of some of his hottest songs.

“I’m Still In Love With You”

“Like Glue”

“Watch Them Roll”

“Gimme The Light”

“Deport Them”

“Top Shotter” feat. DMX and Mr. Vegas

There’s been no shortage of clothing lines by rappers over the years, but when you consider the ones that have actually survived the times, well, that’s a completely different story. The likes of Rocawear, Sean John, and (somehow) Phat Farm have been going on for a decade strong, mainly because of the lasting legacies of the personalities behind the brands.

Thus, it was the lines by rappers-of-the-moment trying to cash in that came and went, but even some big names couldn’t make their clothing work when they themselves always looked as if they couldn’t dress themselves. Here’s GIANT’s look back on all the lines that have faded into oblivion.

After years of being dogged by arrests for drug possession, rapper DMX is finally looking to sober up. Only he’ll be doing it on national television as he will be joining the cast of VH1′s hit reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, according to Allhiphop.com. 

At 38-years-old, the rapper who took the hip-hop world by storm in the late 1990s, has had his share of ups and downs from selling millions of records to racking up a massive rap sheet including charges related to reckless driving and possession of marijuana and cocaine.

Past participants of the reality show include former pro-wrestler Chyna, Rodney King, and adult film star Marey Carey.

Out with the old and in with the new. It’s time to celebrate, pop champagne and ring in the New Year. Here is to a great ’08 and a fine ’09. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Now let’s get it cracking…and rock it out.

1. “Auld Lang Syne” by Aretha Franklin and Billy Preston

2. “Pop Champagne” by Ron Browz featuring Jim Jones

3. “New Years Day” by U2

4. “Party Up” by DMX

5. “Jam On It” by Newcleus

6. “The Beat Goes On” by Madonna featuring Pharrell Williams

7. “Hypnotize” by Biggie Smalls

8. “Rock Wit You” by Michael Jackson

9. “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder

Having already detailed the headshaking moments to come with this list, we thought we’d take a look back at past hip-hop artists whose acting has sullied what could have been otherwise solid flicks.

10. Busta Rhymes in Shaft

I can see why Sam Jackson hates working with rappers in movies. Busta screamed in his ear in damn near every scene. Bless you, Sam. You also worked with 50 in Home Of The Brave.

9. 50 Cent in Home of the Brave

Fiddy + Iraq war drama + human emotion – Tony Yayo = confusion. That’s all.

8. Snoop Dogg in Starsky & Hutch

Granted, everyone in this movie version of a popular ’70s TV show was bad, but Huggie Bear was the role that Snoop was born to play. He does it every waking moment of his life. How could he not do it on camera?

7. Method Man in The Wackness

How are you the ONLY rapper-turned-actor in a movie about an era in which you were a star and still manage to fuck it up? Come on, Meth!

The Jamaican accent? You were on The Wire, for God’s sake.

(Not that I ever watched that show.)

6. Fat Joe in Empire

I love Joey Crack as an emcee. He’s so menacing that I hesitated to include him on this list. That said, anyone who makes John Leguizamo look like a young Bobby DeNiro in comparison is a terrible actor.

5. Dr. Dre in Training Day

Mind you, this is the film that earned Denzel Washington an Oscar for Best Actor. Dr. Dre’s performance in Training Day wasn’t especially bad. It was that he was just playing himself instead of a crooked cop. So rather than seeing Andre Young on screen echoing the sentiments renegade cops like the ones seen in Serpico, Infernal Affairs, or L.A. Confidential, he simply came off as the guy who slapped Dee Barnes.

4. LL Cool J in S.W.A.T.

LL in In The House was dope. It was like Charles in Charge, but with LL Cool J. LL Cool J as an member of a tactical police unit? That’s like trying to convince us that “Headsprung” was going to the next big slang word.

3. The RZA in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

No wait, The RZA’s seven second cameo in Jim Jarmuch’s tripped out film about an urban samurai was actually one of the best parts.

Speaking of the The RZA, he also held his own in the Clive Owen/Jennifer Aniston flick Derailed, unlike fellow rapper ternt actor, Xzibit.

Mr. X to the Z was the most non-threatening villain to grace the screen simply for that fact that he pulled that annoying Jimmy Fallon thing where he looks at the camera like when he was pimpin’ rides for MTV.

2. Ja Rule in The Fast and the Furious

Raise your hand if you remember Ja Rule. Ok, all six of you can put your hands down.

If you take The Fast and Furious for what it was, an endorsement for Honda then it’s actually not a bad movie. Unless of course, you take Rule’s cameo as an illegal street racer into account. Ja Rule fronting like he was a legit racer was almost has bad as him posing like he was a legit R&B singer rapper.

1. DMX in every movie that DMX has ever appeared in.

Aside from being unintentionally hilarious, do you know what Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds Cradle 2 the Grave, and Never Die Alone all have in common?

That’s right, DMX’s “Oscar worthy” performances.

Much like Dr. Dre in Training Day, Earl Simmons’s range as an actor only goes as far as his range as his rapper alter-ego. So while his character may have had the potential to show some depth, they always ending up looking like he’s waiting for the opportunity to bark at the camera times or rail on Nas.

But if you’re worried that X’s recent legal problems will take him away from the screen, rest easy as he’s got a few more projects in the works, including the release of the straight to video flick Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent.

Yeah, that’ll be good.

Check back soon for GIANT’s list of rappers that actually made movies worth watching.

Four years ago, Eve dropped the mic in favor of a successful acting and fashion career. Now the pitbull in a skirt” is back with a more mature pop sound. She’s ready to blow your mind again…

“I’m such a fucking girl,” Eve says with a laugh as she slips on her earrings and slides a gang of gold bangles onto her left wrist. It’s just after 11 o’clock on a frigid Thursday night in February, and one of hip-hop’s best female MCs is stationed in Studio B at Los Angeles’ Chalice Studios. She’s about ready to add her signature ad-libs to “Give It To Me,” a duet with Sean Paul from her forthcoming album, Here I Am, but damned if she didn’t leave the music in the car. Sure, she could make a quick dash out to the parking lot to grab it, but no…she has to put her jewelry on first.

It’s a far cry from the blond slick-talking tomboy who released her debut single, “What Ya Want,” in 1999. As the only female in DMX’s Ruff Ryders camp, Eve Jihan Jeffers was “one of the guys,” but not anymore. Now, she’s a triple threat: film, TV and fashion star—all power woman for sure.

Inside the secluded studio, Eve sits at the mixing board dressed casually in black jeans, a fitted three-button gray sweater and tall black boots. With a blue pen in hand and a hyperactive BlackBerry by her side, she’s scribbling her verse for Natasha Bedingfield’s upcoming single, “What If’s.” Eleven white seven-day candles burn, as does some incense, and Eve takes a quick bite of Mexican food while the track blasts from the speakers. She salves the slight tickle in her throat with a cup of tea then heads to the booth to lay down her 16 bars. Aside from a few frustration-fueled, profanity-laden outtakes­ (“I’m sorry—I curse a lot”), she effortlessly gets through the verse. I guess there are some hints of the old Eve still in her.

“OK, punch that,” she instructs the engineer.

It’s been five years since the Philly native really worked on music. In 2002 her third album, Eve-Olution, debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and tapped out at 630,000 units. Since then, she’s pumped the brakes on a clothing line (Fetish), acted in five movies (XXX, The Cookout, The Woodsman and both installments of the Barbershop series, in which she played the loud-mouthed, hot-headed Terri Jones) and starred in and co-produced a self-titled UPN sitcom about a beautiful but romantically challenged South Beach fashion designer. And she’s done some growing up. “I like 28,” she beams, referring to her age. “I’ve learned that I’d rather put all my cards on the table than worry about coming off as rude. It’s just about being honest and realizing that all I have is this moment, right now.”