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June will be a month of thrilling TV and awards shows on Paramount+. The month will open with the return of Taylor Sheridan’s prison drama “Mayor of Kingstown.” After Jeremy Renner’s near-fatal accident, the Oscar-nominated actor returns for Season 3 of the series on June 2. Throughout the month, entertainment fans will also be able to cheer on their favorites at the Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, June 7, and the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 16.

Also during the month of June, Paramount+ will be home to a handful of documentaries, highlighted by “Let the Canary Sing” and “How Music Got Free”. The streamer will also play host to exciting sports action, like the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament and games from the [Nwsl] and WNBA.

Paramount+ has two subscription tiers; the ad-supported Paramount+ Essential costs $5.99 per month and Paramount+ With Showtime runs $11.99 monthly. In addition to being ad-free, the latter tier...

Paramount+ has announced that the two-part docuseries How Music Got Free will premiere exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, June 11, and Wednesday, June 12, in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

Alexandria Stapleton directed the series, which premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

The docuseries was executive produced by Marshall “Eminem” Mathers, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Paul Rosenberg, and Steve Stoute and produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television/Telepictures in association with SpringHill, Interscope Films, and Shady Films.

How Music Got Free details the fascinating and often funny inside story of the technology-driven disruption that changed music during the late 1990s and early 2000s. File-sharing technology, combined with the insatiable demand for new music, created both the means and the motive for millions of young people to participate in outright theft—and be celebrated for it.

From New...

How Music Got Free is coming soon to Paramount+.

The two-part documentary, from exec producers Eminem and LeBron James, will debut June 11 in the U.S. and Canada on Paramount+ and the following day in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

The series, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year, “details the fascinating, and often funny, inside story of the technology-driven disruption that changed music during the late-’90s and early-2000s. File sharing technology, combined with the insatiable demand for new music, created both the means and the motive for millions of young people to participate in outright theft — and be celebrated for it.”

Alexandria Stapleton (Reggie) directs the doc, which is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, James’ SpringHill banner, Interscope Films and Shady Films.

How Music Got Free features interviews with the likes of Eminem, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Jimmy Iovine, Rocsi Diaz,...

The story everyone knows about the rise of the Mp3 and the end of the CD gold rush is a good one. It’s got Metallica and Dr. Dre, Sean Parker and the RIAA, Napster, Kazaa, Limewire, and the record industry’s flabbergasting decision to sue its own fans. But the real story, or arguably the most nuanced and fascinating one, lies elsewhere with a bunch of young computer wizzes scattered across the country and a handful of crafty, underpaid factory workers in Shelby, North Carolina.

This story anchors the new MTV Entertainment Studios documentary,...

“jeen-yuhs” codirectors Coodie and Chike were smart to break up their documentary on Kanye West into three parts, especially where they did: “Act I: Vision” covers the earliest days of a future legend, “Act II: Purpose” zeroes in on the pivotal moment that he became a megastar, and “Act III: Awakening” explores the repercussions of that explosive success.

The only problem is that, as the insiders who made the first two acts, Coodie and Chike got kicked outside for the third — a perhaps natural progression for the inner circle of an artist who, as an underdog, wanted every moment of his life documented but now, as a superstar, almost certainly does not. Particularly, that is, in the current climate, when the rest of the media hangs on his every public act or social-media missive.

As a result, “Awakening” feels more forlorn and distant than its predecessors, unsure of how to...

It is, finally, just about time to return to Chicago’s South Side, and a trailer for the long-missing Comedy Central-turned-hbo Max series promises a bit of singing, some foot modeling and… a phony thermostat?

Returning with Season 2 on Thursday, Nov. 11 — more than two years after its freshman run ended — South Side follows two friends, Simon and Kareme (played by Kareme Young and Sultan Salahuddin), who just graduated from community college and are ready to take over the world. But until they do, they’re stuck working at Rent-t-Own.

More from TVLineLove Life Season 2 Premiere Recap: William Jackson Harper's...

Netflix is launching its first-ever “Stranger Things” pop-up stores on Nov. 6.

The pop-up shops, located in New York City’s Times Square and The Americana at Brand in L.A., will immerse fans in the “Stranger Things” universe, offering exclusive merchandise for sale, as well as photo moments.

The merchandise includes an Elegorgon, which is a vinyl piece by Ecuadorian artist Chogrin that showcases what an Eggo waffle eating tween would look like if mashed up with a demogorgon; General Mills “Stranger Things” cereal that comes packed in original 1980s-style boxes but set in the world of the show; collectible Bandai action figures, including 16-inch demogorgons with interchangeable heads; customizable apparel stations and more.

Meanwhile, the photo moments include — for a limited time — getting up close to a hidden demogorgon in the Upside Down, popping into Hawkins Middle’s Snowball Dance, the Starcourt Mall, the Russian Lab and Joyce’s House.

In a competitive situation, Disney+ has landed a two-project package based on the inspirational story behind America’s Got Talent finalists the Detroit Youth Choir, from Blumhouse Television, Maniac Productions and Campfire. The streamer has picked up Choir, a six-episode unscripted docuseries about Dyc, marking the first original series order for Blumhouse at Disney+.

A companion scripted series also is in development by the same production team at Disney Branded Television for the streaming service. Writer/producer and showrunner Anthony Sparks is attached to create the scripted drama series and will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Both projects had been in the works at Blumhouse for several months.

The unscripted series, which has been filming in Detroit since last fall, chronicling the 2020/2021 season of the Dyc, is inspired by Artistic Director Anthony White’s story. As a teacher, mentor and father figure in the heart of Detroit,...

The Detroit Youth Choir captivated audiences on season 14 of America’s Got Talent – eventually coming runners-up on the 2019 show.

The group are now to be the subject of both scripted and non-scripted television series in development with Blumhouse Television, Code Black creator Michael Seitzman and The Innocent Man producer Campfire.

The choir includes kids from Detroit aged between 8 and 18 and is led by Artistic Director Anthony White and Music Director Donnell Mosley. After AGT, the group was gifted $1M from the City of Detroit and their performance of Glory, co-written by John Legend, Common and Rhymefest, became one of the anthems of a summer dominated by a call for social change.

The projects are understood to have originated with Seitzman, creator, showrunner and exec producer of Code Black and showrunner and exec producer of Quantico. He was watching the show with his son and wondered whether the choir could feature in...

It’s the same tragic story. Another unarmed Black man is killed by the police. Another White man takes an arsenal into a school, campus, or place of worship before opening fire on unarmed innocents. The media takes these headlines, packages them together with thoughts and prayers, and uses the ratings to continue peddling their editorializing as news until another such event inevitably occurs yet again. And what do we have to show for it all? Besides a growing anger at the political injustices and vile rhetoric of those with power causing some push back for the media to ultimately dismiss, the answer is complacency. In a world turned flat by the internet, tragedies become commonplace enough to forget. Death becomes the norm and life the surprise.

Emilio Estevez taps into that anger with his latest ensemble drama The Public. He’s taken the structure of Bobby with overlapping narratives...

What’s better than when an under the radar title absolutely blows you away? Unexpected cinematic joys are really the best kind to me. In the case of The Public, I’d been interested in it, due to enjoying actor and filmmaker Emilio Estevez’s last two outings, Bobby and The Way. However, I was not prepared for how hard this was going to hit me. It’s a riveting tale with terrific acting, directing, and writing. You’ll actually laugh and cry, which is hard to pull off. The Public, hitting theaters this week, is something special, ladies and gentlemen. This is the best film of the year so far. Sentimental but never over the top, it’s truly a treat. The film is a drama about what happens on a bitter cold day in downtown Cincinnati. The Public Library is a hub for the homeless, a place where...

On Sunday, Chance The Rapper posted a simple message on Instagram: “Good Ass Job,” in big block letters on a pink background. For longtime Kanye West fans, the three words have special and nostalgic significance, as the rapper has long promised to use the phrase as the title for his fourth album. In a 2003 MTV News interview, the Chicago rapper stated, “my third album is going to be called Graduation. And the fourth is Good-Ass Job.”

The title was never used. West’s fourth album, recorded in the wake...

Pusha-t has doubled down on Drake with a ferocious and very personal new diss track called “The Story of Adidon” — which comes after Drake fired back at him on Friday night with one called “Duppy Freestyle” that was a response to the track “Infared” on Pusha-t’s latest album “Daytona” which was released on Friday morning and was produced by Kanye West. Along the way there were lyrical jabs about the controversy reinvigorating Pusha’s career and a $100,000 invoice from Drake for “promotional assistance and career reviving,” as well as a parallel Twitter war between West’s wife Kim Kardashian and his partner in the Donda’s House charity, Rhymefest, in which neither Drake, Pusha or West were directly involved. Got all that?

“The Story of Adidon” ups the ante, with a cover photo of Drake in blackface makeup and a hard lyrical jab about the biracial rapper being “always...

Stand by your man! If we know one thing about Kim Kardashian, we know that she's all about loyalty to the Kardashian/Jenners and especially to her husband, Kanye West, despite his controversial antics. Yesterday, Kim once again went to bat for her hubby via Twitter, calling out rapper Rhymefest for criticizing her husband after Yeezy's Donda's House organization took to social media to say that West had not given the organization the financial support promised, "despite multiple attempts."  The reality star wrote, "U haven't been right since u got kicked out of the studio in Hawaii wearing fake Yeezy's @Rhymefest. You're over levergenging Kanye's name &...

Update: Following Rhymefest's response to Kim Kardashian's tweets, the reality star posted a series of tweets, defending her husband once again. Kim began the tweets, "Let me break this all the way down..." She followed up with, "Kanye and Donda started a charity called Loop Dreams. When Donda passed, they changed the name to Donda's House. Kanye paid Rhymefest a salary to run it." "After several years of lack of performance from the organization and Kanye going through personal financial issues, he could no longer fund salaries. Rhymefest asked to take it over and Kanye agreed with no financial strings attached," continued Kim. "Kanye gave his 'friend' an...

She's defending her man! Kim Kardashian uses leaves the beefing to her husband Kanye West, but every now and then she will insert herself and shut everything down in the process — like when she put Taylor Swift on blast over the lyrics to "Famous" back in 2016. On Saturday, May 26, Kim took to Twitter to slam Kanye's former friend and collaborator, Chicago songwriter Che "Rhymefest" Smith, for accusing Kanye of "abandoning" the city that he loves so much. "[You] haven’t been right since [you] got kicked out of the studio in Hawaii wearing fake Yeezy’s," Kim tweeted. "You’re over leveraging Kanye’s name [and] asked Kanye to donate money to [you] so stop [with] your fake community politics [and] lies. Truth is you haven’t been able to sustain the foundation." A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Apr 23, 2018 at 7:25am Pdt Rhymefest had worked with Kanye on some of his...

10:45 Am Pt -- A rep for Donda's House Inc. says it will no longer use Kanye's mother's name for the non-profit, citing Kim K's attack of its director, Rhymefest. The statement encourages Kim and Kanye to "pick up the baton of service." No word yet on what the org will be called going forward. Please read the attached final statement regarding the future of @DondasHouse, effective immediately: @kanyewest & @KimKardashian. pic.twitter.com/aNVWbJ1h49 — Donda's House,...

What better way to spend a holiday weekend than a Twitter feud over a diss track apparently so powerful that it ultimately sucks in a Kardashian and a non-profit organization? That’s exactly what’s played out over the past 36 hours as the Drake/Pusha-t drama that began with Pusha’s new track “Infared” from his Kanye West-helmed new album “Daytona”) and escalated with Drake’s response, “Duppy Freestyle.” Recap that drama here, then fast-forward to Saturday, when veteran Chicago rapper and occasional West collaborator Rhymefest got involved. Rhymefest cofounded Donda’s House, a nonprofit youth organization he launched with West in their hometown of Chicago; it is named after West’s late mother, who died of a heart attack in 2007 after a botched plastic surgery operation.

Rhymefest used one of Drake’s lines mentioning West — “Tell ’Ye we got an invoice comin’ to you/ Considering we just sold...

Chicago will always be Kanye West‘s baby.

On Friday, the “Famous” rapper and his wife Kim Kardashian West, 37, revealed via her app and website that they’d named their newborn daughter Chicago, but many fans have been wondering why? Their third-born child’s name proudly pays homage to the city where Kanye, 40, grew up and pursued his dreams.

Chicago West. https://t.co/3MyLwcIzTh

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 19, 2018

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Despite being born in Atlanta, Georgia, Kanye has long shared that growing up in the city of Chicago, Illinois, deeply influenced his life. After...

According to The Wrap, Alec Baldwin and Taylor Schilling have joined the cast of Emilio Estevez’s The Public, along with Jena Malone and Che “Rhymefest” Smith. Estevez wrote and will star in the film, which is about a standoff between police and Occupy protestors around a Cincinnati library. The Wrap story says Baldwin will play a police negotiator trying to keep the protests under control, while Estevez and Malone will play a pair of library workers caught in the middle of the protestors and the cops. Schilling will be “a character who desires to expose the truth” (whatever that means), and Rhymefest will be a homeless man who has joined up with the Occupy movement.

The Public is currently in pre-production, so Baldwin will have plenty of time to keep playing Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live before he has to go work on this latest acting gig about...

Kanye West’s friend and frequent collaborator, hip-hop artist Rhymefest, announced Friday that he has purchased the rap superstar’s childhood home on the South Side of Chicago with plans to convert the space into a “community arts incubator.” Rhymefest, born Che Smith, told his Instagram followers: “I’m excited to announce the purchase of Kanye’s childhood home as a community Arts incubator. It will be the first of our Nationwide Lite-Houses. A state of the art recording studio, a curriculum space for @dondashouse and southside music museam . “We want to show bright spots in communities thatve been divested from,...

Rapper Rhymefest, whose real name is Che Smith, said the way he was treated by Chicago Police when trying to report a robbery was “disgusting.” The Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist posted a video to Twitter in which he argues with officers at the precinct front desk while trying to report a crime. “You wonder we don’t report crimes? The police treated me disgustingly,” he wrote, linking to the video. Smith walked into a Chicago police station to file a complaint that someone held a gun to his head in an attempted robbery, but felt “patronized” by the reaction by police,...

Kanye West's latest beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy has some on the Internet - and former collaborators - questioning his mental health. And lyrics off the rapper's new album The Life of Pablo - currently only available as a digital stream on Tidal - may just trigger more questions. On his new song "Feedback," he repeatedly raps, "I been outta my mind a long time," later adding: "Name one genius that ain't crazy." Then on "Fml" - which he performed at Madison Square Garden during the album's launch and unveiling of his Yeezy Season 3 collection - he raps, "You ain't...

In the wake of Kanye West's latest antics, questions over his mental health have been raised by people who know him. However, a source close to the rapper, 38, tells People the $53 million debt claims, Twitter drama, alleged behavior on Saturday Night Live and flare-up with Taylor Swift are no cause for alarm. "I haven't felt personally concerned about his well being," says West's longtime friend. "Every time I talk with him - which is almost every day - he's extremely good-natured, [and] in a great mood ..." While West's energies have been focused on new ventures - including his album The...

In the wake of Kanye West's latest antics, questions over his mental health have been raised by people who know him. However, a source close to the rapper, 38, tells People the $53 million debt claims, Twitter drama, alleged behavior on Saturday Night Live and flare-up with Taylor Swift are no cause for alarm. "I haven't felt personally concerned about his well being," says West's longtime friend. "Every time I talk with him - which is almost every day - he's extremely good-natured, [and] in a great mood ..." While West's energies have been focused on new ventures - including his album The...

The 2016 Grammy Awards have begun! The top artists of the year are going home with their gramophones after being recognized for the best performances of the past year - and we're tracking a selection of the winners as they're announced. See the list of nominees below, with winners in bold.• Check out People's full 2016 Grammy Awards coverage! Best Pop Vocal AlbumTaylor Swift's 1989Comedy AlbumLouis C.K.'s Live At Madison Square GardenBest Latin Pop AlbumRicky Martin, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition)Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative AlbumPitbull, DaleBest Americana AlbumJason Isbell, Something More Than FreeMusiCares Person of the...

Kanye West made a reference to being "$53 million dollars in personal debt" on Saturday. West, whose Twitter announcements have made headlines multiple times in recent days, tweeted, "I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart..." I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart...— Kanye West (@kanyewest) February 14, 2016 His tweet came at the end of a string of messages Saturday night, apparently written while waiting to perform on Saturday Night Live.

By Patrick Shanley

Managing Editor

This year’s best original song front runner seems to be Lady Gaga and Diane Warren’s “Til It Happens To You” from the documentary, The Hunting Ground, which examines the prevalence of sexual assault cases on college campuses throughout the U.S. The song is very personal for both artists, as both recently opened up about their past experiences with sexual assault in a L.A. Times interview.

The song’s importance, and its resonance with audiences (the music video has over 24 million hits on Youtube) and Academy voters, lies in its social commentary. The four young women who are the subjects of the film (Annie E. Clark, Andrea L. Pino, Sofie Karasek and Kamilah Willingham) recently penned a letter to the songwriters thanking them and that “the release of your song will have an unparalleled impact on the culture of campuses nationwide,” as reported by Billboard.

With just over two months until the 2016 Grammy Awards, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences just released the first batch of nominees.

And as could be expected, Taylor Swift scored nods for Record of the Year and Song of the Year while her buddy Ed Sheeran also nabbed a Song of the Year and Record of the Year mention.

The 58th annual Gramm Awards will go live on February 15th, 2016 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with plenty of powerful performances and a slew of sexy stars. Meanwhile, here is the first wave of nominees-

Record of the Year

“Really Love,” by D’angelo and the Vanguard

“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran

“Blank Space,” Taylor Swift

“Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd

Album of the Year

Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes

To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar

Traveller, Chris Stapleton...

October is stacked with some of the year’s best films, both in wide release and limited, many slowly expanding through November, and we have a record-setting 20 recommendations for the month. The conclusion of Tiff and Venice also brought a batch of worthwhile premieres, some of which one will be able to see this month.

To note, after limited September debuts, the recommended Sicario and The Walk will both be opening wide on October 2nd and 9th, respectively. There’s also a few notable releases we weren’t fans of, including Love (10/30) and Truth (10/16). Then there’s some on our radar that would make for worthwhile matinees: Sherpa (10/2), (T)error (10/7), The Final Girls (10/9), Meadowland (10/16) and Rock the Kasbah (10/23). We should also make a note that Paul Thomas Anderson‘s new short film Junun will start streaming at midnight on October 9th at Mubi.

Check out the full list of 20 below...

The Georgia Film Critics Association 2014 awards nominations were par for the course, sure-things with a sprinkle of outliers. Voting for the winners followed suit, with Jake Gyllenhaal, emerging as a likelier and likelier Oscar contender, taking Best Actor and "Snowpiercer" costar Tilda Swinton earning praise for her villainous caricature. Though he lost out in the Best Actor category, "Selma" star David Oyelowo still managed to take home an award, picking up a win the Gfca’s Breakthrough category. See the full list of winners below: Best Picture "Boyhood" Best Director Richard Linklater, "Boyhood" Best Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler" Best Actress Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night" Best Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash" Best Supporting Actress Tilda Swinton, "Snowpiercer" Best Ensemble "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Best Original Screenplay "Nightcrawler," Dan Gilroy Best Adapated Screenplay "Gone Girl," Gillian Flynn Best Cinematography "Birdman," Emmanuel Lubezki Best Production Design "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Adam Stockhausen,...

We're winding down the year-in-review game here at HitFix as 2014 draws to a close. For whatever reason I took a year off of the ballot/superlatives posts, but I'm back with those personal assessments of the best of the year, beginning today with my top picks across the Academy's 24 categories. Check back in tomorrow for a list of winners from this lot, as well as others in a slew of peripheral categories. And of course, feel free to let us know what your Oscar ballot would look like in the comments section below. (Oh, and naturally it goes without saying this post is living in a parallel reality where I'm not confined to a specific branch for nominations and reign supreme over all categories with selections for each.) We'll find out if the Academy agrees with any of this when the 87th annual Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 15. *** Best...

Politics are all but removed from today’s pop music. If musicians gamble on voicing an opinion in a single, they risk alienating the audience that keeps them afloat. Playing it safe makes them stars. The trepidation is in stark contrast to, say, 1964, when Nina Simone felt assured enough to sing her ferocious protest song "Mississippi Goddam" to a crowd of white Carnegie Hall patrons. Like "Four Women" or "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," "Mississippi Goddam" was jaunty, raw and incriminating. There was nothing quite like it. That is what made Nina Simone a star. I mention this because John Legend just released "Glory," an original song set to accompany Ava Duvernay's "Selma" as it rolls into theaters this holiday season. And, my word, it has that Nina Simone-patented fire. Mixing vocals by Legend and rapped lyrics by Common, the gospely end credits tune seizes all of...

Which music stars went home with awards at the 2014 Grammy Awards? Find out with this full winners list.

Winners in each category are bolded.

Record of the Year

"Get Lucky" -- Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers

"Radioactive" -- Imagine Dragons

"Royals" -- Lorde

"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Bruno Mars

"Blurred Lines" -- Robin Thick feat. T.I. and Pharrell

Album of the year

"The Blessed Unrest" -- Sara Bareilles

"Random Access Memories" -- Daft Punk

"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" -- Kendrick Lamar

"The Heist" -- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

"Red" -- Taylor Swift

Song of the year

"Just Give Me a Reason" -- Jeff Bhasker, Pink and Nate Ruess (Pink feat. Nate Ruess)

"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Bruno Mars (Bruno Mars)

"Roar" -- Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry and Henry Walter (Katy Perry)

"Royals...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were just friends, hanging out in a film studio making a skit for a television pilot. Many love stories start out that way. Apparently Yeezy was set to appear with fellow hip-hop star Rhymefest in a show called Alligator Boots, a comedy series featuring puppets. For some tragic reason that we’ll never understand, the show never made it to air. How did this get the axe, while Keeping Up With The Kardashians just wrapped it’s 7th season?! We’ll take it as yet another example of how life isn’t fair.

Thankfully, some footage of the 2008 shoot still exists, and it amusingly depicts Kanye and future lady-love Kim doing a scene together. The pair are decked out in Star Wars attire, with Kanye as a Stormtrooper (sans helmet) and Kim as a very convincing princess Leia,...

Reality TV darling Kim Kardashian dressed in the Princess Leia gold bikini and swirled braids from "Return of the Jedi" for a hilarious musical skit for Comedy Central.

The 30-year-old newlywed appeared in the 10-minute clip with rapper Kanye West and several Muppets.

Check it out!

The clip was part of a pilot for West's Muppet comedy show "Alligator Boots," in collaboration with hip-hop star Rhymefest. Unfortunately, the show was not picked up.

Kim is...

Dear Comedy Central: Why did you never air "Alligator Boots"?!

In this video discovered by The Vine, we take an extensive look behind the scenes at a 2008 pilot for "Alligator Boots," a sketch/puppet show pilot created by rapper Rhymefest in collaboration with Kanye West and Daniel Ellison of Jackhole Productions, who also produced "Crank Yankers."

The show had almost the exact same concept as "The Muppet Show" -- the puppets, which interact with live action celebrities, even were created by Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop -- but with a decidedly hip-hop flavor. For instance, Rhymefest describes a sketch in which a literal pig is touted as the next big thing in rap, but nobody notices that he's just a pig "except for smart people."

Another sketch, shown in the video, features "Beary White" crooning an X-rated ballad to Kim Kardashian in Princess Leia's metal bikini.

Yes, when the...

Rapper-turned-politician Rhymefest has recruited pal Lupe Fiasco to help him win support in his run for office in his native Chicago, Illinois this Thanksgiving - by handing out free food to locals who register to vote.

Rhymefest, real name Che Smith, formally entered the race to become an alderman for the 20th Ward at the Chicago City Council in October and he is hoping to boost voter participation in the February 2011 elections by enticing Chicago residents with free food to celebrate the American holiday.

The duo started giving out free turkeys and cheesecakes on Wednesday, November 24, a day before Thursday's holiday, from the south to West Side of Chicago. For the charity project, Rhymefest urged people to donate to aim20.com.

A handful of hits from Chi-City On Che Smith’s second Rhymefest full-length, he showcases the lyrical precision and rhythmic diversity that won him a Grammy for co-writing “Jesus Walks” with fellow Chicago native Kanye West. “City is Fallen” is all molasses brass and smooth jazz, while the drum-and-808 throbs of “Give It To Me” could rattle a root cellar; meanwhile, his verses slide between snide (“Shoulda hollered at him when he was young and hot / You’ll never have what Michelle Obama’s got”) and passionate (“Fighting off contentment, I have a long way to go”). But El Che is all...