Rising Down is not my favorite Roots album -- while I understand the concerns behind their message, I found it overly corrosive. Still, you can't deny the intensity of their lead single, "Rising Up." Besides the robust music, what makes this song so beautiful is the friendly competition that ensues between one of the game's all-time best MCs and one of the leading new MCs. Here's my official verdict on "Rising Up."

Photo © Def Jam

If you have some spare time to expend this weekend, you can help Lil Wayne create an online commercial for Tha Carter III. All you have to do is create a 30-second video announcing the June 10th release of Tha Carter III. Cash Money Records will reward the winning entry with its entire catalog. Images, videos and music are provided on the contest website. Get busy, contest ends on June 2nd, 2008.

Album art © Universal

Had a bad case of wacktacularitis? Let me prescribe you some Rap Rx: the best in funky hip-hop music. Here's this week's Top 10 chart.

A gruesome battle has ensued at the top of this week's rap albums chart, with Rising Down and Trilla jostling for position. Find out who will reign supreme in this week's Top 10 Rap Albums.

Album art © Def Jam

Well, it looks like the Motor City boys of D-12 are sick and tired of being treated like Eminem's background 'singers'. So, they've decided to record a mixtape, sans the group's most prominent member.

Kuniva talked about the need to step his game up without riding Eminem's coattails, in a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press.

"Now it’s to the point where we really have to step it up and also just show people who we are. And that’s what I’m doing on this mix tape here. I’m showing people who I am. What I go through."

They'll also seize the opportunity to address some wild rumors on the mixtape.

"I’m addressing a lot of issues. Like people saying that he’s [Eminem] fat. 'Marshall’s fat. Bizarre is this.' They’re taking our quietness for weakness. "

The good news, though, is that we'll also hear from Marshall himself sometime this year or next, as he's busy putting finishing touches on his next solo album. But for now, we can all look forward to D-12's upcoming mixtape, Return of the Dozen, due out May 21.

© Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Let's say you've just faced countless assault charges, served time in jail, watched your career spiral downhill, and survived it all. What do you do next? Wait, don't answer that -- let Foxy Brown walk you through on Brooklyn's Don Diva.

Album art © Koch

Remy Ma now has plenty of time to plan her wedding to Papoose, but that's not the good news she wanted to hear. A New York judge has sentenced the New York rapper to 8 years in jail for shooting a woman in the abdomen outside a Manhattan club.

A teary Remy Ma apologized to her victim, Makeda Barnes Joseph. "I feel so bad for all the physical and mental pain you've gone through," she said. "This has taken a toll on us and both our families. I would never wish you harm and I pray the best for all of us."

Papoose, on the other hand, wasn't so nice. According to newsday.com, the rapper was heard screaming "All you want is money!" at the victim after the sentencing. He later shouted "Lock me up! Lock me up!" at the police officers who escorted him out of the courtroom.

Their wedding is still scheduled to take place, perhaps after Remy Ma's transfer to an upstate prison facility.

Photo © Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

It's a rumble among greatest hits compilations in today's New Releases department. Tons -- and by tons, I mean three -- greatest hits CDs from Devin the Dude, 8Ball & MJG, and Yukmouth will hit shelves today. Other notable new releases include Foxy Brown's Koch debut Brooklyn's Don Diva and Kidz in the Hall's sophomore album The In Crowd.

This week's new releases at a glance:

• Foxy Brown - Brooklyn's Don Diva
• Kidz in the Hall - The In Crowd
• Pete Rock - N Y's Finest (Instrumentals)
• 8Ball & MJG - We Are The South: Greatest Hits
• Devin the Dude - Greatest Hits
• Yukmouth - Greatest Hits CD
• Keith Murray - Puff Puff Pass
• Plant Life - Time Traveller
• Dosh - Wolves and Wishes
• Pastor Troy - A-Town Legend

2008 Hip-Hop Releases Calendar: May | June

Album art © Anticon

There are only two album covers that show Jay-Z wielding a cigar in between his fingers: The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt. Incidentally, those two are my favorite Jay-Z albums of all time. In that order. Reasonable Doubt finds a rap rookie oozing with so much confidence you would think he was on his 10th go-round. The Blueprint, on the other hand, depicts an artist who is just as comfortable displaying some swagger as he is unveiling a vulnerable side. But you don't have to agree with me. Take a look at Jay-Z's discography and tell me which album you liked best.

• Jay-Z Discography

Image © Def Jam

Despite what naysayers would have you believe, hip-hop is not some coffee shop in downtown Manhattan where rappers hold daily meetings to devise new ways of degrading women. Don't get me started on the legions of odes to sisters, daughters, and wives, that have gone unsung over the years.

Also buried within hip-hop's treasure chest is a truckload of mother-friendly songs that work for all seasons. This Mother's Day, surprise that special woman with a playlist of these adorable hip-hop songs for moms.

Single art © Interscope