NEW PICS: JENNIFER HUDSON, PLIES, MARIAH CAREY & SOULJA BOY VISIT B.E.T.'S 106 & PARK.

Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, rappers Plies and Soulja Boy all stopped by B.E.T.'s 106 & Park this week to promote their upcoming projects....

When Mariah wasn't busy showing off her humongous wedding ring in front of the 106 & Park audience (if you look closely at the faces of the kids in the background, you can see that some of them had a look on their faces that said, 'If she don't sit her orange-looking ass down somewhere!'), she was mouthing off about her plans of a new tour to promote her latest platinum album E=MC2 which she promises to be packed with glitz, glamor, fireworks and fabulosity. She says, "I'm looking at November right now. But please don't hold me accountable if it turns out to be December 5 or December 7 or January 18!"

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One Jennifer Hudson fansite is reporting that the singer will portray Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott in the rapper's bio-pic. It's been said that Elliott has personally chosen Hudson for the lead movie role. The film is untitled as of now, but will reportedly be produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal through their company, Tribeca Films.

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SOULJA BOY TELL 'EM SNAGS TOP SPOT ON FORBES MAGAZINE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC STARS LIST.

Some recording artists toil for years without ever scoring a big hit. Then there's the fortunate few who skip all the dues-paying hardships and skyrocket straight to stardom. That pretty much sums up the experience of Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and other new music acts on Forbes' list of music's hottest new stars. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, whose Crank That (Soulja Boy) was one of the biggest hit songs of the year. Soulja Boy (DeAndre Way, to his mom) got his first exposure by posting songs and videos on his YouTube and MySpace pages, which helped attract the attention of hip-hop producer Michael "Mr. Collipark" Crooms and eventually landed him a contract with Universal Music Group's Interscope Records.

To refer to Crank That as a mere "song" would probably underplay its multi-platform ubiquity. The official video racked up tens of millions of hits on YouTube and spawned a dance craze that prompted Soulja Boy to shoot an instructional video that generated more than 30 million hits of its own. Then there were the countless spoofs and imitations that featured mashups of SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora The Explorer, Alvin and the Chipmunks and others. "Crank That" has also sold more than 3 million song downloads and more than 2 million ringtones. With that kind of reach, it was hard to escape the song's catchy refrain of "Yoooooo!/Crank that Soulja Boy, now watch me/Yoooooo!"

AFTER THE JUMP, TAKE A PEEK AT THE OTHER UP AND COMING ARTISTS (INCLUDING TWO FROM FLORIDA) THAT MADE THE CUT & WHAT STEPS FORBES TOOK IN ORDER TO COMPILE THEIR LIST.

To compile a list of the hottest new stars of music, we examined several measures of popularity and success. To start off, we looked at the top searches and downloads on peer-to-peer networks during the past 12 months as measured by BigChampagne, as well as press mentions as measured by Factiva. Then we looked at U.S. digital track downloads and album sales in 2007 and the first two months of 2008, as measured by Nielsen SoundScan. Finally, we took a look at "mastertone" ringtone sales during the same period, as measured by Nielsen RingScan (mastertones are ringtones that play a snippet of the actual recording of your favorite song).

Other artists who made the list include: Sean Kingston, Flo Rida, Plies, J. Holiday, Hurricane Chris and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.

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CANDIDS: RAVEN SYMONE + 'COLLEGE ROAD TRIP'S' OPENING NIGHT BOX OFFICE SALES; SOULJA BOY IN THE U.K.; CHRISTINA MILIAN@ MR. CHOW.

Here are a couple of candids of Raven-Symone smiling and cheesing for the paparazzi during a recent stroll in her SUV in Los Angeles. I wonder is she smiled once she realized her movie College Road Trip, which also stars Martin Lawrence, Donnie Osmond and Brenda Song, only brought in a mere $3.5 million in box office sales on its opening night, according to movieweb.com. I am truly at a lost for words. I was so sure the number would've been much, much higher than $3.5M. For a Disney movie, this is a big disappointment. And although College Road Trip snagged the #2 spot, industry insiders predict the G-rated family comedy's box office sales will unlikely bring in no higher than $12.5 million for the entire weekend. Meanwhile, 10,000 BC took in an estimated $11.5 million on Friday.

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Soulja Boy arriving at the BET launch party in the United Kingdom.

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Ms.Cutie Pie herself, Christina Milian was spotted leaving Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. Christina made it a late night for the staff of the restaurant as she was the last one to leave--at 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning. The singer had met with producer Polow Da Don regarding hooking up on a few future music projects of hers.

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SOULJA BOY SEALS SNEAKER DEAL WITH NEW SNEAKER LINE, YUMS.

Last November, I told you all the folks at Disney, Nickelodeon and Paramount pictures had contacted Soulja Boy and pitched ideas to him in the hopes of expanding his brand and their corporate dollars. If things go Soulja Boy's way, expect to see movies, a Soulja Boy cartoon and even a Soulja Boy comic series in the near future. That's why it didn't surprise me when I learned the 17-year-old rapper now has his own sneaker line through new urban sneaker line, Yums, whose motto is The Sole of the Streets: In It. Of It. From It. The sneakers are available in flavors like Kiwi-Strawberry, Lemon-Lime, Lemonade, Grape, Tum Tum, Bubblegum, Smores and more.

In the pics below, Soulja Boy is pictured at an ESPN event during All-Star Weekend donning a pair of Candy Apple Yums. The shoe sports patent leather upper and a fully lined interior, crystal clear Oursole with graphic, and a no-tie stay-fly lacing system. Two sets of laces, a lace keeper, keychain and a Yums mix tape are included with every sneaker purchase. Prices range from $85.00-$125.00. If you can't find them in your area, visit their website at YumsShop.com.

CLICK ON PIC TO SEE ITS FULL IMAGE.


To see video clip of Soulja Boy endorsing his new sneaker deal, CLICK HERE.
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SOULJAH BOY CLEARS UP PREGNANCY RUMORS; MAKES HISTORY AGAIN; SEE NEW VIDEO.

Earlier this week, a particular black celebrity media blog--whose only claim to fame consist of posting fake, bogus and outright lies about black celebrities--created a 'story' claiming 17-year old rapper Soulja Boy Tell'em had knocked up a 19-year-old Atlanta woman (that he'd been dating on and off for a year), then kicked her to the curb after she told him about her pregnancy. The woman allegedly 'chose' this particular site to reveal her story in the hopes of having the rapper come to his senses and own up to his soon-to-be paternal responsibilities. Long story short: it ain't true. Atlanta music mogul/music producer, Michael 'Mr. ColliPark' Crooms, who signed Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Way) to his first record deal, tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the rumors are completely false.

In other Soulja Boy news, the rapper's hit single Crank That (Soulja Boy), from the album Souljaboytellem.com, made history this week by becoming the first digital track to be downloaded 3 million times, according to Interscope. "Soulja Boy has set the bar for what's possible in terms of breaking an artist online. He's been doing it since day one, before he was signed here, so I'm not surprised he's setting a record today. Soulja Boy is out there on the frontier, showing everyone else what's possible," commented Steve Berman, President of Sales and Marketing for Interscope Geffen A&M Records.

Soulja Boy adds: "I can't thank my fans enough, without them all of this wouldn't have been possible. The support they give me is beyond incredible. I have so many Soulja Boy Tell'em projects ready and I will continue to give them what they need in 2008."

AFTER THE JUMP, CHECK OUT SOULJA BOY'S NEW VIDEO, 'YAHHH' FEATURING ARAB.

CHECK OUT SOULJA BOY'S NEW VIDEO FOR HIS ALBUM'S 3rd SINGLE, YAHHH! (featuring Arab) BELOW.

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IN TODAY'S 'DID YOU KNOW...' REV. RUN & JUSTINE, SOULJAH BOY & JAMIE FOXX

DID YOU KNOW?....
Rev. Run and his wife Justine who not only share two biological kids together but also three from Run's first marriage are also the proud godparents of Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Kim Porter's adorable twin girls, D'Lilah and Jesse James? I wonder whose gonna spoil those twins more: their godparents or their godbrothers and godsisters? No word on who happen to be the godparents of Diddy's other daughter, Chance, whom he shares with Atlanta native Sarah Chapman....


....Soulja Boy is going to be doing big thangs soon. According to the teen hitmaker, (whose real name is DeAndre Way) Hollywood's already calling his phone. He's had meetings with Disney, Nickelodeon and Paramount pictures to discuss expanding his brand beyond that of an hip-hop artist. What's on the way for Way? 'We've got the Soulja Boy cartoon, the Soulja Boy comic series...and a couple of movie scripts...' He's even getting accolades and whatnot from Magilla the Gorilla himself: 50 Cent! Aaaaaah, Youuuuuuuuu....!

...Funny man/Oscar award winner Jamie Foxx is hoping to teach men how to be gentlemen in a new reality TV show. Foxx has signed on to co-produce a new makeover show for MTV as part of a new two-year first-look production deal with the music entertainment cable channel. His first reality show will be called From G's to Gents, and will feature streetwise guys who are given tips on how to charm the ladies before competing against each other, for what, I don't know. No word on if Foxx will only appear behind the camera. I hope not. Dude can look a certain way, and I'd fall out laughing! He is such a clown!
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VIDEOS: WATCH CHILLI CLOWN/DANCE IN ANOTHER ATL RADIO STATION + DALLAS AUSTIN'S 'CRANK DAT' PROMO

I found another video of Chilli of TLC dancing to Soulja Boy in the studio of Atlanta's 107.9 radio station earlier this week. And if you thought she was clowning in the last youtube clip I posted of her dancing at Atlanta's V-103 radio station, you ain't seen nothing yet! She is straight clowning her ass off! A laugh and a half is what she is! And *gasp* she's even sporting a new hairstyle!

Also, Chilli's former fiance and multi-platinum record producer, Dallas Austin has created new urban, southern, hip-hop version--ooh, that kind of rhymed, huh? Damn, I'm good! LOL!--of American Bandstand called Crank Dat based in Atlanta. The show gives young adults a forum to express themselves artistically through music, to introduce their own personal dancing styles as well as learning new ones from others. Think of it as American Bandstand meets The Soul Train line! Yeah, something like that. Chilli and Austin's 10-year-old son Tron are both featured in the promo clip/tv pilot, as well as Big Boi of Outkast, rapper Big Gipp and many others.

READ MORE + WATCH 'CRANK DAT' PROMO CLIP FEATURING CHILLI & HER SON, TRON AFTER THE JUMP.

If you don't know by now, the 'snap dance' and 'snap music' craze, which originated in the South, but quickly gained popularity after such songs as Laffy Taffy (by ATL-based rap group and one-hit wonder D4L) and Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It (from another ATL-based rap group and two-hit wonder, Dem Franchize Boyz) hit the airwaves. Since then, the 'snap dance' has quickly gone global. Youtube has received over 66 million hits when the words: 'crank dat' or 'soulja boy' is entered in their search engine.

No word yet on when the show will air. You can watch the promo clip below.

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