rapper

Celebrity books normally get a big marketing push. But the campaign for Decoded, the rap mogul's new book of lyrics, is unprecedented. Thanks to backing from Clear Channel and Microsoft's Bing, it's surely in a league of its own.

For many rap and hip-hop artists, behind all the trash talk and posturing, it's all about business. Forbes recently released its Hip Hop Cash Kings list, and the 20 big names on it racked up a total of about $300 million, despite the weak economy and the Internet revolution that is killing the CD business.

Remember Schoolhouse Rock!? Meet Flocabulary, a program that teaches science, Shakespeare, SAT words and ancient civilization through hip-hop. The music, developed by producers who have worked with Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige, is the reason students take it seriously -- it's used in more than...

Last week it was Pamela Anderson. Now, there's news that the recession has affected another one of the entertainment world's shiniest stars. Rapper Curtis Jackson, a.k.a. 50 Cent, has confessed he's lost "a few million" of his estimated $442 million estate. A move that's prompted his sharing some...

This is a good lesson for kids everywhere: When you make it big in the music industry, don't invest in jewelry.After years of buying diamond-encrusted pendants, gold teeth and heavy gold chains, hip-hop artists and rappers are facing the recession by asking their jewelers to use less-precious...