Jay-Z's College Tour

Jay-Z just dropped his new album The Blueprint 3 and it's filled with some pretty epic bangers. Being a man of the people and maintaining his reputation as being one of the hardest working men in hip-hop Jigga is doing a college tour. It comes as no surprise that Jay will be hitting the standard American colleges/universities but it was amazing to see that he will also be coming to Canada, and not just Toronto or Vancouver. Jay-Z will be hitting small town London Ontario, Ottawa and Montreal. To sweeten the deal, he's bringing long-time collaborators N.E.R.D. and up-and-coming D.C. rapper Wale. Both openers are brilliant artists and there is sure to be plenty of on-stage collaborations. What's more, Jay will also be bringing new comer J.Cole with him as well. B Full dates below.

10-09 State College, PA - Bryce Jordan Center *
10-10 Highland Heights, KY - The Bank of Kentucky Center *
10-13 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place *
10-14 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome *
10-15 Kelowna, British Columbia - Prospera Place *
10-16 Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place *
10-17 Seattle, WA - Key Arena *
10-21 Ypsilanti, MI - Convocation Center *
10-23 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center *
10-24 Providence, RI - Dunkin Donuts Center *
10-25 Amherst, MA - Mullins Center *
10-27 Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena *
10-28 Columbus, OH - Value City Arena Ohio State *
10-29 London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre *
10-30 Montreal, Quebec - Centre Bell Centre *
10-31 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre *
11-01 Ottawa, Ontario - Scotiabank Place *
11-07 Fresno, CA - Save Mart Center *
11-12 Champaign, IL - University of Illinois, Assembly Hall *
11-19 Albuquerque, NM - Tingley Coliseum *
11-20 El Paso, TX - Don Haskins Center *
11-21 Lubbock, TX - United Spirit Arena *
11-22 Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center Arena *

* with N.E.R.D., Wale, J. Cole

Here's a video of Jay-Z performing "Empire State of Mind" from The Blueprint 3. Jigga claims to be the new Sinatra. I can't say I disagree.

Wale to Work with TV On The Radio

Wale, one of my personal favourite hip hop artists, has enlisted the indie rock group TV On The Radio, famous for their 2008 album "Dear Science" as collaborators on his up coming album. Wale's last mixtape, "The Mixtape About Nothing" cleverly employed samples from the famous tv sitcom "Seinfeld", making it one of the most memorable mixtapes to date. Wale's up coming album is also rumoured to feature a collaboration with French DJ duo Justice. Wale's famous remix of D.A.N.C.E. is infamous amongst the underground hip hop world and music bloggers alike. Big things are expected of Wale's album, let's hope he can deliver!

Check out W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. for a prime tast of Wale in action