Baby and Slim Cover Billboard‘s Inaugural Urban Power Players List: Rankings are always hot topics in hip-hop. Who are the top five MCs, dead or alive? Who had the best verse on a particular posse cut? What is Jay-Z’s best album? Fans and critics love to argue, and artists love to vie for the top spot. This week, Billboard got in on the fun, releasing their inaugural Urban Power List 2012, with Cash Money CEOs Brian “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams gracing the cover.

Though the two industry vets are the face of this year’s list, Billboard revealed that there is no order within the 25 selections. “The unranked tally targets executives whose concentration is urban, not executives who have oversight of urban music but also substantial responsibi...

Lauryn Hill Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion: Lauryn Hill recently made a return to music and the former Fugees frontwoman is now facing three years in prison.

According to TMZ, Hill admitted in a court of law to intentionally failing to file several tax returns in the past decade which can lead to jail time and $75,000 in fines.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill songstress pled guilty Friday (June 29) to three counts of failure to file tax returns for the years of 2005, 2006 and 2007, during which time she earned more than $1.8 million. When the judge asked Hill if she “intentionally and willingly” failed to file the returns, which is considered a federal crime, she replied, “Yes.”

Hill was released on $150,000 bail. Her sentenc...

Stalley Talks “Power Circle,” Self Made 2 Recording Process: On Tuesday afternoon at the Alife store in New York, Stalley almost got overwhelmed with emotion. Just a few short years ago, the Ohio native was actually working at that very store, helping customers like Raekwon get the hottest new kicks. This week, though, Stalley was on stage, performing with his team, the Maybach Music Group, and counting his blessings.

“I looked out in the crowd and saw some the people I used to work with at the store and then I looked on the stage and saw my knew team, I was just thinking I came a real long way,” he told XXLMag.com.

In just four years since Stalley started writing, he has already built a international fan base and earlier this week, he had a cha...