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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 responsibilities with other genres,” the magazine’s site explained of the selection process. The list sought to capture “the men and women who define the game, direct its flow and determine its outcome.” In addition to the Williams brothers, the following movers and shakers earned a spot on the list: Cortez Bryant and Gee Roberson, Co-CEOs, Blueprint Group; Sean “Diddy” Combs, Founder/CEO, Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group, and brand manager, Ciroc; Dr. Dre, Co-Founder/Beats By Dr. Dre, Founder, Aftermath Entertainment; Shawn Gee, President of Music and Entertainment, SEFG; Benjy Grinberg, President, Rostrum Records; Ethiopia Habtemariam, Sr. VP of Motown, Exec. VP/Head of Urban, UMPG; Jay-Z, Jay Brown, John Meneilly, Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith, Roc Nation; Magic Johnson, Owner, Magic Johnson Enterprises; Michael Kyser, President, Black Music, Atlantic; Bryan Leach CEO, Polo Grounds Music; Debra Lee & Stephen Hill, Chairman/CEO, BET Networks, President of Music Programming & Specials, BET Networks; Cara Lewis, Senior Agent, CAA; Joie Manda, President, Def Jam Recordings; Larry Mestel, Chris Lighty & Michael “Blue” Williams, Chairman/CEO Primary Violator, COO, Primary Violator; President, Primary Violator; Mark Pitts, President, RCA Urban Music, CEO, Bystorm Entertainment; Paul Rosenberg, Co-Founder, Shady Records, CEO, Goliath Artist Management; Rick Ross, Founder, Maybach Music Group; Reggie Rouse, VP of Urban Programming, CBS Radio PD, WVEE Atlanta; Jay Stevens, SVP Programming, Radio One; Steve Stoute, CEO/Founder, Translation; Tech N9ne, Founder, Strange Music; Clifford “T.I.” Harris & Jason Geter, Grand Hustle; Chang Weisberg, Principal, Guerilla Union; Ronald “Slim” Williams & Bryan “Birdman” Williams, Co-founders/Co-CEOs, Cash Money Records Group; Doc Wynter, Brand Manager for Urban/Urban AC, Clear Channel; and Hall of Fame inductee Clarence Avant, President, Avant Garde and Interior Music.

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 sentencing hearing is set for November. In related news, L-Boogie recently penned an open letter to her fans on her Tumblr page in which she explained to her fans why she didn’t pay taxes for three years. She wrote: “I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival. I conveyed all of this when questioned as to why I did not file taxes during this time period. Obviously, the danger I faced was not accepted as reasonable grounds for deferring my tax payments, as authorities, who despite being told all of this, still chose to pursue action against me, as opposed to finding an alternative solution. My intention has always been to get this situation rectified. When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family. As this, and other areas of issue are resolved and set straight, I am able to get back to doing what I should be doing, the way it should be done. This is part of that process. To those supporters who were told that I abandoned them, that is untrue. I abandoned greed, corruption, and compromise, never you, and never the artistic gifts and abilities that sustained me.”

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 chance to release his first major label project as part of the MMG collective. “Its hard work,” he said about having the Warner Bros. machine behind him. “That’s the eye opener for me. I always seen it, but I didn’t know how much. You have press—going from the radio to MTV, back to the radio, to a signing. It shows you have to put in that groundwork, but that’s the fun. That’s fun work. It’s actually talking about a project you put together and put your heart into you get to explain the process of it all.” The bearded rhymer revealed it was a concerted effort by the whole crew not to just promote the album to the fullest, but to also make sure the material flowed seamlessly. “We wanted to make it bigger and better than the last one,” he continued. “As far as the songs, writing the beat selection…The chemistry, it felt like a album because we got close as a team. Ross was picking the right beats, right collaborations. It came out beautiful. I’m happy. The talk [media] has been just that, that it came out like a album and it sounds cohesive. People are enjoying it.” The recording process was memorable for him, too. “There were some times where I would be sitting with Ross and we would come up with a beat, or I would pick a beat and write [media] to it and write a hook to it, whatever the case may be,” he recalled. “I would hear it and Ross would be like ‘I’ma put such and such and on it.’ I think the only song I heard with another person on it before I got to it was ‘Power Circle.’ I just went in being Stalley. Ross gave me the concept and I just went in. Ross was on it, Kendrick was on it and Gunplay and maybe Wale. But all the other joints [media] was just me and Ross sitting in the studio. I think Ross was picking beats and he was hearing people on it and giving it to them.”

Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t and the numbers now show that Jay-Z no longer holds the Guinness World Record for the most live concerts performed in 24 hours in different locations. The Flaming Lips now hold the world record after performing in eight different cities, one more than Jigga. As a part of “The Hangar Tour,” Hova set the record in November of 2006, the same month he dropped Kingdom Come, by performing in seven different cities which were Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, in that specific order. “History in the making, part 18,” Jay stated at 5:58 a.m. in Atlanta, back in 2006, as reported by MTV News. Then after hitting the stage at 6:19 a.m., Hova said to the crowd, “This is a moment in time. It’s more than history.” “I’m crazy,” Jigga replied, in 2006, when asked by Shaheem Reid, now XXL’s Editor-at-Large, why he wanted to complete the remarkable task. “I’m trying to bring some excitement back to the game.” By the same token, the Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne was not too interested in being a part of the Guinness Book of World Records. However, after he and his fellow rockers made it to New Orleans for the final show of the day with close to an hour to work with, Coyne referred to the feat as an “absurd joy.” Jay seemed to feel a similar joy when he first set the world record all those years ago. “We did it!” Hova yelled to his entourage after wrapping up The Hangar Tour in Las Vegas.