Via XXL:

With apologies to De La Soul, five is the magic number. It’s usually the amount of albums in a standard record deal, but few MCs ever fulfill their contractual obligations with as much aplomb as they started. Whether an artist peaks early or late, staying consistent over the duration of five albums has proven challenging no matter the era in hip-hop. XXLmag.com decided to rank the best first-five album runs in hip-hop history (First 5). A new act and their ranking will be revealed each day of the week throughout the month of October and the Top 5 will be revealed on November 5th.

Tip

Scott Stapp shared a harrowing tale with VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz Live” about the time Tip prevented him from committing suicide. The rocker went on a binge at the Delano hotel in Miami and tried to climb over the balcony. He fell 40 feet and sustained injuries until his “guardian angel” T.I. showed up. Tip happened to walk into the last unoccupied room at the hotel and realized that Stapp needed help. “He immediately took care of the situation and saved my life,” said Stapp, who promises more details in his new memoir Sinner’s Creed.

“As I’m laying on the ledge, blood fell to [T.I.'s] feet and

In a new interview with Rap-Up, Tip spoke on writing his second novel, as well as the recent brawl that broke out at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Check out his comments below...

On Writing Trouble & Triumph:

“It was actually easier, because I had a starting point,” he said. When asked if the novel’s street love story was inspired by real life, the King of the South laughed it off. “Nah, these are entirely fictional characters.”

On the recent fight between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy:

“I didn’t even know about the fight,” said Tip, although he did attribute male ego and pride as being the root of most