Life has been hectic as fuck lately, between partying in the No-Coast and arranging my return West, I've had little time for blogging--and that's not to mention the whole Carter III project we are fresh off. But now I'm in Los Angeles with some time on my hands, and that means you get a long overdue roundup.

First, let's just do the Wayne rounds. Pitchfork reviewed The Carter III, giving it an 8.7 out of 10--a fair rating coming from their elite hipster camp. Shake at 2dopeboyz has news that Weezy's off the final cut of "Out Here Grindin" but on a new Boyz N Da Hood track. "Mask On" sports a gutter beat and plenty of great gun samples--wish I could say that the verses were all great, too. Finally, there's an alternate version of "Mr. Carter" floating around, which contains a new Weezy verse. As if the original wasn't good enough.

Asher Roth (who we've posted about before has dropped his Drama co-signed mixtape, The Greenhouse Effect. I've been anticipating this one for a while, basically because I wanted to see if all the hype is real. I can tell you after a quick spin that shit's legit. Burn one. (Also, this could be the best mixtape cover of the year.)

Snoop and Willie Nelson team up for "My Medicine." This is where the mainstream bloggers say, "Snoop you crazy for this one!" and pretend they are still commenting on hip-hop music. Heh, this is straight-up pop-country. I love it. The truth is, you gotta stay different to stay relevant.

After 6 years R. Kelly has been acquitted of all charges. Does this mean we have to stop masturbating to his sex tape? (Just kidding.)

There's a new RZA track out featuring David Banner. "Straight Up The Block" has got some dope production, and the RZA-recta absolutely slays it on the unorthodox tip. I'm hyped for Digi Snax, which has the potential to be the sleeper album of the year--no joke.

A-Trak has a new mix out. Unfortunately it's sponsored by Nike. He's still a great DJ, though.

Royca Da 5'9" went over "I'm Me" to great effect. Royce knows how to rip it, but this shit doesn't even compare to what Wayne did with this beat.

FADER is all over Young Chris' dick. I'm lukewarm about the new video, but "Never Die" does have a classic feel to it.

Probably the biggest news in rap today is that 3 Stacks jumped on a new track. Yes, that's right, the Prince of the south (think Purple Rain rather than castles and moats) teamed up with John Legend for "Green Light". It's aieet.

The track I'm feeling the most this week is GLC's "Ridin By Yourself", mainly because I've been doing a shitload of that lately. Not the most economical way to travel, but then again I can bump jams like this and keep my shit real.

We'll end with a laugh: check out this behind the scenes footage from the "Out Here Grindin" video. God it's great to see Khaled running around on a treadmill in front of a green screen. This guy is such a schmuck, and yet, like Lil Boosie said, "W-E-T-H-E-B-E-S-T!" Say it with me! Anyone? OK. Sorry.