Wonder what the #1 major hip-hop label is cooking up for the Summer? I snuck into Def Jam’s secret safe, via telekinetic movement, to find out. Just for you. Here’s Def Jam’s Summer lineup for 2008.

• Karina - First Love - August 19th, 2008
  16 @ War is a solid single, but Def Jam’s latest songbird will have to drop an entire album’s worth of decent music to win me over.

• LL Cool J - Exit 13 - July 8th, 2008
  Uncle Todd is still bringing that fiyah!, even if his antics are getting a bit annoying.

• Nas - Nas - July 1st, 2008
  Nasir has already gathered significant momentum for this album, so anything short of a classic will probably dent his reputation.

• Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman - August 8th, 2008
  Another Ne-Yo album? Does anyone even remember the last one?

• Razah - Razah - July 8th, 2008
  Razah needs to give Rizoh a shout so we can do a collabo. We’ll have RZA produce it.

• Rihanna - Good Girl, Gone Bad [CD/DVD] Reloaded - June 17th, 2008
  I dug GGGB, but this is a blatant attempt to sell us the same thing twice. Boooo!

• Young Jeezy - The Recession - July 29th, 2008
  Yeeeeeaaah!

Which ones are you excited about?

Rih Rih breaking it off at Glow in the Dark.

Kanye’s Glow in the Dark Tour will feature Rihanna, N.E.R.D., and Lupe Fiasco. I’m looking forward to the Houston event.

Consult the complete tour schedule below to see if the gang is coming to a hood near you. (more…)

Coming from a guy who never really understood the whole anti-big-forehead campaign, take this with a large grain of salt.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I’m aware that Rihanna’s vocal range is ridiculously shallow, but that’s all “Umbrella” needed–for Rih to remain in her comfort zone. Minimalist pop music at its best. I don’t need these pop crooners getting all melismatic in my ear all the time. Sometimes, less is more.

For his part, Hov does nothing to add or detract from this track. In fact, whenever “Umbrella” comes on, I usually forget that he had anything to do with it until I’m painfully reminded by that uninspired verse of his. Still, the man deserves some points on effort, if only for his ability to bob and weave on an instro that’s neither hip-hop nor R&B. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that he’s presence was irrelevant, seeing as “Umbrella” and its gajillions of remixes helped land Rih-Rih her best first week figures. Ever.

Maybe it’s the fact that she’s finally embraced her weaknesses as a vocalist by redirecting her energy elsewhere to melody and warmth.

Either way, “Umb-a-rella” reigns.

Freeway & Jay-Z - Big Spender

Rihanna & Jay-Z - Umbrella (Travis Barker “Remix”)

WC & The Game - Voodoo (Radio Rip from Power 106)

East Coast + Pop + West Coast = Balance ;-D

- Ivan

Rizoh returns in 4 days…

Jay manages to bolster this single without necessarily stealing Rih-Rih’s sunshine in the clip.

Now, I wonder if Jennifer Hudson would be kind enough to let Rihanna borrow her McDonald’s pass for 3 months, because she could definitely use a few hamburgers.

Download the video for free at ThisIsRihanna.com

More photos at Oh-Rihanna.com