By Uptin Saiidi

Rabat, Morocco - Rihanna made history on Friday night (May 24) at the kickoff of Morocco's annual Mawazine Music Festival, performing for a crowd of 150,000 -- a new record -- in the country's capital.

The coastal city has been hosting the festival for 12 years, attracting artists from around the world. Rihanna leads the way on this year's lineup of performances, which span nine days and includes Jesse J, Mika, The Jacksons, David Guetta, Enrique Iglesias, Cee-Lo Green, Taio Cruz and more.

Rihanna began her set with recent tracks from Unapologetic, building up to major hits which the crowd -- ranging from small groups of friends and couples, to plenty of families and kids -- waved their hands in the air, many of them mouthing along word for word. Charming her adoring fans with "Morocccooo!" and "I missed you Morocco," Rihanna lit up the crowd with her energy and confidence.

Toward the end of "We Found Love," she jumped off stage to walk alongside the audience, while two enarmous screens showed the crowd gushing. Despite being a global phenomen and having performed in Morocco before, Rih still (supposedly) had the jitters, telling the crowd, "I'm from Barbados, which is such a small place on the map. To come here and be able to do this is blowing my mind right now."

The stage eventually went dark -- with no goodbye from Rihanna, but the crowd knew she'd be coming back. Sure enough, she returned to the sounds of her piano to peform, "Stay," ultimately ending with "Diamonds." Rihanna's next stop is Spain, where she'll continue on her "Diamonds World Tour" heading through Europe, Asia and the Middle East, before ending back in the U.S. this November.

By Rob Markman

Those familiar with Meek Mill?s grind before linking with Rick Ross? MMG, know that the Philadelphia MC came along way. Once one of Philly?s most-feared battle rappers, Meek grew to make an impact on the mixtape game and now stands as one of hip-hop?s brightest stars. So when Meek says that there?s different "levels" to this game, he?s experienced it first-hand.

On Saturday (May 25) the chief Dream Chaser gave blogger and marketing figure Karen Civil first crack at premiering his new single "Levels" on her KarenCivil.com website. "Lil n---a we don?t rock the same clothes, f--k the same hoes ?cause there?s levels to this sh--," Meek begins the hook on his Cardo-produced single.

For the duration of the dark and thumping track Meek finds different and clever ways to separate himself from his rap competition. "Damn Tommy, you ain?t got no job/ DC we the muthaf--kin? mob/ Young n---as gettin? straight to the money, in the range with your honey/ I pull up like I," he spits.

What do you think of Meek Mill?s "Levels" track? Let us know in the comments!

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy

Trinidad James made "Popped a Molly, I'm sweating" into one of hip-hop's biggest phrases over the past year. In light of a harsh critique by DJ A-Trak on hip-hop's love affair of drugs published in the Huffington Post, the "All Gold Everything" rapper is coming out and defending his right to do drugs.

In a recent interview with XXL, Trinidad was asked about his role in promoting drug use. He stated that "doing drugs is not right" but didn't take responsibility for what other people do.

"Honestly man, life is based on moderation. Anything that you do, you have to do it in moderation," he explained. "People overdo it and it turns into people OD?ing or dying, but it?s all about how extreme you go with it. Some artists have made some of their most incredible music on drugs, so for me to say that drugs are messing up hip-hop, I?m not going to say that. It?s just that some people really believe so much of what we say, and people honestly don?t understand moderation."

Trinidad also revealed his own drug use and relationship with marijuana. "Yeah, I mean, I could stop smoking weed right now if I had to, but there?s no reason for me to stop. I do it because it?s good for me." He said that rappers aren't responsible for other people's personal choices and blasted those who do overdose, dubbing them as "weak-minded." "But at the end of the day, it?s all about moderation and you being your goddamn self. Don?t blame no rapper."

Last year, RapFix explored hip-hop's fascination with Molly or MDMA. "It brought Molly to the forefront. I think you helped elevate Molly," Sway told Trinidad about the impact of his "All Gold Everything." Trinidad joked that people often "blame it on Trinidad" when they want to experiment with the drug.

Kendrick Lamar recently featured the message "Death to Molly" in a faux funeral service scene in his "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" music video, leading many to believe that K Dot was speaking out against the drug.

"Sometimes you have the trends that's not that cool," Kendrick explained to MTV News after he came off stage at the recent Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. "You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don't really have that lifestyle and then it gives off the wrong thing. And it becomes kinda corny after a while," he stated, without pointing the finger at any artist in particular.

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy

RiFF RAFF is one of hip-hop's most controversial new artists. The over-the-top personality has won hearts with his charisma, but he's also been criticized for being a contrived caricature. Recently, RiFF RAFF addressed the critics and defended his style on NYC's Hot 97 morning show.

"Now am I flamboyant? Am I over the top? Maybe?The sh-t I?m doing ain?t a joke,? RiFF RAFF told the crew of Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg's show. Station Program Director and panel member Ebro Darden, who claimed he knew "nothing" about RiFF RAFF, compared him to 90's white rapper Vanilla Ice. RiFF responded to the shot by stating that he was nothing like the "Ice Ice Baby" rapper.

?I can remember being a kid and watching Vanilla Ice and it made me smile?I love it. I love that,? he said. ?I can remember seeing Vanilla Ice and then through time he stopped being Vanilla Ice?This ain?t about Vanilla Ice, this about me. And I?m that one. I do trap music. I do all that sh-t. I do whatever I feel like doing cause it?s in my brain. I don?t got nobody writing my lyrics and that?s why I freestyle.?

Earlier this year, RiFF RAFF got into it with actor James Franco for playing what appeared to be a parody of him in the movie, "Spring Breakers."

?Where my lawyer at? James Franco bought the RiFF RAFF Halloween costume and he decided to glue it to his body,? RaFF said. ?Man, it?s like people crazy and then people shooting and stuff and then, I pull up in the car, I mean James Franco pull up in the car, and then Gucci Mane?not in the movie enough?he pull up in the tangerine Lambo, but it?s supposed to be more Lambos cause I?m supposed to pull up beside him and then the movie ends and I don?t know what else happened cause I?m waiting for part two still.?

By Maurice Bobb

The UK?s Tim Westwood?s hip-hop time capsule was opened Friday (May 24) by Fake Shore Drive and a rare visual treasure was unearthed: a never-before-seen 13-minute freestyle by Kanye West from 2005.

Earmuffed with headphones and mic?d up, Yeezy nodded his head and went off the cuff to the instrumentals of classic songs that he produced: The Game?s ?Dreams,? Jay-Z?s ?Encore? and Common?s ?The Corner.?

?Ye went in on a variety of topics, including African conflict diamonds, ?I?m talking about people dying for diamonds,? his own superior skills behind the boards, ?I?m out in UK, and I ask ?em who?s the best and they say You, K? and, of course, his abilities to spit shots straight from the dome, ?And anybody that freestyle on the level that I do, should be winning Grammy?s too.?

This was ?05, so the Late Registration MC plugged his top-charting single, ?Gold Digger,? amongst playfully arrogant lines like, ?You can look at my pants and tell that I?m cocky.?

The most impressive portion of the session, though, was when the Louis Vuitton Don took a text message from the girl sitting next to him and used it in a freestyle with giddy aplomb.

?She writing you on one of these hip hop shows/maybe you wondering if she a hip hop ho,? he rapped before waving off any implied disrespect.

Still going strong, the Yeezus rapper used the closing lines of his freestyle to advise would be rappers on how to make a decent album.

?Take time to drop a album, don?t just be buying beats from everybody, cause everybody ain?t got it/I got it, I get it, I give it to those who really live it/like Jay-Z, the Game and my dogs that really did it/like Kweli, like Common and dudes that really spit it/I?m talking about they go into the radio and hit it,? he continued, before admonishing rappers for keeping it cliché.

?You be doing everything that everybody else is on, man/I?m a break it down, let me take it down, here go the instructions of how to not say nothing/look, you take the crack concept and you do that til it?s all dead and gone/you do it all wrong.?

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy

French Montana released his debut album Excuse My French this week and projections for his first-week sales are already coming in. According to Hits Daily Double, the album is slated to sell 45-50,000 copies in its first week, giving French the #7 album of the week.

In comparison, Hits estimates that Daft Punk's Random Access Memories will take the #1 slot with an estimated 300-325,000 units sold. If these estimates are accurate, French will have the highest-charting new rap album of the week.

When asked about how many albums he'd have to sell in order to be personally happy, French told men's lifestyle site Ask Men that the number itself didn't matter.

"Um, honestly, I really believe it?s not what you sell, but where you end up at. I feel like it doesn?t matter how much I sell; I know what kind of product I have," he shared. He added that his album was "legendary" and "I know it?s going to last forever. I know once people hear it, people will be like, 'Damn. This is really it.'"

The Bronx rapper also compared his album to other artists who initially started off slow sales-wise and built up their commercial success over time. "Look at Akon. He sold 17,000 first week; he ended up selling five million copies. Look at Shaggy. He sold 10,000 and ended up at 10 million," French explained.

French joined DJ Drama, Fat Joe and more on the Rap Fix Live couch this week for an all-star fete.

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy

French Montana released his debut album Excuse My French this week and projections for his first-week sales are already coming in. According to Hits Daily Double, the album is slated to sell 45-50,000 copies in its first week, giving French the #7 album of the week.

In comparison, Hits estimates that Daft Punk's Random Access Memories will take the #1 slot with an estimated 300-325,000 units sold. If these estimates are accurate, French will have the highest-charting new rap album of the week.

When asked about how many albums he'd have to sell in order to be personally happy, French told men's lifestyle site Ask Men that the number itself didn't matter.

"Um, honestly, I really believe it?s not what you sell, but where you end up at. I feel like it doesn?t matter how much I sell; I know what kind of product I have," he shared. He added that his album was "legendary" and "I know it?s going to last forever. I know once people hear it, people will be like, 'Damn. This is really it.'"

The Bronx rapper also compared his album to other artists who initially started off slow sales-wise and built up their commercial success over time. "Look at Akon. He sold 17,000 first week; he ended up selling five million copies. Look at Shaggy. He sold 10,000 and ended up at 10 million," French explained.

French joined DJ Drama, Fat Joe and more on the Rap Fix Live couch this week for an all-star fete.

By Maurice Bobb

May 24 is turning out to be a very big day for Ludacris. Not only does his summer blockbuster, "Fast & Furious 6," hit theaters today, but his mixtape, DTP Presents: I Don?t Give a F?k, also dropped today.

"My new mixtape #IDGAF Drops in 3 hours on @DatPiff and my new movie #Fast6 is in theaters today!! RT," the "Southern Hospitality" MC tweeted.

My new mixtape #IDGAF Drops in 3 hours right here--> piff.me/f82f619 on @datpiff and my new movie #Fast6 is in theaters today!! RT

— Ludacris (@Ludacris) May 24, 2013

Luda?s latest is a 10-track sonic appetizer meant to satisfy his fans before the full course meal, Ludaversal, his upcoming eighth studio LP, drops this fall.

?Basically, I put this mixtape out as an appreciation for all the fans that?s been supporting me for over a decade,? ?Cris told Rap-Up TV. "My album Ludaversal will be out sometime in the fall, around September."

On IDGAF, the Conjure liquor mogul is joined by fellow Atlantan Young Jeezy for ?Raised in the South? and Meek Mill, Chris Brown, Swizz Beats and Pusha T for ?Mad Fo.?

Reviews are still rolling in on Luda?s new release, but critics are already predicting that his ?Fast 6? film will run laps around the competition for the top spot in ticket sales during the all-important Memorial Day weekend.

Download IDGAF on DattPiff.com.

By Maurice Bobb

Yasiin Bey is a true hip-hop activist, so to shed light on the NYPD?s racist ?Stop & Frisk? practices, the artist formerly known as Mos Def, in collaboration with Communities United for Police Reform, put together a public service announcement video called ?Don?t Tread On Me? to get the word out and urge the community to get involved in the fight to end racial profiling by police.

In the three-minute clip, which begins with the line ?Stop & Frisk Is An Everyday Reality For Thousands of New Yorkers,? a montage of disturbing images of police stopping minority citizens flashes as an original Bey beat plays in the background. The OMFGOD MC can be seen playing the piano rapping the ?Don?t tread on me? refrain, as important arrest statistics ("533,042 stops in 2012") and messages ("Our communities are under siege") are delivered via words and images. One police officer with a blurred-out face gives his account of being forced to participate in the NYPD?s racial profiling initiative.

?People don?t like police because of the harassment,? the officer said. ?And what civilians don?t understand is that the police department is forcing us to do these unreasonable stops.?

CPR is pushing for legislation that would substantially reduce the number of encounters between police and residents that are based on profiling and discrimination. NYC?s historic, nine-week long, "Stop-and-Frisk" trial, Floyd v. City of New York, ended this week, however, Judge Scheindlin, who ruled it ?unconstitutional to stop and frisk someone simply for being in a so-called high-crime area,? won?t issue her decision in the case for a few months.

For more information about CPR?s initiative or to be part of the movement, please log on to changethenypd.org.