NEW YORK (Billboard) – "Empire State of Mind" has been a chart-topping hit for Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, spending five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. The No. 1 anthem is also responsible for reigniting the singing aspirations of songwriter/producer Angela Hunte, who penned and produced "Empire" with writing partner Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic. It all started with a bad case of homesickness.

"My writing partner and I were

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Jay-Z earned his fourth No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday with "Empire State of Mind," his collaboration with Alicia Keys.

All of Jay-Z's four chart-toppers have been collaborations, but this is his first No. 1 as a lead or co-billed vocalist. His prior chart-topping entries came as a featured vocalist on Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker" (1999), his now-wife Beyonce's "Crazy

Electro duo Empire Of The Sun dress like Adam Ant and borrow their name from the film that launched the career of Christian Bale. But don't let their at best dubious choice of influences put you off. Their talent is undoubtable and this album sounds like an instant classic.

This is the sound of the Noughties – electro enough without being harsh, interesting without being over-cool, quirky without being weird. Empire Of The

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lil Wayne has been sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty in a New York City gun case.

The Grammy Award-winning rapper was taken away in handcuffs Monday to start serving his term immediately after his sentencing. He pleaded guilty in October to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and admitted having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007.

He'll serve his sentence in city

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lawyers for legendary music producer Phil Spector have asked an appellate court to throw out his second-degree murder conviction on grounds of judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct.

In an extremely detailed 148-page brief filed Wednesday, the attorneys cited multiple reasons they believe Spector was denied his right to a fair trial. They asked the California Second District Court of Appeal

NEW YORK – Jennifer Lopez is off of Sony's block.

The singing and acting diva has confirmed she has split from Sony Music after more than a decade. Sony's Epic Records put out her first CD, "On The 6," in 1999. Since then, she's sold millions, but also had a couple of CDs with disappointing sales.

A new album called "Love?" was due to be released by the label this spring. But in a statement released Tuesday night,

NEW YORK – A Florida woman has sued rapper 50 Cent in Manhattan, claiming he unlawfully distributed her homemade sex tape over the Internet after editing himself into it as a wig-wearing narrator.

Lastonia Leviston filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Manhattan claiming unauthorized use of her name or image as well as emotional distress caused by the public release of the tape she made with a lover in 2008.

The lawsuit