Like so many rappers these days, Ludacris has put out a pro-Obama freestyle. Besides proudly mentioning that Obama has a few of his songs on his iPod, he also said, "Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant." Of course, Barack Obama is being called upon to reject and denounce, this time by Clinton's former national finance co-chair, Yashar Hedayat.

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• A new book, Now the Hell Will Start, is an example of what Spike Lee was talking about the other day. [EW]

• Ludacris and Tommy Lee launch their Green reality show. Is it for the environment or for the green? Maybe both. [SR]

• Thousands of people have downloaded Usher's album illegally! Alert the authorities! [Bossip]

• Maybe LL should give up on the clothing line thing? [HN]

• If you're planning a trip to the Las Vegas 40/40 Club, perhaps you should…not. [C&D]

Today marks the beginning of "Earth Week," and to commemorate we're highlighting some black celebrities who have made publicized efforts to improve or raise awareness about the environment. Maybe next year when I search certain celebs and "green" or "global warming" I come up with a few more hits.

Ludacris, with his eponymous youth charity and new reality show, is the new rapper with the heart of gold. The sometimes actor has signed on to star with Tommy Lee in a reality show called Battleground Earth that will air on the Discovery Networks' new eco-friendly cable channel, Planet Green.

According to Daily Variety, the show will feature Ludacris and Tommy competing in various challenges around the country that highlight green issues. The series will culminate with the two artists meeting up in Los Angeles to headline a concert at the Greek Theater – with proceeds benefiting Griffith Park.

Well, we all knew Ludacris liked the green stuff.

Snoop recently joined Ludacris and 50 Cent in his vocal disapproval of Oprah Winfrey's vocal disapproval of their livelihoods. He's disappointed that Oprah criticized his lyrics on her show without allowing him on to defend himself.

“I really was offended, because I kind of like her,” he said. “Liked her. I’m very articulate, very intellectual. She didn’t even get a chance to even know me.” She might have learned that the rap star is cleaning up his act: His new album, he told reporters, “is for the women.” He said he wanted to “give the ladies something, because I’ve been so mean and so rude.”

Well, he knows he's been mean and rude. And knowing is half the battle. Snoop went on to say that people criticized Jesus all the time, so it is totally fine that they do the same to him. See, Oprah? Articulate and intellectual. Meanwhile, Oprah has no qualms about having Diddy, who clearly has misogynist tendencies, on her show. Although he tends to act very wide-eyed, innocent, and stuttery when he's around older women — check him out on the View sometime — so I don't blame her for being fooled. [NYMag]

In lieu of a traditional Parting Shots — let's face it, it was hard enough coming up with enough stuff for today's other posts — I thought I'd do a little rundown of celebrity-hosted New Year's Eve bashes. You know, the kind where you spend $200 to occupy the same general space as a celebrity, who may or may not exit his or her heavily-guarded VIP area to say Happy New Year to the plebes on the DJ's mic? Whether you all are choosing to ring in the New Year with a quiet evening at home, an intimate house party, or an expensive club bash, I hope you all have a wonderful (safe) night. See you in '08

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Naomi Campbell and Nelson Mandela shared an intimate moment at yesterday's press conference for the 46664 World AIDS Day Concert in South Africa tomorrow. Mandela might be thinking to himself, "If I'm quiet and smile when she talks, maybe she won't throw her Blackberry at my head."

The concert will feature Ludacris, Peter Gabriel, Razorlight, Annie Lennox, Corinne Bailey Rae (if the pictures from the press conference are any indication), and more than forty leading South African musicians.

Terrence "T.P." Howard will never learn. Gabby Union? She's just not that into him. And considering the rumors about how many guys she actually is into, T.P. should probably take that as a major insult.

Spywitnesses at Spotlight Live in Times Square Tuesday say the actor tried to turn up the heat with Gabrielle Union, but she wouldn't simmer. Maybe that's because she's already with the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, not to mention past liaisons with Derek Jeter and Howard's "Crash" co-star Ludacris. She rocked as Diddy took the stage at the industry's weekly karaoke confab in the high-tech club.

On second thought, T.P. probably likes women who don't like him, just because they won't try to have sex with him and break his celibacy vow. I just figured it all out!

[NYDN]

What's up with Beyonce attending every male celebrity's fragrance launch? Is it in some sort of contract somewhere? Anyway, she seems to have settled into the brown — in a good way — and Usher and his mama seem to have settled whatever differences they had involving the new wife, Tameka. Or maybe this means she's out of the picture?

We should be so lucky.

More pics from last night's party after the jump.

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Behind Ludacris' suddenly serious exterior — the short hair, mainly, but that counts as "serious" — lies a man without as much mental power as one would think or hope.

I can't see any other reason why he would think it was appropriate to drop the N-word during his performance at the Dream Concert, which benefited the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial.

Perhaps his manager forgot to brief him ahead of time on protocol to follow when honoring assassinated civil rights heroes.

[NYDN]

Partly because it's kind of the best song ever and partly in celebration of Gabrielle Union (reportedly) doing her thing "Like A Boy" these days with Ludacris and Hill Harper, I bring you Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me."

While Harvard grad Hill Harper can't really be described as a "rough neck brother," I doubt Gabrielle Union is anything like Adina Howard, so it works out well. Alright, so I just wanted to find a reason to play the song. But does one really need a reason for some Thursday morning Adina Howard?

It's bad when I want to turn the video off before they even start playing the song. R. Kelly, Ludacris, and Kid Rock aren't really bringing it, here. At all. If you aren't going to do it right, what's the point of filming a mini-movie instead of a video? Thriller, this is not.

[RTNY]

Last night, stars came out in droves for the Fashion Rocks concert. Most of them looked adorable (see Mary J. Blige in her cute Bonnie & Clyde look) and others need to start looking for new fashion and/or hair stylists. You'll know who I'm talking about.

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The annual West Indian American Day Parade is a huge event in Brooklyn, where I live, and, looking at the photos of all the colorful revelry, I'm sad I missed it. Instead I spent some time with my dear friend in Atlanta, where, at Opera on Sunday night, I had the distinctly interesting experience of standing in close proximity to the (not very tall) person I had written my weekly open letter to the day before. Had I been in a normal state of mind (i.e. had the Grey Goose not had your girl feeling a little too loose for a serious conversation about gender/racial politics), I might have introduced myself and sent Polow here. As it was, he was surrounded by a bevy of women, black ones, believe it or not, who had apparently been deemed submissive enough to share his company.

Also seen (by me) at Opera: A bunch of ATL regulars, Ludacris, and Ne-Yo, who developed an undeniably sour expression on his face when the DJ played a Bobby Valentino song right after his. Could he still be annoyed about this?

After the jump check out more pretty pictures from Labor Day in Brooklyn, since I didn't have a camera to record my Labor Day in ATL. Hope you had a great three-day weekend, too!

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• Professor Ludacris doesn't really have a nice ring to it. [BV]

• Oh, virginity vows. They're so easy to maintain until you start dating Justin Timberlake. And then it's all downhill from there.[SP]

• Chris Brown, next time just say, "No comment." You'll sound more mysterious and less inarticulate. [Bossip]

• Is a non-feminist the same as a racist? And should we be taking feminism (or racism) lessons from a Playboy executive? [Racialicious]

• Totally off topic, but it got me through the day. [SH]