• Dearest Terrence Howard is dropping his album in stores this week. Is it worth the money in these trying economic times? [SB]

• Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot early this morning. He's in critical condition. [Bossip]

• The photos here speak for themselves. [NB]

• If this guy can do it, why can't we all have cars that get 100 mpg? [9News]

• T-Pain has incurred the wrath of Kirk Franklin. [C&D]

With five nods, T-Pain leads in the list of 2008 BET Award nominees, which were announced on 106 & Park. When T-Pain leads in nominations, that clearly says something about the state of music and the state of BET.

"T-Pain is everywhere," BET Executive Vice President Stephen Hill told The Associated Press. "He's got five nominations, none of them for his own work. He's had a great year; he's introduced a new element." That new element being not actually needing to sing in order to become wildly successful.

Kanye West was nominated for three awards. If BET knows what's good for them, they'll give him at least one of them.

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Usher and Michael Jackson, who performed together (see above) at Jackson's 30th anniversary special in 2001, are collaborating on a song with T-Pain for Usher's new album.

“It’s been created, but it’s not recorded," Usher explained to the newspaper. "And as long as Michael is open to it, hey, anything goes.”

The track would be featured on Usher's upcoming album, which he says will be out early next year.

“I’ve been diligently working on creating a masterpiece," he said of the project. "It’s going to be out first or maybe the second quarter. I see the second quarter of next year. And there will be a video and single out at the top of the year. … I think [Atlanta producer] Polow Da Don is going to have the first one. I think that’s going to be the single 'Love In The Club.'”

Usher's also been buzzing about fatherhood and his son, who he predicts will be a "ladykiller," just like his dad. Or just like his dad was until he met his career-killer wife.

Donda would be proud. Surely, Kanye West would trade in a million awards for a chance to have his mother by his side again, but the fact that he leads the Grammy pack with eight nominations, including album of the year, should definitely brighten his spirits. With six nominations, Amy Winehouse comes in second. One can only hope that she can actually make it to the awards.

Jay-Z and T-Pain (and his voice-altering software?) are close behind with five nominations each. And the Record of the Year battle will be between Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce's "Irreplacable," (among others). Check out the full list of nominations after the jump.

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Good news for T-Pain: His hit single "Buy You A Drank" is the best-selling ringtone of the year!

Bad news for T-Pain: He's in a Tallahassee jail due to outstanding warrants.

Bittersweet news for T-Pain: At least it's not a Tallahassee boot camp. [AHH]

T-Pain's new video for his song "Church" seems sort of pointless and confusing. But then again, those are two words I would use to describe the man himself.

After watching it, I did come away with one thought. He is even less attractive as a white man than he is as a black man, and I didn't think that was possible.

[C&D]

MTV, in all of it's infinite power, has amassed a pretty hefty collection of quotes from performers and heavyweights in the music biz about the state of R. Kelly and how they feel about the longest child pornography scandal in the history of child pornography scandals. And like, T-Pain, they aren't really stressing it. Like, at all.

"He feels he didn't do anything wrong, so why should it be any other way?" Swizz Beatz said. "If he did something wrong, then you go into hiding. He's just making good music…"

"People are just like, 'Eh,' " Billboard senior chart manager Raphael George said. "He seems no different than any other celebrity who's gotten caught up in some kind of scandal."

When asked about the situation, many people might as well have been following a script: It's R. Kelly's personal problem.

"I think people put away the personal life and what they see is the entertainer," Chris Brown said. "So I differentiate between the two."

"I've struggled a lot too, but I've made it through," Keyshia Cole said.

"Everyone has their demons. Who doesn't have their scandal?" Fergie asked.

I don't mean to nitpick, but, well, quite a few people don't have scandals, at least not on the level of R. Kelly's. It goes to show that if you make some hyper-sexual, derogatory songs interspersed with inspirational ditties and humorous YouTube epics, America will forgive you for anything.

[MTV]

Despite my less-than-enthusiastic feelings about T-Pain, I like this song and video, even though the latter comes off as an "I'm too busy right now to shoot a serious video, so why don't we add some animation" sort of thing. No matter. Rumors are swirling that Kanye (and possibly even Kenny Chesney) are on track to whup 50's ass. Welcome to the good life.

Just in time for back to school, Chris Brown's new video for "Kiss, Kiss" is set at a college, although I doubt he has any intention of ever actually attending one. I don't know. It's cute, but T-Pain's enthusiasm annoys me, if that makes any sense. As always, it will make the kiddies happy, and that's what matters when you're Chris Brown.

T.I. reigns supreme on the Billboard charts this week, with his album selling 175,000 copies on top of the 468,000 he sold in his debut week. Last week's other chart topper, Kelly Rowland, sunk to No. 13, followed by T-Pain and Rihanna at Nos. 17 and 18. Check out the Billboard top ten after the jump.

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When a 14-year-old whose father is responsible for the "Achy Breaky Heart" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, all of the artists in her wake should be ashamed. Especially Kelly Clarkson.

Miley Cyrus and Kelly Clarkson's albums bumped any semblance of color out of the top 5 percent of the Billboard 200, but T-Pain was close behind at No. 11, followed by Rihanna at 14, R.Kelly at 15, and Fabolous at 17. More after the jump.

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Diddy puts on a show of how good of a father is while simultaneously bragging about how rich he is. Always a multitasker. [SR]

The gayest moments in hip hop. The gayest moments in R&B, starring T-Pain and Ray J, are up coming up. [CC]

The autopsy results of Tony Thompson, whose death rocked the worlds of all black kids raised in the 90s, show he died from an accidental overdose while huffing Freon. [Vibe]

You didn't think she was gonna let him have a bachelor's party alone did you? [People]

Whoopi Goldberg stood in line with the rest of the non-celebrity class for her iPhone. [SP]

Chrisette Michele, the lovely crooner whose video I showed you a week ago, debuted way, way up the charts at No. 29. Blame Def Jam's promotion budget. Or just blame Jay-Z's inattentiveness.

Either way, Chrisette Michele did not even come close to knocking it out of the park with her debut CD, I Am. Instead, we have a bunch of the usual suspects in the top spots of the Billboard 200, including T-Pain at No. 10, Fabolous at No. 9, and the resilient (both of body and of record sales) Amy Winehouse. Check out the stats after the jump.

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Bye bye, T-Pain. You too, Rihanna. There's a new chart topper in town, and his name is Toby Keith. Unfortunately for Fabolous, his album, From Nothin' to Somthin was released the same week as a country super star's, and he ended up debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 159,000 albums sold. T-Pain and Rihanna's reign at the top was short and sweet — they ended up at #5 and #7 respectively. Check out the rest of the top 10 here.

She's an international superstar, but Rihanna still couldn't top T-Pain in her opening weekend.

Really? I guess a lot of shawtys are in the market for dranks these days. The Florida "singer" sold 171,000 to Rihanna's 162,000. Paul McCartney rounded out the top three to boot R.Kelly's invincible ass down to fourth place. Still, he sold 121,000. Check out the top 10 albums after the jump.

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