D'Angelo's long awaited comeback to the music scene is approaching its full circle. In his first major interview, the singer is featured in a 6-page spread in the June issue of GQ magazine, and touches upon subjects like ups and downs of his life and career, and also discusses the effect of his "Untitled" video. The conversation is only available by purchasing the physical print version of the magazine, which is on newsstands now. However, you can read some excerpts of the interview below.

D’Angelo on the evil in music:
There’s forces that are going on that I don’t think a lot of motherf-ckers that make music today are aware of,” he says. “It’s deep. I’ve felt it. I’ve felt other forces puling at me.” He stubs out his cigarette and leans toward me, taking my hand. “This is a very powerful medium that we are involved in,” he says gravely.” “I learned at an early age that what we were doing in the choir was just as important as the preacher. It was a ministry in itself. We could stir the pot, you know? The stage is our pulpit, and you can use all of the energy and that music and the lights and the colors and the sound. But you know, you’ve got to be careful.”

Paul Hunter (Director of “Untitled:) on the video being misunderstood:
Most people think the ‘Untitled’ video was about sex, but my direction was completely opposite of that. It was about his grandmother’s cooking. Think of your grandmother’s greens, how it smelled in the kitchen. What did the yams and the fried chicken taste like? That’s what I want you to express.” The video may have looked like foreplay, but it was actually about family, Hunter insists-about intimacy.

Later when I tell D’Angelo this, he says, “It’s so true: We talked about the Holy Ghost and the church before that take. The veil is the nudity and the sexuality. But what they’re really getting is the spirit.

D’Angelo on the effects of the ‘Untitled’ video:

One time I got mad when a female threw money at me onstage, and that made me feel like f-cked-up, and I threw the money back at her. I was like, ‘I’m not a stripper.’

On the last day of the eight-month tour, Questlove says D’Angelo told him, “Yo, man, I cannot wait until this f-cking tour is over. I’m going to go in the woods, drink some hooch, grow a beard, and get fat.” Questlove thought he was joking. “I was like, ‘You’re a funny guy.’ And then it started to happen.That’s how much he wanted to distance himself.”

Source: okayplayer

In full promotional mode, DJ Drama and 50 Cent met up with Peter Rosenberg for an extensive Q&A session. Topics discussed encompass the upcoming Gangsta Grillz mixtape The Lost Tape, the transformation of the music industry, his illness, Nicki MInaj's success, Jay-Z's lyricism, Eminem, and much more. Watch the full conversation above and be on the lookout for The Lost Tape to drop May 22 on Datpiff.com.

As Justin Bieber's manager and professional guiding force, Scooter Braun has become one of the music industry's most sought-after entrepreneurs. Now, the 30-year-old seeks to take his very own Schoolboy Records, a catalog that includes Bieber, Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, and Def Jam signee Asher Roth, to the next level by announcing a label and distribution deal with Universal Music Group. After receiving the SoundWAV Award at the Third Annual FlashFWD Awards last Tuesday (May 15), the Atlanta native spoke to Billboard about his new partnership with UMG chairman Lucian Grainge and how it marks the next step of expanding his multifaceted business.

"My business is a lot of different places - we have a television development company, we have a film development company, we're investing in tech. But Lucian is an incredibly forward-thinking individual who happens to be the chairman of the most powerful music company in the world," says Braun. "And he wants to embrace young people. One of the things he does that I love is, once a month, he tries to bring in interns, temps, anyone from all over the company, and have a lunch with them. Just let them talk about what works, what doesn't work, and… absorb it. He understands that he doesn't want to embrace the old business."

He feels that linking with Grainge will effect a global appeal for the artists.

"If you want to take it to that level where your goal is to make the biggest artists on the planet, you need partners who are going to be in every single marketplace," says Braun. "I knew that when I was a party promoter -- I never threw a party in a marketplace that I didn't know without a partner in that marketplace. You need someone who knows their own backyard."

Big moves in the making.

By now, most of you have seen the newly designed Brooklyn Nets logo, featuring a simplistic black and white spread. Jay-Z recently sat down with MTV to speak on the artwork, as he disclosed the inspiration behind the logo. He aimed at keeping it Brooklyn to the core — not too flashy and something that will withstand the test of time. Press play above to hear Hov dish on the art. Does his explanation change your thoughts on the logo?

Hypebeast sat down with Pharrell Williams for the first part of their Dissecting Creativity film series, now unleashing the second part to the conversation with the icon. The interview begins with Pharrell speaking on his involvement with the Liberatum Hong Kong Festival, an event in which Pharrell was an attending speaker. As the dialogue progresses, Williams speaks towards his early influences and growing up in Virginia Beach as well as his upcoming Rizzoli book, Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Seen. Check it out!

Rad Reef presents "Rare Burn" with host Zachg. It's a new series in which great rappers are invited to great restaurants and talk about food, music, and just about anything else that organically comes up. In this episode Zachg is joined by Kool AD of Das Racist at Hops and Hominy, a new Southern style restaurant in San Francisco. They talk about Kool AD's new mixtape 51, southern food, hebrew rappers and more. Get Kool AD's new mixtape via Mishka.

Following the official announcement of his latest endeavor, the two-day Budweiser Made In America music festival set for Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia, Jay-Z has revealed ambitious plans for this momentous event. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the mogul revealed that he is looking for artists "that embody the American Spirit" and that he will try to convince President Barack Obama to perform at the music fest.

"I'm gonna try. I'm gonna tell you guys right now: I'm gonna give him a call and I'm gonna try to get him to perform – do a little rendition of Al Green – but I doubt it. I think that opens up the political season. He'll be so far into helping the world that he probably won't have time, but I'm absolutely going to ask him."

Watch Obama's performance of "Let's Stay Together" earlier this year above and find further excerpts of the conversation below.

You're curating this festival. Pharrell is curating Karmaloop. Swizz Beatz and Kanye West are doing the same with shoes. When did curation become a buzzword for rap moguls?
It's always been there; it's just that now it's official. You know, we've always been curators of style – that's what music is. We've always been curators of culture, always, by default. It's just that now it's in an official way.

In 2005, you performed the second "I Declare War" concert in Philadelphia, ending your feud with Nas. Is there any chance of you doing the same thing in September and reconciling with Beanie? It's the city of brotherly love, after all.
Um, I dunno. You know, I haven't spoken to Beanie, so I don't know how that plays out. It's kinda, you know. And I'm going on tour tomorrow, to Europe, so I don't know how that works.

What new things are you bringing to the European tour, besides converters for the outlets?
I don't know. I just thought about the flag. It's a major part of the show. We just gonna have to drop the flag everywhere. Everyone has to know we're from America – I hope no one boos us.

There are all of these rumors flying around for who you're working with on Watch the Throne 2. The name Kanye West keeps coming up. How is it different working together in 2012 as opposed to the last go-round?
I don't know. We haven't actually started working on Watch the Throne 2 yet; I had to put that to the side. I had a little interruption on January 7th.

That whole thing.
Yeah, that whole thing. And Kanye's touring, working on G.O.O.D. Music – which I haven't heard, but I heard it's great.

Danny Brown takes us into the real Detroit in this Pitchfork.tv special. We get an in-depth look at the gifted emcee alongside his family, recording new music, performing at Dilla Day and much more. Everything you would want to know about Danny Brown can be learned in this video – it's a cohesive as a 20-minute piece, check it out.

It is always good to see hip-hop emcees showing love and respect to their fellow rhymesayers within the culture. Latest example is Donald Glover aka Childish Gamnino, who recently sat down with Fuse and discussed sampling Donkey Donk for "Eat Your Vegetables" as well as the rap phenomenon called Danny Brown. While talking about the Fool's Gold signee, Gambino states that he is holding the top position in the rap circuit.

"He's one of those guys that's a craftsman. He makes s**t rhyme that doesn't rhyme. Personally, i think he's the best MC in the game right now...He has an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop."

Do you share this view? Discuss below.

Epic news coming from J. Cole today. In an interview with Bootleg Kev for Las Vegas’ Hot 97.5, the North Carolina rapper confirmed a rumored joint album with none other than Kendrick Lamar.

“I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. It's gonna be an album, man. We actually worked, bouncing ideas, which was great. The vibe was so good that it was like, man, that’s absolutely gonna happen. We got maybe four or five songs together.”

Jermaine further delved into subjects like his upcoming solo album and the current 'Hottest MCs In The Game List' as well as joining Drake on his Club Paradise tour. Listen to the entire conversation above and rejoice.