On Tuesday, we shared some of Tinie Tempah’s thoughts on mentally transitioning from the UK to the US as an up-and-coming artist in the hectic world of hip-hop. Because the London native goes back and forth across the pond so frequently, we also asked Tinie to give us a cheat sheet of sorts, helping to get us looped-in to the who’s who of British rap. Check out his list of personal favorites below, because after all, you never know if one of these guys might be next.

GIGGS (IF YOU LIKE: Gucci Mane)
“Definitely be on the lookout for Giggs, he’s doing his thing,” preached Tinie. After collaborating with B.o.B and a slew of other big-name British rappers, Giggs continues spitting coke-rap bars for days. Style-wise, Tinie compared him to both Young Jeezy and Gucci; embodying the hustler image, Giggs served a two-year bid for a gun charge back in 2003, but inked with XL Recordings (see: M.I.A., Tyler, The Creator, Dizzee Rascal) to distribute his third solo LP next year off of self-made label, SN1 Entertainment.

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When we first heard “This City”, the new single from Patrick Stump‘s forthcoming solo album Soul Punk, we realized it was entering an exclusive club. The song, which premiered on the A.V. Club and features Lupe Fiasco, is an ode to the city of Chicago, an underheralded American metropolis if there ever was one (musically, anyway). Certainly, the Second City has its regional anthems, like the Chicago-house dyad of “Can You Feel It” and “The Percolator” (not to mention Frankie Knuckles tracks like “Your Love,” which was sampled for Animal Collective‘s “My Girls”) and the gotta-dance juke-gone-pop freakout of Dude ‘N Nem‘s “Watch My Feet.” But while New York City, for example, has been a musical muse to practically everyone from Tin Pan Alley to the present (including the band Chicago), the city of Chicago is, for its size, lacking in crowd-unifying refrains.

Which is not to say that there are none. Chicagoans need not resort to the Chi-town rework of LMFAO‘s “I’m In Miami, Trick”; there is a small but significant pantheon of Chicago songs, which Stump’s new single joins:

5. Sufjan Stevens, “Chicago”
The centerpiece of Sufjan Stevens‘s 2005 concept album about Illinois, aptly titled Illinois, “Chicago” quickly became a fan favorite that closed out the artist’s live sets, despite never being a “single” as such. Stevens would release three alternate versions of the song on the b-sides collection The Avalanche. The song resonated outside the city as well: Snow Patrol mentioned the song in the lyrics of their own “Hands Open,” Little Miss Sunshine featured the song on its soundtrack, and Chiddy Bang sampled it for “All Things Go.”

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The highlights of last night’s MTV Movie Awards may largely have been Robert Pattinson-related, but there were a couple of great musical performances, too—like the Foo Fighters, above, who played their new single “Walk,” which incidentally has a movie-themed music video. (The band has played the show before, closing out 2005′s musical performances with “Best of You.”)

Later in the show Lupe Fiasco and Trey Songz performed a two-song medley: performing not only their collaboration “Out of My Head” (Lupe’s latest single) together live for the first time, but also the earlier Lupe single “The Show Goes On,” with Trey Songz handily supplying JR Get Money‘s “Float On” chorus.

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Everyone has their favorites when it comes to the competition for this year’s Grammys categories. During the next two weeks, we’ll list the artists that are up for an award, and you can watch videos and read news while you weigh in on who you think will take the prize.

This time it’s Rap Song of the Year. Hit the comments field to speak your mind. Is there any chance that Jay-Z could top Lil Wayne this time around? Click the artists’ names for videos, performances, photos, news, tour dates, lyrics, and lots more. The show airs on Sunday, February 8.

BEST RAP SONG

Lil Wayne – “Lollipop”

Flo Rida - “Low”

Snoop Dogg – “Sexual Eruption”

Jay-Z – “Swagga Like Us”

Lupe Fiasco – “Superstar”

Watch videos by this year’s Grammy nominees

Check our photo gallery of all the Grammy nominees and their categories

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After days of dropping hints, Kanye West has revealed he’s hitting the road on his “Glow In The Dark” tour. Ye showed off his Tron-like transformation in his tour poster on his blog last night, but failed to include tour dates. Also traveling with the College Dropout are Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. This isn’t the first time Kanye’s gotten together with Lupe and Pharrell — the trio formed a rap supergroup this past summer, releasing a single under the name the Child Rebel Soldiers. Hopefully they’ll find some time to work on the rumored album.

Movie premieres, awards shows, benefit concerts, and plain old clubbin’ – even though most of us are at home, the beautiful peeps are living it up somewhere. About Last Night puts you in touch with all the action.

The mtvU Woodie Awards was chock-full of all your favorite pop and indie musicians. The role call included Rilo Kiley, Gym Class Heroes, Talib Kweli, Fallout Boy, The Academy Is…, Boys Like Girls, Motion City Soundtrack, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Spank Rock, Stella by Starlight, Say Anything, Tim William, and Tokyo Police Club.