Hennessy Artistry 2010 wrapped up in New York City at Cipriani last night, the last stop on the five-city tour of exclusive events featuring an eclectic mix of musical acts.

Now in its fifth year, Hennessy Artistry 2010 did not disappoint. It continues to be an innovative musical platform that blends art, culture and music from emerging performers and the most popular music artists of today, giving fans a once in a lifetime experience all under one roof.

For the first time ever, Hennessy introduced a new component to the series called Artistry GIVES.

The third stop on the 2010 Rock the Bells tour took place at Governors Island in New York City. I was lucky enough to be in attendance and watch some of Hip-Hop’s elite perform their classics in the birth place of rap music–the Big Apple.

Due to issues beyond my control I never got to see DJ Premier or Slick Rick perform which was a major disappointment. However, thanks to Guerilla Union’s head honcho Chang Weisberg I was given the best seat in the house to watch Rakim perform his 1987 classic Paid in Full.

50 Cent wants a competitor, and he wants one now. After the success of his 2007 album face-off with Kanye West ending with Kanye outselling the rapper, 50 Cent is ready for round two but this time with someone new.

As reported, 50 Cent’s album Before I Self Destruct is due in stores on November 23 after receiving numerous push backs that date back to last year. 50 won’t be the only artist releasing an album the week of November 23; Pop artists Lady Gaga and Britney Spears are also scheduled to drop albums that week.

 This song was released back in May. Point blank, this is a great song. What a brilliant strategy from T.I.!  Leave the people with a powerful record that will resonate for the next 6 months when, before you know it, Tip will be outta jail. In fact, T.I. and his people deserve some sort of award for the way they are keeping him in the limelight while in jail and for the masterful handling of Paper Trail. In fact, let’s call it the ‘10x Better Than Karl Rove Award for Music’. It’ll grow on you, don’t worry.