By Rob Markman

We didn’t know that UCLA was handing out phD’s (player hater degrees), but apparently some of the student body are upset that Diddy’s son Justin Combs earned himself a full athletic scholarship. Local taxpayers and other naysayers point to the Bad Boy CEO’s bank account, saying that Puff doesn’t need the financial assistance and can foot the bill for tuition with no prob.

In November, the news broke that Justin Combs had accepted a full merit-based scholarship to play football for UCLA. But now, some local taxpayers and students are questioning whether the $ 54,000 scholarship is fair considering that Justin’s dad topped Forbes’ wealthiest hip-hop artists list last month after it was reported that he was worth more than half a billion dollars.

“UCLA’s athletic department needs to consider the fact that perhaps there is another athlete on the football team who could perhaps really use this scholarship,” UCLA student Neshemah Keetin told Los Angeles’ CBS News affiliate. “Just being considerate that [with] our economy, students are trying to get to college through athletics and academics as well.”

Once the news broke last year, a proud Puff Daddy issued a statement in support of his son. At that point, Justin’s detractors hadn’t voiced their displeasure. “As a parent, today is one of the proudest moments of my life. This is everything a father could want for his son, for him to excel at what he loves to do and is truly passionate about,” he said. “Justin is a shining example of what hard work, determination and a strong mentality can achieve. I am honored to call him my son and am happy that he is fulfilling his dream.”

Justin graduated with a 3.75 GPA from Iona Prep high school in New Rochelle, New York, where he was a top-rated cornerback. He received scholarship offers from state universities in Illinois, Virginia and Wyoming. During a CNN interview, the network’s education contributor Dr. Steve Perry defended the young athlete. “He’s done what he needs to do to be successful, and in a meritocracy we have to accept that no matter who your father is, whether he be rich, poor or absent, that you can in fact be successful on your own merit,” he said. “There’s nothing free about a Division I athletic scholarship. It’s 40 hours-plus of work on campus every single week in order to maintain that scholarship.”

UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez echoed Perry’s sentiment, explaining that the scholarship was based on Combs’ talent on the football field and not his financial need. “Athletic scholarships, such as those awarded to football or basketball players, do not rely on state funds. Instead, these scholarships are entirely funded through UCLA Athletics ticket sales, corporate partnerships, media contracts and private donations from supporters.”

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Spitta brings in P who borrows the melody from “O-O-H Child” for the chorus on this latest Stoned Immaculate drop.

Previously: Snoop & Curren$ y Talk Trees

Nah Right

Kendrick Lamar is prepping his major label debut via Aftermath/Interscope/TDE, and the first single he released from the LP was the Dr. Dre-featured “The Recipe” in April. K. Dot joined Dre at Coachella to perform the single and this week they were out in Los Angeles filming the accompanying video.

Kendrick’s fellow Black Hippy members SchoolBoy Q and Ab-Soul joined him on set, and Schoolboy shared a few Instagram photos. The shoot was set poolside, on one of Los Angeles’ rolling hills. True to the song’s chorus, there plenty of women, the weather looked beautiful, but we can’t speculate on the weed.

In June, Kendrick will head out on tour with Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller on their Under the Influence of Music tour. “Man I’m anticipating a whole bunch of energy. They gonna let me down if I don’t get the energy,” Kendrick Lamar told MTV News over the phone on April 17, the same day the tour was announced. “I gotta get a whole bunch of wild mother–kers who just wanna party and hear good music.”

“I like to look mother–kers dead in their eye and get the response that I’m looking for and make them believers,” he said, of his performances. “Even the folks that don’t know Kendrick Lamar music, once I make that connection on stage and bring those songs to life, they will eventually be in support of the whole movement.”

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By Rob Markman

Pusha T’s recent single “Exodus 23:1″ really rubbed Lil Wayne the wrong way, but if lines on the track were aimed at anyone in particular, producer Rico Beats says he wasn’t aware of it.

“Honestly, when we were in the room listening to that record, I didn’t hear none of these guys’ names brought up,” Rico told MTV News on Wednesday of rumors that Pusha was taking shots at Drake and Lil Wayne on the track. “It was none of that. Dream got in his zone and he went in the booth. Pusha got his pen, like I didn’t hear nobody mentioned.”

On the track, the Clipse rapper spits, “You signed to one n—a, that’s signed to another n—a, that’s signed to three n—as now that’s bad luck,” a verse that many fans thought targeted the two rappers and their YMCMB squad. Wayne took immediate offense to the song, tweeting, “F– pusha t and anybody that love em,” and firing back with his dis song “Ghoulish” two days after.

But before making the beat for “Exodus 23:1,” Rico says that the only instruction he received from Pusha was to make him something with a dark sound. He immediately went to work and found inspiration in Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 underground favorite “What’s Beef,” which he sampled from and then built his sounds around.

“Pusha kept tellin’ me, ‘I need something dark, man. The album sounds crazy, but I still need somethin’ for my fans’. So I was like, ‘I got you, give me by six o’clock,’ ” Rico recalled. “I went down to the studio and I was just listening to Biggie. I was just playin’ pure Biggie. So ["What's Beef"] came on and once I heard [B.I.G.'s] ‘ha-ha-ha-ha’ [vocal] I was like, ‘Oh sh–’.”

If Pusha’s “Exodus” left things up to interpretation, Weezy’s dis did not. On “Ghoulish,” Tunechi took direct aim with lines like “Brrrr, what happened to that boy/ He was talkin’ sh– we put a clappin’ to that boy” making direct reference to Birdman and Pusha’s 2002 single “What Happened to That Boy.”

Rico, a Brooklyn native, says he hasn’t heard Wayne’s record in its entirety, but did admit that it was playing in the background during a Memorial Day weekend barbecue. And while he doesn’t know whether Pusha plans to respond, the producer confirmed that he and the Virginia lyricist will collaborate more in the future, as he is slated to produce about half of Pusha’s next solo album.

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By Carter Maness

Odd Future Records, the umbrella label for releases from the controversial hip-hop collective Odd Future, has announced the signing of brutal Sacramento hardcore band Trash Talk. The raw, intense group, known for its short energetic songs, will release a new album, 119, this fall as joint release between Odd Future Records and the band’s personal Trash Talk Collective imprint.

Why venture outside the rap world and sign a hardcore punk band? OF-associate L-Boy was frank when explaining the deal. “So them muthafu—- ova at Odd Future records done signed a fu—- group of crackas and ni—- in a hardcore punk band called Trash Talk,” he wrote in an expletive-filled press release. “It mean it makes sense since Odd Future fans is them white ni—- anyway.”

Snotty language aside, the signing harkens back to early hip-hop culture where ideas from punk, rap and subcultures like skateboarding were routinely interconnected. Trash Talk, like Odd Future, is known for rowdy, sometimes-violent shows and received both fan and critical acclaim for their Awake EP, which was released last year.

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