Kanye declines debate as Sept. 11 nears

In a showdown that will surely be hyped to do death between now and then, both Kanye West and 50 Cent are set to release their new albums on Sept. 11. Exploitation of tragic dates aside, the two artists have vowed to outdo the other, and BET tried to capitalize on the clash.

BET's 106th & Park offered to host a debate between the two rappers, and while 50 Cent accepted, predicting that West would decline, West did just that. Calling it "the stupidest thing," West said, "What am I going to debate about? I'm going to go in the studio and make music. With 50's album dropping and my album dropping on the same day, everybody wins because you get a lot of good music at the same time."

West also unveiled the tracklist for the new album, Graduation (listed below), as well as the cover art. Mos Def is featured on two tracks, including one called "Drunk and Hot Girls," and Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco join him for "CRS."

Graduation tracklist:

1. Good Morning

2. Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin)

3. Stronger

4. Champion

5. Good Life (ft. T-Pain)

6. I Wonder

7. Even More Broke Phi Broke (Skit)

8. Can't Tell Me Nothing

9. Drunk and Hot Girls (ft. Mos Def)

10. Everything I Am (scratches by DJ Premier)

11. Good Night (ft. Mos Def & Al Be)

12. Big Brother

13. Graduation (Skit)

14. The Glory

15. CRS (ft. Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell) (pre-order only)

Timbaland talks Madonna album

The music biz has been rife in recent months with reports that Timbaland and Justin Timberlake have been working with Madonna on her forthcoming album. Now Timbaland has spoken with MTV News about the record, confirming the reports and says the duo has produced 10 songs for the album.

"We just did Madonna's record," Timbaland said. "Me and Justin did the records" for the album, he continued. He also said Madonna is almost done with the effort. "She's great. ... She's got a hot album. Her album is up there with Justin's album."

"There's this one song, we taking it back to 'You must be my luck-eee starrrr!'" he continued. "Remember 'Ugly' by Bubba Sparxxx? I got a beat similar to that. The hook is no words. It's saying stuff named after coffee--all these different names for coffee--is the hook. ... The name of the song is 'La, La.' Pharrell did a hot one for her too called 'Candy Shop.' She's off the chain." The album doesn't yet have a title, the producer said, but he and Madonna plan to finish it up in September.

Busta Rhymes sued for assault

He's been dealing with criminal charges related to the incident for the past year, and now Busta Rhyme is facing a civil lawsuit from the man he allegedly beat up for spitting on his car accidentally. In the lawsuit filed yesterday Monday in Manhattan state Supreme Court, Roberto LeBron, 20, charged that he was kicked in the head after an encounter with Rhymes and his nine bodyguards in August 2006.

Lebron, who is seeking unspecified damages in his claim, reportedly spat on a car in the entourage of Rhymes--real name Trevor Smith--as he was leaving a performance on Randall's Island. Rhymes has been in a heap of legal trouble lately facing criminal charges for beating up a former driver in a beef over pay, driving while impaired, and driving with a suspended license.

Lily Allen sees work visa revoked

An alleged assault against a paparazzi last March has Lily Allen dealing with some legal ramifications for her forthcoming US tour. The British pop star had her US work visa canceled after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday for the announcement of the nominees for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

Allen was held at the airport for five hours in connection to the incident and missed the VMA announcement event. But a spokesman for Allen said the issue is being resolved and that her scheduled fall US tour will go on as planned. "She's still in America," the spokesperson said in a statement. "All her commitments will carry on as normal. The work visa will be sorted out by her next visit."

Springsteen piano up for auction

A piano that once belonged to Bruce Springsteen and has been played by the likes of Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Ricky Nelson, Patti Smith, and the Pretenders is up for auction on eBay. An organization that sells rare music- and pop culture-related collectibles, is auctioning off an acoustic piano that was owned by the Boss from 1977 to 1979, when it resided in the New York City apartment he shared with his then-girlfriend, Lynn Goldsmith.

The organization, called the Symbolic Collection, bought the piano from Goldsmith, claimed the piano belonged to Springsteen and then updated its post by saying that Goldsmith was the primary owner. Either way, it's a piece of rock history. The auction starts at $10,000 and is restricted to only preapproved bidders or buyers.

Possible Hitler record collection unearthed

Adolf Hitler will forever be known for his vile hatred of Jews and Russian and his catastrophic acts upon that hatred, but he reportedly didn't let that hatred impact his personal music collection. The New York Times reported today that a nearly 100-record collection belonging to Hitler has been unearthed in the attic of a former Soviet intelligence agent, who left a note saying he took them from Hitler's Chancellery after the fall of Berlin in 1945.

The collection included records from Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Rachmaninov, as well as prominent Russian and Jewish musicians, such as Bronislaw Huberman, a Polish Jewish violinist. The collection was unveiled to German magazine Der Spiegel by Aleksandra Besymenskaya, the daughter of the former Soviet intelligence agent, Lev Besymenski.