It takes DC rapper Wale two hours to get dressed in the morning, because he takes fashion incredibly seriously. "Sneakerhead" doesn't begin to describe him, or the way he pores over denim styles, cuts and washes. This is not a hobby. This is art.

When he's not making masterpieces in the mirror, Wale is obsessing over sports -- real or pixelated. He's only lost at "NBA 2K9" once since he left for tour (he frequently invites people on to the bus for a challenge), and his win count for the year now hovers around 250. He's into sports so deep that, as he'll tell you, if he weren't all wrapped up in music, he'd be working the athlete beat.

But he is all wrapped up in music. Mark Ronson, who's doing everything he can to pull Wale up, describes the rapper as a "cross between Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco and Nas."

To find out how this fanatic talent -- the same one that spawned "Chillin," featuring Lady Gaga -- grew out of an early obsession with professional wrestling, watch Wale on "The 5," below. Check the "Chillin" video after the jump, and keep an eye out for Wale's Attention: Deficit, due out later this year.

+ Watch "Chillin'," featuring Lady Gaga, after the jump.

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Obviously you've been chugging the Gaga juice, but I hope to hell you've been following Wale (not just on Twitter -- he's @Wale -- but that's good too). The DC rapper/ producer/ mixtape master's got a serious Seinfeld problem (like, WAY worse than your Gossip Girl addiction) and go-go jones, and he's teaming up with Mark Ronson on his debut studio album Attention Deficit, out later this summer.

One of the first singles out the gate and straight into your brain: "Chillin'," and while the chick on the hook sounds a lot like M.I.A., it's actually Lady Gaga (who's VERY pissed, by the way, that you've already seen her "Paparazzi" video. Thanks a lot, PEREZ!).

The "Chillin'" video was shot in D.C., and the song samples the instantly recognizable 1969 song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam (which was covered by the The Nylons in 1987).

+ Watch a 30-second sneak peek of Wale's brand-new "Chillin'" video, featuring Lady Gaga, and stay tuned for the full-length video, coming soon.

+ Just because your last name is Ronson doesn't mean you have to look like Bert from Sesame Street, date celebrities and live your life in the tabloids. Remember Mark Ronson? (Sunday Times)

+ Britney Spears threatened to cancel her current Circus tour because some wacko is harassing her via phone and mail. Thank GOD I saw her last Friday, ya'll! (MTV UK)

+ For all the times I ever lusted after Jesse Metcalfe, I take it all back.  (Perez Hilton)

+ Do people really believe that Michael Jackson is actually going to play 50 shows at the O2 Arena in London? FIFTY?? (Popnography)

+ Who wants to do a shot of Justin Timberlake tequila?? Me neither. (Just Jared)

+ I just threw up a little bit in my mouth after seeing this picture of Beyonce's chicken cutlets. (Pretty Boring)

+ However, Katy Perry is the picture of melon perfection and you KNOW it. (Rad Report)

(Photo Credit: Gregg Delman)

Who's that pop starlet hiding under the big ol' top hat, leaving us nothing for clues other than her pearly whites and gold hoops? Well, let's see. What can we deduce from the photo? The brown bob rules out Britney and Jessica. Katy's locks are longer. The flirty, it's-not-me-it's-you smile (which shows no trace of the fear) rules out Amy Winehouse (she has all of her teeth). Her nose is one of the cutest, littlest things I've ever seen, so it can't be the chick from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, although she was a great guess up until now. Without the eyes, she's tough to peg, but alright, still, isn't there something so familiar about that smirk? Think... Who's been hanging around MTV lately? Oh my God! Give up??? Well, click the photo and find out, genius!

+ Check out exclusive Lily Allen photos!

+ According to Us Weekly, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's marriage is on the verge of disintegrating. According to People, they're more in love than ever. Tabloids ... can't live with 'em, can't not look at the pictures. (Usmagazine.com)

+ Katy Perry takes to her blog to shoot down the Daily News' report that Travis McCoy popped the question. "NOT engaged!" she wrote on her Tumblr. So what about the rock? Just a promise ring, Perry insists. "But thanks for the free press, New York Daily News!" (Katy Perry's blog)

+ Lily Allen's in deep shiznit with her record label. (Something about leaking her cover of Britney's "Womanizer" online?) Fortunately, Lily's a big girl and she's willing to step up and take responsibility -- by placing the blame squarely on Mark Ronson's shoulders. (AceShowbiz)

+ Here's your official 2008 JoBros recap! And as an extra special bonus, we'll even throw in our fave memories from the weekend we actually got PAID to hang out with our most favorite band ever. (Jonas Brothers Fan)

+ And speaking of recappage packages, revisit the craziest (and most cringeworthy) moments from Season 4 of The Hills in preparation for Monday night's finale! (Remote Control)

+ Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy may (or may not!) be married! Either way, they're crazy in love. (Hollyscoop)

+ Taylor Swift isn't gonna to let a little thing like having her wisdom teeth (painfully!) extracted keep her down. At least, not for long. (Celebrity MySpace)

+ Akon is way too diplomatic accuse Christina Aguilera's of stealin' Lady Gaga's style. But he's not above pointing out a few (ahem) latent similarities. (Rap-Up)

+ Super snaps to Santogold and Janelle Monae for helping to push the Afro-Punk movement into the mainstream. (MTV News)

Let's get a few things out of the way real quick: if I said I was overly familiar with Aussie electro-funk artist Sam Sparro before last night's episode of Dancing With the Stars, I'd be lying. Second, my mama didn't raise no liar. Third thing: Yes, I realize I'm expressly uncool for watching DWTS or using abbreviations thereof. Addendum/ fourth thing: I don't care, and I already came out of the closet with my love for Dancing With the Stars last week, so let's move on.

Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" video -- off his self-titled album (yes, it's been out in the States since June 2008 and abroad since Spring) makes me want to rent the glassed-in penthouse of The Hotel on Rivington, climb into a hot tub filled with real pearls and Veuve Cliquot with Sam Sparro, Gabe Saporta (Sam Sparro + Gabe = possibly separated a birth? Mmm... Gabe Saporta), Mark Ronson, and Robin Thicke... and watch Dancing With the Stars until one of us passes out from heat stroke.

+ Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama have each divulged their iPod "Top Ten" playlists! We won't give away the results, but we will tell you that "someone" picked Kanye West and will.i.Am while "someone else" went with the musical stylings of ABBA and Frank Sinatra. (NME)

+ The Jonas Brothers are on their way to scoring their first #1 album. GO JO! (Billboard)

+ And speaking of scoring, someone should make a salacious photo flipbook tracking all of the J Bros' supposed conquests! Fortunately for us, someone already has. (Popeater)

+ Breaking: The Ronson siblings (Charlotte, Mark and Samantha) are just like the Royal Tenenbaums! Except, you know, much weirder. (Harper's Bazaar)

+ Got cash? Lil Wayne reportedly owes $146K in back payments on a diamond ring and almost $1 million to the IRS. (Miami Herald via Rolling Stone)

+ Ludacris puts his collaboration with T.I. into proper perspective. "There was no bigger event in hip-hop at this moment than me and T.I. working together," the rapper humbly declares. (MTV)

You saw our "Best Female Video" nominee rundown. Now check out some of our favorite of the many videos vying for a "Best Male Video" VMA nom. Then hurry up and vote for the video you think should be nominated! You've only got until 11am ET tomorrow to vote, so get crackalackin'! And watch FNMTV this Friday to see who the final nominees are.

+ Snoop Dogg, "Sensual Seduction" -- '80s cable access, ladies dressed like Apollonia, and Snoop in his pimpinest gear yet! We're still working on a way to work "I'm not gonna rush the stroke" into our daily vernacular.

+ Chris Brown, "Forever" -- It's like he's just showing off at this point, but we're still watching what he can do with his feet.

+ Jesse McCartney, "Leavin'" -- Lil J's all growed up and sounds so sexy singing about G5 that we don't even care about the massive carbon footprint that thing's "leavin'" behind.

+ T-Pain, "Bartender" -- The reason T kept getting all those buy-backs.

+ Albert Hammond Jr., "GFC" -- You're hot, I'm dizzy.

+ Kanye West, "The Good Life," -- Sigh. Kanye back before he was Angry Kanye.

+ Lupe Fiasco, "Superstar" -- That Matthew Santos hook still haunts.

+ Common, "Drivin' Me Wild" -- The sleeper hit of the pack. And Common in a white tux = extra eye-candy appeal.

+ Mika, "Love Today" -- Freddie Mercury lives!

+ Guru, "State of Clarity" -- Hip-hop and cartoon cats! This totally makes up for MC Skat Cat.

+ DJ Khaled, "I'm So Hood (Remix)" -- DJ Khaled yells at us... and we sorta like it.

+ O'Neal McKnight, "Check Your Coat" -- To the DeLorean!

+ Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen, "Oh My God" -- The obsession continues.

+ Lil Wayne, "A Milli (Live)" -- Ultimate stuntin' = Weezy pulls out this be-all-end-all FNMTV performance the same day he passes the mil mark on the charts. Genius!

More VMAs here.

(Credit: Mel D. Cole/Villageslum.com)

MTV staff writer/ resident hip-hop historian/soothsayer timmhotep aku sees the future of hip-hop in Wale. Knowledge is dropped accordingly:

This is Wale. His name is pronounced "Wah-Lay." Familiarize yourself with his face, learn his songs, be an early adopter, because in the coming months you’ll be seeing a lot of him. And when you do see him, you'll be able to brag that you were up on him before anyone else was.

Hailing from Washington, D.C. and reppin' the whole DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia), Wale is basically where hip-hop is going. While've all been worrying about stuff like gas prices, the recession, and a presidential election, rap has been in the midst of a renaissance. Tough-guy posturing and stereotypes are being supplanted by a new breed emcees of who pride themselves on eclecticism and lyricism.

Wale loves Seinfeld, rhymes over go-go music and has a jones for streetwear and sneaks. He's got the co-sign of folks like Jay-Z, Lindsay Lohan, the Roots, and Mark Ronson, who signed him to his Allido Records label. And best of all, the dude can rap. Watch when he blows up -- we'll be standing here arms folded like "toldya so."

+ Watch Wale below in the Roots' new "Rising Up" video with Chrisette Michele and in Amy Winehouse's "Valerie" video (minus Amy), check out Wale's MySpace page and The Mixtape About Nothing and catch him on the Rock the Bells tour this summer.

(Credit: Lyndsay Siegel)

Pan-pop shapeshifter Santogold changes gears faster than a Formula 1 racer, and ever since we heard her breakthrough single, "L.E.S. Artistes," she's had us mesmerized by her haunting hooks, droned-out chants, and electro beats, fronted by powerhouse pipes that conjure images of a closed-door meeting between Nelly Furtado and Grace Jones. And while her sound is anything but formulaic, it's definitely no accident -- Santi's no radio rookie, after all. She studied music in college, sang in a ska-punk band, and scouted talent in the A&R department of a record label. She then ditched the day job and sharpened her songwriting and production chops on neo-soul rocker Res' 2001 critically acclaimed album, How I Do (an album we love to this day), and she co-wrote Ashlee Simpson's "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)."

Eventually, Santogold stopped playing record label Robin Hood (i.e. learning from the big-timers to bring up the small-timers). She took back the creative control she was giving other artists and started working her mojo on her own projects. “We began trying to write pop songs to sell, which made us depressed," she explained, in the third person, "so we started writing songs for ourselves instead."

Which is why we're now starting to think -- and hope -- that she's taking over the world. Not only did she appear on Mark Ronson's Version album, but she signed to Downtown Records, where she released her hotter-than-a-stolen-tamale self-titled debut, which she banged out in just eight weeks and released in spring 2008. The buzz on that, meanwhile, is only getting louder. Throw in Bud Light Lime and Zune commercials, plus a Converse deal and a just-announced opening slot on Coldplay's tour (somehow we couldn't see M.I.A. -- with whom Santo toured -- and Chris Martin cooperatively sharing a stage), and it's becoming abundantly clear why Santi White makes albums, but Santogold -- the girl with "gold record" practically built right into her name -- sells them.

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