Kanye West Headlining Coachella 2011

For the second year in row a major hip-hop artist will headline the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Fesitval, set for April 15-17 in Indio, Calif. Kanye West joins Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon at the top of the Coachella 2011 bill.

West will close out the 3-day festival on Sunday, by far the heaviest hip-hop day of the event with acts like Wiz Khalifa, Nas & Damian Marley and Tinie Tempah also scheduled to play. Lauryn Hill (billed as Ms. Lauryn Hill) and Cee Lo Green will rep the genre on Friday, while Erykah Badu, Raphael Saadiq and Lil' B will add some more soul on Saturday.

Last year, Jay-Z headlined the usually DJ-saturated festival and brought Beyonce onstage for a duet on 'Forever Young,' and De La Soul assisted the Gorillaz during their set. West is a wild pick considering his U.S. festival performances are regularly plagued with problems. He stopped midway through his 2007 Lollapalooza set to complain about sound issues and was booed at Bonnaroo 2008 after starting his performance more than three hours late after switching his set to the main stage. Hopefully West, who released his fifth studio album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' in November, will have more luck at Coachella 2011.

Other acts on the Coachella 2011 bill include the Chemical Brothers, Duran Duran, the National, Interpol, the Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Animal Collective, Robyn, PJ Harvey, Mumford & Sons and more. For the complete list of performers head to Coachella.com.

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Drake Cites Winnie The Pooh As Inspiration On Sophomore LP

Drake is looking to a surprising muse while recording his sophomore LP. The Toronto rapper recently spoke on how his childhood favorite Winnie the Pooh has been a key inspiration while conceptualizing his second album 'Take Care,' and that during his recent U.K. tour stop he spent a heft amount of money on the first four books in the series.

"I bought the first-ever Winnie the Pooh books, like all four Winnie the Pooh books," he told DJ Semtex. "It cost me a lot of pounds, man. I probably could have bought a small car for that."

The Young Money rapper also explained that even though "Winnie the Pooh is like super not hip-hop," it has always been a part of his life. "They were a huge part of my childhood," he said. "That's my influence, man. Winnie the Pooh on this next album."

He also explained that while his platinum debut 'Thank Me Later' was hailed as one of last year's best albums, he wasn't so content with the final product. "Thank Me Later' was a rushed album. I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs, and sonically, I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'OK, well maybe I should change this verse,'" he said. "Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called 'Take Care 'cause I get to take my time this go-round."

The 'Fancy' rapper, who is currently on tour in Europe with J. Cole, is expected to release 'Take Care' later this year. The album is set to feature production from 9th Wonder and Boi-1da.

Nas, Damian Marley Heading To 11 Countries On New 'Distant Relatives' Tour

Rapper Nas and Damian "JR Gong" Marley will launch an international tour next month, in support of their critically acclaimed album Distant Relatives.

The tour will kick off in Hawaii on February 9th and will hit 11 countries over 22-dates, with the final show concluding in Lisbon, Portugal.

The news of the latest leg of their "Distant Relatives Tour" comes as Nas and Damian prepare to release a series of new music videos, remixes and vignettes.

The pair are preparing to release new videos for the songs "Land of Promise," "Nah Mean" and "Patience," while a variety of remixed tracks are available at their official site, www.distantrelatives.com.

Tour dates are listed below:

02/09 Kailua-Kona, HI Kona Bowl
02/12 Sydney, Australia Centennial Park
02/13 Flemington, Australia Flemington Racecourse - The Nursery
02/16 Wellington, New Zealand TSB Bank Area
02/17 Auckland, New Zealand Logan Campbell Centre
02/19 Gold Coast, Australia Parkland Showground
02/20 Claremont, Australia Claremont Showground
02/23 Osaka, Japan MP Hall
02/24 Tokyo, Japan Zepp
02/25 Yokohama, Japan Bay Hall
02/26 Honolulu, HI Kakaako Beach Park Amphitheater
02/27 Maui, HI Maui Arts and Cultural Center
03/13 London, UK Wembley Arena
04/01 Glasgow, UK Glasgow O2 Academy
04/02 Manchester, UK Manchester Apollo
04/04 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
04/05 Paris, France Zenith
04/07 Crans Montana, Switzerland Caprices Festival
04/08 Zurich, Switzerland Komplex
04/09 Milan, Italy Palasharp
04/11 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso