If you were on Twitter last night you probably saw Kanye and DONDA trending world-wide. Reason being the one and only Kanye West @kanyewest returned to Twitter to make a few announcements along with letting his followers know what’s been on his mind recently. Per Kanye’s tweets DONDA is a new design company named after his mother Donde West who passed away in 2007. After the announcement Kanye continue to tweet about school, education, and using his fame to help people. Here’s a storify of some of Kanye’s tweets.

Not only was this news but to some like myself this was inspirational and encouraging. As an entrepreneurs working “to accelerate, educate, and inform underrepresented technology entrepreneurs around the world with NewME Accelerator it was great to see an artist/rapper/celebrity talk about doing something positive. Some news/media outlets are wondering if this was just a twitter rant by Kanye or was he being real. Only time will tell but as @kanyimaq tweeted @kanyewest twitterfeed is kinda the best place on the Internet right now.

. @kanyewest‘s feed is kinda the best place on the Internet right now.

— kanyi maqubela (@kanyimaq) January 5, 2012

What are your thoughts on @kanyewest tweets and DONDA?

Kanye West isn’t necessarily as social media savvy as some of his celebrity counterparts, but he has the basic essentials including a personal Twitter account and now one for business. Over the holidays Mr. West created an account(@dwbykanye) for his new fashion line that premiered at Paris Fashion Week last year named after his late mother, Donda West.

The account has approximately 1,800 followers which is nothing compared to the 200,000 followers he gained in a day for his personal account.

Thus far there are only four tweets:

But hopefully he will utilize the account more so that his followers can really keep up with what’s going on with his fashion line.

If there was an award for best ‘Internet R&B Singer’ of the year, many people would agree the artist most deserving is Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd. After only releasing his free mixtape Thursday four months ago, he has dropped another today.

The Toronto-based R&B singer released mixtape, Echos of Silence today just in time for the holidays. The nine track mixtape was produced by up and coming producer, Clams Casino.

The Weeknd got his start like many musicians today, online. His talent got noticed by various people all over the world who simply liked his music and downloaded his mixtapes for free. And although to this day he has not sold a single album/mixtape he is on his way to the top doing collaborations with mainstream artists like Drake, Lady Gaga, and Florence the Machine.

He is following the trends of the most popular artists in hip-hop and R&B today like Drake who  states in his track “Underground Kings”, from his latest album Take Care:

“Got rich off a mixtape, Got rich off a mixtape”

Which will be the case for many other artists to come.

Download The Weeknd’s Echos of Silence at www.the-weeknd.com

This has been a great month for music; The Roots, Amy Winehouse, and now Common will be releasing his new album “The Dreamer, The Believer” on Dec. 20.  But for those who can’t wait five more days, the soulful rapper has released his entire album on YouTube.

Yes, the entire album. YouTube allows users to click on the song they want to hear and it will play or just listen to the full 50 something minutes straight through.

Artists are coming up with more unique ways to utilize social media sites to push their projects and surprisingly it has been through leaking their own music about a week before the release through some sort of live stream on the net.

The album will be available on iTunes on the day of the official release, so this is good way to see whether you want to actually purchase, but it’s Common, it is no way it couldn’t be amazing, right?

Check out the unique YouTube package for ‘The Dreamer, The Believer”:

 What do you think about this YouTube preview release and other album previews on the internet?

The Roots’ new album undun hasn’t exactly been leaked, but it is available to listen in full on NPR’s website through their music series, First Listen.

First Listen includes a full stream of the album an in-depth album review. NPR writer, Charlie Kaplan explains that it is the lyricism that makes this album.

“The record’s most affecting element, however, is its lyricism, led with gimmick-less seriousness by Black Thought, a rapper whose storytelling is unencumbered by sophomoric jocularity or false cartoonishness. His desolation is unvarnished and striking in “I Remember,” in which he darkly rhymes, “I drew a two of hearts from a deck of cards / A stock trick from my empty repertoire / Another hopeless story, never read at all / I’m better off looking for the end where the credits are.” He’s given fleeting respite from the stress of the drug trade in “Kool On,” but is harshly pulled back to earth the next morning in “The OtherSide,” where paranoia surrounds him again: “We obviously need to tone it down a bit / Running around town spending time like it’s counterfeit.”

NPR streams all 14 tracks from the upcoming album set to release on Dec. 6^th. The album is available for pre-order on iTunes.

Twitter tends to be people’s way of letting out any and every emotion they have no matter if it’s good, bad, or in between. Chris Brown is no stranger to Twitter rants, during his latest one on Nov. 17 he just got fed up with Twitter all together.

The R&B singer lashed out to his followers from recent criticism of his relationship with ex-girlfriend Rhianna. Afterwards, he deleted his timeline and proceeded to then delete his account.

According to Hollywood Reporter, during Chris Brown’s tirade he said:

“Don’t say sh– to anybody and everyone feels its cool to attack me. GROWN ADULTS!!!! That sh– happened three years ago. TWITTER GETS WACK REAL FAST! I LOVE ALL THE POEPLE WHO SUPPORT MY MUSIC! i never said i was a LEGEND. people please grow up. Ive never dealt with so much negativity in my life! its to the point now that its just ridiculous! IM NOT A POLITICIAN! MY MUSIC DOESNT PROMOTE VIOLENCE nor will it ever! only thing it will increase is the pregnacy rate! I wake up thinking of living my life….. YOU wake up thinking of me! NOW I REALLY CANT WAIT FOR THE AMA’s! u dont have to respect me now… but u will.”

Chris Brown has got himself into Twitter wars in the past with specific individuals including Raz B of the former R&B group, B2K and Frank Ocean from Odd Future.

His account is currently back up with over 5 million followers.

Her fans know her for the soulful voice that landed her first Grammy nomination in 2008 for her album “Self Portrait”, but many don’t know that the talented R&B singer, Lalah Hathaway is also a technology diva, or as her Twitter bio suggest, a supreme gadget girl.

Hathaway has always been interested in technology and computers, therefore social media has caught an interest with her especially as it pertains to her music and fans. She is a frequent user of Twitter and other social networks and recently embarked on a new campaign with Facebook to promote her latest album “Where it All Begins.”

The Facebook app gives Lalah Hathaway fans the chance to enter to win an autographed album through the mobile web app created through a partnership with Fairwave Media.

“The campaign so far has been a great success because people are sharing the music and pushing others to do so as well,” says Hathaway. “People are hearing my music and fans are able to get an autographed album, it’s just a fun way to push the music.”

She uses a lot of apps herself, and loves her gadgets that she uses every day.

“I probably use about six different Twitter platforms, I love photo apps like Instagram, travel, and of course I use a lot of music apps, like Garage Band,” says Hathaway. “My favorite gadgets are my iPhone, iPad, PlayStation 3, and my car.”

Technology is nothing new for Hathaway. She has had an online presence since her first website back in 1998 where she used to engage people through message boards. New advances in technology have just made it easier and given her more ways to do what she loves to do which is connect with her fans.

“I have always been a technology leaning person and I like to talk and engage with my fans on a daily basis, so social media is a great way for me to do that,” says Hathaway.

The songstress also uses different music platforms to promote her music such as SoundCloud and Spotify. She explains that this a great time for independent artists because they are able to do the same things to get the music out to large numbers of people.

“The great thing about today’s technology is that independent artist can do the same things labels are doing,” says Hathaway. “You don’t have to be signed to get the music out there for people to hear because of all the different social platforms available online.”

Although Hathaway’s Facebook app campaign is still ongoing, she is already thinking about the next app she will create.

“I would love to build another app that people can use and have a lot of fun with,” says Hathaway. I don’t know exactly what it will be, but it might include things like tour dates, games, and music but for right my main focus is on the Where it All Begins application.”

Hathaway encourages all her fans to check her site LalahHathaway.com regularly where there is everything from blog post, tour dates, to her social media networks and also follow her on Twitter at @LalahHathaway.

Her new album Where it All Begins is available now on iTunes.

Although social media has consumed the majority of people’s lives, there is one person who isn’t as enthused as the rest of us. Hip-hop superstar, Drake recently taked to Source Magazine about his dislike towards social media.

Social media has many advantages, but it comes with disadvantages too, especially when it comes to children who have only been using the internet for a couple years or even less.

Drake focuses on two particular platforms; Twitter and Tumblr. But, what “scares” him the most is Tumblr. Drake tells Source Magazine:

“I’m really scared for my generation, you know. The thing that scares me most is Tumblr. I hate what Tumblr has become. Because it like, it reminds me of those clique-y girls in high school that used to make fun of everyone else and define what was cool, but in five years, when you all graduate, that shit doesn’t matter. No one gives a fuck about that shit. Instead of kids going out and making their own moments, they’re just taking these images and living vicariously through other people’s moments. It just kills me. Then you’ll meet them and they’re just the biggest turkey in the world. They don’t actually embody any of those things. They just emulate. It’s scary man, simulation life that we’re living. It scares me.”

Drake has approximately four million followers on Twitter and tweets regularly, but he shares his experience and explains why he isn’t impressed with this social network either. In his interview Drake said:

“I’ll tell you, my biggest thing was, I remember, it was on Twitter. I remember the day my mom was getting surgery and someone came on Twitter and they were like, ‘Yo, Drake, I hope your mom dies.’ You don’t really mean that.” …Like, you know you’re going to see something bad. Out of 1000 compliments, it’s so crazy. It’s basically, like, when you used to sit there as a kid, and want to know what everyone is thinking. That’s your superpower. Twitter is knowing what everyone is thinking.”

What do you think about Drakes stance on social media, do you agree or disagree?

The Roots will be releasing four videos from tracks of the new album “undun” up until the Dec. 6 release. Each Tuesday at 12:06, the Roots will premiere a new visual on their site OkayPlayer.com.

The Roots describe their album as an illustration of the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out “on the corner.” Because “undun” is suppose to be telling listeners a story,  the visual media will be just as important as the songs itself.

The first  of the four videos is from their first single “Make My” featuring Big K.R.I.T and was shot and edited by Clifton Bell.

Check out the video clip here:

After recently dropping her latest album “Where it All Begins,” two-time Grammy nominated singer, Lalah Hathaway is giving her fans something special by incorporating a bit of social media and tech in the mix.

Hathaway is giving everyone a chance to win an autographed copy of her new album through a Facebook campaign called Where it All Begins Giveaway.

From now up until Nov. 27, Lalah Hathaway fans can enter the contest through the Facebook app or mobile web app created through a partnership with Fairwave Media.

The app allows fans to listen to a featured track, and share comments and invite their friends to join in too.

Winners will be randomly selected each week and will be announced on Lalah Hathaway’s Facebook and Twitter page.

The app is available for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

To learn more about the “Where It All Begins” Giveaway go to facebook.com/LalahHathaway or lalahhathway.com on your mobile device.