On July 4, ESPN aired their annual award program, The ESPYS, with a special performance of "Tightrope" by Janelle Monae. She also joined comedian/actor Will Ferrell for a skit where he portrayed supposed vuvuzela creator Jeff Vuvuzela. Monae came on stage to perform a duet with the character, as they took turns on Roberta Flack’s "Tonight I Celebrate My Love."

Janelle Monae spoke with Kev Geoghegan of the BBC News about concept albums.

Check out the video below for a behind the scenes interview with Dave Meyers, the director of Ciroc's "Perfectly Smooth" video clip.

A little over a week ago, Diddy announced on Twitter that Fat Joe had joined the Dream Team, the loosely affiliated collective of artists headed by Diddy and also including DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Red Cafe and Rick Ross.

AllHipHop.com's Clayton Perry asked B.o.B and Lupe Fiasco (both featured on Janelle Monae's "Tightrope (Wondamix)") about the "ArchAndroid" singer and they heaped a lot of praise on her.

Both Spin and URB have placed Janelle Monae's "The ArchAndroid" on their lists of the best albums of 2010 to date. URB even gave it the number one slot, calling Monae "a rising game-changer."

James Covert of the New York Post reports that Sean John has "struck a deal to outsource the contracting of overseas manufacturers for its merchandise." The deal will apparently lead to as many as 10 of Sean John's 100 or greater full-time New York staff heading over to LF USA, which is a unit of trading company Li & Fung Group.

The post story also quotes a Sean John spokesperson, who made clear that design, promotion and production were not being outsourced and that the outsourcing deal with allow the clothing and lifestyle brand to cater more to its strengths under CEO Dawn Robertson, who will have been with the company two years on August 1.

Via Carter Maness.

Earlier this month, the Pop & Hiss blog over at the Los Angeles Times interviewed Bad Boy songwriter Makeba Riddick. Toward the end, it's noted that Riddick is working with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins on a project from Diddy.

In an interview with Complex.com, producer Lex Luger revealed that Diddy had reached out to him about working in the studio. Luger is credited with Rick Ross' "B.M.F." and "MC Hammer."

Via SOHH.com.

Back in May, Diddy confirmed that he had entered into a brand management relationship with Rick Ross, following a report by Billboard in April that the Bad Boy CEO would co-manage the Miami-based rapper.

Last week, Ross spoke briefly about the early returns that he has seen since making the deal.