Awkwafina. (Photo: YouTube)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's regulations against large soda cups in restaurants may have been blocked by the courts, but local hip-hop artist Awkwafina is putting him on notice anyway.

"Hey Mayor Mike Bloomberg, help me understand!" she declares in a video released today. "Our giant margaritas are going to get banned. Are going to get banned ... Please don't take my freedom, my giant margarita."

It's worth noting that the rules, if implemented, would not affect alcoholic beverages.

Watch below:

Awkwafina

Mark Boughton and the Notorious B.I.G.

While many people and elected officials have simply followed the Weather Channel's decision to call the snowstorm hitting the Northeast "Nemo," the mayor of one city in Connecticut has decided to come up with his own name for the blizzard and it's a reference to the late, great rapper Notorious B.I.G. In a series of tweets sent today, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton has used the #SnowtoriousBIGII hashtag to refer to the storm.

"Wind is definitely picking up," Mr. Boughton wrote this afternoon. "This is becoming an old school storm. #OG #snotoriousBIGII"

Politicker asked Mr. Boughton whether "Snowtorious B.I.G." was the official name for the storm within the City of Danbury.

"Yes. Of course," he replied.

Mr. Boughton, who was first elected in 2001, also pointed out he previously used the reference to the late, great rapper Biggie Smalls A.K.A. Notorious B.I.G. to refer to another snowstorm two winters ago.

"This the 2nd storm to carry the hashtag. Hence the II at the end," wrote the mayor.

During the first "Snowtorious B.I.G.," Mr. Boughton, who has been on Twitter since 2008, drew national attention for the way he communicated with constituents on the social media site during the storm. He dispatched a plow to a snow-covered street after a tweet alerted him to the situation there.

Since he named the storm after Mr. Smalls, we also asked the mayor if he's a rap fan.

" I love all kinds of music including Biggie Smalls," wrote Mr. Boughton.

If you don't know, now you know.

Marco Rubio (Photo: Getty)

This month's issue of GQ features an interview with Florida Senator Marco Rubio in which he talks about his favorite rap songs. When the interview went live online last week, many people took note of Mr. Rubio's rap knowledge, but Politicker couldn't help but notice he appeared to mistakenly describe hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa as a member of the rap group Public Enemy. However, after reading the print version of the issue it is clear that the discrepancy was caused by an edit made by the magazine and not any rap errors made by Mr. Rubio.  

In the online version of the interview, writer Michael Hainey is quoted as simply asking Mr. Rubio, "Your autobiography also has to be the first time a politician has cited a love of Afrika Bambaataa. Did you have a favorite Afrika Bambaataa song?" Mr. Rubio is quoted as answering by discussing Public Enemy, a group that did not include Mr. Bambaataa.

"All the normal ones. People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid 80s. No one talks about how transformative they were," Mr. Rubio said.

When the article appeared online last week, we reached out to Mr. Rubio's spokesman Alex Conant who said the apparent mistake was caused by the magazine's editing.

"Yeah, the transcript in print edition edits the conversation for space. In the Q portion in the full interview, there was actually a decent back and forth about rap before he asked the second question about a favorite album," said Mr. Conant.

Indeed, in the print version of the interview that is now available on newsstands, Mr. Hainey's full question includes the note that Mr. Bambaataa was sampled in Public Enemy's song "Fight The Power," which led to Mr. Rubio's response.

Mr. Rubio mentioned Mr. Bambaataa in his memoir when he described how he became enamored with "a new kind of music, rap" in his youth.

"My white friends liked hard rock acts--Van Halen, Osbourne and others," Mr. Rubio wrote. "I didn't care for that kind of music anymore, and they didn't care for my preferences, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash."

Malcolm Smith standing in Times Square for his denunciation of Lil' Wayne. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

At a highly anticipated press conference in the middle of Times Square, Queens State Senator and potential mayoral candidate Malcolm Smith took Lil' Wayne to task for saying he doesn't like New York City in an interview earlier this week. The senator began by repeating Mr. Wayne's offending comments for the benefit of the handful of reporters who braved the crowds of tourists to witness Mr. Smith's denunciation of the rapper.

"Let me read you a statement, one word--a couple of words that came from Lil' Wayne today and here's what he said: 'I. Don't Like. New. York," Mr. Smith said, slowly reciting each outrageous syllable of Mr. Wayne's five word comment for emphasis.

Mr. Smith went on to explain why he took "strong exception" to Mr. Wayne's comments and would like the rapper to issue a formal apology.

"Here's my response to Lil' Wayne--and this response is on behalf of the 50 million tourists who come here and make New York City their home for two weeks out of the year, for the eight million people that live in New York," Mr. Smith said. "Very simple, if you don't like New York, you don't have to come to New York, you don't have to sell your products here and, perhaps, we won't come to your concerts. I can tell you as someone who's raised my family here, I've taken strong exception to the words, 'I don't like New York.' I love this city. I was born and raised in this city."

Mr. Smith described Mr. Wayne's remarks as an affront to two New Yorkers in particular.

"He should also know, anecdotally or not, he's also insulted the memory of Frank Sinatra and he's also insulted Jay Z," Mr. Smith said, adding by way of explanation, "Both have made endearing songs about New York."

Mr. Smith said he felt obligated to launch his crusade against Mr. Wayne because he is from Hollis, Queens, which in spite of extensive documentation describing hip hop's roots in the Bronx, he described as "the home of the origin of hip hop." He also noted Mr. Wayne's protege, Nicki Minaj, comes from his district.

"It is my hope and I believe and I want to believe that he had a lapse in mental judgement for some strange reason and I hope that he will think about it," said Mr. Smith. "Perhaps Nicki Minaj, who makes her money here, who's made a lot of money for Lil' Wayne will whisper in his ear, 'I think you made a mistake.' New Yorkers are forgiving people. We're prepared to forgive Lil' Wayne if, in fact, he makes a sincere apology."

Of course, Mr. Smith didn't attempt to take on such a weighty issue on his own. He was joined by a man he described as "a good friend of mine," Charles Fisher of the Hip Hop Summit Youth Council, who suggested Mr. Wayne's comments could lead to a violent rap war without Mr. Smith's intervention.

"With all the killings and murders going on today we have to be proactive," said Mr. Fisher. "Sixteen years ago, Tupac Shakur was murdered and Biggie Smalls came right after that....We can't afford to have a war between New York and the South. Lil' Wayne is out of Atlanta, grew up in New Orleans."

Mr. Fisher said the only solution to this violence would be to "get Lil' Wayne together with the Senator to see what we can do to work together and stop the violence."

Mr. Smith also presented the patriarch of a seemingly random family of British tourists to respond to Mr. Wayne's remarks.

"Hi. I'm Francis, I'm from London. This is my family; Alison, Josh and Samuel," he said pointing to his wife and children. "We got married today in New York and we love New York. That's it, thank you very much."

After all of the speakers were finished, Mr. Smith took a few questions from the assembled reporters. Politicker asked him if he had been a fan of Lil' Wayne's music prior to his controversial comments about the city. Mr. Smith conceded that his 19-year-old daughter "kind of likes" the rapper.

"I might enourage her not to buy [his music] until the apology comes," Mr. Smith said.

Though Mr. Smith is a Democrat, he's currently mulling a run for mayor next year on the Republican Party line. We asked him how he'd handle the Lil' Wayne situation if he was currently in City Hall.

"I don't want to get into hypotheticals," said Mr. Smith. "Right now, I'm dealing with the circumstances as the state senator from New York."

Watch a video of Mr. Smith's press conference below.

Malcolm Smith (Photo: Facebook)

Queens State Senator and potential mayoral candidate Malcolm Smith has beef with Lil' Wayne. Mr. Smith is holding a press conference in Times Square this afternoon to demand an apology from Mr. Wayne after the rapper expressed his distaste for New York in an interview with MTV News this week.

"The rapper publicly said he flat out don’t like New York. New York City is the birthplace of the Hip Hop music movement," a press release from Mr. Smith's office said. "Millions of New Yorkers listen to his music every day. His comments outraged his local fans and residents. The group today will be demanding an apology of the hip hop star."

Mr. Smith's press release promised he will be "joined by members of the hip hop youth council and tourism officials" to address this extremely important issue.

Mr. Wayne has had his share of issues with New York. In 2007, he was arrested for having a gun on board his tour bus on the Upper West Side. After pleading guilty, Mr. Wayne spent eight months on Rikers Island in 2010. Mr. Smith's announcement acknowledged Mr. Wayne  "has had misfortune in New York with recent gun charges and a jail sentence."

In the interview with MTV News, Mr. Wayne didn't mince words when asked his opinion of the Big Apple.

"Flat out: I don't like New York," he said.

Mr. Smith is a Democrat, but he has recently held meetings with local GOP leaders about a possible run for mayor in 2013 on the Republican ticket.

Ruben Diaz Jr. (Photo: BronxBoroPres.nyc.gov)

Move over Marty Markowitz, Ruben Diaz Jr. has taken the crown as New York's rappingest Borough President.

A little over a month after Brooklyn's Mr. Markowitz rapped a few bars with Wu Tang Clan member GZA, Mr. Diaz, the Bronx Borough President, joined hip hop legend Doug E. Fresh on stage at Bronx Week Sunday to perform his hit song "La Di Da." Their duet was captured on video by an audience member. 

Mr. Diaz mostly took a backseat to Mr. Fresh and played the role of hype man, but his performance is more rapping, by far, than we can recall seeing from any other politician. No word on whether or not Mr. Fresh taught Mr. Diaz how to "Dougie."

Watch the clip of their performance below.

[via Blabbeando and JSwiss]

Himanshu Suri (Photo: YouTube)

Rappers are more often associated with bling and fancy cars than legislative maps and council resolutions, but one Queens hip hopper is melding his music with one of the city's most hot button political issues--redistricting.

Himanshu "Heems" Suri, one of the members of the rap group Das Racist, is releasing his hotly anticipated solo mixtape "Nehru Jackets" in conjunction with SEVA NY, a community organization that's currently focused on raising awareness about the potential consequences the remapping of local political districts that will occur citywide later this year will have in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up. Mr. Suri's mixtape will be accompanied on several songs by young SEVA members who rap and sing in Punjabi.

Mr. Suri first encountered SEVA through a childhood friend, Ali Najmi, an attorney and former legislative director to Councilman Mark Weprin, who serves as a community organizer with SEVA. Mr. Najmi introduced Mr. Suri to SEVA co-founder and executive director Gurpal Singh, a political veteran who worked as director of constituent affairs and held a variety of positions with the Senate Democrats. At home, Mr. Singh produces music with many of the SEVA youth under the moniker "Mr. Singhularity" in a bedroom studio.

Mr. Suri started working on "Nehru Jackets" before he became involved with SEVA, but he said "it just made sense to put it all together."

"This is a record where, doing it myself and not in Das Racist, I talk more about myself and my experiences being an Indian kid from Queens, and even before I met SEVA that's in large part what the record was about," Mr. Suri said.

The collaboration made sense musically and for SEVA's political goals.

"Redistricting in New York is such an uphill battle for communities that are basically on the outside of the political establishment, so we needed something to raise awareness about the issue and that something is his celebrity status," Mr. Najmi said of Mr. Suri. "The idea that we could release  a mixtape that was attached to a redistricting campaign was just perfect to me."

Currently, the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Bellerose and Floral Park are all subdivided into multiple legislative districts. SEVA wants to see each neighborhood get its own, unified district when the new lines are drawn.

Mr. Suri, who recently became a SEVA board member, will debut his mixtape and give his first solo concert at an event hosted by SEVA on January 16 at Villa Russo on 101st Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens. He's also working with the young SEVA artists to release a mixtape of their own later this year. Both albums will be presented by SEVA and Mr. Suri's own label, Greedhead Records. "Nehru Jackets" will be a free digital download, but the website will feature a link where listeners can contribute to SEVA.

"It will be a free mixtape, I just strongly will suggest a donation for SEVA," Mr. Suri said.

Mr. Suri plans to devote much of his energy to SEVA and the political situation in his neighborhood during the coming year, but his activism won't mean the end of his highflying, globetrotting Das Racist career. The band will begin an Australian tour on January 20, four days after the SEVA concert.

50 Cent (Getty)

With an estimated net worth of $100 million, rapper 50 Cent is definitely among the one percent, but he's not against the Occupy Wall Street protests that are sweeping the nation. Fiddy took to Twitter late Sunday night to give the demonstrators some advice and explain how he thinks his new energy drink can solve the problem.

Mr. Cent posted a trio of Tweets shortly before midnight. In his first pair of messages, he expressed support for nonviolent protests and asked the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators to try and get along with the police. (Ed. Note: We're not even going to bother typing [sic] after each error, all spelling is Fiddy's own)

"To everyone protesting right now. I want U to know I'm for peaceful protesting. Just try not to make the police feel like there the enemy. They will hurt U ... You would be surprised how many of them would like to be apart of protesting with U. there hurting to," Mr. Cent wrote.

Mr. Cent then took the opportunity to plug his newest business venture, a "5 Hour Energy" style shot called "Street King" that he launched in September with the boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather.

"I think the STREETKING business model is the answer. if major corporations used it There would be nothing to protest. Give Back," Mr. Cent wrote.

A portion of the proceeds from every bottle of "Street King" sold goes to the United Nations World Food Programme to provide a meal for a hungry child. The company isn't entirely altruistic, Mr. Cent expects "Street King" to earn revenues of $300-$500 million by its third year. That should help Mr. Cent and Mr. Mayweather afford to make more phone calls using giant stacks of cash although we'd warn Mr. Cent to leave his moneyphone at home if he plans on taking his interest in Occupy Wall Street to the next level and visiting Zuccotti Park.