The ego is back...while a dream collabo gets in motion...

Kanye West returns to bless us with more of his backpack ballin with the eagerly awaited College Dropout follow up, The Late Registration. Alongside Jay-Z, Kanye premiered the first single Diamonds on New York radio station Hot 97 last week.

Inspired by his time on the Blueprint Lounge Tour of 2001 and being part of the Roc-A-Fella movement Diamonds includes his usual array of punch lines: ‘I realized that I arrived/ Because it takes more than a magazine to kill my vibe" and "All I need is y'all to pronounce my name/ It's Kanye, but some of my plaques, they still say 'Kayne.'.

Kanye told radio host Angie Martinez that he had mixed the CD about 14 times until he had felt perfectly comfortable with the end product. In interviews at the time of the College Dropout album being released Kanye spoke about being unhappy that he didn’t have the time to mix the record enough.

This is a big year for Kanye and there is a lot of pressure on him to better the College Dropout, an album self-described as a classic. It's certainly one of the best albums released in the last couple of years but many critics will be waiting for him to slip up and dent his arrogance. I’m sure this won’t be the case though and look forward to the release, which although not confirmed, looks like being the 12th July.

Meanwhile the wheels have got in motion for many Hip Hop fans dream collaboration, Ghostface and MF Doom. Already six tracks have been recorded but as yet it’s undecided as to whether Def Jam or MF Doom's indie label Nature Sounds will be the ones to release the project.

This month Hip Hop Connection magazine carries an interview with Devin Horwitz who reveals what many have been hoping is more than just an Internet rumour.

Scheduled for release by the end of the year it will be one of possibly three albums to be expected from Ghostface. One is tentatively titled Rappers Delight and will feature some MF Doom production; the other is a follow up to the classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx with Raekwon.