Lil Wayne will appear before a Manhattan judge today (Feb. 9) to receive formal sentencing for his 2007 gun possession case. The work-a-holic rapper will spend up to twelve months behind bars in the midst of his skyrocketing career, but still he remains in good spirits. The New Orleans native gathered his close friends and label mates at Miami's Dolce club on Sunday night (Feb. 7) to celebrate his hometown Saints and their Super Bowl victory, but also to say goodbye. The Cash Money family, including Drake, Mack Maine, Nicki Minaj and veterans like B.G. and Birdman were all on hand to party with Wayne, while trying not to worry too much about his impending prison stretch.

Early this morning, during his last hours as a free man, Wayne took to Ustream with the help of Lil Twist to say a final goodbye to his fans with a homemade video log. Within a few minutes of logging on, hundreds of fans were already waiting on word from the mad rapper. "I just clicked broadcast and there's already 600 people!" Twist said, less than a minute after logging on. "They must've been waiting." By the time Weezy entered the room a few seconds later, the number of waiting fans had already multiplied. "Damn its 786 people that quick!" A shocked Wayne said, as he approached the camera. After re-establishing his cult-like appeal with fans, Wayne set up a quick, playful poll for his fans, and spent the next few minutes mulling around the studio, laughing, making jokes and taking phone calls. If no one mentioned that this was a farewell video, we'd be hard pressed to believe that this man heads off to prison today.

His last message to fans was nothing but love. "To all my fans, my real fans, I really, really, really truly love you," he said. "I love you with all of me, for real."

Check out Lil Wayne's good-bye video below.

Cash Money rapper and self-described "Harajuku Barbie" Nicki Minaj tweeted some important news to her fans recently regarding the loss of her stuffed pink monkey, Oscar. Minaj apparently lost the stuffed animal on a flight from New York to Miami, after appearing with him on the 'Late Show with David Letterman.'

Upon losing the stuffed animal, she immediately reached out to her fans for support and aid in recovering the doll, offering a $50,000 reward for its return. "Dear Barbz, have u seen Oscar?" the rapper tweeted. "U know...pink monkey I had wen I did Letterman...? He's gone! Plz help! All Points Bulletin: Where's Oscar?!! $50,000 reward for Oscar. I call him Osk for short! He was last seen on a Miami bound plane from New York. Plz help!"

Lil Wayne -- often described as the hardest working man in hip-hop -- will be forced to slow things down a bit. The rapper will be sentenced to a one-year prison term today (Feb. 9) after a few brushes with the law and many court cases.

Wayne is scheduled to appear before Judge Charles H. Solomon this afternoon, where he will enter his plea and turn himself in to begin his sentence at New York's Riker's Island Correctional facility. Today's sentencing is a result of Wayne's 2007 arrest following a concert at the Beacon Theatre. The rap star was arrested following a traffic stop of his tour bus in which officers discovered a .40 calibur handgun. Wayne agreed to a plea deal in October 2009 and and is now expected to serve up to 10 months behind bars.

In preparation for his bid, Wayne performed a farewell concert in his hometown, landed the cover of Rolling Stone magazine (again), performed at the Grammys (again), released his rap-rock album 'Rebirth' and reportedly finished close to 20 tracks for his upcoming 'The Carter IV,' which is set to drop when Wayne is released. As for slowing down, the Grammy-winning rapper doesn't seem to think that his incarceration will keep him from working on forthcoming projects. "I'll have an iPod, and I"ll make sure they keep sending me beats," Wayne told Rolling Stone.

R&B diva Faith Evans has announced her return to the music scene after a five year hiatus, with a brand new album and reality show to follow. Evans, who left Bad Boy Records in 2004, will release her 6th studio album via Prolific Music Group, her personal label which is distributed by E1 Music. Her reality show 'It's All About Faith,' will also be aired on E1 Television later in the year.

The show will document Evan's return to the music industry while she manages life with her family -- husband and manager Todd Russaw, and her four children. She told AllHipHop that the new year will be bring some big, but welcomed changes in her life. "2010 is shaping up to be an amazing year for me," Evans said. "To be in a place where I have grown from an entertainer to an entrepreneur is truly a blessing. I am excited to share this incredible experience with my fans and the world."

E

Hip hop's most intimidating man, Freddie Foxx reportedly got into some fisticuffs with a drunk fan/entourage member at a show at SOB's in NYC recently, where he took the man's weapon, punched him in the head and left him bleeding. "That Was An Unfortunate Incident That Happened At SOB's Last Night. I didn't want it to go there. I hope he is ok." That's pretty G. [Twitter]

Comedian Sarah Silverman weighed in on NBC's recent drama with Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno. "I just thought it was a real scumbag move of NBC," Silverman told MTV. "They should not be allowed to call themselves the NBC family. That should be their punishment." Conan rules. [MTV]

Your girl Donatella Versace had some jewels about being natural recently. "I don't even know what my natural colour is. Natural? What is natural? What is that? I do not believe in totally natural for women. For me, natural has something to do with vegetables." She's not wrong, she's just not right. [HuffingtonPost]

According to the Los Angeles Times' 24 Frames blog, Beyonce could be teaming up with 'Gladiator' star Russell Crowe for the remake of the 1937 flick 'A Star Is Born.' The movie, which originally starred Janet Gaynor and Fredic March, has already been reworked a few times with Judy Garland (1954) and Barbra Streisand (1976) reprising the role of singer/actress Esther.

So far, Nick Cassavettes ('The Notebook,' 'Alpha Dog' ) has been tapped to direct the film which is rumored to feature appearances by Alicia Keys and Rihanna. It's unclear what sort of spin Cassavettes and screenwriter Will Fetters will attempt for the new version of 'A Star Is Born,' but as mentioned by 24 Frames, a Crowe/Beyonce pairing would serve as the follow-up to the most notable onscreen interracial romance since Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston's love affair in 'The Bodyguard.'

There's no word on when production on the new millenium 'A Star Is Born' will begin. In the meantime, Crowe fans can see the 45-year-old actor in Ridley Scott's 'Robin Hood,' alongside Cate Blanchett, in May.

Tomorrow, (Feb. 9) is the big day that Lil Wayne finally heads off to prison, and although the Young Money all-star doesn't sound too choked up about it externally, the rest of us are at least a little curious about what a prison stretch looks like for a high profile rapper. In this month's issue of Rolling Stone, the New Orleans native explained that he wasn't interested in wasting much time talking about the upcoming bid, instead he just wanted to get it started and get it over with. "This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that's like," he said. "I just say I'm looking forward to it."

For the rest of us, however, retired NYPD detective Derrick Parker has tried to paint a picture of Weezy's upcoming life behind bars. Parker told MTV News that while officials would try to maintain some semblance of normalcy in the intended Rikers Island facility, Wayne would be treated differently from the average prisoner."Lil Wayne is gonna be OK," Parker told MTV News. "While he's in jail, it's a matter of fact they may not put him with the general population because of who he is and his popularity. They might lock him down and let him come out with a supervisor and stuff like that [when he's] in the main area - but he's definitely going to be treated differently."