Rapper Jay-Z is using his art to respond to criticism about his and wife Beyonce's recent trip to Cuba on their fifth anniversary. The tune released Thursday, "Open Letter," includes lines such as "I done turned Havana to Atlanta" and "I'm in Cuba, I love Cubans. This Communist talk is so confusing when it's from China, the very mic that I'm using."

The song also includes lines that imply the White House had a hand in giving him and his wife the clearance to travel to Havana. For example: "Boy from the hood, but got White House clearance" and "Obama said, 'Chill, you gonna get me impeached.' "

During Thursday's White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney denied the song's suggestion that there was any White House involvement in Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip.

"I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury, because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel, as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it," he said in response to a reporter's question. "The White House, from the president on down, had nothing to do with anybody's personal -- anybody's travel to Cuba. ... The president did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip."

"Open Letter" is available online at LifeAndTimes.com. (Warning: The song is not for those with ears sensitive to curse words.)

On Tuesday, the Department of the Treasury confirmed that the superstar couple's trip to Cuba was sanctioned. "It is our understanding that the travelers in question traveled to Cuba pursuant to an educational exchange trip," the Treasury's assistant secretary for legislative affairs wrote.

While in Havana, the famous pair dined at La Guarida, walked through colonial Old Havana and took photos with schoolchildren. 

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Ramon Espinosa / AP

Beyonce and Jay-Z spent their fifth anniversary in Cuba.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday confirmed that Beyonce and Jay-Z's controversial trip to Cuba last week was indeed sanctioned.

"It is our understanding that the travelers in question traveled to Cuba pursuant to an educational exchange trip organized by a group authorized by (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) to sponsor and organize programs to promote people-to-people contact in Cuba," Alastair M. Fitzpayne, the Treasury's assistant secretary for legislative affairs, wrote in a letter to Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart.

The letter also notes that "OFAC's regulations and guidelines require that such trips involve a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that result in meaningful interaction between the U.S. travelers and individuals of Cuba." Visitors are allowed to "engage in non-educational activities off-hours."

The Florida representatives had contacted the Treasury with concerns about the singers' trip, writing that the U.S. travel restrictions are in place to prevent American tourism dollars being spent to support a "murderous regime."

Americans can travel to Cuba if they first obtain a license for an academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange trip, but may not travel there simply for tourism.

The celebrity couple was pictured visiting the island on their fifth wedding anniversary. They toured historic Old Havana and dined at an elegant Havana restaurant, and Jay-Z was photographed smoking one of Cuba's famed cigars. The stars' presence created such a stir that police were called in.

-- With additional reporting by Kelly O'Donnell

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Justin Timberlake fired back at Kanye West this weekend on "Saturday Night Live."

During the five-time host's first musical performance, J.T. took a subtle shot at Kim Kardashian's baby daddy with a slight tweak to the lyrics of "Suit & Tie."

"My hit's so sick got rappers acting dramatic," he crooned (at the 2:15 mark), instead of the hit single's original line, "s--- so sick got a hit and picked up a habit."

The dramz in question refer to Kanye's latest "Clique" rant during a recent show in London (where everything seems to happen these days).

"I got love for Hov, but I ain't f---ing with that 'Suit & Tie,'" the aggrieved rapper grumbled about his pal Jay-Z's new collaboration with J.T.

Hov clearly has love for the prince of pop: In addition to sharing the stage in their upcoming Legends of Summer stadium tour, Beyoncé's hubby made a surprise appearance on "SNL," grabbing a mic for "Suit & Tie" -- just moments after Timberlake's Kanye dis.

Your move, 'Ye.

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Kanye West has never been one to bite his tongue, but diss Jay-Z ... that's a different story. Putting the duo's 2011-2012 "Watch the Throne" tour to the side, the loquacious rapper hit the stage during his show in London Saturday and sounded off about Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie."

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"I got love for Hov, but I ain't f------- with that 'Suit &Tie,'" Kim Kardashian's baby daddy told the crowd as an instrumental "Clique" played in the background, which features him and Jay-Z.

And that was just the beginning of Kanye's rant about the music industry.

(Note: Video contains swearing.)

"I hate business people," West rapped, according to Billboard. "People get on the phone with me and tell me, 'What kind of business can you do, though? What type of business are you doing? What's the numbers? How much did you sell? What's the radio spins? How much shampoo can you sell with your face on it and sh--. Remind me again why we in this sh---. Can you remind me again why we in this sh--? Since when (is) making music about getting rich? Since when was making art about getting rich? ... Remind me again why we in this sh--."

Oh, yes, there was even more during the 10-minute rapped speech.

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"Can I sell a drink for you, please?" West continued. "So you can help me put on a better show. Please corporations. Can you please support me? I swear I'm a nice n---- now. I swear I'll put the pink polo back on. I swear to you. Please. Just for three million dollars. I need it so bad. I need a new pool in my backyard. I tell my fans your sh-- is cool. And if they believe in me they should also believe in you. What's my public rating now? Are they liking me again? They forgot about the whole Beyonce thing right? Okay, cool."

Last week, Jay-Z and Timberlake officially announced that they will embark on a tour together, performing in 12 cities this summer.

Something tells us West won't be making an appearance.

It's tough keeping up with Kimye. Check out the couple's best pics!

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Christopher Polk / Getty Images

It's official: confirming the hype-fueled rumors, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z have announced that they will indeed head out on tour together.

The summer stadium tour, dubbed "Legends of The Summer," kicks off a series of 12 concerts starting July 17 in Toronto and winds down Aug. 16 in Miami. The two will also play in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Detroit, Baltimore and Hershey, Pa. (See more details here.)

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Tickets go on sale Feb. 28, via Live Nation, for all cities except New York. 

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Timberlake's upcoming album, "The 20/20 Experience," will be released March 19 on RCA Records. Timberlake has already released two singles, "Suit & Tie" with Jay-Z and the eight-minute "Mirrors," and performed "Pusher Love Girl" and "That Girl" live. It was announced earlier this week that Timberlake and Jay-Z would headline London's Wireless Festival this summer.

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Singer Courtney Love in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 19.

Courtney Love took on Jay-Z's "99 Problems" during an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, last week. And as her own best critic, the rocker warned before starting the song: "It's so genius, it either sucks, or it's genius."

A video of the Jan. 22 performance at the Star Bar has surfaced on YouTube. The former Hole frontwoman and widow of Kurt Cobain puts her own grungy, acoustic spin on the hip-hop classic. And she doesn't take any lyrical shortcuts, singing the N-word a couple times during the 3-minute video.

Comments varied on the YouTube clip, with some taking offense to her use of the N-word and others defending her right to cover the song as it was written.

"She is a very very serious musician ... she's got a great voice and is an incredible writer. Unfortunately (but understandably) people find it hard to look past the way she's portrayed by the media," user dubpsychosis88 wrote.

"Courtney has got to be the worst pop star along with Taylor Swift ... utter crap," wrote Micah Femino.

Hole formed in 1989 and put out the debut album "Pretty on the Inside" in 1991. The band's second album, "Live Through This," came out four days after Cobain committed suicide in Seattle in 1994. The band released "Celebrity Skin" in 1998, and broke up in 2002. Love released a solo album, "America's Sweetheart," in 2004, and she re-formed Hole for 2010's "Nobody's Daughter" with a new lineup of musicians.

Love told Rolling Stone last fall that she teamed with ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha for a single called "This is War," possibly salted for a Feb. 7 release.

Love has long been a magnet for rock 'n' roll attention, from her outspoken Twitter musings to her ongoing feud with the surviving members of Nirvana. She's also had a contentious relationship with her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

But in Park City, she put a clever twist on the end of her cover: "I got 99 problems, but being a bitch ain't one."

Check out the video below, but be warned that it contains profane language.

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It started off as a well-publicized event in and of itself: Coldplay and Jay-Z co-headlining a show on New Year's Eve at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Ringing in 2013 with two great onstage acts? What could be better?

How about Gwyneth Paltrow making an appearance onstage, dancing to "Run This Town" in this now-viral video?

Paltrow (who's married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin) is visible on the stage along with their kids Apple and Moses. Paltrow engages in what some are calling "champagne sway-dancing," or "pony-tail whipping," while trying to entice the little ones to groove along with her.

It's been fodder for a good bit of mockery, but in our opinion, the Goop-goddess is rightly taking advantage of one of the perks of being one degree of separation from music's most-inner circle.

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Jay-Z joined President Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday and offered a lyrical twist on his hip-hop hit, "99 Problems."

The rapper subbed "Mitt" for "a b--ch" in the song, singing, "I got 99 problems but Mitt ain't one" in a nod to Obama's Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. 

"I didn't get that vetted, so let's do this real fast before they come up here and snatch me off this stage," Jay-Z says to the cheering crowd.

Bruce Springsteen also rallied with Obama a day ahead of Tuesday's election. The rocker performed in Madison, Wisc.

Romney was on a four-state tour through Florida, Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire.

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helloblueivycarter.tumblr.com

Beyonce with daughter Blue Ivy back in January.

They can say her name -- they just can't keep it for themselves. Beyonce and hubby Jay-Z have lost their legal bid to trademark their baby daughter Blue Ivy's moniker on account of a Boston-based event planning firm, which has been going by the name Blue Ivy Events since 2009.

The superstar couple filed a trademark application shortly after Blue Ivy's birth in January 2012 reportedly because Beyonce wanted to put out a line of children's clothing.

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However, according to the Boston Herald, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office sent the hip-hop royals a letter turning down their petition to retain "Blue Ivy" for their own business ventures and siding with Blue Ivy Events owner Veronica Alexandra, who was forced to defend her company's good name.

The ruling means Blue Ivy Events can continue to operate under its current designation. But the firm doesn't hold anything against Bey and Jay, posting a photo of the pair on its site with the caption, "Congrats to our SOUL MATE Couple with Baby Blue Ivy!!!"

While they may be disappointed, Beyonce and Jay-Z can now get back to the business of being first-time parents to Blue Ivy, efforts for which they received the presidential seal of approval after Barack Obama took time out on the campaign trail to offer up some unsolicited advice to the twosome.

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"I made sure that Jay-Z was helping Beyonce out [with the baby], and not leaving it all with Beyonce and the mother-in-law," the president told Cleveland radio station Z107.9.

Obama also talked about his blossoming friendship with the duo ever since Beyonce sang at his inauguration.

"They're good people. Beyonce could not be sweeter to Michelle and the girls. So they're good friends. We talk about the same things I talk about with all my friends," he said.

Blue Ivy definitely has a good fashion mentor -- her mom!

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President Barack Obama told Cleveland radio station Z107.9 this week that he's offered a few tips to new dad Jay-Z about riasing daughter Ivy Blue with Beyoncé.

"I've gotten to know these guys over the last several years ... They're good people. Beyoncé could not be sweeter to Michelle and the girls. ... So they're good friends," the president says around the 6:33 mark of the clip. "They really are down-to-earth folks. And we talk about the same things I talk about with all my friends."

A big topic of discussion? Kids. "They've got a new daughter. I made sure Jay-Z was helping Beyoncé out and not leaving it all to mom and the mother-in-law," Obama said. Being a president or a rap mogul might be a tough job, but being a parent can humble even the best.

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Michael Buckner / Getty Images

Beyonce.

Clint Eastwood's going to have to find another dream girl. Beyonce confirmed Tuesday that she will no longer be starring in the latest remake of "A Star Is Born" being directed by the recently controversial two-time Oscar winner.

Not that anyone's blaming the great chair talk of 2012 for Beyonce's exit or anything.

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"I was looking forward to the production of 'A Star Is Born' and the opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood," the Grammy winner said in a statement to E! News. "For months we tried to coordinate our schedules to bring this remake to life but it was just not possible. Hopefully in the future we will get a chance to work together."

It would seem it's now back to square one in the casting department. Though Bradley Cooper's name came up as a possibility to play the declining star opposite Beyonce's rising ingenue, he was never actually attached to the project.

Casting couch pics

"We've talked to several people, and we probably won't address that one till next year," Eastwood himself told us at the premiere of his latest film, "Trouble With the Curve." "Early next year."

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Apparently aware that their schedules weren't quite coordinating, the filmmaker also noted that Beyonce was "great," but he wasn't yet sure if she would be available.

Eastwood's would be the fourth version of "A Star Is Born": Janet Gaynor and Fredric March starred in the 1937 original, Judy Garland and James Mason toplined the 1954 remake, and Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson memorably updated the drama in 1976. 

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