An up-and-coming rapper to most, West coaster Jay Rock already has buzz on the streets of Watts, CA, where the baritone-voiced 24-year-old has made a name for himself through precision rhymes and self-released mix-tapes. He hails from the notorious Nickerson Garden Projects, sports Blood red, and raps about the ghetto struggle. But as you’ll see in the Pop Quiz, he’s a softie with an eye for the ladies, enjoys comic books, and just wants to please his mother. Jay Rock’s now signed to Warner Brothers, with his single "All My Life" featuring Lil Wayne & Will.i.am on heavy rotation. His album Follow Me Home drops this spring, and he opens for The Game (who also guests on the album) this Saturday at the Blender Theater in New York. Catch him now before he blows up.

1. Southern Hospitality (Upper East Side) - The 14 HD TVs and a large HD projection screen aren't the real excess here -- that's the $80 premium VIP package. All you can drink, all you can eat appetizers (the fried pickles are absurd), and guaranteed seating to make sure once the fat is on, it stays on. Free Jim Beam from 4 to 6 only sweetens the deal. The place to be.
2. 40/40 (Flatiron) - Like stepping into a hip-hop video, minus the fisheye. All-white, super sleek. Oh, and Kobe Bryant is holding a party for his Laker friends and all the video hos this side of the Bronx.
3. Village Pourhouse (Greenwich Village) - 50 bottles, around 24 drafts at any given moment. But with the $30 all you can drink Bud Light draft from kickoff until end of the game, we both know what you'll be drinking.

On Sunday, the New York Giants will play the Philadelphia Eagles for a chance to play for a chance to play in the Superbowl, and you can be damn sure every restaurant and bar in the city with a screen and a business sense will be looking to fatten you up with irresistible gameday specials. Here's a rundown of prime places in New York to watch Eli Manning and the Giants clip the Eagles' wings, or the Eagles ... peck out the Giants' ... eyes? Whatever:

● Southern Hospitality (Upper East Side) - Justin Timberlake's Memphis mock-up makes no qualms about who it's rooting for. Their menu includes a smoked eagle (turkey), clipped eagle wings, and the Big Blue Bird Crusher (blue frozen margarita), as well as Plaxico shots ($2 whenever the Giants score).

Somewhat surprisingly, biopic-happy Hollywood lacks a movie recounting the legendary but brief life of Tupac Shakur. The slain rapper is uncannily suited for the celluloid treatment, with his firebrand rapper-as-revolutionary persona, his frequent brushes with the law, and an early death that saw him ascend to both myth and martyr. If he ever does get his own movie (and he probably will), a good bet to play him might be Anthony Mackie, who portrayed the rapper in a play written by his Julliard classmate; Mackie's donning the bandanna again in Notorious, a film about Tupac’s friend and foe, The Notorious B.I.G.. Mackie met up with me at the W Hotel in Union Square to discuss embodying Tupac for a second time, leftover street booty, and why pungent Eurotrash are ruining New York nightlife.

Scott Weiland’s Snitch is now Citrine, Tim Robbins is no longer behind the Back Room, De Niro’s Ago was critically panned, cholesterol problems await at Justin Timberlake’s Southern Hospitality, and Arnold Schwarzenegger & co.’s Planet Hollywood is a tourist trap, all’s not lost -- here’s a list of celeb-owned spots worth looking into.