Redskins' Brandon Lloyd, Rappin' Receiver

The Redskins gained more than just a wide receiver when they acquired Brandon Lloyd from the San Francisco 49ers last month -- they got a rapper!

Better known for his acrobatic catches, the 24-year-old has long dreamed of a musical career. Now he has a single, "Take It to the Hoop," on the soundtrack of a new PlayStation game "NBA Ballers Phenom," released last week. The song seems to be about basketball rather than his bread-winning sport: "That's why the coaches call me Malcolm and stick me in the middle, 'cause I'm crossing on all lanes and dunking on instrumentals." But, hey, it's a break.

"It's young, fly and flashy," Lloyd said when our colleague Jason La Canfora caught up with him at Redskins Park. He described his sound as "Southern flavor with an East Coast swing and West Coast production."

Lloyd recorded a demo album last year and said he's been getting some guidance from Interscope Records, though the company has not signed him. Last week he dumped his music manager, prompting speculation that he was downplaying his recording aspirations while trying to pin down a long-term contract with the Redskins. But Lloyd says he simply didn't need a California-based rep now that he's moved east.

Lloyd follows the somewhat dubious steps of other athletes-turned-singers ( Deion Sanders , Shaquille O'Neal , Bronson Arroyo , Allen Iverson , the '85 Chicago Bears -- "Super Bowl Shuffle," anyone?). Can he take the flak? "I know I have to come correct, and I do come correct," he said. "I approach it just like I approach football."

Meanwhile, he's got another project underway -- he and wife Nicole are expecting their first child in May. After mentioning this fact at a Redskins news conference last month, Lloyd went back to California . . . and found a dozen baby gifts from D.C. football fans. "My wife totally freaked out," he said. "We're at home writing thank-you notes to people we never even met before."

LOVE, ETC.

· Born : A son, Moses , to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin , the actress's publicist announced yesterday. The fair-haired couple picked a relatively trendy name (Hebrew origin, meaning "saved from the water") for their second child after drawing hoots of derision for naming their daughter Apple (Old English origin, meaning "the firm edible fruit of the deciduous tree Malus pumila " ). According to a federal database, in 2004 Moses was the 514th most popular name for baby boys -- more popular, even, than Gwyneth was for girls! It's also the name of a song Martin wrote for Coldplay that hit No. 24 on the charts.

· Split: Rapper Bow Wow , 19, and crunk songstress Ciara , 20, after about a year of dating, and the break was not amicable, her publicist told reporters. Unclear what happened to the couple, who had a hit duet, "Like You." So much for those lyrics about "we gonna always be together, baby."

THIS JUST IN . . .

· First lady Laura Bush , first mom Barbara Bush and President Bush 41 will gather in Midland, Tex., today to dedicate the childhood home of George W. Bush. The president, stumping in the Midwest for prescription drug benefits, will miss all the jokes being made at his expense.

· No outsourcing here! Rep. John Dingell , who had his artificial hip repaired yesterday, used the opportunity to plug American workmanship: "Most doctors say an artificial hip will last just 15 or 20 years tops, but that one made by the finest workers in the world held up for 20 plus," said the Michigan Democrat, who is recuperating at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

· Insourcing here? Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's first restaurant in Washington will be named . . . the Source. Puck's California cuisine eatery, located alongside the under-construction Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, is due to open in the fall of 2007.

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House counsel Harriet Miers at Cafe Milano Sunday night. The two administration officials sat front and center as they celebrated the birthday of investment banker Mary Bush , a childhood friend of Rice's. The party of 17, including former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Federal Trade Commissioner Margot Machol, stayed skinny by ordering petits fours and fresh berries instead of birthday cake.