112 Bun B, Travis McCoy Rock Play N Skillz Pre-Grammy Party

4 Feb 2009 04:33:00 EST

Slim Thug, Too Short and other hip-hop heavyweights come out to party with Lil Wayne's producers.
By Shaheem Reid

Play N Skillz's Play
Photo: MTV News

DALLAS — Grammy partying has started almost a whole week early ... and it's not even in host city L.A.

Production duo Play N Skillz, who are nominated for three Grammys this year, hosted a party in their native Dallas at club Plush to commence the celebration. Local D-Town artist Big Tuck, ex-video model Gloria Velez, former 112 singer Slim and Too Short — along with Houston neighbors Bun B, Slim Thug and Paul Wall — came out for the bash.

Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy was the special guest DJ, spinning songs by Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and UGK, among others.

Around 1:50 a.m., just as the house lights were turned on, McCoy invited all the stars in the house to come from their VIP hideouts on the second floor to the DJ booth on the first floor. With everyone in place, McCoy jumped on top of the structure surrounding the booth and performed "Cookie Jar."

Slim then was handed the mic for his solo hit "So Fly." The Atlanta native had the women singing along with him on certain parts, especially the chorus when they yelled in unison, "I'm reaaaaaaa-deee!" Slim ended by taking it back to his 112 roots with "Peaches & Cream."

Then it was Too Short's turn. The legendary, lovable foul-mouth asked the crowd to tell him his favorite word. They responded yelling, "Beyotch!" Short's music was cued up, and he went into "Blow the Whistle."

Pitbull, who was also in the house, performed "Crazy" next. The music didn't stop — Paul Wall kept it going with "Break 'Em Off."

Big Tuck continued the rap chorus line with his regional smash "Not a Stain on Me." O.G. Bun B got loud yells with his "Gangsta" song. The MCing finale was "Still Tippin' " by Slim Thug and Paul Wall. They even let Mike Jones' part play.

Before the crowd exited, Play got back on the mic and promised to bring another Grammy (Play N Skillz won last year for their production work on Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty") back to Dallas after this weekend's ceremony.

"Dallas is the next city to blow the f--- up," he insisted.

Play N Skillz are up for three Grammys this weekend for their work on Lil Wayne's "Got Money," most notably Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Will Lil Wayne grab all the gramophones? Is Katy Perry going to tell her girl rivals to kiss off? Can Coldplay march off with a win? MTV News is all over the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, so stay tuned for interviews, analysis and more before, during and after the big night, Sunday, February 8.

Related Artists

50 Cent Won't Let Go Of Billboard's #1

13 Apr 2005 09:09:00 EDT

The Massacre fends off Faith Evans' latest, keeps chart crown.
By Chris Harris

50 Cent's The Massacre

If rapper 50 Cent is Billboard's sovereign king, then singer Faith Evans is most certainly the album chart's queen.

50 Cent's five-week term as the albums chart's superpower came dangerously close to its end as First Lady, the latest batch of tunes from Evans, scored sales of more than 157,000 during its first week of release. Unfortunately for Faith, The Massacre managed to outperform her new disc by over 7,000 copies, finishing with sales of just over 165,000 and securing 50 the chart's first-place position for a sixth-consecutive week, even as sales of the mammoth record waned 22 percent.

But for 50, the race to 3 million isn't over yet. The Massacre is just short of the finish line, with mere inches to go, with a six-week total of over 2,980,000 copies sold. So much for the sophomore slump.

The winner of the second-place ribbon on the previous week's chart, alterna-folker Beck's Guero, fell just one spot to #3, despite sustaining a painful second-week sales hit of 50 percent. The record sold close to 81,000 copies during week two, according to the latest SoundScan totals. Right behind Beck is the 18th edition of the popular Now That's What I Call Music! franchise, featuring contributions from the likes of U2, Chingy, Nelly, Hoobastank and Destiny's Child. Just fewer than 77,000 copies of the compilation disc left store shelves during that album's fourth week at retail — sales that helped the release climb from the chart's #5 slot to #4.

Pleasure & Pain, the latest offering from soulful R&B quartet 112, slipped from #4 to #5 when second-week sales of the disc took a 48 percent nosedive. But 112's LP did manage to move nearly 61,000 copies, besting actor/rapper Will Smith's Lost and Found — which also makes its second straight appearance in the chart's top 10 at #6 — by not even 600, a tough break for the Fresh Prince.

At #7 on the chart, up three spots from its station the previous week, are pop-punk patriarchs Green Day, with American Idiot recording just under 59,000 scans. Released 29 weeks ago, American Idiot has either made the top 10 or hovered close to the brink consistently since its initial debut. Right behind Billie Joe and company's album stands incarcerated rapper Beanie Sigel's The B.Coming. It finished at #3 on the prior week's chart with a first-week sales showing of close to 131,000. Week two? Not so good. The disc suffered a 56 percent retail plummet, scoring sales of just over 57,000.

Finishing at #9 is rock-and-roll princess Lisa Marie Presley with Now What. The disc from the King offspring clocked first-week sales of more than 56,000, sneaking just in front of wave-riding guitar-strummer Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams, which recorded sixth-week sales of close to 55,000.

The Killers' Hot Fuss holds strong to #11, with sales eclipsing the 53,500 mark during its 43rd week of release. Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin's latest collection of soulful tracks, Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, garnered the week's third-best debut, selling just over 52,000 copies to finish at #12. Frankie J's The One follows at #13, with close to 50,000 scans. Comedian Larry the Cable Guy's Right to Bare Arms claims the chart's #14 slot, selling 48,000 plus copies during its second week. And in at #15 is Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby, with just under 48,000 albums sold.

Other notable debuts on next week's chart include R&B songstress Brandy's Best of Brandy, at #27 with 26,000 plus scans and Hot Hot Heat's Elevator, selling just over 21,000 copies to come in at #34.

Less notable, perhaps, were the debut showings of Music From "The O.C.": Mix 4, which features a collection of cuts heard on the lavish teen soap, including Beck's "Scarecrow," the Futureheads' "Decent Days and Nights" and Modest Mouse's "The View." That album charted at #56 with sales of 16,000 plus. Corrosion of Conformity's In the Arms of God came in at #108 with sales of just under 9,000, while A Static Lullaby's Faso Latido finished at #129 with sales of 7,600 and change. Adema checked in at #152 with Planets, Reel Big Fish hooked #155 with We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy, and the latest from Mike Patton's Fantômas, Suspended Animation, finished at #158.

Sales of the Bravery's self-titled album fell 53 percent in its second week on shelves, knocking the synth-rockers down 29 chart positions to #57. It was the same second-week story for the Game's West Coast Resurrection, which features some of the rapper's earliest material. That album, too, suffered a 53 percent sales dip, dropping from #53 to #113.

Fantasia: A Strong Seller

Sales of "American Idol" alum Fantasia's Free Yourself have been declining steadily since the album's release four months ago. But the fourth season of the hit reality show has no doubt helped keep Fantasia in the Billboard top 50. In fact, her album even got a bit of a boost this week. It's probably no coincidence that Fantasia's performance last week on the show's results episode was followed this week by a 10 percent sales increase. Free Yourself sold close to 28,500 copies, giving it the chart's #25 ranking.

Happy Birthday, Joss

The chart's biggest winner, by far, has to be English pop star Joss Stone. The singer, who turned 18 on Monday, received an unexpected birthday present this week — in the form of soaring album sales for both her 2004 disc, Mind, Body & Soul, and her 2003 release, The Soul Sessions.

Both albums experienced sales spikes of at least 150 percent (in Mind, Body & Soul's case, 170). The Soul Sessions scored the #123 spot on the chart, with sales of that record coming in at just over 8,000. Mind, Body & Soul took the #18 slot, leaping an impressive 58 chart positions, thanks to sales of more than 36,000. A spokesperson for Stone attributed the increases to the singer's April 4 appearance with "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Related Artists

50 Cent's Chart Dominance Continues For Fifth Week

6 Apr 2005 09:03:00 EDT

Despite slight sales slump, The Massacre holds Billboard's top spot.
By Chris Harris

50 Cent
Photo: Zach Gold

Rapper 50 Cent simply can't be stopped. His latest album, The Massacre, sold more than 210,000 copies last week, once again securing him a seat at the head of Billboard's proverbial table — for a fifth consecutive chart, no less.

Many have tried to overthrow 50 as the chart king, and some have come close, but all have inevitably failed. SoundScan sales figures show that eclectic alterna-crooner Beck, who comes in at #2 on next week's Billboard albums chart, at least gave it the old college try. More than 162,000 copies of his latest effort, Guero — his first disc since 2002's Sea Change — disappeared from store shelves during the LP's first week of release. The latest album from incarcerated South Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel, The B.Coming, finished at #3 with an impressive first-week showing, scoring close to 131,000 scans.

Right behind Jay-Z's tough-guy protégé — currently in New Jersey lockdown on a drug charge — come soulful R&B quartet 112, whose album Pleasure & Pain netted first-week sales of more than 117,000. A 63 percent sales slump knocked the 18th installment of mega-hit compilation Now That's What I Call Music! to the #5 spot; the record sold just over 100,000 copies during its third retail week.

Following a long period of musical dormancy, Will Smith returned to the Billboard albums chart top 10 this week, grabbing #6 with his latest, Lost and Found, which sold more than 98,000 copies. Shocking the industry, comedian Larry the Cable Guy takes the #7 slot with his disc, Right to Bare Arms. Now, along with contributing the catchphrase "Git-R-Done" to the American lexicon, the Dirty South funnyman can add first-week sales of more than 92,000 to his list of accomplishments.

Acoustic surfer dude Jack Johnson's record In Between Dreams continues to sell by the boatload, finishing at #8 with more than 65,000 copies scanned. Right behind him is Frankie J's The One, which suffered a 51 percent plummet in sales and falls from #3 to #9, scoring little more than 64,000 scans. At #10 is Green Day's American Idiot, which sold more than 63,900 copies during its 28th week on the chart.

Hot Fuss, the Killers' debut offering, takes #11, moving 55,000 discs and bumping the band out of the top 10. Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway is in at #12 with sales of 51,000 plus, followed by Ciara's Goodies at #13, with scans of close to 48,000. Coming in at #14 is the Game's The Documentary, with more than 44,500 copies sold, followed by Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby at #15, with sales of just over 44,000. Jennifer Lopez's latest, Rebirth, drops from #7 to #20, thanks to a 45 percent decline in sales.

New York dance rockers the Bravery sold more than 33,000 copies of their self-titled debut last week to take #18. Indie-rock troupe Mae scored themselves an impressive debut, coming in at #51 with sales of more than 18,000. First-week sales of the Game's West Coast Resurrection, an album of the rapper's older material, fell just short of the 18,000 mark to finish at #53.

Overall, it was a fairly sluggish week at retail — for everyone but Damien Rice. His album O resurfaced on Billboard's chart at #138, thanks to a 33 percent surge in sales. A SoundScan spokesperson attributed that growth to a 36 percent increase in online sales of the disc, as well as a 51 percent hike in chain scans.

50 Cent's The Massacre will likely score the top spot on the next Billboard albums chart as well, as Faith Evans (First Lady), Hot Hot Heat (Elevator), the Crystal Method (Community Service II), Lisa Marie Presley (Now What) and A Static Lullaby (Faso Latido) try to slow his sales machine.

Week Two = Weak Sales
Several albums that debuted on the previous week's albums chart experienced the harsh reality of the second-week sales slump. After their fifth-place debut, Queens of the Stone Age suffered a 61 percent retail dip, which accounted for more than 37,000 scans, dropping the band's Lullabies to Paralyze to #17. Lifehouse's self-titled LP debuted at #10 and nosedives to #28, thanks to a 56 percent sales slip. Tweet's It's Me Again sustained a 59 percent drop in sales, while retail interest in C-Murder's Truest Sh-- I Ever Said waned by 53 percent.

Likewise, second-week sales faded for Moby's Hotel (32 percent), the Decemberists' Picaresque, (37 percent), Trust Company's True Parallels (61 percent) and Billy Idol's Devil's Playground (64 percent).

Related Artists

New Releases: Beanie Sigel, Will Smith, Game, Beck, The Bravery, Thrice & More

28 Mar 2005 08:52:00 EST

Also out Tuesday are discs from 112, Morrissey, Stereophonics.
By Alyssa Rashbaum

Beck's Guero
Photo: Geffen

Will Smith has a reputation for turning his singles into dance-class lesson plans, and with "Switch," the debut single off his new Lost and Found, Smith again commands faithful fans to pay close attention — there will be a test on the dance floor.

After teaching listeners how to "bounce with me" in 1997's "Men in Black," and illustrating how to "Nod Ya Head" in 2002, the rapper/actor unveils his newest move in "Switch": "Switch, turn it over and hit it/ Turn around, now switch." Lost and Found is the rapper-turned-actor-turned-rapper's first album since 2002's Born to Reign.

Meanwhile, the members of Beanie Sigel's State Property camp might be going their separate ways and he may be behind bars, but none of that can stop the Philadelphia MC, who returns to stores this week. Beanie's The B. Coming features work that the rapper did before he was jailed in November of last year on weapons charges.

Beck has shown that he's a quick learner: The singer picked up swiftly on "The O.C." 's unprecedented power to make albums fly off shelves, unveiling five cuts off his new album, Guero, on a recent episode of the show. The album is Beck's first since 2002's super mellow Sea Change and hits stores on the heels of the single "E-Pro."

Embattled rapper the Game unveils West Coast Resurrection, an album of cuts spanning from his early days up to the release of The Documentary.

From the soul-infused hip-hop group that brought you the sultry single "Peaches & Cream" in 2002 comes Pleasure and Pain. 112's fifth album features production by Mario Winans, Trackboyz and others, as well as the first single "U Already Know."

Highly buzzed-about, heavily eye-lined New York rockers the Bravery release their new-wave-inspired self-titled debut this week. Meanwhile, Morrissey fans still sulking over the fact that they missed the singer's recent tour will be happy to hear that a live album hits stores this week. Live at Earl's Court features songs like "How Soon Is Now?," "Shoplifters of the World Unite" and "Friday Mourning."

South Wales-bred Stereophonics release their punk- and funk-infused album Language. Sex. Violence. Other? Also out this week are albums by 4th Avenue Jones (Stereo: The Evolution of Hiprocksoul), Aslyn (Lemon Love), Thrice (If Only We Could See Us Now) and Theory of a Deadman (Gasoline).

Out Tuesday, March 29:

112 - Pleasure and Pain (Island Def Jam)
Read: "112 Too Comfortable, Too Fat? Not Anymore"
Buy Now: Pleasure and Pain (Island Def Jam)
4th Avenue Jones - Stereo: The Evolution of Hiprocksoul (Lookalive!/Gotee/EMI)
Acoustic Alchemy - American/English (Higher Octave)
Aslyn - Lemon Love (Capitol)
BeatleJazz - With a Little Help from Our Friends (Lightyear)
Beck - Guero (Geffen)
Read: "Finished Version Of That Beck LP You Downloaded Due In March"
Buy Now: Guero (Geffen)
Bloodsimple - A Cruel World (Reprise)
Buy Now: A Cruel World (Reprise)
Blueprint - 1988 (Rhymesayers)
Bravery - The Bravery (Island Def Jam)
Read: "The Bravery Fight Nerves As They Prepare To Drop Debut LP"
Buy Now: The Bravery (Island Def Jam)
Bushwick Bill - Gutta Mixx (Adex Records/Lightyear Entertainment)
Billy Dean - Let Them Be Little (Curb)
Dissociatives - The Dissociatives (Astralwerks)
DJ Die - Cross Collaborations (Studio Distribution)
George Duke - Duke (Big Piano Music)
Edan - Beauty and the Beat (Lewis Recordings)
The Game - West Coast Resurrection (Get Low)
Peter Himmelman - Imperfect World (Majestic Recordings)
Tish Hinojosa - A Heart Wide Open (Valley Entertainment)
Engelbert Humperdinck - Let There Be Love (Hip-O Records
Jorane - The You and the Now (Six Degrees)
James Labrie - Elements of Persuasion (Inside Out U.S.)
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - You Gotta Dig a Little Deeper (Rounder)
Mae - Everglow (Tooth & Nail)
Morrissey - Live at Earl's Court (Sanctuary)
Buy Now: Live at Earl's Court (Sanctuary)
Trish Murphy - Girls Get in Free (Valley Entertainment)
N2U - Issues (Virgin)
Negator - Old Black (Cleopatra)
Ocean Colour Scene - A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad (Sanctuary)
Okay - Low Road (Absolutely Kosher)
Okay - High Road (Absolutely Kosher)
Kat Parsons - No Will Power (Cleopatra)
Glen Phillips - Winter Pays for Summer (Lost Highway)
Spike Priggen - Stars After Stars After Stars (Volare)
Beanie Sigel - The B-Coming (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Slunt - Get a Load of This (Repossession)
Will Smith - Lost and Found (Interscope)
Read: "Will Smith Has 'Sumthin' For Eminem' On New LP, Due In March"
Buy Now: Lost & Found (Interscope)
Stereophonics - Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (V2)
Buy Now: Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (V2)
Theory of a Dead Man - Gasoline (Roadrunner)
Read: "Thrice Look Back Before Moving Ahead With Some Weird Songs That Might Suck"
Thrice - If We Could Only See Us Now (Island Def Jam)
Wilkinsons - Highway (33rd Street/CBUJ)
Various artists - Buddha Bar VII (George V)
Various artists - "Kung Fu Hustle" score (Varese Sarabande)
Various artists - "Sin City" score (Varese Sarabande)
Various artists - Soul Sauce (Revive the Soul)
Various artists - Urban Upgrade (Varese Sarabande)
DVD: AC/DC - "Family Jewels" (Sony)

April 5:

Faith Evans - First Lady (Capitol)
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (Sire)
Read: "Hot Hot Heat's Ups And Downs Inspire Elevator"
Buy Now: Elevator (Sire)
Various artists - Music from the O.C. Mix 4 (Warner Bros.)

April 12:

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi (Island)
Garbage - Bleed Like Me (Interscope)
Read: "Garbage Breakup Ends With New LP — If They Did Actually Break Up"
Mudvayne - Lost and Found (Sony)
Read: "Mudvayne Lose The Makeup, Find Inspiration In Isolation"
April 19:
- Mike Jones - Who Is Mike Jones? (Atlantic)
- Flaming Lips - Latenight Tales (Another Late Night)
- Rob Thomas - Something to Be (Atlantic)
Related Artists
- Will Smith
- Game
- Beck
- 112
- Morrissey

112 Too Comfortable, Too Fat? Not Anymore

17 Feb 2005 09:24:00 EST

Group drops pounds, plots comeback after catching a brick with Hot & Wet.
By Shaheem Reid

112 (file)
Photo: MTV News

Instead of naming their last LP Hot & Wet, perhaps 112 should have considered calling it Comfortable and Fat. The group has acknowledged that it caught a brick on its fourth album, and the guys only blame themselves.

"We had to revamp things," Mike, who also noted that fans and critics were saying the group looked overweight a couple of years ago, fessed up recently in New York. "A lot of people won't talk about hits and misses and mediocrity, but y'all seen us grow up and we feel y'all know us. So it's not a problem for us to talk about it. The fourth album wasn't exactly what we expected as far the response and overall love. We'll admit we got that big check [from Def Jam] and lost focus. We had a minor setback. The glorious thing about a group the caliber of 112, we have history."

112 are hoping that people will forget the blemish left on their record by Hot & Wet once their new LP, Pleasure and Pain, hits. Before they came back up to the surface, they went to the gym — Mike dropped 40 pounds, Q and Slim 20 apiece, and Daron 30. Then it was time to regroup in the studio. No more luxurious recording facilities in Nashville — they went back to basics in a quaint ATL lab ("It was a lobby and a studio, literally," Mike said).

"We got back in the lab and got our focus back," Mike said. "Daron's production is better than ever. 112's singing is better than ever. I'll stop singing if this isn't the greatest representation of 112."

The Atlanta collective are representing for their power of coercion on "U Already Know." The first verse on the record, which was co-written by Sean Garrett ("Yeah!" "Goodies," "Lose My Breath"), talks about the joy of sex with a girl; the second verse talks about the joy of sex with your girl and her girl.

"We got five albums under our belts," Mike began to explain. "The first one, we was kids. That's all we could talk about, 'Only You.' As we got older, our music got older, we're still keeping it sexy, but we gotta go another step up. This record is a result of that. We was like, 'Let's try it. Let's see what happens.' The response is ridiculous. At first, [people who heard the record initially] was like, '112, y'all coming with some real ill lyrics,' but overall, we gotta do us and what makes 112 happy. Let's cause a little controversy."

There's no hullabaloo at 112's record label, Def Jam — the execs are strongly behind them.

"That's a good mesh right there," Slim said of the group's relationship with the top brass. L.A. Reid, we're very family with him. The first three albums we did was on Arista when he was running Arista. Then with the addition of Jay-Z, that's the cherry on top. [Jay] has the attitude like, 'I can't lose.' That's what he said. I talked to Jay and he was like, 'I understand y'all, 'cause I watched y'all grow. It's gonna feel real good to do this. This is y'all's year."

Jay-Z, T.I. and Foxy Brown are among the collaborators on Pleasure and Pain, which is scheduled to be released on March 29.

Related Artists

'Burn' Keeps Usher Hot — And On Top

19 May 2004 02:05:00 EDT

Mr. Entertainment hangs on to #1 spot on albums chart — but country singer Gretchen Wilson is close behind.
By Joe D'Angelo

Usher (file)
Photo: Arista

"Burn" is proving to be as smoking a jam as "Yeah!," as the single helps Usher to remain in the hot seat of the Billboard albums chart.

Mr. Entertainment's fourth album, Confessions, sold another 228,000 copies last week, just barely enough to keep country singer Gretchen Wilson out of the #1 slot, according to SoundScan. The one-two punch of hit singles has helped Usher's album to maintain its position in the top slot for seven of the eight weeks since its release (D12 bumped it into the #2 spot two weeks ago).

Wilson's debut album, Here for the Party, trails Confessions by less than 1,500 copies, while the album's hit single, "Redneck Woman," moves to #2 on Radio & Records' country-radio chart.

Dirty South pioneers 8Ball & MJG's seventh LP, Living Legends, comes in at #3. Featuring contributions from Ludacris, Twista, 112 and P. Diddy, the album sold more than 120,000 copies on the heels of the single "You Don't Want Drama."

While D12 World will slide two spots to #4, with more than 117,000 copies sold in its third week out, Hoobastank's The Reason takes one step forward to #5 (79,000 copies sold) as the crossover single "The Reason" shows no signs of slowing down.

The latest addition to the Cash Money clique, 48-year-old Teena Marie, will make her reintroduction at #6 with La Dona by selling more than 75,000 copies. Marie's first album in a decade — and her 10th overall — features collaborations with Gerald Levert, Common and her former boyfriend Rick James, though the soulful R&B singer is flying solo on her hit single, "I'm Still in Love."

The rest of next week's top 10 finds Prince's Musicology vacating its three-week-old spot at #3 for a place at #7 (with more than 68,000 copies sold); Now That's What I Call Music! 15 up two notches to #8; Mario Winans' Hurt No More down a deuce to #9 (60,000); and Petey Pablo taking the biggest dip with Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry, which will fall from #4 to #10 (56,000).

End of Heartache, the third album by metal quartet Killswitch Engage, will bow at #21, their highest chart position ever. And the soundtrack to "Shrek 2," with its eclectic roster of artists ranging from pop stars (Counting Crows) and disco kings (Lipps Inc.) to celebrity dabblers (Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas covering "Livin' La Vida Loca") and misanthropic singer/songwriters (Eels, Tom Waits, Nick Cave), will come in at #36, rounding out the top-40 debuts.

Big strides were made by rockers showing staying power, as Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News moves up 11 spots to #23 — a 16 percent increase in sales — on the popularity of "Float On"; and Scottish hipsters Franz Ferdinand will jump up 42 spots to #65 with their eponymous debut.

And more than 9,500 people looking to make the next Black Album permutation (i.e. Grey Album, Slack Album, Double Black Album, etc.) picked up the a cappella version of Jay-Z's latest, which will come in at #106.

Related Artists

112, Jagged Edge Plan Joint Tour To Prove Who's Atlanta's Baddest

31 Jul 2003 07:59:00 EDT

R&B groups take friendly competition on the road.
By Shaheem Reid

112
Photo: Bad Boy

For years we've heard about 112 and Jagged Edge jousting for bragging rights over which group could make the most ladies scream, who put out the hottest hits and who really had Atlanta on lock.

All those questions are still a matter of opinion, but according to 112, fans may soon get the chance to see which act has the most engaging live show. The quartet says plans are underway to have the groups tour together starting in October.

"Let's be real, controversy sells in the game," 112's Mike said earlier this week, addressing the perception that his group and Jagged Edge have beef. "R&B singers having beef? That's crazy — but we see that as an opportunity to make money. You're saying, 'We the baddest in Atlanta.' We're saying, 'We're the baddest in Atlanta.' Let's prove it. People wanna see that. People wanna see controversy."

Despite both groups being from the land where throwing them 'bows in moments of crunkness is commonplace, there won't be anyone coming to blows if the tour actually takes place. Mike says neither camp harbors any real ill will toward the other.

"We feel that's just friendly competition, ain't nothing wrong with that," Mike iterated. "[It's the] Lakers versus the Celtics. That's the way we look at it. One of the questions was who was gonna be the opening act? So we figure if we switch — one night they open and one night they headline — that might work out. We feel like whatever it's going to take for this tour to work. One night we'll open for Jagged Edge. It's no problem for us."

112 are also looking at possibly taking Joe Budden and Monica out with them on the road. Three weeks ago, the foursome flew down to Jamaica to film the first clip from their Hot and Wet LP, "Na Na Na Na" with Super Cat (see "112 Team Up With Joe Budden, Super Cat On New LP").

"The video, man, it's real cool," Mike gloated. "It's real gutta. A lot of cats will go to Jamaica and they get the commercial end of Jamaica. We were really in the woods in a real dancehall, just vibing with the people. It felt so good to be around all those beautiful black people loving our music and receiving us.

"Super Cat," he started to add about the group's guest on the song. "Let me tell you something, it's Bob Marley and then it's Super Cat. Bob Marley introduced us to reggae and [brought] the Rastafarian way of life to America. As far as hip-hop is concerned, Super Cat brought that element to Jamaica. ... Man, that homeboy was walking around like the Don Dada. ... The people around him was just paying homage."

Hot and Wet drops on September 23. The video for "Na Na Na Na" has just hit the air.

Related Artists

112 Team Up With Joe Budden, Super Cat On New LP

11 Jun 2003 07:54:00 EDT

Reggae legend replaces Sean Paul on group's first single.
By Shaheem Reid

112's Slim
Photo: Def Jam

Mike, a.k.a. "The Prince" of 112, sounds like the quintessential pitchman as he jokes and plugs his group's next LP, entering in on the tail end of a conversation.

"It's going to be hot, it's going to wet!" he exclaimed during a conference call on Monday. "Hot and Wet [is] the name of the album, [and it drops] September 9. It's going to be real randy, baby. ... Now what the hell are we talking about?"

What Mike missed was Slim, who often sings lead, talking about how well he and the rest of the guys gelled with Joe Budden, who will appear on their LP's title track. "The 12," as they call themselves, also appear on Budden's recently released self-titled LP via "Ma, Ma, Ma."

"First of all, his vibe is not too far from ours," Slim said. "He blasted our song. He's just hot. When we wanted him on the song, 'Pump It Up' wasn't huge like it is now. It wasn't on the radio. We heard the song awhile ago and we wanted that next best thing. We had a choice of anybody, especially being on Def Jam, but we wanted the next [big] thing. We didn't want to use anybody that by the time we came out, they were going to be overly saturated. We had him on another track, but we came up with the 'Hot and Wet' and he ripped that more. We said we want him on that one."

While recording Hot and Wet in Nashville, 112 also secured the services of Sean Paul to appear on their first single, "Na Na Na Na" (see "112 Team Up With Sean Paul, Hope To Work With Ghostface Killah"). But due to Paul's overwhelming popularity of late, they have replaced the highly touted 'dutty' representative with reggae legend Super Cat (see "112 Go For The Slow-Grind Vibe On Hot And Wet").

"[The song] got changed because Sean Paul had a lot of other looks as far as being on different projects," Slim explained. "We wanted to keep it nice and fresh. We definitely understood that by the time our first single would have dropped he would be on his third single, and he has some other people he's working with. When we first picked Sean Paul, he was like Joe Budden: his album wasn't out. But it's all good, we got Super Cat and he really blessed us. Plus he's signed to Star Trak with the Neptunes, so you know what that's going to be. We got him before his album came out — a single or anything — so it's a real good setup."

112 have wrapped their album's production and plan on using "Na Na Na Na" as the first single and the LP's title track as the second.

"We're going to take it to the club; we're going to keep it sexy," Slim said of the lead cut. "All the fellas know what I'm talking about. You go to the club and you see this girl on the side and you're like, 'Oooh, man.' She's on the floor, she's grooving, looking real fly. It's like we're talking to ourselves, 'Na, na, na, you don't know what you're doing to me. You're looking so sexy.' We took dancehall and combined it with the dirty South and made it 'dirty hall.' When you see the video, that girl is going to be doing her thing.

"Caribana style, one big party in the streets," he continued, talking about what fans should expect of the clip. "We're coming back in a big way, so what's better [than] to party Caribana style? Makes you feel like you're at the Mardi Gras or something."

For more on Joe Budden, check out "Joe Budden: The Next 50 Cent?"

Related Artists

112 Go For The Slow-Grind Vibe On Hot & Wet

22 May 2003 07:53:00 EDT

Group to drop new LP September 9.
By Shaheem Reid

112
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — 112 are done number crunching, at least when it comes to titling their LPs. After 112, Room 112 and Part III, the foursome has decided to use only words, Hot & Wet.

On their new LP, due September 9, the guys don't deviate from their MO of harmonizing over hip-hop tracks and flaunting their choirboy voices against slow ballad beats.

"I don't know what you're doing to me," they sing on the album's first single, "Na Na Na Na," which features Sean Paul and should hit airwaves at the end of June.

And if Q, Mike, Slim and Daron are clueless at the beginning of the song, by the time the cut is over, they are fully acquainted with what's going down. That's because they are calling the shots.

"Rock that ass, work your body, change positions, twerk it for me," they melodically encourage over Daron's bass-heavy beat that mixes bouncy down South funk with reggae.

112's lanky member handles the bulk of the album's production, and the group wrote all of the album's songs except for one. The guys did show that there were no hard feelings with P. Diddy, with whom they had a recent contract dispute (see "112 Team Up With Sean Paul, Hope To Work With Ghostface Killah"), as they looked to P.D. for a few tracks.

"Knock You Down" will probably remind you of a Jodeci song, and with good reason. Diddy co-produced the record with Stevie J., who worked with JoJo, K-Ci, Devante and Mr. Dalvin throughout their '90s run.

"Make me wanna sweat when you touch me like that," they later sing on the title track, which Diddy produced and will be laying his vocals on. Joe Budden also makes a cameo (see "Joe Budden Fights To Get His Voice Heard ... Literally"), delivering rhymes about sex with swiftness to match the uptempo flow of the beat.

"Drop them jeans, unleash the freak," Joe spits on the track. "You looking so good I could taste the cigarette after we finish."

"Right There for You," another track Diddy had a hand in producing, finds 112 taking a more gentlemanly approach. It's about the perennial girl who is not getting treated right by her man. The guys say they have no qualms about crying or even dying for their lady. "Whatever he won't do, I'll do," they insist.

"We wanted to take it back to when you went to the club and could slow-grind with your girl," Mike said Tuesday night at Right Track studio while he and his boys played selections from Hot & Wet for a handful of people.

"This is the realest thing 112 ever wrote," Slim said about another song called "Everyday."

"It describes our situation from top to bottom," Q added.

"People look at us and say, 'Man, they got it made,' " the quartet details on the cut, using a sing-songy flow similar to R. Kelly's on "I Wish." "They don't know what we been through."

And as they later tell on the song, if it wasn't "one damn thing," it was "another damn thing" during the past five years. The group says that people slept on their songmaking skills even though they wrote many of their own hits. And even with all the smash records, their bank accounts stayed diminutive. If it weren't for show money, they would have had no money.

Luckily for the guys, they have a fat new contract with Def Jam to help pay for those iced-out 112 pendants they all were rocking on Tuesday.

"The music that's been out during our time off has been cool, but we wanted to make records that, [years later], you remember where you were the first time you heard them," Slim said of the LP.

Related Artists

112 Team Up With Sean Paul, Hope To Work With Ghostface Killah

6 May 2003 07:53:00 EDT

Group's new album, its first on Def Jam, will be out in August.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Jessica Dufresne

112
Photo: MTV News

According to R&B group 112, the politically correct answer as to why they decided to part ways with P. Diddy and Bad Boy last year was the lack of money and attention.

But when talking to MTV News last week, Q, Mike, Slim and Daron said the real reason was because their contract was "doo-doo." Needless to say, they're happy to be signed to Def Jam.

"Just to get that feeling [that] somebody actually believes in you ... [is great]," Mike said recently. "You could tell they feel that they really got something when they got 112. It was a great acquisition for them. The whole vibe is just different. It feels good to know you left one situation and got a better situation."

The group has not entirely severed ties with Puff and Bad Boy, however. Earlier this year it was announced that Bad Boy and Def Jam would be working together to put out 112's projects (see "P. Diddy, Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen Kiss And Make Up, Go Into Business Together"). For the last few months they've been working in Nashville at a studio owned by country music superstar Reba McIntire and should have an album in stores come August.

"I guess the way they split their money up is a joint venture, but as far as 112, [we're at] Def Jam," Mike said of the deal brokered by Diddy and Island Def Jam head honcho Lyor Cohen. "We still work with [Diddy] as far as getting ideas. We got three joints from his camp. It's no bad blood, it's no love lost."

In fact, the guys said Diddy will appear on their fourth album via a "sexy" and "freaky" cut called "Hot and Sexy" that gives off the same vibe as their popular hit "Peaches & Cream." Atlanta MC T.I., who raps on Bone Crusher's "Never Scared," as well as Joe Budden, make cameos.

"Basically the recording since the first album pretty much has been the same," Daron noted. "Most of the hits we either wrote or produced ourselves. If we did work with a producer ? OK, this guy would do a track, drop it in the studio with us and when we come out, it's a hit. It's pretty much the same. We went to Nashville, created a skeleton of the album and pulled in other producers around the end."

"It's just a variety of music," Mike added. "We have songs that touch home and speak on what happened to us in the music industry, what happened with us at Bad Boy. We're touching on real personal subjects, but we're still keeping it fun, keeping it ghetto.

"The single is [out] in June," he continued. "It's called 'Na, Na, Na.' It features Sean Paul. It's like an ATL [meets] reggae track. You won't see it coming from 112. Even though we push the envelope with a lot of records like 'Peaches & Cream' and 'Anywhere,' this record is really to the left of 112. Not all the way to the left, but it feels like it can be a mesh between dancehall and that Southern feel we have."

Given how hard the group reps ATL, recording in Nashville might have seemed like a bit of a departure. But this marks the second time the group has recorded in the Ville (their third LP, Part III, was recorded there), and the bandmembers felt that working outside of their hometown and Miami, a hangout spot, prevented them from having too many distractions.

"It was the closest to Atlanta without being in Atlanta," Mike explained. "If [we] recorded in Atlanta, we would still be recording the album right now. We thought about Miami, but we knew we'd still be working on the album now. We wouldn't have even finished a song yet. Our whole independence was established in Nashville, so we was like, 'Let's do it again.' Nashville is like three and half hours from Atlanta, [so] we could still go home on weekends. But we had to get away from Atlanta. Plus, [there's] nothing to do [in Nashville] but record."

Perhaps 112 shouldn't speak too soon, as they may still have to go down to Miami to record. Ghostface Killah is held up down there working on his next soulful opus, and the bathrobe-wearing manipulator of rhyme has been in talks to get the group on his album.

"That would be hot," Slim said, delighted. "[Wu-Tang Clan] are some of the pioneers in hip-hop. We've worked with the best of them, like Biggie, and now you talking about somebody in the Wu-Tang? That would be hot."

Related Artists