213 (file)
Photo: Anthony Mandler

213 may have taken the easy way out when making the The Hard Way, according to DJ Battlecat. The producer behind tunes for Busta Rhymes, Brian McKnight, Xzibit, WC and Faith Evans filed a copyright-infringement suit against 213 members Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Nate Dogg and their record label on Thursday for allegedly using his work on three songs without permission. ...

Trapt will reissue their 2002 self-titled debut in the dual DVD/CD format on October 19. The set features a 5.1 surround-sound mix and videos for the songs "Headstrong," "Still Frame" and "Echo." Additional extras include live clips, a photo gallery and two bonus songs: "Lost in a Portrait" from the soundtrack to "The Punisher" and the B-side "Promise." ... A limited-edition version of Korn's imaginatively titled greatest-hits package, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, will be released alongside the standard version of the album on October 5. The limited-edition disc comes with a DVD capturing the band's concert at New York's CBGBs earlier this year. ...

Auf Der Maur and the Von Bondies are heading out on the road for a co-headlining North American club tour beginning September 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Seventeen shows, including stops in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Detroit, have been announced with more to come. ... A Guns N' Roses semi-reunion of sorts took place Sunday in Bologna, Italy, when guitarist Izzy Stradlin joined his old bandmates in Velvet Revolver onstage for the GN'R classic "It's So Easy." Stradlin left the band in 1991 and was replaced by Gilby Clarke. ...

A beer named after Madonna was created by U.K. brewers JW Lees to commemorate her visit to Manchester during her Re-invention Tour. According to those who've imbibed Material Girl Ale, it has a nutty flavor. ... More than 770 items from the estate of Johnny and June Carter Cash will be put up for auction at Sotheby's beginning September 14. The auction, which coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Man in Black's passing, features such items as stage-worn clothing, platinum records, handwritten lyrics and even the singer's 2002 Ford F-150 pickup. ... While writing and recording their next album, due next summer, 311 will release a concert DVD that relives March's 3-11 Day concert in New Orleans. The group plans to revisit the Big Easy next March 11. ...

9.03.2004

Oops, Britney Spears spit out her gum in public again and now you can reap the benefits. More than 20 eBay auctioneers are selling what they claim to be Spears' used chewing gum for prices ranging from 1 cent as an opening bid to $14,000 for the gum the pop star was supposedly chewing when she kissed Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "My friend was working security and saw her spit one piece of gum in the trash," the seller says in the post. Fans can also purchase a used cigarette butt, for which the current high bid is $250. Not a Britney fan? Bid on gum chewed by Christina Aguilera (99 cents), Eminem ($1) or Jessica Simpson (99 cents). ...

Alicia Keys has just finished filming the video for her next single, "Karma." The singer shot part of the clip in the Dominican Republic, and part in New York, including a scene where she plays the piano on a subway platform. ... Al Franken will appear as the keynote speaker at this year's CMJ Music Marathon in New York. The writer/comedian/radio personality will deliver his speech (on a variety of topics, including politics, music, radio and activism) on October 14 to kick off the annual college-radio convention. Performers this year include Sonic Youth, ... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Sparta, Clinic, the Faint, the Concretes, the Decemberists and more. ...

Homesickness doesn't seem to be one of Incubus' ills. The band, which has been on the road in support of A Crow Left of the Murder almost nonstop since the LP dropped in February, has added more dates to its world tour. A new, five-week leg begins October 10 in Pittsburgh. ... Liz Phair is going to help runners cool off in the inaugural Nike 26.2 Marathon with a post-race concert. The marathon takes place in San Francisco, starting and finishing right outside Golden Gate Park, on October 24 to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. ...

Slayer were forced to cancel a performance Wednesday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after frontman Tom Araya was reportedly rushed to an area hospital, suffering either from kidney stones or a bad allergic reaction. No official word has been given on Araya's condition. ... In happier Slayer-related news, the Jägermesiter Music Tour, which Slayer is scheduled to headline, has finalized its schedule. The trek, which also features Killswitch Engage and Mastodon, kicks off October 29 in Springfield, Missouri, and concludes on December 17 in Universal City, California. ... After four years of dating, three years of living together, a 3-year-old son and another baby on the way, Ben Harper and Laura Dern have gotten engaged. A wedding date has yet to be announced. ... Mix Master Mike, the Beastie Boys' resident DJ, has a new album on the way. Bangzilla!, out October 19, features hardcore turntablist creations such as "Full Range Earmuff," as well as tracks that cut together strings, keys and rhythms taken from hip-hop, orchestras and more. ... Stellastarr have one last show in New York this year — at the Roxy on Sunday — before they immediately start working on their second album. The band plans to stay in the studio through the remainder of 2004, and hopes to release the new album in the spring. ... The Mars Volta are dragging their Afros back into the studio to rework sections of their new album, Frances the Mute. The new studio sessions will push the release of the album — the follow-up to last year's De-loused in the Comatorium — back until early 2005. ...

Why should Sammy Hagar have all the Cabo Wabo fun? Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony is preparing to join the party as he and Hagar make plans to open Mad Anthony's Pepper Bar at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. According to a post on Anthony's Web site, the bar will feature "tasty and exotic chili pepper concoctions ... as well as other killer foods to wrap your lips around and light your bellies on fire." Gastronomically inclined fans can get involved by submitting creative recipes on Anthony's site for potential inclusion on the menu. ...

• 213
• Snoop Dogg
• Trapt
• Korn
• The Von Bondies

213 (file)
Photo: Anthony Mandler

Hitting stores this week are albums by two rap trios, a pop star's ex-boy-toy, angry hard rockers and one of the preeminent original pop-punk bands.

Hip-hop heavyweights Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G have put their solo careers on hold in order to drop a supergroup superproject. 213, the group named after the former Long Beach, California, area code, release The Hard Way this week.

Ryan Cabrera, ex-boyfriend of Ashlee Simpson and up-and-coming singer/songwriter with a pop penchant, releases his major-label debut, Take It All Away. The album, co-produced by Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, was penned almost two years ago, before Cabrera and Simpson were an item, so don't look for any love songs or angry breakup tunes about the starlet.

Saliva represent for hard rock with their most recent effort, Survival of the Sickest, the Memphis band's follow-up to 2002's Back Into Your System.

Northern State, the rap trio some have labeled the female Beastie Boys, will release their major-label debut, All City. The Long Island-bred ladies — Hesta Prynn, Guinea Love and DJ Sprout — released their first full-length album, Dying in Stereo, in 2003.

Original A-list alternative band the Talking Heads have two releases this week. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, the group's 1982 double live album, becomes available on CD for the first time, while The Best of the Talking Heads, the band's first single-disc greatest-hits album, includes hits "Psycho Killer," "Once in a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House" and 15 others.

Also out this week are albums by Rilo Kiley (More Adventurous), Presidents of the United States of America (Love Everybody) and Bruce Hornsby (Halcyon Days).

Out Tuesday, August 17:

• 213 - The Hard Way (TVT)
  Buy Now: The Hard Way (TVT)
  Read: "Snoop's 213 Get Wrong Number While Doing Things The Hard Way"
• John Brannen - The Good Thief (Sly Dog)
• Ryan Cabrera - Take It All Away (E.V.L.A./Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Take It All Away (E.V.L.A./Atlantic)
  Read: "Ryan Cabrera, Ashlee's Ex, Sets Sights On Album, Sorority Tour"
• The Court and Spark - Witch Season (Absolutely Kosher)
• Good for Cows - Bebop Fantasy (Asian Man)
• Bruce Hornsby - Halcyon Days (Sony)
• Kissing Tigers - Pleasure of Resistance (Slowdance)
• Little Wings - Magic Wand (K Records)
• Moments in Grace - Moonlight Survived (Salad Days/Atlantic)
• Nagisa Ni Te - The Same As a Flower (Jagjaguwar)
• Northern State - All City (Columbia)
• Presidents of the United States of America - Love Everybody (Pusa Inc.)
• Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous (Brute/Beaute)
• Saliva - Survival of the Sickest (Island)
  Buy Now: Survival of the Sickest (Island)
  Read: "Saliva: Foaming At the Mouth"
• Sasquatch - Sasquatch (Small Stone)
• Tracy Shedd - Louder Than You Can Hear (Devil in the Woods)
• Slang - More Talk About Tonight (Terminus)
• Steve Smith and Vital Information - Come on In (Tone Center)
• Spiderbait - Tonight Alright (Interscope)
• Mavis Staples - Have a Little Faith (Alligator)
• The Sunshine Fix - Green Imagination (spinART)
• Steve Swallow With Ohad Talmor - The Bum’s Tale (Palmetto)
• Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (Rhino)
• The Jacob Fred Odyssey - Walking With Giants (Hyena)
• Travis Tritt - My Honky Tonk History (Sony)
• Twelve Girls Band - Eastern Energy (Platia Entertainment)
• The Uncle Devil Show - A Terrible Beauty (Compass)
• Various artists - Bump This (Pyramid)
• Various artists - Future Soundtrack for America (Barsuk)
• DVD: Various artists - "Hip Hop Story 3: Coast to Coast" (Ventura)
• DVD: Various artists - "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" (First Look)
• DVD: Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson - "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour" (Image)

August 24:

• R. Kelly - Happy People/ U Saved Me (Jive)
• Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)
• Jason Mraz - Tonight, Not Again - At the Eagles Ballroom (Elektra)

August 31:

• Björk - Medulla (Elektra/ Asylum)
  Read: "Bjork Album Preview: Beautiful, Baffling and Bothersome Medúlla"
• Jill Scott - Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds 2 (Sony)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 1 (Psychopathic)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 2 (Psychopathic)
• Various artists - Passion of the Christ: Songs (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Scott Stapp, Lauryn Hill, P.O.D., MxPx Head Up 'Passion Of The Christ' LP"

September 7:

• Christine McVie - In The Meantime (Koch)
• Alan Jackson - What I Do (Arista)
• Anita Baker - My Everything (Blue Note)

• 213
• Ryan Cabrera
• Saliva
• Talking Heads
• Northern State

213's Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — It's been long understood that Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G wanted to come together and represent for their Long Beach 'hood in a West Coast supergroup called 213. But it's been so long since they first talked about it that Long Beach no longer has that area code.

Such telecommunication barriers have not put the project on hold. The three showed up in New York on Monday to make everything official and announce the July 20 release of the debut 213 album, The Hard Way.

Though this will be the first album released under the 213 name, the three hip-hop heavyweights formed the crew when they were young pups growing up in Southern California — before producer Dr. Dre discovered Snoop and birthed the G-Funk era.

"[We] started in like the late '80s, early '90s, just around the neighborhood putting it down," Warren G explained. "I was on the turntables, Snoop was rappin', Nate was singin'. We kept striving and striving and striving."

The three have been recording songs for 213 over the past year. They originally were scheduled to release the album on Geffen Records, but the trio recently struck a deal with TVT Records.

Snoop sees the 213 project as a chance for the group to bring West Coast hip-hop back to the masses. "Music right now is missing a sound like this," he said. "All of us coming together and putting our projects on the back burner to make this happen is only going to enlighten our solo careers. And it's fun to do because we're homeboys and always dreamed of it. So why wait till we're 37 or 50 years old and no one wants to hear us anymore? Why not do it when we in our prime?"

The group did use West Coast producers like Battlecat but also people like Kanye West and DJ Hi-Tek, both of whom hail from the Midwest. Warren G did not produce any of the songs on the album, he said, because he wanted to concentrate on his rhymes.

Maybe 213 are taking a cue from the success of 50 Cent and G-Unit, because the name of the first single from The Hard Way is "Groupy Luv." G-Unit have a song on their Beg for Mercy called "Groupie Love."

Snoop explained the concept behind the single. "We're trying to find groupie love. That means beautiful girls who want to become video stars aspiring to do something with their careers. We can give you that upliftment. We can get you in the video."

When asked if 213 would tour, Nate Dogg deadpanned, "How else do you think we'll get groupie love?"

The members then explained, more seriously, that they plan on mounting a small tour starting June 11 that'll see them doing a medley of solo hits and new 213 songs.

• Snoop Dogg
• Warren G
• Nate Dogg
• 213

Snoop Dogg (file)
Photo: MTV News

Whether he wore his Huggy Bear attire is unclear, but Snoop Dogg had some business meetings before he attended the "Starsky & Hutch" premiere a couple of weeks back.

If the rapper appeared a little more lively than his usual laid-back self at Los Angeles' Mann's Westwood Village theater, it's probably because his all-star group 213, featuring Warren G and Nate Dogg (see "Warren G Calls 213 A 'No-Brainer,' Raps Over 'Sesame Street' Track With Snoop"), signed a record deal hours before.

"We just did the deal with TVT today, so y'all be on the lookout," Snoop said as he strolled the red carpet in full-on pimp wear (see " 'Starsky' Premiere Gets People Talking About Owen Wilson's 'Singing' " ). "The album should be out late April or early May."

The trio began rapping together years ago, before any of their careers took off, but have only now gotten around to recording together. In fact, the rappers took their moniker from the Long Beach area code they all grew up with, which has since changed to 562.

"Yeah, it ain't no more. But that's what it's all about," Snoop said, laughing. "It's a dream for us, since we [were] kids."

"Dollar Dollar Bill," the first single from 213's album, The Hard Way, is due on airwaves soon.

"You got a lot of different styles," Warren G said of the album as he walked with Snoop at the premiere. "You got Snoop, Warren and Nate all bundled up in one. Soul, hip-hop, gangster — that's what it is."

The album marks a return to music for Snoop, who has shot three movies during the past year: "Starsky & Hutch," "Soul Plane" and "The L.A. Riot Spectacular" (see "Snoop, Porn Stars To Appear In Satire Of 1992's L.A. Riots"). As much as Snoop, who would love to make a "Starsky & Hutch" sequel (see "Snoop Plans To Outdo Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Video"), is excited about his thespian future, he insists he will never abandon hip-hop.

"I'm still having fun, musically. It's still beautiful to me," he said. "Whenever people need me, I come through. I might be on a hook, I might be on a verse, I'm gonna keep my name out there."

In the meantime, Snoop is rehearsing his live show for the Projekt Revolution Tour (see "Dates For Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution Announced; Used Join Trek").

"Being out with these great bands, I got to put together a great show so when I'm done doing what I'm doing, everyone can say Snoop did his part," he said. "I already know they gonna do what they do, so I gotta step my game up."

• Snoop Dogg
• Nate Dogg
• Warren G
• 213

Warren G
Photo: Davis Factor

When Snoop and Nate Dogg tell you, "This is 213, go bust on it," you stop what you're doing and go rap on the track they're directing you toward. So goes the history of how Warren G's latest collaboration with his two best friends came about.

The song, "Fly," finds all three breaking women's hearts over the beat to Monica's "So Gone." So far the tune has been a smash on the mixtapes and has made its way onto the radio, becoming one of the most heavily rotated records in L.A.

"Nate came in and put a hook on there," Warren said a few weeks ago, speaking on the phone from Seattle. "Snoop put a verse on there. I came in like, 'What's happening?' I really listened to it after we finished. I was like, 'Where did they get this beat from? This sh-- is incredible.' I'm driving one day and I heard Monica singing over it, and I was like, 'This sh-- is crazy.' It tripped me out but we had a ball doing it."

Warren says "Fly," which was recorded in early spring, probably won't make the cut for the trio's long-talked-about debut LP, but the rhyming beatmaker promised that the group has plenty of other material to choose from.

"We recorded about 30-something songs," he disclosed. "That's how fast we work. We just pull up a gang of beats and start doing them."

213 want to limit the number of guest rappers on the LP, but Snoop wants to get his pimping accomplice 50 Cent on the album and Warren wouldn't mind having Nas, Eminem and the remaining members of N.W.A jump onboard. Warren's half-brother Dr. Dre has confirmed that he'll produce on the project and Pharrell Williams has already submitted beats (see "Snoop's 213 Working With Neptunes On Long-Awaited LP").

"I'm doing like, four tracks on the album that's off the chain," the G-child promised. "I'll probably end up doing more stuff but I guess Snoop wants to get flavor from other guys. But I know how to make it happen. Not to say that the other guys don't, but we've got chemistry. That's the formula: Warren G, Dr. Dre, Daz. The same people that was involved in The Chronic. But I don't mind getting nothing from Pharrell and the other cats because they make hit records. I don't mind getting more hits."

If it were up to Warren, the 213 hit parade would've started up a long time ago, but he blames the politics of each group member being on a different label and differing schedules for the slow start.

"I'm happy to have the chance to finally do it like we used to," beamed Warren, who started making records with Snoop and Nate when they were kids. "I've been telling Snoop for years, 'Let's do this 213.' I get tired of every time I do an interview, everybody asking me what's up with 213. I told Snoop, '[The] next time you go to a radio station, they gonna ask you that sh--.' He went to a radio station and he did a quiz and asked [the listeners], 'What would be the hottest sh-- for us to do? A 213 record, a Dogg Pound record or an Eastsidaz record?' Everybody told him 213, which is a no-brainer. Snoopy is hard-headed sometimes, but that's my dog."

One of the records they already have in the can is a track called "Rolling Down the Highway" and another is called "Sunny Days," where the three West Coast giants perform over the beat from "Sesame Street."

Outside of his reunited group debut, Warren has been working on his next solo album. He doesn't have a deal yet, but has laid tracks with friends like Raphael Saadiq and Xzibit. G has also landed a deal with JVC for his own line of products, which he designed, called "The Warren G Series of Speakers and Amps." He's even got his own JVC boombox ready to hit stores, but he doesn't have a name for it yet.

213 does not have a name for their album or a release date, but the members hope to drop the LP this winter.

• Warren G
• Snoop Dogg
• Nate Dogg
• 213

Snoop Dogg
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES — It took 12 years, but 213 are finally releasing an album.

Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G, who named their trio after the Long Beach area code more than a decade ago, will unleash their first record in November.

"We've been in the laboratory doing real good music, so we should have a single for y'all maybe in about three weeks, maybe a month," Snoop said at a recent video shoot (see "Chingy, Luda Battle Daisy Duke-Clad Ladies; Snoop Sips Drink At 'Holidae In' "). "It's hot. ... The West Coast is back, believe it!"

The trio are recording with the Neptunes, along with many of the same producers behind Snoop's recent Paid Tha Cost to be Da Boss, including Jelly Roll.

"I'm just trying to put together the best record to represent 213, since we never came with a record before, nobody never really heard us as a group," Snoop said. "We're really getting each others' back on every record. It makes the job that much easier and more like team ball. I play team ball better anyways."

Snoop has yet to title the 213 album, but he does have a name for his next solo album, Snoopafly, which he said will be executive produced by P. Diddy (see "P. Diddy Ready To Oversee Snoop's New LP — If Dre Doesn't Beat Him To It").

"I've been looking forward to working with him, and he wants to work with me, so we just gonna make it happen and bridge the gap and put together a classic record," Snoop said.

The veteran rappers from opposite coasts are planning to start the album in the fall. Snoop also hopes to make a movie of sorts relating to the material.

"Doing it with Puff is gonna make it so big to where it's gonna have to have a movie and big budget," Snoop said. "I've been sitting on [the title Snoopafly] for like three years, but I never had the appropriate record, the appropriate concept. This would only be right if I had a movie to go behind it."

Snoop is still tossing around ideas for his solo material, but fans might see a different side of the rapper, who performed at "mtvICON: Metallica" and covered Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" while touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"It's just something about rock that just brings out a certain type of energy in me that sometimes just needs to be released," he said. "You never know, I might go rock and roll for a minute."

• Snoop Dogg
• The Neptunes
• 213