Kelly Clarkson (file)
Photo: RCA

Landing in stores this week is the second album from "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson.

For Breakaway, the follow-up to her 2003 debut, Thankful, Clarkson enlisted songwriting help from Avril Lavigne (who co-wrote the album's title track), ex-Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody and David Hodges, who also worked with Evanescence (see "Kelly Clarkson: Just Listen").

In other unusual-collaboration news, the Jay-Z/ Linkin Park mash-up album Collision Course hits stores this week. It includes tracks that layer Jay's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" over Linkin Park's "Lying From You," and mixes the rapper's "99 Problems" with the rockers' "Points of Authority" and "One Step Closer." A DVD featuring a live performance is included with the CD (see "Jay-Z And Linkin Park Show Danger Mouse How It's Done").

From rap and rock to straight-up rap, Nas releases Street's Disciple, his follow-up to 2002's grandiosely titled God's Son. The double-disc set may have a slightly less epic name, but the track titles, including "A Message to the Feds, Sincerely, We the People," "Nazareth Savage" and "Me & You (Dedicated to Destiny)" prove the rapper has yet to tone down his attitude ("Nas: A Fire Inside").

Atlanta's T.I. had to narrow down a list of approximately 70 potential tracks for his third album, Urban Legend. The disc follows 2003's Trap Muzik.

Out Tuesday, November 30:

• Afroman - Jobe Bells (Hungry Hustler)
• Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (RCA)
  Read: "Kelly Clarkson: Just Listen"
  Buy Now: Breakaway (RCA)
• Dirty Vegas - One (Capitol)
• Drovers - Dreamland (Fundamental)
• The Exies - Head for the Door (Virgin)
• Josh Groban - Live at the Greek (Warner Bros.)
• Gerald Levert - Do I Speak for the World? (Atlantic)
• Jay-Z & Linkin Park - MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course (Roc-A-Fella/Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Jay-Z And Linkin Park Show Danger Mouse How It's Done"
  Buy Now: MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course (Roc-A-Fella/Warner Bros.)
• Wynton Marsalis - Unforgivable Blackness (Blue Note)
• Modern Day Zero - Coming Up for Air (Bullet 339)
• Nas - Street's Disciple (Sony)
  Read: "Lindsay Lohan Inks Record Deal"
  Buy Now: Speak (Casablanca)
• Ludacris - Red Light District (Def Jam)
  Read: "Ludacris LP Salutes Austin Powers, Takes Aim At Bill O'Reilly"
  Buy Now: Red Light District (Def Jam)
• Cam'ron - Purple Haze (Roc-A-Fella)
• Diana DeGarmo - Diana DeGarmo (RCA)
  Buy Now: Diana DeGarmo (RCA)

December 14:

• Ashanti - Concrete Rose (Def Jam)
  Buy Now: Concrete Rose (Def Jam)
• Tupac Shakur - Loyal to the Game (Interscope)
  Read: "Eminem Signs On For Another 'New' Tupac Album"

• Kelly Clarkson
• Nas
• Jay-Z
• Linkin Park
• T.I.

Jessica Simpson's Christmas album — currently available at 7-Eleven stores — is being expanded for its November 23 release into other outlets. Named after her grandmother, ReJoyce - The Christmas Album features four extra songs, with the acoustic version of Simpson's cover of Robbie Williams' "Angels" the only track not to reappear on this re-release. Also out on November 23 will be Simpson's concert DVD, "Reality Tour Live," which was shot at the Los Angeles stop on her summer tour. ... Ashlee Simpson — who sings a duet with big sis Jessica ("Little Drummer Boy") on the Christmas album — is heading out on tour in January, according to a missive she posted Tuesday on her Web site, thanking her fans for supporting her after the "SNL" snafu. "I know my real fans know that music and performing is my true passion," she wrote. "I encourage my fans to do what I do and not read what people are saying on the Internet. ... It's the love that my fans have shown me that makes me want to go back out there and continue to prove all the negative press wrong!" ...

The only way to hear Snoop Dogg's remix of the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" is by putting the pedal to the metal in "Need for Speed Underground 2," due November 15. The in-game soundtrack also features Chingy, Mudvayne, Terror Squad and Queens of the Stone Age. ... The music of Good Charlotte, Chevelle, Lostprophets and Slipknot, as well as a new song by funk legend Bootsy Collins, can be heard in the in-game soundtrack while players get down and dirty in the bog in "ATV Offroad Fury 3." The racing video game will drop November 2. ...

The ride-pimper himself, Xzibit, will host the MTV Europe Music Awards, to be held November 18 in Rome. ... Scott Weiland celebrated his 37th birthday in a much more healthy fashion than last year (when he was arrested in the early morning hours for driving under the influence). The Velvet Revolver singer threw a party Wednesday night at the Little Door in Hollywood, where he was joined by Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, No Doubt's Tony Kanal, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, DJ Paul Oakenfold, producer Daniel Lanois, the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, and bandmates Duff McKagan and Dave Kushner. ...

Krayzie Bone is shooting a video this week for the Lil Jon-produced "Getchu Twisted," the first single from the rapper's Gemini: Good Vs. Evil, due in February. Krayzie is also making a video for the remix, which features his Bone Thugs-N-Harmony family. ... Afroman will bring his special brand of hip-hop to the holidays on November 30 with the release of Jobe Bells. Produced by Po Boy and Zigg Zaggs, the 12-song set will feature the rapper's takes on holiday classics like "Deck the Halls" ("Deck My Balls"), "Silent Night" ("Violent Night") and "O Christmas Tree" ("O Chronic Tree"), among others. ...

Tom Petty has just signed a deal for his authorized biography, which will be published by Omnibus Press. The book will be called "Conversations With Tom Petty" and will be written by Paul Zollo, who most recently worked on "Songwriters on Songwriting," for which he interviewed Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Frank Zappa and more. He plans to reprint his discussions with Petty with little or no editorial comment. The book is expected in November 2005. ... Meanwhile, Tori Amos' upcoming book, "Tori Amos: Piece by Piece," co-written with music journalist Ann Powers, has just been finished. The tome offers a rare look inside the singer's mind, her personal history, her muses and her artistic process. The book's release in February will coincide with Amos' eighth album, The Beekeeper. ...

Marc Almond, who was injured in a motorcycle crash last month, has been moved out of intensive care at the Royal London Hospital, where he's been recovering. The Soft Cell singer was a passenger on a bike that collided with a car. ... Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter has written and recorded the score for the upcoming offbeat comedy "Thumbsucker" (featuring Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves and Benjamin Bratt) and may perform it at the movie's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Meanwhile, the Spree have set a December 18 date for their fifth annual holiday show in Dallas to benefit Toys for Tots. ...

Newly minted copies of Funeral for a Friend's debut LP, Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation, will be released with a limited-edition DVD on November 2, to coincide with the band's tour with Taking Back Sunday and Atreyu. ... Boulder, Colorado, roots-rock veterans the Samples are releasing their first greatest-hits collection on November 16. A bonus DVD featuring rare videos and the 1994 tour documentary "Ten Wheels" will be included. ... German industrial metal band Rammstein are broadening their horizons with their fourth album, Reise, Reise, which translates into "Voyage, Voyage." The album, which follows 2001's Mutter and is due out November 16, will be fronted by the bilingual single "Amerika." Its European counterpart, "Mein Teil," can also be found on the soundtrack to "Resident Evil: Apocalypse." ...

10.27.2004

Former Creed singer Scott Stapp will be in St. Louis Wednesday night (October 27) to sing "God Bless America" at game 4 of the World Series. Should the Boston Red Sox be victorious, break the supposed curse of Babe Ruth and win their first October Classic since 1918, superstitious fans might offer him the seventh-inning gig full time. When not singing patriotic songs, Stapp continues to work on his first solo album, which is now expected to drop next year. ...

Jay-Z is said to be in final negotiations to be named president of Def Jam Records. The deal could be finalized by next week, according to The Associated Press. Representatives for Jay-Z and Def Jam declined to comment. ...

Vibe magazine and UPN have announced the lineup of artists scheduled to perform at the second annual Vibe Awards. Performers will include multiple nominee Alicia Keys, Nelly, Snoop Dogg with Pharrell, Jadakiss with Anthony Hamilton, Elephant Man, Beenie Man, Kevin Lyttle and Ashanti, who will debut her new single, "Only U," during the show. The host, award presenters and additional performers will be announced shortly. Scheduled to be held November 15 at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, the show will be broadcast the following night at 8 p.m. ... Fan favorites Usher, Eminem, Alicia Keys and Outkast are among the nominees for this year's People's Choice Awards (January 9), the awards show in which winners are chosen by the public. While in past years votes were tallied by the Gallup Organization, this year Entertainment Weekly gathered a group of 6,000 readers to nominate their top choices from a group of candidates in the categories of film, music and television, according to Reuters. Their top five selections are listed at www.pcavote.com, where the public can vote for its favorites. ...

Kanye West will headline the New Life Project Inaugural Concert on November 5 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. Special guests Common, Musiq and the X-ecutioners are also scheduled to appear. The concert will celebrate the launch of the New Life Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the United States by raising funds through unique special events and creative projects featuring music, poetry and film. Billy Crystal, Larry David, Al Green, Q-Tip and Kanye are just a few of the prominent honorary board members. ... Beyoncé is an aunt. Solange Knowles, whose Solo Star was released last year, and husband Daniel Smith gave birth to Daniel Julez J. Smith on October 18. ...

Hoobastank and Three Days Grace are heading out on the road together. They kick off their tour November 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, and wind down December 18 in Tampa, Florida. ... A Perfect Circle feel so strongly about unseating President George W. Bush on November 2 that the band is streaming a new song from its Election Day release, the politically charged eMOTIVe, each day on http://krunch.org/apc_sotd. Fans who visit the band's official Web site, www.aperfectcircle.com, are greeted with an anti-Bush poster on the main page. ...

Courtney Love appeared Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, where a judge deemed there was sufficient evidence to send Love to trial for an incident in April, when Love allegedly attacked a woman with a liquor bottle. Love's alleged victim, Kristin King, and a witness testified. Love will be arraigned November 10 on one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison. ...

Former "American Idol" contestant Tamyra Gray will guest star on this week's episode of "What I Like About You." Playing a character named Danielle, Gray helps the gang get ready for Halloween by dressing in costume as Tina Turner to Gary's Ike (played by Wesley Jonathan). Also coming up on the sitcom will be a guest appearance by Gavin DeGraw, who will tape his episode the second week of November; he'll be performing a song at Val's wedding. Gray's episode airs Friday, while DeGraw's will air November 19 on the WB at 8 p.m. ... In other guest-star news, Xzibit will appear on the UPN's "All of Us" in an episode airing November 9. ...

Madonna's a doll — literally. Different phases of her career are portrayed on a new set of handmade and handpainted wooden Russian nesting dolls, available for pre-order on her Web site. Only 5,000 of these four-in-one dolls are being made. ... Forgoing the tedium of performing in conventional music venues, Fatboy Slim will perform in a variety of unconventional settings when his tour behind Palookaville kicks off November 10 in Toronto, where he'll recreate the set of the video for "Slash Dot Dash." In New York, he'll play a loft party at Drive-In Studios on November 13, and on December 8, he's set to kick it with the Neanderthals and dinosaur bones at Los Angeles' Natural History Museum. The short trek wraps up December 11 in Dallas. ...

An Ohio musician has filed a petition in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office against Staind, claiming that the band obtained legal use of the name Staind through fraudulent practices. If Jon Stainbrook, who fronted a band called the Stain, wins, Aaron Lewis' band could be forced to change its name. Stainbrook had prevailed previously in a similar dispute, resulting in the Los Angeles band Lit having to change their name from Stain. ... The songs of the Smashing Pumpkins will be reinterpreted by some of emo-punk's biggest acts on a tribute album due out next year. My Chemical Romance, A Static Lullaby and Poison the Well are among the bands that will be featured on the album, to be released on indie label Law of Inertia Records. ... Aaron Carter is set to tour with Fan_3 (whose song "Digits" is on the "Shark Tale" soundtrack) on Radio Disney's second annual Jingle Jam outing, which kicks off November 6 in Pittsburgh and wraps New Year's Day in Hartford, Connecticut. ...

The television special "National Anthem: Inside the 'Vote for Change' Concert Tour" will be rebroadcast on the Sundance Channel Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The show mixes behind-the-scenes footage from the politically minded tour's October 11 stop in Washington, D.C., with performance footage of Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Jurassic 5, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, the Dixie Chicks, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp and Bonnie Raitt. ...

• Jessica Simpson
• Ashlee Simpson
• Snoop Dogg
• Good Charlotte
• Afroman

Prince in the "Musicology" video (file)
Photo: Columbia Records

After being relegated to the bottom of the new releases list week after week, the "various artists" finally got a chance to shine up top this week.

The soundtrack to Jennifer Garner's "13 Going on 30" features throwback hits like "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston, "Head Over Heels" by the Go-Go's, "Crazy for You" by Madonna, "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar, "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice, and a cover of "What I Like About You" by Lillix.

The punk-political throwdown Rock Against Bush features previously unreleased tracks by Sum 41, Alkaline Trio, Offspring, Get Up Kids, Jello Biafra, the Ataris, New Found Glory, NOFX and songs by Social Distortion and Pennywise. There are also videos included on the CD.

The Hip Hop Box is a four-CD set featuring classic tracks by Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, Roxanne Shanté, Salt-N-Pepa, Kool Moe Dee, Too Short, Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, A Tribe Called Quest, the Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Gangstarr, the Pharcyde, U.T.F.O., Naughty by Nature, and Afrika Bambaataa and the SoulSonic Force. The set, which commemorates the 25th anniversary of hip-hop, includes songs from 1979 to 2003 and a booklet with a forward written by Chuck D.

Meanwhile, Prince presents Musicology, while the kinder, gentler, non-Killah Ghostface releases The Pretty Toney Album alongside Hanson's Underneath, Drowning Pool's Desensitized, Afroman's Afroholic: The Even Better Times and Mario Winans' Hurt No More.

Chris Vrenna, a founding member of Nine Inch Nails and now the man behind Tweaker, releases his second album, 2 a.m. Wakeup Call. Guests on the album include the Cure's Robert Smith on "Truth Is."

Finally, the Veils celebrate The Runaway Found, and Bright Eyes and Neva Dinova supply One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels.

Out Tuesday, April 20:

• Afroman - Afroholic the Even Better Times (Hungry Hustler)
• The Alarm - In the Poppy Fields (Snapper)
• Alien Crime Syndicate - Ten Songs in the Key of Betrayal (The Control Group)
• Alkaline Trio/One Man Army - Split Series, Vol. 5 (BYO)
• Theresa Andersson - Shine (Basin Street)
• Atombombpocketknife - Lack and Pattern (File 13)
• Automato - Automato (Coup de Grace)
• Azita - Life on the Fly (Drag City)
• Bad Acid Trip - Lynch the Weirdo (Serjical Strike/Columbia)
• Beyond Surface - Destination's End (Sanctuary/Noise)
• Black Label Society - Hangover Music, Vol. VI (Spitfire)
• Norman & Nancy Blake - The Morning Glory Ramblers (DualTone)
• Brazil - A Hostage and the Meaning of Life (Fearless)
• Kevin-John Breit and the Sisters - John and the Sisters (NorthernBlues)
• Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova - One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels (Crank!)
• George Calle - Dark Beats NYC, Vol. 2 (Oh Music)
• Cesium_137 - Elemental (Metropolis)
• Jon Cleary - Pin Your Spin (Basin Street)
• Debase - Unleashed (Sanctuary/Noise)
• Demolition Doll Rods - On (Swami)
• DJ Icey - For the Love of the Beat (System Recordings)
• Drowning Pool - Desensitized (Wind-Up)
  Read: "New Drowning Pool Singer Says He Had A Vision Before Tryout"
  Buy Now: Desensitized (Wind-Up)
  
• Dyecrest - The Way of Pain (Sanctuary/Noise)
• Echobrain - Glean (Chophouse/Surfdog)
• Ektomorf - Destroy (Nuclear Blast)
• Fear Factory - Archetype (Liquid 8)
• Flight Recorder - From Pinkerton's Assorted Colours to the Flying Machine (Sanctuary/Castle)
• Jerry Garcia - All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions (box set, Rhino)
• Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album (Def Jam)
• The Glasspack - Bridgeburner (Small Stone)
• Go Betty Go - Worst Enemy (EP, SideOneDummy)
• Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream (ATO)
• Hangmen - Loteria (Acetate)
• Hanson - Underneath (Three Car Garage)
• Daniel G. Harmann - The Lake Effect (Post436)
• Stefon Harris and Blackout - Evolution (Blue Note)
• Sophie B. Hawkins - Wilderness (Trumpet Swan)
• Rob Ickes with Blue Highway - Big Time (Rounder)
• King Wilkie - Broke (Rebel)
• Kottonmouth Kings - Fire It Up (Suburban Noize)
• Lach - Today (Fortified)
• Jon Langford - All the Fame of Lofty Deeds (Bloodshot)
• LMNO - Economic Food Chain Music (Up Above)
• Lords - The House That Lords Built (Initial)
• Martyr A.D. - On Earth as It Is in Hell (Victory)
• Matt Mau - Lifted: Live in Buenos Aires (Journees)
• Vinny Miller - On the Block (4AD/Beggars Banquet)
• Millie - Time Will Tell (Sanctuary/Trojan)
• John Michael Montgomery - Letters From Home (Warner Bros.)
• Gurf Morlix - Cut 'n Shoot (Catamount)
• Norselaw - Sweet Home Scandanavia (Direct Music Group)
• Persuader - Evolution Purgatory (Sanctuary/Noise)
• Prince - Musicology (NPG/Columbia)
  Buy Now: Musicology (NPG/Columbia)
  
• Lali Puna - Faking the Books (Morr)
• Ratatat - Ratatat (XL/Beggars Banquet)
• The Reputation - To Force a Fate (Lookout!)
• Retisonic - Return to Me (Silverthree Sound)
• Smokey Robinson - Food for the Spirit (Liquid 8)
• Keaton Simons - Currently (EP, Maverick)
• Single Frame - Wetheads Come Running (Volcom)
• Skalpel - Skalpel (Ninja Tune)
• Lt. Stitchie - Kingdom Ambassador (Ejaness Reggae)
• Subdudes - Miracle Mule (Back Porch/EMI)
• Craig Taborn - Junk Magic (Thirsty Ear)
• The Talk - It's Like Magic in Reverse (MoRisen)
• Thelonious Monster - California Clam Chowder (Lakeshore)
• Time Machine - Reviviscence (Sensory)
• Tweaker - 2 a.m. Wakeup Call (iMUSIC/Waxploitation)
• Veils - The Runaway Found (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Vomitory - Primal Massacre (Metal Blade)
• W.A.S.P. - Neon God Pt. 1 (Sanctuary/Metal-Is)
• A Wilhelm Scream - Mute Print (Nitro/Mute Print)
• Alyson Williams - It's About Time (Three Keys)
• Mario Winans - Hurt No More (Bad Boy)
  Read: "Love, Hurt, Betrayal: These Are A Few Of Mario Winans' Favorite Things"
  
• Wolf - Evil Star (Prosthetic)
• Various artists - "13 Going on 30" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists - Blue Note Revisited (Blue Note)
• Various artists - Hi Power 2004 (Thump)
• Various artists - The Hip Hop Box (Hip-O)
• Various artists - Location Is Everything, Vol. 2 (Jade Tree)
• Various artists - Pickin' on LeAnn Rimes (CMH)
• Various artists - Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 (Fat Wreck Chords/Punkover)
• Various artists - "Step Into Liquid" soundtrack (Surfdog)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Faith Hill (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Alicia Keys (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Kiss (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Underground Chicano Rap Soundtrack (Thump)

April 27:

• Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room (Verve)
• Joey McIntyre - 8:09 (Artemis)
• Patti Smith - Trampin' (Sony)
• Various artists - "American Idol" Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics (RCA)

May 4:

• Buckethead - Population Override (Ion)
• Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb)
  Read:
• Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)
• Various artists - "The L Word" soundtrack (Tommy Boy)

May 18:

• Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos (Maverick)
• Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)

May 25:

• Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista)
  Read: "Avril Lavigne Album Preview: Rock Rules On Under My Skin"
  Buy Now: Under My Skin (Arista)

• Prince
• Mario Winans
• Afroman
• Drowning Pool
• Hanson

Increased FCC scrutiny to clean up the airwaves prompted the ousting of controversial radio host Howard Stern's syndicated show from six Clear Channel-owned stations. After an interview with Rick Solomon, the purveyor and co-star of the infamous Paris Hilton sex tape, went over the line and was deemed offensive to blacks and women by Clear Channel executives, the show was pulled from stations in Orlando, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Diego; Pittsburgh; Louisville, Kentucky; and Rochester, New York. Infinity broadcasting, a subsidiary of MTV's parent company, Viacom, syndicates the morning program nationwide from New York's WXRK-FM. ...

The president of Northeastern University in Boston has canceled an April 2 concert by Ludacris that was to be the headlining event for the school's annual Springfest festival. President Richard M. Freeland cited riots by students after the New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory in which one person died. School officials called the move a "postponement," saying a concert of this size could happen again if the student body worked with the school to improve its relationship with the community. ... One of the most legendary unreleased records of all time, the Beach Boys' Smile, will finally hit shelves in the fall, 37 years after its intended release. Currently touring behind the record in the U.K., Brian Wilson recently entered the studio with original lyricist Van Dyke Parks to complete the material and sift through the hours and hours of recorded material that was scrapped in the spring of 1967 due to Wilson's growing drug problems and mental-health issues. ...

Estelle Axton, co-founder of influential soul label Stax Records, died at the age of 85 on Tuesday at a hospital in Memphis. Starting in 1957, Axton helped build the label into a hit factory with artists like Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's and the Bar-Kays. Axton is also credited with maintaining a sense of harmony between black and white musicians during a time of racial prejudice. ... Pre-production is under way on "Hip-Hop Cops," a movie spotlighting a division of the New York Police Department focused on rap-related crimes whose existence the NYPD has always denied. Radar Pictures will distribute the film, which looks past the police upward to City Hall. ...

Beck, the Polyphonic Spree and the Electric Light Orchestra will appear on the soundtrack to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a film by Michel Gondry, the director of videos by the White Stripes and Björk. The film, which stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst, opens March 19, while the soundtrack streets March 16. ... Metal matriarch Sharon Osbourne will play a lesbian bartender in an episode of NBC's Will & Grace, set to air March 25. The episode was taped last week. ...

Following up his 2001 album, The Good Times, was not one of the many things Afroman forgot to do because he got high. The toke-happy MC will drop his new LP, Afroholic: The Even Better Times, on April 20, through his own Hungry Hustler Records. ... Wilco will play six shows in April before performing at Coachella on May 1. The dates will start on April 21 in Columbia, Missouri, and run through April 29 in Tucson, Arizona. ...

Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters' chairman, has made an enemy of Ministry's Al Jourgensen with that "Voting Is for Old People" T-shirt. In a letter to Hayne sent Wednesday, the singer wrote, "Mr. Hayne, I am sure I don't have to give you a history lesson regarding the incredible amount of lives lost fighting for the right to vote in America alone. I am shocked and appalled at your recklessness. I see your actions as a blatant attempt to quash the efforts of Punkvoter.com, Music for America, Rock the Vote, and other pro-youth-vote organizations. It is public knowledge that you contribute to the Republican Party. Could this be the motivation behind your anti-vote strategy to suppress the youth vote you have so much influence over?" ... Kinks singer Ray Davies may have been hurt worse than most expected when he was shot in the leg in New Orleans last month, according to a statement released by his spokesperson. Because of ongoing treatment, Davis was forced to cancel his appearance at the 14th annual Tibet House Benefit concert, which took place Wednesday at New York's Carnegie Hall. ...

2.25.2004

With his song "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" already getting airplay on urban radio, Jay-Z is setting his sights on rock fans, too. Next week he'll release the Rick Rubin-produced song "99 Problems" to rock radio stations with the hope they'll play the guitar-and-drums-driven cut. An accompanying black-and-white video was shot in Brooklyn, New York, last week. ...

Ludacris and Chingy's Disturbing Tha Peace concert lived up to its name Monday night in Rapid City, South Dakota, as 14 people were arrested during and after the show. "A majority of the concert attendees were well-behaved, but some acted out their aggression in a violent manner," the police chief told The Rapid City Journal, though he also noted most of the infractions were for alcohol or drugs. With approximately 6,000 people in attendance at the show, the ratio of attendees to arrests was about on par with an average big-city sporting event. ... 50 Cent is eyeing July 4 for the follow-up to Get Rich or Die Tryin'. "I'm gon' stick to the script," he said recently. "What works, works, so I'm gon' do what I do, but I'm in a different position, so I got a lot of different things to write about." ...

Mary J. Blige recently shot the video for her next single, the P. Diddy-produced "It's a Wrap." "I co-directed it," she said. "It's my first one." ... Michelle Branch is fighting for the rights of the innocent. The singer/guitarist is playing a benefit concert April 1 in New York to raise funds for the Innocence Project, a not-for-profit legal clinic which assists prisoners who can be proven not guilty through DNA testing. Tickets go on sale March 1. ...

Billy Corgan recently took to his Web site (www.billycorgan.com) to reveal the reason the Smashing Pumpkins parted more than three years ago. "The truth of the matter is that James Iha broke up the Smashing Pumpkins. Not me, not Jimmy [Chamberlin], but James. Did it help that D'Arcy was fired for being a mean-spirited drug addict, who refused to get help? No, that didn't help keep the band together, not at all," he wrote. "Many friends at the time suggested letting James leave, so Jimmy and I could continue on under the name. But I was too loyal to the man I had started the whole thing with, and so I protected him until the very end." ... Members of Good Charlotte, the Used, Story of the Year, A Static Lullaby and Hazen Street are among the bands lending efforts for the Concert for Compassion, a benefit set for March 28 at the Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine, California. Proceeds from the event will benefit Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, an organization dedicated to stop product-testing on animals. ...

Twista has launched a line of diamond-studded rims called Kamikazes, in honor of his recent #1 album of the same name. He also recently collaborated with Elephant Man and is helping fellow Speedknot Mobstaz member Liffy Stokes finish his solo album. ... Memphis Bleek is taking a cue from Jay-Z. The Memph Man has enlisted one of The Black Album's producers, 9th Wonder, to produce the bulk of his next LP. Bleek says he hopes to have the project in stores by June. ...

Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo recently joined former bassist Matt Sharp onstage, apparently marking the end of a long legal and personal feud. Sharp was performing solo on the CSU Fullerton campus when Cuomo sat in for four songs, including "Say It Ain't So," "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and a new collaboration between the two. ... Sebadoh are launching their first tour in five years, starting in St. Louis on April 19. Frontman Lou Barlow said in a statement that the show will feature "Jake Loewenstein and me with some simple non-electronic percussion we recorded on my trusty Tascam Porta-One cassette four-track. ... We strip the songs down but I'd like to think it still 'rocks.' " Barlow said he had "no plans for another Sebadoh record but who knows? I don't." The 16-date trek wraps May 8 in Nashville. ...

More than a month of new dates have been added to the SnoCore Tour, which features Trapt, Smile Empty Soul, Finger Eleven and Strata. The trek, which launches March 4 in Washington, D.C., now runs through May 21 in Los Angeles. ... Smile Empty Soul, meanwhile, shot a video for their next single, "Silhouettes," last week in Los Angeles. Marc Webb (Good Charlotte, Green Day) directed the clip. ... Sixpence None the Richer, best known for the smash single "Kiss Me," are breaking up after 10 years together. In a letter to CCM magazine, founding guitarist Matt Slocum said the group will release one more album and support it with a final tour as a thank-you to fans. ...

Producers the Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff) have recruited singer/songwriters A.K.A. and Katy Perry to join the collective for an album, due in the summer, and subsequent tour. Both the London-born A.K.A., who is signed to Clive Davis' J Records, and Perry, a protégé of producer Glen Ballard, will continue to work on solo albums. ... Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament is training to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro from February 29 to March 14. Ament will travel to Tanzania and ascend the mountain for the fund-raiser Climb for the Children 2004, an activity coordinated by the charity Save the Children. Fans can sponsor Ament at http://savethechildren.org ...

Little Steven Van Zandt, guitarist of the E Street Band and host of the syndicated "Little Steven's Underground Garage," is launching another radio venture. "Come Memorial Day I'm gonna launch a 24/7 channel on satellite radio," he said. "It won't be me, but the format [will be] playing all 50 years of rock and roll, and emphasizing all these new bands." Van Zandt is also working on converting his radio show to a TV series, which would be his second. He of course also stars in "The Sopranos." "I think it's gonna be one of our best years," he said of the show. "Actually, Frankie Valli from the Four Seasons is doing a couple of shows. It's great." ... If you ever thought your band was bigger than the garage from whence it originated, sign up to match chops and licks in the Underground Garage Battle of the Bands, a competition organized by Van Zandt. Submissions are being accepted and regional, 20-band face-offs will be held in cities nationwide beginning in mid-April. More details are available at www.rockingarage.com. ...

• Ludacris
• The Beach Boys
• Afroman
• Beck

Afroman
Photo: Jimmy Bruch/Universal

A 17-year-old arrested for possessing a marijuana pipe is being forced to listen to Afroman's "Because I Got High" and write a report about it by a Massachusetts District Court judge.

Matthew Fournier of East Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced Wednesday in Springfield to listen to the "stupid rap song," as Judge Nancy Dusek-Gomez referred to Afroman's summer hit, paying particular attention to the line "Now, I'm a quadriplegic and I know why/ Because I got high," according to the Associated Press. The judge continued the case for six months and said she would dismiss misdemeanor alcohol and drug charges (Fournier was also caught with a bottle of whiskey and 10 bottles of beer), if the teen completed his report on the song and stayed away from liquor and drugs.

"You're shaming your mother in front of these good people," Dusek-Gomez scolded from behind her bench. She also required Fournier to submit to random drug testing.

The district attorney didn't object to the sentence.

• Afroman

Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs
Photo: Columbia

Cypress Hill's plans to take their Smoke Out festival beyond their southern California home base have all but fallen apart, as the tour had to cancel an October date because of a baseball game.

Since the Oakland A's have clinched the American League's wild card race, the planned October 13 show at Network Associates Coliseum would conflict with a playoff game, so the date's been scrapped, according to the tour's publicist. Instead, the Smoke Out festival in Devore, California, on October 6 plans to feature an extended lineup, with bands from the Roadrunner Road Rage Tour — Machine Head, Fear Factory, Chimaira and Ill Niño — joining together with Cypress Hill, Deftones, Method Man, Afroman and others on the Smoke Out bill.

The festival had already rescheduled a Honolulu date from October 14 to October 21, and postponed indefinitely a September 29 date in Holmdel, New Jersey. Organizers said officials at Holmdel's PNC Bank Arts Center balked at the festival, citing security concerns (see "Two Of Cypress Hill's Smoke Out Dates Postponed"). That date has not been rescheduled, though organizers hope to hit the New York area next spring or summer, according to the publicist.

Other artists set to play the Los Angeles date at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion include Redman, Suicidal Tendencies, the Long Beach Dub Allstars and NOFX.

• Cypress Hill
• Deftones
• Afroman
• Machine Head
• Method Man

Afroman
Photo: Jimmy Bruch/Universal

Although he wasn't able to clean his room, go to class or pay his child support, Afroman did manage to write a ubiquitous radio smash "because he got high."

Believe it or not, the inspiration for "Because I Got High," which appears on both the "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" soundtrack album and on the bleary-eyed rapper's third album, The Good Times, came to Afroman in a puff of smoke.

"It hit me all at once," the rapper formerly known as Joseph Foreman said. "I woke up real ambitious — and then my buddy, who I ain't seen in a long time, came by. But this wasn't a convenient time for him to come by because he's a real time-consuming friend — I love him, but he's just too time-consuming. I told him, 'Man, you gotta go.' He was like, 'Well, let's just blow one right quick.' 'OK!'

"So we got to smoking, laughing and talking. Had a great time but didn't do nothin'. And then it hit me. 'I was gonna clean my room until I got high.' And then I was thinking about other stuff that happened because I got high on different occasions."

The procrastination proponent appeared originally on Afroman's independently produced LP, Because I Got High, last year's follow-up to his 1999 indie debut, Sell Your Dope. The song caught fire in the underground on the heels of a college tour, a feat Afroman credits file-swapping software Napster with facilitating. Elated with the buzz surrounding the inevitable stoner standard, Universal Records signed Afroman and introduced the track to director Kevin Smith, who thought the tune a perfect fit for "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

In the past month, "Because I Got High" has been the most requested song at stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Washington, D.C. While listeners can't curb their jones for the song, Afroman was at first unsure the rest of the country would find his homage to hemp as humorous as his homeboys did.

"I feel real wonderful," Afroman said of his sudden success. "Some of my immediate friends were like, 'Yo, this is funny for us in the garage, drinking beer, but this ain't gonna fly.' So it's overwhelming. I love the success."

When The Good Times hits stores Tuesday, some fans enamored with the playful hip-hop romp might be taken back by the rest of the album, which leans more toward 2 Live Crew's raunchy rhymes than previous summer breezes like the Baja Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out" or Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of ...)." Other tracks on The Good Times include "Let's All Get Drunk," "Tall Cans" and "She Won't Let Me ...," a song with second-single possibilities were it not for the omitted word being "f---."

The Good Times comes off at first listen like an obnoxious cousin unable to differentiate between locker-room gags and those suitable for Grandma's ears. A reconsideration, however, reveals that the assorted gags concerning booze, sex and drugs are just different guests at the same party.

"I'm all about having a good time," explained Afroman. "If I have to embarrass myself and tell you my problems to have a good time, than I'm willing to do it. The Good Times gives you a good idea of what Afroman is about. Some of it's true, some of it you can tell I'm just having a good time. Afroman is an honest, straightforward, cool, everyday-type person.

"I'm the dude who keeps you company at work. I'm the dude in the back, cursing and telling dirty jokes. I'm your boy, though, right? You can't go through a day without your homie. You gonna miss me at work, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Afroman will share the stage with artists "headed" in a similar space — including Cypress Hill, Deftones, Method Man and Redman — on the Smoke Out tour, which kicks off September 29 in Holmdel, New Jersey (see "Busta, Deftones, Method Man To Smoke Out With Cypress Hill").

• Afroman