Photo: Atlantic

• 50 Cent
• Andre 3000
• Clipse
• Lil Wayne

Pill
Photo: Atlantic

Fire Starter: Pill

We're going ham! All this month in Fire Starter, we're going to be bringing some of the emerging talent from the South who we feel you should be up on. First up is Pill, who's already gotten props from one of the best to ever do it. Andre 3000 gave the Atlanta MC kudos for his mixtape 4180: The Prescription.

"To have his stamp of approval, me being from the A and idolizing them — him and Big [Boi] — for him to hit you and quote your lines on the tape, I was like, 'Oh!' " Pill said. "I was like, 'For real? That's what's up! I appreciate it.' He's top-five to me. ... I was like, 'I might know how to rap a little bit.' " Pill is a former protégé of onetime Outkast affiliate Killer Mike but has since ventured out on his own. While handing out copies of his mixtape earlier this year, he bumped into Three Stacks and gave him a tape. Andre called the next day with compliments.

"I didn't think he'd ever listen to it or ever say nothing about it," Pill said. "That gave me some more fuel to keep going. I was like, 'OK, yeah, maybe I need to actually keep on going.' "

Dre is just one of many to join Pill's fanbase since 4180: The Prescription came out in February. The tape has generated enough interest that Pill has been performing at clubs and high-profile events such as the recent CMJ Music Seminar. The mixtape's frantically paced "Trap Goin' Ham" has been one of the year's big underground sleeper hits. The equally gritty video and ode to a day in the trap had people wondering what the hell "goin' ham" meant. He said "ham" is slang for "mayhem."

"It's just a street term we use down there. 'Ham' is just like off the meter," Pill explained. "Don't nobody know where it originates from. I ain't going to sit here lying, like, 'Oh, I made that up.' That's just a slang term in the A. Everybody said, 'That thing going ham.' I just thought of making a song about the trap goin' ham."

Pill also pointed out that "ham" is a universal term that could apply to the trap, a strip club or a ten-piece of chicken.

On Tuesday, Pill released the Bizness-produced "Hear Somebody Comin'," which is the first song from his new mixtape 4075: The Refill, due November 17.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: 50 Cent, Andre 3000, Clipse, Cookin' Soul, Lil Wayne

• Andre 3000

Andre 3000
Photo: MTV News

Picture this: Eminem vs. Andre 3000 in a dream face-off of legendary lyricists. Put the whole thing on film, shoot it in the home of grunge rock and call it "8 Mile 2: The Battle in Seattle."

OK, not quite.

But the Outkast rapper did think his agent was handing him a script for a musical of sorts when he first heard about his upcoming film.

"When I saw the title 'Battle in Seattle,' I thought it was catchy," André Benjamin told us last week. "I thought, 'Hey, this may be some kind of rap movie.' You know, they want some kind of battle. They want me to do the kind of '8 Mile' battle thing. 'Cause that's the roles they give to rappers anyway. So once I read it, I was like, 'Hey, OK, this is something serious.' And then, the bigger picture, it was something I didn't know about. I knew if I didn't know about it, I knew a lot of people didn't know about it. So I said, 'Let me bring this to the world ... through my people, through people in the rap world.' So at that point, I felt like I was doing a good deed bringing light to it."

The film centers on the 1999 Seattle riots, which started out as peaceful protests against the World Trade Organization and turned into full-scale chaos. Benjamin stars with Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson and Charlize Theron, among others.

"I was kinda ashamed that I didn't know anything about it," Benjamin explained. "I just felt like me being a part of it would bring a certain audience to it. It's about the riots that took place in '99, when pretty much the whole world protested the WTO. They pulled it off. They were strategic about it. They called it a riot because there were a couple of things that went down that were unfortunate. But pretty much everything was not breaking the law, and they did it smartly.

"I play a protester by the name of Django," he added. "He's pretty much bringing light to the subject. I guess people look at protesting and feel like, of course, it's heavy. You got issues and all this kind of stuff. But my character is the person that keeps everybody on the up-and-up and alive and laughing. Even when we're locked up, I'm always making jokes and trying to keep it together."

"Battle in Seattle" is headed to theaters September 19. Andre 3000's next album is coming to stores on ... well, that's yet to be determined.

"On the movie front, right now I'm reading scripts," he said. "I've been spending a lot of time working on the next music project, which will be my album. I can say I don't know what it's going to sound like. I can say I know what the message is already. I know what the vibe is. I'm just now really getting into it. Right now, I'm in support of Big Boi's album coming out right, Sir Luscious Left Foot. Go pick it up. Then after that, if God's willing, we'll do another Outkast album. I've been overseas working on this new, exciting clothing company called Benjamin Bigsby that's in stores right now. And that's been taking a lot of my time. But I'm really passionate about it, and I love doing it. It's been one of the most challenging things I've ever done, but I've loved clothes since I was a kid."

Check out everything we've got on "Battle in Seattle."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Andre 3000 Teaches 'Seattle' History

• OutKast
• Andre 3000

Andre 3000
Photo: MTV News

Artist: T-Pain

Representing: Naaaappppyyyy Booooyyyy!

Mixtape: Pr33 Ringz

411: T-Pain wants it all. He's sung on everybody's hook, and now he's coming for that MC money. Now that the world is jockin' his melodies, he wants them to sweat his rhymes.

"Pr33 Ringz is just a warning before the Thr33 Ringz,," he said of his street CD, which lands October 28, a couple of weeks before his third official album hits stores. (Pain's slogan for his official album is "Four Ones, Thr33 Ringz," in a nod to its November 11 release date.) "It's not so much letting you know what you need to get ready for. It's letting you know what you need to know about. A lot of people don't know me as a rapper. I'm rapping a lot on there. I got a couple of R&B tracks on there, all original beats. None of the beat-jacking or remixing. None of that. All brand new stuff. Twenty-one songs I'm just giving away."

Pain — who recorded all of his material in just four days — got beats from a few of his friends (he only produced one track) and said he's just as passionate about being an MC as he is about being a singer.

"I been doing it ever since," Pain said of his raps. "It's just that a lot of people haven't been accepting it. I do everything. I always rapped, I always sang. People are more attracted to the singing part than the rapping part. I'm forcing the issue. Free songs — here it is."

He's still writing and producing for a slew of artists, including Ciara, and just might have more on his plate now that Pr33 Ringz is circulating.

"A lot of my people been calling me asking for the actual songs," he explained. "They wanna put my mixtape song on their album. I'm like, 'How you gonna solidify that? How you gonna take a mixtape song and put it on your album?' They don't even care. A lot of people just say, 'I'll figure out a way to do it. Just give me something. Give it to me.' "

Joints To Check For

"Up & Down." "It's so different," the dread-head said, describing the song. "It was so strong. It's one of two R&B songs on the mixtape. I did it on my tour bus. I was in a different environment. The other R&B song is nothing but a verse and hook. It's one of one and a half R&B songs. 'Up and Down' is the emotions of this girl that keeps confusing me. It's a relationship — that's how it goes."

"Like I Outta." "I'm going in. It's a rap track," Teddy said. "It's pretty much me doing everybody else like how everybody is doing me. On the second verse I rap like E-40, Soulja Boy, Shawty Lo. I rap Jeezy, Ross, Wayne. I go in on everybody.

"Ain't no dissing occurring, but it's me going in, showing people I can do more than Auto-Tune," the 23-year-old continued. "I can do more than rap. I can do their people too. Y'all could do me — let me do somebody else."

"Somebody Tell Em." "I want people to know the truth," Pain demanded. "How things go. It ain't easy doing all these records. When people come and get these records, they don't know the drama behind them. Managers fighting — I may get into an altercation with another artist because my hook is overpowering his verses. It's not just doing a hook and somebody puts it out and it happens. It's a lot going on behind the scenes. I need you to know."

Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week

» DJ Woogie, DJ Ian and Freeway - Freeway Is Back
» Big Mike and Maino - Maino Is the Future
» DJ Kool Kid - That Hard White
» DJ Warrior, DJ Muggs and Planet Asia - Pain Language
» DJ Barry Bee - Hood Legendz 17
» DJ Skee and Charles Hamilton - Death of the Mixtape Rapper
» DJ Papa Smirf and Rain - Freestyle Kronicles

'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar

» Ne-Yo (featuring Fabolous and Jamie Foxx) - "She Got Her Own" ("Miss Independent" remix)
» E-40 (featuring Akon) - "Wake It Up"
» Stat Quo - "Dear Summer Pt. 2"
» T.I. (featuring Usher) - "My Life, Your Entertainment"
» DJ Kay Slay (featuring Papoose, Tony Yayo, Jim Jones, Junior Reid, Uncle Murda and Sheek Louch) - "Don't Take It There" remix
» Ciara (featuring T-Pain) - "Go Girl"

The Streets Is Talking

The hottest chick in the streets right now isn't from New York, Philadelphia or L.A. She wasn't even born in the U.S. Yet, everyone from 50 Cent to Jim Jones to Kanye West is so in love with her music, they've jumped on her track or sampled her voice. Guess what? Her popularity is finally resonating in the mainstream as well, thanks to the "Pineapple Express" trailer.

"Um, I wasn't paying attention when it happened," M.I.A. said last week via phone from her native London about the rise of "Paper Planes." The record is more than a year old, yet it's still popping up daily on mixtapes. 50, Jones, members of State Property and others have inserted their verses on unofficial remixes. Meanwhile, Kanye West sampled her vocals while making the track for T.I.'s "Swagger Like Us."

"I think it's cool when you bring all these rappers and artists like the Clash together," she said. "It's cool that they support it. It's so many people that be like, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' It's kind of like 'This is the sh--, and we think it's hot.' It's great, especially coming from London.

"The song wasn't ... made with marketing blah, blah, blah," the spunky performer added. "It was something organic. It's nice to make something creative and have people like it. Somebody told me it was #3 or 4 on iTunes. iTunes! I beat the Jonas Brothers. I was like, 'What's going on?' Charts don't really compute with me. It's an interesting thing I'm learning. It's kinda nice to have the support."

M.I.A. told us that one of her big supporters has been the Louis Vuitton Don.

"Kanye e-mailed me back in, like, Christmas and told me he listens to 'Paper Planes' every day," she said. He recently hit her up with an early version of "Swagger Like Us."

"I thought it was really hot. He e-mailed the demo version to me. I think T.I. rewrote his verse. It sounded even better once it was done. Kanye just took one sentence and made a whole thing out of it. I'll probably end up doing something with Kanye one day. We have a lot of respect for each other."

M.I.A. also said she was interested in working with Jones' Byrd Gang. The pretty Brit also just started her label, N.E.E.T. (Not in Education, Employment or Training). The first artist is Baltimore rapper Rye Rye. If you want to hear more about M.I.A.'s label and her thoughts on retirement, come on back to MTV News later in the week. ...

Andre 3000 is trash! C'mon, everybody, repeat it. Three Stacks is gah-bage! Truck juice.

Obviously no one in their right mind believes that, but if it will inspire the musical great to give us that album, hey, let's put it on billboards. Just don't say he can "save hip-hop."

"To be honest, man, I really appreciate that people appreciate what I do, but I don't like that type of pressure," he said last week of the assertion. "Like, I hate it, to be honest. ... I cannot save no whole rap game. I mean, the rap game has to save itself. Everybody's saving it. I mean, people like Lil Wayne is saving it. He's bringing energy to it.

"You cannot put that all on one man," he added. "Especially me. I write a verse every year. You can't do me like that. To be honest, I work best when people doubt me. Our whole Outkast career has been built on people doubting us. [Hip-hop fans] up North hated on us from the get-go. We wouldn't be Outkast if people didn't understand what people would call weird. You know, none of that would've happened. Actually, if you see me, tell me I'm wack. That's the best thing you can do for me. You know, if you want a greater album, say that. Say that!"

'Dre's solo album doesn't look likely to materialize soon; he still says he's "early on" in the production of it. But Mr. Benjamin did say he's going to be amping up Big Boi's Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty album whenever he gets the chance. With such long stretches between LPs, 'Dre credits his portable and home studios for keeping his phone ringing.

"I just did a cut with a new Pussycat Dolls single," Stacks divulged. "And I think it's called 'Baby,' so check it out. I've been doing remixes here and there, and let me tell you, thank God for remixes. I wanna tell everybody who's been checking out the remixes and things like the John Legend song ["Green Light"]: In this day and age, those are the things that have kind of been keeping me alive. Because it takes me a while to record albums. I have to kind of build up something to say."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Monday, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

• Mixtape Monday Video: T-Pain, Andre 3000, & More

• OutKast
• Andre 3000
• Kanye West
• M.I.A.
• T-Pain

Photo: MTV News

• Lupe Fiasco
• T.I.
• Andre 3000
• Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)
• Lil Wayne

Andre 3000 in "Semi-Pro"
Photo: New Line Cinema

He's got the dopest moves on the dance floor and a rhythm most would kill for — so how in the world could Andre 3000 ever be schooled by two white boys from the 'burbs?

"To be honest, I'm probably the worst player out [there]," Andre laughed of his role as Coffee Black in "Semi-Pro," a new basketball comedy he stars in alongside Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson. "I mean, I'm quick, I can dribble, I can move around. I just have never sat down and gotten my shot together.

"But I can go to the hole pretty good!" he added, smiling.

It's a finisher's instinct Andre knows well, and has mastered of late with a wide range of projects from a cartoon series to a movie career to another record — making him the go-to guy when you want just the right final touch, no matter what the medium.

For Benjamin, it's about knowing his role on and off the court, and more than anything, that means learning how to defer, he said — especially when you're competing for laughs with Will Ferrell.

"I don't think that Coffee Black was an outrageously funny man," he said. "So, you know, I was in a comedy movie, but I wasn't like a comic — I mean, you can't lose with Will Ferrell!"

It's a technique of invisible contribution he learned as part of the power duo Outkast, and one he's about to revisit with a guest spot on John Legend's new album, he revealed. For fans of Legend, the album presents a different sound than they're used to, Andre said.

"It's going to be a surprise for a lot of John Legend fans, because it is a lot more upbeat than John is — than people think John is," Andre insisted. "I was actually happy to hear it. This is a cool John Legend song."

The song will be called "Green Light" or "Ready to Go," Andre said.

While Andre has learned to share the spotlight, he's finally getting ready for his close-up, he smiled, with a solo album due in the fall. After that hits, he plans to reunite with Big Boi for another Outkast album.

By his own admission, Andre hasn't laid down tracks for either album. Only two songs have been conceived, and both exist only "in my head," he said.

No worries, he calmly said — it's the finish line that counts.

"After I finish promoting 'Semi-Pro,' I'm going to the studio and kind of staying in there for a while," he promised. "[I'll] bang out something!"

Check out everything we've got on "Semi-Pro."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Andre 3000 Goes 'Semi-Pro,' Promises Debut Solo Album
• MTV Rough Cut: Will Ferrell

• Amanda Bynes, Will Ferrell, Benjamin Andre, More At The "Semi-Pro" Premiere
• "Semi-Pro"

• Andre 3000
• OutKast

Andre 3000
Photo: Jive

Andre "3000" Benjamin — or "Been-Jammin' " — says all the momentum he's gained from guest appearances alongside the likes of UGK, DJ Unk and the Inc.'s Lloyd has spurred him to record his next LP. He's working on the project now and says his partner in Outkast is doing the same.

"Big Boi is working on a solo album right now. I'm working on a solo album as well because of all the remix work that's been coming out," Andre said — and added that he's contemplating teen Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girl" as his next remix to jump on. "After we do those solo albums, we're planning on doing another Outkast album. I don't know how long that's gonna be; it could be two years" (see "Andre 3000 Stewing Over What To 'Cook Up' For New Outkast LP").

There's no definitive word yet whether the two solo efforts will be released separately or as a joint venture, like they did with 2003's Grammy-winning Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, (see "Big Boi Promises 'Something From Every Genre, Every Funk' On Solo LP"), but Andre already has another record on the market. He just released the soundtrack to his Cartoon Network series "Class of 3000," featuring songs written for and used in the show. The songs are performed by Dre, who plays the lead role of Sunny Bridges — a successful musician who gives up stardom to teach — as well as other characters from the program.

Releasing a "Class of 3000" soundtrack "didn't take much thought at all," he explained of the recent release. "The kids come up to me in public and sing the songs to me and wonder how they can get the songs and buy them and play them with mom and dad. So we said, 'Let's package them up' and it'll be a series — a first season soundtrack, a second season soundtrack. ... I hope when kids turn 20 years old, they'll be able to remember these songs like how I remember 'Peanuts' and all them songs."

Dre is already planning for the next season of his show and he says the learning experience of making a cartoon was a pleasant surprise.

"You're [recording dialogue] across from somebody that's 34 years old, and they're acting a fool. Acting like kid," he said about doing voiceovers for the show. "I had to catch up with them."

"I'm super happy," he added. "I been doing music for 13 years, but this is totally new for me. It's almost like I'm an underdog. I didn't know anything about animation. My partner didn't know anything about animation. We were going on our instincts. ... We didn't know what we couldn't do, so we tried everything. Thank goodness we're with Cartoon Network and they let us try everything."

Dre says he also had a lot of freedom while filming the comedy "Semi-Pro" with Ricky Bobby himself, Will Ferrell.

"It takes place in 1970s," he explained. "I play like this Dr. J type character. We're an ABA team. We're trying to make it to be a NBA team. It's hilarious."

Dre's name in the movie is Clarence Coffee Black, while Ferrell plays the team's owner Jackie Moon.

"He's a nut, but honestly when you're on set, he's a normal cool guy," Benjamin said of his co-star. "When we get into doing the scene, you're kinda in it, so you're not laughing at him, but when they yell, 'Cut,' oh, he's going for it! You laugh. A lot of the things people love about him, he makes them up. We have a script, but we usually go off script and naturally go at it. We do a few takes, but a lot of that they keep, 'cause it's naturally funny."

Andre revealed that he would love to show his more serious side in a biopic. His name has been attached to the big-screen life stories of Sammy Davis Jr. as well as Jimi Hendrix (see "Outkast's Andre 3000 Has Been Doing His Hendrix Homework"), but he says it's just Tinseltown chatter as of now.

"It's been talked about. I'd love to do it," he said of the Davis film. "But Hollywood, I tell you ... it's been talk about Jimi Hendrix, Sammy Davis — until there's a script and I'm on the set and shooting, you can never say. But I'd love to. I'm around."

• MTV News RAW: Outkast

• OutKast
• Big Boi
• Andre 3000
• UGK

T.I.'s <i>T.I. vs. T.I.P.</i>
Photo: Atlantic Records

Fireworks are happening everywhere this week — can T.I. bring some to the record racks, too? With the competition at a bare minimum, the rapper is trying to get his ego crisis under control so he can Tip the charts and blow away the contenders. They include Velvet Revolver, who are firing off a new release of their own this week; Kelly Rowland, who gave her fresh material some shine (with help from Eve) at the BET Awards; and Silverstein, whose label has just slightly high expectations for the band's new LP. Let the festivities begin ...

Who Is This Man?: T.I. vs. T.I.P. revolves around the rapper's dueling identities, but he/they are hardly the only ones trying to sort things out on the LP — Eminem, Jay-Z, Nelly, Busta Rhymes, Mannie Fresh and Wyclef Jean are also onboard for the 18-track outing. (Sad news for fans: Slices with Justin Timberlake, Ciara and others didn't make the final cut.) Warner Music Group CEO Lyor Cohen is also spotted on the three-act disc, playfully warning Tip not to mess with his money, but it's not all fun and games — early in the album, the rapper reflects on his daughter's miscarriage and the shooting of a friend.

Bang Bang Baby: It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Velvet Revolver — the band scrapped a concept-album concept for its second disc and changed producer plans too when Brendan O'Brien took the helm instead of Rick Rubin. "We really kind of flat-lined for a while," Scott Weiland told Billboard. All the same, fans can scream for Libertad, now that it's arrived three years after its predecessor, Contraband. The latter LP opened at #1 on the Billboard albums chart — but so did T.I.'s last one, King. VR's new single "She Builds Quick Machines" hasn't been doing terribly well at rock radio, but maybe their head-scratching cover of Electric Light Orchestra's "Can't Get It Out of My Head" will attract some more curious buyers and help the disc debut with a bang.

Cirque de Rock: VR drummer Matt Sorum has been slapping some extra skins this year — he played on the first effort by Circus Diablo, which features other current and past members of the Cult — Billy Duffy and Billy Morrison — as well as Fuel's Brett Scallions and the Almighty's Ricky Warwick. (Tying everything together, Sorum and Weiland are in another Morrison project, Camp Freddy.) Songs include "Red Sun Rising," "Mad Parade" and "Commercial Break."

Dear Ms. Kelly: With testosterone dominating this week, don't forget about Ms. Kelly — Ms. Kelly Rowland, that is. She might have some trouble planting her second album in people's brains, though — the follow-up to 2002's Simply Deep was supposed to come out last year but got shelved and reworked. Here it is at last, and Eve ("Like This"), Tank ("The Show") and Snoop Dogg ("Ghetto") are propping up the former Destiny's Child singer with guest spots. Look for a ringtone, cell phone wallpaper, a digital track download and more to accompany the release.

Andre the Giant: As huge as Andre 3000's reputation is, you might have trouble finding him in the racks this week — he sneaks up on the soundtrack to "Class of 3000," the animated series he created and produced. Andre can be heard on the disc via the voice of Sunny Bridges, the music teacher, although all the tunes on the set were actually written by Mr. Benjamin — yup, even "The Crayon Song," "UFO Ninja," "Oh Peanut" and "Banana Zoo."

Silver and Bold: In what has to be one of the ballsier hype sheets in recent memory, Victory Records declares outright: "Silverstein will debut in the top 10 on Billboard's top 200 on July 11." The Canadian post-hardcore act did manage to get rid of more than 300,000 copies of its last album, Discovering the Waterfront, and it sided with Blink-182 producer Mark Trombino for the follow-up, Arrivals and Departures. The album, which leaked a couple of weeks ago, features "The Sand Will Turn to Glass," "Vanity and Greed" and "Love With Caution"; the Best Buy edition has a couple of goodies too: "Rain Will Fall" and "Falling Down." Don't tell Michael Douglas!

Watch Out: If the record racks are too bare for you this week, turn on your computer — there's a bit going on in the digital sphere. Tom Morello — oops, the Nightwatchman — is tacking "Alone Without You," a tune featured in pal Michael Moore's new "Sicko" flick, onto his recently released debut, One Man Revolution. "Sick 'cause this hammering litany of sins/ Is bangin' and burnin' and I can't stand the din," he sings on the track, which is told from the viewpoint of a dying man. "Sick 'cause the darkness keeps seepin' on in/ Sick to be leaving my family and friends." Also floating around online is Sedated Times, a seven-track EP by Norwegian experimentalists 120 Days. The set consists of "So This Is Suicide," "Sleepless Nights #11" and a bonus tune, "Come Out Come Down Fade Out Be Gone," reconstructed by Secret Machines.

Song Title of the Week:

"Tomorrow's Another Day" from Collie Buddz

Album Cover of the Week:

Twiztid's Independent's Day

New Releases:

· Sara Bareilles - Little Voice (Epic)
· Circus Diablo - Circus Diablo (Koch)
· Collie Buddz - Collie Buddz (Epic)
· Damien Dempsey - To Hell or Barbados (United Opportunity)
· Erik Mongrain - Fates (MVD Audio)
· Kelly Rowland - Ms. Kelly (Columbia) [Buy Now]
· Marvin Sapp - Thirsty (Verity)
· Silverstein - Arrivals and Departures (Victory) [Buy Now]
· T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Atlantic) [Buy Now]
Read: "T.I. Taking On T.I.P. With Help From Eminem, Justin Timberlake"
· Twiztid - Independent's Day (Psychopathic) [Buy Now]
· Velvet Revolver - Libertad (RCA) [Buy Now]
Read: "Scott Weiland Pumped For Velvet Revolver LP, Solo Collabo With Pharrell"
· Various artists - "Class of 3000" soundtrack (La Face) [Buy Now]
· Various artists - "Talk to Me" soundtrack (Atlantic)
· Various artists - "Transformers" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· 2Pac - Evolution: Duets and Remixes (Koch)
· The Climax Blues Band - 20 Greatest Hits (Fuel)
· John Coltrane - My Favorite Things: Coltrane at Newport (Impulse) [Buy Now]
· Joe Ely - Honky Tonk Masquerade and Joe Ely (CBuJ) [Buy Now]
· Widespread Panic - Choice Cuts: The Capricorn Years - 1991-1999 (Capricorn/Legacy)
· Various artists - Cobra Record Corp. - Treasures From the Vaults (Fuel)

Digital Releases:

· 120 Days - Sedated Times (EP; Vice)
· The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution (re-released with a bonus track; Epic) [Buy Now]

Coming Attractions:

July 10:
· Aly & AJ - Insomniatic (Hollywood) [Preorder]
· Interpol - Our Love to Admire (special edition packaged in hard-covered book form due same day; Capitol) [Preorder]
Read: "Call Interpol 'The Worst Band On The Planet' — They Don't Care"
· Mike Jones - The American Dream (Ice Age) [Preorder]
Read: "The Dream Is Nearly Over For Mike Jones"
· Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist (Reprise) [Preorder]
Read: "Smashing Pumpkins Drummer Offers More Clues About Forthcoming LP" · Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) [Preorder]

July 17:
· All-American Rejects - "Tournado" DVD (Interscope) [Preorder]
· Avenged Sevenfold - "All Excess" DVD (Warner Bros.) [Preorder]
· Too Short - I Love the Bay (Up All Nite) [Preorder]
· Yellowcard - Paper Walls (deluxe edition with DVD due same day; Capitol) [Preorder]
· Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 25 (UTV)

July 24:
· Cartel - Cartel (Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Pop-Punks Cartel Show Off Grandma's Digs, Borrow Benz For 'Cribs' "
· Sum 41 - Underclass Hero (Island) [Preorder]
Read: "Sum 41 Kill President In New Song — Deryck Whibley Says It's 'A Metaphor' "
· Tegan and Sara - Con (deluxe edition with DVD due same day; Vapor/Sanctuary) [Preorder]

• T.I. And Twista Grill Up Smokin' Summer Clips

• T.I.
• Velvet Revolver
• Kelly Rowland
• Silverstein
• Andre 3000

Big Boi
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — For something he's calling his "mega-top-top-secret solo record," Big Boi sure is willing to divulge details.

"You're going to get something from every genre, every funk, beat, loop, horn, whistle. We got it all on the record," the Outkast rapper said Friday on the set of Fantasia's "Hood Boy" video. "I got maybe 35 beats already done for it now, so I'm just diving in and trying to carve out the pie with the vocals."

Fans can expect something similar to Speakerboxxx, Big Boi's half of Outkast's 2003 smash double album, only without an Andre 3000 album attached. Big's high school friend will, however, contribute production. "I'm going to try to keep it in-house," Big Boi said, noting that he's also producing along with Organized Noize.

The yet-untitled album should hit stores sometime in 2007, unless "they keep pulling me back and forth with these movies," the rapper said. Big Boi, who starred in 2006's "Idlewild" and "ATL," is currently shooting the comedy "Who's Your Caddy?" with Cedric the Entertainer, Faizon Love, Andy Milonakis and Finesse Mitchell.

"It's about a music mogul who tries to play golf in this exclusive golf community," Big Boi explained. "I go inside this country club and buy this huge house, and the 17th hole just happens to be on my property, so they got to let me in. There's a lot of antics with them trying to get me [kicked] out and things like that. It's seriously funny."

Big Boi actually learned golf and polo for the role — some of the perks of his second career. "Acting is great, man," he said. "I've been getting offers for years, but music has always been the first love. But now that I got time to step back from everything and take a breather, I can pick and choose roles and take them as they come."

Although the highly anticipated "Idlewild," which is coming to DVD on December 5, was hardly a runaway hit, Big's not disappointed with the movie, or the soundtrack for that matter (see "Missing Outkast? They've Already Lined Up Three 'Idlewild' Singles").

"The thing that people don't know is that we were switched over to a new record label, going from Arista to Jive," Big Boi said of the soundtrack, which doubled as Outkast's follow-up to Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. "And Jive, they put their best foot forward, but I don't think they really understand our music and know how to work our music. We're still doing what we did 13 years ago. If you listen to the Idlewild album, the quality of music is there. Everything is there. It's just a new system and trying to get used to things. But hey, we got songs for days."

Along with his own album and movies, Big Boi is busy with his Purple Ribbon imprint, with releases from Konkrete and Janelle Monae on the horizon. He's also featured on Unk's "Walk It Out" remix with Jim Jones and Andre 3000, and Fantasia's "Hood Boy."

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Sunny Bridges (voiced by Andre 3000) in "Class of 3000"
Photo: Cartoon Network Productions

Andre 3000 has always felt hip-hop is a young man's game.

"The older I get, I say, 'All right, I don't want to be 45 years old and rapping,' " the Outkast rapper reflected recently. "So maybe it would be cool if I went back to school to be an art teacher, because that was my love before I started doing music: drawing and painting."

Fortunately for his fans, Andre's not quitting music to be a teacher just yet, but he is playing one on TV. In "Class of 3000," a new cartoon series Andre co-created, the up-and-coming actor ("Idlewild") voices Sunny Bridges, a music star who, at the height of his fame, returns to the Atlanta performing arts school he once attended to teach ... music class (see "Missing Outkast? They've Already Lined Up Three 'Idlewild' Singles").

The show was greenlit as a series for the Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim lineup, but it was bumped to primetime as it developed further. The show will premiere November 3 at 8 p.m.

"Originally the show was much more dark and sexy," said co-creator Tom Lynch, the man behind "Kids Incorporated" and "Romeo!"

"But the more we got into it and the more we started to create our characters and see their attitudes and the stories we came up with, it turned into something bigger," Andre added.

Although it's set in a music class, the show is loosely based around Andre's experiences in Atlanta.

"I grew up in what you would call the low-income-housing part of Atlanta, [but] my mom was smart enough to send me to school across town in Buckhead, which is what you would call the place to be in Atlanta," Andre explained. "I'm going to school with the mayor's kids and all that type of stuff, so it's kinda like my friends were from East India to people from France. My friends were from everywhere, and I thought it would be cool to do a show and have these different types of characters and nationalities come together with music."

And music will be an essential element of "Class of 3000." Along with recording the theme song, Andre is creating an original song for each of the first season's 14 episodes.

"The episode or situation dictates what the song is going to be like," Andre said. "I have to think I'm their age and think of their personalities and think about what they are thinking about. ... So even though the music can go anywhere and the music can be advanced, I have to still remember that these are kids. I have to write in a certain way so a kid could get it and so the voice actors can come in and mimic what I'm doing."

Each song (along with being compiled for a soundtrack) will also be accompanied on the show by a music video directed by big-name animators like Peter Chung, whose résumé includes "Aeon Flux" and "Transformers."

"It came from a place of wanting the music videos to be separate from the show," Lynch said. "We're doing some mixed-media stuff. There'll be some live photographs and live film cut into the videos."

The students in "Class of 3000" are played by a team of veteran voice actors, led by Tom Kenny of "SpongeBob SquarePants," who helped coach Andre on his voicing.

"Since it's animated, you can do so much with your character. I mean, you can jump up in the air and stay there for five seconds, so the voices have to go there too," Andre said. "The first time I was in a recording session with the true voice actors I was so intimidated, but they helped me [become] a little more whimsical and magical."

Outkast's other member, Big Boi, has heard some of Andre's music and will likely get involved down the road.

"Second or third season we'll probably get into bringing different artists in, 'cause Sunny is an entertainer and he knows a lot of other entertainers," Andre said. "So you may have Big Boi doing stuff in the classroom, or you may have Gwen Stefani come through and do a song or Pharrell or even Snoop, but they'll be animated in our style."

Andre is hoping the cartoon will shine a spotlight on the importance of music programs, which are struggling to maintain their funding in public schools in Atlanta and around the country. It would also be nice, along the way, to entertain some kids.

"My main goal in my show is to have them grow up and be like 25 or 30 years old and to think back, 'Man, do you remember when "Class of 3000" was on?!' "

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