Da Band (file)
Photo: Bad Boy

Chopper has a new way to call out Da Band's name: "D-A ... B-A ... N-Deeeeeeee! R.I.P."

The youngest member of the now defunct group (see "Dylan Disses Diddy, Says Da Band Are Still A Tight Crew") had tears in his eyes on this week's finale of "Making the Band," but on Friday as he traveled from New Orleans to Chicago he didn't seem dreary at all.

And he has good reason to be perky. Diddy — who disbanded the group on the finale and announced he'd only continue working with Ness and Babs — has given Chopper a second chance. Chop is going to be the first solo act on Bad Boy South.

"They sent me up to New York," he recalled of the surprise news. "They have you waiting up in the office all day just to tell you one thing. I was in the office all day and they said, 'It's confirmed, you're Bad Boy South.' I probably did three flips when they told me that."

To make sure Diddy isn't on his back, Chop said he's straightened up and will be acting more mature. "I was a young guy, ya dig?" he said of some of his questionable onscreen actions. "I had all my fun. Now I'm getting older. I gotta be cool, serious. I gotta be business. I have been most definitely scared straight."

Chopper's mapping out his solo album's blueprint with help from producer Tony Dofat, and he said he wants to work with Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, Lil' Wayne and Jazze Pha. Meanwhile, Ness and Babs are working on tracks from Dofat as well. Diddy has dubbed them hip-hop's new Bonnie and Clyde, implying that the two would operate as a duo, but that may not be the case.

Ness isn't sure what the game plan is, but he said he's continuing to work on a solo album called Nessessary with Dofat and underground producers like Black Keys, regardless of what he does with Babs.

"D-Dot volunteered to [executive produce] it. Just Blaze volunteered to do it. Rockwilder volunteered to do it," gloated Ness, who said he and fellow Philadelphia native Beanie Sigel are doing a song together in which they rhyme over the beat from Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G.'s classic "Brooklyn's Finest" collaboration.

Babs has a clearer picture of what Bad Boy has in store for her and rap's Loch Ness Monster. "It's gonna be two solo [albums]. They trying to package it sort of like Outkast," she said. "Two solo CDs, but sorta like a group. I'm happy about it. I would like to do my own thing, of course, but if I had to work with anybody it would be Ness. It's crazy. I feed off of Ness, he feeds off of me — it's a good team in the studio.

Like many of the group's fans, Babs found the "Making the Band" finale, taped weeks ago, to be a tearjerker. But though the six of them were sent their separate ways, they've still been getting together onstage.

"It feels weird performing together, because every show feels like it could be the last one," she said. "The fans [at recent shows] didn't really know the show was a wrap. We knew, but we couldn't say nothing. So we on the road doing shows and people saying, 'We hope y'all don't ever break up.' We looking at each other like, 'They just don't know.' "

Babs said she knows deep down that her fellow reality show veterans will land on their feet, with or without Bad Boy.

"People say Dylan f---ed his own self over, which could be true, but that doesn't take away from his talent. Hopefully he'll shape up and somebody will pick him up and wanna sign him. Sara is gonna be good. I already know she's got a movie deal and she's trying to get her foot in acting. She's a beautiful young woman, and she can sing.

"Fred is my boy," she continued. "I know he's gonna be good, but he's hard-headed. Fred is one of those guys that can't sit down and take orders. I speak to Fred often. Me and him are the closest out of everybody in Da Band. I try to get him out of that Dirty South mentality. He never had a job before, he never really had to deal with bosses."

Aside from their music, Babs said she and Chopper are going to be working on an independent film with Lil Fizz and some actors from "The Sopranos."

"It's on some mob stuff," she promised. "It's related to the mob life. I'm trying to clap a couple of people in the movie."

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Da Band's Dylan (file)
Photo: MTV

It's over, it's a wrap, that's all she wrote. If you haven't heard by now, Bad Boy's Da Band have been disbanded by their boss.

During the season finale of "Making the Band," a frustrated P. Diddy gave up on his handpicked protégés and shut Da Band down. P.D. said he would continue to work with Ness and Babs, calling them hip-hop's next Bonnie and Clyde.

To no one's surprise, before Diddy dispersed his troops, he kicked out the collective's outcast, Dylan. "I'm tired of his ass, y'all tired of his ass, we all tired of his ass," Diddy said during the a confessional portion of the show. "It's over."

It seemed like every episode this season found Dylan getting scolded by Diddy and his bandmates for missing shows and perceived laziness. Some even called him selfish. On Tuesday the self-proclaimed rebel of Da Band said despite Diddy's mandated separation, he and his unit are still together.

"People gotta realize that us six had to walk for cheesecake," Dylan rationalized. "It's us six that read the Russell Simmons book outside. Us six lived through that hazing period. No matter what any label or CEO wants to say, Da Band are family. We came in it together; we're always gonna be working together in the future."

Despite being ousted, Dylan said he's still signed to Bad Boy and has continued to work in the studio on his own. His new mixtape, a collaboration with DJ Sickamore called Life After Diddy, hits the streets this week, and the Brooklyn rapper has promised to give his side of what we've seen on TV.

"Dylan is a lyricist," he said. "It's more than just a TV thing. The end of 'Making the Band' on TV is the beginning of Dylan's career."

One track in particular he feels everyone will be talking about is a message to the man he lived with, Sean Combs.

"Dear Diddy" is "real controversial," he said. "It's Tupac's 'Ambitionz Az a Ridah.' The music is responding to everything he said negative towards me. This is how I feel. It's not one of those things where it's a killing beef. It's just we have creative differences. I felt disrespected, [so now] you're gonna feel disrespected."

"There's two sides to every story," Sickamore interjected. "Even though he's going against MTV and Puff Daddy, you can't just sit down and die. You have to let everyone know your side."

"I've got love for the label still," Dylan jumped back in. "I just have to air a few things out and get it off my chest."

We've all seen what usually happens when a hip-hop artist strikes out against their label CEO — nothing. Foxy Brown publicly dissed Def Jam and hasn't come out with an album since. Even Bad Boy's Hoodfellaz have yet to be heard from since they went against Diddy's wishes and made a mixtape dissing Da Band last year.

Dylan isn't worried.

"We're taking it day by day," he said. "There's enough labels who I can go to or have been hollering. My main thing is to be heard through this mixtape. This is where we started, this is who I feed off. I'm not a Hollywood dude, I live for the streets. This is our music. When it comes to Diddy, I feel like if he's not going to use me for anything, why keep me? If you gonna use me, then we can work."

Dylan said it's been months since all six Da Band members were with Diddy together, but just two weeks ago all six of them performed at a show.

"We still do things together," he said. "I'll be with Babs and Sara in Indiana on Saturday. We're Da Band. We're the ones who couldn't brush our teeth for a week during hazing. It was a constant thing from the cheesecake walk to having to dance in the club till the lights come on without drinking or nothing. When you put people together like that, how can you on the outside say 'You're not together.' You made them family. They not gonna get along every second of the day, but they always gonna be together."

• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• Diddy

LL Cool J
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — He didn't have the paunch, the snow-white beard or the hefty red suit, but Russell Simmons was spreading Christmas cheer on Monday to about 250 kids. Simmons threw his fourth annual youth holiday party, given for economically disadvantaged children who participate in various city arts programs.

In addition to being treated to food, gifts and goodie bags at the party, held at Club NV, kids had a chance to meet some of their favorite rap stars. MTV News' own Sway co-hosted the evening and got to introduce both P. Diddy and Jay-Z, who walked in together about halfway through the party. By that time, the kids had already enjoyed DJ sets from Kay Slay and an impromptu performance by Kanye West, decked out in a very fatherly, cozy-looking red sweater and tan wool suit ensemble.

The kids were greeted at the beginning of the evening by Santa Claus, who looked suspiciously muscular and familiar with the spotlight of celebrity (wearing sunglasses indoors was a giveaway). Indeed, it was none other than LL Cool J, who said he was happy to dress up as St. Nick for the occasion. "I'll do anything for the kids," LL said. "If you give your time and energy when someone needs it, when you need it, someone will give their time and energy to you. It's that simple."

At one moment in the evening, "Santa Cool J" broke out a fistful of $100 bills and peeled them off into the crowd. The rush to grab the money caused throngs of kids to crush up against the club's stage railing, providing the only awkward moment in an otherwise festive night.

Other celebrities the kids got to meet included Bad Boy's Da Band, Doug E. Fresh and R&B singer Amerie. The different youth groups each performed for each other, turning out vivid spoken-word poems (Urban Word), crunk raps (Art Start) and dance routines (Groove With Me). The Jackie Robinson Steppers, a Brooklyn, New York, teen marching band, wowed the crowd with renditions of hip-hop hits, at one point serenading Jay-Z with their take on "What More Can I Say" and Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love."

Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is based in New York and supports various youth arts groups around New York as well as burgeoning artists of color.

• LL Cool J
• Jay-Z
• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• Russell Simmons
• Kanye West

While many of Michael Jackson's friends have been speaking out on his behalf, very few of the ones who were his friends when they were children have said much to the media, except for Wade Robson and Corey Feldman. Robson, who met Jackson as a 5-year-old and slept over at Neverland Ranch, told Australian reporters that "nothing strange happened." "I never had that experience, and I hope it never happened to anybody else." Robson had been interviewed by investigators during the previous 1993 allegations about his relationship with the singer. Meanwhile, Feldman, who talked to CNN's Larry King earlier this week, said that while he shared a room with Jackson "a couple of times," they never shared a bed. "[Jackson] was so much of a gentleman, he actually offered his bed and allowed me to sleep in his bed and he took a cot. And he slept in the cot," Feldman said. "Everything I have ever seen about him has been kind-hearted to children. I've never seen him act in any inappropriate way to a child. Never with me." ...

Phil Spector told his chauffeur the night Lana Clarkson was found dead in his mansion, "I think I killed somebody," according to police records recently obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Spector pleaded innocent to murder charges last week and was ordered to return to court January 23 for a preliminary hearing. ... Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil has been summoned to court to face battery accusations stemming from an incident at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Mound House, Nevada, on July 10 when he allegedly attacked a prostitute. He's due in court on April 22. Though the singer has yet to enter a plea, his attorney told the Reno Gazette-Journal, "Celebrities are always targets for this type of behavior. If there ever was an opportunity where someone was being an opportunist, it certainly was this case." If convicted, Neil would face a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. ...

P. Diddy has something special planned for the third and final season of "Making the Band." "[Da Band] are about to move into my house," he said at the Vibe Awards. "That's how crazy we are going to make it. Y'all thought what's been on camera is [crazy], it's been so crazy off camera that I've got to move them in my house." ... The Neptunes are nearly finished with the second N.E.R.D. album, but have taken a break to work on Gwen Stefani's solo album. "She's very beautiful and she's incredible as an artist and she's been here for many years and she's got so many more to go," Pharrell Williams said. ...

Clay Aiken will officially graduate from UNC Charlotte on December 20. Guests must have tickets, printed with a bar code to prevent the use of counterfeits, to get into the ceremony. ... Rich party girl Paris Hilton continues to plug away at positioning herself as a pop star. The hotel heiress, who has been working on recording a dance-pop album, has enlisted the help of JC Chasez and his producer Rob Boldt. Whereas Hilton's producer Romeo Antonia had described her voice as a cross between Jessica Simpson and Beyoncé, Boldt described her music as "old Prince, old Michael Jackson," according to Rolling Stone. Chasez has reportedly written a song for Hilton, who as of yet has no label deal. ...

Coldplay's Chris Martin is in the studio collaborating on an untitled track with the Streets. The material could possibly appear on Mike Skinner's 2004 follow-up to last year's Original Pirate Material. ... Just as Madonna's second children's book, "Mr. Peabody's Apples," is set to debut at #1 on the The New York Times' bestseller list, she's got another book on the way — but this time, it's not for kids. "Nobody Knows Me," available at Madonna.com, is a limited-edition, 52-page book of rare and unseen photographs for her more devout fans, with commentary by the Material Mom. The book is available for pre-order through December 30, and will ship in January. Madonna is scheduled to appear on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Wednesday night (November 26). ...

Meat Loaf is recovering in a private location in London after undergoing heart surgery this week to treat an irregular condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. The 56-year-old singer was rushed to a hospital Monday after collapsing onstage at London's Wembley Arena. ... Phish, the band not familiar with the term "short and sweet" judging by the length of its concerts, have issued three triple-disc sets, each containing a different show from this year. The CDs are available at phish.com and select independent record stores. The band embarks on an eight-show trek Friday, and those shows will eventually surface on the band's download site, livephish.com. ...

On December 12, you can rock and roll all night with Kiss when the special "Kiss Symphony, Alive IV in Concert" comes to pay-per-view cable. The program is a live broadcast of the band's concert in Melbourne, Australia, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, all 60 members of which will be wearing Kiss makeup. ... AT&T has given legendary New York nightclub the Bottom Line a chance to keep the music alive via a $100,000 sponsorship. Due to non-payment of back rent, New York University, the club's landlord, has taken the club to court for potential eviction. ...

Music is — no surprise — Musiq's first love, but he is hoping to cross over into movies. "Mostly behind the screen, that's where my love is, but I'll definitely [act], whatever role's right for me," he said. ... R&B singer Sharissa, who duets with Wyclef Jean on his Preacher's Son LP, is making an album with the Haitian star. She also just finished a duet with R. Kelly called "Love a Thug," due in a couple of weeks. ...

11.25.03

As a warm-up for Tuesday's (November 25) Madison Square Garden headlining concert in New York, Jay-Z played the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts, on Sunday. Jay was backed by a live band, directed by the Roots' ?uestlove, for large portions of the set, which included a string of songs from his debut LP, Reasonable Doubt. ...

Beyoncé, Clay Aiken, Evanescence, Foo Fighters and Shania Twain will join No Doubt and Sting as performers at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, taking place December 10. The show will air live from Las Vegas on FOX. ... Justin Timberlake plans to share the love on his upcoming NBC special — by inviting the Black Eyed Peas to join him on a performance of their song "Where Is the Love?" The one-hour show, "Justin Timberlake: Down Home in Memphis," will feature a personal tour of his hometown, highlighting Memphis' musical legacy. The show airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET. ...

With Bizzy Bone back in the fold, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are at full strength and hoping to drop their next album in the summer — once they've secured a record deal. In the meantime, Bizzy and Layzie are pressing on with a duo LP called Forever Young, which they plan to release in the spring. ... Who wouldn't want to wake to the soothing sounds of Public Enemy's mouthpiece Flavor Flav shouting, "Yeahh boyee!," "Get up and get, get down," and "Rock that Sh--, homie!"? For $85, you can drift through dreamland under Flavor's watchful eye with the Legends Flavor Flav Talking Alarm Clock. Only 500 limited-edition versions of the miniature rapper holding his trademark clock necklace are available at www.ecko.com and at selected retailers. ...

Kate Pierson of the B-52's has opened a hotel in the Catskills area in upstate New York called Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel. The eight-unit house features rooms and suites in "mind-blowing mid-century modern/space age/rocket-your-socks-off decor," according to the motel's Web site. ... Alanis Morissette's follow-up to 2002's Under Rug Swept is expected to drop in February. Titled So Called Chaos, the LP promises to include everything from soft ballads to dance music to pure rock. Before then, the singer will do a quick turn in the off-Broadway play "The Exonerated," from December 2-7 in New York. She'll portray Sunny Jacobs, a woman freed from death row after her murder conviction is overturned. ...

Feliz Navidad from Carlos Santana. On December 16, a collection of unreleased and remixed tracks from the Supernatural and Shaman recording sessions will be available on Ceremony - Remixes and Rarities. The disc, limited to 100,000 copies, will include the new songs "Curacion (Sunlight on Water)," "Truth Don Die" and "Manana." ... The members of Matchbox Twenty, who just released the EP titled EP, are taking off with other projects. Singer Rob Thomas, drummer Paul Doucette and rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor have each been working on solo projects, while lead guitarist Kyle Cook is laboring away on an album with his band the New Left. The projects are expected to surface next year. ...

The organizers behind the Milwaukee Metalfest are planning on taking their show on the road and migrating south. Jack Koshick and Rob Grohl are working on a Florida Metalfest, to be held in the St. Petersburg area, March 6 and 7. No bands have been confirmed as of yet. ... Iron Maiden will play just eight shows in North America next year to support their latest album, Dance of Death. The group will perform two dates in Canada, starting January 20 in Montreal, before playing four gigs in New York (January 23-27), and finishing up with two shows in Los Angeles (January 30 and 31). ...

"Jambands," a new book written by Jambands.com founder Dean Budnick, is all the schooling you need to firmly grasp the musical inspirations of the noodle-dance, the closed-eye headshake, and the "I'm catching butterflies that aren't really there" boogie. Due January 6, the book, packaged with an accompanying live album, documents the rise of the scene from the days of the Grateful Dead to their successors, including Moe, the Disco Biscuits and Robert Randolph & the Family Band. ... On her new album, Educated Guess, Ani DiFranco ups the ante of her "do it yourself" aesthetic to "do everything yourself." For the first time in her 14-year career, the folksy punk balladeer performed all the production duties — from recording and to the final mixes — herself. Educated Guess, the follow-up to Evolve, is due January 20. ...

CNET Networks has purchased online music outlet MP3.com from Vivendi Universal for an undisclosed amount of money. On December 2, the site, which hosts music from over 250,000 largely unsigned acts, will shut down completely. It will be relaunched next year as a music-information site, and will no longer provide downloads. ...

• Michael Jackson
• Wade Robson
• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• No Doubt
• Phil Spector

Ludacris
Photo: Amy V. Cooper

After displaying oversized turntables, an enormous beer bottle and a huge sneaker in the video for "Stand Up," Ludacris has a big chart debut to complement the picture.

First-week sales of more than 429,000 will catapult Ludacris' Chicken-N-Beer to the top of the Billboard albums chart, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (October 15). The Southern MC's popularity seems to be growing along with his afro, since his last album, Word of Mouf, sold around 281,000 copies to debut at #3 when it was released in late 2001.

Meanwhile, Elvis Presley's 2nd to None, the second such set to surface in a little more than a year, comes in at #3 with more than 181,000 copies sold — a relatively poor showing compared with the half-million copies that 30 #1 Hits debuted with in September 2002. Presley's haul places it just behind former chart champ Outkast's Speakerboxxx / The Love Below, which sold more than 187,000 copies to drop to #2. Andre and Big Boi's three-week total stands just 67,000 copies shy of a cool million.

No changes in the fourth and fifth spots, as Dido's Life for Rent holds at #4 with 109,000 copies sold, and Dave Matthews' Some Devil remains at #5 after a more than 102,000-copy weekly pull.

Though Hilary Duff suffered a 12 percent drop in sales, her Metamorphosis moves forward three places to come in at #9. Meanwhile, Limp Bizkit and country singer Martina McBride forfeit their places in the top 10, with Bizkit's Results May Vary falling six to #11 with more than 77,000 copies sold in its third week. McBride's Martina plunges from #7 to #25 with 42,000 copies sold, a 65 percent dip.

The rest of the top 10 finds Sting's Sacred Love dropping three places to #6 (94,000) in its second week; Bad Boy's Da Band's Too Hot for T.V. falling from #2 to #7 (82,000); R. Kelly's The R. in R&B Collection - Volume 1 holding at #8 (81,000); and Nickelback's Long Road taking a step back to #10 (78,000).

Sevendust's fourth album, Seasons, sold more than 67,000 copies last week to debut at #14, just behind Totally Hits 2003, which boasts cuts from Justin Timberlake, Sean Paul, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard.

And just behind Sevendust is the late Tupac, who's newest posthumous set, Nu-Mixx Klazzics, features 10 previously released tunes remixed by Suge Knight and his Tha Row Hitters. The album sold more than 66,000 copies to perch at #15.

Nü-metalheads Static-X's third album, Shadow Zone, bows at #20. Backed by the single "The Only," the band's follow-up to 2001's Machine sold more than 48,000 copies.

Other notable debuts include the double album MTV2 Headbangers Ball, featuring cuts from Godsmack, Lamb of God, Mudvayne and others, at #34; Primus' greatest-hits EP/DVD Animals Should Not Act Like People at #44; singer/songwriter Howie Day's second album, Stop All the World Now, at #46; Wu-Tang mastermind RZA's Birth of a Prince at #49; prog-metal band Coheed and Cambria's second album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, at #52; garage-rockers Jet's Get Born at #79; twee collective Belle & Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress at #84; melancholy rockers Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism at #97; the RZA-spiked soundtrack to "Kill Bill" at #115; and jammers Gov't Mule's Deepest End at #153.

• Ludacris
• OutKast
• Elvis Presley
• Dido
• Hilary Duff

Bad Boy's Da Band's Young City
Photo: MTV News

Dylan, Sara, Ness, Freddrick, Babs and Young City know that the day of reckoning has come.

"To me, I don't know if Da Band feels the same way, but it's judgment day," Ness said Monday in New York, one day before Bad Boy's Da Band's debut LP, Too Hot for TV, hit stores. "We done walked to Brooklyn, stayed up all day and night, slept in one hotel room. This is the day of proving. We gotta get out there and move some units."

On "Making the Band" we didn't get a chance to see too much making of music by the motley crew, but the members obviously put aside whatever differences they had and churned out an LP. In fact, they have another album's worth of material, produced by such beatmakers as the Trackmasters and Rockwilder, in the can. What did make the cut for Too Hot for TV was mostly produced by Tony Dofat and features Da Band thugging and clubbing.

" 'Stick Up' is like me and my man Freddrick, a.k.a. the Hitman of Da Band," Ness explained. "We come together and plan out this whole bank heist. We run in there, put everybody in a circle, get the money and be out. We go to the top of the building and I got my man Chopper on the roof with the chopper and he takes us to Baton Rouge and we ball out. We came up with a concept that everybody can follow from beginning to end."

"It's gangsta how we bounced off each other and we got into full character," Fred added.

The crew also flings raps to and fro on "Hold Me Down."

"My favorite song on the album is 'Hold Me Down,' " Babs said. "It's a slingshot rhyme, we all going back and forth. It's hot, we all spitting fire."

Da Band gloat less and reflect more on "My Life." Fred's partial to that cut.

" 'My Life,' that's actually my favorite on there," the thumb-sucking Southerner said. "That's for the people coming up off the streets in the struggle. It's just showing everybody you ain't the only person struggling, we all struggle."

"Life is what you make it/ It may sound basic/ Going through some hard times but be thankful for the good times," Sara jumped in, reciting some of the song's lyrics. "It's just saying you have to have the strength to carry on. It's one of those deep songs."

Young City hissed that it wasn't that deep that he had to officially change his name from Chopper due to Master P's signee Choppa already legally staking claim to the moniker.

"I'm always going to be Chopper," the youngest of the group scoffed. "That runs through my veins. Young City is just what Da Band calls me 'cause I represent Chopper City [New Orleans], I act young, I'm wild, I'm 18. I took that name and ran with it. I had to change it because of business, but I ain't trippin'. When you get the album and listen to it, you all gonna know who the real Chopper is."

It seems nothing can curb Da Band's enthusiasm as they embark on their career. Not even disses flying at them from their own labelmates the Hoodfellaz.

The Hoods apparently aren't too enthused about Diddy having acts such as themselves sitting on the bench for the past couple of years. The Hoodfellaz recently put out a track called "Taking the Band" where they call Babs the man of the house, say that Chopper is ugly and repeatedly yell, "Cheesecake, cheesecake, cheesecake," clowning Da Band's infamous walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn to pick up P. Diddy's favorite desert.

"It's like this: Please don't bring them up during our time, they're not that important," Fred said. "That junk don't go nowhere outside New York. They big as Hot 97 and they don't go nowhere outside New York. Nobody knows who they are in Delaware, nobody knows them in Miami, nobody knows then in New Orleans. Who is Hoodfellaz? They wack. You sorry bastards!"

"They on the same label as us," Babs added. "A lot of people are jealous they didn't walk for cheesecake. Cheesecake put paper in our pocket. All the hate and all the joking, it's all good. That just showed me they watched the show and they made our ratings high. They making us get the third season. So we cheesecake all day. Cheesecake!"

No wonder they are all smiles. Da Band say that they have indeed signed on for another round of reality TV with MTV.

"Are we coming back, maaannn?" Freddrick asked rhetorically, making his voice sound like a cross between a wrestler and a rocker. "Yeeaaah we're coming back. The #1 show on MTV, are we coming back, man? Yeeeaaah! I'll be back with bigger cars, bigger chains, bigger tires."

"Too much sugar," Sara said about her partner's outburst. "Too much sugar."

The group says its third go-round with "Making the Band" will follow them on the road.

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

If you thought all Bad Boy's Da Band did was choke each other on national television, think again. The kids from "Making the Band 2" got an album out of their time together as well. Too Hot for TV features the six scrappers from the series as well as guest star Wyclef Jean and da man behind Da Band, P. Diddy.

We've all heard about Sting's Sacred Love, but this time we're talking about his new album. Mary J. Blige joins him on the ballad "Whenever I Say Your Name," and Sting addresses the war in Iraq on "This War." Also out this week is airy Brit-pop singer Dido's Life for Rent, featuring the first single "White Flag" and "The Eyes of Alice Cooper," on which the rocker finally gives his famous eyeliner-smeared peepers their due.

Paul Oakenfold releases a mix CD — a two-disc set that remixes Madonna and Björk, among others. And Kelly Osbourne gets a bit of a remix herself as her debut album, Shut Up, is rechristened Changes. The disc features five new tracks, including a cover of Black Sabbath's "Changes" co-sung by her famous dad, Ozzy.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale features music by Michelle Branch, Blur and Joey Ramone, plus the Dandy Warhols on the show's theme song. Elsewhere in soundtrack land, the Jack Black movie "School of Rock" is set to classic rock tunes by the Who, the Doors, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks, the Ramones and, of course, the School of Rock itself.

Finally, "Beef": it's what's on shelves this week. The DVD features 50 Cent, DMX, Ja Rule and other feuding rappers doing what they do best.

Out Tuesday, September 30:

• 22-20s - 0503 (EP, Astralwerks)
• Gary Allan - See If I Care (MCA Nashville)
• Bad Boy's Da Band - Too Hot for TV (Bad Boy)
• Richard Bona - Munia (The Tale) (Verve)
• Chris Botti - A Thousand Kisses Deep (Columbia)
• The Chemical Brothers - Singles 93-03 (Astralwerks)
  Buy Now: Singles 93-03 (Astralwerks)
  
• Alice Cooper - The Eyes Of (Spitfire)
• Billy Currington - Billy Currington (Mercury Nashville)
• Daúde - Neguinha, Te Amo (Real World)
• Neil Diamond - Stages (Sony)
• Dido - Life for Rent (Arista)
  Read: "Dido Won't Let Success Go To Her Head Or Her Songs"
  Buy Now: Life for Rent (Arista)
  
• Lila Downs - La Sandunga (Narada World)
• Dufus - 1:3:1 (ROIR)
• Enigma - Voyageur (Virgin)
• The Federation - The Federation (Virgin)
• Fragma - Embrace (Water Music)
• Paula Frazer - A Place Where I Know (Birdman)
• Grand Champeen - The One That Brought You (Glurp)
• Merle Haggard - Haggard Like Never Before (Compendia)
• Ill Niño - Confession (Roadrunner)
• Jethro Tull - Christmas Album (Fuel 2000)
• Kin Za Za - Number One in Shambala (Narada)
• KJ-52 - It's Pronounced Five Two (UpRok)
• Lo-Pro - Lo-Pro (413/Geffen)
• Lyle Lovett - My Baby Don't Tolerate (Lost Highway)
• Maria - My Soul (DreamWorks)
• Kathy Mattea - Joy for Christmas Day (Narada/Virgin)
• Martina McBride - Martina (RCA)
• Bette Midler - Bette Sings Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Songbook (Columbia)
• Leslie Mills - Different for Girls (Atlantic)
• Airto Moreira - Life After That (Narada Jazz)
• Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble - Private Astronomy — A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (edge)
• The Network - Money Money 2020 (Adeline)
• Paul Oakenfold - Perfecto Presents: Great Wall (Sire)
• Oranger - Shutdown the Sun (Jackpine Social Club)
• Kelly Osbourne - Changes (Sanctuary)
  Read: "Kelly Osbourne's Going Through Changes"
  Buy Now: Changes (Sanctuary)
  
• The Red West - The Red West (Atlantic)
• Martin Rev - To Live (File 13)
• Shikari - Dead Men (EP, Level Plane)
• Sting - Sacred Love (A&M)
  Buy Now: Sacred Love (A&M)
  
• Strike Anywhere - Exit English (Jade Tree)
• Donna Summer - The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer (UTV)
• Thousand Foot Krutch - Phenomenon (Tooth & Nail)
• Throttlerod - Hell and High Water (Small Stone)
• Tyrades - The Tyrades (Broken Rekids)
• Vexers - Gangland Ballads and the Death Sex Set (Ace Fu)
• Various artists - Blues Story (Shout! Factory)
• Various artists - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (Virgin)
• Various artists - Johnny Cash — Artist's Choice: Music That Matters to Him (Columbia/Legacy)
• Various artists - "Horatio's Drive" soundtrack (Columbia/Legacy)
• Various artists - "Journey of Lewis and Clark: Journey of Corps of Discovery" soundtrack (Sony)
• Various artists - Lion King Special Edition (Walt Disney)
• Various artists - Livin,' Lovin,' Losin,: The Songs of the Louvin Brothers (Universal South)
• Various artists - "School of Rock" soundtrack (Atlantic)
• Various artists - "SSX 3" soundtrack (Astralwerks)
• DVD: All-American Rejects - Live From Oklahoma: The Too Bad for Hell DVD! (DreamWorks)
• DVD: Various artists - "Beef" (Image Entertainment)

October 7:

• Jin - Almost Famous (Virgin)
  Read: "Ruff Ryders' New Dog: Jin"
  
• Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Sanctuary)
• Ludacris - Chicken and Beer (Def Jam)
  Read: "Ludacris Reveals Release Date Of Chicken & Beer, Picks Party Single"
  
• Macho Man Randy Savage - Be a Man (Big 3)
  Read: "'Macho Man' Savage Cuts Rap LP, Tells Hulk Hogan To Be A Man"
  

October 14:

• Mariah Carey - Remixes (Sony)
• Clay Aiken - Measure of a Man (RCA)
• Raphael Saadiq - All Hits at the House of Blues (Pookie)

October 21:

• Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone (Warner Bros.)
• Mandy Moore - Coverage (Sony)
• Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore (Epitaph)
• Yo La Tengo - Today Is the Day (EP, Matador)

October 28:

• R.E.M - In Time: The Best of R.E.M 1998 — 2003 (Warner Bros.)
• The Strokes -Room on Fire (RCA)
  Read:
  
• Triumph the Insult Comic Dog - Come Poop With Me (Warner Bros.)

November 4:

• Wyclef Jean - The Preacher's Son (J Records)
  Read: "Wyclef Jean Nabs 'All-Ghetto Cast' — Including Tom Jones — For Album"
  
• Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You (Atlantic)
• P.O.D - Payable on Death (Atlantic)
  Read: "P.O.D. Sound So Alive With New Guitarist, New Single"

November 11:

• Pink - Try This (Arista)
  Read: "Pink Didn't Have To Try Too Hard To Make Try This"
• Ruben Studdard - Soulful (J Records)
  Read: "R. Kelly, Missy Elliott Working On Ruben Studdard's Soulful Debut"

November 18:

• Blink-182 - Blink-182 (Universal)
  Read: "Blink-182 Tone Down Pranks, Get Down To Real 'Action' On Next LP"
• Courtney Love - America's Sweetheart (Virgin)
  Read: " 'A Lot Of God And A Lot Of Sex' On Courtney Love Solo Album"

November 28:

• Jay-Z - The Black Album (Roc-a-Fella)
  Read: "Jay-Z Strays From His Blueprint For Black Album"

• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• Dido
• Sting
• Kelly Osbourne
• Paul Oakenfold

There's a couple of changes going on with the stars of MTV's "Making the Band." Their official name has been expanded to Bad Boy's Da Band and the group's youngest and wildest member, Chopper, has had to officially change his moniker as well for legal reasons — he'll now be known as Young City. The group is still holding firm to the release date of its debut LP, Too Hot for TV, which is due September 30. ...

All this scratching without any irritation can only mean one thing, the Scratch U.S. Tour. Turntablists Z-Trip, Q-Bert, the X-ecutioners and the Original Jazzy Jay will take off together for a three-week stretch of tour dates that begins November 4 in San Diego. ... John Mayer went to Boston's Berklee College of Music, but he was born in Connecticut and currently resides in Atlanta. Yet the tenuous connection was enough for Boston Music Awards judges to award him Act of the Year honors. Genuine Bostonians Godsmack took Outstanding Rock/Pop Band, Mr. Lif won Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year, Aimee Mann was awarded Outstanding Female Vocalist and Waltham won Local Song of the Year. Other awards went to James Taylor, Melissa Ferrick, Kicked in the Head and Piebald. ...

The self-titled debut album by To My Surprise, the side project of Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan, carries the release date of October 7. The LP was produced by Rick Rubin. ... Call it the Best of Both Worlds for the mature audience. Musical legends Ronald Isley and Burt Bacharach will release a joint LP on November 11. On the project, Isley sings some of Bacharach's most famous tunes, such as "Alfie" and "Make It Easy on Yourself," accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra. Two new songs, "Count on Me" and "Love's (Still) the Answer," will also be included. ...

U.K. space-rockers Spiritualized have completed the video for "She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)," the first single from the band's new album, Amazing Grace, due Tuesday (September 9). The clip, which was shot in London two weeks ago by director Walter Stern (the Prodigy, the Verve), is expected to surface shortly. ... Dave Meyers, the director behind Missy Elliott's VMA-winning "Work It" clip, is working on a new opening sequence for "Saturday Night Live." Meyers is also preparing for Westside Connection's upcoming "Gangsta Nations" video. ...

Dope have set an October 21 release date for their third album, Group Therapy. "I Am" is the first single. ... Boomkat just began working on their second record. Taryn Manning said the material will head in a new direction, but offered no specifics. ... Estranged Libertines guitarist Pete Doherty was sentenced Monday to six months in jail after admitting to robbing a bandmate's home. Defense attorneys asked that Doherty be allowed to seek treatment for his drug addiction. ...

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns have consummated their relationship by recording their new Brides of Destruction album together. The as-yet-untitled effort has passed the mixing stage and is tentatively slated for a February 2004 release. "The album sounds insane," Sixx wrote on his Web site. Singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan round out the Brides lineup. ... The Hanoi Rocks reunion disc, 12 Shots on the Rocks, will be released in the U.S. on November 18. The album came out earlier this year in Europe after the group's nearly 18 years of inactivity. The first single will be "People Like Me." In the '80s, Hanoi Rocks were an up-and-coming Finnish hair metal band who called it quits after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley was killed in a car accident. Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil was driving the car Dingley was in at the time of the crash. ...

The Barenaked Ladies and Train are going to jail. Both bands will perform at the now-defunct and onetime inescapable prison Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay on October 16. The show will be cybercast on t-mobile.com and America Online at keyword tmobileallaccess. ... Rush's DVD "Live in Rio" is set to come out October 21. But those whose sound and video system aren't worthy can experience the magic during a same-day screening at one of 30 theaters across the country. The DVD was recorded at a November 23, 2002 show at the Maracana Stadium in Rio on the final night of the band's Vapor Trails tour. ... Nada Surf will launch a tour on September 25 in New York with Ozma and the Tyde. On October 16, Nada Surf will continue the tour with Death Cab for Cutie. Dates run through November 22 in Seattle. ...

09.08.03

Jive Records announced Monday (September 8) that JC Chasez's solo album, Schizophrenic, has been pushed back to early 2004. ...

So it looks like Beanie Sigel will indeed temporarily make it out of jail. A state judge on Monday authorized the Roc-A-Fella rapper's release, as recommended by a federal judge, into a residential treatment program for substance abuse and anger management while he awaits trial on federal gun and drug charges. Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Temin had temporarily thrown a roadblock in that agreement on Friday because Sigel still faces state charges of attempted murder. According to the rapper's attorney, Sigel will be out on $150,000 bail (posting 10 percent) on Tuesday or Wednesday, at which point he'll check into the unnamed residential treatment center for four weeks. ...

Police in Greenville, North Carolina, have arrested and charged two people for stealing about $300,000 worth of personal property from Trina's hotel room over Labor Day weekend. The suspects, one of whom posed as the rapper's manager, are also facing drug charges after authorities found marijuana during a search of their home. ... Kimberley Locke, the "American Idol" contestant who finished just behind Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, has signed to Curb Records and began recording her debut album Monday in her hometown of Nashville. The singer's first meeting with the label was captured on video and will air in a September 24 FOX special about the American Idols Live Tour. ...

Because it wasn't so "Complicated," Apple's iTunes music store reached the 10-million -songs-downloaded mark in four months of operation. Just before midnight on September 3, Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" put the online store past the milestone. ... Youth rebellion anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" has been dubbed the "unofficial theme song" by Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign spokeswoman, who says it's used to "get the crowd pumped" as Arnold makes his play for the California governor's chair. Ironically, the Twisted Sister album that spawned the tune, Stay Hungry, takes its name from the 1976 comedy film of the same name, in which Schwarzenegger had a role. ...

The Headbanger's Ball Tour kicks off in late October with a bill that features Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. ... Jane's Addiction, Simple Plan and Static-X will headline concerts to take place at the Gravity Games in Cleveland, which begins Wednesday with Static-X and Die Trying performing at a kickoff event. Yellowcard will join Jane's on Friday. ...

Mandy Moore will host and perform at the fourth annual "Women Rock!" concert for Lifetime. Mya, breast-cancer survivor Anastacia, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Dolly Parton and Kenny Loggins will also perform at the event, which this year will have a "Songs From the Movies" theme. Jessica Alba and Sharon Osbourne will be presenters at the show, which will tape September 30 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and air October 23. ... Tori Amos has compiled a best-of collection, set to hit shelves November 18. Along with hits like "Cornflake Girl" and "Silent All These Years," it will feature two new songs. ...

Travis have scheduled a short U.S. tour in support of 12 Memories, due October 14. The outing begins with two nights in New York October 21 and 22, and ends October 29 in Detroit. ... Similar to Eminem and Obie Trice's recently announced Willy Wonka-inspired contest, the Chemical Brothers will include one "Golden Path Ticket" in specially marked versions of their new album, The Singles '93-'03, due September 30. The winner will be flown to the duo's New Year's Eve show, the location of which has yet to be announced. Fans can also enter a random drawing at www.astralwerks.com. ...

Perhaps Keanu Reeves and Gavin Rossdale can give each other advice about switching from movies to music and vice versa on the set of "Constantine," the upcoming adaptation of DC Comics' cult classic series "Hellblazer." The Bush frontman is in talks to play a nemesis of Reeves' called Balthazar, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Rossdale, who is working on solo material, has already completed work on the soccer flick "The Game of Their Lives" and has a small role in the Brittany Murphy comedy "Little Black Book." ... Count the Stars totaled their van and trailer on the road over the weekend, resulting in the hospitalization of singer Chris Kasarjian and their withdrawal from several dates of their tour with the Juliana Theory. The rest of the band walked away with only minor injuries, but Kasarjian suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung and received several stitches, according to the band's label. ...

• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• John Mayer
• Godsmack
• The X-Ecutioners
• Ronald Isley

Making the Video: Da Band "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That"

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Making The Band 2: Season 3 - Episode Guide

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Making The Band 2: Season 1 - Episode Guide

• Diddy
• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Making The Band 2: Season 3 - Da Band Photos

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Making The Band 2: Lyrical FinNESS

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

Making The Band 2: Season 2 - Episode Guide

• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• Diddy
• Wyclef Jean

Making The Band 2: Season 2 - Da Band Photos

• Bad Boy's Da' Band

• Joe Budden
• Boomkat
• Justin Guarini
• Kelly Clarkson
• Michelle Branch

Making The Band 2: Meet The Band

• Bad Boy's Da' Band
• Diddy