Kanye West and 50 Cent at the 2007 VMAs
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Kanye West's Graduation is proving to be quite the bear. The album leads with 781,000 copies sold over the 603,000 moved by 50 Cent's Curtis according to projections, Billboard reports. "It's just a few days out," Fiddy told the news outlet, qualifying the numbers. He said the music industry "would consider me to be a hip-hop favorite because of my sales history, and people like to root for the underdog." He also took some time Thursday to sound off about Sunday's VMAs on New York's Hot 97, saying he was shorted compared to 'Ye — even though West has also been complaining he didn't get enough airtime during the show. Fif also managed to take a swipe at his record label, Interscope, during the VMA rant: "As far as the VMAs were concerned, Kanye received the upper hand. I ain't going to front. He had four looks — his song 'Stronger,' his new record 'Good Life,' he had a performance with Soulja Boy, 'Crank [That],' and then he came out with me. So I feel like Def Jam is doing a better job of promoting the CD than Interscope. Interscope is just relying on my base and the actual music. I was on the VMAs for one minute and 20 seconds. I should've just stayed home." ...

Last weekend, Britney Spears had the VMAs to worry about — this weekend, it's her kids. On Friday (September 14), a Los Angeles Superior Court judge postponed making a ruling on whether court documents relating to the singer's divorce and custody case with ex-husband Kevin Federline should be sealed or open to the public. "Access Hollywood" and People magazine were among the media outlets representing the public's interests. Outside the courtroom, Spears' divorce attorney Laura Wasser spoke to reporters, telling them this is a frustrating time for the singer. "I think she just wants to be a mom," Wasser told reporters, "and both of her kids' birthdays are this week, and I think she would've liked to celebrate with them without having to worry about the entire nation — the entire world — being concerned about what's going on with her personally and her custody battle with Mr. Federline." On Monday, the judge will hear Federline's order to show cause for primary physical custody of the couple's two children: Sean Preston, who turned 2 on Friday; and Jayden James, who turned 1 on Wednesday. ...

Earlier this week, the "American Idol" judges had at Britney Spears' VMA performance — now "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba is following suit. "When I watched it, I think they gave her a great place to make a comeback," she told Newsweek. "It was more mature than we've seen in the past. The thing that was unfortunate is that the center of the performance was Britney, and she was only giving about 30 percent. That's why it fell short. The backup dancers focused all the energy right to Britney, and she was the weakest link. ... I think fear got the best of her." ... Jamie Foxx got a place on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Friday, and when he chatted with reporters at the induction ceremony, he inevitably gave his two cents on Spears' performance. "I think Britney's gonna be fine," he said. "I think that she was courageous to get up there and do her thing. I wish her well for that." ...

Common and Q-Tip will co-headline this year's 2K Sports Bounce Tour, which will kick off September 22 in Milwaukee and conclude October 14 in Los Angeles, according to Filter magazine. Q-Tip is featured in "NBA 2K8" as a playable character and is on the video game's soundtrack as well. ... Mark Ronson — who manned the ones and twos inside the Palms' Pearl Theatre during last weekend's Vegas VMAs — has slapped two U.S. tour dates onto his itinerary: October 3 (Los Angeles) and October 5 (New York). ...

A fire broke out at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday afternoon, injuring four people, according to Austin360.com. The flames erupted inside a trailer located behind the beverage-vendor tents between two of the festival stages, and Pete Yorn's set was stopped as the fire was extinguished. All four people were transported to Brackenridge Hospital, and two are in critical condition. ...

Madonna, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher attended a Kabbalah conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday to celebrate the Jewish New Year, according to The Associated Press. She reportedly didn't speak with the media, and the conference was closed to TV cameras. ... Master P visited Monroe Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday and spoke to roughly 800 students about the importance of education, good financial management and a vision for success, AP reports. The rapper was approached by math teacher Bonnie Mwanda, who reportedly heard he would be in town and thought his success might be an inspiration for her students, many of whom come from similar backgrounds as the hip-hop mogul. "If the principal tells me y'all have a good year, I'm going to bring Romeo back to do a concert," he told the students, according to AP. ...

Fred Durst has been keeping a relatively low profile these days, but the Limp Bizkit frontman was given a 120-day suspended jail sentence after pleading no contest to seven misdemeanors way back on August 16, AP reports. He was also ordered to perform 20 hours of community service and fined $1,500 for assault, battery and reckless driving, for deliberately hitting two people with his car in Los Angeles in October 2006. Moreover, Durst was hit with a restraining order, is not allowed within 100 yards of the two victims — whose names have not been revealed — and cannot possess a firearm. ...

Elton John made a surprise appearance onstage during a Prince concert at London's O2 arena Thursday night. BBC News reports that John joined Prince for a cover of the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road." After the two-hour-plus show, Prince ducked into the O2's smaller theater and played another two-hour gig, which included covers of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" and another Beatles song, "Come Together." ... Led Zeppelin fans are getting more time for a chance at tickets to see the band perform a one-off reunion gig November 26 at London's O2 arena. Organizers behind the concert — a tribute to late music icon Ahmet Ertegun — are extending the lottery-application process to Wednesday, Billboard reports. The Web site set up to handle registrations received 89.5 million attempts in a 12-hour period on Thursday, according to the news outlet. ...

Members of underground-rock heroes Shudder to Think will reconvene for a one-off gig at New York's Mercury Lounge on Monday, Pitchfork reports. Frontman Craig Wedren and guitarist Nathan Larson — whose conflicts were part of the reason the band broke up in the late '90s — will get together with drummer Kevin March for the gig, although bassist Stuart Hill will not be accompanying them. ... Glassjaw have booked three California dates for next month. The reunited band will play October 28 in Hollywood; October 29 in San Diego; and October 30 in Pomona, California. ... Iconic punk band Operation Ivy's 1991 self-titled compilation LP will be reissued on November 6 on Hellcat. The classic release has been remastered and will also be available for download for the first time. ... PJ Harvey's White Chalk album has shifted from a September 25 release date to October 2. ...

AT&T's Blue Room, the site where political comments made by Pearl Jam during Lollapalooza were censored a month ago, has announced a new policy to avoid repeating that controversial practice during its webcast of this weekend's Austin City Limits Music Festival. According to AT&T spokesperson Steven Schwadron, "AT&T has developed an AT&T Blue Room policy to maintain integrity of the live performances featured on the site. AT&T will not edit any audio during the live webcast, of performances. We may edit visual content — either through camera angle changes or video blackouts — if there is strong sexual content. Also, we are going to have a clear viewer-discretion messaging both before and during the webcasts. The terms and conditions of the site, which users accept when they choose to view the webcast, requires users to be at least 13 years of age." ...

It's been 42 years since Johnny Cash's arrest in Starkville, Mississippi, for picking flowers from a resident's garden. But a judge who is reviewing the matter could potentially pardon the late musician, according to BBC News, and the city plans to instead honor him with the Johnny Cash Pickin' Festival from November 2-4. Cash wrote the track "Starkville City Jail" — which he performed at his legendary live At San Quentin prison LP — after spending a night in the city's prison.

09.13.07

50 Cent, Common, Nicole Scherzinger and others have all had their say about Britney Spears' VMA performance — now the "American Idol" judges are having at her. "We've decided that we're all going to collectively manage Britney," Simon Cowell remarked at a press conference earlier this week, according to "Access Hollywood." "We're going to manage Britney, take her career over," Randy Jackson added. Cowell snickered that he would "keep her away from the stupid friends, buy her some underwear," while Paula Abdul — as always — tried to put a positive spin on her VMA performance: "I never count her out." Spears' fellow former teen icon Joey Fatone has also chimed in on the performance, telling "Extra," "I felt bad but didn't. It looked like she was really lost. A lot of people ... really want her to seek help ... there's something not right here, something needs to obviously be done before anything tragic happens. She's a great girl ... I've known her for many years." ...

In other Brit news, she attended an unscheduled meeting with Kevin Federline and his attorney on Wednesday — five days before they were due to meet before a family court judge. The meeting was reportedly held at the Century City, California, offices of Spears attorney Laura Wasser. Federline has been trying to seek full custody of the former spouses' two sons, Jayden James and Sean Preston. ...

Lil' Kim — who took a swipe at 50 Cent on her 2005 LP, The Naked Truth — is finding herself right alongside him in a new lawsuit filed by a record producer, The Associated Press reports. Carlos Evans claims in papers recently filed in a New York court that he was contracted to produce, engineer and mix Kim's "Magic Stick" (featuring 50 Cent), a song that sold 2 million copies, but that he wasn't paid the royalties he was promised. He adds that while he was paid the $7,500 advance he was guaranteed for the song, his requests for a royalties audit have been ignored. His suit seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Theodore Sedlmayr, a lawyer for Rotten Apple Records — which is also named in the suit — told AP the late-royalty problems stem from the fact that Evans put a lengthy sample, which had to be licensed and paid for, in the song. "Atlantic is trying to get it straightened out. If after the accounting Mr. Evans is entitled to anything, he'll get it then," Sedlmayr told the news service. ....

Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep, DMC and others will come together November 29 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York for the J.A.M. Awards, a Jam Master Jay- and Run-DMC-inspired event intended to reflect the positive aspects of rap. The event — being put on by Hot 97, the Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music and other organizations — will be co-hosted by DMC, who said in a statement that it "is not designed merely for music fans, but also for people who want to see hip-hop answer its critics with a resounding voice of hope and inspiration." Eminem has also donated money for the cause, and the shindig will also feature Raekwon, Papoose and other to-be-named artists. ...

Beyoncé, Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez are this year's best-dressed women, according to People. Kirsten Dunst and Janet Jackson aren't so lucky, though — they're cited for wearing the worst red-carpet dresses of the year in the magazine's "Best & Worst Dressed" issue, out Friday. Angelina Jolie, Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz, Avril Lavigne, Lily Allen and Reese Witherspoon are also noted in the issue, as are a handful of men: Terrence Howard, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and George Clooney among them. ... Shakira, teacher's pet? Perhaps: PeopleEnEspanol.com reports that the singer has been taking Western-civ classes at the University of California, Los Angeles, over the course of the summer. ...

The White Stripes, who announced earlier this week that their U.S. tour would be scrapped due to Meg White's acute anxiety, have tabled their U.K. tour as well, BBC News reports. The band's eight-date arena tour, which was slated for October 24-November 2, would have been its largest U.K. trek to date. ... Foo Fighters have drummed up four shows in addition to their scheduled Saturday performance at Southern California radio station KROQ's LA Invasion. The band — which drops its Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace on September 25 — will grace New York (September 20); New Orleans (October 2); Atlanta (October 4); and Atlantic City, New Jersey (October 6). The rock act will also tape a performance for the "Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music" series on Tuesday and be the featured musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" on October 13. ...

Queens of the Stone Age — who performed with the Foos during the VMAs — apparently have an unlikely fan in "chef-at-large" Anthony Bourdain. They stopped by his "No Reservations" Travel Channel show last week to shoot an appearance for the program. In the episode, Bourdain is cooking a holiday meal in his Connecticut home while the band is performing in the basement. QOTSA emerge wearing cheesy Christmas sweaters, dine with Bourdain and perform the holiday jingle "Silver Bells," retitled "Turkey Bells." The ep also allegedly features karaoke, Christmas carols and a Japanese businessman, so stay tuned. ... System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian — who also performed with the Foos — has announced a bunch of tour dates in support of his solo debut, Elect the Dead, which hits stores October 23. His North American tour kicks off October 12 at the Vic Theatre in Chicago and will make stops in Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, before concluding October 28 in San Francisco. ...

Led Zeppelin are getting a whole lotta love from fans after announcing a one-off reunion gig on Wednesday. More than 20 million fans have attempted to get tickets for the November 26 concert at the O2 arena in London in honor of late music icon Ahmet Ertegun, according to Agence France Presse. The venue can hold up to 20,000 people, and a lottery is being held in which tickets will be drawn at random. ...

Prince is planning to sue eBay, YouTube and other Web sites as part of an effort to "reclaim the Internet," according to the MediaGuardian.co.uk. Lawsuits pertaining to his material will be launched in the U.S. and U.K. through the anti-piracy firm Web Sheriff, which represents Prince. Over the course of the past two weeks, the artist's legal reps have asked for the removal of more than 2,000 videos that are alleged to have been uploaded illegally online. Web Sheriff Managing Director John Giacobbi said Prince "wants to create a template for other artists" but that he "doesn't really want to go around suing people — he'd much rather people just respected his rights. He will be victorious." ...

A security guard who worked a Guns N' Roses concert nearly 11 years ago is suing Axl Rose for battery and negligence, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in late August and obtained by TMZ.com. Gary Armijo claims that he was positioned at the front of the stage at the GN'R show in Universal City, California, on December 20, 1996, and that the singer came to the front of the stage and intentionally kicked the guard in the head, causing injuries. Armijo says he has experienced pain and suffering, sleeplessness, headaches and loss of earnings, and has incurred medical expenses as well. ...

The Cure have rescheduled for next year 18 of the 19 gigs they had intended to play in North America this year. The band's 4Tour North America run will now take them from May 9 in Washington, D.C., through June 20 in New York. In between will be an additional performance at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington, on May 25 — the band has been promised a show-closing 150-minute slot for the fest. Those who want refunds on their 2007 tickets can do so at the original point of purchase until November 1. ... "Spawn" creator and toy magnate Todd McFarlane told Reuters he's spawning plans to direct a feature flick. He said he's eyeing low-budget concepts: "You're going to have some young kid do those anyway, so let me have a crack at it." McFarlane was at the annual GameStop convention, showcasing a new lineup of toys based on "Halo 3." ...

Bobby Byrd, James Brown's longtime sideman and co-singer, died of cancer on Wednesday, according to The Augusta Chronicle of Georgia. Byrd sung the classic "get on up" refrain in "Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine." He was also the co-founder of the Famous Flames, which became Brown's first backing band.

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• Shooting Stars: A Celeb's Eye View Of The VMAs
• 50 Cent's 5 Borough Tour Hits Manhattan
• Paris Hilton, Diddy, Timbaland, Janet Jackson, More Hit The Vegas Party Scene
• Britney's VMA Weekend: From Los Angeles To Las Vegas

• 50 Cent
• Kanye West
• Britney Spears
• Madonna
• Master P

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — D12 rapper Proof's death is a tragedy. But why this violence keeps occurring is another tragedy altogether, according to hip-hop pioneer Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, who lamented that rappers getting in violent altercations has become so commonplace that it's expected.

"There's a lot of that going around lately," he said when MTV News caught up with him Tuesday at a Saturn auto show/ charity bash for the bone marrow donation center DKMS, for which he's a spokesperson. "It's not a good thing. Something has to give."

McDaniels, who lost Run-DMC's DJ Jam Master Jay in 2002 (see "Jam Master Jay, Run-DMC DJ, Killed In Shooting"), said that while the music doesn't cause crime, it's not helping matters either. Imitating a thug life, even just for image's sake, helps keep the cycle of art-imitating-life-imitating-art on repeat. "Everything that these rappers try to get away from is everything that kills them," he said.

Plus, when it's not about projecting a tough image, it's about bling, which doesn't address or solve any problems either, he said.

"We know what they're doing, what they're wearing, what they're driving, who did what last night in a club, who're they dating. You get a lot of rappers saying, 'Yo, we got money now, everyone's eating, everything is good, you know what I'm saying?' Well obviously everything isn't good, and I don't know what you're saying, because a lot of rappers aren't saying nothing on records right now."

What DMC would like to see is a little more balance and substance, he said. If hip-hop is the black CNN, as Chuck D once suggested, then make it more well-rounded, more objective, and use the power of communication for more than boasting and posing, which can only cause more problems when rappers start believing their own bluster.

"If you're going to rap about a gun, rap about not using a gun," McDaniels said. "If you're going to rap about a bitch and a ho, let them know there's aunts, grandmothers, good people in the world too. We rap about the kid selling drugs on the corner, but what about the kid flipping burgers at McDonald's so that he can not sell drugs? We laugh at that kid, but that just might be more gangsta than being out on the corner hustling."

Citing Public Enemy, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and N.W.A, DMC said hip-hop used to be "all relevant and universal" and that a lesson could be learned from the old school: "You've got to say more than one thing. You've got to have more than one image and concept in your music. You're missing the universal concepts that keep another person from shooting another person.

"The only reason I'm saying what I'm saying is that I have experience on my side," he added. "I'm not in jail, I didn't OD, I didn't get shot."

Just in case anyone thinks he's just nostalgic and wants a return to the way hip-hop was back in the day, DMC has a retort ready — he doesn't want it mired in the past, he's more concerned about its future, "so that the younger generation can understand that it's not all about what you see and hear on the records now."

• DMC

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

"My Le Coq Sportif" is not an easy rap to write.

"I have been trying," laughed DMC, who recently abandoned his signature Adidas shoes, immortalized in Run-DMC's 1986 classic "My Adidas," for a Le Coq Sportif look.

"People are saying, 'They probably paid DMC a lot of money to take those Adidas off,' but I found them, they didn't find me," the rapper promised.

D's change in shoes — and entire wardrobe for that matter ("I don't wear the glasses now, I wear contacts") — is all part of a reinvention that began some 10 years ago, when the man who dubbed himself "The King of Rock" discovered classic-rock music.

"I liked the instruments, I liked what they talk about on the records," he said. "It's information. It's universal. It could relate to life."

With his group temporarily disbanded, DMC was stuck in a creative and emotional slump and even felt suicidal, until he suddenly found a new reason to pick up a microphone.

"As opposed to just doin' a record where I'm talkin' about how good I am and I'm the king of this ... I'm just going to talk about what I go through in life, what's happenin' overseas, what's happenin' in the schools," he said. "I was at a point where I was asking myself, 'How does a b-boy grow up into a b-man?' I can't rhyme about what I did when I was 18. And I heard a lot of rap cats, they always say, 'Yo, when I get 35, I don't know if I'm gonna be rappin'.' And that was devastating when I heard it, because does Bruce Springsteen stop playing the guitar 'cause he's 50?"

Without knowing what he would do with them, DMC started writing songs that were intensely personal or political. "It was fun, it was adventurous, it was something new, and I was free to be Darryl as opposed to DMC," he said.

Eventually, he started collaborating on tracks by peers like Kid Rock, DJ Lethal, Buckcherry singer Josh Todd, Korn bassist Fieldy, Doug E. Fresh, and Aerosmith's Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton (see "DMC Hits Rock Bottom, Climbs Back With Help of Limp Bizkit's DJ Lethal").

Along the way, D also decided to write an autobiography, which ultimately led to the catalyst of his reinvention. "I wanted to start the book, 'Yo, what's up? I'm DMC, you know me, Darryl McDaniels of the groundbreaking rap group Run-DMC. I was born May 31st, 1964,' but that's all I knew, so I called my moms up," the rapper recalled.

His mom gave him some shocking information: He was adopted.

"At first, I was gonna get really sad about it," D recalled. "But then I said, 'If my [birth] mother never gave me up, my mother would have never came and got me, I would have never moved to Hollis, I would have never met Joe, we would have never formed Run-DMC and none of this rap sh-- would have jumped off. 'I'm gonna write a record that's gonna help kids in the foster homes, or that are lookin' to adopt a kid.' "

For the track, called "Just Like Me," DMC sampled Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" and recruited his favorite artist of all time to sing the chorus: Sarah McLachlan.

"I tell people now that my first 25 years in this game were tremendous, but my next 25 will [be even better]," D said. " 'Cause right now I'm like a little kid, everything is new to me. My identity is new to me. This music is new to me."

It's taken him nearly a decade (see "Big Plans Under DMC's Kangol Hat: Solo Career, Movie, Cartoon, Label" and "DMC Gets Real With Sarah McLachlan On Checks, Thugs, And Rock 'N' Roll"), but DMC's debut solo album, Checks, Thugs and Rock 'n' Roll, is finally being released March 14, coinciding with a VH1 documentary featuring D tracking down his birth parents.

"It's a bit of time [to be] working on a record, but it doesn't seem that long," he said. "I didn't set out to do a record where the people that I made the music with, that they just do the track and you come in and do your vocals. Everybody that I worked with, we started from scratch and we composed and we arranged and created new music."

D has already shot two videos, one for "Just Like Me" and another, directed by Ondi Timoner ("Dig!"), for "Machine Gun," an Iraq War commentary featuring vocals from "C.S.I." star Gary Dourdan. The album also features a tribute to Jam Master Jay called "Missin' My Friend" and collaboration with Run called "Come Together."

"It's really a universal album," D said. "I want the 65-year-old — no, older than that — the 67-year-old white guy from the boondocks in Wisconsin that don't give a damn about rap to hear my record and go, 'I'll listen to that.' "

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• DMC

DMC at BET Awards 2004
Photo: MTV News

HOLLYWOOD — Sixteen years after starring in the Rick Rubin-directed "Tougher Than Leather," Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is returning to the movies.

This time around, the rapper is taking on a producer role, developing what he describes as a hip-hop film similar in spirit to George Lucas' 1973 coming-of-age classic, "American Graffiti."

"It's gonna be about rap before rap records were ever made," D said recently. "Before rappers were even thinkin' 'bout making records, before rappers even thought it would leave the corner. It's gonna be deep."

A script for the as-yet-untitled movie is still in the works, but DMC plans to start casting as soon as it's approved. Along with the movie, D is also developing a cartoon called "Hip-Hop Superhero Homies from the Hood." "I'm just looking for someone to put it out," he said.

Right now though, DMC's main focus is launching a solo career. His long-awaited debut album, Checks, Thugs, and Rock 'n' Roll, is finally coming out in the fall.

"It's like Run-DMC, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, with a little bit of Funkadelic in there, that's how the album's gonna be," he explained. "I mean, I gotta be honest, when I get up in the morning, I put in a little Rolling Stones, I put in some [Bob] Seger, because I can relate to what they talk about, touring and balancing it with a wife, having a couple of brews, and stuff like that."

D has collaborated with both rappers and rockers on the album, including Kid Rock, DJ Lethal, Fieldy from Korn, the Outlawz and Doug E. Fresh.

"Its rap-rock at its fullest, but a little more mature," he said. "I ain't rapping about things I rapped about when I was 25. I'm 40 years old now so I gotta talk about things I do when I'm 40 so people don't say, 'This guy's faking.' "

On the first single, a cover of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" featuring Sarah McLachlan (see "DMC Gets Real With Sarah McLachlan On Checks, Thugs, And Rock 'N' Roll"), D address an intensely personal subject.

"It's actually about me being adopted," D said. "I found out I was adopted three years ago. And then Jay died. I was sitting in my room and I was like, 'You know, God, what's my purpose, why should I keep rhyming?' And that idea came to me: There's a lot of adopted kids that feel 'I'm worthless. Nobody loves me.' And I told LL Cool J about it and he was like, 'D, you have to do that record. You have a purpose now. You have to tell that story. Do you know how that'll be for mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and kids to hear you sing a song like that?' And I was like, 'All right, God, you gave me my answer now. I gotta go out and make the record.' I wanna inspire people and help people out. That's my main purpose.'"

McLachlan — who is also adopted — and DMC are shooting the video later this summer. While D is tight-lipped on the concept, he said to expect something "revolutionary."

Checks, Thugs, and Rock 'n' Roll will also feature a tribute to Jam Master Jay called "I'm Missing My Friend." "It'll probably make [listeners] cry," he said. "I don't talk about Jay as the DJ, I talk about Jay as the man."

Although his voice has been damaged over the years, D plans to tough it out and promote the album on the road. "First, I'm gonna go out with the DJ, then I'll go back out with the band, because I do use a lot of live instruments on the album," he said. "I'm scared to death without Run and Jay. Oh my god — I'm scared to death. But I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna act like they're there."

Although he listens to little hip-hop these days, with the exception of DMX, D's planning to launch a label called Rags to Riches Records with up-and-coming rapper Vector Mode as the first artist.

"[Vector Mode] is street hip-hop — something I don't do, 'cause I can't do," D said.

• DMC
• Run-D.M.C.

DMC
Photo: MTV News

HOLLYWOOD — As if his latest collaborator weren't enough of a shocker, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is taking her down a surprising path paved by none other than Ugly Kid Joe.

"Me and Sarah McLachlan did a remake of 'Cat's in the Cradle' by Harry Chapin," the Run-DMC rapper said recently of the track famously covered in 1992 by rockers Ugly Kid Joe. "It's awesome."

DMC wrote new verses for his version, the first single from his upcoming solo album, but he's keeping the details on the down low.

"It's very personal," he said. "It has to do with stuff I'm going through in my life, stuff I found out about. You gotta hear the record."

D was equally coy about the video, yet to be shot. "It's gonna be moving, people gonna cry," he said.

The veteran rapper also worked with the late Jam Master Jay, Kid Rock (see "DMC Laments 50 Cent's Busy Schedule, Preps New Song With Kid Rock"), DJ Lethal and Napoleon from the Outlawz on the album titled Checks, Thugs, and Rock 'n' Roll. But he considers McLachlan the ultimate get.

"She's like my favorite artist of all time," he said. "Her music changes people. I called her up and she said yeah. A lot of people in the business be frontin'; they don't call you back. She called me back and we made the record. She's real."

DMC said the long-delayed album is due before spring. However, an Arista Records spokesperson said it wasn't on the release schedule.

The track list has yet to be finalized, but DMC has mentioned a Jam Master Jay tribute called "I'm Missing My Friend" (see "DMC Solo Album Includes Tribute To Jam Master Jay") and "Find My Way," a rocker produced by Kid Rock.

"It's the new hip-hop, musically and lyrically," D boasted of his classic-rock-influenced music. "I did the whole rhymes without writing them down, like Jay-Z does, off the top of the head. It's tight."

Along with finishing Checks, Thugs, and Rock 'n' Roll, DMC has been spending time in Hollywood developing a couple of projects, neither of which he'd discuss.

"I don't want anybody to steal it from me, but I got a movie and some cartoons getting ready to drop," he said.

• DMC
• Run-D.M.C.
• Sarah McLachlan

DMC
Photo: Arista

Who is one of the only people that can make Kid Rock blush? One of the kings of rap, that's who.

"The one and only, he's the greatest musician/producer/writer I've ever known and his name is Kid Rock," DMC said on Friday, revealing who produced his upcoming single, "Find My Way." "He always says, 'Stop saying that,' [but] this guy helped me write it and played every instrument on the record. He's not just some white guy rapping, he's a musical genius."

Toward the end of May, everyone will be able to decide if Kid lives up to the hype, because that's when the single drops.

"It's a big, big record," DMC said of the collaboration (see "DMC Album Includes Tribute To Jam Master Jay"). "What I mean by 'big' is it's one of the best records I ever made. Country people are gonna love it, old people are gonna love it. Young people are gonna love it, girls, black people, white people. It's a universal record with a major theme that's needed right now in this world — peace. [It's about] not compromising and being who you are to make everybody else better.

"The video is gonna be me walking the earth, talking to bikers, talking to black people, white people, saved people, atheists, asking for directions," he added. "In a way it's a dedication to [Jam Master] Jay, too."

DMC will still have a dedication record to Jay on his solo album, Chex, Thuggs and Rock & Roll, when it's released in October. However, the song will now be a solo cut and probably will not feature 50 Cent as he had hoped.

"He's like the busiest man in the world," DMC said about 50, who was a protégé of the Jam Master. "I don't think that's gonna happen 'cause I can't wait for him. I see him every week and it is 'D — I gotta go over here' or 'I gotta go over there.' He's so busy. I was gonna do the record with him, but I'm just gonna do it by myself. He's the only guy I would do it with. So if I can't have him, I'd rather not do [a collaborative homage] at all."

Before Jay's death, DMC did secure two tracks from JMJ, and they'll appear on the album along with three from Limp Bizkit's DJ Lethal and one beat from Korn's Fieldy.

For full coverage of the Jam Master Jay case, check out the Jam Master Jay Reports.

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