Daz Dillinger (far left), Snoop Dogg (middle), Ice Cube (far right) and friends on the set of the "Cali Iz Active" video
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES — MTV recently organized the Great Day in Atlanta, Source had its own Great Day in Houston, and on Saturday, it was a veritable Great Day in Los Angeles when Snoop Dogg called just about every artist on the West Coast to appear in Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique's video for "Cali Iz Active."

"Snoop opened his little black book and called everybody up," Snoop's cousin Daz Dillinger said at the clip's Elysian Park set. "I'm asking who's coming up here."

"We're still wondering who's coming," Kurupt offered. "It's a mystery."

Shortly after the waiting and anticipation was over, cars started pulling up with the likes of Ice Cube, Too Short, Warren G, Xzibit and Strong Arm Steady, Evidence, Dilated Peoples, JT the Bigga Figga, WC, and DJ Quik.

"This reminds me of the ['Nuthin' but a] "G" Thang' video," Quik, standing next to Xzibit, said of the camaraderie, "and that video is like 12 years old."

Later, most of the guys in the video filmed a picnic scene together as well as some DPGC performance shots.

"This was how the West was one," Snoop said, surrounded by all his homies, referencing the title of his West Coast unity tour (see "Snoop And Game Beef Up Their How The West Was One Tour"). "We all love each other, we're all one movement. It's beautiful."

"We always had a lot of love for each other, but Los Angeles keeps it spread out," Cube observed. "So we coming together. We realized that it's all one coast, we need to galvanize the West Coast. Show we all need to support each other."

As to what "Cali Iz Active" means, Kurupt said, "The song represents the West Coast as a whole. We're pushing [it] as one positive thing."

"You getting busy, you in trouble, it's a lot of stuff going on," Daz added. "You've got the police situation in Cali, the race issue in California, Congress. It's time for us to step up and show what's really going on. We're letting you know it's active."

The vibe was so great during the video shoot, all the artists were talking about going on tour together. Ice Cube has started his own tour with Daz and Kurupt and the Clipse, and Snoop has been jumping on some dates.

Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique's Cali Iz Active LP is due June 27. Kurupt's next solo LP, Same Day, Different Sh--, comes out June 20, and Daz's first solo LP on Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, So So Gangsta, drops July 18.

• Snoop, Cube, More On The Set Of The "Cali Iz Active" Video, 04.22.06

• Snoop Dogg
• Ice Cube
• Xzibit
• Kurupt
• Too Short

Snoop Dogg
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Richard Monroe II, the 25-year-old Kent, Washington, man who claims he was "ruthlessly ... dragged, kicked, punched, jumped and otherwise severely beaten" by a swarm of men — including Snoop Dogg's bodyguards and several rappers — after jumping onstage at the White River Amphitheatre during a May 28 stop on the How the West Was One Tour, has filed a civil lawsuit against Snoop, the Game, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger and Soopafly.

Monroe's lawsuit, which was filed April 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks $22 million in punitive and compensatory damages for assault, battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Though the incident took place at the Auburn, Washington, amphitheater, the suit was filed in Los Angeles because Snoop maintains a home and manages his business interests there.

The filing claims Monroe, a self-professed "loyal" Snoop fan, accepted "an open invite" from the Dogg to take the stage; Snoop was performing his classic track "Gin and Juice" at the time of the alleged assault. According to the suit, Monroe walked up to Snoop and tried to put his arms around him, at which point he was grabbed by some of the rapper's bodyguards (see "Fan Beaten Onstage At Snoop/ Game Show").

"Monroe did nothing suggestive of hostility and nothing whatsoever to provoke the violent response that ensued," reads the suit. "Bodyguards thereafter grabbed Monroe and attacked him by striking him with fists and kicks for approximately 35 seconds." According to the lawsuit, Monroe was "beaten unconscious," and the attack continued "in spite of the fact that [Monroe] was incapacitated and clearly could not pose a threat."

Monroe's suit further alleges that several of his attackers humiliated him in front of thousands of concertgoers, by pouring "orange cups of liquid" on his body while he was lying on the stage's floor — an act that resulted in "severe emotional distress." The filing also claims that Monroe's alleged assailants ripped diamond studs from his ears and stole his watch, rings, cell phone and wallet.

After the altercation took place, Monroe was taken to a nearby medical center where he was treated for bruised ribs, a broken nose, a busted lip and black eyes. The suit names Soopafly as a willing participant in the beating, and alleges that the Game can be seen on a videotape of the incident "encouraging and/or validating the attack." Snoop is accused of "doing nothing to stop" the assault, and suggests that the rapper's bodyguards are "unqualified to be security agents ... [and] were also poorly trained by defendants, who failed to teach them that a fan that comes onstage may not be spontaneously attacked." By "having [those guards] onstage," Snoop's actions were both "careless and irresponsible," the suit asserts.

Soon after the incident last year, Meredith O'Sullivan, Snoop's publicist, told MTV News that "any person who jumps onstage at a concert has to be interpreted as a security threat and an immediate risk to both the performers onstage as well as the fans in the audience. Once a breach of security has been made, authorities are forced to take the proper measures to ensure safety." Monroe's suit claims that Snoop "personally witnessed the extended violent beating, and had personal knowledge that 'proper measures to ensure safety' could not possibly include an extended violent beating," and added that the rapper's "cavalier and reckless assignment of blame, projected through his [publicist] toward Monroe" warrants a punitive award of $20 million in addition to a $2 million compensatory judgment.

A preliminary hearing in the case has been set for July 31.

• Snoop Dogg
• Game
• Kurupt

Jim Jones' <I>Harlem: Diary of a Summer</I>
Photo: Koch Records

Jones' Diary: Jim issues Harlem: Diary of a Summer in multiple configs, including DualDisc form, with enhanced stereo and a 35-minute bonus DVD, plus additional videos. Tracks include: "Throw Back Muzic '86," "Speak in It" and "Tha Past" (featuring Dave Hollister).

2-Packed: Kurupt's Against the Grain brings back 2Pac on "My Homeboys (Back to Back)" and ushers in Roscoe and M.O.P. on "Jealousy." Other tracks include "Deep Dishes," "Anarchy '87" and "Can U Feel It" (featuring Potion).

Singing Along To Barney: Björk widens her ever-widening boundaries with the "Drawing Restraint 9" soundtrack, an abstract audio accompaniment to the film made by her longtime boyfriend, Matthew Barney. Tracks include "Ambergis March," "Vessel Shimenawa" and "Holographic Entrypoint."

Red Hot: The Bled's Found in the Flood, the Flaming Lips' "VOID: Video Overview in Deceleration" DVD, Leon Redbone's Live - October 26, 1992: The Olympia Theater, Paris, France, Chad VanGaalen's Infiniheart and Young Bleed's Rise Thru Da Ranks. Also sexy: the Big Screen's Left Coast Love Affair, the Lovemakers' Time of Romance and the New Pornographers' Twin Cinema.

Song Titles Of The Week:

"It's Not About Breaking Hearts, It's About Breaking Faces" (Bobaflex's Apologize for Nothing)

"540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit" (Fear Factory's Transgression)

Other Notables:

Hush's Bulletproof: Eminem, D12, Nate Dogg, Talib Kweli and, bizarrely, Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell, lend a hand on the Detroit rapper's debut, sprucing up a lineup fitted with "Real T.V." and "Woodpecker."

The various-artists DVDs "Burn to Shine: Chicago IL 09.13.2004" and "Spend an Evening With Saddle Creek": Ante up with Bright Eyes, the Faint and Rilo Kiley on the Saddle Creek set, or shine on with the Chicago-centric "Burn to Shine," which features live performances by Tortoise, Shellac and Wilco.

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon's Sixty Six Steps: The guitarist and erstwhile Phish member get even more experimental on their second collabo, glancing over Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" with a Turkish banjo and Pete Seeger's "Living in the Country."

Chuck Leavell's Southscape and Dickey Betts & Great Southern's "Back Where It All Begins: Live at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" DVD: Rolling Stones pianist Leavell glosses over "Jessica," written by Allman Brother Dickey Betts, while Betts revisits that tune and a whole lot more on "Back Where It All Begins," a double disc recorded last year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

New releases:

• Alycone - The Stars Are Real (System)
• American Princes - Little Spaces (Yep Roc)
• Amsterdam - The Sore Score (Aeria)
• Jasy Andrews - Little Girl (Versailles)
• Animosity - Empires (Black Market/ Metal Blade)
• August Born - August Born (Drag City)
• Bayside - Bayside (Victory)
• Beautiful Creatures - Deuce (Spitfire)
• Sarah Bettens - Scream (K's Choice singer; Hybrid)
• The Big Screen - Left Coast Love Affair (Undecided)
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl (RCA)
  
• The Bled - Found in the Flood (Vagrant)
  Buy Now: Found in the Flood (Vagrant)
• Björk - "Drawing Restraint 9" soundtrack (One Little Indian)
• Bobaflex - Apologize for Nothing (TVT)
• Boozoo Bajou - Dust My Broom (Studio K7)
• Broken Spindles - Inside/Absent (Saddle Creek)
• Bucho - Omit the Harsh (DIG)
• Cafe Soul Allstars - Love Pages (You Entertainment)
• Noam Chomsky - The Imperial Presidency: Sovereignty, Terror, and the "Second Superpower" (G7 Welcoming Committee)
• The Classic Struggle - Feel Like Hell (Metal Blade)
• Crazy Frog - Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits (Universal)
• Criteria - When We Break (Saddle Creek)
• Terry Cummings - Nothing Is What It Seems (Pyramid)
• Krishna Das - All One (live, features Def Leppard's Rick Allen plus a choir of 70 and an orchestra of 20; Triloka)
• Nob Dylan and His Nobsoletes - Positively 12 Stiff Dylans (Alternative Tentacles)
• El Michels Affair - Sounding Out the City (Fastlife)
• Every Time I Die - Gutter Phenomenon (Ferret)
  Buy Now: Gutter Phenomenon (Ferret)
• Fear Factory - Transgression (Calvin/ Liquid 8)
• Orenda Fink - Invisible Ones (one-half of Azure Ray; Saddle Creek)
• FJ & Living Souls - Ambient Africa (Eagle)
• Guy Forsyth - Love Songs: For & Against (Small & Nimble)
Creek)
• Nnenna Freelon - Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holliday (Concord)
• Friends of Dean Martinez - Live at Club 2 (Aero)
• Gabin - Mr. Freedom (Astralwerks)
• Richard Galliano - Ruby, My Dear (Dreyfus)
• The Get Quick - How the Story Goes (Rainbow Quartz)
• The Grates - The Ouch. The Touch. EP (Cherry Tree)
• Matthew Herbert - Plat du Jour (Accidental)
• Warren Hill - Pop Jazz (Pop Jazz)
• Hush - Bulletproof (Interscope)
• I Am Kloot - Gods and Monsters (Echo)
• I Wayne - Lava Ground (VP)
• Infusion - Six Feet Above Yesterday (Thrive)
• Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit (enhanced; Maverick)
• John Wilkes Booze - Telescopic Eyes Glace the Future Sick (Kill Rock Stars)
• Jim Jones - Harlem: Diary of a Summer (Koch)
  Buy Now: Harlem: Diary of a Summer (Koch)
  Read: "Jim Jones Goes 'Miami Vice' For New Clip"
• Josh Joplin - Jaywalker (Eleven Thirty)
• JT the Bigga Figga - Who Grind Like Us (Get Low)
• Judd & Maggie - Subjects (RCA)
• June - If You Speak Any Faster (Victory)
• Juvenile - Reality Check (UTP/Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Reality Check (UTP/Atlantic)
  Read: "Juvenile Gets Busy At The Holiday Inn; Making An Album>"
• Josh Kelley - Almost Honest (Hollywood)
• Kennedys - Half a Million Miles (Appleseed)
• Khanate - Capture & Release EP (Hydra Head)
• Steve Kimock Band - Eudemonic (Sci Fidelity)
• Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon - Sixty Six Steps (RCA)
• The Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs From R.D. Burnham's Bollywood (RCA)
• Kurupt - Against the Grain (Death Row)
  Buy Now: Against the Grain (Death Row)
• Chuck Leavell - Southscape (Evergreen Arts)
• Lofty - In the Beginning (33rd Street)
• The Lost Patrol Band - The Lost Patrol Band (Burning Heart/ Epitaph)
• Lovemakers - Time of Romance (Cherry Tree/ Interscope)
• Lurker of Chalice - Lurker of Chalice (Southern Lord)
• Timo Maas - Pictures (Ultra)
• The Makers - Everybody Rise! (Kill Rock Stars)
• Masters at Work - The Kings of House (Studio K7)
• Delbert McClinton - Cost of Living (New West)
• Neal McCoy - That's Life (enhanced; 903)
• Hendrik Meurkens - Amazon River (Megaforce)
• Minus the Bear - Menos El Oso (Suicide Squeeze)
• Michael Martin Murphey - Storm Over the Rangelands: Cowboy Songs, Vol. 5 (Emergent/92e)
• Mossyrock - Zero to One Sessions (Nice & Smooth)
• Najee - My Point of View (Heads Up)
• New Buffalo - The Last Beautiful Day (Arts & Crafts)
• New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (Matador)
  Buy Now: Twin Cinema (Matador)
• Nural - Weight of the World (Hopeless)
• One Block Radius - Long Story Short (Avatar)
• Orange - Welcome to the World of ... Orange (Epitaph)
• Shane Owens - Let's Get on It (Rust)
• Ozomatli - Live at the Fillmore (with bonus DVD; Concord)
  Buy Now: Live at the Fillmorea (Concord)
• The Pale Pacific - Urgency (SideCho)
• Mike Park - North Hangook Falling (Sub City)
• Pitch Black [nz] - Ape to Angel (Waveform)
• Portastatic - Bright Ideas (Merge)
• Prurient - Black Vase (Load)
• Public Enemy featuring Paris- Rebirth of a Nation (Guerrilla Funk)
  Buy Now: Rebirth of a Nation (Guerrilla Funk)
• T. Raumschmiere - Blitzkrieg Pop (enhanced; Mute)
• Real McKenzies - 10,000 Shots (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Leon Redbone - Live - October 26, 1992: The Olympia Theater, Paris, France (Rounder)
• Amy Rigby - Little Fugitive (Signature)
• Robots in Disguise - Get Rid (Studio K7)
• Rogue Wave - 10:1 EP (Sub Pop)
• Rooftop Suicide Club - Always Like This (Stop Pop & Roll)
• Rupee - 1 on 1 (Atlantic)
• Sawyer Brown - Mission Temple Fireworks Stand (Curb)
• The Setup - The Pretense of Normality (GSR)
• Shark Soup - Fatlip Showbox (BYO)
• The Jason Sinay Band - The Jason Sinay Band (Tomato)
• Smash Mouth - All Star: The Smash Hits of Smash Mouth (Interscope)
  Buy Now: All Star: The Smash Hits of Smash Mouth (Interscope)
• Sons of Champlin - Hip Li'l Dreams (DIG)
• Spacehead - Live @ Hawkfest 2003 (United States Dist.)
• Stellastarr* - Harmonies for the Haunted (RCA)
• Tierney Sutton - I'm With the Band (Telarc)
• Swing Out Sister - Live (Shanachie)
• Syd Matters - Syd Matters (V2)
• Otis Taylor - Below the Fold (Telarc)
• Tenement Halls - Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells (Merge)
• B.J. Thomas - Hooked on a Feeling - The Best Of (DualDisc release featuring new recordings of hits; Goldenlane)
• Tom & Joy - Antigua (Tommy Boy)
• Kevin Toney - 110 Degrees and Rising (Shanachie)
• Trick Pony - R.I.D.E. (Curb)
  Buy Now: R.I.D.E. (Curb)
• Turbonegro - Party Animals (Epitaph/ Burning Heart)
• Armin van Buuren - Shivers (Ultra)
• John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt (Barsuk)
• Chad VanGaalen - Infiniheart (Sub Pop)
• Laura Viers - Year of Meteors (Nonesuch)
• Warlocks - Surgery (Mute)
• Jim Wilson - A Place in My Heart (Artemis)
• Ya' Boy - Rookie of the Year (SMC)
• YOB - The Unreal Never Lived (Metal Blade)
• Young Bleed - Rise Thru Da Ranks (West Coast Mafia)
• Yuns - Storyteller (Eastside)
• Joe Zawinul& The Zawinul Syndicate - Vienna Nights: Live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland (BirdJAM/BHM)
• Zox - The Wait (Armo)
• Various artists - "The Brothers Grimm" soundtrack (Milan)
• Various artists - Dimension Mix (Eenie Meenie)
• Various artists - "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" soundtrack (Shout! Factory)
• Various artists - "Four Brothers" soundtrack (Motown)
• Various artists - Live at Continental: Best of NYC, Vol. 2 (Continental NYC)
• Various artists - Timeless Soul Ballads (Sumday)
• Various artists - Tommy Boy Presents: Hip-Hop Roots (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - "Undiscovered" soundtrack (Ashlee Simpson's in the film but not on the soundtrack; Lakeshore)

Notable reissues:

• Oren Ambarchi - Triste (original LP plus remixes and a poster; Southern Lord)
• Pat Boone - Glory Train: The Lost Sessions (Oak)
• John Entwistle - Rigor Mortis Sets In (remastered; Sanctuary)
• John Entwistle - Smash Your Head Against the Wall (remastered; Sanctuary)
• Gentle Giant - Playing the Fool: 35th Anniversary Addition (DRT)
• Charles Mingus - A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (remastered; Shout! Factory)
• Roy Orbison - I Can't Stop Loving You (Sumday Entertainment)
  Buy Now: I Can't Stop Loving You (Sumday Entertainment)
• Jerry Garcia - The Jerry Garcia Collection Vol. 1: Legion of Mary (Rhino)
  Buy Now: The Jerry Garcia Collection Vol. 1: Legion of Mary (Rhino)
• Rise Against - The Unraveling (remastered and remixed with bonus tracks; Fat Wreck Chords)
• Rufio - Perhaps, I Suppose ... - Deluxe Edition (with five bonus original demos; The Militia Group)
• Yes - The Word Is Live (three discs of live recordings from 1970-1988; Rhino)

DVDs:

• Bad Manners - "Don't Knock the Bald Heads" (Music Video Distributors)
• Dickey Betts & Great Southern - "Back Where It All Begins: Live at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" (Red Distribution)
• Deep Purple - "Inside Deep Purple 1969-1976: An Independent Critical Review" (two DVDs and a book; Classic Rock Legends)
• Dizzy Gillespie - "Live in London" (Kultur)
• The English Beat - "In Concert at the Royal Festival Hall" (Music Video Distributors)
• Flaming Lips - "VOID: Video Overview in Deceleration" (Warner Bros.)
• Human League - "Live at the Dome" (Music Video Distributors)
• Tom Jones - "Hits" and "Duets" (Tango Entertainment)
• Willie Nelson & Friends - "Live and Kickin' " (Lost Highway)
• Orgy - "Trans Global Spectacle: 1997 to 2004" (D1/DLC)
• T. Rex - "Inside T. Rex 1974-1977" (Classic Rock Legends)
• Shinedown - "Live From the Inside" (Atlantic)
• Beanie Sigel - "The B. Coming of Beanie Sigel" (Universal)
• Johnny Thunders - "Eve of Destruction" (Recall)
• Various artists - "Burn to Shine: Chicago IL 09.13.2004" (Trixie)
• Various artists - "Spend an Evening With Saddle Creek" (Recall)

Coming attractions:

August 30:

• Death Cab for Cutie - Plans (Atlantic)
  Read: "Death Cab For Cutie Living Up To The 'Death' Part On Next LP"
• Rihanna - Music of the Sun (Def Jam)
• Kanye West - Late Registration (Def Jam)
  Read: " 'Can He Do It Again?' -- Kanye West Says New LP Backs Up His Bragging"

September 6:

• 50 Cent - The Massacre (re-release; Interscope)
• Sarah McLachlan - Sarah McLachlan in Bloom (remix album; Arista)
• The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
  Read: "Rolling Stones Announce World Tour, Unveil New Song"

September 13:

• David Gray - Life in Slow Motion (RCA)
• The Juliana Theory - Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat (Paper Fist/Abacus)
• Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound (Columbia)
  Read: "Switchfoot Look Like California Raisins After Video Shoot"

• Jim Jones
• Björk
• Kurupt
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• Every Time I Die

Paris Hilton (file)
Photo: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images

Music ruled on Yahoo! this year. "American Idol" was the most popular online search term in 2004, followed by "Paris Hilton," "Jessica Simpson" and "Britney Spears," according to the year-end numbers from the search engine. "Usher" came in at #7 on the list, two spots under "Harry Potter." ...

The oft-underappreciated "urban Western" genre will soon get a boost from Wyclef Jean and Kurupt when they star alongside "Kill Bill" star David Carradine and "Coach Carter" actor Antwon Tanner in the upcoming film "Click." Helmed by independent filmmaker Jean Claude LaMarre, the flick is set at the end of the Civil War and concerns a group of outlaws who band together to rob the town bank. Some filming will take place in Los Angeles and select pieces in the wardrobe will be provided by trucker-hat masters Von Dutch. The soundtrack to the film will include original tracks by Kurupt and Wyclef. ... While fellow Black Sabbath member Ozzy Osbourne has long been known as the guy who once bit off the head of a live dove, drummer Bill Ward is getting press for being the bird-friendly musician in the group. Ward posted a photograph of "Abraham," a turkey he recently adopted, on his Web site on Monday. ...

Along with some percussion work from the Velvet Underground's Maureen Tucker, the new, as-yet-untitled second Raveonettes album features contributions by Martin Rev of early '80s New York band Suicide and Ronnie Spector of 1960s girl group the Ronettes. The follow-up to 2003's Chain Gang of Love is expected to drop early next year. ... For Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial, expected to begin January 31, California's Santa Barbara County will introduce a new jury-selection system. The "one-step" system eliminates the preliminary mailer generally sent to potential jurors, according to The Associated Press. If jurors did not fill out the mailer, their names would have been removed from the jury lists. Under the new system, 4,000 people will receive jury summons letters for the trial, which will instruct them to appear for jury selection. If the jurors do not respond or appear, they could face a potential fine of $1,500. ...

When you're a multiplatinum singer/songwriter, sometimes you don't need a reason to tour. That seems to be the logic behind Sarah McLachlan's 2005 schedule, which all of a sudden is loaded with tour dates. The Canadian chanteuse will hit the road starting on April 12 in Victoria, British Columbia, and has dates scheduled all the way through June 1 in Halifax, Nova Scotia (she's playing plenty of Stateside gigs in between). McLachlan's last studio album, Afterglow, was released in November of 2003. ...

12.27.2004

The weekly Dallas Observer alternative newspaper has an editor's note this week apologizing for running a cover image for its previous issue that appeared to be a photo of slain Damageplan/ Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in a casket. Managing Editor Patrick Williams explained that the paper got complaints from Abbott's friends and manager about the grim picture, which was a photo illustration based on file images of Abbott. While apologizing, Williams defiantly wrote that he would not have done things differently given another chance, as the paper's intent was to humanize the loss and "help the mass of Dallas Observer readers feel something of their loss and grief." ...

If his scathing portrayals of gun enthusiasts and President Bush are any indication of what Michael Moore is capable of, pharmaceutical companies have good reason to be telling employees to watch their backs. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least six drug companies have distributed internal memos to their employees warning them of Moore's potential presence outside their buildings as he does research for his new project, tentatively titled "Sicko." "We ran a story in our online newspaper saying Michael Moore is embarking on a documentary — and if you see a scruffy guy in a baseball cap, you'll know who it is," Pfizer spokesperson Stephen Lederer told the newspaper. The film, tentatively scheduled for release in the first half of 2006, will be an investigation into the health-care industry. ... Every red-blooded heterosexual American male has dreamed of partying at the Playboy Mansion at one time or another. And for a few lucky artists, that dream is about to come true. On January 11, Koch Records will release Playboy: The Mansion, a 12-track companion to the video game of the same name. The disc features contributions from Armand Van Helden and Felix Da Housecat, while the video game — which allows players to build their own Playboy Mansion — is packed with songs (and in-game appearances) by artists like Sum 41's Deryck Whibley and Elefant's Diego Garcia. ...

Miri Ben-Ari, who played violin on albums by Kanye West, Twista, Trick Daddy, Janet Jackson and Wyclef Jean, will release her next solo album on March 22. David Banner, Anthony Hamilton and Scarface are featured in the video for the first single, "Sunshine to the Rain." ... Just because she was serving time for drunk driving doesn't mean Diana Ross shouldn't be treated like the diva she is. At least that's what Police Chief James Walters thought when he allowed the former Supremes singer to have a cell phone and food delivery in her jail cell, and let her go home in the middle of her two-day sentence in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a report given to the Greenwich Time. The singer had been arrested on December 30, 2002, in Arizona and pleaded no contest in February of this year. Walters reportedly admitted to making several "poor decisions" while handling Ross' incarceration. ...

Incubus bassist Ben Kenney is keeping busy while his band is between touring and recording a new album. He's just completed a solo record titled 26, which is available through his Web site (www.BenKenney.com), and he's lined up a few live shows with his side project, the Division Group, which features Incubus turntablist DJ Kilmore. The Division Group will play the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles on January 5, the Independent in San Francisco on January 7 and the Knitting Factory in New York on January 16. ... Icelandic avant-rockers Sigur Ros are putting the finishing touches on their fourth studio album. According to a post on the band's Web site, "the foundations for all the album's songs have now been recorded and the boys are adding layers to the songs." Like its previous records, the as-yet-untitled album is being recorded at the band's converted swimming pool/recording studio, and features contributions from all-girl Icelandic string quartet Amina. The record is tentatively scheduled for a May release. ...

• Jessica Simpson
• Kurupt
• Michael Jackson
• The Raveonettes

Kurupt (file)
Photo: MGM

A Death Row rapper, a tiny Aussie pop star and a wild-maned songstress lead the pack of new releases this week.

Kurupt made his rap debut on Dr. Dre's 1992 album, The Chronic, and guested on a smattering of Death Row releases, including Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, which led to his collaboration with Snoop in Tha Dogg Pound. While his three solo albums have met with middling success, the persistent rapper is going for the gold again this week with Against the Grain.

Locomotion-ing into stores is "Body Language Live," a concert DVD from pint-sized Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. The show was filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo in November 2003 and features the singer performing hits like "Love at First Sight" and "Can't Get You Out of My Head."

Helium-voiced R&B singer Macy Gray releases her first greatest-hits album, The Very Best of Macy Gray, which includes tracks from her three studio albums as well as her most recent single, a cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

Silkk the Shocker, brother of Master P and C-Murder, released his debut, The Shocker, in 1996 and has appeared on numerous albums by No Limit artists. Based on a True Story, the rapper's fourth solo record, hits stores this week.

Power-pop revivalist Matthew Sweet releases his ninth album, Living Things, this week, while Jill Sobule, best known for her 1995 hit "I Kissed a Girl," unleashes Underdog Victorious. Smooth-voiced R&B singer Anita Baker, who hasn't released an album since 1994's Rhythm of Love gets back into the game with My Everything.

Two-man rock band the Black Keys release their third effort, Rubber Factory, while indie-rockers Radio 4 deliver their third as well, Stealing of a Nation.

Also out this week are albums by veteran metal outfit Dio (Master of the Moon), DJ Paul van Dyk (Perfect Remixes Vol. 2), jamming jazzers Medeski Martin & Wood (End of the World Party [Just in Case]), former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg (Folker), and rockers Senses Fail, who release their debut full-length, Let It Enfold You.

Out Tuesday, September 7:

• Amon Amath - Fate of Norns (Metal Blade)
• Anita Baker - My Everything (Blue Note)
• Patricia Barber - Live: A Fortnight in France (Blue Note)
• The Black Keys - Rubber Factory (Fat Possum/ Epitaph)
• The Break - Handbook for the Hopeless (Ferret)
• Greg Brown - In the Hills of California (Red House)
• John Cale - HoboSapiens (Or Music)
• Bob Carpenter - The Sun, the Moon & the Stars (Favored Nations)
• Roger Creager - Live Across Texas (DualTone)
• D.O.A. - Live Free or Die (Sudden Death)
• Krishna Das - Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga (Karuna)
• Ram Dass - Meditations on the Gita (Karuna)
• Daz - I Got Love in These Streetz (Red Urban)
• Dio - Master of the Moon (Sanctuary)
• DJ Krush - Jaku (Red Ink)
• Julie Doiron - Goodnight Nobody (Jagjaguwar)
• Big Joe Duskin - Big Joe Jumps Again! (Yellow Dog)
• The Exit - Home for an Island (Some)
• Ustad Faiyaz/ Kahn Sahib - Golden Shadows (Dunya)
• Fear Before the March of Flames - Art Damage (Equal Vision)
• Gabriel & Dresden - Bloom (Nettwerk)
• Bade Ghulan/ Ali Khan - Regal Resonance (Dunya)
• Girlyman - Remember Who I Am (Daemon)
• Macy Gray - The Very Best of Macy Gray (Epic)
• Hanalei - We're All Natural Disasters (Thick)
• Hi-5 - Jump & Jive with Hi-5 (Koch)
• Seth Horan - Conduit (Benchmark)
• Jack Irons - Attention Dimension (Breaching Whale)
• Alan Jackson - What I Do (Arista Nashville)
• David Jacobs-Strain - Ocean or a Teardrop (Northern Blues)
• Will Johnson - Vultures Await (Misra)
• Vic Juris - Blue Horizon (Zoho)
• Mike Keneally and Metropole Orkest - The Universe Will Provide (Favored Nations)
• Kill Radio - Raised on Whipped Cream (Columbia)
• Kurupt - Against the Grain (Death Row)
• Tim Lee - No Discretion (Paisley Pop)
• Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (Secretly Canadian)
• Janiva Magness - Bury Him at the Crossroads (Northern Blues)
• Christine McVie - In the Meantime (Koch)
• Medeski Martin & Wood - End of the World Party (Just in Case) (Blue Note)
• Jane Monheit - Taking a Chance on Love (Sony Classical)
• Jean-Michel Pilc - Follow Me (Dreyfus)
• Chuck Prophet - The Age of Miracles (New West)
• Radio 4 - Stealing of a Nation (Astralwerks)
• Jason Ringenberg - Empire Builders (Yep Roc)
• Riptyde - Sonic Undertow (Alternity)
• Senses Fail - Let It Enfold You (Vagrant)
• Kierra Kiki Sheard - I Owe You (Chordant)
• Silkk the Shocker - Based on a True Story (Koch)
• Jill Sobule - Underdog Victorious (Artemis)
• Bill Staines - Journey Home (Red House)
• Matthew Sweet - Living Things (Racm)
• This Day & Age - Always Leave the Ground (One Eleven)
• Artie Traum - Acoustic Jazz Guitar (Roaring Stream)
• Trio Mundo - Rides Again (Zoho)
• Truth Enola - 6 O'Clock Straight (Solid)
• Underminded - Hail Unamerican! (Kung Fu)
• Paul van Dyk - Perfect Remixes Vol. 2 (Warlock)
• Dr. Allean Verando - I'm a Whosoever (Gar)
• Claudia Villela and Kenny Werner - Dreamtales (Adventure)
• Vollmar - 13 or So People Who Need Chances (Bluesanct)
• Paul Westerberg - Folker (Vagrant)
• Jesse Colin Young - Living in Paradise (Artemis)
• Various artists - Code of the Streets, Vol. 1 (Koch)
• Various artists - Judgement Day: Songs of Robert Johnson (Warlock)
• Various artists - Vancouver Complication (Sudden Death)
• Various artists - Who's America (System)
• DVD: Kylie Minogue - "Body Language Live" (Capitol)
• DVD: Various artists - "Peepshow III" (Fat Wreck)

• Nelly - Sweat (Fo' Reel/ Universal)
• Nelly - Suit (Fo' Reel/ Universal)
  Read: "Nelly's Double Dose Features Mase, X-tina And ... Tim McGraw?"
• Tears for Fears - Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (Hip-O)
• Prodigy - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Maverick)
  Read: "Twista, Kool Keith, Juliette Lewis Smack Up New Prodigy LP"

• Green Day - American Idiot (Warner)
  Read: "Green Day Make Bold Statement About Their Homeland On American Idiot"
• Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of Alabama - There Will Be a Light (Virgin)
• Shadows Fall - War Within (Century Media)
• Keb' Mo' - Peace ... Back by Popular Demand (Sony)

• Brian Wilson - Smile (Nonesuch)
• Joss Stone - Mind, Body & Soul (S-Curve)
• Hilary Duff - Hilary Duff (Hollywood)
• Queen Latifah - The Dana Owens Album (Interscope)

• Kurupt
• Kylie Minogue
• Macy Gray
• Matthew Sweet

<i>White Chicks Like Mixtapes Too</i>
Photo: Clinton Sparks

Artist: Clinton Sparks

Mixtape: White Chicks Like Mixtapes Too

Representing: Beantown

The 411: "Spider-Man 2" and "Shrek 2" may be the summer's biggest blockbusters, but the "White Chicks" are killing them in the category of street cred. Marlon and Shawn Wayans are the hosts, and if you thought they were raunchy hosting the VMAs a few years back, listen up here.

Joints To Check For:

• "Take a Good Look" by Lloyd Banks. Somebody ask 50 Cent and Sha Money XL how in the world this record didn't make The Hunger for More. Banks is in his "Stunt 101" mode, bragging about the baguettes dripping off his body parts, going through "more trees than Tarzan" and wearing a throwback that's "light blue, came out about the same time my grandmother graduated from high school."

• "Rollers" by the Clipse. The Clipse are back in the kitchen, and by "the kitchen," we don't mean the studio. The Virginia brothers have once again taken their content to the place where food is cooked, with raps about the days when they sold drugs for a living. "I'm not Richard Pryor, but prior to rap I was cooking crack over an open fire," says Malice. Don't sleep on the Indian flute on the beat — it's crazy.

• Various Wayans brothers skits. Marlon says its best: "Laugh till you fart." Damon's younger brothers are like bulls in a china shop on this mixtape. The two throw a bit of extra bass in their voices and fling a few extra four-letter words, broaching subjects from not having enough money to girls who tease them so much it hurts.

Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week

• Nina Sky and DJ Cipha Sounds' The Nina Sky Mixtape
• Lights Out Productions' Welcome to the Aftermath
• The Honorable King Smij's Sshhhh ... Volume 13 R&B, Usher's 90 Minute Freak-Off and Official Down Soufh 2

• Goon Squad's Welcome to Grimmyville Part 2
• DJ Clue's The Mixtape After Tomorrow
• DJ Lt. Dan's The Chef vs. the Butcher
• DJ Kurupt's Hostile Takeover

'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar

• Alchemist featuring Prodigy, Nina Sky and Illa Ghee - "Hold Me Down"
• Mobb Deep - "Throw Your Hands"
• Kurupt featuring M.O.P. and Roscoe - "Jealousy"
• Jay-Z - "The Game Is Mine"
• Roots featuring Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap - "Duck Down"
• Lloyd featuring Ashanti and Scarface - "Southside" remix

Celebrity Favs

Reggae wild man Elephant Man, who just completed a new track with Will Smith and is gearing up to shoot a video for an "All Night" remix with Janet Jackson, says he loves to be loved. "My favorite mixtape DJ is Mister Cee because he plays a lot of Elephant Man, he keeps it down to earth. He doesn't forget where it's coming from and he's hardcore. Mister Cee, keep on doing what you're doing. Keep it jiggy, good to go!"

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Akon is no dummy. As a singer, touching the streets isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially if nobody has heard of you, so Akon called one of the most street-credible MCs for a little help: Styles P.

"My secret weapon," Akon said of the guest star on the remix of his 'hood favorite, "Locked Up." "I already knew if I could get Styles P. on this record, being that he just got locked up the same way I did, it'll be a wrap. ... He'd heard the record and he already loved the record, so it was just a matter of finding each other. He was looking for me and I was looking for him, so it was meant to happen."

Although Styles shared Akon's vision, the singer's own record label, SRC, wasn't necessarily the cut's loudest cheerleader initially. "Man, we been telling them [about 'Locked Up'] forever," Akon said. "They just didn't want to listen, so we went to the streets to do it ourselves. I said, 'Let's contact every mixtape dude in the city, every mixtape dude in every city surrounding [New York].' We just kept doing that until we went to Florida. Then we took a flight to L.A. and did the same thing there. Once the street buzz came, DJs just started playing it in the club. After that, the radio picked it up, then the label got behind it and it was a wrap."

Akon also pushed his song with an unconventional tour. "We did a penitentiary tour because I was trying to get the bottom of the streets," he explained. "I've been there, I know how these cats think in there, because these are the cats that's really living it."

Living that life cost Akon a couple of years of his life and more than $500,000 in legal fees, but he did have one thing going for him when he got out of jail: his bloodline. Akon happens to be a cousin of choreographer Divine Stevens (Usher, P. Diddy). Seeing that Akon wasn't pursing his singing career with enough drive, Stevens broke into Akon's studio, stole some of his records and began shopping Akon's demo. He eventually caught the ear of SRC CEO Steve Rifkind.

"He flew down to Atlanta to the crib," Akon recalled. " I didn't even know who Steve Rifkind was. So I'm looking out my window like, 'Yo, who's at my door?' We're right in the middle of the 'hood and all I saw was two white guys in black suits and another guy in plain clothes. So I'm thinking the feds are coming to question me about something that they might have overlooked."

Akon's Trouble was released June 29.

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

For more on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out the feature "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."

• Usher
• Lloyd Banks
• Clipse
• Nina Sky
• DJ Clue

Linkin Park's upcoming Meteora will include a 40-page booklet of photos and commentary, as well as an enhanced CD featuring "The Art of Meteora," a 17-minute documentary about the album cover. A limited-edition version of the LP will include a DVD featuring a film about the band. ...

Memphis' Saliva are shooting a video for "Rest in Pieces," the second single from their latest album, Back Into Your System, in Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday, with director Diane Martel (Christina Aguilera, Snoop Dogg). The tune, co-written by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, will surface at radio on the heels of "Always" in the coming weeks... When the Boss talks, his fans listen. Especially in tune are Bruce Springsteen's Tri-State Area fans, who scarfed up the tickets to seven shows with the E Street Band, from July 15-27, at New Jersey's Giants Stadium in record time. Never before in the history of Ticketmaster have seven stadium shows sold out in a single day. ...

Pop singer Anastacia, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in January, has undergone a successful operation. Following the seven-hour procedure, she remained in the hospital two days before being released to recuperate at home with the supervision of a private nurse. Doctors said early detection and prompt action probably saved her life. Anastacia will begin six weeks of radiation therapy in the coming weeks. ... Hank Ballard, lead singer of the Royals (later called the Midnighters) and the songwriter who penned the 1960 #1 hit "The Twist," died of throat cancer in his Los Angeles home on Sunday. Ballard was 76 years old. ...

Newcomer Roscoe, the younger brother of Kurupt, shot a video for his single "Head to Toe" in Atlanta over the weekend with director Bryan Barber (Outkast). Pat "Sleepy" Brown of the production crew Organized Noize (Bubba Sparxxx) is featured on the track, and Goodie Mob's Big Gipp appears in the video. ... Matchbox Twenty and Sugar Ray will embark on the More Than You Think You Are tour on April 25 in New Orleans. The 50-date trek concludes July 6 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Maroon 5 will open through May 31. ... Oasis leader Noel Gallagher will turn up as a guest on the songs "One to Grow On" and "Polaris," the title track from The North Mississippi Allstars' forthcoming album. The follow-up to the blues-rockers' Grammy-nominated 51 Phantom hits stores April 22. ...

Melodic power metal merchants Iced Earth will enter the studio in April to record the follow-up to 2001's Horror Show and last year's covers album, Tribute to the Gods, according to a Web post from founding guitarist and songwriter Jon Schaffer. Schaffer, who is opening a world-history related collectables store in Columbus, Indiana, plans to hire the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to work on three songs about the Battle of Gettysburg for the album. ... Following months of auditions, black metal veterans Dark Funeral have found an as-yet-unnamed replacement for guitarist Dominion. "While [drummer] Matte [Modin] is out touring with Defleshed, I will practice with this demonic new guy," guitarist Lord Ahriman wrote on the band's Web site. ...

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame announced on Monday (March 3) that Clive Davis will receive the Hitmaker Award as part of their 34th annual ceremony, taking place June 12 in New York. Martin Bandier, chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing, was announced as the Patron of the Arts Award recipient. Phil Collins, Queen, Van Morrison and Little Richard are among those being inducted into the Hall this year. ...

Samoan gangsta rappers Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. will appear in the end credits for the upcoming Christopher Coppola film "Bloodhead." The group's footage — which will feature members dancing on a giant spinning turntable and surrounded by smoke and fire — was shot February 10 to 12 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Coppola is Nicolas Cage's brother and Francis Ford Coppola's nephew. ... This year's version of the annual Detroit Electronic Music Festival will be called Movement 2003 - Detroit's Electronic Music Festival, according to techno pioneer Derrick May, who's producing the event for the first time. The former producers own rights to the DEMF title. ...

02.28.03

Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" video will be honored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for its use of gay and transgender images to demonstrate self-respect and empowerment. The singer will accept a special award for the Jonas Akerlund-directed clip at a ceremony April 26 at Los Angeles' Kodak Theatre. ...

It's looking like Limp Bizkit and the WWE are continuing to show love for one another. The rap-rockers will perform at the Wrestlemania pay-per-view event on March 30, according to an announcement Thursday night on the wrestling program "Smackdown!" Fans of famed grappler the Undertaker might remember he used to play Limp's "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" as his theme music when entering the ring. ... Following the Grammys, Michelle Branch posted a message on her official Web site that her upcoming album was nearly finished and had a release date. "The album will be available for your listening pleasure on June 10," she wrote. "It's a lot later than we thought, but we need set-up time ... and I need a slight break before being on the road again." Branch is slated to tour with the Dixie Chicks. ... 

'NSYNC's Lance Bass will be the main judge in NBC's new reality series, "The Search for the Most Talented Kid in America." Mario Lopez will host the four episodes, which begin airing March 21 and will feature two other guest judges (to be named later) for each show. ... Swedish rockers Blindside have been tapped to open for Linkin Park on the band's two-week stretch of free shows for members of its fan club. The trek begins March 11 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and runs through March 25 in Los Angeles. ...

Beck makes a cameo on Macy Gray's new song "It Ain't the Money" from her upcoming album, The Trouble With Being Myself, which drops May 13. The track, a funk-fueled hybrid of rap and R&B, features the chameleonic rocker mirroring Gray's vocals in a sedated breathy voice. ... New York City garage rockers the Mooney Suzuki have lined up a string of tour dates, beginning April 10 in New Haven, Connecticut. The quartet will bring along fellow Big Apple residents, retro punk-poppers the Realistics, to open the brief outing, which winds down April 27 in Los Angeles. ...

On the heels of a successful battle against cancer, Testament vocalist Chuck Billy is back in rehearsals with his band, gearing up for a San Francisco gig next month and a European tour scheduled for April. "On Valentine's Day, I had my final two operations to remove a port from my chest and both surgeries were a complete success," Billy posted on the veteran thrash metal band's Web site. "[My] surgeon, Dr. Sweezer, the coolest cat out there ... said, 'Get out there and enjoy your life, you're done!' "

Singer Bryan Adams plays himself in "House of Fools," Russia's official submission for the foreign-film category at the Academy Awards. In the flick, Adams is the object of a pretty mental patient's deep and delusional obsession. The film hits U.S. theaters on April 25. ... German glitch-pop pioneers the Notwist will embark on their first North American tour on April 2 at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. The group's 17-date jaunt in support of its recently released Neon Golden will end with a two-night stand at Los Angeles' Knitting Factory on April 14 and 15. ...

• Linkin Park
• The Donnas
• Saliva
• Bruce Springsteen
• Kurupt

Suge Knight
Photo: Tha Row

Suge Knight and his record label, Tha Row, have wrapped production on their first release of the year, and on March 25 they’ll extend an official invitation to the public to attend their gangsta party.

Knight will release the soundtrack to comedian Eddie Griffin’s upcoming biopic, "Dysfunktional Family." And even though Jay-Z, Ashanti and Juvenile have all contributed tracks, the majority of the album is comprised of new music from Knight’s own musical clan.

In addition to the first single, "Still Tha Row" by Crooked I and Virginya Slim, the album also includes "Too Street 4 T.V.," the first song the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes recorded as her alter ego, N.I.N.A.

According to a spokesperson for the project, the Miramax film "Dysfunktional Family" is a humorous, behind-the-scenes look at Griffin as he goes out on a series of stand-up dates and attends a family reunion.

The soundtrack to the flick is scheduled to be released on March 25, with the movie coming out right behind it on April 4.

Tha Row's rep also mentioned that the label has solo albums by N.I.N.A., Kurupt and Crooked I on tap for 2003.

Dysfunktional Family track list, according to a label spokesperson:

• Crooked I and Virginya Slim – "Still Tha Row"
• Kurupt – "I'm Back"
• Crooked I, Eastwood and Danny Boy – "Dysfunktional Family Theme"
• Jay-Z – "Hovi Baby" (remix)
• Juvenile, Skippa and Young Buck – "I'm a Gangsta"
• Eastwood and Crooked I – "We Ballin'"
• Eastwood, Crooked I, Ja Rule, Danny Boy – "Who Wants to F---"
• Crooked I, Eastwood, Danny Boy and Eddie Griffin – "I Thought U Knew"
• Michel’le – "I Know Where I’m Going"
• Skippa – "I’m on Tha Radio"
• N.I.N.A and Danny Boy – "Too Street 4 T.V."
• Ganxsta Ridd – "1 Call" (Real Talk)
• Eastwood – "Tha Formula"
• Spider and Eddie Griffin – "Dys-Funk-Tional"
• Eastwood, Spider, Ganxtsa Ridd - "Tha Row (Y'all Hoes)"
• Mack 10 - "Like It or Not"
• Ashanti - "All-My"
  Related Artists
  • Marion "Suge" Knight
  • Jay-Z
  • Kurupt
  • Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
  ]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1469788/20030205/knight_marion_suge_.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1469788/20030205/knight_marion_suge_.jhtml 6 Feb 2003 10:02:00 EST Rapper became fast friends with Ja Rule, Steven Seagal on set of 'Half Past Dead.'
  By Shaheem Reid

  
  Ja Rule and Kurupt
  Photo: Screen Gems

  You wouldn't know it, but battle-rap kingpin Kurupt and action-movie svengali Steven Seagal have a lot in common. They both love music, do a lot of their own movie stunts and, if you try to get them away from the dinner table, you may have a problem — especially when they're indulging in Tony Roma's world-renowned ribs.

  "Uncle Steve, man, he was cool with us," Kurupt said last week of his co-star in "Half Past Dead." "He wasn't really tripping with us. There really wasn't no problems, he was very respectful and did his part. He tried to help us out as much as possible with ours. It was a great team we had." (Click here for photos from "Half Past Dead")

  In the movie, Kurupt plays the wise-cracking Alcatraz convict Twitch ("He's just a little man and he just talks a gang of sh--, always starting trouble," Snoop Dogg's former running mate said of his role), who teams with Seagal and fellow inmate Ja Rule to fight a gang of terrorists led by Morris Chestnut and former "Party Machine" host Nia Peeples. Offscreen, Kurupt said Seagal introduced him to some new musical methods, while he schooled the action hero on the latest hip-hop cuts.

  "I had to put him up on it from Ja's perspective all the way to mine," Kurupt laughed. "I had to play him some of those dainty killer tunes and let him know what's really going on in our world. But Uncle Steve is pretty hip, you dig. He's got songs he's done himself. He sings the blues and he's actually very, very tight. He redid 'Redemption Song' by Bob Marley with all the existing Marleys.

  "What I picked up from him was learning how to play that acoustic guitar," Kurupt continued. "The majority of our off-time, I'd just sit back and Uncle Steve would just be playing the blues."

  Even though Kurupt serves as Tha Row's Senior Vice President, we may never see the label's boss, Suge Knight, signing Seagal to a contract. However, don't be surprised if you hear a collaboration between Kurupt and his newfound friend.

  "Oh, definitely, we're going to do something together," he insisted. "We already did something when we was in Berlin [shooting the movie]. I rented studio time when I was out there and I took him in. It was a real low-key spot and he was loving it."

  Kurupt also formed a bond with Ja Rule while shooting the movie for four months in Germany. The two laid to rest any animosity they had toward each other in real life and only squabbled when the script called for it.

  "This movie is what brought us together to even get a chance to meet up with each other and finally talk," Kurupt recalled. "This is the first time we actually met since [I dissed him in the song] 'Calling Out Names.' We found out that there's nothing that we really dislike about each other. We became real cool friends."

  And with mad cow disease lurking, who really wants beef?

  "They got the best Tony Roma's cracking [in Germany]," Kurupt remembered. "Oh man, the ribs is the key to the game because you can't really eat different sh-- out there. They got that mad cow disease that's out all overseas. That's a problem with the beef. So I'm a pork lover. The ribs is cracking and their barbecue chicken and hot wings. We was eating Tony Roma's every day."

  The L.A.-by-way-of-Philadelphia native needed to eat to gain strength for the stunts he had to perform in the film.

  "I shoot a bazooka," he said of his toughest onscreen endeavor. "I ain't playing. It knocked me 15 feet in the f---ing air but I shot that muthaf---a. Boosh! I do my own stunts too, I do the Burt Reynolds man, you know. I was kind of nervous at first, especially when I had to shoot the bazooka. I flew back into the glass, it was some fake glass but it was real glass too. I didn't know where I was going to land, how I was going to land. I've never done that before. It was kind of a shocker."

  Keeping the trend of firsts going, Kurupt said while on the set of his new movie "Hollywood Homicide" with Harrison Ford and Master P, he jumped in the Venice Canal for a scene where he was getting chased by Josh Hartnett (see "Master P, Kurupt, Outkast's Dre Do 'Hollywood Homicide' ").

  "Yeah, water up to my neck, man," he said of filming that part. "I had to run, he's on me and I jump because he's just about to grab me. Ducks is everywhere, I'm swimming to the other side. It's a big one."

  "Half Past Dead" opened in theaters on Friday and grossed a little over $8 million in its debut weekend (see "Harry Potter's Spell Turns Eminem Into Rabbit Stew"). Kurupt's next two films, "Dark Blue" and "Hollywood Homicide," are scheduled to be released in 2003.

  Related Artists
  • Kurupt
  • Ja Rule
  ]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1458768/20021119/kurupt.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1458768/20021119/kurupt.jhtml 20 Nov 2002 07:53:00 EST Rapper puts music aside for roles on big screen and as senior VP of Tha Row.
  By Shaheem Reid

  
  Kurupt
  Photo: Artemis

  Don't look for lyrical assassin Kurupt to be shooting off at the mouth on his own album anytime soon. He's focusing on his acting career and helping Suge Knight put out some long-discussed releases from Tha Row.

  "Right now I'm just sitting behind that desk, I'm planning on chilling out for a little bit," he said last week, via phone from Los Angeles. "I'm going to concentrate on these movies and running this company side by side with Suge. I'm the Senior Vice President of Death Row.

  "We're patching up Crooked I's album right now," he continued. "The first release is going to be Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopez's album (see "Suge Knight Plans To Release Left Eye's 'N.I.N.A.' LP"). The N.I.N.A. album, that's the first record we are going to release from the company."

  Kurupt said Suge is going to have the final decision on the album's title. He wasn't sure of the LP's release date because Missy Elliott and 'NSYNC were still adding guest vocals to tracks ("We just really waiting on those last two records before we lock down the album and call it complete," he said). He was certain, however, that the first single was called "Untouchable."

  "The first single is basically Tupac and Lisa," Kurupt revealed. "All Lisa wanted was a record with Pac. She loved Pac. They were real close friends. And we brought that dream to life. We felt it was only right that the first release on this record is in dedication to the two fallen soldiers from our company."

  Another song off the album Kurupt is excited about is "Friends."

  "["Friends"] is really about a relationship with a girl and a boy, showing how they separated and how no matter what, the girl was with him," he said. "She is really sincere about herself with him. He's out there f---ing around. They break up and even through all this heartbreak and all this name-calling he was doing with her, she still accepted him back in the end. It's such a big record. Its what I would describe as a classic TLC record. This is like Lisa's 'Waterfalls.' It's so big."

  Tha Row didn't want to make a big deal loading the long-anticipated album up with cameos.

  "We kept it really closed circuit; we didn't want to Hollywood it out," Kurupt explained. "We just let certain people get involved into it. People that we know Lisa respected, business or musically-wise. Or you gotta be a friend of Lisa's. Missy was real close with Lisa, and Lisa loved some 'NSYNC, so we were definitely with that right there. But as far just loading it up with a gang of people to make a gang of noise, nah. We really want everybody to concentrate on Lisa. She was not for play. And when people hear this record, they are going to see a whole different side of Lisa rap-wise because she really put that pen to work."

  When he gets a chance to get outside of the office, chances are you'll find him on the movie set. "Half Past Dead" (see "Ja Rule Teaming Up With Steven Seagal For Action Film"), where he co-stars as Twitch with Steven Seagal, Morris Chestnut and Ja Rule hits theaters November 15. Meanwhile, he's filming "Two Cops" with Harrison Ford, Master P., Gladys Knight and Josh Hartnett (see "Master P, Kurupt, Outkast's Dre Do 'Hollywood Homicide'"). That movie and "Dark Blue," where Kurupt shares screen time with Ving Rhames and Kurt Russell, are slated to drop in 2003.

  For complete coverage on the Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes tragedy, see "Remembering Left Eye: The Lisa Lopes Reports."

  For more Hollywood happenings, check out MTV's Movie House.

  Related Artists
  • Kurupt
  ]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1458608/20021111/kurupt.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1458608/20021111/kurupt.jhtml 11 Nov 2002 03:52:00 EST Kurupt - Cali Iz Active

  Cali Iz Active

  • Artist: Kurupt
  • Director: Damon Johnson
  • Album: Cali Iz Active
  ]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=501000&vid=90102 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=501000&vid=90102 7 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EDT "Hollywood Homicide" Photos
  Related Artists
  • Master P
  • Kurupt
  • OutKast
  • Smokey Robinson
  ]]> Photos http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1472431 http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1472431 9 Jun 2003 04:18:22 EDT Ja Rule "Half Past Dead" Movie Photos
  Related Artists
  • Ja Rule
  • Kurupt
  ]]> Photos http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1458736 http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1458736 15 Nov 2002 06:59:38 EST