Mississippi rapper David Banner will bring his crunk baptisms to the road when he joins Ludacris and Chingy's Chicken-N-Beer tour. Ludacris protégé I-20 and West Coast MC Knoc-Turn'Al are also on the bill. The tour starts February 16 in Portland, Oregon, and wraps up March 21 in Las Vegas. ...

Not everyone loved Andre 3000's live rendition of his award-winning single, "Hey Ya!," at the Grammys. The Native American Cultural Center in San Francisco is calling for a boycott of Outkast and CBS, which broadcast the ceremony, because it found Andre's aesthetic choices for the performance offensive. For the song, Andre rapped in front of a teepee, flanked by women in fluorescent green buckskin outfits (along with others dressed as a toy marching band). The chairman of the center filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. ... Soul will meet surf when Ruben Studdard and the Beach Boys participate in the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night festivities. Taking place a day before the 53rd annual All-Star Game, the evening will feature the beloved three-point shootout and slam-dunk competitions. The Saturday show will be broadcast on TNT at 8 p.m. ET. ...

Part "NBA Live" video-game tournament, part MC battle, the Livestyle Finals, hosted by Jermaine Dupri, Lil' Kim and Los Angeles' Power 106 radio DJ Big Boy, will feature the top virtual hoopsters and the best unsigned spitters vying for big prizes: a guest cameo in "NBA Live 2005" for the gamers, and a track on the game's soundtrack for the rappers. The event takes place Thursday at L.A.'s Niketown. NBA pros including Kareem Rush (Los Angeles Lakers), Carlos Boozer (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Corey Maggette (Los Angeles Clippers) are scheduled to be on hand. ... Radiohead will release a Japanese EP of remixes and B-sides from the Hail to the Thief sessions on March 29, to coincide with their tour of Japan. The Com Lag EP will feature 10 songs, including "Paperbag Writer," "Where Bluebirds Fly," "I Am a Wicked Child," "Gagging Order" and a live version of "2+2=5." ...

Metallica's James Hetfield will narrate a two-part reality program on ESPN on the NHL team the Colorado Avalanche starting Thursday. Also on the Metallica front, Motörhead will record the Kill 'Em All song "Whiplash" for an upcoming Metallica tribute album, which will also feature Dark Angel and Life After Death. ... The WB's new cartoon "The Batman" will definitely have an edge over other superhero series, or rather it's got the Edge: The U2 guitarist is working on the show's theme song. "The Batman," to air on the WB and Cartoon Network this fall, focuses on a young Bruce Wayne as he struggles with his dual identity and battles familiar foes like the Joker, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze. ...

Former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre will release his latest solo album, 8:09, on April 27. The first single, "LA Blue," comes out March 1. MacIntyre named the album 8:09 because August 9 was the date he met his wife, who was working as a real-estate broker and showed him a house with a street address of 809, which he wound up renting. The couple got married a year later on the same date. ... Alanis Morissette's forthcoming album, So-Called Chaos, has been pushed back a month and is now due May 18. The singer is planning to shoot a video for the first single, "Everything," which will be released to radio on March 23. ...

Nü-metal band Nothingface have broken up after releasing four albums. "It was a great 10-year run and we thank you all for the great memories! We could only hope that we gave you as much as you gave us," the group said in a press statement. Singer Matt Holt and bassist Bill Gaal will continue in the new hardcore group Perfect Enemy. ... San Francisco tribal noise band Neurosis will release their next album, The Eye of Every Storm, in June. The disc is the follow-up to the band's 2003 collaboration with Swans member Jarboe, Neurosis & Jarboe. ... Hit with a copyright-infringement lawsuit similar to the ones brought against it by the U.S. recording industry, Kazaa's Australia-based parent company, Sharman Networks, filed a motion Tuesday to delay the case until the U.S. copyright conflict was resolved. Sharman's plea of a stay will be decided upon on February 20. ...

02.10.2004

Outkast's Dungeon Family compatriots Goodie Mob will release a new studio album, featuring guest shots from Sleepy Brown and Bone Crusher, in May. The influential group will record without Cee-Lo, who acrimoniously left Goodie Mob to pursue a solo career. Not that there's any residual animosity — the name of the album is One Monkey Don't Stop No Show. Cee-Lo, meanwhile, will release his second solo LP, Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine, on March 9. ...

Erykah Badu made the rounds at the Grammys this past weekend with a noticeable change in her physical appearance: The singer is pregnant, a rep for Badu confirmed. This will be her second child — she already has a little boy, named Seven, with Andre 3000. ... While he's still in the studio recording the follow-up to 2001's Malpractice, Redman will give the streets a little taste of his work-in-progress when he drops a new mixtape next week. Ill at Will Volume 1 features about a dozen songs, including two already making the rounds on other DJs' mixtapes, "I C Dead People" and "Saga Continues." ...

Diana Ross pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol on Monday and was sentenced by a judge in Tucson, Arizona, to spend two days in jail. The ex-Supremes frontwoman was arrested in December 2002 after police saw her driving in a lane of oncoming traffic. Her blood-alcohol level registered more than twice the state's legal limit. Ross must serve her jail time before March 9 and will have to enroll in a treatment center for alcohol abuse by August 9. She will remain on probation for a year and must pay approximately $800 in fines. ... U2 have hired Steve Lillywhite to produce their new album. Lillywhite produced the band's first three LPs and contributed to the production of three others. He quit his job as the joint managing director of Mercury U.K. to take the gig, and he'll start working on the album next week. ...

Mischa Barton isn't the only star from "The OC" to become a video vamp — her co-star Samaire Armstrong (who plays Anna Stern) is following suit for Hanson's next clip, "Penny & Me." The band shot the video this week with director Chris Applebaum. "Samaire truly embodies the essence of the character we always envisioned for Penny when we first wrote the song," Taylor Hanson said in a statement. The Oklahoma brothers' new album, Underneath, is due April 20. ... Nick Carter may have a horror film coming up, but his first movie role is going to be as himself. The Backstreet Boy has a cameo in the upcoming made-for-MTV movie "Monster Island," a send-up of the monster movies of the '50s and '60s. "Monster Island," starring Carmen Electra and Adam West, airs on March 7 at 7 p.m. ET. ...

Rapper Freeway gives props to his old neighborhood with his posse Ice City, named for the section in Free's native Philadelphia where he and groupmates Peedi Crakk, Hydro, Face Money, Bars and Indie 500 grew up. Their debut LP, which features appearances by Beanie Sigel and Joe Budden, is expected to drop in May on Sure Shot Records, the indie label that's also scheduled to issue a record by Ghostface Killah's side project Theodore Unit this summer. ... Public Enemy have a busy year ahead of them. The pioneering hip-hop group is expecting to drop two albums in the next 10 months. The first, a soul record titled How You Sell Soul to a Souless People Who Sold Their Soul, is due in late spring or summer, while a more traditional PE album, New Whirl Odor, will follow in the fall. ...

Meg White sports a white bunny suit on the cover of Whirlwind Heat's import single "Pink," due February 23. The White Stripes drummer posed for the photo while the two bands were recently touring together in Japan. The B-side of the song, which appeared on Whirlwind Heat's debut album, Do Rabbits Wonder?, is a cover of the Beck cut "Fume." Jack White's Third Man imprint released Whirlwind Heat's LP in April. ... Seminal goth-pop band the Cure will re-release their first five albums with lots of bonus material in May. Three Imaginary Boys (1979), Boys Don't Cry (1980), Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981) and Pornography (1982) have all been digitally remastered, and none of the expanded tracks will duplicate songs from their recently released box set, Join the Dots: B-sides and Rarities, 1978-2001. Additional Cure reissues will be released later in the year. ...

Phish have lined up three shows in Las Vegas in April. The gigs will run from April 15-17 and will include material spanning the band's career. ... The Beta Band have set a May 4 release date for their third album, Heroes to Zeros. The bandmembers produced the project themselves and enlisted Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) to mix it. ...

• OutKast
• David Banner
• Radiohead
• Joe McIntyre
• Metallica

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter goes solo
Photo: Jive

For every Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight, there is a D-Fuse.

If you've never heard of the now-defunct solo venture from their fellow New Kid on the Block Danny Wood, that's proof enough that no matter how famous your boy band is, a solo career is never guaranteed.

So with 'NSYNC's Justin Timberlake (see "Dirty South Pop: Timberlake Teams Up With Bubba Sparxxx"), Backtreet Boys' Nick Carter (see "Nick Carter Has Plenty Of Songs, Few Guests For Solo Album") and 98 Degrees' Nick Lachey (see "98 Degrees' Nick Lachey Following In Footsteps Of Justin T., Nick C.") all releasing albums this fall, the pop world is wondering who will be "Larger Than Life" and who will go "Bye, Bye, Bye."

We asked a few former boy band stars who've enjoyed solo success to lend advice to the next crop, and while ex-Menudo crooner Ricky Martin was too busy with his own album to help, others stepped up to the task.

"Get in the gym, eat right, get your sleep and go full speed," instructed Johnny Gill, whose 1990 self-titled solo album went platinum after he made a name for himself with New Edition. "When you're on the stage with your group, there are five different people to look at, but when you have to carry the whole show, all the pressure's on you."

While all of Gill's New Edition partners were successful outside of the group — Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant as solo artists and Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe as Bell Biv DeVoe — other recent groups haven't been as lucky.

McIntyre and Knight hit the charts with comebacks in 1999, but their sales figures were nothing compared to New Kids'. And, of course, there was D-Fuse. While Robbie Williams' solo career made many Americans forget about Take That, none of the other British boy bands have produced stars in the States.

While McIntyre believes that staying out of the spotlight between NKOTB and releasing Stay the Same helped him, he thinks it might hurt Nick Carter.

"Justin's hitting the ground running, and Nick's been away for a while," McIntyre explained. "It's only been a year, but it's going to be harder for him. The segue wasn't as quick. Justin's done some stuff to make his segue a little bit easier. He has aligned a lot of people in his corner. He's really not missing a beat. Business-wise, it's a smart move."

McIntyre said the key is to stick with what you know best. In other words, Timberlake shouldn't do a hip-hop record. (Perhaps Korn bassist Fieldy should have followed that advice for his Fieldy's Dreams hip-hop flop.)

"Nick might say 'I'm doing rock' and Justin might say 'It's more R&B,' but it's pop no matter how you slice it," McIntyre said. "They'll always be pop acts. They can't be marketed any other way."

On the other hand, don't force the music out.

"You gotta do what you want to do," McIntyre said. "If you're doing something for the sake of someone else, you're going to be miserable. You gotta do the music you like."

Or, as boy band engineer Lou Pearlman put it, "Sing what you enjoy!"

Pearlman, who was instrumental in launching 'NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, also noted the importance of staying loyal to your fans, but said the music is the most important thing. "Great songs will lead to great success," he said.

Going solo is a grand tradition in popular music, with everyone from the Beatles to the Fugees seeing members break off one by one to be the center of attention. This year alone, members of pop groups (Destiny's Child, Lucy Pearl), rock groups (Blink-182, Korn) and rap groups (St. Lunatics, the LOX) have temporarily left to head their own projects.

"It's real cool to do it, because it allows you do your own thing and have that space to be creative and continue to grow," Gill explained.

Solo projects inevitably spark rumors of breakups, and in some cases the groups never do rejoin. Gill believes going solo can actually benefit the group.

"When you get to breathe and have your space and time and be creative, you come back with a new attitude and appreciating working with the other guys," he said. "And when you have that enthusiasm, the public feels it."

Still, he doesn't recommend it unless the artist is fully prepared.

"I tell you, it's real lonely, no matter how many bodies you put up there to try to substitute for the guys you're used having stand next to you," he said. "It's a really weird feeling."

• Nick Carter
• Justin Timberlake
• Backstreet Boys
• *NSYNC
• Joe McIntyre

Joey McIntyre
Photo: Stratus

Joey McIntyre will make his television-series debut this fall, and fittingly, he's playing a new kid on the block.

Actually, the youngest of the New Kids is one of two new teachers on "Boston Public," but very young ones at that. Jon Abrahams (the son in "Meet the Parents") is the other.

"We're the two squirts coming in," McIntyre said Wednesday, phoning from his temporary residence, a Los Angeles hotel suite. "My character lets kids call him by his first name and tries to relate with them on the same level, and that may or may not work. The sh-- kind of hits the fan in the third episode. We may want to be their friends, but we have to certify ourselves as teachers."

McIntyre, who recently starred in the off-Broadway play "Tick, Tick ... Boom!," has been taking acting lessons since his days singing "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." He was planning to continue polishing his skills on the stage, but that changed when he flew to Los Angeles to be on "Hollywood Squares" and decided to do a few auditions while in town.

"I was getting ready to catch the red eye back to New York, when [my agent] said, 'Can you stay to read for David Kelley?' "

He read for the famed creator of "Ally McBeal," "The Practice" and "Boston Public" and after later realizing how perfect he was for the role, wrote Kelley a letter explaining his connection to the character. As a Boston native, he went through the school system and has a sister who teaches there.

McIntyre also shared a quality with several of the show's stars — the ability to sing. On a series where talent shows seem to happen weekly, that was important.

"They already got me singing on the second episode," McIntyre said, breaking his thick accent with laughter. "We're doing karaoke of all things. We bring out Jeri Ryan and Sharon Leal and do some lemon drops and then I sing 'To All the Girls I've Loved Before.' "

Music is still very much a part of McIntyre's life, and not singing karaoke.

"I just finished a 20-city tour with my buddy Eman," he said. "We call it a one-man show with two people. It's acoustic and we just have fun, we tell stories and goof off. We play my stuff and some cover tunes, a couple New Kids songs."

At the New York stop of the tour, at Joe's Pub, McIntyre recorded the live album One Too Many, which is available through his Web site now and in stores on October 8.

McIntyre is also writing and recording his third solo album, the follow-up to 1999's Stay the Same (see ) and 2001's Meet Joe Mac.

"Music is always something I want to do," he explained. "Maybe I'll do a club thing here. I like the intimate setting. So much more can happen."

• Joe McIntyre

After assembling such platinum-selling teen groups as New Edition and New Kids On The Block, manager and producer Maurice Starr has put together a new act, 6 Piece, which he plans to unveil on an Atlanta radio station in March.

• Jordan Knight
• Joe McIntyre
• New Kids on the Block

Things are rough when the usually docile "USA Today" gets all catty on you. Such is the case for Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks, Joey McIntyre, The Insane Clown Posse, and others making the newspaper's list of the ten worst albums of 1999.

-- Robert Mancini

• Beck
• Insane Clown Posse
• Jennifer Lopez
• Joe McIntyre
• Nine Inch Nails

'NSYNC, Joey McIntyre, Monica, Destiny's Child, and Wyclef Jean all performed Wednesday night at a benefit concert at New York City's Beacon Theater to mark World AIDS Day.