Shawnna

Disturbing Tha Peace Rapper Shawnna Boasts About Big Booties

04 Aug 2006 13:26:00 EDT

'Gettin' Some' follow-up is first single off her second LP, Block Music.
By Corey Moss, with additional reporting by Rachel Cox

Shawnna called her new single "Damn," but only because "Baby Got Back" was already taken.

"It's about big booties," the Disturbing Tha Peace rapper said. "I saw the success of [my song] 'Gettin' Some' and how ladies like to be motivated and how we like to sing about some of our assets, so I said, 'Let me add on to that a little more.' "

"Damn" is Shawnna's follow-up to "Gettin' Some" — a hit from the second DTP compilation — and the first single from her second album, Block Music, released July 25. A "Gettin' Some" remix featuring Ludacris, Bobby Valentino, Pharrell, Lil Wayne and Too Short is featured on the new album.

Smoke from the Field Mob is featured on the booty-boosting anthem, rapping the hook, "Damn, she got a donkey."

Other guests on Block Music include Avant, Syleena Johnson, Johnny P, Shareefa, Malik Yusef and Shawnna's father, blues legend Buddy Guy, who appears on "Can't Break Me" and "Chicago." On "Damn," Shawnna reminds us she was born into music with the line, "My daddy got the paper/ I've been rich since I was 1."

Shawnna just dropped the "Damn" video and is putting together a fall outing.

"I'm trying to work on a tour with Yung Joc right now," she said. "Until then, I'm just promoting Shawnna. I love to rap, I love hip-hop, I love to be in the industry, so I'm not going anywhere, baby."

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Shawnna

India.Arie Scores First Billboard #1; Dashboard Rack Up Second #2

05 Jul 2006 12:04:00 EDT

Shawnna, Tha Dogg Pound, Lostprophets also land big debuts.
By Chris Harris

Close, but no cigar.

Chris Carrabba — the man behind Dashboard Confessional — told MTV News last month that debuting at #1 on the Billboard albums chart wasn't a goal, but he did admit that "it would be cool to look back at, as it's something of an accomplishment." It was more important, he added, "to still be on the charts after a year" (see "Secrets? Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba Has A Few About Dusk And Summer").

Still, one can't help but wonder what's going through the songwriter's mind as the new SoundScan totals reveal Dashboard's latest, Dusk and Summer, is the band's second-straight LP to miss that magical mark — bowing at #2 with just over 134,000 first-week sales. Three years ago, A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar sold 122,000 copies to also debut at #2, behind Alan Jackson's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

This time around, it wasn't a country icon who pulled the rug out from under Carrabba's feet, but soul artist India.Arie, who claims the Billboard crown with her third release, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship.

India.Arie's latest is also her first chart-topping debut. Voyage to India (2002) debuted at #6 with 110,000 discs sold, and her inaugural offering, Acoustic Soul (2001), bowed at #10 with 76,000-plus scans. Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship racked up 161,000 in week-one sales — not a runaway victory, but enough to keep Dashboard Confessional at bay.

India.Arie and Dashboard are the only newcomers to crack the top 10 on the latest chart, while a dozen other new releases make the top 200 cut.

Nelly Furtado's Loose, which debuted at #1 the previous week, slips to #3 with 99,000 units sold, followed by the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way at #4 with more than 78,000 scans. Rihanna's A Girl Like Me scored a 14 percent sales boost, moving 62,000 copies and climbing seven spots to #5.

Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere rises two to #6 with sales of more than 60,000, while Rascal Flatts' Me & My Gang claims the #7 spot with 59,000 scans. Busta Rhymes' The Big Bang slips three to #8 with 58,000 copies sold, and the soundtrack to the Disney Channel original movie "High School Musical" comes in at #9 with nearly 58,000 sales. Rounding out the top 10 is the soundtrack to the animated feature "Cars," which sold over 50,000 copies its fourth week in stores.

Shawnna, an MC from the south side of Chicago who calls blues guitarist Buddy Guy "Dad," notches the third-highest opening on the chart. Her Block Music takes the #13 slot with 47,000 scans, followed at #16 by Hank Williams Jr.'s That's How They Do It in Dixie: The Essential Collection, which netted week-one sales nearing 39,000.

The Snoop Dogg-produced Cali Iz Active — the latest from Tha Dogg Pound, featuring Snoop, Daz Dillinger and Kurupt — debuts at #28, with more than 30,000 units scanned. Lostprophets follow at #33 with Liberation Transmission, racking up 27,000 sales. Ray Cash's debut LP, Cash on Delivery, opens at #41 with 24,000 scans while II, the new one from punk quartet Billy Talent, pops up at #134 with 7,000-plus copies sold. The soundtrack to the Broadway musical "Tarzan," which features music by Phil Collins, opens at #170 with over 5,000 copies sold.

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New Releases: Dashboard Confessional, Tha Dogg Pound, Shawnna, Lostprophets, Lord Jamar, Bjork & More

27 Jun 2006 06:00:00 EDT

Also due Tuesday: India.Arie, An Albatross, Big Mike, Pet Shop Boys, Dirty on Purpose, Jonas Smith, Grant-Lee Phillips.
By Kurt Orzeck

A Dash of Heartbreak: "Reason to Believe," "Secret's in the Telling," "Rooftops and Invitations" ... yep, sounds like a new Dashboard Confessional album all right. Dusk and Summer took Chris Carrabba three years to create, with help from producers Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan) and Don Gilmore (Avril Lavigne, Duran Duran), so make sure you've got extra Kleenex. If you're in DC's demo, show your student ID at a nearby Best Buy and the disc will only cost you $6.99.

Let's Get Active: Kurupt and Daz Dillinger threw a collar on Snoop Dogg and yanked him onto Cali Iz Active, Tha Dogg Pound's first full-fledged LP since 2001's, er, 2002. While Snoop is considered an official member this time around and has an executive-producer credit, he only crops up on a couple of tracks. Still, spots by Diddy, Ice Cube, Paul Wall, David Banner, Lady of Rage and Nate Dogg should make up for it.

Block Party: Shawnna's got a pretty impressive guest list of her own, especially for a sophomore artist. The Def Jam singer and "You Hear It First" alum coaxed Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Too Short, Syleena Johnson, Bobby Valentino and even her father, blues king Buddy Guy, onto Block Music. Tracks include "Candy Coated," "Lil Daddy What's Good" and the remix of "Gettin' Some," featuring Luda, Wayne and Short.

How to Sum It Up?: Welsh rockers Lostprophets have been around for almost 10 years, but they still seem to have a hard time speaking succinctly. Their third offering, the Bob Rock (Metallica, Mötley Crüe)-produced Liberation Transmission — which has already spawned numerous import versions — features such longwinded titles as "Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)," "Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and the Story of a Lonely Girl" and "Always All Ways (Apologies, Glances and Messed Up Chances)."

Björk'd: The Icelandic queen has a handful of box sets already out there, and she's keeping her fans Surrounded with a seven-DualDisc chest. Each one is a 5.1 surround-sound update of one studio record — and her recent soundtrack to husband Matthew Barney's "Restraint 9" — plus respective videos for that effort. The brick package is a work of art in and of itself.

Cases of Mistaken Identity: No, that's not Sammie making a comeback this week, even though we recently reported that the R&B crooner is in fact on the rebound. Rather, it's the Sammies, North Carolina's latest rock hopefuls, whose self-titled debut arrives shortly after one of the group's songs was used on ABC Family's "Wildfire." And no, that's not actress Julia Roberts singing on Men & Mascara — it's country/pop artist Julie Roberts, who mulls if she's "Too Damn Young" but finds room to "Smile" on her second effort. Nor is that U.K. luminaries the Coral dishing up Volcano and Heart this week. It's actually Santa Barbara, California's the Coral Sea whose "Look at Her Face" you may have heard on "Grey's Anatomy."

But that is '80s mainstays Warrant getting Born Again with their first full-fledged set of original studio recordings since 1995's Ultraphobic, albeit without Jani Lane singing. And that is Afroman still enjoying the aftereffects of his 2001 hit "Because I Got High" with yet another similarly titled record, Drunk 'n' High.

Getting Saucy: St. Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras and Cinco de Mayo may be behind us, but that's not stopping this week's roster from getting its drink on. Afroman's already buzzing with his aforementioned Drunk 'n' High, and Julie Roberts is "Chasin' Whiskey" on Men & Mascara, but not to be overlooked are the Moonshine Bandits tossing back a few with Bubba Sparxxx, Celly Cel, Jay Tee and others on Prohibition. And needless to say, there's more than a few cocktails being tipped back on Dr. Dre's Chronicles: Death Row Classics, the two-part "Reggae Spring Break" DVD series and, presumably, Rendezvous in Rio by folk-pop singer Michael Franks.

A Docking of the Docs: Three music documentaries of note this week, beginning with "Let's Rock Again," a snapshot of fallen Clash frontman Joe Strummer taken by friend Dick Rude. The set captures Strummer in the 18 months leading up to his death and features interviews and more. "We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen" is a portrait of the influential San Pedro, California, punks and features interviews with Flea, Ian MacKaye, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins and tons more. "Look at All the Love We Found: Live - A Tribute to Sublime," on the other hand, isn't a documentary of the '90s stalwarts but a chronicle of a tribute gig staged in Los Angeles last year that featured Unwritten Law, Blackalicious, Los Lobos and other amigos. The bonus CD chips in a handful of tracks that didn't appear on last year's audio comp of the same name.

Song Title of the Week:

"Divine Birthrite (Maiden Voyage of the Grape Ape)" from An Albatross' Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite)

Other Notables:

Jonah Smith's Jonah Smith: The buzz is strong with this new New Yorker, who's drawing raves for his rich blend of soul and Americana. His eponymous effort was produced by Lee Townsend (Bill Frisell, John Scofield) and boasts "Little Black Angels," "My Morning Scene" and "Dressed in White."

An Albatross' Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite): Much fun to be had on the latest opus by the herky-jerky spazz-outs. In addition to the Song Title of the Week, be on the lookout for "Lysergically Yours, My Psychadelic Bride," "Ballad of the Electric Coyote" and a speedy, three-part "epic."

DJ Spooky's DJ Spooky Presents: In Fine Style - 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records!!!: Not so much a new Spooky record as an effort to show how vintage reggae tunes are largely responsible for much of today's club music, the DJ goes overboard with a two-disc set that culls tunes by Lee Perry, Desmond Dekker, Sly and Robbie and many more. A jolt indeed.

New Releases:

7L & Esoteric - A New Dope (Babygrande)
A Life Once Lost - Hunter (Ferret)
Afroman - Drunk 'n' High (Siccness)
An Albatross - Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite) (Ace Fu)
India.Arie - Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (Universal)
Buy Now: Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (Universal)
Authority Zero - Rhythm and Booze (Suburban Noize)
Baby Ray - Low Rises (Dren)
Balun - Something Comes Our Way (live; Brilliante)
Hector Bambino - Roc la Familia & Hector Bambino "El Father" Present Los Rompe Discotekas (Roc-A-Fella)
David Benoit - Full Circle (Peak)
Big Mike - Keep It Playa (BCD)
Billy Talent - II (Atlantic)
Buy Now: II (Atlantic)
Bittersweets - The Life You Always Wanted (Virt)
Brand New Heavies - Get Used to It (Delicious Vinyl)
John Brannen - Twilight Tattoo (Sly Dog)
Héctor Buitrago - Conector (Nacional)
Carpathian Forest - F--- You All!!!! (limited edition; Season Mist)
Ray Cash - Cash on Delivery (Gheto-O-Vision/ Columbia)
Gilbert Castellanos - Underground (Seedling)
Catch 22 - Permanent Revolution (Victory)
Buy Now: Permanent Revolution (Victory)
Cellador - Enter Deception (Metal Blade)
Cephas & Wiggins - Shoulder to Shoulder (Alligator)
Chevreuil - Capoeria (Sickroom)
The City Drive - Always Moving Never Stopping (Red Ink)
The Coral Sea - Volcano and Heart (Hidden Agenda)
Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
Read: "Secrets? Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba Has A Few About Dusk And Summer"
Buy Now: Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
Dead Celebrity Status - Blood Music (Bodog)
Kris Delmhorst - Strange Conversation (Signature)
Jesse DeNatale - Soul Parade (Jackpine Social Club)
Dirty on Purpose - Hallelujah Sirens (North Street)
Dirty Rig - Rock Did It (limited edition with bonus DVD; New Media Studio)
Dr. Octagon - The Return of Dr. Octagon (OCD)
Dry Kill Logic - The Magellan Complex (Repossession)
George Duke - In a Mellow Tone (Bizarre Planet)
Four Tet - DJ Kicks (!K7)
Michael Franks - Rendezvous in Rio (Koch)
Good Riddance - My Republic (enhanced; Fat Wreck Chords)

Related Artists
- Dashboard Confessional
- Tha Dogg Pound
- Shawnna
- Lostprophets
- Lord Jamar

Photos | Sucker Free on MTV: Summer 2006

10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Sucker Free on MTV: Summer 2006

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