De la Soul’s Dave
Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images

NEW YORK — It's that time of year again: The weather is getting colder, days are becoming shorter and legends of hip-hop are being honored.

The 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors premieres Monday at 10 p.m. ET, and rehearsals were held Wednesday and Thursday at the Hammerstein Ballroom to make sure the honorees were recognized in style.

Those being honored this year include Slick Rick, the late Isaac Hayes, Too Short, De la Soul, Cypress Hill and Naughty by Nature. This is the fifth class of legends to be nominated; past honorees include Snoop Dogg, the Wu-Tang Clan, Run-DMC and Rakim.

Fellow hip-hop heavyweights Big Boi, Wyclef Jean and Public Enemy came out to rehearse alongside newcomers like Estelle and the Gym Class Heroes.

"We're here to be a part of something historical," Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy told MTV News. "It's like the all-star game of hip-hop."

The group practiced their tribute to Cypress Hill with Mack 10, Jim Jones and Fat Joe. The West Coast collective is notable for being the first mainstream Latino hip-hop group.

Another West Coast act being honored is Too Short, whose career has been anything but. The MC has been in the game for more than 20 years, spawning hits such as "Short Dog the Pimp" in the late '80s and a guest spot on Snoop Dogg's "Life of Da Party" earlier this year.

"Short to Oakland is like Jay-Z to Brooklyn," Mistah F.A.B. said.

A video was played during the rehearsal in which Naughty by Nature recalled being accosted by New York crowds early on in their career because they were from New Jersey. They eventually grew to be loved, no matter where they performed.

"They're the anthem kings," Big Boi said of Naughty by Nature. "From 'O.P.P.' to 'Hip-Hop Hooray' — every time they put out a song, they had an anthem that the whole globe was singing, man."

While Slick Rick and De la Soul rehearsed their sets, Wale, Busta Rhymes, Spliff Starr, ?uestlove, Bun B and Biz Markie mixed and mingled. The ballroom was more like a family reunion then a rehearsal.

The only non-rap artist being celebrated is Isaac Hayes, and while the late musician never spit a bar, his work helped inspire many MCs. From the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Warning" to the Geto Boys' "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," Black Moses had a lasting effect on hip-hop.

While Biz Markie played a sample of one of Hayes' songs, a cipher featuring Mos Def, Busta Rhymes and others broke out. The Biz playfully stopped the beat, interrupting the freestyle session causing participants to yell, "Yo, keep playing that!"

• Honoring Hip-Hop's Heroes

• Stars Descend On The VH1 Hip Hop Honors Red Carpet

• Isaac Hayes
• Slick Rick
• De La Soul

Slick Rick
Photo: Def Jam

Hip-hop pioneer Slick Rick was given a full pardon Friday (May 23) by New York Governor David Patterson, most likely ending a deportation threat that has hung over the rapper for 11 years. According to The New York Times, Governor Patterson delivered the pardon to prevent the MC from being deported to England, where he was born and lived until the age of 11.

In 1991, Slick Rick (Ricky Walters) was convicted of attempted murder and weapons charges after he shot and injured his cousin and an acquaintance. Rick served five years and 12 days in prison before being paroled in 1997, but a law that threatens to deport immigrants convicted of aggravated felony or weapons charges had always loomed large.

In 2002, Slick Rick was arrested aboard a docked Caribbean cruise ship — by the INS, who had been fighting for his deportation since 1995. He spent a year in an immigration detention center in Bradenton, Florida, before a judge ruled he could go free in 2003. (MTV News spoke with him shortly after his release.)

In administering the pardon, Governor Patterson noted that Slick Rick had served his sentence, had earned an "exemplary" record while in prison and on parole, and had lived in the community without incident for over 10 years. He also cited Slick Rick's community service and the fact that deportation would separate Rick from his wife and two teenage children, who are all American citizens.

Slick Rick was 25 years old at the time of the incident and one of hip-hop's biggest — and flashiest — stars, recognizable as much for his immeasurable amount of jewelry as he was for his iconic eye patch (he's blind in his right eye as a result of an injury as an infant).

Technically, Slick Rick is not completely free of the threat of deportation. He still must get approval from immigration courts for an "adjustment of status" that would remove the threat, but the chances of it being granted have increased dramatically with the governor's pardon. Immigration courts originally decided to adjust his status in 1995 but vacated the decision due to a technicality.

• Slick Rick

Photo: Def Jam

• Slick Rick

"Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels"
Photo: Wenner Books

Diamonds are more than a rapper's best friend — they're a billboard telling the world so many different things, primarily that you've made it, or that you're spending like you have and you're about to lose it all. Whatever the message or the motive, it's a primary form of communication in hip-hop that's now getting its own decoder book.

Former MTV News scribe Minya Oh (also known as Hot 97's Miss Info) chats up rappers from 50 Cent and Lil Jon to Chuck D and Slick Rick in her book, "Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels" (out next week via Wenner Books), which explores the bling phenomenon from back in the day to present day, with everyone rocking their most choice ice.

(Click here for photos from "Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels")

"People want to sparkle," Oh said. "Everyone wants to stand out, none more so than rappers. They were struggling to find their place in both music and the larger American culture, and went from struggling minority to legit millionaires. They're living out champagne wishes and caviar dreams, and then we follow suit by getting our own little personal piece of glamour. There's never been more rhinestones on the least jewelry-related products. We're seeing bling bling in banking ads, chewing gum ads, hundreds of products. It now translates to all types of people, because it makes you more glamorous than you were."

Some bling seems purposely designed to make you seem less glamorous, though — like Lil Jon's pimp cup and ODB's gold fronts. The problem with wearing your bling in your mouth, though, is that it can be quite painful. Slick Rick had a diamond put onto his gold tooth against his jeweler's recommendation (never mind his dentist's!), and he couldn't talk. Baby tried to avoid the pain factor by having his metal mouth permanently bonded. "He can eat anything, even if it's scalding hot," Oh said — not that she recommends this, of course.

But for a lot of the rappers Oh spoke with, their bling also had a personal meaning. Snoop Dogg, for instance, wears different pendants to represent different homes, "Like a dog with a new collar," she said, "going place to place." For 50, who accuses other rappers of wearing fakes and not admitting it, his bling represents honesty: He admits to wearing duplicates of his real jewelry, which he keeps in a lockbox for safekeeping. "He knows he can afford the real thing, and for him it's common sense," Oh said. "Plus, he's rough with his jewelry, and had to Krazy-Glue his diamonds back into his chain. It's better to wear replicas. It's good business [sense]."

But other approaches work too. Ghostface relates how he told his label to give him the marketing budget for his album, and he would market himself — but ended up blowing it all on a huge gold eagle to wear on his wrist. "For any normal person, that is the stupidest thing you could do," Oh said. "But you can't argue that his strategy didn't work. Everyone talked about it, and no one will forget it."

After boasting about their collections of chains or ice, some of the rappers also opened about how they couldn't really afford what they bought, or how they felt pressure from their fans to maintain an image they couldn't keep up. They talked about the jealousy involved, about being threatened, being robbed and being hurt. And their regret is palpable. "If anything, the book shows the good, the bad, the ugly, and then the sad," Oh said. "They're chasing these gold dreams, but what happens when you put too much value in your chain? If you spend all your money on your ring and then you go broke? It's not an advertisement for jewelry."

Be sure to check out "The Bling Report": "Bling Bling" author Minya Oh interviews Mike Jones, Paul Wall and others, and gives a sneak peek at what the stars will be wearing on the VMAs carpet. Look for it August 28 on Overdrive.

• A Flash Of "Bling Bling": Hip-Hoppers And Their Crown Jewels

• Slick Rick
• Chuck D
• 50 Cent
• Lil Jon

T.R. Love at Fresh Fest 2005
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — There might never have been an Anger Management 3, a Rock the Mic or even a Survival of the Illest Tour if it weren't for Fresh Fest.

Some 21 years ago, Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, Whodini and the Fat Boys were among the groups participating in the trek, which was the first hip-hop road show to gross heavy box-office numbers.

On Friday night, the Fresh Fest returned with a lineup of hip-hop legends ready to resuscitate the tour, armed with a catalog of timeless music from the '80s and early '90s.

"We'd be able to go on the road, do four nights a week — sometimes five — for three to four months straight," Jalil Hutchins of Whodini said Friday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom. "[We'd] pull up in your town, hit the hotel, go do some radio, go do a soundcheck, come back, eat, do the show, go to the afterparty. [We'd hook up with] a couple of chicks, and then hit the road and come back and do that again and again and again. Now I do one show, kiss a chick and I'm through."

Whodini, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Dana Dane, Biz Markie, Nice & Smooth, Chubb Rock and former members of the Sugar Hill Gang all took the stage for the kick off of what promoters say will be a 20-city tour.

"I think the world has gotten nostalgic," Slick Rick said. "Hip-hop is pushing 40, but the older generation is not being catered to at all. We're hoping that we can open up a market that can push for this older, mature hip-hop tip."

"There's definitely an audience that wants to hear it," Big Daddy Kane said. "I think what's more important is the support. As long as radio is supporting it and making it seem like the big event it is — but if they trying to pass it off like it's some old-school show, and categorize cats and plant in the young generation's mind that 'That's the past,' [it's not cool]. But if radio and media support it, and instill in the younger generation that's this is where it comes from and this what you need to keep it alive, then it can be effective."

As it turns out, Kane was one of the show's main headliners, but he left a little before his showtime because of a dispute with the show's promoter over payment. A spokesperson for the promoter, Blackberry Entertainment, said the company did not have the full cash payment that had been agreed upon with Kane on hand, and the rapper refused to accept a check. Kane could not be reached for comment at press time.

Despite a lackluster turnout (the house was approximately one-third full), show-openers Nice & Smooth brought the energy like they were playing in a sold-out stadium. Their set was highlighted by Gregg Nice's spastic dances (he wore a T-shirt that said, "Rehab is for quitters") and outbursts like "Whop-bababloo-bop-a-bop-bambu." For "How to Flow," Nice got his Farnsworth Bentley on, dancing with an umbrella and yelling, "Make it rain, brother!" Smooth Bee might have had the stage prop of the night though: a guitar, which he pretended to play for "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow."

The prize for surprise guest of the night went to the Bronx duo: They didn't have Guru on hand when they performed "Dwyck," their collab with Gang Starr, but they did have Joeski Love come out to perform his 1986 hit, "Pee Wee's Dance."

After Chubb Rock delivered a brief set, Dana Dane entered the stage for hits like "Nightmare" and "Delancey Street." He too had a couple of tricks up his sleeve, bringing out Kwame for "The Rhythm" and D-Nice for "Call Me D-Nice."

Whodini might have been the night's show stealers, handling their business with showmanship like it was '88 all over again. The group was actually the first rap act to have dancers for their performance. "At that time it was costly to bring dancers on the road with you," Jalil explained earlier in the night. "We kept it because we felt hip-hop was rapping, scratching and dancing. We used to slay a lot of crews with that. Then we turned around one day and everybody in the game had dancers. It was crazy."

Back in the day, Whodini were also known for pulling disappearing magic tricks during their concerts (á la Harry Houdini), driving mopeds onstage and holding their DJ up in the air while he scratched records. The group members didn't pull those tricks out of their bag, but they kept the small crowd moving with records like "Freaks Come Out at Night" and "One Love."

Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh closed out the concert, with Doug starting out with Lil' Vicious for "Freaks." Slick Rick made his grand entrance for "The Show," and then took a break from performing to take off his platinum jewels and throw on his gold chains and Kangol. Slick, who has slimmed down considerably, looked almost like he did back in the day while hitting the audience with "Children's Story."

"It was good, you know," Slick said after the show outside the Hammerstein. Nick Cannon, who could be spotted in the venue all night dancing and rapping along with the records, pulled up to the Ruler and shook his hand. Busta Rhymes, Jin and Redman were also in the audience.

"[It was] old-school cats just having fun, people reminiscing the good old days, good vibes. The crowd likes to see the two of us doing our thing," he added about himself and Doug E's headlining stint. "It's always magic."

Promoters for Fresh Fest say they have a 20-city tour planned with the lineup that hit the Hammerstein on Friday, but have not yet released any more dates.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Photos from Fresh Fest

• Slick Rick
• Doug E. Fresh
• Nick Cannon

Wyclef Jean (file)
Photo: MTV News

NEWARK, New Jersey — It's safe to say neither the Republican nor Democratic conventions this summer will look anything like the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, which brought an estimated 4,000 members of the "hip-hop generation" to Newark, New Jersey, between Wednesday and Saturday. And that's exactly why the hip-hop convention was organized.

The primary goal of the convention, according to national co-chair Baye Adolfo-Wilson, was to plan ways to channel hip-hop's cultural dominance — in music, movies, clothing and language — into a unified political voice that can influence elected officials at the local and national level. Among the artists who turned out to perform and show support at the event were Wyclef Jean, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Black Moon, Akon and MC Lyte.

After attending many of the convention's 50-plus workshops and discussion sessions — topics included inner-city education, the legacy of Tupac Shakur, the prison-industrial complex, environmental degradation, and navigating today's job market — 700 local representatives met first by state (representing 16 states and Washington, D.C.), then en masse to hammer out and vote on an agenda that articulated the position of the hip-hop community on the political issues it sees as most pressing. The delegates — all of whom qualified to participate by having registered at least 50 voters in their home communities — began a dialogue they hope will lead to concrete results both in the 2004 election and in the future.

"The most important thing that has changed," delegate Brandon Terry, 20, said, "is that there are people with education and that there are people with money" who are recognizing the potential for hip-hop to become a political force. "Now that we know what's wrong, what is the concrete policy proposal that we want, and how can we implement that?"

For Terry, who is a Harvard University student, AIDS activist and rapper, "what's wrong" isn't just an academic question. He came of age in a working-class Baltimore neighborhood that was racially diverse when he was born, but had virtually no white faces by the time he reached middle school because of "white flight." Two older brothers, who grew up in a crime-ridden inner-city neighborhood, have spent much of their lives in prison for drug convictions. And he's watched friends — kids on the honor roll, with parents on the PTA — get caught up in selling drugs because they think that's the fastest route to cars and bling.

Whether or not the convention's agenda — which calls for changes in the nation's educational and economic policy, criminal justice and health-care systems, and proposes a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to examine human-rights violations committed by the U.S. government throughout its history — will influence the Democratic and Republican platforms remains to be seen. But with delegates registering 5,000 voters just in Ohio, widely expected to be a pivotal swing state in the 2004 presidential election, the potential for hip-hop to take a seat at the political table is obvious. As conference participant and DJ Davey D put it, "To see a 20-something-year-old cat with his hat backwards and a throwback on, sitting there in intense conversation ... really trying to engage the issues — this has never been done before."

• Wyclef Jean
• Akon
• Slick Rick

Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello is gearing up to protest at the Irvine, California, headquarters of Taco Bell by performing there on March 5 with his side project, the Nightwatchman. Morello and others will be protesting the restaurant chain's perceived exploitation of farm workers. At the event, Morello will take the stage with the Coup rapper Boots Riley, who will also perform solo ... Meanwhile, Morello's grassroots political organization, Axis of Justice, has scheduled a benefit concert that will take place March 31 in Los Angeles and feature acoustic performances by the Nightwatchman, Riley, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, ex-MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer and other special guests. ...

Beyoncé Knowles' little sister Solange has beat her to the altar. The 17-year-old singer/actress married college football player Daniel Smith in the Bahamas last weekend in a ceremony attended by her sister, parents and Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland. "I am excited about this new phase in my life," Solange said in a statement Monday (March 1). "I am very happy and feel truly blessed to have the unconditional love and support of my parents and my entire family." ... If you've got dreams of Diddy, a fancy for 50 or want to be like Wyclef, Diddymite might have your ticket. A hip-hop music and talent school founded by Ms. Dynamite, Diddymite is scheduled to open in England in June, with classes to be held on weekends and holidays for students age 7-19. Despite the name, P. Diddy and Bad Boy have no affiliation with the school. ... Big Tigger, host of BET's "Rap City," will serve as main-event MC in the upcoming boxing video game "Fight Night," due in the spring. Tigger is also a playable character that can be unlocked by virtual pugilists. ...

Former Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson and Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav will be among the artists to play this year's Jammy Awards on March 16 at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. Other artists scheduled to perform include Slick Rick, Dr. John, Dickey Betts, Gov't Mule, Soulive, the Disco Biscuits and the String Cheese Incident. Awards will be handed out between artist jams. Voting is open to the public at jammys.com, jambands.com and relix.com. ... Jet will join the Who, David Bowie and others at this year's Isle of Wight festival, which will take place June 11 to 13 at Seaclose Park in Newport, England. Other acts on the bill include British Sea Power, Snow Patrol, Groove Armada, the Electric Soft Parade, the Manic Street Preachers and the Charlatans UK. ...

Randy Rhoads, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, is being inducted posthumously into Hollywood's Rockwalk, the sidewalk gallery on Sunset Boulevard. His induction takes place March 18 at 1 p.m. and is open to the public. ... Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil, who lost his daughter Skylar in 1995 to stomach cancer, is holding his annual charity golf tournament in her name on May 6 in Malibu, California. Proceeds benefit the Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation, which donates funds to organizations that help children suffering with cancer, AIDS, Down Syndrome and leukemia. ...

Morrissey's first studio album in seven years, You Are the Quarry, is set to drop May 18. The former Smiths frontman worked with producer Jerry Finn (Blink-182, AFI) on the project. ... Gary Jules, who recently scored the #1 single in Britain with a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," has set a March 23 release date for his latest album, Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets. The Los Angeles singer/songwriter will promote the record with an eight-city tour including a March 19 show at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. …

02.27.2004

Michael Jackson has had another run-in with the law — this time for wearing a ski mask and worrying store officials. The pop star entered a Wal-Mart in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Tuesday morning with his head covered, accompanied by another man with a hat pulled down over his eyes, and when he was asked to remove the mask by managers, he refused. Police were called, but the two men had left the store by the time officers arrived. Police later pulled over their black SUV, at which point Jackson removed the mask. Officers described it as a routine call. ...

Pharrell Williams has decided to give acting a try — and no, we're not just talking about his direct-to-DVD flick, "Dude, We're Going to Rio," which hits stores Tuesday. He's signed on to work on a short indie film titled "The Ecology of Love," which should hit the film-festival circuit this summer. ...

Like he did with his last album, David Banner will release a "Chopped & Screwed" version of his most recent full-length, MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water. It'll be out in stores on March 23. Universal Records has had such a good response to these slowed-down remix albums that it plans to issue "Chopped & Screwed" versions of all its major Southern hip-hop releases, including LPs from the Big Tymers and Lil' Wayne. ... Thanks to a back catalog that sold like hotcakes last year, not to mention the 1.5 million copies of St. Anger picked up by fans, Metallica are hanging with the big boys (and girls) at #5 on Rolling Stone's list of the top moneymaking musicians of 2003. Metallica's $39.1 million puts them behind leaders the Rolling Stones ($84.1 million), Bruce Springsteen ($81.7 million), Eagles ($62.9 million) and the Dixie Chicks ($39.8 million). Further down the list are Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and Dave Matthews. ...

Continuing to support their third album, Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne have lined up a spring tour of the U.S. Following the conclusion of a two-week European jaunt on March 10 in Madrid, Spain, the power-pop quartet will launch a brief string of dates beginning April 22 at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. ... Wu-Tang Clan headmaster RZA will release a live performance DVD, "The RZA Live in Germany," on April 13. That's the same day the second installment of "Kill Bill," which RZA scored for director Quentin Tarantino, hits theaters. ...

Jadakiss was previously scheduled to appear as himself in a February 16 episode of "Eve," in which Eve's character, Shelly, enlists his help to get her friends into a club; the episode will now air March 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET on UPN. ... Dax Shepard from MTV's "Punk'd" is trying his hand at acting. Shepard appears on Friday's (February 27) episode of "Life With Bonnie" as a young commercial director who is looking for something other than the title character's wholesome image to sell soup, the product she's set to endorse. The episode airs 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ...

Classic rocker Eric Clapton will present the three-day celebration Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas' Fair Park from June 4-6. The charity event will begin with guitar seminars and showcases, and will end with an all-star jam at Cotton Bowl Stadium, which will feature Clapton, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, B.B. King, Brian May, Steve Vai and many others. Proceeds will to go the Crossroads Centre, an addiction treatment center founded by Clapton in 1997. ... The artists of indie-rap label Def Jux will embark on a six-week tour starting March 21 in the label's hometown of New York. Aesop Rock, RJD2, Mr. Lif and a half dozen others will tour the country in support of Definitive Jux Presents III, a compilation album of music from the label due out March 23. The road trip wraps up May 1 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ...

Jewel has extended her tour through June, when she will play a series of dates on the West Coast. The tour launches on March 11 in Bozeman, Montana, and now runs through June 21 in Bend, Oregon. Jewel continues to tour for her 2003 album, 0304, which hit shelves last June. On March 23, she will release the live DVD "Live at Humphrey's by the Bay," which was recorded during her 2001 tour. ...

• Audioslave
• Solange
• Jet
• Slick Rick
• Randy Rhoads

On what would have otherwise been her honeymoon, Britney Spears spent her post-marriage/annulment days in Miami filming promos for her upcoming Showtime concert special. The program is a live, full-length concert from the Miami stop of her Onyx Hotel Tour. The concert, which will be shot on HDTV, will air March 28 at 9 p.m. ET, and will be tape-delayed on the West Coast. ...

Clay Aiken spent Saturday afternoon at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, only he wasn't there just to watch the game against East Carolina. At halftime the "American Idol" star, dressed in a green Charlotte jersey with his name on the back, presented a check for $20,000 to the school and performed "The Way" and "Invisible." Charlotte won the game 81 to 65. ...

Slick Rick's first show after being held in custody by immigration officials for nearly a year and a half was postponed just two days before it was set to take place January 9 at Brooklyn, New York's Southpaw club. The eye-patched MC will instead re-emerge onstage January 23 at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan. Rick will also open Chris Rock's string of shows at Madison Square Garden, beginning January 28. ...

At a conference over the weekend, Myles Brand, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), expressed disdain for a series of television ads featuring Snoop Dogg promoting Nokia cell phones. Nokia was the title sponsor of college football's Bowl Championship Series Sugar Bowl game on January 4. Brand felt the commercials, in which Snoop solicits the viewing public to help him find out who swiped the national championship trophy using their Nokia phones, to be "inappropriate" for the collegiate atmosphere. He didn't specify if it was the commercial's content or Snoop's presence that caused him concern. ... The English royals need to brush up on their knowledge of heavy metal history. Prince Charles sent Ozzy Osbourne a bottle of Scotch as a get-well gift, unaware that the recovering rocker has had his problems with alcohol in the past. Osbourne is doing well after being seriously injured in an ATV accident last month. Ozzy's wife, meanwhile, will return to her talk show, "The Sharon Osbourne Show," on Monday (January 12) for the first time since the accident. ...

Nick Lachey had better get used to having panties thrown his way. He's set to play Tom Jones and sing "It's Not Unusual" on the March 14 episode of NBC's "American Dreams." Also appearing in the episode is Liz Phair, who'll perform "Walk in the Room" as Jackie DeShannon. Both artists are slated to tape their parts January 21. A week after their episode airs, Jason Mraz will adopt his best Dion for a rendition of "Ruby Baby," while Fefe Dobson will be remade as Tina Turner, tentatively to sing "River Deep, Mountain High." Mraz and Dobson are scheduled to tape their episode February 4. ...

With shipments of more than 117 million copies, Elvis Presley has resumed his place as the King. Presley, who would have turned 69 Thursday, is the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history, according to the RIAA. Presley bumped Garth Brooks, who cracked the 100-million mark in October 2000, from the position. Meanwhile, "Tribute," an 11-hour documentary on the rock pioneer, is in the works. ... Hip-hop forefather Grandmaster Flash will officially announce the formation of his newly founded label January 26 at the MIDEM music conference, which will take place January 25-29 in Cannes, France. Called Adrenaline City Entertainment, the label will look to sign artists from all genres. ...

Former Smiths frontman Morrissey's first new album in nearly seven years, You Are the Quarry, is expected to drop in April. Among the roughly 30 songs recorded for the follow-up to 1997's Maladjusted are the tentatively titled "Teenage Dad On His Estate" and "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice." ... The fifth annual Coachella Festival will be held May 1-2 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California. Last year, the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined a lineup of more than 75 artists. ...

Before R.E.M. drop their new studio album at the end of the year, fans can get their fix for Athens' finest on "Perfect Square," a live DVD recorded July 19 in Germany. Performances of favorites such as "Man on the Moon," "Losing My Religion" and "Orange Crush" are among the highlights of the 23-track disc, which is set for release February 23 in the U.K. There's no word yet on a domestic release. ... Bassist John Mark Bechtel has resigned from Systematic, the California band that was first to sign to Lars Ulrich's Music Company label. Bechtel, who replaced Nick St. Dennis in 2002, played on the band's second album, 2003's Pleasure to Burn. …

01.09.04

Travis Barker and his baby's mama, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, have gotten engaged. The Blink-182 drummer asked for Moakler's hand while the two were at Disneyland on Christmas Eve. Nuptials are expected to take place this year. ...

Grand Royal, the defunct record label once run by the Beastie Boys, has surfaced as an asset up for sale on a bankruptcy auction site (www.bid4assets.com). Highest bidders would get master recordings, licensing agreements and miscellaneous merchandising agreements. The auction has been going on since December 5, but with less than two weeks remaining, nothing has been placed. Perhaps the $10,000 minimum bid is scaring people away from obtaining those Butter 08 masters. ... Michelle Williams has set a January 27 release date for her second solo album, Do You Know. The album will include first single "The Incident," "Love Thang" featuring gospel duo Dawkins & Dawkins, and a version of Destiny's Child's "I Know." ...

Scott Weiland has switched rehab facilities once again — but this time, the court does not approve. The former Stone Temple Pilots frontman/current Velvet Revolver singer was originally placed in court-ordered lockdown rehab at Grandview in Pasadena, California, and then, with the court's permission, switched to Las Encinas, also in Pasadena, last month. But then Weiland switched yet again to a non-lockdown facility called Genesis in Hollywood. During Weiland's probation status report hearing Friday (January 9), the court asked for a complete report about the switch, and a hearing to deal with the matter has been scheduled for January 23, also the date of Weiland's arraignment for his charge of driving under the influence of drugs (from his late October arrest). ...

With "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" such a hit, it's no surprise that the Fab 5 are branching out — with Jai Rodriguez, otherwise known as the group's culture expert, leading them in the music department. Rodriguez, who performed the role of Angel in "Rent" on Broadway, has started work on his debut album. Rodriguez previously released the dance single "Love Is Good" before signing on to the Bravo/NBC show. ... Russell Simmons has sold Phat Fashions, the parent company of his Phat Farm and Baby Phat clothing lines, to Kellwood Company for a reported $140 million. Simmons launched Phat Farm in 1992 and, according to a release announcing the deal on Thursday, he's seen his company's profits go up every year. Phat Fashions will operate as a subsidiary of Kellwood, which already makes such brands as Calvin Klein, Izod and Liz Claiborne. Simmons will stay on as CEO of Phat Farm while his wife, Kimora, will continue as the principal creative force behind the ladies' Baby Phat line. ...

Staind singer Aaron Lewis has arranged a better distribution deal for Lo-Pro, the first band signed to his 413 Records. "The record's in stores now, but it's really hard to find," he said. "Hopefully that will change in January." Lewis hopes to be more hands-on in the studio as an executive producer for the next Lo-Pro release. "I think the band would actually like that," he said. ... R&B singer Teedra Moses coaxed video director Hype Williams out of hiding to film her video for "You'll Never Find (A Better Woman)." The clip, featuring Jadakiss, will be shot in the next two weeks. The track is from her debut album, Complex Simplicity, which drops in April. ...

Swedish rock band Soundtrack of Our Lives will release their fourth album on April 28. The yet-untitled record was self-produced in the band's homeland. ... Orgy have set a February 24 release date for Punk Statik Paranoia, which will be the first release on the band's new D1 Music label. Singer Jay Gordon produced the album, which includes first single "The Obvious." ...

• Britney Spears
• Clay Aiken
• Slick Rick
• Nick Lachey
• Morrissey

Ozzy Osbourne has been taken out of the Wexham Park Hospital intensive-care unit and placed in a private clinic to recuperate from the injuries he sustained in an ATV crash on December 8, according to a statement from the Osbournes. The former wildman of rock fractured his collarbone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck in the accident, which occurred on his Buckinghamshire estate in southern England. Last week, Sharon Osbourne said it would probably take Ozzy six months to fully recover. ...

Hip-hop's greatest storyteller, Slick Rick, will headline his own "Welcome Home" concert in Brooklyn, New York, on January 9. The old-school icon was recently freed from an INS detention center after 17 months while he awaited deportation. Several of Slick Rick's legendary peers are expected to perform at the event but none have yet been confirmed. ... Gang Starr's DJ Premier and Guru are sorting through tracks for a greatest-hits collection due next year. In 1999, the seminal hip-hop duo released the double-disc Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr, but this collection would include newer tracks, B-sides, remixes and at least one new track. ...

Perhaps inspired by all those Priceline.com commercials, in which he sang alongside established rockers, William Shatner is working on a new music album, and he's beaming up some talented artists, including Henry Rollins and Joe Jackson, to help him out. Ben Folds will produce the project, which will likely come out next year. The former Starship Enterprise captain has been in Nashville recording the LP and recently weighed in on the project via his Web site: "I am attempting excellence in music. I feel like I'm almost there, but I'll have to wait for all of you to tell me if I have reached excellence or not." ... Singer/guitarist Justin Hawkinsof British hair metal revivalists the Darkness will address England on MTV Europe on Christmas Day at 3 p.m., the same time the queen of England delivers a speech to her subjects on BBC1. Over the past year, the Darkness have become rock icons across Europe; in North America they remain an acquired taste. ...

On the heels of Rob Halford's return to the band, Judas Priest will release a box set called Metalogy on March 9. The box will feature three or four CDs and may include a live DVD. Judas Priest are working on new material with Halford as well. Tim Owens, who sang on the last two Priest records, is now a member of Iced Earth, whose new album, The Glorious Burden, will be released January 13. ... Murderdolls singer Wednesday 13 will launch a line of merchandise next year that will include shirts, bags, stickers and patches. The product line will feature "The Thirteen Dead Kids" logo, cartoon renderings of 13 dead children drawn in red and black. Wednesday 13 came up with the idea during the downtime that followed this year's tours with Iron Maiden and Stone Sour. ...

The Presidents of the United States of America are re-releasing their self-titled debut album (featuring "Lump" and "Peaches") with five bonus tracks (including a new song called "Some Postman") and a DVD. Titled Extra Super Double Bonus Thrill Pack, the collection is due February 16. ...

12.22.03

Someone alert The Source. Eminem has a secret side of him that many of his fans would be surprised to see: sketch artist. Eminem's uncle, Todd Nelson, is putting up for auction a number of pencil drawings and sketches (and lyrics) the rapper apparently created between the ages of 16 and 19. The items are being sold through a Chicago auction house in the spring. ...

Ruben Studdard has settled his lawsuit against 205 Flava Inc., which he claimed unfairly profited by using his unauthorized image to sell clothing through its Web site. The clothing company, which responded by revealing that it paid the singer to wear 205 jerseys on "American Idol," thus violating rules of the show, has been negotiating with Studdard since November and will now partner with 19 Entertainment, the company behind "American Idol," to license and market its clothes. Neither party would reveal exact details of the settlement. ... DMX is set to produce and star in two new movies, adding to an already impressive résumé that includes roles in "Cradle 2 the Grave" and "Exit Wounds." Hollywood's premiere Ruff Rider will battle a Hong Kong gang leader in "Past Tense" and play an architect in "Winners." ...

A new batch of punks has been added to the lineup of the next Vans Warped Tour, including Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, NOFX, Thursday, Lillix, From Autumn to Ashes, Bad Religion, Story of the Year, Yellowcard and Bouncing Souls. The 10th anniversary of the tour will launch June 24 in Houston. ... AFI are bringing Coheed and Cambria, A Static Lullaby and Thursday around with them for a tour that starts February 18. Coheed and ASL will open through February 24, with Thursday filling in for the latter February 25 through March 9. More dates are expected to be added. ...

In a series of interactive Nokia commercials leading up to the 2004 Sugar Bowl (January 4), Snoop Dogg will try to discover which celebrity guest is trying to steal the championship trophy. Fans who help Snoop uncover the criminal will have the opportunity to win prizes that include Nokia phones, a trip to the 2005 Sugar Bowl, or the grand prize of $100,000. The commercials, which were directed by Guy Ritchie, will start airing Saturday. ... On Friday, Kevin Eckenrod was sentenced to 25 months in prison for impersonating Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti. He was arrested and charged in April for stealing more than $1,000 while kissing a misinformed Creed fan. The 40-year-old swindler has a criminal record of keeping over 30 aliases, and has amassed more than 60 criminal charges in Florida within the last 10 years. ...

Henry Rollins will launch a spoken-word tour called Shock and Awe My Ass on January 13 in Tempe, Arizona. The 32-date trek ends February 29 in Asheville, North Carolina. ... After Powerman 5000's 1999 album, Tonight the Stars Revolt, the band recorded a caustic, explosive metal album called Anyone for Doomsday? but decided not to release it weeks before it was to hit shelves. More than two years later, frontman Spider seems to have had a change of heart, and Powerman are now selling the album on their Web site. In a post, Spider wrote, " 'Bombshell,' the original single from Anyone for Doomsday?, has reared its head in several movie soundtracks and compilations and has even become the theme song for WWE wrestling stars the Dudley Boys. This monster refused to die, and it became clear to me that it is finally time to unleash these tracks for our diehard powerfans." ... The Shins will ring in the new year with 14 U.S. tour dates beginning January 31 in Seattle. The outing, which starts in London on January 20, is bookended by two television appearances ("Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"). ...

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Slick Rick
• Gang Starr
• Henry Rollins
• Judas Priest

Slick Rick
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Slick Rick earned his status as a hip-hop legend because he was one of the genre's most interesting early storytellers — an eye-patched MC delivering "great adventures" in a sleepy voice.

The adventure Rick has been on for the past 17 months has been interesting, but it hasn't been great. As he disembarked a cruise ship he'd been hired to perform on, immigration officials picked up the rapper in Miami. They've held Rick (a.k.a. Ricky Walters) in a federal detention center ever since, threatening to deport him to England, where he was born and lived until 11.

The happy ending is that he's now back at home in the Bronx, reunited with his wife and cats. "One good thing came out of it — I lost 40 pounds," Rick said during a recent visit to his house. "I don't think I ever looked this good."

Rick is in good spirits despite the ordeal, which was sparked by his 1991 conviction on attempted second-degree murder charges, for which he served five years and 12 days in prison. U.S. law states that foreign nationals who serve more than five years in prison must be deported.

But six months of that time was due to immigration issues, and despite winning the right in court to stay in the United States in 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has been appealing to enforce the deportation ever since. On Halloween Rick finally had his U.S. residency restored, and a week later he was free (see "The Great Adventures Can Resume: Slick Rick Is A Free Man").

The worst part, Rick said, was being away from his wife and facing such uncertainty. "You don't know if you're gonna be in America, you don't know if you're gonna be in England. You don't have control over life. That's what really had me stressed out the most. It's like, 'How am I going to manage over there [in England]?' "

In jail, Rick passed the time by doing everything from crossword puzzles to writing rhymes. "You could play dominos, cards, watch TV, stuff like that," he said. "Pretty much what I did was exercise. I could recommend [that to] a lot of old-school rappers, fling your black ass in the cell real quick for like six months and get your career back. No, I'm just playing."

Despite what he went through, Rick doesn't hold a grudge. But he said the way the legal system handles immigration issues needs some work. "There's nobody in place to make it seem like this country, which is supposed to be the most advanced, has any common sense," Rick explained. Hopefully, he said, "cases like mine open the door for other people that have been treated in the same inhumane way."

Many times during his stay, Rick was convinced he was being deported. At one point last summer, his wife, Mandy, was in London shopping for a house. In his home now, there are still boxes of things his wife packed in preparation for the move.

Rick said he doesn't remember much about the England he grew up in. "[I was] just a little boy. With the shorts, the gray socks, you know, kids stuff. I remember the horrible school lunches. You don't get franks and chicken and all that. You get liver. Things kids don't like."

Now Rick's plan is to get back in the studio and record an album. A lot of time spent watching BET and MTV has convinced Rick he can fill a niche that isn't being catered to now: "The mature audience," he said. "We don't want to be entertained with the womanizing and the gangsterism."

Rick knows that, at age 38, he won't be competing for Eminem and 50 Cent's audience, but he doesn't want to become an old-school charity case, either. "I gotta earn my bread. And if I don't make no ruckus, then you can go and laugh at me, 'Ha ha.' I'm not trying to be a big shot. I'm just trying to earn my bread."

• Slick Rick

Bling Auction: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels

• Tupac
• Biz Markie
• Slick Rick
• Kanye West
• Pharrell Williams

Nas Celebrtates His Birthday

• Nas
• Kelis
• Diddy
• Slick Rick
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Nelly, Slick Rick, Nick Cannon, And More Sport Their Dookie Ropes

• Nelly
• Slick Rick
• Nick Cannon
• DMC
• Lil Jon

The 2005 BET Awards Red Carpet Gets Hot With Beyonce, Bow Wow, Paul Wall, Ciara, More

• Bow Wow
• Fat Joe
• Will Smith
• Beyoncé
• Omarion

• Ludacris
• Mr. Cheeks
• Kid Capri
• Slick Rick