Like J. Lo and Jessica Simpson before her, Britney Spears is becoming her own brand by getting into the fragrance, skincare and cosmetics business. Elizabeth Arden announced on Friday (March 12) that the singer would develop and market her own line of products, with personal involvement in all aspects of development. "I love perfume and cosmetics, and am so excited to develop my own line with Elizabeth Arden," Spears said in a statement. She'll first roll out a fragrance, to debut this fall. ...

The Miami Beach Black Host Committee will meet Friday to outline its concerns to the city's mayor and police chief regarding a report that local police are specially monitoring rappers and their associates. The committee, formed by the city's mayor to help improve relations with black residents and visitors, said it was deeply offended by the police's strategy, according to The Miami Herald. ... On Thursday, the judge in the Michael Jackson molestation case ordered that an audiotape with defense interviews with the alleged victim and his family remain sealed, as it could identify areas of defense strategy. The tape was of an interview conducted early last year by an investigator for Jackson's attorney Mark Geragos. However, several videotapes that were deemed "innocuous and unrevealing of defense strategy" will be released. Jackson is due back in court on April 2. ...

New Found Glory are shooting the video for "All Down Hill From Here," the first single from their new album, Catalyst, on Sunday in Los Angeles. Meiert Avis, best known for early U2 and Bruce Springsteen videos, is directing the clip, which will see the band performing in an animated world. Catalyst is due May 18. ... The launch of the Pixies' reunion tour will no longer be in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on April 14 — the first date of the trek is now April 13 in Minneapolis, where the band is currently rehearsing. Tickets for the "secret" show at the Fine Line Music Cafe sold out in four minutes on Thursday, when it became a secret no more. ...

Dan the Automator and Prince Paul have resurrected their Handsome Boy Modeling School and will follow up 1999's So ... How's Your Girl? with a summer album featuring appearances by Pharrell Williams, RZA, Musiq, Jack Johnson, the Deftones and Mike Patton. Meanwhile, the duo will make a rare public appearance during South by Southwest opening for N.E.R.D. on March 20 at the Austin Music Hall. Glassjaw's Daryl Palumbo, who has a project with Dan the Automator called Head Automatica, as well as Encore and Casual will join the School onstage. ... Metallica, Jane's Addiction, Pink and Johnny Cash have all been nominated for 2004 Prism Awards, which are given annually to actors, musicians and comic-book artists who accurately depict the dangers of drug, alcohol and tobacco use. The awards, now in their eighth year, are presented by the Entertainment Industries Council Inc. This year, Jane's Addiction's "Suffer Some" will compete with Pink's "Save My Life" and others for the Music Recording Award, and Metallica's "Frantic," Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and Three Days Grace's "I Hate Everything About You" will be amongst those to duke it out for the Music Video Award. ...

After he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, Prince will perform a midnight show at Club Black in New York. Tickets are on sale now on his Web site and will be available through Ticketmaster beginning Saturday. ... Every person who attends one of Prince's concerts on his upcoming Musicology tour will get a copy of his new CD of the same name. Those who don't catch him live can download a copy from his NPG Music Club (www.npgmusicclub.com) starting March 29. ...

The Dead drummer Mickey Hart and pedal-steel guitarist extraordinaire Robert Randolph will co-host the 2004 Jammy Awards, which will take place Tuesday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell and Edie Brickell will join the list of performers, which already includes Steve Winwood, Chris Robinson, Dr. John, Slick Rick, Dickey Betts and others. ... The Dave Matthews Band is in the beginning stages of organizing a July 4 weekend festival in New York after a survey on the band's Web site found fans were most interested in that date and location. Another survey is out now to gather more input. ...

From the Sugarhill Gang to 50 Cent, a new four-CD box set called The Hip-Hop Box will collect the biggest hits and turning points in the 25-year history of hip-hop music. It's due on April 20 from Hip-O Records and includes tracks from Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Main Source and others. ... Wu-Tang Clan's RZA is attempting to traverse the globe for a brief tour in May. Beginning May 1 in Spain, he'll go on to perform in Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Rome; Moscow; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Pozen, Poland; wrapping up May 23 at the Istanbul Hip & Hop Festival in Turkey. ...

Fresh from winning Best Comedy Album for Poodle Hat at last month's Grammys, "Weird Al" Yankovic is launching a five-week tour beginning March 24 in Akron, Ohio. The outing wraps up May 2 in Pompano Beach, Florida. ... 311 celebrated 311 Day (March 11) Thursday in New Orleans with a colossal five-hour performance. The band played 68 songs, including rarities like "Juan Bond," "Let the Cards Fall" and "Right Now" and covers of the Clash's "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," the Cure's "Love Song" and Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er." The show, which featured burlesque dancers, stilt walkers and fire eaters, and other events tied into the celebration (including a tailgate and pre-party) were recorded for a DVD due at the end of the year. ...

03.11.2004

Christina Aguilera, in jeans and with her hair slicked back, made a surprise appearance Wednesday night at the premiere of "Dawn of the Dead." Disturbed's David Draiman and members of the Murderdolls also joined stars Mekhi Phifer, Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley at the Beverly Center Mall in Beverly Hills, California, for the event. ...

Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died Tuesday morning of a heart attack in Las Vegas. He was 35. After parting ways with the rap-rock band, best known for their 2000 hit "Butterfly," Epique founded the trio Pre)thing, who were on the verge of releasing their debut, 22nd Century Lifestyle, in April. "Faded Love," the album's first single, had just surfaced at radio at the time of Epique's death. ... Dave Blood, bassist for '80s punk band the Dead Milkmen, committed suicide on Wednesday. In January, Blood's mother died, and in a post on the band's message board, the bassist's sister wrote, "Inner peace seemed to elude him for the last many years. Maybe David just had had enough." Blood was a founding member of the band, which formed in 1983 and made a name for itself with novelty hits like "Bitchin' Camaro" and "Punk Rock Girl." The Dead Milkmen broke up in 1995. ...

Lionel Richie has recorded three songs with Lenny Kravitz, two of which will appear on his next album, Just for You, due May 4. The third, "Destiny," will appear on Kravitz's next release. Richie also collaborated on the album with 7 Aurelius (Ashanti, Mariah Carey), Paul Barry and Mark Taylor (the duo behind Cher's smash "Believe") and Daniel Bedingfield, who produced and co-wrote a song called "Do Ya." ... Metallica have announced a new batch of tour dates that start in the late summer after the band returns from Europe. The first date is August 16 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and there are dates confirmed straight through September 1 in Wichita, Kansas, and then intermittently through October 10 in Buffalo, New York. ...

Guitarists Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and Billy Duffy (the Cult) will join forces with members of Puddle of Mudd and other musician friends for a cover band that will headline a concert series benefiting the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The series, taking place April 5, 12 and 19 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California, will also feature the reunited American Music Club, Michelle Shocked, Paula Cole, Grant Lee Phillips, Michael Penn, Glen Phillips, an acoustic set from Concrete Blonde, and Norah Jones songwriter Jesse Harris. ... Coachella may be grabbing all the headlines, but Atlanta's Music Midtown 2004 is shaping up to be a cool festival, too. The 11th annual concert will feature performances by Foo Fighters, Twista, Parliament/ Funkadelic, Lil Jon, Cee-Lo, Fountains of Wayne, Journey and three dozen other artists. The three-day festival kicks off April 30. ...

The original lineup of Duran Duran, currently prepping their first studio album together since 1983's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, continue to prime the pump for their comeback with reminders of their glory days as well-coiffed, Capezio-wearing pop heartthrobs. In the wake of a club tour, song on the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" soundtrack and DVD of their classic videos, the group is now planning to release two concert films on DVD this spring. "Arena," which captures a 1984 performance by the band in Oakland, California, and "Sing Blue Silver," a behind-the-scenes documentary filmed throughout the three-month Arena tour, will both hit shelves May 4. ... Actress Juliette Lewis and her band have recorded a demo with producer Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera, Pink) and are preparing to join the Warped Tour this summer. "I think we are going to put some tunes on iTunes and Napster," Lewis said. "We are just going to play more and if [the major-label offers] come they come, otherwise I am just going to record stuff myself and put it out." ...

During a March 1 Switchfoot video shoot in Los Angeles for "Dare You to Move," a friend of the band was hit by a truck, bassist Tim Foreman revealed in a post on the band's Web site. Despite the "horrible accident," the woman "was immediately coherent, talking and able to move all extremities. This seemed to all who witnessed the accident to be miraculous," the Christian rocker wrote. At a hospital doctors determined that she suffered two fractured ribs and a lacerated liver. ... A judge in Tucson, Arizona, has ordered singer Diana Ross to go back to jail for two days. Ross, who last month pleaded no contest to DUI charges in the city, was sentenced to 48 hours behind bars. She served her time in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she now lives. Or so she thought. After asking for a full account of her whereabouts during her term, City Court Magistrate T. Jay Cranshaw determined that Ross had spent only 47 hours in jail over three days. Arizona law requires DUI offenders to spend at least 24 hours in a row behind bars. In a written statement, a crabby Cranshaw said, "To avoid questions of impropriety, the defendant is ordered to return to Tucson to serve 48 consecutive hours in the Pima County Jail." A hearing will take place April 1 to determine when she will serve the time. ...

On Tuesday night, Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, both longtime Van Halen fans, got to jam onstage with ex-VH singer Sammy Hagar at the Las Vegas nightclub Rain inside the Palms Casino. They didn't rip through "Why Can't This Be Love?" or "When It's Love," instead pounding into versions of the Troggs' "Wild Thing" and the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" (which Van Halen covered on their 1978 self-titled debut, with David Lee Roth on vocals). Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith also joined Hagar, for a take on Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll." ... North Carolina hip-hop group Little Brother will open up for Kanye West and Dilated Peoples on the first five dates of their spring tour, which begins March 16 on the campus of Virginia Tech. Little Brother features the production talents of 9th Wonder, who produced a track for Jay-Z's The Black Album. ... Disco-garage metal band Electric Six will play 14 U.S. shows this spring, starting in Chicago on April 21 and running through May 22 in Northfield, Minnesota. On May 1, the band will perform at Coachella. ...

• Britney Spears
• Michael Jackson
• New Found Glory
• Pharrell Williams
• P!nk

The Sugar Hill Gang
Photo: Rhino

Recent years have been pretty lean for the Sugar Hill Gang when measured against more financially successful rappers. But now that a New York District Court judge has awarded the hip-hop pioneers nearly $3 million — in a case against the Snapple Beverage Corporation and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. — the Gang will no longer have to eat at friends' houses where "the macaroni's soggy, the peas are mushed, and the chicken tastes like wood."

Those culinary catastrophes are bemoaned in the group's legendary single "Rapper's Delight," a live video performance of which Snapple and Turner were found guilty of unlawfully pilfering in a 1998 ad for the Goodwill Games, an event produced by Turner.

In a case filed in January 1999, the Sugar Hill Gang claimed it was told the performance in question would only be broadcast by Snapple on closed-circuit monitors during a party at Studio 54. The rappers said they were shocked to later see the clip used for the Goodwill Games.

"A month after we did the show, I get calls congratulating me on my new commercial," said Gang member Joey Robinson Jr. "I went, 'What are you talking about?' We never consented to it, we never got paid for it, and Snapple never wanted to settle with us."

In court, both Snapple and Turner claimed the group knew in advance that footage would be used for television advertisements, but the judge sided with the rappers. In June he granted a summary judgement on behalf of the Sugar Hill Gang, and on Friday a jury awarded it $165,000 in compensatory damages and another $2.8 million in punitive damages.

"It was a blessing," Robinson said. "It was like three-and-a-half years of fighting had finally come to a head. It was a cheerful joy of happiness."

Snapple and Turner did not return calls for comment.

Recently, the Sugar Hill Gang appeared in a commercial for Coca-Cola that they were actually paid for, and in January the group will return to the studio to finish its first album of new material in 21 years.

"It's not gangsta at all," Robinson said. "It's a little bit like Will Smith, a little bit Sisqó — like a 'Thong Song.' It's got a little Aersomith/Run-D.M.C. flavor. We did a remake of [Def Leppard's] 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' that's really hot. The album won't confuse people, so they'll know it's Sugar Hill Gang, but it's updated to what's happening now."

The group has recorded seven of 13 songs, including a duet with LFO called "Girl I Want You," and there are plans to record a new song with 'NSYNC, whom the Sugar Hill Gang opened for during 1999 and 2000.

"They want to do a record with us, and we want to do one with them, so we're getting some tracks together to submit to them," Robinson said. "Those guys are great guys."

Also, the Sugar Hill Gang is trying to recruit Def Leppard to contribute to the "Pour Some Sugar on Me" cover. But that's not the most surprising development for the old-school rappers — in March they'll play what might be their strangest venue to date.

"We were just with Liza Minnelli at her private party with [event producer] David Gest, and David asked us to perform in March for their wedding," Robinson marveled. "He said, 'Joey, please, I'm gonna ask you, would you mind performing?' And I said, 'Are you kidding? It would be an honor.' "

Needless to say, nobody from Snapple is invited, and the event will not be broadcast on Turner.

• The Sugarhill Gang

Sir Mix-A-Lot
Photo: Columbia

Nostalgia tours don't always have to feature Ringo Starr or hair bands.

More than 20 years after "Rapper's Delight" broke through to radio, hip-hop has its own legends — and nothing befits a legend more than a comeback trek.

A healthy number of the rappers who first brought the genre to radio and video are still touring the country and releasing new music. Here's a rundown of who's doing what and why you should know.

(Tour dates are according to various booking agencies, artists' management and venues.)

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
Breakthrough single: "It Takes Two" (1988)
Catchphrase: "Don't cheer me, just hear me out, 'cause I got the clout — shout!"
Famous fashion accessory: Big gold chains, lots of 'em.
Forgettable moment: Cover of Edwin Starr's "War."
Most recent record: Break of Dawn (1994)
Current projects: Unknown.
Tour dates:

10/17 - Harrison, AR @ University of Arkansas

Related Artists

• Tone-Loc
• Run-D.M.C.
• Sir Mix-A-Lot
• Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
• 2 Live Crew

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1445924/20010801/tone_loc.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1445924/20010801/tone_loc.jhtml 1 Aug 2001 06:51:00 EDT
Sugar Hill Gang's "Jump On It"

Twenty years ago, the Sugar Hill Gang helped usher in the hip-hop age with the single "Rapper's Delight." Now the group is doing its part to expose hip-hop to the youngest generation.

In April, the group released "Jump On It," a children's album containing tunes such as "Jump On It," "Kick A Rhyme With Dr. Seuss," "ABC's" and "Kids' Rapper's Delight (Kids' Rap-Along)" (see "Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Melle Mel Send One Out For The Kids").

Next week the influential rap crew, along with the Boys & Girls Club Of America, will be sponsoring a double-dutch jump rope contest for children; the contest's music will be taken from the "Jump On It" disc. Winners will receive a CD or cassette copy of the album autographed by the Sugar Hill Gang members plus a package of various other goodies courtesy of Kid Rhino Records, the label that issued the LP. Every participant will receive a "Jump On It" t-shirt.

The contest will take place at Boys & Girls Club Of America locations in New York, Houston, Detroit, Los Angeles and Atlanta on Friday, October 29 at 6:30. For information on the Boys & Girls Club nearest you, check out the organization's Web www.bgca.org, or call the organization's national headquarters at (404) 815-5700.

Related Artists

• The Sugarhill Gang

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434693/19991020/sugarhill_gang.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434693/19991020/sugarhill_gang.jhtml 20 Oct 1999 07:55:00 EDT
Run-DMC

Run-DMC has signed on to headline an "old school" rap mini-tour, dubbed the Hip-Hop 20th Anniversary Fresh Fest, which will also feature performances from such seminal acts as the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow, and Whodini.

The Hip-Hop Fresh Fest will kick off a West Coast run on September 10 in Berkeley, then shift to the East Coast at the end of the month for a string of shows, concluding on October 3 in Cleveland.

The groups will be playing the shows to help commemorate the first two decades of hip-hop, a genre which first hit the national consciousness in the summer of '79, when Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" became the first rap single to enter the pop charts.

Dates for the Hip-Hop 20th Anniversary Fresh Fest:

• 9/10 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theater
• 9/12 - Universal City, CA @ Universal Amphitheater
• 9/13 - Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theater
• 9/30 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 10/1 - Indianapolis, IN @ Convention Center
• 10/2 - Detroit, MI @ Fox Theater
• 10/3 - Cleveland, OH @ CSU Convocation Center

-- David Basham

Related Artists

• Run-D.M.C.
• The Sugarhill Gang

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433837/19990902/run_dmc.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433837/19990902/run_dmc.jhtml 2 Sep 1999 12:00:00 EDT
The Freestylers

The Freestylers have unleashed their brand of multi-styled, B-Boy flow with "Here We Go," the group's first U.S. single and video from its debut LP, "We Rock Hard." But rather than rest and ride out the success of the current material, the Freestylers have already begun work on material and lining up collaborators for the next record.

In a recent interview with MTV News, Freestylers DJ and co-founder Aston Harvey talked about the band's wish list for record number two, which he hopes will include cuts with such rap and hip-hop luminaries as the Sugar Hill Gang and the Dust Brothers.

"Yeah, we've approached Jurassic 5 for the next album," Harvey said of the next Freestylers record,

Harvey said that a new Freestylers album probably wouldn't drop until early 2000, but noted that the group had already laid down several basic tracks for the project and that other vocalists may be sought out to expand the band's sound even further. The Freestylers currently employ Tenor Fly and Navigator as lead men, but have also utilized the lyrical skills of Soul Sonic Force and Definition of Sound both in concert and on "We Rock Hard."

The Freestylers have just completed a handful of promotional dates with the Lo Fidelity Allstars, and are next scheduled to play alongside Blink-182, Kid Rock, Sugar Ray, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at this year's KROQ Weenie Roast and Luau, set for June 19 at Irvine Meadows in Irvine, California.

Related Artists

• Freestylers
• The Sugarhill Gang

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1428437/19990614/dust_brothers.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1428437/19990614/dust_brothers.jhtml 14 Jun 1999 12:00:00 EDT
xxx xxx -->

In August, Rhino Records will be staging a three-day "RetroFest" in the Los Angeles area that will feature live performances from artists spanning the '60s to the '80s.

A label spokesperson confirms that the acts booked to date include Berlin, Missing Persons, the Turtles, the Ohio Players, Iron Butterfly, Mitch Ryder, the Sugarhill Gang, Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods (remember "Billy, Don't Be A Hero?"), former teen idol Tony DeFranco, "Monster Mash"-er Bobby "Boris" Pickett, soul-pop singer Al Wilson, and The Archies' Ron Dante.

The event is scheduled for the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from August 13-15. The timeline will regress from '80s new wave on Friday to funk, soul, and disco on Saturday to rock and pop from the '60s and '70s on Sunday.

Rhino has established a toll-free hotline at 1-877-GO-RETRO (467-3876) for ongoing updates.

Related Artists

• Iron Butterfly
• Missing Persons
• The Sugarhill Gang

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430362/19990519/iron_butterfly.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430362/19990519/iron_butterfly.jhtml 19 May 1999 06:00:00 EDT
Grandmaster Melle Mel

Twenty years after helping usher in the hip-hop revolution with the single "Rapper's Delight," the Sugar Hill Gang is preparing to release a brand-new album -- just for the kids.

Entitled "Jump on It," the new children's album features the influential rap outfit alliterating its way through such elementary-school tunes as "The Vowels (A-E-I-O-U)," "Kick a Rhyme with Dr. Seuss" and an updated, juvenile version of "Rapper's Delight," which has been re-christened "It's Like a Dream Sometimes."

Getting in on the kid's play is fellow hip-hop godfather Grandmaster Melle Mel, who guests on three of the songs on "Jump on It," and a portion of the album's proceeds will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of America.

Sugar Hill Gang's "Jump on It!" is due in stores on April 6.

Related Artists

• Grandmaster Melle Mel
• The Sugarhill Gang

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1429695/19990205/grandmaster_melle_mel.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1429695/19990205/grandmaster_melle_mel.jhtml 5 Feb 1999 02:00:00 EST The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight

Rapper's Delight

• Artist: The Sugarhill Gang
• Label: Sugar Hill Records
• Album: Rapper's Delights [2 CD]

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17137&vid=19415 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17137&vid=19415 27 Nov 2002 12:00:00 EST