First Elton John gave him props. Then he won an Academy Award. And now, getting yet another nod from the establishment, Eminem has found an admirer in Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. According to Reuters, when asked by journalists at a recent speaking engagement in Norwich, England, whether there was a figure in pop culture who aroused interest in poetry and lyrics like Bob Dylan and John Lennon once did, Heaney said, "There is this guy Eminem ... he has sent a voltage around a generation. He has done this not just through his subversive attitude but also his verbal energy." ...

Looks like Grammy-winning duo Outkast just can't win for losing. After a federal appeals court ruled in 1999 that civil-rights icon Rosa Parks could appeal a lawsuit against the group over their song "Rosa Parks," another judge ruled recently to reinstate a majority of the lawsuit. In response, Johnnie Cochran, Parks' attorney, has presented 21 affidavits from people claiming they were "fooled into buying the rap LP out of a belief that it had something to do with Parks and the civil-rights movement." ...

Velvet Revolver (featuring several ex-Guns N' Roses members and Scott Weiland on vocals) plan to release a recording of their June performance at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre. Due this fall, the EP and DVD of the band's live debut -- which included their single "Set Me Free" as well as Sex Pistols and Nirvana covers -- will also feature a bonus studio track. ... Loon has set an August 26 release date for his debut LP. "The album got everybody and their momma on it. I got Missy [Elliott], Trina, Claudette Ortiz. It's just sexy. It's super sophisticated." ...

The Clipse are eyeing an October 8 release for their second album, Hell Have No Fury. "We ain't relaxing just because we had our little first joint and it was successful," Pusha T said. ...

Fat Joe, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep and Dead Prez are among those contributing to the soundtrack to "Across 155th Street," a DVD about the famed Harlem basketball playground Rucker Park. The album is scheduled to hit the streets July 15. ... Eighties girl group the Bangles will drop their first U.S. album in 15 years on September 9. Doll Revolution features all four original members and was co-produced by Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins). ...

Like the King would really have only 30 hits!? The second greatest-hits package in as many years, Elvis 2nd to None, is set for release October 7. Picking up where Junkie XL left off, DJ Paul Oakenfold has given the remix treatment to the rare B-side "Rubberneckin'," one of the LP's 30 tracks, along with "That's All Right," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Blue Suede Shoes." ... Featuring Neil Young, Widespread Panic and the Flaming Lips, the second Bonnaroo festival, held June 13-15 in Manchester, Tennessee, has been preserved as a double live CD due August 19. The album will be followed by a DVD two months later. ...

Siouxsie & the Banshees are prepping a live CD and DVD chronicling the band's sold-out tour last year, featuring two nights at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. 7 Year Itch Live includes a set composed almost entirely of songs from their first four albums. ... "American Idol 2" finalist Kimberley Locke is writing music with Victoria Shaw (Christina Aguilera) and new age star Jim Brickman. "I've had a few deals, but I'm not ready to take it right now because the tour is coming up and I really don't have time to process it all," she said. ...

06.30.2003

Despite eschewing commercialism for her latest album, American Life, Madonna is about to be very commercial for her new single, "Hollywood." The Material Girl has just signed up with the Gap to do a TV ad for their corduroy jeans line, which would also feature Missy Elliott. The concept is to have Madonna sing "Hollywood," while Missy would do a rap interpretation of Madge's "Into the Groove." Details weren't available about the shoot, but Gap traditionally shoots their fall ad campaigns at the beginning of July. ...

The first single from R. Kelly's greatest-hits album is ready to hit the airwaves. It's called "Thoia Thoing" and a video shoot is currently being planned. Kelly's collection of hits and remixes, The R. in R&B, is slated for this fall. ... The White House's most famous ex-intern, Monica Lewinsky, was among those who took in sets by Wilco and Sonic Youth at New York's Central Park on Friday. ...

Ruben Studdard is nearly finished with his debut album, which is due August 19 and will feature a collaboration with Fat Joe. "It was wonderful, man," the "American Idol 2" winner said of working with the rapper. "Fat Joe is one of the greatest hip-hop artists I know and the single is going to be hot, man." ... A video for "Bloody Cape," from the Deftones' latest album, was shot Saturday in Sacramento, California, by director James Minchin (Ryan Adams). The tune will serve as an international single only; a Stateside follow-up to "Minerva" has yet to be chosen. Meanwhile, the guys who comprise singer Chino Moreno's side project Team Sleep plan to record some tracks without Moreno, who'll add his vocals later. ...

Lenny Kravitz has started a record label named after his late mother, Roxie Roker, best known for playing Helen Willis on the '70s sitcom "The Jeffersons." Among the new signings to the Warner Bros.-distributed Roxie Records is singer Dan Dyer. Kravitz, meanwhile, is expected to drop his new LP, Funk, in the fall. ... Taking a cue from their song "Fight Test," the Flaming Lips "thought it better not to fight" and settled with Yusuf Islam's publishing company, which brought up similarities between that song and Islam's 1970 tune "Father and Son," released under his former name, Cat Stevens. Both artists have agreed to split the "Fight Test" royalties. ...

Roscoe will gather his brother Kurupt and other West Coast rappers to shoot a video in July for his next single, "Smooth Sailin'," from Young Roscoe Philaphornia. "We gon' get on a big yacht, we gon' put the yacht in my backyard in the pool because the pool real big," he said. "That's what I'm talking about." ... Due to ongoing band illnesses, CKY were forced to cancel seven of the 10 dates in July they had scheduled with the Deftones when the latter were not performing with the Summer Sanitarium Tour. However, the band will still play shows in Detroit (Saturday), Syracuse, New York (Hellfest, Sunday), and Old Bridge, New Jersey (July 11). Although the band could never kick that cold while on the road, singer Deron Miller had been writing songs for the follow-up to last year's Infiltrate, Destroy, Rebuild and the group hopes to release a DVD by the end of the year. ...

British R&B duo Floetry will record their Thursday show at House of Blues in New Orleans for a live album due in the fall. "That's what we do, that's how we got here," singer Marsha Ambrosius said. "Coming over to the U.S., it was really about being onstage and performing -- the deal and the album came later. So we're trying to emphasize that right now." ... Detroit garage rockers the Von Bondies have inked a deal with major label Sire Records, which is expected to release the quartet's follow-up to 2001's Lack of Communication, produced by the White Stripes' Jack White. The band is currently working with Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison, who has also produced albums by Live and Creeper Lagoon. ...