Missy Elliott appeared on Ciara's album, and now the singer is returning the favor -- by singing and rapping on Elliott's upcoming LP. "The one thing nobody really knows is that before I was doing the singing, I was rapping," Ciara said on Thursday. "I wasn't in the studio or anything, but I used to sit on the porch and freestyle with the guys, my little cheesy raps." Upon hearing about this, Elliott knew what she had to do -- coax Ciara to rap for real. "Missy made me do it," Ciara said. "It sounds weird right now, but I'm just doing a little bit. I hope it's OK, but I trust her." Their as-yet-untitled song together is potentially Missy's first single, Ciara said. "It's about music, how music makes you feel and makes you lose control. It's uptempo, it's dance, it's crazy." ...

Lindsay Lohan was forced to halt filming on her latest movie after spraining her ankle Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The film does not have a title yet, and is being shot in New York. A Lohan rep told the paper that the teen queen sustained the injury while shooting a scene that required she hop from a taxi in stilettos. ... Mariah Carey's not going to let "Glitter" bring her down -- she's hoping to bounce back with her next movie role, which just might be a part in an upcoming ensemble pic called "Ladies Night," about a group of women who spend a night on the town discussing everything from careers to sex and love. The project's being produced by "Monster's Ball" producer Lee Daniels, whom Carey called "amazingly talented" and "very edgy." "We'll see what happens," Carey said recently. "It'll be great. I'm sure whatever he does is going to be special." ...

Irv and Chris Gotti appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday (March 18) for a pretrial hearing in the Murder Inc. money-laundering case. Their lawyers began the process of trying to sever their case from that of Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and the other defendants in the case who are charged with more severe crimes, such as murder. Chief Judge Edward Korman granted them the opportunity to make such an application, which will be heard at the next hearing. The Gottis are due back in court on May 13. ... Meanwhile, everything's coming up roses for Inc. princess Ashanti, who's unveiling a flower-themed window at New York's Macy's Herald Square on Sunday to promote her role in the upcoming "Muppets' Wizard of Oz," airing in May on ABC. The department store's Broadway windows will feature six scenes from the film recreated with thousands of live flowers. The re-telling of the L. Frank Baum classic also stars Queen Latifah, Quentin Tarantino, Kermit and Miss Piggy. ...

While testimony was put on hold for the day, the judge in the Michael Jackson trial on Friday granted a special hearing -- to take place March 28 -- to determine whether the singer's prior alleged sexual abuse is admissible, and if the boy at the center at the 1993 molestation case will be allowed to testify. Judge Rodney Melville said that he expects to rule that day, and Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon indicated that he may call witnesses on Jackson's past on that Monday, which means the 1993 accuser could testify as soon as that day if the judge rules in the prosecution's favor. The defense filed for a mistrial -- which the judge denied -- since the former housekeeper who testified this week named boys who've had extensive stays with Jackson over the years, and some of them are involved in this upcoming hearing. Melville also ruled that he would allow the prosecution to subpoena Jackson's financial documents, but he's limiting the scope and said that the prosecution can't examine the information until the documents are first opened in court. ...

Young Buck's court date Friday (March 18) in connection with the melee at last fall's Vibe Awards was continued to April 18. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled then. ... Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz will not be taking the stage for the next four dates of the Taste of Chaos Tour, according to Roadrunner Records. The guitarist and producer "aggravated a prior injury" recently, sidelining him for at least a week. Fans in Omaha, Nebraska; Denver; Kansas City, Missouri; and St. Paul, Minnesota, will witness the band performing as a quartet. ... Slipknot's Tuesday night show in Lowell, Massachusetts, went on without Clown (Shawn Crahan), who dropped off the band's tour to return home due to an illness in the family, according to the band's spokesperson. Crahan missed the group's appearance on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on March 1 for the same reason. He's expected to rejoin the tour for Friday's show in Hampton, Virginia. . ...

Mike Doughty has recorded a duet with Dave Matthews called "Tremendous Brunettes" for the former Soul Coughing frontman's upcoming solo album, Haughty Melodic, due May 3 on Matthews' ATO Records. Semisonic singer Dan Wilson produced the album, which Doughty will promote with a U.S. tour kicking off May 4 in Washington, D.C., and wrapping May 26 in Denver. ... Sometime between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Thursday, a trailer containing nearly every piece of musical gear belonging to rockers the Decemberists was stolen from outside a house in southeast Portland, Oregon. The white Wells Cargo trailer has a green "VT" (Vermont) sticker on the side door, a British flag sticker on the front and a "No on 36" sticker on the left back door. Anyone with information is asked to report it to the Portland police. The band has been forced to postpone its date in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday night, but the tour in support of its just-released album, Picaresque, is otherwise proceeding as planned. ...

03.17.2005

For Young Buck's 24th birthday, some of the rapper's fans gave him the sort of gift that just keeps on giving: bad press. Buck threw himself a party Wednesday night at a Nashville, Tennessee, nightclub, and according to The Associated Press, some uninvited guests tried to crash the soiree -- an assemblage of 700 revelers, and a bunch of cops. The crowd rushed the doors of the Trap, but police and shotgun-wielding security guards managed to hold them at bay. Three people were arrested on minor charges. Buck was not charged in the incident, but a police spokesperson told the wire service that police asked him to help them calm the crowd and he refused. ...

Nicole Richie is promising that her debut album will finally hit shelves this year. "I've just been trying to put my whole heart in it because I have so many projects, so it's taking a little longer than I expected," she said. "It's like a mixture of rock and soul, a little bit of dance also. I play piano, violin and cello, so I'm gonna be playing [those instruments] on my album as well." ... P. Diddy, T.I. and a host of other celebs recently gathered in New York for "Rip the Runway," a BET special dedicated to hip-hop fashion and music. Sean John, Baby Phat and G-Unit collections were shown, and Fabolous, Brooke Valentine, Amerie and others performed. The show airs March 24 at 9 p.m. ET and will be hosted by "America's Next Top Model" winner Eva Pigford and stylish man-about-town Farnsworth Bentley. ...

Ruben Studdard is already working on the follow-up to his gospel collection, I Need an Angel, but the second "American Idol" winner is releasing one more single from that album first, "Ain't No Need to Worry," featuring Mary Mary. Studdard is also meeting with movie producers about acting. "I am looking forward to stretching out and doing some different stuff," he said. ... Diana DeGarmo, who returned to record stores this week on the "Ice Princess" soundtrack (with a song called "Reachin' for Heaven"), is debating between "Cardboard Castles" and "Then I Woke Up" as the next single from her debut album, Blue Skies. She's also in talks to be the opening act on a couple of spring pop tours. "I'm very anxious to perform," DeGarmo said. "That's the whole reason why I do this." ... Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. almost missed her first trip to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest Music Festival. Seems the female MC's visa application went missing for a while, nearly derailing her U.S. tour, according to her spokesperson. She did miss dates in San Francisco and Seattle, but all is well now and the "Galang" singer will continue her U.S. tour with upcoming shows in Miami on Wednesday and Philadelphia on March 27. ...

Jay-Z's been busy in his new post as head of Def Jam, and has a few new signings under his belt already. Seventeen-year-old Detroit native Tierra Marie, who will be executive produced by Sean Garrett ("Goodies," "Yeah!," "Lose My Breath"), will release her debut on Roc-A-Fella/ Def Jam in the spring. Another new teen signed to Def Jam is 16-year-old Barbados-based Rihanna, who will be produced by Vada Nobles (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill). Her first single will be "Pon de Replay." ... Want to save embattled New York punk institution CBGB? Then eat lots and lots of chocolate. The Big Apple's West Village chocolate specialty store Chocolate Bar is launching a limited-edition line of CBGB's gourmet sweets this May, including the Punk Rock Box (a 16-piece truffle collection with iconic imagery stamped on the goodies themselves), and CBGB Retro Bars (2.25 ounces in two flavors). Both come with a postage-paid petition to save the venue, while the truffle box also includes a steel logo keychain and a collection of the club's stickers. You can preorder at www.chocolatebarnyc.com. ...

The Source magazine -- whose co-owners David Mays and Ray Benzino have a well-publicized beef with Eminem -- has joined the Reverend Al Sharpton's call for a 90-day radio/TV ban for music artists who engage in violence, according to a magazine spokesperson. "It is inspiring to see that Reverend Al Sharpton is speaking out against the crisis of corporate manipulation of violence in the hip-hop industry, which is benefiting the bottom line of a few major conglomerates," Mays said in a statement. "In no way does The Source support the censorship of hip-hop artists, but we are opposed to artists and their backers that use acts of violence or the incitement of violence over the public airwaves to promote record sales." ... Meanwhile, the magazine is going through quite a shake-up. The Source just bounced the editor in chief and the managing editor, while the music editor and other staffers have also recently been let go. Joshua "Fahiym" Ratcliffe has since been named the new editor in chief, after having served as the mag's deputy editor, while the search for a managing editor continues. ...

On April 26, the Eels will release Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, a two-disc album about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God," according to a posting on the band's Web site by frontman Mark Oliver Everett, a.k.a. E. "It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm ... and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory." ... Bust out your best broken robot dance. Autechre will release their eighth album, Untitled, on April 19. The electronic duo will embark on a 20-date U.S. tour in support of their follow-up to 2003's Draft 7.30 on May 6 in Washington, D.C.; the trek will wrap May 28 in Asheville, North Carolina. ...