Six years ago this week, progress was being made in the quest for peace between East Coast and West Coast rappers. Two of the biggest figures in the rivalry, Snoop Dogg and Puff Daddy, had just declared a truce.

"I think what you can expect from this is you can see a little bit more unity as far as hopefully with East Coast rappers and West Coast rappers and producers," Puffy said, "and hopefully you'll see more collaborations and more of a network."

Though some suggested that the calm couldn't have happened if Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight hadn't been thrown in jail, Snoop said it was inevitable no matter what.

"I feel nothing could stop this from happening right now," he said, "'cause from the bottom of my heart I'm doing what I feel is right as an individual, as Snoop Dogg, as what I feel I have to do. Didn't nobody make me do this. ... Basically nobody could stop me."

Among the many offenses that required forgiveness was a video Snoop made with Tha Dogg Pound for "New York, New York," which shows the rapper knocking over buildings in the Big Apple.

"People in New York, they didn't understand," Puffy said. "They didn't really like it. They didn't like the kicking down of the buildings, but at the same time ... this man's articulate. He came and explained his position. Tha Dogg Pound explained their position that it was entertainment. It wasn't meant like that."

Meanwhile, U2 were causing a stir of their own in New York. The Irish rockers held a press conference inside a Kmart to announce their tour behind Pop, which featured production from electronica gurus Flood and Howie B.

"We're here basically to sell our tour to the world, and I don't think there's anywhere better, really, than Kmart," guitarist The Edge announced to the audience.

Singer Bono promised the tour would be "bigger, better, taller, wider, more intimate, more spectacular."

After the chaos of the Kmart press conference, U2 adjourned to the penthouse of the Soho Grand Hotel to chill out.

"You could write a book, a little handbook about how to be in a band," Bono began, heading toward an explanation of the group's approach to Pop. "Right through to trashing the hotel room through to what to wear, what to do. Rock and roll knows what is too much now, and you gotta mix it up, and the best new bands are mixing it up. You don't know where they're coming from. Are they metal? Are they pop? Are they hip-hop? Are they trance? That's what we were trying to do on our record was mix it up."

It's also what they were trying to do with their tour.

"It's the job of rock and roll stars to set fire to themselves, you know, get up on a cross, definitely die at 33," Bono joked. "I'm two, three years over that. I mean, as well as setting fire to ourselves I'm sure we'll be setting fire to every town we take this mad circus."

Perhaps the only thing more outlandish than U2's tour plans was the sight of Kurt Loder singing karaoke with the Spice Girls, but it happened.

"We're here today because Kurt is the karaoke king, and this is his regular hangout bar and we thought we'd join him," Melanie B. explained.

Eventually the night's discussion turned to the return of dance pop in the United States, with Geri Halliwell noting that "everything goes in circles, and I think pop music could be back."

"You can't please everybody," Melanie C. pointed out. "So what we do is we do what we enjoy, and we please ourselves and the bonus is that the rest of the world sort of felt for it and they're enjoying it, too, so hopefully America will get involved."

"And hopefully if you don't like us you can look at us and laugh," Victoria Adams said.

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