North and South have just collided on wax — 50 Cent has added his brash lyrical content to a remix of Ludacris' "Blow It Out." The track has popped up on mixtapes; no word yet where it will officially land. ...
Pharrell Williams, Mandy Moore, Jason Mraz, Missy Elliott and P. Diddy are all taking part in an anti-piracy media campaign created by the Sony Music Creative Services department. The goal of the program is to encourage music fans to download music though legitimate channels such as iTunes.com and Napster.com. The slogan of the campaign is "I download ... legally." Other artists who have pledged their support include 3 Doors Down, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J and Aaron Lewis of Staind. The first advertisements will appear in Billboard magazine. ...
Jay-Z's flirtation with the sports world apparently extends to its magazines, too. Jay joins Denver Nuggets rookie sensation Carmelo Anthony for a photo pictorial in the new issue of ESPN: The Magazine, which hits stands this week. ... Meanwhile, Jay has teamed up with Nokia to create the Black Phone, a limited-edition version of the Nokia 3300 music phone. The Black Phone comes loaded with the entirety of Jay-Z's recently released The Black Album (as MP3s) plus Jigga ring tones. Nokia says registered users of the phone will receive regular text and voice messages from the rapper himself for a limited time, as well — no doubt reminding you to pay your bill. The Black Phone will retail for $124 and hits select Sam Goody and Media Play stores on Friday. ...
Ethan Hawke, Cyndi Lauper, Isaac Hanson and New York Gov. George Pataki came to honor the hobbits at a screening of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" Monday night in New York. While Pataki joked that he'd like to play a hobbit, the actors who did play them — Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) — gleefully countered that the governor was too tall and should consider trying to be an elf instead. ... First Britney Spears auctioned off the car from her "Me Against the Music" video, and now she's giving away the clothes she wore in the clip as well. The singer has partnered with LidRock to give away the pinstripe suit and hat she sported in the video through a sweepstakes happening in conjunction with the release of a remix of the song. The LidRock cups are available via the Sbarro chain. ...
Volatile Australian rock band the Vines will release their second album, Winning Days, on March 23. The disc was produced by Rob Schnapf, who worked on their first album, 2002's Highly Evolved. "F--- the World," a song about the destruction of the environment, was released this week for download at many digital retail sites and on the band's site, www.thevines.com. The first single from the album will be the opening track, "Ride." Other track titles include "Animal Machine," "TV Pro," "Evil Town" and "Amnesia." ... Finally over the medical situation that prevented him from attending his initial court date, Tray Deee of the Eastsidaz appeared in Long Beach Municipal Court in California on Friday to plead not guilty to a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon, which stemmed from an incident in November in which he allegedly fired into a crowd. His trial date has not yet been scheduled. ...
Looking for the next White Stripes, Bright Eyes or Jimmy Eat World? Chances are you'll find them at the 2004 Noise Pop Festival. The annual indie rock fete is in its 12th year and hits San Francisco for its leap-year edition February 24-29. Confirmed to play are the newly reunited American Music Club, Super Furry Animals, the Locust, Gold Chains, Dillinger Escape Plan, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and the Detroit Cobras. ... Prior to the festival, Super Furry Animals will launch their North American tour February 2 in Minneapolis. Dates run through February 28 in Los Angeles. ...
The Black Eyed Peas will play their fifth annual Pea Pod benefit on Friday and Saturday at the intimate Key Club in Los Angeles. The shows, which also feature the Jungle Brothers and DJ Maseo of De La Soul, will benefit the Five Acres Children's Home of Los Angeles. ... After postponing the start of his North American tour last week due to a case of the flu, David Bowie has rescheduled the dates for the end of his trek. The cities and rescheduled dates are Philadelphia (March 29), Boston (March 30), Toronto (April 1), Fairfax, Virginia (May 16), and Atlantic City, New Jersey (May 29). ... Alt-country rockers Old 97's will launch a short tour January 17 in Chicago. Dates run through January 25 in New York. The band's last record was 2001's Satellite Rides; the group plans to return to the studio early next year. ...
12.15.03
At a hearing held Friday to determine if C-Murder will get a new murder trial, a key prosecution witness testified that she had seen someone other than the rapper with a gun moments before 16-year-old Steve Thomas was shot and killed, though that testimony had not been included in the original trial. C-Murder's attorneys argue that that and similar information was wrongly withheld, and they claim that witnesses had criminal records — such as warrants for traffic tickets — expunged in exchange for testimony. Prosecutors denied this charge, saying the only help they offered was to protect witnesses from the rapper's friends, since some had received anonymous threatening phone calls. C-Murder was convicted in September of killing Thomas on January 12, 2002, at a nightclub MC battle in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The hearing will resume on January 15. ...
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul has found her king. Mary J. Blige married record producer Kendu Isaacs in a quiet ceremony on December 7 at the singer's home in New Jersey. Blige has regularly credited Isaacs for rescuing her from depression and drug abuse. ... Ozzy Osbourne, who is recovering from emergency surgery after breaking eight ribs, a vertebra and his collarbone in an ATV accident a week ago, is now breathing on his own, according to a statement from Wexham Park Hospital near London. The singer also learned of some other good news on Monday (December 15): His duet with daughter Kelly, "Changes," debuted at #1 on the U.K. singles chart. ...
Rumors had been circulating that Beyoncé would be showing appreciation to her gay fans by performing at New York club Roxy's weekly gay dance party on Saturday, and the singer did indeed fulfill everyone's hopes. B took to the stage and sang "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy." ... Sean Paul has finished a couple more songs — tentatively titled "Close to Me" and "Rebirth" — for his next record, which he hopes will feature some unexpected collaborators. "There's a big list," he said recently. "There's so many people I wanna work with. And that's the greatest thing that I have, I have that opportunity right now." ...
Metallica have announced the first 17 dates of their upcoming tour with Godsmack. The Madly in Anger With the World Tour will launch March 2 in Phoenix, with dates currently scheduled through March 31 in Denver. Tickets will go on sale on Saturday. Dates for April and May will be announced shortly. ... Simple Plan have several songs written for their next album, which they plan to release next year. The Montreal rockers are thinking about the Black Eyed Peas and Rancid as possible collaborators. ...
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest has signed on to replace longtime "American Top 40" host Casey Kasem beginning January 10. The revamped show will feature live performances and contests. ... In other "American Idol" news, Frenchie Davis, the singer who was kicked off the show for working at an adult-oriented Web site, will star in a touring revival of the 1980s musical "Dreamgirls." Davis, who has also appeared in "Rent," will play Effie Melody White in the production, which will debut in San Jose, California, from January 9-25 before traveling to Sacramento and Seattle. ...
Aerosmith will reward fans who donate food to the homeless by offering them a pass to attend soundcheck at the band's Thursday show at the Los Angeles Forum. The offer is open to the first 2,000 people who bring a minimum of one standard-sized grocery bag of nonperishable food to the venue the day of the show. Fans will also receive a coupon for a discount to that evening's show. ... As a holiday gift to his wife, Heather Mills-McCartney, and baby daughter Beatrice, Paul McCartney recorded an orchestral version of the unreleased Beatles track "Mother and Child." McCartney entered a North London studio last week with an ensemble of violinists and harp players to record the song, which he plans to play for them on Christmas. McCartney started writing "Mother and Child" in the '60s, and the song was originally intended to appear on Let it Be, but it was never completed. There are no plans to release the number as a commercial single. ...
Amel Larrieux has set a January 20 release date for her second solo album, Bravebird. The former Groove Theory singer just scored a Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Grammy nomination for "Where Is the Love" with Stanley Clarke and Glenn Lewis. ... George Wendt (best known as Norm from "Cheers"), bassist Mike Watt, superpimp Rudy Ray Moore (a.k.a. Dolemite) and a renowned Egyptian belly dancer are featured in Cobra Verde's new video, "Riot Industry!" The song is included on the Cleveland rockers' Easy Listening, which was recently released on MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer's Muscletone label. ...
Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon has formed an entertainment company with Randy Spelling (son of TV's Aaron Spelling) called Ice Water Inc. The company has an ambitious agenda: to produce music, movies and fashion lines. ... Early next year, former Afghan Whigs singer Greg Dulli and Queens of the Stone Age guest vocalist Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees) will enter a studio in San Rafael, California, to record a collaborative project under the name the Gutter Twins. ...
