New songs from Jay-Z, Nelly, Ja Rule, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Cash Money, Juvenile, Rah Digga, Cam'ron and others will be featured on DJ Envy Blok Party Vol. 1: The Desert Storm Mixtape, due in October. Envy's cohorts in the Desert Storm collective, including DJ Clue, provide production work on the album. ... Ja Rule, Irv Gotti, Brandy, Janet Jackson, Sunshine Anderson, J-Swift and Jazze Pha are slated to attend BMI's Urban Awards 2002 at Club Tropigala in Miami Beach on August 6 at 7 p.m. They join a previously announced guest list that includes N.O.R.E., Big Tymers, Lil' Wayne, Juvenile, the Neptunes, Rockwilder and Mario Winans. ...
The first 200,000 people to buy the explicit version of Queens of the Stone Age's new record, Songs for the Deaf, will get a free

DVD featuring studio footage of the band as they worked on the album, three songs from their March show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, two songs from a 2000 Ozzfest performance in St. Louis and an interview from the Secret Tour. The album hits stores August 27. ... To compliment the October 8 release (pushed back from September 3) of her Greatest Hits, Björk will release Family Tree, a box set that chronicles her entire career — including a song she wrote on the flute when she was 15 — on five 3-inch CDs and one 5-inch CD. The collection will feature Sugarcubes tracks, previously unreleased Björk material and classical arrangements of some of her songs by the Brodsky Quartet. ... 3 Doors Down's second album, Away From the Sun, is scheduled to arrive on November 12. The follow-up to their 2000 debut was produced by Rick Parashar (Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Default). ...
Sense Field, Gameface, K-Luna and Crashcart performed at a benefit concert Tuesday that raised $4,800 for Sense Field guitarist Rodney Sellar's 4-year-old daughter, Leilani, who was left paralyzed from the neck down after an automobile accident on May 12. "Right Here Now: A Benefit for Leilani" was held at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California, and will help pay for the child's growing medical expenses. ... Nonpoint will release a DVD titled "Accompaniment" on September 10 that will feature all of their videos as well as backstage footage. The project will also document their U.K. tour and other past touring experiences. ...
Primal Scream are previewing "Some Velvet Morning," their cover of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood song featuring supermodel Kate Moss on vocals, on their Web site, www.primalscream.net. The cover is included on the band's Evil Heat, due in the U.K. on Monday, which also features Robert Plant and My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields. ... Former Smiths frontman Morrissey had to reschedule his first week of U.S. tour dates after he had trouble getting his immigration clearance in time to start rehearsals. The tour, which had originally been slated to start Thursday (August 1) in Salt Lake City, will now begin on August 9 at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. ...
An expanded reissue of Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted will be released on October 22. It will be mixed from original master tapes and include a sizeable portion of extra tracks from the period the LP was recorded as well as previously released B-sides and rare compilation appearances, the band's publicist said. ... On the same date, Pavement will also release a DVD titled "Slow Century." The disc will feature two concerts (one with multiple vantage points), all of the group's videos (with band and director commentary) and a documentary by Lance Bangs that provides an overview of the band's history. ...
07.31.02
Apparently it is really "Murda 4 Life," as Ja Rule has dispelled rumors that Vita left his musical family. "She's a part of Murder Inc., and her album will be out real soon on Murder Inc. Records," Ja said backstage at Jamaica's Reggae Sumfest on Saturday. ... U2 will release their second greatest-hits compilation, U2 - The Best of 1990-2000, on November 12. The first single, "Electric Storm," will be released in October and is one of two new songs on the 17-track album. ... Static X's Tripp Eisen will not be joining his other band, the Murderdolls, on their inaugural U.S. tour, which kicks off July 30 at the Epicentre in San Diego. Acey Slade of Dope will stand in for the guitarist for the duration of the tour. ...
Tuesday night at S.O.B.'s in downtown Manhattan, Arista Records hosted the New York stop on the Grindin' Tour, which features the label's new hip-hop acts. Arista's CEO L.A. Reid and Beat Club member Ms. Jade were among those on hand to watch Lady May, Midwikid, Rob Jackson and the headlining Clipse rap songs from their upcoming albums. ... A couple of miles uptown at B.B. King's in Times Square, singer DJ Rogers Jr. performed a showcase in front of the likes of "Yo! MTV Raps" co-host-turned-NYC radio personality Ed Lover and Motown labelmate India.Arie. Rogers, who has written songs for Faith Evans, 112 and Carl Thomas, drops his debut, Emosoul, on September 17, and it features Arie and Thomas as well as Angie Stone and Heavy D. ...
Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay will host the U.S. finals of the 17th annual DMC American Battleground turntable competition on August 23 at the Roxy in New York City. DJ Premier will be inducted into the DMC Hall of Fame at the competition, which has featured winning DJs like the X-ecutioners, Mix Master Mike and DJ Swamp in the past. ... Bay Area goth-punks AFI will enter a Los Angeles studio next month to begin recording their DreamWorks debut with producers Jerry Finn (Blink-182) and Garbage-man Butch Vig (Nirvana) behind the boards. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what they'll have to add to what we already have created on our own," vocalist Davey Havok said. ...
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, who are currently recording their second album, will curate next year's East Coast edition of All Tomorrow's Parties, which will take place September 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, at the Convention Center and Paramount Theatre. Malkmus plans to take a break from recording to select the lineup for the event, according to his publicist. ... The original members of the Joe Jackson Band are reuniting for the first time in 22 years to record a new album, and they'll embark on a 25th anniversary tour in 2003. The group will be playing warmup gigs in the U.K. in September, and the band's namesake has already written 12 songs for the new album, which is slated for release in March or April.