50 Cent's re-release of The Massacre, due September 6, will not only include a video for every song on the album (21 total), but will also come with a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep, the newest signees to G-Unit Records. "I'm the king of originality," 50 said. "No artist has ever done this before. The videos allow consumers to see exactly what I was thinking about when I made the music." 50's also wrapped production on his film debut, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," which will hit theaters in November. Meanwhile, 50's video game "Bulletproof" will be in stores November 15. ...

Bow Wow might be Ciara's main man, but she's got a new love in her next video, "And I," which she shot with the Fat Cats on Saturday. Actually, make that two new loves. In the clip, Ciara has one boyfriend (played by the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony), but he's cheating on the singer, so she ditches him for her bodyguard. ... Ashlee Simpson is "so excited" about her new album, which she's calling In Another Life. "It's all so near, and I have a bunch of songs I really love," she said of the LP, due in October. One of those songs, first single "L.O.V.E.," she said is "just about me and my girlfriends going out, not needing a man in our lives." While she hasn't planned a video for that song just yet, she is about to shoot her album cover. ...

For the second time in a week, Black Sabbath were forced to drop off of the Ozzfest lineup, leaving the headlining duties to Iron Maiden. When fans arrived for the Noblesville, Indiana, Ozzfest stop on Sunday, they were told that Sabbath would not be performing that evening, but that Maiden would be playing an extended set. The venue's Web site blames an illness within the band for the Sabbath no-show. ... The Dave Matthews Band ran a two-day book drive this past weekend on New York's Randalls Island, and ended up gathering more than 50,000 books during the event to benefit Big Apple public schools. More than a dozen schools will get 40,000 books, while another 10,000 books will be sent to the band's home state, where they will be distributed by the Virginia Literacy Foundation. ...

Touring is a tough gig for the Gorillaz, given they only exist in two dimensions. While they do hope to launch a massive animated world tour, this time around, they want to do something special, and get everyone who's on the album (as well as the last album) together for a few shows. That includes actor Dennis Hopper, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, former Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, De La Soul and Pharcyde. "We've settled for a week somewhere," Damon Albarn told MTV Europe, "but we probably won't get Doom, as MF Doom can't leave the country, and Del the Funky Homosapien won't leave the country. I'm not going to say where, or when, but definitely later this year. Only one town, but not London, and that's the time we're gonna have everyone together on the one stage, for a week." "Logistically, it's quite a big one to arrange," animator Jamie Hewlett added. "But it's happening, it's definitely happening. Like a monster truck show, but with people." ...

The Pixies, Oasis, the Killers, Beck, Jet, Belle & Sebastian, Gang of Four and the New York Dolls are the first slew of artists confirmed for the inaugural Across the Pond concerts, which will be held simultaneously at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, New York, and Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, New York, on October 1 and 2. More musical heavyweights have been tapped to attend, according to the show's promoter, and additional artists will be announced later this week. ... Mission of Burma's recent reunion wasn't a one-off -- the post-punk Bostonians (championed by such artists as R.E.M., Blur and Moby) plan to do a follow-up to 2004's OnOFFon, and will enter the studio in September. ...

Cold have lined up several live gigs, which will serve as a primer for the band's forthcoming disc, A Different Kind of Pain, which drops August 30. The first date is set for August 18 in Portland, Oregon, and the group will wrap things up on September 16 in Louisville, Kentucky. ... Drummer Ben Verellen has quit These Arms Are Snakes, according to the band's Web site; no explanation has been offered. The Seattle quintet wasted no time finding a replacement, as they've filled the vacancy with Chris Common, a former Hey Mercedes roadie. ...

07.29.2005

On August 25, during the Dallas stop on this summer's Ozzfest, Drowning Pool will take the stage for the first time with their third -- and Soil's erstwhile -- frontman Ryan McCombs, according to a spokesperson for Drowning Pool. The band is writing new material with McCombs for its third album, which should surface late this year or early next. The lineup change -- which follows the June departure of Jason "Gong" Jones, who was brought in after the 2002 death of original Drowning Pool vocalist Dave Williams -- has sparked some beef between the two bands. On Soil's Web site, bassist Tim King vilified McCombs, saying he will "be singing the very songs he hailed as 'average,' " and capped off his tirade with "Drowning Pool can have him. Now we have the better singer [in A.J. Cavalier] and the better band." ...

The recording industry unleashed its latest round of lawsuits against illegal file-sharers on Thursday, targeting 765 individuals. The "John Doe" suits against users of such P2P services as Grokster, eDonkey, Kazaa and LimeWire were filed in federal district courts from California to New York one week after music companies filed 176 suits against individuals whose names were subpoenaed from their ISPs. In light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling against Grokster, Recording Industry Association of America president Cary Sherman said the organization will "significantly" expand its anti-piracy efforts in the coming months. ... Hey, did you really enjoy Interpol's Antics album when it first came out back in September 2004? If so, then you'll really love it when you buy it again as a deluxe two-disc special edition on August 23. Dubbed Antics: The Special Edition, the set is a completist's dream, featuring an unreleased song, "Song Seven," plus an Antics track remixed by each member of the band, and the three videos off the album: "Slow Hands," "Evil" and "C'mere." ...

Blondie, the MC5's Wayne Kramer and former D Generation frontman Jesse Malin will perform at New York's legendary CBGB club on Monday at 8 p.m., in the first of a series of concerts being organized by the Save CBGB campaign, according to a spokesperson for Malin. The concert will be preceded by a press conference, during which it's expected "Sopranos" star and E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt will discuss the details of a monthlong campaign to help preserve the punk-rock landmark and spare it from closure. The cradle of punk faces eviction at the end of August, unless the club's owner, Hilly Kristal, can negotiate a new lease for the Bowery space that houses the venue. ... Los Angeles punks the Bronx will portray Black Flag in the upcoming film "What We Do Is Secret," a biopic about Darby Crash and the Germs starring Lukas Haas and Bijou Phillips. The Mae Shi will appear in the film as the Screamers. ...

He's a guy whose debut album sold more than 3 million copies, and who, 10 years ago, had one of the hottest songs in the country. But it's been a while since we've heard from Warren G, the Long Beach, California, rapper who pretty much invented G-Funk with his '94 tune "Regulate." And while he's been cranking out records ever since, he's becoming better known in the LBC for his charity work, including his annual "G Christmas," where he buys toys for children at the California Recreation Center; and his midnight basketball league, designed to help keep kids off the street. So it's somewhat fitting that on Thursday, Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill announced that the week of August 1-6 will be Warren G Week, a celebration of all his work. Warren will perform a couple of concerts during the week, including one on August 6 in the hangar of the historic ocean liner the Queen Mary. ... Some people tour nightclubs, some people tour colleges, and there have even been instances where artists have toured Boys & Girls clubs. Soul singer Sharissa is taking it to the next level and doing a tour of prisons in advance of her September 27 release, Every Beat of My Heart. On Thursday she started at Rikers Island in New York, singing for male inmates. She's scheduled to perform for all the women inmates on Friday (July 29). There is no word yet on exactly how many correctional facilities Sharissa will be hitting. ...

Struggling to figure out how to break into hip-hop? A DVD series promises to teach you, with advice from producers Rockwilder and Just Blaze, managers Mona Scott and Blue Williams, and video directors Benny Boom and Jessy Terrero. DreamSpring's how-to series (available on DreamSpringEntertainment.com) has eight titles so far, including "Secrets to Getting a Record Deal" (featuring A&R reps from Jive, Shady and G-Unit), "Secrets to Being a Successful Music Producer," "Secrets to Being a Successful Manager" (with tips from managers of Outkast, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes and 50 Cent), "Secrets to Being a Working DJ" (featuring DJ Kay Slay and DJ Kid Capri), and "Secrets to Careers in the Urban Fashion Industry" (featuring execs from Sean John, Ecko and Reebok). A portion of the proceeds will go to Akidemics, a nonprofit providing educational programs for inner-city children. ...

Don't worry that Liz Phair has chucked it all for teen pop, despite working with Ashlee Simpson's producer John Shanks on her upcoming album, Somebody's Miracle, due October 4. "People get very uptight about staying in a certain genre or not breaking out of your expected style," Phair said. "If I like indie rock, I can't like pop. Or if I'm a pop person, I have no credibility in rock. But for me, I just decided to go farther and take my aesthetic stand stronger." Song titles on the more grown-up Miracle include "Leap of Innocence," "Table for One," "Stars and Planets," "Lazy Dreamer" and first single "Everything to Me," which asks a lover to "take the time to catch me if I fall" while also asking, "Do you really know me at all?" ...