Thursday, January 17, 2008, 12:41 PM EST [General]
Mary J. Blige 'Lives' Again On TV Soap
Mary J. Blige "lives" again: The R&B singer belted out two
songs — "Just Fine" and "Hurt Again" — along with her band and taped
appearances for upcoming episodes of "One Life to Live." In the eps,
slated to air February 15 and 18, Blige acts as a surprise guest at a
birthday party for one of the show's characters. "It's absolutely
amazing to be integrated into a soap opera I've watched since I was a
little girl," she said in a statement. Blige previously performed songs
on the soap in summer 2006. ...
Remy Ma's case was adjourned again on Thursday (January 17), because her lawyer is ill. The hearing for the rapper, who is facing charges of charges of gang assault and witness tampering, had originally been scheduled for January 10. ...
Universal Motown has fine-tuned its new-releases schedule, and
some of the year's most anticipated albums are right around the corner.
Coming down the pipe are Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III (March 18), David Banner's The Greatest Story Ever Told (March 25), Q-Tip's The Renaissance (March 11), Ashanti's The Declaration (March 25), Erykah Badu's New Amerykah (February 26) and, finally, Nelly's Brass Knuckles (June 24). ...
Ginuwine still has beef with King Music Group Inc. The R&B
star — who sued the record label in early October, claiming he was
tricked into signing a contract with a label that didn't even exist —
has filed a breach-of-contract and fraud complaint against the company
and its purported founder, Michael Bourné. Ginuwine had previously
reached a settlement with King Music Group, according to the complaint,
but now he says the terms of that agreement have also been breached, in
addition to his original contract. "King Music Group and Bourné's
latest breaches have resulted in significant damages and numerous lost
professional opportunities for Ginuwine, as well as his inability to
record new material," the complaint states. According to Ginuwine, per
the terms of his original contract, he was to receive $1.75 million,
including a $500,000 advance, to record his first album for King Music.
But he claims he didn't receive any payment from the label, and that
there was no corporate record for King Music Group Inc. anywhere in New
York, California, Florida or Tennessee. ...
Fat Joe Beefs Up LP With Eddie Murphy Cover; Diddy Joins The 'Party' Too!
Fat Joe is indeed demonstrating his "crazy versatility" — at least
based on a preview of the few records he has leaked from his March
release, The Elephant in the Room. On one hand, you have his
Don Cartagena side, coming out in the official single "I Won't Tell,"
which features J. Holiday. It's a smoothed-out record in which Joe
promises to not spill the beans about his cavorting with a woman who is
with another guy. Then there's "Crack House" (featuring Lil Wayne), for
all the Joey Crack lovers of the Bronx, New York, native's brash
street-shuffling and strong-arming.
Next up is "300." Produced by LV — he's also worked on Jay-Z's American Gangster, Diddy's Press Play and Ghostface's Big Doe Rehab — the track is an ode to Joe's 'hood Spartans — or as we know them, his Terror Squad.
"It's my modern-day 'My Life Style,' " Joe said recently. " 'This is where we fight/ This is where they die/ Booomf! 300 Terror Squad n---as walking down the block/ I am a professional/ I will cut your testicles.' Real violent sh--. It's hard."
Joe said he'll be balancing that out on the album with another
potential single, the Danjahandz-produced "Party All the Time" — yep a
remake of the 1985 Eddie Murphy track that was produced by Rick James.
"I got this song with Diddy called 'Party All the Time,' " he smiled. "We did the old Eddie Murphy [song over].
"The n---a who loves '300' might hate that song," he laughed.
"It's too sexy, but I'm killing that sh--. 'Happy, happy birthday baby/
If this is your song/ I love it when you sing that sh-- to me/ It
really, really turns me on/ No, I go on, I go hard, it's Joey Crack the
Don/ The promoter's buggin', screaming like, "Who invited thum?" ' Danja did that beat. The guys who wanna have a great time and the girls who love to have fun — that's gonna ring off. Versa-til-ity!"
Swizz Beatz, Scott Storch, Cool & Dre and DJ Khaled also contributed to The Elephant in the Room.
MARIAH’S ALBUM TITLED THAT CHICK
Apparently, Mariah had a listening session for the new album, and they revealed that the title of her 11th studio album is That Chick.
Really, Mariah? I don’t know, I’m a little disappointed about the
titled, but still very intrigued about what the new material will sound
like.
At the listening session, 10 new tracks were played, including
“Migrate,” featuring T-Pain, “Lovin’ You Long Time,” which the writer
compared to “It’s Like That” (the first single from Mimi), “Bye Bye,” and “Touch My Body.” Island Def Jam chairman, LA Reid claims that they plan to take That Chick six singles deep, which means it must have some pretty impressive material.
Although it was rumored that Mariah and Janet’s Discipline
were to drop on the same day, Mariah’s album has been pushed back for
April release, with a single (not sure which yet) dropping sometime
this month. We’ll see.
CHART NEWS
It’s time for some more chart news! R&B and hip hop artists are
still leading the charts, with Flo Rida’s “Low,” sitting at the #1 spot
on the BillBoard Hot 100, after being on the charts for 11 weeks.
Behind the Florida native is Alicia Keys with “No One,” holding steady at #2 (she also has the #1 album in the country with her third studio effort, As I Am).
She’s followed by Timbaland and OneRepublic with their crossover hit
“Apologize,” and Chris Brown and T-Pain with the dance hit “Kiss Kiss.”
Don’t ask how, but Soulja Boy has made the transition from ‘07 to ‘08,
holding the #10 spot on the charts.
Rihanna and hitmaker Ne-Yo sit at #11 on the charts, while Chris
Brown is slowly creeping up with this acoustic midtempo, “With You,”
produced by Stargate. Other artists are scattered across the charts, some with a couple of different songs.
I’ve gotten a few e-mails about Janet’s positioning on the chart
with “Feedback.” Well, it only officially impacted radio on the 7th of
January, and has been on the charts for just a week. The single is
currently at #66 on the charts, but will probably be one of the
greatest gainers for radio next week, and should have a big jump soon.
The names oF R&B music star Mary J. Blige, along with rap artists 50 Cent, Timbaland and
Wyclef Jean, and award-winning author and producer Tyler Perry, have
emerged in an Albany-based investigation of steroids trafficking that
has already rocked the professional sports world. Information has
surfaced recently showing those stars are among tens of thousands of
people who may have used or received prescribed shipments of steroids
and injectable human growth hormone in recent years. Law enforcement officials have said they have no evidence in their sprawling multistate
probe that customers, including Blige or other entertainers, violated
any laws. Instead, they are targeting anti-aging clinics, doctors and
pharmacists who prescribed the drugs. For many celebrities, the lure of
hormonal drugs is their supposed, unproven anti-aging effects.
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
He puts on his "gloves and scrubs," and it's Dr. Carter on deck to save the day.
"Your style is a disgrace/ Your rhymes are fifth place/ And I'm just grace," Lil Wayne recently rapped on the set of his album-cover shoot for Tha Carter III.
"One, uno, ace, and I'm trying to make your heart beat like bass/ But
you're sweet like cake, and I've come to fix whatever you shall break.
..."
Wayne was dropping bars from his highly anticipated LP. The performance
was unsolicited but very much appreciated by all within earshot,
including photographer Jonathan Manion.
Weezy's LP should be dropping sometime soon, but he's still working and trying to get Eminem on his potential masterpiece.
"I'm trying to get Eminem on this song for my album," he said. "I did a little something for Dr. Dre's new album [Detox]. When you're busy like us, you just send the song. I just wrote some stuff for [Dre], and hopefully he'll like it."
In addition to Tha Carter III, Weezy said he will also be releasing rock and R&B albums in the future. He didn't say when. ...
Ludacris
Chaka for president! And we're not talking about the lovely, legendary Ms. Khan either. We're referring to none other than Disturbing Tha Peace co-head Chaka Zulu. We caught up with his business partner and friend Ludacris
last week in L.A. 'Cris was wearing a "Chaka for President" T-shirt.
Let's see, since Chaka hasn't been at any of the primaries, 'Cris
probably isn't making a push for Zulu to battle it out with Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton. There's a big vacancy at Luda's recording
home, Def Jam, since Jay-Z resigned recently.
"Nah, we're just generally speaking," 'Cris insisted about the faux campaign effort, with a devious grin on the set of Chingy's "Gimme That" video. "Generally speaking."
DTP signees Ching-a-Ling and Bobby V were more forthcoming about wanting Chaka in the hip-hop Oval Office.
"I think Jay-Z is a good artist, and he was great president," Chingy said. "He brought Rihanna and Ne-Yo
and a couple of artists over there, and they do pretty good. I don't
know his reasons for resigning. ... But Chaka for president? I agree
with that."
"If you're listening," Bobby V, making a joking plea to the powers that
be at Def Jam, "give Luda or Chaka Zulu that executive position,
please. For Bobby V. If they move up, I'll move up too."
"We'll see what happens," 'Cris said.
"I think it's flattering," Chaka said, responding to the support he's
been getting from peeps in the industry. Several people in and out of
his camp have given him their vote of confidence for the position. But
Chaka said he hasn't been contacted by L.A. Reid or any high-ranking Universal Music Group execs about the job.
"When you think about the people who have sat in that chair for that brand — Russell Simmons, Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, then Jay-Z — who were all presidents (also Wes Johnson),
that's a flattering list of people to be considered in the line of,"
Zulu said. "Would I do it? Yeah. I thought about taking a seat. I was
up for an Interscope position two years ago. That in itself is what
opened me up to the thought process of sitting at the head of one of
these labels. I got so much support from everybody when I was going up
for that position — from L.A. Reid to Jay-Z, artists that were on and
off the label, 50 Cent. All of these people were like, 'You
should take that job, and we'll work through you.' In the process of
thinking about [the Interscope job], I'm open to [being a label
president] because I know I would have the support of the artists."
Meanwhile, Ludacris is in the midst of heating up the scene for the release of his upcoming album, Theater of the Mind. He's on Mary J. Blige's new album, Growing Pains (the track "Grown Woman"), as well of remixes of "I'm So Hood" and Shawty Lo's "They Know."
"I'm a fan of a lot of music out there, and if I get an opportunity to
put a verse on there, I'mma show them what it sounds like for Luda to
be on the damn song. Try to take it to another level, and I'm a fan of
everybody's [song] I get on." ...
Tony Yayo
When you're making $50,000 a show just for hyping up the crowd for
somebody else's concert, it's a little difficult to get overly anxious
about putting out your own album. Tony Yayo hasn't been rushing the follow-up to his 2005 effort, Thoughts of a Predicate Felon, even though he's the only member of the G-Unit crew without at least two LPs.
"I got so much material right now," Yayo said last week, fresh from
court. "I'm to a point where I got a little spoiled. Honestly, I been
working, and I got a lot of music. I get paid so well, I wasn't worried
about an album. The average rapper has financial problems. 50 keeps all
of us right. If I'm getting $50,000 a show with 50 and I just did two
months' worth of shows, come on, man. 50 is the biggest rapper. He's
getting half a million just to walk in somewhere, and we're doing
nothing but stadiums. We're going places rappers don't go, where they
don't know rappers.
"There's an album coming," he added. "I have plenty of material. The
title — I ain't think of nothing yet, really, but I got lot of music. I
got over 30 songs. I'm good money. I'm still working."
Yayo says the G-Unit album (tentatively titled Lock and Load) is still coming, and it has contributions from Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz, Havoc and Eminem. But there is no set time table for that release or for the next 50 solo album, Before I Self Destruct.
"It's just really a work process," he said of Lock and Load's
being pushed back from the holiday season. "Everything has to be
launched the right way and worked the right way. Labels like
Interscope, they don't do everything people think they do for G-Unit.
... When G-Unit was at their prime and I got out of jail and 50 sold
all them records — all that was done through G-Unit Records.
"I'm just learning a lot, and I'm learning timing is everything," he
said. "Everything has to be promoted the right way. Before, it would
take a couple of weeks for a single to pick up. Now it takes months.
It's a whole different ballgame. 50 is a smart decision-maker, and we
have to figure out the right way to put out the album. We got some
fire, and we're bringing something new to hip-hop." ...
Bun B
Bun B is back in the booth following the death of his partner-in-rhyme, Pimp C.
The veteran Texas rapper, who is working on his next solo album, paid
us a visit last week to open up about how he's been coping with the
passing of his UGK brother in early December. In some ways, he
said, it reminded him of when Pimp was away in prison, but then the
reality sinks in that the group is no longer going be a two-man show.
"The whole 'Free Pimp C' movement, you look back on it and you know it
was a test, to see if you could handle that," Bun said, referring to
the campaign that surrounded the rapper's incarceration for aggravated
assault. "Knowing you can handle that, you know you can move forward.
... [With] the 'Free Pimp C' movement [I knew that] at some point he
was gonna come back into the situation; we'd be a group again. So that
was always in the back of my mind. In this instance, it's not really
gonna be like that. At no other point in time, throughout this music
career, from here on, are he and I going to physically share a stage
together, gonna physically be in the studio recording together. And
that in itself is a little off-putting."
Bun told us Pimp C's absence still hasn't hit as hard as it eventually
will. He admitted that at one point he and Pimp's mother avoided seeing
each other, although not on purpose, because they both seemed to fear
that speaking to each other would open up more wounds as they tried to
heal. Since then, however, Bun has been able to talk to her, and he's
been able to move on enough to finish his second solo project. He said
he wasn't sure if he'd ever be 100 percent comfortable with recording,
but he knew that at some point he had to push forward.
"I know people will support it, and I know that I'm strong enough to do
it," Bun said of putting out another album. "Just the point of
understanding from here on out, it's just [me] — I'm probably never
gonna be comfortable with it in that sense. It's just a matter of
coming to terms with the reality of it and the finality of the two-man
situation in a physical sense."
In the meantime, Bun is planning on penning verses about Pimp. He said
he wants to give the story behind the men of UGK, but he wasn't sure if
he'd ever release the music. He's spoken with T.I. about coping with the loss of a right-hand man (T.I.'s close friend Philant Johnson was killed while on tour with the MC in 2006).
The Grand Hustle MC told him that, from his experience, recording the
music will help, even if it doesn't ever land on an album.
Aside from seeking advice from Tip, Bun asked Slim Thug, Lil Wayne, Sean Kingston
and "a certain four-man group out of Atlanta that used to be signed to
LaFace" to appear on his album. He said "Now That's Gangster," his
single with the Jamaican teen crooner, should be out soon.
"It's about reclaiming the streets," Bun said of the track.
"Gangsterism is looking like a fad, but it's some real sh--. Not as in
the red, the blue, or 'I'm a G,' but when you out there not doing the
status quo. People need to understand what a gangster is.
"I'mma start with that word and take that word back," Bun finished, "until I can eventually take the whole 'hood back."
Plans for another UGK album are in the works, but Bun said he'll be cautious and that nothing is set in stone yet.
After
the December 29th concert at the Premiere Entertainment Center, Lil
Wayne was supposed to attend the official afterparty at the Congress
Ballroom in Chicago. This afterparty was being thrown by Ming's Dynasty
Records.
This appearance was a makeup appearance for an afterparty Lil Wayne was
paid for and missed in August after the Chicago Summer Jam given by
Ming's Dynasty Records and The Ark Entertainment.
Lil Wayne spent hours backstage getting high and went on stage too late to attend the afterparty. An
infuriated group of men associated with Ming's Dynasty Records and The
Ark Entertainment stormed Lil Wayne's hotel room and assaulted Lil
Wayne's camp including security and forced Lil Wayne's Manager Cortez
to come up with $15,000 cash in order to leave Chicago standing up.
The cash was paid on the spot and Lil Wayne and his camp was allowed to
leave Chicago without further harm. If Lil Wayne's camp was smart they
would have known not to try to cheat this record label owned by Chicago
Ganster Big Ming 6'7'' 320 pounds (Chicago's version of Suge Knight)
and it's main artist Skee Franchise who is a notorious street thugs
from Englewood, Chicago's roughest area.
Lil Wayne was also hit with a bottle while on stage at the concert. That incident appears to be unrelated to the hotel assault.
Thursday, January 10, 2008, 11:44 AM EST [General]
Lil Wayne Wrapping Up LP, Writing For Dr. Dre -- But He's Got Mariah Carey On The Brain
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The curtain is just about ready to be raised on Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III LP.
Weezy was in Miami on Monday with legendary photographer Jonathan
Manion, shooting artwork for the album, and pretty soon he'll be going
back in front of the camera to film the first video for the effort. The
song is called "Showtime."
"The Carter III is coming in 2008. I don't want to give no months, no date," he said. "I got a gang of singles [on Carter III].
[It's] produced by my homeboy Diesel. He's also a Young Money
affiliate. He's down with us. He's a producer/singer/engineer. He does
it all. I have my artist featured on the song. Her name is Chanell. We
already have a remix featuring Brisco and Lil' Boosie."
He added that for the "Showtime" video, "We're gonna get Gil
Green or Benny [Boom] to direct. I really don't know. They're all my
brothers. The concept is really 'Showtime,' just performance. Me and my
artist Chanell gonna play a lot with the video. It's gonna be very
animated but straight to the point. Colorful. Y'all [should be looking]
to be entertained."
Wayne says he's recorded so many songs for the album besides
"Showtime" that he's not sure which ones will make the cut. Just about
every hip-hop producer you can name contributed to Tha Carter III,
including Timbaland, David Banner, Jay Bezel from the Diplomat camp,
T-Mix, Mannie Fresh, Cool & Dre, Just Blaze and even Wayne himself.
"Me and my homeboy Diesel, we got a Kanye West track and added
some drums to it," he said. "I don't know what songs [the record
company] picked. I just know the intros and the single."
Weezy says his side work as the most-sought-after cameo man in
the business isn't slowing down. He just finished a remix of Rick Ross'
"Speedin' " with Fat Joe — don't miss Wayne's use of the same voice
enhancement T-Pain employs — and has been writing for Dr. Dre.
"Call me by a new name: 'Featuring Lil Wayne,' " he joked about
all his guest appearances. But while he has more names on his résumé
than you can count, he did say there's one MC he hasn't worked with but
with whom he really wants to. Actually, that's "M.C.," not "MC."
"I have never done nothing with Mariah Carey, and I would like
to, because I love older women," the 25-year-old said. "I'm attracted
to older women. It's my thing. Mariah Carey, she might need a dude like
me. I do my thing."
*****
Congratulations to Monica and her fiance Rodney “Rocko” Hill who welcomed a baby boy in Atlanta on January 8. The
child who his reportedly named Romello Montez weighed 5 lbs and 6
ounces and was 19 inches tall. Both Monica and the child are both doing
fine.
Monica and Rocko already have a two and a half year old son together named Rodney III (but known to most as 'Lil Rock').
