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| Game Explains Why He Attacks Jesse Jackson In 'Letter To The King' Posted: 27 Aug 2008 05:00 AM PDT 'People like me with voices gotta step in,' rapper says of L.A.X. track.
It's January 15, and Game is pursuing the American Dream with a vengeance. He's in the studio with DJ Toomp and a gang of homies and women, and he's working on his third album, L.A.X. The kid from Compton has filled his résumé with potent, poignant raps, shaking up the mixtape circuit and parlaying his skills into multiplatinum sales. Because it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, tributes to the civil-rights leader, who was assassinated four decades ago, are showing constantly on the television screen. Amid the celebrations comes a disgrace: a news report about a shooting on Los Angeles' Crenshaw Boulevard during a MLK Day parade. The Game looks around and sees that almost everything he's doing is contradictory to King's legendary "dream." There's blunt smoke in the air and all types of liquor, and the scenario has the Game a little unsettled. At the same time, he's inspired. After kicking everyone out, he places a call to Hi-Tek and gives him instructions for making a beat. " 'Take me back to '65,' " he recalled instructing Tek. " 'Martin Luther King is getting dressed in the morning. Coretta Scott King is dusting his shoulders off. He's about to go out. The dude waiting in the car, I'm him. I don't know if I'm his homie; I'm just gonna drive him to where he's going, and I'm gonna talk to him.' Then he came with [the track]. When we heard that beat, we went nuts. I immediately wrote three verses." The instrumental that Tek provided, for a song that would be called "Letter to the King," turned out to be as soulful as lunch after Sunday church service. He wanted to add to the record with a guest spot and thought of Common and Nas. Since Common was already on an L.A.X. track called "Angel," his good friend Nas was an easy choice. As it happened, Nas was right around the corner from the studio. "I called Nas, he came through, knocked it out," Game said. "So many people tried to take that record off the album. This record is a hip-hop must. That record, 'Never Can Say Goodbye' and 'Angel,' those are the meat and potatoes of what hip-hop is about." Indeed, "Letter to the King" is one of the most provocative album cuts you'll hear this year. It is definitely a song you'll have to rewind a few times, especially Game's last verse. "The word 'n---er'/ Is nothin' like 'n---a,' " Game rapped on Tuesday during a visit to MTV's New York offices. "Don't sound sh-- alike/ Like Game, like Jigga/ ... One is slang for 'my brotha'/ One is 'hang and take his picture/ The rope ain't tight enough/ He's still alive, go fix it/ Pour some gasoline on him/ Call his daughters black bitches/ Make him pick cotton/ While they mama cleanin' up the kitchen.' " "When I first wrote it, man, that was ill," Game said. "I don't even believe I be writing sh-- like that sometimes. When I'm in the zone, man, I'm in the zone." The record ends with Game weaving in references to Rihanna with civil-rights history and taking a jab at the Reverend Jesse Jackson. "I need Rihanna's umbrella/ For Coretta Scott's teardrops/ When she got the phone call that/ The future just took a f---in' head shot/ I wonder why Jesse Jackson didn't catch him/ Before his body drop/ Would he give me the answer?/ Probably not." Game explained his fiery words to us. "Jesse Jackson, all the things he's done great for our people, you commend him for it. But the way he spoke about Obama, Jesse Jackson was wrong for what he did," the rapper said, referring to Jackson's videotaped comment that he wanted to "cut [Obama's] n--s off." "I wanted to expose a little of his dark side. Don't forget he had a baby out of wedlock awhile back. Everybody is imperfect. But when you do something like that, disrespect a situation that's affecting us all on an everyday basis, people like me with voices gotta step in. "Jesse Jackson is always in pictures with Martin Luther King, and he's always talking about Martin Luther King in his speeches," Game continued. "On the day King got shot, he wasn't there. [Editor's note: Jackson was present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in April 1968, but he was not on the balcony with King when he was shot.] When I say, 'How come you couldn't catch your man's body when it dropped?,' it's because you couldn't if you wanted to. You was somewhere else. You claimed to be his man. Where were you that day?" Game has some advice for Jackson on how to respond to his provocations. "I wasn't even born then, but I'm real knowledgeable," he said. "You can't get it over on me. I don't mind letting you slide until you do some crazy ish. Then I have to give you a bar or two. [Jackson] got one on 'My Life.' That was a little brash, Hurricane Game. Then he got one that was real Game, real conscious, real hip-hop, on 'Letter to the King.' But it was well-deserved. If I was him, I would take it on the chin and walk away." Related Artists | |
| Will.I.Am Looking Forward To Barack Obama's 'Important' Acceptance Speech Posted: 27 Aug 2008 05:00 AM PDT 'This speech is important because the time is important,' Black Eyed Peas rapper says at the Democratic National Convention.
Longtime Barack Obama supporter and Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.I.Am hit Denver for the Democratic National Convention to show his support for the presidential hopeful. This isn't the first time Will.I.Am has publicly showed love for Obama — back in February he released a video endorsing the Illinois senator that featured Obama's January 8 New Hampshire primary-night address. The "Yes We Can" clip not only spread Obama's message but became a YouTube sensation.
Will.I.Am spoke passionately about remixing Obama's speech: "The words of his speeches inspired the song. I didn't write a lyric. The only thing I wrote was the melody," he said. "I could say, 'I support Barack Obama. I want him to be the president,' or I could do an immediate thing." Will says the spirit of his connection with the senator lies in the song "Yes We Can." "I don't think Barack said, 'Yeah, I like Will.' I think it's the song — he embraced the song 'cause I captured the message," he explained. "I didn't put my opinion on it. I think Barack and the campaign embraced the song. It's beyond me." Will.I.Am eagerly anticipates the delivery of Barack's speech on Thursday at the DNC and hopes that it will show everyone what he already knows: Barack is ready to run the country. "This speech is important because the time is important," he said. "It's important, 'cause it's engaging the people who have supported him. " ... There's people who are going to be skeptical," he added, "but with the momentum of the victory, that's going to propel us up the hill. It's beyond just black and white. It's American — and I'm just happy to be here."
And don't worry about missing out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30. Related Artists | |
| Hillary's DNC Speech Bridges The Gap, Obama And Clinton Supporters Agree Posted: 26 Aug 2008 10:38 PM PDT First-time delegate Hector Balderas and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s son Conor both leave senator's address impressed.
DENVER — It was the night the Democratic Party was looking forward to ... and dreading. As some of the pledged delegates for New York Senator Hillary Clinton vocally expressed support for their candidate of choice during her prime-time speech Tuesday night (August 26) at the Democratic National Convention, others worried that the divisions between the Clinton camp and that of presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama could send a message of disunity at a time when the party was trying to put on its most unified face for the world. "Whether you voted for me, or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," said Senator Clinton during her rousing speech, during which the floor of the convention center was a sea of signs that said either "Hillary" or "Obama" on one side and "Unity" on the other. "We are on the same team, and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future. And it's a fight we must win together. "We were all very interested to see her reasons for supporting Barack Obama, and so I think it's very clear tonight that she was a strong messenger that we have to change our country and that it's OK, even though we supported Hillary Clinton in the past, to unite behind Barack Obama," said Hector Balderas, 34, an elected Clinton delegate who serves as the state auditor for New Mexico and is the youngest Hispanic statewide elected official in the country. Speaking outside the Pepsi Center just after the Clinton address, Balderas was joined by Conor Kennedy, 14, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose family, like Balderas', faced some internal squabbling over which Democratic candidate they were going to back in this election. "Even though I can't vote, I'm trying my best to support Obama and get the word out about how great he is and what an inspiration he's going to be," said the preternaturally on-message Kennedy, who was wearing a dark blue suit, red tie and Vans. "I've met a lot of women who switched from Hillary to McCain just because they were upset, so I think it's really, really important that she came here. It's a great thing. ... She had everyone on their feet clapping for her. It was an inspiring speech, and I think that it spoke to everyone." After the bitterly contested primary, Clinton unequivocally threw her support behind Obama on Tuesday night, even if, as Balderas noted, there was a bit of a scramble and some grumbling among members of the delegation over which of the unity signs to take during the speech. Free of the bitterness that marked the campaign, Clinton called herself a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" during the 23-minute address and repeatedly stressed the importance of those who supported her lining up behind Obama to defeat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. "No way, no how, no McCain," she said. Despite the obvious, intense emotion on the floor, Balderas said her message of unity definitely sunk in. "People were ... clinging to her every word in many ways," he said. "She put things in proper perspective. She clearly said that it wasn't about her, it was about the many Americans who are suffering, the many Americans who want change in this country, and so I think that we've left a better and more united party." As a first-time delegate, Balderas said he's learned this week that people may not necessarily set aside their preferences in terms of candidates, but that they will unite in an effort to "improve our country." While it may not have healed all wounds, Balderas said Wednesday was likely going to be a new day, with a focus on McCain's and Obama's policies and the plan to beat the Republican candidate in November. "It will take us some time, but we will be a united party, and because of both leaders, we're going to be a stronger party and we'll feel that power in November." Despite the split in his family, Kennedy said, from the start "we all knew we had two really great leaders here. Even when our family was divided, we were not the ones making fun of each other for that choice," he said, smiling. "As long as we're not voting McCain, I think we're all cool about that. We really got lucky with ... Hillary and Obama this year. ... It's great that they've come together." According to a recent New York Times poll, as many as half of Clinton's delegates were onboard with Obama as the party's pick, but a portion of them, possibly more than 5 percent, were not planning to support Obama. On Wednesday, Clinton plans to release all her delegates to the Obama campaign, officially ending her bid for the presidency, though CNN reported that just hours before the Clinton address, some supporters were still threatening to jump ship and possibly support McCain. In the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, Clinton's backers were not shy about voicing their opinions on buttons, hats and T-shirts bearing the New York senator's name and likeness. During the speech, the hundreds of attendees who could not get onto the floor for the address huddled around monitors and cheered as loudly as the crowd inside did for the applause lines. As late as Tuesday afternoon, it was still unclear what would happen during Wednesday's roll-call vote. According to reports, there was a tentative deal in place that would let some states cast their votes in the roll call before someone, possibly Clinton, cut the vote off and asked for Obama to be nominated by unanimous consent. Before the speech, Clinton had not publicly instructed her delegates on how to vote, and the uncomfortable behind-the-scenes dance put some Clinton backers who feel Obama has not shown the former first couple the proper respect on edge. "It seems to be a little more of a problem than I anticipated," former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler told The Associated Press on Tuesday before the speech. "All you need is 200 people in that crowd to boo and stuff like that, and it will be replayed 900 times. And that's not what you want out of this."
Don't miss out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30. Related Photos | |
| Barack Obama's Daughters Wanted Jonas Brothers, Not Their Dad, Onstage At DNC Posted: 26 Aug 2008 04:49 AM PDT Malia and Sasha Obama hoped for a surprise JoBro appearance, but got dad via satellite instead.
While his opponent may be trying to brand him as a celebrity, Barack Obama isn't the biggest star in his own daughters' eyes. When Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Monday night after their mom Michelle's speech, they had no idea their dad was going to be beamed in live via satellite. When Mrs. Obama told the girls she had a surprise for them, the potential first lady was pretty surprised at the response. "Is it the Jonas Brothers?" Malia asked. The girls were pretty upset when they found out they would have to be in Denver during the same weekend Kevin, Nick and Joe would be in their hometown of Chicago — the girls' love for the Jonas boys is well-documented. The senator spent his birthday lounging around and drinking beer while his daughters danced around to the superstars' music on their iPods. And while he finds their music "wholesome enough," he doesn't entirely get it. "Who are these guys?" he recalled asking his daughters while visiting "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" last February. "And how many pictures of them do you need on your wall?" With two of the three Jonas Brothers old enough to vote this November, you've got to wonder: Are the familial feelings mutual? Earlier this month during a trip to the White House, Kevin and Joe refused to endorse either candidate. "But we do endorse voting ... getting to know the issues, learning about the candidates and [making] a decision for yourself," Kevin Jonas said.
Don't miss out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30. Related Photos Related Artists | |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2008 01:04 AM PDT 'It's not an overtly political record, but I'm not gonna say what it is,' Pete Wentz says of Folie à Deux.
Despite the fact that it's coming out on Election Day, they're talking about it before a Rock the Vote concert at the Democratic National Convention, and they've promoted its release with a mysterious Big Brother-esque viral campaign, Fall Out Boy are insisting that their new album, Folie à Deux, isn't going to be a politically charged affair. Then again, they're not exactly denying it either.
"The title of the new album is Folie à Deux. It means 'the shared madness of two' — thank you, Dictionary.com," FOB bassist Pete Wentz laughed. "It's not an overtly political record, but I'm not gonna say what it is." "And I also wouldn't say it's not a political record, it's just one of those things," frontman Patrick Stump added. "We'll just let the record speak for itself, but it is coming out on Election Day." So while Folie probably isn't going to be, say, American Idiot, Part II, it's also probably not going to be another From Under the Cork Tree. There's no denying the fact that things have taken a decidedly political turn in the FOB camp these days. From the viral campaign for the upcoming album to their just-released Welcome to the New Administration mixtape (which you can grab for free here), Wentz and company are sounding like a bunch of really fired-up poly-sci students lately. However, it could just be a happy accident — after all, ever since the viral campaign they launched was hijacked by Florida rock act Copeland, they've sort of been forced to make things up on the fly. "We've done a little bit of the campaign for this record already, where we came up with this idea, because we've liked a couple of [viral] campaigns that had happened in the past, but then we realized we didn't have the money or the time to hire those publicity firms to do it for us," Wentz said. "So we came up with this idea to create an autocratic, overbearing, Big Brother organization that had these sort of vague messages, like, 'Change is here! We all must believe in it!' And we came up with the beginning and the end of the story, and ... " "The middle just kind of came up with itself," Stump interjected. "That was the amazing thing, was watching it happen. I kind of felt like it was a [Robert] Altman movie, where you go in and there's kind of a script, but everyone's just improvising their own lines and changing it, and then at the end of it, you're like, 'Oh, that's what it meant.' And that was a huge part of it for me. We had the beginning and the end, and then it was kind of like, 'Go nuts from there.' " And while things might have gotten a bit jumbled, Wentz still insists that releasing the New Administration mixtape (or, excuse me, "mixtape and manifesto") — which features not only demos of songs presumed to be on Folie, but also new music from a host of Decaydance acts like Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes and the Academy Is ... — was part of the plan all along. And he's urging FOB fans to stay tuned, because there's still plenty more to be revealed before the album hits stores on November 4. "Especially today — since everyone wonders whether people care about music at all anymore — engaging people and letting them tell the story and letting them become encapsulated in it, I think,is an important thing. It's a way to attach your art to something else," Wentz explained. "The whole campaign is part of the record and people can call it whatever they want, but the mixtape was part of that campaign, and we'll see what happens from here. I know people have been talking about it being a viral campaign, but the thing is, we're calling audibles every day — we're changing what we're doing every day. And in creating this autocratic organization, we created a democratic campaign, because people have made it go the direction they wanted it to go."
Don't miss out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30. Related Videos Related Artists | |
| Paula Abdul Changes Her Tune, Says 'It's About Time Another Girl Joined' Her On 'American Idol' Posted: 26 Aug 2008 12:45 AM PDT Abdul said Monday she was 'concerned' about new judge Kara DioGuardi.
Just one day after expressing "concern" over new "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul said she is excited that the Grammy-nominated songwriter is joining the team. "It's about time another girl joined," she told People magazine. "More girl power." On Monday, according to UsMagazine.com, Abdul said on Phoenix's KISS-FM that she was "concerned about the audience and acceptance. Time will tell. We'll see." She said that DioGuardi was added because the show's producers "wanted to try a change," noting that the show had "always tried for a fourth judge because it followed the format of the original show, 'Pop Idol.' We haven't had much luck with that working, but we're gonna give it another try." But Abdul has apparently changed her tune, insisting that she is anything but concerned about having another female sitting on the judges' panel with her. "This is great for the show," she said. "I've been waiting for this. I really have. And people will love her. She's great!" The "Idol" judge, who has been with the show from the beginning, hopes that DioGuardi can bring her professional experience to the team and amp up the criticism given to participants. "She's going to be a little different and more from the industry standpoint." For her part, DioGuardi says she is looking forward to working next to Abdul, with whom she collaborated on Kylie Minogue's 2000 hit "Spinning Around." Asked if she thought Abdul felt threatened by her addition, DioGuardi said that, though she hadn't spoken to her colleague, "I would think she'd be excited." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Artists |
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