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| Beyonce's Very Different New Videos: One Has Dancing, One Has Relationship Problems Posted: 13 Oct 2008 05:00 AM PDT Clips for 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)' and 'If I Were a Boy' showcase B's multiple personalities.
Beyoncé has two new songs on the radio — and two new videos as well. Why two, you might ask? Because one of them is not really Beyoncé: It's Sasha. As B hinted in a letter to fans earlier this month, she wants to show "the many sides" of herself, and she's doing that via two completely different videos, even if they are both in black and white. One video is pure Sasha — her onstage persona — and the other is stripped-down Beyoncé. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is an upbeat dance track, and as such, the video is about dancing. B is joined by two look-alike dancers, befitting her alter-ego theme. They click their heels, almost as if they're tap dancing, to give the song some extra beats, but despite all the hip-and-leg shaking going on, they want you to look at their hands. More specifically, their ring fingers. And since Beyoncé didn't even want an engagement ring, according to what she told Essence magazine, this is your first clue that this song is really from Sasha's heart, not Beyoncé's.
The video for "If I Were a Boy," the Beyoncé side of the two, however, is the more meaningful one — and it comes with a twist that requires repeat viewing. Beyoncé and her boyfriend say a few words ("intimacy," "honesty," "commitment"), and then they start saying the words together: "You." "Me." "Us." When the action starts, Beyoncé is working as a cop, and her boyfriend is so supportive that he makes her breakfast, spends time at work looking for the perfect present to brighten her day and forgoes hanging out with his attractive officemates so he can be available when she gets off her shift. Except, she's not thinking about him at all. Instead, Beyoncé is spending her off-hours with her fellow cops, particularly her male partner, who she seems enamored with. Her boyfriend tries calling, but she's ignoring the phone. And later, when her boyfriend gives her a present — earrings — she puts them on to go dancing with her cop partner at a party. Naturally, her boyfriend is upset, and when he confronts her about this at home, she acts like he's making a big deal out of nothing. "When you act like that," he tells her, "I don't think you realize how it makes me look or feel." "Why are you so jealous?" she asks him in a condescending tone. "It's not like I'm sleeping with the guy." Then the story reverses, and Beyoncé starts to cry. The situation that she put her boyfriend in, it turns out, is the situation she's in — he's the cop, she's the supportive girlfriend who's being taken for granted. But when we first saw it from a different perspective, her behavior seemed more abnormal. And when it's the guy doing everything she just did in the previous scenes, it becomes all too familiar — which is Beyoncé's point. "If I were a boy," she sings, "I would do what I wanted/ And never be confronted for it." The message might hearken back to what Ciara sang when she and B were going through a tomboy phase in their video clips, but this time, Beyoncé makes you feel it. Without the video, you might not. Related Artists | |
| Travis Barker Blogs About Crash: Thanks Fans, Addresses Shanna Moakler Rumors Posted: 12 Oct 2008 08:25 AM PDT Drummer says he hasn't seen Moakler 'since the week I checked in.'
Travis Barker blogged late Saturday on his MySpace page about the accident last month that killed four people and seriously injured him and DJ AM. In the post, he thanks his fans for their support, pays tribute to his assistant, Chris Barker, and security guard, Charles "Che" Still, both of whom were killed in the accident, and apparently quashes rumors that he and Shanna Moakler are reuniting. He also gives a report on his progress, noting that he is now able to move his hands, and said that he's been visited by both DJ AM (who was released from the hospital late last month) and +44/ Blink-182 bandmate Mark Hoppus, whose public silence on the crash was commented upon by fans and the media. The post, which is accompanied by photos from the hospital, reads in full: "Thank you. "I want to give my deepest thanks to everyone who has helped deal with the current situation. First and foremost, Chris and Che were my friends. I would give up anything to have them here with us today, healthy and happy. To call them my employees does them such a disservice, as they were so much more than that. Chris was my best friend before anything else, and I can never put into words how much he will be missed. Che was an amazing person as well, and I was honored to have him in my life. "I am simply amazed and will be forever grateful for all the support everyone has shown to Chris and Che's families. It's a testament to how many lives they touched in a positive way. "Like the doctors said from the beginning, its been a slow recovery process. I am coming up on the 7th of my surgeries Monday. Today I finally was able to move all my fingers on my right hand. Every step seems huge at this point, and I'm doing EVERYTHING I can possibly do to get back to my kids. Yes, I did start eating meat again, but if it helps me to be home holding my little humans sooner, then it's all worth it. The staff here are all bomb! Dr. Grossman and his staff are the best. The BOSS Barbara, and nurses Betty, Jay, Emily, Julio, Lolita, and Stephanie (with the best scrubs ever!) are all taking the best care of me. "My good friend Armen has been kind enough to save me from the hospital food, and brings Jamba Juice, Wahoos, or whatever else I need to keep my calories and protein levels high. "Despite any rumors you might have heard via my EX-wife Shanna Moakler, who I have not seen since the week I checked in, I've been treated amazingly well, both here in LA and in Georgia. The hospitals I've been treated at are THE BEST. "My friends and family have been amazing. My pops has been with me ANY time I need him. My sisters, James, Skinhead Rob, Daniel, Hoover, Armen and of course Ricardo and Nicole, have all shown amazing support. JD and Mark Hoppus both took the time to come visit and offer their support as well. Estevan Oriol even came in with a calendar. 'Saying 'thank you' to all these guys just wouldn't be enough... 'I got to see AM the other day. Seeing him after he was discharged was an inspiration. I saw just how awesome the doctors' work here is, and got to see how well he is doing. I am so happy to see him doing well, and we are both so lucky and grateful that we are alive today. "I'm even using some of this time to help design the summer '09 Famous line [i.e. Barker's clothing line, Famous Stars and Straps]. Maxx, Jose, Bill have been awesome helping to keep the machine going. These are some seriously dedicated people, and I'm lucky to call them friends. "Now I'm just counting the days until I can leave. I can't wait to get home to play drums with my son, and go for bike rides with my daughter. I cant wait to see the pictures from Landon's 'Jack and Sally Nightmare Before Christmas' birthday party that we had for him today. I am bummed that I couldn't be there, but thank God I'll be around to see many, many more. "Thank you everyone for your support!" Barker spoke about the accident with Us Weekly magazine last week. He and AM are both expected to make full recoveries. If you'd like more information on the memorial funds set up to benefit Chris Baker's and Charles Still's families, visit the Famous Stars and Straps Web site. Related Videos Related Artists | |
| Posted: 13 Oct 2008 05:04 AM PDT Plus: Green Lantern teams up with Royce Da 5'9" and Grafh on new tapes.
DJ and Artists: DJ Green Lantern with Royce Da 5'9" and Grafh Representing: Street-level lyrical tyranny Mixtapes: The Bar Exam 2 and The Oracle 2 411: It's been awhile since we doubled up, but your boy Green Lantern has been a workhorse. Not only has he been touring the world with Nas and holding down his Sirius Satellite Radio show, he's also been producing and obviously in the lab creating mixtapes. Two scoops this week. First off, Grafh's sequel to The Oracle. Three years ago, Green and Grafh went in for part one, and the result was definitely a creative fireball that should have gotten more recognition. The second main pick this week is The Bar Exam 2. The first Bar Exam, made by Royce Da 5'9", DJ Premier and Statik Selektah, was labeled a classic. Green was supposed to be involved in the first B.E. but couldn't make it happen due to scheduling conflicts. The two did carve out time and created a ton of chaos for Bar Exam 2. "I will do to your momma what the KKK wants to do to Obama," Royce raps on "Heat to the Streets." As you can imagine, nothing is sacred on this disc. Joints To Check For » "Gun Music" (from The Bar Exam 2). "Can we talk about that song in America?" Royce asked with a grin. "That song is gonna be banned in 73 states. I'm sure that's not possible, but 73 states. I don't care. Basically what I'm doing on the song is saying whatever I wanna say. Hopefully, nobody gets offended, because most of the time, I'm just playing. I'm just a fun-loving guy. Green Lantern produced it. He sent me five records. I sent him five records back in one day. That's how I do." » "Ignorant Sh--" freestyle (from The Bar Exam 2). "It's basically over the 'Ignorant Ish' beat," Royce said. "I had my man pull up the beat, and I rapped for the entire length of the beat. That's standard for Bar Exam projects. The first Bar Exam, I had seven-minute freestyles, five-minute freestyles. I just go off from beginning to end. The entire project, once Green came in and put his stamp on it, his pullbacks and his scratches, it made it epic. Thank you very much." » "Reservoir Dogs Freestyle" (from The Oracle 2). "I got a joint, I spazzed on the 'Reservoir Dogs' beat," Graf bragged. "Bodied it. Nobody can rap on that again. Jay-Z, no. Say goodnight. Classic." » "Climb Up Again" (from The Oracle 2). "That's a tribute to my dudes," the Queens MC said. "One of my guys gotta go in and do a lot of [jail] time. I really addressed that scenario on the record. It's a lot to my joints." Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week » DJ Diggz , DJ Rated R and Ty Nitty - The Nitty Files 'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar » 112's Slim (featuring Ryan Leslie) - "Good Lovin' " The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground Last week, Common gave his stamp of approval on Kanye West's singing throughout the upcoming 808s and Heartbreak. This week, we have the King of the Auto-Tune himself chiming in. T-Pain said he's been working with West on the project, and he also gives it a thumbs-up. "I co-sign his whole album. I just flew in last night from Hawaii, working," Pain said recently on the set of Ciara's "Go Girl" video. "His whole album is crazy, and it's definitely a different kind of Kanye. I mean, as far as 'Love Lockdown' goes, he did that whole thing himself. He just had me in mind. 808s is really all Kanye. I'm just here to keep it from [sounding] adult contemporary." ... Fat Joe isn't thinking about any hip-hop verses — new or old — coming at him. He's been out in Africa and other parts of the world on tour, trying to stack his bread. When he gets back to the States, Crack is going to be working on his new album. "I'm doing something rare," he said with a smile while visiting MTV News last week. "I'm taking my time with this album. I'm just picking beats. So far, it's crazy, man. I'm just walking my dogs, making sure I'm picking these beats right, and I'm gonna go for it in a super-major way. I'm trying to come out with four smashes. I got eight songs for the album already. Two of them are those outta-here joints. Nothing you can do. You know when you hear a song on the radio and the first time you hear it, you be like, 'This guy might have one'? When you get that first reaction? I got some of those sitting, waiting. I feel like it's survival of the fittest. I've been around so long — 'What could Fat Joe do that he hasn't done yet?' It's about chasing history for me. Putting up these hits. "Right now, it's hard," he added. "Akon did something for me. I teamed with these producers called the Incredibles. Ron Browz gave me a phenomenal joint. The kid Infamous from [Lil Wayne's] 'Mr. Carter,' he gave me a joint. These producers are going in that treasure chest, like, 'Let's give Joe this one.' I hear 'em, and I'm like, 'Wooooooo!' " Joe's last LP, The Elephant in the Room, featured his hip-hop idol, KRS-One. So where will Joe go after rapping alongside his hero? For the new LP, he's amped to have his good friend Weezy F. Baby along for the ride. " 'Who dat said they gonna beat Lil Wayne?' " he began rapping. "Ain't no magic like working with Lil Wayne in the studio. Ain't nobody seeing this guy. He's a rock star." The Terror Squad Don has heard some of Tha Carter IV and is so proud of his brother in arms. "Lil Wayne, don't bet against him right now!" Joe cautioned. "Don't bet against this guy ever right now. He calls me in the middle of the night: 'Come to the studio.' I get there, this n---a pressed play, and everything he played was super-duper phenomenal, number-one [smash]. He's singing, 'So I went to get her in my spaceship.' Craziest thing you ever heard in your life. They compared him a lot to Jay-Z, and you could see where he was influenced. But after this next album — I'm not saying he's the best rapper of all time, [but] you can't compare him to any rapper in the world. Because no rapper has done what he's about to do. That's crazy! He's a rock star, man. Hit mania! "His new album, he's a rock star," Fat Joe continued. "He has rock hits. You won't understand what I'm saying till you hear it. Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, everybody gotta get outta here." ... A collaboration that seems almost as improbable as Beanie Sigel and Travis Barker (the two did some work together before Barker's recent plane crash) is Sig and Mos Def. On the low, we heard that the duo are making a mixtape together. Beans wasn't too forthcoming when we asked about it, though. "It might be," he said with a smile. "I learned in this business to just keep your mouth shut and do what you supposed to do. If you give people too much, they tend to hold onto it. But we gonna do some things. Expect some things from Beanie Sigel and Mos Def. "Mos, that's my man," Mack Mittens added. "We're talking about a few things. We've been talking about some album stuff, some movie stuff." Meanwhile, Beanie's State Property sibling, Peedi Crakk, has officially shot down rumors that his first solo album (released solo album, that is — he recorded two while signed to Roc-A-Fella) will be dedicated to dissing Jay-Z. Peedi put up video blogs saying that the title of his record would be referring to Hov in a very disrespectful manner. "The Camel Face Hunting Season joint?" Peedi said. "I would never name my album Camel Face Hunting Season. It was something on the Internet that somebody said was gonna be my album [title]. I found it amusing, started to toy with it. But we was just playing around with it. Fans don't look forward to me beefing. They look forward to the uptempo party joints. The album is A Night in the Life, on Amalgam Digital. I'm gonna invest more energy into what I really do. I smoke Camel cigarettes." For other artists featured in Mixtape Monday, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines. Related Videos Related Artists | |
| Young Jeezy Talks About Presidential Election, Aptly Titled LP <i>The Recession</i> Posted: 13 Oct 2008 05:00 AM PDT 'Both parties can do the job, but if I had my pick, I'm definitely going with Joe and Barack,' rapper says.
There's less than a month until Election Day, and Young Jeezy is still putting the word out for everyone to get to the polls this year. The Snowman is leaning heavily toward the Democratic side, especially since Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "I like Joe [Biden] a little bit better than Sarah," Jeezy said recently. "I understand she's the soccer mom and all that, and that's good. But if something happens to McCain, then what? Do you want a soccer mom to run the country? That's cool. I mean, she can run the house, though. I like Joe, though. Definitely. You got to be tough. I mean, I'm definitely not saying anything against what women do, but at the same time, Joe's firm, Barack [Obama]'s firm. They're straight to the point. They don't beat around the bush. Both parties can do the job, but if I had my pick, I'm definitely going with Joe and Barack. Too much more serious things going on." One of those things is the nationwide economic crisis — Jeezy named his album to reflect the nation's current monetary difficulties. "Yes, we are in a Recession," he said. "Ask [President] Bush, he'll tell you. We got to stand up. We got to be 'We the people' on this one. It's on us, you know what I mean? That's what we got to do. We got to stick together. I really wanted to get me on [the album], expressing my feelings, my concerns about what's going on. I wanted to make good music around this time, but I also wanted to drop a couple gems about what's going on in the economy and stuff like that. Sometimes we look over it. We don't tap into it until election time."
Get informed! Head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election, including everything from the latest news on the candidates to on-the-ground multimedia reports from our 51 citizen journalists, MTV and MySpace's Presidential Dialogues, and much more. Related Artists |
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