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| Check Out Will.I.Am's 'It's A New Day' Video Here! Posted: 08 Nov 2008 09:29 AM PST Pro-Obama clip from Black Eyed Peas MC gets its online debut!
Now that Barack Obama has won the election, his longtime supporter Will.I.Am is premiering the video for his new song "It's a New Day." The Black Eyed Pea spent some time in a New York City studio recording his third ode to the president-elect.
Will stopped by "Oprah" on Friday to debut the new celeb-filled video for the track, and is also posting the clip to the site Dipdive. The video flashes pictures of Obama on election night and crowds celebrating the Illinois senator's victory, alongside images of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman. And it wouldn't be a Will.I.Am video without some celebrity appearances. This time around, he's rounded up his bandmate Fergie, as well as actors Olivia Wilde, Jonathan Schaech and Kerry Washington. "It was a beautiful thing," he told Oprah of spending election night in Chicago. He also couldn't find the words to describe how excited he is for Obama's win. "I can't really explain it," he said. "I think of my grandma. I think of all the people who paved the way for that moment ... like the invisibles who pushed the movement forward." When he released his first song about the then presidential hopeful, "Yes We Can," Will gathered celebrity friends including John Legend, Scarlett Johansson and Common for the video. The next song, "We Are the Ones," also had a star-filled video, this one featuring George Lopez and Jessica Alba. Related Artists |
| Rihanna 'Perfectly Healthy' After Apparently Collapsing Onstage During Duet With Chris Brown Posted: 06 Nov 2008 11:58 PM PST Singer was performing 'Umbrella' when she abruptly left stage, holding her stomach.
A rep for Rihanna said the singer is "perfectly healthy" after nearly collapsing onstage during a concert Thursday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. In videos posted online, the 20-year-old singer, clad in a corset, hunches over and holds her stomach while performing her hit "Umbrella" with tourmate Chris Brown. While some reports claim she finished her verse before running offstage, where paramedics reportedly were waiting for her, the video shows the music — and Brown — continuing after she exits the stage. "It was very hot at the venue, so after Rihanna's set was over, she went offstage and needed to sit down, catch her breath and have some water," a rep for the singer told MTV News on Friday (November 7). "She is perfectly healthy and will be at her show tomorrow." TMZ reported that Rihanna may have felt ill due to a problem with the venue's air-conditioning system, and Radar reported that she sought medical treatment at a local hospital. According to her rep, the singer is expected to resume the tour with Brown as scheduled Saturday night in Sydney. The duo have been on tour in Australia and New Zealand since late last month; the last show is scheduled for November 11 in Perth. Rihanna was recently named the face of Gucci's UNICEF campaign. Gucci's Frida Giannini described Rihanna as having a "strong personality" and said that she will work well for the campaign because "a musician and a beautiful woman was the perfect icon for this campaign." Related Artists |
| President-Elect Obama Promises To Confront Economic Crisis 'Head-On' In First Press Conference Posted: 07 Nov 2008 02:07 AM PST Obama also discusses national security and, of course, his daughters' new puppy.
Flanked by 17 economic advisers and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, President-elect Barack Obama convened his first press conference on Friday (November 7). On a day of what he termed "sobering" news about the country's financial distress and the enormous amount of jobs lost over the past year (1.2 million), Obama opened his brief address by reiterating something he said often on the campaign trail: Americans are facing the biggest economic crisis in our lifetime. But the Illinois senator was clear that while he has lots of ideas on how to get the country moving again, for now, he's still just the president-elect. "The United States has only one government and one president at a time," said Obama, who mostly spoke in general terms during his 25-minute appearance at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago. "And until January 20 of next year, that government is the current administration. ... Immediately after I become president, I am going to confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families and restore growth and prosperity." While the Bush administration is keeping Obama's team appraised of changes in the economy and briefing the president-elect on security issues, Obama has already started pulling together his own team of advisers, which now includes Clinton-administration veteran and U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, who accepted the job of chief of staff on Thursday. Obama said he met with his economic team on Friday and they focused on a number of key issues, among them a rescue plan for the middle class that helps to create jobs, increase unemployment insurance benefits and help families avoid foreclosure. They also discussed a fiscal stimulus plan and the impact of the financial crisis on the rest of the economy. "I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead," Obama said. "We have taken some major action to date, and we will need some further action during this transition. ... Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult, and I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick; it is not going to be easy to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in. But America is a strong and resilient country, and I know that we will succeed." Obama then took questions from reporters, and said that in his first 100 days, a new president can do an "enormous amount" to restore confidence in the financial system and that his first priority will be to pass an economic stimulus package. Asked if he had read a letter of congratulations from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama said he was "aware" of the note and would review it and respond appropriately. He stressed that until countries like Iran stopped their development of nuclear weapons, he would not send low-level envoys to see if a presidential-level visit was appropriate. While the appointment of Emanuel came swiftly, Obama said he wanted to move with deliberate haste to fill out his cabinet. As for the preparations he's taking to move into the White House, Obama said he's spoken to all of the living ex-presidents for advice, re-read some of Abraham Lincoln's writings and has gotten a pledge of help from President Bush to make the transfer of power smooth and uninterrupted. Of course, one reporter could not help bringing up the one topic that has become a laughably major talking point for media around the country and the world: the first dog, which Obama promised to his daughters in his victory speech. The conversation, however, provided one of the first great lines of Obama's nascent presidency. In addition to saying that the dog had to be hypoallergenic, because daughter Malia has allergies, Obama said "our preference is to get a shelter dog. But obviously a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me, so whether we're going to be able to balance those two things is a pressing issue in the Obama household." Related Videos Related Photos |
| Usher Says Ne-Yo Will 'Potentially' Work On New Album Posted: 07 Nov 2008 05:10 AM PST 'Hopefully we are gonna try and get together early,' singer says of collaborating with the songwriter on a record due in early 2009.
NEW YORK — Usher is expecting a new baby in mid-December, so he might get his Christmas gift early. His fans will be getting their holiday present from him a little later, however — the Atlanta megastar is dropping a new LP in the beginning of 2009. "I got big gifts and, at the top of the year, the gift back to my fans — another album," he smiled during a tour stop earlier this week at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
"It's the way I should have always done it," Ush said about coming with another project so soon. "I multitask. There are so many other things that I do. You know, I have my philanthropic efforts. As an entrepreneur stepping out into other areas, I've always managed to keep myself busy in between. Well, this time I really wanted to focus on my music and really focus on a specific record. And then to get on tour. I don't have a date yet [for my next tour], but there is some time in the middle of next year. You can expect something in the first quarter of next year in terms of music." One of music's most acclaimed songwriters is already being looked at to collaborate with Usher when he goes in the studio next month. "Ne-Yo is actually potentially gonna be a part of this project," he revealed. "On the last one we didn't work together until the very end — hopefully we are gonna try and get together early. "I'll be working with some of the greatest in the game," he added. "I plan on doing something very creative, working with a few different styles of producers. But it's really about bringing the center people — who have been with me throughout the years — along with me on building this next album. "I know the boy Usher is about to go back in," Ne-Yo told us. "We are definitely going to do some stuff together. We've been kicking it a lot lately. We were in France just recently for the whole fashion week thing, just talking about where he wants to go and everything. That was a real cool situation." Ne-Yo has a very distinct game plan he would like to see his friend follow. "Well, I was one of the first people to tell Usher, personally, that I didn't think he was focused on the album ... on Here I Stand," Ne-Yo explained. "I don't think his focus was in the right place. And I'm a dude, and that's my personal opinion and I'm entitled to it, and he respected that I kept it real with him about that. I think that this time around ... It's not so much that I think Here I Stand was a bad record, it just wasn't the Usher that we remembered. I mean, that joint [Confessions] right there went 10-15 million worldwide, so it was going to be difficult to come back from that anyway. So I just think he's gotta get back to what he knows, which is to get out there and make 'em dance — entertain them at the end of the day. Like, it seems like he had a lot to say, almost like he had something to prove with the Here I Stand record. Like a different dude now: 'I got a family now, and this is who I am.' As opposed to before, when it was about, 'I'mma get up and entertain y'all. I'm gonna sing songs that got something to say, but at the same time, I'm gonna entertain y'all.' And I think he just needs to get back there. And I think that's where he'll wind up." Usher certainly made the ladies cheer during his stint at the Hammerstein. He came with swag, with sexiness and with a disposable shirt — one lady in the crowd came with some underwear she wasn't too attached to, and she had no problem sharing them with Usher. "Who do these beautiful pink panties belong to?" he asked during a break in "Do It to Me." "I need the bra set, too. You need to make your way to the front." A lot of the hits were rolled out, such as "Love in This Club," "Yeah" and "U Remind Me." "It's like [an] Usher [show] on steroids," he described in his dressing room, while his mom looked on with a smile. "It's 10 times more because it's closer. The energy is almost kinda compact, but great for the fans because for many years they haven't had that opportunity to be right there. ... But if you're playing huge arenas, it's kind of a very broad performance. ... This one is like we are getting down. We are having a good time. We're enjoying this night. You leave motivated. The songs that are chosen are intended with a kinda somewhat sexy [feel], yet still complemented specifically to the women. "It was intended specifically for women," he continued about the tour. "Last night, I had noticed that guys don't really pay attention to detail. They actually decided to come to the show. It actually turned out to be real cool. But everybody that comes to the show should understand that it was specifically designed for my female audience. You know, something very intimate. I've done the big shows. I've been around the world, seen a lot of places, seen a lot of faces — but this one, it's about being up close and personal with my audience in a way that I haven't done in a long time." True to his word, Usher had the women fanning themselves during the performance of his current single, "Trading Places." He sat at the piano for a while, but most of the action took place on top — before the song was over, he had one of his dancers in her panties, laying down on the piano. "It's a little bit of dance," he said of the show's theatrics. "I think the one thing is the connection with the audience. The dance is cool. You know every time you come to an Usher show, you're gonna get dance. You gonna get entertainment. You're gonna get the band. You gonna get the dancers. You gonna get background. You're gonna get all of that. Right? You gonna get some lights. But the one thing you're gonna get [during this tour] is a connection — it's about us having a good time. I slide in and out, choreography, like it's nothing — you know, to connect with the audience. They are basically writing a story while I'm dancing for them. Like, if they are going crazy, then I'm off the choreography for a moment, and I'm rocking on the left side with the ladies having a good time. Bring me back over to the right. I even step down into the audience and pull out a lady — one special lady in the show." Usher still has more than half of his 14-city tour left; the outing ends on November 25 in Dallas. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Rick Ross, Usher Call Def Jam Exec Shakir Stewart's Death 'A Great Loss For Music' Posted: 07 Nov 2008 05:27 AM PST 'He was the glue between the street and the corporate medium,' Ross says.
While many around the world were in a euphoric state Tuesday night as Barack Obama won the presidential election, Rick Ross just couldn't enjoy himself. Although he was ecstatic that the Illinois senator would be leading our nation, rap's biggest Boss was still in mourning. "I lost my business partner and friend Shakir Stewart," Ross said about the man who played an integral part in him being signed to Def Jam Records. "After every one of the debates, I could count on receiving his phone call or giving him a phone call. My high of Obama winning the race is followed by a bitter depression [because] my comrade and someone I had so much respect and admiration for is no longer with us." Stewart's still-shocked friends and family were in Atlanta on Thursday and Friday for a private funeral and open memorial service. The 34-year-old Def Jam executive vice president died Saturday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A week later, no one can make sense of the tragedy. Stewart's image was of someone who conducted himself in a dignified manner and always seemed upbeat. Shakir — nicknamed "Shake" by his friends — was one of the most well-liked high-ranking executives in music. The respect that many of today's top stars had for him was unparalleled. "From the aspect of production, writing, Shakir was everywhere," said Usher, who worked with Stewart a great deal over the years. "Whether it was working specifically for L.A. Reid, managing, giving advice ... just understanding the game and understanding the hustle and what this industry is — he was that dude. Whenever you saw him, he was always fly, always energy, he was Oakland [California]. He was always cool. He was always the guy bringing energy to the room. These last days, I heard his spirits was broken. So I'm pretty sure he had a very hard time before this incident." "I feel he was the glue between the street and the corporate medium," Ross said. "He was my mesh. He was my go-to guy. It was a great loss for music. My condolences go to his family, his fiancée and children. For the people who knew Shake, regardless of the circumstances, his legend can never be tarnished." Usher agreed. "To say the least, it was definitely earth-shattering to lose Shakir Stewart. An incredible commodity to this industry. Anybody that knew him knew the bright spirit he had. It came as a shock to everybody when we heard that horrible news. My prayers, my condolences and passion go out to his children, his fiancée and those closest to him. ... If anything, take this as an example as how you should cherish those around you. "If you knew Shakir, you would say, 'Never. This could never happen to Shakir. It's not him. That wouldn't happen,' " Usher continued about his friend's death. "So, you know, I learned a lesson from this: to have compassion, to ask that question, to communicate. I think God put us here to communicate and help each other through our hardships. This industry can definitely take the worst of you or make the best of you. I've chosen to accept it as the best of me." According to the police report, which was obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stewart's fiancée had sensed a drastic change in his character and had called a family friend over to help talk to him. When the friend, identified as Herb Smith, stepped outside to call 911, he heard the fatal gunshot. Related Artists |
| Kanye West Talks Beatles, Sings Country Versions Of His Songs (Er, Sorta) In Rare Interview Posted: 07 Nov 2008 01:18 AM PST 'My plan is to be the greatest performer of this generation,' the rapper said.
There are a few things Kanye West doesn't do: take kindly to perceived slights, make generic hip-hop tracks and, for the past year or two, interviews. Since embarking on a press blackout, West has not sat down with an interviewer or expressed himself publicly in the media much at all, except on his albums or on his blog. But last week, while performing in Asia, Kanye broke his media moratorium, sort of — holding sway on how he views his music and explaining why he's essentially stopped doing interviews. While he was technically on an interview chat show taking questions from an unseen group of interviewers, West pretty much controlled the Q&A session and turned it into a fascinating monologue on his artistic process and legacy, his admiration of the Fab Four, as well as dropping impromptu Broadway and country versions of songs from his upcoming album, 808s & Heartbreak. "Every time that I perform I'm always thinking ... my plan is to be the greatest performer of this generation," West says in a clip of the interview. Aspiring to become that kind of transcendent artist, West said that when he performs older songs like "Jesus Walks" or "Through the Wire" now, those tunes have become "embedded" in his fans' minds as they've lived with the songs. "That's why whenever bands come out and say, 'This album is better than the Beatles,' it is impossible to make an album better than the Beatles unless you've got 30 years," he explained. "Beatles records — people have known them their whole lives ... hopefully five years from now people still play 'Love Lockdown' and people still play the records that I'm doing right now." West said he's always been a big believer in melody driving records, pointing out that songs like "Stronger" and "Gold Digger" were able to become international hits because they had that hummable quality. "The reason why I'm one of the big artists is I was always interested in that melody," he said. "I was like, 'Yo, let me stop f---ing around, I'm just gonna, like, make it be all melody!' My lyrics are from the same perspective. It's not no R&B get-down-on-your knees-and-beg-a-girl type bullsh--. It's still, like, guy music, but it's swag on it." With the melody safely in place, 'Ye explained how he's created an entirely new genre of music by eliminating the "bullsh--" pop music people typically make and injecting some swagger from someone who is "super credible" in the hip-hop world. "I come into the lane where there's a bunch of bullsh-- being made and be like, 'Okay, such and such, you gotta compete with this. And this has 72 bars of real-life lyrics that's from my life that I wrote. Now compete with that.' And I'm going to perform it and people are going to believe what I'm saying because they know my whole story." And Kanye had a little message for his friends at iTunes: He's got a name for his hybrid sound — Pop Art — and the folks at Apple can choose to honor that and give 'Ye his own unique designation in their store. Oh, and the only other music he thinks could currently fit in there is Pink Floyd. Getting back to melody, though, Kanye said he believes the grooves he's created for the new album are so classic and "Broadway-esque," that he dropped a live a capella version of "Heartless," sung in a cheesy Broadway voice. He then put on his best Johnny Cash voice and sang a country & western version of "Amazing," as proof of how universal the song is. "I'm trying to make those songs that are just classic songs," he said. Asked about his sometimes-difficult relationship with the media, Kanye explained why he's taken to just speaking directly to his fans through his blog. "It's, like, bam! I just say exactly what I want, the amount of stuff I want," he said. "Whenever I have an opinion or something I want to dispute ... my biggest problem I used to have [was that] the media ... would word things in a certain way to make me look like a monster. I just be emotional, like a little kid or a spoiled brat sometimes, and it's like I want to say something and I still have to use the media to get my point across. ... I love being able to directly connect to my fans. ... Before that, you would always have to go through the media, and someone would say, 'And this is my opinion of what he's about to tell you right now, check it out.' And I was like, 'No, I don't want all that. I just want to say exactly what I want to say." Related Artists |
| Hudson Family Murder Suspect To Face Parole-Violation Hearing Monday Posted: 07 Nov 2008 02:19 AM PST William Balfour could be released from custody following court date.
Although police are investigating the possibility of an accomplice, thus far William Balfour is the only suspect named in the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew. Since that night, Balfour has been in custody on a parole violation. So what might happen at his hearing regarding that violation? According to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Monday's court date is but a preliminary one, in which hearing officer Jeanetta Cardine will determine whether or not there's probable cause to move on to a larger, full-blown hearing at a later date. (It could be days or weeks, board chairman Jorge Montes told MTV News.) Though it's been reported that Balfour was being held only on the parole violation concerning his missed anger-management classes, Montes said that they'll also discuss his missed appointments for substance-abuse counseling and his June arrest for cocaine possession. The process should take an hour to an hour-and-a-half. "There is a chance," Montes said, "if there is no probable cause, that he'll be let go." The Cook County state's attorney's office had no comment on the hearing, since it's not directly related to the Hudson murder case, but it's to their advantage that he remain in custody — the longer he is, the more time they have to build a case, should they decide to arraign him on the homicide charges. "We can't get into the nuts and bolts of our investigation right now," a rep for the Chicago police department told MTV News. "Our investigation is continuing." Balfour was out on parole from the Illinois River Correctional Center on attempted murder, carjacking and stolen-property charges, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was sentenced to serve seven years in 1999. Balfour was paroled in 2006; he was set to be discharged from that parole in May 2009. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Christina Aguilera Speaks Out Against Proposition 8 As Protests Continue For Second Straight Night Posted: 07 Nov 2008 09:10 AM PST 'Mormons aren't gonna buy my album, but what are you gonna do?' Aguilera tells MTV News.
Demonstrators took to the streets of Los Angeles for a second straight night Thursday to protest Tuesday's passage of California's Proposition 8, a ballot measure amending the state's constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, which passed by a 52 percent margin. The measure supersedes a state Supreme Court ruling that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed. The Associated Press reported that more than 2,000 people convened outside the gates of a local Mormon temple to condemn the church's role in getting the measure passed. Protestors contend leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent millions in television ads and mailings in an effort to encourage its followers to vote in favor of the proposition.
The protests continued in the face of questions about whether civil attempts to overturn the prohibition could succeed. The passage also puts the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California over the past four months in question. Some fear those marriages will be nullified, although supporters of the ban claim they won't seek to invalidate marriages already performed. Demonstrators converged outside a temple in the city's Westwood section Thursday night and made their way toward the western end of Los Angeles, chanting, "Separate church and state" and "What do we want? Equal rights," according to the AP. Two people were reportedly arrested following a confrontation between the crowd and a man in a pickup truck, who was displaying a banner supporting the measure. One demonstrator ended up with a bloody nose in the fracas; seven people were detained during Wednesday's protests. (Check out footage of the protest, shot by an MTV News reader, on the Newsroom blog.) Three legal challenges were filed by gay-marriage proponents Wednesday, arguing that the measure was actually a dramatic revision of California's constitution rather than a simple amendment; constitutional revisions must first pass the state's legislature before going to the voters. Meanwhile, on Thursday, pop star Christina Aguilera joined Fall Out Boy and other celebrities who've spoken out against Proposition 8. "Last night, there was a whole rally that I saw for Prop. 8," she told MTV News. "A lot of people came out with their signs, and I think [Prop. 8] is discrimination and I don't understand how people can be so closed-minded and so judgmental. We chose an African-American president, and it means so much ... [it's] a time in history of great change and open-mindedness. Why is this any different? It just doesn't make sense to me. Why you would put so much money behind something [aimed at] stopping from people loving each other and bonding together? I just don't understand it. It's hard for me to grasp. But I would've been out there with my rally sign as well." A few moments later, she added, "Mormons aren't gonna buy my album but, you know, what are you gonna do?" Related Videos Related Artists |
| Katt Williams Arrested On Gun Charges -- Then Plays Carnegie Hall Posted: 07 Nov 2008 07:54 AM PST Comic also missed 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien' appearance night before arrest.
It's been a wild week for "Pimp Chronicles" comedian Katt Williams. First, there were false rumors over the weekend that he had died in a plane crash. Then, according to the New York Daily News, Williams spent most of Thursday in jail on weapons charges, but posted bail with just enough time to make it to his sold-out headlining gig at New York's Carnegie Hall. The paper reported that Williams, 37, was arrested early Thursday morning after police found his Mercedes bus and red Cadillac Escalade parked on Broadway. Police noticed that the SUV was missing a license plate and that three guns were in plain sight inside the vehicles. When Williams emerged from a nearby building, he told the cops that the vehicles were his, and the officers handcuffed him. Eighteen hours after being arrested, the comedian posted $25,000 bond and was released right around the time he was supposed to hit the stage at Carnegie Hall. "Wearing baggy jeans and a satin shirt, [Williams] ... spritzed himself with cologne and jumped into a black limo," the paper reported. "Half an hour later, it screeched to a stop near the rear stage entrance on West 56th Street, and Williams, surrounded by bodyguards, jumped out and disappeared into the hall." Hitting the stage just over an hour late, Williams reportedly apologized to the audience, telling them, "I'm not moving at my usual pace. I just got out of jail 35 minutes ago." He assured the audience that he raced to the show because of them, though, not for the payday. "I wasn't thinking about the money — maybe because they paid me in advance." Last month, Williams did not show up for his gig as host of the BET Awards, and the comic also didn't make it to a gig on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" Wednesday night, forcing the host to vamp a bit, LALate.com reports. O'Brien said that Williams was the first guest in 15 years not to appear for a scheduled appearance on the show. "I hope he's OK. I don't know were he is. Maybe he's celebrating this momentous day, I don't know, I don't want to make any assumptions. I hope he's fine, I hope he's OK," O'Brien said. A spokesperson for Williams could not be reached for comment at press time. Related Artists |
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