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| 50 Cent's New Album, <i>Before I Self Destruct,</i> Pushed Back To 2009 Release Posted: 13 Nov 2008 11:45 PM PST Album is now due at 'the beginning of '09,' label says.
The fourth-quarter's hip-hop big bang has gotten less fiery. Last week Jay-Z dismissed the notion that we would get The Blueprint 3 this year, and on Friday, a rep for Interscope Records confirmed that there won't be a new 50 Cent CD under anyone's Christmas tree this year: Before I Self Destruct has been pushed back until 2009. There is no concrete release date as of yet, however the record label said in a press release Friday that the delay won't extend far into the year. "The beginning of '09" is their timetable. 50 has the single and video for "Get Up" out now, and the G-Unit bad man promised more before the album drops. He told Mixtape Monday of a Dr. Dre-helmed track he "stole" from Eminem during their recording session in Detroit a few months ago. 50 did note that Slim Shady did give him his blessing to use the record.
"I said, 'Let me see what [Dre did],' " 50 recalled with a smile while speaking on the video set of "Get Up." "Last time I recorded The Massacre album, I was in Orlando [Florida]. I went in the computer there. That's how I found 'I'm Supposed to Die Tonight.' It's interesting. With 'In Da Club,' D12 [who the beat was intended for], had the production started my career." Besides Dre, Eminem appears on Before I Self Destruct as well. "We created some music," he said of Slim Shady. "I went to Detroit recently. One song I really liked it and he liked it and he kept it for his album. I went back and made two more songs. We got 'Norman Bates Motel' out of that. It's exciting." "Norman Bates Motel" is slated to appear on Before I Self Destruct. In addition to the music, 50 is producing a film also called "Before I Self Destruct" (check out the trailer here) and the Jam Master Jay documentary, "Two Turntables And A Microphone: The Life And Death Of Jam Master Jay." Don't miss 50 Cent on "Total Finale Live" on Sunday, airing at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV! Related Artists |
| Kanye West Arrested After Alleged Tussle With Photographer, Then Cleared Posted: 14 Nov 2008 07:45 AM PST MC was reportedly not charged after incident outside nightclub in Newcastle, England.
Kanye West was reportedly arrested and released early Friday morning (November 14) after an alleged incident involving a photographer outside a nightclub in England. According to TMZ.com, West was arrested shortly after getting into a scuffle with a paparazzo outside the Tup Tup club in Newcastle. West, 31, was reportedly arrested at a hotel in nearby Gateshead and then released. While a police spokesperson declined to name the person involved (as is the custom in England) when reached for comment by MTV News on Friday morning, he did confirm that a 31-year-old man was "released with no further action after an alleged incident at the Tup Tup nightclub." A rep for West had no comment on the incident when reached by MTV News Friday morning. The London Paper blog reported that the photographer claimed he suffered a cut face and bruising after West pushed his camera into his face and shouted, "Get the f---ing camera off him." According to TMZ, the photographer had previously made similar claims against a British soccer player, but those charges were also dropped. West, along with his road manager and bodyguard, Don Crowley, was arrested in September for getting into another altercation with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. West and Crowley were waiting for a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, when they were met by a photographer and videographer, who were taking their photos. An altercation ensued, and the cameras of both paparazzi were damaged. The felony vandalism charges stemming from the incident were dropped because the property he damaged wasn't valuable enough to warrant felony charges. West later blogged about the incident from his studio in Hawaii, saying, "We back in the lab!!!" he wrote. "I'm cool with the paparazzi. This guy wasn't cool. I gotta work now ... I'll rant later!" Related Artists |
| Jim Jones Sets His Sights On Broadway With 'Hip-Hop Monologues' Posted: 14 Nov 2008 12:45 AM PST Diplomats leader tells his story, set to music from his upcoming LP Pray for Reign.
NEW YORK — Jim Jones and the Diplomats recorded their take on Sir Mix-a-Lot's "My Posse's on Broadway" more than four years ago. Now, the Dips' capo is thinking about moving the show a little further downtown from Harlem to somewhere around, say, the Times Square area. Jim Jones and Damon Dash have a goal to put a musical on the Great White Way. On Wednesday and Thursday, Jimmy headlined an off-Broadway musical called "Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life & Mind of Jim Jones." It was based on music from his upcoming LP Pray for Reign.
"The thought process was me coming out with a big bang," Jim told MTV News Thursday night about conceiving the idea for the project about eight months ago. "I just did a big deal with Columbia, so [I was thinking about] making the transition from independent success to getting on a major conglomerate and having a major machine behind me. I want everything on there behind me to be as big as the announcement I made going into the venture." Instead of the conventional method of inviting the media to a studio to preview the music, Jim decided to act out the songs from Pray for Reign onstage as a cohesive story. "I thought this was a witty way to do the listening session so I could get my music across to the press," he said. "I used to watch John Leguizamo do these one-man plays, and it was so crazy how he explained about his family, and he made you think you could see it. I said, 'Damn, if I do that with my music, maybe I could do a new [type of] listening session.' " "Hip-Hop Monologues" pierces barriers between the Harlem vet's personal life and the audience. We see him as he battles an über-affinity for intercourse, troubles with the law, betrayal from friends, and backlash from female fans (and a lover). He eventually evolves into a more mature man, boyfriend and father. It honestly is unlike anything you've ever seen in hip-hop, and the crowd left Manhattan's 37 Arts theater that night saying they were pleasantly surprised. The stage production starts out with Jim coming back to his neighborhood in Harlem for a taping of "E! True Hollywood Story." He's introduced by the reporter as a "ghetto genius," "thug theologian" and the "head of Diplomats." After a shootout with haters, Jim is sent to jail and given a chance at redemption by the judge, played by Dr. Benjamin Chavis. The judge orders Jim to give back to society without having to pay the debt in prison. Throughout his journey — during which we see that it was his mother who first taught him how to cook crack and that he underwent therapy for sexual addiction (the blatantly titled "Pu--- Is My Medicine" fuels that scene) — Pray for Reign provides the soundtrack. "If you listen to all my albums, I try to have a bridge between [songs] to have a synergy, so it's flowing smooth," he explained about the cinematic tone of his records. "My life has gotten more in-depth. I have a lot more to talk about. As you get richer, you have a lot more problems, a lot more to talk about. The hustle becomes just like when you was coming up starving. To maintain this lifestyle is a tough thing, so we talk about it all. "The two hardest tracks for me to even [perform] or listen to is 'My My My' for Stacks and 'Pray for Reign,' " he said. "My My My" is dedicated to deceased Byrd gang member Stack Bundles, who was brutally killed two years ago. The album's title track is about the birth of Jones' son. "Today I was able to hold my emotions down a little bit better. Yesterday I bust out crying like I'd really just seen my baby being born," he explained. "Shout-out to Stack Bundles, I truly do miss you dearly. Shout-out to my son. These are two of the main inspirations for this album because, for a time, I didn't want to do music after Stack Bundles was killed." During rehearsals, celebs like Brooke Shields came through for support, and during the actual performances, stars such as actor Malik Yoba, Busta Rhymes and Ryan Leslie sat in the crowd. Leslie actually performs on the album's "Precious," which is used during a part of the story when Jones' girlfriend kicks him — and his clothes — out of the house for cheating. "Brooke Shields came to rehearsal, gave me some tips," Jones said. "Maybe we might get a Tony." If that's what Jim wants, that's what Jim gets, said former Roc-a-Fella CEO Dame Dash, one of the project's producers. "It's hard to doubt Jim," Dash said, standing with Diplomats member Freekey Zekey, Jones and the show's director/writer, J. Kyle Manzay. "Anything he says, he's gonna do lately. ... He surpassed expectations with his timing, his rhythm, his discipline. The fact he came for rehearsals every day for five hours, he got onstage, and you saw redeeming qualities about him. The fact I didn't hear him argue on set one time or yell or get frustrated during the whole process. Perception-wise, him and I are probably the two worst guys anyone would step in business with." "We would mesh ideas," said Manzay, who sat in the studio with Jim from midnight to 3 a.m. sometimes, studying the songs in preparation for the show's two-night stint. "Then I deliberately kept it loose because I knew in rehearsals we would come up with more ideas. It was a collaborative effort: Jim would come up with something, and I would come up with something. Every little idea makes it better." Pray for Reign comes out in early February. "Pop Champagne," with Ron Browz and Juelz Santana, is the lead cut. "Pop Off," "Precious" and "Pu--- Is My Medicine" will be coming in the next few weeks. "This was a stab at getting it extended," Jones said of how he plans to turn his two-night run into a longer venture. "I'm trying to put it together so around the time my album comes out, we go on the road for two or three weeks and get it really popping. It's looking like it might turn into a lucrative thing." Jones and Dash have a packed schedule in the coming months. They're currently deciding the proper venue to release the documentary "This Is Jim Jones" and then there's a movie based on the Byrd gang, but Dash says their aspiration is to eventually get "Hip-Hop Monologues" on Broadway. Related Artists |
| Beyonce Didn't Want To Marry Jay-Z When She Was Too Young Posted: 13 Nov 2008 10:24 PM PST Singer tells Seventeen her rule was not to get hitched before she turned 25.
Beyoncé was in no rush to get married when she first met Jay-Z, not to him or to anyone else, she told Seventeen magazine in their December/January issue, according to UsMagazine.com. "I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating," the 27-year-old said in the issue that hits newsstands November 18. "I really don't believe that you will love the same thing when you're 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule: Before the age of 25, I would never get married." The singer explained that she wanted to get to know herself first before making the commitment to the hip-hop mogul, which she finally did in a secret ceremony in New York this past April. Now they have become each other's support system. Jay, 38, offers up advice for his wife all the time, B added, revealing the best wisdom he's shared with her so far: "I guess probably that we're all human," she said. "I don't care if you're picture-perfect on every magazine cover, and you're the most handsome, successful, coolest guy — you still get sad, and you still get your feelings hurt, and you still get confused and vulnerable and nervous and scared. You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with." Beyoncé, whose double album I Am ... Sasha Fierce drops next Tuesday (November 18), also admitted that when it comes to criticism, she is her own worst enemy. "I feel like I'm my own competition," she said. "I don't try to compete with other people. I just try to better myself." B revealed one of her secrets to staying on top of her game: studying videos of herself in great detail, like an athlete. "I go and watch everything that I've done," she said. "I have my YouTube days, when I watch every performance, and I listen to my music, and I watch my videos to figure out what I need to do, what I need to fix and how to become a better singer." Related Photos Related Artists |
| Jennifer Hudson Thanks Fans For Support Posted: 14 Nov 2008 09:18 AM PST Weeks after the murder of her mother, brother and nephew, the singer/actress takes to her MySpace blog.
Jennifer Hudson is extending gratitude to her fans for their support in the wake of the tragic murders of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew last month in Chicago. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," Oscar-winning singer and actress wrote on her MySpace page in a post titled "Thank You All." "My sister and I take great comfort and strength from your love and concern," she added. After a preliminary hearing on Monday, William Balfour, the only suspect named so far in the triple homicide of Darnell Hudson, Jason Hudson and Julian King, will remain in prison at least through December 3, when a full hearing will be held to determine if he violated his parole. Despite her recent family tragedy, Hudson has given her blessing to the Gap to use her in their holiday ad campaign, according to E! Online. Over the summer, photographer Michael Thompson shot cheerful photos of her in a red turtleneck sweater for the ad. Gap spokesperson Olive Doyne said that though the company gave her the opportunity to back out, "She said she wanted to be a part of it and that we should move forward." The ad, which reads "Shine Your Own Star," will run in magazines throughout the country and on billboards in Los Angeles and New York. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Juanes Cleans Up At Latin Grammys With Five Awards Posted: 14 Nov 2008 12:05 AM PST Colombian rocker sets a new record for Latin Grammy wins.
Colombian rocker Juanes was the night's big winner Thursday in Houston, walking away with five Latin Grammys — one for each category he was nominated in. According to The Associated Press, Juanes made a clean sweep at the Latin Grammys, taking home the statuette for Record of the Year (for his track "Me Enamora"), Song of the Year, Best Short-Form Music Video, Best Male Pop Vocal Album, and Album of the Year (for his latest, La Vida ... Es un Ratico). Juanes — who opened the show with "If You Are Out There," his duet with John Legend — also set a new record for total Latin Grammy wins. His total is now 17 trophies — three more than the previous record-holder, Alejandro Sanz, AP reports. "I can't believe it. I am very, very happy, very grateful to life, to music, to God, to the Academy," Juanes told reporters after the event. "For me, this has been incredible. It's a dream." Meanwhile, Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla also won two Latin Grammys on Thursday, as the producer on Juanes' Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The night's other big winners included Puerto Rican singer Kany García, who took home the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Album for Cualquier Día, and Mexican alternative rockers Café Tacuba, who were honored with six nominations and ended up taking home awards for Rock Song of the Year ("Esta Vez") and Alternative Song of the Year ("Volver a Comenzar"). Mexican singer/songwriter Julieta Venegas also picked up two Latin Grammys for Best Long-Form Video and Best Alternative Music Album. Related Artists |
| Posted: 14 Nov 2008 08:18 AM PST 'We are very excited to be on the show,' Heidi says of the couple's cameo.
Heidi Montag and her "Hills" co-star and real-life boyfriend Spencer Pratt are not exactly novices when it comes to mugging for the camera. But, they admittedly are not used to acting, which is why they were so excited to make their sitcom debut on "How I Met Your Mother."
The couple taped a cameo for the sitcom on Wednesday — along with Kim Kardashian — for an episode set to air on January 12 at 8:30pm on CBS. "We are very excited to be on the show," Montag told MTV News from the set. "It's the greatest show, besides 'The Hills,' on TV. It's an honor and privilege. I like it here," Pratt said. "This is our first cameo. We're making history." The premise is that the reality-show couple is "featured on the cover of Them Weekly — a [tongue-in-cheek] reference to US Weekly — and we pop out of the magazine," Spencer explained. They then taunt the show's star, Jason Segel, over his "bathroom issues." The cameo gave the couple an opportunity to act in front of a green screen. "Heidi did a green screen for FNMTV with Pete Wentz," explained chroma-key virgin Pratt. "It's my first green screen, so [I'm] very, very nervous! I was told not to wear green, and green's my favorite color." Montag teased, "You're green to it!" The couple also got serious and took some time out to share their opinions about California's controversial Proposition 8. "I'm very for equal rights," Montag said. The show may have given the dynamic duo the exciting chance to be a "figment of your imaginations" — and the chance to work with green-screen technology — but it also showed them how much work goes into making a weekly sitcom. "It's way more of a production [than reality TV]," Pratt said. "We usually don't have a set. I mean, we have a director, but he doesn't direct." "I'm a little nervous," Montag admitted. "It's a big audience that watches you here. In reality we have a couple cameras, but nobody's watching you. There is pressure [here] to nail your lines." One thing that helped Montag with her nerves was working alongside fellow reality star Kim Kardashian. "I love Kim. She is the sweetest girl ever. So I am so glad we are on the same one as her," she said of the episode. Related Videos |
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