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| DJ Khaled Wants Hits -- Not Beef -- As President Of Def Jam South Posted: 19 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST DJ will oversee releases from Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Ace Hood.
BROOKLYN, New York — When DJ Khaled speaks about himself, three words usually come into play: "love, hits and energy." The recently appointed head of Def Jam South Records said that he refuses to let controversy — whether between 50 Cent and Rick Ross, or anyone else — distract him.
"I don't deal with negative energy, it's a waste of my time and my time is valuable," he said last week in New York of his upbeat nature. "I keep negative away and stay positive. Khaled's name has been in the middle of the ongoing verbal battle between Rick Ross and 50 Cent. 50 accused Khaled of inciting Ross to start the beef, and the back-and-forth escalated last week when Fif made a video called "A Psychic Told Me." In it, 50 threatened Khaled's mother; the video has since been removed from 50's Web site. Khaled declined to address the situation, saying that he wants to focus on music. "At Def Jam, we promote music," he added. "We promote hit records. That's what I respect. I'm always going to represent the music; Rick Ross is gonna represent the music. If controversy comes with it, it comes with it. And boy, 'Magnificent' — Rick Ross featuring John Legend, that's Ricky Ross' first single — it's a monster. It's gonna be on and poppin'." Khaled is working more closely with his friend Ross than ever before. He served as the A&R rep for Ross' forthcoming LP Deeper Than Rap, and in his new role as label president, he'll be overseeing the album's release as well. Also under his watch will be albums from Young Jeezy, Ludacris and his signee Ace Hood. (Ace is also signed to Khaled's Def Jam-distributed imprint, We the Best Records.) "This is what I've always wanted to do, is be an executive and take it to another level," Khaled said. "L.A. [Reid] just hit me one day. He was like, 'We should bring Khaled onboard. He makes hits, he has relationships.' I got a team of producers and we go in hard. My job is to bring hits to the table and work with new artists and work with established artists. I'm bringing new energy to the game and to the building." Of course, Khaled garnered headlines of another kind last week, when a man who resembled Khaled led police on a chase in Los Angeles before taking his own life. Khaled said his phone was ringing all night. "It wasn't me, but you gotta give thanks for life," he smiled. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Dr. Dre Song 'Topless,' Apparently Featuring T.I. And Nas, Leaks Posted: 18 Feb 2009 03:53 AM PST DJ Envy plays possible Detox track on New York radio station.
It's "Crack a Bottle" all over again. Fans are so thirsty for Dr. Dre's Detox that they are bootlegging tracks before the Doc even gets to lay down his vocals. On Wednesday (February 18), another Dre song hit New York airwaves. DJ Envy played a song called "Topless" that sounded like it was supposed to feature Nas and T.I. when finished. The song — obviously not mastered or fully recorded and released without Dre's permission — sounds fresh out of the studio. Tip starts the song with a reference to the Doc. "It's the D.R.," Tip raps. "Made the West side worldwide, no PR/ Gangsta-rap god, I'm the end all, be all/ California love from the Bloods to the C-Dogs." The King of the South's rhymes go on to suggest that Dre's track record is unblemished. "Face it, you'll never be greater than the Doc, ask 'Pac," he raps. Tip was recently in the studio with Dre during Grammy weekend. There's no question about Nas' raps on the record. He explodes on the beat with vintage Nasty Nas lines: "Your skin's a travelling bag of your existence/ Yours is shabby and scabbed while mine's glistening/ Vivid on my skin how many continents I visit then/ You can journey with me to different places by listening." Dre's Detox LP has been promised for years now. A few weeks ago, the song "Crack a Bottle" hit mixtapes, and people wondered whether it would be on Detox or Eminem's upcoming Relapse. The track will actually be featured on 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct. Related Artists |
| Jay-Z Explains <i>Blueprint 3</i> Delays: 'I'll Be Axl Rose Out Here!' Posted: 17 Feb 2009 10:14 PM PST 'When it's ready for the people, then we'll serve it up,' Jay says of Kanye West-helmed LP.
If Jay-Z weren't his own boss, we probably would have gotten The Blueprint 3 a long time ago. Since Hov has been making the record without having to worry about any deadlines or quotas to meet, the long-anticipated project has been taking longer to concoct than even Jay himself wants.
Usually Hov takes a couple of weeks to knock out an album; if he records 15 or 16 songs, the best 13 or 14 go on the album. But B3 has been several months in the making, and a couple of dozen tracks are in the can already. "I really don't, to be honest for you," Hov said at his "2 Kings" gathering in Arizona over the weekend, when asked about a release date for the album. "If I don't have any time constraints, I'll mess around, I'll never get it done. I'll be Axl Rose out here! It'll be 12 years later and we'll be talking about Chinese Democracy. I really like the [time constraints]. But whatever happens, [the album] may turn out better, 'cause it'll be done when it's right." Kanye West — who has produced most if not all of the album's tracks so far — said he only needs to give four or so more beats for Jigga to work his blue magic over. (Kanye also explained the "Jockin' Jay-Z" sample.) "I made a bunch of songs," Jay said. "We're gonna get in the studio and get down to what's supposed to be on the album and when. Right now, Kanye is making a new batch of music that's going to be phenomenal, and at the end of the day, when it's ready for the people, then we'll serve it up." On Saturday, Jay was in Scottsdale hosting his third annual "2 Kings" dinner and afterparty, presented by Sprite Green. Cleveland Cavaliers star (and Hov's friend) LeBron James was the co-host for the mixer, which brought together executives from major corporations, rappers such as Young Jeezy and Busta Rhymes, athletes including Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Shaquille O'Neal and stars from other genres of entertainment like Spike Lee and Chris Tucker. Jay told MTV News that James is one of the few people who've heard the in-progress Blueprint 3, and that he welcomes any criticism his NBA All-Star homie brings. "He listens to lyrics so he picks up on things early," Jay said of James. "I welcome that from anyone. Anyone who makes it in the room, their opinion is valued. But him being my brother and all, he picks up on lyrics, so I'm always anxious to hear his opinions on what I'm making." "He does the same thing to me," James offered about the constructive criticism Jay gives him about his game. "If I'm out there not getting enough rebounds, or missing too many free throws, he lets me know about it." Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' First-Round Semifinals, Twitter-Style Posted: 18 Feb 2009 12:03 AM PST Will Anoop Desai, Casey Carlson, other early favorites survive Wednesday's results show?
On Tuesday — for better or, in some cases, much worse — "American Idol" shone the spotlight on the first dozen members of its hallowed top 36. Contenders arose, dreams went down in balls of flames, there were tears and laughter ... you know, just your average Tuesday night. But who hit it out of the park? Who will be sent packing on Wednesday night's (February 18) results show? It's important to know these things. And since we realize you're busy, we've decided once again to sum up all the "Idol" action, Twitter-style. It's everything you may have missed, all in 140 characters or less. Feel free to Tweet these with your closest pals, because there's really no better way to sum up the magic of dreams realized — or crushed — than in delicious, micro-bloggy bits. Ann Marie Boskovich: Performed bland, breathy version of "Natural Woman." Perfect for Lady Speed Stick spot. Nice knowing you, AMB. Anoop Desai: Bleated through weak-kneed "Angel of Mine." Might still make it through to top 12. Get ready, xenophobic conspiracy nuts. Alexis Grace: Toned down the Hayley Williams, upped the Aretha on "Never Loved a Man." Killed it. Dressed like a cocktail waitress. Brent Keith: Got in touch with his country roots with "Hicktown." Flopped. Resemblance to Spencer Pratt probably will not save him. Casey Carlson: Channeled Sarah Palin with winky, disastrous cover of Police staple. As a singer, she makes a pretty great bikini model. Danny Gokey: Took on Mimi's "Hero," won. Standout male performance of the night, if only because all the rest were so below average. Jackie Tohn: Spastic, unsettling take on Elvis hit. Gratuitous grunting, chicken dancing. Strange Lycra pants. That about sums it up. Michael Sarver: Strutted through Gavin DeGraw hit. Did bizarre shuffle. Strangely, judges seemed to love this. We're ambivalent. Ricky Braddy: Bland, yet strangely likeable. Admirable job on "Song for You." Wore nice dinner jacket. Told story about chicken fingers. Stephen Fowler: Admonished for removing all semblance of funk from MJ's "Rock With You." We didn't totally agree. Still, he's done. Stevie Wright: Yowch. Nose-dived on Taylor Swift tune. Second-worst of the night, next to Casey. We feel bad for her. She seems nice. Tatiana del Toro: Toned down dramatics on Whitney song. Good, tho judges were left confused. Did not combust, which is victory enough. Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos |
| Kanye West Rushes New Video Onto His Web Site Posted: 18 Feb 2009 08:55 AM PST West quickly posted 'Welcome to Heartbreak' after learning that Chairlift used similar technique for their new video.
Kanye West went on the offensive Tuesday, posting a video for his song "Welcome to Heartbreak" on his blog after he learned that another act used a similar visual technique for its video. "This is not the next single, 'Amazing' is the next single," West wrote (although not in all-caps, as he often does). "This is the video we've been working on for the last month. We know there is another video out there using the same technique, so we were forced to drop it now."
The other video he's referring to is Chairlift's "Evident Utensils," which also features a bleeding-pixels element. "Welcome to Heartbreak" director, Nabil Elderkin, told MTV News late Tuesday that the technique is called "data moshing." It's been employed by a number of artists in the past, he said, most notably Takeshi Murata. Elderkin explained that for "Heartbreak," he used it to convey the haunting element of the track, which is the opening number on 808s & Heartbreak. "I wanted to use it more of strategic way, using calculated moshes, colors and textures to compliment the effect," the director said. "Different parts of the songs represented different feelings, and I wanted to come with a visual representation of the flow and textures that are I feel are very important in this song. I shot different things in super-slow-motion with the Phantom just for transitional movement and textures." This isn't the first time Elderkin has worked with West. The Los Angeles-based photographer also directed 'Ye's video for "Champion" from his last album, Graduation. The two have developed a chemistry of sorts: Elderkin was present in Hawaii during the recording of 808s & Heartbreak, and he and West are collaborating on a photo book based on the rapper's Glow in the Dark Tour. Elderkin said he pitched the idea to West following a meeting for their book and pestered the rapper to pursue it. "I knew that was the song this video had to be for," Elderkin said. "He liked what I showed him, and I nagged him a few times about doing it. ... I told him again, I really felt this would be a great visual for the song, and he pulled the trigger. I got busy on the phone trying to put it together, and somehow we did it the next day in New York. I shot all the extra components the following week in L.A. "He basically left the bag of fries open for me to rummage in," Elderkin added. "He is obviously a super-creative guy who likes to push the envelope, and I think from our brief discussions he knew this was going to do it." Related Videos Related Artists |
| Aubrey O'Day Joins MTV News For Fashion Week! Posted: 18 Feb 2009 12:24 AM PST Ex-Danity Kane singer, current Playboy star will be covering and appearing in shows.
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| Rick Ross Gets Lil Wayne, Mary J. Blige, Nas To Go <i>Deeper Than Rap</i> Posted: 18 Feb 2009 12:38 AM PST The Miami Boss says his new album, due in March, 'is shattering the game.'
BROOKLYN, New York — Rick Ross called Shawn Carter for "Maybach Music" on his Trilla LP. But instead of retreading the territory that he and Jay-Z trampled with the classic cut, the Miami Boss reached out to Hov's musical heir for "Maybach Music, Pt. 2": Dwayne Carter. Lil Wayne joins Ross on Deeper Than Rap, due March 24. "I'mma keep it real; I gotta shout out Jay-Z, shout out the Roc," Ross told MTV News last week. " 'Maybach Music,' that was timeless. I would never disrespect that record and those rhymes, just to say I topped it. But I'mma say this, on Deeper Than Rap, there is a 'Maybach Music, Pt. 2,' and it is special. I gotta shout out Weezy ... and there's somebody else on there."
That "somebody else" — we were told by a source that chose to remain nameless — is T-Pain. Meanwhile, Mary J. Blige appears on a separate Deeper Than Rap track, the title of which Ross opted not to reveal yet. "Mary J. Blige, she's the voice of that R&B hip-hop sound," he explained. "When I choose a lot of my beats, I pick beats a lot of times off that sound, that 'What's the 411' [with] that R&B feel to it. Those are the kind of beats I gravitate to. It was just a pleasure for her to get in the studio and lace me with a classic. ... I'm not going to tell you the name of that record yet, because I don't want all these hackers who be trying to hack my computer to try and get me. It's an experience you can look forward to." The highlight of Deeper Than Rap's collaborations may come from Queens. Not from 50 Cent, of course, but from Nas. " 'Usual Suspects' with Nas Escobar — that's such a movie. Amazing," said DJ Khaled — who acted as the album's A&R rep and was just named the president of the resurrected Def Jam South, which is overseeing the release. "We let each other know we was expecting the best," Ross said about working with Khaled. "That was what we coming with right now as far as the direction as the production. Me, myself, I'm just rising to the occasion and challenges. I'm feeling good about everything, and March 24, Deeper Than Rap is shattering the game and shattering anything you could be thinking about other than number ones and doing big things." Related Videos Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' Recap: Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey Are Hits Posted: 18 Feb 2009 06:38 AM PST The top 36's first batch of 12 tackles Billboard's Top 100, with mixed results.
The first batch of the 12 of the "American Idol" top 36 performed live on Tuesday night, and the results? Well, they were mixed. Given a seemingly bottomless song selection — the theme was "hits from the Billboard Hot 100," meaning everything from Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" to Eminem's "Crack a Bottle" was fair game — the dozen hopefuls on display last night mostly chose to play it safe, and the results ran the gamut from "triumphant" to "utterly and completely disastrous." In the former category, you can count pint-size Alexis Grace, who belted out a soulful rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved a Man" that earned her comparisons to a former "Idol" champ, Kelly Clarkson. Then Danny Gokey closed the night with a take on Mariah Carey's "Hero" that had the studio audience — and the judges — cheering wildly. Ricky Braddy and Michael Sarver also received high marks for their versions of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" and Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be." You can file the performances by Casey Carlson, Stevie Wright and Stephen Fowler under "disastrous." Carlson, the button-cute former bikini model, winked her way through a karaoke-fied version of the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," a performance that left "Idol" judges agape. Wright, a 17-year-old with a husky set of pipes, decided to go "younger," taking on Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" and failing spectacularly. Fowler performed Michael Jackson's classic "Rock With You," a move that left judges questioning his song choice and his chances at survival. Everyone else was somewhere in between. Normally dramatic Tatiana Del Toro unveiled her demure side with a controlled version of Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You," a decision that left judges praising her pipes but questioning her identity as an artist. Brent Keith tried to remain loyal to his country roots by singing James Aldean's "Hicktown," a performance the judges deemed "forgettable." Ann Marie Boskovich fell victim to the same criticism after her take on Carole King's "Natural Woman." Jackie Tohn was dubbed "entertaining" after a spastic performance of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" (judges were split on her Lycra pants). And Anoop Desai — Randy's favorite "Noop Dogg" — tackled Monica's "Angel of Mine" with mixed results, striking a balance between gawky crooner and smooth loverman. The top male and female vote-getters — plus the next-highest vote-getter, regardless of gender — will be the first three to move on to the top 12. Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos |
| Justin Timberlake's William Rast Makes Fashion Week Debut Posted: 18 Feb 2009 01:46 AM PST Singer says new line from his clothing label is inspired by "a new America."
According to GQ, Justin Timberlake is one of the 10 Most Stylish Men of the year. So, it's fitting that the singer is one of the forces behind the William Rast clothing line, which he started a few years back with his childhood friend and business partner, Trace Ayala.
Timberlake, along with his design partners Johan and Marcella Lindeberg, made the line's big debut at the Bryant Park tents during New York Fashion Week. For their fall 2009 collection, Timberlake told MTV News that he found inspiration in the "new America" — making it rather appropriate that the show took place on Presidents' Day. "Birth of a new leadership, birth of a new era, birth of a new culture," he said. "And I think being who we are as a brand ... I think it inspired us to take it beyond where we were. So, that's it — a new America." Timberlake explained that he manages to find time to design a clothing line — in addition to his work as an actor, producer and musician — because of the great team behind William Rast. "Well, [music and fashion are] both collaborative, just in different ways," he explained. "Johan and Marcella Lindeberg are such an intricate part of this line, [from] the birth of it to where it is now — where we are. ... I think it's interesting." Although he is very hands-on in the design process, for him it's more about being an ideas man than actually sewing clothes together. "The way I work with them is [I] give them ideas on lifestyle," he said. "Not so much specific clothing, 'cause that's what they're so good at — taking a general idea and throwing it into specifics and making it a part of the clothing; that is that lifestyle." Related Photos Related Artists |
| Lily Allen: Building The (Im)Perfect Pop Star Posted: 18 Feb 2009 09:59 AM PST Her flaws are what make her the most interesting pop star ever created.
In 1998, Spin featured Australian ingénue Natalie Imbruglia on its June cover, putting her doe-eyed visage beneath the headline "Building the Perfect Pop Star." At the time, it didn't seem like that great of a leap. After all, we were still roughly six months away from Britney Spears, and Imbruglia — a former child star with a massive hit under her belt (the weepy "Torn") and an album climbing the charts — seemed like a fairly safe bet to conquer the globe. Of course, in retrospect, Spin made a pretty terrible call, because Imbruglia never became the perfect pop star. In fact, I had to turn to Wikipedia to realize that she even released another album (two of them, in fact!). The reason I mention this has less to do with Natalie Imbruglia than it does with Lily Allen. I'm not really sure what the two have in common — if anything — aside from the fact that Allen seems to get much of the same hyperbole thrown her way. She is "the perfect pop star for these crumbling times." The "wordsmith of the MySpace generation," proclaims one rather breathless press release. Now please allow me to throw another hype-soaked log onto the flame. Sort of.
Because while Allen might not be the perfect pop star, she's not Natalie Imbruglia, either. She is flawed and chipped and endlessly entertaining. She has a background that rivals your average hash dealer, she gets fabulously drunk in nightclubs, and she smokes cigarettes with reckless abandon. She spends too much money on clothes and gets into petty fights on Twitter and cries during interviews. She seems less like the model of a 21st century pop star and more like the kind of girlfriend you'd have when you're 22 — the awesome kind you'd go backpacking around Europe with, wear a sarong with. She is perfectly imperfect. Which is why she's probably also the most interesting pop star ever created. I'm sure this point can be debated endlessly. Are bad behavior and MySpace meltdowns really that interesting? Well, no. But they're certainly human. And that's what separates Lily from her pop contemporaries — she's human, almost to a fault (and certainly more than Britney and Christina and Katy combined). And that's what makes her and her music so interesting — and so complex. There is very little about Allen that's black and white: She's kind of sexy, but probably not a sex symbol. She's mega successful, but she doesn't appear to care too much about the trappings of her success. She's coy, yet self-aware. Empowered, yet needy to the core. She deals almost exclusively in the grays of life. And nowhere is she quite so gray as on her new album, It's Not Me, It's You. There are songs about how soul-crushing success can be. And about how fantastic it is to be rich and famous. She makes statements about being happy on her own, then sings about wanting nothing more than to be held by a man. She admonishes clingy exes, yet calls them when she's at her weakest. She makes no apologies, except for when she's apologizing to her sister and her father. It's perhaps the most human pop album ever created. It provides no answers to anything, because, well, the stuff Allen's dealing with usually doesn't have any answers. It's a multifaceted look at a world that's becoming increasingly multifaceted. So maybe she is the wordsmith of the MySpace generation. Of course, it's entirely possible that all this might change. When I interviewed Allen last week, she was more guarded, less willing to let fly with the eyebrow-raising statements and the sh-- talk (she even had nice things to say about Britney). Perhaps she learned her lesson, and finally understands that shooting her mouth off is more trouble than it's worth. Maybe she's grown tired of the rigmarole that comes with being an imperfect 21st century pop star, and realizes that things would be much easier for her if she would just get in line. That would certainly be a shame — not just for me, but for fans like me — but I suppose it's inevitable. Because when you're dealing with someone as wonderfully, endearingly, fascinatingly imperfect as Allen, an identity crisis almost seems like the next logical step. It certainly makes her even more human, when you think about it. Is this a good thing for her and her career? I'm not really sure ... I guess you could say I'm torn. Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com. Related Videos Related Artists |
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