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| T.I. Says He Turned To Crime As A Teen For 'Independence' Posted: 30 Mar 2009 11:24 PM PDT T.I.'s 'Road to Redemption: The Reckoning' airs Tuesday at 9 p.m.
ATLANTA — T.I. 's 2007 arrest for attempting to buy illegal firearms led many observers to believe the rapper's career was finished and he'd be spending a long stretch in prison. The rapper had previously done jail stints for drug-related offenses. So how did an exemplary student, as Tip said he was, turn to a fast life of crime? "I think for me, it was independence. It was about independence. It was about being a provider. It was me and my mom at that point, and from what I saw of my uncles and what I saw of my pops, they were providers," T.I. told MTV News on Saturday during his interview that will air Tuesday night (March 31) on MTV's "Road to Redemption: The Reckoning." "They provided for their family and other people's families. They were the ones that other people came to when they didn't know what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Where there was no way, my uncles and my pops made a way, and that's what I saw."
For Tip, he said those figures became his examples. By the time he hit his teens, he moved to place himself in that provider position. He'd receive final-notice bills from his mother, and he said it was then his responsibility to make sure their lives remained steady. So he turned to selling crack. The rapper said he masked his illegal activity with a more modest, innocent front: selling candy. "My mom never knew how I was getting it done, she just knew I was getting it done," Tip recalled. "I had a few fronts too, man. I used to sell candy. I used to go to the warehouse and buy a bunch of candy, get a book bag full of candy, and off it. I pretended to my mom for a long time that that's how I was getting the money." All was well, according to Tip — until his mother found "a quarter ounce of crack in my sock." Then, as T.I. put it, "She kind of put two and two together." Now, Tip said, he recognizes there's a lot more legal money to be made than any funds from illegal activities. Tip cited a theory of his that if you track two 15-year-old kids for 10 years, one who starts out working at a fast-food restaurant and one that begins selling drugs on the street, eventually the restaurant worker — while getting an education — will out-earn the drug dealer. T.I. said if you factor in arrests, jail time and possible death, there's no question that the drug dealer will lose the battle, even if he starts off making more money. "You got to realize that this is a marathon," he said. "It ain't about who get it first, it about who has it last. I ain't never seen nobody retire from selling crack. Never." He paused for a second, laughed, then finished: "I've never seen no 401K from no cocaine dealing." Don't miss "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: The Reckoning," airing tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Is Britney Spears' <i>Circus</i> Tour Too Sexy For Kids? Parents Weigh In Posted: 31 Mar 2009 02:43 AM PDT Parents' opinions are split, but most agree that raunchier material can easily be found on TV.
PITTSBURGH — About five minutes into Britney Spears' Circus concert on Friday, things got hot. After opening the show in a conservative ringmaster's coat during "Circus," Spears took it off to reveal a crystal encrusted bustier, boy shorts, and removable corset for her cage dance during "Piece of Me." And that was only the beginning of a parade of sexy outfits that delighted the crowd but had some mothers attending the show with their young kids raising their eyebrows. Amy Dunn, mother of four, was visibly uncomfortable during the "Freakshow" portion of the concert, in which Britney bumps and grinds with her male dancers to songs like "Get Naked" and "Touch of My Hand," clad in pasties and barely-there sparkly bodysuits.
"Two of the numbers, where Britney had twirly things and tassels, weren't very flattering and too much for the kids," Dunn said after the show. "It was a little R-rated for this venue." However, Michael O'Day — whose 7-year-old daughter wasn't at the concert — said he thinks most of the show's racier moments would have gone over his daughter's head. "I don't think a 7, 8, or 9-year-old would get a lot of the subtleties," O'Day said, referring Britney being blindfolded by S&M-clad dancers and similar scenarios. O'Day's wife, however, was quick to say that she wouldn't have brought their daughter to the show. "No way!" she said. "This is too adult for her." Leslie Mossesso, who was chaperoning a group of kids in their early teens, said, "I think it was decent for the age we brought, but I wouldn't go under 6th grade. It was a little risqué, but good. I've seen worse." Actually, a majority of the moms we spoke to agreed that there is far raunchier material to be found on the Internet and on televison. "It's purely entertainment," Amy Fields said. "It's nothing [my daughter] hasn't seen on MTV." Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' Alum Kellie Pickler Wishes Her Season Had The 'Save' Posted: 31 Mar 2009 12:58 AM PDT 'Maybe I could have got saved,' singer jokes.
Although Kellie Pickler hasn't had much time to catch up on the latest season of "American Idol," there is one thing she's heard about that she wishes would have existed back in season five when she was on the show. "I know they've changed a lot. I'm not really sure exactly what all the changes have been," she said. "I wish they'd have had [the judges' 'save'] when I was there. Maybe I could have got saved!" Pickler may not be able to watch as frequently as she wants, but she is hoping that others are watching because she is proud to have been on the show. "I have not been able to watch it religiously, 'cause I'm on the road a lot," she said. "So I don't really get to follow any television show but I do love the show." The former "Idol" contestant also has a little advice for the current hopefuls: Don't let the competition stress you out. "I think it's all about having a good time, and as long as you're enjoying yourself, success is defined by happiness," she said. "So just have fun and enjoy it, and pick songs that you love and just have a good time." When asked if, like many former "Idol" contestants before her, she'll be coming back this season to make an appearance, Pickler remained coy. (See which "Idol" alum you hope will return to the show, in our Newsroom poll.) "You'll have to watch, so that's all I'm saying," she teased, hinting to the fact that she might sing her new single "Best Days of Your Life." "That's a possibility — we'll see." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos Related Artists |
| Soulja Boy Says Chris Brown Should Focus On 'Fixing Himself' Posted: 31 Mar 2009 06:00 AM PDT Rapper offers support for former tour-mate and Rihanna.
Soulja Boy Tell'em is the latest artist to speak out about the alleged altercation between Chris Brown and Rihanna. While walking the red carpet at Saturday's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, the "Kiss Me Through the Phone" rapper told Entertainment Weekly that he's there for both former tour-mate Brown and Rihanna and that he was surprised by incident. "[Chris] needs to be focused on fixing himself right now and fixing the relationship," Soulja Boy reportedly said. "I don't know what went wrong or what happened exactly, but I couldn't be more shocked. Both of them are my friends, and I wish both of them the best of luck. They were really good together, and it is sad that it happened. It came out of nowhere. I would have never seen that coming. It is not like him at all. Not his nature." The rapper, who showed off his $100,000 necklace while talking to the magazine, said he hoped that Brown, 19, and Rihanna, 21, get through the situation in a "positive light," but said it will likely be tough because of the intense media glare. "Remember that only God can judge, though," Soulja Boy said. "None of us know exactly what went down that weekend. Only they know the whole truth, and it will be up to them to decide if they can get straight with it and whether they will want to continue as a couple. I can just be there if either of them need me." And, Soulja being Soulja, he took the opportunity to brag that his next big venture is a headlining summer tour, "and I am going to put my swagga into it. Move over, Chris Brown." Despite a recent Fox News report to the contrary, Rihanna is reportedly fully cooperating in the investigation and prosecution of Brown, who is being charged with two felonies, assault and making criminal threats, and is slated to be arraigned on April 6. Related Photos Related Artists |
| Green Day Director Reveals Details Of 'Know Your Enemy' Video Posted: 30 Mar 2009 11:40 PM PDT 'It's still Green Day, but it's just bigger,' Mathew Cullen says of the clip, which debuts April 24 on MTV.
Director Mathew Cullen has helmed his fair share of videos. Last year, he garnered tons of praise for his work on Weezer's YouTube-riffic "Pork and Beans" clip, even winning a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. But when he was tapped to direct the video for Green Day's "Know Your Enemy," the first single from their much-anticipated 21st Century Breakdown album, he was understandably nervous, because it's a pretty far cry from "Pork and Beans."
"Oh, this was definitely the biggest video I've ever done. It has a lot of really big visuals, because I was trying to match the song, which is huge," said Cullen, who, as the co-founder of production house Motion Theory, has worked on clips for Modest Mouse and Beck. "Not to mention Green Day are an incredible group; one of the biggest in the world, and definitely one of the most significant. So I just went in there and tried to bring all of that to life." The pressure was definitely on last week in Los Angeles. Not only was this a huge production (he rolled eight cameras on most takes), but Cullen only had Green Day for one night — or, as he puts it, "one really long night." When MTV News spoke to him, he was just beginning to edit the "Enemy" clip, which debuts April 24 on more than 250 MTV on-air and online outlets worldwide. While he was definitely in the mood to talk, he kept most of the details about the video close to the vest. Still, we managed to pry a few bits of information from him. "We shot in downtown Los Angeles — in a real urban center — and the video is Green Day performing. There isn't another single person in it," Cullen said. "It's based very much on my interpretation of the lyrics, but it connects to the title of the song, and it plays to the environment of fear that we've created for ourselves. "There's a lot of symbolism that I tried to mirror [in the shoot]. I took a lot of influence from Green Day's lyrics and the imagery of [street artist] Banksy," he continued. "It may not sound like a lot, but it's huge visually. It's gonna be a new experience for a lot of their fans. I mean, it's still Green Day, but it's just bigger." That's about as much as Cullen was willing to divulge. But he did add that he spent one additional day shooting "story elements and pieces" for the video and said the guys "look great," dressing in "a timeless quality" that mirrors some of Breakdown's classic-rock feel (think the Who, the Kinks, etc.). Now that he's shot the clip, he just has to edit it down into something worthy of Green Day. No pressure or anything. "My number-one thing is making sure that Green Day's performance is showcased. Because it's big," Cullen said. "The song is exceptional, the album is exceptional, and Green Day are one of the world's great bands. I'm very much looking forward to bringing it all to life." Related Videos Related Artists |
| 'Gossip Girl' Star Ed Westwick Promises 'Happy' Season Finale Posted: 30 Mar 2009 10:39 PM PDT Plus, Chuck Bass' smooth portrayer talks about his intriguing tattoo.
Ed Westwick is almost as crafty as the sly cad he plays on "Gossip Girl." So, getting any kind of scoop from the British actor about the fictional life he leads as Chuck Bass on the CW drama is a nearly impossible task. "Well, you know, we like to keep our audience on their toes," he told MTV News about the current bed-hopping ways of the show's New York City teens. "We just shot the finale for the season, and there's an interesting conclusion. A happy one, I hope everyone will think."
Westwick, who is currently dating co-star Jessica Szohr (Vanessa) in real life, also wouldn't say whether Chuck and Blair (Leighton Meester) will eventually rekindle their flame. "I can't reveal these kinds of things," he said, advising fans, "Watch! Watch. You have to watch!" Although he knows how his own character will finish out the season, Westwick is apparently still in the dark about the soapy details of with Lily and Rufus' presumed-dead secret lovechild. "I don't know what's going on," he said, before warning us, "I'm not revealing anything, you know. You're not gonna get me." Westwick was more open to talking about his ink, especially the "Heartbreak Hotel" tattoo that has captivated fans' interest after he showed it off in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. "Elvis Presley," he said of the inspiration for it. "That's one of my old ones. Would have thought you would have mentioned one of the new ones. You'll have to wait and see [them] when my shirt comes off in a photo shoot." Related Photos |
| Asher Roth's <i>Asleep In The Bread Aisle,</i> Track By Track Posted: 30 Mar 2009 11:54 PM PDT We give you a preview of the MC's debut album before it hits stores on April 20.
Judging by the reception he enjoyed at MTV's Spring Break and South By Southwest, it's safe to say that anticipation for Asher Roth's debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, is steadily building. Not only has Roth been pegged as one of the next generation of great MCs, but some have placed the future of hip-hop in his hands. MTV News sat down recently with Roth at his old college of West Chester University, where he previewed eight of the album's 12 tracks, which he hopes span genres other than hip-hop.
"It was very important to showcase the fact that over the last 23 years of my life that I have not just listened to hip-hop," Roth explained. "People need to understand that people have iPod Shuffles nowadays. When you go through people's iPods, it's not just hip-hop, it's not just jazz, it's not just rock — there are all types of music." The bulk of the album was produced by Oren Yoel, who was also focused on that genre-jumping philosophy. And while the phrase "there's something for everybody on this album" has become a cliché at this point, he said the best part about the listening sessions was the fact that everyone had a different favorite song. "Lark On My Go-Kart" "With Lark coming out, it was a cornucopia of just vivid lyrics ... different images, no real concept, nothing really to draw from except for these references from my life," he explained. "People were like, 'I don't even know what to expect anymore,' and I think that's the beauty of that record." "Blunt Cruisin' " "I Love College" Although people will probably associate his name with "I Love College" for a while, he insists he's no one-hit wonder. "People need to trust me when I say this — there's going to be a lot more benchmarks along that way." "Be By Myself" "We had a good problem to have in the sense of, 'Which way do we go next?' " Roth said of choosing the follow-up to "I Love College." "That's what's cool about the album." "Lion's Roar" "She Don't Want A Man" "As I Em" "Sour Patch Kids" "Our problems are not going to stop with Barack Obama. Money and Fortune 500 companies really dictate what goes on in this world, and people need to start asking questions," he said. "Everything is not lovely. The economy is not the only thing wrong with our country. There's a lot going on, and people should not just go home and zone out to the TV. People want change, and kids need to start getting off their butts and become active." Related Artists |
| Bow Wow Says His Saga With Jermaine Dupri Mirrors 'New Jack City' Posted: 30 Mar 2009 11:28 PM PDT He named his album New Jack City II because the friendship in the movie is 'similar to me and JD's situation.'
When Bow Wow decided to name his new album New Jack City II, the title was met with a few raised eyebrows. While he's dropped the "Lil' " from his name, some people weren't ready to hear Bow Wow rapping about the 1991 movie's subject matter: the influence of crack cocaine in inner-city communities. But Bow Wow insists he's not going there. "It has nothing to do with the action they were doing in the movie," Bow said. "It has nothing to do with drugs or me trying to be hard or get that certification. ... The reason why I named the album that is just based on the brotherhood and the friendship of ['New Jack City' characters] G-Money and Nino Brown — the friendship and how it's similar to me and JD's situation."
Bow compared his and Jermaine Dupri's success at So So Def to that of "the Carter" in the movie. The Carter was an apartment complex in the movie that Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, and his gang transformed into a crack house. He said the two were able to feed their friends and family, just like him and Dupri. Brown eventually kills his best friend G-Money, played by Allen Payne, and Bow said that he and Dupri let business come between them as well. "We had our ups and downs, we had our arguments, our disagreements, but it's normal, it's pretty much normal," said Bow. The MC compared it to when a teenager thinks he's ready to make his own decisions and ends up bumping his head and coming back home, humbled. "It just came to that point," Bow explained. "I went out there and bumped my head, and my third album [Unleashed] didn't do as good as the other ones." New Jack City II, which dropped Tuesday (March 31), is a continuation of the film, Bow said. If Nino Brown hadn't killed G-Money, the two would have continued to make money. "[Unleashed] sold 800,000 records, but it wasn't a million. It wasn't 3 million like my first one, and it wasn't 2 million like my second. So I learned from that. Got back with JD, and the next two albums sold over a million records, so you know, it shows." Bow also said he wasn't worried about the fact that this is his first album with a Parental Advisory label. "When I first came out, my fans were my age," Bow said. "My fans now are probably 21, 22 years old." Lil Wayne, T.I. and Swizz Beatz are all featured on the album, which was another reason for the Parental Advisory. "I really did that for them, 'cause I didn't want to hold them back from being the artists that they are and for what y'all like them for and respect them for," he said. "So I let them get on my album and do what it is that they do." Related Artists |
| Jordin Sparks Can't Decide On Her 'American Idol' Favorite Posted: 31 Mar 2009 04:50 AM PDT 'I actually vote for seven people each night, which is really sad, but I can't help myself,' season-six champ says.
"American Idol" alum Jordin Sparks hasn't forgotten where she comes from. In fact, the season-six champ is so dedicated to the show that she still tunes in and votes to her favorite contestants. But she swears she isn't voting for anyone in particular, because it's just too hard to pick.
"It's really hard to say, 'cause there's a lot of really good people," she told MTV News. "I am voting — you guy should too! I am voting for 'Idol.' I actually vote for seven people each night, which is really sad, but I can't help myself." And Sparks has good reason for dedicating so much phone time, "They're all so good," she said, adding that once she thinks she has it all figured out, the show goes and throws her a curveball and she has a new favorite contestant. "You think the guys are really strong, and then Allison [Iraheta] comes out, and it's like, 'OK, maybe not,' " she said about the singer's performance of the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" during Motown week. "She was amazing." So far this season, past "Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Ruben Studdard have come back to the show to perform. Sparks is hoping she, too, can return to the stage where she became a star. "I hope so!" she said about trying to fit an "Idol" appearance into her pre-JoBros tour schedule. "We're hoping maybe sometime in April, but we're not sure yet." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Artists |
| Lil Wayne, Keri Hilson Get Hot And Heavy At California Concert Posted: 29 Mar 2009 11:39 PM PDT Hilson lifts Weezy's shirt and says, 'Ain't nothin' lil about this Wayne!'
At the Los Angeles-area stop of Lil Wayne's I Am Music Tour — which also features Keri Hilson, Gym Class Heroes, Gorilla Zoe and T-Pain (recently recovered from his, er, golf-cart accident) — Weezy and Hilson indulged in some mature-audiences-only flirting that had the crowd shrieking with excitement. A video posted on Wayne's blog shows the pair grinding playfully while performing "Turnin Me On" (from Hilson's just-released debut LP, In a Perfect World...) at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, on Sunday. After the song ends with Hilson singing the line, "... recognize a real woman," Hilson takes a moment to talk to the crowd about Wayne. "I don't know about y'all, but he's definitely turning me on right now!" she says. "That's right — Wayne, he knows how to recognize a real woman." She then moves behind him — standing a good six inches taller than the diminutive MC — reaches over his shoulder, lifts up his shirt and says, "Let me tell y'all something you might not know: Ain't a damn thing lil about this Wayne!" As the crowd shrieks its approval and Hilson begins walking offstage, Wayne gives her a playful swat on the butt. She sings, "Now wait a minute!," then laughs and says "Bye baby!" Wayne says "Bye baby!" before roaring "Keri Hilson, y'aaaaaaall!" The pair also performed the song — with more tame flirting — on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Friday night. Lil Wayne's tour continues into April, with stops on the West Coast and Hawaii before heading into the Midwest. At press time, Weezy's oft-delayed forthcoming rock album, Rebirth, still did not have a confirmed release date. Related Photos Related Artists |
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