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| Virginia Tech Observes Second Anniversary Of Shootings Posted: 16 Apr 2009 03:51 AM PDT Campuses still debating gun control, security two years later.
Two years after gunman Seung-Hui Cho opened fire on the Virginia Tech University campus, killing 32 students and faculty and then himself, the debate over guns on campus continues to rage across the country. The grim anniversary comes just a week after the building in which Cho killed the majority of his victims reopened on the VT campus with a wing dedicated to the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. After $1 million in renovations following the April 16, 2007, shootings — the worst campus massacre in U.S. history — the second floor of VT's Norris Hall reopened with 4,300 square feet of former classroom space reconstructed to host a community space for the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and the Center for Peace studies, according to The Roanoke Times. Though no traditional classes will be taught in the building anymore, the university wanted to dedicate the space to honor the legacy of those who died. Part of the work the center hopes to do is reach out to other communities facing school-violence issues and work with at-risk students in neighboring Roanoke and Southside Virginia to try and redirect them in positive ways in the hopes of creating safer school environments. VT junior Bryce Carter — who famously live-blogged the events as they were unfolding and shot footage from his dorm room the day of the shootings that became the second most-watched video on YouTube that day — said on Wednesday that the mood on campus is "a lot lighter" than last year's anniversary. "There's definitely a huge change," he said. "Last year, there were a lot more people on campus who experienced it [and] knew about it. This year, I feel like there's a lot less people now, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. "The school just came out saying that after we graduate, our class, it will be a regular school again, which is perfectly acceptable, because I feel like it's time for the school to move on, and that's exactly what is happening," Carter added. One of the most high-profile efforts taking place around the anniversary of the shootings is an initiative from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined VT shooting survivors this week to unveil a new TV ad criticizing former Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell, the presumptive Republican candidate for governor and gun-rights supporter. The New York Times reported that the 30-second ad features Omar Samaha — whose sister, Reema, was one of those killed by Cho — who calls for Virginia lawmakers to close what Samaha says is a gun-show loophole that allows private sellers to sell guns without background checks. Cho purchased the guns he used in the assault legally from local gun shops, but in the months after the massacre, officials questioned whether someone with his history of mental illness should have been allowed to do so. One of the biggest dilemmas facing campuses across the country is the continuing issue of security. A month before the second anniversary, a panel discussion about the shootings drew a small crowd to the campus of Virginia's College of William and Mary to discuss whether the state's schools are safer now than they were two years ago. According to a retired CIA officer who spoke at the forum, the answers is simple: no. David Cariens said officials have not learned from the mistakes they made at VT and that campus officials did not alert students and faculty quickly enough after Cho's first two victims were found in a campus dorm. Much of the discussion centered on how administrators and law enforcement deal with students struggling with mental illness — as Cho was at the time of the killings — and how officials are trained to spot possible threats to campus safety. Virginia Tech will not hold classes on the anniversary of the shootings, with a "Day of Remembrance" scheduled that will include the lighting of a commemorative candle at midnight at the memorial on the Drill Field with members of the Corps of Cadets standing guard around the candle all day. A university-wide commemoration will also be held at the memorial along with a 3.2-mile "Run in Remembrance," for which more than 3,300 had registered at press time, and the extinguishing of the candle just before midnight. Even as attention turns to the VT anniversary, campus violence continues to flare across the country, with the past week witnessing a murder/suicide at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan, which led to an immediate campus-wide lockdown. That latest shooting has again raised the question of whether students should be able to carry weapons to class at a time when almost a dozen states have pending legislation that would allow guns on campus. Those in favor of allowing concealed-carry permits on campus claim owners with those permits are five times less likely to commit violent crimes. One of the most vigorous debates is taking place in Texas, where a bill to allow concealed carry of guns on campuses is currently being discussed by a state House panel. One former VT student who is now a graduate student at the University of Texas, John Woods, testified before the House Committee on Public Safety and said he graduated three weeks after the shooting and that not a single survivor he's spoken to has said that more concealed guns on campus is the solution to the problem. Some campuses, such as Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, have been focusing not on guns, but on helping to spot the kind of mental illness that could lead to another massacre. Administrators at Youngstown, realizing they were not equipped to spot such potential issues, created a Mental Health Training, Response & Awareness on Campus program, whose main goal is to raise awareness of mental illness, reduce the stigma associated with it and provide staff with the skills to know what to do if they encounter an individual at risk. Inspired by the measures taken at VT following the shootings, the Youngstown campus has formed a Threat Assessment Team that meets regularly to share information, has installed a campus-wide public-address system and has begun work on a text-messaging alert system and a secondary Web site that will host information in any crisis. Head to Think.MTV.com to find a community where you, your friends and your favorite celebrities can get informed, get heard and take action on the issues that matter to you most. Related Videos Related Photos |
| Kanye West Working With 30 Seconds To Mars On New Album Posted: 15 Apr 2009 01:22 AM PDT Band's management confirms Yeezy was working with Jared Leto on a song for the band's next album, due later this year.
Regular readers of Kanye West's blog are probably aware that the man is obsessed with fancy sneakers, all things sleek and tech-y and posting borderline-creepy paeans to women he'd like to bed (they're probably also aware that, thanks to the makers of "South Park," he can never eat in a Cheesecake Factory again). Oh, and it's not exactly news when he posts a photo of himself in the studio, since he's seemingly always working with someone, somewhere. But on Tuesday, when West posted a picture of himself with Killers frontman Brandon Flowers and 30 Seconds to Mars main man Jared Leto, it surprised even the most faithful of his fans. This wasn't your everyday Kanye collabo, after all. "I was working on this dope-ass song with Jared and Brandon stopped by. I played them some of the new Jeezy beats, and before everybody bounced, Brandon hopped on the keyboard and I hopped on the MPC [sampler]" West wrote. "Sh-- was dope. Oh, and yes, those are Swarovski crystals on Brandon's shirt, by Dries Van Noten." It is a pretty impressive shirt. Anyway, the post raised a rather interesting question: Why was Jared Leto in the studio with Kanye West? Last we checked, 30 Seconds to Mars were working with noted British producer Flood on their new album — the same album currently being held up by a rather contentious (and costly) lawsuit with their former label, Virgin/EMI. So, we decided to reach out to 30STM's management to try and get to the bottom of it all, and here's what they told us: Kanye and Leto were working on a song for the upcoming 30 Seconds to Mars album, which will be released later this year. There was no further comment given (and no one seems to know why Flowers was there), but the news of a Kanye/Leto collaboration is certainly interesting ... and it's a glimmer of hope for long-suffering 30STM fans out there, still waiting for the follow-up to the band's breakthrough 2005 effort, A Beautiful Lie. Not to mention, it's more proof that you learn something new from Kanye West's blog every single day. Related Artists |
| Justin Timberlake Wants You To Answer 'The Phone' Posted: 15 Apr 2009 04:24 AM PDT 'You sort of have to shock these people into these situations,' he says of his intense new MTV reality show.
Justin Timberlake starred in one of the most infamous "Punk'd" pranks of all time, when he was brought to tears after he thought the IRS was going to take away his house for unpaid taxes. Well, come Tuesday, Timberlake will take his act to MTV once again, but this time, he'll be behind the scenes as the executive producer of the new reality series "The Phone."
" 'The Phone' is a high-intensity game show where we take four real-life people, not actors, we take four real-life people, and we thrust them into physical and mental nightmare," Timberlake said. "And you get to watch what happens. There's a chance every show to win 50 grand." The show features people answering a phone call and then having to go through intense missions to win the game and the money. "We plot each show around a movie plot," Timberlake added. "And they become the main character in this movie." Timberlake remembered one episode, in which the instant the contestant decided they wanted to play the game, they were already having to dodge a dangerous situation. "In Seattle, one of the contestants, she's at a fish shack," he said. "We always say, 'Press one if you'd like the chance to win $50,000,' and as soon as she pressed one, the operator, who's kind of like our host, he says, 'The game starts now,' and then in the parking lot, a car blows up. "You sort of have to shock these people into these situations, and they really get into it," he added. The surprises don't stop there — for the contestants, at least. In addition to explosions and last-minute decisions, the contestants also face plot twists and turns. "Just like a thriller or suspense film at the end of the show, every show, there is a twist that we put on the contestants," Timberlake explained. "And as the show goes on, you, as the viewer, will know, but it's fun to see. We really test their morale. We really test their character." Related Videos Related Artists |
| Raekwon Finds Label Home For <i>Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II</i> Posted: 15 Apr 2009 04:02 AM PDT 'The wait is finally over,' the Wu-Tang Clan rapper says of long-awaited LP, which is set for the summer.
The years-long delay on Raekwon the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II had nothing to do with the music. Rae kept his sword sharp, rapping over tracks produced by Dr. Dre, the RZA and the late J Dilla, among others. The Staten Island sergeant had to get his business right and find a recording home. After failing to solidify with Dre's Aftermath over at Interscope, the Chef shopped around, and on Wednesday (April 15), it was announced that he will release the follow-up to his 1995 classic on his own ICEH20 Records through EMI.
"The wait is finally over," Raekwon said in a statement. "Words cannot describe how extremely happy I am to work with EMI Music to put out my album." Rae's new LP is slated for this summer, and guests include Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, the Game, Bun B and, of course, the Wu-Tang Clan. Rae also has a mixtape coming soon called Staten (We Go Hard), dropping with his new crew the Brinks Brothers. Putting out music for the almost-two-decade vet is nothing to get nervous about. "I don't worry too much about the pressure, because this is something I love to do," he said. "All I could say is, I'm a veteran, and I love hip-hop. I'm a veteran at hip-hop, so when it comes to making an album with that much pressure, it's fun. I built my life behind pressure. Like I said, I'm just gonna get out there and be the best I can be and give y'all what I feel that y'all want from me, that y'all ready for. "Pressure?" he continued. "Nah. I get more pressure going home dealing with family. That's more pressure than being here doing what I want to do. The fans made me who I am. All I can do is be me. Maybe some of the newer generation may not catch it. It may be too quick for them. Maybe my fans that's been there from the door, they'll catch it." The Chef will be on this summer's Rock the Bells tour, along with Wu's RZA, KRS-One, Buckshot, Crooked I, Pete Rock, Murs and headliners Nas and Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley. Rae promised to perform a few new songs from Cuban Linx II, like "House of Flying Daggers" and "Wu Oh"; mixtape masher "State of Grace"; and classics including "C.R.E.A.M." and "Protect Your Neck." Related Artists |
| T.I.'s Bodyguard Gets Same Sentence As MC For Weapons Charges Posted: 14 Apr 2009 10:09 PM PDT Corey Williams, who testified against Tip, sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
T.I.'s bodyguard, who served as the point man for the attempted illegal firearm purchase that will send the rapper to prison next month, has also been sentenced to a prison term of one year and one day, according to TheSmokingGun.com. Corey Williams, 34, worked for Tip for five months in 2007 prior to becoming an informant and wearing a wiretap to assist federal authorities in their attempt to arrest the Atlanta rapper. Williams was arrested one month before T.I.'s November 2007 bust on the eve of the BET Hip-Hop Awards. The bodyguard had no previous record and agreed to cooperate with federal agents in a sting operation against T.I. to reduce his own sentence. But Williams and his former employee will now both spend the same amount of time in prison.
Last month, T.I. was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after working out a plea deal in March 2008. Under the terms of the rapper's plea, he was ordered to complete 1,000 hours of community service (none of his work on his MTV reality series "T.I.'s Road to Redemption" will be counted), pay a hefty fine and receive a lesser sentence than the 10 years he was originally facing. The rapper must also comply with a number of regulations post-jail-time as well, including additional community service and home confinement. Williams, on the other hand, worked out a plea deal of his own with his lawyer, Mildred Dunn, before the same judge as T.I. But he was not able to receive a shorter sentence than his former boss, whom he turned state's evidence against. When T.I.'s unique plea deal was first announced, many wondered how a previously convicted felon attempting to purchase heavy artillery could get away with what some amounted to a slap on the wrist. 50 Cent suggested in a mixtape track that perhaps T.I. "snitched" to get a more lenient sentence. Murmurs about the rapper's cooperating with authorities spread online and in the streets. Just a few weeks ago, Tip addressed the "snitching" accusations in an interview with MTV News' Sway conducted one day after he was sentenced by Judge Charles Pannell Jr. "If being a cooperating witness was part of my plea agreement, there's documents online, it's public record, just like any other inmate. You get his name, his number, there's a document online," Tip told MTV News in Atlanta during "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: The Reckoning." "Whatever his plea agreement, whatever the conditions of his plea agreement are, just like you know I'm gonna have to go for a year and a day, just like you know I'm gonna be on three years' supervised release, just like you know about how much home incarceration I got, if being a cooperating witness was a part of my plea agreement, it would be in there. They have nothing to gain by keeping me snitching a secret. "As a matter of fact, it benefits them more, so they can say, 'Well, this is why we gave him this deal,' " T.I. continued. " 'Because he gave us this.' And not to mention, there's no such thing as a secret snitch. If you could snitch and then keep it a secret, there would be no use for the witness-protection program. You have to sign your name on paperwork, you have to sit on the stand, you have to point people out, you have to set people up. I got snitched on." As for T.I.'s point, although Williams' identity had been cloaked, he did have to take the stand and testify against the rapper. In court proceedings, the bodyguard was referred to only as "Cooperating Witness" or "CW." But court records indicate Williams' legal team asserted their client provided "substantial" assistance during a federal probe. Williams is currently serving his sentence in a South Carolina minimum-security federal lockup and is scheduled to be released in July of this year. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Lil Wayne Gives A Boost To British R&B Star Jay Sean Posted: 15 Apr 2009 03:11 AM PDT New Cash Money Records signee gets the Weezy blessing on his first U.S. single.
For anyone in the pop-music game, getting a feature from a hot MC is a huge gift — an added boost of name recognition and artistry all in one. And British R&B sensation Jay Sean is more than grateful for the present he just received. "My first single to hit the United States is called 'Down,' and it features Lil Wayne," Sean told MTV News.
Although he's been active in the British-Asian and Global South Asian markets for six years, Sean put out his second album, My Own Way, independently in Europe and India last year. It quickly brought him to the top of the European R&B charts, sandwiched between names like Ne-Yo and Mariah Carey. His video for the album's first single "Ride It" has more than 10 million views on YouTube, and he plays for crowds of over 50,000 while on tour outside of the U.S. Eventually, that success caught the attention of Ronald "Slim" Williams, the CEO of Cash Money Records. "He looked at that and went, 'Ten million views and this kid is not in America?' " Sean said. "For him I think he felt, 'I want to help this kid, and he needs our engine, that is Cash Money Records, to take him to the next level.' " After performing at the MOBO Awards in the U.K. last October, Sean got the news that the deal was done and he was signed to the Miami-based label. From there things moved fast and furiously. "I'm in Miami at the Hit Factory; it's 2 o'clock in the morning; outside, Timbaland has just pulled up next to Scott Storch," Sean said, describing the setting where he recorded his new album, set for release this summer. "And now Lil Wayne has just walked through the door and gone, 'Wassap, Jay.' It was really bizarre." Sean said he recorded "Down" in an hour and a half, but his new bosses decided there was something missing. "Slim called me up and was like, 'Yo, man, there's something wrong on the second verse that just doesn't sound right,' " Sean recalled. "I was like, 'Really? What?' He played the song. All of a sudden I heard Wayne's Auto-Tune stuff, and I'm like, 'OK. What's going on? Right! That's Lil Wayne on my song right now!' That day was brilliant." Related Artists |
| Kris Allen Wows On 'American Idol' Movie Night Posted: 15 Apr 2009 06:29 AM PDT Adam Lambert goes wild; Lil Rounds disappoints again.
You'd think that by now the brain trust behind "American Idol" would have figured out how to land the bird on time every week. But because the show ran over by more than five minutes last week — causing many viewers to miss Adam Lambert's stellar performance — the producers switched things up again on Tuesday night and had the judges critique the contestants in pairs to save time. Still, the program went three minutes over and some viewers might have missed Lil Rounds' spirited defense of another poorly reviewed performance. This time, however, Lambert took the stage much earlier and gave another solid performance, while Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta both made a case for the crown. (Read "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello's minute-to-minute dissection of the show on the Newsroom blog.)
The night opened with "Idol" fanatic director Quentin Tarantino ("Kill Bill," "Pulp Fiction") announcing the show and bringing his legendarily manic energy to his mentoring of the singers on a night dedicated to songs from Hollywood movies. Tarantino, who gave Simon Cowell a run for his money in the harsh-judgment category when the director sat in with the panel in season three, didn't just listen and give the singers bland platitudes; he offered them concrete direction as he would on one of his movie sets. First up was teenager Allison Iraheta, who chose Aerosmith's bombastic ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from the blockbuster "Armageddon." Singing in front of a string section, Iraheta sounded even huskier than usual, her voice showing signs of hoarseness. But that didn't stop the 16-year-old dynamo, who tried her best to belt the tune out and throw in a few big notes to top things off. Kicking off a string of hard-to-follow comments for the night, Paula Abdul said Iraheta has the same "special sauce" as front-runner Adam Lambert, praising her for being authentic and uncompromising. Simon Cowell boldly tagged Iraheta as the "girls' only hope" in the competition and noted that she's getting stronger and more confident, even while tackling a really tough song, predicting she might be around for the finale. Anoop Desai sang "(Everything I Do) I Do for You" by Bryan Adams from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." During their practice session, Tarantino gave 'Noop Dogg a guttural example of how to rough up the song, but the genial singer appeared to ignore Tarantino's advice, giving a smooth, buttery rendition of the weepy adult contemporary ballad and tossing in a puppy-dog stare into the camera at the end.
Randy Jackson feared that Desai might not be able to handle such a big song, but he praised the rendition for being in tune and having strong emotion. "Anoop, you definitely found your place. It's pop songs and adding your soul to it," said Kara DioGuardi, who called it one of Desai's best performances. Lambert went all in and chose Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" from the classic 1969 hippie road-trip flick "Easy Rider," making him the only contestant of the night to pick an uptempo song and, except for Lil Rounds and Danny Gokey, reach back beyond the early 1990s. Again showing his unique style, Lambert added a bit of an electronic edge to the classic rocker. Standing in front of a screen filed with lightning effects and sporting thick black eyeliner, Lambert was back in full rocker mode, wearing tight black pants, a black leather jacket and vintage T-shirt and bounding around the stage at an almost frantic pace. The high-energy performance had a bit of an over-the-top musical-theater vibe, and it was topped off by no less than three of his trademark wineglass-cracking shrieks. Paula couldn't get enough, saying, "The reason, Adam, that you're shaking up this whole competition is that you dare to dance in the path of greatness. ... Fortune rewards the brave, and you're one of the bravest contestants I've ever witnessed, ever." Cowell joked that Lambert needed to learn to express himself a bit and added that the vocals were great but it was a bit like watching the campy midnight movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." He predicted that the performance would not be as popular as last week's and might divide the audience. Matt Giraud's choice of yet another Bryan Adams song, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" from "Don Juan DeMarco," found him back at the piano, crooning the dreamy ballad in an Elton John-esque drawl and ending on a crisp falsetto note. Randy thought it started off well, but hit a rough patch in the middle because Giraud tried to do too many things with the simple melody. "You fell down more places tonight than you won in that song," he said. Kara appreciated that he tried to give the tune an R&B feel but said she felt that he stripped away too many of the melodies that made the song so special. Danny Gokey, performing for the first time without his signature eyeglasses, broke the Adams stranglehold by going with "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie from the Brooke Shields movie of the same name. Tarantino counseled him to try and keep his hands in his pockets and sell the song with his eyes. Like Desai, Gokey didn't exactly follow that advice, throwing in some jazz hands as he crooned the big-screen ballad with the accompaniment of a harp in his patented mix of nasal and gravelly vocals. Simon said that while he couldn't fault Gokey's performance, he was disappointed with the inclusion of harp and the "very traditional" arrangement. "Having said that, I think this song obviously means a lot to you personally and I can see you're emotional and it's a hard thing to do, so I congratulate you for that," he added, perhaps alluding to the fact that Gokey's wife passed away just before he auditioned for the show. Kris Allen made the most contemporary choice of the night, singing Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's"Falling Slowly" from the 2007 sleeper indie romance "Once," a choice Tarantino praised because he said it was obvious the song meant something to Allen. With spare acoustic-guitar accompaniment, Allen stood center stage and sang with his eyes mostly closed, rising and falling with the song's tricky see-saw melody and putting a bit of a soul vibe into the folky ballad, ending with a dramatic high note as the lights faded. Randy said the song never quite caught on for him, calling it pitchy all the way through, but Kara said that despite the difficulty of picking a song not everyone might know, it was one of his best moments. Last up was Lil Rounds, who went with "The Rose," the titanic Bette Midler ballad from the 1979 movie of the same name about a self-destructive 1960s female rocker. The stage bathed in pink, Rounds started out singing along to a spare piano figure, then switched it up mid-song to add a gospel feel that gave the performance a unique flavor. "Lil, you could not have sung a more beautiful lyric," Paula said, adding, "To paraphrase one of the lines, and all the contestants probably agree, sometimes the road is really long, but it's a road that's worthwhile taking, especially when you've made it this far." Once done rolling his eyes at Abdul's comments, Simon said again that he thought Rounds got it "completely wrong," complaining that despite some nice moments, the song was too soft for her voice and too middle-of-the-road, signaling that he suspected her time on the show was over. "There are no excuses anymore, Lil. You are not the artist I believe we met seven or eight weeks ago. I'm getting frustrated," Cowell griped. As the show once again ran over the hour, Rounds responded, "You guys told me to be an artist, and when I heard this song I thought it was a beautiful song and I put my own bit to it because I'm into the R&B and the soul and the gospel, and I put it in there ... and I thought it was really good." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Videos Related Photos |
| Jamie Foxx Apologizes To Miley Cyrus On 'Leno' Posted: 15 Apr 2009 07:07 AM PDT 'Sometimes, as comedians, we go a little bit too far,' actor says of his radio-show comments.
On Tuesday night, Jamie Foxx made an apology to teen queen Miley Cyrus for off-color comments he made about her on his satellite radio show on Sunday. When Foxx stopped by "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" to promote his new movie "The Soloist," he explained the reason for his comments. "I so apologize to [Cyrus], and this is sincere," Foxx said, referring to his comments that Miley should "grow up," make a sex tape and do drugs. "I am a comedian, and you guys know that whatever I say, I don't mean any of it. And sometimes, as comedians, as we do, we go a little bit too far."
He went on to defend his radio show as "the black Howard Stern." "We go at everybody," Foxx told Leno. "There was a situation with Miley Cyrus, and I just want to say, I apologize for what I said. I didn't mean it maliciously. You know I'm a comedian. You know my heart." Foxx, who has a 14-year-old daughter, said that he would like to call the 16-year-old Cyrus to apologize. "Miley, I apologize, so I'll call you. I got a daughter too, so I completely understand." Earlier on Tuesday, a source told E! News that Miley's dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, wasn't pleased to hear what Foxx had said about his daughter. "He thinks Jamie was out of line and didn't find any humor in it," the source said, pointing out that Miley had even met Foxx at the Kids' Inaugural Concert in January. "He doesn't understand why he would do that to Miley, especially since he has teenage daughter himself. "Billy Ray isn't going to say anything publicly because he doesn't want this to escalate," the source said. "He wishes it would just go away." Related Artists |
| Scott Storch Arrested For Grand Theft Auto In Miami Posted: 15 Apr 2009 03:33 AM PDT The producer posted bail; no word yet on a court date.
If only it was a just video game, but this isn't a level of "Grand Theft Auto." Producer Scott Storch was apprehended by police in Miami on Friday and charged with, well, grand theft auto. The producer posted an undisclosed amount for his bond soon after. MTV News obtained a copy of the police report and, according to the authorities, Storch had begun leasing a 2004 Bentley GT in February 2006, with a return date of March 2008. The owners of the vehicle, Atlas Leasing Company, are alleging that Storch failed to comply with the terms of their leasing agreement. Atlas Leasing also claims the producer's negligence has cost the company $65,000 in revenue that could have been accruing from other clients for the Bentley. Storch has had a slew of legal and financial troubles in the past year or so. In June 2008, he failed to show for a child-support hearing where he was accused of being behind in his payments. Storch was also way behind on paying his property taxes, owing the government $500,000 which resulted in having his $10 million Miami mansion foreclosed on. At one time, Storch was one of the most in-demand producers in music. He showed versatility, crafting hits such as "Candy Shop" for 50 Cent, "Lean Back" for Fat Joe's Terror Squad and "Baby Boy" for Beyoncé. There is no word yet on a court date for Storch's grand theft auto charges. |
| Kanye West's 'Amazing' Helps Kick Off NBA Playoffs Posted: 14 Apr 2009 11:03 PM PDT MC's new single appears in a commercial for the 2009 postseason, which starts Saturday.
As the NBA regular season comes to a close Wednesday night (April 15), true basketball fans are still smiling — the second season is about to begin. That's right, the playoffs start Saturday, and the NBA has teamed up with Kanye West for the postseason soundtrack. West's new single "Amazing" is featured on a new commercial promoting the playoffs. The song perfectly fits the league's slogan for the road to the championship: "Where amazing happens."
All the biggest hoops stars show up in the spot, with a montage of Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker and, of course, the King: LeBron James. "I'm amazing/ I'm the reason/ Everybody fired up this evening," Kanye sings to start off the commercial. The clip mostly showcases the players' phenomenal athletic ability. Past playoff highlights include a Dwyane Wade reverse layup, a Dwight Howard monster jam, LeBron catching an alley-oop and Kobe hitting a buzzer beater. From there, we get a brief look into in the locker rooms of championship-winning teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, the L.A. Lakers and defending champs the Boston Celtics. "We worked so hard from training camp for this moment right here," a jubilant Paul Pierce says into the camera while Kanye's record plays underneath. The NBA commercial isn't the only visual for Kanye's song. 'Ye and Young Jeezy recently shot a proper video for the record in Hawaii, where most of 808s & Heartbreak was recorded. Hype Williams directed the clip. Related Artists |
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