MTV News |
- 50 Cent Hangs Tough As The #9 Hottest MC In The Game
- Raekwon Calls Placing #10 On Hottest MCs List 'A Blessing'
- Paramore Return To The Room Where <i>Brand New Eyes</i> Was Born
- Brody Jenner Says 'The Hills' Was Getting 'Soft' Before Kristin Cavallari Arrived
- Whitney Port Gets New Job, New Roommate On 'The City'
- Lloyd Banks Readies Double-Disc <i>V5</i> Mixtape
- Lil Wayne Prepares New Mixtape, Celebrates Birthday Watching Brett Favre Win
- La Roux Think Lady Gaga Comparisons Are 'Lazy'
- Chris Brown's New Single Featuring Lil Wayne, 'Transformer,' Out Tuesday
- Exclusive: Weezer Team Up With Lil Wayne For 'Can't Stop Partying'
| 50 Cent Hangs Tough As The #9 Hottest MC In The Game Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:52 AM PDT Despite no official album, Fif has stayed hot with mixtapes, Web presence and publicity.
The 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game rollout is on! As in 2007 and 2008, the list, determined by the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust, is based on an MC's achievements right now, rather than an entire career. The criteria is based on a combination of rhyme skill, flow and how those things are implemented musically as the main factors. The Brain Trust also considers buzz, impact, commercial success — sales, airplay, business ventures, Web presence, endorsements and helping to spawn other artists' careers — and the intangible, impact: Can an artist not only contribute to the rap game but influence cultural shifts? Are they trendsetters? All of these factors — and the results of our audience poll, which closed last week and gets a vote at the Roundtable during the Brain Trust's debate — contribute to deciding who is the Hottest MC in the Game. We'll be announcing an MC's rank every day this week, with the full list revealed Sunday at 10 p.m. during "P. Diddy's Starmaker"! Flame Thrower: 50 Cent 2009 Rank: 9 Previous Rankings: 2007 (#8); 2008 (#6) Why He's Hot: Over the past year, 50 Cent chose not to roam on one of his main predatory terrains, the Billboard charts, by continuing to hold back the release of his long-awaited Before I Self-Destruct LP. Instead, the G-Unit General began to fully realize the potential of another region in which he'd already planted his flag: the Internet. 50 Cent used his Web site, ThisIs50.com, as a source of promotion for himself and G-Unit members Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and DJ Whoo Kid. More than any other artist in hip-hop, Fif saw the Internet's potential, and in 2009, he just about perfected his vision. No other hip-hop artist has been able to capitalize off their name and accompanying Web site the way Curtis Jackson has. He pushes G-Unit mixtapes, world-premieres the crew's song downloads, promotes shows like the upcoming ThisIs50 Festival and releases viral videos such as his controversial "Flight 187," in which he showed unflattering stock footage of Jay-Z, Britney Spears and others.
ThisIs50.com, though, has come to be so much more than a vanity Web site. You can't talk about the top hip-hop blogs without mentioning ThisIs50. Fif's Web home has become one of the must-stop destinations to get your hip-hop news. The site doesn't just pick up info and video from other outlets; ThisIs50 also offers exclusive interviews and music. Artists outside of the G-Unit, such as Maino, Papoose, DJ Kay Slay, Cormega and Noreaga are also using ThisIs50 as a venue to put out music and videos. As much as the site can be used as a valuable tool, 50 also showed the world it could act as a weapon. Fif used his Web site as a nuclear warhead in his battle with Rick Ross: ThisIs50.com's traffic reportedly doubled once the beef between 50 and Ross started to bake. In his anti-Ross campaign, Fif interviewed Tia Kemp,the mother of one of the Miami heavyweight's kids, and later released a tell-all book about her life with Ross. Adding petroleum to the fire, he released a sex tape featuring another mother of one of Ross' kids via ThisIs50 offshoot site BooBooTV.com. And we can't forget about the popular series "Pimpin' Curly," which the G-Unit General at first used to take the sting out of Ross, calling him "Curly" ("He's not straight," the Bawse rationalized of the nickname), but it became so popular that he issued several more comedic vignettes to further delve into the character. 50's dominance on the Net isn't contained to his own Web site: He's a staple on other blogs and mainstream media outlets. Almost every move he makes is a huge headline, whether it's clarifying his perceived dis toward Jay-Z on the song "Flight 187," rumors of him marrying Ciara or even the simplest activities of him coming onstage with Soulja Boy Tell'em during Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival. While other artists have tried to throw block parties and park jams as a way to give back to their neighborhood, when 50 tried to do just that at the end of this past summer, not only did he make headlines across the country, he had New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg talking about him in press conferences. And you want to talk about the best interviews in the game right now? No one can deny that 50 has one of the most talked-about sound bites, saying he would "blacken Kanye West's eye" if Yeezy ever tried to Taylor Swift him. Musically, yes, 50 has had a couple of missteps. There was an obvious disconnect between 50, Interscope and the fans with his records "Get Up" (released late last year) and "I Get It In," but on the street level, where 50 is in total control of when and how the music comes out, it was all harmony. 50 and his camp thrived underground. Even though they've collectively sold tens of millions of albums worldwide, the Unit still stayed on top of the mixtape game. Banks and Yayo have repped the G-Unit brand with incessant unofficial releases (Banks' 4-30-09 double CD and Yayo's Swine Flu series chief among them), while 50 saluted the streets with mixtapes of his own: Forever King and the War Angel LP heated up the summer with a taste of throwback homages and up-to-date urban guerrilla warfare, respectively. His sole mission on the latter was to bring hardcore hip-hop to the forefront. The Southside Queens chief seems to be in the right lane: The Dr. Dre-produced "OK, You're Right" leapt off of the mixtape to the top of the countdown on his hometown radio station, Hot 97, and the eerily entertaining video got some strong rotation. Same for records from Forever King, such as "Funny How Time Flies," on which 50 rapped over '90s R&B group Intro's classic of the same name. In the past couple of weeks, Fif has continued to show diversity with another club-knocker, "Baby by Me" (featuring Ne-Yo) and a new book, "The 50th Law." And although he made a nice #4 rank on Forbes' list of "Hip-Hop Cash Kings," his love for his Southside Queens home hasn't diminished: He (and Bette Midler) co-sponsored the Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson Community Garden in the neighborhood, and in August, 50 spent close to half a million dollars to send 30 busloads of kids from his old neighborhood to Six Flags Great Adventures in New Jersey, and he performed for them there. Just over the weekend, 50 finally got the proper permits from New York City to sponsor a day of food, games and music for the neighborhood. The cost, according to Fif, was another half a mil. Co-Signer: DJ Drama: "50 keeps himself in the dialogue, period," Drama said. "The mixtape game right now wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't for 50 Cent. He revolutionized it. He had one of the biggest buzzes ever in hip-hop; he keeps feeding people, he keeps putting out music. The War Angel [mixtape], from beginning to end, is classic 50 Cent. If you're a 50 Cent fan from 2003, it's hard to hate on the new mixtape. 50 Cent is in a space where he's so big and he's been so relevant and the underdog and a bad guy for so long, people try to turn a shoulder on him. But he's still that guy, he's still making great music, and when you talk about Hottest MCs in the Game, you can't have that conversation without talking about 50 Cent." Ignitable Incitement: "I made a mistake," Fif told MTV News recently. "Early on [in my career], I said, 'They'll get the trophy, I'll get the checks.' That's because I wasn't receiving the acknowledgement based on the aggressive content I was putting out. I've been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards and still ain't got no trophies. Largest debut in hip-hop to date — they just ignored it when it was time to give the trophies out. So I just started saying, 'They can have the trophies, and I'll have the checks.' That didn't mean that I didn't have love for the actual art form. But to give a basic answer that people would understand, I would be secure with my life, I'll continue to make music, but I won't be in front of them and get recognized. I'll get a lifetime-achievement award after based on my full body of work. At that point, it'll be too much for them to ignore. The guy that's trying to get a record deal right now, he should be writing with very strong passion. Right now, he's in competition with 50 Cent, and I'm writing like I need a record deal. It's tough for him." Blistering Ballistics: "They say I ain't lyrical, they say I ain't a miracle/ I say some hard sh--, so they say I ain't spiritual/ They act like they know God better than me/ I know 'God Allah,' he used to pump crack up the streets/ Allahu akbar, clap and run through your backyard/ Let the Mac tear half of your back off/ This is my block, my spot I adhere/ I'm a Southside n---a to the bone, get that clear." (from "Michael Jackson Freestyle") Hot Streak Selected Mixtapes: Forever King, The War Angel LP Singles: "OK, You're Right," "Get Up," "Baby by Me" (featuring Ne-Yo) Street Bangers: "I Get It In," "Flight 187," "Funny How Time Flies" Key Guest Appearances: "Crack a Bottle" (with Eminem and Dr. Dre) Meteoric Metrics: #4 on Forbes' list of "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" MySpace Friends: 1.19 million YouTube Views: 5.43 million ThisIs50.com Stats: 512,000 unique visitors, 9 million page views, 450,000 members Business Ventures: G-Unit Records (featuring Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Mobb Deep); ThisIs50.com; Power men's fragrance; "The 50th Law" book (which recently made the top five of the New York Times' "Advice, how-to and miscellaneous" bestsellers list); Formula 50 Vitamin Water; co-starred in "Streets of Blood" film Tours: Although he only played spot dates in the U.S., 50 and the G-Unit have done more than 50 overseas dates this year alone, including stops in Africa, Ireland, Switzerland, Turkey, Peru and Poland Monumental Moment: His battle with Rick Ross Forecast: 50 should only get hotter when he finally releases Before I Self Destruct later this year — but not before he drops another mixtape! What do you think of 50 Cent's placement on the Hottest MCs in the Game list? Upload your comments, reactions, arguments and/or your own list to YourMTV.com -- the best videos could be on TV! MTV News will be unveiling the Hottest MCs in the Game all week! We'll be announcing an MC's rank every day this week, with the full list revealed on Sunday at 10 p.m. during "P. Diddy's Starmaker"! Related Videos Related Artists |
| Raekwon Calls Placing #10 On Hottest MCs List 'A Blessing' Posted: 28 Sep 2009 05:16 AM PDT 'I knew I wasn't over,' the Wu-Tang vet says of staying at the top after years in the game.
Raekwon is in Paris right now, thousands of miles from the United States, so the Chef didn't learn until later Monday (September 28) that he was voted #10 on our 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list. "We sitting here looking at it right here while we in the studio," the Chef told MTV News. "We looking at the [user] comments, looking at the Roundtable. Y'all definitely getting it in. It feels good. It definitely feels good, word." Rae said his time with the Wu-Tang Clan has only made him appreciate Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ... Pt. II's reception even more.
"I love it," Rae said. "I'm the Clan's biggest fan. I know what these dudes is capable of. For me to pull this project off and not have them around me every day, I knew that it was something special that these guys have that I have to figure out to put together. It feels good to know n---as is still respected in the game as being the top MCs in the game. I don't look at it as just me. I been a mutha----in' second-string n---a all my life. I never looked at the hot seat as me being there, but I believe in them n---as, and I always wanted to take my n---as to the championship. So I looked at myself as that LeBron n---a, you know?" Besides Snoop Dogg last year, Raekwon has had the longest career of any MC to make the Hottest list. Translation: A tenured vet is still just as relevant as new cats coming into the game. "I look at it as a blessing, man," Rae said. "I'm just saying, [the Roundtable] is giving the veteran more medals. I paid my dues in the game. I think I was taught by the best. I was one of them dudes that take rap crazy serious — how you look, how your sneakers look. So for me, I just feel like people is placing the medals on a n---a that made it home. I made it home. Rap was supposed to be over for n---as a long time ago. They say rap, your career only goes on for five years if you ain't really just that n---a. If you that n---a, it's an endless career you could make. I felt like I knew I wasn't over. I feel like respect is due. If it wasn't me, if it was the next n---a that had a similar, same kind of track record, that's still busting his hammer writing and going in still. I pay attention to every n---a. I still feel privileged that n---as still see what the god can do. All praises for that." MTV News will be unveiling the Hottest MCs in the Game all week! We'll be announcing an MC's rank every day this week, with the full list revealed Sunday at 10 p.m. during "P. Diddy's Starmaker"! Related Videos Related Artists |
| Paramore Return To The Room Where <i>Brand New Eyes</i> Was Born Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:52 AM PDT 'After a while it became sort of dungeon-like,' frontwoman Hayley Williams says of the studio.
FRANKLIN, Tennessee — With its modernized adobe façade, rose-tiled floors and leafy, wrought-iron porches, Emac Studios certainly doesn't look like a house of horrors. In fact, it basically looks like a Mexican restaurant, mostly because it used to be one until local legend/ former DC Talk mastermind TobyMac bought it a few years back and turned it into a high-end (though thoroughly conspicuous) recording studio. But for Paramore, the place was a dungeon, a torture chamber. This is where they spent roughly a month trying — and, for the most part, spectacularly failing — to write songs for the follow-up to their Riot! album. It was where they nearly broke down, where they nearly split up and where they finally decided to put decorum aside and let the claws come out.
Needless to say, they have somewhat mixed emotions about the place, regardless of how nice the wrought-iron is. "This room was kind of like ... sometimes it was really fun and almost a total escape, because we got to come in and play music together, and it had been a while since we had our own little space to rehearse. But after a while it became sort of dungeon-like," frontwoman Hayley Williams told MTV News. "We would take really long lunch breaks and try to get away, because a lot of stuff happened here. I brought some kind of ridiculous lyrics in for the guys to hear for the first time ever — after a whole year of me being quiet about everything I was feeling, and none of us ever stopping to hear each other out. And this was where all of that was put on the table." "And that," bassist Jeremy Davis joked, pointing at the pane of glass that separates Emac's live room from the studio console, "[That's] the window we threw Hayley through as soon as she told us." Of all the places Paramore showed MTV News in their hometown of Franklin — Puckett's Grocery, their local Goodwill, etc. — Emac is definitely the most personal. It was the site of so much strife ... and the place where they became the band they are today: the ones capable of making a stunning record like Brand New Eyes (which, incidentally, is in stores now). "Most of our band talks and the counseling we had happened in this room. When [producer] Rob [Cavallo] came down to talk about what we wanted from the record and we realized we really didn't know, all those talks that happened were had here," Williams said, looking around the studio. "We had a lot of figuring and sorting out to do. Our whole mind-set on what we were doing as a band. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but so much happened here." And while not all of what happened inside Emac's walls was good, it was all necessary. Paramore went through the fire and emerged not only a stronger band, but better friends too. And that's definitely the most important thing to come out of the place. "We're still young, we're still growing up and changing and figuring out what we want, who we are, what we like — we're always going to butt heads, and it's a healthy way for us to deal with it: to talk about it and be open," Williams said. "We're not always confrontational — sometimes we are pretty quiet about things — and it takes us a while to bring up something, and then we'll butt heads and we'll be fine. We've learned that it's easier for us to be open about things." "It's like therapy. They say it's good for you when you talk about it," Davis added. "I feel so much better that everyone knows what we went though and we're not hiding all this stuff that we had, because we're cool now — so why hide it?" Related Videos |
| Brody Jenner Says 'The Hills' Was Getting 'Soft' Before Kristin Cavallari Arrived Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:52 AM PDT 'Kristin adds such a different element,' co-star says before Tuesday night's season premiere.
Everyone on "The Hills" seems to agree that Kristin Cavallari is stirring up a lot of trouble for the new season of the show, which kicks off on Tuesday (September 29) at 10 p.m. ET. Brody Jenner, Cavallari's former flame, admits that there are no hard feelings between him and the "Laguna Beach" veteran.
In fact, he's actually kind of excited to have her hanging with him on the show. " 'The Hills' this season is completely different," he told MTV News. "It has a new feel, and I think it's fresh. Kristin adds such a different element. ... I think for a while 'The Hills' was just kind of focusing on ... I don't know, I'm going to give my personal opinion, but I think it was getting kind of soft there for a minute." If it was getting soft, then Kristin will definitely make sure she makes life hard for everyone on the show. "It was just the same thing over and over and Justin and Audrina and yada, yada, yada, so I love to see Kristin's attitude coming into it," Jenner said. "She adds a whole new thing, and she's causing all types of drama that probably never would have happened if she wasn't involved." Jenner, however, knows that Lauren Conrad will be missed by the fans, and he even admitted to missing her himself. But he also thinks that if fans give Kristin a chance, they'll enjoy what she brings to the table. "Keep an open mind and watch," he advised. "Get your popcorn out, get whatever you do, but it's a crazy show this year." To see if Kristin Cavallari can fill Lauren Conrad's shoes, tune in to MTV on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of "The Hills." |
| Whitney Port Gets New Job, New Roommate On 'The City' Posted: 28 Sep 2009 03:01 AM PDT 'I'm really excited for fans to see me going through the process of designing my clothing line,' Port says of new 'career-oriented' episodes.
In new episodes of "The City," Whitney Port is ready to start a new job, get a new roommate and show the world just how difficult it is to get her fashion line, Whitney Eve, off the ground. But she's excited to have viewers go through the process of growing up with her.
"This season is very career-oriented, which is cool because I think people are really interested to see the fashion industry in the city, seeing as though [New York City] is the fashion capital of the world," Port told MTV News. She added that her roommate this time around is the new girl in town, Roxy Olin, a co-worker at People's Revolution. "[The show] is a lot about how we handle ourselves at work with the new characters involved. You know there's Roxy, who moved to New York from Los Angeles, and she and I are currently living together and you see how that can be strain — you know, working together, living together. There's definitely a lot that comes with that. It seems that even Port's former work nemesis, Olivia Palermo, is finding some office drama at her new job at Elle. "We both had a career change. I'm working at People's Revolution, while also designing my line," she said. "Olivia's working at Elle and she's working alongside this girl, Erin, who's in PR, so you get to see a lot about how the work relationships are tense at times." But it's not all about the drama. At the end of the day, Port says it's about showing fans an insider's view of her life as an aspiring clothing designer. "I'm really excited for fans to see me going through the process of designing my clothing line. I feel like it's something I'm so passionate about that it's pretty cool that people will go through it with me and be able to learn what it takes to really produce something like this, and whether I can achieve what I set out to do or whether I fail," she explained. "It's cool they get to feel it along the way with me." New episodes of "The City" premiere on Tuesday, September 29, at 10:30 p.m. Related Videos |
| Lloyd Banks Readies Double-Disc <i>V5</i> Mixtape Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:52 AM PDT Plus: Nas talks new album and collabos, in Mixtape Daily.
The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive Lloyd Banks is back on the mixtape scene with a full two CDs at once — V5 is coming soon. "V5 — this is my second double-disc this year," Banks said at his squad's Forever Young Day in Queens, New York. "This one I been working on. It's already done. I've been doing a few things on the side. I just did the 'Bandana' record with Maino and a few other things. I've just been working. That's been put in the cut; I'm hoping to do a couple of videos. I've always wanted to do those [with each mixtape project], but I'll get a call like 6, 7 in the morning saying I gotta go to Africa. "But V5 on the way — it's gonna drop any day. Thirty songs. This one is the one, man," he added. "I been working so hard." Banks was pleased to be featured in the recent Hottest MCs fan poll and is looking to see if he'll make the official list. "I'm gonna show you why I was even brought up on the MTV list," Banks promised. "V5 is gonna speak for itself. Thirty records — it's going down." Also, the only feature on the new mixtape is Tony Yayo. "I kept it to me. They putting the pressure on me. They wanna see what I'mma do next, so I'm gonna knock them over the head and then gear up for my new album," Banks said. "After I heard his mixtape, I went back to the drawing board," Yayo offered. "The stuff I'm hearing from these dudes, we hungry. It's like we ain't got no money, no cars, no girls. I just keep doing me. Sometimes Banks give me the energy, 50 give me the energy. Young Buck is gone, Banks is gone — they don't give me no energy. But the Unit, I believe Game said, 'Yo, we broke up the Beatles.' The Beatles is still here. This is the original format right here." The Streets Is Talking: News and Notes From the Underground Before we peace out, a little bit more from Nas. We recently brought you info from an interview Esco did with our MTV News fam from the U.K. with our MTV News fam from the U.K. Nas said he had some apprehension about recording a new LP, and some of that nervousness had to do with the recent media scrutiny of his divorce from Kelis. "Yeah, a little bit of that," Nas admitted. "And a little bit of I wanna do so well. I don't wanna let people down. I wanna put out something that makes sense and I definitely want to put out something that is true to me." Nas also hinted at why he missed guest spots on albums such as The Blueprint 3 and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ... Pt. II. "I get a lot of flak, 'cause I get a lot of people call me to be on their albums and I'm not really there in their headspace to do it and maybe they think I'm tripping out," he said. "But it's not the case — I really have to be in the right headspace. So hopefully I'll get it done and it'll come out soon." For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos |
| Lil Wayne Prepares New Mixtape, Celebrates Birthday Watching Brett Favre Win Posted: 27 Sep 2009 10:18 PM PDT 'That's my favorite football player ever,' Weezy says of Favre.
Even rap's hardest working MC deserves a little break on his birthday, and Lil Wayne celebrated turning 27 by heading to Minnesota to seen the Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers in a last-second nail-biter. Brett Favre threw a 32-yard touchdown pass. Calling into DJ Drama's radio show on Hot 107.9 in Atlanta, Weezy described the first part of his day.
"I took a plane to Minnesota to see Bret Favre play," he said. "That's my favorite football player ever. He won the game with like two seconds left, of course. He did that for my birthday." Wayne phoned in from Miami and said that he had planned on going out that night that was if "the studio don't swallow me." Weezy's next projects will be the Young Money team album, his long-delayed solo LP Rebirth ("We have a surprise for the Rebirth," he promised, but didn't elaborate) and a new mixtape called No Ceiling. "I got tired of sitting back," he said. "Everybody was making mixtapes. And I could rap too. Once I found myself jumping in my car putting on the radio instead of CDs, that's when I know I gotta go murder their beat." When Drama gave Wayne props on having the hottest crew in rap right now, Weezy accepted the praise but noted his squad has love for everybody. "I never heard a female rap like her before in my life," Wayne said of Nicki Minaj. As for Drake, he said, "Once I heard him, I knew the game was missing that." Video of some of Wayne's birthday celebration hit the web today. He received a (reportedly) million-dollar Chopard watch and a birthday cake with diamonds wrapped around it. Stepdad Birdman was on hand and showed off his new tattoo: Wayne's birthdate on his arm, "9-27-82." Related Artists |
| La Roux Think Lady Gaga Comparisons Are 'Lazy' Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:52 AM PDT 'We've taken a lot of influence from the '80s, but hopefully we've made something new out of that,' Elly Jackson says.
Although they're quite popular in their native England, electropop group La Roux are still trying to make a name for themselves on this side of the pond. They are well aware that it's going to take a lot of work if they want to enjoy the same level of fame they've found in the U.K. — the level of fame that allows them to book shows as big as the Glastonbury Festival. "You come to America and you start from scratch again — it's not like you come over here and you're the same that you are in the U.K.; you can't expect that," frontwoman Elly Jackson told MTV News. "So you come over here and you start again, and you start doing the same kind of press that you did six months ago in the U.K. You have to work it again."
But they aren't looking for overnight success and fame in any country — like many bands before them, they have been the subject of what Jackson calls "overhype." "There's a lot of hype involved, for sure — this year has been the year of overhype. We've been overhyped ... and I think everyone gets overhyped," she explained. "People express this, like, massive fascination in something when they've heard, like, half a demo, or been to one show. And it's like, 'Hang on a minute, let's see how the year goes and then hype them.' " And while the band wear their '80s dance-pop influences on their sleeves, they don't want you to start throwing around Lady Gaga comparisons just yet. Jackson thinks that's "really lazy." "Obviously we knew that dance music was coming more into the pop arena, but I didn't know about acts like Lady Gaga, or Little Boots, or Ladyhawke when we were making the record, so it's not like we were aware that we were going to be part of this 'new wave,' " she said. "But it is frustrating — it is lazy — when they go, 'Oh, it's got a synth, it's '80s' ... we're not trying to deny it, but you don't want to talk about it over and over again. "We've taken a lot of influence from the '80s," she said. "But hopefully we've made something new out of that." |
| Chris Brown's New Single Featuring Lil Wayne, 'Transformer,' Out Tuesday Posted: 28 Sep 2009 02:38 AM PDT Singer takes to Twitter to announce that his new song is set to drop a day early.
Chris Brown's comeback officially begins Tuesday, when the fleet-footed singer will release his new single, "Transformer," featuring Lil Wayne. The "Forever" superstar announced via Twitter that he was pushing the song — from his upcoming album, Graffiti — up one day from Wednesday to Tuesday. "Change of plans," Brown wrote. "I'm going to release my single tomorrow instead of Weds. Tell everybody. I can transform ya, I can transform ya." (Representatives for Brown did not respond to MTV News' inquiry at press time regarding details of the "Transformer" premiere.) The upbeat tune will be the first sanctioned record Brown has released since his February altercation with then-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown struck a plea deal in the assault case and was sentenced to labor service, therapy sessions and five years' probation that coincides with a stay-away order issued against him regarding contact with the "Umbrella" star. Earlier this month, Brown began serving his community service in Virginia and it was recently announced that he'd be returning to the stage next month for the first time since the incident. During his hiatus, Brown wrote and released "Changed Man," an apologetic ode to Rihanna. Several other tracks leaked, but his label, Jive Records, said the material was old. In addition to featuring Wayne, "Transformer" was produced by Swizz Beatz, who recently spoke to MTV News about the track. The super producer said Brown is finishing up his project, which doesn't have a firm release date yet, and working through this challenging time. He said Brown seems poised to move forward with his life and put the past behind him. "He's got something to prove," Swizz said. "He worked on 60, 70 songs. He's just on fire. I told him, 'Listen man, just stay focused on your music. They gonna throw shots at you. Time heals everything.' He has great support; his mother is amazing. I was really scoping out the situation — it could have been something I didn't want to be around, but I really got a great vibe. Honestly." Related Artists |
| Exclusive: Weezer Team Up With Lil Wayne For 'Can't Stop Partying' Posted: 28 Sep 2009 01:01 AM PDT 'He gave it the edge I was looking for,' Rivers Cuomo says of Jermaine Dupri-produced Raditude track.
By now, you are probably aware that on Weezer's upcoming Raditude album (a.k.a. "the one with the dog on the cover"), frontman Rivers Cuomo has decided to shake things up, working with the All-American Rejects' Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, Butch Walker and super-producer Dr. Luke.
But the shaking didn't stop there. Perhaps taking a cue from Girl Talk or millions of amateur mash-up auteurs out there, Cuomo has recruited none other than Lil Wayne to contribute a verse to a song on the album. "Weezer is always trying something new," Cuomo told MTV News. "Last year, we put out The Red Album. We loved that album, but this is 2009. It's time to do something totally different. So I reached out to some friends of mine in different genres: Jermaine Dupri, for example, king of R&B, I wrote a song with him called 'Can't Stop Partying.' It was a real challenge for me, taking his ideas, which are very slick, R&B party [ideas], and giving it some kind of edge, some darkness, making it work with rock, making it work with Weezer. "Not only that, but we got Lil Wayne to come in and do a rap on it," he continued. "Any other rapper would've just done, 'Yay, we're partying! Let's drink and have fun,' but he gave it the edge I was looking for. You can hear in his voice, it sounds so dark, like he was gonna get shot or something when he walks out of the studio. So I was real happy that everyone involved got what we were going for." While a Weezer/Weezy collabo does seem a bit odd, it's keeping in theme with Raditude's party-hearty ethos. And it's not like Wayne is new to the rock game, either. Last year, he appeared on Fall Out Boy's Folie à Deux, and then there's his much-delayed "rock" album, Rebirth, which is set to be released in December. Related Artists |
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