MTV News |
- Lil Wayne Joins Young Jeezy Onstage During Jay-Z's NYC Show
- 'American Idol' Top 10 Men Step It Up
- Young Jeezy Talks Plies Collabo, Says Next Album Will Drop In June
- Exclusive Video: Lil Wayne Talks Sentencing Delay
- Gorillaz's <i>Plastic Beach</i>: Human After All
- Jay-Z Feels The Hometown Love At Madison Square Garden Show
- Kanye West Posts Long Blog On Creativity, Alexander McQueen And More
- Diddy Says Hip-Hop Will Miss Lil Wayne's 'Energy' During Jail Time
- 'American Idol' Swaps Male And Female Performance Nights
- Taylor Swift Scores Five Academy Of Country Music Award Nominations
| Lil Wayne Joins Young Jeezy Onstage During Jay-Z's NYC Show Posted: 02 Mar 2010 08:08 AM PST Weezy, who was supposed to be sentenced to prison Tuesday, was also joined by Young Money's Drake and Nicki Minaj.
Jay-Z has said that Madison Square Garden should be called "The House That Hovie Built," but on Tuesday night (March 2), Young Jeezy was the one who startled the sold-out Blueprint 3 Tour crowd by pulling the trump card that tore the roof off. The Snowman called out Young Money artists Nicki Minaj and Drake, as well as the label's CEO, Lil Wayne. Jeezy came out about 45 minutes into Jay-Z's set to perform "Real as It Gets." Hov then turned the reins over to Jeezy, who threw out a few of his street-approved rhymes, like his verse on Shawty Lo's "Dey Know." Jeezy told the crowd that his friend Lil Wayne was supposed to go to jail that day, but a courthouse fire delayed his sentencing on weapons charges once again. Jeezy said he wanted to bring someone out to dedicate a record to him. Nicki Minaj then came out and did her verse from "Bedrock."
After the song, Jeezy told Nicki to stay, and the beat for "I'm Goin' In" came on. Lil Wayne then emerged from the mini-stage where Jay's Roc Boys band was playing and jumped on the main stage with Jeezy. The concertgoers — who were already on their feet — gave the New Orleans native a phenomenal response. Wayne's face lit up as he rapped his verse. Drake then came out, breaking the night's all-black dress code by wearing all white instead. The crowd gave Drizzy loud approval during his verse. Young Jeezy closed the song out, and all three men yelled the chorus: "I'm goin' in, I'm goin' in, and I'mma go hard!" "Jeezy, you a real n---a," Wayne said, saluting the Snowman. "We with you 100 percent," Young told Wayne. Jeezy told the fans to make some noise for Wayne and Young Money, which they were already doing. From there, the Atlanta rapper dug into his catalog with thumpers such as "Crazy World," "Go Crazy" and "Go Getta." Jeezy closed out his set by bringing out another guest, Akon, for "Soul Survivor." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' Top 10 Men Step It Up Posted: 02 Mar 2010 08:27 AM PST Lee Dewyze and Alex Lambert make an impression, while Jermaine Sellers and John Park still don't get it.
Tuesday night's (March 2) last-minute switcheroo was as good a lesson as any for the "American Idol" top 20 that if you want to be a star, you have to be ready to roll with it. The top 10 women were supposed to perform, but due to an undisclosed illness for Crystal Bowersox — who was under a doctor's orders to take it easy — the men had to step it up and take the stage a night earlier than usual. After last week's poorly received first round of live performances, the boys could only go up, so it was anyone's guess what kind of firepower they were going to bring. Another change? Ellen DeGeneres was on the move again, migrating from her spot at the far end of the table — as distant from foil Simon Cowell as possible — to the middle, right up against Kara DioGuardi, with Randy Jackson providing the bookend.
None of the guys used the lineup change as an excuse, and Lee Dewyze and Alex Lambert suddenly surged to the top of the heap as early front-runners Andrew Garcia and Casey James underwhelmed again. Big Michael Lynche, 26, was first, revealing that in addition to working his enormous guns, he went to a performing-arts high school and has always been a musical-theater geek. After not blowing anyone away last week, Lynche came back with James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," showing off a previously shaded soulful side and intense performing chops, working the stage and the microphone stand while hitting some powerful sustained notes at the song's end. Randy said Lynche finally showed some fire in his eyes, giving the personal trainer a standing ovation and dubbing him an R&B star, while Ellen said he set the bar for the night. DioGuardi didn't really get it until Tuesday night but was finally won over. "Tonight, you went from being a singer to someone who could potentially be a great artist," she said. Cowell said the new dad transformed from a pussycat to a lion in one week and that, despite choosing a nearly 50-year-old song, he didn't sound dated and finally found his groove. Chicago's John Park had a lot of ground to make up after a crash-and-burn performance last week, going more contemporary with John Mayer's "Gravity," a spare ballad he performed while seated on a stool. Though he showed moments of soul, overall, Park proved again that his unpredictable voice is not strong enough to take him to the finish line. The vibe was better, but Randy dubbed it flat. Ellen and Kara agreed that it was way better but that Park wasn't really taking any chances. Simon predicted Park's singing group Purple Haze would soon have him back. "It was what I call a 'so what?' performance," he said, calling it inauthentic and not star-quality. Cowboy cutie Casey James, who said he'd never watched "Idol" before trying out because he hasn't had a TV for most of his life, chose a song that has been performed a number of times on the show, hoping that his version of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be" would stand out. Ripping it up on electric guitar, James added some Southern-boogie rock energy to the tune, amping up the arrangement with a ripping solo at the end and some sandpaper in his vocal, which was a bit flat at points. Kara tried to downplay the cougar-mance aspect of their relationship and said James took two big steps backward because "everything that was distinct about you — upfront, center, honest — went away." Instead, all she saw was him jamming on guitar and not really bringing the vocals. Cowell agreed, saying he turned into a generic bar singer. Randy loved the Jimi Hendrix vibe and said it was the right choice for the would-be rocker. Bundle-of-nerves Alex Lambert, 19, could go nowhere but up after his knee-knocking first live show and might have endeared himself to America by revealing that he writes lyrics in his Native American-sounding made-up boyhood language. He went with John Legend's "Everybody Knows," appearing a tad more comfortable strumming his acoustic guitar and showing off some impressively ragged vocals that suggested he could be a force on the show if he gets over his stage fright. Randy saw a huge improvement over last week and Ellen, well, she brought back that unripe-banana metaphor and marveled at how quickly Lambert amped up the confidence. "There isn't a person out there who isn't rooting for you," Kara added, saying he had an incredible, very recordable voice that producers would love to get their hands on. Simon told him to start showing a killer instinct and acting like he can win this thing. One of this season's wild cards, "Nutcracker" veteran Todrick Hall, made sure you couldn't compare him to Tina Turner's original version of "What's Love Got to Do With It?," smoothing out the song into a velvety bedroom ballad that exploded into a soul shouter midway through. The falsetto run at the end worked for Randy, but again he faulted Hall for trying too hard to change the arrangement. "Just sing it, 'cause you can sing — for once," he pleaded. Despite Simon's criticism that he looks like a dancer trying to sing, Ellen said she wanted to see him move more and use his strength, predicting the old-ish song would not get him votes. "I would say, Todrick, move but don't sing, because this is not working out at all for you," Simon said simply, comparing it to a corny, irrelevant theme-park performance. "I don't know what's going through your head at the moment, but you are getting this completely and utterly wrong." Jermaine Sellers told us he wasn't ashamed to rock his dinosaur onesie, but when it came time to sing, he took it way down for a smooth-jazz take on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." The front wedge haircut didn't work and the vocals swung from sanctified to kind of screechy. "One trick that means something," Kara counseled about Hall's piling on of vibrato, falsetto and wacky runs. Though it had a couple of bright moments, Jackson said it was too fussy and not great. Ellen, of course, loved the onesie and praised his style, but said it was just off. Mostly, the judges are frustrated and disappointed that Hall waters down great songs like Gaye's by messing with them too much. We found out that Andrew Garcia has been a breakdancer his whole life and that he has a soft spot for James Morrison's ballad "You Give Me Something." Sitting awkwardly on a stool, Garcia slipped further still from his front-runner status, serving up some powerfully gritty vocals undercut by a stiff delivery. Making the wrong song choice two weeks in a row is a sign of a looming problem, Simon said, expressing his disappointment once again. Ellen liked it and overlooked the pitch problems, though Randy thought it was just not the right kind of song for Garcia's voice. Perhaps he peaked too early with his cover of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up," Kara suggested, saying he's been going down ever since and not surprising the panel. Amateur shutterbug Aaron Kelly, 16, chose the Temptations' "My Girl," looking only slightly more comfortable onstage than last week and showing off his soulful, if a bit shaky, chops and underdeveloped falsetto. For Jackson, it was 200 percent better than last week even with the iffy second half of the song, and DioGuardi praised Kelly's versatility and consistency. DeGeneres called the song forgettable, and Cowell said it went all over the place, suggesting that he model himself after Justin Bieber and decide what kind of artist he wants to be. "You've got to come on here week after week, tell us, tell America, 'This is the kind of artist I want to be,' not just sing that kind of song," he said. One of 10 kids, Tim Urban knows what it's like to get ganged up on, especially after his epic fail last week. He went with "Come On Get Higher" by singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson, and while the strummy number was better, Urban still fell flat more often than not and just didn't do the trick. There was nothing special for Randy, who called it too karaoke, and Ellen thought he might be better off acting on a show like "Glee" given his lack of charisma onstage mixed with a winning cutie-pie appeal. The song choice was right for Kara, but there was nothing special. In a shocker, Cowell said it was a marked improvement and that the song was more relevant, eliciting the by-now-signature Urban look of utter disbelief. Paint salesman Lee Dewyze was revealed as a juvenile-delinquent-gone-good, and he continued his winning ways with Hinder's "Lips of an Angel." Giving the hard-rock ballad a Black Crowes-style soul/rock makeover and wrapping his gritty vocals all over the tune, he emerged as a force to be reckoned with after a second straight solid performance. Pitch problems aside, Randy and Ellen liked it, even though Dewyze just stood there, which came across as passionate and engaged for the newest judge. Kara said she could hear him on the radio right now and praised his commercial sound and look, with Cowell again telling Lee he's "head and shoulders" above the rest of the guys, if only he'd stop looking so terrified. "You may be the one to beat," he said. With or without Bowersox, the ladies will take the stage Wednesday night. How do you think the guys did on Tuesday night? Who killed it? Who blew it? Let us know by leaving your comments below. Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. |
| Young Jeezy Talks Plies Collabo, Says Next Album Will Drop In June Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:52 AM PST 'It's go time,' he tells Mixtape Daily of finishing up Thug Motivation 103.
The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive On Tuesday night, Young Jeezy and his Mob Squad lit up Madison Square Garden during the Blueprint 3 Tour stop.
"It's not a rap concert; it's a show," Jeezy said just hours before the performance. "Me and Jay sat down and talked about it. That was the whole thing: 'Let's give them a concert, not just a rap show.' It's been working out that way. From start to finish, it's a whole show. Trey [Songz], me, Jay — from start to finish, it flows. It's kinda crazy, 'cause we got the same type of fans. It's not awkward. You could be on tour with somebody, you see Jeezy and Black Eyed Peas, it's like, 'What the hell?' " Young just put out the first record from his Thug Motivation 103 album, "Lose My Mind." The record features Plies and debuted in a live performance Saturday during the Blueprint 3 Tour stop in Atlanta. "To keep it all the way 100 with you, we did a record called 'So Sad,' " Jeezy said about how he got with Plies. "Before I could put it out, the record leaked, so we was good on that. Then I was gonna do a record for him [for his album]. I did the record, by the way, but I had 'Lose My Mind.' I done three verses. I listened to it a couple of times. I said, 'Let me try something. I'mma put somebody on the record.' I was doing a joint for him at the time and happened to see him. We was doing something for [NBA] All-Star [Weekend]. I was like, 'Yo, I'mma get you this record, see if you like it.' He sent it right back. I went with it. Just to warm up the streets, let them know I'm coming." Jeezy said he decided to premiere the song in front of the crowd at the Philips Arena on Saturday to let them know that he has something concrete done and the album is coming soon. "It was new, so it was cool. But everybody was like, 'When is TM103 coming out?' But it's like the block: I ain't gonna put it out there unless it's rock, unless it's hard, unless it's right," he explained. "I wanted to get in the kitchen, in the lab, and do my thing and put it out when it's time. I'm ready now. It don't stop there. It's go time." Young described "Lose My Mind" as a quick snapshot of his nightlife. "To me, it's my life," Jeezy said. "That's how I feel sometimes when I go out. If you listen to me, I said it a few times: 'Lost my mind and my cell phone in the same night.' No two days are the same. ... I been partying my whole life. That's how you feel the next day. You killed them, and you left. You was looking good, shining good, there's no limit to what you can have in the club. That's how it's been for us before music. 'Lose My Mind' is doing what the hell I wanna do in the club. If it's 100 bottles of rosé, if it's 40 bottles of Belvedere, if it's all the kush in the world. I'mma do what I wanna do. When I leave there, I don't wanna remember nothing. I just wanna wake up and do the same thing again. That's what 'Lose Your Mind' is about. You gotta have life your way. If you ain't losing your mind, you ain't partying right." Young said his album will drop sometime in June. And, of course, we'll get his mixtape, Trap or Die 2 with DJ Drama, sometime before that. "The date we originally wanted to go with, it didn't work for neither one of us. It's cool, though, because we never rush things," Jeezy said about the mixtape's delay. "Once we get through all the politics, I think the streets will have that." The Snowman did promise to keep leaking songs from the mixtape in the interim. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos |
| Exclusive Video: Lil Wayne Talks Sentencing Delay Posted: 02 Mar 2010 06:43 AM PST 'There's been a fire in the court. I have one more day of freedom,' he says in the clip.
Nino Brown: The Road To Rikers, Part 6 Weezy has at least one more day of freedom. Lil Wayne was due to be sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday (March 2), but the Cash Money MC was afforded another day of freedom as the Manhattan court building had to be evacuated when a small blaze broke out in the boiler room. But Wayne didn't spend his day seeing the sights or jogging around Central Park — he went back to work. DJ Scoob Doo, who has been traveling with Weezy, posted a tweet asking his followers to figure out what studio the duo would be stopping at as well as which stage they would be hitting.
Wayne's "Mr. Carter" cohort, Jay-Z, just so happens to be playing the city's biggest stage, Madison Square Garden — Hov's Blueprint 3 tour touched down in the Big Apple on Tuesday, along with roster acts Young Jeezy and Trey Songz. We'll see what goes down — but we can give you a glimpse into how Wayne's day started. In another clip sent exclusively to MTV News by Weezy and his trusted videographer, we see Wayne as he learns of his sentencing delay. The clip begins with Wayne stepping off a private jet and walking into a waiting van. Later Weezy leaves his hotel, riding toward Manhattan — while in the Lincoln Tunnel, Weezy's road manager E.I. informs him there's been a fire at the court building. "There's been a fire in the court. I have one more day of freedom. For now, y'all keep it real, 'cause I will," Wayne said. "I'm ready. I'm all smiles," he continued, pointing to his teeth. "They can't break my strength. They can only lock me up physically. They can't lock up my mind. They can't lock up my heart. They can only take my time because the law allows them to. Time is precious, but love is life. So therefore in the end my love will prevail." All the footage of Wayne will be part of "The Nino Brown Story, Part 3" DVD, which will be available soon on DJ Scoob Doo's Web site. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Gorillaz's <i>Plastic Beach</i>: Human After All Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:52 AM PST New album proves that the cartoon band is also an actual band, in Bigger Than the Sound.
In 1998, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett cooked up Gorillaz as a knee-jerk reaction to the chiseled boy bands and mawkish mook-rock acts that paraded across the airwaves of MTV. The idea, it would seem, was to create a group that matched the substance of the 'NSYNCs and the Creeds of the world — the joke being, of course, that unlike Justin Timberlake or Scott Stapp, the Gorillaz were actual cartoons. It was a pretty brilliant concept, but the thing is, it worked, perhaps even too well. Somewhere along the way — whether Albarn and Hewlett liked it or not — Gorillaz became a genuine phenomenon, with hit singles and multiplatinum albums and actual performances, including a sold-out stint at the Apollo Theater and a Grammy duet with Madonna. Here in the U.S., the band's two albums (2001's self-titled debut and 2005's Demon Days) outsold Albarn's entire Blur catalog and did so by a large margin. It is not a stretch to say that Gorillaz is the most successful project either man has ever been involved in, at least when it comes to the bottom line. But throughout all the success, one question has remained unanswered: What are we supposed to make of Gorillaz? Were they a side project? A piss-take? Or — dare I say it — an actual band? Sometimes, it was difficult to tell, and with each collaborator Albarn wheeled into the studio, or each high-gloss video Hewlett unveiled, things became even muddier. But now, with their third album, Plastic Beach (which hits stores Tuesday), we finally have our answer: Gorillaz are very much an actual band, because only actual bands can make concept albums this half-baked, this hazy or this self-aggrandizing. It is what actual bands are supposed to do, especially after they've sold millions of albums and become international sensations. Plastic Beach is exactly the kind of album bands make when they feel they've earned the right to do so. There's an air of entitlement to it, and entitlement is perhaps the most human quality of all. Loosely staged on a metaphorical island in the South Pacific (it's made up entirely of "detritus, debris and [the] washed-up remnants of humanity," according to an accompanying press release), loping along over the course of 16 tracks and ladled with more guest stars than a charity single, Beach is Gorillaz gone bananas. No idea is left unexplored, no beat unused. The thing is, they've done all this before — the concept, the length, the cameos — but this time around, they're just doing more of it. All of it. For the first time, Albarn serves as the sole producer, something that's readily apparent when you hear the trilling instrumentation of the National Orchestra for Arabic Music (on "White Flag") or the walloping oomph of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (on a pair of tunes: "Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach" and "Sweepstakes," both of which also feature cameos by Snoop Dogg and Mos Def, respectively, because, hey, why not?). Brevity has never exactly been his strong suit — check the running time of any Blur album for proof of that — but here, without someone like Danger Mouse or Dan the Automator to reel in his aspirations, things tend to get a bit, well, long-winded. While Albarn might be bursting with good ideas, Beach makes it pretty clear that even the best brains need a little editing every once in a while. This is not to say that there aren't genuinely great moments on the album too. "White Flag" kicks off a terrific six-song run that includes the spacey "Rhinestone Eyes," first single "Stylo," the bumping "Superfast Jellyfish" and the electro-oddity "Glitter Freeze," which gets an assist from the Fall's Mark E. Smith. It's just that, as the clanging electronics of "Freeze" fade away, there are still eight songs left on the album — darn near an eternity. So we get some filler, including a semi-spoken-word number from Lou Reed ("Some Kind of Nature") and some standouts ("Melancholy Hill," a pretty tune featuring — thankfully — just Albarn), and then the whole thing is over, and it's not until you go back and listen again that you realize, "Whoa, I totally missed the song that features 50 percent of the Clash." And that's not an easy thing to do. Far be it from me to criticize an album for being too long, but that's precisely the problem here. Too many guests, too many big ideas, too few strokes of the editor's pen (or Pro Tool, or whatever). There are at least three records of varying quality within Plastic Beach, and Albarn decided to put them all out at once. Because, hey, he's earned it. The Gorillaz have earned it. There's a reason Josie and the Pussycats never released an album like this. And it bears mention here that my opinion of Beach is definitely in the minority, especially considering the luminous praise other critics have heaped on it already. But perhaps that's just more proof that the Gorillaz really are an actual band: No cartoon could pull off something this ballsy, could convince so many to sift through so much. That's ego, that's swagger, that's hubris — and all those things are pretty human qualities too. For better or worse. Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com. |
| Jay-Z Feels The Hometown Love At Madison Square Garden Show Posted: 02 Mar 2010 10:50 PM PST Jay gets some help from Young Jeezy, Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and other special guests.
NEW YORK — There is always palpable exhilaration whenever Jay-Z plays Madison Square Garden. Tuesday night (March 2) was another sold-out show at MSG as Hov's Blueprint 3 Tour arrived in town. After Trey Songz played up to the ladies with his set, there was a short intermission. Like lightning -- boom! The Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" video began playing on two big screens that hung over the stage, and a 10-minute countdown began perfectly in sync with the classic hip-hop track. Hova chants started several minutes prior to that.
Finally, with no time left on the clock, Jay's music began. He was greeted with a deafening roar of approval. "Feel it coming in the air," Rihanna's recorded voice from "Run This Town" blasted through the arena. Jay rose from underneath the stage, rolling his head around his shoulders like a young Mike Tyson getting ready for a prize fight. Jay, like Tyson in the '80s, knows he's a dominant force in any ring, any arena, but especially at the Garden, he's unstoppable. Jay then brought out Memphis Bleek and told his former neighbor in the Marcy Projects he wanted him to see something special. Like a wizard, Jigga waved his hand around the arena and made fans scream. "I wanna be careful how I phrase this, because it's one of my heroes," Jay said. "Madison Square Garden used to be Run's House. But 'Run's House' is now on MTV. Madison Square Garden is now 'The House That Hov Built.' " His assertion was backed up with triumphant showings of "On to the Next One," "U Don't Know," "99 Problems" and "Show Me What You Got." "Empire State of Mind" felt special in the Garden. Jay's performance of the record filled the arena with hometown pride. It's the closest feeling the crowd at the Garden will get to the Knicks winning the championship ... at least until LeBron James signs with the team next year (fingers crossed). James was in attendance, along with his Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Shaquille O'Neal, Rick Ross, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diddy and Cash Money Records CEO the Birdman. Birdman was on hand to cheer on his "son" Lil Wayne. Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj had the show-stealing moment as part of Young Jeezy's set. The Snowman also brought out Akon. Jeezy came out about 40 minutes into Jay's show, and the two did "Real as It Gets" from Blueprint 3. After handing Jeezy the keys to MSG for a while, Jay came back and traded rhymes with his Southern partner on the remixes of "Put On" and "My President." Trey Songz came out with Jay as well to help out on "Heart of the City" and "Already Home." The Blueprint 3 Tour stopped with an "overtime" session that saw Jay take his fans back as far as the Reasonable Doubt days with "Ain't No N---a" and "Can I Live." "Am I going too far back? This moment is only for us," he added of himself and fans of his first LP. Hov then brought it up a few years for "Big Pimpin'," with Jay urging everyone to wave whatever they had from rags to bandanas to hats in the air, Carnivale-style. "I don't take it for granted," Jay said of the fan love. "I appreciate everyone in the building tonight. Thank you, and I hope we return the love tenfold. The legendary MC then asked to do one more record: "Encore." Hov is going to be in the Tri-State Area with a few shows during these next two weeks. He plays Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel as well as the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island next week. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Kanye West Posts Long Blog On Creativity, Alexander McQueen And More Posted: 02 Mar 2010 04:57 AM PST 'For me the hardest thing is to 'just' agree and that is what sparks creativity,' West writes.
Kanye West relaunched his Web site last week, and while the first day only featured his "Coldest Winter" video and an arty photo of his girlfriend Amber Rose, it's filled out recently and on Tuesday (March 2), he posted one of his long all-caps blog entries, rendered even more difficult to read (and cut-and-paste) by his new site's format. Titled "Creativity," the post finds Kanye musing on his own past, deaths in his family, the recent death of designer Alexander McQueen (of whom West was a big fan) and much more. "I'm on the plane listening to [his 2004 debut LP] The College Dropout," the post reads in part. "It brings back so many memories." He then talks about the deaths in his family since that time, and the early days of his career. "We were the underdogs," he continues. "I never feel like I'm not the underdog. I never felt completely comfortable. I'm tormented by the need to create. With the loss of McQueen I feel like we lost one of the faces of modern creativity's Mount Rushmore. ... Maybe McQueen felt his job was done because his last collection was the greatest of the decade. We are all so hurt. I know we're selfish because he brought us so much joy and inspiration. I know how it feels when the night demons come. We can't let them control our hands and feet. ... I was blessed with the opportunity to bring my and others dreams to life. It's like performing magic or something. It's surreal. We bring the unrealistic to reality. ... When I wake up in the morning and brush my teeth and look in the mirror it's like I see Michael [Jackson, presumably] and my mom and Malcolm [X, presumably] ... Who's that African in the background Mom? Oh, he created the original layouts for the pyramids, but he was written out of the history books and his MTV award was given to 'Aliens.' ... Everything is an opinion. The way you dress is an expression of your opinion. Your religious beliefs are your opinion. The music you turn up loud is your opinion. For most people it's easier to just agree. For me the hardest thing is to 'just' agree and that is what sparks creativity. The feeling that something can be better, the feeling that something's missing, the feeling that something's needed." What do you think of Kanye's post and his new Web site? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists |
| Diddy Says Hip-Hop Will Miss Lil Wayne's 'Energy' During Jail Time Posted: 02 Mar 2010 12:48 AM PST Weezy shot footage for Diddy-Dirty Money's 'Strobe Lights' video over the weekend.
On Monday, Lil Wayne sent an exclusive pre-jail clip to MTV News in which he's seen before and after filming scenes for Diddy-Dirty Money's upcoming "Strobe Lights" video at Miami's Fountainebleu hotel. We caught up with Puff to get some more details on the track.
"On Last Train to Paris, Wayne is on the album, Drake is on the album, we're trying to get Hov on the album, trying to get Janelle Monáe on the album," Diddy told MTV News. "Everybody that's on the album, it's not done in a regular appearance way. It's done in a unique way that's authentic. It's not about a single or [album sales]. It doesn't have that behind it. Wayne is on a record that's called 'Strobe Lights.' It's one of the first records where I hear him talking about love and how love has affected him. That's the type of things I wanted to get out of people if they were on the album. I wanted people to get out of their comfort zone and do something that was special. He did the video for me over the weekend. 'Strobe Lights,' it's gonna be tough." Lil Wayne has shot almost 20 videos over the past couple of months in preparation for going to jail this week. Weezy was supposed to be sentenced Tuesday (March 2), but it was delayed due to a fire in the New York courthouse where he was set to be sentenced. Diddy said there will be a void with the electric entertainer gone. "I think we gonna miss a certain energy that Wayne has," Diddy said. "The beauty about it is, he'll be back, and hopefully he'll come back a better person. Whenever we get in trouble, we're in the public spotlight. So hopefully there's a lot of kids out there who could learn from any mistakes that we may have put ourselves in, even if we're not guilty of the crime sometimes. We are human. People have to learn: 'Make sure you know where you're going, who you riding with, what the situation is.' We're targets. I'm just happy he doesn't have to do a lot of time and that he'll be out, and hopefully he'll use the time wisely and use it in a positive way." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' Swaps Male And Female Performance Nights Posted: 02 Mar 2010 03:17 AM PST Due to Crystal Bowersox's illness, the guys will perform Tuesday and the girls will perform Wednesday.
On Tuesday (March 2), Fox announced that due to Crystal Bowersox's medical condition that would prevent her from performing on Tuesday's show, the 10 remaining male contestants would perform the night before the 10 remaining female contestants. The female singers are expected to perform on Wednesday instead. The The 10 remaining male performers include Lee Dewyze, Andrew Garcia, Todrick Hall, Casey James, Aaron Kelly, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche, John Park, Jermaine Sellers and Tim Urban. The 10 remaining girls include Didi Benami, Crystal Bowersox, Lacey Brown, Michelle Delamor, Katelyn Epperly, Siobhan Magnus, Paige Miles, Lilly Scott, Katie Stevens and Haeley Vaughn.
On Thursday's show Danny Gokey, who was a season-eight finalist, is scheduled to perform his new single "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me" and fans will find out the next four contestants to be sent home. "I think a girl's gonna take it," judge Randy Jackson told MTV News. "I think the talent's bigger this season with the girls. I think they came in better, more prepared and they probably were at home saying, 'God, every season a boy wins. What happened to the girls?' [Last season] Allison Iraheta was a great singer. She's got a great voice. She's got a big career ahead of her." Despite the fact that the boys have triumphed the past two seasons, Jackson said the ladies' post-"Idol" career choices have been a bit more solid. "Could it be that the girls are making better choices than the boys, or could it be the girls know who they are and have listened to us and [then] gone off the show and made better choices?" he asked. "Life is about choices." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos |
| Taylor Swift Scores Five Academy Of Country Music Award Nominations Posted: 02 Mar 2010 02:41 AM PST Swift is up for the big prize, Entertainer of the Year, at the ACM Awards in April.
Taylor Swift has a few more nominations to add to her résumé: The country/pop superstar has been nominated for five Academy of Country Music Awards. According to a press release, the singer was at home near Nashville when she heard the good news. Swift's nominations include Entertainer of the Year, Top Female Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year for "You Belong With Me," and Video of the Year for "You Belong With Me." She is nominated twice in the Song of the Year category for co-writing "You Belong With Me," bringing her total to five. Swift will go up against fellow country heavyweights, including Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band for Entertainer of the Year. Other Top Female Vocalist of the Year nominees include Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Lee Ann Womack. Swift and all the other nominees will find out who will take home the prizes at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which air live on CBS on Sunday, April 18. Swift won four trophies at the Grammy Awards in January, although she had an uneven performance with Stevie Nicks that led to much Web chatter. In addition to finding out about her five new nominations, Swift also kicks off the second leg of her Fearless Tour, which reunites her with tourmates Kellie Pickler and Gloriana. The first show on the tour will take place Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. The 39-date tour will also make stops at arenas and stadiums in 31 cities in 25 states and provinces in North America over the next three months. Related Photos Related Artists |
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