MTV News |
- Ke$ha On 'Saturday Night Live' Backlash: 'I Don't Care'
- Cam'ron Ready To Make A 'Classic' Mixtape With DJ Holiday
- The Hold Steady Evolve (But Stay The Same) On <i>Heaven Is Whenever</i>
- 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 10's First Perfect Score Goes To Evan Lysacek
- Hayley Williams 'Stoked' To Shoot B.o.B's 'Airplanes' Video
- Ke$ha On Her Haters: 'F--- The Cynics'
- Christina Aguilera Defends 'Not Myself Tonight' Video
- Diplomats Timeline: From Breakup To Makeup
- Lil Jon's Revamped <i>Crunk Rock</i> Trades Rock For 'Lifestyle' Music
- Damon Dash Resurrects Roc-A-Fella To Start A 'Positive Movement'
| Ke$ha On 'Saturday Night Live' Backlash: 'I Don't Care' Posted: 04 May 2010 03:52 AM PDT 'I had a fun time. I played laser beams,' she says of her divisive performance.
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey — Ke$ha's recent performance on "Saturday Night Live" was divisive, to put it mildly. Some saw her two-song set — which featured laser beams, body paint, spoken-word interludes, dancing astronauts, fireworks and an American-flag cape — as an attempt at "artistic expression" gone awry, while others praised her efforts, calling the performance "spirited" and writing pieces in her "defen$e."
Either way, it didn't really matter to Ke$ha. As she told MTV News on Saturday at the Bamboozle festival, she's not listening to anything anyone has to say about her these days. "If you don't like dancing astronauts, laser beams that play music, me talking about aliens, glow-in the dark things, vocoders and a hot chick, I don't know what to tell you," she laughed. "My new theory is ... I don't really listen or look at anything. But I have heard through the grapevine that some people thought it sucked and some people thought it was great. [I] don't care. I had a fun time. I played laser beams." She did, indeed. If anything, Ke$ha didn't think the backlash from her "SNL" appearance had anything to do with, you know, her actual performances as it did with the fact that she refuses to be categorized. In an increasingly segmented industry, she proudly — almost defiantly — sticks out like a sore thumb. A sore thumb with laser beams, of course. "I don't use Auto-Tune. I come from a country-music-writing family, a punk-rock loving brother who gave me his records, and in a society where everything is supposed to be perfect — down to what I wear, what I look like, my body, my voice, my outfits — I'm not perfect, and I embrace it," she said. "And I think that's what a lot of people are finding not being up to par to, like, the standard that other people have set, but I'm just being real. And I think what I'm doing is good." What did you think of Ke$ha's "SNL" performance? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos Related Artists |
| Cam'ron Ready To Make A 'Classic' Mixtape With DJ Holiday Posted: 04 May 2010 03:52 AM PDT 'I could do a mixtape in three hours,' Cam tells the DJ, in Mixtape Daily.
The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive Cam'ron has been a busy man lately. Besides reconciling with Jim Jones and announcing the possible reunion of the Diplomats, he made a surprise appearance at Converse's Band of Ballers tournament as both "assistant coach" and basketball player, helping the Jones Family squad secure their second consecutive title. Cam's also preparing for the third release in his and DJ Drama's mixtape series, Boss of all Bosses 2.5.
MTV News caught up with Cam over the weekend at the Atlanta tourney, where we also spoke to DJ Holiday, and it seems everybody wants a piece of KFC. "Me and Cam need to do something ... a Holiday Season or something. I know you know the brand," the DJ said, referring to his popular mixtape series. "I could do a mixtape in three hours," Cam challenged. "Let's stop talking and do it." "I can block out about four hours, and we knock out a Holiday Season and make a classic," Holiday said. "I know you make mixtapes with everybody, but when you do one with the kid, it's a little different experience." The "killa season"-meets-"holiday season" collaboration was a no-brainer, said Cam, ready to cement plans. But first, Holiday said, he had some other projects in the works, including the upcoming release of Waka Flocka Flame's latest mixtape, tentatively titled Flockaveli, which he described as crazy fighting music. And with Gucci Mane's release from jail a little more than a week away, Holiday said he and Gucc would be preparing a follow-up mixtape: Writing's on the Wall 2: The Appeal. "I just dropped that [Gucci Mane mixtape] Burrprint HD. It's in stores right now. We did 20,000 first week; #1 on iTunes. At the end of the day, we finnin' to make a movie," Holiday said. Gucci "gets home in probably about 10 days, so you already know we taking over, 10 days. Writing's on the Wall 2: The Appeal coming soon. I'm trying to win, man." Should Cam collaborate with DJ Holiday or stay focused on a possible Diplomats album? Let us know in the comments! For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines or follow the Mixtape Daily team on Twitter: @shaheemreid and @mongosladenyc. |
| The Hold Steady Evolve (But Stay The Same) On <i>Heaven Is Whenever</i> Posted: 04 May 2010 03:52 AM PDT 'We wanted to make a more dynamic record, and I hope we did that,' guitarist Tad Kubler tells MTV News.
When they began in 2005, the Hold Steady set out to be the best bar band in the world. Over the course of four albums, they have steadily grown from a buzzed-about indie group playing tiny Brooklyn clubs to a world-traveling group that headlines festivals and fills theaters.
Though the Hold Steady traditionally put out an album a year, 2008's Stay Positive kept them on the road, where they visited Australia for the first time, played a massive number of festivals and opened dates for Dave Matthews Band and Counting Crows in Europe. It broke up their annual-LP pace for their fifth album, Heaven Is Whenever, which hit shelves Tuesday (May 4), but the extra time helped make the new album the group's "most musical," according to frontman Craig Finn. Heaven Is Whenever is indeed the most dynamic album the Hold Steady have put out, with some new guitar sounds and plenty of nods to country and folk music. And Finn's trademark speak-singing has been dialed back in favor of a classic-rock croon that is one part Bruce Springsteen, one part Paul Westerberg, one part Morrissey. It was no accident. "Every time, we try to make a record that is a little more musical," Finn said. "I think by singing, it connects vocals to music a little more. Some of it is just being more confident. Some of it is the opportunity to play literally hundreds and hundreds of shows and being on a microphone. I can certainly sing better than I could when we started the band." "He's being modest," lead guitarist Tad Kubler added. "He sang his ass off on this record." One thing that didn't change on Heaven Is Whenever is the continued mythology that Finn began laying out way back on the band's debut, Almost Killed Me. "It gives you a world to run around in, and when you have a lyric that references an old song, the people paying the most attention kind of get a little reward for that," Finn said. "It's like an inside joke. So you're making this world for us and for the fans." But even though the makeup has shifted (they lost keyboardist Franz Nicolay and added new ivory tickler Dan Neustadt and a third guitarist named Steve Selvidge) and Finn sings more, it's still the same band with the same beating heart at its core. "When we finished it, everybody kind of took a break from it for a little while, and when we came back to it, everybody thought it sounded different," Kubler said of the album. "But now that we've spent time with it, it doesn't seem wildly different. We made some deliberate decisions to record in a different way. But it's still the same guys doing the same stuff. We wanted to make a more dynamic record, and I hope we did that. "If you had to make a really grand statement about this album," Kubler added, "out of all of our records, this one is the most current." Are you excited to hear new music from the Hold Steady? Let us know in the comments below! |
| 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 10's First Perfect Score Goes To Evan Lysacek Posted: 04 May 2010 05:29 AM PDT Judge Carrie Ann Inaba calls Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya's tango 'so sexy, so refined.'
After feeling like he let partner Anna Trebunskaya down in their samba last week, Olympian Evan Lysacek made it up to her and then some on Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars." The couple earned the first perfect score of season 10 with their Argentine tango.
"Evan Lysacek has the eye of the tiger!" Carrie Ann Inaba exclaimed before the judges awarded them with 30 points. "It was so sexy, so refined. Just the perfect combination of power and control." Up first was ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who did a quickstep that the judges raved over. Last week, Chmerkovskiy was criticized for taking his clothes off, so they had a bit of fun with it and had him ripping off his pants and her skirt to reveal another dancing costume. "Erin, without doubt, your best dance. I loved your performance. Well done," Len Goodman said. Score: 27 out of 30. The second pair to dance was Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke, who did the Viennese waltz. "The pressure is on when you gotta be perfect," the football player groaned during a rehearsal. The judges were impressed, saying that this was the night Chad became a contender. "Chad, I can't believe you can be so graceful and so gentle; truly a gentle giant," Bruno Tonioli said. Score: 25. Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough said they wanted to do a pure waltz, with no hodgepodge. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba called the pop singer by far the best dancer they have ever had on the show. "You're so good that you dance almost as Derek's equal. You still were side-by-side, next to each other. The connection was lacking, but the movements were gorgeous," Inaba said. Score: 27. Pamela Anderson said she wanted to refine her technique, and her partner Damian Whitewood was determined to make it happen. Goodman called her waltz understated, and said that Anderson needs to "firm up" her upper body. "It's a very tough dance," Goodman added. Tonioli said she always gets the character right, but she "had to check the top line, which is very hard to hold constantly in these ... dances." Score: 24. Niecy Nash and Louis van Amstel did a quickstep, but before they performed, had a rather funny exchange in their rehearsal footage. "We're like a couple who got divorced and still have to tolerate each other for the sake of the kids," Nash joked. That oddball chemistry appeared to work for the judges. "Niecy, you never looked more gorgeous," Tonioli said. "Your footwork was better than ever; your best dance to date." Score: 25. In addition to the individual routines, the celebrities had to set aside their rivalries to do a group cha-cha, in a Madonna vs. Lady Gaga challenge. Team Gaga (Anderson and Whitewood, Scherzinger and Hough, and Burke and Ochocinco) beat Team Madonna (Nash and Van Amstel, Lysacek and Trebunskaya, and Andrews and Chmerkovskiy), earning 27 points to Madonna's 24. Which couple do you think was the best on last night's "Dancing With the Stars"? Share your reviews in the comments. Related Photos |
| Hayley Williams 'Stoked' To Shoot B.o.B's 'Airplanes' Video Posted: 03 May 2010 03:57 AM PDT 'I think it'll be a lot easier than a Paramore shoot but different and challenging in a new way,' she tells MTV News.
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey — B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" currently sits atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and "Airplanes" — the second single from his The Adventures of Bobby Ray album — has just leapt into the top 10. The Atlanta MC, who already has a video for "Nothin'," just shot a clip for his sophomore single, albeit one that's missing a key component: Paramore's Hayley Williams, who sings the track's hook.
But all that is going to change — and soon. When we spoke to Williams at this weekend's Bamboozle music festival, the singer said she had already carved out time to shoot her portion of the "Airplanes" video, even if she didn't quite know what she had signed up for. "Hopefully, right after this tour [Paramore's spring run with Relient-K and Fun], I'll get to do my part of the B.o.B video," she said. "I'm stoked, because I've seen a couple of treatments, and I don't know exactly what I'm getting into yet, but I'm stoked about it, because I know it'll be different, and I think it'll be a lot easier than a Paramore shoot but different and challenging in a new way. It'll definitely be shorter than a Paramore video; no 12-hour day on a chorus." So what will Williams — who, to be honest, isn't the first person you'd think would be popping up in a hip-hop video — be doing in "Airplanes"? Good question. Paramore bassist Jeremy Davis joked that "she's gonna be on a boat with a swimsuit and a martini." But Williams said she'll be taking inspiration from some of the classics. Sort of. "Growing up, I saw a lot of hip-hop videos. I always liked TLC, and I always liked Aaliyah videos, I thought they were great. Missy Elliott videos were amazing. But obviously, I'm not going to get in front of a camera and pretend to be Aaliyah or Missy Elliott. I mean, I'm still Hayley from Paramore," she laughed. "And that's what I think is great about it; I'm bringing a different side to what B.o.B is doing ... and I think what we do as a band actually fits in some weird way. I was looking at videos of him online, at his shows, and his crowd doesn't look too far off from, like, the kind of people we play to; same age. It seems like a good match, and I'm excited to bring whatever I have to offer to the table for him." And since she'll be filming her portion of the video without B.o.B, it will keep one aspect of their collaboration intact: the fact that they've never actually met face-to-face. "We've never met in person," Williams said. "We've talked on Twitter, and he's really cool. We'll never meet. We're going to perform the song live via Skype." What classic hip-hop videos would you like to see Hayley inspired by? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists |
| Ke$ha On Her Haters: 'F--- The Cynics' Posted: 02 May 2010 11:15 PM PDT 'Who would you rather hang out with: that cynical dude or me with my laser beams?,' the 'Tik Tok' singer asks.
It's been a rather challenging couple of weeks for Ke$ha, the party-pop princess who has — for reasons not entirely clear to her — become the preferred punching bag for certain bloggers.
It all started with her April 17 performance on "Saturday Night Live," a DayGlo-and-laser-beam-enhanced set that was criticized by some as being perhaps the "worst ever" musical moment on the "SNL" set. That only gave more ammo to avowed Ke$ha haters like Perez Hilton, who had previously called her live performances "horrid." And then there's the blowback from her hit single "Tik Tok" being featured on the opening of Sunday night's episode of "The Simpsons," which baffled some bloggers and had longtime fans of the show getting in touch with their inner Comic Book Guy. And through it all, Ke$ha has remained quiet. Mostly because she's always made it a point to avoid reading or listening to anything the cynics have had to say about her, although she will admit that all the naysayers are starting to piss her off. "I actually don't read anything, because I feel like the haters really like to hate out loud, [and] that people who love sometimes love quietly. So I don't really listen or look at anything," she told MTV News at last weekend's Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey. "[But] in general, f--- the cynics. Go be cynical. ... I'm having a good time. Like, who would you rather hang out with: that cynical dude or, like, me with my laser beams?" And though Hilton has been one of her most outspoken critics, Ke$ha doesn't harbor any ill will toward him. To be honest, she doesn't really have any opinion of the celebrity gossipmonger. "I don't really know what he thinks, but you've got to live your life," she laughed. "I don't care. I mean, do you care if I like your shirt? I mean, I do like it, but what if I didn't? Would you change it? Probably not. And you shouldn't." At the end of the day, the thing that matters most to her is continuing the mission she embarked on with the release of her Animal album: to have fun, no matter what her detractors have to say, and no matter how loud they say it. "One of the main things I wanted to do with this record, in this climate of the planet, right now, is just have 'f----off' fun. I'm not pretentious, I'm not a bitch, I'm just having fun," she laughed. "It's pop music, and hopefully, people that like the music are embracing that mentality, that, like there are things to be taken seriously, but ... me trying to get people to have so much fun, I don't feel like I need to be pretentious about it." What do you think about Ke$ha's attitude toward the haters? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos Related Artists |
| Christina Aguilera Defends 'Not Myself Tonight' Video Posted: 03 May 2010 09:15 AM PDT 'I never claimed to be a cookie-cutter soccer mom,' singer says.
Christina Aguilera's brand-new "Not Myself Tonight" video is certainly jaw-dropping, a three-minute run of barely-there outfits, extended S&M-inspired sequences and a whole lot of guy-on-girl groping.
But in an interview with "Access Hollywood," Aguilera defended the clip, saying that it shows off her wild side, which she's not shying away from just because she's a mother. "Mama still has to be me," she said. "I never claimed to be a cookie-cutter soccer mom. That's all good for some people. Not for me." Aguilera — who, in previous interviews, has cited her two-year-old son, Max, as an inspiration for the songs on her upcoming Bionic album — said that she doesn't think the video is inappropriate, and added that just because she's a mother, it doesn't mean that she's not also an artist, one who deals honestly and frankly with the subject of sexuality. "[Max] is going to grow up in a household where he knows mommy expresses herself artistically and some of that will have to reflect itself sexually too, at times," she said. "He's going to learn to respect the fact that women are allowed to express themselves and not feel shameful about their bodies or their sexuality." She added that while Max is already a fan of the songs on Bionic (which is due June 4), he's not shy about expressing his allegiance to another of his mother's pop contemporaries. "He's really into Rihanna," Aguilera said. "And he does say 'Put in mama's song! Put in mama's song!' And then he goes, 'Go cazy! Go cazy!' It's so cute." What do you think of Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight" video? Let us know in the comments below! Related Photos Related Artists |
| Diplomats Timeline: From Breakup To Makeup Posted: 03 May 2010 05:17 AM PDT As a reunion looms, MTV News charts the Dipset's path.
For Cam'ron and Jim Jones, their reunion has mirrored their falling-out: It's been a slow and deliberate process. The two Harlem rappers and onetime Dipset allies continued their reconciliation over the weekend — inching ever closer to a return to their flamboyant ways — when they joined forces at the Converse Band of Ballers event in Atlanta, taking the championship at the celebrity basketball tournament. It's been a long road for Cam and Jones. Here, MTV News recounts the duo's path from breakup to makeup.
» In 2005, the duo were poised to take over the rap game when Cam'ron inked a deal with Asylum Records; Jones served in an executive role at Warner Music Group, of which Asylum was a subsidiary. "We playing both sides of the fence," Jones told MTV News at the time. "We got the executive chairs, so we could be executives for the rest of our lives, but we still making good music right now. We getting the game popping." » A year later, rumors about the pair's fracturing friendship were spreading so quickly, Jones addressed the topic, albeit begrudgingly: The pair appeared together (along with Juelz Santana), in a show of solidarity, for Jones' "We Fly High" video. "I tend to be on the defensive side, so you got to pardon my demeanor when you see me, but I'm a happy, loving dude," Jones said about the rift. "I was tired of people asking me that dumb sh--. Like, leave me alone with that." » By 2007, Cam'ron had grown reclusive, furthering talk of discord between him and Jones. What most fans didn't know at the time, however, was that Cam'ron was tending to his ailing mother. His decreased visibility only stirred up 50 Cent, who was embroiled in a feud with the MC. "He's doing more damage to his crew than I could ever do," 50 told MTV News about Cam. "He's put them in a real awkward situation with his choices. When they had momentum, they had Jimmy [Jones] out there doing records, Juelz was out there, they was doing good. Then they let this guy out there, and look what happened." » Soon, Jones, emboldened by his own rising stardom, began speaking publicly about his "feud" with Cam'ron, whom he said was "on punishment" during a Hot 97 interview. Jones not-so-subtly hinted at the root of their problems in an interview with MTV News. "Shouts to Cameron," Jones, using the rapper's full name, told Sway in July 2007. "We going through our little differences and things like that. When you come up in this game, loyal to a [fault], you look to certain people to always take care of you above and beyond, because you'd do the same thing for them. "And, of course, there's a lot of money at stake here," he continued. "And no matter what anyone tells you, when money comes into play, people do change in certain ways and things like that. Because we didn't grow up with this type of money we playing with now, so it's only [normal] that you're gonna change in some aspect. But for us, loyalty is everything, and when you break that code of honor a little bit, it tends to make the water rough." » Cam'ron emerged from his self-imposed hiatus, and in an interview with Miss Info in November 2007, the usually outspoken rapper turned reserved when asked about Jones. Cam denied he had any issues with his Dipset partner — or his friend's newfound stardom. "I still haven't spoken to Jim," Cam explained. "Everybody thinks I'm mad at Jim. Why am I mad? I told people for years that Jimmy was gonna be a star, so it's better on my résumé. I wish him the best." » Lost amid Cam'ron and Jim Jones' falling-out was Juelz Santana, who was tight-lipped as bad blood simmered between the two stars. But Santana broke his silence to MTV News in 2008, revealing he, too, was estranged from Cam. Later, he told Miss Info he was no longer signed to Diplomats Records, Cam'ron's imprint. Santana told MTV News that he could no longer work with his former mentor. "I have no hard feelings towards Cam," he said. "I tell people I couldn't do business with him. But I will say he gave me the biggest chance I needed. I'm a dude from the 'hood, so the chance he gave me is a chance I needed to never turn back. I'm good. My artistry, my talent, my career was never built on controversy. So I would never come out and say a whole bunch of things that could be said. All I can say is, I'm sorry he can't be here to be a part of what's about to happen, because we're about to tear 'em up." » Cam'ron and Juelz were soon chirping back and forth in the press: Cam accused Santana of a cough-medicine dependency in an XXL interview, a charge Juelz Santana emphatically denied, attributing Cam's claim to nothing more than a cheap marketing ploy for his album. (As of press time, it was still unclear whether Cam'ron and Santana have repaired their relationship.) "For him to say he stop messing with me because I was drinking syrup — that's like Baby saying he doesn't mess with Wayne because he was drinking syrup," Santana told MTV News in February 2009. "He just wanted to say something, and that was probably the only way he could say something and keep his character up. I was never addicted to syrup. I used to drink it on occasion. I don't know where that came from. "[His comments] were a shocker to me, like, 'Damn, you would stoop low like that?' With his stomach situation, he was doing Percocet. It's not for me to say, 'Because he was using Percocet, I stopped speaking to Cam.' You'll say, 'I do Percocet because of my stomach.' But I've seen you do Percocet when your stomach is not bothering you. So that's besides the point." » Last year, Cam'ron seemed to soften his stance, revealing in an MTV News interview that he and Jones talked to each other for the first time in three years; Jones, though, denied such a phone call had ever happened. "It was cordial. He knew it was me," Cam said of Jones. "He said we was gonna holla — maybe we'll put something together. But in the immediate future, I'm just doing Cam. But you never know what can happen down the line. I called Zeke's phone, and I guess Zeke gave Jim the phone to pick up. We just talked, asked about each other's family. He said he's on a promo tour. He'd be back soon. That was that." "I don't know what that's about," Jones countered to Sirius XM radio host Angela Yee. "Everyone's been telling me about that. I'm the only one who doesn't know about it. I don't know what he's talking about." » Any hopes for a Dipset reunion were dashed when Cam'ron declared the once-mighty crew was "a wrap." Juelz also confirmed the crew's official split in April last year. "Basically, to be honest — it's a wrap," Cam told MTV News. "I called Jim. Everybody has not been speaking for the past three, four years. It just got in the public. Once the problems get in the public, to me, it can't be fixed." "It kind of makes me feel good, 'cause it lets the people know you don't have to ask me that [reunion] question," Santana fired back in an interview with MTV News. "He's telling y'all, 'No matter what the fans want, I'm not doing it.' It takes a load off my back. Cam gave y'all the answer. He's the boss. He's always been the boss. I never tried to take that [away] from him. It is what it is. I'm moving forward. We all got kids. I got family, my peoples got families. We're moving forward." » Then, two weeks ago, Cam'ron and Jim Jones shocked the hip-hop world when they phoned Hot 97's Miss Info, together, telling her they were "getting back on track." Cam confirmed the news but explained later that business details needed to be ironed out before the Diplomats could reunite on wax. "It's 2010, and this is something I gotta get off my chest," Jones told Miss Info. "You've known us from back when we didn't have what we have now, so you remember that, above all, me and Cam, we still brothers. And we're building on getting back on track, but first, I apologize for being a rude brother, for saying things publicly without first trying to handle them privately. I apologize for not leading by example, because what I didn't realize at the time, I was venting, but it wasn't all about me. There were other people whose dreams were also part of this movement." "Me and Jim are speaking. I don't want people to think me and Jim aren't speaking," Cam said. "We speak a few times a week. Right now, we talking out the business. The deal is on the table. But until the business gets situated, it's [Cam's group] the U.N.; me and [protégé] Vado. We not about to stop. All the bosses meet at the roundtable. "To be honest, we missed out on a lot of money on the Diplomat thing the first time," he added. "I'm not moving on nothing Diplomat until the business gets done. But it's close to getting done. Right now, I don't want to mislead nobody and say it's not U.N. right now." Are you optimistic about the chances for a Dipset reunion album? Let us know in the comments! Related Photos Related Artists |
| Lil Jon's Revamped <i>Crunk Rock</i> Trades Rock For 'Lifestyle' Music Posted: 03 May 2010 05:01 AM PDT 'We live life to the fullest — that's what crunk rock really means now,' he tells MTV News.
Lil Jon once proclaimed "crunk ain't dead," and these days, he could easily rework that former mantra in support of his long-delayed Crunk Rock album. The long-in-the-works project finally has a release date set, June 8, and Jon is in full promo mode behind the project. The album, in the works for four years due to a feud with his former label, transformed over time from a rock-leaning effort into one that reflects his new life as a working DJ.
"Initially, when I started work on it I was collaborating with a lot of rock producers and rock musicians," he told MTV News. "And then, as time progressed and as I was going through stuff with the label and as I was DJing again, then I got the new deal and so on and so forth. The new energy started to come around me by being in the club. It started meaning we're crunk all the time, we party like rock stars, we live life to the fullest — that's what crunk rock really means now. "Because there's so many different kinds of Lil Jons that's on this album that it's not just rock and roll," he added. "You got some rock kind of collaborations, but you got some electro collaborations, you got crunk music, you got dance music, you got all kinds of stuff, Bali funk. We got so many different kinds of collaborations on the album that it changed really into a lifestyle. We live like this." Crunk Rock features an array of producers, including David Guetta, Drumma Boy and Steve Aoki, whom Jon recently worked with on the DJ's own project. Pitbull, R. Kelly, Mario, LMFAO and 3OH!3 are among the collaborators who chipped in to help Jon on the album. The producer said he took a step back from manning the boards on Crunk Rock to help him reset and recharge after his battle with TVT, on which he released a number of albums before. But the beatsmith, who has scored hits for Usher ("Yeah!") and E-40 in the past, said fans should expect to hear him on upcoming projects by Flo Rida and Pitbull, among others. Last week, Lil Jon premiered his latest video, "Outta Your Mind," featuring LMFAO, the lead offering from Crunk Rock. Are you excited to hear new music from Lil Jon? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists |
| Damon Dash Resurrects Roc-A-Fella To Start A 'Positive Movement' Posted: 02 May 2010 10:58 PM PDT Re-launched label's first release will be Curren$y's Pilot Talk, in Mixtape Daily.
Executive Decisions: Dame Dash
When Damon Dash pulled a Roc-A-Fella chain out of his vault several months ago and presented it to Curren$y, it was just a celebration of their friendship. Now, the chain means much more. Dash is resurrecting Roc-A-Fella Records and plans to make Curren$y's Pilot Talk the label's first new release on June 15. "I think we just having fun, really," said Dash, sitting in his office at DD172 next to Curren$y. "[Curren$y] inspired me to dust off the chains. We brought 'em out for kicks, just 'cause we could. Then we was like, 'F--- it, let's put it out through Roc-A-Fella.' It was really more something he wanted to do. Basically, 'cause we havin' such a good time, and the opportunity's there, we was like, 'Why not?' " "What that means, what that shows me, is that dude thinks as highly of me as I do him," Curren$y said about releasing an LP on the label Dash co-founded with Jay-Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in the mid-1990s. "I know what's behind that. We all know and the fans know what that represented at the height of it. The aesthetic of it." Dash said he hadn't been having "fun" in music since he, Jay and Biggs dissolved their partnership several years ago. But meeting and working with artists such as Curren$y and Jay Electronica who come through his DD172 facility brought the old feelings back. "The funny thing is, people don't know that Roc-A-Fella wasn't meant to sell records," Dame said. "It was meant to show the respect and the honor amongst each other as friends. It was a friendship thing. That's what people liked. It's what made Roc-A-Fella appealing. It's odd, because I f--- with [Curren$y]. I kinda like him. When I met him, I wasn't as familiar with his music. My nephews and Sean O'Connell put me up on him. I liked him as a friend. Then I start seeing he's super nice with the rhymes, then I started seeing his influence. It's similar to the way we felt back in those days. It's working out." The last album to come out on Roc-A-Fella was Jadakiss' The Last Kiss in April 2009. The label had been under Jay-Z's sole custody since the breakup of Hov, Biggs and Dash. "Def Jam or Universal bought the brand. I think the 'beef' [with us and Jay-Z] was that Jay made it clear he didn't want me or Biggs to be a part of it. That's really where it was at. Now that he doesn't work for Def Jam anymore, he doesn't have the right to use the name. So there's no reason for us not to use it. It's there, and it's a brand that's not being used. So I was like, 'I'll take it.' It always meant something to me." Dash said he and Curren$y are pushing a positive message about friendship and evolution. "It's a way more positive movement," he added about the label's new incarnation. "It's what I wanted Roc-A-Fella, what I thought it should be 10 years after I started it." Dash said he secured the new deal through L.A. Reid and Def Jam, which will serve as a distributor for his records. After Curren$y's album, the next project coming off Roc-A-Fella will be Ski Beatz's 24 Hour Karate School mixtape. Reps for Jay-Z were not reached for comment by press time. What do you think about Dame Dash bringing Roc-A-Fella back? Let us know in the comments! For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines or follow the Mixtape Daily team on Twitter: @shaheemreid and @mongosladenyc. Related Videos Related Artists |
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