MTV News |
- Cam'ron And DJ Drama Team Up For Another <i>Gangsta Grillz</i> Tape
- Blink-182 Hold Moment Of Silence For DJ AM During Concert
- DJ AM's Turntable Skills Revered By Drama, Just Blaze, More DJs
- 50 Cent Calls '40 Day' Cancellation 'A Loss'
- Fergie, Black Eyed Peas Pay Tribute To DJ AM
- 50 Cent Just Wanted Kids To 'Have A Good Time' On 'Family Day'
- Weezer's New Album Will Get 'Back To The Rock Element'
- 50 Cent Brings 'Family Day' To New Jersey Amusement Park
| Cam'ron And DJ Drama Team Up For Another <i>Gangsta Grillz</i> Tape Posted: 31 Aug 2009 04:00 AM PDT The two also bring Mase onboard, in Mixtape Daily.
This Week's Main Pick Street Kings: Cam'ron and DJ Drama Holding It Down For: NYC and ATL Mixtape: Gangsta Grillz: Boss of All Bosses Real Spit: We've been bringing you info on the Boss of All Bosses mixtape for the past several days and now you get the full-card monte, performances and all. Cam and Drama, after years of talking, finally made their street collaboration happen.
"I'm excited," Drama said. "For me, where I'm at with my brand and my career, I've gotten the opportunity to work with so many people, but there are people who I wanted to work with. Cam is somebody I can check off my list. Plus, to help introduce Vado — it's exciting. In some ways that's what Gangsta Grillz was built on. It wasn't built on the superstar MC — it was built on people coming up, like Jeezy. Even with Weezy, even though he was a platinum artist, he earned a lot of stripes for the Gangsta Grillz. When this Cam tape pops, people are really going to recognize how great of a street A&R [rep] he really is. He did it before and now he's introducing a new guy." Joints to Check For » "Hustle." " 'Hustle' is one of the original songs we had for the tape," Drama explained. "Cam sent it to me and I decided by Ross being on it, I was gonna let the 'La Bomba' out then do the 'Hustle.' " » "Get It," (featuring Mase). "I love that song," Drama boasted. "That was exciting, man. It's always exciting to watch the game come around like that — seeing Cam and Mase coming up in Harlem together, to the fallout to making music again. It's a feel-good song to me. Not that it sounds old, but it sounds like classic New York hip-hop. I play that in the club — the beat is crazy; Mase and Cam ride the beat. Vado does his thing. People are excited about that one." » "Drama." "The necessary record," Dram said. "I can't tell you how many times we've been there. Cam named the song after me. It's a Gangsta Grillz tape. Shout-out to Cam for the shout-out." The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground Gucci Mane's new EP Wasted: The Prequel is slated for a September 8 release. As we told you before, the set contains the best songs from his last few mixtapes. Now we get word that Gucci has finally named his official album. The LP is called The State vs. Radric Davis and is due in December, and Gucc assures us he has an all-star lineup of producers on tap. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Blink-182 Hold Moment Of Silence For DJ AM During Concert Posted: 30 Aug 2009 08:44 AM PDT 'He was an innovator and a genius ... and a very dear friend,' Mark Hoppus says in Connecticut.
Following the sudden passing of DJ AM on Friday, Travis Barker and band Blink-182 took the stage as planned on Saturday night (August 29) for a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, and paid tribute to their fallen friend. "This night is really hard for us onstage," bassist Mark Hoppus said to the crowd, according to YouTube footage of the show. "We lost a dear friend yesterday. His name was Adam Goldstein. You probably know him as DJ AM. He was an innovator and a genius and he loved music more than anything else. Above all he was a very dear friend."
He then requested a moment of silence from the crowd and asked for the arena lights to be dimmed as they sought to honor AM. The band then dedicated the song "Down" to Goldstein's memory. As guitarist Tom DeLonge began to sing the first verse, tears could be seen rolling down the bandmembers' faces, according to People.com. Drummer Travis Barker — who had performed with AM as TRV$DJAM (they were the house band at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards), and escaped a fiery plane crash with him last year that killed four people — did not interact with the crowd. According to Rolling Stone, Barker skipped his usual levitating drum solo during the encore. At the end of "Down," he was said to have rubbed his eyes and held his head in his hands. Shortly before Saturday's show, Barker tweeted a tribute to AM. "Don't know how i am gonna play 2night but i am for AM. My brother is gone.i love u and miss u, i'll never forget all the good times we had. ... "I'll never forget everything we've been thru and every time i play the drums i'll think of you. U were an amazing friend/DJ/human being. ... "Rest In Peace my brother, this really f---s me up." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| DJ AM's Turntable Skills Revered By Drama, Just Blaze, More DJs Posted: 30 Aug 2009 12:08 AM PDT 'With AM, It wasn't a party; it was an experience,' DJ Green Lantern tells MTV News.
DJ AM was one of the biggest marquee names when it came to the turntables for a reason: talent. He could hold down the duties for Jay-Z at a concert or play records to keep clubgoers dancing all night. "I saw DJ AM play in a mansion in Miami, and he amazed me with his skills and the music he picked to make the crowd move," DJ Khaled told MTV News following DJ AM's sudden death Friday. "He made sure everyone — I mean everyone — had a good time!" "AM was really dope," DJ Green Lantern told MTV News. "He was dope on another level. He innovated the live DJ experience a bunch of ways. His transitions from song to song were clever to the point you might be like, 'Damn, why didn't I think of that?' He did that while rocking the crowd."
Lantern said one of AM's strong points was that he didn't get lost in his mix while rocking those crowds. "It only got crazier when he linked with Travis Barker and had that extra element to add to the mix: a world-class drummer! You can watch clips of them online to see the routines they created. DJs definitely started pairing up with musicians for live shows after that. He was an innovator and inspiration to a whole generation of DJs that saw the success you could achieve if you stepped your game up and thought outside the box. With AM, It wasn't a party; it was an experience." "AM just brought a crazy energy to his parties," Just Blaze agreed. "The way he'd put together the perfect blends of hip-hop, rock, dance and so many other genres is what gave him such a mass appeal. He was one of the few DJs that knew how to cross genres and boundaries without losing the crowd. That's one of the hardest things to do as a DJ. You please one part of the crowd, and then end up losing another. He knew how to keep the energy at 10 for the entire night. And while his team-ups with Travis weren't the first time a DJ teamed up with a musician for live sets, it was their common understanding of knowing how to blend genres that made their combination so great and easy to appeal to the masses. You've got to play for the people but separate yourself from the thousand other DJs out there. And he'd mastered that." DJ Rich Medina, who is from Philly like AM, said the late DJ was a huge inspiration, not just because of his skill, but because of his business acumen. "His popularity in celebrity circles often overshadowed the fact that he was an absolute animal on the turntables and at the negotiations table," Medina said. "The charmed life of getting paid well to do what you love to do is something that we all strive for as entertainers, regardless of discipline. He nailed that consistently and always with truly individual style and grace. No one who has ever seen him DJ can deny his place among the very best to ever put the needle to the groove. He wasn't a coddled Hollywood tabloid dude. He was a beast of a DJ who really made it because of his skills, rather than nepotism or luck. People need to understand that fact."
Even DJ Drama, who's one of the top three biggest names when it comes to spinners in the hip-hop genre, was amped to see AM do his thing when they spun together a few years back. "I was so excited to meet him, him being who he is," Dram said. "I heard so much about him. I was a fan. I remember when I got to the party, he was so hype. He told me he was excited to meet me. He called me 'the man,' and I'm looking at him like, 'Nah, you're the man.' He was down to earth and very humble. I was opening for him, he had top billing. He didn't come in on no Hollywood sh-- or nothing like that. He told me he'll get on when I finish. I appreciated that, coming from somebody that accomplished what he accomplished and was doing what he was doing." DJ Stretch Armstrong said AM's success won't soon be duplicated. "There won't be anyone that can step into his shoes for the foreseeable future," he told MTV News. "I mean, maybe never, in terms of his skill level, his cleverness, his dexterity, the way his mind works, his depth of music knowledge and his ability to take ... his extremely high level of turntablism, battling ability and put that together into a package that's entertaining for not just DJs that really understand what he's doing, but anyone that's going out. Across the board, he could entertain and transfix anybody." While an initial autopsy proved inconclusive, police say AM was found in his apartment with drug paraphernalia. "Some people say he was given a second chance at life with surviving that plane crash [last year]," Medina said of his friend's passing. "Who knows what he was going through after that really, aside from him. I just wonder if his demons decided to disrespect his second chance, or if he was suffering so badly that he needed to escape." Regardless of the way he died, AM will be remembered primarily for his skill and humility. "I will always remember AM for his prodigious talents, his positive and respectful demeanor and for his template for success as a fellow DJ," Medina said. "We lost one of the best in the game. I am proud to say that I knew him and that I learned a great deal from him, despite his never giving me a formal lesson. Rest in Peace, Adam. We will miss you." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| 50 Cent Calls '40 Day' Cancellation 'A Loss' Posted: 31 Aug 2009 04:00 AM PDT 'They told me not to promote the event, and then it got national coverage,' Fif says of planned NYC picnic.
JACKSON, New Jersey — 50 Cent has targeted a lot of foes in his rhymes, but the G-Unit leader won't be adding Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the list anytime soon. The rapper postponed his 40 Day event scheduled for Sunday (August 30) in Queens, New York, when he was unable to obtain a permit from the city for the picnic. The process hit a snag after the New York Post quoted anonymous sources saying the New York Police Department had concerns over the rapper's involvement.
Despite meeting with the New York mayor to squelch any concerns, 50 was unable to pull the event off. "People will point to Bloomberg and immediately think that I would be upset with Mayor Bloomberg or the governor, and both of them wanted me to have the actual event," 50 told MTV News. The problem, according to 50, was that city officials didn't want him to publicize the festivities, fearing an overly large turnout would be difficult to manage. But before he could assure Bloomberg that safety wouldn't be a problem, the Post ran an article making the private negotiations public. "They told me not to promote the event, and then it got national coverage. Then the fear factor comes in," 50 explained. "Can you control 100,000 people being in your neighborhood? 'Cause you might not be sure of a turnout at an actual venue, but in the neighborhood, everyone is gonna show up." It would be easy to blame Bloomberg, 50 said, but ultimately, the mayor has to listen to his advisers. "He's gonna look at the police commissioner and ask, 'Is this gonna be a safe situation?' " 50 said. "And if they tell him no, then it's not gonna happen." Fif, however, chided the Post for stirring up controversy. "Why are they reporting [about] an event that hasn't taken place yet?" he asked. "Did no one get killed that day? Did no accidents happen that day? Why are they so interested? Because they know they can sell newspapers that way." 50 called the postponement "a loss." He said it's difficult to imagine rescheduling the festivities when it's so public now. He said the biggest disappointment was that not everyone in his old neighborhood was able to take the trip to Six Flags for Family Day on Saturday. "I attempted to create Family Day in my actual neighborhood for the kids that couldn't get chaperones to bring them on the actual buses to enjoy this," he said. " 'Cause I'm one of those kids that wouldn't have had a chaperone. I understand what it's like to have people come back and say, 'Yo, it was crazy,' and they enjoyed the festivities there and to kind of be disappointed to have not been a part of it. I thought it all the way through and decided to finish up in the actual neighborhood; I show up there, do a little something out there. I had Staples, Home Depot, a lot of independent businesses in the community that were supportive and a part of it. But then what I ran into was a lot of standards placed on me doing the event because of my association to it. You have people who are excited and really receptive to the idea. Then you have people who agree to disagree and are miserable. They just want it to stay that way for everyone else." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Fergie, Black Eyed Peas Pay Tribute To DJ AM Posted: 30 Aug 2009 09:04 AM PDT Bandmembers had DJed with AM in Las Vegas just last week.
At the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco on Saturday night (August 29), Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas spoke with MTV News about their shock after hearing the news of DJ AM's sudden death on Friday, and their recollections of hanging out with their friend. Peas rapper Taboo revealed that the band spent time with AM just days before he passed away. "Oh man, we were shocked [when we heard]," he said. "We couldn't believe it. We were just with him [last] Friday in Las Vegas. We DJed with him and we took a couple pictures, and to hear it is devastating."
Fergie has recollections of AM that date back more than a decade. "I just have great memories of him DJing at all the clubs I used to go to — sometimes with a fake ID! — and when I got old enough to go," Fergie said. Before she joined the Peas, Fergie recalled, she once practiced her dance moves during a low-key club night with AM behind the turntables. "I remember going to this club called Firehouse back in the day," she said. "It was, like, the summer of '98 and he used to spin there. It's a big dance club and this one night I remember there was basically 10 people in the club, but I really wanted to dance that night. It was the perfect night for me to practice dancing because not a lot of people were there and he was spinning, and they kept the club open and he kept spinning really good music. He was so cool like that." "He's been a good friend of ours," added Peas member Apl.De.Ap. "Our prayers go out to his family. We're gonna miss him." While BEP were at Outside Lands to perform an hour-long set on Saturday, DJ AM, who "He was just so talented and just such a cool, good-spirited person," said Fergie. "There wasn't a mean bone in that guy's body, and it's just really sad after what happened with him and Travis and now this, it's really sad." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| 50 Cent Just Wanted Kids To 'Have A Good Time' On 'Family Day' Posted: 30 Aug 2009 05:34 AM PDT 'I'll let my actions and activities I'm involved in speak for me,' rapper tells MTV News of bringing 30 buses of New Yorkers to a theme park.
JACKSON, New Jersey — 50 Cent transported nearly 30 buses from his old neighborhood in Queens, New York, to Six Flags Great Adventure on Saturday for no reason other than he wanted them to enjoy themselves. No community service was involved. No promises about getting good grades needed to be made. "I just wanted them to have a good time," 50 told MTV News about the group, donning Family Day T-shirts. "I don't want to preach anything. I'll leave the preaching to the preacher. I'll let my actions and activities I'm involved in speak for me instead of trying to convey a message that people won't receive from me. I'm not sure they're ready to receive that from me. It's cool when they see what I actually do."
What Fif did was organize Family Day, a weekend plan sponsored in part by his charitable organization that included the New Jersey amusement-park trip, a later performance and a picnic event scheduled for Sunday (August 30) in Southside Jamaica. The rapper was able to pull off two out of the three; his G-Unity Foundation wasn't able to obtain a permit for Sunday's 40 Day. He intended to roam his old block during 40 Day and be a part of the celebration, but 50 connected with kids and old neighbors after his Six Flags performance instead. "It's my neighborhood," he said, dismissing any safety concerns at Six Flags. "There's a lot of people I was gonna see tomorrow; that was the plan. But it's not gonna happen that way." Over the past year, the G-Unit star has contributed to a number of good causes. In November, he partnered with actress Bette Midler to create a number of community gardens in Queens. At that event, he spoke with enthusiasm to MTV News about his plans for this summer. He admitted Saturday that he might not look the part of a role model, but he's fine with that as long as he makes a difference. "What I'm doing as an artist is, I'm being successful as an artist and entrepreneur," he explained. "The things I say [in songs] may not be something you would expect or look forward to hearing from a role model. But it's my choice as an artist to write the harsh realities. So I'll always be inspiring to the kids that got on the buses. So they're the important people in this situation." Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Weezer's New Album Will Get 'Back To The Rock Element' Posted: 31 Aug 2009 04:00 AM PDT Guitarist Brian Bell says Raditude will bring back "Weezer rock music."
After confounding some diehards with vocals from all four band members on their self-titled 2008 album, Weezer are heading back into the familiar Rivers Cuomo-only rock pocket on the upcoming Raditude (October 27). Weezer are heading back into the rock pocket on the upcoming Raditude (October 27). Rhythm guitarist Brian Bell promised that fans of the group's beloved 1994 self-titled debut and 1996's beloved Pinkerton will be more than pleased. "It's very upbeat and it's fun and exciting and hopefully a bit unique," said Bell on Friday, the same day the group debuted their personal online radio station. "It's definitely getting back to the rock element of Weezer that might have been lost a bit for a second. It's kind of like taking the blue album and mixing it with Pinkerton and then throwing in some of Maladroit. The tempos are faster for sure." Unlike their previous album, though, the only voice you'll hear on Raditude is singer Cuomo. But, for the first time in their career, the band brought some outside songwriters in to help this time around. Among the 14 songs vying for contention on the disc are ones written by hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri ("Let It All Hang Out"), a ballad written with the Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler of the All-American Rejects ("Put Me Back Together"), as well as songs written with album co-producer Butch Walker (the high school reunion snapshot "The Girl Got Hot") and tunes penned alongside sugar pop wizard Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Katy Perry). Other cuts that could make the cut are "Trippin' Down the Freeway," "I'm Your Daddy" and "Can't Stop Partying." Bell said both Walker and the album's other co-producer, Garrett "Jacknife" Lee (U2, R.E.M., the Hives) had powerful, positive and very different impacts on the album's sound. "I could see us continuing to work with Butch in the future ... he brought it back around to Weezer rock music and us playing together as a band," Bell explained. "I thought we were going a bit too far left with some of the stuff [on the last album], like, 'Wait, this doesn't sound like Weezer at all.' " One of Bell's favorite songs is one Lee worked on, "Run Over By a Truck," in which he said the producer encouraged him to play his guitar almost like a violin. "He had me picking really fast high up on the neck in what I call 'butterfly picking,' " he said. "He would plug anything into anything to get something interesting, even if it sounded crappy." With Cuomo firmly back in the vocal and songwriting lead — the guitarist said he didn't contribute anything this time around, saving his songs for the debut from upcoming solo project, the Relationship — Bell said to expect a more straight-ahead sound, but with Cuomo's signature lyrical quirkiness. "We've never written with outside people before, but somehow, oddly enough, it works." Weezer, who are on the road with Blink-182, recently primed the pump with the parenthetically swinging "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," which was leaked on the Internet a few weeks ago. Bell said the band is also planning to release a rarities compilation "real soon" in the vein of Cuomo's two Alone demo releases, though he didn't know when that might drop. And, in the best news of all for those who love to throw up the W, he promised that the band plans to tour "a lot more than in the past" to support the new album. Related Artists |
| 50 Cent Brings 'Family Day' To New Jersey Amusement Park Posted: 30 Aug 2009 04:19 AM PDT Though rapper's '40 Day' event in NYC hometown fell through, fans still got to see G-Unit in New Jersey.
JACKSON, New Jersey — 50 Cent wasn't able to perform in his old Queens neighborhood on Sunday (August 30), but the G-Unit rapper got plenty of hometown love during an hour-plus set he put on Saturday evening at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in New Jersey.
Fif organized a "Family Day" weekend, with events taking place both in New Jersey and in his old Jamaica stomping grounds in New York. But on Friday, his charity, the G-Unity Foundation, announced Sunday's festivities — also called "40 Day" in honor of housing projects adjacent to PS 40 school in Queens where the picnic was scheduled to occur — would no longer be taking place because they were unable to obtain a permit. The rapper, as previously planned, was still able to bus a number of families from Queens down to New Jersey to enjoy a day at the park on Saturday capped off by a G-Unit performance. "This show isn't my regular show," 50 told the cheering crowd of Southside Jamaica residents. "I'm doing something different tonight. I'm doing music that this crowd can relate to." Flanked by Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, 50 ripped through a number of early album cuts and G-Unit favorites, including "Poor Lil Rich" and "Straight Outta Southside." Backed by his DJ, Whoo Kid, Fif entered the stage performing "OK, Ya Right" from his latest mixtape, The War Angel LP, mimicking the video for the song, decked out in clown makeup and outfits. "OK, OK, OK," he began the song, with a stageful of clowns in tow. "When they talk about me, they say I be trippin'/ What they say about me doesn't make me mad/ I think they hating 'cause they see me when I'm rolling/ Man, I can't help it if they really doing bad." Halfway through 50's set, rain started pouring down on the concertgoers, with many of them using their "Family Day" T-shirts for cover before security began passing out ponchos. Neither the rapper nor the crowd, though, skipped a beat despite the weather. Although 50 was protected from the rain by the overhang on the stage, he ventured to the exposed corner of the stage to make a special announcement to the fans — and to the police, since authorities' reported fears over security are what allegedly derailed Sunday's event. (Although 50's beef was with the NYPD, he let the Jackson police in attendance endure his wrath anyway.) "I wanna thank y'all for getting on the bus," 50 said between songs. "When I tried to do it in the 'hood ... they tell me I don't come through the 'hood. I come through. But you don't see me 'cause I'm usually in something where I can't be seen. You see them over there, though, that's the motherf---ing police. They the ones that say I can't do it. I'm from the Southside!" Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
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