Hip-Hop Media Training
  • It appears Ke$ha no longer needs the rap element todistinguish her from the other chart-topping pop princesses.

    Ke$ha's sing-songy raps about her unabashed debauchery havehelped her score three back-to-back top 10 hits with "Tik Tok," "Blah BlahBlah," and "Your Love Is My  Drug." Buton her new single, "Take It Off," she tones down her hip-hop-inspired chants toinstead focus on her singing. And it's a good idea.

     

    Despite the success of her previous records, Ke$ha's subparrhyme flow is distracting and indigestible. Her singing voice isn't so strongeither, but it more easily blends in with the music on her dance-ready tracks.

    Even without incorporating rap on "Take It Off," she isprimed to have another top 40 hit on her hands with the record. The chorus includes an interpretation of the children's song "There's A Place In France." There are several other radio-friendlynon-rap songs on her full-length. Maybe she will take this direction with herfuture singles -- my fingers are crossed.

    Read More »from Ke$ha Abandons Annoying Raps On New Song ‘Take It Off’
  • You got to admire Young Buck's perseverance. Not too manypeople would be candid enough to talk about their issues with the IRS the sameday armed federal agents showed up at their home to collect on a $300,000 debt.

    On Tuesday, the former G-Unit rapper not only released a statement, but hewent into the studio to record a song about his predicament.

    The track "My Campaign" is a mellow, mid-tempo ballad with asubtle drum undercurrent. In the song, he doesn't make any excuses for his taxevasion, but instead focuses on what he has learned from the ordeal.

    "Everything the IRS done took is like it never went," he rapped,and begins to explain how the hard reality has forced him to work even harder.

    "They kicked my do in/Then I kicked yo door in/They took allmy dough out/So I'm brinin' mo dough in," he rhymed in another lyric.

    He even said he does not want people to feel sorry for him.

    "Hey shawty keep all that sympathy for that baby you takin'care of," he rapped.

    He views his situation as an

    Read More »from Young Buck Raps About IRS Seizing Assets On ‘My Campaign’
  • The video for Kanye West's song "Power" helpsme better interpret the meaning behind the song's lyric: "No one man shouldhave so much power."

    At times the song conveys remorse for his narcissisticbehavior, but before he truly reaches the point of regret, he is recharged, andreturns to bragging, boasting and dismantling haters.

    The video, which Kanye refers to as a "moving Painting,"holds a deeper message.

     

     

    Inspired by Romanand Renaissance iconography, "Power" is an animated painting. It opens witha menacing image of the artist, wearing black and a massive gold chain,standing in a darkly lit framed entryway.

    As the camera shot expands, scantily-clad women are beforehim. A set of staff-wielding twins with devil horns pose as guards. A cherub sitsin front of him, and others hang upside down from atop of the frame.

    The visual becomes darker as a sword dangles over his head,a woman descends preparing to strike him with a dagger, and two men lungetoward him as if to slaughter him with even

    Read More »from Kanye West’s ‘The Portrait Of Power’ Captures The Pains Of Fame
  • Want a glimpse of what it was like to be Marshall and Kim Mathers? Watch the video for Eminem's No. 1 duet with Rihanna "Love The Way You Lie" that chronicles his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife.

    A-list actress Megan Fox portrays a sometimes vulnerable, sometimes confrontational Mrs. Eminem, and Dominic Monaghan, who plays Charlie Pace on Lost, takes on Eminem's persona.

    The heated exchanges between Fox and Monaghan are captivating and intense. In one moment, they are a happy couple, enjoying each other's company. In another, they are wrestling, and punching each other in the face.

    But true to the song's lyrics, they stay together.

    Eminem said it was tough making the video work. "[Video director] Joseph [Kahn] worked pretty closely together to make sure we got this right," Eminem said in a statement. "Trying to make this tough subject work visually is a challenge. It was great to have Rihanna, Megan and Dominic on board for this."

    When Rihanna received the call to sing on the

    Read More »from Megan Fox And Dominic Monaghan Brawl In Eminem’s ‘Love The Way You Lie’ Video

Pagination

(918 Stories)

News for You

  • Singer Kellie Pickler named new 'Dancing' champ

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kellie Pickler came into the final "Dancing With the Stars" episode in second place but finished in first.

  • The new consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony

    NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is the last of the three big video game console makers to unveil its latest gaming system. The unveiling comes nearly eight years after the Xbox 360 went on sale. It follows last fall's debut of Nintendo's Wii U and a preview in February of the upcoming PlayStation 4 from Sony.

  • Singer Kellie Pickler jives to victory on "Dancing With the Stars"

    By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK (Reuters) - Country singer Kellie Pickler won the 16th season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" on Tuesday night, winning over judges and TV audiences with her graceful style and high-jumping jives with partner and professional dancer Derek Hough. Pickler, who first grabbed attention as a contestant on "American Idol" in 2006, screeched and jumped up and down when she learned she had won. "This is amazing! Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, before fellow finalist and NFL player Jacoby Jones hoisted her on his shoulders to celebrate. ...

  • Woman on Trump: 'Somebody had to stand up to him'

    CHICAGO (AP) — An 87-year-old woman who alleges Donald Trump cheated her in a skyscraper-condo sale told jurors Monday she had qualms about suing the real estate mogul and TV celebrity. But, she quickly added, "Somebody had to stand up to him."

  • Restaurant learns online reviews can make or break

    PHOENIX (AP) — It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet.

  • First Look: New Xbox elegant, but much unknown

    REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Will gamers want One?

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