Hip-Hop Media Training
  • A blind man could have seen this coming. This being Alicia Keys' foray into rock. Her 2001 debut Songs In A Minor was hip-hop influenced, received five 2002 Grammy Awards and most memorably left then fellow newcomer India.Arie empty handed. (Alright. Give me a second to count to 10. The latter still gets me mad.) However, Alicia has never been content. With each record, she has inched towards even more mainstream success and has prevailed.

    Alicia steps outside any boundaries with "Another Way To Die," a song for the soundtrack for Quantum Of Solace, the latest James Bond saga. Teaming with Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, they duet with their vocals and musicianship, trading Alicia's cutting piano notes with Jack's revving guitar strokes.

    Alicia doesn't sit as comfortably here as she does on last year's No. 1 hit "No One," or previous favorites "You Don't Know My Name" or "Fallin'." But maybe that's because, while her vocals on "Another Way To Die" feel true to her

    Read More »from Alicia Keys Rocks Like Tina, Janet, En Vogue …
  • The buzz for the Notorious B.I.G. biopic is going to pick up now that a teaser clip has hit the net. The 75-second Notorious video opens with a chilling sound byte of B.I.G. predicting his own demise. When asked where he expected to see himself in 10 years he replied that he didn't think he would be so lucky to live that much longer, despite his desire to simply enjoy family life.

    The Fox Searchlight film out January 16 will be significant in bringing much deserved attention and homage to the hip-hop great. Unlike Tupac, B.I.G.'s fellow slain rapper, friend and nemesis, the music business has not been over saturated with posthumous releases in his honor.

    What most people want to know, however, is if Brooklyn rapper/actor Jamal Woodard, who plays Biggie Smalls, can pull off portraying one of the most respected and gifted rappers of all time.

    Judging by the response of Voletta Wallace, Biggie's mother, who was around during the casting, Woodard immediately reminded her of her son when

    Read More »from Notorious B.I.G. Predicts Demise In Movie Teaser
  • So Rihanna's no longer the only Barbados beauty on the pop charts, though some of you may have heard Shontelle-ella-ella-ella-a's hot track "T-Shirt" on the air and thought it was Chris Brown's boo.

    Rihanna's "Disturbia" is No. 1 and Shontelle's "T-Shirt" just moved up from No. 30 to No. 26 on the Top 40 chart.

    We are premiering today the video for Shontelle's "T-Shirt," a sweet ballad about missing her man so much that she adorns herself in nothing but his T-Shirt to find comfort.

    Wow, what a dedicated honey? Chris Brown should be so lucky.

    In some of the video clips Shontelle also resembles Rihanna and it's mainly due to styling. Any opportunity to piggyback on Rihanna's marketing is a good one, right? You really can't be mad at Shontelle's people.

    Ironically, Shontelle and Rihanna aren't strangers. Shontelle is from Saint James while Rihanna is from the neighboring northwest parish of Saint Michael. About two years ago they were featured on a song and video together. It was their

    Read More »from Shontelle Helps Rihanna Represent For Barbados
  • I never learned how to Crank That Souljah Boy, or the Batman. I looked almost as bad as Tom Cruise when I tried to do the Yung Joc dance. And I'm cool with this. I haven't been up to date on dances since I was in college nearly 20 years ago. So you have to understand the excitement I felt when I saw this video "New Era" by The Retro Kidz.

    The rap group has created an authentic '90s hip-hop video. They rap over a sample of Snap's "The Power," and dress, dance and rhyme like Kid N Play, Big Daddy Kane and Redhead Kingpin.

    They are doing all the dances that I used to kill at the college parties and clubs--the Kid N Play Kick Step, the Running Man, and the Whop. (You know, I did actually win a $100 Robocop contest back in 1988 to Rob Base's "It's Takes Two." Sure there were only two other contestants and the applause that named me the winner wasn't impressive, but it was the loudest and that's all that matters.)

    In the video, each of the Retro Kidz is styled like a particular '90s

    Read More »from The Retro Kidz – Stompin’ Into The ’90s
  • In these days of the popularity of tabloid journalism it's quite easy for a celebrity like Kanye West to have his art overshadowed by the antics of his personal life. Since the release of his 2004 debut, The College Dropout, the Chicago-bred rapper has been fortunate to have enough good music in the marketplace to remain relevant based on his talent.

    But to some, he is best known for his incidences, like Thursday's widely covered run-in with the paparazzi while at the Los Angeles International Airport en route to Hawaii or one of his numerous outbursts at award shows.

    Below are 10 of Kanye's Most Extreme Moments. The list includes moments of his extreme brilliance, uncontrollable utterances (good and bad) and even a horrible tragedy that is clearly the wackest thing that could happen to anyone. The latter is proof that he isn't always the perpetrator but sometimes a victim himself.

    10) Jesus Literally Walks With Kanye
    Kanye made three videos for his heralded track "Jesus Walks." Version

    Read More »from Kanye’s Most Extreme Moments
  • I'm not sure who I dislike more the paparazzi or Kanye West.

    That's not true. I do know the answer. It's Kanye.

    The loud-mouth, Grammy Award winning rapper and producer was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport Thursday morning after getting into an altercation with a photographer and TMZ cameraman. Kanye is being accused of vandalism for breaking a camera valued at $10,000.

    After viewing the clips, my suspicions that Kanye did get out of hand were confirmed.

    You can see Kanye, in a gray hooded sweatshirt, arguing with the photographer while yelling, "I took it. I took it." He then smashes the camera on the ground. My favorite part of the clip occurs next, when he simply resumes his place in line with his entourage in tow. I'm sure he feels his actions were justified.

    In a funny interview with the TMZ cameraman, he gives his account for what happened and stressed that he would be scared to run into Kanye again, especially if there are no cameras around.

    I can imagine how

    Read More »from Kanye Proves “Stronger” Than The Paparazzi
  • Ne-Yo was just awarded $700,000 by a Los Angeles judge for performing two dates on R. Kelly's "Trapped In This Concert," ahem, "Double Up" --tour last fall.

    When Ne-Yo was cut from the bill it was rumored to be the result of jealously from R. Kelly's camp who allegedly felt that the new jack superstar R&B singer and songwriter's opening act was stealing too much of R. Kelly's thunder.

    Since Ne-Yo was supposed to make $785,000 from the 25-date run, Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ordered R. Kelly's promoter Rowe Entertainment to double up and pay Ne-Yo for his losses.

    I haven't seen a payout this good since Mariah Carey post-Glitter got dropped from Virgin Records and the label giant paid out most of her $80 million contract.

    Sounds like I need more contracts in my life.

    Actually, I should give Judge Mackey a call. Maybe I can get a settlement. I attended the show when it hit Los Angeles and will have to admit that R. Kelly's seemingly impromptu set was so confusing and thrown

    Read More »from R. Kelly Ordered To Pay For Kicking Ne-Yo Off Tour
  • After hearing songs from Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard's debut album, Shine Through It, I now understand his connection to his character in the film Hustle & Flow that yielded him the prestigious nod.

    The parallels to Terrence and his character DJay are obvious.

    DJay was a pimp by night and aspiring, untalented rapper by day.

    Terrence is a full time actor vying to break into the music business as a vocally handicapped jazz artist.

    I just hope that Terrence doesn't end up in jail as did DJay. He may also have to resort to shooting people to force them to listen to this jazz record released today.

    Many actors are pursuing singing careers and at least one news outlet has already compared Terrence to Jamie Foxx, who won the best actor Academy Award for Ray. But Terrence's Shine Through It won't be garnering the acclaim Jamie did for his 2005 release Unpredictable. Jamie sold more than 500,000 copies during his opening week, earned Grammy nominations and critical praise.

    Terrence's

    Read More »from Terrence Howard: All Hustle & No Flow
  • Nearly every musician in the business lists the iconic Michael Jackson as an influence, citing his work as a solo artist and member of his family groups the Jackson 5 and The Jacksons. His contributions to music are varied, including a wide spectrum of talents ranging from his pure vocal stylings, songwriting, fashion, and trendsetting dance moves.

    Almost single-handedly, the self-proclaimed King Of Pop can take credit for the popularity of the music video as he helped MTV cement its stake in the marketplace with a continuous string of buzz worthy clips that he began to unleash as the cable network launched in 1981.

    These factors translated into the sales. His 1982 album Thriller is the best selling album of all time, having sold 27 million copies in the US alone and garnered 7 Grammys in 1984.

    Nearly as significant as his newsworthiness for his creative successes are the frequent headlines he warrants for his personal life. He made tabloid fodder for plastic surgeries and has been

    Read More »from Most Thrilling Michael Moments: 11-20
  • Right now, Ludacris is looking a bit like the drunk cousin who shows up to the family picnic uninvited, slurring, knocking the 2 liter bottle of Pepsi off the table and making everybody wish that he'd just shut up and leave.

    We know Chris meant well with his pro-Obama "Politics As Usual" track from his Gangsta Grillz: The Preview mixtape. The problem is the anti-Clinton, McCain, Bush and even Reverend Jesse "Cut His Nuts Off" Jackson part.

    It's not simply the fact that the song condemns the others, but that Ludacris trashes them in such indecent terms. He calls Clinton a bitch, comments that McCain is better suited in a wheelchair than the oval office and that Bush has mental problems. He didn't say anything too bad about Reverend Jackson, but for the imperfect civil rights activist to own up to the negative off the record comments he made about Obama during a television show commercial break.

    These things have been said publicly about these people. But not by Obama.

    When Hilary

    Read More »from Oprah, How Do You Like Ludacris Now?

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