Search Results for: dr dre

Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. have nothing to worry about, but a university known more for churning out engineers than hit music is starting its own record label. Drexel University’s MAD Dragon Records expects to put out its first CD – a compilation of eight or nine bands – next year. The student-run label will be an integral part of Drexel’s fledgling music industry program, which in only three years has grown from eight students to more than 150. Students will be in charge of artist development, production, recording, marketing, contracts and distribution, while MAD Dragon musicians – also students… Read more »

Eminem, who is also known as Slim Shady, is presently facing a lawsuit from a Nevada-based sports apparel company over the usage of the name Shady Ltd. for the rapper’s new clothing line, according to the Detroit Free Press. Shady Inc., a Nevada company that sells t-shirts and hats in Nevada stores and via the Internet, maintains that they’ve been using the name since 1999 and that they had it trademarked in 2001. The company filed a lawsuit in January in Nevada federal court after learning of Eminem’s intentions to launch a clothing line using the Shady name. Eminem has… Read more »

Party metal evangelist Andrew W.K. will release his second album, The Wolf, on September 9th. The singer settled on the the title after meeting resistance from retailers to the record’s original title, “Blow Your Bone.” W.K. recorded the twelve-track set, the follow-up to his 2000 debut I Get Wet, in New York this winter. “There could be as many as a hundred tracks on each song, all kinds of keyboards,” he said at the time, and he made good on the threat. The songs on The Wolf, even more than Wet’s hedonistic anthems, are stacked with Journey-like layers of soaring… Read more »

Eminem and mentor/producer Dr. Dre share the Number Two position on this year’s Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list. The power ranking is based on a composite score created by calculating total income, website hits, press, radio & TV appearances, and magazine covers. The pair earned an estimated $35 million last year, garnered 1.9 million website hits, 27,130 press clippings, and 452 Radio/TV spots, and were the subject of seven cover stories. Jennifer Aniston landed the top spot; Tiger Woods was Number Three; Steven Spielberg, Number Four; Jennifer Lopez, Number Five; Paul McCartney, Number Six; Ben Affleck, Number Seven; Oprah Winfrey, Number… Read more »

Phil Spector’s lawyer addressed his client’s arrest in the February shooting death of Lana Clarkson for the first time on Tuesday, contesting an investigator’s comments ruling out the possibility of a suicide. “I am convinced that the thorough and accurate investigation of the evidence by the Los Angeles sheriff’s department, its criminalists and the county coroner will prove that Phil Spector is innocent of any crime,” attorney Robert Shapiro told the Associated Press. Shapiro, who did not return calls from MTV News, commented after Captain Frank Merriman told the AP that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department believes a crime… Read more »

Singer, actor, now writer – Madonna has taken up the pen. Penguin Group announced Monday that the singer has written five illustrated story books for young readers aged 6 and above. The first title, “The English Roses,” will be published in hardcover in September and distributed simultaneously worldwide, Penguin Group said. No further details were given. “Madonna is an artist with a universal appeal and these books will touch children of all backgrounds everywhere in the world,” said chairman and chief executive John Makinson. Penguin Group has bought the English language rights to the five books, each of which will… Read more »

You can tell Fred Durst’s been kind of down lately by the way he’s all agitated when responding to the have-you-and-Britney-been-dating questions and, more importantly, the fact that he’s not sporting his usual jaunty red baseball cap. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards in New York he wore a brown cap, an olive T-shirt over a gray long-sleeve top, and a sour though resolved expression when he admitted that he and Britney were seeing each other for a while, before she “played him out.” Durst was pretty much alone in his dressed-down look at the event, however. The men, everyone… Read more »

Hoping to shine in one of the music industry’s few bright spots, Dreamworks Records on Wednesday announced a joint venture with newly-formed Melee Entertainment to release music DVDs that go beyond the typical concert video genre. With music video DVDs selling at a fast clip and in sharp contrast to the recording industry’s protracted decline in CD sales, Dreamworks and Melee hope in part to cash in on the trend while also developing a roster of creative talent. Melee president Bryan Turner, former co-owner and chief executive of Priority Records, an urban-slanted label sold to EMI Group Plc in 1998… Read more »

Sony chose Andrew Lack, NBC’s president and chief operating officer, to take the helm of its music division on Friday, a day after Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola resigned to start a new label. The move was surprising, considering Lack has no experience in the music industry; a veteran newsman, he worked at CBS News from 1976 to 1993 before joining NBC News. He was named president of the entire network in May 2001. “We are delighted that Andy will join Sony and lead our music company,” Howard Stringer, chairman of Sony Corp. of America, said in a statement. “He… Read more »

Christine Lewis wrapped herself in the flag – an Elvis flag – to celebrate what would have been the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s 68th birthday. The 52-year-old from Somerset, England, was among 600 to 700 fans gathered Wednesday on the front lawn of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s last home, to cut a cake and sing “Happy Birthday.” Celebrants stood in line up to 90 minutes to get onto the grounds for the party. “I could imagine him being here. I cried so much,” Lewis said. For the occasion, she wrapped herself in a flag with red and blue stripes and… Read more »