Search Results for: Jay Som

Sure, everyone likes a little Jay-Z, Nelly and DMX party music now and then, but sometimes you just want a bit more to chew on, and for a lot of people that means turning to the world of underground rap. The Difference, a compilation of 12 new songs due in June on the Official Jointz label, is already catching a buzz thanks to “Clear ‘Em Out,” an alleged Nelly dis track by KRS-One featuring Tonedeff. According to the album’s producer, Domingo (Fat Joe, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), when he asked KRS-One if the track was a direct attack on the St. Louis… Read more »

What Run-D.M.C. did for Adidas and Busta Rhymes did for Courvoisier, Ali is doing for the dry cleaning industry. With the title of his debut solo album, Heavy Starch, the St. Lunatics rapper reveals the secret to the distinguishable look of a St. Louis b-boy. “We wear our pants so baggy that you need to get them heavy starch at the dry cleaners so they don’t just hang all over,” Ali said Thursday from a Lunatic-packed tour bus en route to Kansas City. “I wanted to make everything [about the album] as St. Louis as possible.” If the idea of… Read more »

Rap and R&B songs and videos often glorify sexy lifestyles without any safe-sex caveats. But on Tuesday, some of the genres’ biggest stars will perform at “UrbanAID2,” a benefit concert to raise awareness about AIDS among blacks and Hispanics. “Specifically in terms of AIDS, no one has done enough and we all could do more,” said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, co-chairman of the event with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. The concert, to be held Tuesday night at the Beacon Theatre, will feature rappers Combs, Jay-Z, Fat Joe and Ja Rule, along with singers Musiq, Ashanti, Alicia Keys and the hip-hop… Read more »

Steve Macklam and Sam Feldman are pleased to announce the signing of singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright to Macklam Management and S.L. Feldman & Associates‚ management roster. “We‚ve been watching his growth for quite some time. It’s rare to see an artist emerge with such a wonderful combination of talent, character and originality,” agree Macklam and Feldman. “We’re thrilled to represent him.” Wainwright, who was just nominated for two Juno Awards (Canada’s “Grammy”) for Best Songwriter and Best Alternative Album, launched his first headlining theatre and club tour Feb. 8 in Boston in support of his sophomore effort Poses (DreamWorks), which debuted… Read more »

Since the release of Time to Discover in the spring of 2000, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise have had their record label, manager and two of their founding members leave them. Bradley, the voice behind the 1997 hit “Once Upon a Time,” thought about hanging up his well-worn hat, until he realized he would not only be leaving his passion, he would be losing his vision. “One of the great things about being in the music business and being blind is that you really get a chance to see,” Bradley, who was born blind, said Tuesday, the day his latest album… Read more »

A week after paying Mariah Carey nearly $30 million to walk away from her contract, EMI Recorded Music CEO Alain Levy took the wraps off a massive restructuring at the top of the company’s North American unit, marking his most aggressive moves yet to yank the British music major out of a persistent financial slump. Levy’s plan infuses EMI’s U.S. executive suite with new blood: His longtime deputy David Munns becomes chairman and chief executive of EMI North America, overseeing the flagship Capitol Records and Virgin Records America imprints. Veteran producer Matt Serletic has been named chairman and CEO of… Read more »

Staind singer Aaron Lewis will be heard on a new version of the Linkin Park single “Crawling” on the Southern California rap-rock band’s upcoming remix album. Lewis recorded harmonies for the song in Linkin Park’s bus on the Family Values Tour last fall, Linkin Park DJ Joseph Hahn said Thursday. Hahn described the track, remixed by vocalist Mike Shinoda, as spacey and twice as long as the three-minute original. Linkin Park are shooting for a May release date for the still-untitled album, which will feature remixes of the tracks on their debut, Hybrid Theory, the best-selling album of 2001. The… Read more »

Pop music fans will want to pick up a copy of “Longshot,” due March 26 on DVD from Spartan Home Entertainment. The film features cameo appearances by some of the biggest names in teen pop, including Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, O-Town, and LFO, among others. The film was produced by Trans Continental Pictures, a company owned by Louis Pearlman, the man who launched the careers of the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, among others. He’s also the creator of the ABC/MTV series “Making the Band,” which spawned the act O-Town. Pearlman co-wrote and co-produced the feature, which was released last… Read more »

Can bad-boy rapper Eminem succeed where Mariah Carey spectacularly failed last year – score a hit record to revive the down-and-out music industry? That is the burning question on the lips of music business honchos converging on Midem, the industry’s annual get-together on the French Riviera this weekend. Executives will be praying for fortune to smile on a line-up of superstar releases including Eminem, Christina Aguilera and the King, Elvis Presley, to resuscitate an industry reeling from 2001, the worst year on record. Depending on their success, the $40 billion global music industry could shrink another three percent this year… Read more »

Two days into 2002 and the superproduction group the Neptunes are already carrying out one of their New Year’s resolutions: eliminate the fake. Under their alias, N*E*R*D, an outfit that also includes MC Shay, the Virginians pull the cards of those who front on “Rock Star,” the next single from their long-delayed In Search of N*E*R*D LP. “Basically, it’s about people posing to be something they’re not,” Shay explained. “Posers have always been wack, though,” interjected Pharrell Williams, who sings on the track about how there will be no one left once he and his group “sets it off.” “It’s… Read more »