Search Results for: Rise Records

British pop trio BBMak have a six-string surprise in store for their fans, as their second album promises to be more of a guitar-driven affair. BBMak, known for being one of the few pop groups to play their own music and write their own songs, have spent the last two weeks putting the finishing touches on the follow-up to 2000’s Sooner or Later, according to a Hollywood Records spokesperson, who described the effort as being laced with guitar throughout. The as-yet-untitled LP is expected to be released in September, and a single – a video for which is being planned… Read more »

When the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series, it was No Good’s remix of Luke Campbell’s “Raise the Roof” that blasted from the system at Pro Player Stadium. When the Miami Hurricanes won the national college football championship earlier this year, No Good’s “Ballin’ Boy” served as their theme song. As if that wasn’t enough to cement this particular sports-and-hip-hop connection, ESPN picked up “Ballin’ Boy” to play over its March Madness spots during this year’s NCAA hoops tournament. And No Good capped things off by performing the single – already a club staple in their hometown of Miami… Read more »

Eminem is portrayed as a homosexual in a new song by the Pet Shop Boys. “The Night I Fell in Love,” from the synth-pop duo’s Release, due April 23, tells the story of a homosexual boy who falls in love with a rap star backstage at his concert and follows him to a hotel room for a “private performance.” The slow-grooving song does not reference Eminem or his Slim Shady or Marshall Mathers monikers, but the lyrics clearly spell out the star’s identity. “I said we could be secret lovers/ Just him and me,” Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant sings… Read more »

The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJ) continues to make history this week with the highest debut of a first-time female artist as Ashanti sells 502,524 copies of her self-titled debut album to be the #1 sellingalbum in the country, on both the Top 200 and R&B charts, while her single, “Foolish,” tops the nation’s Hot 100 Singles and R&B Singles & Tracks charts. Moreover, The Island Def Jam Group scored four records in the Top 10, achieving one of the biggest market shares of current new albums by any record label so far with 14.3% for the week ending… Read more »

Murder Inc. Records star Ja Rule revealed that he isn’t surprised that his labelmate Ashanti landed at Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but he was shocked by how well Ashanti’s album sold. “I’m not surprised, you know? It kinda shocked, you know, the number 503 (503,000), you know, but we knew she was going to do pretty well, so we’re all very happy and she’s crushing them right now,” he said. “I really think it’s the biggest first-week debut ever for a female R&B artist, so we’re holding some weight over here right now, definitely.” Ja Rule… Read more »

When the creators of the upcoming WWF album Tough Enough 2 asked Cold to contribute a track, frontman Scooter Ward was baffled. He thought, what did his music – riddled with gloomy, nihilist imagery and creepy underpinnings – have in common with the muscle-bound, over-the-top world of pro wrestling? Then it occurred to him that being in a band on the run and flying off the top turnbuckle night after night had some similarities after all. “I was writing a song for my kid at the same time,” Ward said last week. “Leaving home all the time, never being here… Read more »

Ja Rule knows what it’s like to be in the shoes of Ashanti, his Murder Inc. labelmate and “Always on Time” co-star. He can remember when not too long ago he felt the pressure of being a star on the rise. Now that he’s a bona fide hitmaker, Ja still feels pressure. But keeping the songs coming that help his star hover in the stratosphere is the least of his worries. Lately he’s been feeling some heat from below the heavens. “I’ve rethought a lot of things,” he said Tuesday about his work in progress, The Last Temptation. “I have… Read more »

Will Smith may not have come up a winner at the Academy Awards, but the actor/rapper can revel in a victory elsewhere in Hollywood. He and his production company, Overbrook Entertainment, have just secured the rights to produce the remakes of the ’70s films “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Let’s Do It Again” and “A Piece of the Action,” according to a spokesperson for the company. All three motion pictures starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, who was honored at the Oscars on Sunday. The Overbrook spokesperson said it’s too early to tell when the films will come out or if Smith… Read more »

With the surprise U.S. success of Kylie Minogue, Capitol Records is starting to regain its footing in the current release marketplace. The EMI-owned label certainly has to hope the Minogue revival – her album “Fever” has sold 250,000 copies in three weeks of release in the U.S., and the single “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” has sold nearly 3 million worldwide – portends a solid spring for its established stars. Paul McCartney, whose “Driving Rain” album was met with relative indifference upon its release in November, could see boosted sales coinciding with his 24-date tour of the U.S.… Read more »

The 16th annual South by Southwest music conference drew to a close Sunday, and the only thing that lasts longer than the seemingly perpetual hangover that results from four debauched days of a music industry on spring break is the buzz emanating from the bands and key moments that defined this year’s festival. Of the more than 1,000 bands showcasing their chops before press, radio programmers, managers, lawyers, label execs and promoters in 48 venues strewn throughout Austin, Texas, a handful traditionally rise above the chaff to become the targets of hype hucksters and topics of critical discussion for weeks… Read more »