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“She’s Kobe, and I’m Shaq,” Kurupt said of himself and his fiancée, Blaque’s Natina Reed, on the heels of the Lakers’ championship series win last month. The lovebirds can currently be caught trading verses, Crip-walking and courting each other in the video for Kurupt’s “It’s Over.” The L.A. by way of Philly rapper may be on to something – their duet helped him debut at #10 on the latest Billboard 200 albums chart with Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey. It was just a year ago that the longtime buddies fell in love. As to who made the first move, we’ll probably… Read more »

Mariah Carey has checked herself into a hospital for “extreme exhaustion,” her spokeswoman said Thursday. Cindi Berger would not say what Carey’s symptoms were or where she was, but said Carey’s busy schedule contributed to her illness and hospitalization Wednesday night. “She’s been working around the clock,” Berger told The Associated Press. In a separate statement, Berger said: “Carey has been hospitalized for extreme exhaustion after completing two movies, ‘Glitter’ and ‘Wise Girls,’ and simultaneously writing, recording and producing her album, the soundtrack ‘Glitter.”‘ Before going to the hospital, the Grammy-winning singer posted a message on her official Web site.… Read more »

Celebrity sales projected to fall just short of record set by group’s No Strings Attached. “Dirty pop” is turning out to be huge for ‘NSYNC, though maybe not as huge as last year’s model. Four national retail chains said Wednesday (July 25) that based on first-day sales of ‘NSYNC’s new album, Celebrity, projected first-week numbers appeared to be falling just short of those for the group’s No Strings Attached, which sold 2.4 million copies in its first week last March – the highest first-week sales of the SoundScan era. But Celebrity, released Tuesday, does seem to be on course to… Read more »

Incubus have named their upcoming album Morning View, after the street on which they recorded it, guitarist Mike Einziger said Wednesday. Due October 23, the album will feature a blend of styles similar to their breakthrough 1999 release, Make Yourself. “It’s really musically diverse, but it’s not like a patchwork quilt with tons of pieces put together. It’s pretty seamless,” Einziger said backstage at the Area:One festival. “There are some very heavy moments, and there are some very melodic, beautiful moments on the record. There’s everything from the entire spectrum of sound incorporated into it.” The first single from Morning… Read more »

Time was, pop stars who hit it big would ride out the success of an album and then lie low for awhile, presumably restoring their creative energies and also whetting the public’s appetite for the next record. Not any more. Today’s acts – wary of fickle fans and short attention spans – are pumping out albums in quick succession so as not to lose the spotlight to someone else. “Unfortunately right now, you have to just hit while you’re hot,” said teen pop starlet Jessica Simpson, who released her self-titled second album in June, a year and a half after… Read more »

Radio airplay is and has been the primary driver of retail record sales in the United States. Some estimate that nearly 90 percent of sales is the direct result of an artist being exposed on radio. But today, radio is joined by an array of other media choices: MTV, BET, and VH1, digital downloads, and streamed audio. Consumers borrow friend’s CDs and tapes, and see live performance. Any record label or promoter would be remiss by ignoring any one of these outlets since they all help to sell music. In the first-ever project of its kind, James Schureck at Jeff… Read more »

Dr. Dre’s hip-hop empire Aftermath Entertainment, will release the first female singer/songwriter, Truth Hurts’, in October 2001. She’s not a glorified hip-hop queen; her talent delves much deeper. The St. Louis, Missouri native studied classical and opera vocals for eight years, perfected her chops singing in gospel church choirs as an adult, and has co-written songs for Eric Benet, Shanice and Monifah. If there’s anything hip-hop about her, it’s her attitude that permeates a brutal honesty that could only be honed by the likes of Dr. Dre, R Kelly, Organized Noise, DJ Quik and Tim & Bob, who all contribute… Read more »

Napster Inc. is replacing its leader with an executive from its German backer, who will try to steer the company out of its renegade past into a legitimate service that requires fans to pay for music. Interim CEO Hank Barry, a lawyer who came to Napster from a venture capital firm, will remain with the company in a reduced role, serving on Napster’s board of directors. His replacement is Konrad Hilbers, a veteran of the German media giant Bertelsmann AG, which became the song-swapping company’s primary financial backer last October. Hilbers most recently served as executive vice president and chief… Read more »

Those awaiting a new Limp Bizkit album will have to wait a little longer. Fresh from directing the debut video for Puddle of Mudd, the new act on his Interscope imprint Flawless, Bizkit frontman Fred Durst has gotten the green light from Intermedia Films to direct his first feature film, “Wanna-Be,” the story of teenage mobsters in New York. “I was stuck in a room for two days,” Durst tells Billboard.com. “It was this test to see if I can withstand [the filmmaking process]. Everyone at the company had these poker faces, so I left not knowing what was going… Read more »

Macy Gray picked up more than postcards and passport stamps during her world tour supporting On How Life Is – she also brought home inspiration for her second album, The Id. The charismatic songstress says her world travels supporting her 1999 breakthrough exposed her to an eclectic mix of styles and sounds that inspired her to get wild in the studio. “You go to France and African rhythms are really big over there and then you go to Germany and you’ve got like German hip-hop,” Gray said Wednesday. “And then there’s all kinds of techno clubs and drum’n’bass and jungle… Read more »