Search Results for: pop

He may never win the Thug of the Year award, but his new friends the Patty Cake Man and the Pusha Man have vouched that Justin Timberlake knows the streets. “Working with Justin was crazy,” Malice, the older half of the Clipse affirmed last week in New York, the day before MTV’s 2002 Video Music Awards. The Patty Cake Man (a.k.a. Malice) and his brother Pusha T took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall as special guests for J.T.’s solo set of “Like I Love You.” “Justin recognized us,” Malice continued about working on the track. “He does… Read more »

The British producer behind the hit TV show Pop Idol, which has become a hit in the U.S. as American Idol, now wants to launch a new Monkees group for television. Simon Fuller, who created the U.K. series and serves as executive producer on Fox’s TV talent show, has been talking to NBC, which aired the original series of The Monkees in the ’60s. Fuller, who was the first manager of the Spice Girls and also masterminded the British pop group S Club 7, has now bought the rights to the Monkees concept and name. Fuller’s updated show would feature… Read more »

Rock ‘n’ roll has turned music fans into rebels. Not only are they pirating tunes on the Internet rather than paying upwards of $20 for a compact disc, they are also increasingly reluctant to fork out for costly concert tickets. A survey of the North American concert industry by trade publication Pollstar showed the top 50 acts sold a combined 10.6 million tickets in the first half of the year, down about three percent from the year-ago period (10.9 million tickets) and off 18 percent from 2000 (12.9 million tickets). The average ticket price for those top 50 tours rose… Read more »

British music industry svengali Dave Stewart is launching a new record label to nurture acts left out in the cold by the mass-produced pop phenomenon. Stewart told BBC radio Wednesday that the big five record labels were overlooking significant talent in their bid to mass-produce fashionable hits. “We’re approaching it completely from a different way,” said Stewart, who hopes to shake up the big players with his new label Artists’ Network. Stewart produced the 1980s hit “Sweet Dreams” together with Eurythmics co-star Annie Lennox who performed at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations Monday. Artists’ Network, will hit the music scene… Read more »

Pop star Elton John, one of the biggest names in a star-studded line-up to serenade Queen Elizabeth on her Golden Jubilee, is not quite sure how well even his music will go down with the British monarch. “She grins and bears it. She’s probably the best in the world at grinning and bearing it on every occasion, whether it’s Maori dancing, pop music or whatever,” he told BBC television on Friday. The flamboyant rocker, a close personal friend of the late Princess Diana, will appear at the June 3 concert alongside artists ranging from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to Ozzy Osbourne.… Read more »

It’s official – Britpop is a flop in the United States, with not a single act on the U.S. industry barometer Billboard chart for the first time in nearly 40 years. Pop pundits insist that the disappearance of UK acts from Billboard’s top 100 singles chart is just a blip, but it follows a long decline in sales which critics say reflects the flood of manufactured bands on both sides of the Atlantic. Long gone are the days when bands like the Beatles dominated the U.S. singles charts. In 1964 the Fab Four held the top five singles in the… Read more »

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 »

According to their folklore, electronic rap act Anti-Pop Consortium came together to “disturb the equilibrium.” With left-of-center releases like 2000’s Tragic Epilogue and last year’s Shopping Carts Crashing, lyricists Priest, Beans and M. Sayyid and DJ E. Blaize have gotten off to a pretty good start. But they’re nowhere near done. Their third full-length album for Warp Records, Arrhythmia, hit stores April 2 and, according to Beans, is their best yet. “I think it’s a nice middle ground between the stuff that we were doing on Tragic to where we’re going,” Beans said, stroking his red mohawk. “It’s a bit… Read more »

“Pop Idol” winner Will Young notched up a third week at the top of the British pop charts on Sunday. The 23-year-old saw off spoof rapper Ali G and U.S. reggae star Shaggy whose duet “Me Julie” came straight in at No. 2, according to The Official UK Charts Company. Young has sold more than 1.5 million copies of the double-A side “Anything is Possible/Evergreen” in less than a month. It means Young will next week go head-to-head for the No. 1 spot with Gareth Gates, the 17-year-old singer he beat to win the “Pop Idol” television talent show. Gates… Read more »

‘Pop Idol’ Will Young has announced he is gay, and said he has never hidden his sexuality. The 23-year-old singer, whose first record became the fastest-selling debut single in UK history, said he was very comfortable with his sexuality. In an interview with the News of the World, the former drama student said: “I feel it’s time to tell my fans I’m gay.” “It’s totally no big deal, just part of who I am. For me it’s normal and nothing to be ashamed about. I’m gay and I’m comfortable with that. I really don’t know what the fuss is about.… Read more »