Search Results for: public enemy

Busta Rhymes celebrated a birthday on Tuesday, but it wasn’t the anniversary of the day he was born. It was the day he was reborn as an MC and businessman – the day his new album hit stores. “I named my album Genesis ’cause there was nowhere left to go after The Coming (1996), When Disaster Strikes (1997), Extinction Level Event (1998) and Anarchy (2000),” he said recently, sitting in the offices of J Records. “Sequentially it made sense to be at that point…. The only place left to go is just rebuilding a whole brand new whatever.” Part of… Read more »

Fireplaces and feet are not the only places you’ll see tube socks this Christmas season. Southern California funk rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose members occasionally wear only a strategically placed tube sock, are getting ready to release their first concert video in a decade. “Off the Map,” due December 4 on VHS and DVD, was filmed by Dick Rude at a September 2000 show in Portland, Oregon. The video includes recent Chili Peppers hits “Californication,” “Scar Tissue,” “Otherside,” “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away,” along with older gems like “Blackeyed Blonde” from 1985’s Freaky Styley, according to… Read more »

“It’s kinda hard to know what song to play these days ’cause every word sounds different than it did before,” said Neil Young, following a perfectly chosen and rendered rendition of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” during his show-closing set with Crazy Horse at Saturday’s 15th Anniversary Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountainview, California. Referring to the events of September 11th, Young used every bit of his allotted time onstage this year – from his two-song opening to the all-star jam bookending the day’s entertainment – to deliver his unwavering, though not necessarily popular, peacenik message… Read more »

Nurse Abby Lockheart has just been dumped. She is in the middle of the rather painful process of moving her stuff out of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. And to make matters worse, Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” a song about the things a man is looking for in a woman, is playing on the radio. On “ER,” popular music is becoming a bigger part of the story line with every episode. “It adds something to the show every time we use it,” “ER” supervising producer and writer Scott Gemmill said. “It’s amazing what music can bring to a scene.” There’s a new… Read more »

Out today (October 16) is Cuttin’ Heads, the latest album from John Mellencamp. The album is marked by several songs that deal with race relations, including the title track (which features a rap by Public Enemy’s Chuck D) and the first single, “Beautiful World,” which features newcomer India Arie. Mellencamp tells LAUNCH that he’s no newcomer to the topic. “I’ve always been interested in race: the white and black relationship. ‘Pink Houses’ starts out, ‘There’s a black man and black cat, livin’ in a black neighborhood.’ And in ‘Cherry Bomb,’ I had, you know, a black guy dancing with a… Read more »

Hip-hop, here’s a message from your elders: Don’t squander your potential to shape culture and politics. At a Friday summit sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, rap leaders were urged to help others understand the musical genre as a positive, potent force. “What are you going to do with the power this music brings? We’re going to continue selling records. Whether this music has the potential to change the world is up to you,” said Hilary Rosen, president-CEO of the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Also on the panel was Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons, whose nascent Hip-Hop Summit… Read more »

Public Enemy will take the next step into the digital music age by posting re-recorded versions of songs, such as “Public Enemy #1,” “Arizona” and “Shut ‘Em Down” on rapper Chuck D.’s new Web site/record label SlamJamz.com and asking fans to write new music for the tracks. A longtime, outspoken proponent of online platforms and technology such as Napster and MP3s, Chuck D. says the technology developed in recent years has made it possible for artists to work in new ways. “I think we’re living in interactive times, and technology has made it more accessible to create more creators,” he… Read more »

New York turntablist crew the X-ecutioners have a good excuse for taking more than four years to record their new album. It is Built From Scratch. Acclaimed vinyl manipulators Total Eclipse, Sinista, Roc Raida and Rob Swift also took the time to recruit a stellar lineup of guest musicians, which includes Linkin Park, Xzibit, Dan the Automator and the late Big Punisher. The X-ecutioners’ track with Xzibit will be the album’s first single, while the Linkin Park collaboration is scheduled to be the second. Track titles have not been confirmed. DJ Premier, Pharoahe Monch, the Beat Junkies, Kool G Rap,… Read more »

This time around for the Isley Brothers, “that lady” is Jill Scott. The R&B queen has just completed her vocal contributions to “Said Enough,” a last-minute addition to Eternal, the soul men’s fortieth anniversary album, which is due July 24th on DreamWorks. Also joining Ronald and Ernie Isley are R. Kelly, Lucy Pearl’s Rafael Saadiq, Jimmy Jam and Avant. Kelly produced the gangsta-minded track “Contagious,” on which Ron Isley reprises his role of notorious thug Mr. Biggs, the alter ego he debuted in Kelly’s “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)” video. Eternal also features a collaboration with the late Curtis… Read more »

There were few surprises when Blink-182’s Civic Tour 2001 rolled into the Warfield on Tuesday. Singers Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge belched and told poo-poo and pee-pee jokes. Kids crowd-surfed. Bras landed onstage. New songs – there were two – sounded like old songs. Even the encore was preceded by an assurance from bassist Hoppus that the band would be right back to play more songs. And yet the trio thoroughly entertained the capacity crowd of 2,500 fans with a 19-song, 75-minute set that mixed poppy punk rock with juvenile abandon. As usual, the jokes began before the music did,… Read more »