Search Results for: soul glo

Just standing still Monday night in Central Park, you couldn’t help but feel suffocated by the 85-degree wet heat that blanketed the city. So imagine how Erykah Badu felt as she danced around and sang her emotional ditties for the crowd at the park’s SummerStage venue. She was so hot she had to take off her dress in the middle of her set. “Thank you God for this breeze,” Badu said during a breakdown in her performance of “Didn’t Cha Know” early in the show. Dressed in a peach dress, matching headdress and gloves that came to her elbows, the… Read more »

A day after MTV’s 20th anniversary celebration, some people were nursing hangovers, but Busta Rhymes was feeling the kind of pain a cup of coffee wasn’t going to cure. Apparently old Bussa Bus injured his right leg during the show’s hip-hop medley. Gone was his usual regal swagger as he limped badly into Manhattan’s Hit Factory to play his new album, The Genesis, for a small group of guests that included his manager, Chris Lighty, and another of Lighty’s clients, Jo Jo Peligrino. “I feel so good right now,” Busta said with his usual animation. “This is the first album… Read more »

Hot on the heels of new releases from such established superstars as Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, Virgin Records America is releasing seven key albums from developing artists the label hopes will follow in those multi-platinum footsteps. Ranging an eclectic musical spectrum from Pop-R&B to Urban-Alternative Rock to World Music, these artists reflect Virgin’s commitment to unique yet accessible music for which the label has become known. Forming the all-star rookie line-up are: Nikka Costa – All ears piqued when Tommy Hilfiger’s slick commercial hit TV screens last year, featuring that funky, rhythmic bassline from Nikka’s debut single “Like A… Read more »

To Lars Frederiksen, his band Rancid, his label-mates on Epitaph and Hell-Cat Records, and his favorite bands are all about being part of a family – a punk rock family. Fresh off a tour playing with tour with two, high-powered Hell-Cat bands, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and the Dropkick Murphys, Frederiksen is set for Rancid’s stint on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour and readying a new, high-tech Rancid release. There’s no time to rest for this tattooed, mohawk-sporting, family man. Rancid will join the roving punk festival on June 22nd in Phoenix along with Epitaph label-mates Pennywise, the Bouncing… Read more »

Dido, whose RIAA triple-platinum debut album NO ANGEL has just logged its 55th week on the Billboard 200 Album chart, where it remains the longest-running title inside the top 30, has embarked on her 2nd annual headlining summer tour of North America. The festival-type tour of predominately outdoor venues stars Dido, Scottish group Travis, and Icelandic songbird Emiliana Torrini on the main stage, with various others on the second stage. The itinerary began last Sunday in Vancouver and wraps at XCEL Arena in Minneapolis on July 8th. (Please see initial tour dates below, with additional dates to be announced.) While… Read more »

Continuing its mission of bringing music fans closer to the artists they love, global music media company GetMusic kicks off a stellar summer of unique programming, live events and interactive content with extensive coverage of the two-day KIIS-FM Wango Tango music festival in Los Angeles this weekend. In addition to interviewing artists for the site, GetMusic will be the exclusive sponsor of the event’s autograph-signing tent for fans on both Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17. Some of today’s most popular artists are scheduled to stop by, including Dream, Eden’s Crush, Samantha Mumba, 3LW and Nikka Costa. On Monday,… Read more »

Hip-hop, in a push to clean up its image, came out Thursday in favor of warning parents about violent and sexually explicit lyrics and said it would organize politically to help the urban poor. Rappers, music executives and black leaders at a Hip-Hop Summit in New York said they would label sexually explicit and violent music, as well as Web sites and posters that promote it. They also plan to mentor young rappers, set up hip-hop think tanks, and form a political group to address such issues as free speech and racial profiling. “One of the things we discussed was… Read more »

Fat chance Melanie Szepvolgyi is going to forget this year’s HFStival. Out of the 30-plus bands at the two-day musical extravaganza going on at RFK Stadium, she had wanted most to see Coldplay, the up and coming Britpop band. She was as surprised as anyone yesterday when lead singer Chris Martin pulled her up on stage to sing. “I was in the front of the stage, and nobody knew them up there. [People in the crowd] were being so rude and obnoxious,” said the still-glowing 24-year-old who had flown in from Columbus, Ohio. “Then they started playing my favorite song,… Read more »

Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson may have just married a famous actress, but the man at the helm of America’s “most rock ‘n’ roll” rock band has not gone Hollywood just yet. Yes, that is the lanky, longhaired Robinson accompanying his wife, Kate Hudson, to the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Yes, he does hobnob with famous actors and directors, but they discuss obscure records and movies, not box office grosses. “I’ve met so many cool people in my lifetime, but… just because you’re famous and wealthy doesn’t make me want to sit down and have dinner with you,” he… Read more »

Guitar jangle, electronic effects and strings meet again on rock band’s 12th album. Edging as close to the conventional pop realm as they have in their 20-plus years, R.E.M. will release Reveal, an evocative tapestry of reflective, expertly crafted songs, in May. “We’re really interested in finding the beauty of music these days,” said bassist Mike Mills, who clarified that the rock band’s 12th studio album isn’t quite as subdued as it may seem. “Taking a song and seeing how you can find something really lovely inside it, I think that might tend to make it sound a little more… Read more »