Archive for August, 2010

Blige announced the trek — also scheduled to include Miguel — during an appearance on BET’s “106 & Park.”

The tour will begin October 2 in Atlanta and feature stops in New York (October 11 and 12); Atlantic City, New Jersey (October 8); and Virginia Beach, Virginia (October 3).

Blige told the “106 & Park” studio audience that Sullivan was “one of the most amazing female singers out right now in this generation, and of course, she’s got to be a part of my generation.” She added: “She’s my sister. I love this girl’s voice and spirit. Jazmine Sullivan is for real, and she’s going on the road with me.”

The Philadelphia-born Sullivan’s Missy Elliott-produced “Holding You Down (Goin’ in Circles)” remix, which features Blige and Swizz Beatz, dropped Monday. The track samples several hip-hop and R&B hits, including Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di,” rap supergroup the Firm’s “Affirmative Action” and Blige’s “Be Happy.”

Sullivan is set to release her sophomore project, Love Me Back, in October; Miguel is finishing up his debut, All I Want Is You, for release next year.

Tentative Mary J. Blige and Jazmine Sullivan tour dates, provided by
Live Nation:

» 10/1 – Mobile, AL
» 10/2 – Atlanta, GA
» 10/3 – Virginia Beach, VA
» 10/5 – Raleigh, NC
» 10/7 – Washington, DC
» 10/8 – Atlantic City, NJ
» 10/10 – Mashantucket, CT
» 10/11 – New York, NY
» 10/12 – New York, NY
» 10/15 – Detroit, MI
» 10/16 – Chicago, IL
» 10/19 – Los Angeles, CA
» 10/20 – Los Angeles, CA
» 10/22 – Las Vegas, NV
» 10/23 – Oakland, CA

Eminem is a little different. His track record shows that he mostly sticks to family at his concerts. So when the shows in the D come around in the next few days, you have to feel that D12 are more than likely a given. We don’t know for sure, but we’d bank on it. Could we see Em bringing out his new signees Slaughterhouse? Makes perfect sense. At a minimum, we speculate he’ll share some mic time with fellow Detroit ambassador and his friend Royce Da 5’9″.

We’ve made our own dream list of who we’d like to see Jay-Z and Eminem bring out on the stage and rhyme with. We’ll see if any of this comes to fruition when their shows launch on Thursday. Even if the two decide there will be no guests, we’re pretty much guaranteed a historic show anyway. Their two catalogs are boundless. Plus, a joint performance of “Renegade” should be a given, right?

Our Dream Jay-Z Set Collaborations
Jay-Z and Nas – “Black Republican” and “Success”
Jay-Z and Rick Ross – “Free Mason”
Jay-Z and Drake – “Light Up”
Jay-Z, Kanye West and T.I. – “Swagga Like Us”
Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz – “On to the Next One”
Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj – “Monster”
Jay-Z, Kanye West and Swizz Beatz – “Power” remix
Jay-Z and Coldplay – “Lost” remix

OK, speed up 12 years. We all know about Drake’s popularity. His debut, Thank Me Later, came out this past spring, and believe it or not, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Drizzy could come right back with another album just in time for Christmas.

“Drake’s crazy,” Young Money president Mack Maine told MTV News last week. “He’s doing a mixtape right now. He called me one night, like 2 in the morning. He has the intro done for the new album. We was discussing dates where he should come back. That’ll be soon. And this mixtape, he’s gonna put that out quick. His formula is crazy. He works fast. I can’t give the secret away to the formula. He’s a musical genius. The way he and [producer] 40 put things together is crazy.”

When we asked Mack if Drake was putting out another LP before next summer, he simply said, “Real possible! What we discussed, definitely, what me and him discussed.”

Such a quick turnaround between Thank Me Later and its follow-up is a simple case of supply and demand.

“It makes sense,” Mack said. “Like DMX and those guys [at Def Jam]. They dropped two in one year. I think 50 [Cent] did two in one year. If it wasn’t a year, it was right around that time. [Drake's] hot like that. Why not? Give them what they want.”

When asked if Drizzy would have an album in the marketplace in time for it to be a stocking stuffer around the holidays, Mack Mizzle smiled and advised us to “expect the unexpected.”

Regardless of when the new LP comes out, all signs point toward Drake’s R&B mixtape, It’s Never Enough, to come this year. There has been a smattering of Drake records popping up randomly on the Internet recently, such as “What If I Kissed You.”

But it wasn’t until that project’s follow-up, last year’s Category F5, that Twista and his first producer, the Legendary Traxster, reunited. Now, the pair are working together once again, joined by the Windy City’s No ID (Jay-Z, Kanye West) for the rapper’s new LP, The Perfect Storm, due in October.

“This album is gonna be different, because you’re definitely gonna hear the growth and maturity in the music, that’s one thing for sure,” Twista told MTV News of the project, his eighth overall. “And also, me being able to get back with Traxster, which is the [producer] that did a lot of my original music, like ‘Adrenaline Rush’ and [records] like that, so we bringing that back. And also having jams on there that’s way different, a different style and vibe. Songs like ‘The Heat,’ which was produced by Traxster and No ID. You’ll be able to hear the whole vibe. You’ll hear me tear into it with songs like ‘Three Minute Murder,’ and you gonna hear me on that sexy thing and you gonna hear me do it with that Chi-Town swag.”

Twista also recruited Raekwon (“The Heat”) and Chris Brown (“Make a Movie”) for The Perfect Storm.

In addition to a new collection of music, Twista plans to include a documentary about his life with the set. According to the fast-rhyming lyricist, the film will be a diary-like take on his journey intertwined with footage of Chicago.

“I’m a person that people don’t get to see a lot of, so when you get the documentary, you get to see how I do things, how I am in the studio, my perspective on the city,” Twista explained. “And the reason I turned out the way I did, as far as my lyrics and the way I see things, my outlook on things and just breaking down the city. It’s a piece of Twista. They don’t get to see me on the other side, so it’ll be cool.”

West sampled the Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 breakout smash “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F— Wit” for the number. In his verse, Kanye pays homage to Raekwon’s standout verse on Jodeci’s “Freek’N You” remix, among other nods to the Staten Island collective. The veteran Wu lyricist also gives a nod to that same verse.

“Yo, ‘Ye, what up,” Rae spits, opening the track like he did on the Jodeci hit. “You got stacks like the International House of Pancakes/ All alone, ready to phone me and your hand shakes/ Palms is wetted, don’s regret/ Never to walk miles for love, I sit in the starter’s deck.”

“Last name West, and my teeth diamonds,” West rapped. “She said, ‘Yo, what’s your occupation: crazy rhyming?’ ”

Bieber’s vocals are the same as on the original. Raekwon anchors the song with two verses, and Kanye has one verse on the track.

Raekwon spoke to MTV News earlier this month and revealed that only he and West joined forces in the studio for the track. The wordsmith made no mention of Bieber among the celebrities who were present during the session at New York’s Electric Lady Studios.

“Kanye was just being Kanye,” Rae said. “He was definitely excited. The energy in the room was already speaking for itself. It was time to get up and have fun on the track together. We were drinking, laughing, being normal cats. At the same time, we had a houseful of celebrities in the house as well. [Kanye] was moving through the facility, checking out the studios he had. He had three studios in there.

“You had Akon in the building. Mos Def was just chillin’. Mos is a good friend of ‘Ye’s,” Rae added. “You had Charlie Wilson, the legendary cat from the Gap Band. Chris Rock walked in. These are guys that really respect who ‘Ye is. ‘Ye’s energy is cool. He’s a normal cat. A normal Chicago/world cat. Very mature. Having a great time.”

The record came together after Kanye West and Justin Bieber talked to each other via Twitter. “Listening to @JustinBieber ‘Run Away love,’ ” West wrote “I love Sunday mornings in the crib.”

Bieber responded and the two traded messages about their mutual admiration.

West then added Raekwon in the mix. The producer revealed that the Wu-Tang Clan star performed on one of his favorite remixes of all time, Jodeci’s “Freek’N You” redux.

“Maybe me and Rae should hop on Runaway Love! FLEX would drop bombs,” West wrote on Twitter, referring to Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex’s method for showing his approval of records.

Street Star: Bow Wow

Holding It Down For: Cash Money

Mixtape: Greenlight 3

Real Spit: Bow Wow’s Greenlight 3 has a yellow light for now. Bow definitely plans to put it out, but he’s delaying it for a couple of weeks. He wanted to let his film “Lottery Ticket” breathe before he dropped his new project.

“It’s important for me to do the Greenlight mixtape, because the fans want it. Where I got the title, the whole Greenlight title came from Jermaine [Dupri],” Bow explained. “He was gonna name his album Greenlight. I asked him: ‘What you gonna do with it?’ I took it and ran with it and created a brand. G1 set the tone. G2, I told you, it did a million downloads in a day. I never knew it was gonna be like that. I didn’t know if it’s me signing to Cash Money or because it was free. This is the third one, and it’s the last one. And it’s gonna complete the series.

“Greenlight 3 has 12 original records. It’s gonna sound like a brand-new album,” he added. “It’s easy to take a verse and put it on whatever’s hot. To make songs, that’s what a lot of artists or MCs have a hard time with. Making records. I did it this time for it to be original, because you see what’s going on with Chris [Brown] and the ‘Deuces’ record. That’s off the mixtape, what you think is off an album. I did that intentionally, because I could probably have three singles — which I do. I feel like I got three singles off the G3. G3 is to prepare people of what’s to come from the album.”

Joints to Check For

» “Why They Hating.” “The reasons I had to do that record is because I always felt like I’ve accomplished more than a lot of cats in hip-hop who get that response, that recognition,” Bow answered. “But it’s funny, because maybe I don’t act as hard as they do, or I don’t be talking about certain stuff they be poppin’ on their records so people wanna downplay my success. You really can’t. There has to be a reason why.”

» “A Lot on My Mind.” “That’s me talking about a lot of real personal situations that I never opened up about in record. I talk about how my girl, I got caught up with a situation with a girl, and she got pregnant. I got the call when I was doing the ‘Lottery Ticket’ movie. That record is more personal. It deals with issues I’m going with now as a young man. Real-life situations. That’s what’s interesting about me. I had to find a way [to express myself]. I feel like everybody has a story no matter what. I haven’t told my story. I been holding onto it because I been scared. Now, me being at Cash Money, I wanna turn into the artist’s artist. I feel like I gotta open up and talk about these things. It’s a three-verse record. Each verse deals with something personal within the last two years that you don’t know about. It gets crazier when you listen to the whole mixtape.”

» “Talk That Sh–.” “That’s self-explanatory. It’s me going off. Doing what I do. Lyrically, I’m just improving. Every mixtape gets better. I’m bringing Jadakiss onboard for the album. Just to have that lyrical push from somebody who is well-respected in hip-hop. Somebody who can give me that perspective or that knowledge I never had. I’m trying to take it to whole new level. Every thing is about greatness with me. Working with great actors. I’m working with Tyler Perry on his next film. It’s about working with great people, and hopefully I can take some stuff from those guys.”

Hip-hop’s favorite e-spouses, Nicki Minaj and Drake, are no longer together. Only a day after announcing their union on the social-networking site, Minaj tweeted that she and Drizzy have called it quits.

“Dear Barbz, My husband Drake and I have decided to have our marriage annulled. We’ll maintain joint custody. Luv, HB,” the Young Money Barbie wrote on Saturday. When asked by Twitter fan MissBrownBear who they were sharing custody of, Minaj “All our SONS.”

Hip-hop fans began buzzing on Friday when both MCs wrote on their Twitter pages that they had wed.

“Please refer to @nickiminaj as Mrs. Aubrey Drake Graham and dont stare at her too long. She’s finally mine. ,” Drake tweeted. Minaj also wrote “Yes, its true. Drake and I tied the knot.”

While the duo’s tweets made headlines, the missives were apparently just in good fun. Minaj’s announcement comes after reps for the artists denied that they had ever made it to the altar.

Regardless of their marital status, Minaj and Drake have always been tight. Last year, Minaj said that she and her Young Money labelmate are “super-close.” “Before all of this started, I would tell him, ‘You’re a star.’ And he’d be like, ‘You’re a star.’ And we’d kinda been each other’s biggest fans,” Minaj told MTV News. “To see his dreams come into fruition, it makes me very happy.”

Earlier this year, Drake said on MTV2′s “Sucker Free Countdown” that “I’ve always really, actually, really had a crush on her, always really loved her, and she’s always just looked at me as, like, her little brother.”

However, Minaj said that Drake was playing up their relationship for the entertainment factor and denied rumors that the MCs are more than just friends.

“Drake does not have a crush on me,” Minaj said later on “Sucker Free.” “Drake knows how to get you guys’ attention.”

Many fans were disappointed by Minaj’s announcement that she and Drizzy are not married. TreyGivesMePPP tweeted to the rapper, “barb you just broke my heart! DRICKI FOREVER!” fashioning catchy portmanteau for the duo.

But Minaj gently reminded her followers that they will have to share her eventually.

“Barbz 1 day mommy will have to fall in love,” Minaj tweeted. “Don’t b selfish.”