‘It was a move that was in my heart,’ rapper tells Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman Stevie Stone Photo: MTV News Fire Starter: Stevie Stone Some things were just meant to be. In the case of St. Louis, Missouri, rapper Stevie Stone , signing with Tech N9ne ‘s Strange Music label was well in the works before the up-and-coming rapper signed his name on the dotted line. After opening for Tech with a 10-minute set in a Fulton, Missouri, show as a high school student in 2000, Stone knew that he wanted to pursue music full-time. “That 10 minutes gave me the bug,” Stevie told Mixtape Daily at a recent Independence, Missouri, album signing event for Tech’s All 6’s and 7’s. Through the years the young MC kept in close contact, doing shows with Tech even though he signed his initial deal with Ruthless Records, the label co-founded by the late Eazy-E. In 2009 Stone dropped his debut album, New Kid Comin. Tech appeared on the LP on a song called “Midwest Explosion.” “A lot of his fans — Technicians, Juggalos — all of them adapted to it,” Stone said of the song. “My name started buzzing around here, especially in the Midwest on the underground scene.” Though he and Tech had formed a bond, Stevie was contractually obligated to Ruthless and couldn’t sign to Strange. Still, he joined Tecca Nina on his K.O.D. tour in 2009, his Ruthless contract expired the next year and he ended up officially signing with Strange in March. Stone is currently on Tech’s 82-city All 6’s and 7’s tour as an opening act. In between shows, the new addition is prepping his Strange Music debut, Rolling Stone, for an early 2012 release. “It was a move that was in my heart. I knew it was the move to make, and I guess they felt the same way. And when the time presented itself, we inked,” said Stevie, holding up his Strange Music chain with pride. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists Stevie Stone Tech N9ne
After hours of onstage drama, Elton John week spelled elimination for two more girls. By Jim Cantiello Thia Megia performs on “American Idol” on Thursday Photo: Michael Becker/ Fox It was Elton John week on “American Idol,” which meant the most contemporary song performed was from 1983. The top 11, including a newly saved and shaved Casey Abrams , mostly warbled ballads, making Wednesday night’s two-hour episode feel as “samey” as Elton’s musical output of late. (For an even zippier recap of the week’s “Idol” insanity, hit play on the embedded video below for Jim Cantiello’s “American Idol” in 60 Seconds recap.) Pia lied to America when she promised an uptempo song this week, while Stefano lulled America to sleep with dreams of being held by Tony Danza. Naima confused America with a new dialect, leaving millions of viewers wondering if a stereotypical Jamaican accent done by an African-American is still racist. Then, Jacob was reprimanded for being over-dramatic onstage so he reacted the way any drama queen would: renting a smoke machine and pretending to weep. Sorry seems to be the hardest word, indeed! Scotty sang for his memaw. Thia sang for her brother. But Haley Reinhart sang for her supper, ferociously taking a bite out of “Bennie and the Jets” and spitting it out with a succulent hissssss. Oh, and James Durbin torched a piano. Thursday night’s results show was like a never-ending awkward group number — chock-full of half-rehearsed collaborations that revealed the cliques in the cast. Sorry, Jacob Lusk and li’l country boy Scotty, you aren’t invited to the dorm-room band from hell that is Paul McDonald, James, Casey and Stefano, dwarfed by a normal-size keyboard. Fantasia stopped by to debut her new single, “Collard Greens and Cornbread,” then Jamie Foxx, will.i.am and four thousand Six Flags performers danced around to “Hot Wings.” Ultimately, the meal ticket ended for Thia “Dead Air” Megia and Naima “Boom Fire” Adedapo … continuing “American Idol” ‘s disturbing Lady-Singer Massacre of 2011. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Videos ‘American Idol’ In 60 Seconds Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 10 Performances
One of these four bands will win the 2011 MMM title; vote now in the Newsroom blog! By James Montgomery My Chemical Romance’s Mikey Way and Gerard Way Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage Three weeks ago, 64 bands embarked on the voyage that is MTV’s Musical March Madness . Now, after millions of votes and nearly as many grueling matchups, only four remain. My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Paramore and Disturbed each punched their ticket for the Final Four late Thursday night, and one of them will hoist the MMM trophy next week. Check out our MMM Bracket right here! It wasn’t easy for any of them. Much like the Sweet 16, voting in the Elite 8 broke records and went down to the wire. We wouldn’t expect anything less, not when the bands still competing were this big, and the stakes this high. And they’re about to get even higher. Because voting in our Final Four matchups — #9 Disturbed vs. #3 Green Day and #5 Paramore vs. #3 My Chemical Romance — is now under way over on the Newsroom blog, and it’ll be up to you to determine the two bands that’ll go head-to-head for the MMM championship. Final Four voting has begun on the Newsroom blog! While you consider just whom you’ll be voting for — if you haven’t made your mind up already — let’s take a look back at each band’s journey to the Final Four. Disturbed The lowest-seeded band still standing, Disturbed entered MMM as a #9, but quickly served notice that they were a force to be reckoned with, knocking off #8 the Dave Matthews Band in the opening round, then shocking the world by slipping by the Midwest’s top seed, the Foo Fighters , to reach the Sweet 16. Then, they handled Patrick Stump and, perhaps inspired by frontman David Draiman’s now legendary “time to make a statement” speech, took down defending MMM champs Coheed and Cambria in an air-tight battle. With more than 105,000 votes cast, Disturbed outdistanced Coheed by less than 500 to win the Midwest region and earn a spot in the Final Four. Green Day Last year, Green Day were sent packing in the opening round of the tournament, an exit that left them with a bitter taste in their mouths and a sizeble chip on their shoulders. So, in their 2011 march to the Final Four, they took no prisoners, absolutely dominating Adam Lambert in the first round, then going toe-to-toe with a pair of their fellow rock heavyweights — U2 and Blink-182 — and barely breaking a sweat. Their toughest challenge came in the Elite 8 against, ironically enough, Panic! at the Disco, the very band that sent them packing last year. Green Day got revenge , withstanding a late surge from the Panic! guys to take the West region title and head to the Final Four. Paramore Nearly two years ago, we wrote that Paramore were poised “to become the kings and queen of the South.” Little did we know how right we’d be; after a string of impressive victories, Hayley Williams and the guys are, in fact, the rulers of the region, and they’ve certainly earned their crowns. No band faced a stiffer series of matchups throughout the tourney — Paramore drew No Doubt in the opening round and Kings of Leon in the second — and that was before they took on tournament vets Tokio Hotel in the Elite 8. Each time, they rose to the challenge, taking the South region title and, in the process, may very well have become the favorites to win it all. My Chemical Romance It was heartbreak city for MCR last year, as they rode a wave of fervent fan support all the way to the MMM championship game, only to be crushed by Coheed. They’re the only band to climb the mountain once again, and they’ve done it with a frightening level of proficiency. Because, to this point, My Chemical Romance have yet to be really tested, rolling #14 Panda Bear in round one, #11 Rage Against the Machine in round two and #2 Radiohead in the Sweet 16 . They ended 16th-seeded Sum 41’s dream run in the Elite 8 , wrapping up the East title and barely breaking a sweat. In the Final Four, they’ll face off against Paramore, which might very well be the de facto 2011 championship game. MTV’s Musical March Madness has reached the Final Four. All winners are determined by your votes, so, if your favorite act is still standing, it’s up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM — and you’d better; the MMM trophy is within reach! Related Videos MTV News’ 2011 Musical March Madness Related Photos MTV’s 2011 Musical March Madness’ Band Bracketology Bands Hit The Court For MTV’s 2011 Musical March Madness Related Artists My Chemical Romance Disturbed Paramore Green Day
Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco also advance; second-round voting opens Tuesday on the Newsroom blog. By James Montgomery Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty The first round of MTV’s Musical March Madness 2011 tournament is in the books, and, unlike the actual NCAA bracket, ours has been relatively free of upsets so far. In fact, about the closest thing we’ve got to a VCU is Sum 41, who shocked the world by knocking off #1 seed Arcade Fire in the battle of Canada. Check out our updated MMM Bracket right here!
New Jersey MC says Em’ is just one of the most supportive hip-hop people that I’ve met.’ By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Rahman Dukes Joe Budden Photo: MTV News At the Detroit stops of Jay-Z and Eminem’s Home and Home Tour , there was undeniable crowd support for another hip-hop crew: rap supergroup Slaughterhouse. The team’s New Jersey representative Joe Budden credits a lot of the Midwest love not only to group member and Detroit native Royce Da 5’9″, but also to the support the collective has received from Motor City megastar Eminem. “We get a lot of support out there in the D,” Budden told MTV News. “I attribute a lot of it to just Royce and Em.” Budden said that, despite Eminem’s superstar status, he still has love for the purest elements of the hip-hop art form. The Mood Muzik spitter said Slaughterhouse stand for those same rap essentials, which endears the foursome to the hip-hop luminary. “Em, to be as successful as he is, and I’ll just tell this to anybody with two ears, or one ear for that matter, is just one of the most supportive hip-hop people that I’ve met,” he said. “He’s really, really just into hip-hop and rap and lyrics. He’s just really into all of the things that group was built around.” Although Eminem and the Slaughterhouse crew see eye-to-eye creatively, bringing Budden, Royce, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz into the Shady fold has been an ongoing saga. Earlier this year, Ortiz spoke with MTV News about finalizing a deal with Em. “We in the ninth inning of it, we just keep changing pitchers,” the Brooklyn MC said in May. “I don’t know, man — it’s a lot of hold-ups. I thought on my end I was straight, but I wasn’t. We’re going back and forth with the people I’m working with. Joe [Budden] had some issues or whatever. The interest is still there. Everybody is excited about it; it’s just a lot of people involved in this. Four artists, four separate managers, label situations — a lot of black and white that gotta get settled for it to happen, but verbally, we’re on Shady! Eminem is excited, the whole group is excited. The world is excited. I can’t even do a show without somebody asking that. Without them being, ‘You ripped it, what’s up with Em?’ Everybody is waiting on this, so it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen.” What do you think about Joe Budden’s thoughts about Eminem? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Joe Budden Eminem Slaughterhouse
Yes, you read that headline right. Larry Flynt, the outspoken publisher of the men’s magazine “Hustler,” is advocating equal rights for women. Even better, the real punch line in his Huffington Post piece was that he blamed the failure of the 1970s Equal Rights Amendment on feminist stalwart Gloria Steinem. Readers are strongly cautioned to keep fluids out of their mouths and away from their computers for the duration: I have long believed the reason the ERA didn’t pass back then is that Gloria Steinem co-opted the debate about women’s rights, approaching it from a New York point of view rather than a national one. Saying things like “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle” and “A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after,” not to mention “make him sleep on the wet spot,” didn’t go over well with women in the Midwest who considered themselves feminists but still wanted to be mothers. If there is one person to blame for the failure of the ERA to pass, it’s Ms. Steinem. With that on the table, Flynt called for the ERA to be proposed once again in Congress. “Surely without the ill-advised, self-serving rhetoric of Ms. Steinem, reason can prevail.” Actually, with the current state of the economy, any future ERA might have to be to protect men and not women, as this recession has been far harder on male workers than female employees. The unemployment rate for men stands at 10.6 percent; it’s only 8.6 percent for women. Beyond this, recent college trends have shown far more women seeking higher education. But let’s not allow such inconvenient truths to get in the way of the entertainment value of Flynt’s proposal, or what Steinem wrote about the smutty publisher in 1997. Enjoy.
Can you imagine the cries of police state, racism, incipient fascism and fill-in-your-favorite-epithet if a conservative pundit—let alone a Republican president—proposed the massive insertion of US military forces into American inner cities for law enforcement purposes? But that’s precisely what Ed Schultz proposed on his MSNBC show this evening. Ed is apparently unaware that the use of the military for such law-enforcement purposes would raise serious issues under the Posse Comitatus Act. But beyond that, it would utterly distort the mission of our military, and provoke valid civil-liberty concerns. Schultz should try bouncing his brainstorm off the Joint Chiefs and see what kind of reception it receives. But hey, Ed announced on this evening’s show that he will be part of a Big Labor march on Washington in DC in October. Let that be a Dem pre-election theme: troops into Chicago! Here’s Ed at his detached-from-reality best . . . ED SCHULTZ: I woke up in Chicago, on my way to the Midwest, to a couple of truly disturbing headlines. In Chicago, in the Tribune, front page of the Tribune, here it is [holds up paper]: 4 Killed in Southwest Side Garage Shooting. And the Sun-Times: Put the Guns Down. This is what a gang leader says to his folks. More Americans were killed in Chicago last month than were killed in Iraq all year. Mr. President, I got a great idea as to where you can send those troops that you just brought home from Iraq. How about Chicago, Illinois and a bunch of other big cities in this country? It’s time we look out for our own backyard.
Today’s starter topic : Does this represent a policy shift or just a campaign tactic? Some of the Democratic Party’s most endangered lawmakers are taking steps to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to inoculate themselves from charges that they are beholden to the unpopular House leader and supportive of the ambitious national Democratic agenda. Three vulnerable Democrats from conservative-oriented districts are already running TV ads spotlighting their defiance of Pelosi. One freshman incumbent recently joked about the possibility of Pelosi not being able to take up the gavel next year because she might pass away. Another member from a tough district suggested he might run for speaker himself. The roster of Democrats currently playing six degrees of separation from Pelosi spans the map, from the Northeast to the South and across the Midwest to South Dakota. Pelosi aides and allies said they understand that embattled members sometimes need to distance themselves from the speaker and note that she doesn’t take it personally, although they caution that how it is done is just as important as why it’s done.
Over the last few days, several movie websites “accidentally” received casting call information from Paramount for what sounds like J.J. Abrams’s upcoming Super 8 , the secret project Abrams shot and released a teaser trailer for before any actors were actually hired to be in the movie. What can we glean from this casting information? The movie is about three 13-year-old kids from the midwest, and while actors who submit for the two boy roles can be scrawny, fat, cute, whatever, the young actresses who go in for the lead girl role definitely have to be “natural beauties” and “stunning.”
