MTV’s RapFix hit Odd Future crooner’s NOLA concert a day before he canceled NYC date via Tumblr. By Nadeska Alexis Frank Ocean Photo: MTV News Frank Ocean , Odd Future’s much-buzzed about crooner, seemed to be just getting started when he suddenly canceled his scheduled Sunday show in New York just one hour before his set time citing illness. The jaunt was interrupted only a day after Ocean played the first date on a mini-tour that kicked off in his native New Orleans on Saturday. Back in February, Ocean independently released Nostalgia, Ultra via Tumblr, and since then the popular mixtape has been pegged for re-release on Def Jam, thanks to the hit singles “Swim Good” and “Novacane,” which both made their way from the Internet to the radio. In early October, the 24-year-old singer/songwriter announced plans to embark on an intimate six-city tour in support of the mixtape. The Odd Future member kicked off his short-lived run with a solo show in his hometown of New Orleans on Saturday night, but after performing sound check at the Bowery Ballroom the following day, he canceled the show. While some fans were already lined up outside of the venue, Ocean retreated to Tumblr to pen a new post titled “New York Is Cancelled.” “[O]r should i say postponed,” Ocean wrote. “I played last night in new orleans, on antibiotics and some other meds. got sick a cpl days before i left los angeles. woke up this morning in new york and could barely speak. called a doctor to my hotel, got a steroid shot. took some more meds. laid in bed all day till soundcheck, got to the venue and could barely sing any of my songs. im really sorry yall. i been workin on this show for months, did everything i could to make it special for yall. i’ll be back soon as i’m healthy. thats my word. tickets will be valid for that, or you guys can get refunded. damn this sh–.” During his New Orleans show on Saturday night, it took the shy performer some time to warm up to the crowd. He delivered several tracks from Nostalgia, Ultra, including “Lovecrimes,” “Swim Good” and “Novacane,” while slipping in some material from his upcoming album. Ocean also performed the hooks from his Watch the Throne features “No Church in the Wild” and “Made in America.” Before the cancellation, the tour was expected to stop in the Netherlands, London and Paris before concluding in Los Angeles on November 15; no word yet on whether those shows will go on. Related Artists Frank Ocean Odd Future
New track is second to be released through band’s ‘Singles Club.’ By James Montgomery Paramore’s Hayley Williams Photo: MTV Last month, Paramore made good on their promise to release new music in 2011 when they officially launched their “Singles Club,” a delightfully old-school (and direct) way of getting a trio of singles to their fans. They’ve since premiered the first of those tracks, “Renegade,” and on Monday (November 7), they unveiled the second, “Hello Cold World,” a bounding, poppy tune that features frontwoman Hayley Williams urging the listener to action, singing, “You can’t just stay down on your knees, the revolution is outside/ You want to make a difference, get out and go get it.” It is very much a rallying cry and a definite departure from the darker territory they’ve been exploring on the other new songs they’ve released since the departure of Josh and Zac Farro late last year, in particular “Monster,” their snarling single from the “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” soundtrack. The third and final installment of the Singles Club, “In the Mourning,” is set to be released in December and will have to tide fans over for the foreseeable future. As Paramore revealed when they announced the Club, they’ll be spending 2012 working on the follow-up to their Brand New Eyes album. “We really wanted to do something special for all of you … to thank you for making 2011 so amazing and sticking with us as we go into 2012 and start working on a new album,” they wrote. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for believing in us.” What do you think of the latest Paramore song? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos ‘Paramore: The Last Word’ Related Photos Fueled By Ramen 15th Anniversary Concert: Paramore Live Photos Related Artists Paramore
Rogen and screenwriter Will Reiser discuss the challenges of making a comedy about a guy with a terminal disease, in our Fall Movie Preview. By Josh Horowitz Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in “50/50” Photo: Summit Entertainment Thus far in MTV News’ Fall Movie Preview, we’ve looked at comedies about drug-buying babysitters , people who hang out with puppets and stoners shooting Santa Claus in the face. Unconventional topics for big-screen laughs, all. “50/50” sees those flick’s giggles-from-unexpected-places efforts, and raises ’em one: This is a comedy about having cancer, surviving it and figuring out a way to laugh about the whole thing. Based on the experiences of Will Reiser (who penned the script), “50/50” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Kyle, a young man suddenly diagnosed with the disease. Seth Rogen plays his best friend, the guy trying to cheer him up and get him laid and distract him from the very real possibility of an untimely death. Rogen and Reiser recently called up MTV News to talk about the film’s real-life inspirations, the challenges of marketing a comedy about cancer, and how Reiser’s disease once gained them early access to “Batman Begins.” MTV : So we’re looking at “50/50” as part of our Fall Movie Preview. Where does your cancer comedy fit in with the likes of “Breaking Dawn” and “Sherlock Holmes” and “Mission Impossible”? Seth Rogen : I think it’s funnier than all those movies. It is about something somewhat serious, but I really think it’s as funny as any of our movies. That’s what is really interesting about it to me. We’d always talk about how it’s not a creative challenge to take something depressing and make something depressing out of it. To us, it was much more interesting to take something that’s inherently depressing and try to make something really, really funny out of it. To me, the movies that are about something you generally don’t want to watch but you keep watching for decades to come, the only reason you do that is because they’re funny. A movie like “Dr. Strangelove,” no one wants a movie about f—ing nuclear war, but if it’s funny, you keep watching it. Tonally, that’s what we were trying to do. Will Reiser : Yeah, challenging that idea of what’s acceptable. People are really afraid to laugh at illness in general. MTV : Did the pragmatists in both of you worry about marketing a movie like this? Rogen : I think it’s challenging, but I know people like the movie, and if the movie was in any way disappointing, we would really have a challenge. But because it’s a satisfying movie and ultimately not depressing and our trailers have been good; it’s no bigger challenge than some of the other movies we’ve done. At the time, a weed action movie was not easy to market. MTV : How true to life is this film for you? Reiser : It’s definitely fiction. I took from my own experience and created something that’s a work of fiction. I can relate to the character and I really tried to draw on my own experiences. And the other characters, like my mother in the movie — that’s not my mother — but there are elements of my mother and there are elements there in our relationship that are things we really went through. A lot of the alienation and isolation and the absurdity you feel when you’re sick, that all speaks to my experience. At the time, Seth and I would laugh about it. When you’re that young, you don’t sit around and talk about your emotions. We’re comedy writers. We would joke about it. Rogen : It was never, “What happens when you die?” It was, “Are you too old to get a Make-A-Wish? We should at least go for it. Worst comes to worse, we hang out with Led Zeppelin for a day.” Reiser : It’s dark humor, but that’s who we are and that’s how we came up with the idea for the movie. We were at a party one night and we came up with this idea for a buddy comedy. Rogen : The first version was an R-rated version of “The Bucket List.” MTV : What about the element of encouraging Kyle to use his illness to benefit his sex life. Is that true to life? Rogen : I don’t think it was as specific as, “You can use this to get laid.” But I did aggressively push Will to always look on the bright side and make something good out of it. Maybe we can get a free drink, maybe we can go on a trip somewhere. Reiser : I remember in 2005 I had just had this horrible back surgery and I could barely walk, and Seth and I were waiting on line to see this huge action movie — I think it was “Batman Begins” — and Seth walked to the front and said, “My friend has cancer, can we skip the line?” Rogen : And it worked! So yes, I may or may not have used Will’s cancer to get into “Batman Begins” for free. From “Abduction” to “Muppets, “Moneyball” to “Breaking Dawn,” the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest upcoming flicks in our 2011 Fall Movie Preview. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films’ biggest stars. Check out everything we’ve got on “50/50.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Fall Movie Preview 2011 Related Photos Exclusive Photos From Fall’s Biggest Flicks
Band promises churning new track will be available online ‘soon,’ at 15th anniversary concert in NYC. By James Montgomery Paramore’s Hayley Williams performs at the Fueled by Ramen 15th anniversary concert Photo: MTV During Wednesday night’s Fueled by Ramen 15th anniversary concert, Paramore pulled the curtain back on a brand-new song, “Renegade,” and promised that fans will be able to hear a full studio version very soon. The new song — recorded along with their roaring single “Monster” back in March with producer Rob Cavallo — is a churning, spiky thing, full of roiling bass and guitars, and seems to bridge the gap between the band’s punky Riot! past and the more plaintive expanses of 2009’s Brand New Eyes. Paramore have been using a recorded version of the brand-new track as their intro music during their recent run of Warped Tour dates. Now, as frontwoman Hayley Williams promised the crowd at New York’s Terminal 5, fans will be able to get their hands on it in the very near future. “This song, we will be putting online for you to have as soon as possible, we’re working on it!” she shouted. Of course, it’s not clear when (or even where ) “Renegade” will be made available. A spokesperson for the band’s label told MTV News that the release date “has yet to be confirmed.” Paramore didn’t just use the FBR anniversary show as a platform to premiere new songs, though. They also worked a classic into another new track, spinning a few refrains of Fleetwood Mac’s stirring “Landslide” into their sonorous acoustic track “In the Mourning,” and the crowd definitely appreciated the move, singing along to the iconic verses and cheering wildly. And Williams responded , telling fans that they’ll be able to own that track too. After all, she’s been promising new material in 2011, and she did it again on Wednesday night. “Thank you so much, goodness!” she said. “Well, if you like that, we’re going to release it later this year for you guys to have … hey, we promised we’d put some new songs out for you. You guys sounded amazing on that, thanks for singing along.” Are you excited for new music from Paramore? Tell us in the comments! Related Videos Fueled By Ramen 15th Anniversary Concert: Paramore Live Related Photos Fueled By Ramen 15th Anniversary Concert: Paramore Live Photos Related Artists Paramore
