Tag Archives: akshay-bhansali

Rick Ross Calls ‘Super High’ Video A ‘Pivotal Point’ In His Career

‘It was a much bigger video than I have done previously,’ he tells MTV News. By Shaheem Reid Rick Ross Photo: Akshay Bhansali When hip-hop fans sit back and watch his videos, Rick Ross wants to give them the same chills he got as a youngster when he saw new clips from Eazy-E and Big Daddy Kane. The Bawse released his new video for “Super High” on Sunday, and in the climatic scene, he gets to have an Arthur Fonzarelli moment: wearing a leather jacket and sitting on a fly motorcycle with an even flyer check on his arm. “It’s a real pivotal point,” Ross said about the video, in which he and leading lady Stacey Dash get to chill under the sun on a mountaintop. “Just for me to be sitting on a Harley Davidson. … It was a much bigger video than I have done previously. … Just to be sitting on the mountaintop, my arm around Stacey Dash. I’m burning in between takes. [Director] F. Gary Gray is in a helicopter flying above me, and the pilot is the same pilot that is flying the chopper through the tunnel in ‘The Italian Job.’ That’s F. Gary’s partner. We met, and he did it as love. “I’m just sitting there thinking of all this, it just gets deep,” he added about the surreal moment. “It just lets me know my mind is very powerful. It’s very powerful as long as I stay focused. I can keep getting creative and raise the bar.” Ross said to get the ageless Dash to appear in his clip was just a matter of pressing send. “She is most definitely a beautiful young lady,” he said. “She’s also a class act. She was so youthful, vibing, having a good time. So I take my hat off to her. I wanted to do something different, so I put an actress into it. Someone who I was a fan of, someone I wanted to meet. I threw a name at [F. Gary], he texted the number real quick.” What did you think of Ross’ epic video? Share your thoughts in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Rick Ross Related Artists Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)

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Rick Ross Calls ‘Super High’ Video A ‘Pivotal Point’ In His Career

Tiesto, Diplo Join Forces For ‘C’Mon’ Video

‘His beats with my melodies … I think it’s a great combination,’ Ti

Jay Sean Agrees With Usher’s Comments: ‘Longevity Trumps Everything’

Usher recently said British R&B stars like Sean and Taio Cruz ‘have a lot to prove.’ By Akshay Bhansali Jay Sean Photo: Nuzhat Naoreen/ MTV News With two monster singles in “Down” (featuring Lil Wayne) and “Do You Remember” (featuring Sean Paul and Lil Jon) , British pop/R&B singer Jay Sean has delivered for Cash Money Records and his fans around the world. Sean recently invited MTV News into the New York studio of the Orange Factory — the production team behind the majority of his debut album, All or Nothing — to let fans know that he’s already moved on to his next album. In fact, he’s roughly three-quarters done with it. Still, as eager as Sean was to introduce us to the direction and tone of his forthcoming project, he was also aware of some comments lobbied at him by a fellow R&B star. A few weeks back, while on a promotional tour, Usher spoke to MTV UK’s Wrap-Up urban blog and was asked what he thought of the Stateside success of British R&B artists like Sean and “Break Your Heart” singer Taio Cruz. “Sustaining longevity is all about time,” Usher said. “They have a lot to prove.” While Sean could have responded aggressively the comments, he went a different route. “He’s been in the game for, what, 17 years? I completely agree with what he says,” Sean said. “Longevity trumps everything. America has only heard one album. “I’ve only had four Billboard top 20’s in America so far,” Sean said with a smile. “But that’s still new.” Some music fans aren’t even aware of Sean’s chart assault, which gained the attention of Ronald “Slim” Williams, co-CEO of Cash Money Records, and eventually led to his joining the CM roster. “Outside of America, maybe Usher doesn’t know that I’ve been touring and recording for seven years,” Sean said. “This [ All or Nothing follow-up] is my fourth studio album. I’ve had a couple of multiplatinum albums on my own record label. But he wouldn’t know that if he didn’t do his research or nobody told him.” With that said, it appears Sean agrees that a solid career in the music industry is defined by consistency and quality. And he eagerly awaits the opportunity to share his new material with an ever-growing American fanbase. “I’m so new to America,” he said. “I’ve got so much more to show them, so much more to give them.” What do you think of Sean’s music? Could he match Usher’s lengthy career? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Jay Sean Related Artists Jay Sean Usher

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Jay Sean Agrees With Usher’s Comments: ‘Longevity Trumps Everything’

David Guetta Was ‘Moved’ By K’Naan’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’

A video for the inspirational anthem’s remix premiered today. By Akshay Bhansali K’Naan in “Wavin’ Flag” In the past five years, K’Naan has risen in popularity around the world. The Somali-Canadian rapper/singer is fast becoming known for his inspirational, unifying and vivid material. Growing up in Mogadishu amid the still-ongoing Somali civil war was no doubt formative in making K’Naan into the artist he is today. The hip-hop music his father sent him from America was probably similarly influential. So it should come as no surprise that for his third single from the album Troubadour, he chose to tweak his song “Wavin’ Flag.” In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, the song became a charity single featuring 50 other Canadian artists under the group banner Young Artists for Haiti. Looking to create an urban remake, K’Naan chose producers Will.I.Am and French dance-music hitmaker David Guetta to help fine-tune “Wavin’ Flag” into a ditty with a more mainstream feel. In the video, which premiered Thursday (April29), Will.I.Am and Guetta appear before a black backdrop, but mostly, we see K’Naan inspiring people. He climbs a mountain, sings arm-in-arm with children and performs a concert, all set to the chorus, “When I get older, I will be stronger/ They’ll call me freedom/ Just like a wavin’ flag.” Indeed, the message seems clear: One can achieve the unattainable through belief and strong resolve, a recurring theme in the artist’s three-album catalog. Earlier this month, MTV News caught up with Guetta, who was tickled to have gotten the chance to, for once, slow things down. “When I heard it, I thought it was so beautiful,” Guetta said. “I was totally moved. And then I met K’Naan, and he’s a beautiful person. I was really excited. And then I heard Will was working on it. We decided to do a new version of it, and I think it’s great. “It was my first experience with a slower tempo, so I didn’t know I could handle it,” Guetta explained. “The way I make music is always: ‘Is this going to make people dance?’ That’s the only thing I think about. ‘OK, how to make this emotional?’ So, this one is all about being emotional.” “Wavin’ Flag” has been selected as the Coca-Cola’s promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The soccer event will be held in South Africa, and versions of the single have been recorded in English, Spanish and Chinese. Were you inspired by K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag”? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists K’NAAN

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David Guetta Was ‘Moved’ By K’Naan’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’

Ryan Tedder Doesn’t ‘Remember’ Telling Lady Gaga To ‘Be Careful’

But the OneRepublic singer does say that, as an artist, ‘you gotta take care of your health first.’ By James Montgomery, with reporting by Akshay Bhansali OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder and Eddie Fisher Photo: MTV News Here’s the thing about OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder’s recent comments about Lady Gaga in People magazine: He doesn’t remember actually making them, but that doesn’t mean he’s backing down from them either. A quick refresher: Late last month, after footage surfaced of Gaga nearly collapsing onstage during a concert in New Zealand (an incident she chalked up to “jet lag”), Tedder supposedly told People that he was concerned for LG’s health. “Gaga has to be careful,” he was quoted as saying. “She’s already larger than life. How do you get larger than that?” It seemed like a fairly harmless comment, though as it began to make its way around various gossip sites, all of that changed. When MTV News spoke to Tedder and his OneRepublic mates last week, we decided to ask him to clarify his statement. And, as it turns out, he did a lot more than that. “I’ve had two or three people ask me about that, and I had friends who picked up People magazine last week or the week before, and they’re like, ‘You’re in People, someone asked you about Lady Gaga,’ ” Tedder said. “I don’t even remember saying that. To be honest, I don’t even know that I did. ” At press time, a rep for People had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment. While Tedder doesn’t recall saying he was concerned about Gaga’s health, he freely admits that he is. After all, he’s been through the wringer a time or two and knows how taxing and tormenting it can be, and he doesn’t want to see Gaga go down the same path he did. “I’ve only met her once, but I had, like, a two-hour conversation with her nonstop the first time that I hung out with her, right before ‘Just Dance’ came out, and thought she was the coolest, smartest [person]. I was like, ‘God, she’s got her crap together.’ She was legit,” he said. “So I don’t know her, I don’t pretend like I know her, but the fact that I, for a moment, connected with her humanity, and I know how hard we work, and I know the schedule after ‘Apologize’ blew up … the longest stretch of time we were home in a row, for about 13 months, was two and a half days. And that can push you to a brink, where your job becomes who you are, and you end up reaching a breaking point, where all of a sudden you hate it, and you just want to quit. “Or you get sick — we pushed it so hard earlier this year, we were touring with Rob Thomas, and every single day was ‘show, promo/press during the day, show that night,’ and I lost my voice and got swine flu,” Tedder continued. “And the doctor was like, ‘Look, I’ve dealt with a lot of you artists. I’ve had Kanye in here, I’ve had R. Kelly, I’ve had all these different people come through my office. … If you don’t slow down, your body will shut you down completely.’ And so, if you’re collapsing onstage, I don’t care how much money [you have] or how much you love your ‘Little Monsters,’ you gotta take care of your health first. For anybody. For us. I mean, we’ve had to slow down.” So while Tedder isn’t trying to preach, he just hopes Gaga will slow things down a bit. But, knowing her reputation, he’s not sure she will. “My hat goes off to her. Nobody works harder than Lady Gaga. Nobody. She is unbelievable. I don’t know how she sleeps, or when or if,” he said. “But I know people who work with her, and they’re like, ‘She is the most dedicated, committed, hardworking person around.’ ” To be honest, Tedder isn’t even upset that something he may (or may not) have actually said has gotten twisted up. Far from it. If anything, he’s sort of used to it by now. “I’ve had different quotes. Like, something involving Simon Cowell a long time ago, and the British press got a hold of it, and it was like me and Simon were fighting,” he said. “And then something recently about me ripping on a producer that did our first album, which never happened. It’s just funny.” What do you think about Ryan’s explanation? Do you think Gaga should take it easy? Let us know in the comments! Related Photos The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga OneRepublic

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Ryan Tedder Doesn’t ‘Remember’ Telling Lady Gaga To ‘Be Careful’

Weezer, Kid Cudi, Lil Jon Work With Steve Aoki On New Album

‘It should be interesting,’ Aoki says of the eclectic collaborations. By Adam Murphy, with additional reporting by Akshay Bhansali Steve Aoki Photo: MTV News At this year’s Winter Music Conference in Miami, MTV News spoke to some of the biggest names in dance music and beyond. One name that we couldn’t escape was West coast electronic tycoon Steve Aoki. To assign any one title to Steve Aoki is to do his talents a disservice. DJ, producer and record-label owner (Dim Mak) are but a few of the hats which he somehow manages to wear all at once. And if you’ve heard him spin, Aoki doesn’t miss a beat. As mainstream artists are increasingly consulting underground icons of dance music for production advice, Aoki has a well-trodden path from the major labels to his doorstep, having remixed hit singles for Weezer, Kid Cudi, Robin Thicke, The Killers and beyond. On the international scene, however, Aoki is a completely different phenomenon. His track “I’m in the House,” which features Zuper Blahq (who is almost certainly the alter ego of Will.I.Am ) has been making waves in the clubs and on the indie and dance singles charts abroad since it dropped in November of last year. This reboot of the chant-along sensibility of classic house (also revamped by David Guetta in “On the Dancefloor”) may offer us a glimpse of Aoki’s forthcoming LP. “With my album I’m doing a couple of different tracks with some familiar voices,” Aoki said. “Zuper Blahq, Kid Cudi, Lil John, Weezer, Black Star, Uffie, Sky Ferreira … just mixing it up with some hip-hop vocals, rock vocals, house vocals. So yeah, it should be interesting.” Aoki’s eclectic sensibility and his D.I.Y. spirit perhaps stem from his roots in — of all things — hardcore punk bands. And as more and more “bedroom producers” ascend to international stardom, the independent spirit seems to be the look of the moment. “We’re all doing it ourselves,” Aoki offered. “We’re making enough of a riot in our own world that more people are getting interested and want to get involved in what we’re doing. And if it makes sense to do a collaboration with a familiar voice that everyone knows, then it can make sense on both sides. It can work on the underground and it can work in the commercial world.” When you’re not showing off your moves at the club, stick with MTV News for Dance Music Week. We’ll be catching up with your favorite dance-floor staples as well as introducing you to up-and-coming talent. Related Videos It’s Dance Music Week! Related Artists Weezer Kid Cudi Lil Jon

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Weezer, Kid Cudi, Lil Jon Work With Steve Aoki On New Album

David Guetta Works With ‘Exciting Artist’ Afrojack On ‘Louder Than Words’

‘He’s a fantastic producer,’ Guetta says of the phenom. By Adam Stewart and Akshay Bhansali David Guetta Photo: Jemal Countess/ Getty Images The dance-music world has a new, towering figure: At over 6 feet tall, Afrojack stands above many of his fellow house-music DJ/producers not just physically, but also in sheer production skill. “Afrojack is really killing it at the moment — any number of his tunes can be a huge tune,” Calvin Harris told MTV News recently. “I feel like Afrojack is one of the most important people to come along in a while,” house-music legend Tommie Sunshine said. “I mean, he’s just introduced this whole new sonic palette to the whole spectrum of music!” From Lil Jon to Ti

A-Trak On His And Travis Barker’s WMC Tribute To DJ AM

‘It was very important for me to have one show where I could do an official dedication’ to AM, A-Trak says. By MTV News staff, with reporting by Akshay Bhansali DJ A-Trak Photo: MTV News MIAMI — On Thursday night, Travis Barker, A-Trak, Lil Jon Jazzy Jeff and Steve Aoki were some of the guests on hand to honor the late DJ AM at an unannounced tribute show on Thursday night at Miami’s LIV nightclub during the Winter Music Conference. MTV News caught up with A-Track in the wee hours of Friday morning (March 26), after his set at the Fools Gold party at Grand Central. “At LIV, it was a party for DJ AM — obviously a dedication to him,” A-Trak said. “[He was] a dear friend of mine, we miss him a lot. I’m now doing shows with Travis, so it was very important for me, especially knowing how much Travis and AM established a partnership before [AM] passed, to have one show where I could really do an official dedication and a dedicated routine to him — a scratching thing that he particularly liked, and do it in his honor and pass the torch, in a sense.” The lineup of the show — part of the Winter Music Conference — was a tightly guarded secret , though most in attendance suspected that both Barker and Trak, who recently toured as a duo, were part of the bill. And when they hit the stage shortly after midnight, those suspicions were confirmed. The Hottest News From WMC 2010!

Snooki Fave DJ Kaskade Talks Tiesto Collabo At WMC 2010

House DJ reveals how a tweet from the ‘Jersey Shore’ star boosted his fanbase. By Akshay Bhansali, with additional reporting by Adam Stewart Kaskade Photo: MTV News MIAMI — With a series of notable remixes over the years for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Nelly Furtado, progressive house-music DJ and producer Kaskade has become a force to be reckoned with in the electronic music world. He’s had several songs on the Billboard Hot Dance char and amassed a considerable fanbase. And then one fine day, “Jersey Shore” cast member Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, decided to tweet about a song she was listening to. “She’s a fan of my music which was really cool,” Kaskade (a.k.a. Ryan Raddon) told MTV News on Thursday at the Winter Music Conference . “I actually found out through Twitter. I saw her on Twitter. She was talking about, ‘Oh, I was just sitting back listening to my favorite Kaskade mix.’ And I was like, ‘Snooki, isn’t that the girl on “Jersey Shore”?’ “I don’t watch a lot of television so I didn’t really know,” he admitted. “I hadn’t seen the show yet, and my friends are like, ‘Yeah, yeah, moron! Whatever!’ But it’s interesting. man, after she mentioned me on Twitter, it was like thousands of more [fans] within a week of her Twittering about me, and it was amazing. But that’s what’s cool about dance music, you never know. The teller at the bank listens to it, and so does Snooki, so it’s cool.” DJ Tiesto, another artist who’s certainly on Snooki’s radar and worshipped by virtually every person in attendance at WMC this week, also is a fan of Kaskade’s work. And to prove it, the Dutch trance titan did something he’s seldom ever done: He co-produced a song with Kaskade called “Only You,” which is making its debut in DJ sets around WMC this week. “My sound and Tiesto’s sound, they are actually quite different, but there is some similarity to it,” Kaskade said. “I think melodically it makes a lot of sense, even though our production styles are very different, and it’s cool that he can recognize that. He’s always been a big supporter of my music, but he reached out to me, and I was like, ‘Dude, yeah, let’s do this, let’s kill it.’ I’m just really happy with the way it turned out.” Kaskade is set to release his album Dynasty on May 11. And given the recent string of dance music hits on mainstream radio, he’s upbeat about his prospects. “There was a little creeping up there in the ’80s and early ’90s with Deee-lite, and Madonna was voguing, and it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this gonna happen?’ ” he recalled. “But the timing wasn’t right yet. When Lady Gaga did it, we were all like, ‘Cool.’ This really is our time.” Stick with MTV News all week for more coverage of the Winter Music Conference 2010. Related Videos Sights And Sounds From Winter Music Conference 2010 Related Artists Kaskade

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Snooki Fave DJ Kaskade Talks Tiesto Collabo At WMC 2010

David Guetta Featured On Akon’s Upcoming Album

‘He’s an incredible producer,’ ‘Kon says of Guetta, set to perform at this year’s Winter Music Conference in Miami. By Akshay Bhansali Akon Photo: MTV News For the past two years, David Guetta has been on a house music DJ/producer’s dream run. He has had commercial success doing what few of his colleagues in the electronic world have been able to do: He’s making club music that has American urban artists biting at his heels, has soared into the U.S. charts with a series of monster singles and, after being nominated in three categories, he walked away with the Grammy for Best Remixed Recording for his single “When Love Takes Over,” featuring Kelly Rowland. One of his most lasting accomplishments was last year’s Black Eyed Peas single “I Gotta Feeling,” a track he produced that spent 14 weeks at the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over 5 million downloads through February of this year. In addition to Rowland, his album One Love featured notable singles with Estelle (“One Love”) and Kid Cudi (the internationally charting “Memories”). And then there is his most successful single as a solo artist, “Sexy Chick” featuring Akon , which peaked in December of last year at #5 and now, months later, is still perched at #20 on the Hot 100 list. MTV News had chance to catch up with Akon recently on the set of Quincy Jones’ video for his forthcoming album single, “Strawberry Letter 23,” where he broke down a bit of Guetta’s genius for us. “He’s an incredible DJ, first of all,” ‘Kon said. “Second, he’s an incredible producer. He’s the kind of guy that goes outside the box, so we spoke the same language on the production side of things. We just wanted to do something that no one had thought to put together and before you know it, man, we just got together and came up with the most incredible record.” Lately rumors have been swirling that Guetta has produced a song for Rihanna, and that he also recorded with one of Akon’s artists, Lady Gaga, but that turned out to have been just a meeting of mutual appreciation. Still, ‘Kon did reveal to expect another treat courtesy of the “Sexy Chick” pair on his forthcoming album, Stadium. “I got some incredible collaborations,” Akon said. “I just can’t let you know yet. But I can give you a hint: Guetta will be a part of that record as well. It’s gonna be … just wait. I don’t want to overhype it. I just want to put it out and let you see.” If you can’t wait that long, Guetta will be headlining the Ultra Music Fest at the Winter Music Conference in Miami . Also featured at the fest will be Will.I.Am, Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Major Lazer, Calvin Harris, LMFAO, Tiesto, A-Trak and many more. Stick with MTV News for more coverage of the Winter Music Conference, which kicks off Tuesday in Miami. Related Artists David Guetta Akon

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David Guetta Featured On Akon’s Upcoming Album