Lawsuit clears way for release of music recorded before Lambert’s ‘American Idol’ run. By Gil Kaufman Adam Lambert Photo: Getty/ Jason LaVeris You already knew
‘That’s why you got lawyers and a label that’s supposed to do that, and I guess it just got overlooked,’ he tells ‘RapFix Live.’ By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway Tyga on “RapFix Live” Photo: Natasha Chandel/ MTV News Hip-hop was built on sampling. Beat breaks from old-school records like the Honeydrippers’ soul classic “Impeach the President” and the Incredible Bongo Band’s 1973 version of “Apache” have become the basis for a number of notable rap records. As essential as sampling is to hip-hop culture, it is also a vital part of the music business, and utilizing an unauthorized sample can be costly to an artist. Tyga had to learn the hard way when he failed to clear a sample of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech for the title track of his Careless World: The Rise of the Last King LP. Because Tyga and his label failed to clear the sample with MLK’s estate, the physical copies of his album were removed from stores when it was released last week, on February 21. “I felt like a lot of my fans and some of the younger generation know of Martin Luther King, but they don’t really understand his struggle or what he did and the message he was trying to give to younger people like myself,” Tyga explained on Wednesday’s (February 29) “RapFix Live.” “Me knowing that is why I used the phrase on that song, and I really wanted that part on the song. It was, like, 10 seconds. If I thought it was gonna jeopardize my first-week sales, I wouldn’t have used it. I used it because I wanted the message to get out.” Clearing samples isn’t a simple process, and there are quite a few legalities to consider. Some material is considered fair-use, but the guidelines that define what is and is not considered fair use aren’t always cut-and-dried. “I thought it would be like more public use, since it was on YouTube. I eventually knew you had to get it cleared with someone, but that’s not really my job to do,” Tyga said. “My job is to be the artist and really put all my effort into the music. That’s why you got lawyers and a label that’s supposed to do that, and I guess it just got overlooked.” The mishap has definitely cost Tyga a significant percentage of his first-week sales. He estimates that about 200,000 physical copies of his album were pulled from stores, and his entire sales tally came strictly from digital outlets. When it was all said and done, Carless World moved 61,000 digital copies and would have sold even more, if not for the sample snafu. “To hear that, to get that phone call, it’s like, you know, don’t bring me all the way to the finish line and drop the baton,” he said, disappointed. “I’ve been working so hard for this, and you guys couldn’t clear a little sample?” It is unclear where the blame lies, be it with Tyga’s camp, his Cash Money label or CM’s distributor Universal Republic. Whatever the case, the “Rack City” rapper is bummed that he had to compromise his artistic vision. “It was the fact that I wanted this Martin Luther King phrase on this part of the song and I couldn’t get it,” he said. “It’s all good. We gonna keep rolling with the punches, and it’s a great album.” Did you download Tyga’s new album? Share your reviews in the comments! Related Videos Tyga Rises To ‘RapFix Live’ Related Artists Tyga
Band set to kick off big, bad tour in support of Some Nights next week. By James Montgomery Nate Ruess of Fun. Photo: MTV News Momentum has been building behind Fun. ‘s Some Nights album since September, when the band unveiled the teaser clip for “We Are Young,” their stirring anthem that is spending its second week in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 (alongside usual suspects Katy Perry, Adele and Rihanna), cementing its status as the first out-of-nowhere smash of 2012. Since that teaser, they’ve been the subject of innumerable “Next Big Thing” pieces and released a proper video for the song, and earlier this week, Some Nights finally hit stores. So with their single sitting high on the charts and a full-scale tour in support of their album set to kick off next week, one has to wonder what it’s like to actually be in the band at this very moment, as they stand perched on the brink of big-time success. “I think we’re very aware of what’s happening around us, and I think there’s a level of excitement, but I feel like there’s so much more to accomplish, and we do want to accomplish all of that,” frontman Nate Ruess told MTV News. “So any sort of victory that we might not have had the privilege of having over the last 10 years that might be coming now, we only give ourselves about a second and then we think, ‘All right, what’s next?’ ” “Also, having done this for such a long time, we’ve put all the emphasis on the artistic victories, so we’ve always just been trained for those to be the most satisfying ones,” guitarist Jack Antonoff added. “So anything that’s happening on the other side of things, I think the three of us just think, ‘It’s so exciting. Now we can make this artistic dream come true.’ If people are finding out about the band [now], we can have this elaborate stage set up that we’ve always dreamed of, or we can work with this producer, or get this instrument that we always wanted.” And if their enthusiasm seems somewhat tempered, well, you can’t blame them. After all, all three members of Fun. have logged time in previous bands (the Format, Steel Train, Anathallo), and they’ve each seen how quickly fortunes can change. Still, they’d be lying if they didn’t say they’re looking to take full advantage of their sorta superstar status — and you’ll be able to tell on their upcoming tour. “We’re taking every penny we can squeeze out of the band to create some sort of wild show, and I think we’re always going to do that,” Antonoff said. “So if you see us in a club that holds 1,000 people, you’re going to get a big show for that size club. … We’re always going to push it” So with one smash hit under their belts, Fun. will push on into 2012 looking to expand both their fanbase and their reach — which, of course, is going to require a bit of sacrifice. Then again, after slogging it out for 10 years, the guys in Fun. are sort of used to all that. “I’m kind of annoyed, because I finally got an apartment on the Upper West Side, and I was looking forward to being there, just, you know, the calm before the storm,” Ruess laughed. “Because I know how we are; we’re just going to be on tour for the whole entire year. So there’s not going to be any time at home. Oh well.” Will you check out Fun. on tour? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists fun.
Happy Oscar week! Time for another one of Movieline’s virtual awards roundtables , this time featuring nominated filmmakers behind this year’s contenders for Best Foreign-Language Feature. Meet our distinguished panel:
Amy Adams will also star in ‘Trouble With the Curve,’ which tells the story of an aging baseball scout. By Jocelyn Vena Justin Timberlake Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images Who needs a music career when you have a bustling movie career? Right, Justin Timberlake ? The singer has added another role to his growing docket of movies. He’s next set to star alongside screen legend Clint Eastwood in “Trouble With the Curve.” The guys will be joined by Amy Adams in the film, which revolves around an aging baseball scout (played by Eastwood) who goes on a road trip to Atlanta with his daughter (Adams) to check out a potential recruit. Timberlake is set to play Eastwood’s friend Johnny Flanagan, a former baseball player himself who is now a Yankees talent scout. Flanagan may also turn out to be Adams’ potential love interest. Eastwood will not be directing this project. That honor will go to his longtime producing partner, Robert Lorenz, making this his directorial debut, Variety reports. Before Timberlake hits the set for this project, he’s first slated to star in the Coen brothers’ next film, “Inside Llewyn Davis.” MTV News recently caught up with co-star Oscar Isaac, who shared his excitement about the project, which is set during the folk movement in New York City during the 1960’s. Though Timberlake won’t be singing alongside Eastwood, he will get the chance to croon in the Coen brothers flick. The music is being written and produced by the likes of the Punch Brothers, T-Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford. “It’s folk from the ’60s — old songs passed down for many generations — but new takes on them,” Isaac said. “Obviously we have the hindsight of now and so we kind of revisit these old songs. They’re hopeful and beautiful and in contrast [to] the life of a folk singer, which is not very beautiful at all. It’s very drab and dire. It’s a screwball comedy.” Will you be seeing “Trouble With the Curve”? Leave your comment below. Related Photos The Evolution Of: Justin Timberlake Acting, Log-Rolling, Quilting: Justin Timberlake Can Do It All Related Artists Justin Timberlake
But she doesn’t ‘encourage’ Ava and Deacon to watch them: ‘I think it’s weird,’ she says during ‘MTV First: This Means War.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Reese Witherspoon Photo: MTV News Hopefully you tuned in to MTV on Tuesday night for “MTV First: This Means War ,” during which acclaimed actress and MTV Generation Award winner Reese Witherspoon presented an exclusive clip from her upcoming film and stuck around for a lengthy chat to discuss her diverse career and various leading men, the most recent being Robert Pattinson and “War” co-stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy. Witherspoon also talked about being a mom to daughter Ava, 12, and son Deacon, 8, and whether they have started to watch any of her movies together. “Not really. I think it’s weird,” Witherspoon admitted. “I don’t encourage it, but if it comes on, we’ll watch it. They kind of find it entertaining. They’re kind of fascinated with a movie I did when I was 14. They really want to see ‘The Man in the Moon,’ because that’s sort of starting to be the age that they are.” Seeing as how many celeb kids choose to follow in their parents’ footsteps, we asked Witherspoon if her children caught the acting bug or talked about wanting to act. “It just doesn’t enter the picture. I encourage their artistic abilities at home, but they’ve never said that it’s anything they wanted to do,” Witherspoon said. The busy actress and mom also dished about her encounter with Kate Middleton at the California launch of Tusk Trust, an organization designed to preserving Africa’s culture, back in July. “That was very cool,” Witherspoon gushed of meeting the Duchess of Cambridge. “There’s such a history there, and I think there’s also a fascination with [Kate]. She carries herself so beautifully, keeps her composure, and under a lot of stress, I’m just kind of fascinated with how people handle different modes and lifestyles and all that. She’s very smart and sweet.” Stick with MTV News as we roll out more from our exclusive “MTV First: This Means War ” interview with Reese Witherspoon! Related Videos MTV First: This Means War
For American actresses, the worst that can happen when shooting a nude scene is an unflattering angle or disapproving parents. For Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, however, briefly baring her breast in the commercial Corps et Ames for the Cesar Awards (France’s answer to the Oscars) means she can’t go home again. No, really- the Iranian government has told her not to come back . As Farahani told Britain’s Daily Telegraph : “I was told by a Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guide official [after shooting the commercial] that Iran does not need any actors or artists. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else” , she said. Farahani, a star in her native Iran, relocated to Paris last year to escape Iranian cinema’s oppressive moral code, so at least she hasn’t been left homeless. But it’s a chilling reminder that in some places, going bare means risking much more than embarrassment. Golshifteh, we salute you! See the original commercial after the jump!
Among the many stream of consciousness topics Kanye West brain-dumped in his epic Twitter session Wednesday night — his professional frustrations, his fashion aspirations, his new design company aimed at picking up where Steve Jobs left off — was a brief mention of one curious film project in particular. “I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson [sic] movie and…” Wait, WHAT? The Jetsons , as in the long-gestating live-action Jetsons movie? And Kanye would have a hand in making this happen? Mr. West, you’ve got my attention now. If Kanye’s Jetsons project is the one I think he’s talking about, it’s the live-action reboot that’s been kicking around for years, once scripted by Adam Goldberg ( Fanboys ) with Robert Rodriguez attached to direct. Rodriguez went on to make Spy Kids 4 instead and the project hasn’t surfaced much since, so West’s Tweet is the first indication in a while that the thing’s actually back on track. Unfortunately, details on what exactly this “creative director” position would be were lost in West’s Tweet-crazy haze of thoughts on the creative process and the limits celebrity have imposed on his artistic freedom, or whatever. “Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively,” he wrote, also noting that he hasn’t bought new jewelry in two whole years. See? You don’t know Yeezy! But anyway, those Jetsons plans: I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson movie and someone on the call yelled out.. you should do a Jetsons tour! This just happened a few hours ago. I was very insulted of course becuase for anyone that’s seen the Watch the Throne Tour… Or Coachella or Glow in the Dark or Runaway.. you know I have real ideas… Not that West seems to be interested in anything but forward momentum, but a Jetsons movie along the aesthetic lines of his space-toony Takashi Murakami-designed Graduation album would be kind of awesome. In the least, it would make the very idea of a Jetsons reboot vaguely palatable. But while that idea would be cool and all, how can West possibly fit that in with the huge world-changing plans he Tweeted out last night, which include:
A.Rod is known for being a big of a faggot….at least when it comes to the women he chooses…they all start out with vaginas, but he puts them through some training routine that makes their tits shrink, their shoulders broaden and their hips go masculine…It happened with Madonna and Cameron Diaz and I can only assume it is going to happen to this Torrie Wilson wrestler bitch and I’m sure she’s going to love every second of being relevant and in the same bed as Madonna and other celebrities, while he’s going to love every choke hold she puts him under while screaming at him and calling him a little bitch…Love is a beautiful thing especially when you have weird fetishes. BONUS – Artistic Crop With Vagina Lip and a Bag that Reads “Juicy”….
Hilary Duff is certainly in the holiday spirit – and very pregnant! Thursday, the singer-actress uploaded a picture to her Twitter account, unveiling a bare baby bump and a painted, gift-wrapped present with the phrase “Happy Holidays.” The artiste who created this festive image? Sister Haylie Duff! “What would I do without you and your artistic ways?” Hilary Duff, 24, tweeted. Haylie, 26, replied: “I can’t wait to meet my nephew. Hurry up and get here!” Oh, soon enough girls. Soon enough. This will be the first child for Hilary and husband Mike Comrie, 31. Congratulations and happy holidays!
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