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‘Twilight’ Star Jackson Rathbone Hits Road With 100 Monkeys

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Band plays U.S., then the world in support of Liquid Zoo . By Christina Garibaldi 100 Monkeys Photo: MTV News Jackson Rathbone has been keeping himself very busy since wrapping up “Breaking Dawn” earlier this year. The “Twilight” star is currently on the road with his band, 100 Monkeys , hitting towns all across the U.S. before taking their act overseas later this year . The band, which recently released its second full-length studio album, Liquid Zoo, stopped by the MTV Newsroom to give us a sneak peek at what fans can expect from its usually unexpected live shows. “It’s a raucous, theatrical live set, constantly switching instruments and singers and jumping and running around onstage, very interactive with the audience,” Ben Graupner said. “We pull ideas from the crowd and make up a song on the spot. People will come out of nowhere and start rapping. You really don’t know what to expect except for a smile and a good time.” 100 Monkeys, who are pretty confident they have never played the same set twice, are constantly thinking up new ways to keep their fans entertained. “We always just have fun with it,” Rathbone said. “At the end of the day, the thing we do with 100 Monkeys is we play with our audience. It’s just a fun time. They came out to see us and we came there to see them. That’s what makes us a great live band. We love playing.” Next up, they are taking on New York City with a show at the Gramercy Theatre on Saturday, but don’t ask them what they will be playing. They still have no idea. “We write our set lists 30 minutes to an hour before our show,” Rathbone revealed. “We always write the set list, sometimes it gets a lot of doodles. It’s fun. The best set list we ever had was from a sticker book.” So, is life on the road as glamorous as it looks? Well, not for these guys. “We are on a red, smelly bus,” Rathbone joked. “It wasn’t as smelly before we got on, but it definitely had some residue. It’s actually from the 1992 Metallica tour; it’s got a little Metallica vibe to it.” Are you going to see 100 Monkeys on tour? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists 100 Monkeys

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RZA Recalls Being Challenged To Stop Sampling

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I hadn’t paid my dues to music, and so I went and started studying theory,’ Wu-Tang beatmaker tells Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Adam Murphy RZA Photo: MTV News Behind the Beats: RZA RZA can chop a sample with the best of them. The chief Wu-Tang producer has flipped samples from Isaac Hayes and Gladys Knight to make classic hip-hop records like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Can It Be All So Simple,” but it was a random encounter while buying music equipment that changed the Abbot’s entire perspective on sampling music. “The first thing happened was that I was at a music store buying equipment,” RZA told Mixtape Daily. “I went platinum, I became a millionaire, I was probably feeling myself egotistically, going to Sam Ash to buy a whole bunch of equipment, and a regular musician stopped me because people were giving me attention, ‘That’s RZA, that’s RZA.’ And this guy said, ‘You’re ruining music.’ ” Of course, a young RZA was taken aback at first. “He’s a musician, but because of sampling, he can’t get a job. Because of drum machines, his drummer can’t get no work. He said, ‘You’re not a real musician.’ I said, ‘What you mean I’m not a real musician? I got a platinum album.’ He said, ‘You’re not a real musician. You don’t know nothing about music.’ ” It was at that point that RZA’s outlook began to change. “He was right. I couldn’t tell him what a C note was. So he challenged me, basically,” he said. Feeling inspired, the Wu-beat banger started to study music theory and began to craft sample-free tracks. That, coupled with multiple lawsuits that he faced for reworking compositions from others, led to RZA’s growth. “It’s unfair sometimes for us to have success on things when we haven’t paid our dues,” he said. “So even though I paid my dues to hip-hop, I hadn’t paid my dues to music, and so I went and started studying theory.” For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists RZA Wu-Tang Clan

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Lil Wayne ‘Embraced’ Lil B On Sorry 4 The Wait Collabo

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I was nervous, and I don’t even get nervous about nothing,’ B tells MTV News about recording ‘Grove St. Party’ with Weezy. By Steven Roberts Lil B Photo: Roger Kisby/ Getty Images Lil Wayne dropped his highly anticipated and aptly titled Sorry 4 the Wait mixtape on Wednesday, further cementing his knack for jacking beats. One surprise on the project was Weezy’s take on Waka Flocka Flame’s “Grove St. Party,” which included a feature from the Based God himself, Lil B. B was photographed with the YMCB family this past June, and he even tweeted about recording a track with Wayne. Now that the track has finally come to fruition, MTV News caught up with the Based God to chat about the experience and his gratitude to Mack Maine for setting it up. “He put us two together, me and Wayne, because he knew I had dumb-ass respect and major love for Wayne,” Lil B told us. “A lot of people say that I’m like him, and I take that as a compliment. It was crazy to see how Wayne embraced me, how he really respect my music [as] an artist. “I was nervous, and I don’t even get nervous about nothing, but I was nervous with that boy Wayne in that mother—-er,” he added about their session. “It was a good nervous, because it was like, ‘Man, I really made it.’ It was a bunch of people in the studio, but Wayne had it for me and him to get on this song, and it was just a real honor.” Lil B said the experience was like an NBA rookie getting a chance to play one-on-one against Kobe or Jordan, adding that Wayne was a fan of his music — the copious amounts of it — and a supporter of what he was doing. “He really liked the song ‘Free Wayne’ that I did,” Lil B said. “He knows what’s up. Wayne is hip. He knows about the cooking dance and everything. We was out there cooking at the Curren$y show, going nuts. Everybody at Cash Money, I just want them to have a long life, be safe, healthy and have fun and be happy.” Have you checked out Wayne’s “Grove St. Party”? Share your reviews in the comments! Related Artists Waka Flocka Flame Lil Wayne Lil B

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Evanescence Fans Share Their Enthusiasm For New Songs

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘Their sound has changed, but I can’t deny Amy’s heart-achingly beautiful voice,’ one fan tweets of new tracks. By James Montgomery Evanescence’s Amy Lee Photo: Jason Squires/ WireImage All week, MTV News has been unveiling sneak peeks of Evanescence ‘s much-anticipated new album, beginning with Monday’s first listen to the band’s booming comeback single, “What You Want.” On Wednesday, we drew the curtain back on another equally voluminous song, “The Other Side,” and on Friday, we’ll finish things up with a third tune, an epic, ethereal ballad called “Lost in Paradise.” And though we expected Evanescence fans would be pretty excited to hear new music, especially since it’s been nearly four years since the band has released a single, we had no idea the response would be as overwhelming as it has been. Our first two sneak peeks were the most-read stories on MTVNews.com on the days they went up, and we’re expecting the same for the third. And through it all, we’ve been receiving tons of comments from Ev supporters around the globe. In fact, to demonstrate that response, on Thursday afternoon (July 14), I took to Twitter and asked fans to send me their reactions to “What You Want” and “The Other Side.” Here’s just a small sampling of what I received from Evanescence fans all across the world. “New Evanescence jams are great, another welcomed chapter of their musical EVolution! Never disappointed by their sound!” @ET_123 “Evanescence is still alive, and Amy was right: they’re back and better than ever. I’ve listened to ‘What You Want’ and ‘The Other Side’ so many times, my mom doesn’t bother coming into the computer room anymore.” @EverEvanescence “Five years later, Evanescence comes back with a heavier and more mature sound. [The new] songs are PERFECT! It’s definitely a new sound, combined with their classic one. Heavy, but fun! Vocals, guitars, bass, drums. They all sound perfect in the two sneak peeks.” @TanyaThe1 “From the start Ev has carved its place in me; their sound has changed but I can’t deny Amy’s heart-achingly beautiful voice! [She] couldn’t keep singing the same way (all angst and pain) [because] she is older and in a healthier place. [Her] voice would make a Lady Gaga or Ke$ha song sound like a beautiful masterpiece, like a million bucks!” @Oceankitties ” ‘The Other Side’ totally blew the F#*$ away! It’s very heavy; the instrumentation and the theme of the song is brilliant!” @TabooEV ” ‘The Other Side’ is a fun, dark anthem. I was late for work because I was listening to it on replay.” @Jimere_Music “[It’s] another exciting evolution of sound for Evanescence but with the same darkly romantic, moody energy they’ve always had.” @Alastair992 “Despite years of absence from the music industry, Ev fans are ready to submerge themselves again in an ocean of sounds … Evanescence brings back the ‘smack u in the face’ factor the music industry was missing with ‘What You Want.’ @1solavez “They’re looser, deeper, heavier but still dark with Amy’s vocals intact. Her vocals are in harmony with the music more so than before, making the new music different and much more powerful at the same time.” @aliigh “The snippets were AMAZING. You can definitely tell that they’ve expanded their creative boundaries as musicians.” @pinkglamgrrl35 “Evanescence is that band who grow with their fans, we’re not the same kids from 2006, now we grow up and Evanescence too … these new songs are a new chapter in our lives with Ev… an awesome, stronger, and beautiful way to started, thank you!” @EvanesMen “Her voice stirs my soul awake, while the drums convey the pounding of my heart racing in anticipation of Ev radio domination.” @tylerkellye “Waiting 5 years will be worth it, not just for the return of Ev, but for the work done by the band. This is so f—– exciting, dude.” @Adri_Ev We still want to hear what you think of the new Evanescence songs! Share your reviews in the comments below. Related Videos Evanescence: First Listen Related Artists Evanescence

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50 Cent Calls Kelly Rowland ‘The Most Underrated Female’

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘There wasn’t no dance moves Beyonc

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50 Cent Is A ‘Marketing Genius,’ Shawty Lo Says

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Atlanta rapper confirms on MTV News’ ‘RapFix Live’ that he signed a $10 million deal with Fif’s G-Unit. By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Sway Calloway 50 Cent Photo: Ray Tamarra/ Getty Images Shawty Lo is already a boss in his own right, thanks to his D4L Records, but now he has partnered with 50 Cent’s G-Unit brand and label . The Atlanta trap star visited MTV News’ “RapFix Live” on Wednesday and revealed more details about his and 50’s venture, which is worth a reported $10 million. “Basically, 50 is like my major behind me,” Shawty said. “I still kept my label, D4L, I just joined forces with G-Unit, so it’s D4L/G-Unit. 50 got more outlets to take me to more places. I could’ve signed with a lot of labels, but I feel like 50 is a marketing genius and we have similar lifestyles coming up, and I feel like he knows what it’s going to take to get me where I need to be.” Shawty Lo was in discussions with other labels, but “RapFix” host Sway Calloway asked the “Dey Know” rapper what the conversation was like when he sat down with 50 Cent to discuss their future business plans. “It was fun. We ate, we kicked it,” Shawty said. “The meeting, it was a seven-hour meeting. I had seven meetings on the table, but when me and 50 sat down, it was like a seven -hour meeting. It was very crazy, man. We had one break, and it was just thought of the minds, man. That’s where I took my talents to, G-Unit.” A big reason Shawty Lo decided to partner with G-Unit was his disdain for 360 deals. In these deals, instead of just profits from record sales, labels also claim a percentage of an artist’s proceeds from merchandise and touring. “That was my main reason to go do the deal with 50 is because I hate the 360 situation,” Lo said. “I signed a 50/50 deal with 50. It was for a very large amount of money. But the money, it ain’t for me to flex and spend it; it’s for me to run a label down in the South. Instead of the artists having to fly all the way up to New York or fly to the West Coast to get a deal, I’m based in the South, so they can come and see me.” It was reported that the D4L/G-Unit deal was worth even more than what a “large amount” suggests, which Shawty Lo confirmed: “Yes, it’s a $10 million deal.” What do you think of Shawty teaming up with Fif? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos ‘RapFix Live’ With Cali Swag District Related Artists 50 Cent Shawty Lo

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Lady Gaga’s YouTube Account Suspended

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Gaga’s page reportedly suspended due to copyright complaint over a Japanese TV show clip. By Gil Kaufman Lady Gaga Photo: Cool Kids Club/ WireImage Lady Gaga has long been the Queen of YouTube . Her videos have racked up more than a billion views on the site and fans have flocked to it in droves to post their home-brewed takes on her outfits, fashion, music and videos. But little monsters who were looking for their daily fix of Gaga on Thursday were likely disappointed when they went to Mother Monster’s YouTube account and found the following message, “This account has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s Copyright Policy.” What gives? According to Time Out Tokyo Gaga’s official YouTube account was suspended because she posted footage from her recent appearance on the Japanese show “SMAP x SMAP,” on the Fuji TV network. The widely-circulated video of the 10-minute performance in which Gaga sang a medley of songs from Born This Way resulted in a takedown request from Media Interactive Inc. on Tuesday (July 12). The video features Gaga performing on a fog-enshrouded set with the popular Japanese boy band SMAP, and the issue appears to involve Gaga’s failure to secure the digital rights to display their performance on her YouTube account. In the clip, Gaga emerges from an ornate box wearing a an elaborate black dust mask and sings “The Edge of Glory” before sitting down at a piano housed in a giant bejeweled hand sculpture for a solo take on “You and I” that morphs into the album’s title track. The “Born This Way” performance features the members of SMAP standing and posing behind Gaga, joining her dancers in some high-energy choreography and singing light backup duties on the hit track. Spokespeople for Gaga and YouTube could not be reached for comment at press time. On Monday, Gaga tweeted her excitement about the SMAP performance, writing, “My performance+cooking show appearance on SMAP SMAP is airing now in Japan. Kawaii Monsters!” A week earlier, she Twitpic’d a sepia-toned photo of her with the group as well. Related Artists Lady Gaga

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Ice Cube: ‘Boyz N The Hood’ Still ‘As Potent’ 20 Years Later

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘We felt like we was teaching America about a part of itself that they don’t see,’ Cube tells ‘RapFix Live.’ By By Rob Markman, with reporting by Ade Mangum Ice Cube Photo: MTV News “Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the ‘hood.” In that line lays the crux of John Singleton’s 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood.” Delivered by Ice Cube’s character, Doughboy, those words ring as true today, 20 years later, as they did when the film first hit theaters. Released on July 12 of that year, “Boyz N the Hood” was a gritty, cinematic depiction of the lives of three young African-American men growing up in inner-city Los Angeles. On Wednesday’s (July 13) “RapFix Live,” Ice Cube broke down the cultural significance of the film that launched his acting career. “When we first did the movie ‘Boyz N the Hood,’ we felt like we was teaching America about a part of itself that they don’t see,” he explained. “We was teaching you about people like Doughboy and why he is the way he is.” But while Cube’s Doughboy was an unapologetic gangster who couldn’t see a way out of the ‘hood and the gang culture that consumed him, his half-brother Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) used football as a means to earn a college scholarship that might ultimately take him out of the ghetto. Their friend Tre, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., struggled to balance the life lessons that his father (Laurence Fishburne) passed onto him with the reality of the streets. And for Cube, the circumstances addressed in the movie still ring true after two decades. “The movie holds up. The movie had been used as a tool to teach people about the ‘hood that they may not know about,” he said. “I think the movie is a definite classic, it definitely holds up, it’s definitely as potent today as it was back then. The message is definitely as clear today and needed as it was back then.” Share your favorite scenes from “Boyz N the Hood” in the comments! Related Videos ‘RapFix Live’ With Cali Swag District Related Artists Ice Cube

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Mary J. Blige Calls Nicki Minaj Leak ‘Not Fair’

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘But I’m over it,’ she tells MTV News of unfinished ‘Feel Inside’ hitting the Web. By James Dinh, with additional reporting by Kara Warner Mary J. Blige Photo: Bennett Raglin/ WireImage It’s especially hard nowadays to keep new music under wraps. Just ask Mary J Blige , whose purported collaboration with Nicki Minaj on a song called “Feel Inside” prematurely surfaced online a few weeks ago. Soon after the leak, Blige’s camp revealed that, while the duo are working on a track together for the singer’s new album, My Life Too: The Journey Continues (dropping October 4), the song that hit the blogosphere was the result of two different studio sessions and not the real thing. MTV News recently caught up with Blige to get her take on the leak, and she was none too pleased. “I was pissed about the leaking of the Nicki Minaj and Mary J Blige record, because that’s not fair and people shouldn’t do that,” she said bluntly. “But I’m over it. We move on. We’re going to make more hot music.” Asked what other special guests can be expected on the forthcoming project, MJB remained coy, saying she didn’t want to reveal any other featured collaborators until “maybe a month from now” to make sure everything is “etched in stone.” While Blige didn’t dish too many details about her and Minaj’s collabo, songwriter Andrea Martin (Melanie Fiona, Leona Lewis), the woman who penned the tune, did offer some insight into the Harajuku Barbie-assisted track. “It was a surprise to know that Nicki Minaj jumped on the song and nobody wanted to tell me. I was like ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ ” Martin told MTV News. “It’s just such a great thing. I’ve always wanted to work with Mary J. Blige, and I finally got the chance to, and it was a good time for me to prove myself that I can write songs for you, baby.” For fans who are still waiting for the finalized collabo to surface, they’ll be happy to hear that the song is tentatively scheduled to be one of the project’s first singles, with MJB’s camp already scouting a video director for the song. As for whether Martin felt any pressure to deliver material for the sequel to the singer’s 1994 breakthrough My Life LP, the songwriter simply said Blige “knows what she wants.” Are you excited about Mary and Nicki’s upcoming collabo? Tell us in the comments! Related Artists Mary J. Blige Nicki Minaj

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Blink-182 ‘Stoked’ For Fans To Hear ‘Up All Night’

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Mark Hoppus emails MTV News days before the premiere of much-anticipated new single. By James Montgomery Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus Photo: Jason Kempin/ Getty Images Two years ago, Blink-182 told MTV News they wouldn’t be playing “Up All Night” during their reunion tour mostly because, well, they hadn’t finished recording it yet. “We really don’t want the first time that people hear our new song to be a YouTube version of us playing it live,” Mark Hoppus said at the time. “We want it to be the actual song, and we haven’t gotten the chance to finish it yet, so we’ll probably leave it out of the set until we actually release it.” Of course, for a while there, it looked like that release date would never come . But on Tuesday night, much to the delight of Blink fans everywhere, the band announced that “Up All Night” would finally, totally, officially make its premiere Friday at 10:30 a.m. on Los Angeles radio station KROQ and Blink182.com . If you think you’re excited, well, you can imagine how the guys in Blink must be feeling. After all, the debut of “Up All Night” has been a long time coming. And, as Hoppus told MTV News in an email Wednesday (July 13), they can’t wait to finally give fans a listen to what they’ve been up to all this time. “We’re all so stoked to finally have music out that people can listen to. I think I’m probably more excited than anyone else in the world for the new single,” Hoppus wrote. ” ‘Up All Night’ contains elements of everything we’ve done in Blink-182, and pushes further than we’ve gone before. Can’t wait for everyone to check it out.” Blink will hit the road along with My Chemical Romance on August 5 as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour — and yes, they’ll be playing songs from their upcoming album. And bringing lasers too. “I just want lasers. That’s what I said last time, though, so we’ll see,” Tom DeLonge told MTV News in May. “I’m excited [because] I think on this next tour we’re going to be able to have a lot more options of what we can do, because the music is going to afford a little more latitude, just because we’ve been doing some really cool stuff and different stuff with the new record. So I’m really excited to bring that out.” Are you excited for “Up All Night”? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists blink-182

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