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Akon Calls Nick Cannon ‘Famous’ Collabo ‘Overdue’

‘He does a lot of family-friendly stuff and I’m trying to go into that realm,’ ‘Kon tells MTV News. By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Kelly Marino Akon Photo: MTV News Akon ‘s year in music may seem like it’s off to a slow start, but expect the Senegalese-American artist’s name to be back to music industry ubiquity shortly. MTV News recently caught up with the singer/producer/executive on the set of Nick Cannon’s video for “Famous,” where Akon told us linking up with the actor/rapper (who’s expecting twins with wife Mariah Carey ) was opportune. “I listened to [‘Famous’] and I actually liked it,” Akon said. “He does a lot of family-friendly stuff and I’m trying to go into that realm right now. I want to do a lot more family-friendly stuff, and Nick is the best at that. I feel like this was a collaboration way overdue.” On the set, Akon was friendly as always but didn’t divulge any new details about his upcoming album, Stadium, which he hopes to release in September. Last year, the “Sexy Chick” singer revealed to MTV News that producer David Guetta had contributed to the project. For now, Akon plans to go on mini-tours and release new music just to whet the appetites of his fans. But he still isn’t sure which song he’ll drop first. “I don’t know what to release first,” he said. “I’m so excited about the project itself, I’m like, ‘OK, which record do I want to put out first?’ I haven’t quite decided but by the end of April I’ll know exactly what I’mma do with the record.” ‘Kon was more assured in his reverence for Dr. Dre. Last year’s “Kush,” the official lead single from Dre’s long-awaited Detox album, featured a vocal from Akon. “Dre is one of those guys … he’s a perfectionist in his own [right],” Akon said. “You feel confident working with him because he’s not going to let nothing go undone. In a way, that’s great. But sometimes you’re anxious too, like, ‘Man I can’t wait to let everybody hear this.’ Ultimately, working with Dre was just amazing. Dre is very picky about who he decides to work with too. For him to call me and do [multiple] tracks on the record and be involved in more than one record on that album, it said a lot. It shows how much he really appreciated what I’m doing.” Are you excited to hear new tracks from Akon? Tell us in the comments! Related Artists Akon Nick Cannon

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Akon Calls Nick Cannon ‘Famous’ Collabo ‘Overdue’

Akon Calls Nick Cannon ‘Famous’ Collabo ‘Overdue’

‘He does a lot of family-friendly stuff and I’m trying to go into that realm,’ ‘Kon tells MTV News. By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Kelly Marino Akon Photo: MTV News Akon ‘s year in music may seem like it’s off to a slow start, but expect the Senegalese-American artist’s name to be back to music industry ubiquity shortly. MTV News recently caught up with the singer/producer/executive on the set of Nick Cannon’s video for “Famous,” where Akon told us linking up with the actor/rapper (who’s expecting twins with wife Mariah Carey ) was opportune. “I listened to [‘Famous’] and I actually liked it,” Akon said. “He does a lot of family-friendly stuff and I’m trying to go into that realm right now. I want to do a lot more family-friendly stuff, and Nick is the best at that. I feel like this was a collaboration way overdue.” On the set, Akon was friendly as always but didn’t divulge any new details about his upcoming album, Stadium, which he hopes to release in September. Last year, the “Sexy Chick” singer revealed to MTV News that producer David Guetta had contributed to the project. For now, Akon plans to go on mini-tours and release new music just to whet the appetites of his fans. But he still isn’t sure which song he’ll drop first. “I don’t know what to release first,” he said. “I’m so excited about the project itself, I’m like, ‘OK, which record do I want to put out first?’ I haven’t quite decided but by the end of April I’ll know exactly what I’mma do with the record.” ‘Kon was more assured in his reverence for Dr. Dre. Last year’s “Kush,” the official lead single from Dre’s long-awaited Detox album, featured a vocal from Akon. “Dre is one of those guys … he’s a perfectionist in his own [right],” Akon said. “You feel confident working with him because he’s not going to let nothing go undone. In a way, that’s great. But sometimes you’re anxious too, like, ‘Man I can’t wait to let everybody hear this.’ Ultimately, working with Dre was just amazing. Dre is very picky about who he decides to work with too. For him to call me and do [multiple] tracks on the record and be involved in more than one record on that album, it said a lot. It shows how much he really appreciated what I’m doing.” Are you excited to hear new tracks from Akon? Tell us in the comments! Related Artists Akon Nick Cannon

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Akon Calls Nick Cannon ‘Famous’ Collabo ‘Overdue’

Is Nicki Minaj A Good Fit For Britney Spears’ Tour? Experts Weigh In

‘If people are going mainly for Britney, they will be excited to see Nicki as well and vice versa,’ one insider tells MTV News. By Jocelyn Vena Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears Photo: Getty Images After lots of rumors, it was officially announced Tuesday (April 12) that Britney Spears would be bringing along Nicki Minaj (as well as up-and-comers Nervo and Jessie and the Toyboys) on her Femme Fatale tour, kicking off this summer. The Spears/Minaj matchup may not initially make sense, given their very different styles, but according to industry insiders who work on booking talent for venues throughout the country, this really is a match made in heaven. “Bringing [together] two genres of music — one icon and one rising icon — is great for the music business. The combination of Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj on tour together is great for the music industry [and] shows its growing diversity,” Matt Levine of Brandsway Creative, a branding and marketing group in New York City, explained to MTV News. “It gives concertgoers the opportunity to see two independently creative females excelling in their craft and showcasing their talent.” Dawn M. Britt, the director of public relations for the Venetian and Palazzo hotels in Las Vegas, said seeing these ladies on tour together screams girl power. “Both Britney and Nicki give off a very ‘girl power’ attitude, and combining the Femme Fatale and Barbie themes is a smart marketing tool with the all-female tour,” Britt explained. ” … Nicki is a mainstream rapper and collaborates with a lot of pop artists . Their audiences overlap enough that if people are going mainly for Britney, they will be excited to see Nicki as well and vice versa.” Britt said this tour makes tons of sense as it combines “two of the biggest names in music right now. Britney is a legend and in the midst of a huge comeback right now with her new Femme Fatale CD,” she said. “Her recent performance in Vegas was a huge success and really got people excited for the tour. Nicki has been making a name for herself the last few years and is in high demand for collaborations and appearances.” Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, explained that Nicki is a good fit for the tour since “that tour likely needs a strong support act, and Nicki is not a bad choice. Options at this late date had to be limited.” He added that since Spears is launching a new phase of her career, “Fan response on an act like Britney … is always a question mark until you put the first shows on sale and the public answers the demand-level question with their wallets.” What do you think of the Britney/Nicki combo? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Nicki Minaj Britney Spears

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Is Nicki Minaj A Good Fit For Britney Spears’ Tour? Experts Weigh In

Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Beats Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga On YouTube

‘Friday’ has had 100 million views to date, with Black currently working on her second single, ‘LOL.’ By Gil Kaufman Rebecca Black in her video for “Friday” Photo: Ark Music Factory There was a minute there when Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video was, almost literally, inescapable. Whether the success of the viral hit was being covered on such unlikely outlets as CNN or NPR, getting parodied on late-night television, or just bouncing around from Twitter accounts to e-mail in-boxes and music blogs, the tune by the previously unknown 13-year-old had the kind of white-hot media buzz usually reserved for a Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Well, guess what? The little $2,000 pay-to-play ditty-that-could can now claim to have surpassed such major label juggernauts as Bieber and Gaga. According to a Reuters report, the no-budget clip for Black’s song has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube since it was released on February 10, surpassing the totals for Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Bieber’s “Pray” videos, based on numbers provided by Visible Measures, a company that tracks the performance of Web videos. Scratch that. If you count spoofs, other versions and home-brewed takes on the song, it’s actually been seen more than 200 million times. Crunching the same numbers for “Born This Way,” it has generated 180 million online views, while “Pray” has racked up 65 million. It doesn’t seem as though Gaga minds the competition from the Ark Music Factory product, as she reportedly referred to “Friday” as “genius” recently. Black told us she “freaked out” when she heard the compliment from Mother Monster. “I’m 13 and I never thought Lady Gaga would even know my name. I’m the kind of girl that dances to Lady Gaga with a hairbrush in her room at night,” Black told MTV News in late March before she notched her YouTube record. Black is reportedly at work on her second single, “LOL,” though a release date for that song has not yet been announced. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Rebecca Black Related Photos The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga Justin Bieber Takes Over The Bodies Of Other Teen Idols Related Artists Justin Bieber Lady Gaga

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Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Beats Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga On YouTube

Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Beats Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga On YouTube

‘Friday’ has had 100 million views to date, with Black currently working on her second single, ‘LOL.’ By Gil Kaufman Rebecca Black in her video for “Friday” Photo: Ark Music Factory There was a minute there when Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video was, almost literally, inescapable. Whether the success of the viral hit was being covered on such unlikely outlets as CNN or NPR, getting parodied on late-night television, or just bouncing around from Twitter accounts to e-mail in-boxes and music blogs, the tune by the previously unknown 13-year-old had the kind of white-hot media buzz usually reserved for a Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Well, guess what? The little $2,000 pay-to-play ditty-that-could can now claim to have surpassed such major label juggernauts as Bieber and Gaga. According to a Reuters report, the no-budget clip for Black’s song has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube since it was released on February 10, surpassing the totals for Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Bieber’s “Pray” videos, based on numbers provided by Visible Measures, a company that tracks the performance of Web videos. Scratch that. If you count spoofs, other versions and home-brewed takes on the song, it’s actually been seen more than 200 million times. Crunching the same numbers for “Born This Way,” it has generated 180 million online views, while “Pray” has racked up 65 million. It doesn’t seem as though Gaga minds the competition from the Ark Music Factory product, as she reportedly referred to “Friday” as “genius” recently. Black told us she “freaked out” when she heard the compliment from Mother Monster. “I’m 13 and I never thought Lady Gaga would even know my name. I’m the kind of girl that dances to Lady Gaga with a hairbrush in her room at night,” Black told MTV News in late March before she notched her YouTube record. Black is reportedly at work on her second single, “LOL,” though a release date for that song has not yet been announced. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Rebecca Black Related Photos The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga Justin Bieber Takes Over The Bodies Of Other Teen Idols Related Artists Justin Bieber Lady Gaga

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Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Beats Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga On YouTube

Jay-Z And Gwyneth Paltrow Swap Interviews

Pair posts Q&As with one another on their respective websites. By Alvin Blanco Jay-Z and Gwyneth Paltrow Photo: Dave M. Benett/ Getty Images Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z come from different worlds, but that didn’t stop them from the becoming BFFs. The pair have performed together — as have Jay-Z and Gwyneth’s husband, Chris Martin — in the past. And on Tuesday (April 12), the two buddies traded questions with one another on their respective websites. Hova interviewed Paltrow on his recently debuted lifestyle site Life + Times ( LifeandTimes.com ), and Paltrow interviewed Hova for the GOOP.com online newsletter she launched in 2008. The Q&A on Jay-Z’s site is titled “Straight Outta Compton?” It turns out the actress with the singing chops got turned on to N.W.A. in Los Angeles while she was still in high school. “I first was exposed to hip-hop when I was about 16 (1988) by some boys who went to college,” Paltrow said. “The Beastie Boys were sort of the way in for us preppie kids. We were into Public Enemy, Run-DMC and LL Cool J. But then I went to L.A. the summer between my junior and senior years of high school and I discovered N.W.A., which became my obsession. I was fascinated by lyrics as rhythm and how Dre had a such different cadence and perspective from say, Eazy-E, who I thought was one of the most ironic and brilliant voices hip-hop has ever had.” While Jay-Z’s line of questions aimed to discover the root of Paltrow’s musical tastes and affection for hip-hop music (she prefers the Notorious B.I.G. over Tupac Shakur), the actress’ inquiries for the rapper focused on his new website and his personal inspirations (Jean-Michel Basquiat, Muhammad Ali and Mario Batali among them). But any sense of journalistic impartiality went out the window with her last question: “You are the coolest man on Earth, how the f did you get like that?” To this Hov answered, “I’m around great women, starting with my mom. Women keep men cool. The hotter the chick, the cooler the guy … that sounds like a really bad rap line!” Related Artists Jay-Z

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Jay-Z And Gwyneth Paltrow Swap Interviews

Is Beyonce Prepping Her Next Music Video?

Photos and reports surface of a B video shoot featuring couture fashion and 200 dancers. By Jocelyn Vena Beyonce on the set of her next music video Photo: Robero Cavalli’s Twitter Last week a photo appeared on NYMag.com of Beyonc

Britney Spears To Tour With Nicki Minaj

Singer confirms the rumors about her Femme Fatale lineup on her website Tuesday. By Jocelyn Vena Britney Spears Photo: Max Morse/Getty Images After weeks of speculation, Nicki Minaj has at last been confirmed as the replacement for Enrique Iglesias on Britney Spears’ upcoming Femme Fatale tour . The ladies will also be joined by Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on the all-female lineup. “This is the Femme Fatale tour, and I’m thrilled to have the hot Nicki Minaj join me and Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo will get everyone on the dance floor,” Spears said on her website . “Can’t wait to take the Femme Fatales on the road.” Minaj will join Spears after she wraps up touring with Lil Wayne on his I Am Still Music tour, which finishes up May 1 in New Jersey. Last week, Minaj told to MTV News that she was in talks to join the tour, after rumors began swirling that the sassy Queens MC would be hitting the road with the veteran pop superstar. The tour kicks off on June 16 in Sacramento and will run for 26 dates through North America, winding up on August 13 in Toronto. Select tickets go on sale on April 30. Spears manager Larry Rudolph, told MTV News that Britney’s tour will have the post-apocalyptic vibe that’s been present in her recent live sets and the video for “Till the World Ends.” “The way we come up with a concept for a show like this is we sit with Britney, she talks to us about what she’s interested in and what excites her,” Rudolph explained. “We start with the songs on the album; we start with coming up with general, broad concepts. She tells us what interests her and excites her, and from there, we have [the input of music tour director] Jamie King and [choreographer] Brian Friedman.” What do you think of the Nicki/Britney match-up? Share your thoughts in the comments! Related Videos Britney Spears: I Am The Femme Fatale Britney Spears Drops Her Femme Fatale Album! Related Artists Britney Spears Nicki Minaj

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Britney Spears To Tour With Nicki Minaj

Britney Spears To Tour With Nicki Minaj

Singer confirms the rumors about her Femme Fatale lineup on her website Tuesday. By Jocelyn Vena Britney Spears Photo: Max Morse/Getty Images After weeks of speculation, Nicki Minaj has at last been confirmed as the replacement for Enrique Iglesias on Britney Spears’ upcoming Femme Fatale tour . The ladies will also be joined by Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on the all-female lineup. “This is the Femme Fatale tour, and I’m thrilled to have the hot Nicki Minaj join me and Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo will get everyone on the dance floor,” Spears said on her website . “Can’t wait to take the Femme Fatales on the road.” Minaj will join Spears after she wraps up touring with Lil Wayne on his I Am Still Music tour, which finishes up May 1 in New Jersey. Last week, Minaj told to MTV News that she was in talks to join the tour, after rumors began swirling that the sassy Queens MC would be hitting the road with the veteran pop superstar. The tour kicks off on June 16 in Sacramento and will run for 26 dates through North America, winding up on August 13 in Toronto. Select tickets go on sale on April 30. Spears manager Larry Rudolph, told MTV News that Britney’s tour will have the post-apocalyptic vibe that’s been present in her recent live sets and the video for “Till the World Ends.” “The way we come up with a concept for a show like this is we sit with Britney, she talks to us about what she’s interested in and what excites her,” Rudolph explained. “We start with the songs on the album; we start with coming up with general, broad concepts. She tells us what interests her and excites her, and from there, we have [the input of music tour director] Jamie King and [choreographer] Brian Friedman.” What do you think of the Nicki/Britney match-up? Share your thoughts in the comments! Related Videos Britney Spears: I Am The Femme Fatale Britney Spears Drops Her Femme Fatale Album! Related Artists Britney Spears Nicki Minaj

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Britney Spears To Tour With Nicki Minaj

Britney Spears-Nicki Minaj Tour: It’s On!

After extensive talks, Nicki Minaj has officially joined Britney Spears’ upcoming summer tour, replacing Enrique Iglesias as the star’s opening act. A source close to the 26-year-old Minaj confirmed to E! that she’s aboard and tour organizers expect the tandem should be a big concert draw. More so than the Spanish crooner who pulled out last month ? Probably. 1-2 PUNCH : Two Femme Fatales. One horribly pricey ticket . Indeed, the choice of the Trinidad and Tobago-born hip-hop diva is probably for the best, given how foolish Iglesias’ camp just made Ms. Spears look. Hours after the pop princess revealed to Good Morning America that they joined forces, Enrique freaked about playing second fiddle and just bailed. Other artists besides Minaj mentioned as replacements included Joe Jonas and Usher. Britney’s Femme Fatale tour kicks off June 17 in Sacramento. [Photo: WENN.com]

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Britney Spears-Nicki Minaj Tour: It’s On!