Jay-Z made this man’s day… Artist Hebru Brantley was just doin’ his thing this past Sunday when he got the sale that will probably change his career forever: According to sources, For many artists, Art Basel Miami is an incomparable opportunity to have their work seen by the eyes of wealthy collectors, top gallery owners, curators from around the world…and Jay-Z. For 31-year old Chicago artist Hebru Brantley, brought to Basel as a finalist in the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series, it wasn’t until the last day of the preeminent art fair that his work was discovered by the most distinguished of this pool of viewers, Mr. Shawn Carter himself. Brantley’s piece “Everyone’s Scared,” which earned him a final spot in the annual Art Basel exhibit presented by Bombay Sapphire and Russell Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, sold to Jay for $20K on Sunday night. When LeBron James’ manager Maverick Carter caught sight of the piece on Sunday, December 9th, he immediately knew it was the newest addition to the Shawn Carter Collection that the hip hop king had hoped to find in Miami this year. After being sent a digital image of the artwork, Jay-Z named his price and requested that Brantley deliver “Everyone’s Scared” directly to his hotel room later that evening. Good work man. Images via tumblr
David Fincher can’t help but direct. The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo helmsman does what he does best and bosses around a couple of guys from Blur Studio in this Kickstarter campaign video for an animated adaptation of Eric Powell’s very cool comic-book series The Goon . Fincher, who’s teamed up with Powell, Goon publisher Dark Horse Entertainment and Blur directors, Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler, joins those last two men in the clip to attempt to raise $400,000 so that they can produce a finished first reel of the film. And he’s not about to leave the driving to them. After Miller and Fowler begin their appeal, Fincher bigfoots the two guys and decides that a series of niche spots are the way to go. He then proceeds to sell Powell’s world of zombies, vampires, fish-men and giant squid to Little Orphan Annie fans, liberals (“Put a caring man back in the White House”), conservatives (“Put the right man in the White House”) and arch conservatives (“Put a white man back in the White House”) as well as fans of hip hop, R-rated movies and movie trailers. Okay, so the humor is pretty lame, but the footage included in the Kickstarter clip (via FirstShowing.net ) is beautifully bad-ass and features voice work by Clancy Brown as the Goon and Paul Giamatti as Franky’s swashbuckling pupil-less friend Franky. (Now do you get the Little Orphan Annie reference? ) The airborne car scene with Franky spraying machine-gun fire from the hood of a sweet convertible muscle car is dreamy. [ FirstShowing.net ] There’s also this “proof of concept” video. Good stuff. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Chris Lighty, hip hop mogul and longtime manager of big names such as 50 Cent, Diddy, Ja Rule and Mariah Carey , was found dead in NYC this morning. Lighty apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot would to the head. According to law enforcement sources, the 44-year-old Lighty’s body was found by police around 11:30 a.m. in the back yard of his Bronx apartment. Chris Lighty was pronounced dead on the scene, where a semi-automatic firearm was recovered. The death is being investigated as a possible suicide. TMZ reports that he had been in an argument with his ex-wife and shot himself; the duo divorced last year and Lighty hadn’t been the same since. Our condolences to those who knew and loved Chris. [Photo: WENN.com]
This week Hot 107.9 participated in the “Youth Violence Summit” panel at the Victory for the World Church in Stone Mountain. DeKalb County CEO Burrell…
‘I work hard, and music is really important to me,’ JB tells 100 lucky fans during MTV News special celebrating the release of Believe. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Sway Calloway Justin Bieber performs during “Bieber Live” Photo: Justin Bieber ‘s presence in our Times Square studio for the 30-minute special “Bieber Live” was cause for celebration, expertly timed with the release of his new album, Believe, which arrived in stores today. Bieber kicked off the MTV News special with a stripped-down performance of “Die in Your Arms,” which, in addition to inducing frenzied screams from the 100 lucky fans in the audience, set the tone for an insightful and lighthearted look into how much of himself Bieber put into the new album. Speaking to his inspiration for the dance track “All Around the World,” featuring Ludacris, Bieber said he was introduced to more and more dance music throughout his world travels and wanted to be able to showcase it in some way on Believe. “I wanted to incorporate it somewhat into my music and not overly use it,” he said. “But I felt like ‘All Around the World’ has that melodic feel to it, but also that dance feel, so I felt that was the perfect song for me.” Bieber said he is grateful Ludacris was able to contribute to another one of his songs. “To reunite with him was awesome,” Bieber said of Ludacris. “All my fans now love Luda because of ‘Baby,’ so having him back on this song was great. I’m taller than him now,” he added with a smile. The 18-year-old was also happy to surprise the audience with two special gifts: a copy of Believe and a bottle of his new fragrance, Girlfriend, which he described as being “not too fruity, nice and flowery.” “I told them they have to smell like all of my fans,” Bieber said of what he wanted the perfume manufacturers to incorporate in the fragrance. “Not too fruity, nice and flowery. There’s a cherry scent in there. In each bottle of Girlfriend, there’s a little bit of my sweat, it’s a secret ingredient,” he joked. In closing, Bieber thanked his devoted fans, but also offered up a message to those who aren’t yet fans or haven’t given him a chance. “I was very involved in the process [of making this album] — I played instruments, produced, wrote — so I want people to know it’s not all hype,” he said. “I want people to know I’ve been working hard on my music. Focus on the music. Don’t think I’m just this product pushed out there. I work hard, and music is really important to me. I see a lot of hate online, which is inevitable, but at the end of the day, I’m just trying to prove them wrong by making good music.” Stick with MTV News all week as we roll out more from our exclusive “Bieber Live” interview! Related Videos ‘Bieber Live’ Related Artists Justin Bieber
‘It’s Michael’s personality … it’s some really special stuff,’ pop star tells MTV News during ‘Bieber Live.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by Sway Calloway Justin Bieber Photo: Justin Bieber is the first to admit that there are a wide variety of sounds and musicians that influenced his latest release, Believe. When he stopped by MTV’s Times Square studio for the 30-minute special “Bieber Live” on Tuesday night (June 19) — which he kicked off with a stripped-down performance of “Die in Your Arms” — Bieber shared a few behind-the-music secrets about his process of writing and recording the song with legendary producer Rodney Jerkins. “Before I got in the booth, [Rodney] showed me this hour-long video of Michael [Jackson] footage, never been seen before. It’s Michael’s personality, him in the booth dancing. It’s some really special stuff,” Bieber recalled. “So me seeing that, going in there and being inspired and working with Rodney, who worked with Michael — it was incredible.” The 18-year-old also commented on an incredible compliment from Roots drummer ?uestlove, who recently tweeted Bieber’s praise in the form of a challenge to his fellow hip-hop artists: “Dear hip hop, why are @justinbieber’s drums on ‘right here’ more crispier & cleaner & louder and better than 96% of what was made in 2012?” “To hear that from ?uest, he’s a legend. I think it’s great,” Bieber said. “I basically focused on this album for everything to be perfect. To work with these producers that can give me that urban sound but also make it me, that’s what we did. I got to work with amazing artists like Drake [who’s featured on ‘Right Here’], and I feel like the world, I don’t know if they’re ready for it.” Stick with MTV News all week as we roll out more from our exclusive “Bieber Live” interview! Related Videos ‘Bieber Live’ Related Artists Justin Bieber
RITA ORA is some relatively new, young, chubby pop tart everyone is giving tons of attention to, at least in Europe, who I have POSTED ON A FEW TIMES BEFORE ….. She’s being pegged as the next Rihanna, she’s 21, and the hip hop world is fucking loving her, probably cuz they are black and love a fat white ass that is down to use them to social climb…cuz a girl who uses a motherfucker, is usually willing to get used in order to complete her using….it’s an amazing perpetual circle that always ends with orgasms and/or tears…. She’s apparently opening for Coldplay on their summer tour, so you’ll be seeing more of her, and as of today, you can say that you know what that girl’s nipple looks like, in color, shape and size, everytime you do….thannks to her costume and more importantly her not using pasties like some cock tease whore who didn’t have to suck dick to get where she is today….something Rita Ora is not. TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICS FOLLOW THIS LINK
