Big Sean has responded to Ludacris’ diss track “Bada Boom,” saying he doesn’t understand why Luda dissed him because he doesn’t feel like he’s ever disrespected Luda. Big Sean also goes on to call Ludacris a legend, but then also said that he was surprised Luda “cared that much.” Luda also threw jabs at Drake on “Bada Boom.” RELATED POSTS: Ludacris On His Drake & Big Sean Diss Track: “I Don’t Start These Things, I Finish Them” [AUDIO] Drake Clears Up “Big Sean Beef” Rumors [VIDEO] Big Sean Speaks On Drake Biting His Rhyme Style [VIDEO] Big Sean Talks To DJ Drama About Arrest, “Oh My” Remix & More [EXCLUSIVE]
‘For [Simon Cowell] to just beat me up like that, I don’t understand,’ singer tells MTV News after Wednesday night’s episode. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Stacy Francis performs on “The X Factor” Photo: FOX It seems that every reality-show singing competition has to have one polarizing contestant who makes headlines every week for something. “X Factor” appears to have found its lightning rod in former professional singer Stacy Francis, who ripped it up with judge Simon Cowell on Wednesday night’s rock-themed performance episode. The 42-year-old Brooklyn native and single mother, who is being coached by Nicole Scherzinger, was lambasted by Cowell for her sleepy rendition of Meat Loaf’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” which he said was “the sort of thing I would expect someone to sing at the Hilton Hotel with people turning their backs, eating peanuts.” MTV News spoke to Francis backstage after the show, and she admitted that Cowell’s slings and arrows bewildered her. “I just want a fair judgment, and I don’t feel like it was fair,” she said. “I feel like because I’m not in Simon’s category, he beats me up every week. I don’t know if I can really take on what he says as an artist and really say, ‘OK, how can I make this better?’ ” On a show where the judges usually save their harshest fire for each other, Cowell went all in on Francis, saying, “I thought the song was a horrible choice. I like rocks; that was a pebble.” Indeed, Francis, standing at a feather-covered mic stand while wearing leather gloves and a sparkly silver dress, emoted her way through the lesser-known Loaf tune while accompanied by a grand piano, mirror-ball effects on the giant onstage videos, lots of ground fog and a wind machine. She took issue with Cowell’s criticism that the song was too cabaret, noting that the audience seemed to love it. “For him to just beat me up like that, I don’t understand; I don’t get it,” she said. “I sang a Meat Loaf song, which is a rock song, and he said he didn’t love it. Melanie Amaro sang an R.E.M. song, and he loved it. It was the same tempo … I don’t know, I was very confused about it.” Francis said it seems to her that the other females in the competition have an advantage because they are in Cowell’s category and he doesn’t give them as much grief. “My first audition, he told me he loved me and he loved my voice and he loved everything,” she said. “All of a sudden, I’m the worst thing in the competition. I don’t understand it. That’s very confusing, and I think it’s very unfair.” As for judge Paula Abdul’s comments about some of Francis’ vocals being flat, the onetime member of the group Ex-Girlfriend said, if anything, her vocals sometimes go sharp because she pushes too hard, but rarely flat. “I don’t think that I ever go flat, so that’s weird,” she said. “To me, [Abdul] has one group in the competition that’s left so she would love to see any other contestant [leave] except her only one. I don’t know if I’m getting a fair evaluation as an artist or if it’s just the bickering amongst the judges because they wanna win.” Share your review of Stacy Francis’ performance in the comments below! Related Photos ‘X Factor’ Top Twelve Performances
‘I feel like I’m trying to be a part of that group that brings hip-hop back,’ pint-size rapper tells MTV News backstage. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Astro Photo: MTV News While many of his fellow contestants were getting dinged for not going hard enough on Wednesday night’s rock-themed episode of “X Factor,” that was not a problem for pint-size sensation Astro. The swagtastic 15-year-old rapper with the heart of a champion put up another great performance with a cover of Diddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You.” And though he’s lamented that hip-hop is dead and he’s the one to bring it back, Astro did make an exception for one artist he thinks is killing it right now. “You can’t not say Jay-Z,” he told MTV News’ Jim Cantiello after the show when asked to name anyone besides the Jiggaman who is on top of their game right now. “That has to be included. Jay, Kanye, Lupe [Fiasco], Pharrell … Drake? That album is classic,” he added about the Canadian MC’s just-released Take Care. “Everything from the artwork, the inside pictures. Drake is awesome, and I feel like I’m trying to be a part of that group that brings hip-hop back also.” Astro — whose song fit the rock theme if only because Diddy sampled the Police classic “Every Breath You Take” — paid homage to a number of fallen hip-hop greats during his performance. Surrounded by huge video screens scrolling the names of late rap icons including Tupac, Heavy D , Left Eye and Jam Master Jay, judge L.A. Reid’s prot
Protesters clash with police in Zuccotti Park on two-month anniversary of Occupy movement. By James Montgomery Protesters march in Occupy’s Day of Action in lower Manhattan Photo: AFP NEW YORK — Protesters marched en masse on the New York Stock Exchange, clashed with police officers in Zuccotti Park, and planned ambitious takeovers of the New York City Subway line Thursday (November 17), the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Dubbed the International Day of Action , it began early (around 7:30 a.m.) with a gathering in Zuccotti, the movement’s home until earlier this week, when the NYPD forcibly removed protesters from the park. They then began marching toward the Stock Exchange, holding signs, waving banners and chanting “All Day, All Week, Occupy Wall Street.” The police presence was heavy, with officers in full riot gear, and from the onset, the NYPD made it clear that the Occupiers were forbidden from marching in the street — since they didn’t have a parade permit — and barricades lined the path that led up to Wall Street. As the crowds grew closer to their intended target, they were rebuffed by officers, many clutching their clubs, and forced to separate into smaller groups, who marched up and down Broadway, looking for an unguarded entrance into the financial district, which had reportedly been dubbed “a frozen zone” by the NYPD. Click through to “Voices From Occupy Wall Street” — our interactive photo gallery — and get to know 20 young demonstrators’ motivations, hopes and goals. A mass of roughly 200 protesters headed south, attempting to cross Broadway in front of the Trinity Church, only to be blocked by police in riot gear. As tour buses passed by — with curious onlookers snapping photos for the folks back home — they chanted, “We pay your salary!” and “These are our streets!” until, peacefully, the barricade was lifted, and the march continued. As they walked, they held handmade signs that read “Castrate the Bull” and “Tear Down the Wall,” while the NYPD followed on motorcycles, leading the protesters to chant “The cops are marching with us!” The mood changed once the crowd managed to cross Broadway, moving north toward the heavily barricaded entrance to Wall Street itself. As they passed by the Chase Bank building, they were greeted by several employees (and even more police officers) who catcalled, “Why don’t you do something real ?” The protesters responded with chants of “F— Chase Bank!” and “We are the 99 percent, and so are you,” while a police officer yelled into a bullhorn for them to clear the sidewalk, or be arrested. Three Occupiers, failing to move, were taken away in handcuffs, as the crowd cheered and throngs of media jostled to photograph the action. Finding any and all entrances to Wall Street blocked, the protesters turned and headed back to Zuccotti Park, which had been fortified by police barricades and a heavy presence of officers. As the overcast skies finally opened up, many attempted to seek shelter beneath the park’s trees, only to be turned away by the NYPD. One officer shoved a man, and as protesters attempted to remove the barricades, there were several other scuffles, which led to one protester being led out of the park with a badly bloodied head and reports of an officer being cut on the hand by an Occupier wielding a piece of broken glass. At 3 p.m., with a steady rain falling, protesters began marching up Broadway once again, this time en route to Union Square, to join a student strike. At 5 p.m., they’ll board the subway — which already is heavily fortified by police officers — down to the Brooklyn Bridge, where they’ll march across carrying candles, a protest dubbed “the festival of lights.” Related Videos Inside Occupy Wall Street Related Photos Occupy’s ‘Day Of Action’ Swarms Wall Street
Melanie Fiona is in town for the Soul Train Awards and stopped by the Hot 107.9 studios to speak with Maria More. In addition to serving as one of the red carpet hosts, Melanie will be performing her hit song “Fool For You” with Atlanta’s own Cee-Lo. Melanie also discussed the joys of pole dancing, her love for Atlanta, and her upcoming album, The MF Life , which features B.o.B., Drake, John Legend, Nas and others. Melanie said the album would be out in February. The Soul Train Awards air on November 27th on BET and Centric. RELATED: Black Hollywood Attends Black Girls Rock! [PHOTOS] Melanie Fiona Is Heated At “4AM” [VIDEO] Melanie Fiona On What Made Her Do The “Ugly Cry” [VIDEO]
Lionsgate is reportedly courting screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ By Kevin P. Sullivan Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate Ordering a script for the sequel to a film that hasn’t come out yet seems to be a quickly growing trend in Hollywood. On Wednesday, we heard rumors that Warner Bros. already has a shortlist of potential writers for the “Man of Steel” sequel, and Thursday (November 17), Deadline reported that Lionsgate has already begun courting a writer for the next “Hunger Games” film, “Catching Fire.” According to the report, Lionsgate wants Simon Beaufoy, the Academy Award-winning writer behind the “Slumdog Millionaire” screenplay, to pen the next adaptation of the Suzanne Collins series. Collins and “Hunger Games” director Gary Ross contributed a lot of the writing for the first film’s script, and the pair had planned to collaborate again on “Catching Fire.” But post-production on “Hunger Games,” which opens in theaters on March 23, has kept Ross too busy to begin work on the next script, necessitating the hiring of a new writer. Ross is, however, expected to return as director. Negotiations between Beaufoy and Lionsgate have not officially begun, but the studio has apparently made its intentions clear. Lionsgate had previously announced that the three “Hunger Games” books would eventually become four separate movies. How those movies will be broken up remains to be seen. Recent film series to have done that, “Harry Potter” and “Twilight,” split the final book entry into two films, but there have been no specific plans announced for “Mockingjay,” the third book in this series. In addition to “Slumdog,” Beaufoy’s other writing credits include another Danny Boyle-directed film, “127 Hours,” and “The Full Monty.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos Reactions To The First ‘Hunger Games’ Trailer Related Photos ‘Hunger Games’ Character Posters ‘Hunger Games’ District Seals The Hunger Games
Former Oasis songwriter’s solo debut has earned rave reviews, none of which impress him all that much. By James Montgomery Noel Gallagher Photo: MTV News Given all the recent coverage of his run-in with Katie Holmes and various, life-altering ways , you may be unaware that Noel Gallagher , late of Oasis , has just released his first proper solo album, a rock-solid collection of tunes that run the gamut from psych-tinged burners (“[I Wanna Live in a Dream in My] Record Machine”) to straight-ahead churners (“Everybody’s on the Run”), with stops at just about every point in between. He’s called the disc Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, a nod to both the first Fleetwood Mac album and a Jefferson Airplane song of (roughly) the same name, and so far, things are soaring. It’s been greeted with glowing reviews, most of which seem to harp on the fact that the album represents “his best tunes in 15 years.” Of course, in typical Gallagher fashion, he’s not paying attention to any of it. “I didn’t read any of the reviews and think, ‘Well, these people think I’ve been writing crap songs for the last 15 years.’ I don’t think of things like that,” he told MTV News. “When I’m in the studio, I’m literally taking it song by song and then, you know, you get to the end of it. I got to say though, during the mixing of it, as each track was being finished, I was thinking, ‘This does sound really good. …’ “But I wouldn’t like to compare it to anything Oasis did, because that’s not fair,” he continued. “We were a band and I was writing songs for someone else to sing, so you can’t really compare the two. It’s just a good record, what can I say?” Humility was never his strong suit. Neither, apparently, was guitar playing. Because even though he slung the ax loud and often in Oasis, he never really considered himself to be a guitar player . Which is why, on High Flying Birds, he limited the showing off — there are, by unofficial count, just two solos on the whole album — and focused instead on doing what he loves best: writing killer tunes. “I guess when guitarists make solo records, there’s usually a lot of showing off. But I’ve been trying to convince for 20 years that I’m not a guitarist, I’m a songwriter. I played lead guitar in the band because everybody else, in the early days, was useless, so that kind of fell to me,” he laughed. “But it’s not something I ever thought I would put myself up there with John Squire or Johnny Marr or all those great British guitarists, that’s not my thing. My thing was songwriting. I only noticed [the lack of solos] when a friend of mine was listening to the finished version, and it got to track six and he went, ‘You know, that’s the first guitar solo,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, someone’s got an easy gig, doesn’t he?’ ” And since there’s not going to be an Oasis reunion in the cards anytime soon, Gallagher is focused on promoting Birds both here and abroad. He’s playing on just about every continent over the next six months and seems quite content to be doing nothing else. Especially attempting to figure out the machinations of the music industry of 2011 … a plan he abandoned long ago, thanks in no small part to his daughter. “She is into music, she’s never mentioned Justin Bieber to me … Lady Gaga’s her thing, and Rihanna and, is it, Miley Cyrus? All that kind of thing,” he said. “It’s kind of a rule, she’s got to like Oasis and her old fella, so she’s into that side of it. But her teenage rock years will come [and], no doubt, she’ll be into f—ing Nickelback as well.” Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Noel Gallagher
‘I’ve seen Edward and Bella go through a lot so far, so I feel like I was kind of ready to see this,’ Lautner tells MTV News. By Tiffany Miles, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner in “Breaking Dawn, Part 1” Photo: Summit Entertainment Of all the buzz surrounding this week’s hugely anticipated release of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” the vast majority of fan rumblings and excitement have been about and for one scene and one scene only: the “honeymoon scene,” a.k.a. Bella and Edward’s sex scene. It’s a different story for the actors involved, specifically for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart , who have talked at length about how awkward filming the scene was. Their co-stars seem to be onboard with their enthusiasm for the “action,” however. When MTV News caught up with Taylor Lautner recently, he said he was ready for it. “I’ve seen Edward and Bella go through a lot so far, so I feel like I was kind of ready to see this,” Lautner said. “I think everybody will feel the same way. We’ve seen Edward and Bella in their relationship grow so much that it’s about time.” “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer told us at the “Breaking Dawn” premiere that the scene in the movie gives fans a lot more to see and think about than she did in the book. “I think it’s romantic, and it does give you more than the book does,” Meyer said. “I know some of the sites call it, instead of ‘fade to black,’ ‘fade to sad.’ They’d love to see more. I think this gives them that,” she said. “It gives them a romantic peek into the honeymoon. We don’t want to see too much.” Although everyone seems to be excited to see the honeymoon scene, Lautner still isn’t sure that Bella made the right decision when she chose Edward over his character, Jacob Black. When asked if he thought Bella made the wrong call, he jokingly said, “You know, I go back and forth with that one [question] still.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 1’ Live From The ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’ Red Carpet MTV Rough Cut: Taylor Lautner Related Photos ‘Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’ Premiere
Balancing a successful career and a family is extra challenging for women in the entertainment industry, but Monica and “Love & Hip Hop” creator/former co-owner of Violator Entertainment Mona Scott-Young are making it happen. ASCAP recently honored both of them along with Motown Records Senior Vice President of Marketing and Artist Development Phillana Williams at Tenjune in New York City. The 3rd Annual “Women Behind The Music Series” presented by ASCAP’s Rhythm & Soul team was just one of several events intended to empower women. In addition, ASCAP recognized some of those who have made exceptional contributions to the music industry. Roc Nation rising star Bridget Kelly performed at the event, and Ne-Yo was in the building. Take a look at some photos from this night honoring great women in the music industry. RELATED POSTS: Kimbella On Her Vicious Fight With Chrissy On “Love & Hip-Hop” [VIDEO] Monica Reveals “New Life” Artwork
Note to new rappers. Be careful when taking shots at a legend. ATL’s own Ludacris has fired back at Drake and Big Sean on a song called “Bada Boom” from his 1.21 Gigawatts mixtape. This whole episode started when Drizzy and Sean accused Luda of biting the “Supa Dupa” rhyme flow (or hashtag rap) from them. Although Luda doesn’t say any names, he does spit some lines that definitely seemed aimed at Sean and Drake: “Counterfeit rappers say I’m stealing their flows / But I can’t steal what you never made up b—h / Y’all some duplicate rap cloning n—as / I manufacture you h—s put on your makeup b—h,” Luda raps. Luda’s diss song stems from an interview Drake did on AllHipHop in which he said that Luda doesn’t know how to use the hashtag flow properly. “I don’t want to offend somebody, I hate that rappers picked that flow up,” Drake said in the 2010 interview. “I wish they had left that for people that know how to use it. [They go like] ‘It’s a parade! MACY’S!’,” Drake continued, referencing one of Luda’s lines from ‘My Chick Bad.’ In an MTV interview, Big Sean claims to have invented the hashtag flow: “With the super duper flow, I created that one-word rhyme style,” he said. In response, Luda raps on “Bada Boom”: “Do your research before you make a claim so bogus / That’s disrespecting pioneers in the game / F—k the fame but go ahead and get ya 5 minutes / Then you frontline cadets can report to your lieutenants (Sir, yes sir).” Ludacris also mentions on the track that “My Chick Bad” went platinum. When asked about the retaliatory track on Shade 45′s Sway In The Morning on Wednesday (Nov. 16), Ludacris simply replied, “I don’t start these things, I finish them.” We can’t wait to see if Drake or Big Sean responds! Ludacris Climbed The Great Wall Of China [PHOTO] Al Pacino Thanks Hip-Hop For “Scarface” Support Ludacris Ft. Waka Flocka Flame “Rich & Flexin’” [NEW MUSIC] Drake Clears Up “Big Sean Beef” Rumors [VIDEO] Big Sean Speaks On Drake Biting His Rhyme Style [VIDEO] Big Sean Talks To DJ Drama About Arrest, “Oh My” Remix & More [EXCLUSIVE]
