Gucci Mane was on Hot 107.9′s Gangsta Grillz Radio this weekend and talked to DJ Drama about his new album, The Return of Mr. Zone 6 . Of course everyone wants to know more about Gucci’s ice cream cone tattoo on his face, which he had done recently. Gucci said he was surprised at the reaction he got from friends and fans. The ATL rapper also talked about a movie he’s doing with Waka Flocka Flame called Black Socialities and added that he’d like to open a club one day in Atlanta. He also discussed recording with Wiz Khalifa. Check out the exclusive! RELATED: Gucci Mane & Birdman “Mouth Full Of Golds” [VIDEO] RELATED: Gucci Mane “Weirdo” [VIDEO] RELATED: Waka Flocka & Gucci Mane Team Up For “Ferrari Boys” Album RELATED: Waka Flocka Says He’s Better Than The 2011 XXL Freshman Class [VIDEO] RELATED: Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame Filming Reality Show For BET RELATED: Gucci Mane’s Tattoo Artist Will Not Do Big Facial Tats Anymore RELATED: Gucci Mane Gets Ice Cream Cone Tattooed On Face; Manager Denies He Was In Mental Institution RELATED: Wiz Khalifa On Fans, Fame, “Rolling Papers” & More [EXCLUSIVE] RELATED: Yung LA Addresses Duck Tattoo Drama & Drug Rumors [EXCLUSIVE]
Claude Kelly says he envisioned Spears as ‘a man-eater’ when he wrote the track for her. By Jocelyn Vena Britney Spears Photo: Eric Charbonneau/ Le Studio/ Wireimage Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale album, due out on Tuesday, is a sexy, dark dance record meant to be played heading to the club, at the club and at the post-party after the club. One of the tracks that exemplifies this is the fiery, Claude Kelly-penned “Gasoline.” Kelly conceived of the searing dance tune while thinking of Britney’s sexiest moments. “The picture that I envisioned in my mind was ‘Toxic,’ ‘Slave 4 U,’ ‘Boys,’ like that kind of [thing where] it’s sexy and it’s hot, sweaty and she’s in a club and she sees a guy,” he explained to MTV News. “That mysterious, exotic look, that whole imagery and that era where she’s a man-eater and all the girls want to be her and all the guys would kill to be with her. I think she pulled it off for sure.” Kelly also wrote the title track off of Spears’ 2008 album, Circus , but this time around he wanted to take things to a new level. “I’m super happy with the way it came out. She sounds fresh and exciting,” he said of the track, which was recorded in L.A. while Kelly was busy working on other projects elsewhere. “For this time, she’s in a place where she wants to be edgier again, so I was like, ‘How am I going to make the word gasoline a cool song?’ ” he recalled. “That’s really the challenge for me and I tried to play off what I know of Britney from the past, from the Blackout era, when she was more mysterious and dark. “The one thing that kind of strings all of [the songs] along is that feeling of edginess and mysterious and sexy and a little bit playful but a little bit dangerous,” he continued. “If you can tap into what she’s in the mood for, which is what happened with ‘Gasoline,’ clearly her mind was in the zone that ‘I want to be edgy.’ ” The party never stops on Femme Fatale , and Kelly is sure that the fans will be happy about that. “The most common thing I hear people say about Britney is ‘I want to dance.’ Girls love to dance to Britney,” he said. “I think people missed that and wanted that … This one was like, ‘Let’s her in the clubs again.’ ” Related Photos Britney Gets Angelic In These Femme Fatale Promo Shots Related Artists Britney Spears
‘Roll Up’ MC tells MTV News he’s a fan of the rock quartet during Spring Break in Las Vegas. By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway Sway and Wiz Photo: MTV News Spring Break is a chance for willing college kids to try something new. So in the spirit of the yearly tradition, Wiz Khalifa — one of the performers at MTV’s Spring Break 2011 , along with Snoop Dogg, Pitbull and Lupe Fiasco — spoke to MTV News about experimenting with rhyming. We asked the “Black and Yellow” star whose music he would pick if he could rap over any other artist’s song. “Mumford & Sons, they got a really tight song that I wanna rap over,” Wiz said. “That I would totally rap over if I had the chance to ’cause usually, when I see the video or hear the song, I get it real quick but now I have to ask again. I forgot. [Editor’s note: Wiz is likely referring either to M&S singles “Little Lion Man” or “The Cave.”] “They’re tight and really musical,” he said about the West London quartet. “I like the instruments they use, like bongos. It’s tight and acceptable.” Although Wiz took to the Las Vegas stage joined by his DJ, the Pittsburgh rapper said he also had a band in mind if he needed a crew to back him: the Disco Biscuits. “They’re hard,” he explained. “It’s just sound-y. When you get that vibe and that music, it just feels good and makes you feel a certain way when you hear it.” Khalifa, an MTV News 11 for ’11 pick, is set to celebrate his major-label debut on Tuesday, when Rolling Papers arrives in stores and at online retailers. “We got a couple of surprises along the way to keep people interested,” he told MTV News last month. “But really, other than that, the album is done. We’re really excited. Everyone is excited. [Warner Music Group executive] Lyor [Cohen] came through to a session. I got so much support from the single and going into the album. So when we do drop it, I think we’ll get that response that everyone was expecting.” Catch Wiz performing in Las Vegas during MTV’s Spring Break on Monday night (March 28) on MTV at 9:50 p.m. ET. Are you excited to hear Wiz’s Rolling Papers ? Tell us in the comments! Related Videos Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, More Take Over MTV Spring Break 2011 Spring Break 2011 Performances Related Photos Spring Break 2010 | Performance Photos Related Artists Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa stopped by Hot 107.9 and had a lot to say to Emperor Searcy about dealing with a new level of fame, his fans, family, and of course his new album Rolling Papers, in stores March 29. He also talked about his upcoming movie with Snoop Dogg and whether his girlfriend Amber Rose was the inspiration behind the blond streak in his hair. Watch the exclusive interview below! RELATED: Wiz Khalifa Talks ‘Rolling Papers’, Amber Rose & More On RSMS [EXCLUSIVE] RELATED: Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose Take Pics, Kanye Tweets About It RELATED: Cee-Lo Green & Wiz Khalifa “Bright Lights, Bigger City” [MUSIC VIDEO] RELATED: Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa “Young, Wild & Free” [NEW MUSIC] RELATED: Wiz Khalifa Announces “Green Carpet” Tour RELATED: Wiz Khalifa “On My Level” feat. Too $hort [VIDEO] RELATED: Wiz Khalifa “Rolling Papers” Track Listing Revealed
New episode with ‘Black and Yellow’ rapper airs Saturday at 11 a.m. By Alvin Blanco Wiz Khalifa on “When I Was 17” Photo: MTV News When Wiz Khalifa (born Cameron Thomaz) was 17 years old, hip-hop stardom was still only a pipe dream. But the kid was serious about his craft, and he displayed it by getting his rap moniker tattooed on his arm on his 17th birthday. “The story behind my name is: I would always hang out with older guys, and I was good at everything I do, so they would be like, ‘He’s a young wiz,’ so that’s where that came from,” the “Black and Yellow” rapper reveals on the next episode of MTV’s “When I Was 17,” airing Saturday at 11 a.m. “And ‘Khalifa’ is Arabic for ‘successor’ and ‘leader,’ and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that’s what I was doing with my music.” Of the now-thoroughly inked-up Wiz’s early tattoo, Benjy Grinberg, CEO of Rostrum Records, said “That pretty much solidified his direction and was a symbol of his commitment to his craft.” It was Rostrum, the Pittsburgh-based label Wiz is still signed to, that released the hip-hop wunderkind’s first official project, Show and Prove . “It was my first street album,” Wiz says. “That album got me out there.” But Wiz didn’t settle for just saying he had a record in stores. “When he was 17, he knew that he couldn’t just make an album and that’s it,” Grinberg says. “You have to do more things, you have to help promote it, you have to help sell it, and he really took to it.” While Wiz currently hawks his music by appearing on the covers of magazines like Rolling Stone , XXL and Complex , and performances like his recent stop at the South by Southwest festival, as well as relentless airplay, back in high school, he was making his moves on a more grassroots level. “It became a little craze around school,” Wiz says of pushing Show and Prove . “I had flyers, and I had little T-shirts that I was wearing. The girls wanted T-shirts, and I used the girls to promote everything. I would bring, like, 25 to school, and I’d probably give five out to some girls.” The savvy marketing quickly paid off — literally. “I sold CDs in the hallways,” Wiz remembers. “I sold them for 10 bucks. I was making, like, a good grand a week. It wasn’t every week that I was making that, though. It was like, when it was hot, I made like a grand a week, for like, a week,” he said, laughing. With his major label debut, Rolling Papers , out Tuesday, Wiz is going to be laughing all the way to the bank. “When I Was 17” airs Saturday at 11 a.m. ET/PT on MTV. Related Videos Check Out A Sneak Preview Of ‘When I Was 17’
Another day, another possible scandal for Kanye West. A few months ago we told you about a song that Kanye wrote where he talks about his relationship with Amber Rose and admits to choking her. While we cannot confirm that any violence took place in their relationship, Mediatakeout.com posted a reported e-mail from Kanye to a female friend where Kanye accuses Amber of cheating on him and telling people that he beat her. Take a look: Naked Pics Of Amber Rose Leak! Wiz Khalifa Talks ‘Rolling Papers’, Amber Rose & More On RSMS [EXCLUSIVE] Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose Take Pics, Kanye Tweets About It Amber Rose: “I Want A Man To Choke Me And Spit In My Face” FAB OR FUG: Amber Rose’s Space-Age Silver Dress
Pittsburgh rapper recently described laid-back single to MTV News as a ‘swag song.’ By Jayson Rodriguez Wiz Khalifa Photo: MTV News Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers is arriving song-by-song ahead of its March 29 release date. The latest record to spring forth onto the Web is “The Race,” a breezy number about the Pittsburgh rapper’s rise to the top. “I’m in the race and taking the winner’s place,” Wiz says, delivering the hook in his trademark melodic flourish over I.D. Labs’ production work. “No foot on the breaks/ One of the best homey, that’s what they call me/ It’s lonely at the top, ain’t no company/ So now I just stunt on my own, I just stunt on my own.” Last year, Wiz described the track as a “swag song,” calling it “an attitude, ‘doing what we do’-type thing,” he explained. “Every song, they were like, ‘Man, this is going to the radio. You could go to the radio with that,’ ” Wiz said when he previewed the collection for a select group in Los Angeles. “So they are good songs, but they are also songs that are going to be accepted widely.” “I’ve got to stick to what I know, what I’ve been doing,” he added. “My main producers have been doing the bulk of the album, and it’s majority done. We’re just doing the big songs now, putting some of the features together, but really, it’s more personal. You get to see me and feel me more as a person, but it’s still that same edgy, that same rawness that people dig.” What do you think of Wiz’s new song, “The Race”? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Wiz Khalifa
