NEWS

[Deena]

GNARLS BARKLEY GOES DELUXE

What's the best way to honor a best-selling record? By re-releasing it with more content and fancier package! Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere" will get the deluxe edition treatment in November, re-released as a double disc endeavor.

The first disc will remain the same as the original (might look a little different to you if you burned your copy), but the second DVD disc has all of the bells and whistles. In addition to the three previously released videos - "Crazy", "Smiley Faces", and "Gone Daddy Gone", it will also include a video for "Go Go Gadget Gospel", which will debut on this DVD. The DVD will also include two audio tracks of live performances of "Crazy" and "Gone Daddy Gone".

The new version of "St. Elsewhere" will be limited edition - only 50,000 pieces produced (yes, we said "only"), and will come packaged in a double digipak with a lenticular overcard sleeve. Trust us, it will look cool.
-by Pizzo

[cafteala]

daca e vorba tot de Gnarls Barkley..

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS AND GNARLS BARKLEY WILL HIT THE ROAD TOGETHER NEXT YEAR

LOS ANGELES, October 16, 2006 -- Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley will hit the road together for three months (January to March) in early 2007, playing arenas across the United States. Specific dates will be announced shortly.

The Chili Peppers launched their current U.S. tour to much praise in August, in support of their critically acclaimed double album Stadium Arcadium. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album debuted in May at ..1 in 28 countries around the world, including topping the Billboard 200 on their home turf. Thus far the album has spawned a pair of ..1 Modern Rock hits "Dani California" and "Tell Me Baby."

Gnarls Barkley, the combination of Grammy-winning producer Danger Mouse and superstar vocalist Cee-Lo Green, released their debut St. Elsewhere CD this year to critical acclaim. Their first single, "Crazy" garnered more radio format play than any single in U.S. radio history -- with nine radio formats and a U.S. radio audience of nearly 100 million. A top five album in almost every country in Europe, the band was recently nominated for two MTV Europe Music Awards for best song and best video. St. Elsewhere is currently on its way to double platinum sales in the U.S.

Safe to say it will be a powerful concert bill.

Stadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album from the Chili Peppers. All told, the band has sold more than 50 million albums, logged seven multiplatinum CDs and earned a record-setting ten .. 1 Modern Rock hits.

They also continue to ride the crest of the ongoing awards season, topping nominations for the 13th annual MTV Europe Music Awards with best rock act, best group, best album and best song for "Dani California." The band also tied for most nominations for the 2006 American Music Awards where they are up for Pop/Rock nominations for favorite and, duo or group, favorite album and favorite artist in the Alternative Music category. Additionally, Chili Peppers have been nominated for the 2006 mtvU Woodie Awards on MTV's 24-hour college network for Alumni Woodie (aka The You're Still OK in our Book Award).

Gnarls Barkley is currently preparing a limited edition deluxe package of St. Elsewhere for release November 7. The CD+DVD package includes a 92 page booklet, four music videos and bonus songs from live performances.

Gnarls also recently released a video for their second single, a cover of the Violent Femmes classic "Gone Daddy Gone."

[iLL:WiLL]

DJ Premier Gunning For Whitney Comeback Album

[HateMeNow]

As for Nas, Premier produced an as-yet-untitled track for the rapper's forthcoming album "Hip-Hop Is Dead...The N," due Dec. 19 via Def Jam. The pair previously worked together on Nas' 1994 debut "Illmatic" (Columbia).

"We did one song for the [new] album but we haven't mixed it yet," says Premier, who correctly predicted the disc would be pushed back from its original November release date. "I don't know what the latest [date] is but I think he should wait 'til next year, personally, to really make a classic bomb. He can do it but I think he needs more time. Whatever he chooses, he's got my support."

In addition, Nas and Preemo hope to release their long-brewing collaborative set soon. "[Nas] told me he wants the next album to be the one that we finally do, just me and him, all the way through -- just a Premier and Nas album," says Premier. "We'll see if that goes down."

[sunrah]

New Redman album March '07

[Grafitty]

T.I. wins big at first BET hip-hop awards


Grandmaster Flash breathed a sigh of relief after being recognized for his turntable expertise, and T.I. finally believes the South has gotten some respect. The Atlanta-based rapper, who was up for eight awards, won best hip-hop video, CD and MVP of the year at the first-ever BET Hip Hop Awards last night (Nov. 12) in Atlanta.

"You can't hate on hard work and talent," he said. "This awards show will show people a lot about where I come from." The show will air Nov. 15 in syndication.


Grandmaster Flash was honored with the I Am Hip Hop Icon award. When Flash received the award, he gave recognition to all other disc jockeys he's met, saying being a DJ was better than rapping. "To get an award for my technological ability means a whole lot more than anything else I've accomplished in my life," he said.

When hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs took the stage, he offered brief words for R&B singer Gerald Levert and Ed Bradley, who both died last week."Let's celebrate their lives," Diddy said. "People will forever miss y'all."

Rappers Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Young Jeezy teamed with super-producer Lil' Jon to kick off the show with the 2001 hit, "Welcome To Atlanta." Dupri, who won best producer, said he felt humbled for having the event in Atlanta.


"For the awards to be in my city and I win something for producing, it's exciting," he said. "The outcome was something I could never imagine."

[adapter]

Boot Camp Click member Sean Price is gearing up for the release of his sophomore album Jesus Price Supastar.

Due in stores early next year, the album features appearances from Buckshot, Tek-N-Steele, Rock, Sadat X and Phonte of Little Brother. Production on the project is supplied by 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Illmind, MoSS, PF Cuttin, Tommy Tee and Large Professor, among others.

[sunrah]

El-P Talks New LP, Featuring Cat Power

[Deena]

Uneasy Lies the Head



IF you had visited the Def Jam offices on Election Day, you might have noticed a red and blue placard leaning against a potted plant in the lobby. It said, �Jay-Z: The name you can trust.�
By KELEFA SANNEH
Published: November 19,

Jay-Z is about to release a new album.

Unlike most political slogans, this one is accurate, more or less. For the last decade Jay-Z has been the world’s most reliable rapper, a hitmaker beloved by fans and respected by his peers. (Even, or especially, the ones who envy his career.) Obsessives pore over his intricate early rhymes. Clubgoers rap along with evergreen hits like â€?Big Pimpin’ â€? and â€?I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me).â€? Gossip lovers gawk at photographs of him with his longtime girlfriend, Beyonc?©. Bloggers argue over his place in hip-hop’s pantheon. And if you’re a real Jay-Z fan, you can probably do all those things at once.

Jay-Z retired, sort of, after �The Black Album� in 2003. But even as an ex-rapper, he managed to stay atop the hip-hop heap. He was named president of Def Jam Records two years ago, but none of the rappers on his roster have come close to outshining him. His own boasts have come to seem like statements of fact: �I’m a man of principle/Damn near invincible.�

But Jay-Z is risking his carefully maintained reputation by releasing a new album, �Kingdom Come� (Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam). It arrives in shops on Tuesday. And two weeks before the release date, he could be found ensconced in his corner office at Def Jam, lounging in jeans and construction boots, sipping white wine from an oversized glass. He happily agreed to talk about the new album, but he issued a warning before he played it: It was very �adult� sounding, he said. �It’s not Barry Manilow, don’t let me fool you. It’s just intelligent.�

Jay-Z, who turns 37 next month, has been advertising this comeback since before he went away. In �Encore,� a song from �The Black Album,� he rapped, �When I come back like Jordan, wearin’ the four-five/It ain’t to play games with you/It’s to aim at you, prob’ly maim you.� (That �four-five� was typically sly: a reference to Michael Jordan’s post-comeback jersey number, and also to a kind of pistol.) But now that he’s back, he doesn’t seem to be in an aim-and-maim mood. Despite Jay-Z’s reputation for supreme confidence, �Kingdom Come� is full of uncertainty, maybe even anxiety.

The frothy lead single, �Show Me What You Got,� is a bit misleading. While there’s plenty of bravado here, Jay-Z also rhymes about the perils of celebrity, his recent tour of Africa (to publicize the water crisis) and his own shortcomings. In �Minority Report� he criticizes President Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, but he also finds fault in himself: �Sure, I ponied up a mil, but I didn’t give my time/So in reality, I didn’t give a dime.� It’s the last thing we expected to hear from Jay-Z: an apology.

It was a decade ago that he released his debut album, �Reasonable Doubt.� By his own account he was a Brooklyn rapper turned drug dealer turned rapper again, and the album established him as one of the slickest. He could deliver complicated rhymes while still sounding conversational, and his pop songs were as witty as his crime narratives. In the years that followed he got more versatile and more subtle. On �The Blueprint,� his classic 2001 album (his sixth, if you’re keeping track), he compressed four minutes of bravado into an elegant eight-syllable simile: �We run streets like/Drunks run street lights.�

Even while he was dazzling listeners with wordplay, Jay-Z took pains to present himself as a mercenary hustler, not some sensitive poet. He was, he now says, �a reluctant rapper,� not least because the rappers he knew earned less than drug dealers. And even as his career grew, he loved to remind listeners that he viewed hip-hop as a lucrative hustle, not a sacred art form. He offered rival rappers some unsentimental advice: �If you ain’t in it for the money, then get out the game.�

And yet here he is: a guy who clearly doesn’t need the money, getting back in the game. In an odd way Jay-Z’s tenure as a businessman — or, as he once put it, �a business, man� — has helped him realize how much he loves rapping. �You really start caring, and really start to fall in love,� he said, sounding a bit sheepish. �Over the years I’ve come to respect my gift.�

Back when he was merely a virtuoso, he eagerly portrayed himself as a slick executive. Now that he really is a slick executive, he wants to remind everyone that he is still a virtuoso, still �Kingpin of the ink pen/Monster of the double-entendre,� as one new song has it. (Likewise the scrappy Brooklyn kid who wore a tie on his first album cover now wears construction boots in his corner office.) �I’m just a hustler disguised as a rapper,� he claims. But many fans may suspect that the reverse is true, and always has been.


In any case Jay-Z clearly misses the old days, an era when he was younger and hungrier. At Radio City Music Hall in June he performed �Reasonable Doubt� in its entirety (the new album will include a bonus disc featuring songs from the concert); it’s still his favorite of all his albums. And he smiled when asked about his old, tongue-twisting style.

Jay-Z, Past and Present

�I was speeding,� he said. �I was saying a hundred words a minute. There were no catchphrases, there was no hooks within the verses. I was very wordy.�

Like a maturing athlete, he slowed down a little and smartened up a lot. �I don’t know if I’ve gotten better," he said. "I think that I’ve definitely gotten more rounded.� What interests him now, he said, is finding the �nooks and crannies� of a beat. And when he wants to make a point, he deliberately interrupts his flow, adding pauses and unexpected changes in meter, forcing people to pay attention to the words instead of letting them glide by. He does this a lot on �Kingdom Come.� It is his ninth album, not counting the two CDs he made with R. Kelly, the one he made with Linkin Park or his �MTV Unplugged� CD. And it is, by design, the most uncomfortable-sounding album of his career.

In one sense that’s a surprise. He is, after all, a rich mogul with a celebrity girlfriend; he long ago moved from Brooklyn to Alpine, N.J. And while some other rappers (including Cam’ron and the Game) have baited him with implicit or explicit insults, Jay-Z has generally refused to return fire. Last year he reconciled with his former enemy Nas, who now records for Def Jam. Jay-Z’s life seems downright pleasant.

But in another sense it’s no wonder he sounds uncomfortable; he is now out of place in the hip-hop world that made him a star. Many of the most popular rappers these days are young Southerners, whereas Jay-Z is a Brooklynite who can call himself 30-something for only a few more years. He still commands respect, but not fear; if he says he’s going to shoot someone, everyone knows it’s hyperbole. He knows the latest dance trends because he’s paid to, but he would sound pretty silly trying to start one of his own. As Nas (33) has aged, he has grown grumpier; as Snoop Dogg (35) has aged, he has grown more playful. But what is happening to Jay-Z?

He doesn’t seem entirely sure. He knows he wants to avoid imitating his past successes. �You end up looking like a caricature of yourself,� he said. And although the album contains a few barbs about the state of hip-hop (�I’m afraid of the future/Y’all respect the one who got shot, I respect the shooter,� he rhymes; perhaps it’s a reference to 50 Cent ), he is equally determined to avoid becoming a cranky old veteran, reminiscing about the good old days. Ten years ago he released a song called �Can’t Knock the Hustle�; now, as hip-hop welcomes a new wave of brash hustlers, he’s trying to stick to that credo.

�Kingdom Come,� then, captures the sound of a grown-up rapper trying to make a grown-up album — whatever that means. It’s a fascinating experiment, and a halfway successful one. In �Oh My God,� Just Blaze builds a beat from a screaming rock ’n’ roll sample (it’s Genya Ravan, belting out the Allman Brothers’ �Whipping Post�), and Jay-Z spends four glorious minutes talking trash. �Do U Wanna Ride� has a smooth Kanye West beat and a smoother John Legend chorus. And in �30 Something,� Jay-Z nimbly tap-dances around the subject of gunplay, bragging about a fully automatic pistol, then changing his mind and changing it again.


â€?Beach Chairâ€? was produced by Chris Martin, from Coldplay, who also sings the chorus; it’s supposed to be dreamlike (Jay-Z said he was inspired by Portishead) but sounds dreary instead. And while Beyonc?© sounds great on â€?Hollywood,â€? an Usher collaboration called â€?Anythingâ€? falls flat. The problem is that Jay-Z, who has always seemed more interested in power than sex, sounds downright bored when he pays tribute to strippers. He twice mentions Sue’s Rendezvous, the legendarily seedy Mount Vernon, N.Y., club, but he sounds as if he’d rather be elsewhere — under those palm trees, perhaps.

Although the first half of 2006 had only one platinum-selling hip-hop album (�King,� by T. I.), Jay-Z is releasing �Kingdom Come� during one of the busiest hip-hop seasons in memory. It will have to compete with eagerly awaited CDs from the Game and Snoop Dogg, a new Tupac Shakur compilation, and discs from Nas and Young Jeezy — both of whom are Jay-Z’s competition and also, as Def Jam artists, his corporate assets.

True to form, Jay-Z claimed to be optimistic. He said that he expected longtime fans to follow his evolution. And the younger ones? Would a 15-year-old Jay-Z have enjoyed an album like �Kingdome Come�? He responded the way any canny label president would. �It would have been aspirational to me,� he said, and he found an analogy: �I used to like James Bond when I was little.�

No matter what happens with �Kingdom Come,� it seems unlikely that this CD will be Jay-Z’s last. Maybe he thought that getting older would make it easier for him to walk away from hip-hop. Instead, getting older has made it easier for him to admit how much he loves it. He has sworn off any more promises of retirement, saying, �I’ll never say that again.� Of course he can’t rap forever; �It’s gon’ be a day I stop,� he said. But he doesn’t sound as if he’s looking forward to it.

[iLL:WiLL]

Only Built 4 Cuban Links II news

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II will be the fourth studio album from Wu-Tang Clan rap artist Raekwon. It will serve as a sequel to Raekwon's 1995 album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and is to feature Wu-Tang members GZA and Inspectah Deck almost exclusively. Some tracks are the result of several LA studio sessions originally aimed towards creating a new Clan album.

The album is to be released as a joint venture between Wu-Tang and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Producers are set to include RZA, Dr. Dre, Scram Jones, and Jay Dee. Nas and Fat Joe have been approached about guest appearances, and Busta Rhymes (who is, informally, co-executive producing the project) will probably be on the album as well. Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist, John Frusciante is also said to have played guitar on a few joints for this album - and along with a few other RZA beats, in general.

Similar to the first Cuban Linx album, OB4CLII will be set up in a cinematic fashion, with skits loosely tying each song together in a sort of storyline, and each rapper playing an implied "persona" of sorts; for instance, Raekwon being the main protagonist, with GZA and Inspectah Deck playing "supporting roles" throughout.

Tracks that are confirmed are the RZA-produced "Secret Indictment," which will be the second single off of the album (after "State of Grace"), "House Of Flying Daggers" produced by J Dilla, "Kareem Khan" featuring GZA, produced by RZA and Justice (GZA's son), a Raekwon solo produced by RZA: "Thug World", "Rock Stars and Smoking Barrels" featuring GZA and Inspectah Deck "No Matter How Hard You Try" is another RZA produced track and features Inspectah Deck and finally a track produced by Dr. Dre featuring RZA and Busta Rhymes. The main sidekick in "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx", Ghostface Killah is rumored to be appearing on three of the tracks.

In a recent interview with MTV Europe, Raekwon said the album was about 96% complete and it's in the sequencing process. The first single off of the album is "State of Grace," produced by RZA, and already has a remix featuring Busta Rhymes.

Other rumours include the colour purple being included on the album cover to pay homage to the purple cassette that the first Only Built 4 Cuban Linx came out on. According to RZA, the whole Wu-Tang Clan has been confirmed for appearances and at least three Dre beats are favorite picks for the album. Wu-Tang Corp

Most recently, it was announced on the Wu-Tang Corp. website that Raekwon's management has stated that the album is about done and the production is credited to Dr. Dre and RZA equally.

[Grafitty]

Wu-Tang


Ghostface comes with 2nd 2006 album


NEW YORK — When Ghostface Killah heard Def Jam was looking for him to release another album — his second full project of the year — the rapper took inventory of his rhyme stock.

Fortunately for the label, and his fans, Ghost had some extra material from March's Fishscale (see "Ghostface Killah Spins Tales From The 'Hood On Fishscale") that resulted in the forthcoming More Fish, due December 12.


"I had Fish leftover in the fridge," Ghostface said. "When I got the call and they asked me, it takes me awhile to go ahead and make an album. You have to write and make a vision. But I had a couple of nice pieces of Fish over here and then I had cooked up some more stuff, probably like another nine or 10 joints, and just went in. But what I did was spread it amongst the family, my Theodore [Unit] brothers, which includes my son [Sun God], Trife and Wigs."

Ghost said More Fish is a sequel of sorts to Fishscale, with the Wu lyricist working with roughly the same production staple. He also said the album serves as a prelude to the next project by Theodore Unit, his side rap collective.

After working with the Wu-Tang Clan and now with Theodore Unit, Ghost said he's ready to mentor his young prot?Šg?Šs. He even feels his newer crew is comparable to his esteemed Shaolin set.

"These guys are a lot younger. We been around each other for a long time," Ghost said. "But I grew with Wu. We had a lot of fun, and it was different mentalities. Theodore Unit, we're not as big as Wu, but we do the same thing, we help each other. They give me a line, I give them a line, whatever. It's similar, but the only difference is these dudes are a lot younger.

"So now I'm raising these bothers right here to go through what I done went through and seen," he added.

With "Ghost Is Back" and "Good" from the forthcoming album already heating up the streets, one of the far more interesting tracks has to be "God 2 God," which finds Ghost going one-on-one with his 17-year-old son over a searing soul sample. The two exchange braggadocio lines as Sun God spits, "Will Smith on the guest list/ Pops is the king, I'm the Fresh Prince."

Ghost admitted his son posed a bit of a problem for him during their collaboration. The rapper noted how quickly Sun God wrote his rhymes, which isn't something that comes as easy for him anymore, according to Ghost. But all in all, he said he enjoyed the experience and compared it to a regular father-son outing.

"It's more or less like a funny game of baseball," Ghost said. "We just go in, he writes his stuff, I write mine. On one record we got, we helped each other out — the one we got together — and that's it. That's my man right there. That's my blood. He do what he do. He has talent. I'm just proud to see him come up to be like his Pops a little something."

[Alin-San]

Alicia Keys Re-Launches Official Website For Her Fans

Alicia Keys and her label J Records have announced the re-launch of her new official website and fan club at AliciaKeys.com, where fans can get exclusive information about the singer.

In a departure from standard fan sites, AliciaKeys.com will offer personal interactive components with the Alicia Keys Book Club and Alicia Keys audio blog, where the singer will share her intense love of language and all things written.

Alicia will choose a favorite book of poetry, a novel or other written work to highlight each month and discuss with her fans. Through the feature Alicia will elaborate on concepts and passages she found thought provoking and inspiring from each work and will ask that her fans contribute their opinions as well. The audio blog is an addition to her long-running online journal, allowing her to record and share her journal entries, musings, and messages to fans as streaming audio clips.

"I am thrilled to create another avenue to communicate with my unbelievable fans," said the singer. "I encourage fans to participate in the interactive component of this site, as I truly believe that we can grow together and help shape a musical legacy for generations to come."

In addition to the blog and book club, the website will also include all released audio, bonus tracks, videos, behind-the-scenes photos, interviews and unreleased mobile ringtones, voicetones and ringbacks.

"Alicia continues to prove that her fans come first. We are thrilled to be her partners in this new and innovative fan club," said Tom Corson, EVP/GM J/Arista Records.

At the young age of 25, Keys is a nine time Grammy Award winner whose debut record, Songs In A Minor, sold more than 10 million copies. Her critically acclaimed follow-up album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, has already sold over seven million copies worldwide and her current release, Alicia Keys: Unplugged, debuted at the top of the Billboard charts and was nominated for three Grammies.

Most recently, Keys completed a sold out national 32-city tour and still had time to author a New York Times best selling book called Tears for Water.

The singer has also recently wrapped up a role as an assassin in the film "Smokin' Aces," co-starring Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven and Ben Affleck, and "The Nanny Diaries," a film adaptation of the New York Times bestseller starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti for The Weinstein Company.

Fans may visit her re-launched website, AliciaKeys.com.

[sadclown]

Gift of Gab-Supreme Lyricism

Supreme Lyricism Volume 1, featuring Talib Kweli, Mr. Lif, Lyrics Born, Lateef the Truth Speaker, Motion Man,

Lifesavas, Souls of Mischief, Haiku D'etat, New Flesh, with tons of exclusive material.

[sadclown]

Gnarls Barkley has been named URB's Artist of the Year for 2006. The photo shoot was Donnie Darko (saved the best for end of year issues!).

[bboyspdy]

=))