Meet Chester French. The brainchild of Harvard grads Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach, the preppy pop duo is signed to Pharrell Williams‘ Star Trak label, also home to Robin Thicke and Kenna. If their name sounds familiar, that’s probably because you heard their song "She Loves Everybody" featured in an episode of HBO’s Entourage last year. They also made a splash in the tabloids when Drummey married British socialite Peaches Geldof in Las Vegas back in August. The guys are currently on tour promoting the upcoming release of their debut CD, Love the Future (out Feb. 23). Here’s a video diary they sent me from the road. You can see them in action on stage and behind the scenes during a tour stop in Detroit, where Wallach experiences a frightful encounter with bedbugs at their hotel. Funny stuff. And creepy.
Archive: November 2008 (1-10 of 21)
Madonna's new documentary: the EW First Look
As we celebrate Thanksgiving today, it is important that we not forget the less fortunate. That’s why I am encouraging you to check out Madonna‘s upcoming documentary, I Am Because We Are, when it premieres on the Sundance Channel on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, at 9 p.m. It’s not a celebrity vanity project; it’s a provocative call to action. Written, produced, and narrated by Madonna, who wisely remains unseen for the most part, the film humanizes the plight of AIDS orphans in Malawi, the birthplace of her adopted son, David, where more than one million impoverished kids have lost their parents to the deadly disease. Though I Am contains many disturbing images of death, pain, and suffering that are often difficult to watch, it’s impossible not to be moved by the stories of children whose lives have been marred by such crushing hardships. Here’s a preview clip.
Catching up with...Alice Smith
Though the major-label version of Alice Smith‘s 2006 indie debut, For Lovers, Dreamers & Me, was released by Epic Records last year, the New York singer-songwriter remains one of the city’s best-kept secrets. That may be because it’s difficult to appreciate the breadth of her majestic four-octave voice without witnessing her perform live. Indeed, Smith hails from the old school of throaty chanteuses — not unlike her beau, bluesy soul singer Citizen Cope, her talent shines brightest on stage. That’s why I’m looking forward to catching her acoustic set tonight at Manhattan’s legendary Blue Note jazz club, where she’ll preview two new cuts called "Loyalty" and "So Bad" from her forthcoming follow up CD. No firm release date has been set for the new album, but Smith expects it’ll drop some time next year. "I’m past halfway done," she told me when we chatted on the phone yesterday. "I have no working title and no end in sight, but my plan is to finish it by the end of winter and get it out by May or June." Just in time to enter heavy rotation on my summer lovin’ playlist.
Beyonce in 'Cadillac Records': the EW First Look
Last night, I attended a media screening of Cadillac Records in New York while my colleague Carrie Bell was on the scene at the movie’s star-studded L.A. premiere at the Egyptian Theater, followed by an after-party at Les Deux. I had been dying to see the film ever since Beyonce Knowles landed the role of R&B legend and ex-heroin addict Etta James. The movie, which follows Chicago-based Chess Records in the 1950s and ’60s, also stars Adrien Brody as label founder Leonard Chess, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, and Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Working with those guys clearly inspired B to step up her acting game. She doesn’t appear on screen until the second hour of the movie, but it’s worth the wait, as this is her finest cinematic performance to date. Tortured, tragic, and playfully profane, she inhabits the role with fiery conviction, though it’s certainly the most sanitized depiction of a junkie I’ve ever seen (Trainspotting this is not). The only major drawback to her performance is that she lacks the pained vocal chops to convincingly pull off James’ songs or make them her own like Diana Ross did with Billie Holiday’s standards in 1972′s Lady Sings the Blues. Each time she covers classics like "At Last" and "Trust In Me," you hear Beyonce, not Etta. Apparently, James agrees. Last night when Carrie asked her how she felt about Beyonce’s portrayal, she replied, "She did her thing. She sings good, but I don’t think she sings as good as me." True that, diva.
More on Beyonce:
Beyonce as Wonder Woman: Will it fly?
Beyonce’s CD listening session: On the scene
Beyonce’s new CD has a split personality
Beyonce’s ‘I Am…Sasha Fierce’: EW review
Beyonce: How Her Music Video Style Clicked
Season 2 of VH1's 'Gotti's Way' due in 2009
Nearly a year after VH1 renewed Gotti’s Way for a second season, Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti‘s popular reality show remains on hiatus. Season 2 was expected to premiere last spring but it has yet to hit the airwaves. It’s unlikely that the delay has anything to do with ratings. The first season, which wrapped on Dec. 3, averaged 1.7 million viewers a week — a hit by VH1 standards. So, what’s up with season 2? A source close to the show tells me, "The second season is done and in the can. Looks like [it will premiere at the] end of January, but we’re still waiting on the final date." No word yet on what viewers can expect to see, but I suspect it will focus less on Gotti’s music career (by now, he must know that a big comeback probably isn’t in Ja Rule‘s future) and more on his unorthodox family values, kind of like a younger, hipper version of MTV’s Run’s House.
Barack Obama: Hope for hip-hop?
What does Barack Obama‘s presidency mean for pop culture? That depends on whom you ask. For our new "Celebrity In Chief" feature, I was assigned to find out if Obama’s election might have any sort of impact on hip-hop or other music. Rapper Talib Kweli was one the first people I reached out to for comment. He had a lot to say, but we only had room for a couple of his quotes in the story. Still, the transcript of our interview was too interesting to let it go to waste. Herewith, the best of the rest.
MARGEAUX’S MIX: Do you think that Obama’s election will have an impact on rap music?
TALIB KWELI: Obama’s presence in politics in general has had a huge impact on all types of music. But [his campaign] had the power to bring in the black musicians, the hip-hop musicians, and the cutting edge musicians who are not like Bruce Springsteen and those other old men who pay taxes, have mortgages, and stuff like that. Common is from Chicago and he was on it real early just because of the impact [Obama] had in the community. Young Jeezy had been slowly talking more about Obama all year, but around the time his new album [The Recession] dropped last summer, he created a song called "My President" with Nas before Obama even won the election. In the song, Jeezy says, "[Obama's] my president whether he wins or not." So it’s not about him winning the election; it’s about the man that he is.
First look: MTV's 'Britney: For the Record'
I just attended an exclusive screening of the first 33 minutes of the hotly anticipated upcoming MTV documentary, Britney: For the Record, premiering on Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. Shot over three months following her performance at this year’s VMAs, the 90-minute film offers a candid look inside Britney Spears‘ personal and professional life. Among other highlights, you’ll see the remarkably isolated entertainer at home eating cheese grits (cooked by her dad) on the morning of the VMAs; getting stalked by paparazzi; shooting the video for "Womanizer;" meeting with her management team and record label about her new CD, Circus (out Dec. 2); dissing Katie Holmes‘ style while shopping in New York; talking about how she envies Jessica Alba for being able to go grocery shopping with her baby without getting mobbed by photographers; and insisting that she’s not a victim of her success while admitting that she often feels like a prisoner. Here are a few juicy soundbites.
On Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline (whom she refers to as "my babies’ daddy"):
"With Justin, he was a part of the magnitude of what I had become. So when he was gone I was like, What am I supposed to do with myself? I was devastated [by the breakup] but I handled it a lot better than the [split] with Kevin….He started to do an album for himself and he started to do things for himself, and I just never saw him anymore….When it ended I felt so alone. I didn’t really wanna think about the reality of it. I never faced it….I just ran."
On recovering from her 2007 meltdown:
"My trust has really been battered….Sometimes it can get kinda lonely….I had totally lost my way. I lost focus. I lost myself. I let certain people into my life that were just bad people…because I was lonely….I really paid the consequences for that. Big time….What the hell was I thinking?"
On fame:
"At first, it’s amazing, the first year or two, because it’s like, I’m a celebrity!….It didn’t really touch me until I had been working for six years….I wanted to just stop. I wanted to create a new life."
On the current state of her life:
"Do I know my life is weird? It’s all I’ve ever known. I don’t see it as being weird….I’m kind of stuck in this place and I’m like, How do you deal? I just cope with it every day….It’s better not to feel anything at all and have hope than to feel the other way….It’s bad. I’m sad." She breaks down into tears. Later, she complains that her life is too in control these days: "It’s like Groundhog Day every day. It’s really boring….Normal is really different for everybody….In my situation, I try to make it as normal as possible for me….It could be a lot worse. There are people out there who have it a lot worse than I do….I used to be a cool chick but I feel like the paparazzi has taken thataway from me, like, the way I used to live my life. I used to be a coolchick but I’m not anymore."
More on Britney:
Madonna + Britney + Justin = Sadness
Britney’s ‘Womanizer’ sets a download record
Britney vs. Beyonce: Rate the video
Britney’s ‘Womanizer’: What did you think?
Britney’s ‘Circus’ sets release date — excited?
Britney: First seeds of a comeback?
Backstage with the All-American Rejects
The last time I hung out with the All-American Rejects was at a bar in Los Feliz, Calif., called the Bigfoot Lodge. It was a wild and drunken night that culminated with guitarist-keyboardist-programmer Nick Wheeler accidentally setting the bar on fire as we all prepared to chug a cocktail called the Flaming Dr. Pepper. That was two years ago, so it was great catching up with Nick and the rest of the band — frontman Tyson Ritter, guitarist Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor — before their show at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza last night. While an anxious group of teenage girls arrived early to form a line outside the Manhattan concert venue, the guys invited me backstage to their dressing room to give me the skinny about their upcoming CD, When the World Comes Down (out Dec. 16). Turns out, they’re just as fun to kick it with even when they’re sober. Watch the video and see for yourself. Oh, by the way, that’s iced tea Tyson’s sipping in the clip. I know because I was withhim when he ordered it at the diner next door.
The Roots' next gig: NBC's 'Late Night'?
There’s an online rumor that the Roots will retire from touring in March 2009 to become comedian Jimmy Fallon‘s house band when the SNL vet replaces Conan O’Brien as the host of NBC’s Late Night next year. According to the Internet grapevine, the Philadelphia hip-hop band’s drummer/producer, Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, reportedly broke the news in Chicago last week. A YouTube clip featuring Ahmir talking about the announcement has been yanked off the site. There was also a recent post about it on the Roots’ website, but that too has mysteriously vanished, suggesting that things are not fully decided just yet. In addition to that disappearing post, there was a long thread on the band’s Okayplayer message board earlier this week, where Ahmir was explaining/clarifying some stuff to worried fans. Basically, he saying that they weren’t totally retiring, just scaling back touring by a lot, so that they could do the Fallon gig and settle down a bit. (Fair enough, considering they’ve been on the road for, like, 13 years straight with no breaks.) Anyway, now that message board thread has been deleted as well.
So, what’s the deal? In response to my request for comment, an NBC rep told me the rumor is "not confirmable," which leads me to believe this announcement was a little premature, or the network wasn’t ready to go public with it, or whatever. Perhaps they’re still in some sort of negotiations about the terms and Ahmir just spilled the beans before he was supposed to. I’m waiting find out if the band’s rep at Island Def Jam can get me on the phone with Ahmir to clarify this matter. If that happens, I’ll be sure to update this post ASAP. (Additional reporting by Simon Vozick-Levinson and Leah Greenblatt)
Ciara's 'Fantasy Ride' pushed to 2009
Originally due out late last summer before getting bumped to Dec. 9, Ciara‘s third CD, Fantasy Ride, has now been delayed until next year. Blame it on the disappointing performance of the first single, "Go Girl," featuring and produced by T-Pain. Proof that not everything he touches turns into a hit, the sultry dance groove quickly vanished from Billboard‘s all-important Hot 100 chart no sooner than it debuted (and peaked) at a modest No. 78. "The response to ‘Go Girl’ wasn’t strong enough to ignite an album," says a rep for the Zomba Label Group. "It’s a nice setup single because [the video] introduces Ciara’s new look and her new body, but it’s not the opener." Another setback: Pressure to match the multiplatinum success of her first two discs, 2004′s Goodies and 2006′s Ciara: The Evolution, plus stiff competition from Britney, Beyoncé, and the Energizer Bunny known as Rihanna. "Ciara opened very wide with her first album, which gave her a broad audience and crossover appeal. Her second album was a little more urban. With Fantasy Ride, they’re trying to strike a balance [between pop and urban] while looking for the right single." So, what’s CiCi’s latest release date and just how firm is it? "Right now, we are anticipating it for spring 2009, but we’re not gonna put another date on it." Goodness gracious! Sounds like this Fantasy Ride has become quite the bumpy journey.
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