Archive: December 2009 (51-60 of 87)

Dec 8 2009 05:55 PM ET

Q-Tip wants to work with Eminem (plus Grammys talk and more)

Categories: Eminem, Grammys, Q-Tip

Q-Tip has been logging studio hours lately making beats, not only for himself, but others. There’s one project in particular that the sometime Tribe Called Quest leader would like to work on as a producer: Eminem’s upcoming Relapse 2. “I submitted some tracks to Eminem,” he tells the Music Mix. “They’re very hard, very rhythmic. I’m just hoping that he likes them enough to use them.” Most know Q-Tip best as a rapper, of course, but given his strong beatmaking résumé — he produced Nas’s classic “One Love” and Mobb Deep’s “Give Up the Goods,” among others — it’s an intriguing idea.  (Says an Eminem rep: “They haven’t done anything together yet, but Em is still working.”)

After all the years of label drama it took to get The Renaissance on shelves, Q-Tip was happy to see his acclaimed 2008 album receive a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album last week. Still, he’s not losing any sleep thinking about his chances to win a trophy. “I’m not itching — if it happens, it would be nice, definitely,” he says. “But hey, man, I don’t pay too much attention to these things, because if you do, you wind up going crazy. I’m just honored to be recognized.”

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2009 05:02 PM ET

Eminem, Beatles, Shakira top decade-end sales list

Who wins the record-sale wars of the ’00s? The battle comes down to the Real Slim Shady, the Fab Four, and a perhaps less fab boy-band fivesome.

According to Nielsen SoundScan (via USA Today), Eminem garners the top overall prize for album sales over the last ten years with 32.2 million copies sold, despite having a five-year gap in studio albums between 2004′s Encore and this year’s Relapse.

The Beatles, however, come in a close second with 30 million, and earn the single-album ticket to ride; their greatest-hits compilation 1, released in 2000, sold 11.5 million, edging out ‘N Sync’s No Strings Attached from that same year by a mere 400,000. (The latter sold 2.4 million in its first seven days, still a SoundScan record.) Norah Jones’ 2002 debut Come Away With Me wins the bronze, taking third place with 10.5 million.

As for digital music? Shakira “Hips Don’t Lie” is the decade’s most-streamed track by nearly double numbers, with 85.3 million online plays, followed by Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You,” at 43.5 million, and Chris Brown’s “Run It!”

Cross-format rock and country rule the Aughties’ radio-play records, however; Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” was the most spun, followed by Train’s “Drops of Jupiter,” Lifehouse’s “Hanging by a Moment,” two Faith Hill songs (“Breathe,” “The Way You Love Me”), 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite,” and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.”

Readers, who were your artists of the decade? And who did you forget even belonged to this decade? Don’t Lie.

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Weezer latest: Rivers Cuomo’s condition has ’stabilized’
Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade?
Did Eminem call Adam Lambert a homophobic slur?

Common talks Grammy noms
Weezer bus crash: Photos and chilling details

Dec 8 2009 02:18 PM ET

Jeff Mangum returns with a cover of Chris Knox's 'Sign the Dotted Line'

When Jeff Mangum’s name showed up in connection with a planned Chris Knox tribute album this summer, you could almost hear the collective gasp issuing from the indie-rock world. New music from the genius who more or less retired after recording two all-time classic albums with Neutral Milk Hotel in the ’90s? (That’s them in 1998, pictured. Mangum is second from the left.) Could we really be this lucky?

Believe it. Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, which went on sale today as a digital download at Merge Records’ website, comes with an unfortunate backstory: Knox, a great and underrecognized singer-songwriter from New Zealand, suffered a stroke in June, and an impressive list of friends and fans put together this covers album to raise funds for his recovery. But Mangum’s take on “Sign the Dotted Line,” originally recorded by Knox’s band Tall Dwarfs for 1990′s Weeville, is reason to rejoice.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2009 12:38 PM ET

Sade debuts new single 'Soldier of Love': Are you ready to rejoin her army?

Categories:

Sade has been pretty much missing in action since 2000′s Lover’s Rock CD. So it seems fitting that her new single, “Soldier of Love,” has something of a military vibe as the chanteuse compares the turmoils of love with those of war. Putting to one side the fact that Colonel Pat Benatar made a similar lyrical point many years ago, the title track from Sade’s due-in-February album of the same name nicely frames the singer’s slinky-as-ever vocals with a spare, snare drum-driven, rhythm track.

Give “Soldier of Love” a listen and tell us what you think. Has Sade taken too long to regroup? Or is the time right for her to invade the charts again?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Weezer latest: Rivers Cuomo’s condition has ‘stabilized’
Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade?
Did Eminem call Adam Lambert a homophobic slur?

Common talks Grammy noms
Weezer bus crash: Photos and chilling details

Dec 8 2009 11:28 AM ET

Weezer latest: Rivers Cuomo's condition has 'stabilized.'

Categories:

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is on the mend, according to the latest blog entry by the band’s webmaster Karl Koch. Cuomo injured his spleen and one of his lungs when his bus crashed on Sunday morning and the singer was subsequently taken to a hospital in upstate New York. But, according to Koch, Cuomo’s internal injuries are becoming less of a concern. “The doctor announced that Rivers blood pressure had stabilized, meaning the spleen was no longer leaking – it was on the mend,” Koch wrote yesterday. “And his lung seemed to be gaining strength and holding up, meaning it too looks like it will mend itself with time. All this is great news so far. Plus he was given the go ahead to eat some real food again – a very positive sign!” Koch also reported that Cuomo, “went from being barely able to talk and open his eyes yesterday to partially sitting up, talking clearly, reading books and checking the internet, plus his color and energy seemed much brighter.”

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More on Weezer:
Weezer bus crash: Photos and chilling details

‘Raditude’ review
Glambert and ‘Gossip Girl’ join the weird world of Weezer
Weezer bugs out

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade?
Did Eminem call Adam Lambert a homophobic slur?

Common talks Grammy noms

Photo credit: Weezer.com

Dec 7 2009 05:59 PM ET

Common talks Grammy nominations, teaming with Kanye West and No I.D. for his next album, and more

Categories: Common, Grammys, Kanye West, Q&A

For some artists, reading their name on the list of Grammy nominees last week was a brand-new experience. Not Common. The Chicago rapper-actor has been a Grammy mainstay this decade, taking home trophies for 2002 (Best R&B Song with Erykah Badu) and 2007 (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group with Kanye West). This year, he got nods in the categories of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (for guesting on Kid Cudi’s “Make Her Say”) and Best Rap Album (his own Universal Mind Control). We got Com on the phone to find out how he’s feeling about the Grammy race, plus a status update on his next album, The Believer, and a couple of film projects.

EW: If I’m counting right, you were nominated eleven times before this year. Are you still excited when you get another couple of nominations?
COMMON: Yes, I was still excited to hear about it. It caught me off-guard. I was actually eating dinner with some of my friends in Washington, D.C. I got a text saying “Congratulations,” and I was like, “Congratulations? What’s going on? Did somebody say I’m getting married? Do I have a child out there I don’t know is coming?” [Laughs] So I asked the person — this was someone from my management team — “Congratulations for what?” and she told me, “Congratulations on your Grammy nomination.” Later, she texted me back, “You got two.” So I was very excited.

Do you think you’re going to win those awards?
I mean, I hope to win. I believe I’ve got a good chance.

The other people in the Best Rap Album category are Mos Def, Q-Tip, Flo Rida, and Eminem. How do you feel about the company you have there?
It’s some really talented people nominated. For me to be able to say I’m in the company of Q-Tip and Mos Def and Eminem, just to be in competition with those guys, is really cool for me.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 7 2009 04:07 PM ET

Eye of the Tiger (Woods): Songs about cheating

Categories: Let's Argue!, Listmania!

While Tiger Woods’ rep as an upstanding family man continues to unravel in a perfect storm of cocktail girls, porn stars, and pancake-house waitresses, it seems like the only thing missing from the gleeful media melee is an official soundtrack (NOW That’s What I Call Tacky?).

We’ll leave the commentary to SNL, but this week’s deluge of Tiger news—and a piece today on the past decade’s top one-hit wonders that included Blu Cantrell’s 2001 if-he-strays-he-pays anthem “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”—got EW’s music department talking about the many, many moments in pop history centered on cheaters and the ones they cheat.

Songs about stepping out can be a lot of things: goofy (“Naughty by Nature, “O.P.P.”), guilt-ridden (Wham, “Careless Whisper”), furious (Beyonce, “Ring the Alarm”), heartbroken (Dolly Parton, “Jolene”), revenge-bent (Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”), middle-finger flipping (Justin Timberlake, “Cry Me a River”) or just flippant (MeShell Ndegeocello, “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)”).

There are oldies-radio classics—Marvin Gaye’s “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”—and songs that need 8974 bleeps just to get on the radio (Eamon, “F— It, I Don’t Want You Back”). Sometimes, they get meteorological  (Garth Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls”), or mathematical (see lo-fi chanteuse Mirah’s relationship arithmetic in “Cold Cold Water”: “I’m so number one that it’s a shame / that you let other numbers in the game”).

And then there’s this guy. Oh, snap, guess what he saw?

Tell us your own picks below: the most cathartic, memorable, crazy-making songs about being in love, when three (or more) is a crowd.

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade?
Did Eminem call Adam Lambert a homophobic slur?
MGMT singer talks Grammy nominations, new album and more

Stream new Cold War Kids, ‘Coffee Spoon’: An EW exclusive
Daryl Hall on his surprise Grammy nomination

Dec 7 2009 02:39 PM ET

Weezer bus crash: Photos and chilling details

Categories: Weezer

Weezer webmaster Karl Koch has posted photographs on the band’s website of the aftermath of yesterday’s bus crash, which left frontman Rivers Cuomo with three cracked ribs and what Koch describes as “minor but very painful internal damage.” Meanwhile, he offers more details about what actually occurred early on Sunday morning in a detailed and—when you consider how matters could easily have been so much worse—fairly chilling blog entry.

“The bus contained Rivers, his wife and daughter, their nanny, and Rivers’ assistant Sarah,” writes Koch. “Both Sarah and Rivers’ wife were pitched out of their upper level bunks onto the floor 5 feet below. Somehow Rivers’ wife was uninjured, but Sarah sustained 2 fractured ribs and a fractured lower vertebrae. The baby daughter was in her crib unit and was fine, as was the nanny who was sleeping near the floor in her bunk at the time. However in the back lounge, Rivers was tossed around violently, waking up as he landed back on his mattress.” Koch goes on to relate how EMTs rescued Cuomo from the bus by using the jaws of life to remove a rear window bar.

Koch, who arrived on the scene 20 minutes after the bus carrying Rivers and his family lost control as the result of black ice, describes “catching a glimpse of Rivers lying inside on his back surrounded by EMTs. I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me.” Koch also confirms that Weezer’s remaining December dates have been canceled and thanks fans for “their kind thoughts and good wishes, we need them!”

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

UPDATE (12/8): Rivers Cuomo’s condition has ‘stabilized’

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade?
Did Eminem call Adam Lambert a homophobic slur?
MGMT singer talks Grammy nominations, new album and more

Stream new Cold War Kids, ‘Coffee Spoon’: An EW exclusive
Daryl Hall on his surprise Grammy nomination

Photo credit: Weezer.com

Dec 7 2009 12:32 PM ET

Eminem vs. Adam Lambert: Did Em really just call Adam a homophobic slur?

Categories: Adam Lambert, Eminem

Yeah, he did. Probably. Vulture notes the rising controversy over “Elevator,” a leaked track from Eminem’s upcoming Relapse: Refill re-release which includes the following lyrics: “Sorry, Lance, Mr. Lambert, and Aiken ain’t gonna make it/They get so mad when I call them both fake, it’s/All these f—in’ voices in my head, I can’t take it!” Except Eminem sort of blurs the words “fake, it’s” together, so they sound awfully like a certain hateful slur, presumably directed at Lance Bass, Adam Lambert, and Clay Aiken — who, coincidentally, happen to be three prominent out gay singers.

Eminem’s pronunciation leaves enough room for reasonable doubt, I guess, but it’s pretty obvious what he was going for here. It’s not a subtle joke. Nor is it a new one for Em, who’s featured homophobic ranting as part of his schtick for a solid decade now. Despite occasional signals in recent years that he’d moved away from his most vicious gay-baiting, this May’s Relapse was as nasty as ever on that front.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 7 2009 11:26 AM ET

Who is the one-hit wonder of the decade? Hint: it's not James Blunt or Gnarls Barkley

Categories:

Billboard has just published a list of the decade’s one-hittiest one-hit wonders. More precisely, the acts have been ranked by “how high their big song climbed on the chart compared to how far down the tally their subsequent highest-charting effort peaked.” Daniel Powter topped the list thanks to his single “Bad Day” (the clip for which you can see below), followed by Terror Squad (“Lean Back”), Crazy Town (“Butterfly”), MIMS (“This is Why I’m Hot”), D4L (“Laffy Taffy”), James Blunt (“You’re Beautiful”), Gnarls Barkley (“Crazy”), Blu Cantrell (“Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”), Bo Bice (“Inside Your Heaven”), and Dream (“He Loves U Not”).

But how about some less scientific opinions? What was your favorite one-hit wonder of the decade? And your least? Which acts deserve(d) to have more of a career? And which should consider themselves fortunate to have had any career at all? And did I really once spend an evening hanging out at Germany’s worst strip club with Crazy Town (no need to offer an opinion on that latter one. I did!)?

Let us know!

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Apple Eats Lala: Now What?
MGMT singer talks Grammy nominations, new album and more

Stream new Cold War Kids, ‘Coffee Spoon’: An EW exclusive
Daryl Hall on his surprise Grammy nomination
Grammy nomination special: The best and worst performances
Nominees (Kings of Leon! Sugarland! Maxwell!) talk Taylor Swift and more after the Grammy nomination special

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