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Tags: A$AP Rocky, GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hip-Hop/Rap, Jay-Z, Jentina, Kanye West

Image Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

While we at EW like to live every week like it’s Shark Week, it looks like Gwyneth Paltrow’s on a whole other tip right now.

As Lady GOOP’s latest newsletter invaded inboxes across America Thursday, readers learned not only what Paltrow had for breakfast (crepes) and what TV show’s she been obsessing over (Homeland), but also that she’s been rap strong this week.

“It’s Hip Hop Week,” reads the newsletter, before delving into a trio of tracks that the actress has been jamming these days. Unsurprisingly, one of her pick is “Clique,” the Cruel Summer single featuring Big Sean, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. She’s also been getting into “F—ing Problem,” the A$AP Rocky song that counts Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and 2 Chainz as guests. Lastly — and rather oddly — is “Bad Ass Strippa,” the 2004 track from Romani-British rapper Jentina that was later mocked by Lady Sovereign in “Sad Ass Strippa.”

You can listen to all of GOOP’s hip-hop week picks with the videos below. But first, be sure to heed Gwyneth’s post-script warning: “Explicit lyrics. Do with that information what you will…”

Nov 27 2012 02:56 PM ET

Bon Jovi, Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl confirmed for Hurricane Sandy benefit

Tags: 12-12-12, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Groh, Eddie Vedder, Hurricane Sandy, Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Rock

Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The list of performers donating their time and effort to the 12-12-12 benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy keeps getting bigger.

The high-profile event, organized by Clear Channel and set for Dec. 12 at Madison Square Garden, already boasted the likes of Paul McCartney and Kanye West. Now they’ve officially confirmed the addition of Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and the full Bon Jovi roster. (Jon Bon Jovi himself had already been slated, but now the New Jersey native will have his band with him.) READ FULL STORY »

Nov 12 2012 05:16 PM ET

On the Scene: Alicia Keys' VH1 Storytellers

Tags: Alicia Keys, Brand New Me, Empire State of Mind, Girl on Fire, If I Ain't Got You, Jay-Z, John Legend, Kanye West, King, No One, The Diary of Alicia Keys, VH1 Storytellers, You Don't Know My Name

Image Credit: Michelangelo Di Battista

Alicia Keys’ VH1 Storytellers set at 106 and Park is small but sumptuous with the air of an upscale jazz lounge, the stage adorned with carpets and candles, a stately grand piano at the center.

Keys emerges wearing silver tights and a chin-length bob, strutting about in stilettos. She carries herself onstage with cool and confidence – not showy or attention-seeking, merely comfortable – and speaks in a voice so smooth you could drape it over your shoulders. Everything about the woman – her physique, her demeanor, not to mention her talent as a musician – broadcasts the fame and success that she accepts so casually. Seated in a crowd of perhaps 100, less than ten yards from the singer herself, I am in awe.

Nov 1 2012 05:25 PM ET

Kanye releases trailer for 'Cruel Winter' short film

Tags: Cruel Summer, Cruel Winter, George H.W. Bush, Kanye West

Image Credit: Steve Mack/Getty Images

You caught Kanye’s short film Cruel Summer at Cannes earlier this year, right? The one that starred Kid Cudi and Pusha T as Lamborghini thieves in a parallel Arabian universe and played simultaneously across seven screens? Well brace yourselves, fans, because Yeezy just released a trailer for the sequel, Cruel Winter.

Oct 18 2012 05:23 PM ET

RZA's 'The Man with the Iron Fists' Soundtrack -- Hear it here

Tags: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Kanye West, Menace II Society, Pusha T, Russell Crowe, RZA, The Black Keys, Wu-Tang Clan

The trailer for the RZA-directed The Man with the Iron Fists poses a number of questions: What is happening? What is Russell Crowe doing in that mustache? Can we buy a ticket now? But one thing is for certain: the soundtrack is pretty badass.

RZA is the guy who produced Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) after all. So it’s no surprise that he called up a bunch of his friends — including Kanye, Pusha T, The Black Keys, and his Wu-Tang comrades, no big deal — and made what is likely to be one of the best hip-hop movie soundtracks this side of Menace II Society.

The record hits stores on Oct. 23, but it’s available now to stream online — check it out after the jump.

Sep 26 2012 01:45 PM ET

Album Sales: Pink scores her first No. 1, Kanye rides in second -- but Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Kiss' is a miss

by Grady Smith

Tags: Album Sales, Ben Folds Five, Bob Dylan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Charts, Dave Matthews Band, Grizzly Bear, Kanye West, Little Big Town, Pink, The Avett Brothers, The Killers

Image Credit: Andrew MacPherson

A dozen years into her multiplatinum career, Pink has scored her first ever(!) number one album this week with her new disc The Truth About Love, which topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 280,000.

Driven by the success of her Top 5 single “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” — and it’s lippy VMA performance — Truth became Pink’s sixth straight Top 10 debut. Still, until today, her previous chart high came with the 2008 set Funhouse, which debuted at No. 2.

Pink is that rare breed of pop star — the kind that can sell both singles and albums. Not so for everyone on this week’s list though: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2012 02:50 PM ET

Kanye West says 'Mitt Romney don’t pay no tax' on new 'Cruel Summer' track: Hear it here

Tags: Cruel Summer, G.O.O.D. Music, Kanye West, R. Kelly

Image Credit: Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP

Is Mitt Romney rap’s most beleaguered target? It’s starting to look that way.

Shortly after Nicki Minaj fake-supported the Republican on her “Mercy” redo, Kanye West has inserted a Romney reference of his own on his new G.O.O.D. Music album.

“Mitt Romney don’t pay no tax,” ‘Ye declares on Cruel Summer‘s opener “To the World,” which also features R. Kelly. The next line? “Mitt Romney don’t pay no tax.” We thinks Kanye’s trying to tell us something!

West, of course, has a colorful history regarding leading Republicans, so this should make for a fun election year. And while it’s certainly headline-grabbing, the Romney line might not even be the most intriguing quote in the song. R. Kelly, for instance, sneaks in a gem with “The whole world is a couch / Bitch, I’m Rick James tonight,” while Kanye raises eyebrows with the line, “R. Kelly and the god of rap / S—tin’ on you, holy crap.” (If you recall, R. Kelly was once famously accused of urinating on women.)

Anyway, enough with the chit-chat. Listen to the song for yourself! Check out the video below and get back to us in the comments.

Sep 12 2012 01:18 PM ET

Kanye West recruits R. Kelly, The-Dream, Ma$e for 'Cruel Summer': See the official tracklist here

Tags: Buzzworthy, G.O.O.D. Music, Hip-Hop/Rap, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Reverend Ma$e

After threatening to miss its titular season entirely, the G.O.O.D. Music compilation Cruel Summer has made significant advances this week.

Kanye West’s much-delayed label showcase hits streets next Tuesday, but fans were treated to a hearty sneak peek when iTunes premiered ninety-second snippets of the album’s twelve songs yesterday. And to further fuel excitement, the official tracklist has been made available as well. And it’s quite interesting!

While there was some uncertainty over which songs would end up making the final cut — summer-smoldering single ”Mercy” and Jay-Z-featuring “Clique” were givens, but the Kim Kardashian confessional “Cold” was a little more up in the air – it looks like all the tracks West’s been trotting out this summer made it on. Also interesting is the packed guestlist, which brings in cameos from stars orbiting just outside the G.O.O.D. Music universe: R. Kelly kicks things off with a Kanye collab, Wu-Tang Clansman Raekwon shows up on the album’s crowded fifth entry, and “Higher” joins Pusha T with both The-Dream and Ma$e. Ma$e!

Take a look at the list below:

Sep 10 2012 03:58 PM ET

Taylor Swift in tears, Axl gone AWOL, Britney breaking out in a rash: MTV's top exec tells EW the stories behind the wildest moments in VMA history

by Kyle Anderson

Tags: Beyonce, Britney Spears, Eminem, Fiona Apple, Guns N' Roses, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Madonna, MTV, Nirvana, Taylor Swift, Television, VMAs, TV

Image Credit: Gary Hershorn/ Reuters/Landov

Last week’s MTV Video Music Awards may have suffered from disappointing ratings (this year’s viewership was only half of last year’s all-time high 12.45 million) and a dearth of big wow moments, but there’s no shortage of bonkers events to look back on in the show’s past.

In fact, we recently caught up with MTV Music Group President Van Toffler to discuss some of the wildest, wooliest, and most unforgettable water-cooler moments from the VMAs’ nearly three-decade run — and got some previously unpublished revelations on everyone from Britney Spears (did you know that she wasn’t actually Madonna’s first-kiss choice back in 2003? Or that her 2001 snake-charming had a seriously unfortunate side effect?) to Kanye’s infamous speechus interruptus. Read on (with video links in the headers, when available).

Kanye Storms the Stage and Interrupts Taylor Swift (2009)
Toffler: “There’s no way any of us could have predicted that — we didn’t orchestrate it. He came with a bottle of alcohol, so he was in a festive mood to begin with. But we all were in shock in the [production] truck when he walked up on stage and took the mic from Taylor. I remember turning to one of the producers and going, ‘Do we not have security?’ [But] we don’t put those big bulky guys on camera in front of the talent. Maybe this guy thought Kanye belonged on the stage.

I said to our line producer, ‘You need to go talk to Kanye and probably have him exit the building, and I will go deal with Taylor.’ And she was about to perform right after that break! She was a champ. I would be lying if I said she and her mom weren’t crying when I saw them, but she pulled it together. This was one of the most absurd VMA moments for me, having to talk to her and her mom, and they’re crying and upset, and this was her first time on the VMAs, and she had been used to working on country shows with polite artists. This was a little bit more chaotic than she was used to. And then I walked back behind the stage to find Beyoncé crying about the incident. Ultimately I talked to her and her dad and then went back to Taylor after her performance, and an hour later Beyoncé brought Taylor back out so she could have her moment.

It all played out okay in the end, but there was a lot of drama in between. Beyoncé had the wisdom to bring Taylor out on stage, and Taylor stayed to have her moment instead of leaving.”

Sep 7 2012 12:03 PM ET

Stream Kanye's new single, 'Clique'