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Stop Saying You Are Retiring If You Are Really Not Retiring

Posted 7/14/11 11:38 am EST by in Lil Wayne, rock criticism you're actually interested in

Last night, Cher alerted us to the fact she is in the recording studio AND recording a song by Lady Gaga and super producer RedOne called “The Greatest Thing.” So that’s cool.

What’s kind of weird though is that the song comes over five years after Cher wrapped up her massive Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, which she claimed would be her final concert tour. Three years later, of course, she began a very successful three-year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, so it was really less of a “farewell” than it was a “see you guys in a bit.” And last fall while promoting her film Burlesque, she told a few interviewers she wanted to hit the road again for another tour – that she preferred arena crowds to the tourist-heavy audiences attracted to shows in Vegas.

Sure, the living legend never swore off recording (and thank goodness!), but it got us thinking about stars who announce their retirement … and then never really retire. Sure, they might go away for a hot second, but then they come back, often as big as ever, making the whole retirement hubbub look like an elaborate ruse. Read More...

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Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears? Which Tour Are You Looking Forward To The Most This Summer?

Posted 7/7/11 10:54 am EST by in Britney Spears, fleet foxes, Foo-Fighters, kings of leon, Lil Wayne, Live Music, Newsroom Poll, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Tour Dates, U2

Katy Perry

One shoots whipped cream out of her boobs and changes outfits seven times in one song. Another writhes on a giant guitar and closes her show by donning giant angel wings. Whether you're a Katy Perry fan or a Britney booster, the fact is these divas are leading a parade of major stars hitting stages this summer, and since we told you who our experts predict will rule the road during bikini season, now we want you to tell us who you've invested your cash in.

Will you plunk down your hard-earned cash to see Taylor Swift's country cutie act (once she gets over that nasty case of bronchitis, that is), will it be U2's gargantuan 360 Tour that will drain your bank account, or is your money on Perry and Spears?

If you're more of a hip-head, Lil Wayne is a lock to be somewhere near your neck of the woods this summer and Wiz Khalifa will surely burn one down within driving distance. If high-energy pop-punk is the thing, the Blink-182/My Chemical Romance double-bill aims to please, unless you prefer your rock more uncut, in which case Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon may be the right choice.

And, for the first time, glowstick-loving dance fans are not being left out in the cold thanks to the first-ever touring electronica festival, IDentity, which will hit amphitheaters in major markets with a host of big beat stars like Skrillex, Afrojack and Kaskade.

Then again, maybe we left someone off the list and there's some other tour your totally jacked about. We've done our homework, now it's your turn. Vote in our summer tours poll below. Read More...

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Juelz Santana Explains Lil Wayne Joint Album Delay

Posted 6/21/11 6:00 pm EST by in Lil Wayne

By Rahman J. Dukes

From RapFix: Juelz Santana is back and ready to put his best foot forward in the rap game following a near three year hiatus that almost derailed the Harlem MC's career. Back around 2007 Juelz along with Lil Wayne were the hottest ticket on the next wave of Hip-Hop superstars. Aside from the fact the two were musically inclined, Weezy and Els (as Wayne calls him) were close friends who began crafting a full length LP together titled I Can't Feel My Face. The two slaughtered the mixtape game with countless apperances and even supported each other while out on the road (Juelz was a special guest at the Lil Wayne show where he was arrested on gun possession charges and was also briefly detained himself.) With the announcement of their joint album heads were sent into a Twilight Zone over excitement. Only thing is, the album never surfaced.

Lil Wayne would soon embark on a marathon like trek securing the number one spot on MTV News's critically acclaimed Hottest MCs In The Game program, then the following year smashing rap history with the highly anticipated 2008 release of his Carter 3 album, selling one million units of the disc in one week. Weezy was touted as rap's number one shotta and was showing no signs of slowing down. His partner in rhyme Juelz was left standing in the rafters watching Wayne run away with the game.

For more, visit RapFix.

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Songs Of The Summer: Rap/Hip-Hop

Posted 6/21/11 11:00 am EST by in drake, Lil Wayne, lupe fiasco, Rick-Ross

By Morgan Schwartz and Matt Goodhue

If you’re not a pop person and found our first five songs of the summer to be a little, well, not your taste, don’t sweat it. We compiled our favorite rap/hip-hop jams for the summer to give you a taste of what we’re listening to. Whether the songs speak of summer romances or partying the night away, they are sure to set the mood for the best season of the year.

1. “Super Bass,” Nicki Minaj

If we’ve learned anything from Ms. Minaj, it would be that girls can do rap and hip-hop just as well, if not better, than any man. In this new single, Nicki does what she does best and raps over an awesome beat before breaking into a catchy chorus that gives those of us not quick enough to spit along with her a chance to sing with this summer jam. The music video’s neon colors and sexy outfits are enough to put it at the top of our playlist, and the sex appeal combined with Nicki’s lyrics may just get us ready for our own summer romance!

2. “Out of My Head,” Lupe Fiasco ft. Trey Songz

This has definitely been a great year for Lupe and it’s about to be an even better summer. Although this song of isn’t one of the singles off his new album, Lasers, his performance of this jam at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards got our attention. Like “Super Bass,” “Out of My Head” talks about a possible crush and is perfect for your blossoming summer love. Trey Songz’s hook – “girl I want you to know/I can’t get you out of my head, my head” – makes us think this song could be the soundtrack to your summer romance? You’ll have to download it to find out…

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Lil Wayne's Scrabble And Other Faux Board Games We'd Buy

Posted 6/10/11 5:24 pm EST by in Lil Wayne, Music

By Zachary Swickey

The metal gods known as Metallica have settled down quite a bit over the years. Fans no longer refer to them as "Alcoholica," and as the therapy sessions featured in their "Some Kind of Monster" documentary showed, they aren't as concerned about keeping their intimidating image (remember the backlash they got just for cutting their hair back in '96?). So, it doesn't seem as crazy that they will soon be offering their own version of America's most iconic board game: Monopoly.

Starting June 13, via their online store, Metallica will join ranks of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and KISS, who have all previously been bestowed with the same distinction. To give you the gist, the previous custom edition of Kiss featured Gene's boot and a satchel of money as possible tokens, Detroit Rock City and a KISS Pinball Machine as board spaces, and the cards of chance featured some interesting situations: "Took 2nd place in the Girls of KISS Beauty Contest. Collect $100!"

There are no further details on what Metallica's board will entail, but don't be surprised if the "Go directly to jail" space bears Napster's logo, or you pull a card that reads, "Burned onstage by pyrotechnics and suffer third-degree burns. Lose a turn."

We think some other artists deserve this board game treatment too, although, we kind of doubt these would show up on the shelves of Toys "R" Us soon.

Katy Perry's Candy Land: How has this not already been done? Her music video for "California Gurls" was obviously inspired by this game, and Hasbro probably owes her for the free advertising. Read More...

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Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Diddy Watch Lakers Top Magic

Posted 6/8/09 1:00 pm EST by in Diddy, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Sports, Zac Efron

By Jayson Rodriguez

Perhaps inspired by Lil Wayne's new song about him, Kobe Bryant powered the Los Angeles Lakers to victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

Kobe once again led the way for Los Angeles, as his 29 points and 8 assists helped the Lakers top the Orlando Magic in overtime, 101-96. The win gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The veteran guard has played two of his best finals games ever since Wayne released a new pro-Kobe track last week titled, naturally enough, "Kobe Bryant."

Coincidence? Probably. It likely has more to do with his team taking a butt-whipping from the Celtics in the first two games of last year's championship.

Among the many stars spotted watching Bryant's performance yesterday were Diddy, Rihanna, Will.I.Am, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and "High School Musical" star Zac Efron. Longtime Laker fans Jack Nicholson, Andy Garcia, Penny Marshall and Denzel Washington were also in attendance.

Game 3 is set for Tuesday night in Orlando: Get ready paparazzi shots of high-profile Magic fans like Tiger Woods and ... er, that's really it. Maybe Rick Ross and Flo Rida can make the drive up from Miami to spice things up?

Lil Wayne Protege Nicki Minaj: Bad In The Best Way Possible!

Posted 5/4/09 3:12 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Lil Wayne

Nicki MinajBy Jenna Talavera

Last week, I tagged along with MTV News for the Mixtape Daily shoot with Nicki Minaj at Baisley Pond Park in Queens, New York (I live just a few minutes away). A lot of people in Queens have much respect for Nicki as a writer, singer and artist whose lyrical content is fun and playful — but don't forget, she has a flow so crazy she can hurt your feelings. She's been highly recognized after working with Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and the Young Money Crew.

Waiting for her to arrive at the park, I didn't know what to expect or even make of the day ahead of me. The only thing that came to mind was "Nicki Minaj is a bad bi---!" (in the best way possible!) She stepped out of the white SUV in a white tank top, glittery pink leggings, and strapped heels, complemented by gold earrings, big chains and bracelets. After going through the details of how the interview would get started, she had a few creative ideas of her own. She wanted to incorporate bikes into the shoot, and for her to take creative direction showed me that she has no problem voicing how she wanted her segment to look. Read More...

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Lil Wayne Hits Court In New York, Almost Unnoticed

Posted 4/23/09 7:07 pm EST by in Lil Wayne

Lil WayneNEW YORK — Outside the courthouse this morning there were no screaming fans, no camera crews (aside from our own) and not a single paparazzo in sight — which was surprising, considering that the biggest name in hip-hop, Lil Wayne, was in court, appearing before a judge facing charges of gun possession.

Lil Wayne arrived at 9:15 a.m. with no entourage, accompanied only by his usual bodyguard and his attorney, Stacey Richman. With our cameras rolling, Wayne, dressed casually in dark jeans, black-framed glasses, black sweater, black sneakers and a grey jacket, made his way from his blacked-out Escalade across the street and up the steps of the courthouse. The streets were bustling with people heading to work, and not one single person noticed that the famous rapper was amongst them. Even a group of kids late to school walked right past Wayne without noticing — and by the time they saw the cameras and turned around, it was too late. Lil Wayne had enetered the building.
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Lil Wayne Brings All His Friends (And His Hits) To New Jersey Stage

Posted 3/20/09 3:30 pm EST by in Lil Wayne

By Jenna Talavera

Lil Wayne is taking over, one city at a time. After his I Am Music Tour kicked off in Providence, Rhode Island, on Tuesday, he stopped in Newark, New Jersey, last night with his Young Money Crew, T-Pain, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson. It was a can't-miss concert and the only one in proximity for the New York/ New Jersey area.

I found myself screaming with the crowd as smoke emerged from the stage before Weezy's entrance. There he was — Mr. Carter himself! It didn't take long until T-Pain joined him to perform their hits and gave previews of upcoming "T-Wayne" collaboration.

Taking off layers of clothing one by one, Wayne performed "Turnin' Me On" with Keri Hilson and was down to nothing but pants and his six-pack and tattoos for "Fireman." After he played several tracks from his mixtapes, he introduced his Young Money Crew. Mack Maine, Lil Twist and Lil Chuckee spit some rhymes, while Jae Millz, Tyga, Gudda Gudda and T-Streets joined them onstage. Together with Wayne and up-and-coming rapper Drake, they performed "Every Girl in the World," the first single from the Young Money album. Drake (also known as actor Aubrey Graham, who plays Jimmy on "Degrassi: The Next Generation") stayed onstage for Wayne's "Mrs. Officer," followed by the rock hit "Prom Queen." Read More...

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Lil Wayne Called All Four #1 Seeds In NCAA Bracket Last Week!

Posted 3/16/09 2:24 pm EST by in Lil Wayne

By Jayson Rodriguez

Lil Wayne showed Louisville a lot of love when we talked to him about the NCAA Tournament last week. The long-haired lyricist picked Rick Pitino's team to make it to the Final Four.

His bracketology was so on point that he made his pick before Selection Sunday and before the Cardinals won the Big East Tournament over Syracuse this past weekend. He told us to watch out for the sleepers but then said, "It's gonna be Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Louisville and Carolina. Teams like that [make it to the end]."

Turns out, all four teams were picked as #1 seeds. Take that, office-pool hacks!

It also turns out Weezy is pretty popular with the Louisville players. On the University of Louisville's athletic site, hoopsters like junior Jerry Smith list Lil Wayne as their favorite rapper. Smith also gave a nod to the Game and Young Jeezy. Sophomore guard Preston Knowles also lists Lil Wayne, along with T.I., Chamillionaire and Lil Boosie. Read More...

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