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Kid Cudi Quits Marijuana, Yet Remains A Wizard

Posted 4/4/11 1:59 pm EST by in Music


By Zachary Swickey

On Friday, much to the consternation of the folks at NORML, and in direct opposition to photos like this, Kid Cudi announced on his Tumblr account that he has quit smoking marijuana:

"I dont smoke weed anymore. I'll leave it to the kids. I'm 27 with a business to run and I need to be alert and focused with my mind strong. For those who still get it on, smoke one in my memory as your favorite lonely stoner."

What many presumed to be an April Fool’s Joke doesn’t seem to be as Cudi reiterated, "This is not a joke" and got somewhat hostile with fans who don’t like their favorite rapper’s newfound sobriety, writing "Im happy being a new me. Giva f--- who thinks of me different, you didn’t care about me in the first place.

"I'm not your puppet or your tap dancing drug addict here to be your miserable muse," he continued. "I always made music for me to help myself find understanding."

This definitely comes as a surprise, especially considering just three weeks ago, Cudi was showing off stills from his upcoming music video for his next single, "Marijuana." And let's not forget his long-in-the-works Wizard album, the rock-leaning affair he's cooking up with beat-making partner Dot Da Genius (Wizards, are, after all, the bong-iest of all Mages).

Still, Cudi maintains that his weed-smoking ways are behind him, and promised fans that he's currently working on a jam of "current freshness." He'll also appear on the upcoming second season of HBO's "How To Make It In America," too. We'll be awaiting both projects ... while sitting on the couch, with a bag of Pirate's Booty, as the DVD menu for "Baraka" plays on repeat. For real, man.

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Eminem, Jay-Z, Drake Engage In Hip-Hop Battle: Better Know A VMA Category

Posted 9/3/10 5:30 pm EST by in VMAs


The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards are fast approaching, which means that soon you'll be treated to an excellent night of performances and appearances by the likes of Eminem, Linkin Park, Usher, Paramore, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine, B.o.B and Deadmau5 (who will serve as the house DJ at the show). While people tend to remember the classic performances and the unhinged moments, the coveted Moonman is the reason why people show up and tune in. This year, there are 16 categories wherein some of the biggest music stars in the universe will compete for the coolest trophy in awards shows. Today, we take a look at the nominees in the Best Hip-Hop Video category.

Eminem and Jay-Z may be working together on their Home and Home concerts, but when the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards kick off on Sunday, September 12, they will be at odds. Both Marshall Mathers and Jigga are competing for the Moonman for Best Hip-Hop Video (Em for "Not Afraid," Jay for "On to the Next One"). But even with those two titans present, it isn't just a two horse race. B.o.B ("Airplanes"), Drake ("Forever," which also features Eminem as well as Lil Wayne and Kanye West) and Kid Cudi ("Pursuit of Happiness").

Best Hip-Hop Video is the result of three different categories coming together. Best Hip-Hop Video was initially given out for hip-hop inspired clips, which allowed for the likes of Sisqo's "Thong Song" to score victories. More traditional rap clips were rewarded by Best Rap Video and straight R&B tracks were taken care of by Best R&B Video. But the latter two were conflated into one singular catch-all category called Best Hip-Hop, which has incorporated winners like Outkast, Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliott, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Will Smith and Eminem.

Who will take home Best Hip-Hop Video this year? With all the star power involved, can anything topple "Forever"? If anybody is going to, it's going to be Jay-Z, but Drake and his band of merry men should be considered the favorites.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Adam Lambert, Boys Like Girls Welcome Christmas In This Week's 'Late Night Lineup'

Posted 12/21/09 10:54 am EST by in Music, Television


Christmas is only four days away, and while a handful of shows are already on holiday hiatus (you won't see new episodes of "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" or "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" until 2010), there are plenty of shows delivering original content for the first three days of the week before reverting to repeats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Adam Lambert continues his quest to get a copy of For Your Entertainment in every home with an appearance on Monday (December 21) night's edition of "The Jay Leno Show." Leno will also welcome Dane Cook on Tuesday (December 22) night's episode. "The Late Show with David Letterman" features a performance from Colbie Caillat on Tuesday night, while "The Tonight Show" will feature live sets from Silversun Pickups on Monday and Kid Cudi (fresh off the Lady Gaga tour) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Fallon will talk to Martha Stewart on Monday (perhaps she'll talk about her recent team-up with Snoop Dogg) and will have the Muppets in the house on Wednesday (December 23). In the daytime world, "The View" will have Boys Like Girls on Tuesday and Mary J. Blige on Wednesday (as odd a juxtaposition as can be, really). And anybody looking for the best repeat on Christmas Eve, look no further than "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, as they will re-air the episode featuring host Colbert's tag-team with Alicia Keys on a suburbanized version of "Empire State of Mind." What better way to welcome Santa Claus than with a toast to New York and some verses about private schools?

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Lady Gaga's 'Monster Ball' Tour Opens With A Tumble

Posted 11/30/09 1:35 pm EST by in Music


The stage is typically a safe place for performers, as it tends to be the only time they are in the public eye on their own terms with a familiar group of people executing everything the right way. However, lately it seems like the mid-song spotlight has been pretty treacherous. Last week, Adam Lambert slipped up in the midst of his controversial performance of "For Your Entertainment" on the American Music Awards. During the same show, Jennifer Lopez lost her footing during her live rendition of "Louboutins." Meanwhile, Justin Bieber's misstep on stage in London lead to a fractured foot and a cast on his leg.

Even the always-put-together Lady Gaga wasn't immune to a lack of traction. Her "Monster Ball" tour kicked off in Montreal last night (November 29), and as promised, it was a fantastically theatrical, over-the-top production that featured incredible costumes (including one outfit made entirely out of firearms) and muscular dancing. But at the beginning of "Teeth" (the excellent, tough final track on the new EP The Fame Monster), Gaga fell into formation with her dancers ... and then fell down. Since she's a consummate professional, so she got right back up and picked up the choreography where she left off.

"The Monster Ball" — which also features opening sets by Kid Cudi and Jason DeRulo — continues tomorrow night (December 1) in Boston and will keep her on the road until the end of January. After that, "The Monster Ball" goes international, as she will take the tour to the U.K., Australia and Japan.

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Lady Gaga Unveils Official 'Monster Ball' Poster

Posted 10/15/09 2:15 pm EST by in Music


Lady Gaga's fall tour (which is decidedly free of Kanye West) has been officially announced, and it's called "The Monster Ball." She'll begin the 22-date trek in Montreal on November 27 and stay on the road until she closes up shop with two shows at Radio City Music Hall (a stage she knows pretty well) on January 20 and 21, 2010. Her show, which she describes as a "pop-electro opera," will highlight songs from her debut album The Fame and its expanded edition The Fame Monster, which contains eight new songs (including the just-released single "Bad Romance").

Gaga also raised the curtain on the official poster for the tour via her Twitter feed. Like anything related to the 23-year-old postmodern diva, it's decidedly fashion-forward, theatrical and totally bizarre. Dressed in a black bikini bottom and a silver top that looks like a warrior's chest plate, Gaga is surrounded by an apparatus that looks a lot like a gyroscope (and, on further inspection, is actually connected to the top). She's surrounded by drunk, shirtless revelers, but she appears remote and squeaky clean as though she just arrived from another planet where all the women have immaculate, wind-swept hair. It's a pretty striking image, and certainly another definitive piece of Gaga-related art. Follow the jump for the full-size image of the poster.
Read More...

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Drake, Lady Gaga, 3OH!3 Vie For Best New Artist Moonman: Better Know A Category

Posted 9/13/09 3:53 pm EST by in VMAs


The MTV Video Music Awards are just a few short days away, and though there is all sorts of buzz surrounding the performances, the parties and the New York-centric stunts that will be happening all this week into Sunday's broadcast, it's important to remember that the reason the biggest stars in music will gather in Radio City Music Hall is to see who wins the coveted Moonman in each of the 15 categories. Today, we conclude our look at each of the top categories with a look at the Best New Artist award. The nominees are 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me," Asher Roth's "I Love College," Drake's "Best I Ever Had," Kid Cudi's "Day n' Night" and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." In this category, the winner is entirely determined by fan voting, and you can continue to vote for your favorite until the moment the presenter walks onstage to read the names.

Each of the Best New Artist nominees has something working in their favor. Lady Gaga is the biggest commercial success by far, and her unusual fashion sense and penchant for theatrics has made her an instantly-recognizable icon. But that doesn't mean she's necessarily running away with it. After all, last year's Best New Artist, Tokio Hotel, beat out a handful of sales juggernauts like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. Asher Roth's "I Love College" was huge among actual college students, who are more likely to rally around their computers and cast votes. (Roth seems pretty nonchalant about the awards, though.) Drake and Kid Cudi both have incredible buzz surrounding them and have been immediately embraced by the hip-hop community. (Need proof? They're both on The Blueprint 3.) And 3OH!3 have gone out of their way to campaign for votes, with a push so intense that they managed to make 3OH!3 a trending topic on Twitter.

Who will walk away with Best New Artist? It seems like 3OH!3 want it the most, though it may be impossible to defeat Lady Gaga (who could easily take a series of Moonmen in a landslide tonight). It could be a big coup for whoever the winner is, as many Best New Artists (Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Maroon 5, the Killers, Eminem and Nirvana among them) have gone on to become superstars and VMA regulars.

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Kid Cudi Releases Best Album Art Of The Year

Posted 8/13/09 12:48 pm EST by in Music, VMAs


Kid Cudi has been working on his album for quite some time, and it's had plenty of release dates and production delays. But it looks like his premiere solo LP could actually be on its way, as Kanye West unleashed Cudi's album art on his blog yesterday.

The album, which is called Man on the Moon: The End of Day, features production by West and Just Blaze and guest spots from the likes of Common, Snoop Dogg, Clipse and MGMT. Cudi has kept himself busy touring with Asher Roth on the Hangover Tour and getting nominated for a Video Music Award for his excellent cartoon-assisted clip "Day N' Nite."

With Jay-Z going a little artier for the cover of his upcoming album The Blueprint 3 and Cudi and Kanye clearly possessing an interest in interesting visuals, could we be entering the golden age of hip-hop album art? The old model for covers for rap records relied on menacing photos of the artist. But in the past year, more and more rappers are expanding their visual horizons: Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, T.I.'s Paper Trail and the Roots' Rising Down all dipped their toes in interesting artistic ideas. But Cudi has definitely thrown the gauntlet down for any other MC looking to keep his album cover interesting.

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Lollapalooza 2009 Friday Fan Favorites

Posted 8/8/09 3:43 pm EST by in Lollapalooza


by Steven Roberts

CHICAGO -- It's day 2 at Lollapalooza 2009, and despite the rain yesterday, the Chicago festival kicked off in style thanks to performances by Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, Bon Iver and Crystal Castles. Today, the sun is out in full effect, so we decided to catch up with a few fans around Grant Park and ask what some of their favorite sets were from Friday. Not surprisingly for a festival that has everyone from Tool to Bon Iver on the bill, the answers were all over the place.

Speaking of Tool, a bunch of that dark rock band's fans were filing into the park as the gates opened, and they were dead-set on reserving their spot for tonight's headlining performance. Many of them were also fans of Depeche Mode, and they had rave reviews about that classic English synth pop band's headlining performance Friday night.

The Walkers traveled all the way from Vancouver, Canada, and they were happy they saw Depeche Mode perform. "Their new song 'Wrong' is just awesome," said John. His companion, Larissa added, "that was meant to be live."

The Kings of Leon co-headlined on the opposite end of the park, and there were just as many fans still buzzing about their performance. "It was really fun, everyone was singing along, dancing and it was a good time," said Danielle, who traveled with friends and family in a 13-hour car ride from New Jersey.

And finally there were the fans that watched Kid Cudi close the show at Perry's dance zone. Perry's is an area set up where DJ's can spin, essentially creating an all-day rave in the middle of the festival grounds. Grant and Nathan, both 16, said that they spent all 12 hours of their day there, and Kid Cudi capped off their amazing day. Nathan was still blown away - or on something, it was hard to tell.

"It was crazy, yo. He was unbelievable live," he said.

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The VMA Best New Artist Nominees: MTV News Saw The Future

Posted 8/4/09 2:13 pm EST by in VMAs


The 2009 Video Music Awards nominations are out, and though much of the attention is on Best Video, one of the most intriguing categories is the race for Best New Artist. It pits Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" against 3OH!3 ("Don't Trust Me") and three top-shelf MCs: Drake ("Best I Ever Had"), Kid Cudi ("Day 'N' Nite") and Asher Roth ("I Love College").

The nominations are lead by two artists who appeared in a rather prescient feature MTV News' Stephen Roberts produced at the beginning of the year, announcing the five "MCs to Watch in 2009." ">Kid Cudi was on that list, and his nomination for his signature hit "Day 'N' Nite" — one of the best hip-hop jams of the year so far— proves that Roberts' prediction was deadly accurate.

In addition to producing the super-cool video for "Day 'N' Night," Cudi has spent the year prepping his debut album and touring with Asher Roth, another Best New Artist nominee and MC to watch. Read More...

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Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne And Panic! At The Disco: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 7/17/09 5:56 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


It was another crazy week here in the Newsroom, what with all the hanging with Asher Roth and playing softball with the Jonas Brothers, so just in case some things slipped through the cracks, here's the rundown of what you might have missed. It's this week's Deep Cuts.

» It's easy to forget that Lil Wayne has actually been in the game for over a decade, and this gallery charting his evolution is a great reminder that he used to be a fresh-faced kid before he was a worldwide superstar.

» Plenty of debates this week, like which songs from the first half of the year were our favorites and what former Panic! at the Disco guitarist Ryan Ross should name his new band.

» The march to this year's MTV Video Music Awards is underway. On September 13, host Russell Brand will try to top his performance from last year.

» You know what else we learned this week? That Michael Jackson was a huge fan of "30 Rock" (at least according to Tracy Morgan).

» Finally, just remember that if Newsroom has taught you nothing else this week, it's that a name change doesn't necessarily mean disaster.

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