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Nas Decribes Amy Winehouse Collaboration as 'Bittersweet'

Posted 12/29/11 1:15 pm EST by in Amy Winehouse, Nas


Nas

By Zachary Swickey

Rap icon Nas is one of the only hip-hop stars who had the honor of collaborating with Amy Winehouse before her unexpected death earlier this year, and he now recalls the experience as “bittersweet.”

Amy Winehouse’s (first and likely only) posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, was released earlier this month and features their joint-track, “Like Smoke.” During a video interview with World Star Hip Hop, Nas states that he was pleased with how the song came out, but that it serves as a poignant reminder of her death.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling to do something with her now that she’s not here. I’m happy… the sweet part is that we have the music, fans have new music from her,” he explained. “It’s new because they’ve never heard it. The bitter part is that she’s no longer here to really give it to us and to really live her music and for us to see her smile and hear her voice,” he continued.

The rapper also recalls his fond memories of hanging with the songstress in the studio, saying, “She was hilarious, man. She would make you laugh. To her, music came so easy. To everyone else, I guess around her, I don’t know this but I’m assuming that they wanted her to put out a new record.” Read More...

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Amy Winehouse's Mr. Jones Identity Revealed

Posted 10/4/11 4:16 pm EST by in Amy Winehouse, Nas


By James Dinh

It’s almost been five years since the release of the Amy Winehouse’s much loved, Grammy-winning album Back to Black. Winehouse dropped the album in late-October 2006 and we’re still learning tidbits about the 11-track collection that earned the late songstress worldwide superstardom. Songs like “Rehab,” “You Know I'm No Good” and “Back to Black” captivated fans across the world with Winehouse’s blend of retro soul, contemporary R&B and husky vocals, but it was another tune on the LP, “Me & Mr. Jones,” that allured a particular listener: Nas.

One of the many album standouts, “Me & Mr. Jones” follows the late British singer’s tale of a fallen relationship as she sways back in forth defending and disregarding her lover. “I could swear that we were through,” she sings, before irresistibly confessing, “Nobody stands in between me and my man 'cause it's me and Mr. Jones.” Even with subtle hints tossed throughout the Salaam Remi-produced song, there never was confirmation as to the identity of Winehouse’s mystery Mr. Jones until today. Read More...

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Prepare For 'Eat Pray Love' With 'Weird Al,' Red Hot Chili Peppers And Nas

Posted 8/13/10 12:30 pm EST by in Music


The next few days promise to be a busy and bizarre weekend at your local movie theater. There are three high-profile titles making debuts this weekend, each of which seem to be attracting a very specific audience. Fans of classic action movies and wall-to-wall violence can amuse themselves with "The Expendables," while comic book fans and nerds on the fringe can gravitate to "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," an adaptation of the much-adored comic book directed by Edgar Wright ("Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz"). For everybody else, there's "Eat Pray Love," the adaptation of the best-selling memoir starring Julia Roberts.

"Eat Pray Love" tracks the story of writer Elizabeth Gilbert, who ends her relationship with her husband and travels the world to find herself. The trip takes her to Italy, India and Bali, where she is able to find some semblance of inner peace through food, spiritualism and Javier Bardem.

A movie like this requires an appropriate soundtrack, which is why the video playlist below features songs about eating, praying, loving and traveling. There are homages to food (Winger's "Hunger," Hall and Oates' "Maneater"), spiritual discovery (Bloc Party's "The Prayer," Madonna's "Like a Prayer," George Michael's "Praying for Time"), love (Ace of Base's "Lucky Love," Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love") and crossing the Earth (Daft Punk's "Around the World," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Around the World"). But we begin with a more lighthearted approach to "Eat Pray Love" in "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Eat It." We'll see you at the movies.

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Spotted: Nas And Damian Marley Wave Their Flag In Paris

Posted 6/29/10 1:30 pm EST by in Music


Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

As we cross the halfway point in 2010, it's time to assess some of the best music of the year so far. Everybody seems to agree that the hip-hop world has been all about new joints by Drake, Eminem and B.o.B (all of which are excellent releases), but one of the most overlooked records of the year so far has been Distant Relatives, the tag-team collaboration between Nas and Damian Marley. The album has a stellar balance of Nas' sharp lyricism, Marley's rugged croon and a production approach that blends together the worlds of rap, reggae and African music almost seamlessly. The pair have been delivering their sound all over the world, and Monday night (June 28) saw the duo dropping some of their crazy fusion science on a crowd at the Zenith de Paris in France. The best thing about their tour? The two employ a band member who does nothing else but wave the flag of Jamaica for the duration of the concert (a gig as sweet as that guy who used to dance with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones).

They weren't the only stars rocking all over the world, as the stars of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" descended on Madrid, Spain for a premiere party and the Dead Weather played a noisy blowout at the Roundhouse in London, England. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 400 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Rihanna, 50 Cent, the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus!

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Nas And Damian Marley Continue A Long Tradition Of Album-Length Collaborations

Posted 5/18/10 4:00 pm EST by in Music


Today marks the release of the hotly-anticipated new album from Nas and Damian "Junior Gong" Marley. The record, called Distant Relatives, is not just a team-up between two musical giants but is also for a good cause, as the proceeds will go towards some form of support for Africa (possibly the construction of a school in the Congo). The album weds hip-hop and reggae influences beautifully, and even though he's talking about issues in Africa and not tales of the street, Nas' spitting is especially on point.

In fact, Distant Relatives immediately enters in the conversation regarding the best album-length collaborations of all time. What others are in said conversation? Glad you asked.

Method Man and Redman, Blackout! and Blackout! 2
Meth and Red are the gold standard among musical tag teams. They have made countless guest appearances on each others' songs and have also gotten together for at least one movie and a short-lived sitcom on Fox. But their crowning achievements are the two full-length albums they made, the classic Blackout! and the underrated sequel Blackout! 2. All you need for proof is "Da Rockwilder."

Jay-Z and Linkin Park, Collision Course
During the mash-up craze of a few years ago (which yielded stuff like Danger Mouse's The Grey Album and the P.O.D. remix of that one Nappy Roots song), the biggest rapper in the world hooked up with one of the most massive rock bands on the planet for an EP of mash-ups of some of their biggest hits. Read More...

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Spotted: Nas Tag Teams With Damian Marley In New York

Posted 4/2/10 11:00 am EST by in Music


Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

After laying low for a little while, Nas has returned and has been involved in all sorts of activity. It's always good to get back one of the most skillful MCs of all time (for proof, listen to Illmatic, Hip-Hop Is Dead and the controversial untitled 2008 album in a row). His latest project is Distant Relatives, an album-length collaboration with Damian Marley. It's a charity album that plays off of their shared African heritage, incorporates traditional African music and is lyrically heavy with issues facing the continent. The single "As We Enter" is already burning up the charts, and the album itself will hit stores on May 18. Both were in town earlier this week, first appearing on stage with Wale and K'Naan at a concert in New York. On Thursday (April 1), they met up at Digiwaxx (also in New York) to discuss the album and talk about their collaboration.

Nas wasn't the only star making moves on Thursday, as Jennifer Lopez shopped at the Grove in Los Angeles and Bradley Cooper filmed scenes from "Dark Fields" in Manhattan. Click here for these photos as well as the rest of the "Spotted" archive, which features over 400 candid shots of Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Diddy, 50 Cent, Rihanna, Jessica Simpson, the Jonas Brothers, Shakira, Lil Wayne and the Black Eyed Peas!

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Oscar Nominations: The Tragedy Of The Best Original Song Category

Posted 2/2/10 10:10 am EST by in Movies, Music


The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning, and there are already plenty of debates that will be argued all across MTV News properties (especially on the always-sharp MTV Movies Blog) today and every day up until the Oscars are actually handed out on March 7. Will "Avatar" run the table, or will it be spoiled by an upstart like "The Hurt Locker"?

Overall, it seems like a pretty even set of nominations, though there is one category that has everyone here in the MTV Newsroom scratching our heads. That category is, of course, the one for Best Original Song. The nominations run like this: Two Randy Newman songs from "The Princess and the Frog," a tune from "Nine," a song from the French film "Paris 36" and one of the T-Bone Burnett-produced tracks from "Crazy Heart."

To that we say: Huh?

Considering all the great tracks included on the shortlist, it's amazing that the songs they chose ended up so ... boring. Randy Newman is great, but those songs from "The Princess and the Frog" could have been written in his sleep. While "The Weary Kind (Theme from 'Crazy Heart')" is a totally reasonable rambling country tune, it doesn't even particularly stand out in the context of the movie. The other two are anonymous ditties from movies nobody saw.

The big problem is that none of these entries seem to help out the narrative very much. And outside of the song from "Crazy Heart," none of them do a particularly good job of reflecting the tone of the films they come from. But most importantly, these nominations will make for some extremely boring performances when the Oscar telecast comes around. Since nobody went to go see the movie, is anybody really itching to see a live version of "Take It All" from "Nine"?

With the shortlist in mind, here's what the lineup should have looked like.

» "All Is Love," by Karen O and the Kids ("Where the Wild Things Are")
» "Legendary," by Nas ("Tyson")
» "I See You," by Leona Lewis ("Avatar")
» "Possibility," by Lykke Li ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon")
» "Stu's Song," by Ed Helms ("The Hangover")

Doesn't that look like a much better reflection not only of the music presented in films this year but also a much more fun set of performances for Oscar night?

What do you think? What songs should have been nominated for Best Original Song? Or did the Academy get it right? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Nas And Kelis Spotted Together ... Huh?

Posted 9/16/09 5:20 pm EST by in Music


By Cara Alwill

After a rocky past couple of months, rapper Nas and singer Kelis were spotted together Monday night at Marquee nightclub in New York City. This is one of the first times the former couple have been seen getting cozy since Kelis filed for divorce in April (while seven months pregnant with the couple's first child). According to sources, the pair seemed friendlier than they have in recent months and arrived at Nas' birthday celebration together.

Since the divorce filing, the ups and downs of their relationship have been made very public, especially through outlets like Twitter and gossip blogs. Back on June 4th, Kelis took to her Twitter account and expressed some very raw feelings. She tweeted, "This lovely day I would like to touch on cheaters. Why be cowardly? Why not go after what you really want? Also we can discuss w----s. I mean the nasty, sub-par tricks that participate in the cheating. Well let me say this: Both parties that are gross. And in reality they deserve each other."

After the birth of their son, Knight, in July, things seemed to be looking up as the couple proudly boasted about their new baby. Nas announced to fans, "My son's name is Knight. That's what I named the young God, Knight. Y'all heard it first. Don't believe nothing you hear in the media. I love y'all. Don't listen to that bulls---. I love y'all, that's why I'm here."

With all the back and forth, it has become more difficult to tell what is on the agenda for Nas and Kelis. On September 8th, just days before Nas' birthday soiree at Marquee, Kelis tweeted "I'm in a great mood today. Downright giddy. I dunno why but its good!" Could a reunion be in the cards? Maybe Twitter will reveal future secrets.

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Houdini, Whodini Thrill: Wake-Up Video

Posted 8/5/09 9:00 am EST by in Music, Wake-Up Video


Before streaming video and iPods, before Blu Ray and IMAX, there was only one way to see the sort of illusions we take for granted: stage magic. A strange combination of theatricality, science and hucksterism, stage magic set the precedent for the early cinema and — just as the book The Prestige suggests — was intricately involved in the harnessing of electricity and other scientific breakthroughs (Nikola Tesla thought of himself as a bit of an illusionist). But the most famous stage magician, Harry Houdini, focused less on sleight of hand (though he was adept at it) and more on escapology and will power. In a trick that later inspired the likes of David Blaine, Houdini spent part of August 5, 1926 in a "casket" submerged in the pool of the Hotel Shelton in New York. He stayed there for just over 90 minutes, besting one of his rivals by a half hour. It was one of several "Buried Alive" tricks for Houdini and sadly one of his final public illusions: He met his tragic death on Halloween in 1926.

His name carried on with Whodini, the lyrical magicians who helped bring hip-hop to a mass audience in the early 1980s. Though one of the members (Ecstasy) tended to dress like Zorro, the group did tend to nod toward magic imagery — one of their early singles was called "Magic's Wand," and their most popular album was named after Houdini's greatest feats: Escape. That album contained the group's signature song, "The Freaks Come Out at Night." Check out the video, which also contains a great intro: an a capella version of "Friends," which you may recognize as an oft-used sample in tracks like Nas' "If I Ruled the World" and Tupac's "Troublesome 96."

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Beastie Boys' New Single 'Too May Rappers' Should Hold Us Over Until Adam Yauch Returns

Posted 7/21/09 3:16 pm EST by in Music


By Rya Backer

It's been a pretty whirlwind 24 hours for us Beastie Boys superfans. Yesterday, a stop was placed on our hopes and dreams of the release of a new album (whispers are that it's really great), a festival tour peppered with a few individual shows in between and general press blitz mayhem when MCA delivered the very sad, very sobering news that he needed to take time out to be treated for cancer.

In a move that could be classified as either a really incredible coincidence or a really incredible diversion tactic (let the legend get treated, radiated and recuperated in peace!), the Boys have released a full-version of "Too Many Rappers," featuring Nas. When Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1 drops, it'll be the sixth track on the album, because you were wondering.

This song is really exciting for a lot of reasons. Allow me to elucidate:

» This is the first full-length song we've heard from the new album. No, the two minute bites from "Lee Majors Come Again" and "B-Boys in the Cut" do not count. Nor does the Bonnaroo performance video for "Too Many Rappers." I remember hearing a bootleg of "That's It, That's All" before To The Five Boroughs came out, and it sounded amazing. Then I heard the real song and, well, I've got nothing nice to say, so I won't say anything at all about it (my mom brought me up right). Which brings me to my next point...

» I think "Too Many Rappers" is incredibly fun and good! Hooray! I just consulted my extensive Beastie Boys iPod library, and I couldn't really find another song "Too Many Rappers" resembles. Maybe "Drums of Death," but that was Mike D. rapping on an U.N.K.L.E. track. And the fuzz bass reminds me of "Gratitude." The point is it sounds new and different and great.

» Nas has a great cameo. The last time they teamed up with another rapper was when Q-Tip joined them on the Ill Communication classic "Get It Together," though I don't recall Tip ever giving Christian Louboutin a shout-out.

So MCA, until you're back in top form, this'll hold us over.

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