FROM BUZZWORTHY: Is it just me or does Tom Morello have the same voice as Barack Obama? I had to watch Street Sweeper Social Club’s interview twice because the first time I was so distracted by his presidential tone that I pretty much couldn’t concentrate on anything he said.

The Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave alumnus is half of Street Sweeper Social Club. His accomplice is Boots Riley of Oakland rap group The Coup. Together they just released their self-titled debut, along with a star-studded video for first single, "100 Little Curses."

Continue reading about Street Sweeper Social Club at Buzzworthy.MTV.com...

For months now, we've been hearing rumors about Rage Against the Machine that suggested the band, who've reunited for a spate of successful gigs, would soon be hitting the studio to write and record the follow-up to 2000's cover-filled Renegades. Obviously, you've got to take such rumors with a grain of salt, considering Rage's history. But then again, stranger things have definitely happened.

MusicRadar, citing a "source" within the band's label, Sony, reported that rumor, saying that Rage was prepping new material for an album to be released next year. "We're hopeful," the source apparently said, "but a new album is far from definite." The story was picked up by several sites, and fans responded with a great deal of skepticism — as well they should have.

We decided to go straight to the source and reached out to guitarist Tom Morello — who has been busy with his solo project, the Nightwatchman, and will make an appearance on Cypress Hill's upcoming LP — by e-mail this morning, asking him whether there was any truth to these rumors. He got back to us a few minutes later with exactly the kind of response we were anticipating. "Nope," he wrote. Short, sweet and concise. Let's hope this denial puts these Rage recording rumors to rest once and for all.

Long-running, sweet-leaf-loving rappers Cypress Hill are in the process of making their first new album in four years, according to founding member Sen Dog, who told Billboard.com that the group has finished 30 songs for the untitled project. Dog described the album as "definitely hard-core hip-hop" and said the trio hopes to have the album out by the spring, though they’re currently looking for a new record deal.

Sen Dog boasted that it would include writing and production collaboration with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello on the song "Rise Up" and a cameo from Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda on another untitled track. Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is slated to appear on a tune called "Front Line."

All of which begs the question, "Wait, Cypress Hill are still together?"

Rage Against the Machine will give new meaning to the phrase "counterprogramming" when they plug in at Minneapolis' Target Center on September 3 — in the midst of the Republican National Convention, which will be taking place just across the river in St. Paul that week. Additionally, Rage guitarist Tom Morello will hook up with fellow well-known lefty Steve Earle to play a gig on September 1 in St. Paul, the first night of the convention.

Read the complete story here.

· Powerhouse Canadian rockers Nickelback are the latest act to sign a mega-deal with promotions giant Live Nation for their recording, touring and merchandising rights. Though the deal was not as rich as recent ones inked by Madonna, U2 and Jay-Z, it was reportedly worth $50-$70 million. 

· Kanye West's management team is reportedly trying to get the keyboard-thrashing, blog-bashing rapper to attend anger-management classes for his own good — and to help him score some lucrative endorsement deals.
  
· New York rapper William Troy McCune is suing the producers of the 2007 documentary "Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life" for $5 million, alleging that they included footage of him battling Biggie without his permission.

· Rap trio Onyx are prepping a comeback with a pair of albums. The first disc, Cold Case Files: Unsolved Murders, due August 19, features lost studio sessions from the group's most recent albums and cameos from Method Man and late group member X-1. It will be followed in 2009 by the group's new studio album Black Rock.
 
· Bruce Springsteen will release a live digital EP, Magic Tour Highlights, on July 15 that will feature four songs and four videos, including late E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici's final performance with the group. Guests on the tracks include Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Byrds legend Roger McGuinn.

· It's no secret that Spike Lee loves the rock musical "Passing Strange." He even wrote a glowing open letter a few months back, urging folks to "go see 'Passing Strange' and tell them Spike sent you." Now, the director has scheduled a press conference on Wednesday, in which he'll unveil plans to shoot the stage production, concert-film style, for a movie that will most likely air on cable.

· After sharing the stage with Snoop Dogg for a run through of "Gin and Juice" at the debut of "FNMTV" three weeks ago, Panic at the Disco are reportedly planning to team up with Snoop again to record a song.

· Gregg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, is hitting the road in support of his Feed the Animals album. His latest round of U.S. dates kicks off at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado, on July 11 with opening acts Hearts of Darknesses, Grand Buffet, Cx Kidtronik and the Death Set.

· Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore is in fair condition after being seriously injured in an ATV accident on his Charlottesville, Virginia, farm.

· First the good news: You will soon hear some new music from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello. The bad news for hard-core Rage fans? It's not from the band but from Morello's side project, the Nightwatchman. The guitarist is prepping his second solo album, The Fabled City, for a September 30 release.

· In other Rage news, singer Zack de la Rocha is about to break his silence by releasing his first album in eight years under the name One Day as a Lion. The five-song EP with drummer Jon Theodore will be released July 22 and is described as a "sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask." Exactly. Read more...

· According to our friends at In Touch magazine, Jessica Simpson is at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center getting treated for a small kidney infection. Simpson reportedly checked in on Friday, and is expected to be released tomorrow. Boyfriend Tony Romo is back in Dallas because of prior commitments, and like, you know, maybe trying to figure out how to beat the NY Giants next year. Just sayin'.

· You can have your Crocs and your Vans, Tom Morello prefers a tour sponsored by a boot to the backside. The indefatigable righteous rocker and sometimes Rage Against the Machine guitarist is launching a two-week “Justice Tour” across the U.S. that will highlight local activism and social justice. It begins with a show in Los Angeles on April 15 and ends on May Day in Chicago (that's, uh, May 1st). Along the way, he’ll be joined by Ben Harper, Slash, Perry Farrell, Sen Dog, Davey Havok, Boots Riley, Maynard James Keenan, Shooter Jennings, State Radio, Mike Einzinger (Incubus) and MC5 founder Wayne Kramer.

· Remember Liz Phair? She's reissuing her classic 1993 debut, Exile in Guyville, on June 24th, as part of a new record deal with the label, ATO. The set will boast four previously unreleased tracks and a DVD documentary about the album's genesis.