In a clip released early, fans got a taste of what to expect from the pop stars. The episode casts them as Chester Byron and Lila Wickfield, a young couple entangled in the world of drug-dealing.
"Well, it's not quite Bonnie and Clyde, but they're caught up in something, and we have to figure it out, of course," the show's star Gary Sinise told CBS' "The Early Show."
Pete sounds pretty excited about playing a criminal, telling People magazine, "I wish I got the chance to be murdered or rob a bank, but I heard the makeup [takes] much longer for that."
In the past, the Wentzes appeared together on "Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan," and they've each done some acting work on their own. "It's easy to play passionate roles with the person you love," Pete told the magazine. "There's nothing weird about it when you love the person."
And this won't be Ashlee's last TV role: The singer/actress was recently cast in the remake of "Melrose Place" expected to air on the CW this fall. "I'm thrilled to be joining the cast of 'Melrose Place' and look forward to being a part of its new generation of residents," Simpson-Wentz told MTV News.
On the show, she'll be playing Violet, a small-town girl who is very manipulative, using her girl-next-door charm to get what she wants.
A rep for Cannon verified to MTV News on Wednesday (March 18) that Cannon's comments were written by him.
"I guess yesterday was 'Hate Nick Cannon Day'! Hahaha!" he wrote. "The Blogosphere had my name ringing all over the Google alerts. That is why I am so thankful to have my own site and blog so I can give y'all the real. If it wasn't the madness about my e-mails to people, or more pregnancy rumors, it was this craziness on the oh so credible, BOSSIP about me being broke and being sued by my jeweler! Ridiculous! I just got like 3 new major multi-million dollar deals in the last 2 months. And I ain't even finish yet... But now I'm broke, okay!"
Multiple blogs posted information earlier this week that Cannon's financial affairs were suffering. The items suggested he's being sued for half a million dollars for Carey's unpaid wedding band. Also, according to "sources" the gossip blogs are attributing the information to, Cannon has settled the lawsuit by agreeing to pay installments on the ring. Cannon dismissed all the rumors.
"Where do these people get this stuff? First off, I wish my wife's ring did only cost $500,000, that would have been a deal!," he wrote. "Do your research and you will see how much I really paid for it. I don't like to disclose or brag about those things because it's not really anyone's business but it was quite public what I PAID. Mostly because when my wife and I first got married people were lying and saying the ring was used or that I re-gifted it! LMFAO. So after we cleared that up, almost a year later they come with some more ring drama. Well since my anniversary is coming up I think I might just have to by a whole new joint for my beautiful wife, just to STUNT! And as for the payment plan thing, I wish that was true or possible!! Sh--, it's a recession, I would take a lay-away plan in a minute! Hahhaahaa!!"
Cannon ended his blog post on a serious note, by declaring his love for Carey and his reason for treating her to such fancy jewelry.
"But one thing that is true, I would spend every last dime that I have ever made on my wife, she deserves to be showered with extraordinary gifts and as long as I live I will spend all my money on her and never touch a dime of hers," Cannon wrote.
Cannon and Carey celebrate their first wedding anniversary next month. The pair were married April 30 last year after a whirlwind courtship.
Rapper's third LP features Nas, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye West -- and 50 Cent dis record.
By Shaheem Reid
Rick Ross Photo: Def Jam
Does Rick Ross have dimples under his signature woolly beard? The Boss has been smiling ear to ear for about a year now. Last year around this time, he released his second consecutive #1 LP, Trilla, notifying the rap world that it was no fluke he received accolades on his first go-round, Port of Miami.
Then that picture leaked to the Internet: the photo of Ross wearing a security-guard uniform. The cyberspace chatter was that the Miami Don was a flat-out liar and the photo contradicted everything — guns, drugs, hustlin' — Rick rapped about. On the street level, though, Ross' fans either didn't care or turned a blind eye. He's maintained support. They came to his shows, downloaded his mixtapes and kept requesting his hit "Here I Am" on the radio.
Several weeks ago Ross made what some thought could be a potentially career-jeopardizing move, starting a beef with hip-hop battle knockout-king 50 Cent. Tussling with 50 on the mic hasn't proved fruitful for plenty of guys. He's helped put rappers' careers either on ice or in deep freeze.
During his back-and-forth with Ross, Fif has launched a full-on Internet campaign. He brought in both mothers of Ross' children and threatened Rick's friends. The gloves are not just off, they're in a trunk, buried somewhere under a vacant lot in Jamaica, Queens. Everything's a go in this war.
While 50 has dropped an occasional dis record, he's relied on video (porno movies, vlogs of shopping sprees, etc.) as his ammo. Ross has chosen leaked songs from his album and freestyles as his weapons. Bottom line, though, we all know that the real winner is going to be whoever has the better album: 50, with Before I Self Destruct, or Ross, with Deeper Than Rap.
Tuesday night at New York's Tribeca Grand Hotel, Ross unveiled the majority of the songs from his April 21 opus. Make no mistake, if the music were trash, Rick would be in more trouble than the average rapper with a wack album. But the down-South brawler couldn't stop grinning because he knows how strong his material is. It sounds like Deeper Than Rap is well on its way to being a rap classic of 2009.
"I'm making the best music of my career," said Ross, holding a glass of champagne for most of the night. With media, bloggers, DJs and various other industry insiders ready to listen, Ross began. Scenes from Mafia flicks played on a movie screen while his cinematic music played out of the speakers.
"It's not only a single, its statement [is] that the situation is 'Magnificent,' " Ross said of the album's lead cut.
"The event is history," he later proclaimed of the listening session. "Feel free to enjoy the images you about to see."
First up was "In Cold Blood," in which the big beat sounded like the soundtrack to a Mob war. Trumpets, horns! Ross' lyrics matched.
"In the midst of the war I p--s on graves," he rapped. "Sued Louis on my feet and I never missed a heartbeat."
Meanwhile, highlights from "King of New York" played for the audience's eyes.
Former G-Unit ally Bang 'Em Smurf is featured on the song, speaking towards the end of the track.
"Usual Suspects" was one of the night's most anticipated songs. Ross has proven his skills with the best of them, rapping on tracks throughout his career with the likes of Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe and T.I. How would he do with the legendary Nas?
Ross started off the song rapping about his plight to get to the top from age 17.
"Too cool for lame dudes to ridicule," Ross rapped before declaring himself the "black Phil Drummond" (from "Diff'rent Strokes").
Nas came in singing his own praises. "My talent has yet to be challenged," he boasted. Esco then turned towards his past. "I used to stand on rooftops with two Glocks thinking, 'How do I turn my Timbalands to Crocs?' "
Meanwhile, clips of the film "The Usual Suspects" played on the screen.
"Club-hoppin' in Cali, shoutout to Harry O," Ross added. "Run with n---as destined to catch a life sentences."
"Throwing money 'cause I can and I love it," went the chorus. "From nothin' to somethin', you know us, we the usual suspects."
"Maybach Music 2" has no lack of stars, with T-Pain on the hook and Lil Wayne and Kanye West with guest verses.
"I am the sh-- and this is my commode/ Uh-oh, there they go talking about your boy's clothes extra tight/ I just remember that my limelight extra bright," Kanye raps.
"Realest sh-- I ever wrote, chillin in my Maybach," Pain sings. "Whatever I send y'all homie, I'mma make back ... I'm in it to win, n---as can't take that."
Ross stunts on his verse.
"Now I got so many horses, bitches call me Polo," he raps. "I was barely getting pretty women, now I'm scooping any winner like kitty litter."
Wayne compares the high-priced vehicle to the human anatomy then unleashes his swag.
"All black Maybach, I'm sitting in the a--hole / Classier than a mutha, still gutta like a bad cold ... Sweet as banana split every time I peel through/ Fresher than Will Smith and Uncle Phil too... Lil Wayne in one word immaculate."
That record actually got applause afterwards.
Ross also played records that are out now, including "Mafia Music," "Cigar Music" and "On Top of the World," on which he starts off speaking of the riches of coke-dealing then faces inner turmoil because he realizes he's "not living right." But his duet with Mary J. Blige and his 50 Cent dis record, "Schindler's List," were left out.
"I wouldn't be a boss if I didn't leave you a few surprises," Ross said.
Lambert's 'Ring of Fire' rendition throws judges for a loop.
By Gil Kaufman
Adam Lambert performs on "American Idol" on Tuesday Photo: Michael Becker/ Getty Images/ Fox
Country nights on "American Idol" are often the great equalizer. And Tuesday's Grand Ole Opry-themed show was no different, with such seeming also-rans as Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud stealing the show, while front-runners Danny Gokey and Lil Rounds hit their first real speed bumps of the competition. And Adam Lambert? Well, as usual he just kind of confused and delighted (almost) everyone with another over-the-top performance.
With genial mentor and country music legend Randy Travis giving them guidance, the 11 remaining contestants mostly chose contemporary country hits, with Texan Michael Sarver up first, taking a swing at Garth Brooks' challenging "Ain't Going Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)." He managed to wrap his tongue around the boot-scooter with an avalanche of lyrics, though at times he seemed like he was going to run out of breath trying to cram all the words in.
Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson liked the fun song choice, but weren't sure it really showed off anything new in Sarver's vocal chops or range, and Simon Cowell complained that he couldn't understand the words. "You could have been singing in Norwegian," he griped, calling the performance clumsy and saying that Sarver came over as a likeable country karaoke singer worth a 1.2 on a 10 point scale.
Teenager Allison Iraheta is known for her rocking vocals, but she easily adapted her preternaturally mature voice to Patty Loveless' "Blame It on Your Heart," tossing some twang into her gritty tone.
"I am starting to think you could sing the alphabet and sing it well," Kara said, praising Iraheta for bringing her unique spin to the song. Simon liked it, though he thought it was a bit tuneless at times, adding, "You're rock solid, verging on precocious ... precocious is good." Randy said it was "dope!"
Kris Allen went for a Bob Dylan tune famously covered by Brooks, "Make You Feel My Love," tapping into the sensitive ballad's emotion and reworking the tune into a candlelit, Elton John-style piano weeper, complete with a soaring falsetto note at the end.
Paula was pleasantly surprised, calling it an "honest, pure, vulnerable" performance with a few pitch problems, but a smart choice overall. For Simon, in a word, it was terrific, a great choice of song in which Allen took control and provided the first glimpse that he might have a shot at winning the competition.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of the night was for Lil Rounds, who admitted she knew very little about country music. She chose Martina McBride's challenging "Independence Day," bringing some soulful energy to it after coming out a bit tentative at first, then soaring into the chorus, which she turned into a cowboy gospel wail.
Randy called the song choice "interesting and ambitious," and said the front end was a bit iffy and the whole thing felt a bit uncomfortable. Kara gave her props for not picking the obvious choice (like, say, Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You"), and Simon, repeatedly referring her to as "Little," said, "It kind of came over as if you were one of those girls who have to sing at a wedding and are forced to sing a song someone has requested and felt and looked uncomfortable."
Another front-runner who seemed likely to be tested on the country night was Broadway rocker Adam Lambert, who chose Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," which he gave a Middle Eastern flair that threw Travis for a major loop. With finger cymbals and a snaking guitar line guiding him, Lambert wailed the song in his signature falsetto, as if performing in an Egyptian country-and-western bar.
Kara said the whole thing was a bit strange and confusing but that she kind of enjoyed it, while Paula likened it to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." "What the hell was that?" Simon wondered, calling the performance "absolute indulgent rubbish ... really, really horrific."
Travis thought Scott MacIntyre's decision to cover "Wild Angels" by Martina McBride was a bad one, but when Mac got behind the grand piano, he seemed comfortable with the song's uplifting, spiritual message, easily transitioning from the ballad-like intro to a more rocking finish.
Paula called it another impressive performance, but said she's starting to feel that the piano is becoming a crutch and that MacIntyre needs to engage the audience more. Simon completely disagreed, calling Abdul's comments "stupid," setting off a tense argument on the panel about whether MacIntyre should stand up and sing something a bit different or stay behind the ivories.
Alexis Grace picked Dolly Parton's iconic "Jolene," giving the song an urgent feel with her husky, forceful vocals. Randy loved it despite the pitch problems, but said the attempt to bend it in a bluesy direction didn't work. Paula didn't mind the pitch problems and appreciated seeing the softer side of Grace, though Simon said it sounded too much like Parton's version and was forgettable.
Maybe we were onto something with our story last week about the competition's Christian singers: It was hard to ignore worship leader Danny Gokey's pointed choice of Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel." One of this year's front-runners, Gokey struggled to get the tempo right in rehearsals, but by the time he hit the stage he applied his signature soulful vocals to the car-crash ballad, coming out tentative at first and then exploding into the chorus with his powerhouse gospel-edged wails.
"When you hit your stride, it's like none other," Kara said, though she called the front end unspectacular. Paula disagreed, saying Gokey hit the right balance. Despite their ugly fight earlier in the night, Simon agreed with Paula, saying he liked the shading, but hated Gokey's white "polar expedition" jacket.
And then there was Anoop Desai, who admitted country was not really his forte. 'Noop Dogg tried "Always on My Mind," slowing down the tune Willie Nelson famously covered and turning it into a winning, velvety R&B ballad.
"Anoop is back!" Paula said, praising Desai's interpretation of the tune after his failure to capture the magic during Michael Jackson week. Simon praised him for going from "zero to hero," with one of his favorite performances of the night, even going so far as to take back last week's criticism that Desai didn't deserve to be in the competition.
Megan Joy Corkrey got into her comfort zone with Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," giving the country classic her signature twist, with a jazzy, quavering 1940s vocal, some hip swivels and a big, bright smile.
Randy expected it to be a train wreck but was quite impressed. "Perfect song, perfect look," Kara said, praising Corkrey's elegant styling and ability to overcome a nasty flu to perform so well despite a visit to the hospital.
The night ended with Matt Giraud, who chose Underwood's "So Small" and sat down at the piano for another one of his blue-eyed-soul tours de force, adding some grit to the ballad.
"You're an artist, you're a true talent, your heart pours on that piano, you worked the dynamics of that song ... amazing," Kara said. Simon added that he didn't think Giraud has gotten enough credit for his vocals to date and thought that although he's similar to Gokey, he outsang the competition and gave one of the night's best performances.
Following the elimination Wednesday night (March 18), which will feature a duet between Underwood and Travis and a performance from Brad Paisley, the remaining 10 contestants will have secured their spots on this summer's "Idol" tour.
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
Or, how I quit drinking and still learned to love SXSW, in Bigger Than the Sound. By James Montgomery
MGMT partying backstage at last year's SxSW Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
AUSTIN, Texas — There are some things that just seem to go with booze. College. The Super Bowl. Doing your taxes. And the South by Southwest festival.
(Note: This installment of Bigger Than the Sound is intended for readers aged 21 and over!)
I'm not condoning intoxication; I'm just speaking from experience. After all, I've been coming to SXSW for a half-decade now (that sounds much more impressive than "five years"), and have been stone-sober most of the time. Except in 2005, that is, when I hit it hard, stayed up late, drank a ton, made terrible decisions, got booted from private parties, smoked about 56,000 cigarettes, got lost in the outskirts of Austin and, somewhere in there, saw some bands.
Don't get me wrong — I'm a big fan of sobriety and I know my life is better because of it. (My problem seemed to be that I always tended to drink like it was SXSW, even it was, say, just a normal Tuesday night.) But, to be perfectly honest, being sober sort of feels antithetical to the whole South by Southwest experience.
This is because SXSW is supposed to be a party, a nonstop, 15-car pile-up of late-night shows, even later-night parties, and crippling hangovers the following morning, when you start doing it all again. You never have to pay for a drink, either because you've made pals with some sloshed executive with a corporate card, or because you've weaseled your way into a sponsored party (my 2005 SXSW was co-sponsored by the good folks at a certain gigantic record company and Sparks malt beverages, if memory serves me correctly). You can eat tacos or smoked meats whenever you want. You never take showers, and you usually end up taking off your shirt at some point. Nothing ever starts before noon, because the previous night didn't end until that morning. In short, SXSW is rock and roll, and you are expected to behave accordingly.
Case in point: Please allow me tell you about my SXSW 2005. Keep in mind, much of this is based on foggy memories and/or second-hand accounts of my actions. But I know that for something like 96 hours, I partied hard, and I think I spent about $8 doing it.
There was the time I wound up the hotel room of a major-label rep with about 25 other people I did not know. The rep had a bar in his room being tended by shirtless Asian men (I remember this seeming weird). There was much boozing and dancing, and I think someone lit a comforter on fire. Not surprisingly, said rep would part ways with the label shortly after returning from SXSW.
There was the night I ended up at a Vice magazine warehouse party in the middle of God-knows-where (seriously, I could never find this place again in a million years), where I drank waaaay too much. I sort of remember the Go! Team playing, and I sort of remember insulting some distinguished older gentleman, and I definitely remember being kicked out of the party and sent wandering down a dusty Texas road in search of a cab at around 3 a.m.
There was also the free pair of jeans I somehow finagled out of the folks running the Levi's Fader Fort. And the time I managed to insult the Wallflowers during an interview when I asked Jakob Dylan if he was still relevant (his response: "Well, we're touring in May, if that's relevant"). And the feat of eating only BBQ for a week. And the fact that I didn't shower because the bathtub at my hotel was filled with cans of Lone Star beer. It was pretty epic.
Of course, re-reading all this, it's also pretty embarrassing, not to mention a little sad. Perhaps SXSW '05 was actually the greatest waste of my life.
Not surprisingly, I gave up drinking about three months after returning from Austin. And I've managed to have a blast at each South by Southwest since, though for strictly mature, "rock critic-y" reasons like seeing Daniel Johnston play live, or checking out the Flatstock poster sale.
Still, the only time I really miss drinking is when I'm at SXSW, although I know that had I continued to party like I did that week, I'd probably never have met my wife and I might not be here writing this right now.
And also, being sober is definitely the best way to get as much out of the festival as possible. The beauty of SXSW lies in discovering the undiscovered, wandering off the beaten path, going against the grain — and, come to think of it, teetotalling is about as "against the grain" as you can get down here in Austin.
And while I have fond — if not exactly clear — memories of SXSW '05, I've probably actually had a better time every year since then — or at least a safer time. Try hitting SXSW sober sometime — you might be surprised by which version you like best.
Questions? Comments? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com
MTV News will be all over the South by Southwest festival this week, with blogs, articles and video on all the gigs, the artists and the scene!
'I wanted to develop more of a personal sound for myself,' singer/actor says of Speed of Light. By Jocelyn Vena
Corbin Bleu Photo: MTV News
He's known for his wild hair and starring in the wildly successful "High School Musical" movies, but now Corbin Bleu is ready to put that all behind him (well, at least the "High School Musical" part) and focus on his just-released album, Speed of Light.
"Anything I do, I always want a positive message, and obviously 'High School Musical' does tend to skew a little younger, but it's great for them," he told MTV News about who he's targeting with his new LP. "But it's more 20s, college years — sort of something in there for everybody."
Bleu hopes to show the world that he's growing up and also find his own sound and figure out just who he is as a performer and singer.
"Once the song 'Speed of Light' came along, that's really what defined the sound for the album," Bleu said. "That song itself is kind of haunting. It really just set the pace. ... That's why I titled [the album] Speed of Light as well. It was really just finding a personal sound for myself, and even the stories, everything involved in it is a lot more personal experiences."
To help find this more personal sound, he worked with Brian Kennedy (Rihanna's "Disturbia") and Erick Hudson (Kanye West's "Flashing Lights"). "Venturing off into this album started about a year ago. I wanted to develop more of a personal sound for myself, make it a little more mainstream," he said, adding that he sought inspiration for the album from Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses and Luciano Pavarotti.
Although he'd like to one day work with Akon, he didn't think that "Speed of Light" was the appropriate project for a collaboration. "The idea of collaboration was sort of in talks, but it wasn't something we pursued," he said. "I know for myself I just wanted to find myself for this album, but if more opportunities came up in the future, I would love to be able to vibe off of people and just get creative."
With the release of Speed of Light, Bleu confirms that he won't be back for any more "HSM" movies. "I am not coming back ... We graduated in the last film. They are moving on with the new generation of underclassman."
Songwriter/producer The-Dream edges out U2 for #2.
By Gil Kaufman
Kelly Clarkson's <i>All I Ever Wanted</i> Photo: Sony BMG
Despite a strong debut last week, U2 have been replaced at the top of the Billboard albums chart by a resurgent Kelly Clarkson, whose All I Ever Wanted will take the pole position in its debut week on sales of 254,000.
That's just a shade behind what Clarkson's last album, the troubled My December, did in its first week (291,000) in June 2007, but with a hit single in "My Life Would Suck Without You," Clarkson seems poised for a solid comeback. Also debuting on the charts is the second album from in-demand songwriter/producer The-Dream, Love Vs. Money, which hit the #2 spot and racked up 151,000 in sales, besting U2's No Line on the Horizon. For the beleaguered music industry, the upside was that the totals for the top three represent the first time in 2009 that a trio of discs in the top 10 has passed the 100K-plus mark.
Had J. Holiday's Round 2 debuted with slightly better numbers at #4, it might have been a four-way, but alas the singer could only muster 55,000 units, barely edging out this year's chart queen, Taylor Swift, whose Fearless fell several spots to #5 on sales of 51,000, edging her ever closer to the 3 million mark. The only other debut in the top 10 was the controversial collabo between former Soundgarden/ Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell and producer Timbaland, Scream, which snagged the #10 spot with sales of 25,000.
Elsewhere in the top 10, dance diva Lady Gaga hung tight, slipping a few notches to #6 with The Fame, racking up 46,000 new fans, while the rest of the top 10 was unchanged, with Nickelback at #7 (36,000), followed by Beyoncé'sI Am ... Sasha Fierce (28,000) at #8 and Jamie Foxx'sIntuition at #9 (26,000).
Just outside the top 10, pop-punk stalwarts New Found Glory's first album for Epitaph, the Mark Hoppus-produced Not Without a Fight, lands at #12 (23,000), followed by the #15 debut of Punk Goes Pop Volume 2 (20,000), which features Bayside covering Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls," August Burns Red ripping through Britney's "... Baby One More Time" and the Cab doing Rihanna's "Disturbia."
Alt darling Neko Case drops to #17 after a surprising #3 debut for her critically acclaimed Middle Cyclone album (20,000), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs blast onto the charts for a #32 debut for It's Blitz! (13,000) and the Jonas Brothers' 3D Concert Experience continues its freefall, dropping another 15-plus spots in its third week to #37, with just 12,000 units shifted.
Gone are the days of #1 debuts for former "American Idol" champ Taylor Hicks, whose independently released The Distance limped in at #58 on sales of 8,000, nearly 290,000 less copies than his self-titled major-label debut managed in 2006.
And, after a #3 debut in November and steadily declining sales ever since, Guns N' Roses' highly touted comeback, Chinese Democracy, will fall out of the top 200 next week, likely done in by a combination of no radio hits, music videos, announced tour dates or public appearances or interviews by frontman Axl Rose.
Look for the charts to remain fairly static next week, as the only major new releases include a deluxe edition of the "Twilight" soundtrack and Gorilla Zoe's Don't Feed Da Animals.
'Tour will be fun,' bassist says of reunion jaunt.
By Gil Kaufman
Mark Hoppus Photo: Roger Kisby/ Getty Images
If it's possible to gauge someone's excitement just by reading their Tweets, than it seems like Mark Hoppus is totally stokedabout Blink-182 being back together.
The band's bassist has been Twittering his fingers off over the past two days, giving frequent updates on the status of the group's meetings about their summer reunion tour, tossing in the occasional Southern California traffic report, bragging about scoring some serious OG "Star Wars" schwag and just about anything else that pops into his head.
Let's start from the end. On Wednesday (March 18) morning, Hoppus sent out the notice that he was "headed to the studio today to start working on some stuff for the tour. Which means making sure I remember all the songs."
That Tweet came about 12 hours after Hoppus bragged that the band members hit up the Skywalker Ranch gift shop for "a bunch of rare 'Star Wars' toys ... be jealous." That post came around the same time as a more cryptic one about Hoppus "doing producer stuff ... listening to music, making notes, coming up with ideas. I love this. Music is so much fun," though he didn't explain whether that meant he was working on new Blink material or something else.
He might have been talking about the demos he'd just gotten from pals Motion City Soundtrack, which he said were "amazing," explaining that, "In and around the blink madness about to begin I hope I can work on this CD"; Hoppus produced the band's 2005 album, Commit This To Memory.
There was some geeking out about the new cut/copy/paste functions on the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0, some props to New Found Glory debuting near the top 10 of the album charts (Hoppus produced the band's Not Without a Fight), complaining about traffic on the 405 freeway and a Tweet from Tuesday afternoon about having a "good Blink meeting," which contained the promise that the "tour will be fun."
Ex-Danity Kane singer talks about sexuality, her forthcoming solo album.
By Jocelyn Vena, with additional reporting by Lisa Gonzalez
Aubrey O'Day Photo: MTV News
Aubrey O'Day says she'll be sticking to her musical roots on her solo album — but when the world will hear that album is yet to be determined. She has yet to make a formal announcement about which music label she'll be working with.
"I'm still honoring my current commitment to my previous situation, so when that's honored I will definitely announce what label I'll be signed with, and the music that I'll be doing," she told MTV News on the red carpet of the film "Pedro." "I'm a pop star. I mean, that's what I do, that's what Danity Kane mostly did. We had our R&B roots as well, but I think that mixing pop with rock" will be her musical direction.
O'Day said she looks to artists like Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga and Pink for inspiration. "I love being in the club and having empowerment songs that are songs that you wanna get ready [to go out] to. The songs you wanna hear in the club, the songs you wanna hear when your ex-boyfriend hurts you, the songs you wanna sing to your girlfriends," she explained. "I definitely would make that music."
Speaking of ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, O'Day, who has said that she isn't gender-specific when looking for love, said, "Everybody deserves basic human rights. I mean, I'm a huge supporter of the gay community — possibly a member myself, you never know. And I definitely feel like, I don't care what you are in life, gay, straight, trans, whatever you are, whatever color you are, whatever you believe in, everybody deserves basic human rights."
'The Cleveland Show' features MC's cameo as unsuccessful rapper Kenny West.
By Jocelyn Vena
Kanye West Photo: Foc Kan/ WireImage
Kanye West made his animated debut in his video for "Heartless," but soon fans will get to see 'Ye in an actual cartoon. Last week, West did a table read and recorded an episode for the new Fox animated series "The Cleveland Show."
The "Family Guy" spinoff is set to premiere this fall, with Kanye's episode airing in 2010. "It was surprising to us that [he] was so into it that he came to the table [read], and wonderfully surprising how cool he was, how funny he was and how unassuming he was," executive producer and voice actor Mike Henry told People. "He's just a great presence."
On the show, West plays MC Kenny West, who, unlike Kanye, hasn't found fame in the rapping game. "We knew Kanye was a big 'Family Guy' fan because he invited [creator] Seth [MacFarlane] to his house a year or two ago," said Henry, who voices the new show's main character, Cleveland Brown. "And there was a mention on his blog when the spinoff was announced that he was excited about it. We knew he was a big fan, and a lot of us are fans of his."
Last Friday, West recorded his episode during a three-hour session. The episode also stars Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson. West, new to voice acting, sought some advice from Sanaa Lathan, who plays Cleveland's wife, Donna, on the show.
"Before we came to the table ... there was only one line he didn't love, and he came up with another idea and in a completely modest, nice way said, 'Would you mind if I changed just this one line?' " executive producer Richard Appel said. "And our feeling was, how many raps have we written? One? And how many has he written? Be our guest!"
Right now, West's appearance stands as a cameo on one episode, but it sounds like he's more than welcome to come back if he wants. "We just recorded him in the booth, and he was fantastic," Appel said. "Once he read it a couple times through, he just owned the character, which I guess isn't hard since he was named Kenny West. He said he'd be glad to [be back]. I said we could write him in to the next 21 episodes!"
'Jackass' star suffers back injury, goes to hospital as a precaution.
By Jocelyn Vena
Lacey Schwimmer and Steve-O Photo: ABC
Thanks to a back injury he suffered just two hours before the live taping of "Dancing With the Stars,"Steve-O was forced to sit out Monday night's competition.
"DWTS" host Tom Bergeron announced that the "Jackass" alum landed on his mic pack during dress rehearsal, but that he "hopes to be back next week" after going to the hospital as a precaution. The judges then based their scores on Steve-O's rehearsal performance of the salsa.
"I feel terribly sorry for Steve," judge Len Goodman said as Steve-O's partner, Lacey Schwimmer, stood onstage alone, Us Weekly reports. "What I saw, I didn't get it as a performance at all." The judges awarded the couple 14 out of 30 points. Goodman added that the score would have been higher if Steve-O had been able to perform live on the show.
Schwimmer told the audience that her partner's injury looked "pretty bad," adding, "He was so bummed out going into the ambulance today. ... Nothing's broken, but there are plenty of other things that could be wrong."
"My back is spasming and a nerve's been pinched and it's a big nightmare. We've got this really physical routine that's loaded up with stunts and tricks, and we're kinda waiting to practice them, maybe until we're on live TV," he said last week.
Irish (and Irish-inspired) bands schedule shows to celebrate the holiday.
By Gil Kaufman
The Pogues' Shane McGowan Photo: Fred Tanneau/ Getty Images
If only St. Patrick's Day were always on a weekend. With the annual celebration of all things Irish falling on a Tuesday this year, revelers are forced into a tough decision: Kiss the blarney stone like you would any other year, or dial things back a notch so you can make it into work Wednesday morning.
Either way, some of the biggest acts with Emerald Isle ties will be partying across the country — some of them even got started a day early by playing warm-up gigs on Monday night, thereby giving them a full 24-hour window of celebration.
Among the cities ordering the most Guinness is Boston (of course), where hometown punkers the Dropkick Murphys hit the House of Blues on Monday night with fellow rockers Black 47, with a return engagement for the Murphys booked for Tuesday. Elsewhere in town, 47 set up shop at the Black Rose for an early morning gig before jetting off to New York, while Irish soft-rockers Bell X1 hit the Paradise Rock Club. And even though sensitive Jersey punks the Gaslight Anthem aren't technically an Irish band, you can bet their meat-and-potatoes sound and regular-folks rock will light up Beantown's Hurricane O'Reilly's.
The scene in New York is no less crowded, though the Murphys had to play the Roseland Ballroom on March 6 in order to make their annual hometown gig. But elsewhere across town, Black 47 will hop over from their morning engagement to play at B.B. King's and, perhaps the world's best-known Irish group, the Pogues, promise to bring their quarter-century-long beer-soaked bacchanalia to the Roseland Ballroom for what is sure to be a raucous time most attendees will never remember.
Boston's Street Dogs, led by former Dropkick Murphys singer Mike McColgan, will touch down in Buffalo, New York, at the Town Ballroom with the Swingin' Utters as part of their Crooked, Drunken Sons Tour.
Having already gotten their whistles wet with a slot at the Shamrock Festival in the RFK Stadium parking lot on Saturday, Los Angeles' Flogging Molly are also doubling up and playing a gig at the Congress Theater Tuesday night, after warming up at the House of Blues in Chicago on Monday. Because you'd be a fool not to play on St. Patty's Day if you're a an Irish band, Chicago's Tossers will also be throwing down, playing at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom, while the Young Dubliners will play a free gig in Pershing Square after the St. Pat's parade in Los Angeles.
And though he's English, former Smiths singer Morrissey did once pen a song about his Irish ancestry —"Irish Blood, English Heart" — which he's sure to play in Pittsburgh Monday (March 16) during his show at the Carnegie Music Hall.
'When you talk about virginity and sex publicly, people just automatically picture you naked,' she tells Allure. By Jocelyn Vena
Taylor Swift on the cover of <i>Allure</i> Photo: <i>Allure</i>
There are a lot of subjects that Taylor Swift has no problem talking about in interviews, including ex-boyfriends, mean girls and her idea of fairy-tale love. But there's one subject that Swift doesn't think is appropriate.
"It's fine to talk about love publicly, but I think when you talk about virginity and sex publicly, people just automatically picture you naked," she told Allure magazine when asked if she's chosen to remain a virgin. "And as much as I can prevent people picturing me naked, I'm going to."
Choosing not to talk about her sex life is one of the few ways Swift remains private, since she thinks it's important to keep her fans in the know about almost everything. One of the keys to Swift's success is her MySpace blog, on which she's written about everything from her breakup with Joe Jonas to redecorating her bedroom.
"I never would have sold any records if my fans hadn't gone out and bought them. It's so incredible to go out and sign autographs for nine hours straight, for me," she told the magazine. "That's just my favorite thing to do, honestly."
It also helps that Swift is honest about love and broken hearts in her songs. "For some reason, I could never, ever stop writing songs about heartbreak," she said. "Just because as human beings, what we can't have is what we replay in our head over and over again before we go to sleep.
"I have always been fascinated with fairy tales and the idea that Prince Charming is just one castle away," she added about her idea of true love. "And you're gonna run across a field and meet each other in the middle and have an amazing, perfect movie kiss. And it's gonna be happily ever after."
But Swift is also realistic about romance, noting that she's had her heart broken and has turned that pain into musical gold. "I'm the kind of person who needs everything to be justified and needs all of her time to be worth the energy," she said. "So let's say I date a guy who really does nothing but damage me. And you've spent time, you've spent effort, and you've put everything into trying to make that work. And it didn't. So you write a song about it. It was worth everything if you write a song about it."
"It's great," 50 said of the album, sitting between Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo in New York last week. Eminem announced that soon after Relapse, he'll be putting out a follow-up LP this year.
"You can't ask for more excitement from a hip-hop perspective than two Eminem albums," 50 said. "One is great. It's a treat. But the second one is exciting.
"Actually, it was my idea for him to release two albums, because he had so much material over a time period," Fif added. "The [second album] kind of feels like a sequel. They're both written to one album topic almost, that it felt like part one and part two of the [same album]. They tie together."
50 said he plans to duplicate Slim Shady's game plan and put out two albums of his own within months of each other. The first will be the long-talked-about Self Destruct, and 50 is keeping the second project's title to himself for now. The move could mean that 50 is planning to extend his contract with Interscope Records. In past interviews, 50 promised that if his renegotiations didn't go well, a greatest-hits album would be the last record Interscope would receive from him and new material would be housed elsewhere.
"They should look for Em in May, me in June, then his second album will come out and my second album will come out a month after that," 50 said of his team's release schedule.
"I think that everyone has good intentions and means well, but it turns up the heat in terms of it seeming like the whole world is telling her what to do," he said. "At the end of the day, people forget that at 21, your perspective is very different. These kinds of things can happen to anyone, whether you're a celebrity or not."
"I think she's very aware of everything that's going on," he said. "Just like anyone else, she watches TV, she goes online. And I think that it matters to her, but there's a line that she walks between being human and caring when you hear these kinds of things, and separating your personal life from your professional life. This is a very difficult time that she's going through right now, and she's going to learn a lot from it."
Most recently, Rihanna has received some negative feedback from her fans, some of whom feel she shouldn't have gotten back together with Brown. But Rogers said that eventually "everything will take care of itself."
"It obviously concerns her a lot [what her fans think]," he said. "But at the end of the day, I think that most people still see her as the victim in this situation. You'll always have a lot of haters who talk negatively about artists all day long on the Internet. But I think that when the dust settles, she's going to be fine. The bottom line is Rihanna is a superstar, and like other artists, the reception from her fans will mostly depend on how good an album she makes next time out and how great the songs are. She just needs to get in [the studio] and make a great album."
Rogers said that right now, she has just gotten started on some new music but is quick to point out that none of it includes Brown, as was previously reported. "There's no duet that's been recorded other than the one [called 'Bad Girl'] that was a bootleg track from months before," he said. "Those were just rumors."
'Jackass' alum says he hopes to stay in 'Dancing With the Stars' competition.
By Jocelyn Vena
Steve-O with his dance partner Lacey Schwimmer Photo: ABC
After missing Monday night's live taping of "Dancing With the Stars" due to a back injury, Steve-O has taken to his blog to address the matter, citing "poor judgment" as a factor in the accident.
"Physically, I feel pretty good today. If I get the opportunity, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to learn and perform a great 'fox trot' routine," he blogged. "With 20/20 hindsight, I must admit that I exercised very poor judgment yesterday."
Last week when MTV News visited his rehearsal, Steve-O had already hurt his back in a separate incident. The former "Jackass" star now admits he probably should have been more careful when he went to rehearse with partner Lacey Schwimmer on Monday. "Jumping flat onto a bad back with a microphone pack strapped to it was sensationally idiotic, especially after Lacey told me what a bad idea she thought it was," he wrote.
The reality star and his partner only got a 14 out of 30 from the judges, who based their decision on the team's performance during the rehearsal. The judges noted that if he had been able to dance on the show, the score may have been better. "I was a real jerk to insist upon doing that," Steve-O added in the blog post. "I really hope that I get the chance to stay in the competition and make it up Lacey and everyone else."
On Monday night, Schwimmer told the audience that her partner's injury looked "pretty bad," adding, "He was so bummed out going into the ambulance today. ... Nothing's broken, but there are plenty of other things that could be wrong."
Weezy, Slim Thug, Young Jeezy, Jadakiss have cosigned 'Turn My Swag On' with new verses.
By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Matt Elias
Soulja Boy Tell'em Photo: MTV News
Keri Hilson and Lil Wayne are taking Soulja Boy Tell'em to the next level. Soulja Boy is getting ready to shoot a video for the "Turn My Swag On" remix, with Ms. Hilson and Weezy F. Baby by his side.
"The 'Turn My Swag On' official remix is gonna take me to that next level in my career," Soulja said last week in L.A. "This song is so worldwide, but I guess it's in disguise, because it came out as a street single. It's gonna be turned into something so much bigger. Believe it or not, everybody in the world wakes up and turns their swag on, whether they know it or not. Once 'Swag' catches on, like 'Kiss Me Through the Phone,' it's over."
It's taken months, but once again, Soulja has one of the hottest songs in the clubs. Unlike his monster "Crank That," though, the original version of "Turn My Swag On" is arguably his most street-credible record to date. MCs such as Slim Thug and Young Jeezy have cosigned it by freestyling over the instrumental, while Fabolous, Jadakiss and Maino all laid verses for an unofficial street remix.
While "Swag" came out late last year around the same time as the iSouljaBoyTellem single "Bird Walk," it took awhile to catch fire. So what was the hold-up? "I asked myself that same question," Soulja said. "When I go inside the club now and they play 'Turn My Swag On,' especially in Atlanta but even in New York, [people go crazy]."
Late last year, Interscope placed its bets on "Bird Walk" to be another huge hit for him. The gamble didn't pay off. "When you are ... as big as what he was for the dancing, it takes people awhile to get over that," said Mr. Collipark, who signed Soulja to his imprint. "Which was why we released 'Bird Walk' for the first single. People can say, 'You should have put ["Swag"] out first,' but the people weren't trying to hear nothing else."
The fans didn't take to that plan, and "Bird Walk" was a dud.
"They let us know, 'We cool with you on the dancing,' " Collipark said. "Now we can put out real music on him like the 'Kiss Me Through the Phone.' It's a real record, no gimmick. It's a catchy record ,'cause that's what sells. Then you come back with the 'Turn My Swag On,' which has been bubbling for eight months now. Now the music is speaking, and they'll accept him for making real music that doesn't have a dance attached."
"The biggest mistake I made was releasing 'Bird Walk' for my first single," Soulja admitted. "People thought it was gonna be another album full of dance songs.
"My second album, it didn't sell as much as I expected, first-week-wise," he added. "Right now, it's going up, as 'Kiss Me Through the Phone' broke into #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Turn My Swag On' just broke into the charts. Now my album is picking up and starting to sell like I wanted to. When I seen the first-week album sales, it was 45,000, and I was disappointed. But after I started to work these records and go out and talk to the fans and show them my face performing live — what you put into it is what you get out of it. The hard work I'm doing now is paying off. My album sales are going up each week."
Soulja Boy is currently planning a summer outing called the Turn My Swag On Tour.
Label crew has video, group album and solo projects in the works.
By Jayson Rodriguez
Lil Wayne and Young Money Photo: MTV News
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida — Lil Wayne is a busy dude these days, what with both rapping and rocking. And if you want to be a part of his burgeoning empire, Young Money Entertainment, he says all you have to do is be willing to follow his (relentlessly paced) lead.
"These people all have a drive," Wayne told MTV News as he introduced his Young Money crew on his tour bus after an mtvU Spring Break performance. "They all have the drive that I have, and that's 'never stop working.' We never get tired. Soon as I meet somebody like that, that never gets tired, let's do it. And when you ready, let's go. Let's go, [then] you Young Money. These people right here are that."
The crew consists of familiar names from Wayne's albums and mixtapes including Drake, Mack Maine, Nicki Minaj, Jae Millz, Tyga and newer artists Gudda Gudda, T-Streets, Lil Twist, Lil Chuckee and Shanell, who co-wrote her boss' latest hit, "Prom Queen."
Wayne's currently putting the finishing touches on his next project, his rock debut, Rebirth, now due May 19, and is also working on a number of other albums, from a Hot Boyz reunion LP to Tha Carter IV. But if his plans go right, he said the world will also see the release of a Young Money group album, a solo project by a Young Money member and a single from a second member by the end of 2009.
The collective shot a video for their buzz single "Every Girl in the World" that should be airing soon. The explicit track isn't the official single, Wayne warned. He said the proper first single will be huge, but the world will just have to wait for that one.
In the meantime, he's trying to build his empire. His goal, of course, is to usher in another crew-oriented era of hip-hop in the same vein as Diddy's team and even Master P.
"We gonna be that clique, that record company, that everybody wanna be with, everybody wanna be like," he said. "You remember Bad Boy, you remember No Limit, you remember Cash Money. ... We coming back with that. We bringing that back."
'I think we both want to write songs together,' guitarist Mick Mars says at event for Crue Fest 2 tour.
By Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Mötley Crüe at a press event in New York on Monday Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Mötley Crüe sure know how to make an entrance. The rockers showed up to Fuse TV in New York City yesterday in an over-the-top Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance, according to Rolling Stone.
The theatrical entrance — complete with gothed-out girls disguised as nurses — was an effort by the boys to plug their upcoming tour Crüe Fest 2: The White Trash Circus.
Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Mick Mars will have some help kicking off their tour on July 19th. Godsmack, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Dead Man and Charm City Devils are also set to open the fest. The summer tour comes just months before the 20th anniversary of the Crüe's iconic album Dr. Feelgood and will showcase the classic in its entirety — some songs to be performed live for the first time.
Aside from gearing up for the risky tour, the band is also working on side projects, a new album and a possible Mötley Crüe-inspired edition of Guitar Hero.
Singer released on unconditional bail, ordered to attend July 23 hearing.
By Jocelyn Vena
Amy Winehouse arrives at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday Photo: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
On Tuesday (March 17), Amy Winehouse pleaded not guilty to assaulting a fan at a show last September, The Associated Press reports. The singer, wearing her signature beehive, showed up slightly late to the court appearance, but her lawyer, Mark Haslam, apologized for it. According to the AP, he told the court she had left her north London home more than two hours earlier but had been delayed.
When Winehouse arrived at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, she gave her name as Amy Jade Civil — despite reports of her impending divorce from husband Blake Fielder-Civil. After pleading not guilty, she was released on unconditional bail and ordered to attend a new hearing on July 23.
The charge stemmed from a September 26 incident, when Winehouse allegedly hit dancer Sherene Flash in the eye after the woman asked to take a picture with the Grammy-winning "Rehab" singer.
Last week, Winehouse canceled her appearance at the Coachella festival in April due to her ongoing legal problems, which would make it difficult for Winehouse to obtain a U.S. visa. While her rep, Chris Goodman, didn't comment specifically on the visa, in a statement to People, he said, "She cannot go because of current legal issues."
Winehouse, who has struggled with drug problems and health issues, has reportedly written some songs for a follow-up to her Grammy-winning breakthrough 2006 Back to Black album, but no release date for her third album has been announced. Due to her personal struggles, Winehouse was forced to pull out of a scheduled 2007 U.S. tour. Last year, she faced a similar problem when she was prevented from attending the Grammy Awards.
'What does their faith have to do with singing?' one commenter asks.
By Gil Kaufman
American Idol's Danny Gokey Photo: Michael Becker/ Getty Images/ FOX
We learned two things about "American Idol" fans last week when we ran a story on how this year's show features more Christian-affiliated finalists than ever before: Most of you don't care what religion a singer is as long as they're good, and the rest of you think even pointing out religion on "Idol" is "absolutely outrageous."
Hundreds of comments flooded MTV.com and other sites that re-posted the story, and they ran the gamut from "good job!" to, well, not so good job. (Comments have been edited for grammar, clarity and length.)
"What does their faith have to do with singing?" Selena1 asked on MTV.com. "Christians sing in their churches all the time in America. ... If someone does it every week, sometimes a couple of nights, then imagine the practice they get compared to others who don't. ... So of course you get a lot of singers with Christian backgrounds who are not pros but have no fear to get up and sing in front of groups."
Then there was MTV reader Gchata, who wondered if the implied math of "Christian viewers + Christian contestants = a potential Christian winner" would work for gay contestants or any other group: "Does this really matter? Yeah, a lot of Christians watch 'American Idol.' They also watch '24,' 'Heroes' and, on occasion, MTV. Having Christian people on the show doesn't mean Christians are more inclined to watch because someone with their 'values' or 'morals' might win. I'm a Christian, and I personally don't care if the person who wins is or not. It's a singing competition. Religion is a non-issue."
Over at MJsBigBlog.com, one of the leading "Idol" fan sites, the discussion about the story was fierce, with nearly 150 responses. Commenter Tess said she was "appalled and offended" by the article. Tess had particular scorn for a comment from writer CJ Casciotta, who was quoted in the story as saying he thought some Christian viewers might go with their faith if presented with a top two featuring a pair of equally talented singers in which one was Christian and the other was not.
"If I wasn't a sane, God-loving individual, I would not vote for any of the listed contestants (Danny, Michael, Kris, Scott, Matt and Lil) just out of pure spite," Jess wrote. "I knew the country was going to be divided on this issue, but for the Christian right to pronounce that they support an us-vs.-them philosophy is absolutely outrageous."
Many readers vehemently stated that they thought religion should remain a personal, private matter, not fodder for stories, while others, like Lys, said they don't feel that the singers should have to hide their beliefs "any more than they should hide their hair color. If it's truly a part of who they are and if they want to talk about it, fine."
On a similar note, Terrie felt that the show's "pimping" of performers' religions is not different from their spotlight on the singers' families "or personal challenges or favoring more attractive contestants."
A number of readers were put off by a comment from one of the story's subjects, Christian writer Joanne Brokaw, who suggested that viewers could sense Kris Allen's faith when it was mentioned that he helped other contestants last week.
"Are Christians the only people allowed to help others???" Baxter asked.
The site's founder, MJ Santilli, also sounded off, saying she was offended by "nearly all the quotes" in the article (thank you, I think?) and pointed out that the show has long featured Christian contestants (which the article mentioned).
Speaking to MTV News on Tuesday (March 17), Santilli said she felt the same way many of her readers did about the piece. "I think coming so soon after the presidential election, maybe some people are feeling that 'Idol' themselves might be setting up this kind of divisive ... us-vs.-them mentality," she said of a possible Danny Gokey vs. Adam Lambert showdown. "I think the comments were split between people who can't stand religion and others who were churchgoers who didn't like that idea that, 'I'm a Christian, and just because I am, I won't vote for [a non-Christian].' "
Maybe CFIdolsFan said it best with the comment "I'm a Christian and a worship leader. I've watched 'Idol' since season one, and I vote for whoever I want, whenever I want, however I want. ... Neither Casciotta or Brokaw speak for me, but I am not ashamed to say that I am Christian and am delighted to see Christians on the show."
On JoesPlaceBlog.com, commenter Suebrody said, in some ways, all the comments missed the real point of the reality singing competition, a sentiment that was shared by a number of other posters. "I am a non-Christian and would hope the viewers are open-minded enough to vote for the best singer, not the most religious one."
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
We give you a peek at what's due to go down at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas.
By James Montgomery
Photo: sxsw.com
South by Southwest is sort of like running a marathon, except you're drunk most of the time, and there's nothing but BBQ and tacos to eat, and have sun stroke, and you basically hear live music from the moment you wake up until the second you pass out. So, actually, it's not really like a marathon at all, except in duration (and probably perspiration).
Yes, it's that time of year again — SXSW is upon us. It's a magical week that comes around each March, when the city of Austin, Texas is overrun with hundreds of bands and thousands of hipsters in really tight pants, all braving the blazing Texas sun to catch can't-miss sets from much-buzzed blog acts, top-secret performances by some of the biggest names in music (there's a couple of doozies this year), and have a really gigantic, really debauched party.
At SXSW 2008, there were performances by mainstays like Paramore, N.E.R.D., R.E.M., and My Morning Jacket, star-making turns by Vampire Weekend, No Age, MGMT and Katy Perry, appearances by Perez Hilton and Rachael Ray, even a Britney Spears rumor (and, as luck would have it, we spoke to almost all of 'em). Rumor has it, there was also plenty of partying — though we don't really remember, to be honest.
This year, things are looking to be just as awesome. There are rumors (repeat: rumors) of performances by Metallica — under the relatively awesome Norse name of Volsung — on Friday and Kanye West on Saturday. We'll see the return of alt-rock greats Jane's Addiction — in all their original-lineup glory — and faerie queen Tori Amos. Big Boi, Rick Ross and Jadakiss are all scheduled to appear. There will be sets by the Silversun Pickups, Explosions in the Sky, Primal Scream, Devo, the Hold Steady, M. Ward and Peter Bjorn and John. Plus, indie heavyweights like the Thermals, the Decemberists (performing their new album, The Hazards Of Love, in its entirety) and Grizzly Bear, who will unveil tracks from their much-anticipated Vecktimest album at what promises to be a revelatory church show.
We know it's a lot to handle.
Of course, it wouldn't be SXSW if there weren't also a ton of up-and-comers grabbing headlines, too. From lo (perhaps even no)-fi noisemakers like San Diego's Wavves and Brooklyn's the Pains of Being Pure at Heart to NME-approved female electro-poppers Little Boots and Ladyhawke, there's no shortage of buzzed-up bands to catch in and around Austin this week. And that's not even mentioning bands like Passion Pit, Crystal Stilts, the Dirty Projectors and Marnie Stern — who's already given us an SXSW preview of her own. Throw in a strong hip-hop contingent — multiple sets by Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Kid Sister and B.o.B — and you can see why the whole "marathon" comparison is more than apt. There literally is not enough time in the day to see everything, but that doesn't mean you're not gonna try your hardest to do it.
And, of course, MTV News is going to be there too — checking out bands, staying up way too late, making terrible decisions and trying very hard to remain sane. We'll be bringing you up-to-the-minute updates on SXSW on MTVNews.com, the Newsroom blog. We'll have live video of shows, interviews with bands and even a BBQ story or three. In short, we're going to try and bring you everything you're missing at SXSW 2009. It's hard work, for sure. But we do it because we care.
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