Joining Limp Bizkit as a musical performer at this Sunday’s Wrestlemania will be R&B singer Ashanti.
Ashanti will perform “America the Beautiful” prior to the matches.
Fabolous was supposed to be in a freestyle battle but dropped out.
Wrestlemania will air on Pay Per View at 8 p.m.
After 4 years of prayers and countless hours listing to “Amish Paradise,” fans are leaving their state of mourning as news has broken that Weird Al Yankovic is coming back.
The King of Parodies has signed a deal with Jive Records, and will release a new album on May 20.
The accordion-playing singer will also tour this summer across the U.S.
Yankovic’s last release was 1999′s platinum-selling “Running With Scissors.
No details on the title of the album or any song information have been released.
Not winning a spot in “Making of the Band” might have been one of the best things to happen to Justin Roman.
Roman, the singer and songwriter from the group VI3, made it into the final 25 on the television series, but was not selected as one of the members of O-Town.
“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he tells andPOP, on the line from his home in Chicago. “They’re doing their thing and we’re doing our thing. It just took us a little longer to get it going. I’m very proud of the fact that I was able to write most of the album and I think if I would have been in O-Town, that wouldn’t have been the case.”
VI3, which also includes Lucas Bowers and Jackie Salvucci, consider themselves a “hip pop” group, the sound that is heard on their debut album, “So Tight.”
“What we tried to do is take the hip hop music that we listened to growing up and also the pop music that has been relevant since music was created and combine the two just to find our little niche in music,” Roman says. “We have the singing in there, we have the rapping in there, and we tried to go where other male vocal groups have not gone before.”
Being labeled with the dreaded “boy band” tag comes with the territory, he says, but he does not consider that a fair classification of VI3.
“People are automatically going to see the cover and see three guys that look like they should be in a boy band and say, ‘you all are a boy band.’ We understand that. We’re not going to fight it. We think the music is way different, but if people are going to say that, they’re going to say that. You really can’t change people’s minds except try to give them really good songs.”
Even before joining VI3, Roman was planning for his future in the industry by studying Music Business in college. He also hopes to ensure the longevity of the group after he read Donald Passman’s “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.”
“People who think that the music business is all about singing and dancing are nuts. There’s such a business side to this thing,” he says. “You’ve got to be foolish not to read up and study this stuff. Majoring in Music Business, I was definitely one step ahead of a lot of people in this industry, just not being a dumb naive kid.”
When the group signed a major label deal with MCA, some of the responsibilities were taken away from Roman, and the fate of the album was put in someone else’s hands.
“There’s people that are promoting it to radio stations, there’s people that are promoting it to retail, and you’re depending on all these other people to control your career. And that’s probably the hardest thing about it. I definitely want to be hands on and be in control of everything, but when you get to a big label, that’s impossible. You have to trust other people and that they’re going to do their jobs correctly.”
Roman wrote the majority of the album, including the first single, “Eyes Closed So Tight.”
“That’s a song I wrote years ago about a real girl that actually broke my heart. I wrote it from a real place, a real sad place. It’s kind of cool now, years later, and the song is a single and doing phenomenal. It shows how a broken heart will never go out of style. People can relate to it even today.”
Roman was named “Songwriter of the Year” at the Chicago Music Awards this year, beating out R. Kelly and Donell Jones. VI3 also won for “Most Outstanding Band or Group” and “Pop Entertainer of the Year.” The group hooked up with another Chicago artist, rapper Da Brat, on “Turn It Up.”
“Our manager knew her manager and we all just made it happen,” Roman says. “Chicago’s got a great music scene but there hasn’t been a lot to come out of it besides R. Kelly and the Smashing Pumpkins. Da Brat is one of them. She’s probably the most talented female rapper out there. When we were looking for a guest spot on the song, it was just a perfect fit.”
VI3 recently toured across the U.S., opening for Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. The trio played in markets that they had never been to before.
“The reception was amazing. It was almost like we were in Chicago every night, being in different cities; that’s how great the reaction was.”
They are currently on a 17 Magazine mall tour, and Roman says some big acts have asked VI3 to open for them this spring and summer. He remained tight lipped on who these acts were, but did provide some hints.
“One is one of biggest superstars out right now. The other is a group that is leading this whole teen craze right now.”
As for a second album, don’t expect a completely new sound to VI3 when they decide to begin recording.
“People who are into VI3 are into the ‘Eyes Closed So Tight’ [type songs] and into the hip pop songs. We’re not going to change it up and totally change our musical direction. You’re going to hear a more mature and developed VI3 but you’re going to know it’s the same group.”
Listening to debut album from The Raveonettes will leave you asking yourself, what the hell did I just listen to? But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Whip It On” has a sound on the album that has never been tested before by any other artist. It’s an appealing mixture of goth, swing, and rock music, all in one. The EP has only 8 songs that last less than 22 minutes, but is a fitting introduction to the Danish band who will release a full album later this year.
Their first single, “Attack of the Ghost Riders,” is definitely a fair representation of this unique sound. Before vocals are heard, the song almost feels like a 60s swing song, but when the singing begins, the rock aspect is immediately felt. The only problem is it is difficult to make out the vocals because of the lack of vocal range and overbearing instruments.
Each song tells a story and has a sense of drama. “Bowels of the Beast” gives the impression that singers Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo are about to solve some sort of mystery. “Cops on Our Tails” features a police siren and brings the listeners into the chase. Anticipation is created in the haunting “Veronica Fever.”
The duo should be commended for the interesting way they share the vocals. Wagner is the dominant voice, and almost drowns out Foo if you forget that she sings as well. She almost disappears if you don’t think of her. However, that is only because the two voices blend so well together that they seem to become one.
3*/5*
Although they had said they would begin recording this month, the Backstreet Boys announced Wednesday that are putting those plans on hold.
“As a group, we have decided not to record our next album at this time,” the group said in a statement. “We are not breaking up, but individually we are currently at different places in our lives, and our hearts and minds are focused in other areas. All of us are getting along great and are supporting each other in our individual endeavors.”
This has fueled a lot of speculation about the future for the group.
“When the timing is right, we will record another Backstreet Boys album,” the statement said. “We would like to thank our fans for their continued support and love throughout our career.”
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has reconciled with model Kim Porter, the mother of his youngest son, four-year-old Christian.
“My love life is straight. I’m back with Kim,” he tells People magazine in its March 31 issue.
The two reached a child-support agreement in 2002 after years of litigation. They reunited on New Year’s Eve in Miami.
Rock band Train will release a new album, “My Private Nation,” on June 3, according to MTV.
This will be the follow-up to 2001′s critically acclaimed “Drops of Jupiter.”
They shot a video for their first single, “Calling All Angels,” last week in Los Angeles.
Last week on Popstars, each contestant performed their rendition of a Motown song. Now it’s your turn to vote for your favourite performer.
The top 7 vote-getters, out of the final 12, will move on to the finals.
For more information on the voting process, head on over to popstars.ca.
The first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, will finally release her debut album on April 15.
The album was originally scheduled for release late in 2002.
Featured on the CD will be her hit single, “A Moment Like This.” When the single was released to stores last year, it included another song, “Before Your Love,” which does not appear to be included on her full length album.
Meanwhile, the runner up, Justin Guarini, is scheduled to release his debut album on June 17.
Here is the tentative track listing for Kelly’s album:
1. Miss Independent
2. Some Kind Of Miracle
3. What’s Up Lonely
4. Low
5. Just Missed The Train
6. Beautiful Disaster
7. You Thought Wrong
8. The Trouble With Love Is
9. Thankful
10. A Moment Like This
11. Anytime
As the battle continues to grow between the major record labels and illegal music downloaders, Audible Magic has been working on what they think is the solution to this problem.
Their new software, currently being tested on various universities, corporations and internet service providers, will be able to scan all data flowing through a network. It can scan both emails and files and it keeps a log of all this informaton.
While many feel this is an invasion of privacy, many universities are desperate to slow down or stop the massive increase in illegal internet traffic that can slow down a network.
The software works like this: it is installed inside a router or gateway that is connected to the larger internet lines (ie. on your internet providers router). “The software creates a copy of all the traffic flowing past, identifies those bits that are using FTP (file transfer protocol) or the Gnutella technology, and then re-creates those files to identify them,” writes news.com.
The software is still being tested.
