andPOP » Hip Hop/Rap

Travis McCoy Back to Business

Stephen Baldwin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:49:19 +0000

Gym Class Heroes rapper Travis McCoy will be releasing several different projects over the next year, according to Billboard.com.

With an upcoming solo project, McCoy is eager to escape the image of, “That dude who sings the song about his girlfriend,” in his group’s most popular song, Cupid’s Chokehold. “With this record, I feel like people are going to take me more seriously as a rapper and hopefully, as a singer as well.”

McCoy will also be releasing a documentary on MTV December 1st. “Travis McCoy’s Unbeaten Track,” will Chronicle the artist’s experiences while travelling with MTV’s Staying Alive foundation to South Africa, India and the Philippines. It will be accompanied by his charity single, One at a Time. “since it is a charity track, I wanted to keep the cheese factor to a bare minimum and make sure it’s sincere and from the heart,” said McCoy.

His fourth solo album, The Lazarus Project, will include the rapping and singing of McCoy, along with appearances by Cee-Lo and Chester French. “I tried to keep the guest appearances at a bare minimum because this is my first effort away from Gym Class Heroes, so I didn’t want it to be super appearance-driven,” he said.

But this in no way spells the end for Gym Class Heroes. Expect the group’s fourth album late next year, after his solo drops in Spring.

DJ AM’s Family Says Plane Crash Caused His Death

Vanessa Baker — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:07:23 +0000

Before surviving a near-fatal plane crash last year, DJ AM was a successfully recovering addict, but his family is amending a negligence suit against companies involved in the crash to include an allegation of wrongful death, reports E! News.

“The crash ultimately caused DJ AM’s death,” the suit reads. They allege the crash forced him to begin taking pills to cope with anxiety and pain, which lead to his accidental overdose in August.

Solange, Beyonce’s Cool Kid Sister covers Dirty Projectors

Emma Renda — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:00:54 +0000

It’s difficult to say if Solange Knowles’ hip factor is real, or if it’s just the cause of hanging out with her uber-cool older sister. But she sure seems to be harnessing it nicely. O Friday, her cover of The Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness is the Move” surfaced on Pitchfork.com before being yanked by Universal at the label’s behest.

Unimpressed, Solange took to Twitter to voice her frustrations.

“So fucking crazy universal has been taking down a COVER I’m NOT selling or trying to publish. Never heard of that shit in my life! Not to mention Dirty Projectors, LOVED the cover& all parties are happy Doesn’t Lil Wayne a Universal artist rap over other folks records?”

Solange has certainly stepped up her media presence since her days as the Disney version of Beyonce.

Not only is she credited with introducing B and hubby Jay-Z to Grizzly Bear (which resulted in a frenzy of media coverage when the two attended their New York show), she has also started her own band to some legitimate critical acclaim. Solange and the Hadley Street Dreams performed at SXSW on the same night as scene legends Dinosaur Jr. and Tinted Windows (the world’s weirdest side project featuring members of The Smashing Pumpkins, Hanson, Cheap Trick and Fountains of Wayne.)

Her sophomore album, Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams, was “endorsed with trepidation” by the perpetually skeptical Pitchfork, even warranting a 7.3 rating (which is practically a high-five in their books). Solange drew Motown comparisons on the one hand, and the keen ear picked up a Boards of Canada sample that could swoon any indie kid.

Today’s Universal debacle is still being sorted out, but hopefully this won’t be the last of Solange’s forays into sampling because it seems this informed persona is working out for her.

Rihanna’s Risque New Single for ‘Russian Roulette’

Emma Renda — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:00:40 +0000

Rihanna’s triumphant return to the industry just got a little more risque with clips of her new video, “Russian Roulette” surfacing online. The video, directed by Anthony Mandler, depicts Rihanna undergoing a collage of violence, including images of her underwater riddled with bulletholes.

Mandler says it’s all a metaphor, but eyebrows are naturally being raised in the wake of the Chris Brown abuse scandal.

“I think that with this song and the meaning of this song and how loaded it all is, no pun intended, how much imagery and perhaps symbolism that is loaded in this song, the only way to do it was to do something that was visually challenging,” Mandler told MTV News.

The video premiered on 20/20, this following a series of public appearances from Rihanna who avoided the spotlight since the February incident. Rihanna appeared in a candid interview with Diane Sawyer, in which she revealed details of the attack and the affect it had on her life. Earlier this month, she was recognized by Glamour Magazine as the Woman of the Year.

“Domestic violence is a big secret,” she told Glamour. “My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery. The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard.”

Rihanna’s new album, Rated R, will be released on Nov. 23.

Chris Brown is also premiering a video today for “Crawl”, a song he tells MTV is not only about Rihanna.

The chorus talks about “crawling back to love”, but Brown says it’s a universal concept.

“When I heard the whole concept and everything I was like, ‘Yo, this is crazy,’ ” Brown told MTV. “So being able to express the feelings, it was like, probably one of the best [records I've done.] But it was more than me trying to do a record that meant crawl to love, crawl back to love. Meaning whether it’s from your negative situations, whether it’s from any problems you’ve dealt with, like anybody’s situation. Mine being my personal situation with shorty, but for anybody, for being inspired as far it being the war or a death in the family, whether it’s anything, anybody just crawl back to love. ‘Cause love conquers everything. Love, at the end of the day, makes everybody happy.”

Brown has frequently told media he thinks the details of his relationship with Rihanna should be private, but he has not shyed away from offering several public apologies.

DJ AM’s Sneaker Collection To Be Auctioned Off

Joelle Tomlinson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:33:06 +0000

One of the best collections of sneakers belongs to the late DJ AM, and they are about to be auctioned off online for charity on eBay, according to People.

Before the DJ tragically passed away this summer, he’d accumulated in excess of 800 pairs of sneakers, including the rare pair of Eminem Air Jordans (one of 50 ever made).

The auction begins at 4:30 p.m. PST on Sunday, November 15. According to the auction site, 100 per cent of the proceeds will go toward the DJ AM Memorial Fund, which supports “organizations and projects committed to addressing issues of addiction and recovery.”

DJ AM had been very invested in this cause, which is demonstrated through his series on MTV “Gone too Far,” in which the DJ helps struggling addicts curb their habits.

New additions from AM’s collection, which the Las Vegas Sun says includes “one of 200 pairs of Nike PlayStation Air Force 1s and one of 50 pairs of Eminem Air Jordan 4s, along with Supreme Dunks; Supa Dunks; Hyperstrikes; Air Jordan PEs; and other rare, retro and limited-edition shoes” will be added to the auction every evening through the first week of December 2009.

DJ AM’s Death Sees New Legal Light

Emma Renda — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:45:03 +0000

The death of DJ AM, a.k.a. Adam Goldstein, is going to the courts in a bizarre twist of events that links it with the plane crash DJ AM survived in Sept. 2008, according to TMZ.

The estate of Adam Goldstein is filing a ‘wrongful death’ suit against Clay Lacy Aviation, the airline responsible for the jet that crashed with both DJ AM and Travis Barker (of Blink 182) on board. The claim is that Goldstein was terrified of flying, and used drugs to calm his nerves.

The suit in the L.A. County Superior Court notes Goldstein was prescribed a number of drugs to cope with the burns he suffered as well as the distress following the crash. The travel service, Goodyear Tire, Learjet and the estates of the two pilots who were killed in the crash are also being sued by Goldstein’s estate.

Goldstein’s death in August was caused by a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs as well as cocaine.

Jeremih Talks To Jenn About Birthday Sex

andPOP Staff — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:59:59 +0000

At andPOP we spend a lot of our time thinking about deep philosophical questions. What’s the meaning of life? If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound? If your Birthday falls on Valentine’s Day does that mean you get double Birthday Sex? Well the last question we found an answer from Jeremih, who is the expert on Birthday Sex. And good for Jenn as her Birthday is on Valentine’s Day. Watch to find out more.

Kid Koala’s The Slew Releases Album

Sara Harowitz — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:26 +0000

It’s been over four years, but it’s finally here.

DJ Kid Koala (Eric San) teamed up with DJ Dynomite D (Dylan J. Frombach) four and a half years ago and their first product, called 100%, is ready for mass consumption starting Nov. 24.

The two turntablists met in 1998 when on tour with the Beastie Boys. They were later approached to record a soundtrack for a documentary feature film. However, the film was eventually dropped.

Still, the pair was inspired to make music together. Once they started dropping beats there was no turning back. They had Mario C., producer and engineer of the Beastie Boys, to mix their songs, and were so into their project that they decided to finish it, film or no film. The result was 100%.

Together Kid Koala and Dynomite D call themselves The Slew. For the album they teamed up with Myles Heskett and Chris Ross, who used to do rhythms for the Grammy Award-winning band Wolfmother, and set out to create a full-throttle rock experience. However, they still wanted to be able to do the music justice in a live setting. And so, The Slew used six turntables, a drum set, a bass, a keyboard, and a wall of amplifiers to make their mark. They worked on bringing a punk rock attitude back to the turntable.

“I haven’t heard anything this crazy since Paul’s Boutique,” said producer Mario C., referring to a highly popular Beastie Boys album.

The Slew went on a small North American tour in September and October 2010 to gain listener support. Even though it has not yet been released in record stores, 100% was given away online before the tour. Limited quantities were also made to sell at their shows. However, high post-tour demand for 100% is bringing it to a record store near you.

100% will be distributed to stores by Kid Koala’s record label, Ninja Tune. Rumors have been floating that more concerts and new music may emerge at some point from The Slew, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

DMX Bails on ‘Clean’ MMA Fight

Stephen Baldwin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:17:02 +0000

According to TMZ, DMX ducked out of a Dec. 12 mixed artial arts against actor Eric Martinez, and reportedly be replaced by Coolio.

The rapper’s manager reportedly insisted on a gauranteed victory over his opponent as a contract condition. Thunder Promotions, the fight’s organizer, were not on board for a fixed fight.

The group plans on filing a breach of contract lawsuit against DMX, and say that Coolio will “Take [the fight] seriously.”

Lil Wayne’s Rebirth To Be Released December 15

Stephen Baldwin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:27:12 +0000

Universal has announced that Lil Wayne’s long overdue rock album, Rebirth, will be released on December 15th.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after the release of his new mixtape, No Ceilings, and a week after the release of Weezer’s Raditude album, on which he makes an appearance on the song Can’t Stop Partying. He told Billboard.com that he plans to maintain the consistent rock vibe that he intended.

“I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album.”

While working with two rock giants like Travis Barker and Rivers Cuomo should give Wayne the right idea, there is still no certainty about the outcome of this album. Based on the mild response generated by Prom Queen and Can’t Stop Partying, the anticipation will be filled with more curiousity than excitement.

But you can be certain that Weezy will stay true to his free-for-all roots. “I say what I want, how I want. That’s what this album is: a freedom album.”

The album reportedly includes appearances by Drake, members of Fallout boy and Lenny Kravitz, and may be released alongside the Young Money album, We Are Young Money.