Even since repeatedly pestering that poor DJ to  turn the record up in 2005, Robyn Rihanna Fenty has been a chart-topping powerhouse representative of Def Jam Records. With her collaborations dominating the charts as of late, it seems that the recipe to Billboard success is a Rihanna hook. After all, she has the most digital number-one hits with eleven and counting.

That’s more number-one’s than Stevie Wonder or Janet Jackson. That’s two away from Michael Jackson and nine away from the untouchable Beatles. Are we talking quantity, not quality? It’s up for debate. How does she compare to the Gaga’s, Perry’s and Beyonce’s?

Turn on the radio. Open a music magazine. And if they’re on a break from their teen-preganancy programming, watch MTV. From Maroon 5 to Eminem to Coldplay to Lonely Island, there is that familiar sultry croon of the official ambassador of youth and culture for Barbados. She is considerably the most-featured female singer of this millennium. She’s no Fitzgerald, or Goulding for that matter, but it’s either she has a remarkable talent or impeccable timing. OK, maybe Jay-Z has a little something to do with it.

Going back to 2008, she was featured on two of the biggest songs of the year: Maroon5′s  “If I Ever See Your Face Again” and T.I.’s redemption-song  “Live Your Life.” Two opposing ends of the musical spectrum that equally delivered as hits in their respective genres.

Recently, her collaborations haven’t slowed down, they’ve been unescapable on the pop-charts. She duels with Nicki Minaj, harmonizes on Kanye’s  “All of the Lights”and even trades verses with Chris Martin in Coldplay’s  “Princess of China” In response to his appearance on  “What’s My Name?”, Rihanna flourishes in the role of a wounded-love on the  title track of Drake’s upcoming Take Care EP.

Her solo success should not be ignored. In Billboard’s 53-year-history, Rihanna is in a third-place tie with the legendary Whitney Houston for most chart-toppers, behind Mariah Carey and Madonna. That’s a fine line between jaw-dropping and head-scratching. She was also named Digital Song Artist of the Decade in 2009, passing Mr. West, Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

In a recent study, the most popular videos on YouTube are unsurprisingly, music videos that occupy an incredible 86% of the top 60 most-viewed. What’s even more mind-boggling is that a trifecta of pop-artists total a 25% of those 60 videos: Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Rihanna. Bieber impregnates the rest of the pack with 1.664 billion views. Mother Monster rolls in with 842 million views and Rihanna clocks in with 715 million views.

With her new album Talk That Talk on the horizon (due out November 21), critical pop-singles are expected to stampede the airwaves. She took to Twitter on Tuesday to confirm that her mentor would appear on the title track: “Yes sir! Jigga man is on the title track #TTT.” What a clubhouse that must be, with Kanye and Jay meeting their female counterparts of Beyonce and Rihanna for an afternoon picnic.

Hova and Ri-Ri previously collaborated on her mega-hit “Umbrella” and he featured her on that Blueprint 3 power-house single, “Run This Town.”

She’s definitely beating Chris Brown’s success to death.

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Demi Lovato was the at the Seventeen Magazine luncheon on Wednesday. She took some questions from reporters, and one was particularly interesting.

Demi was asked which artist would be her dream collaboration. Her response? Eminem.

“Hopefully, I can work with Eminem,” Lovato said. “He’s my favorite rapper so anything with him would be amazing.”

This might be doable. Eminem has worked with pop stars in the past, and Demi does have a little bit of an edge. Maybe we can make this happen?

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If you are a 19 year old white rapper, do you really care what Donald Trump thinks? Well, if you are Mac Miller you care.

Mac got the attention of Donald after his “Donald Trump” video got over 20 million views on YouTube.

“It’s named ‘Donald Trump.’ Maybe he should pay me a lot of money,” says Donald. “I am proud of him. “I haven’t actually seen the language. It’s a little bit hard to understand on the song itself.  But this kid is the new Eminem. Everybody says he’s fantastic.”

We don’t think Mac liked the Eminem comparison. When we interviewed Mac one of the conditions of the interview was not comparing him to Eminem.

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Eminem performed two shows at a U.K. festival this past weekend and took home $3.3 Million.

TMZ helpfully points out he made $50,000 per song performed, having rapped roughly 50 songs throughout the two days. Slim Shady was playing at the V Festival in England.

He was also joined by Rihanna, who reportedly got $825,000 per night to perform.

We are in the wrong business!

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Remember Milli Vanilli? Well if you are over the age of 25 you probably do. For those of you not old enough to rent a car, Milli Vanilli was a pop act in the late 80′s that turned out to be a fraud, after it was revealed the voices on Milli Vanilli tracks were not their voices.

However Vanilli might be making a comeback with Eminem’s DJ, named The Alchemist. The DJ told TMZ, “I’m working on a joint with Vanilli … Vanilli making a comeback.”

Now this is an unusual union, but was more surprising is Vanilli will be using his actual voice on the tracks! Yes we will finally hear what Vanilli sounds like. Wow, I don’t think anybody really cares anymore what Vanilli sounds like, but the truth of his singing talents will finally be revealed. A little late, but better late than never.

Below is a flashback to one of Milli Vanilli’s big “hits.”

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Eminem’s publishing company is suing Audi for the unauthorized use of his song ‘Lose Yourself’ in an ad, reports Billboard.

Eight Mile Style LLC, which is the publishing company for Eminem’s copyrights, is seeking a ‘cease-and-desist’ order against Audi. The company claims the new Audi commercials, for the 2012 Audi A6 Avant, are using the rapper’s song without permission.

Joel Martin, a spokesman for Eight Mile Style, also believes Audi is using the track to copy a Chrysler advertisement featuring the same song.

“We believe Audi not only used ‘Lose Yourself’ to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler’s commercial campaign.”

Gualberto Ranieri, a Chrysler Group spokesman, says “Apparently someone believes that the definition of copyright laws is the right to copy others’ materials, including world-renowned successes created by Chrysler Group brands.”

It looks like Audi is in some deep trouble. Sure, you can use a song to make your car look cool, but you end up looking really stupid if you didn’t gain permission to use it. I have a feeling Eminem’s people will win this case.

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Rapper Eminem and teen sensation Justin Bieber dominated the 2011 ‘Billboard Music Awards,’ each taking home a total of six official awards each.

There was also a six-way tie for second place between Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Usher, Mumford & Sons and Taoi Cruz, who each won three trophies.

Eminem won six awards, including Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Song and Top Rap Album. He previously won two Billboard Music Awards in 2002 for Best Album of the Year and Best R&B/Hip Hop Album Of The Year, giving him a total of eight career Billboard Music Awards. His awards were not given out during the ceremony.

Justin Bieber won The Billboard.com Fan Favorite Award, as well as Top New Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Streaming Artist, Top Digital Media Artist, Top Pop Album and Top Streaming Song (video) at his first-ever Billboard Music Awards.

The ceremony also featured performances from the Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, Cee Loo Green, Lady Antebellum, Ke$ha, Far East Movement and a special performance by Neil Diamond. Just to name a few.

The awards show took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here’s a full list of winners:

ARTIST AWARDS

Top Artist:
Eminem

Top New Artist:
Justin Bieber

Top Male Artist:
Eminem

Top Female Artist:
Rihanna

Top Duo/Group:
The Black Eyed Peas

Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Taylor Swift

Top Hot 100 Artist:
Katy Perry

Top Digital Songs Artist:
Katy Perry

Top Radio Songs Artist:
Rihanna

Top Touring Artist:
U2

Top Social Artist:
Justin Bieber

Top Streaming Artist:
Justin Bieber

Top Digital Media Artist:
Justin Bieber

Top Pop Artist:
Lady Gaga

Top R&B Artist:
Usher

Top Rap Artist:
Eminem

Top Country Artist:
Taylor Swift

Top Rock Artist:
Train

Top Alternative Artist:
Mumford & Sons

Top Latin Artist:
Shakira

Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
Lady Gaga

Top Christian Artist:
Chris Tomlin

SPECIAL AWARDS:
Millennium Award:
Beyonce

Touring Award:
U2

Icon Award:

Neil Diamond

ALBUMS AWARDS:
Top Billboard 200 Album:
Eminem — “Recovery”

Top Pop Album:
Justin Bieber — “My World 2.0″
Katy Perry — “Teenage Dream”

Top R&B Album:
Usher — “Raymond v. Raymond”

Top Rap Album:
Eminem — “Recovery”

Top Country Album:
Taylor Swift — “Speak Now”

Top Rock Album:
Mumford & Sons — “Sigh No More”

Top Alternative Album:
Mumford & Sons — “Sigh No More”

Top Latin Album:
Enrique Iglesias — “Euphoria”

Top Dance/Electronic Album:
Lady Gaga — “The Fame”

Top Christian Album:
Skillet — “Awake”

SONG AWARDS:
Top Hot 100 Song:
Taio Cruz — “Dynamite”

Top Digital Song:
Taio Cruz — “Dynamite”

Top Radio Song:
Bruno Mars — “Just The Way You Are”

Top Streaming Song (Audio):
Nelly — “Just A Dream”

Top Streaming Song (Video):
Justin Bieber Feat. Ludacris — “Baby”

Top Pop Song:
Taio Cruz — “Dynamite”

Top R&B Song:
Usher Feat. will.i.am — “OMG”

Top Rap Song:
Eminem Feat. Rihanna — “Love The Way You Lie”

Top Country Song:
Lady Antebellum — “Need You Now”

Top Rock Song:
Train — “Hey, Soul Sister”

Top Alternative Song:
Neon Trees — “Animal”

Top Latin Song:
Shakira Feat. Freshleyground — “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)”

Top Dance Song:
Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina — “Stereo Love”

Top Christian Song:
Chris Tomlin — “Our God”

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Songs For Japan has been released on Friday, March 25 - a compilation album to benefit the ongoing disaster relief efforts in Japan. The album is available for purchase worldwide on iTunes for $9.99, and 100 per cent of the proceeds go to benefiting the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Lady Gaga, Eminem, Pink, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are among the many artists that appear on the album. In total, 38 artists lent songs to the album, including every and all types of music from country to rock to pop and jazz.

All acts appearing on Songs for Japan – and their labels and music publishers – have waived their royalties and proceeds from the worldwide sales to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The Japanese Red Cross Society will use funds from the album to support its ongoing relief efforts and recovery assistance to Japan’s most affected areas by the earthquake and tsunamis.

Here’s the track list for Songs for Japan, according to Apple:

1. John Lennon, “Imagine”
2. U2, “Walk On”
3. Bob Dylan, “Shelter From the Storm”
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Around the World”
5. Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”
6. Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable”
7. Bruno Mars, “Talking to the Moon”
8. Katy Perry, “Firework”
9. Rihanna, “Only Girl (In the World)”
10. Justin Timberlake, “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna, “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta, “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem (featuring Rihanna), “Love the Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen, “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban, “Awake”
16. Keith Urban, “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas, “One Tribe”
18. Pink, “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green, “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”
21. Bon Jovi, “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters, “My Hero”
23. R.E.M., “Man on the Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj, “Save Me”
25. Sade, “By Your Side”
26. Michael Bublé, “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber, “Pray”
28. Adele, “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya, “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
31. John Mayer, “Waiting on the World to Change”
32. Queen, “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
34. Sting, “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis, “Better in Time”
36. Ne-Yo, “One in a Million”
37. Shakira, “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones, “Sunrise”

The great thing about today’s technology is that it can be combined with charity efforts on a global scale. I think this is a great cause and great concept – iTunes is one of the hottest markets right now, so why not use it for good? I know many young people who don’t exactly have the money to donate, but I’m pretty sure we all have money on our iTunes account, so this little bit can help in a major way.

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This song merited a part two? Really?

Perez Hilton is reporting that Rihanna and Eminem have decided to join forces in the studio to record “Love the Way you Lie (Part Two),” a follow-up to their chart-topping hit that dropped this summer. The track supposedly tells the same relationship story, but this time focuses on the lady’s perspective.

Sounds just gimmicky enough to work!

The track will be featured on Rihanna’s forthcoming album, “Loud,” which is due to hit stores on November 16^th.

Good call kids. The world definitely needs another song about a famous couple unnecessarily enduring a painful and toxic relationship for absolutely no discernable reason. Role models, holla!

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andPOP.com has teamed up with the Epicenter Festival to give one lucky winner a chance to see Eminem, KISS, Blink 182, Bush, Rise Against and more live at this year’s Epicenter 2010 Music Festival. The two-day event will be held on Saturday, September 25th and Sunday, September 26 at Auto Speedway in Fontana, CA, just 35 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The winner will receive a pair of weekend passes along with backstage passes.

Tickets can now be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com/epicenter for the two-day event. For more information about weekend VIP passes, two-day value passes and single day tickets, stop by www.epicenterfestival.com. Log on and follow twitter.com/epicenterfest all summer long for a chance to bring home free tickets and hear about other special offers! EPICENTER Twenty Ten is presented by Right Arm Entertainment. Enter now for your chance to win!

Winner will be selected Sept 14th, 2010.

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There’s one Hip/Hop album that’s been anticipated for so long, that it has gradually become somewhat of a Utopian rumor.

But after over a decade’s wait, Dr. Dre’s third studio album Detox has finally seen a small uncovering, as the mega Grammy Award winning rapper/producer revealed the title of the record’s first single on Sunday night, Under Pressure featuring Jay- Z.

According to MTV news, Dre confirmed the track at Boston’s Fenway Park, during the Red Sox’s opening night. While the legendary icon took part in some batting practice, he admitted that Under Pressure would be the perfect tune to listen to while getting into the zone at-bat.

“Absolutely, that would be it. ‘Under Pressure” — it’s so fitting,” said Dre, who was there with Interscope head Jimmy Iovine to promote Dr. Dre’s Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.

The single, nor the 11-year-long constructed Aftermath/Interscope album still have no drop dates yet, but Dre said earlier this month that the record should be finished for sometime in 2011. “I’m working on it,” he said in a January interview with Slam,”but also I’ve been working on other people’s projects; you’ll probably hear something in a year or so.”

Some of those projects that he’s most recently worked on are  Game’s The R.E.D. Album (2010), 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct and Eminem’s Relapse (2009), 50 Cent’s Curtis (2007), and Snoop Dog’s Tha Blue Carpet Treatment and Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come (2006).

Dre has stated that Detox will be his final studio album, making it no wonder that it’s turning into an ode to the industry’s most elite- as it’s rumored to feature (besides Jay-Z) Hip/Hop rappers Nas, 50 Cent, Eminem, Ludacris, Drake, T.I, Snoop Dog, Game and Lil’ Wayne…to name a few.

His last album 2001 was released in 1999, and  received positive reviews, while gaining certification of sextuple platinum status in RIAA- after sales of six million copies in the United States.

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Superstar producer, Just Blaze, has been busy with DJing and producing, but the project he seems most excited about is producing Eminem’s new album, MTV News reports.

Blaze has been working with Jay Electronica and Eminem as well as DJing at the hottest parties like the Winter Music Conference and at club Grand Central during the Fool’s Gold party in Miami, where he spun a two-hour set.

“I’m working on Eminem’s album still, so I’ve gotta hurry up and get back to Detroit,” Just said. He was fresh off the turntables at club Grand Central during the Fool’s Gold party in Miami, where he spun a two-hour house set. “I’ve been back and forth — Detroit, New York, Detroit, New York, Miami, back to Detroit — for like the past two and a half weeks. [The album], it’s getting there, but we still got a lot of work. So I wish I could stay [in Miami] longer,” he said.

The 32-year-old promises to keep tight-lipped about Em’s new album, but is already calling it a classic and believes, after much struggle, Eminem is back on his A-game. He had much to rave about.

“As far as what’s going on in Detroit, a lot of good music is being made,” Blaze said of Em. “He’s really back spitting. The wordplay is crazy, the metaphors are crazy. He’s really back on his game. He had his ups, he had his downs, he’s back way, way, way up. This is definitely going to be up there with the best of his albums, for sure, for sure. The fact that he’s branched out working with a lot of different people now, collaborating in a lot of different ways that he never has before, I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people,” said Blaze.

Other than Slim Shady, Blaze is working with rapper Jay Electronica – but there may be talks about the producer linking up with an even bigger Jay: Jay-Z. Blaze says he talked to Young Hova right before the U.S. leg of his tour ended for Blueprint 3.

“Maybe,” he told MTV News, with a sly grin about whether or not he and the legendary rapper would collaborate again. “You never know.” Chanel

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According to MTV, rapstars Eminem, Drake and Lil Wayne will team up with Blink-182′s legendary drummer, Travis Barker, for a special performance at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards.

They will be performing Drake’s collaborated track titled, “Forever.”

On the recorded version of the track, Kanye West also contributes his vocal talent. However, he will not be performing (perhaps keeping him away from award ceremonies is a good thing for a little while – especially when Taylor Swift is around).

Speaking of T-Swift, she will also be performing along with Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and Dave Matthews Band.

Also, if you’re a Lil Wayne fan, you better watch his performance here, as it will be his last TV appearance before he heads back to prison.

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It’s no secret that Eminem’s lyrics often times are anti-gay, so that’s what makes this combination so odd. Elton John is reportedly helping Eminem overcome his addiction to prescription drugs. “I’ve been helping Eminem over the last 18 months and he’s doing brilliantly,” John told BBC Radio

John has been helping the rapper as he also once suffered from a drug problem. Elton had a notorious addiction to alcohol and drugs throughout the 1980′s. He has been sober ever since, and let’s hope he can do the same for Eminem.

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Even though Lil Wayne’s latest album Rebirth was delayed yet again, songs continue to leak off the rap-rock disc. On Dec. 15, perhaps the most anticipated track from the LP was leaked: “Drop the World,” Weezy’s collaboration with Eminem, reports rollingstone.com. Rebirth is currently set to be released on Feb. 1.

Wayne and Eminem previously appeared in song together on the all-star hit “Forever.”

“Drop the World” is the third song in three weeks to supposedly leak off of Rebirth, an album that has had a rocky road with numerous singles and leaks drop on and off that it is unclear what state the album is currently in. Two songs that appeared on the Amazon.co.uk track list for the album, “Da Da Da” and “On Fire,” were both released as digital singles, while previous leaks like “Fix My Hat” and “Hot Revolver” have all but evaporated. The one mainstay song throughout the Rebirth ordeal is “Prom Queen,” which first appeared back on Jan. 27.

Lil Wayne did release the No Ceilings mixtape as a consolation that bridged between delays. If and when Rebirth is finally released, artists set to join Eminem as guest stars on the album are Lenny Kravitz, Drake, and Travis Barker.

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Fans of both Adam Lambert and Eminem have weighed in with MTV on the rapper’s controversial anti-gay lyric from the song “Elevator.”

Eminem, whose new album Relapse: Refill will be officially released on December 21st, has once again revealed his controversial opinion of homosexuality…shocking. But this time there were specific targets:

“Sorry, Lance, Mr. Lambert and Aiken ain’t gonna make it/ They get so mad, when I call them both fake/ It’s all these f—ing voices in my head, I can’t take it/ Someone shut that f—ing baby up, before I shake it.”

Doesn’t seem so harsh until you here the fake/it’s combo, and then you understand that Eminem is still as reckless as always.

There are obviously two sides to the controversy: those who see defamation in music as a cheap, hurtful tool (leave this stuff out of the industry), and those Eminem fans who are all too familiar, and perhaps to accepting, of Eminem’s message (If you don’t like it don’t listen).

If any aspect of this controversy pisses you off, that was the point.

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New songs from Emineme’s re-release of his Relapse LP have entered the world on the internet as of Thursday (December 3). The album, Relapse: Refill will be conveniently be released right before Christmas, on December 21.

The two songs, entitled “Elevator” and “Buffalo Bill” are patent-Enimem: satirical raps that call out other famous names, manic rhymes and brimming with humor.

The track “Elevator” is filled with lyrics which narrate the extravagant life that Slim Shady is enjoying now that he is famous. According to mtvnews.com, the controversial rapper also makes reference to NSYNC’s former member Lance Bass as well as two “American Idol” contestants, Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert, with the line “Sorry, Lance, Mr. Aiken and Lambert ain’t gonna make it.” The track also includes the luxury of using gold toilet paper, and of course, having an elevator in his opulent mansion.

The second song, “Buffalo Bill” is a reference to the wrongdoer from “Silence of the Lambs” that Clarice Starling has to talk to Hannibal Lecter about. The skinning of women and severing of limbs are main topics in this psychotic rap. Somehow, this brings up references to one of Eminem’s favorite victims, Lindsay Lohan.

With Relapse 2 slated to be released in 2010, this album is a teaser for what’s to come. According to aceshowbiz.com, Eminem said “When I finished ‘Relapse’, I had a whole album of material that didn’t make it that I wasn’t ready to throw away, so that was going to be ‘Relapse 2′. But then I got with [Dr.] Dre in Hawaii and started recording more, and now the new material has knocked out all the old songs.”

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Eminem has recently spoken to complex.com on a variety of topics, ranging from addiction to Lil Wayne, as rollingstone.com reports.

Despite the release of Relapse: Refill later this month, the rapper still plans to release Relapse 2, the follow-up to his comeback CD, Relapse.

“When I finished Relapse, I had a whole album of material that didn’t make it that I wasn’t ready to throw away, so that was going to be Relapse 2,” he told Complex. “But then I got with Dre in Hawaii and started recording more, and now the new material has knocked out all the old songs.”

“Making Relapse, I was still working the drugs out of my system, so there was a lot of…just jokey shit,” he continued. “It was a lot of punchline-y, funny, shock value – kind of going back to The Slim Shady LP. And that was cool, but I’ve kind of flipped the page. Now I’m going for songs instead of one-liners.”

Eminem said he found similarities between his own addiction and the death of Michael Jackson. Eminem does not shy away from talking about his reliance on prescription drugs on Relapse, and said that being a celebrity with the amount of fame Jackson had to deal with could be deathly.

“I definitely can relate, and it’s a shame if he didn’t have anybody there to just say, ‘Michael, you’re an addict, you need help,’” he said. “It’s one of the pitfalls of fame.” Eminem famously poked fun at Jackson in his 2004 video for his song “Just Lose It.”

Battling addiction also led Eminem to go back to his natural hair colour. After being platinum blond for a decade, he returned to his natural brown hair.

“Once I got sober I was like, ‘What the fuck am I doing? I’m like 35 years old, am I going to keep dying my hair fucking blond?’ Also it was about letting go,” he said. “The hair reminded me of my addiction, and I hated myself when I was in my addiction. I hated myself worse than anyone could ever hate me.”

As for fellow rapper Lil Wayne, who joined Eminem on the song “Forever,” Eminem said it took him a little while to appreciate his co-worker’s talent.

“There was the hype about him, but I didn’t see what all the hype was about,” he said. “I felt like he was good, certainly above average from his singles, but it was like, ‘Is he that dope?’ Then I listened to the whole album and was like, ‘Wow! My man is that dope – Lil Wayne is fucking dope!’ You’ve got to listen to a Lil Wayne song four, five, or six times to actually catch everything he’s saying.”

Lil Wayne is rumored to have recruited Eminem for a track on his upcoming album Rebirth.

Relapse: Refill is due out Dec. 21.

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If The Fame Monster wasn’t enough for you, not to worry: there’s another re-release heading your way.

Eminem will release Relapse: The Refill – not to be confused with Relapse 2- on Dec. 21, the rapper announced on his website last week, reports rollingstone.com.

The Refill will include the entire Dr. Dre-produced Relapse album, plus seven songs that didn’t originally make the cut. The DJ Hero exclusive song “Taking My Ball,” plus the Eminem/Drake/Lil Wayne/Kanye West collaboration “Forever” will be included on The Refill, along with five other previously unreleased tracks.

Still, Eminem does promise the Relapse 2, the second album of his comeback after a hard battle with drug addiction. But with the release of The Refill, it looks like Relapse 2 is now slotted for a 2010 release.

“I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned,’ Eminem said. “Hopefully these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year.”

“I got back in with Dre and a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction wich made me start from scratch,” he continued. “The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff heard.”

The rap star has reportedly been working hard in recent months on Relapse 2, joined in the studio by producers such as Mr. Porter and Just Blaze. So the second album won’t be a straight-Dre deal.

“I definitely feel like I’m in a different space right now,” Eminem said. “With the last record, I think a lot of it had to do with me getting sober, my eyes being open again. With Relapse, I wanted to prove myself that I could still do it.”

“Now I’m at a point where I’m blessed enough to be in a position where I don’t need to put out records, but I want to,” he said.

Eminem recently performed at the American Music Awards.

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Put Your Hands Up Here Comes My DJ!

In an industry that has been said to be over saturated with peripherals for rhythm games do we really need a plastic turntable? People that don’t enjoy the gentle musings of Children of Bodom and Metallica would have to say: Yes!

Activision and FreeStyleGame’s DJ Hero is a game that still has you making coloured circles disappear much like previous Guitar Hero games but adds in the new functionality of scratching and cross-fader manipulation. Does DJ Hero have the replay value and fun factor to have it stand beside Guitar Hero though? In the words of Flava Flav, “CHECK THIS OUT!”

The Controller

DJ Hero’s controller consists of a spinning record with three buttons on it, a cross-fader that has slight resistance/click in the middle, an effects knob, an euphoria button (DJ Hero’s star power), and of course the standard native system controls shielded by a hinged compartment.

The controller works great from the hours I’ve put into it,  though I think that the effects knob and the euphoria button should be swapped as I find my hand knocks the cross-fader around while twisting. The disc itself spins very easily, sometimes on complicated scratching sections this can be bothersome as the buttons sometimes slip away from me. Being a right handed guitar hero player, complicated button patterns can be quite daunting as the hand positioning is awkward at first and having to press and scratch with my strumming hand can be quite tiresome.

You cannot play this game without the turntable peripheral which forces the $130.00 package on you. Or, if you are an Eminem/Jay-Z fan, the $230.00 package for The Renegade Edition.

Gameplay

DJ Hero’s learning curve is interesting. You cannot start the game without playing the tutorial which ensures the player knows the basics of the game. The only way to bypass the tutorial is with the unlock all code which disables all achievements. After the tutorial narrated by Grandmaster Flash you get to play 3 of the easiest songs in the game. The next tier however is significantly more difficult, I still haven’t gotten 5*s on some of those songs and it only gets harder from there.

DJ Hero compensates for this increased level of difficulty by making the game all about getting points, there is no way to fail (you can only fail yourself). Once you unlock later set lists such as The Scratch Perverts or Daft Punk’s Record Bag you’ll understand why.

DJ Hero’s set up is fairly simple and when watching a video of it you might find it appears to be very easy compare to the 5 lanes in Guitar Hero you’ve come to know.

The green track (left) represents record one, The red track (middle) are your samples, and blue (right) is record two. Using the cross-fader you have 3 positions you can be in: Left, Middle, and Right. On earlier difficulties scratching is non-dependent on what direction you move but on Expert not following the pattern of up or down will cause you to break combo.

Some things that set aside DJ Hero’s gameplay mechanics from Guitar Hero’s is the new concept of rewinding. Rewinds occur when you reach a 60 note streak and allow you to go back to a section of the song you’ve already played. How far you go back depends on how fast you spin the turntable backwards (as far as I can tell). Rewinds should be used as soon as you get them as you cannot store more than one.

The second feature of DJ Hero is the effects knob which can be used on sections with an orange bridge over the track. The faster you twist the knob, the more points you get. If you are familiar with the club scene you might like to slowly twist the knob for an interesting effect reminiscent of a real mixer setup with less points awarded.

Euphoria works like the star power in guitar hero however you can activate it after only one phrase is collected. Activating Euphoria auto-cross-fades allowing you to focus on button taps and scratching. However, if euphoria runs out and your cross-fader is not aligned properly you will break combo instantly.

While providing a challenge, DJ Hero’s game play is quite fun!

Who would’ve thought that scratching a complicated section would feel as cool as hitting a crazy solo in Guitar Hero!

Graphics

DJ Hero is a game about the club scene, so it features scantily clad female dancers, flashing lights, and of course DJs!

The Graphics are good for what they are, which is essentially Guitar Hero 5 but in the Club. Though, I doubt you will be paying attention to them much given the fact you’ll be concentrated on looking at the notes. One thing that could be improved is sometimes the DJ on screen doesn’t exactly do what you are doing with your peripheral. Maybe DJ Hero 2?

One thing to note however. is the great job they did on the Celebrity DJs. DJ AM (RIP), DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, and yes even Daft Punk all look fantastic.

Sound

This game sounds great! Even artists I previously hated (Black Eyed Peas, The Killers) have mixes I enjoy.

I especially enjoy playing the mixes involving KRS-One’s Jack of Spades and Daft Punk. It also should be mentioned that I have never been a fan of Jay-Z yet I keep coming back to his set list for more.

One downside however is the lack of electronica/dance music but the David Guetta DLC pack coming out on Tuesday (November 24th, 2009) will fix that.

DJ Hero boasts 93 original mixes so there is bound to be something you’ll like!

Multiplayer

Here is the downside of DJ Hero.

In my opinion it is a very anti-social game, when it comes to actually playing. While the Guitar/DJ Mixes can be enjoyable there are only 10 of them and the scroll speed difference seems to make playing them quite tiresome. This could however be corrected with the Hyperdeck code which for some reason nobody can figure out.

Online Multiplayer is a total wash since there is no ranked matches or indication of any reason to try to win against people besides an achievement/trophy.

One amazing thing though about online is that your score achieved in a pro face off match is transferred to your career- a feature that should definitely show up in future Guitar Hero games.

Given the fact there is no stand-alone turntable available I see no real reason to even consider playing anything but the single player campaign in this game- maybe a future DJ Hero game will address this.

The Interface

One thing that has to be said about DJ Hero, is the whole set up of  “Make a Setlist” is very confusing at first. You have to add mixes to play a setlist with the blue button rather than with green as we’d come to expect. As well there is no way to sort the setlist by title. You can only sort by mix author, intensity, high score, and stars needed. This makes finding one song out of 93 quite annoying. Also DJ Hero erases your lower scores even if they were on a higher difficulty than the one you achieved a higher one on.

Your best way of going about making a set list is going to quick list rather than using the “Custom DJ Set list 1/2″

Final Thoughts

DJ Hero is off to slow start much like the original Guitar Hero. Nobody would have thought a game where you play plastic guitar would get as big as it is now, yet many people scoff at the idea that anyone would want to play DJ Hero.

I say to you, try the game before you dismiss it! It’s one of the most refreshing, unique, and difficult titles North American rhythm gaming has ever seen.

DJ Hero is also a game that can be as difficult as the mix authors want it to be, they don’t need to depend on whether a band has a guitarist that can shred for hours for the song to be difficult- and if the final songs are any indication of what FreeStyleGames/Activision can come up with, expert players should be very scared for what’s to come.

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4.5/5

Sound: 5/5

Replay: 4.5/5

Codes for DJ Hero

DJHero.com

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