Before Classified was a successful Canadian rapper, he used to work in telemarketing for a carpet cleaning company. “I did it for like six months and no one did it for more than six months. By the end of six months I was a supervisor,” he said. In a new episode of Small Talk, host Simon Mohos got the Nova Scotian to prank call a fan, pretending he was selling those same carpets he sold years ago. It wasn’t until the fan hung up that he realized who he was talking to.
The rapper, whose self-titled album came out last January, also talked about getting an Instagram and smoking while working. His advice for stoners: “Get the work done first,” he says. “I do all that stuff in the morning. I don’t smoke before email and business and even writing. I don’t smoke and write lyrics. I smoke and make beats. For me I get up early, do all my shit that I gotta do and know needs be done that day. And then that’s usually done by noon, then I smoke make some beats and work with somebody or whatever.”
It has been quite a journey for American Idol season 11 winner Phillip Phillips. After winning in May 2012, he went from his parent’s pawn shop to having a platinum hit with “Home,” which also happened to be the official song of the US women’s gymnastic’s team during the London Games.
That’s a lot to take in in a short amount of time.
His debut album The World from the Side of the Moon was released on Nov. 19. In this exclusive video, Phillips talks about his journey: “Having this all happen in such a short amount of time is just a blessing because I love music so much. It’s very therapeutic for me and I’m sure it is for so many other people. To be able to do that, to say I do this for a living, is just amazing,” he said.
In the midst of travelling and meeting so many new people, he has managed to stay grounded, remembering those moments at the beginning of his career: “I remember playing gigs and there’d be like five or ten people there,” he said. “I remember those small gigs when nobody was really listening. Now everybody’s just so into it when I go out to play and it’s an amazing feeling.”
We hosted a livestream with UK’s Lawsonlast Friday in front of a live studio audience and they performed a four-song acoustic set. Make sure to watch the full interview (over and over) below, check out exclusive photos on Facebook and tweet us your favourite part at @andpop with the hashtag #LawsonOnAndpop.
Lawson fans waited outside, huddled under blankets, since 7 am in Canada’s cold temps to see their favourite guys in person. That’s dedication right there and it’s not hard to see why they’re obsessed!
UK’s Lawson sat down with ANDPOP host Simon Mohos for a live interview and performance at Toronto’s Gibson Guitar during their North American debut. Along with taking fan questions they performed four acoustic songs, that included their most recent track “Learn to Love Again,” off Chapman Square.
We basked in much Twitter love under the hashtag #LawsonOnAndpop and even made someone’s life (see below).
Make sure to watch the full interview (over and over) below, check out exclusive photos on Facebook and tweet us your favourite part at @andpop with the hashtag #LawsonOnAndpop.
Thanks to everyone who came out, we had a blast!
Watch it here
Everyone got something different out of the epic two hour Lance Armstrong/Oprah Winfrey interview. Some people hate him more, some people hate him less, and someone, somewhere, thought the best way to describe their feelings about Armstrong was through the lyrical genius of “Creep” by Radiohead.
He may have avoided going into great detail about his doping, but with a little editing, we got to hear Armstrong admit that he was, in fact, a creep. While they may not be happy with his confession, hearing those words come out of his mouth might just be enough.
Watch it here
Party planner extraordinaire and late night host Jimmy Kimmel threw a baby shower for a pregnant Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney. The two were there to promote their new show Kim and Kourtney in Miami so it was only natural Kimmel present her with a gift.
He gave her a book of baby names that all start with “K,” which is pretty perfect when you think about all the K’s in their family: Kris, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and soon Kanye. Krazy!
My favourite potential name? “Kite Runner.”
Last Friday Kanye set the Twitter world into a state of confusion when he went on another one-word tweet rampage. Could these be potential baby names?
Kim and Kourtney also chatted about who found out about baby Kanye first (Part 1), whether or not the baby will be on the show (Part 2) and who in the family hates Scott (Part 3).
Part 1 Read more…
Holy shit. MGK is the KING.
We’re giving him an honorary gold crown (with an official ANDPOP engraving of course) for giving one of the most chilled out, honest interviews we’ve ever had. ANDPOP’s Casey Jones sat down with the Cleveland rapper and knew it would be a good interview as soon as he started rolling a joint, completely casual. Read more…
It’s been quite a journey for actress Jodi Balfour. Since moving to Canada to perform on shows such as Sanctuary and Supernatural, the South African landed a role in the popular Canadian drama series Bomb Girls. Taking on the part of Gladys Witham, Balfour plays the only daughter of a wealthy family who chooses to defy convention to work in a munitions factory building bombs during World War II. Chatting over the phone with Samantha Lui, the actress revealed what it’s like to play a headstrong 1940’s woman and how she feels empowered in her own life.
Here are five things about Jodi Balfour that make her AWESOME!
She met a real Bomb Girl and listened to her experiences: To prepare for her role as a munitions factory worker, Balfour met up with a family friend’s mother who used to build bombs in England before settling in Canada after the war. Having read that working in the 1940s gave women a feeling of liberation, a sense of purpose and camaraderie among one another, Balfour says she was interested to hear firsthand about the unglamorous and difficult aspects of being a Bomb Girl. “For her, it was kind of arduous and quite challenging for her body and her mind. She doesn’t necessarily look back on the time as her glory years by any stretch,” Balfour says. “She said when (the war) was over, she was quite happy to have a rest because it was quite taxing and grueling physical work!”
She relates a lot to her character, Gladys Witham: Balfour was drawn to Gladys for her sense of strength and her forward-thinking attitude. “I wouldn’t say that I’m nearly as brave or daring as Gladys is in my life but she definitely lives up the dream version of something we’d all like to have the guts to do. In that respect, I think I’m pretty stubborn and strong-willed. I like to get my own way and that’s definitely something I share with the character.” Read more…
For someone who used to play for free food, American Idol winner Phillip Phillips has sure come along way.
“One night we were gonna play at a restaurant and gonna get paid but then it started snowing and no one else came to the show. It was just me my brother-in-law and I think my girlfriend. We cancelled the gig but it gave us free food and then we started playing for free food,” he said. “You just do what you gotta do to get out there.”
The Georgia singer was crowned Idol of the eleventh season of the show in May of 2012 and since then found success with his coronation song “Home,” which is on his debut album The World From The Side of the Moon.” It became the best selling of all the coronation songs.
Although it has been a whirlwind since then, Phillip’s prefers to stay at home. In our new episode of Small Talk the singer talked about being a homebody at heart and writing embarrassing teenage love ballads.
Watch it here
Poor Matt Damon just can’t seem to catch a break with Jimmy Kimmel. The late night television host always tries to squeeze the actor into a time slot on his show but they always run out of time. It’s understandable — I mean, given the choice between a Barbershop Quartet and the Good Will Hunting actor you’re going to choose the senior harmonizers every time.
Then Matt Damon FINALLY got his break; A place in the late night lineup that any Hollywood actor would envy to promote his new movie Promised Land. Unfortunately things didn’t go according to plan… or I guess they just followed the status quo when they ran out of time AGAIN.
But seriously, you have to love Matt Damon for playing along and enlightening us with a string of blurred out curse words we’ve never heard before. [Side Note: I feel weird just calling him "Matt" or "Damon," which is why I decided to refer to him by his full name in the entire post. He's just to epic to be called by one name.]
Watch it here
UK’s Lawson will be doing a livestream interview with ANDPOP, in partnership with Universal Music Canada and YouTube on Feb. 1 at 7 pm ET. Our host Simon Mohos will be sitting down to chat with the guys in front of a live studio audience, armed with all your burning questions. PLUS, the four guys will be serenading you with their beautiful music, starting the show with a live performance.
FOR SERIOUS.
It’s all going down in Toronto but the whole interview will be streamed live on YouTube. If you’re not a lucky member of our studio audience, you’ll be able to connect with us in real time on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook with your questions. Make sure to use the hashtag #LawsonOnANDPOP — let’s get it trending!!
Make sure to tune in on Feb. 1 at 7 pm ET. You’ll be able to watch it live here:
You can only be so popular in high school when you play a trombone. Despite her band camp tendancies, Nelly Furtado says she was actually pretty popular and involved in high school activities when she was 16.
“It’s horrible, I was popular!” she said. “We were the cool girls. We were also really involved in school activities. I was the head of the graduation committee, organizing all the grad events.”
Needless to say, host Jordan Bortolotti was disappointed his 16-year-old self probably wouldn’t have a chance with Nelly Furtado’s 16-year-old self.
“You never know!” said Nelly.
In this episode of Way Back When, the singer talks about playing the trombone, being obsessed with TLC and what her teen self would think of her current pop-stardom.
Watch it here
Jimmy Kimmel was feeling a bit sensitive after Oprah scored her big interview with Lance Armstrong. Kimmel, a wannabe investigative journalist himself, really wanted to unveil a big doping scandal and searched long and hard. After a lot of long hours and research he discovered the other Lance (Bass of course) has been frosting his tips for years using chemicals. It was all fake. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
One member of N*Sync knew his dirty secret but now that the whole world knows, he feels a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulder. He even got Lance to CRY.
Watch it here
Long before Danny was the lead singer of The Script, he had his first french kiss with a schoolgirl back in Dublin. Unfortunately their young love only lasted two weeks because she turned out to be a chain smoker. Thankfully, he still showed us his unique kissing technique we’ve since dubbed the “round and round.”
“It had been built up for a good week, There was preparations going on, I was having chats with the older guys in the yard. Like ‘What do you do?’ I remember them saying just move your tongue round and around and round and round. I remember kissing the girl and going ‘this is weird!’”
In this episode of Way Back When, Danny, Glen and Mark talk to ANDPOP’s Jordan Bortolotti about young love, useless talents and their favourite retro video games… Duck Hunt anyone?
Watch it here
We’ve been following Canadian singer My Name is Kay since falling in love with her debut single and first music video, aptly called “My Name Is Kay.” ANDPOP’s Caity Babcock caught up with her for our newest episode of Small Talk and talked about everything from pre-stage rituals (try “peacocking”) to her favourite female rappers.
“When I moved out on my own I kinda started developing my own type of style. So it’s been a blend of everything. I learned how to rap from MCs in London,” she told us. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Missy Elliot, I think she’s one of the best. No one can replace her, she is one of the best female rappers of all time. Then obviously people like Nelly Furtado, I love her. She can actually freestyle and everything.”
To end the interview, we had a hilarious balloon-blowing competition with the singer (we try not to sexualize things).
Watch it here
When you’re travelling as much as Sweden’s DJ duo Icona Pop, you start considering yourself a drifter. Time blends together when you’re living out of your suitcase and while it’s bizarre you learn to love it. Aino Jawo and Caroline Elizabeth Hjelt feel like drifters, especially since releasing their single “I Love It” and their Iconic EP.
“I think it makes you feel free in a very strange way when you learn to live like that,” Aino told ANDPOP’s Jordan Bortolotti on the newest episode of Small Talk.
“I think when you travel a lot you meet people, they show you new music, you see new places. It’s like this creative little chaos,” said Caroline. “It’s easy to feel inspired and just like ‘AHH’ write stuff. It’s nothing you can switch on and off, it just happens.”
In fact, one time they both stayed with a guy who had a TON of video games to offer and he served them perfect little sandwiches. Apart from being inspired by cool people on the road, Aino and Caroline love going to late night clubs — the darker the better. They even call themselves Club Kids.
“It’s kind of romantic when you think about it,” said Aino. “What happens there kind of stays there.”
Watch it here
Steve-O told us he kicks people in the nuts when they ask because that’s just the type of guy he is. Honestly, his poor testacles have been through a lot of trauma in their time but it was a lone volleyball that hurt the most.
ANDPOP’s Simon Mohos sat down with the Jackass star and talked about his show Killer Karaoke. In the show, he challenges contestants to perform their favourite songs in extreme and outrageous circumstances for $10,000. Contestants are subject to sporadic shocking, waxing, hoisting or facing phobias.
“It’s basically an exercise in exploiting people’s willingness to sacrifice their dignity to be on TV,” he said. According to The New York Times, it’s the greatest show in television history!! “It’s exciting for me to be working as a guy who doesn’t just hurt himself.”
Now, 80s high five!!
Watch it here
Charlie Tahan may only just be 15-years-old. But having worked with stars like Will Smith in I Am Legend and Natalie Portman in The Other Woman, the teen already boasts a very impressive résumé.
Most known as Zac Efron’s little brother in Charlie St. Cloud, Tahan now enters into his first voice role starring in Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie.
Chatting with andPOP, Tahan shared some of his experiences on set and talked more about his character, Victor Frankenstein.
Tim Burton is known to make some dark films. What makes Frankenweenie appealing to everyone?
Yeah, he makes some dark films but there is always more to his movies. Some people might think at first that Frankenweenie would be really dark too because it is sort of has themes about death, and monsters and stuff. But what it is really about… it is mostly a story about a boy and his dog, and how much they love each other. And that is appealing to almost everyone, kids and adults.
If you have semi tech savvy grandparents you’ve probably taught them a thing or two about social media. Austin Mahone sure has. He tried to teach his grandfather how to use Twitter but he couldn’t master the reply key. “My granddad, I tried to get him on Twitter and he was everyday asking me the most ridiculous questions,” he told ANDPOP‘s Jordan Bortolotti.
He also talked about getting on to the weird part of the Internet — haven’t we all been there? “You can find anything! It’s definitely cool because under the Related Videos on the side the most random videos come up. And then I click on another one and another one…” he said. “You start on something and then you’ll click on another video and it takes you to a whole other thing.”
If you’re like us, you’re probably caught in a web of Austin Mahone videos.
Watch it here
If you’re interviewing actor Samuel L. Jackson, you’d best make sure to choose your words carefully. During his press junket for Django Unchained, Jake the Movie Guy, aka Jake Hamilton, refused to say the N-word after Jackson’s insistence. It all started when the reporter commented: “There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the usage of the N-word in this movie.”
‘No?’ ‘Nobody?’ ‘None?’ The word would be … ?” said Jackson.
“I don’t like to say it,” said Hamilton.”
“Have you ever said it? Jackson asked. “We’re not going to have this conversation unless you say it. … You want to move on to another question?”
Jackson tried to get the interviewer to say it several times but Hamilton refused over and over. Although Jackson started laughing, he said seriously: “It wasn’t a great question if you can’t say the word.”
The reaction was mixed online. While some thought the reporter’s squirmy reaction was hilarious, others thought it was silly he was asking a question when he was too terrified to use the appropriate word. Still, if he did say the word would there have been a negative reaction?
The film, which is a Western epic set in the pre-Civil War South, uses the word more than 100 times. Not everyone has been willing to overlook Django Unchained‘s use of the word. Director Spike Lee boycotted the film, saying watching Quentin Tarantino’s latest would be “disrespectful to my ancestors.” The controversy might have put Jackson over the edge.
What do you think about the whole thing? Should the reporter have said the word?
