andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Nas, Common, Damian Marley, the Roots and K’naan are among the acts featured in this summer’s Rock the Bells hip-hop festival, which will visit 10 North American cities including Toronto and Vancouver.

Each of the tour stops, which are scheduled to take place on consecutive weekends from June 27 to Aug. 9, will feature 25 artists on two stages, according to Billboard.

READ MORE »

Rapper Nas and reggae star Damian Marley are collaborating on an album that will likely be released in the spring.

Nas’ manager Anthony Saleh told Billboard that the pair has been working on the project in Los Angeles for the last several weeks.

“We’ve been recording in a studio, where people like Mick Jagger are recording. No one knew who we were,” Saleh says. “We’re going to Miami this week to finish it up and we’re aiming to tour for the album this summer.”

Details are still being worked out, but the goal is for a portion of the proceeds to go toward building a school in Africa.

Nas was nominated for best rap solo performance and best rap album for “Untitled” at this Sunday’s Grammy Awards but was edged out by Lil Wayne in both categories.

This week, LaCie announced the release of Network Space, a networked attached storage (NAS) and media server designed specifically for easy home and small office use. Network Space was designed by Neil Poulton, who also designed the Red Dot award-winning Hard Disk device.

The LaCie Network Space comes ready-to-use out of the box – it is simply connected to a router through the rear Ethernet port and the device is immediately available to share information through the local area network. Network Space also comes pre-built with two separate shares: one share is public for easy access from any networked computer, while the other is password protected for secured private use.

LaCie Network Space can also stream multimedia files through DLNA-compatible UPnP media players, such as the Xbox 360 or Sony Playstation 3, or act as an iTunes server. This allows users to enjoy media on their television located elsewhere in the house, rather than just from the computer monitor.

The Network Space is available in capacities of 500 gigabytes to 1 terabyte. The device will be available worldwide in early October, and can be purchased for about $150 from the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller and LaCie Storage Partner.

The lineup for the second annual Samsung AT&T Summer Krush has been announced.

Mariah Carey, Gavin Rossdale, Nelly, Nas and LeAnn Rimes will perform as part of the free concert series, which is designed to promote Samsung’s BlackJack II cell phone.

The tour kicks off July 31 in Los Angeles with Carey, who will give a 35-minute performance at the Hollywood & Highland Center. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will broadcast part of the show later that night.

The concert series will then move on to other cities throughout the U.S., featuring a different artist in each location.

Three additional artists who will be announced shortly will play as part of Summer Krush in mid-September.

Samsung BlackJack II mobile phones will be on display at each show, during which concertgoers can learn about the phone and its music capabilities.

A limited number of free concert tickets will be available via the Summer Krush website, as well as radio promotions, fan clubs and street teams.

Last summer’s inaugural Summer Krush featured performances from Ludacris, the Bravery and the All-American Rejects, among others.

Here is the lineup so far for this year’s Summer Krush tour:
- July 31 – Los Angeles, Hollywood & Highland Center (Mariah Carey)
- Aug. 7 – Seattle, Showbox (Gavin Rossdale)
- Aug. 13 – Dallas, Gilley’s (Le Ann Rimes)
- Aug. 19 – Atlanta, Tabernacle (Nelly)
- Aug. 27 – New York, Webster Hall (Nas)

A spokesperson for Def Jam confirmed today that rapper Nas is changing the title of his upcoming album.

The rapper, whose real name is Nasir Jones, caused quite a stir when he announced last year that his ninth album, set to be released July 1st, would be called N*#$@r.

In October of 2007, Island Def Jam, Nas’ record label, announced publicly that the label would stand behind their artist and the album title. But during a recent television interview the rapper did not appear so sure.

“Everybody is trying to stop the title…. Record stores are gonna have a problem in this day and time selling a record with that title,” said Nas. “Who knows what’s gonna turn out and be on that title?”

In a statement released today Nas said that he still considers the album to be untitled.

Controversial rapper Nas is not backing down from his decision to name his upcoming album a word that is causing an uproar in the hip hop community.

Nas has confirmed that his new album will indeed be entitled ‘Nigg**’ despite efforts by hip hop heavyweights and members of the black community to eradicate the use of the word.

The critically acclaimed emcee is set to release his new album in less than two months and told MTV News he couldn’t wait for an official press release.

“When you feel like doing a record you can’t wait till everybody’s ready, I use to wait. Now I have that shit in me where’s it’s just like, ‘It is what it is right now,’ and this is what it is. Buy it or don’t buy it, it’s cool. Whoever like it, gonna like it, whoever don’t like it whatever. It’s gotta come now, ” the rapper said.

According to the Hip Hop is Dead emcee the album’s concept is more important than what the media making it out to be.

“This Nigg** album is bigger than an album to me. This is for my daughter to say, ‘Damn, my pop really was a man.’ And when I have more kids, ‘They going to say he was a man.’ So that inspires them to be real in their life, and that’s all I’m trying to pass on.”

“Nigg**” is reportedly set to hit stores December 11th.

Rap superstars JAY-Z and NAS have spoken out in defence of hip hop in a new book about the music genre.

Jay-Z wrote the introduction for Know What I Mean? Reflections On Hip Hop, by Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson – and Nas wrote a passage at the end of the book.

The book tackles the use of politics and gender in rap – and the pair were
keen to speak out at a time when hip hop is under attack for encouraging
violence and promoting misogynist behaviour.

Jay-Z writes, “He has shown those doubters and critics that hip hop is a
vital arts movement created by young working-class men and women of colour.

Yes, our rhymes can contain violence and hatred. Yes, our songs can detail the drug business and our choruses can bounce with lustful intent. However, those things did not spring from inferior imaginations or deficient morals; these things came from our lives. They came from America.” (IG/WNWCSO/JC)

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.