Before there was Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, there was a pre-Nipple Gate Janet Jackson and Shaggy. Yes folks, we’ll be taking you back to the good ol’ days of 2001.
Warning: the music you are about to hear is not exactly my favourite nor is it possibly yours, but they were all the shit at one point of another. Let’s face it: we probably all own the CDs and the songs will probably be stuck in your head all week. SorryNotSorry.
“It Wasn’t Me” By Shaggy
Not only was this song impossible to get out of your head, it’s about cheating and trying to lie your way out of it! Not cool, Shaggy! It stayed at number 1 for two weeks.
“Ms. Jackson” by OutKast
Actually, this is one song from 2001 that should have a permanent place in your favourite iTunes playlist.
Butterfly by CrazyTown
This song was huge and I’m guilty I liked it. Listening to it now makes me hate it. Does that ever happen to you?
“One Night” – Timeflies
Consisting of one part smooth vocals by Cal, one part wild electro/dubstep producer Rez and all parts tonally sexy men, Timeflies have all the makings for a successful duo. The video for their latest single “One Night” is either going to make you fall in love with them or get super jealous of the endless streams of girls that seem to be constantly surrounding them. For me, it was both. Cal’s silky vocals combined with Rez’s EDM beats complement each other perfectly and is a refreshing take on the manufactured dance music that seems to be monopolizing the charts lately. If you want to hear more from Timeflies, every Tuesday they release a “Timeflies Tuesday” video on You Tube to keep their fans up to date. Their EP One Night is out now.
“Sorry” – T.I. ft. Andre 3000
T.I. and former OutKast member Andre 3000 finally released their highly anticipated collaboration “Sorry.” AND it’s produced by the one and only Jazze Pha, so you know it’s going to be good. A melodic piano anchors the track while T.I. and Andre spit their perfected rhymes. While T.I. uses the track as the ultimate “sorry not sorry,” going on about how successful he is, Andre goes a little deeper, rapping about his regrets and what is actually is sorry for. Ahh… I see what you did there boys…Check out the track and pick up T.I.’s eighth album Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head, out Dec. 18.
Outkast rapper Big Boi is launching a kids record label with his daughter, Billboard reports.
The rapper says he and his 16-year-old daughter, Jordan, have formed Purple Kidz, a new record label that will launch in the coming weeks. The label will feature younger artists but will target fans of all ages.
“My daughter just turned 16 years old, and you can see it on MTV’s ['My Super Sweet Sixteen'], where they get cars, and things that depreciate and just don’t mean nothing,” says Big Boi. “I wanted to give my child something that she can grow and build and nurture. So I gave her her own label.”
Big Boi, 36, says that Purple Kidz’ first signee is Gabbie Rae, a 12-year-old singing prodigy who has appeared on ‘The Tyra Banks Show.’
The rapper, who already heads the Purple Ribbon All-Stars hip-hop label, says that he and Jordan are the sole partners on the new imprint.
As for Big Boi’s solo career, he says that all is running smoothly as he continues working on the follow-up to last year’s ‘Sir Lucius Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty.’
“I had a conversation with Barry Weiss, and he was like, ‘Hey Big, great album,’ and he’s ready for the next album,” says Big Boi. “And he wants it ASAP. So, you know, everything’s good.”
I actually think gifting his daughter with a record label is a really sweet gesture. Sure, she is probably spoiled to death, but he seems to be implying hard work on her. She will have to maintain the label and nurture it, as opposed to her just being a singer or model or whatever. I’m guessing she has a huge passion for music, so this path will be a good one for her.
Big boi, a member of the band “Outkast” says that his record is still set for release, despite a delay.
“The South got something to say, and we gonna keep on talking,” he said to MTV News. “Me and ‘Dre were on the conference call [recently],” he continued. “He’s working on his album; my album is done. We’re gonna wait until the top of the year — January or February — to put it out. Then ‘Dre is gonna come hit y’all, and [then] we’re gonna do The Outkast album. So y’all gonna get three records from the ‘Kast next year.”
Big Boi has other things going on besides working on records. On Tuesday November 25, the rapper is set to appear on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” playing a greedy rapper who gets involved with an animal-smuggling-ring.
Outkast members Big Boi and Andre 3000 are not splitting up, despite not working together in months.
Andre 3000 had to call MTV and set the record straight.
“Yesterday I got a phone call from Big Boi and he said that on some hip-hop Web sites that the headlines were reading something to the effect of, ‘It’s Official: Outkast Is Broken Up,’ or something like that,” Andre 3000 said. “And man, we’re looking at it like, where is this sh– coming from? I was on ‘TRL’ today to release a new video, and I meant to say something [about the situation] on the air. But the way they had the questions set up, I didn’t have a chance to do it.”
The rumors started when both are appearing in separate videos instead of working together on “Mighty O,” which features both of their raps.
“Really, we were supposed to shoot the ‘Mighty O’ video, but we were shuffling around with too many treatments and it got too late. The record company and film company felt that it was probably better off to help sell the movie to go with these songs ["Idlewild Blue" and "Morris Brown."]. But originally we were supposed to come out with just one single.”
The new album has caused nothing but rumors but any publicity is good publicity.
After smashing rumors of their break up, they will still continue to work separately due to the fact that Andre 3000 wants to put all of his time into writing and producing in the studio.
Hollywood Divorce might be the next single from the Idlewild soundtrack, but they are still undecided. If it is chosen, Andre 3000 and Big Boi will appear together in the video.
Heads up Outkast fans: a date has finally been announced for the long-awaited film from the hip-hop duo. “Idlewild” will hit theatres August 25, three days after the soundtrack for the film is released.
The first single, “Mighty O” features both Big Boi and Andre 3000 on vocals. The song was leaked online earlier this week.
While the movie is set in the 1930s and focuses on the music and business of speakeasies at the time, the soundtrack is all 21st century, said Big Boi last year.
“It’s hip-hop. It’s Outkast. It is what we’ve been doing for years,” he told Billboard.com. “Some songs have a little more piano or whatever, but the whole project was a natural progression from a double CD. It was like, where do we go from here?”
Fans can look forward to seeing some big names in music and movies on the silver screen when “Idlewild” comes out. Appearing in the movie include Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, and Terrence Howard.
Though Outkast’s next release, a film and sountrack combo titled “Idlewild,” has been postponed since late 2005, some new (and hopefully firm) release dates have been announced.
The project, Outkast’s follow-up to 2003′s “Speakerboxx/The Love Below,” will be released in two parts. The soundtrack is slated to hit streets on August 22 (August 21 in the UK), while the film should be out in theatres the same week, on August 25.
Fans should keep in mind, however, that previous release dates have been set and then discarded. Who knows if this latest set will hold.
The soundtrack’s first single, “Mighty ‘O’,” is currently available for download. A video and additional tracks should be out sometime this summer.
You had to expect the unexpected with the follow up to Outkast’s highly successful fourth album “Stankonia.” And they did it with their double-CD, where each member took on a different project, but released them together.
Big Boi’s project, “Speakerboxxx,” contains tracks that are all over the musical genre map.
“Ghettomusick” breaks every production rule. The verses change tempo and do not connect, but Boi makes it work. It starts with an updated disco feel, then slows down, and it alternates back and forth. The combination of genres is also evident on “War,” where he expresses his views on Iraq – “Basically, America you got f***ed” – over a calm beat at first, and then a DJ-induced pounding.
“The Way You Move,” the disc’s first single, is a mix of rap and soul, the combination that is used on a few of the early tracks. The band-accompanied hip-hop is first truly heard on “Bust” with Killer Mike, continuing with a cameo by Ludacris on “Tomb of the Boom.”
There’s an electronic-rock-hip-hop combo with “Flip Flop Rock,” while “Reset” features political rhymes on more of an R&B track.
And then there’s Andre 3000′s “The Love Below,” which has little rap, less soul, but more singing. It plays like a soundtrack to a movie, which is obvious since he created the disc with a movie in mind. The initial plans for the movie were canned, but the soundtrack will come to life soon as HBO picked up the movie.
With “Love Hater,” Andre sounds like Prince, with less of a good singing voice, but the same amount of passion and confidence. “Happy Valentine’s Day” showcases his ability to act, but its creepy background and his singing would not make this holiday very romantic. Don’t play this song to your significant-other on February 14 — listen to it first and you’ll see why.
This disc’s first single, “Hey Ya,” is an instant hit with its continuous hyper verses and beats. The others take an open mind to get used to. Some are genreless (like “She’s Alive”), some are good for a movie but not for a soundtrack (like “Love in War”), and then some are just great – like “Take Off Your Cool,” the cover of “My Favourite Things.”
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Arista/BMG
