Details of comedy music group The Lonely Island’s next album The Wack Album have finally surfaced and it’s starting to look like a who’s who of music. But first up is the music video for their next big hit, “Spring Break Anthem.”
Disguised within a new episode of Between Two Ferns, the boys of The Lonely Island (Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg) get a little help from the show’s host, Zach Galifianakis, and his guest, James Franco, with a surprise appearance from actor Ed Norton.
While I would’ve been absolutely content with Between Two Ferns as Galifianakis sends out zingers like, “I don’t consider what you did at the Oscars hosting the Oscars,” this is much better. The guys all end up marrying each other because that’s the logical thing to do right in the middle of spring break (got to get all the crazy out of your system before settling down, right?).
On the music side, super heavy weights Justin Timberlake, Solange, Lady Gaga, Pharrell Williams, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and T-Pain are set to appear on the upcoming The Wack Album. “YOLO” featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar (which previously premiered on Saturday Night Live) will also be included in their new effort. The Wack Album is set to drop June 11.
Cody Simpson realizes the spellbinding effect he has on fans when he acoustifies anything. In the past, we heard him perform intimate, acoustic versions of “Over the Rainbow” and “Taylor” but this time he acoustified his own song “So Listen” for Radio Disney.
He’s played around with an acoustic version of his new song in the past and we love it! While the original with T. Pain is more urgent, this one is heartbreaking and really shows off his voice.
Watch it here:
We already heard snippets of “So Listen” when 15-year-old Cody Simpson released a live acoustic version of it for his fans as a Valentine’s Day gift. Today he released the official version of the song, which features a cameo from T-Pain.
The track, which is already available on iTunes, is more mature and current than we’re used to and serves a heap of auto-tuning. The beat is perfectly danceable and the song is expected to blow up. Cody sings: “You see, you are my addiction / I need more than words to show you / So listen to me, so listen / Listen to my heartbeat.”
Are you listening on repeat?
The fantastic foursome of Will.I.Am, Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap – otherwise known as the Black Eyed Peas, came together for a final farewell at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday.
Hosted by Queen Latifah, the concert also featured performances from Cee-Lo Green, Jason DeRulo, Flo Rida, T-Pain and Sean Kingston – all respectable fans of the Peas.
Will.i.am reflected on the earlier days of the Californian group. “I remember when we got 30 dollars to play a Cal State Northridge party. And it feels so good that this many years later we’re here and we thank you guys from the bottom of our hearts for helping us pursue our dreams.”
He also had some advice for up-and-coming musicians:
“Whatever it is you wanna do in life, if somebody tells you no, don’t listen to them. Pursue your dreams, surround yourself with good friends,” he preached. “Black Eyed Peas is a family, we are friends, and we helped each other get here—and you guys are an extension of that friendship. We are here in this stadium today representing family and love, a day before Thanksgiving, and we thank you guys for the love.”
He is in the midst of prepping his much-hyped solo album “#willpower” that is set for release next year. Fergie, the 36-year-old songstress, wants to focus on starting a family with her husband, actor Josh Duhamal. While apl.de.ap is planning on going home to the Philippines and Taboo will get to spend more time with his family. It’s the end of an era, my friends.
Despite their hiatus, the group insists they are not breaking up. ”We always have two cycles of records and then we take a break. And then two cycles of records and then a break. When we take breaks you know, we work on side projects and get our personal stuff in order then come back and make beautiful music. We think beautiful music,” he recently told Ellen DeGeneres.
Will you miss BEP? Let us know.
Chris Brown is heading out on the road to support his new release, F.A.M.E. T-Pain, Kelly Rowland and Tyga will be joining him.
“This tour will allow me to paint a picture musically,” commented Brown. “I want to bring a lot of energy and excitement to all the fans. It’s going to be a great show.”
Here are the F.A.M.E. tour dates:
Sept. 12: Toronto, Canada (Molson Canadian Amphitheatre)
Sept. 14: Buffalo, N.Y. (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
Sept. 16: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC)
T-Pain is vowing that he will never use Auto-Tune again, reports AllHipHop.com.
The rapper and producer told the hip hop site exclusively that he will never use Auto-Tune in his music again. Auto-tune is the singing effect that T-Pain made famous, which digitally makes voices sing on key.
It often makes them sound like a robot, too.
“I vow right here, right now, to never use Auto-Tune again,” said T-Pain in a statement. “I’m onto something that I think is bigger and better called ‘The T-Pain Effect.’”
No, he isn’t being funny or ironic. The rapper actually plans to develop a sound called “The T-Pain Effect.” He has reportedly partnered with Izotope, an audio technology company, to produce this so-called new effect.
T-Pain without Auto-Tune is like Lindsay Lohan without drugs or Arnold Schwarzenegger without secret love child’s. It’s just so bizarre. The man has an iTunes app that Auto-Tune’s peoples voice, for goodness sake. We’ll see if this lasts, because it’s kind of the only thing going for him at the moment.
I didn’t think anybody but T-Pain bought into the Autotune trend, but it looks like I was wrong.
Apple has released an iPhone application that allows you to Autotune your voice, and has apply called it “I Am T-Pain” after the rapper who brought the device to overwhelming mainstream employment. The app retails at $2.99 and comes with T-Pain’s instrumental discography as well as a Freestyle option that allows you to sing whatever the heck you want and sound like a robot.
T-Pain has actually based his career on his electronic-induced vocals, with songs like “Buy you a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and even won a spot “singing” on the SNL’s Lonely Island skit, “I’m on a Boat.”
In life (and in the hip-hop industry especially), there’s an unwritten code: as you approach the veteran years of your career, you’re expected to lose a step in your game.
Twista did not get that memo.
In fact, with 18 years of experience in the business so far, the Chicago hip-hop legend doesn’t see a career decline anytime soon. Nope, on the contrary. He says that some of his best work is yet to come.
Think about that for a moment.
This is coming from the guy who’s had two of his past six studio albums go platinum and crack the top ten list on the U.S. Billboard top 200, collaborations with some of the music industry’s finest talent including Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, T.I, and Akon, and not to mention, this is also the former Guinness World Record holder for the fastest rapper in the world.
After credible death and kidnapping threats, T-Pain has cancelled his concert in Guyana.
According to E! News, the rapper had been the main event for Monday’s Mash 2009 “mega-concert”- actually, one of the biggest names to be scheduled to play in Guyana in years.
Local police say they are attempting to ascertain the identity of the person or persons who emailed and phoned several threats. No comment from Team T-Pain.
Nelly is trying to form a supergroup with Akon T-Pain and Pharell. The rapper told MTV News, “Me, Akon, T-Pain and Pharrell are talking about doing a project,” he said this past Friday. “We got a host of things we’re trying to do — possibly put together this new 2009 [Bell Biv DeVoe] type of thing.”
And Nelly isn’t worried about their busy schedules getting in the way of collaborating, “I don’t think you try to put things together with people you don’t think you can accomplish [them] with,” said Nely. “With ‘Kon, with Pain and Pharrell, I know it’s more about the music than anything. It’s about leaving something. I think we’re all OK as far as the money thing goes. I don’t think anybody is hurting. You wanna do things you can be remembered by. Make a mark. I think that’s something that’s foremost on all our minds.”
T-Pain has five nominations going into the upcoming Black Entertainment TV (BET) Hip-Hop Awards – all for collaborations with other artists.
The R&B singer-songwriter earned his nods, three of them in the best collaboration category, as a featured artist on recordings by Chris Brown, Flo Rida and Kanye West.
West himself received three nominations, as did Keyshia Cole. Coming in with two nods each were Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys and Flo Rida.
Meanwhile, soul singer Al Green will receive a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony, and Quincy Jones will receive an award for his humanitarian work.
Artists scheduled to perform at the June 24 gala in Los Angeles include Blige, Nelly, Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey.
On his debut album, T-Pain says he made music people wanted to hear. He was proven correct when nearly one million fans purchased 2005′s “Rappa Ternt Sanga,” and when he saw two of his singles – “I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)” and “I’m Sprung” – reach the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
But for his sophomore album, “Epiphany,” T-Pain says his focus was not on what people wanted to hear but about him being an artist.
“When you record what you think people want to hear, you’re following a trend,” T-Pain explains to andPOP. “On the first album I was going into clubs and listening to the radio and listening to mix tapes and seeing what songs were getting the most response and the most fans and I was just making songs like those.
“Now I want to be on my own so I’m just making songs coming out of my heart. I’m just not following the trend.”
He’s not worried, though, that the change in his mindset – and therefore a change in his music – could alienate some fans. And he shouldn’t be.
When the first-week sales are officially announced later this week, T-Pain will debut in the top five with sales exceeding 100,000 copies. (Update: T-Pain debuted at No. 1 on the album sales charts.)
He had no worries because his philosophy was that he’d hook them with the first album and then offer them something a little different with album No. 2.
“People are cool with me. It’s just my personality in music form,” T-Pain says, on the line from New York City. “Every time I meet someone, they tell me I’m a great dude. Great dudes make great music.”
The music on “Epiphany” isn’t drastically different than his debut album. There’s still the crunk-inspired style of R&B that hooked fans two years ago. Instead of flirting with a stripper, he’s offering them drinks (The first two singles are “Buy U a Drank” and “Bartender.”).
But T-Pain says his fans will be listening to a new mature man.
“I was recording songs for my album and I was like, ‘what the hell am I doing,’” he says, explaining the album’s name. “I just had to do something different. I was just recording the same old stuff from my old album. It just dawned on me that I needed to do something different and be more mature.”
The maturity is evident on the track called “Suicide.”
“It’s saying that people commit suicide everyday, not by killing themselves but by doing stupid shit, just doing retarded stuff that they know can end up killing them. Unprotected sex, you get the wrong person with that, that can definitely kill you; that’s suicide.”
T-Pain looked to personal experiences for inspiration for the song.
“My younger life, when I was doing crazy crap, like getting out of school and hanging with the wrong people and doing stuff with the wrong girls, it’s just ridiculous. That all could have killed me. I could have been dead from doing stupid shit.
“I just got bored. I just had to move on. It was too much. All the shit that was happening to me just happened too many times. There was a natural [thought of] let me get the hell out of here.”
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