Rappers Welcome New Atlanta Mayor
ATLANTA (AP) - Rappers OutKast and Ludacris turned out to congratulate the city's first female mayor-elect, Shirley Franklin. The rappers performed for a crowd of nearly 8,000 people Saturday night, along with violinist Ken Ford and 3rd Faze, a pop trio that was introduced by actor Chris Tucker, who ...
| Mystic Shocked By Grammy Nomination
NEW YORK (AP) - Mystic's debut album, Cuts For Luck, Scars For Freedom released in July 2001, was one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop records of year. The album's song "W," a duet with Planet Asia, has been nominated for the best rap/sung collaboration Grammy. The recognition caught Mystic ...
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Pink & 3LW Get Naughty
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Last summer during a trip to L.A., Naughty by Nature frontman Treach paged a number of rappers and singers saying he and his partner Vinnie were in town working on their album, �iicons�, and whoever wanted to be involved in the project should come through to the studio. Artists like ...
| Brian McKnight On Collaborating With Nate Dogg
NEW YORK (AP) - R&B crooner Brian McKnight is currently prepping for the second leg of his Sears-sponsored North American tour. The singer's latest set, Superhero, was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies. One of the more interesting cuts included on the set is "Don't Know Where To Start," McKnight's ...
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TLC's Left Eye Changes Name To Nina And Joins Death Row
NEW YORK (AP) - TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes has joined Suge Knight's Tha Row Records, according to Tha Row spokesperson Jonathan Wolfson. "She is on Tha Row. Her solo album will be released soon," said Wolfson, of Brown, Wolf Public Relations. The issue was also addressed recently in the news section ...
| Gray Describes Self As 'Impossible'
NEW YORK (AP) - When asked to describe herself in one word, Macy Gray says she's "impossible.'' In an interview in the January issue of Rosie magazine, Gray tells Rosie O'Donnell that her favorite food is "three scoops of sorbet - lemon, raspberry and mango,'' and that if she could change one thing ...
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Destiny's Child will 'chill out' until 2003
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Grammy-winning R&B trio Destiny's Child is sticking with plans to tour next year but probably will not record as a group again before 2003, the singers' management said Thursday. In widely published comments earlier this month, lead singer Beyonce Knowles said, "Destiny's ...
| Aaliyah Receives Posthumous Help From Brother In Queen Of The Damned
NEW YORK (AP) - Late R&B star Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in August, has received some posthumous help from her brother on her upcoming movie, Queen of the Damned. Although Aaliyah's scenes in the film were finished before her death, the singer's older brother, Rasheed Haughton, has stepped in ...
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Rapper Coolio Rests Before USO Tour
BEND, Ore. (AP) - Rap star Coolio hit the slopes of Mount Bachelor this week for a little rest and relaxation after a USO tour in Kuwait. "It's a country that is still at war,'' Coolio said, adding that he was driven everywhere by armed guards. "It didn't bother me - I got people driving next to me ...
| Judge Orders Pot Smoking Teen To Listen To Afroman's 'Because I Got High'
BOSTON, Mass. (AP) - A 17-year-old Massachusetts boy was ordered to listen to Afroman's "Because I Got High" and to write a three-paragraph summary of the song Wednesday (December 19) when Judge Nancy R. Dusek-Gomez sentenced him for being caught with a marijuana pipe, a liter of Jim Beam whiskey, and ...
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Shaggy album 'Hotshot' is year's bestseller
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Reggae artist Shaggy's "Hotshot" album was the hottest-selling record in 2001, totaling 5.5 million units sold since January, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said Thursday. Certified six times Platinum for sales of one million units, Shaggy was among three ...
| Whitney Houston's 'The Star-Spangled Banner' Suit Dropped
NEW YORK (AP) - The suit filed against Arista Records for royalties from the re-release of Whitney Houston's "The Star-Spangled Banner" was dropped Monday (December 17), according to a spokesperson for Arista Records. "It was the shortest lawsuit in history," the spokesperson said. "It was an administrative ...
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Funeral for R&B Pioneer Rufus Thomas
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Rhythm & blues pioneer Rufus Thomas made his last trip to Beale Street on Thursday with a brass band playing "Just a Closer Walk with Thee'' marching in front of his hearse. Thomas, 84, was best known nationally for novelty hits like "Do the Funky Chicken'' and "Walking the Dog.'' ...
| Missy Elliott's Lamborghini Wrecked
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A towing firm employee was jailed on charges he took an unauthorized spin in rapper Missy "Misdemeanor'' Elliott's $311,000 Lamborghini Diablo and wrecked it. Joseph Thomas Johnson's alleged joyride on Oct. 9 ended just three miles from the headquarters of Century Inc., where he ...
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MC Hammer Learns From Fame
HOUSTON (AP) - Rap artist MC Hammer says his meteoric rise to fame and equally powerful fall taught him to appreciate the basics and accept what he cannot control. "Hard work still pays, family is important, God is a must and in every life there will be ups and downs,'' said the singer known for his ...
| Sugarhill Gang Wins $3 Million In Snapple/Turner Lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) - Hip-hop pioneers the Sugarhill Gang were awarded $3 million in damages last week in a suit brought against Snapple Beverage Corporation and Turner Broadcasting System over the wrongful use of their images and voices in a television ad that aired in 1998. The group--which comprises Big ...
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Rage's Morello Calls Abu-Jamal Ruling 'Tremendous Victory'
NEW YORK (AP) - The 20-year-old death sentence of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose claim of racial injustice has long been championed by Rage Against The Machine, was overturned Tuesday (December 18), prompting Rage guitarist Tom Morello to call it "a tremendous victory for the cause of justice." ...
| Memphis soul innovator Rufus Thomas dies aged 84
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Versatile soul icon Rufus Thomas, a pioneering radio DJ and a singer/songwriter famed for the R&B standard "Walking The Dog," has died in Memphis at age 84, his family said Sunday. Over a 70-year career, which took off in a segregated minstrel show, Thomas was a key player in ...
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P. Diddy To Open For Britney Spears
NEW YORK (AP) - Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has been tapped to step in and open for Britney Spears on the last two dates of the Britney 2001 U.S. tour. Combs replaces O-Town, whose stint as the opening act ended on December 10, and LFO, which has stepped in to open since then. Combs is scheduled to open for ...
| Aretha Franklin to Perform for Queen
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Queen of Soul will perform for the Queen of England at the monarch's 50th Jubilee. Aretha Franklin will perform four or five songs for 15,000 invited guests in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2002, the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne. ...
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