Celebrity News and Gossip

Long-delayed rock-influenced album is now scheduled for February.
By Gil Kaufman

Lil Wayne’s <i>Rebirth</i>

Photo: Cash Money/ Universal/ Young Money

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: After bumping around to various December dates, Lil Wayne’s perpetually delayed rock-influenced album Rebirth has now been pushed to a 2010 release.

Wayne’s Cash Money boss, Baby (a.k.a. Bryan “Birdman” Williams), announced on Twitter Wednesday that the album, which has had more than half a dozen release dates so far, has now been pushed back from a December 21 street date to February 1. “Rebirth album pushback Feb. 1,” Baby tweeted, adding, “Young Money [coming] out December 21.” So, while the compilation album from Weezy’s Young Money All-Stars, which was supposed to be bundled with Rebirth, appears to still be on track for a holiday release, fans will now have to wait a few more months for Wayne’s disc.

A spokesperson for Wayne’s label, Universal, did not return requests for comment on the latest delay in the album, which the rapper has been tinkering with nonstop as track after track from the effort has leaked over the past six-plus months.

“Yes, the album is still rock,” Wayne has said about the disc, after confusion arose over whether it really represented a trip to the rock side for the rapper fond of strapping on a guitar onstage. “I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don’t want people to think I’m trying to do something I can’t do. Don’t think you’re going to put on the album and hear me screaming and singing.

“When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing,” he continued. “This album isn’t hip-hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I’ve got to rap, I know I’ve got to spit. I know the words I’ve got to say and the subjects I’ve got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn’t say, the things I shouldn’t talk about. There’s none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That’s what this album is: a freedom album.”

While frustration among fans is growing due to the multiple delays for the first new studio album from Wayne since 2008’s smash Tha Carter III — which was first slated to street in April, then May, then August, then several dates in December &8212; it’s worth keeping in mind that Carter III suffered a similar fate prior to its release and went on to be the best-selling album of the year.

Though Wayne’s camp is not discussing the reason for the latest delay, the new February release date, if confirmed, does fall around the time that the rapper is expected to be sentenced to a one-year prison term following his October guilty plea for attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

Related Artists

• Lil Wayne

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: All Stars, Birdman, Boss, Cash Money, Compilation Album, Confusion, Freedom, Gil Kaufman, Half A Dozen, hip-hop, Holiday Release, Lil Wayne, People, Rap, Rebirth, Spokesperson, Travis Barker, Twitter, Universal, Weezy

Prosecutor said it came down an issue of possession.
By Gil Kaufman

Lil Wayne arrives in court on October 21, 2009 in Manhattan

Photo: Louis Lanzano/ AP Images

For much of the past two years, Lil Wayne’s attorneys have argued that police could not prove that the weapon they found on the rapper’s bus in July 2007
belonged to him. But, in a surprise move on Thursday, Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) entered a guilty plea to a class “D” violent felony of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

The plea brings a one-year prison term, of which Wayne is expected to serve at least eight months. The lead prosecutor on the case, Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, told MTV News shortly after Thursday morning’s court proceeding that despite a focus on the DNA evidence in the case in recent days, she did not think the guilty plea was “contingent” on the DNA.

“Possession is defined as actual possession or dominion or control. … we said it was dominion and control,” explained Illuzzi-Orbon. The latter phrase is a legal term that refers to something being available for immediate use.

In Wayne’s case, the plea means that the rapper did not admit the gun was in his hand or immediate possession, but that it was on his tour bus and within his dominion (i.e. “control”) because it was on his bus. His lawyer had argued during the course of the proceedings that the gun was not in Wayne’s physical possession, as stated by the arresting officer, which explains why the plea deal was for dominion and control and “attempted possession,” not actual possession.

Wayne’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, said, “After ongoing negotiations, he opted to take the deal to take responsibility for the situation and I think it speaks of him that he’s an individual with a strong constitution that he took that responsibility.” She again noted that the .40-caliber gun was purchased by Wayne’s manager, Cortez Bryant, who had a legal permit to carry the weapon in Mississippi.

“In the current political atmosphere and given the stance New York state has on guns, it’s a fine resolution,” Richman said, noting that in New York state a first-offense charge of gun possession has a three-and-a-half-year minimum sentence “no matter who you are.” Richman claimed that the gun laws in New York state are significantly more severe than in many other states, and considering that fact, the one-year sentence she negotiated for Wayne is a decent outcome.

Wayne had previously pleaded not guilty to the possession charges and Richman had long said that the evidence against her client did not prove that the weapon belonged to him or place the weapon in his hand on the bus. A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said that evidence presented during the case showed that the weapon was not lawfully registered to anyone in New York state and that prosecutors never disputed that Bryant purchased the gun in Mississippi.

“I don’t believe this was just some random stop,” Richman said of the police action that led to Wayne’s arrest. “If he was some half-assed no-name, they would have never stopped the bus. He happened to become the most famous person in the universe independent of the trial,” she said (somewhat hyperbolically). As an example of this, Richman noted that another client of hers, rapper Ja Rule — who performed with Wayne that night — was arrested for a nearly identical charge the same evening and was held on $150,000 bail, whereas Wayne’s bail was only $30,000.

Richman said Wayne was not pressured into accepting the plea and wasn’t particularly happy about it, but felt he needed to make a choice after the lawyer explained his options to him in a case that could have resulted in a minimum three and a half years in prison. The DA’s office spokesperson said that although the charge typically carries a two-year sentence, evidence presented in the case determined that a one-year term was acceptable.

“It would have been a phenomenal battle,” she said of a potential trial, adding that the much-discussed DNA evidence had nothing to do with the decision to cop a plea. “This technology is a danger to the citizenry,” she said of the so-called low copy number DNA method, which uses sometimes miniscule amounts of repeatedly processed genetic material to obtain a DNA sample. “It is not generally accepted and their own documents noted that. It can pull up whatever DNA they can find, and in this case there were at least three contributors. There’s no way of discerning who contributed what; it’s just a mishmash of DNA.”

Richman described Wayne as a highly intelligent man of “exquisite manners” who she believes was not aware of the impact that having a gun in his presence in New York could have on him. “I don’t think that people outside of our state are aware of our gun laws,” she said. “Ignorance of these laws is no defense … but my understanding is that Cortez Bryant is one of the main guys who picks up the back-end money after shows and he had a proper [carry] permit from his state, and from his perspective he had it for protection and there was no malice intended with the gun.”

Richman said that the plea deal will not have any impact on another case Wayne is facing in Arizona — related to gun and drug possession — which is slated to go to trial in April. Wayne is due back in court in New York in December and is expected to surrender to begin his term in February.

Related Videos

• Lil Wayne Pleads Guilty To Felony Gun Possession

Related Artists

• Lil Wayne

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Caliber Gun, Criminal Possession, Gil Kaufman, Mtv News, Violent Felony

Source close to Brown calls timing ‘purely coincidence.’
By Gil Kaufman

Rihanna and Chris Brown

Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Chris Brown is under a court order that requires him to stay from former girlfriend Rihanna. And while that order — one part of his sentence for an assault on Rihanna in February on the eve of the Grammy Awards — means that Brown has to keep a certain physical distance from his ex, there’s nothing to say that he can’t be professionally close to her.

That reality made for a strange situation on Tuesday, when Rihanna released her first new single since the incident, “Russian Roulette,”
just hours before Brown announced the dates of his “Fan Appreciation” tour.
Then, approximately 24 hours later, Brown dropped the second single from his upcoming Graffiti album, “Crawl.” Given the situation between the two since the altercation, the close proximity of their big career re-boot moves was curious to say the least.

While Brown’s label had no official comment on the timing of the activity from the former couple, a source close to the Brown camp denied that it was anything but “purely coincidental.” Given that both artists are releasing fourth-quarter albums and are on similar album/ tour/ recording cycles — both released their debuts in 2005 and a follow-up in 2007 — the source said the overlap was not planned at all. “We don’t have a copy of what [Rihanna's label] Def Jam is rolling out any more than they have one of ours.”

Rihanna’s single seems to obliquely reference the incident, with edgy graphics featuring the singer wrapped in barbed wire, a blood-dripping song title and her initial in gleaming-blade silver, not to mention the sounds of guns cocking and being fired and foreboding lyrics about a seemingly violent relationship.

While neither artist has commented on what their songs are about, Rihanna producer Chuck Harmony said people were bound to infer that the song is a commentary on the assault and her break with Brown. “Because that’s the newest situation,” he said. “It’s just a natural reaction for people to associate ’cause she’s been so tight-lipped.” At press time, a spokesperson for Rihanna had not responded to MTV News’ requests for comment.

Meanwhile, after posting pictures of himself in ninja gear on Tuesday, Brown rolled out the ballad “Crawl” on Wednesday, and the second salvo from Graffiti also appeared to be a reaction to the end of the couple’s relationship, albeit a softer-edged one.

The melancholy song features the lines: “Everybody see it’s you/ well, I never want to lose that view/ Everybody says we’re through/ I hope you haven’t said it, too.”

Tresa Sanders, a veteran music-business publicist who has worked with artists including Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, and Common, said her first thought when seeing that Rihanna and Brown were crossing musical paths was that it was a coincidence. “I’ve worked inside at labels and outside of them and there are a lot of times when you really don’t know what the other labels are doing or when other records are coming out or what their marketing plan is,” she said. “Really, when you are in the middle of a plan and you’ve already set it up, there’s nothing you can do but go for it.”

Sanders, who has not worked with either act, said Rihanna’s team appears to have been working on the set-up for her Rated R album for many months, pointing to the singer’s cameo on the Jay-Z song “Run This Town” as the first glimpse of her look and sound for the next go-round. “That performance is so in line with what she’s doing now,” she said. “If it was me, it would just be business as usual. I wouldn’t do anything out of the ordinary that was not already in the plan. There’s no reason to switch up the game because they’re both successful artists and when you’re a big artist like that, your album tends to come out in the fourth quarter. That’s Music Industry 101.”

With both artists actively tweeting and teasing information about their new albums over the past few weeks, it’s not like their plans are a mystery. And while it’s not likely that they’re trying to coordinate their professional relationship amid the ashes of their personal one, it seems like their public lives are going to keep intersecting for the foreseeable future.

Related Photos

• Rihanna’s ‘Russian Roulette’ Video Set

Related Artists

• Chris Brown
• Rihanna

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Altercation, Barbed Wire, Chris Brown, Close Proximity, Cocking, Coincidence, Def Jam, Fan Appreciation, Former Girlfriend, Frank Micelotta, Getty Images, Gil Kaufman, Graffiti, Grammy Awards, Harmony, Micelotta Getty, Rihanna, Russian Roulette, Strange Situation, Violent Relationship

Arrest took place at 3:45 a.m. outside an L.A. nightclub on Sunday.
By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Jocelyn Vena

Stephanie Pratt

Photo: Todd Williamson/WireImage

Stephanie Pratt, one of the stars of “The Hills,” was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Sunday morning in Hollywood.

Police said Pratt, 23, was arrested at around 3:45 a.m. outside a nightclub in Los Angeles and taken into custody, with bail set at $5,000, according to Sergeant Mark Cohan of the Los Angeles Police Department. Before her arrest, Pratt was reportedly out with some fellow “Hills” stars at Empire, celebrating Holly Montag’s 26th birthday.

Pratt was released with a ticket later Sunday morning and was not required to post bail but will return for a court hearing, according to a spokesperson at the Van Nuys Division, where Pratt was held.

Shortly before heading out to the club, Pratt tweeted, “It’s my sissy @hollymontags bday party! Just finished dinner and going to Empire but I’m pretty tired aka yes i am the party pooper ”

Cohan said that he did not know the circumstances of the arrest and could not say whether Pratt was pulled over for another violation or if the stop was DUI-related.

Pratt was arrested in Hawaii in May of 2006, along with Hannah Owens-Bender, daughter of the director of ABC’s “Lost,” for second-degree theft and drug violations.

Pratt has spoken in the past about her struggles with bulimia and self-esteem issues, as well as her battles with substance abuse.

A rep for Pratt had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment at press time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Angeles Police Department, Bulimia, Court Hearing, Driving Under The Influence, Fellow Hills, Gil Kaufman, Holly Montag, Hollywood Police, Jocelyn, Mark Cohan, Mtv, Mtv News, Party Pooper, pratt, Press Time, Self Esteem Issues, Sissy, Van Nuys, Vena, Wireimage

Soundtrack to ‘Twilight’ sequel will now hit stores this Friday, more than a month before movie’s release.
By Gil Kaufman

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner in “New Moon”

Photo: Summit Entertainment

You hear a lot about albums being pushed back for a bit of track tweaking or new recording, but unless a CD leaks early online, you rarely see release dates for major CDs pushed forward.

But when you’re dealing with anything “Twilight”-related, the old rules don’t apply. According to a press release issued on Tuesday (October 13), due to “overwhelming and unprecedented” demand, the release date for the soundtrack to “New Moon” is being pushed up by four days from its original October 20 release to this Friday, October 16.

That means the disc will be in stores more than a full month before “New Moon” hits screens on November 20. The heat on the soundtrack has carefully been stoked by a series of slow reveals of the goods, beginning with the unveiling of the Death Cab for Cutie contribution, “Meet Me on the Equinox,” during last month’s VMAs, followed by the song’s video premiere last week.

The full lineup of the soundtrack was released last month, boasting such household names as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Muse, the Killers, OK Go, Grizzly Bear and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and lesser-known acts such as Band of Skulls, Lykke Li, Anya Marina, Bon Iver with St. Vincent, Hurricane Bells, Sea Wolf and the Editors. And then, just this last week, 30-second clips of all of the songs appeared online on the UK Amazon.com site.

Read our interviews with Lykke Li and OK Go about their connection to the “Twilight” saga, and check back with MTV News all week long for more stories about the “New Moon” soundtrack.

Check out everything we’ve got on “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos

• MTV News Extended Play: ‘New Moon’ Soundtrack
• Exclusive Video Premiere: Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘Equinox’

Related Photos

• “New Moon”

Related Artists

• Death Cab For Cutie
• OK Go
• Lykke Li

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Anya Marina, Black Rebel Motorcycle, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bon Iver, Death Cab For Cutie, Friday Soundtrack, Gil Kaufman, Household Names, Kristen Stewart, Moon Photo, Mtv News, New Moon, Photo Summit, Sea Wolf, Summit Entertainment, Taylor Lautner, Thom Yorke, Video Premiere, Videos Mtv

Rapper was allegedly filming a video in abandoned home outside Atlanta.
By Gil Kaufman and Jayson Rodriguez

Mug shot taken of Soulja Boy Tell’em on Wednesday

Photo: Henry County Sheriff’s Office

Soulja Boy Tell’em is out of jail after spending the night behind bars on Wednesday, following his arrest on a charge of obstruction. The rapper (born DeAndre Way), was detained when Georgia police responded to a report of juveniles hanging out in an abandoned home on Wednesday night in the McDonough area of Atlanta.

According to Captain Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police, someone called in a report of individuals hanging out at an abandoned home. When officers arrived on the scene, they found around 40 people standing in a dark backyard behind the house.

“You couldn’t really tell what was going on,” Bolton said. “But about half of the group ran from the officer on foot. He ordered, of course, for them to stop. … There were several vehicles left at that location.”

Bolton said that when the officer tried to speak to the remaining individuals — who were not identified by police — to figure out what was going on, he was told that they had gathered for a video shoot.

While investigating the scene, the officer figured out that one of the people who fled was Soulja Boy, 19, who eventually returned to claim his white Range Rover, which was left at the house. Upon his return, the officer charged the rapper with one count of obstruction, a misdemeanor, for running from police when he’d been ordered to stop. The rapper was released on $550 bond on Thursday morning and a follow-up court date was not available at press time.

The Henry Herald reported that 18-year-old Latice Wayne Grier was arrested on charges of forgery in the second degree during the incident after cops found eight counterfeit $100 bills in his Dodger Charger, which was also at the scene. Grier was also released from jail on Thursday, on $10,050 bond. No additional arrests were made at the scene, though the Herald reported that police also found a 9mm handgun in a white Lexus on the scene but were unable to determine whose it was.

A spokesperson for Soulja Boy had no comment on the arrest at press time. It was unknown what video the rapper, who frequently posts viral videos on his Web site, was shooting before the incident.

Soulja hit Twitter on Friday (October 9) to move his fans’ focus from the jail stint to Saturday’s BET Awards. “To all my fans, I just wanna put this behind me!” he tweeted. “I’m not going back to jail!! Let’s focus on the BET Awards! ”

[This story was originally published at 12:10 pm E.T. on 10.09.2009]

Related Artists

• Soulja Boy Tell’em

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Bolton, Boy Photo, Captain Jason, cops, County Police, County Sheriff, Dodger, Forgery, Georgia Police, Gil Kaufman, Henry County, Jayson, Juveniles, Misdemeanor, Press Time, Range Rover, Running, Thursday Morning, Video Shoot, Wednesday Night

The track, from the upcoming documentary ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It,’ features backing vocals by MJ’s brothers.
By Gil Kaufman

Michael Jackson rehearses for his “This Is It” concerts

Photo: Kevin Mazur/AEG/Getty Images

“This Is It,” the first single from the upcoming documentary “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” will debut online Monday at midnight. The new song, featuring backing vocals by the late pop star’s brothers, will get its world premiere on MichaelJackson.com.

The track will appear on a two-disc set due October 27 that features master versions of some of Jackson’s biggest hits in the sequence they appear in the film. The movie will play a limited two-week engagement in theaters worldwide beginning October 28.

“This Is It,” which Rolling Stone reports was recorded during the sessions for Jackson’s 1991 album Dangerous, will appear on the album in two versions. The collection will end with the recorded version of the song — which plays during the closing sequence of the movie — as well as an orchestral version, both previously unreleased. Another rarity, the recently discovered spoken word poem, “Planet Earth,” will also be featured on the collection.

Disc one of the set features the songs: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Jam,” “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Human Nature,” “Smooth Criminal,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Thriller,” “Beat It,” “Black or White,” “Earth Song,” “Billie Jean,” “Man in the Mirror,” “This Is It” and “This Is It (Orchestra Version).”

Disc two has early demo versions of the classics “She’s Out of My Life,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ” and “Beat It,” as well as “Planet Earth”; all the recordings on the second disc are previously unreleased. The collection will come with a 36-page commemorative booklet with exclusive photos from Jackson’s final rehearsals.

The soundtrack will complement the eagerly anticipated film, which was culled from more than 100 hours of footage of Jackson’s final rehearsals for his planned 50-show comeback residency stint at the O2 arena in London. Jackson died on the eve of the residency June 25 of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol.

Related Videos

• VMA 2009: Michael Jackson Tribute
• Michael Jackson In His Own Words: Fan Questions

Related Photos

• Fans Line Up To Buy ‘Michael Jacksons’s This Is It’ Tickets

Related Artists

• Michael Jackson

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Billie Jean, Commemorative Booklet, Demo Versions, Earth Song, Getty Images, Gil Kaufman, Human Nature, Kevin Mazur, Limited Two, Man In The Mirror, Orchestra Version, Orchestral Version, Planet Earth, Pop Star, Rarity, Rehearsals, Somethin, White Earth, Word Poem, World Premiere

Robotic disco song could be the single Gaga promised to debut on ‘SNL.’
By Gil Kaufman

Lady Gaga

Photo: George Napolitano/ WireImage

Lady Gaga has firmly established herself as a new-millennium dance diva, so it should come as no surprise that a new leaked track (possibly from the upcoming reissue of her debut, called The Fame: Monster) has the feel of a classic disco anthem, Gaga’d for 2009.

“Bad Romance” — which leaked out on Friday (October 2), one day after her eagerly anticipated Fame Kills tour with Kanye West bit the dust — is a mixture of Gaga’s signature robotic delivery with a Cher-like sound. Produced by collaborator RedOne (the producer behind such hits as “LoveGame” and “Poker Face”), the song is similar in tempo to “Poker Face,” opening with a series of ah-ah-ahs and ooh-la-las, amid a thrumming beat and swirling keyboards.

“You know that I want you/ And you know that I need you,” Gaga coos before busting into the full-throated chorus, in which she sings, “You and me could write a bad romance … / Caught in a bad romance.” The minimal beat stays at a low boil for most of the song, rising up in an ecstatic, Erasure-esque throb during the chorus, but lacking the immediate pull of some of Gaga’s biggest hits to date.

Gaga tweeted about the song on Friday afternoon, telling fans, “leaked next single is makin my ears bleed. Wait till you hear the real version.” Earlier this week, Gaga told a San Diego radio station that she’d be debuting a new track on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” where she is the musical guest.

Gaga also announced plans to go out on tour on her own next month, saying the cancellation of the Fame Kills tour was a “mutual decision” reached with West. Neither artist has spoken in depth about what caused the outing to fall apart.

The nearly five-minute-long “Bad Romance” could be found on a number of blogs by Friday afternoon, but a spokesperson for the singer declined to comment about whether the song will appear on the reissue, which is due out on November 24.

Related Photos

• Lady Gaga’s Best Looks

Related Artists

• Lady Gaga

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Bad Romance, Classic Disco, Dance Diva, Disco Anthem, Disco Song, George Napolitano, Gil Kaufman, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, LoveGame, Millennium Dance, Mutual Decision, New Lady, New Millennium, Poker Face, San Diego Radio, San Diego Radio Station, Saturday Night Live, Throb, Wireimage

In support of The Blueprint 3, Jay will stop at arenas and colleges beginning October 9.
By Gil Kaufman

N.E.R.D.’s Pharrell Williams

Photo: Johnny Nunez/ Getty Images

After Jay-Z put in road time with Mary J. Blige last summer and Ciara earlier this year, it’ll be a strictly boys night out when he takes the stage on October 9 to kick off a 24-date tour of college campuses and arenas. Joining him in the first sustained tour in support of the near-platinum The Blueprint 3 will be N.E.R.D., VMA house band leader Wale and Jigga protégé J. Cole.

The tour launches at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania, on the Penn State University campus on October 9 and will take the crew to arenas in Canada, Seattle, Baltimore and Providence. Along the way, it will stop at campuses in Champaign, Illinois, Ypsilanti, Columbus, Amherst, El Paso and Austin, where the tour is currently scheduled to wrap up on November 22.

North Carolina native Cole, 24, the first signing to Jay’s new Roc Nation label, appears on the Blueprint 3 track “A Star Is Born,” and the tour will be his first major exposure to life on the road. Cole, who was trying to hustle tracks to Jay just a few years ago, is slowly getting used to life in the spotlight. He recently told MTV News that the session for the “Star” was the first time he’d ever been in the studio with his new boss, an experience that was understandably nerve-wracking.

“[Jay-Z] was on the couch at first, right there,” Cole said. “It was the first time I was in the studio with Jay. And Beyoncé was there, to make it 10 times worse. Half my thoughts are trying to think of a verse, and then Jay-Z is there watching you write a verse. So, I’m soaking it up.”

Jay-Z tour dates:

» October 9 – University Park, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center
» October 10 – Highland Heights, KY @ The Bank of Kentucky Center
» October 13 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Rexall Place
» October 14 – Calgary, Alberta @ Pengrowth Saddledome
» October 15 – Kelowna, British Columbia @ Prospera Place
» October 16 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ General Motors Place
» October 17 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
» October 21 – Ypsilanti, MI @ Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center
» October 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center
» October 24 – Providence, RI @ Dunkin Donuts Center
» October 25 – Amherst, MA @ University of Massachusetts Mullins Center
» October 27 – Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena
» October 28 – Columbus, OH @ Ohio State Value City Arena the Schottenstein Center
» October 29 – London, Ontario @ John Labatt Centre
» October 30 – Montreal, Quebec @ Bell Centre
» October 31 – Toronto, Ontario @ Air Canada Centre
» November 1 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Scotiabank Place
» November 7 – Fresno, CA @ Fresno State Save Mart Center
» November 12 – Champaign, IL @ University of Illinois Assembly Hall
» November 19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
» November 20 – El Paso, TX @ University of Texas at El Paso Don Haskins Center
» November 21 – Lubbock, TX @ United Spirit Arena
» November 22 – Austin, TX @ University of Texas at Austin Frank Erwin Center Arena

Related Artists

• N.E.R.D.
• Jay-Z
• Wale
• J. Cole

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Band Leader, Bank Of Kentucky, Bank Of Kentucky Center, Beyonc, Bryce Jordan Center, Calgary Alberta, Champaign Illinois, College Campuses, Edmonton Alberta, Getty Images, Gil Kaufman, Jigga, Mtv News, New Boss, Penn State University, Pharrell Williams, Rexall Place, Road Time, University Park Pennsylvania, Williams Photo

What can the rapper do to recover from the Taylor Swift incident?
By Gil Kaufman

Kanye West at the 2009 Video Music Awards

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Kanye West has made a habit of brash moves that some might consider career suicide, from radically changing up his musical style, to chasing avant-garde fashion and daring to buck rap’s strict macho code. But could one of his most conventional acts of rebellion — Sunday’s dis of Taylor Swift at the VMAs — turn out to be the left turn that does irreparable damage to his career?

It’s not the first time ‘Ye has bum-rushed an awards show and spouted off about a perceived slight, but the fact that he interrupted the acceptance speech by a beloved, squeaky-clean 19-year-old singer savoring her first moment in the VMA spotlight has led to a firestorm of criticism for the rapper. For his part, West has called Swift to apologize, posted two different rambling apologies on his blog (both since removed) and gone on the new Jay Leno talk show to offer a teary explanation for his actions.

But we decided to ask the experts: Will Kanye ever be able to make amends to the public for this incident? (Head over to Off the Dome for our hip-hop team’s opinions on the matter.)

“Kanye’s taking a lot of heat and what he did was bad and disrespectful, but let’s keep it in perspective,” said public-relations expert Howard Bragman, author of “Where’s My Fifteen Minutes?”

Bragman, who consulted for Isaiah Washington after the actor was accused of using a gay slur against former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star T.R. Knight, said there are three ingredients to a successful career rehab: “One is an apology, which he’s done like 17 times. Two is sincerity, and three is time. No matter how much you want this to go away, it doesn’t mean it is going to go away right away.” If West, as promised on Leno, goes away for a while and removes himself from the public eye, Bragman predicted the public will forget and move on to the next scandal.

“The hardest thing is getting clients to shut the f— up,” Bragman said.

Emil Wilbekin, former editor-in-chief of Vibe and Giant magazines and current managing editor of Essence.com, had a slightly different suggestion for how West could move on from the incident. “What Kanye did was actually kind of a good PR move that a lot of celebrities could take notes from,” Wilbekin said. “He came forward on Jay Leno and was really, really honest and showed his real emotions and finally said he had a problem. The public will always be more forgiving if people come out and admit their problems. Then they become a real person.”

That’s not to suggest that the climb back will be easy, though. Wilbekin said the reaction to West’s exploits — which have drawn fire from everyone from President Barack Obama and former President Jimmy Carter to Kelly Clarkson and Donald Trump — was so extreme because “he basically ruined Taylor Swift’s joyous moment. It was a huge honor for her, and he ruined her moment. Killing someone’s joy, particularly someone who is so innocent, is never a good look.”

If West had rushed someone else, say, Eminem, Wilbekin said the blowback would likely not have been as harsh. Though Kanye has ranted about everything from George Bush not caring about black people to saying he’s the next Elvis, those outbursts were about him. “Those were his business,” Wilbekin said. “This was none of his business.”

Wilbekin also suggested a simple three-step plan for West to save face and get back in the good graces of his audience and the world at large. Step one is to seek some professional help in the form of therapy to deal with the issues he has said he’s still struggling with following his mother’s unexpected death in 2007. “I think that is the biggest issue in this whole situation, that he’s never properly dealt with the loss of his mom or emotions over her death and what caused her death,” he said.

The second, and most intriguing, step Wilbekin suggested was that ‘Ye should produce a song for Swift and appear in the accompanying video. “That could help make amends and would be a great way for him to smooth over the situation,” he suggested. “Apologies are one thing, actions are another.” The step would also pave the way for the third element, which Wilbekin said is rectifying the situation with the country music world, a huge, powerful segment of the music-buying public that will definitely be looking for retribution for the embarrassment of Swift.

Though a planned tour with Lady Gaga in the fall still appears to be on, despite a suggestion on Leno that he would be taking some time off, Wilbekin said West should “definitely take some time to be reflective and sit down for a minute. Music fans are very forgiving, I think he can overcome this, but the answer is he needs to take time, get out of the scene, not be everywhere with Amber Rose, not be in every video and heal himself.

“He’ll work through this,” Wilbekin predicted. “He’s a great talent and with Whitney Houston’s problems and Michael Jackson’s death, the black music industry cannot afford to lose Kanye West.”

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards may have wrapped, but the party is far from over. Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes updates, party reports and much more.

Related Videos

• VMA 2009: The Entire Show On Demand

Related Photos

• Kanye West’s History Of Outbursts

Related Artists

• Kanye West

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Acceptance Speech, Avant Garde Fashion, Awards Show, Career Suicide, First Moment, Gay Slur, Gil Kaufman, Howard Bragman, Irreparable Damage, Isaiah Washington, Kanye West, Kevin Mazur Wireimage, Left Turn, Musical Style, Public Relations Expert, T R Knight, Taylor Swift, Video Music Awards, Vma, Vmas