Drake's new video for "Best I Ever Had," directed by Kanye West, premiered Wednesday night. In it, Drizzy coaches a basketball team of well-endowed female lovelies, clad in revealing pink uniforms, who face a more focused and skillful squad of women. Coach Drake doesn't seem heartbroken that his hoopers won't exactly draw comparisons to the Dream Team.
"Some of us younger men, we refer to our affiliation with women like a roster," Drake explained the clip's concept to MTV News. "You have key women in your life when you're single and doing your thing."
"Best I Ever Had" is the first video from his debut LP, Thank Me Later, which he aims to release later this year, now that he's signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money label. Of course he does. He's red-hot right now, thanks to the mixtape So Far Gone.
"I just gotta get this tour knocked out," he said earlier this week, smiling about going on the road as part of the America's Most Wanted Music Festival, which will feature Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy Tell'em and Young Jeezy. "I am working on [the album] right now. I've actually started. I was in the studio with Pharrell, and it's basically a pretty lax process for us.
"Basically, So Far Gone worked," he continued, telling about his strategy for the highly anticipated LP. "So, let's just try to do it again. You know, let's try and act as if we were making a second disc to So Far Gone."
Source : MTVNEWSRead more…
Instead of scrambling to dismiss Jay-Z’s claims on “Death of AutoTune,” the technology’s creator Antares Audio is using the superstar’s stance for product advertisement.
Dubbed the “next generation” of professional pitch correction, Antares Audio has created Auto-Tune Evo.
The new technology immediately deciphers the pitch of any inputted information, and finds the closest match in the scale the user specifies for pitch correction.
Included are minor, major, chromatic, and 26 other historical and microtonal scales.
Other new features for the product are real-time pitch shifting, throat modeling (vocal character modification), a redesigned user interface, and many more.
Hailed as a breakthrough upon its 1997 release, the Auto-Tune primarily was utilized to correct pitch and phrasing mistakes made by singers in their vocal performances.
Through other settings, the device can also be used to create dramatic distortions of the human voice such as echoing, and the now-famous computerized vocal effect first heard on Cher’s 1998 hit “I Believe.”
In recent years, the device has come to dominate the charts after prominent use from hit songwriter T-Pain and Kanye West on his multi-platinum album 808s & Heartbreak.
The Auto-Tune is often confused with its predecessor the talkbox (used by Roger Troutman, Peter Frampton, and Bon Jovi).
That device modifies the sound of instruments when a musician uses different speech sounds via a tube inserted in their mouths.
Jay-Z has stated his new single was created due to the Auto-Tune’s oversaturation, culminating with the mogul hearing the effect used in a Wendy’s commercial.
In a new press release, their new product is dubbed the “unequivocal response” to Jay-Z’s claims, asserting the Auto-Tune effect will remain a staple of the music industry.
However, the company does not address whether their creation will continue to have a future as a robotic vocal effect, or simply return to its original use of pitch correction.
At press time, Jay-Z could not be reached for comment.
Source: AllHipHopRead more…
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Alexis Arguello, who fought in one of boxing's most classic brawls and reigned supreme at 130 pounds (59 kilograms), was found dead at his home early Wednesday.
Coroners were conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Sandanista Party's Radio Ya and other local media were reporting it appeared to be a suicide.
The La Prensa newspaper reported that Arguello — elected mayor of Nicaragua's capital last year — was found with a gunshot wound to the chest.
The 57-year-old Arguello retired from boxing in 1995 with a record of 82-8 with 65 knockouts and was a champion in three weight divisions. He was perhaps best known for two thrilling battles with Aaron Pryor and fights with Ray Mancini, Bobby Chacon and Ruben Olivares.
"I'm kind of in a daze right now. I can't believe what I'm hearing," Pryor told The Associated Press. "Those were great fights we had. This was a great champion."
Nicknamed "The Explosive Thin Man," Arguello was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992, where flags were flying at half-staff in his honor on Wednesday.
In 1999, a panel of experts assembled by The AP voted Arguello the best junior lightweight and sixth-best lightweight of the 20th century. He never lost at 130 pounds (59 kilograms), and his popularity in his own country was so great that he carried the flag for Nicaragua at the Beijing Olympics.
"Not only was he one of the greatest fighters I've ever seen, he was the most intelligent fighter," Bob Arum, who promoted some of his biggest fights, told The Associated Press. "He was a ring tactician. Every move was thought out. And he was a wonderful, wonderful person."
Arguello turned pro in 1968 and promptly lost his first bout. He didn't lose much more, and six years later knocked out Olivares in the 13th round to win the world featherweight title.
Arguello went on to win the super featherweight and lightweight titles, his 1.78-meter (5-foot-10) frame allowing him to move up in weight without losing his tremendous punching power. At the time, he was only the sixth boxer to win championships in three weight classes, and was considered for a while the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Panama's Roberto Duran, another world champion at three weights, expressed disbelief.
"I can't believe it. He was my friend, my brother," Duran said. "His death is a great loss for world boxing and a much greater loss for Nicaragua."
The retired Oscar De La Hoya said: "I felt sad receiving the news and still find it hard to believe. Alexis was my idol. When I was young, I heard so much about him and his fights and loved his style in the ring. In my opinion he was one of the biggest and most influential fighters boxing has ever produced."
De La Hoya said Arguello attended his fight against Steve Forbes in May 2008, which was De La Hoya's last victory.
"We shared some great moments together before and after the fight," he said. "Arguello was definitely a legend in the boxing world because of all the joy he brought to his fans with his unforgettable career and amazing personality."
"It was a brutal, brutal fight," Arum said. "That was something I will never, ever forget as long as I live. That was one of the most memorable fights I ever did."
The bout was named "Fight of the Year" and "Fight of the Decade" by Ring Magazine, but was shrouded by controversy. Pryor's trainer, Panama Lewis, gave him a water bottle after the 13th round that many believe contained an illegal substance - an accusation Pryor denied.
A rematch was ordered and they met again a year later at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This time, Pryor knocked out Arguello in the 10th round.
"We always talk to each other about that first fight," Pryor said. "I never went into the fight knowing I could beat Alexis, I just went into the fight to beat Alexis."
Arguello announced after the fight that he would retire from boxing, but as so often happens in the sport, Arguello couldn't stay away from the ring.
He returned to win two fights in 1985 and 1986, then didn't step in the ring until 1994, when he made a brief comeback. He retired for good the following year.
"Alexis Arguello was a first-class fighter and a first-class gentleman," said Hall of Fame executive director Edward Brophy. "The Hall of Fame joins the boxing community in mourning the loss of a great champion and friend."
Arguello fought against the Sandinista government in the 1980s after it seized his property and bank account, but later joined the party and ran for mayor of the capital last November. He defeated Eduardo Montealegre, though opponents alleged the vote was fraudulent.
Arguello had returned Sunday from Puerto Rico, where he honored the late baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. His death prompted Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega to announced he was canceling a trip to Panama for the inauguration of President-elect Ricardo Martinelli.
"We are upset," presidential spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said. "This is a heartbreaking announcement. He was the champion of the poor, an example of forgiveness and reconciliation."
Source:FoxSportsRead more…
Sunday's BET Awards may have scored its largest audience for the network, but the event’s producers are coming under fire for a performance featuring Grammy winning rap star Lil Wayne. The entertainer’s set, which featured fellow rapper Drake and a troupe of teenage dancers, was met with criticism from Columbia University clinical instructor Dr. Janet Taylor, who questioned BET CEO Debra Lee for green lighting Lil Wayne’s performance of his hit song “Every Girl” despite the risqué dance from the teens on stage.
“Perhaps, they are what our kids are used to. I have teenagers, girls no less, who have heard the song and like it,” Taylor told MomLogic.com while referencing the song’s lyrics. “My problem was with the preteens who were proudly onstage, shaking their groove thang to this misogynistic, disrespectful song. It was ridiculous. Debra Lee, the CEO of BET, also the mother of two children, should be asking herself who approved this and how these young girls were allowed to be a part of this 'act.'"
Taylor’s comments come days after an emotional night at the BET Awards.
Nielsen Media Research shows the Jamie Foxx-hosted show, which was dedicated to the memory of music icon Michael Jackson, was a ratings success by drawing the cable channel’s largest audience on record with an average of 10.65 million viewers.
As a result, the viewership of this year’s BET Awards was more than any other cable broadcast this year and more than any prime-time show on the major networks.
Despite this, the scholar stated how her daughters thought the rapper's performance "'was strange' and inappropriate."
"They were embarrassed for the girls. I agree," Taylor added.
Representatives have not responded to the criticism as of press time.
Source :RGFRead more…
DETROIT (AP) — Gunmen in a minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school on Tuesday, wounding seven, the authorities said.
Five of the teenagers had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy, where they were taking summer classes, when they were shot.
The gunmen exited a vehicle and “asked for a person by name” before they “opened fire at the crowd,” said the Detroit Public Schools police chief, Roderick Grimes.
The police were looking for two men in a green minivan, said a spokesman, Rod Liggons, adding that officers were interviewing some of the victims in the hospital.
The wounded teenagers, four boys and three girls, are ages 14 to 17, Mr. Liggons said. Two of them are in critical condition, he said.
A gas station owner, Steve Hakim, said he had seen two people with T-shirts covering their heads run across his lot toward the bus stop. Then, Mr. Hakim said, he heard about 10 gunshots, saw a boy and a girl fall and called 911.
The police were reviewing video taken from the gas station’s security cameras, Mr. Hakim said.
A schools spokesman, Steve Wasko, said there was “nothing that we’re aware of at this time” linking the shootings with any fight or dispute at the school. Mr. Wasko said the shootings happened at 2:15 p.m., about 15 minutes after summer school students had been dismissed for the day.
Imam Abdullah El-Amin, an owner of Numan Funeral Home near the intersection where the shooting took place, said drug dealing, prostitution and “hopelessness” were common in the area.
“It’s terrible that these things are just laying there, festering, in society — time bombs waiting to happen,” said Mr. El-Amin, a candidate for the City Council.
Source : New York TimesRead more…
Juelz Santana reacted on twitter to Jay-Z reportedly blocking Chris Brown from performing on the BET Awards
"i take nothin away from Jay-Z," he wrote. "i dont wanna sound like a Hater but his swagger was on Zero yesterday. & i just heard thru the grape vine that Jay-Z said he would not Perform if Chris Brown was gonna perform.. SMH Sucker Move I woulda rather seen Chris Brown come out & do his tribute to [Michael Jackson]. It woulda been the 1st time he Performed since ? I know he woulda Killed it. ok Tweople. Yall do the Math. MJ just died the show as a Tribute to MJ. so not only does he say he down want chris to perform & do what would of been probably the best MJ tribute, but he coulda atleast did H-to tha IZOO cuz it has the MJ beat and Put MJ's name in it." (Juelz Santana's Twitter)
Source : SOHHRead more…
The teenager who is thought to be the sole survivor of the Indian Ocean aircraft crash was not wearing a life jacket and could not swim, according to her father.
Rescuers found her in the dark in a sea of bodies, clinging to a piece of debris and surrounded by a fuel slick.
"We tried to throw a lifebuoy but she could not grab it so I had to jump in the water to get her," a police rescuer told France's Europe 1 radio.
Named as Baya Bakari, the 14-year-old girl originally lived in Paris before moving to the southern French city of Marseille, and had been travelling with her mother to the Comoros.
The Yemenia Airways plane with 153 people on board crashed in windy weather on Monday as it came in to land in the Comoros Islands.
Baya is thought to have been 'ejected' from the striken aircraft as it broke up.
Baya's father Kassim Bakari
"She felt nothing, and was found in the water. She heard people talking around her but saw nobody during the night," her father, Kassim Bakari said.
According to her father, waves crashed over his daughter as she fought off extreme tiredness and hypothermia to hold on to the wreckage for up to 12 hours.
She was surrounded by corpses, clothes, suitcases, and even passports and photographs of victims.
Baya managed to climb on to a portion of wreckage - believed to be part of the plane's cabin - but kept slipping back into the oily sea.
"I never thought she would get out like that - it's the Good Lord who wanted it," said Mr Bakari who remains in Paris.
The exhausted girl was pulled from choppy seas at around 4.00am and is now in the at the El Maarouf hospital.
"She is conscious, she is speaking, but we are trying to warm her up because she was freezing," Dr Ada Mansour said.
"We are trying to get her back in shape, but we are not asking her too many questions as not to tire her," he said.
Search craft being readied
The ageing Airbus 310 was coming in to land in Moroni during severe turbulence and howling winds and was on the last leg of a flight from Yemen, with passengers connecting from Paris and Marseille.
Most passengers were from Comoros and 66 were said to be French nationals.
Baya lived with her family, including an uncle, in Marseille's 14th district, and was originally from the archipelago's southeast village of Nioumadzaha.
Dr Mansour added that the earlier reports of a five-year-old boy surviving the crash have not been confirmed.
They were "based on information received from boats near the search site, but I have not seen him," Dr Mansour said.
The French army has arrived from the nearby overseas départment of Réunion with rescue craft and a helicopter will take part today in search operations, Comoran government spokesman Kamaleddin Afraitane said.
Baya's missing mum, Aziza
A French government minister said the plane's black boxes may have been located.
A statement from Airbus said the crashed plane originally went into service in 1990 and had accumulated 51,900 flight hours, and had been operated by Yemenia since 1999.
It was the second fatal Airbus aircraft ocean plunge last month.
Source: News.Sky.ComRead more…
The New York City Council approved a new bill today (June 30) that a major thoroughfare Run-DMC JMJ Way, in Hollis Queens, will be named after legendary rap group Run-DMC.
The bill, which was introduced by Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie (D-27) passed today during the Council’s Stated Meeting in City Hall.
Once Mayor Michael Bloomberg signs the bill into law, the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue will officially be renamed after the pioneering Hip-Hop group.
Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell grew up in Hollis, a borough of New York immortalized on tracks like “Hollis Crew” "Raising Hell," and the holiday anthem “Christmas in Hollis.”
They formed Run-DMC in 1982 at the behest of Simmons’ older brother Russell, who went on to form Rush Artist Management and the legendary Def Jam record label, with Rick Rubin.
The group went on to accomplish a number of first’s for Hip-Hop culture.
Run-DMC was one of the early act rap acts to perform on American Bandstand, the first rap group with gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums, the first rap group to receive a Grammy nomination, the first rap act to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, the first rappers to make a video appearance on MTV and numerous other accomplishments.
Run-DMC was officially inducted into the Rock &Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.
“Given their historic accomplishments, Run D.M.C. is a tremendous source of pride for the Hollis community I represent,” Council Member Comrie told AllHipHop.com. “Their dedication and hard work has inspired countless others and they have given back generously to this community. Most recently, Mr. McDaniels donated numerous memorabilia for the establishment of the Hollis Hip Hop Museum, which is located in the Hollis Famous Burger establishment on 203rd Street and Hollis Avenue.”
The accomplishment also marks the first time a major New York City street has been renamed after a Hip-Hop group.
Council Member Comrie also stated he hopes the move will help revitalized the Hollis, Queens community with new business.
“I have chosen the 205th Street location because it is in proximity to the museum and also is the site of a famous mural of the group’s late member, Mr. Mizell. It is my sincere hope that this street renaming, combined with the museum, will help to economically revitalize this particular neighborhood as a potential tourism attraction.”
Source : AllHipHopRead more…
Michael Jackson suffered from crippling insomnia and pleaded for a powerful sedative in the days leading up to his death, according to a nutritionist who was working for the pop star.
Cherilyn Lee said that she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug, Diprivan, which is given intravenously. The singer told her that he had been given it in the past by an unnamed doctor.
Several months ago, Jackson had begun badgering Ms Lee about Diprivan, also known as Propofol, she told the Associated Press. It is an anaesthetic drug widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness, generally given through an IV needle in the hand.
The powerful drug has a very narrow therapeutic window, meaning it does not take doses much larger than the medically recommended amount to stop a person's breathing, leading to cardiac arrest.
The LA coroner's office performed an autopsy on the 50-year-old singer's body on Friday but deferred a decision on the cause of death, ordering toxicology tests. A second, private autopsy has been requested by the family, over concern about his final hours. Persistent reports claim that Jackson was addicted to painkillers and other prescription medicines.
The Jackson family has questioned the role of the singer’s physician, Conrad Murray, who was with him when he collapsed. It took as long as 30 minutes for paramedics to be called after Dr Murray found Jackson with a faint pulse and performed CPR.
Lawyers for Dr Murray, who had been treating Jackson for three years and who had recently moved into the rented mansion, have issued a categorical denial that the doctor had administered an injection of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, to Jackson before his death.
Ms Lee, 56, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, said she received a frantic phone call from Jackson's staff on June 21 that the star needed her. She was in Florida at the time and told the staff member to take him to hospital.
"At that point, I knew that somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system," she said, adding, "He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out."
Jackson, 50, died on June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest, his family said. "I don't know what happened there. The only thing I can say is he was adamant about this drug," Ms Lee said. She said that previously she had warned Jackson against using Diprivan.
"I said, 'Michael, the only problem with you taking this medication' — and I had a chill in my body and tears in my eyes three months ago — 'the only problem is you're going to take it and you're not going to wake up," she recalled.
"He said, 'No, my doctor said it's safe. It works quick and it's safe as long as somebody's here to monitor me and wake me up. It's going to be OK,'" Ms Lee said. She said he did not give the doctor's name.
Londell McMillan, attorney for Katherine and Joe Jackson, told CNN: "I wonder why anyone would make a comment about something that they don't have much knowledge about. They didn't see the drug administered. It's again because of the Michael Jackson factor."
The Jackson family is planning to take the pop star's body to his Neverland ranch on Thursday. A public wake is planned for Friday and tens of thousands of fans are expected to attend.
The family is said to be planning a private memorial service at the remote 2,500-acre ranch in Santa Barbara County on Sunday. Plans for Jackson's funeral remain unclear.
Neverland, named after Peter Pan's island where boys never grew up, was dedicated to the pop legend's obsession with childhood. At its height, Neverland featured its own amusement park, a private zoo with giraffes and tigers and statues of children at play. Jackson left the estate after his acquittal on charges in 2005 that he molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003 at the estate.
It had fallen into disrepair but recently has been partly refurbished by a real-estate investment company that took joint ownership with Jackson last year.
Jackson left his multi-million pound estate to be held in trust for his children by his mother who is appointed as their guardian, according to reports. But the pop star left nothing to his father Joe whom he accused of abusing him as a child.
The existence of the will drafted by Jackson in 2002, emerged as his parents swiftly moved to take control of his assets in court. The Jackson family have now received a copy of the will which will be verified in court.
Jackson's former lawyer, John Branca, is named as an executor, as is veteran music executive John McClain, who was also a friend of Jackson. His parents have asked a judge to make Katherine Jackson, the star's mother, administrator of his estate.
A judge has granted Mrs Jackson, 79, temporary guardianship of Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7. Another hearing is scheduled for Monday July 6.
Source: TimesOnlineRead more…
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