When it comes time for Eminem to release an album, he always sticks to his tried-and-true formula. The first singles are comical celebrity takedowns, featuring Em's revved-up Slim Shady persona on a track produced by Dr. Dre (think "My Name Is," "Without Me" and "The Real Slim Shady").
On "We Made You," however, the lead single from Relapse, another beatsmith set the foundation for Eminem's return: Connecticut producer Doc Ish.
The Hartford native has worked with some of the underground's finest rappers, from AZ to Talib Kweli. But when he created the beat for "We Made You," he never imagined it would land in the hands of Marshall Mathers. He originally shopped the record — with the same hook, sung by Charmagne Tripp — to Red Café, before D12 member Bizarre picked it up.
But after writing his own version of "We Made You," Bizarre called Doc Ish with news that Eminem wanted the record. Because Bizarre is such a jokester, though, Doc didn't believe him. So he hung up on him.
"He called me at a bad time, so when he was like, 'Marshall wants the record,' I was like, 'Yeah, right,' " Doc told MTV News. "He was like, 'No, seriously, I'm not playing.' And Bizarre is a comical dude, so it's hard to know if he's playing or not. I didn't have time that day; I was busy mixing a record for Saigon. So I basically hung up on him. So he called me back with his cousin, Gambino, from Hartford, and he's who I know Biz through. And [Gambino] was like, 'Ish, he's for real, he's not playing.' So they put me in touch with [Eminem's] management. I was still like, 'OK,' 'cause Bizarre plays jokes on people. But within five minutes, his management called, and they said they wanted the song. I believed in that song, but I didn't know it would make it to where it did."
The song was picked up in November of last year, and the video premiered last month on MTV.
The accomplishment served as a testament to Doc Ish's perseverance. In 2004, the producer, who suffers from lupus, endured heart problems that he struggled with into the beginning of last year. Once he finally got a grasp on things, Doc — a former rapper, who had to give up rhyming because of a lack of breath control from his condition — turned to producing with fervor. He still remains a part of his group, the Abnormals, consisting of Apollo Swyf, Colloso and Belly. But nowadays, he keeps his rhymes limited to short bursts.
In the meantime, Doc is working on a compilation album, Arbitration, that he hopes to release later this year. He's negotiating a deal for the project, which includes tracks with Sean Price, Kool G Rap and Bizarre.
He also, of course, hopes to land a track on Eminem's Relapse follow-up, due later this year.
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T.I. is finally rolling out those additional songs for the re-release of Paper Trail. On Wednesday, a record called "Don't Forget" hit the Net via the New Music Cartel, and Thursday Atlantic Records confirmed the song is the first of Tip's new singles.
"Don't Forget" is a goodbye-for-now anthem with Mary J. Blige on the hook. "Don't forget to remember me," Mary sings on the chorus. "Please keep me in your heart/ If we ever have to part." Tip lets everyone know that he is just "gone momentarily" and not to "bury" him.
"N---as jumped up, cheered when I got my time," he raps. "Like, 'Yeah. One more year I got to grind'/ But get me losing off your mind/ May I remind you/ Ain't a another n---a that been through what I been through.
"It's on when I get back, don't forget that," Tip added.
The King of the South and the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul are set to shoot the video for the new song at an undisclosed location. In previous interviews, Tip mentioned he was planning a collaboration with Fall Out Boy that was supposed to be on the original version of Paper Trail, and a possible remix of "On Top of the World" where he would include a Kanye West verse that was scrapped from the original version. Tip and Kanye recorded the song before Ludacris jumped on.
T.I. was in New York earlier this week where he spoke at an anti-gun rally with Al Sharpton and Ja Rule.
"When I get back — 'cause I will be back — you'll see me standing stronger, wiser and richer," he told the crowd about his impending jail sentence.
Source:MTV
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Beyonce and T.I. top the list of nominees for this year's BET Awards, slated to take place on June 28. Both artists snagged five nominations, with Beyoncé earning her handful with nods in Best Female R&B artist, two Best Video bids for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "If I Were a Boy," Best Female Actress for her lead roles in "Obsessed" and "Cadillac Records" and the Viewers' Choice award.
Though he won't make the ceremony because he is slated to begin a 366-day prison sentence next week on weapons charges, T.I. equaled Beyoncé, with Video of the Year and Best Collaboration nominations for "Live Your Life," a Best Collaboration nod for "Ain't I" with Yung Dro and Young LA, along with Best Male Hip-Hop Artist and Viewers' Choice noms.
Among the other multiple-nominees are Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne and T-Pain, with four nods each. Hilson earned the most nominations for a new artist, racking up Best Female R&B Artist (which also includes Keyshia Cole, Jennifer Hudson and Jazmine Sullivan), Best Collaboration and Viewers' Choice along with Best New Artist, where she'll go up against Sullivan, M.I.A., Ryan Leslie and Kid Cudi.
The show will be hosted by Jamie Foxx, who is up for several awards, including Best Male R&B artist, where he'll face The-Dream, Leslie, Ne-Yo and T-Pain; Best Collaboration for his hit "Blame It" with Pain, where he's up against Hilson, Jim Jones, T.I. and Yung L.A.; and Video of the Year, which also features competition from Kanye West ("Heartless").
The Best Female Hip-Hop Artist race pits Lil Mama against M.I.A. and Trina, while the male category will be a showdown between Wayne, Rick Ross, Tip, Kanye and Young Jeezy.
The show is currently slated to feature performances from Ne-Yo and Maxwell.
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Dungy met with Vick last week at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., where Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy.
Dungy spoke Wednesday at a workshop in Indianapolis for offenders seeking jobs. He compared Vick's situation as he nears his release from prison to theirs.
Dungy didn't discuss details of his visit with Vick but told The Associated Press that the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback made a mistake.
Vick is to be transferred May 21 to home confinement in Hampton, Va., which is scheduled to last through July.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
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Ok Ok This is the official shit. This mixtape is incredible. "Joell Ortiz Covers The Classics" Brought to you by Onsmash. Joell spits over 32 classic hip hop beats.Go ASAP and download this mixtape for free exclusively on ONSMASH!
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, locked in a verbal sideshow with Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin ever since Saturday's Game 3 of the playoff series against Dallas, apologized to Martin and his mother in his latest posting on his blog.
The billionaire team owner has been accused of calling Martin a "thug" or a "punk," depending on the account, but as Cuban said on the early Tuesday morning posting, "That has become irrelevant."
"I shouldn't have said anything. Now, the reality is that this has gotten out of hand," Cuban wrote on blogmaverick.com, with the posting titled, "An Apology to Kenyon Martin's Mom."
Mike and Mike in the Morning
ESPN NBA analyst Jon Barry breaks down the NBA playoffs. He says Mark Cuban's comments to Kenyon Martin's mother were way out of line. Jon also thinks that as well as the Cavs are playing, they will lose in five games to the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
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"When tempers and such start impacting the fan experience both in Dallas and Denver, and it requires special security, that's not what I want for Mavs or Nuggets fans. No one takes more abuse and gets more threats on the road than I do. So I know exactly how it feels," Cuban wrote. "I've also had my family and friends spit on at games in this series. So I know how unpleasant that is as well.
"So at this point I would like to apologize to you and your mom, KMart, for my comment. I should have not said anything and I was wrong. Hopefully you will accept the apology and we can move on."
The NBA will take no further action against the Mavs or Cuban for anything that happened over the past few days.
"Mark has apologized on his blog and he will be reaching out to Kenyon personally," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. "We are confident that this will be brought to an intelligent close with an adult conversation."
The Nuggets weren't happy with how the situation was resolved.
"Obviously we have voiced our concerns regarding the incidents in the stands at last night's game in Dallas with the appropriate people in the league office and have gone through the appropriate channels," Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman said Tuesday night. "We take what took place very seriously.
"Kenyon said this morning that he would have hoped that any apology [from Cuban] would have been made in private and in person to his mother and himself. Personally I feel this entire ordeal is a silly and sad commentary. Focus should be on these amazing players, the coaches, and the terrific level of basketball being played on the court by both teams."
The saga started Saturday night in the heated aftermath of Game 3 in Dallas, when the Nuggets benefited from an NBA-acknowledged officiating mistake and beat the Mavericks 106-105 for a 3-0 series lead.
Cuban stalked across the court, blew off steam at the scorer's table, then headed down a hall leading away from the court. Martin's mother, Lydia Moore, was wearing a Nuggets jersey and was standing near the base of the section he walked past, clearly in his view.
According to Cuban, a fan called the Nuggets "thugs," and he looked at Moore and said, "That includes your son."
However, Martin's agent told The Denver Post that Cuban said, "Your son is a punk."
Cuban
During Monday's shootaround in Dallas, Martin vowed to take care of things himself. "It's a little personal, and I'm going to take care of it," he said. "I'm not going to do the whole media thing, back and forth. That's his thing. I'm more of a face-to-face type of dude."
Said Nuggets coach George Karl: "Kenyon's a man. He doesn't want to discuss his problems with [reporters]. He wants to discuss his problems with Mark. I would prefer he probably do it in the summertime. That would probably be best served for both of them. Let the emotion go away and go have dinner."
According to The Denver Post, Monday night's Game 4 in Dallas proved no less incendiary. Someone poured beer on Martin's mother, and Martin's girlfriend was subjected to repeated obscenities. La La Vasquez, Carmelo Anthony's wife, ended up shouting back at the Mavericks fans, and left the game in the fourth quarter.
Martin had to find his mother in the crowd in the second period to check up on her, and even Nuggets coach Jamahl Mosley left his spot on the bench to check on her.
Martin
"I probably would use an uglier word than hostile," Karl said of the crowd Monday night. "I don't think it was very classy."
Chapman was in the crowd. "Short of a game I saw in Belgrade a couple of years ago where they were throwing chairs and setting off flares, it was about as dangerous a venue I've been in," Chapman told The Denver Post.
Chauncey Billups, who said his wife also got into a confrontation Monday night, acknowledged the Nuggets were worried about what was happening in the stands.
"It's a distraction. You get your family to travel and try to support you -- it's the only support that you have in the arena -- but you've got to worry about their safety and their well-being," Billups said. "And that's not right."
Billups added that "families should always be off-limits. They're coming to enjoy the game, support their loved ones."
The Mavericks took Tuesday off and Martin, who exchanged words with Cuban as he left the court after the game, didn't speak with reporters following the team's short film session Tuesday. But Billups called Cuban's apology inadequate.
"No, that's unacceptable, man. That's just not right. You're the owner of a team. You're held at a different standard as far as professionalism," Billups said. "Yeah, you can root for your team, but that's just not right. That's not acceptable."
In the blog posting, Cuban invited the families of Martin and other Nuggets players to watch the next game from his suite with his family, should the series return to Dallas (the Nuggets currently lead the series 3-1, with Game 5 Wednesday in Denver).
If the Nuggets' families did not want that, he would provide a separate suite, free of charge, and give them additional security.
"We tried to have enough additional security for them tonight as well, but I know your family and friends didn't feel as comfortable as they should. I apologize for that as well. This arena is my responsibility, we could and should do a better job," Cuban wrote.
Because he had promised his wife long ago that he would attend an advertising awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Cuban will not be at Game 5.
"Then I hope we both take the advice of your coach and can get together this summer," Cuban wrote. "Dinner for you and your family is on me."
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Ciara and Jay-Z are planning to tour together this summer, although no dates have been confirmed, Ciara's rep told MTV News on Tuesday (May 12).
"I will say it because the information has been leaked. Me and Jay-Z will be doing a 10-city tour run together! More details coming soon!" Ciara Tweeted on Monday night.
However, a rep for Jay-Z told MTV News that the tour would not include 10 cities. Further details were not revealed.
Billboard reported Tuesday that the dates will include stops at on July 3 and 4 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, July 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, and July 12 in Atlanta. In June, Ciara will support Britney Spears on the European leg of the "Circus" tour in June.
Ciara, whose latest album Fantasy Ride was released last week, appeared on "Saturday Night Live" (with Justin Timberlake on keyboards) and David Letterman's show in the past few days.
Last week, she told MTV News about filming the steamy video for her collaboration with Timberlake, "Love Sex Magic."
"Let me tell you — it's so funny, I have to say this," she said. "I had to lick his ear and do all that fun stuff and bite it. And he had a moment where he was kind of licking on my neck. We were both going back and forth. We were really just freestyling. And Miss Diane [Martel, the director] wanted something edgy, and we all wanted to find a cool way to do it. And that just felt right.
"It was really funny because you would have moments where she would go, 'What we're gonna do now is the licking and the kissing on the neck and we're gonna do this take, then cut. OK, we need one more take of that,' " Ciara continued. "And so it's licking on the neck, again, then his biting on my neck, again. It was really funny."
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}