Common has announced details of his upcoming album, including the appearance of Lily Allen.
The rapper will release Finding Forever on July 10th and has said that Lily Allen and Kanye West will be among those collaborating. Production will be looked after by Kanye, will.i.am, Devo Springsteen and the great J Dilla. Of the album, he said:
I want to leave a mark on this earth. By making music and saying what I have to say in my music is one of the ways I will exist forever.”
Phil Spector, who is accused of shooting and killing actress Lana Clarkson at his LA mansion in 2003, is in more hot water according to reports.
It is alleged that he said “all women deserve to die” to American talk show host Joan Rivers’ at a Christmas party in 1995. Ex-policeman Vincent Tannazzo reportedly heard Spector say: “They (women) all deserve to die. They all deserve a bullet in their fucking head…That’s why I got permits for all over. Wherever I go, I always keep a gun because they’re all no fucking good.”
The problems keep piling up for Spector in this case, as an ex-girlfriend of his has claimed he put a gun to her head in the 1970’s and said “Just so you know, I’ll blow your head off”, The Daily Mirror reports. Prosecutors are arguing that these incidents showed the death of Ms Clarkson fitted “a recurring, common plan used to intimidate women into staying with him”.
Spector has pleaded not guilty and is currently free on a $1,000,000 bail.
Groove Armada are to headline this year’s Lovebox Weekender.
The event will take place on the 21st and 22nd of July, and will also feature the return of the B52s who pulled out of last year’s Wireless festival.
Lovebox Weekender will take place in Victoria Park in London and will see the likes of Scratch Perverts, Freeform Five, Last Man Standing, Tiga and more on the bill.
Connecticut is on the verge of having an official state punk song, the two new bills being considered.
The state uses Yankee Doodle as it’s official song but is currently considering both a state punk and a state polka song to add to it.
The punk song is a 1983 track by Punkesta, an informal group of local musicians who recorded Connecticut Fun. It implores the listeners to come out and enjoy punk music in the state and the representative of Connecticut said:
“We can move something like this through the legislative process, and it gives us a chance to step back and giggle a little. I’d love this to be the state punk-rock song. If you can’t step back and have a little fun, then you’re taking yourself too seriously.”
James Iha has categorically denied that he is going to be on the new Smashing Pumpkins album.
The former guitarist is concentrating on his solo album and running his own indie label, and went on to say that he will not be joining them on their tour this spring and summer.
He said that he hasn’t spoken to Billy Corgan “in years” and so the only original members on board so far as Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain.
18 Visions have split up, an announcement on their MySpace confirmed.
The band formed in 1996 and released records on Trustkill and two on major label Epic. Their final album was the self titled record released last year and the bass player of the band said:
“After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our seperate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish.
At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Whether it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life. We will be playing our final two shows in April. One in San Diego and one in Orange County. Come rock with us one more time.”
A singles collection of D.O.A’s best moment is being released.
Punk Rock Singles 1978-1999 will feature 26 tracks collecting every single and B side from Disco Sucks to the present day. The whole set of tracks has been remastered and is set for release this month. The tracklisting for the collection is:
Disco Sucks
Nazi Training Camp
Royal Police
Woke Up Screaming
The Prisoner
13 (1978)
World War 3
Whatcha Gonna Do? (1979)
Fucked Up Ronnie
The Enemy
My Old Man’s A Bum
New Wave Sucks (1981)
Fuck You
Burn It Down (1982)
General Strike
That’s Life (1983)
Billy and the Socreds (1986)
The Only Thing Green
Folsom Prison Blues, (1993)
It’s Not Unusual
Dead Men Tell No Tales (1994)
Marijuana Motherfucker (1996)
Beat ‘Em, Bust’Em (1997)
World Falls Apart
Used to Be Revolution (1998)
Nervous Breakdown (1999)
Three months after DJ Drama’s office was raided by the RIAA and the Georgia Police, when 81,000 CDs were confiscated as evidence, along with cash and cars, the DJ has spoken out.
The DJ, who was done for illegally putting out mixtapes, a staple of the rap world which brought about the rise of 50 Cent, The Game and Jay Z, said:
“A lot of the impact is still up in the air because people are waiting to see what comes of our situation. But, I try to look at everything in a positive manner. The mixtape game needs to change for the better. People need to learn from this…
I’ve heard the ‘mixtape martyr’ term, but I don’t go backward, I go forward. Not just where does DJ Drama go, but where does the mixtape game go from here? People need to realize how important mixtapes are to hip-hop and the music business. Just look at the careers of people like 50 Cent, Young Jeezy, DJ Clue, and Jay-Z. There are people in very powerful industry positions that owe a lot to mixtapes.”
A lot has been made of the confiscation and some reports state it stems from his not putting his address on the CDs, though he claimed it was just something he never did.
The Game is the latest rapper to get in trouble with the police, by impersonating them!
The rapper is charged with impersonation of a police officer after he was caught in a cab that ran several red lights. The cab driver said that The Game had flashed a badge and told him he was an undercover cop, telling the driver to run the lights.
Game and his attourney have denied the charges but he didn’t help his cause by missing his court date at the end of last month.
The Cure frontman Robert Smith will be collaborating with pop singer Ashlee Simpson on her next album it has been revealed.
Ashlee Simpson is, of course, the airhead that got her lip-synching wrong on Saturday Night Live and was booed out of the stadium by 70,000 fans at an American Football match.
Why Smith is working with her is anyone’s guess but reports were flying around that their mutual friendship of Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy was the reason, though he has denied this. It is also possible that their being on the same label might have something to do with it.