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My copy of the Japanese release of "Let's Get Physical" arrived today.
In addition to the executive producers previously mentioned, Rupert "Q 45" Blake is also credited, to go along with Diddy, Chris Chin, Harve Pierre and Willie Daniels. Here are the track by track producers:
1. "Ready Fi Di Video"
Produced by Mark Pinnock for Natural Bridge Productions.
2. "Drop Dead"
Produced by Stephen McGregor for Big Ship Productions.
3. "The Way We Roll (Remix)" featuring Busta Rhymes and Shaggy
Produced by Cipha Sounds and Solitair. Remixed by Willie Daniels for Tropical Blendz Inc.
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Elephant Man. Ele. The Energy God. Whatever you call him, he's one of the biggest stars in dancehall. Signing someone at the top of their genre is a big deal, though I'm not sure that Bad Boy (and Diddy) got enough credit for this one. In doing so, they have virtually guaranteed that Bad Boy's first dancehall/reggae release will be a memorable one. His Bad Boy debut, "Let's Get Physical", is due out on November 6.
Solitair gave an interview where he said that he and Cipha Sounds produced a track for you that Diddy and Busta Rhymes got on.
I'm playing that track. "This is the Way We Roll".
Can you tell me about the track, what it's called and whether or not it made the album?
The track you're talking about, with me, Busta Rhymes and Shaggy, it's called "This is The Way We Roll".
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Here are Bad Boy's positions on the latest Hot 100 chart:
86. "Hood Figga" by Gorilla Zoe (a new high, up from 95).
Yung Joc came on toward the end of the show and performed a different rendition of "Coffee Shop" then he has been performing. It was a live band version and it sounded a little difference. Joc's last verse was very different as they switched up the music and he changed his flow. To be honest, I didn't like it. But, hey, it's different. Zoe was not there.
They played "Bottle Poppin" to end the show. It was given a similar treatment. This one, I liked, though. The performance will be viewable on the Jimmy Kimmel Live site. It's not up, yet, though.
Edit: It's 12:05 PM ET, not 11:05 PM ET. Sorry for the confusion.
According to the Bad Boy MySpace, Yung Joc will be performing "Coffee Shop" and "Bottle Poppin" on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight. The show starts at 12:05 PM ET on ABC.
The B5 dance contest prizes have been revealed. The winner will win an iPhone, a call from B5 and autographed pictures of the guys. Enter here.
I just finished interviewing Elephant Man, so look out for that, but I did want to go ahead and report something that he told me before anyone else did (I don't think anyone has, but I could be wrong). I asked him if, with the Japanese release in mind, he's added any tracks to the album for the U.S. release. He said yes and described the 4 tracks.
There are 3 solo tracks. One called "Feed the Floor With It", another called "Fun It and Cool It" and then a third, unnamed track, produced by Swizz Beatz.
The 4th track, titled "Get You Wet", features Chris Brown. So, if the tracklist on CD Universe is accurate, it will now look something like this:
"Ready Fi Di Video"
"Drop Dead"
"The Way We Roll (Remix)" featuring Busta Rhymes and Shaggy
"Willie Bounce"
"Throw Your Hands Up" featuring Rihanna
"Five-O" featuring Wyclef Jean and Diddy Wyclef & Diddy
"Gangster World" featuring Rehka
"Shake That A** Is On Fire"
"That La La" featuring Mya
"Like A Snake" featuring Don Omar
"Wave Ya Rag"
"Real Pimps"
"Five-O (Remix)" featuring Wyclef, Swizz Beats, Assassin, Yung Joc and Diddy
"Feed the Floor"
"Fun It and Cool It"
"Get You Wet" featuring Chris Brown
Unnamed Solo Track
Singer Sean Kingston has revealed that he is going to play Biggie in the upcoming Biggie biopic, "Notorious".
“When I first heard about that movie, it was through management. They told me (and) I auditioned for it and I met with the director. I nailed it and he gave me a shot now at being in the movie."
The Detroit Free Press has a quick interview with Robert from the Making the Band 4 group.
""We're going to go ahead and bang out this album and get ready to do what Bad Boy artists do," says a tired Curry, who celebrates his 23rd birthday next week. "It seems unreal. It just seems like a dream. It hasn't really hit me yet. It hit me when I woke up this morning and I had to get up to do two interviews with radio stations in New York. Then I had to do 'TRL' and now we're doing '106 & Park' and I just made the band yesterday. It's crazy. It's just like a dream." ...
"I couldn't have chosen it better myself. Diddy is a marketing genius. So I knew he knew what to do," Curry says. "He made the perfect pick, and he made Donnie a solo artist. That was amazing."
thestar has an interview with Diddy, relating to the launch of Unforgivable in Malaysia.
“I am completely involved in everything that has my name on it. I worked with the team of creative people on the scent and the packaging. I had them flying down to my house in Miami for smelling sessions all the time.
“When I was a kid, I used to mix different flavours of Kool Aid and create the most unique and exotic combinations. So this stuff is really in my DNA,” he said.
It looks like "Block Boy" by Yung Joc featuring Block is an iTunes exclusive track. I spoke with someone that has both the Best Buy and Circuit City editions and neither one has "Block Boy". The fact that it's on iTunes and not on those would most likely have to mean that it is an iTunes exclusive bonus track. So, if you want it, be sure to buy the album on iTunes.
You can listen to snippets of "Let's Get Physical" at HMV. It's not in English, but just scroll down to the links with speakers and click on the text to the right. A media player will open and you'll be able to cycle through the tracks.
24HourHipHop.com has some, if not recent, interviews with assorted Bad Boy artists that are worth reading. Check them out:
Gorilla Zoe
Yung Joc
Elephant Man
Boyz N Da Hood
It looks like it did. See here. If you search, you can find import copies at other stores and on eBay and so on. It looks like, even though it go pushed back in the U.S., it got released in Japan. I've placed an order and will have more if it ships/when I get it.
I've got a phone interview with Elephant Man tomorrow (Thursday, August 30) at 3:30 PM ET. What would you like me to ask him? If you have any questions, please throw them out there (as many as you would like) and I'll be glad to ask them if I can. Thanks!
Newsday has a review of "Hustlenomics".
Yung Joc, like a lot of today's rappers, seems to have put together his new album "Hustlenomics" (Bad Boy South/Atlantic) the way politicians craft their campaign platforms - a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of pandering.
Yung Joc was on TRL today. They talked about pranks on Screamfest. When they first did the tour, T.I. told Joc that he was gonna be the prankster, so watch out. They caught T.I. sleeping in his dressing room, put shaving cream on his hand and put something on his head, making him slap himself, getting shaving cream on his face.
Joc and T-Pain got Ciara by putting mustard packs in her shoes. Ciara was doing an in store and some little girl told her she had yellow stuff coming out of her shoe, according to Joc. He said that he needs to get T-Pain and Lloyd back, though, because his security let them in his hotel room (he said he'll after to fire his security) and he woke up with a toothpaste hairline.
They talked about the MSG show. Joc called it a "phenomenal moment for hip hop". After watching Chamillionaire's "Hip Hop Police" video, they asked him what he thought of it and he said it looked like Chamillionaire took some tips from the "Coffee Shop" video (as far as playing different characters).
They talked about what hustling is (and the difference between a hustler and a player), the album and the "Coffee Shop" video. A funny moment was when Aly (Aly & A.J. were hosting) was saying how you could buy the "Coffee Shop" ring tone and she said the wrong number and Joc said "thank you" and "have to get them checks right" and A.J. was dying. No performance for Joc on today's show, but some good face time, anyway.
The Real takes a funny look at the famous "Don't be mad, UPS is hiring" line from the "Flava in Ya Ear" remix. Watch below.
Via AllHipHop.com.
AllHipHop.com has an interview with Boyz N Da Hood.
AlHipHop.com: What have you learned from being in Boyz N Da Hood?
Jody Breeze: Patience. Obedience. Playing your part. Being in a group with so many different personalities….I can’t even describe it. I can understand what N.W.A. went through. I can understand what TLC went through. Any group….all of them go through the same things because everybody got their opinion. You just got to make the best of the situation.
Via Theo in the forums.
From OurSports Central:
Qwanell, better known as "Que," was selected as one of Starz in Motion's first Semi-Finalists at the debut of Shooting Starz Talent Competition back in March 2006 at the ABA League Championship Game in Rochester, New York. He auditioned at the local Rochester open auditions and won the spot to perform at the game, where he competed against 5 other artists. The crowd had a tough choice determining the winner between Que and "The Krew." Although Que was not the audience choice at this time, primarily due to song selection, his passion drove him further to try out for "Making the Band," where his talent, charisma, and dedication proved successful.
DJBooth.net has a review of "Hustlenomics".
In the end Hustlenomics is a decent album that tries so hard to please everyone it loses its own identity. If Joc and Bad Boy are hustlers selling hip-hop, what does that make anyone who buys his album? I’m not hating, I just can’t shake the feeling I’m being hustled.
Joc's performance of "Coffee Shop" opened the show at the #10 spot on the countdown. Gorilla Zoe performed his verse and they did the whole song. It went well. During the interview portion, Joc mentioned that he's headed to Japan, the U.K. and Germany after Screamfest ends. He also said that with his next video, technology is taking over. It'll be a concept that when people see it, they'll wonder why they didn't think of it.
According to the Bad Boy MySpace, Joc will be on MTV's TRL at 1:00 PM ET.
Elephant Man will be at Webster Hall in New York City on September 2. Check out the flier below.
Updating a previous story, from MTV:
After [the Screamfest show in New York], Tip, Swizz Beatz and Maino joined Yung Joc, the rest of Block Entertainment and executives from the Warner Music Group for dinner in NYC. Afterward, T.I. joined the Roc-A-Fella family at the 40/40 Club. Somewhere during the night, 50 Cent got the chance to sneak in some time to make an "I Get Money" remix with Jay-Z and Diddy. Diddy told radio personality Miss Info that it's the "Billion Dollar" remix.
Miss Info has this:
... while I was talking to Diddy, he confirmed to me what I posted about that “I Get Money” remix, featuring him, Hov and 50. Diddy called it the Billion Dollar remix but he couldnt say whether Kanye’s verse would ever be cleared. Thanks for keeping it real, Puff.
Wow. Crazy.
Via Hip Hop Galaxy.
From The New York Times:
Mr. McLoone, who was also a television commentator for the New York City Marathon for 10 years, was able to mix his two passions one year when he wore a field microphone and interviewed Sean Combs, known as Diddy, while both of them were running.
“He was having a rough time,” Mr. McLoone said. “I actually coached him. But when I was running with Diddy through the streets of Harlem, it was like running with Elvis through the streets of Memphis. Very exciting.”
MTV has reflections from T.I., 50 Cent and Swizz Beatz on the big Screamfest show in New York where T.I., 50, Swizz, Diddy, Kanye and Jay-Z all shared the stage.
"Just anybody couldn't have gotten all those people up there at one time," T.I. boasted. "It has to be a person of great reputation with great social standing in this neighborhood we call hip-hop. I'm real proud of that. It's not a lot of people who's cool with 50 and cool with Puff and good with Kanye and cool with Swizz and still get love in the Garden. Especially being in the Garden and being from the South. It's not a lot of people who could have pulled that off. Puff called me and said, 'Don't take that lightly. It's not a lot of New York n---as who could have pulled that off. I don't think I could have gotten all y'all n---as up there at one time like that.' I said, 'Yeah, I recognize it and appreciate it definitely.' "
SOHH.com has a quick interview with Diddy on the Making the Band 4 finale.
"It definitely wasn't a race thing because ya'll seen what I did with Danity Kane," Diddy explained, when asked why Donnie wasn't included in the group. "I don't have no problem with mixing and matching and giving what the new America is about. [But] I thought that he had something that was special. The online voting for him was through the roof. I thought he has a level of sensitivity and passion that makes him unique and I thought he'd be better as a solo artist."
Both Best Buy bonus tracks, "Hold Up" and "Do It" are produced by Dana "Dee Jay Dana" Ramey. They both feature Durt Boy.
Update: It's Durt Boy, not Dirt Boy. He appears to be an artist signed to Block Entertainment.
Updating a previous story, the bonus tracks that are being sold with "Hustlenomics" are as follows.
The Circuit City exclusive is "Coloso" featuring Gorilla Zoe. The Best Buy exclusive tracks are "Hold Up" featuring Durt Boy and "Do It" featuring Durt Boy.
Finally, if HMV is correct, it seems that the Japanese version will have "Hold Up" in addition to "It's Goin' Down", as previously reported.
You can listen to a snippet of this track on iTunes.
Today marks the first Bad Boy release since "Ridin High" by 8 Ball & MJG was released on March 13. It's "Hustlenomics" by Yung Joc. You can buy it now on Amazon.com. For information on bonus versions, please check out the our previous story on the subject.
1. Hustlenomics (Intro)
2. Play Your Cards
3. Coffee Shop featuring Gorilla Zoe
4. Bottle Poppin' featuring Gorilla Zoe
5. Hell Yeah featuring Diddy
6. Cut Throat featuring The Game, Jim Jones and Block
7. Hustlemania (Skit)
8. I'm A G featuring Bun B and Young Dro
9. BYOB
10. Pak Man
11. Getting To Da Money featuring Mike Carlito and Gorilla Zoe
12. Brand New featuring Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross
13. Living the Life featuring Southern Girl
14. Momma featuring Jazze Pha
15. Chevy Smile featuring Trick Daddy, Block and Jazze Pha
16. Hustlenomics
Bonus Track: Block Boy featuring Block
Juelz Santana (co-hosting today for Terrence) and Rocsi were talking about the MTB 4 finale and how she has questions, so then he says he has all the answers... and out come the Making the Band 4 guys plus Donnie. They did a bit of Q&A. The guys haven't slept yet. They'd sing outside, all over New York again, without hesitation. They were asked about Laurie Ann. Brian said that he's sorry it went down how it did, but he's sure that she's still out there, grinding, so they wish her well.
Do they have a name, yet? No, do they have any ideas? Someone in the audience said "Too Sexy" and they laughed and said they could rock with that. Has anyone called yet asking for money? Donnie and Michael both said that they heard from cousins they didn't know they had. How did Donnie feel after he called everyone's name? He was nervous. His first reaction was that he was happy for Michael because he worked so hard.
Juelz then said that they need to sing a bit of the "Exclusive" song and they broke into it and did fine. And that was the end of their appearance.
I'm just watching 106 & Park, waiting for the Making the Band 4 Guys and Juelz Santana (co-hosting today) mentioned that Joc will be performing live tomorrow on the show.
The other act coming out of last night's Making the Band 4 finale was Donnie J. Ever since he talked about performing "Mo Money Mo Problems" at his 7th grade talent show and how it's always been his dream to sign to Bad Boy, I've been pulling for him. I thought (however casually) that a solo deal might come last night and when Diddy interrupted Sway last night, I thought to myself, "is he gonna give Donnie a solo deal"?
Sure enough.
Donnie has a couple MySpaces. His MySpace music one has an audio player with the following songs: "So Over U Part 2", "Say I Ain't Right", "So Over U", "Easier Said Than Done" and "Do it All Again". It also has a Snopcap store with 4 tracks for sale, but I can't get it to work. So, I'm not sure if it's me or them. But, the tracks supposedly for sale are "Do it All Again", "Broken Heart", "Easier Said Than Done" and "So Over U".
EW.com has a quick interview with Diddy on the MTB 4 finale.
How much bearing did the public vote actually have on the process?
DIDDY: It definitely had a lot of bearing on Donnie getting a solo deal. The numbers on him were astronomical. And based on what he was bringing, his personality, he was very unique, and I thought it would be best to not force a round peg into a square hole and give him his own shine.
So you announced that Jamaica is the new choreographer tonight. When will we see her with the band?
Well, it's between Jamaica and another cat Jamal — they're both splitting it because they're both busy. You're talking about two of the busiest choreographers in the game.
If you watched last night's season finale of Making the Band 4, you know that Bad Boy has 2 new acts on the label today. One of those is the group that the show was made to create. Since they don't have a name yet, I am going to refer to them as the Making the Band 4 Guys. They are Qwanell Mosley, Michael McCluney, Robert Curry, Willie Taylor and Brian Andrews.
Robert's MySpace has 4 songs in the music player: "The Best in the Bed", "Blame the D", "What it Do" and "Good Bye". The first and third songs are downloadable.
Willie's has the following non downloadable tracks: "Intro", "No More", "Full Coarse Meal", "King of the Jungle" and "Sweat".
If you noticed, Bad Boy Blog readers picked a 4 man group of Robert, Willie, Michael and Brian A. I picked Qwanell, Donnie, Michael and Willie. So, 6 different people named in all - all 6 of the ones left standing after the final episode. Well played. :)
Joc was featured in the August 18 issue of Billboard on in a feature on Chris Hicks. He's featured in a list of writers that were brought to Warner/Chappell Music by Mr. Hicks. In a list of 20 poeple (ordered by number of titles to chat on the Hot 100 or R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts), Joc is T7th, behind only Bryan-Michael Cox, Jazze Pha, T.I., Lil' Wayne, Danjahandz and Paul Wall. Bad Boy, Diddy and Boyz N Da Hood are briefly mentioned in the article. It also features a couple of quotes from Block and how Hicks helped him when he was getting into the music industry.
In the August 15 issue, "Hustlenomics" gets a half page write up, focusing on the upcoming album and the marketing push behind it. It notes that Joc will have a line of potato chips through Rap Snacks (their site already lists some Yung Joc snacks available) as well as a line of jewelry (designed by him) through Icebox.
Diddy was nominated in the "Best International Act" category in the 2007 MOBO Awards. You can vote here.
Rock Me TV has a nice interview with Bad Boy's Senior Director of A&R, Conrad Dimanche. It's broken into 3 parts. Watch below.
Via MA$E MURDER at BadBoyForever.com.
Update: They reuploaded the video with the YouTube group URL. See below.
B5 is holding a dance contest. They'll be giving an as yet undescribed prize to the fan who performs the Hydrolic dance the best. Watch below.
It appears that 8 Ball will be releasing an album with his protege, Devius. They've released a track called "Er Body Know Me". I hope to get some info on the album and will report back when I do.
According to Willie's MySpace, they will be on BET's 106 & Park today at 6:00 PM ET.
Deepa Shah at AllHipHop.com has a fairly unkind review of "Hustlenomics".
Welcome to Hustlenomics 101, today we learn to get it done by any means necessary. That pretty much sums up Yung Joc’s latest Hustlenomics (Block Entertainment/Bad Boy South)—lying, cheating, stealing, and genuinely being sly are the building block to any successful hustler. And Joc plays an amazing hustler because he sure did a great job hustling the public into thinking this album would make bank.
Via Theo in the forums.
Here's a recap of the live after show on MTV.com. They mentioned that Donnie was the top vote getter online. He said that he won't let anyone down. And he apologizes once more for speaking out of turn to Diddy. Diddy tells him it's fine, but jokingly says that he's got something for him.
Diddy, the guys and the judges walk into the room with the family. As he walks, Diddy fields an online question: have you spoken to Laurie Ann and would you let her work with the guys? He says no, he hasn't spoken with her. He's seen her, but hasn't spoken with her. He doesn't hold any grudges and he would give her a job, if she would come in a respectful way. If he was going into her house, he would show her respect. So, he expects that same respect back. He knows how to work for people and how to work in a team. So, he felt like that wasn't happening. Makes sense.
When they arrive in the room with the family, Diddy says that they should be proud of all of them because the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. Sway asks Michael if they can still call him Big Mike. He says that they can call him whatever, he'll still be sexy, so just put sexy in front of it. They all giggle.
Robert's mom says that she wasn't upset when Diddy asked him to cut his hair. It just enhances him, she says. Willie's mom is emotional. Next, Sway brings up Carlos. He says that he's been good, just waiting on the baby to come (due any day). He says that he's working on a solo album.
Brian comes up and he's talking to his mom. His sister and wife is with him. Brian says that he feels like he's dreaming and he doesn't want to wake up. Q comes up next with his mom and cousin. Sway asks them if they always knew he'd make the band. His mom says that she was nervous.
They talk with Dyshon and Sway asks him what happens next. He says that he'll keep doing what he's been doing - working in the studio. Slam comes up next and says that Diddy made it official, they're going out tonight. Danity Kane, the band, everyone. Diddy's got the titanium black card out, he says.
Donnie comes out and introduces his mom and dad. His dad stands back behind the two. His mom says how thankful she is to Diddy. They close it out to head to the after party. We see Harve Pierre is in the building and someone (maybe Joc) says Bad Boy South. And it's a wrap.
To begin the episode, we see the guys saying how they're confident, how they're gonna make it, etc. etc. and then Diddy says that he's going to make the band. We see this image come up on a big screen in Times Square outside of the MTV studios with a big crowd below. Some of the people in the crowd are holding up signs that promote "Hustlenomics".
After the theme song ends, we are in the MTV studios with all 10 guys singing "End of the Road" in front of a crowd. After they finish, Sway comes in and introduces each contestant. Sway says that they'll be surprise guests and that Diddy is going to be elimating people all show long. We get a quick recap of what has happened up until this point.
Back to the MTV studio with all of the guys seated and Sway asking them questions. They're all wearing the same outfit. A black suit with a white shirt. But, of course, Dyshon has to do what he cane to stand out different from the group and he has his white shirt untucked and sticking out of his jacket.
We see that some of the singers' families, friends, etc. are in a room there at MTV. Carlos (the one that was eliminated) is there. We see Diddy backstage and Sway says that after the commercial break, Diddy is going to be eliminating one of the guys.
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Theo asked:
I heard there was gonna be a remix to "I Get Money" by 50 Cent with Diddy and Jay-Z. Any idea if it's true?
Like you say, there are some rumors floating around that 50 Cent might be putting together a Forbes remix (my term for it) to "I Get Money" that would feature Jay-Z and Diddy (and maybe Kanye). If you remember, Jay-Z, 50 and Diddy were the top 3 in Forbes recent hip hop money makers list.
Despite the fact that 50 is saying he doesn't like Diddy or Jay (i.e., they're not all friends), I'd love to see this happen. I like "I Get Money" a lot and adding Jay-Z and Diddy to it (I'm a Jay fan and you all know how big a Diddy fan I am) would be awesome. Will it happen? Who knows? It's a rumor, so keep it like that.
I'm touching base with people trying to find out if there is any truth to it at all. Bad Boy PR has no idea, but "wouldn't be surprised." An e-mail to Universal Music (PR behind 50's new album) has not been responded to, yet, and I'm off to contact Diddy's publicist now. I'll let you know if I hear back.
Circuit City will have an exclusive bonus track. No word on what it is, but I report back when I find out.
Best Buy will have 2 exclusive bonus tracks. Again, no word on what they are.
K-Mart will have an exclusive Yung Joc voicetone.
The Japanese version will apparently feature "It's Goin' Down", if the Amazon.com page for it is any indication.
And then we'll have the normal and MVI versions. For more on the MVI version, see our story on it.
How in the world is "Hustlenomics" not on iTunes for pre-order? It's August 26! The album comes out in two days. Wow. That's really disappointing.
Whether you want to believe it or not, both Diddy and Michael Bivins say that Diddy's walkoff on the supposed finale of MTB 4 was not planned. And there's this:
In addition, says Combs, "There will be a big surprise at the end of it, that's not announced, that nobody will expect, concerning one of the guys. Somebody a lot of people think should make the band is not going to make the band. Somebody's heart is going to be broken for one moment. I don't think their heart will be broken for long, though."
This is definitely reading into it, but could that mean that someone won't make the group, but will get offered a solo deal? Just a crazy thought, not a prediction...
Watch below.
Via prnewswire.com.
Chronicmagazine.com has an interview with B5.
Chronicmagazine.com: What happened with T.I and the Scream Tour this year? At one point you were going to do it, and then I read somewhere that it wasn’t going to happen.
Kelly: Well, when they said that, it was kind of up in the air because we’re discussing about it but then we decided not to do it because we were going to do the Russ Parr Bus Tour. The Scream Tour, it turned into a different demographic than what it usually is, it’s a little more mature and there are a lot of older artists and they wanted an older audience too, so, we decided not to do it.
Some conflicting messages. Somebody's wrong.
Listen to it on our audio player on the right side of this page.
Listen to it at AllHipHop.com.
According to Jordan's MySpace, there is an additional (to the ones we reported in early July) Target Book Festival date in Bloomington, MN on September 8.
8 Ball is featured on a new Fabo (from D4L) track called "Take Off".
I was out of the mix for about 5 days, doing some traveling (sorry for the lack of notice), but I'm back now and here is a summary of stories during this time that caught my eye:
ABC News has more info on the Macy's ad that will feature Diddy.
"This advertising campaign is really about showcasing all of these great celebrity name brands that fit under this one big roof," Martine Reardon, executive vice president of corporate marketing for Macy's, said Thursday.
Reardon said the commercials have a humorous, whimsical slant, focusing on each celebrity's personality and public image.
The New York Times and MTV have more on the big Screamfest show in New York on August 22.
Diddy's application for a permit for fireworks at his upcoming White Party was blocked:
The East Hampton Town Council has denied Sean Combs' request for a permit to put on an all-white fireworks display to coincide with his swanky monochromatic shindig on Sept. 2.
Aubrey from Danity Kane will be hosting a party in Reno, NV on August 31. For more, see the flier on her MySpace.
Aubrey's also featured on a new song by Atlantic Records' artist Cupid. It's called "Do Yo Dance" and you can listen to it and download it from her MySpace.
Yung Joc will be featured in the October issue of KING Magazine. The feature will focus on how he got in shape.
The Washington Post has a quick article on DeAngelo from Making the Band 4.
MTV has a video highlighting the best in VMA fashion and Diddy is featured, starting at the -1:40 mark.
Via Screamfest.
I saw an ad on Joc's MySpace for this page which lists locations for Screamfest '07 afterparties hosted by Yung Joc. The last 5 dates are the ones that remain. Unfortunately, 3 of them are dead links. The exceptions are San Jose (with "special invited guest" Gorilla Zoe) and the first Los Angeles show.
I just wanted to remind everyone that I will be liveblogging tonight's Making the Band 4 live finale tonight at 10:00 PM. So, please stop by and comment during the show.
Also, I took the results of comments from these two blog entries to see who Bad Boy Blog readers felt should make the band. I asked for a 4 member band, so I only counted comments that had a firm 4 members listed. And the BBB readers band is:
Robert, Willie, Michael and Brian A.
And, my personal choices are Donnie, Qwanell, Michael and Willie. Though, like I said, it's a tough cut for sure.
So, we'll see how close we get! Thanks for commenting.
While listening to "Hustlenomics", I noticed that Gorilla Zoe is featured on "Getting To Da Money" along with Mike Carlito.
On a Diddy related note:
Burger King Holdings Inc. posted a fourth-quarter profit Friday versus a loss a year earlier, fueled by strong late-night and breakfast sales and flashy marketing as it completed its first year as a publicly traded company. Full-year profit rose more than five-fold to $148 million. ...
During the quarter, Burger King said it was testing a new trans fat-free cooking oil blend and began opening its restaurants until midnight or later seven days a week -- advertising the new hours in a campaign with hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Via Theo in the forums via Morris Moore.
From AllHipHop.com:
In related news, Combs will be featured in Macy's new $100 million television ad campaign, which also features Donald Trump, Marc Ecko, Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Jessica Simpson, Martha Stewart and chef Emeril Lagasse.
The commercial will premier during the Emmy Awards, airing on September 16.
Via Theo in the forums.
Yung Joc's "Hustlenomics" is on MTV's The Leak. You can listen to the whole album on there now before the album is released on the 28th.
Via Anthony on the forums.
Yung Joc's album release party in Atlanta will be held on Tuesday, August 28 (the day of the album's release) at Opera House on 1150 Peachtree Street. Doors open at 9:00 PM ET.
At last night's Screamfest tour stop at Madison Square Garden in New York, Diddy came out for "It's Goin' Down" with Yung Joc and for a star studded set from T.I. that featured Diddy alongside Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean and Swizz Beatz. Must have been a great show. The picture below features, from left to right, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Diddy and 50 Cent. Read the full press release below the photo.
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Here are Bad Boy's positions on the latest Hot 100 chart:
95. "Hood Figga" by Gorilla Zoe (down from 91).
I received a note from B5's manager, Jim McMahan, this afternoon. Unfortunately, B5 will not be performing at Madison Square Garden in New York on August 22. No reason was given. Though, as was reported, it wasn't a definite.
Update: They will not be performing.
According to B5's manager, Jim McMahan, it "looks like" B5 will perform "Hydrolics" during Yung Joc's set when Screamfest stops at Madison Square Garden in New York on August 22. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.
MTV has issued a press release about the Making the Band 4 finale. Voting will continue up until 10:00 PM ET, at which point the live episode will begin. Here's the release:
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B5's manager, Jim McMahan, posted on the B5 forums that they will be in New York on Wednesday, August 22, for Screamfest. I've sent a request for comment as far as what their involvement will be.
Joc is featured on the new Jessi Malay single, "Booty Bangs". You can listen to it on her MySpace.
The Philadelphia Daily News talked with Joc on the Screamfest performance on his upcoming August 23 in Philadelphia.
"I plan on giving Philly a lot of love," said Joc, the flagship artist for Diddy's Bad Boy South Label. "My show will be intriguing and energetic. I'll come with different elements and techniques that I will use to wow the crowd. I don't just rap; I might bring a monkey on stage, or I may bring three toddlers on stage.
"I'm real spontaneous about my show."
Update: It's February 25, not 28. I read it incorrectly. My apologies.
Here is a press release just put out 15 minutes ago about the "A Raisin in the Sun" movie. It will be premiering on ABC on February 25 at 8:00 PM ET.
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Here are Bad Boy's Hot 100 positions this week:
91. "Hood Figga" by Gorilla Zoe (a new high, up from 95).
TeenMusic.com has an interview with Boyz N Da Hood.
freep.com has an interview with Yung Joc.
BET has an interview with B5.
Via lil rikki at BadBoyForever.com.
From The Gainesville Sun:
In the midst of his national ScreamFest �07 hip-hop tour, rapper Yung Joc � also known as Jasiel A. Robinson, 24, of College Park, Ga. � made a stop at the Rotary Southeast Boys and Girls Club in Gainesville Tuesday to offer a few motivating words to the students.
"Today, it was not a concert, just the kids and him, no bodyguards or anything," said Britney Carter, the events specialist at the SE Boys and Girls Club.
According to Slam's MySpace, he's hosting Mario's birthday party on August 24 at Club Plan B in Detroit.
Joc and Rockport have launched a talent search where you can win the opportunity to work with Joc. SOHH.com has the story.
The search launched in Detroit today (August 16) and will make stops in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Atlanta, where contestants will battle it out for the chance to work closely with Yung Joc and his team.
Via Theo in the forums.
Forbes has announced the top 20 hip hop money makers. Jay-Z took the top spot with an estimated $34 million made in 2006. 50 Cent came in second with $32 million. Then, it's Diddy with $28 million. Interestingly, Yung Joc is on the list as well, at 20 with $10 million. Joc's done very well.
Via the AP.
Bad Boy will be represented at Music Mega Star, a talent search for artists and producers. Find out more on their site.
Via HHE.
The second single off of "Hustlenomics" has been decided. It's "Bottle Poppin" featuring Gorilla Zoe. As I write, the help Joc pick his next single poll on his MySpace stands as such:
"Bottle Poppin" - 41%
"Hell Yeah" - 35%
"Play Your Cards" - 24%
You can listen to a snippet of this from his MySpace.
The site dedicated to finding the actor that will portray Biggie has opened up a bit more to include videos of Volette Wallace and Wayne Barrow talking about what they are looking for in an actor and what you have to do to be considered. There is also a script available for download for any potential Biggies to read for their audition tape.
From the press release put out today:
In addition to its CD and digital release, "HUSTLENOMICS" will mark Bad Boy Records' first-ever release in the new MVI format. An MVI is a DVD that contains the full album, portable music files, video content, and interactive features. The PC/MAC-compatible package will include a bonus CD, a never-before-seen video interview with Joc, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, a making-the-video special for "Coffee Shop," digital extras (such as screen savers, buddy icons, and wallpapers), U-Myx and UrTone (which allow fans to create their own custom remix and ringtone of "Coffee Shop"), plus much more.
Here is a press release put out today regarding "Hustlenomics":
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One detail that I forgot to highlight from the "Notorious"/George Tillman press release is that Diddy will be executive producing the film. Good to see.
Here are Bad Boy's positions on the latest Hot 100:
95. "Hood Figga" by Gorilla Zoe (a new high, up from 100).
From an interview with LAist:
You ghostwrote on Diddy's Press Play, was it difficult writing for someone so famous? How did that gig come along?
It was great, it was a challenge. It was scary, it was new territory for me which is why I took the opportunity to get behind the scenes. I got to see what its like for a million dollar mogul to put a record together opposed to how I would do it. I got to see what a producer offers someone like Diddy opposed to what they would do for me, you know it was little things like that that were educational but also I got to learn a lot about work ethics. I saw we both we have the same kind of work ethics but at the same time we’re different, and I am learning how to incorporate those things that he does into my own hustle. Work ethics of great businessmen like Diddy or a Bill Gates are different from say a talented prodigy. Prodigies have all the talent but sometimes lack the hustle, and that’s why you’ll hear a girl on the radio who doesn’t have half the talent as the girl who sings in your church, but the one on the radio had that extra something to get her there.
Hearing him say “Yo your work ethic is incredible,” meant a lot to me since he’s worked with a lot of artists and been around so many talented people. This doesn’t have anything to do with people’s perspective of him, you know the way people blame him for the downfall of urban music or what have you, I’m just talking about what it was like to be alongside him every day in the studios, it was just so educational.
The press release, from the Bad Boy Publishing MySpace:
LOS ANGELES, CA, August xx, 2006 --- Fox Searchlight Pictures announced today that George Tillman (MEN OF HONOR, SOUL FOOD) is set to direct NOTORIOUS, the screen version about the life of rapper Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. The film will be produced by Voletta Wallace (B.I.G.’s mother), Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts (B.I.G.’s former music managers), Bob Teitel and executive produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs based on a screenplay by Cheo Hodari Coker and Reggie Rock Bythewood. Zola Mashariki, Vice President of Production for Fox Searchlight, is overseeing the project.
“We have wanted to make a movie with George for a long time. His passion for B.I.G.'s life story is infectious,” says Fox Searchlight President of Production Claudia Lewis, “We know he will make a brilliant movie and show the true humanity of Christopher Wallace's character.”
Director Tillman said, "Being a huge fan of Notorious B.I.G. as an artist, I'm excited to direct the bio-pic of Christopher Wallace. It's a truly epic tale. There's so much to the story that has yet to be told and I am humbled by the journey he took to become a man before his untimely death. This is an amazing opportunity to make an iconic film."
Producer Barrow said, “George Tillman's dedication to the life story of B.I.G. is equal to those that knew and loved Christopher best. His attention to detail and keen sensibility to capture the emotional depth of a character speaks volumes to his ability as a director. We are thrilled to have him onboard and look forward to seeing the life of B.I.G. through his lens."
In just a few short years, Notorious B.I.G. rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time. B.I.G. was a gifted storyteller; his narratives about violent life on the streets were told with a gritty, objective realism that won him enormous respect and credibility. His stories were universal and gave a voice to his generation.
Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both produces and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.
HipHopGame.com has added some Bad Boy audio to their audio section. The most recent ones include:
"Life of a Hustler" by Gorilla Zoe featuring Bobby Brown
"All-Star Mic Pass (Pepsi Smash)" by T-Pain, Huey, Yung Joc, B.O.B., Bobby Valentino, Twista, Sammie, DJ Unk, Mike Jones and Kardinal Offishal
"Brooklyn in the Building" by M. Reck featuring Babs
Via JungleCity at BadBoyForever.com.
Cassie is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Complex and they have a bunch of Cassie content in the magazine and on their site. Here is the cover (more on the content below):
On their site, they have a pair of interviews and a video interview/behind the scenes at the shoot. They also have pictures from the shoot.
From MSNBC.com:
The role of Notorious B.I.G. for an upcoming biopic on the rapper will be found through an open casting call, the film’s producers told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The still untitled Notorious B.I.G. project, which has been in the works for nearly seven years, will seek its star by auditioning actors and non-actors alike who resemble the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace. Anyone can submit audition videos beginning 3 a.m. (EDT) Sunday to www.foxsearchlight.com/notorious or www.biggiecasting.com.
The article also notes that Antoine Fuqua will not be directing the film.
Here is another photo for Sean John's new women's line, modeled by Lauren London and Cassie:
You can listen to a snippet of "Is It You" on Cassie's MySpace. As was previously reported, this song will be appearing on the soundtrack for Step Up 2, a new movie that Cassie will be appearing in.
According to Aubrey's MySpace, she will be participating in 2007 Celebrity Catwalk for Charity. It will be held on August 16 at The Highlands in Hollywood, CA. A portion of the proceeds will benefit National Animal Rescue.
Elephant Man will be performing at Strata in New York on August 10. See the flier below. I like "shoes mandatory". lol.
Here is the tracklisting for Gorilla Zoe's upcoming debut album, "Welcome to the Zoo". The features here aren't complete (I'm working on trying to nail those down) because Bobby Brown and Akon are supposed to be on this album and the version of "Take Ya Shoes Off" that was floating around had Joc on it, as well.
1. Hood N****
2. Zoe
3. Tryna Make a Jug
4. This That Muzik a.k.a. Crack Music featuring Jody Breeze
5. Money Man
6. Take Ya Shoes Off
7. Do Something
8. Battle Up
9. Locked Up or Dead
10. Won't Let You Down
11. Life of a Hustler a.k.a. Money on the Block
12. Money Up
13. You Don't No Me featuring D. Woods
14. Last Time I Checked
15. I Know
Bad Boy is having a giveaway will you can fly in to meet Yung Joc and attend one of the Scream Tour stops. Enter here.
According to the Aubrey O"Day MySpace, she will be interviewed on KKMG-FM in Colorado today at 7:50 AM PT and will be a guest DJ on the station from 5-6 PM MT.
There is a poll on Yung Joc's MySpace where you can vote for what you'd like to see as his next single. Here are your choices:
"Bottle Poppin" featuring Gorilla Zoe (listen to a snippet on his MySpace)
"Hell Yeah" featuring Diddy (snippet on his MySpace)
"Play Your Cards" (you can listen to the full track in our audio player)
I haven't heard the full version of "Hell Yeah", only the one on his MySpace which cuts off before Diddy's verse, presumably. From what I've heard, all 3 of the tracks strike me as OK tracks. Joc's songs tend to grow on me. I don't like them that much at first, but then as time goes by, I like them more. It's strange. Right now, I'll give the vote to "Hell Yeah", hoping that Diddy delivers. After that, I'll go with "Bottle Poppin".
As I write, "Bottle Poppin" has the lead at 43%, followed by "Hell Yeah" at 34% and "Play Your Cards" at 23%.
With 49 days left, B5 continues to lead the AOL Breakers voting as the pack continues to tighten. B5 has 43% of the vote, Hurricane Chris has 37% and Plies has 21%.
In the latest issue of OK! Magazine, Kim Porter discusses the split with Diddy. BallerStatus.com and the New York Daily News all have quotes.
"I'd been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Mr. Combs for about 10 years, and it came to a point where it was time for me to move on with my life," Porter told the magazine. "I had invested a lot of time in that relationship, and it wasn't going where it should have been going. So it was time to [end it]. In a relationship, it's important that the people are on the same page at the same time. And we weren't on the same page."
"Marriage was something that we discussed, but it didn't determine what my relationship meant with him," says Porter. "We had a lot of years together, and there was a lot of happiness ... [But] marriage really wasn't the top priority on the list.
"I will never sit here and say that Puffy — or any man — is 100% faithful. I just don't believe it. Some of you are, but I'm not going to sit here and say that I didn't believe that he cheated on me. ... I'm aware that he's cheated. Has it affected the trust value? Yes, of course."
Here is the cover for Gorilla Zoe's upcoming debut album, "Welcome to the Zoo":
And here is the bio that's being put out:
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Guys are arriving at the airport. Brian H. and Jeremy are the first two to meet up. Donnie joins them next, followed by Willie, Robert, Dyshon, Qwanell, DeAngelo, Brian A. and Michael. They all go crazy over Mike's weight loss. Dyshon: "Is the rest in your bag?"
They head to park (the first place they came when they went to New York) to meet Michael Bivins. He asks them if they are ready for the next step - performing live, in concert. He says that in 48 hours, he wants them to come open up for New Edition at the Beacon Theater.
They head to SIR Studios for vocal training with Ankh Ra. Diddy has broken the 10 down into 2 groups.
Group 1: Q, Donnie, Dyshon, Brian A., Michael
Group 2: Willie, Robert, Brian H., DeAngelo, Jeremy
They will both being doing the same song. It's the Making the Band 4 theme song. The first group gets stopped and Ankh mentions that he didn't seen one player in the whole group.
When Ankh Ra tells Brian H. to bring his energy up, Brian makes a face (he's acting, perhaps, a little disrespectfully) and asks him why he's "trying to clown [him]?" Ra tells him that he's not.
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Just a reminder: I'll be liveblogging the Making the Band 4 season finale here on Bad Boy Blog tonight, starting at 10:00 PM ET. So, check back for that.
Also, while we are at it - what 4 people do you want to make the band? It's a tough one for me, personality wise, because I like more than 4 of them. But, I'm thinking Donnie, Qwanell, Michael and Willie. Some tough cuts there. You?
As we reported back in June, Cassie is one of the spokesmodels for Sean John's new approach to women's. Here is one of the first photos of her in this role:
HHNLive.com has an interview with B5.
Ro: Tell me about this sophomore album, “Don’t Talk, Just Listen” how did you come up with that title?
Patrick: When our first album was out everybody was saying that we are just little kids and we don’t know anything about music. Now we are young men and we have grown musically. So the title is basically saying before you talk about us listen to the album.
"In Ya Grill: The Faces of Hip-Hop" is a retrospective look at the work of veteran hip hop photographer Michael Benabib. With some interspersed words from Bill Adler, the book features photos taken as far back as 1986. He's taken photos of a lot of people - but, it's his work with Bad Boy that led to me getting a copy of his book.
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The Detroit Free Press has an article on Robert from Making the Band 4:
"I had auditioned for 'American Idol' a couple of years back and, man, the whole reality TV show audition thing was kind of messed up in my head because of how that went. I kind of didn't want to put myself in the position to be set up," he says. "But I decided to do it, anyway. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to be with Diddy. And MTV, that's crazy. I had to give it a chance."
It's a chance that likely will play in his favor. In last week's episode, Combs asked the other judges to assemble their dream-team singing group. Curry's Polaroid snapshot was in each judge's group.
This wouldn't seem to be all that new, but I wanted to mention it, anyway. Elephant Man's MySpace has some remixes featuring him. They are of Chris Brown's "Wall 2 Wall" and Rihanna's "Umbrella".
Atlantic Records has launched a new site. It looks nice, but nothing too noteworthy content wise just yet. The Atlantic TV section has a category with all of the recent Bad Boy videos in it.
His MySpace has a couple of new snippets:
"Hell Yeah" by featuring Diddy (no, Diddy isn't featured in the snippet... that probably means that Diddy has a verse, rather than just ad libs)
"Bottle Poppin" featuring Gorilla Zoe
You can listen to "Coffee Shop" and "Play Your Cards" in our audio player.
The Levittown Tribute has an article on Donnie Klang from Making the Band 4.
"Without my family, friends, and loyal fans that have stuck by my side, none of this would have been possible," he added. "Everyone has been so supportive. My mom gets so emotional every episode. We were walking in the city the other day and I was approached for an autograph. My mom started breaking down and crying. I actually have some more family in Levittown who have also been behind me since day one. My Uncle Ron and Aunt Phyllis have always been there for me no matter what. My cousins Nicole, Sam and Ronnie are all very talented as well. I guess it runs in the family. My father lives in Suffolk County and makes sure everyone out there knows who I am. My sisters and cousins out there have always supported my music even when it looked like I wasn't going to make it. Finally all my friends in L-town have helped me out so much. They showed up to a concert we had in the city during an episode of Making the Band and they all showed Diddy that I have a lot of support in New York."
As an update to a previous story, you can see Joc on the Established 1971 line site. You can also see him on the homepage.
Update: Commenter NM pointed out that this song was on "Notorious K.I.M." On that album, it's called "Single Black Female". I wonder why it's being passed around now...
Mario is featured on a Lil' Kim single that's being distributed now. It's called "If I'll Tell Ya".
Yung Joc will be participating in a live chat at TeenHollywood.com on August 7 at 5 PM ET.
Yung Joc will be appearing at The End Zone in Houston, Texas on August 4 from 1-2 PM. It's located at 5910 Scott Street, Suite A.
Here is a press release that was put out by Sean John regarding the women's clothing and fragrance lines:
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Bad Boy has gone 5 weeks without a track on the Hot 100, but that streak ends today (just barely :)).
100. "Hood Figga" by Gorilla Zoe (new entry).
From Jordan's latest blog entry on Alloy.com:
Anyways! Just thought I'd let ya know what I've been up to lately...and that's LOTS of working out! I have about a month before Diddy comes back from overseas and my video gets shot, so I wanna impress the big bro and look great for my first video!
According to Ads of the World, a new MTV ad from Europe features 2Pac in a black t-shirt with Biggie's face on it.
Via Complex.
LOS has some downloadable freestyles on his MySpace over the beats from "We Takin' Over" and "Top Back". Recognize Da Bounce has also been made downloadable.
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