GEORGE CLINTON SUING BEP
According to the Associated Press, George Clinton is suing the Black Eyed Peas for sampling his music without permission. Clinton dropped a lawsuit on the GRAMMY-winning group in Los Angeles last week, claiming they used elements of his 1979 song “(Not Just) Knee Deep” in remixes of their song “Shut Up.” The track first appeared on the group’s 2003 album Elephunk, and later on the Shut Up Remix. It also was used in another remix included on the deluxe edition of the Peas’ 2009 release, The E.N.D., according to the complaint. Clinton says he never granted permission for the use of his music and is seeking copyright infringement damages and an injunction to block further sales of the remixes. The funk legend is also suing the group’s label, Universal Music Group.
KATY AND GLEE TOP ITUNES CHART
Katy Perry’s “Firework” holds on to the number one spot on this week’s iTunes chart for a third straight week. While Bruno Mars’ “Grenade,” Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time (Dirty Bit),” Rihanna’s “What’s My Name” featuring Drake and P!nk’s “Raise Your Glass” follow. Glee: The Music — The Christmas Album is the top downloaded album followed by T.I.’s No Mercy, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy and 4X4=12 from Deadmau5 round out the top five.
BIEBER HITS UP DIDDY’S STUDIO
On Tuesday evening, MTV News was on hand when Justin Bieber was discovered laying down tracks at Diddy’s recording studio in New York City. Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, explained that the pop star had an idea for a song that he needed to “get off of his chest,” and that Diddy’s studio is like a second home for the teen superstar. Bieber then went to take in Usher’s show at Madison Square Garden. He hopped on stage to act as the hype man during “Confessions.” Bieber later tweeted “big bro @UsherRaymondIV killed it at MSG tonight. … I had to come thru and support #family.”
CHRISTINA DEFENDS X FACTOR PERFORMANCE
The Daily Express in London is reporting that Christina Aguilera’s performance of “Express” on The X Factor received more than one-thousand complaints. But Aguilera is standing by the performance. At the U-K premiere of Burlesque she explained, “I don’t think there is such a thing as too raunchy when it comes to the art form of burlesque.” While that performance may have left a bad taste in some people’s mouths, Aguilera also hit the stage with X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson to perform a rendition of “Beautiful.”
GAGA’S MEAT DRESS IS TIME’S FASHION STATEMENT OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga’s infamous VMA meat dress has been named Time Magazine’s number one Fashion Statement of 2010. The dress, which was designed by Franc Fernandez, was complete with a meat purse. Other notables to make the Fashion Statement top 10 include Britney Spears, Taylor Momsen and Heidi Klum.
CHRISTINA, JUSTIN AND AVRIL ON SHORT LIST FOR Original Songs Oscar NOMINATION
Christina Aguilera’s “Bound To You” from Burlesque, Justin Bieber’s “Never Say “Never” and Avril Lavigne’s “Alice” from Alice in Wonderland are on the short list for nominations in the Original Song category for the 83rd Academy Awards. Cher’s “Welcome to Burlesque” and “You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me” from the Burlesque soundtrack are also among the 41 songs eligible for the nominations. Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25th at 8:30 AM Eastern at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
BRUNO MARS NYE SHOW
According to the New York Post, Bruno Mars will be doing a private performance at the Renaissance Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Reverend Run, who will DJ, will be picking two people out of the Times Square crowd and giving them tickets for the concert and to watch the ball drop from the hotel.
BRUNO’S COURT DATE CONTINUED TO FEBRUARY
Bruno Mars was due to answer cocaine charges in a Las Vegas court yesterday, but a judge agreed to continue the case until February 4th, according to Las Vegas’ Fox 5 News. The 25-year-old is facing a felony drug possession charge following his arrest after a September 19th performance at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Police said he had 2.6 grams of cocaine. Mars could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
BIRTHDAY SURPRISES FOR TAYLOR SWIFT’S 21ST
Taylor Swift just celebrated her 21st birthday and while she rejoiced quietly at home, remaining low key on her big day, her boyfriend, Jake Gyllenhaal, went all out for the country star. The Sun reports that the Hollywood actor bought Taylor a Fender Gretsch guitar, signed by music-legend Chet Atkins. The gift is reportedly worth around 11-thousand dollars and was spotted by Taylor in a Nashville store during a recent outing with Jake. Taylor’s enjoying another birthday surprise this week, as her album, Speak Now, remains at number one on the country charts.
MAROON 5 NYE CONTEST!
Maroon 5 have announced a Tweet to Win fan contest, with the grand prize winner traveling to Atlantic City and ringing in the New Year with the band at their last show of 2010. The winner will receive round-trip travel for two to Atlantic City, as well as two night’s accommodations courtesy of House of Blues in Atlantic City and AirTran Airways. Plus they’ll get two tickets to the band’s New Year’s Eve show and a meet & greet with the group.
HOW TO WIN! Check out the rules for the contest here: http://maroon5.com/M5NYE.
The band has also unveiled a holiday message to fans announcing the contest, which includes previously unseen live footage of them set to their current hit “Give a Little More.” The video clip is available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nhfeNqSE08
NICKI MINAJ’S PINK FRIDAY GOES GOLD!
Nicki Minaj has just received an early Christmas gift. She’ll soon receive a gold plaque because her debut album, Pink Friday, has officially sold over 500-thousand copies. The disc, which was released on November 22nd, moved an impressive 82-thousand copies this week, pushing its total sales tally to over 561K. For the past two weeks, she’s consistently sold more than Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. In related news, Rick Ross’ Teflon Don has also reached gold status, marking his fourth consecutive effort to earn a gold plaque. Who said hip hop is dead?
KANYE WEST TOPS MTV NEWS’ BEST ALBUM LIST
Eminem’s Recovery LP, Rick Ross’ Teflon Don effort and Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty disc all received rave reviews for MTV News’ 20 Best Albums Of 2010, but they were all beat out by Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The album, which was described as the rapper’s most personal record to date, was listed at number one because “it’s truly a great work” and “gives the listener a guided tour through the past 14 months of his own personal hell.” Check out the full review via MTV.com today!
LIL WAYNE TO PLAY CARSON DAILY NYE BASH?
We’ve just learned Lil Wayne will join Nicki Minaj and My Chemical Romance for a special taping of Carson Daly’s New Years Eve Special tonight! The event will begin promptly at 6:30 at an exclusive rooftop in Times Square. Unfortunately, 500 lucky fans have already snatched up all the tickets for the event. However, you can tune in to the show on December 31st at 10 PM Eastern on NBC. In related news, Weezy has been named MTV News’ number five Man Of The Year!
KEYSHIA COLE’S CALLING ALL HEARTS SNIPPETS
Before her new album, Calling All Hearts, hits stores, fans can preview the songs on Keyshia Cole’s project right now. Lengthy snippets can be heard via Amazon.com. In addition, expect her disc, which includes “I Ain’t Thru” featuring Nicki Minaj and “Long Way Down,” to arrive on the same day as Keri Hilson’s No Boys Allowed, on December 21st.
USHER WANTS TO BE NEXT MJ?
Usher recently made some bold statements to the Daily Star regarding his goal to be the next Michael Jackson. The “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” singer admitted that ever since the King Of Pop passed away, he feels “a lot of pressure.” The crooner hopes that after people witness his OMG tour, he wants fans “to leave [thinking] that [he] is really stepping it up to a level where people can hopefully compare [him] to people like Michael Jackson.” In related news, Usher, Trey Songz and Miguel are expected to perform in Philadelphia tonight for the OMG outing.
INXS TO DO ORIGINAL SIN AGAIN!
We caught up with INXS member Kirk Pengilly this week and during our chat, he gave us some great news. The band is going to release an album of re-imagined signature INXS songs in the new year. The disc will be called Original Sin and features some of their hits like “Never Tear Us Apart” and of course, “Original Sin.” Kirk told us how the idea to revisit some of their classic hits came about (See Related Cut #6). Rob Thomas, Train’s Pat Monahan and John Mayer all helped INXS with the reimagining of their songs. Pick up Original Sin in stores February 22nd.
BLINK-182 HAVE NEW SONGS RECORDED
MTV News reports that Blink-182 have three or four songs done for their upcoming album. The trio is currently still in the writing process and describe the album as an “expansive record.” Mark Hoppus said “There’s stuff that sounds like what we were doing on the last Blink record, and there’s stuff that sounds like what we were doing ten years ago and stuff that we’ve never done before.” The band, which has been known for fun-loving lyrics in the past, may get a bit deeper this time out, with Hoppus saying, “I think in moments it will be dark.”
MTV NEWS TOP 25 ALBUMS
MTV News rock editor James Montgomery has named his top 25 albums of the year. At the top of the list was Kanye West’s critically acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Other albums in the top ten include High Violet by The National, Contra from Vampire Weekend, Robyn’s Body Talk, The Suburbs by Arcade Fire and more. To read the full list, head to MTVNews.com now.
GAGA, MUMFORD, FLORENCE TOP MOST PLAYED MUSIC ON SPOTIFY
Lady Gaga has topped Spotify’s Most Listened-To Tracks of 2010 list. Gaga’s song with Beyonce, “Telephone,” was the most listened-to song of the year on the site. Other big artists getting a lot of spins on the site included Mumford & Sons, The xx, Rihanna and Florence and the Machine.
2011 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the 2011 inductees. The Alice Cooper Band, Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love and Dr. John are among the latest class. Leon Russell, who just put out an album with Elton John, will also be honored with a musical excellence award. The 2011 induction ceremony will take place on March 14th in New York City.
OBAMA PUTS JON BON JOVI ON NEW COUNCIL
Being a rocker and an actor isn’t enough for Jon Bon Jovi, he’ll soon work for the President too. Barack Obama announced this week that he’s appointing the rocker as a member of the recently-established White House Council on Community Solutions. Bon Jovi and other council member will provide advice on mobilizing citizens, non-profits, businesses and the government to work together more efficiently in aiding with poverty and homelessness. Jon has already dedicated massive amounts of time and money to the cause as chairman of his own Soul Foundation.
