Common Enters The Shoe Game

05-20-2005

With Kanye West by his side, an eye catching billboard in Time Square (New York), and a highly anticipated album coming out next week, Common isn't the underground hip hop backpacker that we once knew from back in the day. The Chicago rapper isn't taking the road less traveled anymore. On May 24, the same day that his album Be hits stores, TheRedLemonStore.com will be selling 100 pairs of Nike sneakers designed by Common and celebrity shoe designers Krispy Klean.

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The French Love 50 Cent

05-20-2005

Thanks to 50 Cent, Vivendi Universal (VU) had a strong quarter. According to Digital Music News, the French media conglomerate recently revealed earnings of 877 million euros ($1.13 billion), beating a figure of 694 million euros ($877.5 million) in the same period last year. VU owns Island Def Jam Music Group, Geffen Records, Universal Motown Records Group, as well as Interscope A&M Records. The newsletter reported that the company cited big contributions from heavy sellers like 50 Cent and Mariah Carey, with both helping to boost Universal Music earnings of 36 million euros ($45.5 million) last year, up from a loss of 4 million euros ($5.1 million) a year earlier.

West Coast DJ Felli Fel Joins Eminem's Shade 45 Radio

05-19-2005

DJ Felli Fel is bringing his on-air and mix show DJ skills to Shade 45, the uncensored hip-hop SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel co-created by Eminem. The Los Angeles radio host and mix DJ will host Low Low Radio on Shade 45 every Saturday from 8 pm to midnight ET starting on May 21. "I'm amped about this new show. It's gonna be a lot of hot new music," said DJ Felli Fel. "I'm excited to work with the Shade 45 homies and the SIRIUS folks. Ya boy is gonna show how the West Coast rocks!" DJ Felli Fel is currently the No. 1 night time radio host in Los Angeles. His mixing skills earned him the title "West Coast DJ of the Year" by the Mixshow Power Summit. He has also produced a remix of Tyrese's "I Like Dem Girls," "Worldwide" by The Outlawz featuring Tupac, and a remix of Jessica Simpson's "Take My Breath Away," among many other music and video projects. DJ Felli Fel joins other top-name Shade 45 DJs and programs as DJ Muggs, DJ Tony Touch, DJ Clinton Sparks and 50 Cent's G-Unit Saturdays featuring DJ Whoo Kid.

From Motown to CoverGirl-Ville

05-19-2005

In case you weren't glued to your TV to get your daily reality fix. The show ranked at No. 5 for African-American TV viewers, according to Nielsen TV Ratings, picked their winner for the fourth season. Last night, Naima was named America's Next Top Model. When Keenya (from Compton) was eliminated, it was down to Kahlen(from Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Naima, a 20-year-old coffee shop waitress from Detroit. Click here to learn more about America's newest reality model.

05-18-2005

School's out for summer so what's a young music fan to do with all that free time? Check out the ever-growing list of summer tours, of course. Artists including Eminem, 50 Cent, Lil Jon, Nelly, Fat Joe, Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Common, Ben Harper, and more are all hitting the road this summer to bring their hottest hits to your hometown. Em and 50 lead the Anger Management Tour for the third year in a row, while Snoop and Game pair up for the How the West Was One trek. Common and M.I.A. go it solo while Nelly brings along T.I. and Fat Joe for good measure on his "Sweat/Suit" tour.

05-18-2005

Add another point to the defense's score in the Michael Jackson trial. On Tuesday [May 17], a social worker testified that she met privately with the singer's accuser and his family during the time they say they were held captive by Jackson, and that they openly denied any sexual abuse occurred and in fact spoke well of Jackson, according to The New York Daily News. On the eve of the airing of the Martin Bashir documentary about Jackson, Irene Lavern Peters explained, the accuser said "everybody thinks Michael Jackson sexually abused me. He never touched me." Furthermore, Peters testified that the accuser's mother said she credited Jackson with helping to cure her son of cancer.

Usher Breaks Promise, Plots Return to Studio

05-18-2005

Try as he might, Mr. Entertainment is having some trouble keeping his promises. The biggest one Usher's about to break? "I did promise there would be no more music [from me this year], but unfortunately we're back in [the studio]," he told MTV News, adding a touch of sarcasm to the "unfortunately." It won't be an album proper, though – Usher will be contributing new material to the soundtrack for his upcoming movie, "Dying for Dolly," and there will be guest artists featured on the album as well. Usher will take on executive producing duties. In other Usher news, the singer recently attended the 22nd annual ASCAP Pop Awards where he was presented with several awards and helped present the Golden Note Award for lifetime achievement to Jermaine Dupri.

Ciara Leads Pack of BET Award Nominees

05-18-2005

The nominations for the 2005 BET Awards have been announced and Ciara is leading the pack with four nominations including Best Female R&B Artist, Best New Artist and Best Collaboration for "1, 2 Step" featuring Missy Elliot, according to Billboard.com. Trailing closely behind are John Legend, Kanye West and Destiny's Child who got three bids a piece. Amerie, Fantasia, 50 Cent, Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe and Omarion each nabbed two nominations. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Gladys Knight, and the Humanitarian Award will go to Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith will host the event which will be held on June 28 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, while Game, Missy, Ludacris, Destiny's Child and Mariah Carey have been named as the first slew of confirmed performers.