NEWS BAR

*Late pop star Micheal Jacksons kids wants to buy Nenerland back were ther had there early years

*Laila Ali is pregenant
*Alica Keys speaks about Motherhood after naming son Egypt
*Whitney husten for siverbird 30the anniversary

*Beyonce's mother, Tina Knownles debunks daughters pregenancy tails
*Jenifer Lopez twince MAX and ENMMA makes modelling career debut
*Jayz signs new acts
*Nigerian act,Baba D taken second wife

*Ini Edo launches new movie
*Hennessy Artistry retunrn with Sir Sina Peters, MI, and Nneka
*OCTOPUS Paul dies at age 2

Jay-Z Greatest Hits tracklist

RapRadar.com has gotten a hold of the tracklisting for Jay-Z’s The Hits Collection. The final effort from Def Jam Records includes 14 of Hova’s biggest records, while the deluxe edition features five additional classic tracks from Sean Carter. Be sure to buy the collector’s set when it lands on November 22nd.

Disc: 1
1. “Public Service Announcement” (Interlude)
2. “Run This Town” (Feat. Rihanna & Kanye West)
3. “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde” (Feat. Beyoncé)
4. “Encore”
5. “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”
6. “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
7. “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”
8. “99 Problems”
9. “Empire State Of Mind” (Feat. Alicia Keys)
10. “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” 11. “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”
12. “Show Me What You Got”
13. “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)…”
14. “Big Pimpin’”

Disc: 2
1. “Young Gifted and Black”
2. “Pump It Up” (Freestyle)
3. “My President Is Black” (Remix)
4. “Go Hard Remix” (Jay-Z, Kanye West & T-Pain)
5. “Most Kings” (Feat. Green Lantern)
Copyright : MTV BASE

PRESS BRIEFING BY FKB ON THE RECENT FLOOD IN OGUN AND LAGOS

There had been reported cases of flood in some communities in some part of Ogun State and Lagos, which displaced inhabitants and destroyed farmlands occasioning great loses on the part of citizens.

The communities affected by the flood include Ilara, Oja-odan, Abeokuta, Isheri, Maidan, Magodo, Owode Onirin, Akute-Ifo,Agbado, Ajegunle area etc.

Investigation revealed that the Ogun river in recent time has over flown due to large volume of water entering it from adjourning river about twenty (20) rivers in all; they are River Sokori, River Oba, Ewekoro, Iro etc.,

It was also reported that the release of large volume of water from Oyan Dam was partly responsible.

Beyond the above stated reasons is the phenomenon of Climatic change with the amount of rainfall this year.

Matters arising from the incidents of flood make it imminent on all relevant agencies to rise up to the challenges of remedial measures including issues of control and compensations to the victims.

However, it is also important that the government should consider construction of more dams to control the inflow of water into the Ogun river and the lagoons in view of the number of small and big rivers in the adjourning areas flowing into river Ogun.

The Ilara flood issue calls for urgent attention by the NEMA and Border Regions Commission. The Area needs proper channelization of the flood plain area among other things.

It is disheartening that the people of the Ilara community are relocating to the Benin Republic since the market located in the Benin Republic had been well cared for and had not been affected by the flood while erosion is threatening the age long community.

* In view of the aforementioned I want to call on the Federal Government to give additional supports to NEMA and other relevant agencies to rise up to the challenges of resettling and compensating the environmental migrants displaced by the flood.

* Ministry of Water resources should also come out with design and location of small dams in the adjourning areas to control inflow of water into Ogun River and the Lagoon

* Compensations should be paid to the victims of the flood whose farmlands and houses were destroyed by the flood.

* The Border Region Commission in collaboration with NEMA and Ministry of Works should work out logistics for proper channelization and control of erosion in Ilara Border town in Imeko/Afon Local Government area of Ogun state.

Sen. Felix Kola Bajomo FCA, mni

Ogun West.

Rapper T.I. headed back to prison for 11 months

A federal judge revoked rapper T.I.'s probation Friday and ordered him back to prison for 11 months.

The Atlanta native, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., was in federal court following his arrest last month in Los Angeles on suspicion of drug possession. He was on probation after serving 10 months behind bars on federal weapons charges.

"I think Mr. Harris had had about the limit of second chances," U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell Jr. said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

During the hearing, T.I. begged Pannell not to send him back to prison, saying he needed to get help for drug addiction. He told the judge he "screwed up" and pleaded for mercy.

"I want drugs out of my life. If I can get the treatment and counseling I need ... I can beat this," T.I. told the judge, according to U.S. attorney spokesman Patrick Crosby. "I need help. For me, my mother, my kids, I need the court to give me mercy."

The Associated Press was relying on information from the spokesman because the judge closed the courtroom after it was filled and several media outlets including AP were not allowed in.

Pannell wasn't swayed by the rapper's plea.

The judge had said T.I.'s sentence was an "experiment" he hoped to replicate if it worked. The rapper was allowed to stay out of prison while performing 1,000 hours of community service, mostly talking with schoolchildren about the dangers of gangs, drugs and violence.

"You certainly dumped a lot of smut on the whole experiment," Pannell told T.I.

After the hearing, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said she was disappointed with T.I.

"We had hoped that this would be a new, innovative opportunity," she said. "We're not giving up on Mr. Harris, but ... if you veer off the road of redemption, there are consequences."


The Grammy Award-winning artist walked out of court with family and friends, leaving the building through a back exit without speaking to reporters.

Yates said the rapper is expected to surrender voluntarily to authorities Nov. 1.

As a condition of T.I.'s release earlier this year, he was ordered not to commit another federal, state or local crime while on supervised release, or to illegally possess a controlled substance. He was also told to take at least three drug tests after his release and to participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program.

"While he was telling kids to obey the law, he was breaking it," Yates told the judge Friday, according to Crosby. "There has to be a significant consequence for undermining the (plea) agreement."

Yates urged the judge to consider a sentence of two years in prison. She said T.I. submitted diluted urine samples and told his probation officer he had used ecstasy at least three times since leaving prison.

T.I's attorneys argued that after reviewing nearly 250 cases with similar charges, none of those people were put back behind bars for violating probation, Crosby said. Additionally, the attorneys told the judge that Harris was addicted to drugs and has attempted to turn his life around since leaving prison.

Earlier this week, Atlanta police said T.I. helped them talked a suicidal man down from a skyscraper. The rapper heard about the man on the radio and drove over to see if he could help.

The man agreed to come down from the 22-story building in exchange for a few minutes with the rapper, authorities said. They added he recorded a cell phone video of himself that was shown to the man by rescue workers to prove he was really there.

T.I. rejected suggestions that his intervention was a stunt to gain advance favor with the court.

Atlanta Police Department spokesman Officer James Polite testified at Friday's hearing about being present when T.I. lent his assistance.

"We believed it was genuine," Polite said of Harris' offer to help. "He gave words of encouragement and was an intricate part of having that situation safely and quickly resolved."

yahoo news
Associated Press writer Dorie Turner contributed to this report

Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz have baby boy named Egypt

It's a boy for Alicia Keys and her husband, music producer/rapper Swizz Beatz.

A representative for Keys said she gave birth Thursday night in New York. The couple have named their son Egypt Dean. It's the first child for the 29-year-old superstar and the fourth child for Beatz, whose real name is Kaseem Dean. The couple was married July 31.

Swizz Beatz, 31, took time to tweet on Friday: "I'm so thankful for everything I been blessed with in my life."

Official Video: WizKid - Holla at Your Boy

Chris Brown featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall - Deuces

KISS Music, Skuki Part Ways

By Victoria Ige and Dimeji Ogedengbe

We have just been told by reliable inside sources, that HipHopWorld Awards 2010 Next Rated winners Skuki and their management label KISS Music have parted ways.

The duo of Atewo (Peeshaun) and Tumi who are signed to Daphella Records have been managed by Howie T’s KISS management for years; during the period, moving from obscure acts to the mainstream and winning a dozen-and-one awards (including the 2010 HHWA Next Rated prize which came with a brand new Kia Optima).

But sources say the contract has expired, and a renewal might not happen, because KISS Music has allegedly declined to continue.

‘I believe there’s a lot of stuff Howie T and his team are not happy with; both with Skuki, and with their label boss Babatunde Daniel Attiogbe. So everyone in-house knew they would not continue the relationship’ a source close to both parties tells us.

Skuki are mostly known for their hit song ‘Banger’. But their recently-released album failed to meet commercial expectations, and sources say performance inquiries have been near nil. ‘The boys are generally well-liked and very promising. But business has been slow’, said an insider who asked NET not to reveal his identity.

Daphella Boss Attiogbe, in an email response to NET inquiries says: ‘I will have answers to this on Wednesday 20 October 2010′.

We were unable to reach Skuki as at the time of filing this report. Repeated calls to their mobile numbers were left unanswered while they are yet to reply NET SMS inquiries…

PIX OF THE WEEK

Ice prince

Nigeria’s Uti Nwachukwu Wins BBA All Stars!

By Victoria Ige and Demeji Ogedengbe
Nigeria has won the Big Brother Africa reality show for the second ’year’ running.

Nigeria’s representative in the novel BBA All Stars edition Uti Nwachukwu was tonight announced winner after an interesting 91 days in the house.

Uti, 27 and Munya, 24 from Zimbabwe were the last two contestants in the house. Both guys, with their national flags hanging on their shoulders, and anxiety written on their faces, waited as host IK worked the audience as he prepared to announce the winner.

And so it is that at 7:45PM Nigerian time, IK announced Uti as the winner.

And Munya wept; as Uti jumped up, broke into dance and songs and sang the Nigerian national anthem proudly.

Interestingly, Munya was leading in polls for several weeks, and considered by many as a sure contender for the big prize. But, apparently, Nigerians, with huge numbers on their side, voted for their own. The Nigerians are not alone though – seven other countries voted heavily for Uti, according to IK.

Uti, who lost his father during his stay in the house, walks away with $200,000, the $1000 cash prize for successfully keeping his ‘secret’, and invaluable popularity across the continent.

He’ll bury his father this November before returning to his music career and other projects…

The BBA All Stars is a special series featuring selected past contestants on the show. Uti was Nigeria’s representative during BBA 3 two years ago. He became the third evictee of Big Brother Africa 3 house on the 5th of October 2008 (Day 42). During his stay, he was known for often teasing his fellow housemates (mostly Mimi and Thami). During Namibian housemate Lucilles eviction Uti had a violent out burst when he discovered she had been evicted

360Reel: Kwara State Brought The Roof Down With An All-Star Concert For Nigeria’s 50th

On Saturday Oct 2, History was made as the Kwara State Government brought the best in Nigerian and global Music Entertainment live to Illorin, at the state’s official Nigeria@50 music concert conceptualised and promoted by Outpost Investments and sponsored by the Kwara State Government with support from major co-sponsors Dana Airlines, Dansa Juice, Aquadana Water and Powerhorse. The event, which was also the official opening of the Metropolitan Parade Ground, built by the state government, was produced and managed by Storm 360, the leading entertainment company in West Africa.
“It was a great pleasure to host the cream of Nigerian World Class Entertainers and the Global SuperStar Akon here in Illorin and i want to thank them on behalf of my government and the people of Kwara state for honoring our invitation and delivering such an enormous spectacle live here in our capital, it was a momentous occasion and a fitting celebration for our dear country at 50,” said Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON, Executive Governor of Kwara State.
It was a loaded line up with emerging stars Lynnx and Ikon kicking off proceedings around 6pm for what would be 9 hours of continuous entertainment, with International DJ Neptune backing up all the Nigerian performing acts except Mo Hits and P-Square. After the first performance, next up was Sauce Kid who gave a huge hi-energy performance and definitely won over new fans with his fast growing new classic “Edondeymadt”, then General Pype who ensured that the whole of Illorin could stand tall as Born “Champions”.
YQ was next and held the crowd down for almost 40mins running through all his collaborations, his own hits and we found out that YQ is already major out in Kwara. Sasha quickly followed YQ and even from backstage when she made her entry it was clear that Ilorin was ready for her to do her thing; she held the stage as only she can.
Naeto C was up next and ran through his catalogue, introducing the massive crowd (in excess of 40 thousand) to his new massive hit “10/10″. Naeto worked them into a frenzy with hit records like “Ki Ni Big Deal”, “Asewo”, “Duro”, “Ako Mi Ti Poju” and “U Know My P”.
Other performers were Tony Tetuila, who happens to be from Kwara State and he used that home advantage to good order. After Tetuila, up next was Wande Coal with his hypeman Special Ed, working the crowd into a frenzy.
After Wande Coal, the man of the hour Akon stepped up, delivering a 2hr set with over 29 hit records. He delivered a high energy performance that was unmatched all day and night; he worked that crowd into a frenzy. Whether it was jumping into the crowd 9 times, or using his magic ball to work the people, Akon kept everyone under his spell for over 2 hours and then just like that he was gone.
After Akon, the Kokomaster Dbanj delivered a 80-minute high energy set with his full band who he ran like a conductor with an orchestra, giving classic hits like “Tongolo”, “Loke” and the infectious “Igwe”, “Falling in Love” and “Suddenly”. He took Illorin apart, ably assisted by Wande Coal.
Approaching 1am, the stage was set for P-Square who mounted the stage in green and white, with their full band and delivered an amazing 90min set, proving why they are the biggest group in Africa. The guys gave pure value for money with major hits, solid singing, amazing dance steps and kept the energy high level in that amazing crowd.
“We must make special mention and thanks must be made to the Govt and people of Kwara States for being such gracious hosts and for providing a great audience,” said Obi Asika, CEO of Storm 360. All in all it was an incredible event, with amazing fireworks, a 100,000 watts sound system, massive jumbo screens and state of the art production, anchored by Olisa Adibua who ran the stage for close to 14 hours.
The event was filmed by Storm 360 and over the coming weeks it will air on national and continental platforms, other media present include Studio 53 extra, Hip TV and of course NTA Illorin.
www.360nobs.com

The Social Network

Millions of Friends, but Not Very Popular
By MANOHLA DARGIS
What makes Mark Zuckerberg run? In “The Social Network,” David Fincher’s fleet, weirdly funny, exhilarating, alarming and fictionalized look at the man behind the social-media phenomenon Facebook — 500 million active users, oops, friends, and counting — Mark runs and he runs, sometimes in flip-flops and a hoodie, across Harvard Yard and straight at his first billion. Quick as a rabbit, sly as a fox, he is the geek who would be king or just Bill Gates. He’s also the smartest guy in the room, and don’t you forget it.

The first time you see Mark (Jesse Eisenberg, firing on all cylinders), he’s 19 and wearing a hoodie stamped with the word Gap, as in the clothing giant, but, you know, also not. Eyes darting, he is yammering at his girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara), whose backhand has grown weary. As they swat the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s words at each other, the two partners quickly shift from offline friends to foes, a foreshadowing of the emotional storms to come. Soon Mark is back in his dorm, pounding on his keyboard and inadvertently sowing the seeds of Facebook, first by blogging about Erica and then by taking his anger out on the rest of Harvard’s women, whose photos he downloads for cruel public sport: is she hot or not.

(“The Social Network” opens the 48th New York Film Festival on Friday and opens in theaters next Friday.)

Although the names have remained the same, “The Social Network” is less of a biopic of the real Mr. Zuckerberg than a gloss on the boot-up, log-on, plug-in generation. You don’t learn much about him other than the headlines, beginning with Facebook’s less-than-humble start in 2003. Despite its insistently unsexy moving parts (software, algorithms), the movie is paced like a thriller, if one in which ideas, words and bank books blow up rather than cars. It’s a resonant contemporary story about the new power elite and an older, familiar narrative of ambition, except instead of discovering his authentic self, Mark builds a database, turning his life — and ours — into zeroes and ones, which is what makes it also a story about the human soul.

The price of that ambition, at least as dramatized here, is borne by those around Mark, who remains a strategic cipher throughout: a Facebook page without a profile photo. Charmless and awkward in groups larger than one, he rarely breaks into a smile and, if memory serves, never says thank you. He seems wary at some moments, coolly calculating at others: when his eyes haven’t gone dead, you can see him working all the angles. One of those angles, according to Mr. Sorkin’s script, which follows the outline of “The Accidental Billionaires,” Ben Mezrich’s book about Facebook, was one of the site’s co-founders, Eduardo Saverin (a very good Andrew Garfield), a fellow student of Mark’s as well as his first big check writer and personal chump.

Eduardo strides in early, his collar turned up against the Cambridge winter, and quickly moves in on our sympathies, which Mr. Eisenberg, guided by his supremely confident director, never does. Mr. Garfield can sometimes wilt on screen as if in surrender, but here his character merely sways, held up by an essential decency that makes Eduardo so appealing and such a contrast to the sometimes appalling Mark. (When Mr. Eisenberg makes Mark’s face go blank, the character seems scarily emptied out: it’s a subtly great, at times unsettling, performance.) Mark might be the brains in this unlikely friendship, but Eduardo is its conscience and slowly bleeding heart. Though he knows better, he hangs on even after he’s been cut loose
The plot thickens after Erica dumps Mark, and he meets a pair of near-comically-perfect supermen, the identical twins and future Olympic rowers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. (An amusing Armie Hammer plays both brothers with wit and the aid of different hairstyles, special effects and a body double.) The Winklevosses emerge as unlikely objects of Mark’s interest and, much like Erica, his eventual contempt. The twins and their friend Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), have a Web site idea and need Mark’s programming help. They’ll pay (and how!), but the gig, they grandly explain, will also rehabilitate Mark’s reputation on campus after the hot/not scandal, a patronizing moment that echoes Mark’s breakup with Erica. “You’d do that for me?” he asks the twins flatly, recycling a line Erica once used on him.

The conspicuous paradox that “The Social Network” plays with is that the world’s most popular social networking Web site was created by a man with excruciatingly, almost pathologically poor, people skills. The benign view of Facebook is that it creates “a community,” a sense of intimacy, which is of course one reason it also creeps out some of its critics. As the virtual-reality visionary Jaron Lanier puts it bluntly in his manifesto “You Are Not a Gadget,” Facebook also reduces life to a database. In “The Social Network,” a character lashes out at both Mark and “the angry” who haunt the Internet, but Mr. Lanier takes the view that it’s fear that drives the idolizers of what he calls the “new strain of gadget fetishism.”

Beyond the obvious (money, sex, fame) it’s hard to know what truly pushes Mark, whose personality emerges in furtive smiles, gushes of words and painful pauses. Eventually everyone does pay: the Winklevosses, Eduardo, even Mark. The filmmakers have their ideas about who did what to whom, but they don’t try to fill in all the blanks or, worse, soften Mark’s edges with a Psych 101 back story. You see what turns him on: software, revenge and, in several lightly comic and darkly foreboding scenes, Sean Parker, the flamboyant co-creator of Napster, who’s played by Justin Timberlake as a jittery seducer. Sean oozes into Mark’s life for a piece of the action and instantly dazzles the younger man with his bad-boy ways (coke and Champagne for everyone!), sexy dates and big, brash talk of riches.

Shooting in digital and working with the cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, Mr. Fincher turns down the lights and tamps down his visual style, deploying fewer special-effects sleights of hand than he did in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” with its wizened and baby Brad Pitt, while also maintaining the familiar Fincher atmosphere of dread. Harvard has rarely been represented to such dolorous effect as in “The Social Network,” where even the colors seem leached of joy. A restrained, somber palette and the shallow depth of field express the limits of Mark’s world, while the rapid, seamless cutting among different times and spaces — scenes of him creating Facebook are woven together with scenes of him in separate depositions — evokes the speed of his success, giving the narrative terrific momentum.

Mr. Fincher pointedly abandons his smudged browns for a gauzily lighted sequence of the twins rowing at a tony British club that, with the edges of the image blurred and movements slowed, looks like a dream. This is a world of rarefied privilege in which men still wear straw boaters, and royalty blathers within earshot. Mark isn’t invited, not because he’s poor (he isn’t), but because this is a closed, self-reproducing system built on exclusivity and other entitlements, including privacy. (The movie refers to Mark’s being Jewish, and the twins look as if they crewed for the Hitler Youth, but that’s just part of the mix.) Mark doesn’t breach this citadel, he sidesteps it entirely by becoming one of the new information elite for whom data is power and who, depending on your view of the Internet, rallies the online mob behind “The Social Network” takes place in the recognizable here and now, though there are moments when it has the flavor of science fiction (it would make a nice double bill with “The Matrix”) even as it evokes 19th-century narratives of ambition. (“To be young, to have a thirst for society, to be hungry for a woman,” Balzac writes in “Le Père Goriot.”) The movie opens with a couple in a crowded college bar and ends with a man alone in a room repeatedly hitting refresh on his laptop. In between, Mr. Fincher and Mr. Sorkin offer up a creation story for the digital age and something of a morality tale, one driven by desire, marked by triumph, tainted by betrayal and inspired by the new gospel: the geek shall inherit the earth.

“The Social Network” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). The usual college high jinks, drugs, drinking and semi-naked women.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

The film, to be shown on Friday on the opening night of the 48th New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, opens nationally next Friday.

Directed by David Fincher; written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires,” by Ben Mezrich; director of photography, Jeff Cronenweth; edited by Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter; music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; production designer, Donald Graham Burt; costumes by Jacqueline West; produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Cean Chaffin; released by Columbia Pictures. At 6 and 9 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. Running time: 2 hours.

WITH: Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg), Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin), Justin Timberlake (Sean Parker), Armie Hammer (Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss), Max Minghella (Divya Narendra), Josh Pence (Tyler Winklevoss), Rooney Mara (Erica Albright), Brenda Song (Christy), Rashida Jones (Marylin Delpy), John Getz (Sy), David Selby (Gage), Denise Grayson (Gretchen), Douglas Urbanski (Larry Summers), Aaron Sorkin (Ad Executive) and James Shanklin (Prince Albert).

PIX OF THE WEEK

Ice Prince and Yolar of Hip TV

Funmi Iyanda losses Father

Journalist-Broadcaster Funmi Iyanda and her brother Olumide Iyanda (who is the editor of Saturday Independent) have lost their father Pa Gabriel Olukunle Iyanda.

A family source tells us Pa Iyanda, 71, was strong and fit, until minor health complaints today.

‘He was a very strong and healthy man’ says our source. ‘We even spoke on the phone today. Then I heard he went to the hospital briefly. Next thing we heard, he had passed’.

The Iyandas lost their mother 39 years ago – when the family’s youngest child was four months old.

The Iyandas were this evening meeting at the family’s Badagry- Lagos home, said our source.

www.thenetng.com

50 Cent wanted by animal rights?

BallerStatus.com has learned 50 Cent is being pursued by a South African community group to help protect a rhino named Phila, who was harassed. Since the mogul was shot nine times, the animal rights group wants him to “become the godfather of our rhino, so that he can create awareness worldwide about rhino poaching." Andre Snyman of eBlockwatch told South Africa's The Sunday Times that rhino poaching has doubled and many animals have been slaughtered because of it. 50 is yet to comment.
Copyright : MTV BASE

DIGITAL CANDY: THE LUV TAPE TRACKLIST

Am sure this compilation feels like a myth, nobody believes it's gonna drop. Now its dropping this Saturday and the Digital Candy Luv Tape boasts of some of the hottest love songs ever, some bumping and grinding ish. Nah mean? O.K as earlier stated in other posts- The Luv Tape is a prelude to the Digital Candy section of this blog which will feature some of the hottest ladies around, so start drooling now. It will however be slightly intellectual. Below is the official tracklist of the compilation.

Sexual Healing- Marvin Gaye
Sweet Love- 112
Bump 'n' Grind (Remix)- R.Kelly
Do You Wanna- Donell Jones
You Remind Me of Something- R.Kelly
Bumpin' Body- Public Announcement
Freak Me- Silk
Jeep- JOE
My Body's Calling- R.Kelly
Fucking You Tonight feat R.Kelly- Notorious B.I.G
Director- Avant
The Love Scene- JOE
Nobody feat. Cut It Close- Keith Sweat
Sex Therapy- Robin Thicke
Let's Get It On- Marvin Gaye
It's a steamy list ain't it? Yezzir!
Digital Candy: The Luv Tape dropping 09|10|10

Get Carter

From boy to man via about nine billion cameos, mixtape leaks and official albums, Dwayne Carter has become the biggest rapper on the face of the planet. And as he seemingly turns his attentions to rock stardom, is there anything that he can't do? HATTIE COLLINS tracked the mercurial emcee across two continents to try to answer some fundamental questions about probably the most prolific and yet the least understood artist currently working in hip hop.

"You look at me and tell me what you see, you listen to me and tell me what you get. That’s what it is." Pause. "That’s who I am. I am music, ya dig?"

Dwayne ‘Lil Wayne’ Carter, aka the self-proclaimed Best Rapper Alive, isn’t one for navel-gazing. Press him more than once about how he conjures such insane couplets as "I’m probably in the sky flying with the fishes/Or maybe in the ocean swimming with the pigeons," and you’ll be greeted with a sigh. Prod again, and expect an even more curt response: "I don’t think you’re comprehending the answers right," he murmurs, pausing to pick up the ever-present styrofoam cup that houses Weezy F Baby’s beloved Sizzurp‘n’Sprite. "I’m just being me. I am living in another world. Do you want to come into my world? Is it safe? I can’t say. But my world is what I am. I am that person," he insists, touching a face embroidered with ink etchings like ‘I Am Music’ as well as ‘Fear’ and 'God’ on his right and left eye-lid respectively. "This shit don’t come off. I’m crazy. I am a rock star."

Evidentially; the recently leaked tracks Prom Queen and Hot Revolver, both apparently singles from the forthcoming Rebirth album, show Wayne in an axe-laden, head-banging mood. The jury remains out as to how successful this sonic swerve may be, but given past performance, it seems likely that Rebirth will be as profitable as its Tha Carter III predecessor.

Over the course of two interviews, he certainly rolls with a rock-like attitude. At a mid-level London hotel he’s edgy, moody and even subdued at times. Like his music, his thoughts follow an unsteady stream of consciousness, meandering from the meaningful to the utterly meaningless. A few months later at the Hit Factory studio in Miami, the 25 year-old is much more accommodating. He still mumbles and arrives with sizzurp and weed, but he seems a warmer person that before. Fresh from a session with Pharrell Williams, he’s thoughtful, considered and introspective.

When it comes to meeting Wayne, it seems the only thing you can predict is that his mood will be unpredictable. A studio hermit, he professes to sleep just three hours a night, and claims to visit only the studio, the bank and his bed. But it’s this unrelenting work ethic that has contributed to his success. From a moderately successful member of the Hot Boyz, Wayne parlayed bold proclamations, t-shirt-slogan-ready statements and a proliferation of mixtapes, guest verses and collaborations into a career that has proved unstoppable. Voted the Number One rapper by everyone from BET to Rolling Stone, Wayne has transformed himself from a footnote in hip hop history to one of the most important figures in pop music.

"I'll say this," he offers, "there's only one me. Who is Wayne? I’m just being me. It’s as simple as that."

Hattie: Who is Lil' Wayne: a rapper? A rock and roll star? Your 'Girls, guitars, drugs and beefs' posturing makes you appear more like a rock star than a rapper these days.
Wayne: Not yet. I’ll be there though. I don’t think about things that I have to do to get there, I just wake up every day and do something to get there. If I think about it, then that means I’m doing something anybody can do, because you can think about doing something and take over from there. I could think about doing something and then we’d have a teacher and we’d be in class and we’d all go home and think about the test the next day. Only a few can walk in there without studying and pass everything correctly. I try to be that person. I am a rock star, I don't do things that make me a rock star, ya dig?

H: Having dominated rap, is rock music the next genre for you to take over?
W: I like to stay in my box, 'cos when you go outside your box sometimes you can’t do it. Of course I’ve ventured into a lot of music such as rock and soul and things like that, but I still keep it Lil' Wayne between the lines. Therefore I’m safe at the end of the day. You can’t say, "Oh, he didn’t do well because he trying to sing," 'cos it’s still a typical Wayne song.

H: I understand you’ve been working on both Rebirth and Tha Carter IV?
W: Yes, ma'am. We were debating how we gonna do it - we were gonna do either Tha Carter IV or Tha Carter III Rebirthed, because it’s going to be very different. Like, it will sound different in a way not everyone will like and I don’t want anyone not to like Tha Carter IV, so we’re going to go with Rebirthed. But either way, I do so much music that I have Tha Carter IV done as well.

H: Can you explain your lyrical process?
W: I blame it all on me. I don’t write nothing, it comes from my regular, natural thoughts, from what I’m thinking. I’m off the wall. My thoughts bounce everywhere. I’m a Libra and you know we’re the only sign who don’t have no soul, so... We can go anywhere and take it everywhere and feel no way. I know how to express that with words and with actions. And I think I do it well.

H: You seem particularly interested in using space as a metaphor - you often liken yourself to a Martian, for instance.
W: Yeah, I exaggerate it, but I do feel like I’m different. My thought process keeps me rejuvenated and that’s why I can stay in the game as long as I’m in the game. No-one does it like I do. So that’s why I always go to the Martian thing, 'cos I’ll never say what you think I’m going to say and I’m not going to do what you expect me to do. It’s also about being free mentally. I’ll do what I want and say what I do and make it cool and make it make sense.

H: Film and sport are another two recurring themes in your raps...
W: I watch TV, but I don’t watch a lot of movies. You can see in my records that I watch TV a whole lot. I watch sports, period. I’m a big sports fan. Every sport, I watch it. Every one.

H: Do you play much sport?
W: Nah, I don’t have the size to play any sports. So I’m glad I got a shot at this [music].

H: So other than film and sport, what else influences your lyrics? Art, your children, books...
W: I’ve read a few books in my day. Like I told you earlier, I don’t write my lyrics down. I think you as a listener have to word it as "lyrics", but me, I’m just being me. It’s not "lyrics", so I don’t have to come up with it. If it’s something I have to come up with, that’s a whole different thing. If I am that, I don’t have to come up with anything. I am what I’m saying, there’s no lyrics. I just go in there. I don’t sit in the corner and think "What should I come up with next?" I just do it. This is what I am; I am that person. If you hear a song and I’m animated, I am animated. These tattoos don’t rub off. So all that crazy shit you hear in songs [rubs face], this shit don’t come off. I’m crazy. So I am a rock star. You know how you don’t have to question a rock star about their lyrics, because ten times out of ten they didn’t even write their lyrics? But you’re still obsessed with the façade, and everything else that comes with the sound. But with me being a rapper, I got the best of both worlds. The lyrics are my lyrics so you do have to question me about them because they are amazing. And then you have to also question me about the rock star lifestyle and all this and all that. So... [pause] There’s only one me though. I just am who I am and every single thing that ever happened to me, or that will happen for me, or to me, will be who I am behind that mic - every single thing: daughter, mother, relationships everything. I don’t write. When you write, you live within that paper and then you’re only as good as your last line. So I don’t write, I don’t have a last line. I’m just trying to get better.

H: You say you don’t write lyrics down, so how does that work? Do you record tracks in one go, or sentence by sentence, verse by verse?
W: It depends. It may be the whole lot, it may be three words. It depends what comes to mind. Some people might come in the studio and hear a song and ask, "What the hell is going on?" But when it all comes together it’s definitely amazing. Like, I usually hear the music and what I do is I come up with a gang of ideas. I lay them down and if I don’t like them, I take them out until you have a piece here and a piece there. It comes out great.

H: Do you have a favourite Wayne lyric? Have you written the perfect 16 yet?
W: No, because I’m such a perfectionist and I’m always trying to be better than my last shit. I always say the last shit is better than my last shit [laughs].

H: How about a song? Is there a personal favourite on Tha Carter III?
W: I would think the Mr. Carter song was the highlight because it was with Jay-Z. That right there was an amazing moment. Everything else is amazing as well, but that right there? I go to that song first when I put the album on. The song was given to me, I did the song and he and I, we know the same people. Someone played him that song and he said "I got to have it." He called me and I said "No problem."

H: What sort of influence has Jay had on your career?
W: Earlier on in my career, a few years back I moulded and made everything about me around what he did and how he did it, because he was making the best music at the time. If you want to be like anyone, you want to be like the best and that’s inspiration in itself.

H: What frame of mind were you making Tha Carter III? Were you aware of the intense pressure from fans, eager for you to deliver a classic album?
W: I would say no but I have to say I would be lying if I didn’t consider that. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was expecting me to do great. But I was looking at it like, the capacity of the anxiety was so great that it was like anything I did would be better than OK. All my job was to make it better than OK. And I did that, so therefore when it came out it was whatever it was.

H: How did you celebrate selling ‘A Milli’ in a week?
W: I went to the studio and did a Thank You song for the fans.

www.hiphop.com

T.I. to appear in court

We’ve just learned T.I. is expected to appear in court after getting arrested with his wife, Tiny, last month. TMZ reports the rapper will face the judge on October 15th to plead his case to avoid having his probation revoked and returning to prison. We previously reported Tip was nabbed for allegedly possessing ecstasy and was subjected to a drug test where he tested positive for opiates.

How I Emerged As The Hottest Yoruba Actor ,Top Actor, Odunlade Adekola Speaks

By Saheed Ojubanire
In the Yoruba sector of nollywood today, one thing is very obvious. And that is the fact that Odunlade Adekola is the most sought-after actor in the industry. No cast seems to be complete without giving the Abeokuta bred actor a significant role in it. The tall and good looking thespian who recently added a bundle of joy to his young family is surely an actor with depth and thoroughness and that seems to have been the cutting edge for him so far. Recently, Saheed Ojubanire caught up with the easy-going actor who won the award of the best actor of the year in the maiden City People Entertainment Award last year, at H.Kod hotel, Abeokuta, where he came to shoot a movie. He spoke about why he is very hot, his relationship with female colleagues and fans and why he was not able to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer. Excerpt.

Q: At what point in your life did you realize that acting would be your career?
R: Acting for me started from my childhood days. It started from my church, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Lafenwa, Abeokuta here. Then, when ever they wanted to do society anniversary at the church and they needed side attraction for the anniversary, we used to disturb them, a friend called Tunde and I, would tell them that we could perform as jesters at the anniversary, and they would say no problem. And I would just pick up my pen and would start writing scene 1, scene 2, scene 3. And funnily enough, I didn’t know what scene means then, I was just doing my own. And when ever they called upon us to perform, we would perform and everyone would laugh. And as at then, I was seeing the likes of Ogogo and co, I’m talking about ’92,’93,’94, I was seeing them as if I could do better than what they were doing then. When I now came into the industry, and they now thought me how to move, turn, do this and that, I now said: emi o mope ole to yio!( I never knew it’s this difficult). So, by and large, I can say acting for me started from my childhood days, especially from church.
Q: In the course of your growth in the industry, what are some of the challenges that came your way?
R: There were a lot of challenges, but the greatest of them all has been the challenge of being at my best at all times. I mean the challenge of going through a script and fashioning a way to interpret the role I’m expected to play in the best possible way. I always think about how best I can deliver any role that is given to me. Let me give you an instance in this regard. Ishola Durojaye,(Alasari) in the production of one of his films then, Asiri Gomina Wa, there a lot of criticisms that Odun cannot act the role that was given to him properly as the governor in the movie, but he(Alasari) called me to the side and said no matter what they say, Odun, you are going to do it. This is your script, go through it and master it. And I was thrown into confusion and a challenge as to how I would not disappoint someone that has placed such enormous confidence in me. But I thank God today, though I have been acting before Asiri Gomina Wa, but it was Asiri Gomina Wa that brought me to the spotlight. And there are a lot of other productions like that, that have added to my relevance in the industry such as Ara Lamo which was produced by Yinka Quadri and my own productions too. So, I see every production as a new challenge because that might be the production in which some people would be seeing me for the first time and that is what would give them the idea of the kind of actor that I am.

Q: How many productions of your own do you have in the market now?
R: I have five or six. I have Farapamo, Emi Ni Ire Kan, Baba Super, Ila Owo, Eje Fun Eje.
Q: So, how did you become the hottest actor in the Yoruba sector of Nollywood today?
R: I can’t really answer that question. You know I only get invitations to come and act in movies and I would go there and do my job. I don’t run after anybody and I want to believe nobody is running after me. Although, a lot people would call me and say if we don’t see your face in a movie, we won’t buy it and things like that. And I would thank them and would also thank God for making me appealing to them. And another thing I always tell them is that; please continue to pray for me because there have been a number of actors before me that they have called like that but are no where to be found today. And they are still alive. But they are no more marketable. So, I don’t know anything about being the hottest actor. What I know is that my God is always there for me.
Q: But there must have been something special about your acting that almost every producer wants you in their productions…
R: Like I told you, I said I see every movie that I’m partaking in as a challenge. And that is the only thing that I know. And two, if you are invited as an actor to any production, you shouldn’t see your audience as fools. Deliver your role as if everything is real. You have to convince them as if what they are watching is happening in real life. As if it is reality. And they would be watching and would be enthralled with your acting. They shouldn’t see lapses. And that is the secret. If I’m to play a good boy in a movie, I’ll play that good boy to the core. And if it’s to be a good boy, I’ll do it to the best of my ability. That is all.
Q: So, what are the things acting has done for Odunlade Adekola?
R: I have rest of mind. I am personally okay. I can eat three square meal conveniently. And I have comfort. Those are the things acting has done for me.
Q: How do you relate with you female colleagues in the industry.
R: Just as you can see, Sikiratu Sindodo just came in to greet me by hugging me. And I told her I’m busy, I’ll see you later. And that is all.
Q: Are you saying you don’t have a personal relationship with any of them?
R: No, no, no. We are all friends. My relationship with them is purely professional.
Q? How about your female fans outside, I mean the overzealous ones that would insist on dating you?
R: I love all my female fans. Do you know why? They are the ones that really watch films. And they would still make their boyfriends, their husbands, their fathers brothers and other people around them to watch our films by telling the about us. They there is one good actor now called so, so, so, you have to see his new movie. And there and then, they help build our fan base. So, I always appreciate my female fans when they call me to say Odunlade, we are enjoying your movies. And I would also make my self available to those that have business deal for me or want to join acting. There is nothing beyond that.

Q: Are you saying you have never dated a female fan?
R: No. Never!
Q: If you were not an actor, what would you have been?
R: I would have been a business administrator or a lawyer. That is if my educational background had been very solid. But, to now start pursuing all that now, I think it’s too late for me. I have to be realistic because it would take much of my time. At least, as I am now, I can take care of myself and my family.
Q: Can you tell us some of the schools you attended?
R: I attended Snt John RCM primary school in Abeokuta here. Then, to Snt Peter’s College, Olomore, Abeokuta. And I am still schooling in one University that I don’t wan to mention.
Q: Which movie should your fans be expecting from your stable soon?
R: It is Fayebora. That is the title.
Q: Finally, what is your message for your teeming fans out there?
R: My message is that I love them all. And I want them to know that any position they find themselves in today is not by their power, it is by the grace of God. So, they have to keep on praying. Because, it is only by prayer and not by their power that they can be what ever they want to be. That is all.