50th Annual Grammy® Awards

Wed 06 Aug 2008. Nearing 50 years of celebrating music through the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premier outlet for honoring achievements in the recording arts and supporting the music community. The GRAMMYs are the only peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. The GRAMMY Awards rang in its 50th show with a wide-ranging, celebratory telecast that honored the old, the new and everything in between as The Recording Academy paid tribute to its legacy as well as the exciting list of this year's honorees and performers. Amy Winehouse won five awards, including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for her now-prophetic "Rehab," while Kanye West took home four, including the Best Rap Album award for Graduation, though Album Of The Year eluded him for the third time. That award went to longtime jazz great Herbie Hancock for his tribute to Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters. Other top winners included gospel star Karen Clark-Sheard and Bruce Springsteen with three trophies each. Winners 50th Annual Grammy Awards: -Album of the Year: "River: The Joni Letters," Herbie Hancock. -Record of the Year: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse. -Song of the Year: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse (Amy Winehouse). -New Artist: Amy Winehouse. -Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Mark Ronson. -Pop Vocal Album: "Back to Black," Amy Winehouse. -Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse. -Male Pop Vocal Performance: "What Goes Around...Comes Around," Justin Timberlake. -Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Makes Me Wonder," Maroon 5. -Pop Collaboration With Vocals: "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. -Pop Instrumental Album: "The Mix-Up," Beastie Boys. -Pop Instrumental Performance: "One Week Last Summer," Joni Mitchell. -Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Call Me Irresponsible," Michael Buble. -Alternative Music Album: "Icky Thump," The White Stripes. -Rock Album: "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," Foo Fighters. -Rock Song: "Radio Nowhere," Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen). -Solo Rock Vocal Performance: "Radio Nowhere," Bruce Springsteen. -Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Icky Thump," The White Stripes. - Hard Rock Performance: "The Pretender," Foo Fighters. Metal Performance: "Final Six," Slayer. -Rock Instrumental Performance: "Once Upon a Time in The West," Bruce Springsteen. -Rap Album: "Graduation," Kanye West. -Rap Solo Performance: "Stronger," Kanye West. -Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Southside," Common, featuring Kanye West. -Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Umbrella," Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z. -Rap Song: "Good Life," Aldrin Davis, Mike Dean, Faheem Najm & Kanye West, songwriters (J. Ingram & Q. Jones, songwriters) (Kanye West Featuring T-Pain). -Country Album: "These Days," Vince Gill. -Country Song: "Before He Cheats," Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood). -Female Country Vocal Performance: "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood. -Male Country Vocal Performance: "Stupid Boy," Keith Urban. -Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "How Long," Eagles. -Country Collaboration With Vocals: "Lost Highway," Willie Nelson & Ray Price. -Country Instrumental Performance: "Throttleneck," Brad Paisley. -R&B Album: "Funk This," Chaka Khan. -R&B Song: "No One," Dirty Harry, Kerry Brothers & Alicia Keys, songwriters (Alicia Keys). -Contemporary R&B Album: "Because of You," Ne-Yo. -Female R&B Vocal Performance: Alicia Keys. -Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Future Baby Mama," Prince. R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Disrespectful," Chaka Khan, featuring Mary J. Blige. -Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: "In My Songs," Gerald Levert. -Urban/Alternative Performance: "Daydreamin'," Lupe Fiasco, featuring Jill Scott. -Dance Recording: "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows," Justin Timberlake, Nate (Danja) Hills, Timbaland & Justin Timberlake, producers; Jimmy Douglass & Timbaland, mixers. -Electronic/Dance Album: "We Are the Night," The Chemical Brothers. -Bluegrass Album: "The Bluegrass Diaries," Jim Lauderdale. -Traditional Blues Album: "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas," Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, Robert Lockwood Jr. & David "Honeyboy" Edwards. -Contemporary Blues Album: "The Road to Escondido," JJ Cale & Eric Clapton. -New Age Album: "Crestone," Paul Winter Consort. -Contemporary Jazz Album: "River: The Joni Letters," Herbie Hancock. -Jazz Vocal Album: "Avant Gershwin," Patti Austin. -Jazz Instrumental Solo: "Anagram," Michael Brecker, soloist. -Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: "Pilgrimage," Michael Brecker. -Large Jazz Ensemble Album: "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)," Terence Blanchard. -Latin Jazz Album: "Funk Tango," Paquito D'Rivera Quintet. -Latin Pop Album: "El Tren De Los Momentos," Alejandro Sanz. -Latin Rock or Alternative Album: "No Hay Espacio," Black:Guayaba. -Latin Urban Album: "Residente O Visitante," Calle 13. -Tropical Latin Album: "La Llave De Mi Corazon," Juan Luis Guerra. -Mexican/Mexican-American Album: "100 (Percent) Mexicano," Pepe Aguilar. -Tejano Album: "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," Little Joe & La Familia. -Norteno Album: "Detalles Y Emociones," Los Tigres Del Norte. -Banda Album: "Te Va A Gustar," El Chapo. -Traditional Folk Album: "Dirt Farmer," Levon Helm. -Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: "Washington Square Serenade," Steve Earle. -Native American Music Album: "Totemic Flute Chants," Johnny Whitehorse. -Hawaiian Music Album: "Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar," Various Artists, Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers. -Zydeco or Cajun Music Album: "Live! Worldwide," Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience. -Reggae: "Mind Control," Stephen Marley. Traditional World Music Album: "African Spirit," Soweto Gospel Choir. -Contemporary World Music Album: "Djin Djin," Angelique Kidjo. -Polka Album: "Come Share the Wine," Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra. -Gospel Performance: "Blessed & Highly Favored," The Clark Sisters; "Never Gonna Break My Faith," Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige (Featuring The Harlem Boys Choir). (Tie.) -Gospel Song: "Blessed & Highly Favored," Karen Clark-Sheard, songwriter (The Clark Sisters). -Rock or Rap Gospel Album: "Before the Daylight's Shot," Ashley Cleveland. -Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: "A Deeper Level," Israel and New Breed. -Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album: "Salt of the Earth," Ricky Skaggs & The Whites. -Traditional Gospel Album: "Live - One Last Time," The Clark Sisters. -Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: "Free to Worship," Fred Hammond. -Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Love (The Beatles) George Martin & Giles Martin, producers (Apple Records/Capitol Records). -Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: "Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino, composer. -Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: "Love You I Do (From Dreamgirls)," Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson). -Musical Show Album: "Spring Awakening," Duncan Sheik, producer; Duncan Sheik, composer; Steven Sater, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast With Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele & Others). -Musical Album for Children: "A Green and Red Christmas," The Muppets. -Spoken Word: "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Barack Obama. -Spoken Word Album for Children: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Jim Dale. -Comedy Album: "The Distant Future," Flight of the Conchords. Instrumental Composition: "Cerulean Skies," Maria Schneider, composer (Maria Schneider Orchestra). -Instrumental Arrangement: "In a Silent Way," Vince Mendoza, arranger (Joe Zawinul). -Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die," John Clayton, arranger (Queen Latifah). -Engineered Album, Non-Classical: "Beauty & Crime," Tchad Blake, Cameron Craig, Emery Dobyns & Jimmy Hogarth, engineers (Suzanne Vega). -Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: "Bring the Noise (Benny Benassi Sfaction Remix)," Benny Benassi, remixer (Public Enemy). -Surround Sound: "Love," Paul Hicks, surround mix engineer; Tim Young, surround mastering engineer; George Martin & Giles Martin, surround producers (The Beatles). -Classical Album: "Tower: Made in America," Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Tim Handley, producer; Tim Handley, engineer/mixer (Nashville Symphony). -Orchestral Performance: "Tower: Made in America," Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Nashville Symphony). -Producer of the Year, Classical: Judith Sherman. -Engineered Album, Classical: "Grechaninov: Passion Week," John Newton, engineer (Charles Bruffy, Phoenix Bach Choir & Kansas City Chorale). -Opera Recording: "Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel," Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor; Rebecca Evans, Jane Henschel & Jennifer Larmore; Brian Couzens, producer (Sarah Coppen, Diana Montague & Sarah Tynan; New London Children's Choir; Philharmonia Orchestra). -Choral Performance: "Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem," Simon Rattle, conductor; Simon Halsey, chorus master (Thomas Quasthoff & Dorothea Roschmann; Rundfunkchor Berlin; Berliner Philharmoniker). -Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra): "Barber/Korngold/Walton: Violin Concertos," Bramwell Tovey, conductor; James Ehnes (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra). -Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra): "Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 3," Garrick Ohlsson. -Chamber Music Performance: "Strange Imaginary Animals," Eighth Blackbird. -Small Ensemble Performance: "Stravinsky: Apollo, Concerto in D; Prokofiev: 20 Visions Fugitives," Yuri Bashmet, conductor; Moscow Soloists. -Classical Vocal Performance: "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs," Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (James Levine; Boston Symphony Orchestra). -Classical Contemporary Composition: "Made in America," Joan Tower (Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Nashville Symphony Orchestra). Classical Crossover Album: "A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane," Turtle Island Quartet. -Short Form Music Video: "God's Gonna Cut You Down," Johnny Cash. -Long Form Music Video: "The Confessions Tour," Madonna. Recording Package: "Cassadaga," Zachary Nipper, art director (Bright Eyes). -Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: "What It Is!: Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977)," Masaki Koike, art director. Album Notes: "John Work, III: Recording Black Culture," Bruce Nemerov, album notes writer. -Historical Album: "The Live Wire - Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949," Nora Guthrie & Jorge Arevalo Mateus, compilation producers; Jamie Howarth, Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith & Dr. Kevin Short, mastering engineers (Woody Guthrie). The 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on 'GRAMMY Sunday,' Feb. 10, 2008, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and was broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). www.grammy.org ###

80th Academy Awards® Winners Announced

80th Academy Awards® Winners Announced. A2AD Newswire, Wed 06 Aug 2008. Beverly Hills, CA — Nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, January 22 by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar® winner Kathy Bates. Academy members selected the nominees in their respective branches, with the exception of the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, in which nominations were selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members were eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to the 5,829 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation. Complete list of winners at the 80th annual Academy Awards: Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men." Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood." Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose." Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men." Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton." Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men." Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria. Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men." Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno." Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille." Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood." Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum." Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum." Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli. Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side." Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld." Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum." Makeup: "La Vie en Rose." Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf." Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')." Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass." Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 were presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation was televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide. www.oscars.org/ ###

Eminem Personal life

Marshall Mathers has often been subject of much scrutiny as a rapper as well in his personal life.[18] Kimberly Anne Scott is the doubly divorced ex-wife of Mathers. The couple met in high school, beginning their on and off relationship in 1989 and getting married by 1999; however they then divorced in 2001.[67] In 2000, Scott attempted suicide and sued the rapper for defamation after he depicted her violent death in his song "Kim".[67][68] They remarried in 2006 but divorced again less than three months later, agreeing to share custody of their daughter, Hailie Jade Scott.[67][68][69] Hailie Scott has often been referenced or featured on various songs of Eminem, such as "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Mockingbird" and "When I'm Gone". She was born on 1995-12-25.[67]
Alaina Mathers is Mathers' adopted daughter from Kim Scott's sister.[67] She is also referenced in the song "Mockingbird" as "Lainie".[citation needed]
Legal troubles
During Mathers' first marriage, in 1999 Mathers' mother sued him for an around US$ 10 million over alleged slander about her in his lyrics regarding The Slim Shady LP; she won about US$1,600 in damages in 2001.[70]
Mathers was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation at a car audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, with Douglas Dail, the ICP manager, he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground.[71] The following day, in Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss the bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café and assaulted him with his gun.[71][67][68] He was given two years probation for both the episodes.[72]
In the summer of 2001, Mathers' legal troubles continued, as he was given probation on weapons charges that stemmed with an argument from an employee working for Insane Clown Posse, giving him a fine around $2,000 as well as several hours of community service.[73]
Drug dependence
His group-mate Proof from D12 stated that Mathers "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence.[74] However, he did turn to Zolpidem sleeping pills for relief of sleeping troubles. This caused Mathers to cancel in August 2005 the European leg of Anger Management Tour and eventually go into rehab for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".[43][75]

Eminem Acting career

Although he had a brief cameo in the 2001 film The Wash, Eminem made his official Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it was not performed at the ceremony, reportedly because ABC wanted him to perform an edited version.[63] Among his voice acting roles include in the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof, where he voices an aging corrupt police officer that speaks in Ebonics, and guest spots on the Comedy Central television show Crank Yankers and a web cartoon called The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD.[64]
Eminem will star in the upcoming film Have Gun – Will Travel in which he will play the protagonist bounty hunter "Paladin". He will be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring.[65] He was also in the running for the part of David Rice in 2008's film Jumper after Tom Sturridge was dropped just 2 weeks before filming. Concerns over not having a more prominent actor prompted the director, Doug Liman, to consider other actors for the role. Hayden Christensen was eventually chosen over Eminem.[66]

Shady Records

As Eminem succeeded in multi-platinum record sales, Interscope granted him his own record label. He and his manager Paul Rosenberg created Shady Records in late 2000. He followed this by signing his own Detroit collective D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label. In 2002, Eminem signed 50 Cent through a joint venture between Shady and Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre signed on Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, the former DJ for Eminem, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute related to the 50 Cent and Jadakiss feud forced him to depart from the label; he is no longer associated with Eminem. The Alchemist is now officially Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005, Eminem officially signed another Atlanta rapper known as Bobby Creekwater to his label along with west coast rapper Cashis.[9]
On December 5, 2006, Shady Records released compilation album entitled Eminem Presents: the Re-Up. It started out as a mixtape but Eminem found that the material was better than expected and released it as a full album. It was meant to help launch the new artists under the roster, like Stat Quo, Cashis and Bobby Creekwater.[61] MTV also ranked Eminem at #9 on their list of "The Greatest MCs of All Time" that year.[62]

Eminem Featurings and productions

Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records, such as Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, D12, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including, Redman, Kid Rock, DMX, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Method Man, The Notorious B.I.G., Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Sticky Fingaz, T.I. and others.
Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on Akon's album Konvicted. 50 Cent confirmed that on the new G-Unit album, Terminate on Sight, there will be a track with Eminem.[52]
Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre.[53] In addition, Eminem has produced and appeared on several songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renagade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me".[54] Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass.[55] He split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur.[56] He produced the UK #1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John.[57] He has produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son.[58] On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go".[59] Eminem has produced some tracks on the new Trick Trick album, The Villain; he's featured in "Who Want It".[60]

2004: Encore

Main article: Encore (Eminem album)
On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States after the song "Bin Laden" with Immortal Technique and Mos Def was released on mixtape.[29] The lyrics in question: "Fuck money / I don't rap for dead presidents / I'd rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedents...". The song in question, titled "We As Americans", was being recorded possibly for Encore but wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album instead.[30]
The year 2004 saw the release of Eminem's fourth major album, Encore. The album was another chart-topper, as it was driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" refer to Jackson's legal troubles, however he does state in his song "...and that's not a stab at Michael/That's just a metaphor/I'm just psycho...". Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit".[31] and Steve Harvey who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back."[31] In the video, Eminem parodied Pee Wee Herman, MC Hammer, and a Blonde-Ambition-touring Madonna.[32]
Regarding Jackson's protest, "Weird Al" Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on a track titled "Couch Potato" on his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my "Lose Yourself" parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me".[28] Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video. The Source, through its CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, wanted not only the video to be pulled, but the song off the album, and a public apology to Jackson from Eminem.[33] In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs my Eminem, Shakira and Beck amongst other.[34] Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh". On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet.[35] The song featured a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president."[36] The video features Eminem gathering up an army of people (including rapper Lloyd Banks) presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen. After Bush won the election, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while Bush was giving a speech.[37]

2002–2003: The Eminem Show

Main article: The Eminem Show
Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 and proved to be another hit for the rapper reaching number one on the charts and selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release.[16] It featured the single "Without Me", an apparent sequel to "The Real Slim Shady", in which he makes derogatory comments about boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Moby, and Lynne Cheney, among others. The album reflected on the impact of his rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter, and his status in the hip-hop community. He also addresses the charges he faced over assaulting a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide felt that while there was clear anger present on several tracks, this album was considerably less inflammatory than The Marshall Mathers LP.[26] However, L. Brent Bozell III, who previously criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for perceived misogynistic lyrics in the album, noted The Eminem Show for its extensive use of obscene language, giving Eminem a nickname of "Eminef" for the bowdlerization of motherfucker, an obscenity prevalent in the album.[27] Satirical musician "Weird Al" Yankovic was in 2003 denied permission to make a video for "Couch Potato", his parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself". "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career."[28]

2000–2001: The Marshall Mathers LP

Main article: The Marshall Mathers LP
The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle as the fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' …Baby One More Time as the fastest-selling solo album in the United States.[3][18] The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some buzz by insulting celebrities and making dubious claims about them; he implies, among other things, that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) and Carson Daly (of MTV's Total Request Live).[19] In his second single, "The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video "My Name Is", the artists are now on good terms. They have performed a remix of the song "The Way I Am" together in concert.[20] In the third single, "Stan" (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the perspective of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP.[7] Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time,[21] and the song came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.[22] The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.[23]
Music tours that he participated in for 2001 included the Up In Smoke Tour with rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Ice Cube[24] and Family Values Tour with the band Limp Bizkit.[25]

1999: The Slim Shady LP

Main article: The Slim Shady LP
According to Billboard Magazine, a this point of his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life". After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records in 1998, Eminem released in 1999 his first major studio album, The Slim Shady LP, heavily based on the production by Dr. Dre. The album was, according to the same Billboard article, "brutal" and "light years ahead of the material he had been writing beforehand."[15] It went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year.[16] With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of the body of his wife. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the powerful friendship and musical bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from The Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show and "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore. Thus, Dr. Dre would go on to make at least one guest appearance on all of Eminem's studio albums under the label Aftermath.[17]

Eminem Music career

Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the son of Deborah Mathers-Briggs and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr.[7] Shortly after his birth, his father walked out, leaving his son. Until he was twelve, Marshall Mathers and his mother often moved between St. Joseph and Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. As a teenager, Mathers became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group Soul Intent around 1995, when his first single was released.[1] Although a student of Lincoln High School in Warren, he frequently participated in freestyle battles at Osbourne High School across town,[8] gaining the approval of underground hip hop audiences.[1] After repeating the ninth grade three times due to truancy,[9] he dropped out of high school at age 17.[7]
Since 1992, Mathers had been signed to FBT Productions, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass. Mathers also held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the restaurant Gilbert's Lodge at St. Claire Shores for some time.[10] In 1996, his debut album Infinite, which was recorded at the Bassment, a recording studio owned by the Bass brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment.[11] Eminem recalls: "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up."[12] Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott while on limited funds.[13] Early in his career, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" . They referred to themselves as Bad Meets Evil, with Royce playing 'The Bad' and Eminem playing 'The Evil', as Eminem and Royce each clearly state in the song Bad Meets Evil.[14]

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972),[1] known as Slim Shady and his primary stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Having sold over seventy million albums worldwide,[2] Eminem is one of the highest-selling rappers of all time.
Born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, but raised in Detroit, Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with the major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history,[3] followed by an increasing amount of popularity, critical praise, as well as controversy. While Eminem has won many Grammy Awards and been praised for having "verbal energy" and high quality of lyricism,[4] he has often been infamous for the controversy surrounding many of these lyrics, including allegations of glorifying homophobia, misogyny, and violence.[5]
In 2002, Eminem starred in the box-office hit film 8 Mile, loosely based on his early life and rise in the rap music scene, and won an Oscar award for his work in it.[6]

USHER CONSINDERING RE-HIRING HIS MOM AS HIS MANAGER

Word on the sidewalk is that R&B singer Usher is having a hard time coping with the fact that his new album, Here I Stand, didn’t do as well as he had expected it to. So now he’s considering hiring his mom back as his manager. If you remember, back here in 2007 - around Mother’s Day, Usher had decided it was time to retire his mother from her duties as his manager, something she’d been doing since forever (15 years to be exact).
Now all of a sudden he wants mommy back because his album tanked. According to the NY Daily News, he’s blaming his new manager, Benny Medina, for the lack of success of his new album. Even though the CD debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts, it only sold about 433,000 copies in its opening week. His Confessions album, released in 2004, also debuted at #1, but sold 1.1 million copies when it debuted. And its been over a month since Here I Stand was released, and so far the album has sold less than 800,000 copies.
A source tells the New York Daily News, “Usher was livid. He threatened to fire everyone. People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother. Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready (to re-hire his mother).”
That’s what his cocky ass gets for trying to be all extra and get rid of the person who’s responsible for his success.

Music News: Young Jeezy's Recession

Young Jeezy will release his new album, "The Recession" on August 19. The album is lead by first single, "Put On" featuring Kanye West. Jeezy and Kanye recently performed on the BET awards and brought the house down. It was one of my favorite performances from that telecast in a night of many highlights and surprises.David Banner has chosen "Shawty Say" featuring you guessed it............Lil' Wayne for his 2nd single. His oft-delayed album, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" will be released on July 15. The album features collaborations with Yung Joc, Chris Brown, Akon, Carl Thomas, and more. The album recently leaked.Lil' Wayne is being sued for $2 million dollars! If you recall Lil' Wayne performed a concert in which he threw a wade of money to the sky. Of course everyone scurried to the money resulting in several people getting injured. Well one woman was impaled with a metal pole and had surgery to heal her wounds.JoJo is diligently working on new album "All I Want Is Everything" due later this year or early next. For the upcoming album JoJo enlisted Tank, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Underdogs, Danja, J.R. Rotem, and Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry. Sounds like quite a list!Mrs. Christina Aguilera is said to be releasing a new album this fall. There are talks that Christina wants to work with Kanye West. Wow! I can only imagine these two divas in a room together.Michelle Williams who's current single, "We Break The Dawn" recently went to #1 finds her upcoming album, "Unexpected" pushed back to August 19; a week later from its original release date

Smashing Pumpkins Plan Shows

After reuniting in 2007 for a new album and tour, the Smashing Pumpkins have announced a new tour to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. Twenty years already? Wow, time flies when you’re shaving your head and bashing former band mates.
According to their website, the Pumpkins will visit mostly smaller-sized venues during an August run of shows the band says will feature “unique sets and songs”. “This tour will be for fun” the band added (because if you know one band that likes to have fun, it’s The Smashing- freakin’- Pumpkins).
The band will also return this November for a number of anniversary shows at bigger venues in such metropolis’ as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. While no dates have been announced, the anticipated show will only be the second Los Angeles date for the reunited Pumpkins. The band played a so-so received headlining performance at the 2007 KROQ LA Invasion show. I’m guessing a few nights in Universal City or at the Nokia may be in order.
As if that wasn’t enough the band will play a number of shows in early 2009 focusing on the bands debut album “Gish”. Next year will mark the 17th anniversary of the record, which in Pumpkins lore probably has some significance.

Gospel Music News-Rev. Timothy Wright, JoyFest

1. The sons of Rev. Timothy Wright held a press conference in the wake of the head-on crash that left their father in critical condition and which took the life of their mother, Betty Wright, and 14 year-old D.J. Wright.

2. The JoyFest fifth annual Gospel-music festival will be held beginning Thursday, July 10th, in downtown Canton’s Kresge Block. It will still be held in spite of the car crash that left Rev. Timothy Wright injured and that killed his wife and grandson. Wright was scheduled to perform, but the festival will have a tribute to the Wrights on Sunday with a community choir performing his music.~JoyFest

3. Bishop Charles Craig, the GMWA Vice Chair of the Security, Nurses and Ushers, passed of a massive heart attack at a Detroit Hospital. Bishop Craig performed with his brother Linsey Craig as the Craig Brothers. Please pray for peace and comfort for his family. Services will be held Friday & Saturday, July 11-12th in Detroit.~GMWA Detroit

4. According to Nola.com , the inside of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, was damaged in a fire. The church is pastored by Bishop Paul S. Morton and his wife Debra Morton. "We’ll be back, bigger and better." said Debra Morton.
There is a lot going on in the Gospel music industry right now, and the world. We don’t always understand why things happen the way they do, but as Christians we know that God has a plan and that He has everything under control. We pray for peace and comfort for the families.

The Verve return with 'Love Is Noise'

UK's The Verve have resurrected themselves. From the brink of solo albums (Richard Ashcroft) and working in fish and chip shops (the rest of them), the original four-piece are back. Maybe cause they've buried the hatchet. Maybe because the bands they've influenced (Coldplay, Oasis...Keane) are now massive. Or maybe to line the pockets after still not getting a cent from the Rolling Stones cover-sampling 'Bittersweet Symphony'. Damn it if I don't still hear that in supermarkets, shoe stores and shopping centres everyday. I should get in more.Bar a few vague "band jam" downloads around the time of their reunion a year ago, The Verve haven't released any new music since they imploded in 1999, soon after their international breakthrough Urban Hymns reached aforementioned world domination levels. Well here comes V.2. With new album Forth due in August, first single 'Love Is Noise' has been magically matched to moving images and appears to be all synched up perfectly, especially with their mouths. It features typically humble scenes for the band. Majestic landscapes. An eagle landing on a beautiful girls arm. Smashed guitars. And of course,