Friday, September 3, 2010
interview Before latest arrest, T.I. sought to 'travel a narrow path' and regain 'exclusivity' in Hollywood
Posted by Ronda Racha Penrice on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 2:41 PM
- SCREEN GEMS
It's hard to look at T.I's portrayal of an arrogant, paroled bank robber named Ghost in the heist film /i>Takers (which he executive produced) without drawing some comparisons to the rapper himself, especially in the wake of his and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle's Wednesday night arrest in L.A. on charges of suspicion of possession of methamphetamine.
In the film, which topped last weekend's box office at $20.5 million, Ghost uses his swagger to charm his way back into the good graces of his former crime syndicate — after serving time and refusing to snitch on his partners — only to double-cross them. But in the end, his character flaw proves fatal.
Whether T.I.'s real-life drama will have such a Hollywood ending is anyone's guess, as he heads back to Atlanta to face the same federal judge who granted him the lenient and non-traditional sentence of 1,000 community hours and 1 year in prison after T.I.'s guilty plea to federal gun charges.
However things play out for T.I., his planned transition from hip-hop to Hollywood probably won't go as smooth as he'd hoped. After serving seven months in an Arkansas prison plus three in an Atlanta halfway house, T.I. was positioning himself to regain his title as King of the South with last week's release of Takers and the upcoming release of his album King Uncaged a month later on Sept. 28 (currently pushed back to an unknown date).
But in a recent interview he seemed more eager to leave his rap career, and the burden of his image, behind.
In a conference call, T.I. told a group of journalists that “music is my first love” but admitted that “film is something new and fresh and exciting to me.” He also shared his observations about the current state of the music industry.
“Right now, music is oversaturated," he said. "The music industry is so oversaturated and there's so many (pause). Let me just say, back when I began back in '88, '89, when I first decided I wanted to be a rapper, if you were to make it and become a rapper and get a video and a record deal and go platinum or go gold, man, you were something special. You were a cut above the rest. It was far and few between who could manage to be discovered, let alone manage to get a video spinning on MTV, let alone manage to do shows and go touring, let alone manage to go gold.”
Times have clearly changed, T.I. noted. “[N]owadays, if you tell somebody, ‘Yes, I'm a rapper,’ they're like, ‘Oh yeah, everybody's a rapper. Of course you are. Sure.’”
VIDEO / randomania Will Big Boi's 'You Ain't No DJ' get spins?
Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 11:29 AM
Someone told me this song actually got some play on Atlanta radio (whether it was V [103] or Hot [107.9], I'm not sure) the other day. I almost swallowed my tongue.
Never thought we'd make it through the entire summer without Big getting a true mainstream embrace. But here we are at the second official single. It's produced by Andre 3000 and features Yelawolf. The video is aight, definitely made on a shoestring budget compared to "Shutterbugg."
Could it be the same thing that kept Big on everyone's mind over the past few years was a double-edged sword? The Sir Lucious Leftfoot album leaks, viral videos and resulting blog love probably went a long way in helping him ink the deal with Def Jam after Jive jumped ship. But maybe all that exposure made it hard to create new energy for the project once it was officially released?
Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud — and making unnecessary excuses for Def Jam's lack of promotion. A label's promotional push is usually based on its sales expectations for the release. And it's possible that the industry just doesn't have as much faith in an OutKast-associated product without Andre 3000's vocals attached. Of course, Jive Records guaranteed that outcome by contractually blocking him from appearing on the album. Sasha Frere-Jones made good points about it — specifically the lowered expectations resulting from Andre's absence — in his New Yorker feature on Big Boi last month. (He also said Big's Speakerboxx was a better album than Dre's The Love Below, which is like saying you prefer McCartney over John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.)
Chad Rad's Concert Picks Chad Rad's weekend concert picks
Posted by Chad Radford on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Masquerade
695 North Ave. 404-577-8178.
Sat., Sept. 4. — Autolux, Gold Panda (performing in Hell). $13. 8 p.m.
The Loft
1374 W. Peachtree St. 404-885-1365.
Fri., Sept. 3. — Little Brother, Binkis Recs, Dillon, 4Ize & Locsmif. Hosted by Fort Knox w/ DJ Dug Boogie. $18. 8 p.m.
The Earl
488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.
Fri., Sept. 3. — The Love Language, Howlies, the Soft Company. $10. 9 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 4. — Three Bad Jacks, Atomic Boogie, Hard Luck and Trouble. $10-$12. 9 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 5. — Trailer Vic's Beach Party feat. the Forty-Fives, Laramie Dean, Grinder Nova, Pinche Gringo, the Disasternauts, Walk the Plank. $6. 3 p.m.
Post No Bills Nicki Minaj and Ciara's One Night Stand
Posted by Scott Morris on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 9:44 AM
That headline doesn't mean what you might like to think it means. And, actually, the stands aren't on the same night. According to the Black Gay Pride events calendar over at the Georgia Voice, Nicki and Ciara will be performing (respectively) Saturday and Sunday nights. Minaj appears Saturday at the Georgia Freight Depot, a party scheduled to last til a conservative 6am, while Ciara headlines Mansion Elan Sunday. Both affairs are brought to you by Traxx, a Decatur club recovering from recent tragedy, but clearly ready to party this weekend.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tonight The Humms play a free show at The Star Bar tonight
Posted by Chad Radford on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 3:55 PM
The Humms make their way down from Athens to play a free show at the Star Bar tonight with Battlehooch and Bare Wires. Heavy doses of haunted house reverb and the sound of tube amps banging around shroud this hairy trio's brand of visceral jangle and fuzz. ...And it's not all sweaty '60s garage punk, either. There's all sorts of room for acoustic pop and folk-damaged contemplation going on here. Not much not to like about these guys, really. Just good, noisy, toe-tapping hooks. For fans of the Cramps, Gringo Star, Flat Duo Jets and the Violent Femmes' first album.
...Oh yeah, they'll have copies of their new record, Lemonland in-tow as well.
Free. 9 p.m. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.
Music news / randomania The Libertines, Crowded House, Band Of Horses, Electric Six, Neil Young, Chunklet, Apple and Live Nation
Posted by Spencer Sloan on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 9:44 AM
- Not handwritten?! WHA??!
>> Golden God Robert Plant plays secret Band Of Joy show in a former church, fails to be struck down by vengeful, cloud-lounging God.
>> Download a fan-made, fan-edited, band-approved live Radiohead DVD.
>> Crowded House to release an EXPANDED DIGITAL EDITION of their recent The Very Very Best Of CD because that is the future of how the music gets in my ears.
>> Band of Horses are all about the Polonaise sauce.
>> What's the time? It's Mojito Time, with Electric Six super genius Dick Valentine.
>> More info and full tracklist for Neil Young's Daniel Lanois-produced Le Noise.
>> How about some pictures? Yea? Good. Chris "My Underpants" Brown, Drake, Ke$ha, George Michael, and Le Britbrit.
>> Henry's post-mortem Paste post.
>> Ohmpark's top 3 Reasons Why Paste Died.
>> Apple and Soulless Baby Eaters Nation are in bed together.
Q+A Jay Reatard tribute goes down at Lenny's Sat., Sept. 4
Posted by Chad Radford on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 9:37 AM
Jay Day takes over Lenny's Sat., Sept. 4, with a tribute to the late Memphis punk icon Jay Reatard. Several bands, including Customers, Sarin McHugh and the Everymen and Hip to Death are playing a handful of Jay Reatard covers along with some original numbers as well.
There's also a pre-Jay Day happening show at Criminal Records on Thurs., Sept. 2, with Hip to Death and Mourdella previewing their Jay Reatard covers.
HTD singer and guitarist, and Jay Day founder John Breedlove set up the show as a personal homage to a fallen hero, and took a few minutes to answer some questions about the show...
Chad Radford: Why did you organize Jay Day?
John Breedlove: When I fell in love with my wife Kasey I put a few Jay Reatard songs on a mix CD for her. I know it sounds cheesy but she became an instant fan and bought us tickets to his show at Lenny's, and then for the final show at The Earl in December shortly before his death. Jay was a really nice guy and his music has been an influence on our band Hip To Death. With the loss of Corndogorama this year Kasey had some big ideas to fill the void. We couldn't seem to get over the loss of Jay to the music world, so our answer was found. A tribute show. One that would enlist the talents of friends and fans to help keep his memory alive. We chose Lenny's as the venue for two reasons: One, it was the first venue where we saw him perform. Two, Lenny's is working hard to stay in the game. They deserve a bone... A steak dinner. Ultimately, the purpose of this festival is to create a positive event for the community. Maybe by honoring his memory we will also let others know that they mean something to this scene too, and that you don't have to follow that dark road down. It has been very exciting to see Jay's supporters step up — we know who truly cared about him.
Music news T.I. and Tiny arrested in L.A. for drug possession
Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 8:53 AM
- JOEFF DAVIS
- DAMN. DAMN! DAMN?
If this is true, dude is a total moron and the name of his upcoming album, King Uncaged, is an oxymoron:
Grammy-winning rapper T.I., who is still on probation after spending time behind bars on gun charges, was arrested along with his wife on drug charges after police smelled alleged marijuana coming from their car, authorities said.The Wednesday night arrests for possession of a controlled substance occurred in West Hollywood during a traffic stop, Los Angeles sheriff's deputy Mark Pope told The Associated Press.
"Deputies smelled a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle," the department said. "A narcotics investigation ensued" that resulted in the arrests.
The department's media office said it didn't yet have details on which specific drug the possession charge concerned.
Kinda figured T.I. was on a high after Takers (which he starred in and produced) hit No. 1 at the box office last weekend. But, really dude? I mean, damn. He's already on three years probation after serving seven months of fed time in Arkansas and three months in a local halfway house on those gun charges.
Maybe that deal he got was a little too lenient after all.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
In the Biz Paste Magazine jettisons print product
Posted by Gabe Vodicka on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 6:28 PM
As already noted on Fresh Loaf, the Decatur-based Paste has suspended publication of its print magazine. Per the press release:
Today Paste Media Group announces, with deepest sadness, the suspension of the Paste magazine print product.
Struggles with mounting debt were made public last year when our readers responded with generosity to save the magazine. But the prolonged downturn of the ad market has forced a hiatus. All subscribers have access to the digital version of their magazines through the June/July issue on PasteMagazine.com. Paste, while considering strategic alternatives, is focusing on its digital assets, including PasteMagazine.com.We thank all of those who have shown such tremendous support to a vision of independent media focused on Signs of Life in Music, Film & Culture, including subscribers, advertisers, writers, photographers, illustrators, publicists, record labels, movie studios, book & game publishers and others in the press.
Somewhere Henry Owings is laughing manically. But seriously, though, this is sad. Sorry, Paste. Though the magazine's tough times were well-documented, it still comes as a shock to see it go. And, love it or hate it, it was more or less an astute cultural chronicler. Above all, to lose something so physically close to home makes the reality of the sad state of print media - well, hit home.
New Music T.I. releases epic new single to 'feed the streets'
Posted by Gabe Vodicka on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 4:16 PM
Here's another new T.I. jam from the upcoming King Uncaged. "Pledge Allegiance to the Swag" is damn nigh eight minutes long and features Miami hot-shit hotshot Rick Ross. It delivers pretty fully; at the very least, it's an improvement over some other recent material. Speaking on the song to MTV, Tip acknowledges its impressive length and says that it wasn't meant for radio, remarking, "I'm just trying to feed the streets right now." The song's available for download here.
