JumpinJack AJ

I just feel that those artist mean he's doing a pop album. I could stomach it if it were a two disc album where one disc was classic Hip-Hop and the other a pop, radio-ready. I just don't want the album to mediocre in case he waits a long time to drop an album again. Classic artists are coming out of the woodwork and they seem to get praise when they do what they do best. When they try to do too much that's new, the fans aren't satisfied.

I read this and rolled my eyes so hard that it took them 20 minutes to get all the way around. I know it's all a matter of opinion, but working with Kanye West, Drake, and Calvin Harris is just annoying to me. I understand that artistic instincts make someone want to explore, but I don't want crazy experimentation. I was a classic Hip-Hop record. Kanye, Drake, and Calvin cannot help him deliver that.

EMINEM + GWEN STEFANI - Kings Never Die Southpaw Soundtrack (2015) https://jams.to/?p=107533

"If you are having or going to a barbecue today..let me provide the music!!! Get DJ Jazzy Jeff & MICK "Summertime 6 Mixtape" and ALL The Summertime Mixes Right Here!!! Download it, share it! Happy 4th of July!!!" DOWNLOAD IT HERE!! http://summertime.fm/

Maxine Jones Loses Appeal For 'En Vogue' Rights; Banned From Using The Name The former member of the R&B quartet loses the rights to use the name to bandmates POSTED: 07/02/2015 12:44 PM EDTFiled Under En Vogue, Maxine Jones, Cindy Herron, Music News, Dawn Robinson, Rhona Bennett, Terry Ellis, Music, EntertainmentThings just got a little more funkier for the "Funky Divas"... theJasmineBRAND.com is reporting that a judge has rejected the appeal of Maxine Jones, former member of the R&B quartet En Vogue, as she tried to regain rights to use the group's name for professional purposes. ARTICLE: Maxine Jones On En Vogue: "I Can't Work With Those Chicks"; Calls Dawn Robinson "Looney" Jones as been involved in a multi-year battle with her former bandmates Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron, who filed a $1 million dollar federal lawsuit against Jones back in 2012 for "illegally using" the En Vogue name to book shows. Both Ellis and Herron co-own the trademark. ARTICLE: En Vogue Facing $100 Million Lawsuit For 'Failed' Comeback Album Handed down on June 22, 2015, the court's ruling states that Maxine can never use the band name again to promote herself or any performances. The case was then closed the same day. Formed in 1989, the quartet featured Jones, alongside Terry, Cindy, and Dawn Robinson, who officially left the group in 1997. Both Ellis and Herron continue performing under the En Vogue name as a trio with new member Rhona Bennett. http://www.centrictv.com/entertainment/music/articles/2015/07/02/maxine-jones-loses-appeal-for-en-vogue-rights-banned-from-using-the-name.html I think this is messed up. I understand the legal side of things, but she should AT LEAST be able to bill her appearances as "MAXINE JONES formally of En Vogue." It's amazing how hateful the girls are towards each other. Some fans just aren't going to know/remember their names, so that little extra billing holds a lot of power. They need to be realistic, very few people will be supporting the girls when they aren't all together. Dawn Robinson is the only one who might have a little more pull all by herself.

Quincy Jones: Honey, we have no music industryby Michal Lev-Ram July 1, 2015, 12:30 PM EDT Taylor Swift isn’t the only outspoken skeptic in the music industry. As legendary producer Quincy Jones tells it, the record biz is broken—though not beyond repair Before Apple and Taylor Swift and even the Moog synthesizer were born, there was Quincy Jones. Over the last six decades, the legendary composer and former record company exec has amassed 79 Grammy nominations (winning 27 actual awards) and produced hit albums like Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Today, he is involved with several projects. One of his latest? An online music-learning tool called Playground Sessions, which recently kicked off a fundraising campaign via Crowdfunder. But his role as co-creator of the self-proclaimed “Rosetta Stone” of music doesn’t mean he believes the Internet has had a positive affect on the record industry—a topic he remains as opinionated as ever about. Fortune caught up with Jones to ask for his take on new digital music distribution models and why he got involved with Playground Sessions. Read below for an excerpt of the recent conversation. FORTUNE: Is the music industry better or worse than it was 50 years ago? Jones: Honey, we have no music industry. There’s 90% piracy everywhere in the world. They take everything. At the recent South by Southwest [an annual music festival in Austin], they had over 1,900 musicians, but fans didn’t know where to go. You can’t get an album out because nobody buys an album anymore. What about some of the newer, online distribution models. Doesn’t that give artists more ways to get music to fans? That doesn’t mean anything. They sell 4.5 million albums and they think it’s a hit record. It’s a joke. We used to do that [sell 4.5 million records] every weekend in the 80s. Today, you don’t get paid. Why did you help create Playground Sessions? You want to see kids getting into music instead of shooting each other. I’m very frustrated with America. After being creators of jazz and blues, we’re the only country in the world without a minister of culture. Americans don’t know the sources of their own music, from bebop to doo-wop to hip-hop. We have only 12 notes. From Beethoven all the way to Bo Diddley, all of them had just 12 notes. That’s all we have and Playground Sessions is the perfect platform for teaching what we want to do with them. Do you remember learning music? Of course. I started at age 13 in Seattle, and met Ray Charles when he was 17. He was an amazing musician. It was never about money or fame back then. We just thought about what gave us goosebumps. You must get requests from various music startups and projects. How do you decide which ones to pick? I just go with Malcolm Gladwell’s book—Blink. And I’m not one of those “back in the days” kind of guys. I think when it all pools together it [the music industry] will be twice as good. And Playground Sessions will help bring it all together, it’s all there. https://fortune.com/2015/07/01/quincy-jones-music-qa/

We've known it, but most people don't know it. They haven't heard the interviews where JJ or FP addressed it, so I thought it was cool that he said it, even though it's swallowed up in the quirkiness of the interview.

I kinda don't like that they didn't edit out the profanity in this episode. It taints the fun, feel good vibe of the show a little.

Stephen Cobert did an interview with Eminem for public access cable. It isn't a serious interview. It's basically a dry comedy improv skit with moments that flirt with the idea of being silly. I can't say this is the most interesting thing to watch, but when Stephen Colbert tries to categorize Eminem as an emcee, he tries to do so with Will Smith and Bone Thugs -N- Harmony. While it's initially meant as a joke, I feel that when he says he likes Will Smith, he's serious. He doesn't answer back in a joking way. Anyway, if you wanna watch it, the part with Eminem starts at 21:50.

Q-Tip on Getting Beck (And Maybe Kanye) for New Solo Record 'Last Zulu,' Charleston & More: ExclusiveBy Andrew Flanagan | July 01, 2015 1:08 PM EDT Q-Tip DJs Lyft NYC Community Rally on Friday night, July 11, at The 1896 in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Justin T Shockley Talk of Q-Tip's Last Zulu, his first record since 2008's The Renaissance, began back in 2012. Since, he's appeared on Busta Rhymes' "Thank You" (remixed on Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes' excellent backwards-and-forwards-looking mixtape The Abstract and the Dragon) made two contributions to the soundtracks of major films (The Great Gatsby on Fergie's "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)" and Stromae's "Meltdown" from Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1, alongside Lorde, Haim and Pusha T), and guested on the forthcoming Chemical Brothers album Born In The Echoes. More recently, he's joined the board of speaker company Sonos and is announcing his own radio show on Apple's just-launched Beats 1 station (more about that here). The legend has been relatively quiet this year -- which we've corrected. Here, he talks about working with Beck, seeking out Fiona Apple, recusing himself from Twitter and the painful situation that unfolded in Charleston, S.C. So, your new record. This is still Last Zulu? Yes. So this has been delayed for a little while... Yeah man, I'm putting the finishing touches on it now. I'm really excited about it. Marsha Ambrosius and I have been writing, we have Beck, and talking to Fiona Apple, and some other singers -- they're all going to be singing the choruses. You know how on the old records back in the day, if you're listening to "Young Americans," you know Bowie had Luther Vandross and he had Nona Hendryx singing background on a couple records. They won't be featured, but you'll be able to listen to the songs and pick out their tones, which is important for me. I'm also doing the album in different languages. I'm doing it in Spanish and French and Portuguese. Wait, as in full versions in different languages? I'm going to be doing the choruses and certain parts of the raps in different languages, so that when it's released you'll have a Spanish version and a French version and a Portuguese version. 2012 was when it was supposed to come out? I believe I announced it for 2013, but you know, working. I'm trying to keep up with my counterparts Sade and D'Angelo and take 8 years, 9 years between records. I'm very aware of that. I'm just trying to uphold our pact that we have. [Laughs] So you've been recording that all over the place or has it bee kind of just in your studio? Nah just in my studio. And what about production? I'm doing it. Multi-lingual, single-produced -- you've been busy. Are you still signed to G.O.O.D. Music? Yeah, G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam. When's it going to come out? Or... when are you hoping it's going to come out? I'm hoping it'll be coming out by the end of this year. And how are you doing without Twitter? [Q-Tip went quiet on the platform after giving Iggy Azalea an impromptu history lesson last December.] Ah man, I'm doing great without Twitter. I think everybody should try that. It's fun to not be embroiled in that stuff. It can consume you. There's a lot of good things to it -- I'm not trying to Twitter bash here. I think it's wonderful, it's connected a lot of people but then, you know, there's a certain diabolical power in being viral. You sometimes, if you're not careful, it doesn't make a difference who you are, you can be an artist on Twitter or you can just be an account on Twitter. People tend to work out their identities on there vis a vis their handles, their commentaries, multiple images. This is just my opinion -- I think that it can rear on the psyche of a person if you're not careful. I would be curious to see what university is doing a two-year study on a Twitter lab rat, and the types of relationships that they have personally, business-wise, and how they have grown or diminished in two years. I think it would be interesting to see. Also, if you're not careful it could present a certain kind of mania into your personality. It's still there, I may still put something up here or there maybe, but I'm definitely more interested in real live than viral life, although I think it is important in terms of disseminating information and news. Also raising awareness of certain things. There's a lot of positive attributes to it. I just think that there's a balance that needs to be had. Have you been working with Kanye at all? I heard he scrapped Swish. Yeah, Rick and I were gonna do the record, and Kanye went through different phases musically, so we've yet to reconnect on his project. We've met a few times and he's kept me up to speed here and there on what's happening. He's done the same with my record. We've been talking about some ideas for my record as well. We're still in step. It's not like [Kanye] scrapped any of it, that's a rumor. I'm excited [about Last Zulu]. The sound is, it's hard to describe, but I'm just excited about music. I feel like I haven't even peaked. I'm just hoping that I can have people join me on my little insights, know what I mean? I'm just appreciative of all those who have up to this point. I'm early in my appreciation for those who are joining for the first time. I'm just excited, I'm excited that you know, the people at your institution at Billboard have supported me, and supported all the things that I'm doing. I think it's an exciting time. I think that we're in a crossroads in many ways, not only as a nation but in the world. With all the funky things that are happening, I think that the last frontier to me is music, I'm just blessed that I've been able to contribute that way. Hopefully it will continue. Hopefully I'll continue to do so in the same impactful way. That brings up a painful question -- the awfulness in Charleston. The day after, I noticed a lot of the conversation moving towards the removal of the confederate flag, that's something that people zeroed in on, and I couldn't tell if it's a positive step or a distraction from the root cause of that situation. It's a deep question bro, so I'm going to have to unfortunately give you a deep answer. I think that for a lot of us here in this country, we are tangible people. Because we birth the most innovators and the most inventors and because we are pretty futuristic in our philosophy of being a melting pot for anybody coming here, the land of opportunity. When those things were drafted over four hundred years ago they were pretty ahead of their time in doing that, you know. I think that being here, and trying to get that dream, and trying to ascertain these things, and becoming more and more capitalized, just by that alone we've become more reliant on the things that we can see can touch. Secondarily, it's what it means to us, then it becomes about the things that you don't see like our emotions and our spirit. The actual flag being removed is a physical thing. They want the flag down from the State House, but does that truly remove those individuals who are spirited with those horrific ideas about humanity? Does it really remove that philosophy of those unfortunate few people who really believe that in Charleston? Does it really remove that spirit and sentiment once you take the flag down? I think that the flag should be removed. I think it's a great first step, but I also think that we need to become more spiritualized and understand our place in humanity. It's horrible what happened. I think that the focus should be on the fact that that act happened, and also the fact that during that week a total of five black churches were torched, which is a story that we don't really see in mainstream media. We seriously have to be introspective and start to open up these conversations, and if we open up these conversations and be transparent, we can't get frustrated with each other. We have to understand that we're flawed human beings. We have to understand that right is right, wrong is wrong, and opinion is opinion. We have to try to interject logic where it needs to be and we need to interject some morality where it needs to be. I just think it's horrible. There's just so many emotions. I said it a long time ago on Twitter -- one of the things I said when the Trayvon situation happened, I said there's no value for black life. I think that that's kind of equivalent to the "black lives matter." We have to have that conversation, we as African-Americans, as black folks, we've given so much to this country in so many different regards, that it's embarrassing to be viewed in the whole word as this country whose citizens are still tied to these silly notions that three-fifths of a human being. I think if you're going to call for the takedown of this flag, I think we need to take that out of the constitution. It's been amended, but it still exists within the constitution, where it says that blacks are three-fifths of a human being. I'm truly insulted by that, in the highest literature of the land, in 2015, that it still says that blacks are three-fifths. That should be removed. I think that that along with the confederate flag should be removed, but that should be totally be removed. That's in our document. That's something that is engrained in the language of this country. It's an embarrassment, it's small minded, and it certainly doesn't run in concert with all the great and many achievements that this country has had, for us to still have that sitting as a part of the constitution, although it has been amended. I think you have a lot of people that agree with you. That's a sad note to end on, but I couldn't agree more. It's an important one. It's more important than what I do or what you do. I don't know if you have kids or are married, but I think the important thing is our family, raising our family, making sure that our loved ones are safe, making sure that we can coexist and intermingle, and learn from each other as a humanity. We certainly can't honestly move in that spirit if in our doctrine we have nasty and just backwards, infantile verbiage like that, that exits in our doctrine. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6613225/q-tip-beck-kanye-last-zulu-charleston

I gotta be honest. The interviews excite me. The nostalgia really makes me want to see this, though I'm not interested in the 2000+ segments. The movie is available now.

TAMIA - Lipstick Love Life (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xmFZjHl

HILARY DUFF - My Kind Breathe In, Breathe Out (2015)

I watched the interview you posted above. The host is rather horrible. I suppose I have an interest in the film, but not excitement. I'm curious if I'll see it in theaters or wait for it to hit DVD. There's going to be an 'Independence Day' sequel. Here's everything that's been declassified.Filed by Johnny McNulty | Jun 24, 2015 @ 8:15pm Will Smith will not be welcoming anyone back to Earth. On the other hand, parts of it will take place off-Earth.Roland Emmerich, director and producer of the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, seems practically giddy in these promotional photos for the upcoming sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence. I can imagine why; with the exception of Will Smith, he's reunited the core cast of the original film, including Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, and Vivica A Fox, for a sequel set 20 years after the "War of '96." (I would've gone with "The Big Alien War"...but I'm not a screenwriter.) He's also added Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, Jessie Usher, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Tell me which cast members you don't recognize and I'll tell you how old you are. They all got together for a 30-minute Q&A for members of the press, which you can watch here. Frankly, however, the audio is off (even though this is the official version), so I recommend skipping to the pictures below unless you're a die-hard fan: On the other end of the spectrum from the 30-minute discussion is this clip, which is literally the shortest promotional teaser I've ever seen: Here's a preview of what's in store for Resurgence, according to a Fox press release: We always knew they were coming back. After Independence Day redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens' advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction. Hollywood boilerplate language though it might be, I'm in. What else do we know about the plot? Well, Jeff Goldblum's character, perhaps because Will Smith didn't come back, is now in charge of Earth Space Defense (which is kind of redundant since Earth is in space...either call it Earth Defense or Space Defense, imaginary Earth bureaucrats!). That's a pretty big promotion from the guy who used to bang the first lady who no one wanted to listen to when he found a countdown. Now that I think of it, they really missed an opportunity to design a website where you solve a puzzle and it leads you to a countdown to the film's release. Is there anything else Fox released? Well, the really cool photos you see throughout this article, which are mostly of a vehicle called the Moon Tug, which is described as a "forklift for the moon." It will be operated by our protagonist, played by Liam Hemsworth, who used to be a fighter pilot but got demoted to super-cool moon forklift guy after doing something reckless. Yeah, totally like a forklift. Just your standard more-advanced-than-all-human-technology-up-to-this-point-combined forklift. It's powered by technology recovered from the aliens after the first film (although if you recall, we've had their tech since the 1948 crash at Roswell, but it never turned on until the Mothership showed up), which apparently has allowed mankind to expand rapidly since defeating the aliens. This is a fighter plane with two box fans taped under it, parked on the Battlestar Galactica set. But I'm still excited. Speaking of Area 51 from the first film, Brent Spiner, who played the spaced-out scientist studying alien technology in the '96 film, will be returning...despite the fact that he was strangled by an angry alien and had his body's nervous system hacked so he could tell the President, "no peace" before the President finally asked if the glass between them was bulletproof (it wasn't). Maybe that casting choice was just their way of saying "If you come back, Will Smith, we'll write you in! I mean, look at what we did with Brent Spiner!" Anyway, I'm pumped. Here's hoping Liam Hemsworth punches an alien and says "Welcome to the moon." http://happyplace.someecards.com/movies/theres-going-to-be-an-independence-day-sequel-heres-everything-thats-been-declassified/ I hadn't seen FP's comment about what he current goal is with his acting career. I'm not against it. Focus was different and it was DOPE!

I wonder where MC Hammer stands on his music career. He just doesn't seem to WANT to have a stable career, which is unfortunate. I don't expect him to take over the charts again, but he has enough of a following, and with how music is on the internet, he could easily get new fans....especially since so many people are thirsting for the 90's. If he was actually releasing albums properly and doing some shows, he could have a presence in the industry. I can only assume he doesn't want that. I love "Still Water." It's an amazing song. "Be Me" is a filler track in my book, but it's not bad.

Agreed. I think we are finally, slowly exiting the era of watered down music, tired dance beats, and ratchet subject matter. Studies have shown that music genres are most successful when the keep things simple and authentic. I'd love to see all genres of music go back to that instead of being polished and Hollywood. There's nothing wrong with polished music and a Hollywood presentation if that's authentic to you, but think about all the artists that came out 10 year ago and use to make great music and now make questionable music (Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, etc). I'd like to think that groups like LMFAO could never have a hit these days. It looks like we're heading back to the basics. Tori Kelly is the epitome of that to me. Musical sounding music. Strong melodies. Lyrics about love and life. Lyrics that aren't purposely explicit for the sake of getting a sticker and being acceptable to idiots who feel tasteless lyrics and language is a staple in music.

So this morning, I checked the new music releases as I always do. The album cover for Tori Kelly's Unbreakable Smile grabbed my attention, so I previewed it. I instantly fell in love with her. I have never heard of her before. Apparently she comes from a very ethnic mixed family, which introduced her to a wide range of music genres growing, which is evident in her music. She's had a following by posting YouTube videos and competing on American Idol. She also has two EPs that performed well for an independent artist. Anyway, the snippets I heard this morning were so good that I picked the album up on my lunch break. I googled it at work and saw that Target has and exclusive version with two bonus tracks, so that's were I got it. Anyway, this girl has a pretty voice and write all of her own songs. To sum up her sound, it's a legit mix of R&B and Pop with other influences, such as Hip-Hop. When I say Pop, I don't mean watered down production and danced beats. It's simply a musically polished sound that should sound sweet to nearly any ear. I'm not going to do a track by track review. I'm just going to suggest that if you like artists like Jessie J, Angel Taylor, Natasha Bedingfield, and Stacie Orrico, you'll want to give her music a good listen. The lyrics are rich; her sound is musical. I can guarantee that this will be one of my main soundtracks to my Summer. The album features guest spots by LL Cool J, Daye Jack, and Ed Sheeran. Check it! http://www.torikellymusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/torikellymusic

As much as I love Jodeci, I never got into DeVante's other project. I'll have to revisit it. MARQUES HOUSTON - Need You (2015)

Tori Kelly just dropped her new album and it features a song featuring LL Cool J. Unfortunately I can only find a strangely slowed down version of the song on YouTube. Until there's a proper version of it, here's the slowed down version...

Oh man! This is so good. Janet just put out her new song "No Sleep." It's so dope. It's not dancey. It doesn't have a garbage commercial rapper on it. Just a laidback R&B groove. I love it!

90's Hip-Hop is cut throat. You can't write this stuff... And here's a bonus...

I saw that LL and Jeff performed at the same event within the past week, but I did read anything about them doing a tour. It really would be the perfect combo. Two legends who are still active and get crazy pull when it comes to an audience.

Good interview. I would love to hear the stuff they did. "Got That" is the title of one of the unreleased tracks they did for Lost + Found.

I love Kenny's new album, but haven't listened to it in a couple weeks. I'll be popping it in soon. MONTELL JORDAN + COOLIO - Payback This Is How We Do It (1995)

THE TONY RICH PROJECT - Like A Woman Words (1996)