All Articles Tagged "legend"
When The Funk Hits The Fan: George Clinton Must Turn Over His Music To Pay Debt
One can only assume that back in the day, some recording stars didn’t learn much about the business of music and therefore, it has hurt them many years later. That must be the case for legendary funk star George Clinton. That, or he’s had way too much of the “chief” over the years. Either way, he is about to pay – and hopefully learn in the process – in a major way.
Clinton’s former law firm, Hendrick & Lewis, won a huge case against the musician back in 2010. At that time, Clinton was ordered to pay off the $1.5 million bill he owed them. However, they were only able to collect $340,000 in repayment from him. In court documents obtained by TMZ, Clinton must now hand over the rights to his music in order to pay off the debt since he doesn’t appear to have any other way to pay. Hendricks & Lewis now own the copyrights to “Hardcore Jollies, “The Electric Spanking of War Babies,” “Uncle Jam Wants You” and the classic “One Nation Under A Groove.” Under the terms of the settlement, H&L can do whatever they want to do with the songs…including selling it or using it whenever or however they want.
We might hear his music in commercials any day now.
The federal judge ruled that whenever H&L has recouped the money, they must turn the rights back over to Clinton. For his part, Clinton is appealing the ruling but there’s been no word on how long it will take for a decision.
Respect The Crown: Artists To Pay Tribute To Prince In A Special Concert
If you live in New York or are thinking about making a trip to New York, make sure you get tickets for a huge Carnegie Hall special in March.
“The Music of Prince” will feature The Roots as the house band (band drummer ?uestlove is a lifelong fan of “The purple one”) and Talib Kweli will perform. The lineup also features (at this point) Booker T, Blind Boys of Alabama, Living Colour, Madeleine Peyroux and others set to interpret Prince songs.
Michael Dorf, entrepreneur and founder of many of New York City’s most legendary music venues, will be presenting “The Music of Prince” at Carnegie Hall. The concert, which in the past has featured the music of Joni Mitchell, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Elton John, also serves as a way to raise money for various music education organizations, according to BET. This year’s recipients include Little Kids Rock, Young Kids New York, The Center For Arts Education and others
Tickets are already on sale for the March 7th show with prices ranging from $48 balcony seats to a $10,000 ultimate VIP package (that price allows you to get on stage with all artists for the encore, backstage passes, access to the afterparty and the best seat in the house).
Dorf puts on the show completely independent of the artist being honored and therefore doesn’t need permission to do the show but because ?uestlove has agreed to do the show, one can only hope that Prince will make an appearance. Besides, it raises money for children and everyone loves them!
If you’re interested, you can get your tickets here.
A Little Business, A Lot Of Pleasure: Serena And Her Coach Spotted Getting Cozy!
A few months ago, tennis champ Serena Williams was spotted in Milan seemingly wrapped in arms with her tennis coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Everybody was talking about it because not only is he obviously much older than Serena but because it was also rumored that he was married. Serena actually took to Twitter to ask a cameraman to stop taking pictures because it had people assuming false things.
See, this is why you shouldn’t lie about things when pictures tell the entire story.
Our good friends over at Hip Hop Wired have posted a gallery of pictures of Serena and Patrick super booed up over in Mauritius on a boat catching sun with friends as they begin training for the Australian Open. In the pictures, Serena is spotted kissing on him, he’s feeling on her boo-HOO-ty (that’s the R. Kelly voice) and the obligatory hand holding picture. She can tweet all she wants but I don’t know any other conclusion you can jump to other than this is more than a working relationship.
We know Serena hasn’t had the best luck with men over the last few years (even though some of you are still hoping for a reunion with Common) and it’d be nice to see her in a good relationship if that’s what she wants. But if he’s married…Serena, you in trouble, girl. The idea of her possibly dating a married man will likely not go over well with fans.
Here’s to hoping he’s not married and this works out because if not, she’ll be under major scrutiny and she’ll be looking for a new coach.
We’re going to keep an eye out on this one, for sure.
Tyra Banks’ ‘Fivehead’ Gets Its Own Show!
She maybe a now legendary supermodel but that has never, EVER stopped anyone from talking about Trya’s huge forehead.
Well, ABC is now ready to give Tyra and her forehead some shine. They’ve accepted a scripted comedy co-created by Tyra and Kenya Barris called Fivehead (the “street” name for an unusually big forehead). The show will be based on all the jokes and her life growing up as a teenager with a…fivehead. She said, “In high school, if you have glasses, you’re a ‘four eyes’, if you have braces, you’re a ‘metal mouth’ but if you had my forehead? You’re a FIVEHEAD.” Well, I can’t say that she’s wrong in that assessment. From the description, it seems as though it will sort of follow the direction of Everybody Hates Chris.
Barris and Banks will create the characters together and then Barris will write the script. Barris has worked with Tyra on many projects, including America’s Next Top Model. They’ve also been friends since since they were kids and went to school together so its only right he play a huge part in the creation of the show.
I’m so not mad at Tyra for this! When you see an opening or a lane, you have to go for what you know. But ABC is notorious for canceling shows if they don’t do big numbers the first week so I hope it’ll be good.
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Happy Birthday Purple One! Our Top 6 Songs By Prince (Not 5, But 6)

Source: individualism.co.uk
No matter what you’re doing today, make sure you take time out to stop and play some Prince. The Purple One, born Prince Rogers Nelson, turns 54 today, and doesn’t look a day over 40! The multi-talented musician has been ahead of his time since the ’70s, when he dropped his debut album, For You, and slowly but surely started to change both the R&B and rock game (don’t forget about funk!). So on this day of celebration, we thought we’d find a way to pick six of our favorite songs by a man with a catalog of jams so extensive and amazing. Feel free to let us know your own favorites in the comment section. And if you’re wondering why I picked six…well, I couldn’t pick JUST five and seven would have been doing the most…I know, it doesn’t make sense.
Enjoy!
*Sidenote: I would have added all the videos, but Prince isn’t a fan of his stuff being accessible via the “Intanetz.” So attached are links to the songs.
The minute this song drops, who doesn’t stop and start nodding their head really hard? The keyboards, the guitar action, and Prince singing like he got kicked in the gonads–it’s a classic! It’s also one of his biggest R&B hits and a jam that definitely makes you want to head to the dance floor for a bit. And the video, with his hair looking very laid and his clothing at a minimum, is a must-see as well. Good look finding it though, you know he doesn’t mess with YouTube…
“How could you just leave me standing…alone in a world so cold?” Many people have tried to cover this track (Hey, Ginuwine), but nobody has done it like this fella. A stellar track from the legendary Purple Rain soundtrack, the nearly six-minute song is guaranteed to make you dance, and possibly shout (especially around the breakdown). And who wasn’t either lusting or laughing at Prince when he was in the bathtub and then crawling butt naked towards the camera? Such an intriguing character he is.
There are few slow love songs out there that touch me to the point that I feel the need to play it nonstop, but “Adore” gets that reaction from moi. With deep lyrics and messages like, “If God one day struck me blind, your beauty I’d still see…” and the way the song gradually grows through the beautiful crescendo makes it one of those jams that inadvertently takes you to church with each listen. It’s so moving, that while performing the song during a tribute to Prince at the BET Awards, a very pregnant Alicia Keys felt so inclined to climb on top of her piano and jam. Can you blame her though?
A song from the highly underrated Parade album (which was the soundtrack for his panned film, Under the Cherry Moon), “Kiss” is a showcase of the power of some sick acoustics. The track is very minimalist when you compare it to other Prince songs, but maybe it’s his attempts to sing falsetto and the smart, snarky lyrics (“Act your age mama, not your shoe size…”) that make it a must-listen. Plus, the minute it plays at a party, or even on the radio, folks lose their ever-loving mind. What do I think when I hear the song? As Prince would say during the bridge, “I think I wanna dance!”
What you know about this one? Definitely an alluring and seductive track, “If I Was Your Girlfriend” is supposed to be a song about the tight bond and relationship between a woman and her best friend, and a man’s quest to be that oh-so-close to his lady. The “lady” singing the track is of course Prince with his vocals altered to sound like his female alter ego, Camille, and the track as a whole appeared on the critically-acclaimed album, Sign ‘o’ The Times. This is one of those dance-around-in-your-lingerie jams, or better yet, sit-on-your-couch-and-eat-Cheetos bangers too...
But of course. When Prince did this track during the Super Bowl halftime show a few years back, I was pretty sure I was going to cry, but instead, I just threw my cell phone light up in the air in my room and reveled in the awesome-ness of it all (Until the Chicago Bears lost the game, then I was sad.). Some of Prince’s biggest and best hits were with the Revolution, and this one for the movie of the same name is as big as it gets. I mean, the guitar solo, the strings, the lyrics–it’s just all too epic. But then again, so is Prince.
Which jams would you add to the list?
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