Alicia Keys and hip hop hitmaker Pharrell are just two of Urban music’s brightest stars dropping redos on the latest covers of ‘Dazed & Confused’ magazine. The popular publication is celebrating its 20th anniversary in a big way – by having 20 of its previous cover stars revisit the magazine’s front. Dazed co-founder and photographer Rankin also includes a foldout giving shine to a “rising star” nominated by each cover star.
Find out who Keys and Pharrell picked after the jump:
Alicia Keys and hip hop hitmaker Pharrell are just two of Urban music’s brightest stars dropping redos on the cover of ‘Dazed & Confused’. The popular magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary in a big way – by having 20 of its previous cover stars revisit the magazine’s front. Dazed co-founder and photographer Rankin also includes a foldout giving shine to a “rising star” nominated by each cover star.
See Alicia Keys, Pharrell, and Kelis’s covers after the jump:
The X-Factor USA is here!
Fox’s much hyped British import has finally kicked off on American soil and looks set to be the biggest show of its kind.
Featuring judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, LA Reid and Nicole Scherzinger, the show favours American Idol with its nationwide auditions. However, there is a defining twist in that groups and solo acts over 25’s are eligible to enter.
Unsurprisingly, with this being the boot camp phase hosted at the judges’ homes, the talented and talent-challenged are out in equal measure for a crack at progressing to the next stage. With special guest judges Enrique Iglesias, Pharrell Williams, and Rihanna playing assistant to Nicole, Paula, and L.A. respectively, fans were treated to a brand new reason to tune in.
Check out the best and worst from this, the 7th episode, below…
Who better to judge real talent than an Oscar-worthy actress who has for years fooled fans and followers that hers exists? Such was probably the forethought of L.A. Reid when casting Rihanna in her latest acting gig as guest talent judge on the hit U.S. reality talent show X Factor.
At this stage of the show, each judge – Nicole, Simon, Paula, and L.A. – has separated the hopefuls into groups with each member of the panel inviting their respective groups to their homes for ‘bootcamp’. To add spice to the broth (and hopefully to ratings), the U.S. spin-off keeps in fashion of its British predecessor in that each judge sought the assistance of some of the music industry’s brightest movers and shakers (and Rihanna) to lend their advice to the contestants.
Find out what the ‘We Found Love’ singer and Hip-Hop hitmaker Pharrell shared with L.A. and Paula’s crews after the jump:
Music industry veteran and marketer Steve Stoute, recently sat down with some of the industry’s most influential entrepreneurs. The first time author’s new book The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy is out now. The work discusses Hip-Hop’s past, present, and future influence on the consumer/corporate brand relationship in America. In the clip above, Stoute talks to Lady GaGa, Jay-Z, Pharrell, and Jimmy Iovine about their own “Tanning Moments”.
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As West Coast rapper The Game preps his upcoming The R.E.D Album, a video for the set’s ‘Ain’t No Doubt About It’ has made it’s way on to the internet. The one time G-Unit affiliate, gets help from the musically elusive Justin Timberlake and beat smith/occasional crooner Pharrell Williams.
Check it out below…
New Orleans-born, Beverly Hills resident Frank Ocean is the bubbling under artist-of-the-moment, who seems to be on a meteoric rise to the big leagues. The 23-year-old affiliate of controversial rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) or Odd Future for short, has most recently penned a track for Beyonce (‘I Miss You’), and logged in studio time with hip-hop legend Nas and producer Pharrell Williams. The Def Jam artist is even hinting towards collaborations with Jay-Z and Kanye West.
Ocean is also an accomplished songwriter. By the name of Christopher “Lonny” Breaux, he boasts credits in releases from Brandy (‘Human’), Justin Bieber (‘My World’), and John Legend (‘Revolver’). This talent led him to a deal with Island Def Jam over a year ago. There, Ocean completed his album nostalgia, ULTRA. The album shines on the basis of Frank’s knack for story telling, which is almost poetic at times, laid over tracks from left-leaning pop acts and certified rockers like Coldplay, Mr. Hudson, MGMT, and The Eagles, all presented with Brandy-esque vocal arrangments, and backing vocals.
Yet, the album along with Frank went ignored by the company for what he alleges to be a full year. On Feb 16, the singer took matters into his own hands, releasing the LP as a free download via his tumblr as sort of a middle finger to the company. The results were nothing short of epic. nostalgia, ULTRA has received overwelmingly positive reviews from critics and some of the industries biggiest names (see above). Ocean, along with the Drake-approved The Weeknd, have been called the “new wave of R&B”. Even Chris Brown’s mini-beef sparking comment, was nothing more than a misconstrued compliment on Ocean’s artistry.
Now Def Jam is trying to make things right. Frank Ocean’s debut will be officially released as a shortened EP, nostalgia, LITE, on July 26. You can check out the full, free version here.
Here is the latest offering from Kanye West’s ‘G.O.O.D. Friday’ series. ‘Don’t Stop!’ features Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco. Give it a listen below:
Keyshia Cole hit the studio with super producer Pharrell recently while working on her upcoming studio album, ‘Keyshia’. The singer, who has a new hairstyle, uploaded the image to her new Twitter account.
The stars have begun to arrive at Hollywood’s Shrine Auditorium for the BET Awards 2010. Check out red carpet pics after the jump….
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The 11th Annual NRJ Music Awards were held at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France yesterday. Some of music’s brightest stars came out to event including Kelly Rowland (seen above), who performed her smash hit ‘When Love Takes Over’. Check out more shots below (thanks to Rap-Up.com):
The beatmaker divulged that Usher has chosen a new direction with his latest project.“The Usher album is crazy. His album is the review of the mind of a monster,” said Pharrell.“He’s somewhere else right now…like a whole different kind of R&B,” he added. “Its really great, its super edgy. He’s taken alot of time to really sit and study and we really built something that is like…it’s just…it’s mean.Pharrell is also working on Rihanna’s upcoming album as well forthcoming projects from Shakira, Incubus, The Clipse and N.E.R.D.
Sounds real interesting. Will be checking for this one for sure…
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