JAY-Z TALK BLUEPRINT3 D.O.A AND KANYE'S VERSE ON "RUN THIS TOWN"

XXL dropped some excerpts from their interview with jigga. The Octber issue of XXL will hit newsstands on september 15th.

XXL: Because you had so much time to live with this new album, do you think it’s your most thoughtful body of work?

Jay-Z: No, it’s just the approach. I don’t think it changed the music any. You can look at it both ways. The Blueprint was all natural. You could tell the the rawness of the spontaneous thoughts. Or you can have someone who plans and plots and makes sure everything is the same. Lyor [Cohen, CEO of warner music Group] asked me, after he listened to the [New] album, “ Did you mess up by putting an album out every year? Should you have taken your time and done it like this one?” And I was like, “No, it’s just process.” I don’t think the Blueprint was bad. But this album has to come out. It’s just really Cohesive. It feels really good.

XXL: what would you say is the Blueprint 3’s grand statement?

Jay-Z: I keep using this phrase “New Classic” Becuse it has classic sounds and instrumentation, like how music was recorded before. That’s why the whole album cover [Features] white instruments. Just left in the corner, no colour. It’s all about the instruments. It feels classic in that approach, but it’s new subject matter, new flows it’s not like an Amy winehouse thing: a take on what was already done. I mean, if you listen to “D.O.A.” Just the sax alone, those type of sounds. The subject matter is right now. It’s a hot-button issue right now.

XXL: it’s funny that you stress the subject matter being current one criticism “D.O.A.” Has been the topic is a year old

Jay-Z: A year past or a year early?

XXL: A year to old. Music was being saturated by Auto-Tune the most last year. So were you thinking bussiness first, like, Kanye’s coming out with 808s & Heartbreak album, so I’m going to hold off on the criticism til he’s in the clear?

Jay-Z: No, that’s not how it happened. It really just happened in the studio. We were just having a discussion about the Game and music and where everything is going. So NO ID plays this track, and kanye jumps up. Actually, Kanye gave me the idea. He jumps up and is like, “Man, this is hard. This is against everything.” I don’t know if he knew where I was going to take it, but he sparked the idea. I came back the next day and did the record.

XXL: what’s puzzling is that your own buddies, like kanye and pharrell, wear the Brightest shirts and Tightest jeans, But your clearly not going at them. You’re going after the cats that are trying to be like them, and not themselves. Correct?

Jay-Z: Yeah, once it becomes…..a trend is a trend. I follow trends. I set trends. Now, when a trend becames a gimmick, it’s time to get rid of it. As far as hip-hop. Like, when they were saying “bling bling” on CNN, it’s time to never say that word again. It was just about the aggression of everything I saw everyone, cause it was successful following one path. You turn on the radio, and that’s all you hear. I’m not saying I hate T-pain what I’m talking about is a trend that’s becoming a gimmick. And if we continue down this path, we’re going to open the door for another genre of music. Same way when rock was doing hair metal it opened the door even wider for hip-hop to come through and put rock music in trouble for 10 years and more. Right now, there are a lot of indie bands coming out, which is making rock more exciting: the MGMTs and the kings of Leons. You keep messing around, making generic music, people are going to start turning off one at a time. And if these guys [keep] makeing great music guess what? [Fans are] gonna go to them. If you look back in the histroy of music, that’s what happens all the time. I’m just saying, stay up. Be aware. Be innovative. Let keep making this shit interesting. I love Drake. I’ m not hating on young people. Like. When people say that, I’m like, what are you talking about? It’s just stupid I’m not hating on young people. I love Drake. I worked with him on the alum. Every time they ask me what I’m listening to it’s so far gone and kings of Leon. Them two act [acts] owe me money. I’m not bill russel, [sayiny]michael jordan ain’t shit. I’m saying Lil wayne and kanye are like LeBron and kobe my job as someone at the forefront of the game is to leave it in a better position than when I came in same way that Russell [simmons] left it to me. Cause this thing saved my life Literally. So I have a responsibility to it karmically. And after it’s on you. I did my part. I made “D.O.A.” I said it. I made the statement. I made the push. Here, y’all take it from here.

XXL: you’ve been getting a lot of heat about your second single “Run this Town” featuring kanye and rihanna critics and the Blog world have said ye out rapped you.

Jay-Z: I think that thing has gone a little too far. I think it’s more about that than the song now. What I’m saying is that’s just life, if [whose verse was better] was the thing, and we based [song quality] on that, after I’ve done 400 songs, I’m sure once the average of who was better on the song weights out, I’m pretty high. Some Nights [LA Lakers player] pau Gasol can score more points than kobe bryant not saying that kanye is pau Gasol, cause you have to be really clear with that– [but] as long as I’ve been in the game that’s going to happen, once or twice or even three times.

[Via http://thesoundbuzz.wordpress.com]

Media pays for kidnapping case, dirt on Sarah Palin

Jaycee Lee Dugard

Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston

The Associated Press is reporting that some news organizations are paying for interviews while covering the Jaycee Lee Dugard story. It’s a practice that is forbidden by most media outlets, but Vanity Fair magazine found a loophole around it in an upcoming issue featuring Levi Johnston—the former boyfriend of Sarah Palin’s oldest daughter, whose determined to take shots at Alaska’s former first family.

Hundreds of media outlets around the world are covering the Dugard story. Police say she was kidnapped from a school bus stop when she was 11 years old and imprisoned for 18 years by a convicted sex offender and his wife.

Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are charged in the case.

When the AP tried to interview Garrido’s father, Manuel Garrido, the man refused unless he was paid. He told the wire service that an overseas media organization paid him $2,000 for an interview, but he refused to say which one it was. The AP refused to pay him.

Vanity Fair paid Johnston for his revelations about his life with the Palin family in the upcoming October issue of the magazine. Technically, Johnston “wrote” the piece.

Actually, Johnston dished dirt on the Palin family and Vanity Fair transcribed the interviews, edited them, and put it in a piece where the teen was labeled the writer. That way the magazine could pay him for writing a story, just as it would with other journalists.

[Via http://blog.mediajobs.net]

Interview: Mr Hudson talks about working with Jay-Z & Kanye !

So how did you meet Kanye?

He heard the first album, he heard Tale of Two Cities. I’m really proud of the fact that it wasn’t me being up in his grill, it wasn’t, like, my record company hustling. It was just the album that did the talking, you know?

And then he flew you out to Hawaii to do 808s & Heartbreak?

You know how we do, yeah? Isn’t that crazy? Well, at first it was Blueprint 3, to sing on a track called “Young Forever.” We just did a little bit of that, and then he said, “Hang on, I need to make my album.” And then we did 808s & Heartbreaks in about three weeks. And luckily, they didn’t send me home. They kind of forgot to send me home. And I ended up being part of the whole process. So I sang on a track, and co-produced a track, and just helped out. I remember Kanye saying early on he just wanted people to help. He didn’t want people to get their own shine or their own take. It was just, “Help me make the record.”

What was the daily ritual like when you were working on 808s?

Just, you know, wake up in a nice hotel, have a cawfee, play some basketball, make some groundbreaking hip-hop. And then go to bed. And repeat.

Were you just playing one-on-one with Kanye?

Sometimes it was one-on-one, and he insists on playing full-court. That was some serious cardio. I was in the best shape of my life after that.

Are you any good?

For an Englishman, yeah. But no.

What about Kanye?

He’s pretty good. He’s got a mean finger roll. But we were sort of cursed — we’d always have to get injuries. I’m not quite sure how it’s my fault, but apparently it’s my fault that Kanye ran into the pole at one point, head first. That was a serious injury. We were watching a lot of violent movies at the time — Apocalypto, Robocop — and I think it was spilling over into our basketball culture. But it was fun. We would run around, and we’d be working on hooks, working on the lyrics while we were on the court, just sort of singing them at each other.

When things started happening with Kanye, were you nervous to tell people about it?

Well, you know, that’s the thing, you don’t want to tempt fate and say, “Oh, this is happening,” and then when it doesn’t, you look like an idiot. I kind of kept it quiet, but it got to the point where other people were doing the talking for me. People like Jay-Z, and DJ Semtex, and Kanye West were going, “Yoooo, Mr Hudson is on The Blueprint 3.” And I’m just sitting there like, “Yeah, I suppose I am. If you say so.”

What else can you tell us about Blueprint 3?

Do you know what? It’s been pretty locked down. I’ve heard the beats that Kanye’s made for it. And I’ve heard what I’m singing on, and that’s about it. That’s cool. I’m glad that I haven’t heard it yet. Now, when it comes out, I’m gonna be like a fan: “Gotta get that record, I gotta get that new Jay-Z album.” And I’m on it.

Are you friendly with Jay-Z as well at this point?

I met Jay-Z quite a while back, a couple of years ago now. He heard my stuff quite early on. He keeps his ear to the ground, J-Hov. But, you know, he keeps himself a little bit more … where, you know, Kanye’s sort of bouncing around. I just assume that Jay-Z is in some penthouse office or something, sipping Champagne, smoking a cigar, while Kanye will be on the basketball court, or at some store looking at luminous clothes. D’you know what I mean?

Moving on to Straight No Chaser — the story is that you were living in a storage space while you were recording this album?

I was living above a pub in north London, in a room that I had used just to store my guitars and a couple of synthesizers. When I split with my girl, I was like, right, where do I go? So I just ended up sleeping on the floor and kind of forgot to leave, ’cause I got distracted by thinking, Maybe this is the time to make my album. I said to my friend, the landlord of the pub, I said “Michael, can you sort me out with a mattress?” And I just had a sleeping bag.

So are you still finding the transition to fame surreal?

I’m kind of getting used to it. I’m kind of pleased with myself because now I’m not stupidly starstruck anymore, like I was with Béyoncé. I blushed like a 15-year-old and hid in the corner and played on my laptop. But here’s a funny story: So I’m just in my little area in northern London, just puttering about, going to shops. And these two mums with their prams … do you call them “prams”? What do you call them? You put a baby in it, you wheel it around?

Strollers.

Strollers. So these two mums with their strollers are going into the store and they’re wheeling it around. And then one just goes, “Oh, my God, you’re that man that sings that thingy with thing-a-mi-bob.” I said, “I think so, yeah.” And she ran up. And she made me sign her receipt from the supermarket. Also, talking about signing things, I signed my first mammary the other day. In fact, two. A pair of breasts. In fact, two people, so four breasts. I have signed four breasts. And they were enormous breasts.

[Via http://explosivemuzik.com]

Interview with Amy Jensen

Amy Jensen

(7 min) This is an interview with Amy Jensen, Program Coordinator at the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. It was recorded on April 15, 2009 at Men Can Stop Rape’s Men and Women as Allies National Conference on the Primary Prevention of Men’s Violence Against Women.

In this interview, Ms. Jensen talks about the important role that women have in creating a new culture of prevention for girls and young women that is not based solely on risk reduction.

Men Can Stop Rape, Inc. (MCSR) is an international organization that mobilizes men to use their strength for creating cultures free from violence, especially men’s violence against women. MCSR provides agencies, schools, and organizations with direct services for youth, public service messaging, and leadership training.

MCSR’s Men and Women as Allies National Conference on the Primary Prevention of Men’s Violence Against Women was held on April 14th and 15th, 2009 in Washington, DC. To learn more about the events at this conference, visit the conference website at http://mencanstoprape.org/conference.

(Go to Interview)

[Via http://preventconnect.wordpress.com]

Soaps.com's 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Red Carpet Coverage! Video Clips Included!

Hi Fans!

The Emmys are over, but that doesn’t mean that Soaps.com didn’t come back empty-handed – no indeed! You won’t want to miss the exciting tidbits, actor quotes, red carpet photos and video clips – some with special messages to our Soaps.com readers, in our Coverage Section!

Stop by the Coverage Section today for all your Emmy Scoops!

Until next year, we’ll see you on the site with all the latest news, interviews, recaps and don’t forget to stop our message boards to chat with other fans!

Soaps.com

Photo Credit: D Barnert/Soaps.com

[Via http://soapsdotcom.wordpress.com]

Interview of the Month...Lauren Santo Domingo

“sometimes the best accessory a girl can have is a friendly smile and a kind word”

Lauren with Olivier Theyskens

Lauren Santo Domingo is a New York City-based fashion stylist and sittings editor. Born and raised in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, she attended the University of Southern California, graduating in 1998 with a bachelors degree in History. She immediately began a career in the fashion industry, first as a model, and then as a market editor at American Vogue. In 2004, Santo Domingo left Vogue to be the PR director at Paris-based furrier J Mendel, launching the line’s first acclaimed ready-to-wear colleciton, and then moved to the Puig Group to head up the PR division of Carolina Herrera. In 2006, she returned to Vogue as a contributing editor and freelances as a fashion stylist and consultant to designers, celebrities and retailers in Paris and New York.

CC: You started your fashion career as a model, tell me more about it, in which agencies were you? Did you do any of the fashion weeks?  Some amazing photo shootings?

LSD:I enjoyed modeling but it was never more than a summer job I never missed a day of school and never expected it would be a full time job or career.

I started out with Elite in New York, modeling during my summer vacations from high school and college. The highlight was shooting a series of TV commercials for a Japanese denim brand with Brad Pitt.

CC: How was your life as a model?  Did you enjoy it? Tell us about some great experiences.

LSD: It was a great way to travel and have new experiences and great independence at a young age. Most importantly, it allowed me to know from a young age what I wanted to be when I grow up- a fashion editor.

And who doesn’t love to wear fabulous clothes and be pampered on a set all day?!

CC: You are today for many girls a fashion icon, your style and wardrobe is more than wanted and you work for one of the most famous fashion magazine, the American Vogue. How did it all happen?

LSD: Vogue is great because it has a fabulous access. Working at Vogue I meet some of the best new designers before they’re big, and see some of the best clothing and accessories before they are in stores.

But I can’t say that I think of myself as a style icon! I love fashion, I love the idea of dressing for a mood and of looking and feeling great.

I came to work at Vogue through hard work and determination. I started as an assistant and worked my way up to where I am now.

CC: How is it to work with the most famous fashion editor Anna Wintour? What do you think made her so successful?

LSD: Anna is an Icon and she knows exactly what she wants. I admire her for her work ethic, her style and her unwavering commitment to the fashion industry and young designers.

CC: Tell us about your responsabilities for Vogue?

LSD: I wear many hats at Vogue: I am sounding board for many of the story ideas and enjoy the generating story ideas for the magazine. But mainly I am a stylist and editor of many shoots in each issue.

CC: So now, let’s talk about your wardrobe…as an editor of Vogue you have to be dressed up for every occasion:

- What is your favorite designer to go to pick up an outfit whenever you have an event?

LSD: Right now; Blamain, Proenza Shouler, Balenciaga and PHI

- How many pair of shoes do you hide in your closet?

LSD: I usually have about 4 or 5 pairs of shoes for the summer months.

- How many bags?

LSD: I have quite a few evening clutches but wear the same Proenza Shouler PS 1 bag every day for the last year.

CC: Any fashion tips for this summer?

LSD: Besides sun-screen? I think this is the season to spend less! Other than one great look for any summer wedding I will attend I don’t need more than some casual pants and skirts, a stack of flimsy t-shirts in black, grey and white and a lightweight summer dress or two.

CC: What are for you the must-haves of the moment?

LSD: Great skin ( Pat Wexler M.D has the best skin care regimin available at Bath & Body works)

, great hair ( keep it moisturized with new Nexxus Shampoo and conditioner for colored hair) and a great attitude: sometimes the best accessory a girl can have is a friendly smile and a kind word.

Special thanks to Lauren.

[Via http://charlottecollard.wordpress.com]

Some Final Thoughts on the Farce at Old Trafford

Since my post from yesterday, “Why Saturday Was A Fantastic Day To Be A Gooner,” really didn’t deal with the actual match itself, but rather dealt with the dive and the ramifications of the match, I’d like to take this wet and gloomy Monday morning to briefly discuss the match. Obviously, there were a few flashpoints, as there almost always are when we play United…

It’s telling that many people, including Rooney, came out after the match praising Darren Fletcher as United’s best player on the day. Fletcher did nothing but freely commit fouls with the absolute approval of Mike Dean. In a match which saw 8 yellow cards, how can Darren Fletcher not have received one of them? But never mind yellow cards, Fletcher’s two-footed lunge at Arshavin should’ve been a penalty and a sending-off. It is possible that only a matter of millimeters meant the difference between Arshavin getting up to then rip one into the United net or lying on the ground writhing in agony and missing 3 months of the season. It was a cynical and desperate challenge by a player whose technical inferiority forced him to commit fouls regularly and Dean let him get away with that while showing Arsenal yellow cards for breathing.

Arsene has come out in the press now today criticizing United’s tactics and Fletcher’s “performance.” I think he may not be giving his own team enough credit. I highly doubt United came out with the intent to play the way they did, they were forced into it by an Arsenal side that pinned them back in their own half for long stretches of the game, an Arsenal defense that easily cleared almost every ball sent in to them, an Arsenal midfield that pressed United so high up in their own half that United’s central midfield was useless. For long periods, Rooney was left up top alone and chasing onto balls Bolton-style.

Fletcher’s “attack” on Arshavin was inexcusable and could have easily been a sending-0ff anywhere else in the world but Old Trafford with any other referee in the world except Mike Dean. Only the combination of Old Trafford and Mike Dean could not give something so blatant. And some people have said that the non-call did not matter because Arshavin scored immediately afterward. But that is hardly the point. The point is that the non-call was everything wrong about the entire match in a microcosm.

To speak about Rooney’s dive for a final time, I would like to say that what he did is absolutely no different than what Eduardo did or what every player does. Every player goes down in anticipation of contact, it’s just a natural, instinctual reaction. In Eduardo’s situation, Boruc had just barely gotten his arms out of the way whereas Almunia did not. But in both cases it was not the contact that made the player go to ground but the anticipation of it. Rooney was obviously already falling down before any contact was made. It only became cheating for Eduardo because the referee was out of position and made the wrong call. Why is THAT Eduardo’s fault? I believe that if it had not been given that Eduardo would not have argued about it, like Wenger said.

Can the same be said about Rooney yesterday? Of course, Almunia has no business coming out for that ball. That said, Rooney was obviously looking for the penalty as the ball was already out of play by the time he made contact with Almunia and he was already looking back at the ref screaming for a penalty before he’d even finished his slide. I just don’t understand how the same offence is worth a yellow card if charged on the pitch but a two-match ban if charged after the fact. It makes the punishment dependent on whether or not the referee gets the call right. If you want to have a ban, it has to be strictly based on the player’s actions and NOT on whether or not the referee made the right or wrong call.

I would also like to reiterate one point from yesterday’s piece. It has seemed obvious to many of us that there is a different team spirit this year than last. I expect this match to have the same catalytic effect that our early-season trip to Old Trafford in 2003/04 had. I believe that, especially coming on the heels of the Eduardo vilification, it will further insulate the side and draw them even closer together. If the Eduardo situation wasn’t enough, this should foster that “Us vs. the world” attitude that so many of Arsenal and Wenger’s greatest sides have had. I believe that it will have been increased by Wenger’s outright defence of Eduardo in midweek and, especially, by his refusal to leave the pitch by going into the stand on Saturday rather than just heading back to the changing room with the match still not over.

It seems that Wenger is to be issued a public apology for being forced to go into the stands where he has been viciously chanted at for a decade. That’s all well and good but that decision is in no way nearly as significant as the decision to assign that match to Mike Dean. United did not expect the match that Arsenal brought to them on Saturday especially without Cesc in the lineup. Simply put, this is not the same old Arsenal of the last three years. Don’t let the spin from the press fool you. How anyone can write that United’s performance “emphasised [their] claims on a fourth consecutive title” is beyond me. They never looked like scoring a goal on their own except on a few counterattacks in the stoppage time  when Arsenal were bombing forward in search of an equalizer and they only won the match on a dubious call and two individual errors. Yesterday, my article stressed that the positives from Saturday far outweighed the negatives and I feel far better about our title chances after Saturday than I did last week.

ARSENE WENGER POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

what Eduardo did is no different than what Rooney did yesterday or what every player does… EVERY player goes down in anticipation of contact, it’s just a natural reaction. Anyone who plays football will tell you that. In Eduardo’s situation, Boruc had just barely gotten his arms out of the way whereas Almunia did not. But in both cases it was not the contact that made the player go to ground but the anticipation of it. Is THAT cheating? It only became cheating because the referee was out of position and made the wrong call. Why is THAT Eduardo’s fault? I believe that if it had not been given that Eduardo would not have argued about it, like Wenger said. Can the same be said about Rooney yesterday? He was already looking back at the ref screaming for a penalty before he’d even finished his slide. If you want to have a ban or whatever it has to be strictly based on the player’s actions and NOT on whether or not a referee made the right or wrong call. And it also can’t start being implemented in the middle of a tournament.

[Via http://arsenalstation.wordpress.com]