Kanye West To Guest Star On Upcoming Episode Of ‘The Cleveland Show”
March 5th, 2010
Simplyhitmakers
EW.com: Kanye West has kept a fairly low profile in recent months, but soon you’ll be able to catch him — or at least his animated alter ego — in the May 2 episode of Fox’s Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show. You can see the first official image of West’s guest spot in the new issue of EW, on stands today, or check it out right here in this post. In the episode, the rap megastar voices a 19-year-old local hero named, er, Kenny West, who gets into a lopsided rhyme battle with the show’s Cleveland Brown, Jr. over the affections of a young woman who’s voiced by Taraji P. Henson.
“We knew that Kanye was a Family Guy fan,” Cleveland Show co-creator Rich Appel tells the Music Mix. “He’s made reference to it on his website and stuff. In the writers’ room, we just thought it would be great to have him as a character on the town. So we came up with the story. He really liked it and said, ‘Sure!’” One year ago, West came in for a table read at the L.A. building where Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show are all produced. “You know, I’ve worked on The Simpsons and Family Guy and King of the Hill,” says Appel. “We’ve had a lot of guest stars. It’s very rare that a guest star is eager and willing to come to the table read. He showed up 15 minutes early.” West went on to record his part last March. About a month ago, when the time came to re-record a few lines for the final cut, Appel says the star obligingly stepped into a booth at the studio where he’s working on his next album and sent the new dialogue over.
The experience went so well that West has already recorded an appearance for an additional episode of The Cleveland Show’s upcoming second season — and Appel hopes there’s even more to come. “He could not have been more collaborative or easier to work with. We’re excited, because his character has become a recurring character in our universe…He’ll become our Sideshow Bob!”
With James Van Der Beek in the backseat, actress Michelle Trachtenberg (starred in Harriet the Spy, Inspector Gadget, Euro Trip, The Hill, 17 again, Cop Out) gives her best shot at reciting Nicki Minaj’s verse from “Shakin it for Daddy”!
SimplyHitMakers brings Erik Barnum coming out of Cincinnati, Ohio performing at places like DJ Don Wan’s Freestyle Battle, Clique Lounge, & Blue Note if you want to learn more about this up and coming artist you can go to Myspace
LiL Wayne Sentencing Delayed Due To Dental Surgery
February 10th, 2010
Simplyhitmakers
LiL Wayne Sentencing Delayed Due To Dental Surgery
NEW YORK – Lil Wayne’s sentencing has been delayed until March 2 due to dental surgery, his attorney announced in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday (February 9).
The rapper was scheduled to be formally sentenced by a judge and begin serving his one-year term stemming from a 2007 arrest that resulted in a guilty plea in October for attempted weapons possession.
The Cash Money MC arrived shortly after 2 p.m. with his label heads Birdman and Slim. He quietly entered the courtroom as photographers snapped pictures from the hallway. Wayne wore a navy coat and black-framed glasses, and he sat still while his lawyer Stacey Richman spoke.
She informed the judge that she sent a notification to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office that the rapper is suffering from a cracked tooth and would need to postpone his sentence. The judge agreed and ruled to reschedule for March 2.
The rapper is set to undergo surgery February 12 in Miami, according to Richman. He will need a week to 10 days to recover. His defense offered prosecutors February 25 as a date for Wayne to turn himself him in after surgery, but Judge Charles H. Solomon instead selected March 2.
The judge then warned Wayne that he must return to Miami on Tuesday. Solomon insisted if he leaves tomorrow, there would be a chance his surgery would be delayed due to hazardous weather conditions leaving New York.
“I don’t want this to get pushed back anymore,” Solomon said. “This is the last adjournment.
Sexting In America
February 3rd, 2010
Simplyhitmakers
“When Privates Go Public” Premieres On Valentine’s
Day
MTV News special “Sexting in America: When Privates Go Public” is set to premiere on Valentine’s Day as part of MTV’s A Thin Line campaign to stop the spread of digital abuse. And before the show, Boys Like Girls, Michelle Trachtenberg, All Time Low and Asher Roth have teamed up with MTV to inform people about serious harm sexting, cyberbullying and online harassment can cause.
Trachtenberg and Roth will host an interactive quiz that will launch next week on AThinLine.org. Boys Like Girls and All Time Low will appear in short digital clips about digital abuse that will go live on the site on Wednesday.
The special will take an in-depth look at the recent rise of “sexting” in pop culture, including in the celebrity world. It will also take an in-depth look at the frequency and consequences of sending or forwarding nude, sexually suggestive or explicit pictures on your cell or online. It will explore why some teens and young adults hit “forward” instead of “delete.”
In addition to the celebrity participants in the special, young people will talk openly about sexting. The special will look at real-life stories from people like Ally, whose reputation was destroyed after sexting her ex-boyfriend, and Phillip, who was charged with child pornography after forwarding photos of his underage girlfriend and is slated to remain on the sex-offender registry until he’s 43 years old.
A Thin Line works to stop the spread of digital abuse. A recent MTV and AP study found that three in 10 young people have sent or received nude “sext” messages, and over 60 percent of those who sent a nude photo reporting that they were pressured to do so at least once. Additionally, the research found that those who have sexted are four times more likely to have considered suicide.
Over 75 percent of young people state that digital abuse is a serious problem for people their age. However, few consider the more serious consequences and risks of their behavior, with only 51 percent believing that their digital actions could come back to haunt them, and only 25 percent considering that these actions could have legal consequences.
The MTV News special “Sexting in America: When Privates Go Public,” premieres Sunday, February 14, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Paper Tongues Have Randy Jackson To Thank
January 28th, 2010
Simplyhitmakers
Paper Tongues Have Randy Jackson To Thank
Before the Paper Tongues got a record deal from “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, the guys were just a band with a silly name. And now that they’ve acquired a considerable amount of buzz in the music industry, people can’t help but wonder how they got that silly sounding name.
“It honestly started off as two names in a hat. We couldn’t come up with anything at all, so we just wrote down words that sounded good phonetically, pulled them out, mixed everything around and came up with Paper Tongues,” guitarist Devin Forbes explained.
Forbes also wasn’t ashamed to admit that by sheer coincidence, they almost accidentally named themselves after the Kings of Leon. “It’s really funny. I still laugh about this ’cause one of the band names we were thinking of calling it was Kings of Leoness. And none of us had any idea who the Kings of Leon were,” he explained. “We did not know there was a band called Kings of Leon. It was, like, five years ago, and then we found out they were a huge band.”
So, with a band name and demo all ready to go, it was only a matter of time before the guys got discovered. And unlike many “American Idol” hopefuls, all the guys had to do was just happen to run into Randy Jackson in order to land a record deal. No snippy Simon Cowell moments for these guys.
“Me and my buddies saw him [at a restaurant in Los Angeles]. We walked outside, I got a valet dude to give me a piece of paper, wrote down my MySpace and my cell phone number, took it back over to him, and the rest is history,” lead singer Aswan North explained. “I kind of startled him a little bit. I just got really amped. Two hours later, homeboy called me back. It was amazing when he called in two hours. We were all pretty startled.”
Katy Perry Is Ready To ‘Ditch’ Her Career
January 27th, 2010
Simplyhitmakers
Katy Perry Is Ready To ‘Ditch’ Her Career
As the “American Idol” auditions continue making their way around the country, we’ve seen celebrity guest judges like Mary J. Blige and Shania Twain helping Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi find the next big thing.
On Tuesday night (January 26), Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne sat in on . We caught up with Perry after the audition episodes were taped to see how her guest-judging stint went.
“I make ‘em cry all the time,” Perry joked to MTV News. “The ‘American Idol’ experience was awesome. If I was offered that job as a permanent host, I would ditch my career and take on that career.”
Perry said she didn’t actually cause anyone to tear up, but she did have a great time during the experience. “It’s kind of like judging a talent show,” she said. ” ‘American Idol’ was great fun. It was so easy. I didn’t really make anybody cry, but I did tell the truth to some kids that might have needed to hear it.”
Judging the audition rounds is the easy part, Perry said. She’s just glad she doesn’t have to make the really tough decisions during Hollywood Week and beyond. “I guess the pressure gets really on when you start eliminating the number of people that are going through,” she said. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, and then you’ve got the final two. That can be kind of tense and stressful.”
