Two weeks ago, Hollywood Insider revealed that R&B crooner Ne-Yo and Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump had recorded a duet called “Finish Your Food" — which Stump said had "one of the craziest concepts for a song I've ever heard." Well, we definitely wanted to hear more about these strange bedfellows, so we caught up with Ne-Yo yesterday to find out more about the Island Def Jam labelmates' unusual tune, and his description did not disappoint.
"Imagine this," Ne-Yo told EW.com at the Def Jam office. "You live with your girlfriend. You wake up, she makes you breakfast in bed. Puts the tray down, gives you a kiss on the forehead, and she leaves for work. You eat, you eat, you eat. You notice that there’s a letter on the tray, and the letter says, 'I'm leaving you. Don't get up, I'm already gone. Finish your food.' You get up, you run downstairs, all your furniture's gone. In the kitchen there's more scrambled eggs. So you’re sitting on the floor in the kitchen, like, 'What the hell is going on?,' eating these scrambled eggs still. And then you start feeling funny. Did she poison the eggs? It leaves that question going on in your head at the end of the song."
Ne-Yo's hoping the sinister tale makes it onto his in-progress third CD, Year of the Gentleman, which he recently started recording. "I'd like the version with me and [Stump] to go on this album," he says. "But I'll be honest with you, it's been a little bit of a fight with the label. They’re like, ‘Is the world ready for Ne-Yo and Patrick Stump?’ His fanbase is this, and my fanbase is that. We're trying to figure out if the world is ready for those two [genres] to come together. I personally think that it's a great idea, but it's one of the few things that me and Def Jam tussle over."
A Def Jam rep did not reply to requests for comment. Look for Ne-Yo's record to drop some time this summer.
He may be taking a breather from touring and performing, but Justin Timberlake continues to diversify his already ridiculously long résumé. In addition to the recently announced NBC show My Problem With Women (for which Timberlake, in a collaboration with Reveille, serves as an executive producer) and upcoming movie roles in The Love Guru (due out this June) and The Open Road (currently filming), the singer is also rumored to be hosting this summer’s ESPY Awards. But his music-production skills remain in high demand: Timberlake worked in London with Madonna, co-writing and co-producing five tracks on her new album, Hard Candy (out April 29) and appearing in Madge's new video, then traveled to New York to induct her into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. He was also spotted last week in the Austin recording studio of Spoon’s Jim Eno, where he and co-producer Charlie Sexton were wrapping up sessions with noted songwriter Matt Morris, one of the first artists signed to Timberlake’s own Tennman Records (check out video of the two in the studio here). “He’s kind of like Ray LaMontagne meets Elton John meets Stevie Wonder meets Rufus Wainwright,” Timberlake told us last year. “It’s time for the birth of the hybrid artist. I’m anxious to create an artist that the press has trouble labeling.” Next up: world domination.
One's a smooth R&B balladeer, the other's an angsty emo wailer — and now Ne-Yo and Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump are making beautiful music together. Stump exclusively tells EW.com that he and his Island Def Jam labelmate recorded a Ne-Yo composition titled "Finish Your Food" during a recent studio hang session. "It's an R&B jam," says Stump of the duet. "A real good Ne-Yo signature, lyrical story-song." And what kind of story might that be? "I don't want to spoil it! It's the Cloverfield thing: You can't give too much away. But I will say that I gotta give him credit for it. It's one of the craziest concepts for a song I've ever heard, lyrically." Ne-Yo's publicist tells EW she isn't aware of any current release plans for "Finish Your Food," but Stump is keeping his fingers crossed. "Hopefully that sees the light of day," he adds. "I love the sound of our voices together."
First Harlem rapper Cam'Ron proclaimed his love for Curb Your Enthusiasm, now this: Late next month, Washington, D.C. up-and-comer Wale plans to release The Mixtape About Nothing, an entire set of hip-hop cuts inspired by Seinfeld. (Check out a preview of the mixtape's cover art at left.) "I think I've seen every episode, like, 30 times," Wale said when EW.com called him at the NYC studio of producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen) yesterday. Wale says he's particularly partial to the show's controversial 1997-98 swan song. "The last season is very underrated. A lot of Seinfeld fans be like, 'Oh, the last season is so over-the-top.' I'm like, it's about reinventing!"
Wale played us an early snippet of a song called "Hype" over the phone. The meditation on celebrity opens with a lengthy sample from one of Jerry Seinfeld's Season 7 stand-up monologues: "I love it when people are complimented on something they're wearing, and they accept the compliment as if it was about them..." Wale also exclusively revealed to EW.com that his team recently convinced Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus to record a brief skit (or "drop") for the mixtape. "She’s not [in character as] Elaine — she’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus," explains Wale, who hasn't had a chance to hear the skit yet. "It's something crazy, something comical." (Louis-Dreyfus' reps did not reply to requests for comment.) No word yet on whether Wale's tunes inspired the actress to break into that notorious "Elaine dance"...
UPDATE: Julia Louis-Dreyfus replies via email: "Wale is my favorite artist because he's the only one who ever included me in a mixtape -- hear that, P. Diddy?”
N.E.R.D., the funk-rock group comprised of the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, along with friend and collaborator Shae Haley, are ready to drop a new album, their first since 2004's Fly or Die, in late June on Star Trak. Titled Seeing Sounds (in reference to a neurological phenomenon called Synesthesia, where senses cross so a tone correlates to, say, a color -- read the insanely complex dissection at wikipedia), the band drew inspiration from the idea of seeing the music. So what took so long? Williams, who recently wrapped a record with Madonna, told MTV last October that he was "just waiting for the right sounds," comparing making music to going fishing. "You fish for it every day, and either you get it or you don't," he said. "And sometimes I have to wait. What I usually do with the N.E.R.D. albums is we wait a lot." But fans won't have to wait much longer.
Joss Stone and critically acclaimed rap duo Clipse are currently “trading tracks,” say reps for the artists. The Virginia-based rappers will make an appearance on Stone’s next studio effort, while the British soul singer has already recorded a song for the duo's forthcoming album with their group the Re-Up Gang (out this June). The mutual love-fest began when Stone and Clipse collaborated on a track for Randy Jackson's soon-to-be-released compilation album, Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume 1. What's strange is on both the press release for the record and amazon.com, the song, titled "Just Walk On By," credits Joss Stone and Memphis hip-hop outfit Three 6 Mafia. Though reps for Three 6 Mafia have yet to get back to us, Jackson assures EW.com that it was, in fact, Clipse who worked with Stone on the track, not Three Six, but that the collab version will only be released as a single. For the version featured on the album, Stone goes at it solo.
After reports of recording sessions in exotic locations like Fez, Morocco and the South of France, today's news that U2 are back in Dublin and knee-deep in material for their next album was a welcome update. According to longtime collaborator Daniel Lanois, the band is trying to "deliver a masterpiece" as the follow-up to 2004's Grammy-winning album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. But by when? Lanois won't say, but we hear the band is "aiming for a fall release," a claim their label, Interscope, doesn't deny. Certainly, a new release by the world's reigning stadium rockers would be a big boost for holiday sales this year -- and perhaps next year as well: Lanois hinted to Billboard.com that the current recording sessions may wind up spreading out across two albums.
Jessica Simpson's much-publicized foray into country music is coming together. The singer's manager/father, Joe, tells EW.com that the singer is close to completing her first country album and that she is eyeing a possible unscripted CMT show, which would mark the singer's second stab at reality TV. "With Newlyweds, she let everyone into her world," says Joe. "Then she had to shut the world out. Now she can open it up again so people can see, here's a girl struggling with self-esteem and finding her way. Country music is about storytelling, after all."
As for the album, Simpson has enlisted some of Nashville's most respected names to lend a hand — and some credibility — to the project. Jessica duets with Dolly Parton on one track and is joined on another by Willie Nelson and Charley Pride. John Shanks, who's worked with Sheryl Crow and Kelly Clarkson, and Brett James, a cowriter on Carrie Underwood's single "Jesus Take the Wheel," are producing. Simpson's first single, which has yet to be selected, could be out as soon as April or May.
We hear that pop-punks Good Charlotte will be among the guests appearing on Ludacris' sixth solo album, (tentatively titled Theater of the Mind, due out in August), and the hip-hop artist reveals that he has someone in mind for another collab as well. "I'd like to work with Eminem," he told EW.com at the InStyle Grammy Salute to Fashion on Friday. "I think we could make something hot, but who knows? It hasn't happened — yet." Meanwhile, the rapper and movie star (Fred Claus, Crash) is expanding his portfolio yet again, partnering with Bay Area restaurateur Chris Yeo on Straits, an upscale Asian restaurant set to open in Atlanta this fall. Luda also just launched wemix.com, an online American Idol-style contest with a focus on beats and songwriting, which he hopes to bring to cable TV soon.
After more than a decade in the major label system, Butch Walker is boldly proclaiming his independence with a new provocatively named web site. Up until late 2007, the singer, producer, and songwriter, who's worked with some of pop's leading ladies, Avril Lavigne, Pink, and Ashlee Simpson among them, was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist. In the late '90s, Walker was on the Arista Records roster while fronting the band Marvelous 3. On Feb. 14, he plans to self-release Leavin' the Game on Luckie St., a double live album, allowing fans to download all 24 songs for free during the first week. The set, which includes covers of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and James' hit "Laid," will only be available digitally, but an accompanying DVD is scheduled to hit retail stores a few weeks later.
"Viva la freedom from cubicle music!" Walker declares in an official announcement going out tomorrow. "The record business is f---ed, but not for bands. It's the most exciting, positive time for music, as rock and roll and indie pop have gone completely back underground. And to see artists be able to release albums whenever they want, for whatever they want, and not have to fear sending in their cover art, only to have the art department airbrush off the singer's mustache (in fear of not selling to a certain demographic or f---ing statistic) is wonderful. Essentially, everything they have or haven't done in the past, I will purposely do the opposite... And probably make my first paycheck." In addition to his own music, Walker plans to release other projects, like 1969, a collaboration with guitarist Michael Guy Chislett from The Academy Is... and drummer Darren Dodd from the Let's Go Out Tonites. No doubt supplemental income will continue to come from writing hits for other artists; most recently, Walker re-teamed with Pink to start work on her next album.
Hot on the heels of Paula Abdul's lip-synch-tastic Super Bowl performance, her American Idol costar Randy Jackson has confirmed that he will have a hand in producing her forthcoming full-length album. "We've been talking about it," Jackson told EW.com during a taping of his latest side-project, MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, which premieres Thursday night. "We gotta keep things rolling, you know?" No release date or label has been announced yet, but last week Paula Abdul's official website posted a message saying to expect an album in Summer 2008.
Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis has sidelined her band obligations for a minute to work on another solo album. For the past few weeks, Lewis and a team of Los Angeles cohorts, including singer-songwriter-boyfriend Johnathan Rice, Interpol touring player "Farmer Dave" Scher, and Rilo producer Jason Larder, have been logging full days at Sound City studios in the San Fernando Valley, where Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes and Nirvana's Nevermind were recorded. The all-analog sessions also saw several famous friends drop by to lend a hand with guest vocals, among them Zooey Deschanel, the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson, M. Ward, and Elvis Costello, who duets with Lewis on one track. A source who's heard the record says, "It all sounds super natural, nice, and simple. Like it doesn't belong in any decade. It's just timeless."
Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John whistled their way to indie rock stardom when the quirky single "Young Folks," off their 2006 album Writer's Block, became an international hit. Last week, the band returned to the studio to start work on their next album -- only this time, they chose a location as far from their native Stockholm as possible: Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. "It's a new year and a new environment," says bassist Bjorn Yttling. "Plus, we don't get calls from Sweden because of the nine-hour time difference." The disconnect, the guys say, has altered their sound and how they work together. "We're using more synths than [we did on] the last record," explains drummer John Eriksson. "The feeling is a little '80s." Adds Bjorn: "We're playing around with exchanging instruments, too." In three days, during which guitarist Peter Moren also squeezed in a Hotel Café solo show (his hangover precluded participation in this interview), the guys had already arranged nine songs, tinkering with melodies that, they say, could pass for the theme to CSI: Miami. But there's still a ways to go and plenty of time for mutation. "We don't want it out before next year," says Bjorn. Considering the success of their last effort, when the album is ready to street, the three Swedes have a lot of corporate backers to please. "We were on V2 until Universal bought it, now we're on Universal and Almost Gold/Sony/Columbia and EMI Publishing," Bjorn elaborates. "The only company we're missing is Ikea."
Despite a gold-certified debut (2006's Stand Still, Look Pretty), the Wreckers are done strummin’. “It was a lot of fun,” says Michelle Branch, who launched the country duo with friend Jessica Harp in 2005. “And it was nice to not be the person all the time, but Jessica never got to do a solo record and it was gnawing at her... so for now, it's gone for good." But Branch isn’t entirely through with Music Row: She’s working with Dwight Yoakam on a song for her next album, which she hopes to have out by June.
— Reporting by Whitney Pastorek
It was almost a year ago when talk of a Scarlett Johansson-Tom Waits tribute album started making the rounds, and today comes word that the actress will release her debut, album called Anywhere I Lay My Head (the title is inspired by a song off Waits' 1985 album Rain Dogs), on the recently revived Atco Records, an imprint of Warner's Rhino Entertainment. The album will street on May 20 and features 10 Waits songs and one original, according to the label. Collaborators include Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zimmer and TV on the Radio producer David Sitek. Johannsson recorded most of the album at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana last spring, a favorite of blues legend BB King and roots rockers like Derek Trucks Band. Last May, Johansson made an appearance at Coachella, joining Jesus and Mary Chain for their song, "Just Like Honey," which was featured on the Lost in Translation soundtrack. At the time, frontman William Reed told us Scarlett was "a really good singer."
Now here's a novel concept: fan-funded recordings. Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, who you may remember from her late '90s radio hit, "I Kissed a Girl," has been pounding away at a music career for well over a decade now, having been signed to four different labels at one point or another. But Sobule's got music in her blood and, after six CDs, she's not ready to give up. All she needs is a cool $75,000 to make her next album — and who better to fund it than her longtime fans? And who better to ask for help than Sobule's biggest cheerleader, her mom? "As you all know, my daughter is a real talent," writes Elaine on Jill's new website, jillsnextrecord.com. "She has put out six great CDs (which never leave my stereo), and has been on four labels, two of which went bankrupt; the other two were also farkakte. This time she wants to do it on her own.... So help and be a part of her new album, in exchange for some wonderful gifts and services."
Sobule outlines 11 different donation levels. For $25, you receive an advance copy of the CD. At the $50 "Pewter Level," you get the same plus a thank you; $50 more and you can be listed as a junior executive producer. For $5,000, Sobule will come and sing at your house. And for a whopping 10 grand ("Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level"), you can be on the album. "Don't worry if you can't sing," she writes. "We can fix that on our end. Also, you can always play the cowbell."
Sobule says she'll keep us updated on the tally, but judging from comments already posted on the site, she looks well on her way to booking studio time. See, who needs labels anyway?
UPDATE: As promised, Jill Sobule got back to us with an official count and she's "shocked" to report that after one day of going live, she's already collected $18,000!
Could Coldplay's Brian Eno-produced fourth album be out this spring? Some UK-based online retailers have already listed the album with a May 19 release date and the title Prospekt, and sources close to the band tell Hollywood Insider that an announcement is imminent. Frontman Chris Martin said late last year that the band was very close to finishing the record, which would clock in at 43 minutes. Our sources say that the record will see a proper physical release (as in a CD, not just digital download) via EMI.
The band is expected to make an official announcement about the new record on their website, coldplay.com, some time this week, following a major announcement from EMI. On Tuesday, the company plans to lay out a strategy involving massive cut-backs to its work force in the label's latest attempt to streamline its business. Guy Hands, whose company Terra Firma took over EMI last year, will address employees via teleconference. "Everyone is bracing themselves," says an EMI insider. "Potentially, there will be a sizable shredding of artists, especially bands that are underperforming, as well as consolidation and centralization of the creative and business sides." Likewise, adds the source, a band like Coldplay would "probably want to wait and see how things shake out before announcing their next album." A spokesperson for Capitol Music Group, the band's U.S. label, says, "The band is still in the studio. No official release date has been set."
Is two-time Dancing With the Stars winner Julianne Hough (pictured) trading in her paso doble heels for cowboy boots? Though next season's Dancing lineup has yet to be announced, the 19-year-old Mormon wonder has just signed a multi-album deal with Mercury Nashville, the Universal Music Nashville label that is headed by country music veteran Luke Lewis and home to Shania Twain and Sugarland. Hough's first single is expected to drop sometime in February, with an album due out in late spring or early summer. Hough (who is managed by another music biz legend, Irving Azoff) is currently living in Nashville where she's been recording with David Malloy (Reba McEntire, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). According to a music city insider, the two "have already cut half the record" and Hough is planning to try her hand at writing songs. Here's hoping she'll have better luck in the major label system than recent American Idol winners.
Hollywood Records has confirmed that the Jonas Brothers' second album -- which Hollywood Insider has heard is thisclose to being finished -- will be released on July 8. No word yet on a title (or whether their Oliver Twist/Panic! At the Disco-inspired New Year's look will carry over). Produced by John Fields (Rooney, Clay Aiken), who also manned the boards for the Bros.' platinum-plus self-titled debut, much of the new record was recorded on a tour bus while the band was on the road opening for Miley Cyrus for the sold out Hanna Montana "Best of Both Worlds" tour. With that trek coming to an end on Jan. 9, the boys will reconvene in a proper L.A. studio to finish up work on sophomore effort. Yesterday, the band announced that they have signed a two-year, multi-million dollar deal with LiveNation and would kick off the first leg of their upcoming "Look Me in the Eyes" tour on Jan. 31 in Tuscon, AZ.
A few months ago, No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal told us almost an album's worth of songs had already been written for his band's long-awaited new record, their first since 2001's Rock Steady. Now we hear basic tracks are done and album art is coming together. The only thing left on the to-do list? Vocals by Gwen Stefani, who, between touring the world and being mom to 17-month-old Kingston, has yet to add her signature touch. The band's label would not comment on the album's progress or whether it would see a 2008 release.
Akon's already had a hand in hits by Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent; now Michael Jackson has enlisted the collaborator du jour to sing, write, and produce on his next album. "It's incredible," Akon tells EW. "We're trying something he's never done before, and that's the challenge. There's not too much Michael Jackson hasn't covered. Just be ready for it." While there's no timeline yet, Akon says Jackson, who was rumored to be in talks with Starbucks' HEAR label, will self-release the album. "It's Mike, and he can. He don't really need a label to distribute."
Is this a sign of our ailing music business? Art departments asleep at the wheel? I pulled out my copy of Ben Harper's new album, Lifelife, after hearing him guest host Jonesy's Jukebox on LA's Indie 103.1 yesterday (he did a great job), and I'm looking at the CD's art (a cardboard fold out) which displays a two-panel-wide photo of a studio board and has only one paragraph of text. It reads in part:
The record, Lifeline, was recorded and mixed in 7 days on a 16-track analog tape machine. No computers or pro-tools were used anywhere in the process.
— Ben
But lo and behold, staring straight at me from the center of the shot is a computer screen with Pro-Tools running and, I'm told, in record mode. Hmmm...
I'm going to presume the photo is not of Harper's actual session, which he notes was recorded at a studio in Paris, but still, should be easy enough to Photoshop out. What's up former Virgin Records, now Capitol Music Group?
Two years after embracing her inner Daisy Duke, Jessica Simpson still wants to scratch that country itch. The singer and sometime actress — who released A Public Affair to disappointing sales last year — is assembling a team of Nashville-based producers and songwriters for her fifth studio album. “It’s the best thing for her,” says a label source close to the singer. “A country record is what she absolutely needs to be doing now.”
She’s certainly playing the part: After presenting at Nov. 5’s ACE Awards in New York City, Simpson headed south to attend the CMA Awards and is expected to “start writing and recording right away.” Another Nashville insider says that Simpson will spend up to six months in a Music City studio beginning in January. Nashville is notorious for shunning outsiders — particularly pop stars trying to go country, but “Jessica is committed to doing this,” says the label source. “She’s gone back to her Southern roots and embedded herself in the Nashville community.”
Legendary producer Phil Ramone, the man behind career-defining albums by Billy Joel and Paul Simon, is mourning New York City's dying studio business and plans to petition Mayor Michael Bloomberg to do something about it. "A lot of people are out of work here," he told us last week while promoting his new book, Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music. "[People have said] it was the end of an era when Hit Factory closed. Two weeks ago, when Sony Studios shut down, that was not nice. It's scary. So I'm trying to come up with a reason to go sit with Mayor Bloomberg and talk about how to put the music scene back in New York. There's no encouragement to develop stuff. It's kind of a drag."
Ramone thinks the city should treat the recording industry the same way it does the film industry, by offering tax breaks and other incentives to keep sessions local. "[Bloomberg's] a business man," says Ramone with both hope and resignation. "I don't know what else to do for my hometown except get him to understand."
Let us bring you back to 1999, when Britney Spears could still claim innocence, Lou Pearlman was flying high amassing a fortune off the sweat of barely legals, and Backstreet Boys (sales leaders at the time, and moving millions) and ’N Sync were sworn mortal enemies. My, how things have changed in less than a decade: An incarcerated Pearlman is facing fraud charges, and Spears seems endlessly in and out of rehab, family court, and sometimes, it would appear, an actual recording studio. As for the former boy band rivals, they have actually come together. On BSB's Unbreakable, out today, you'll find "Treat Me Right," the first ever Backstreet Boys track co-written by an 'N Syncer.
So how did this historic moment come to be? "AJ [McLean] and I had coffee," says JC Chasez. "It's funny, we never got to spend any time together. We would see each other at parties or awards shows, but everybody always put us against each other. Then one day, we were like, 'We should talk music. Let's goof off and write a tune.'" McLean and Chasez went into a Los Angeles studio to tinker, then took the unfinished song back to the boys. "The next thing you know, we're all at the studio and I'm working out the parts," he continues. "It was totally bizarre to me because I had all these preconceived notions but never knew who sang what. So I'd be going, 'Oh, you're the high guy, he's the low guy, now I get it.' So that was weird, but at the same time, great. They're amazing singers and really hard workers. I can't say enough good things about them."
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