By
Loren Lankford
on August 26, 2008 6:01 PM|Permalink
photo by Todd V. Wolfson
The Democratic National Convention kicked off last night in Denver, Colo. with a tribute to Ted Kennedy and a heartwarming speech from Michelle Obama. All well and good, mind you, but it's the four-day bonanza of musicians set to perform that boggles the mind. While music has been prevalent in campaigns for the last few decades, Barack Obama and the DNC take the cake with a truckload of inspiring and interesting choices for this year's convention.
By
Austin L. Ray
on August 12, 2008 12:09 PM|Permalink
photo by Thorne Anderson
Read our issue 46 feature on Zach Galifianakis here.
--
...Sean Penn:
"He called my cell phone and was like, 'Hey, it's Sean Penn.'
And I'm like, 'Uh-huh...' He's like, 'What are you doing next week?'
And I said, 'I'm going to Arby's.' Then I kinda realized it was him. I
didn't audition [for Into the Wild]; I just showed up to South
Dakota. It was me and him and Vince Vaughn and Emile Hirsch in a
hunting lodge together for two weeks. But when I first got there, I
said to Sean, 'How do you know me?' and he said he'd seen Out Cold about 17 times. His son is a snowboarder, it's not like he's studying the works of Lee Majors."
...Fiona Apple:
"I first met Fiona at a club in Los Angeles called Largo. It's
a place where musicians and comedians perform together. There would
always be musicians hanging out at a comedy show and vice versa. I
remember going up to Fiona and saying something like, 'I have
diarrhea.' Something I didn't think someone like Fiona Apple would ever
care to hear with that persona she has, I guess. She giggled at it, and
we always had these weird sentences in exchange. I handed her this
music video I'd done for this Anita Baker song ['You Bring Me Joy'],
and we were kinda friendly. Then we made her video [for 'Not About
Love']."
Watch Zach in Fiona Apple's video for "Not About Love" here. Zach's version of Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy":
...Kanye West: "I met Kanye through Largo as well, and he had also seen the Anita
Baker video. He came to see me do stand-up, and that night he asked me
to do a music video. I said, 'If you don't tell me what to do, I'll do
it.' I think some people would be intimidated that it's Kanye West, but
that shit doesn't impress me, that cockiness. It never has and it never
will. The more cocky people are, if you act cocky back to them, they
respect it. But he was quite nice about it. I just shot [the video for
'Can't Tell Me Nothing'] at my farm. Will Oldham happened to be
visiting me, so we drank some whiskey and shot it. That was basically
it."
Zach and Will Oldham' video for Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing":
By
Henry Freedland
on August 11, 2008 3:30 PM|Permalink
photo courtesy of ConcreteLoop.com
[Above: Kanye West and Jay-Z at Miami's American Airlines Arena in March]
Since the most recent preview of Jay-Z's new post-"retirement" project came at a Kanye West concert last week, it's not too surprising that news comes today, via hip-hop producer Mick Boogie, that West has been confirmed as head producer for "most, if not all" of the tracks on the forthcoming Blueprint 3 album.
By
Brian Hofmeister, photos by Doug Seymour
on August 5, 2008 1:51 PM|Permalink
Above: Bang Camaro
Another Lollapalooza weekend has come and gone and music fans of all stripes left happy (unless, of course, they were fans of the Weakerthans, who had to cancel as a result of travel problems). Despite a record attendance of 225,000 fans, festivities and rock went on seamlessy under sun-filled skies each day. The festival's organizers outdid themselves this year with opening acts, starting the weekend out with a bang. Bang Camaro, that is. Other rising stars followed suit on days two and three with the Ting Tings belting out their infectious pop tunes (we overheard Love and Rockets' Daniel Ash mentioning that they were the only reason he was at Lollapalooza) while Austin's Octopus Project wowed us with a 500 balloon salutes and Yvonne Lambert's mesmerizing theremin skills.
“You’re letting me down,” sings Ben Sollee on “Dear Kanye,” a song released on his
MySpace page yesterday. Bringing the fire, Sollee reprimands the Great Ye for forgetting that “No one needs a light show/ Just good flows,” and further for wasting his potential to inspire youth by instead blogging “commercials / For stuff [they]’ll never need.”
Kanye West said it better than anyone ever could: "Wake up, Mr. West, Mr. West, Mr. Fresh, Mr. By-His-Self-He-So-Impressed." We already know 'Ye has a pretty good sense of humor, even if his ego soars to titanic levels at times. Now, Kanye is willing to share the secret to his success with you. What could it be? A magic bear-suit and pair of white sunglasses? Robotic augmentation by Daft Punk? No, the answer is much, much simpler and weirder: BeKanye.
By
Julia Askenase
on June 17, 2008 1:27 PM|Permalink
Back from the land of six-dollar beer, port-o-potties and hippie folk, Paste editor-at-large Jay Sweet appeared this morning on Boston's Fox 25 to wrap up the highlights of Bonnaroo 2008.
Apologies: I was unable to blog about Saturday at Bonnaroo because of Saturday at Bonnaroo. It's Sunday afternoon now, and with the festival still buzzing and thumping all around us (am currently at our tent in the Sonic Village, with a band called Harrybu McCage doing their thing on the stage next door) I'm just now getting around to processing everything from the past thirty-something hours.
By
Josh Jackson
on June 15, 2008 1:16 PM|Permalink
We just finished putting together our August issue, which is our special International Issue. Our premise is that "world music" isn't a genre; musicians from around the world are contributing to every style of music and adding their local flavors. International influence certainly proved to be true the first part of the day yesterday at Bonnaroo. I started local with Augusta, Ga., native Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings. It was like watching Amy Winehouse if she was better and likable—and could dance. From there, I caught Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet. Abigail is from Tennessee, but her music is influenced by her many trips to China, where she'll be returning this summer for the Olympic Games. On the main stage, California-based multi-ethnic group Ozomatli was mixing rock and hip-hop with salsa and reggae for the pulsating masses. And then Gogol Bordello was adding their Eastern European touches to New York punk for a frenzied crowd.
Bonnaroo starts tonight! And I'm going! And I've never gone! And I'm pretty excited but also scared that I might pass out in the heat! Or get struck by lightning! Or just get really overwhelmed and curl up in a sweaty ball at the back of the Paste tent! I hope there's a falafel vendor! I love falafel! Oh my god! Bonnaroo! So excited!
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on May 28, 2008 10:23 AM|Permalink
Here's the worst pitfall of hip-hop producing—creatively re-purposing intellectual property always carries the risk of a fat ol' lawsuit from a sampled musician. In the latest case of rap sample litigation, it's the estate of a dead musician claiming punitive damages for sampling without permission.
By
Alexander Brown
on April 4, 2008 4:42 PM|Permalink
photo courtesy of Unleashed Magazine
Have you ever tried to make a plane, hotel or car reservation and thought “Man, I wish this was brokered through a third party medium not represented by Captain Kirk or a creepy lawn gnome?” Neither have we, but now you can thanks to Kanye West's new travel site.
Kanye Travel Ventures is roughly the same type of service offered by most web based travel agencies, only with the added bonus of being brought to you by Mr. West. Currently there is no option to add concert tickets to the mix, but according to Advertising Age, trips with tickets and merchandising are forthcoming. The site is not the acclaimed artist’s first foray into web business, though. His search engine, SearchWithKanyeWest.com, receives quite a bit of traffic.
However, West’s main source of web traffic remains his official website. There, housed within his blog are some recently published photos of his visit to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in Los Angeles, where he was prepping for his Glow in the Dark Tour. Creating a huge roar was his photo of one of the designs for the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie, which was promptly taken down from his site but can still be seen here.
By
Sara Miller
on February 14, 2008 4:01 PM|Permalink
What better way to celebrate the day after Valentine's Day (take that, Hallmark!) than with a viewing of the new Kanye West "Flashing Lights" video? Why, this Spike Jonze/Kanye-directed clip has everything you and your sweetie need for the day after a night of romance: a roasty-toasty fire, a Playboy model in skimpy lingerie, a speedy automobile, some light bondage (for the adventurous lovers)—and...wait, she stabs Kanye with a shovel at the end? And then the screen abruptly cuts to black? Before the song's even over?
On second thought, maybe scrap that whole video-watching idea and consider presenting your significant one with tickets to the upcoming "Glow in the Dark Tour Ignited by Absolut 100," which finds the 10-time Grammy winner joining forces with Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. and Rihanna for stops in over 30 North American cities. Billboard announced that the tour comes complete with vodka-sponsored afterparties (no word yet on who's sponsoring the festivities in the hotel lobby).
As for that mysterious "Flashing Lights" video, it's got plentyoffolks wondering if the ambiguous ending is merely a tease for a "Trapped in the Closet"-style series of vids, a theory that gains credibility thanks to Kanye's January blog posting of a photo—from the shoot in Denmark—that appears to be absent from the video. Only time will tell ('cause Kanye sure hasn't)...compare that picture with this bad boy (which, depending on your workplace, may be NSFW):
April
16 - Seattle, Wash. @ KeyArena
18 - Sacramento, Calif. @ ARCO Arena
19 - San Jose, Calif. @ HP Pavilion at San Jose
20 - San Diego, Calif. @ Sports Arena
21 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Nokia Theatre LA Live
24 - Tuscon, Ariz. @ McKale Memorial Auditorium/U of AZ (Kanye, Lupe, N.E.R.D. only)
25 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ Red Rocks Casino Resort (Kanye, Lupe, N.E.R.D. only)
26 - Albuquerque, N.M. @ Journal Pavilion (Kanye, Lupe, N.E.R.D. only)
27 - Denver, Colo. @ Pepsi Center
29 - Oklahoma City, Okla. @ Ford Center
30 - Austin, Texas @ Frank Irwin Center
May
1 - Dallas, Texas @ Superpages.com Center
2 - Woodlands, Texas @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
4 - Duluth, Ga. @ Arena at Gwinnett Center
5 - Tampa, Fla. @ Ford Amphitheatre
6 - West Palm Beach, Fla. @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
8 - Charlotte, N.C. @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9 - Raleigh, N.C. @ Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
10 - Bristow, Va. @ Nissan Pavilion
11 - Virginia Beach, Va. @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
13 - New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
15 - Mansfield, Mass. @ Tweeter Center
16 - Hartford, Conn. @ Meadows Music Theatre
17 - Camden, N.J. @ Susquehanna Bank Center
18 - Scranton, Pa. @ Toyota Pavilion
20 - Montreal, Quebec @ Bell Centre
21 - Toronto, Ontario @ Molson Centre
22 - Auburn Hills, Mich. @ Palace of Auburn Hills
23 - Chicago, Ill. @ United Center
24 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ Target Center
27 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Credit Union Centre
29 - Edmonton, Alberta @ Rexall Place
30 - Calgary, Alberta @ Pengrowth Saddledome
By
Sara Miller
on February 8, 2008 9:00 AM|Permalink
photo courtesy echo/KanyeUniverseCity.com
Kanye West, already a multiple Grammy-award winner, took home four more mini-gramophones at the 50th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night. West's latest, Graduation, earned him the Best Rap Album title (his third for as many albums) but failed to snag Album of the Year—also for the third time. This year, however, Kanye didn't waste precious airtime railing against the dubious Grammy voting system. He swiftly shut up any potential detractors with an electrifying (and electrified) performance of his Daft Punk-sampling hit "Stronger," wherein a giant pyramid opened up during the bridge of the song to reveal the mysterious French duo themselves, making their first-ever television appearance (and the band's been crafting beats since 1993!).
But West's not all about just winning awards. In case you're worried about how the potential Microsoft takeover of Yahoo might effect your web querying habits, never fear: Kanye West is here! Wait, wait...it's not the literal flesh-and-blood hip-hop superstar, but rather his new, somewhat overmonikered search engine, SearchWithKanyeWest.com!
Huh? As unbelievable as it may sound, sometime between posting a tantalizing few pages from his upcoming book on his blog and planning a bangin' (and still TBA) summer tour, 'Ye teamed up with the custom search engine creators at Prodégé.com to engineer the, uh, engine, which is powered by Google and Ask.com.
So why not just use Google or Ask.com? The selling point for SearchWithKanyeWest.com (and various other Prodégé progeny like K-Fed, Beyonce,
The Nuge and...Andrew Dice Clay?!?) is the "Swag Store," where loyal searchers can spend "Swag Bucks" on merchandise ranging from the "Stronger" single (40 Swag Bucks) to a nebulous "Classic Vintage Record" (35 Swag Bucks) to an eight-piece drum set (5400 Swag Bucks!).
Sadly, unlike Meatloaf and Shinedown, Kanye's not offering the chance to hang with him backstage as incentive, but keep an eye on the Swag Bucks blog; perhaps a massive "Meet Kanye" contest is on the horizon. Besides, since when does Googling yourself thousands of times a day amount to more than carpal tunnel and a wicked narcissistic complex?
BoogieDownWithKanyeWest.com at his one confirmed summer tour date: June 12 at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.
By
Julia Reidy
on February 1, 2008 3:14 PM|Permalink
Kanye West announced via his blog last Tuesday that his upcoming Glow In The Dark tour will feature fellow luminaries Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco. Collaboration between these groups isn't a new thing, as the three frontmen involved, West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D., make up side project CRS (Child Rebel Soldier). The blog entry, brashly entitled "The End of the World As You Know It!!!!" also reveals the very neon tour poster pictured above.
When, exactly, the world as we know it will end has yet to be announced (though ChildRebelSoldier.wordpress.com says April). His hand-picked cohorts will add serious star-power to the tour (as if West could safely look any shinier), but they can't be joining him terribly soon - everyone involved seems to be pretty busy. Rihanna released Good Girl Gone Bad, her third album in three years, in June of 2007. She'll be touring Europe throughout late February and March. N.E.R.D. is slated to release its third album, N.3.R.D., this year. Lupe Fiasco released his album, The Cool, in December, and is currently touring the U.S.
West, Paste's September 2007 cover-guy, released his third full-length album, Graduation, in September.
Hopefully, dates for this mega-tour will follow soon.
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on December 6, 2007 2:27 PM|Permalink
At the start of each new year, it's always helpful to remind yourself of a few certainties:
* Death
* Taxes
* Disappointing Grammy nominations
The Grammy selections committee prides itself on working to please everyone (young, old, mainstream, elitist) with its nominations. But that usually means your favorite artists won't have a shot unless they enjoy a certain level of notoriety (read: record sales). So gripe all you want; this is the system as we know it. And for what it's worth, there are always bright spots.
Speaking of which, if you happen to be enamored with Kanye West (as Pastecertainly is), then you'll be pleased to hear that the man roped an industry-leading eight nominations for his new record Graduation. Amy Winehouse, who like Mr. West, is nestled comfortably among Paste's top 15 albums of the year, scored six nods for her work this year, including Best New Artist. Hot on her tail are Jay-Z, the Foo Fighters, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain with five selections each.
Here are the nominees in the three major general categories:
Album Of The Year: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters
These Days - Vince Gill
River: The Joni Letters - Herbie Hancock
Graduation - Kanye West
Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
Record Of The Year: "Irreplaceable" - Beyoncé
"The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
"Umbrella" - Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
"What Goes Around...Comes Around" - Justin Timberlake
"Rehab" - Amy Winehouse
Best New Artist: Feist
Ledisi
Paramore
Taylor Swift
Amy Winehouse
Oh yeah, and what about the "Best Alternative Album" category, which always attracts a host of indie favorites? This year, that field pits Lily Allen, Arcade Fire, Björk, The Shins and The White Stripes against one another.
Even amongst the predictable pop stars and greybeards that the Grammys usually cater to, some pleasant surprises do pop up on the complete nominees list. How about Justice scoring a nomination for Best Dance Recording with the perfectly-titled "D.A.N.C.E."? Seriously, if those guys hadn't qualified, then the whole category should have been abolished. Blog-favorite LCD Soundsystem also joins Justice on the Best Electronic/Dance Album shortlist, while Beck, Queens of the Stone Age, Wilco and UGK (R.I.P. Pimp C) appear elsewhere.
Most of the early reaction revolves around the lack of nominations for the Boss (only four? For shame!). However, the most interesting storyline for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards might just revolve around Mr. West. What sort of Vesuvian eruption might we receive from him if he gets shutout in a major awards ceremony again? It could be just the recipe for another natural disaster in L.A..
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on November 27, 2007 2:13 PM|Permalink
Okay, so maybe the blog hounds at Stereogumbeat us to the punch on this one, but the above photo deserves to be circulated to every corner of the Internet. As some of you readers may recall, Evel Knievel sued Kanye West last year for appropriating his likeness in the high-wire video for West’s “Touch The Sky.” It was the classic case of adding injury to insult – the million-dollar, Pamela Anderson-featuring video had just lost at the 2006 MTV Europe Video Awards to a couple of unknown artists named Justice and Simian.
However, when it came to Knievel’s suit, West handled the situation far more professionally. The two have reached an “amicable agreement” and the suit has been dismissed outright. Here’s to keeping a cool head and mending bridges. That’s true Man of the Year-caliber behavior.
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on November 26, 2007 3:34 PM|Permalink
It's been the best and the worst of years for Kanye West. Sales figures triumphs and terrific reviews accompanied his latest album, Graduation. He has a new book on the way. He appeared on several magazine covers, includingPaste's. But all of that was negated with the loss of his mother two weeks ago. Another mag cover seems tiny consolation, but it does bring with it a prestigious title: GQ Magazine's Man of the Year. West will share the honor with Bill Clinton and Daniel Craig, who will also appear on different versions of the cover.
GQ has a short preview up online now. In the excerpt, Kanye talks about his perceived arrogance and the eclectic artists whom he watches for inspiration.
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on November 14, 2007 10:06 AM|Permalink
Lunch usually became a competitive sport in elementary school. The battle took place in two separate fields: tastiest dessert and coolest lunchbox. You always felt bad for the kid who was stuck with a lame design on his box - but hey, at least he had food to eat.
The Lunchbox Auction, which we last heard from in 2005, is starting up again in '07 to address more important concerns than just having a fly snack carrier. With one in five children in New York City relying on emergency food to eat, just giving kids snacks to carry is priority number one. So a host of celebrities are parachuting in to design lunchboxes for auction, with all proceeds going to the Food Bank of New York City and the Lunchbox Fund (which feeds school children in South Africa).
This year, the big-name designers include Kanye West, TV on the Radio, David Bowie, Beastie Boys, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Allen, Interpol, Patti Smith and others. As you can tell from the image above, bidding starts Dec. 6. Head to the auction's homepage for more information and a slideshow of 2005 lunchboxes.
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on October 30, 2007 9:57 AM|Permalink
Is your Sunday book club stuck in the doldrums right now? Do the dark romantics seem just a bit too brooding, the neo-classicists too stodgy, the existentialists too pretentious? Well then, it sounds like you need a reinvigorating dose of Kanye West in your whack little association.
Up until now, West's searing "wit, playful irony, and piercing insight" were only available in hip-hop form. But with the arrival of West's new book, Thank You and You're Welcome!, the philosophy of Kanye has become available to those country-club types who, you know, still read books.
West calls the book a collection of "Kanye-isms" - "the creative, humorous and insightful philosophies and anecdotes used in creating my path to success."
He's sure a success, all right. He appeared on our September cover, after all.
Thank You costs $10 and is available for pre-order now. West collaborated with author J. Sakiya Sandifer in crafting his literary debut, much as we at Paste partnered with The Daily Swarm in bringing you this little news item.
By
Austin L. Ray
on October 23, 2007 4:51 PM|Permalink
photo by Barry Brecheisen
That's right.
Unfortunately, if the sensational headline had you wondering what it would sound like to hear our issue 36 cover artist rapping over a live rendition of "Surrender" with Albini on the board (answer: it would sound like your head exploding), you're out of luck. Rather, thanks to those never-resting interweb-slingers over at The Daily Swarm, the above Grammy photo (squint hard!) is the actual result. Oh, and there are some other folks there as well, including president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Neil Portnow, Chicago-based DJ duo, Flosstradamus, dude from the Plain White T's and more.
All right, so it's not exactly news, but isn't it at least kind of awesome?
By
Eric Lach
on September 18, 2007 12:00 AM|Permalink
Curtis? Curtis?
Has Kanye West’s Graduation ended 50 Cent’s solo career? The BBC reports that Fiddy has postponed his European tour, and has cancelled appearances at the Mobo Awards and Vodafone Live Music Awards in London this week, as well as an MTV show in Germany next week. The moves make it easier to imagine that the rapper will make good on his a promise to retire from solo work.
In the build up to last Tuesday’s simultaneous release of West’s Graduation and his own new album, Curtis, Fiddy vowed that if West’s album outsold his own, he’d hang up the mic. While the rapper backed off his statements in an interview with Billboard last week, reports project that
Graduation will outsell Curtis 781,000 to 603,000, respectively, in the U.S. this week.
It would be a big accomplishment for West indeed if he manages to vanquish a fellow rapper and make flipping out at the MTV awards a hallowed tradition all in the same week. See, kids, what you can do with a diploma?
By
Mike Isaac
on September 17, 2007 1:41 AM|Permalink
It's time for Black Entertainment Television's hip-hop awards once again, and the breakout of the year comes in T.I., as he tops the nomination list with nine different category nods, including CD of the year and lyricist of the year.
Following closely behind are Lil' Wayne and Kanye West with seven nominations apiece, along with Jay-Z's four and Ludacris with three. Also scoring three is 50 Cent, paralleling initial Curtis sales compared to West's Graduation. Rounding out the list of multiple nomination artists are Diddy and UGK, picking up two nominations apiece.
The Democratic National Convention kicked off last night in Denver, Colo. with a tribute to Ted Kennedy and a heartwarming speech from Michelle Obama. All well and good, mind you, but it's the four-day bonanza of musicians set to perform that boggles the mind. While music has been prevalent in campaigns for the last few decades, Barack Obama and the DNC take the cake with a truckload of inspiring and interesting choices for this year's convention.
