The-Dream Gets Def Jam Family On 'Rockin' That Thang' Remix
'It's all about making good collaborations and good music in 2009,' Ludacris said of the star-studded remix.
The-Dream brings out the stars. Ludacris, Juelz Santana, DJ Khaled, Rick Ross and Fabolous recently came to Brooklyn to shoot the video for the remix of "Rockin' That Thang."
"It's all about making good collaborations and good music in 2009," Luda said, taking a break while fellow Def Jam artist Fabolous performed in another room.
"Def Jam tries to stay family oriented," 'Cris continued. "That's what it's about. We're here to compete. Competition is serious. Not only are we competing against each other, but as a family, we're competing against other families. It's always good to see individuals come together with a lot of craziness going on in hip-hop."
Juelz Santana was contemplating making an unofficial remix of the song, before he was asked by the label to jump on this one.
"It's a record I heard and loved before I even got on it," Santana said. "I was actually gonna do a little remix, like how everybody do their remixes and put them out. I was going to do it like that anyway, but it was just a blessing that I was asked to be on the remix with a lot of other talented artists. ... They are all my labelmates, so it's a beautiful thing. Everybody killed it and did their thing."
"I didn't know everybody that was going to be on here," Fabolous said. "They just hit me up and said they were trying to do a remix to The-Dream record."
"I gotta shout out The-Dream, I gotta shout everybody on the remix," Rick Ross said. "Dream is on fire — everything he drops, all those #1 records. The ladies love his swagger. He may be the most prolific writer of recent times, because he continues to churn out classics. You gotta salute The-Dream."
Dream, who slept for a portion of the video shoot (he was suffering from a cold), said that he wanted to take a backseat on the remix.
"I was just trying to do something that hadn't been done since the '90s, where the [guests] were featured more than the actual artist," Dream explained. "So I just left my hook on it and added those four guys to it."
"I was all for that," Fab said of the remix route. "That's been out of the game so long. Usually when they remix it, they put one dude on it. This one went back to what they was doing before, and it was working."
Dream said to not expect some big mini-movie with the video, but promised that it would be entertaining nonetheless.
"This video ain't about nothing," he laughed. "It's a performance video trying to get everybody else in the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, this is the recession. If it wasn't, we'll probably be in the desert in Iran somewhere. But we're in Brooklyn shooting. Either way, it's still great."
The-Dream's Love vs. Money hits stores March 10.
Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Trick Daddy Show Why Miami Is The Renaissance City
Stick with MTV News for Miami Week, when we'll be profiling the city's legends, superstars and upstarts.
For years, celebrities have headed to Miami for vacation. Some stars — including Diddy, Beyoncé, Timbaland, Lil Wayne and Fat Joe — have loved it so much that they copped homes in M.I.A.
So why is MTV News having a Miami Week now? Have you been listening to the music coming from Miami lately? There's a cool blend of MCs and singers that have the potential to be superstars, acts that dominate the game and legends gearing up to make a comeback.
It's the place where New Orleans' favorite son, Lil Wayne, recorded a significant amount of the material for his Carter III as well as his new Rebirth LP, which drops in August.
As far as homegrown product, Miami has its share of hitmakers scaling the charts and getting stamps of approval from the streets. Rapper Flo Rida had undoubtedly one of the biggestBillboard and radio smashes this year with "Right Round" and has another top-five hit with "Sugar."
Meanwhile, Rick Ross, who's scored big with heavily rotated favorites "The Magnificent" and "All I Really Want," delivered arguably the most artistically dope rap album of the year thus far withDeeper Than Rap.
Ross' A&R rep and close friend DJ Khaled maintains his status as not just one of the top DJs in the business, but a newly appointed record executive. He'll have his hands on plenty of projects coming from the Def Jam roster this year.
The legendary Trick Daddy is handling his own business now. He's about to come back with a new book, album and film.
It's Miami Week on MTVNews.com! Stay locked here for all we have to offer from the city's heavyweights.
»Rick Ross, Trick Daddy Show Why Miami Is The Renaissance City
»DJ Irie Turns Up The Heat In Miami
While Trick Daddy goes independent, Pitbull is trying his hand at a major label for the first time. His Rebelution is coming out on Sony Music. After getting love from Pharrell Williams on the "Fast & Furious" soundtrack, Pit continues to rule the clubs with his new "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)."
DJ Irie is becoming an international commodity, is becoming an international commodity, spinning for the Miami Heat as the team's official DJ. You can catch him overseas spinning at celebrity parties for Shaquille O'Neal and various royal figures.
Producers Cool & Dre are tightening their grip as one of music's most formidable teams, with production on Weezy's Rebirthas well as new LPs by Young Jeezy, Lloyd and the Game.
The city is on fire and evolving right now, and that's not even mentioning a slew of new talent such as Def Jam singer Shonie and Ross' artist Gunplay.
DJ Khaled put it best: "Miami's hot because we hot, we're real, and [we have] We the Best Music! Maybach Music! Poe Boy [Entertainment]! Slip-N-Slide! Strictly Business! Dunk Ryders! Iconz! We're on fire like the sun!"
All this week, MTV News will be celebrating Miami's legends, superstars and upstarts. Keep checking back with us for more from the evolving city.
For years, celebrities have headed to Miami for vacation. Some stars — including Diddy, Beyoncé, Timbaland, Lil Wayne and Fat Joe — have loved it so much that they copped homes in M.I.A.
So why is MTV News having a Miami Week now? Have you been listening to the music coming from Miami lately? There's a cool blend of MCs and singers that have the potential to be superstars, acts that dominate the game and legends gearing up to make a comeback.
It's the place where New Orleans' favorite son, Lil Wayne, recorded a significant amount of the material for his Carter III as well as his new Rebirth LP, which drops in August.
As far as homegrown product, Miami has its share of hitmakers scaling the charts and getting stamps of approval from the streets. Rapper Flo Rida had undoubtedly one of the biggestBillboard and radio smashes this year with "Right Round" and has another top-five hit with "Sugar."
Meanwhile, Rick Ross, who's scored big with heavily rotated favorites "The Magnificent" and "All I Really Want," delivered arguably the most artistically dope rap album of the year thus far withDeeper Than Rap.
Ross' A&R rep and close friend DJ Khaled maintains his status as not just one of the top DJs in the business, but a newly appointed record executive. He'll have his hands on plenty of projects coming from the Def Jam roster this year.
The legendary Trick Daddy is handling his own business now. He's about to come back with a new book, album and film.
| ||
It's Miami Week on MTVNews.com! Stay locked here for all we have to offer from the city's heavyweights. | ||
| »Rick Ross, Trick Daddy Show Why Miami Is The Renaissance City | ||
| »DJ Irie Turns Up The Heat In Miami | ||
| ||
While Trick Daddy goes independent, Pitbull is trying his hand at a major label for the first time. His Rebelution is coming out on Sony Music. After getting love from Pharrell Williams on the "Fast & Furious" soundtrack, Pit continues to rule the clubs with his new "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)."
DJ Irie is becoming an international commodity, is becoming an international commodity, spinning for the Miami Heat as the team's official DJ. You can catch him overseas spinning at celebrity parties for Shaquille O'Neal and various royal figures.
Producers Cool & Dre are tightening their grip as one of music's most formidable teams, with production on Weezy's Rebirthas well as new LPs by Young Jeezy, Lloyd and the Game.
The city is on fire and evolving right now, and that's not even mentioning a slew of new talent such as Def Jam singer Shonie and Ross' artist Gunplay.
DJ Khaled put it best: "Miami's hot because we hot, we're real, and [we have] We the Best Music! Maybach Music! Poe Boy [Entertainment]! Slip-N-Slide! Strictly Business! Dunk Ryders! Iconz! We're on fire like the sun!"
All this week, MTV News will be celebrating Miami's legends, superstars and upstarts. Keep checking back with us for more from the evolving city.
Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 Coming Out On September 11
Jay-Z will not be Axl Rose — as he joked to MTV News earlier this year — regarding the long wait for his Blueprint 3 LP. Sources close to the situation have confirmed information from radio personality Miss Info's Twitter page stating that Jay will release Blueprint 3 on September 11, eight years to the day after the release of the first Blueprint album. Hov's new set reportedly will be coming out via a new partnership with the Warner Music Group.
While the first Blueprint album was released on a truly horrific day, it provided escapism for many at the time and remains arguably the greatest opus in Jay's catalog. The album introduced Kanye West and Just Blaze to the forefront of the production world, with soulful soundscapes to complement Jigga's timeless quotables. B3 went into production in 2008 and last spring, Jay announced the album during a Kanye West concert at Madison Square Garden; he also debuted a track from the album, "Jockin' Jay-Z." Kanye, the only producer who has been announced for the album, recently told MTV News that he and Jay had scrapped some earlier tracks recorded for the LP (ones including the Auto-Tune device West used extensively on his recent 808s and Heartbreak LP), and he also revealed that his new artist, singer Mr. Hudson, will make an appearance on the record.
Since most of Jay's albums have had quick turnarounds, fans were expectingBlueprint 3 to be released much sooner. However, Jay has explained in interviews that he was taking his time and actually didn't like not having a deadline to meet. The MC recently parted ways with his longtime label, Def Jam, clearing the way for him to release Blueprint 3 via a different company. Last week reports emerged that Jay was in the process of negotiating deals with both Sony Music and the Warner Music Group. MTV News has confirmed that Blueprint 3 will be coming out via Roc Nation. WMG/ Atlantic will be handling the distribution, marketing and promotion.
Neither Jay nor his rep has released a statement. Jay — who gave a surprise performance in Los Angeles with Eminem on Monday — kicks off his tour with Ciara in Las Vegas on July 3.
Yung LA Has New Name, New Mixtape, Same Deliriously Bonkers Swag
Clipse
Till the Casket Drops
Release Date: December 29, 2009
On the first track on Road To Till The Casket Drops mixtape that came out in advance of Clipse’s third LP, Till The Casket Drops, Pusha T says “they say the third time’s the charm,” and for Clipse, it’d better be. After releasing an excellent debut in 2002 (Lord Willin’) after being jerked around for five years as their “unofficial” debut Exclusive Audio Footage sat on Elektra’s shelves (it’s available widely on the net), Clipse were again caught in label limbo when Jive kept shelving and pushing back their stellar sophomore album, 2006’s Hell Hath No Fury.
Then Clipse got dropped, signed to Columbia, cut an official posse record (2008’s Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang), and began work on Till The Casket Drops, which for the first time, features production work from producers not named the Neptunes. Scott Storch, Rick Rubin, Kanye West, The Hitmen, and Swizz Beatz are slated to contribute beats, and the subject matter will almost certainly pertain to white powder.