Archive: April, 2010
  • Prison guard allegedly fired for spying on Lil Wayne

    by Emily Zemler Apr 30, 2010 at 1:00 PM

    Dear Rikers prison guards: We know it’s really tempting that Lil Wayne is currently confined within the walls of your workplace. But it’s probably not the best idea to try to see him without permission. Or weed.

    Alas, Amelia Negron, a former guard at New York’s Rikers, was supposedly fired for attempting to sneak a look at Lil Wayne, according to the New York Daily News. In March, Negron (who had worked there since 2008) entered Wayne’s cell, she says to see a colleague, and was hurried out because the rapper is a celebrity. Now Negron is filing a federal suit again New York City, which contests she was a victim of discrimination and harassment.

  • Blink-182 to release new album this year?

    by Emily Zemler Apr 30, 2010 at 12:27 PM

    Oh, it’s on: Blink-182 has confirmed they will go back into the studio in June to finish their highly anticipated next album, according to an interview Tom DeLonge did with the Chicago Tribune on Monday.

    The band, who had initially promised a new record in 2010, apparently began recording the record earlier this year, but weren’t able to finish between DeLonge’s work with his other band Angels & Angels and Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker’s multiple projects. Then in January, DeLonge professed to MTV News that blink was in negotiations with Interscope Records and planned to release a follow-up to their cultishly beloved self-titled 2003 disc.

    DeLonge told the Tribune what many fans already know: That blink’s recent reunion can be attributed to a fatal plane crash that Barker survived in 2008. The trio reconnected following the crash and eventually announced a reunion and possible new record. DeLonge, who, a few years ago, called Angels & Airwaves one of the greatest bands ever, seems to have learned a few lessons since the crash, namely ones in humility and grace.

  • The history of Bamboozle, told by those who were there

    by Jonah Bayer Apr 30, 2010 at 12:17 PM

    If you’re on this website, chances are you have a personal anecdote about Bamboozle. Whether you’ve attended religiously or just watched the highlights on someone’s camera phone, for the past five years the festival has launched the careers of bands like Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday (pictured above), and simultaneously managed to convince arena-friendly superstars like No Doubt and Linkin Park to perform in a parking lot in New Jersey.

    Then, just when you think you’ve got things figured out, you stumble upon your favorite band playing under a mystery name or, maybe more amazingly, MC Hammer onstage performing “2 Legit 2 Quit.” With the festivities kicking off for the eighth time this weekend, we decided to trace the festival’s roots from a jam band lovefest called The Great Bamboozle to the taste-making opus that it is today, through the words of the people who helped organize it and the bands who grew alongside it.

    Hey, when you put it that way, maybe it still is sort of a lovefest.

  • Moment of truth: Did Guru really write his deathbed letter?

    by Amar Syal Apr 30, 2010 at 8:14 AM

    Shortly after news of Guru’s passing, the Roots’ Questlove hit his Twitter with a note that went well beyond your typical Rest In Peace statement. It read: “Not trying to bring negativity into the situation, but I do NOT believe he wrote that letter. 1) he was in a coma. 2) HE WAS IN A COMA!” These are very valid points!

    “That letter” is, of course, the suspicious farewell note that was released shortly after Guru’s death, in which the Gang Starr founder calls his most recent production partner Solar “my loyal best friend,” and attempts to block his longtime producer, DJ Premier — whom he refers to only as “my ex-DJ” — from having “anything to do with my name, likeness, events tributes etc. connected in any way … for any reason.” Inevitably, after a little over a week of internet sleuthing, credible questions about this letter’s authenticity are finally beginning to surface.

    The great unraveling began only one day after Guru’s death when his sister, Patricia Elam, released an official family statement that confirmed the rapper never regained consciousness after falling into a coma way back in February. More damning, however, Elam addressed the legitimacy of Each One Counts — the non-profit organization that, according to Guru’s deathbed letter, had been founded by the rapper. “The family is not aware of any foundations established by Guru,” she asserted.

  • Ten artists who we didn't expect to be covering this year

    by Amar Syal Apr 29, 2010 at 7:32 PM

    This weekend’s Bamboozle lineup hardly lacks for the tried and true: Paramore, Weezer, Something Corporate, Angels & Airwaves, Say Anything—each brings the pop-punk pain like nobody’s business.

    But every year, you can be sure to find an assortment of acts that fall outside Bamboozle’s emo-identified core. Some hail from Planet Rap, some from the ashes of the late-’90s boy-band boom. And then, of course, there’s Ke$ha (pictured above), whose recent performance on Saturday Night Live made us wonder if she might’ve sprung fully formed from the mind of Courtney Love. Whatever their provenance, though, we think these 10 unusual suspects are well worth your time.

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