Idris Elba Directs Short Film for New Song

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music Videos, Videos, Electronic, New Releases,

Idris Elba has directed a new short film for a track produced by Dutch DJ R3hab.

The actor chose to work on the promo for the song "Unstoppable," featuring Eva Simons, which will be included on the Pepsi Max Beats of the Beautiful Game album to celebrate the World Cup this year, because he loved the idea of being unstoppable. Idris, who has also achieved success as a DJ, said, "When I first heard the song I really loved the idea of being unstoppable ... it's self belief, its someone that just says, 'Guess what? I can do anything I want to do.'"

The six-minute video (seen after the jump) is set in the 1970s and features a group of teenagers on a school bus, outlining "the nerd," "the lads" and "the popular girls," who are all in different social circles. The promo tackles bullying and eventually shows the school nerd throwing away his glasses, standing up for himself and showing off his skills in a game of football as the girls watch one.

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Kanye West Announces ‘Yeezus’ Tour Movie

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, Upcoming Releases, Videos, Hip-Hop & Rap,

Kanye West has announced a movie based on his Yeezus world tour.

The 36-year-old rapper has teased the concert film, which will be directed by frequent collaborator Hype Williams, with a 30-second teaser trailer on his official website.

The trailer intersperses footage from his ongoing world tour, as well as clips from his recent "Bound 2" music video which featured his fiancee Kim Kardashian. "Yeezus film directed by Hype Williams coming to theatres," the website states.

Music video director Hype Williams has previously been entrusted to helm the elaborate visuals for Kanye's hit songs "All of the Lights," "Stronger" and  "Gold Digger."

The "New Slaves" star has recently been linked to a biographical film based on his Yeezus album and it's rumored that Kim, 33, may have a starring role.

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Kim Kardashian Stars in Kanye West’s New Music Video

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music Videos, Hip-Hop & Rap,

Kim Kardashian appears topless in Kanye West's new video for "Bound 2."

The 33-year-old star - who has five-month-old daughter North West with the rapper - features in her finance's latest single showing off her incredible post-baby figure. The rapper premiered the clip on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and a silhouette of Kim is filmed while she flaunts her famous curves, posing on a motorbike wearing only tight trousers and heeled boots. The brunette beauty is later seen straddling the rapper and the pair are captured in an intimate embrace while driving through a desert landscape on the vehicle.

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Lady Gaga to Headline YouTube Music Awards

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Awards, Music Videos, Performances, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul, Rock,

Lady Gaga will headline the first ever YouTube Music Awards.

The "Bad Romance" hitmaker will join Arcade Fire and Eminem on November 3 at the inaugural event which will honor artists who have shared their work through the popular video-sharing website.

"It's our chance to really celebrate the artists and the songs that have become hits on YouTube over the past year," said YouTube's vice president of marketing Danielle Tiedt.

There will be a number of performances taking place across the globe - including Seoul, Moscow, London and Brazil - before a live 90-minute show which will be streamed from Pier 36 in Manhattan, New York City.

Director Spike Jonze - who has worked on videos for a host of top artists including Weezer, P. Daddy, the Chemical Brothers, Bjork and R.E.M. - has been cast as creative director for the production and is looking forward to working with the talent. "Instead of bands performing to an audience on a stage, we're going to have a warehouse with all these different sets and try to make live music videos throughout the night. The idea is let's get a bunch of interesting artists together and have a night that's all about making things," he said, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

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Pharrell and Jay-Z’s Music Is Like a ‘Stanley Kubrick Movie’

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Collaborations, Upcoming Releases, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul,

Pharrell Williams has produced a track for Jay-Z which is like a "Stanley Kubrick movie."

The rapper and producer has joined forces with the hip-hop star to record for the follow up to his The Blueprint 3 album, and compares their work to the notorious filmmaker, famed for his attention to detail, perfectionism and tackling of grand concepts. Referring to the director - whose projects include A Clockwork Orange and The Shining - Pharrell told radio station Hot 97, "Rain Man is back, Rain Man is back. I gave him a straight up Stanley Kubrick movie."

Jay-Z refers to himself as the Rain Man because of his ability to come up with rhyming lyrics effortlessly. The reference is a tongue-in-cheek comparison to the gifted autistic character Raymond Babbitt who has incredible memory recall, as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 1988 film Rain Man.

Pharrell also listed other big names he is collaborating with, including Jay-Z's wife Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, Busta Rhymes, Kendrick Lamar and No Doubt.

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Kurt Cobain Biopic Will “Embody” the Late Musician

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Upcoming Releases, Rock,

Brett Morgan's film about Kurt Cobain will be an "embodiment of his character."

The director has been making a feature based on the late Nirvana frontman's life with his widow, Courtney Love, for the past five years and hopes it will capture all the different parts of the singer's personality. "It'll be an embodiment of his character. If you think about Kurt, he's a contradiction. He could be sincere and sentimental, and also ironic and sarcastic. He was sweet and sour. He was incredibly funny too. The film has to reflect his spirit. The thing about him people might not know too is that he was an incredible visual artist and left behind a treasure chest of comic books, paintings, Super8 films, all sorts," he told NME Magazine.

Brett also aims to be "ambitious" with his film style and is taking inspiration from Pink Floyd's 1982 film The Wall, which saw the band's album of the same name play over a cartoon depicting the songs and showing the construction and eventual demolition of a huge dividing wall.

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Kurt Cobain Documentary in the Works

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Rumors, Upcoming Releases, Videos, Rock,

A documentary about Kurt Cobain is being made.

The late Nirvana star's wife, Courtney Love, has approached filmmaker Brett Morgan about the project, which has reportedly been in the works since 2007. Brett told The New York Post, "Courtney is the one that brought me into this. We've been trying to find the right time to put this film together and the time is now."

Brett - who directed a recent film about The Rolling Stones, Crossfire Hurricane - also explained how the movie will not be a straight documentary about the singer and guitarist, who committed suicide in 1994, but made in an "autobiographical" way. "Kurt was not only an amazing songwriter and musician, he was an incredible artist and filmmaker. So we are going to do the movie sort of like a third-person autobiography - as if Kurt was around and making a film about his life," he added.

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Spike Lee: Bad 25 Was Good Pressure

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Upcoming Releases, Pop,

Spike Lee couldn't let people down with his Michael Jackson documentary. The filmmaker has been working on Bad 25 - which examines the making of the late King of Pop's classic 1987 album - and was excited by the challenge of living up to the "pressure" of fans' expectations.

"It's good pressure. You can't let people down. If this had been sub-par I'd have been torn limb from limb," he said.

Spike has admired the "Thriller" hitmaker - who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009 - all his life and admits his passing left him "messed up" for some time. "I'm a filmmaker, I love what I do and I grew up admiring and loving Michael Jackson. I saw him in 1969 on TV. He had a big afro and I wanted to be him. Michael's life deeply affected people and they miss him. His death messed me up for a month or two. He touched so many people," he said when asked why he made the film.

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Lil Wayne Suing Quincy Jones III for Music Documentary

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Upcoming Releases, Hip-Hop & Rap, New Releases,

Lil Wayne has filed a lawsuit against Quincy Jones III for using his music in a documentary film.

In the documents obtained by website TMZ.com, the rapper claims he never gave permission to use his music in The Carter, a motion picture about him. Songs used in the movie include hits such as "Lollipop," "Stuntin' Like My Daddy," "##### Monster," "Let the Beat Build," "La La," "Mr. Carter," "A Milli," and "Dontgetit" from his multi-platinum selling album, Tha Carter III.

Lil Wayne claims music producer Quincy Jones' son and the other producers never asked if they could use his tunes in their project. However, it seems he cooperated with the filming of the documentary, because hea allowed cameras to follow him around. Lil Wayne didn't like the outcome of the movie and sued over it, claiming it was a "scandalous portrayal" of him.

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The Killers Promise a Concert Surprise

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Gossip, Performances, Alternative, Rock, New Releases,

The Killers have promised a host of surprises for their upcoming concert directed by Werner Herzog.

The group are collaborating with the legendary director for a September 18 show for the American Express Unstaged music series, which will coincide with the launch of their latest album Battle Born, and bassist Mark Stoermer says they are ruling nothing out.

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