Madonna

Confessions tour sets record for highest-grossing ever for a female artist, narrowly besting Cher.

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Eminem

Eminem has another divorce hearing, clears up Re-Up reports; Timberlake to host MTV Europe Music Awards in Denmark; K-Fed preps preorder promotions; pop singer gets engaged to Playboy Playmate; Epic drops INXS.
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DJ Shadow

With a new album that mixes hyphy with indie rock and his trademark cinematic instrumentals, Josh Davis looks to expand his audience

In April, DJ Shadow unveiled the first taste of music from The Outsider, his first album in four years, and some longtime fans scratched their heads. The track "3 Freaks" found Shadow flanked by hyphy stars Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk for a banging hip-hop track--far removed from the cinematic instrumentals of his past work.

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Rakim

Hip-hop's greatest MC blazes through a set of seminal tracks and proves that although his output has dwindled, his skill hasn't.
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50 Cent

Rapper pulled over in a silver Lamborghini near Madison Square Garden, arrested and cited for four moving violations.
If 50 Cent is going to release his long-rumored album later this year, the prerelease marketing buzz looks to be in full swing.

50 Cent
The rapper--real name Curtis Jackson--was arrested today near Madison Square Garden in New York City after being pulled over for allegedly driving his open-topped, silver Lamborghini erratically and without registration or insurance and with an expired permit.
The 31-year-old rapper and G-Unit Records mogul was pulled over by plainclothes officers in an unmarked patrol car. At first he refused a police order to get out of the car, instead making a call on his cell phone, a tourist who filmed the incident told Reuters.
"Eventually the cops opened the door...He just got out of the car and put his hands on the car and they put the cuffs on him," the tourist, Ian Parvess, told Reuters.
With the flashy car drawing onlookers in Midtown Manhattan, a crowd quickly formed, according to the Associated Press, with Fiddy fans cheering the rapper and booing police as they handcuffed him and put him in the back of a patrol car.
50 Cent, wearing a black baseball cap over a white do-rag, a shiny silver necklace, and a white T-shirt, was cited for making an unsafe lane change, driving with an expired permit, driving without insurance, and driving without a vehicle registration, a police spokesman said. He was taken to a police station and released at around 3 p.m. after being given four summonses.

Mixmaster Mike

Mixmaster Mike, like many turntablists was inspired by “Grandmixer DST”, the DJ behind Herbie Hancock’s 80’s hit “Rokit”. He was fascinated by the sound of the scratch and how the turntables were being used as an instrument to create a melodic tune. “I was so hypnotised by the art that I just wanted to take things into my own hands.” That’s exactly what he did and the rest was history. Mike is the DJ for ‘The Beastie Boys’. “I don't think I'd do it for any other band besides the Beasties because I've been a long time fan of the Beasties Boys, and when that opportunity came it was like a blessing.” For Mike the breakthrough came when he met MC A ‘Adam Yauch’ at the Rock steady anniversary show in NY. “When he wasn’t home I would leave scratch messages on his answering machine which started the whole shit.” And it was definitely a perfect match with them both having mutual respect for each other. Coming from the old school the beasties would constantly highlight the DJ in all their shows and Mike would always perform a mind blowing solo set. “Big respect to those guys you know, they really appreciate the workings of what's going on and they provided me a great platform to do what I do and kinda preach the art and show the kids that don't know what the turntable is capable of doing.” Even though Mike has retired from Battling, he continually contributes a great deal to the progression of the turntablist scene and gives respect to all that plays a role in it from the past to the present. “In order to know where you're at you have to know where it started. Peace to Kool Herc, Grand wizard Theodore, and Flash. Man if it wasn't for Herc, we wouldn't be here. Look how far we’ve come. Mixmaster Mike will be performing with the Beastie Boys on Friday 28th January at The Hordern Pavilion.

The 2006 DMC World DJ Championships

This saturday night the best DJs in Australia will all be under one roof at the Australian Finals of the 2006 DMC World DJ Championships. This annual event has been running for 21 years and has spawned some superstar DJ talent including DJ Craze, Cash Money, Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike. Each DJ gets 6 minutes on the decks to impress the judges and crowd alike with some dope skills and originality. The winner will be collecting some major prizes including a record pressing deal before Flying to London to represent Australia at the World Finals in September. First up on the night will be the combined VIC / SA heats, with the top 3 DJs progressing to the Australian finals. Last years runner-up, DJ Snair from Adelaide will be defending the national title, along with DJs Skoob, Normz and Buick who were the winners of the NSW and ACT heats. Live shows on the night include Jase & friends, showcasing tracks from his new album, the 'Jase Connection' (Out now on Obese Records). Joining Jase will be Patto, Reason and Phrase. Also on the bill is Adelaide's Delta and 3-time Australian DMC Champion, Staen1 (Delta's album 'The Lostralian' is in stores now), DJ Flagrant and J-Red (Australia's 1st World DJ Champion - 2005 ITF, featured below) will be performing a special DJV show on the new Pioneer DVD turntables.

R&B / Hip-Hop

R&B / Hip-Hop

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