Real Music People

Eminem put on a show to remember this past weekend during his live set at Lollapalooza in Chicago. For this one occasion, the rapper was joined by a few collaborators, namely Bruno Mars and Skylar Grey, to perform their hit collaborations “Lighters” and “I Need a Doctor” respectively. Eminem also performed his hit “Love the Way You Lie” sans Rihanna for the 90,000 concertgoers. He also did an amazing medley consisting of a cover of BoB’s “Airplanes”, “Sing for the Moment” and his classic “Stan”. The only thing that would have made that performance better was if Dido was there. Overall, Eminem’s set was fantastic!

Eminem, Royce da 5’9 and Bruno Mars – Lighters – Performance Video

Eminem and Skylar Grey – I Need a Doctor – Performance Video

Eminem – Love the Way You Lie – Performance Video

Eminem – Airplanes/Stan/Sing for the Moment – Performance Video

There have been some rumors going around that there’s some drama between Kanye West and Jay-Z and the tour in support of their collaborative album “Watch the Throne”. At first, word on the street was that the two rappers were fighting over creative differences on the tour’s design. Then, Jay-Z did an impromptu interview to deny the extent of the story. But now, the tour is being rescheduled. Instead of the September 22 kick off, the curtain will rise on October 29, citing high demand. I say these guys are masters of milking publicity. What do you think is the real deal?

Britney Spears recently announced that Nicki Minaj will be joining her on tour this summer and the rapper is pumped about it. In a recent statement, Nicki expressed her excitement about going on tour with the pop singer, saying “I am beyond thrilled to tour with Britney. It’s an honor. She’s an icon. This summer will be one for the books!” Britney and Nicki’s enthusiasm has lit up Twitter as well. Britney tweeted “Could not think of a sexier Femme Fatale than @NickiMinaj to come on tour with me! Gonna be a hot summer people. The #FemmeFataleBARBZ wont know what hit em. Ready or not people, here we come….”, to which Nicki replied “Hot INDEED Your Fierceness!!! This tour’s gonna KICK ASS!!! The #FemmeFataleBARBZ r READY!!! Let’s GO!!!”

When tickets for Janet Jackson’s April 14 concert in Los Angeles went on sale this past Friday morning, tickets ended up getting sold out within 10 minutes. A spokesman for Live Nation said that they had to add another date for April 15 to keep up with the demand. The Number Ones, Up Close and Personal Tour is the pop singer’s first tour since 2008’s Rock Witchu Tour, which had several problems due to poor ticket sales. If the LA dates were anything to go by, Janet’s upcoming tour shouldn’t have any problems. It just goes to show that Janet still has what it takes.

Jill Scott and Maxwell are going on tour together in the US. Their concerts will kick off in Cleveland on May 21 and will be making stops in 20 cities with more dates to be announced for June. The R&B singers will be stopping in Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York. Both of them are incredible to see and hear live so if you’ve got the chance to catch them in concert, do so! I think they should even add more dates to their tour to give everyone a chance to catch them.

If you have tickets to Lady Gaga’s The Monster Ball, you no longer have to worry about Kid Cudi’s fists flying at you as the rapper has suddenly been given the boot from the tour. Interscope Records confirmed that the rapper is no longer with the tour. However, they wouldn’t say if his removal was over the video that showed him punching a fan in the face while performing in Vancouver. I’m willing to bet that it’s the real reason for the boot. The fan that Kid Cudi hit said that he wouldn’t be pressing charges but I think being dropped from Lady Gaga’s tour is a lot worse than a lawsuit.

Method Man recently admitted to brutally shooting someone in the leg with a BB gun. But ironically, the incident has nothing to do with the lady who happens to be suing him for an alleged air gun attack back in 2008. In a video for VladTV.com, the rapper says that he accidentally “shot one of [his] people in the leg with a f***ing BB” while he was holding target practice on his tour bus a while back. He said that the BB broke through his friend’s skin and that there was “blood gushing out his damn leg.” Method Man claims that he felt really bad about the accident and that he is still apologizing to the guy up to now. I’m pretty sure that the lady who’s suing him is looking for more than just an apology.

On the eve of an explosive court hearing into Michael Jackson’s estate, his mother is suffering in torment, says a close family friend.

Katherine Jackson is haunted by the belief she could have saved her troubled son. She had begged him just a week before his death not to go on the gruelling 50-date UK tour, it has emerged.

She is said to be unable to sleep and doing all she can to hold it together at the Jackson family compound in Encino for the sake of Michael’s three children. Kevin McLin, a family friend who knew Michael for 34 years, told the UK Sunday Mirror that Katherine is arranging for the older two children to meet their birth mother, Debbie Rowe, who obtained visitation rights in a deal struck with Katherine out of court. Rowe will be introduced as Miss Debbie rather than Mom.

McLin said: “Debbie hasn’t had contact with the kids for years so they will see a counsellor to talk them through it before they see her. Prince Michael has taken his father’s death the worst. He used to go everywhere with Michael – to business meetings and the studios. He is kind of quiet, but they are all seeing a therapist and Paris lets her emotions out, which is good.”

Katherine is focused on AEG, the London tour promoter, McLin said. “Katherine is asking questions but the answers don’t make sense. She wants to know how Michael passed the physical examination he was given by AEG. Something has to be wrong with this because he had all of these problems – how could he possibly pass a test like that?”

McLinn added: “When the toxicology result comes out and [if] it’s different from what the AEG doctors said about his health it will be time to consider legal action.”

Lil Wayne better have a good apology ready to give to Europe. The rapper and his reps released a statement last Thursday announcing that he will not be able to perform at the next seven scheduled European tour dates due to an illness. Apparently, he was forced to cancel due to doctor’s orders but he does promise to reschedule when possible. The statement reads “Lil Wayne extends an apology to his fans for the short notice of this postponement. But [he] looks forward to returning for the performances and visitation with his fans.” He better go back and do those shows or he might end up owing promoters some big money.

Sexy singer Ciara is featured on the cover of Rap-Up magazine’s Summer 2009 issue. The 23-year old R&B star discusses the comparisons with Beyonce, rumors of dating 50 Cent and her tour mate Britney Spears. When it comes to being compared with Beyonce, she said “I know what work I put in to what I do and I know where I get my inspiration from and it’s definitely not the references that they put up on the Internet. People live for it. Negative energy travels faster than positive energy. Whoever it was, for them to dig deep down and find all those references, that’s ridiculous.” When asked about Britney, Ciara said “Everything about Britney makes you like her. I feel like she’s a star. She’s got that energy that’s just magnetic. She just glows. It’s not just one thing about her that makes her cool.”