MC, finishing up prison sentence, also suggests that he might tour this summer.
By Shaheem Reid

T.I.’s “I’m Back”

Photo: Atlantic/Trap Muzik

On the day the hip-hop nation lost one of its beloved and prolific megastars, another one has returned.

Just hours after Lil Wayne was sentenced to one year in prison on weapons charges, T.I. gave the world notice that he’s returning with a vengeance. The King of the South announced to a select group of DJs in a conference call that his new album is coming out on August 24 — and, as expected, he released his new single, “I’m Back.”

“I ain’t never let you down, I’mma shine on sight,” Tip raps on the song. “Keep your mind on your grind and off of mine’s, all right?/ Hard, I’mma ball on those squares, I flow/ A quarter million dollar cars everywhere I go … No matter what they doin’ they don’t do it like me … recognize I’m back.”

Later in the first verse, Tip lays the fiery, brash delivery he’s beloved for.

“You ain’t got a pimp bone in your body,” Tip chastises, throwing thunder at fraudulent MCs. “I can tell you ain’t never bought a key or caught a body/ N—a probably just seen Wayne, Gucci Mane, me and Boosie all go to prison/ Now he flip his whole image/ N—a trippin’/ Listen, dude, for you that ain’t in the cards.” The song was helmed by new Grand Hustle producers the Trackslayerz, and is available for download at T.I.’s Web site.

An hour before the song hit the Internet, Tip held the conference call, for which he did not take questions but reflected on the song and announced his album’s release date, according to audio of the call posted on DJ Judge Mental’s Web site. There is a title for the LP, but he declined to reveal it.

“I appreciate the support and how hard I was going in during the brief hiatus,” Tip said. “The support don’t go unnoticed and I don’t take it lightly. This marks a special day for us, because we putting out the first song off the album — not an official first single, just something to keep the streets warm. It’s properly entitled ‘I’m Back.’ It’s a lot of things that needed to be spoken on. In my absence, it was a lot of things that went down, a lot of matters that needed to be addressed. This was the greatest platform for me to do it. It was the first song I did when I came home. You get me fresh out the box going in. I’m sure you guys will enjoy it.”

Tip spoke for a little over three minutes. He said that he should be traveling from city to city this summer.

“It ain’t gonna be long before all this is behind me,” he promised, referring to his prison sentence on weapons charges, which is expected to end within the next few weeks; he was released to a halfway house in December and last month made his first public appearance since heading to prison. “Middle of April, beginning of May. Y’all gonna start seeing me. Y’all already know, once again it’s on. Like we always do this time.”

The call ended with a final pledge of excellence from Tip.

“As long as there is air in my esophagus, champ, I’mma keep going,” he said. “Nothing is gonna stop that. Nothing short of a 12 gauge is gonna stop me from doing what I do, champ. I just wanna say thank y’all and we gonna keep movin’ on.”

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‘It’s evident that nobody’s safe,’ Lloyd Banks says about rappers not being above the law.
By Shaheem Reid

Lil Wayne at court Monday

Photo: Ray Tamarra/ Getty Images

Now that Lil Wayne has been sentenced to one year in prison following several delays, the reality is setting in for his fans and friends. No one in the hip-hop community wants to see Weezy leave, and rappers also realize they need to run tighter ships in Wayne’s absence.

Young Jeezy said he’ll not only miss Wayne’s work ethic and music, but also his friend’s rebellious attitude.

“Wayne, like I like to call myself, is a trap-aholic,” Young Jeezy told MTV News last week in New York, hours before he brought Weezy onstage at Madison Square Garden as a surprise guest during Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 Tour. That performance — which also included Nicki Minaj and Drake — would be Wayne’s last before he went to jail.

“He stays in the studio, he stays working,” the Snowman added. “We’ll definitely miss that. At the same time, we’ll definitely miss what he brings to the game as far as him just being Wayne and doing what the f— he wanna do. We definitely gonna miss that. But it’s just an eye-opener to all of us. Instead of targeting the hustlers and the people trying to make it in the streets, now that the streets is dried up, now [the police] are targeting the entertainers and the athletes, what have you. Real talk, not trying to preach to the choir, we gotta be careful out here. What I mean to my culture is more than me proving a point.”

Diddy echoed Jeezy’s sentiment that police are keeping a very close eye on the hip-hop community.

“I think we gonna miss a certain energy that Wayne has,” Diddy said. “The beauty about it is, he’ll be back, and hopefully he’ll come back a better person. Whenever we get in trouble, we’re in the public spotlight. So hopefully there’s a lot of kids out there who could learn from any mistakes that we may have put ourselves in, even if we’re not guilty of the crime sometimes. We are human. People have to learn: ‘Make sure you know where you’re going, who you riding with, what the situation is.’ We’re targets. I’m just happy he doesn’t have to do a lot of time and that he’ll be out, and hopefully he’ll use the time wisely and use it in a positive way.”

“It’s evident that nobody’s safe. That’s reality,” Lloyd Banks added about rappers not being above the law, with Lil Wayne going to jail on the heels of T.I. and Gucci Mane. Banks himself has an assault case pending in Canada. “People make mistakes, have poor judgments sometimes, and things happen. Hopefully, all those artists can bounce back from it stronger and use that time [in jail] to be more creative. Come back home and get right back to where they was at. It’s something that’s always been around. We been talking about [rappers going to jail] since Tupac.”

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After multiple sentencing delays, the rapper turns himself in to begin his jail term.
By Jayson Rodriguez

Lil Wayne appears in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Monday

Photo: Louis Lanzano/ AP Images

NEW YORK — Lil Wayne turned himself in to authorities Monday (March after multiple sentencing delays for a July 2007 gun-possession charge.

A near riot broke out in front of the Manhattan Criminal Court Building when the superstar MC entered, escorted by police and his Cash Money crew. Photographers aggressively angled to capture the last images of the rapper before he was formally sentenced to one year in prison.

	Lil Wayne’s Battle With His Gun Possession Case

Dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and a gray jacket, Lil Wayne made his way in, before Judge Charles H. Solomon sentenced the rapper. The New Orleans native sat next to his lawyer, Stacey Richman, without addressing the court.

After Solomon reminded Wayne of his charges, the rapper firmly nodded that he understood. Police then handcuffed Lil Wayne and he stood up to be taken away.

He paused momentarily before leaving and nodded to Cash Money execs Birdman and Slim, who were present in the courtroom. Just like that, Wayne was gone.

The rapper reached a deal with prosecutors in November to plead out to a lesser deal, and in return, he is expected to be released from prison as early as October. In 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested for attempted gun possession following his first headlining performance in Manhattan at the Beacon Theatre. New York is among the toughest states in the country when it comes to gun-possession laws. In other states, Lil Wayne could have gotten off with a misdemeanor rap and probation. However, in New York, only law-enforcement officials and those affiliated with authorities are permitted to carry firearms.

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Singer reportedly offered undercover police woman $40 for sex.
By MTV News staff, with additional reporting by Jayson Rodriguez

D’Angelo

Photo: MTV

R&B singer D’Angelo was arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute Saturday in New York, a police spokesperson confirmed to MTV News on Sunday (March 7). While the spokesperson declined to provide further details, according to The New York Post, the singer allegedly offered an undercover policewoman $40 for oral sex.

D’Angelo was driving alone in his Range Rover at Greenwich and Horatio streets at about 2:30 a.m. when he saw a woman he believed to be a prostitute, unnamed sources told the Post. He was arrested and charged with solicitation after asking the woman for sex, according to the sources, who added that the singer had $12,000 in his car.

A rep for the singer had not responded to MTV News’ requests for comment at press time.

Powered by his 1995 Brown Sugar debut LP, D’Angelo was one of the leading lights of R&B during the 1990s, but he has released little music since his 2000 sophomore effort, Voodoo.

He has been plagued by legal troubles in the years since. In 2002, he allegedly resisted arrest when police went to his suburban Richmond, Virginia, home to serve a warrant for misdemeanor charges of aggressive driving and other counts. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to charges of marijuana possession and driving under the influence and was fined $250 and given a 90-day suspended jail term for the DUI conviction, and his driver’s license was suspended for one year. In 2007, he received suspended jail sentences after pleading guilty to charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. A Virginia judge revoked his license for 13 and a half months and fined him $1,250, with additional penalties suspended. He also was injured in a car accident in 2005.

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Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ clip, featuring Beyonce, is set to premiere on E! Thursday at 11:30 p.m.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga in her “Telephone” video

Photo: twitter.com/ladygaga

Attention, Monsters: Lady Gaga is set to premiere her “Telephone” video, which of course features Beyoncé, on Thursday. After teasing her fans last week with a photo of herself (barely dressed) from the video, it was announced on Sunday (March 7) during E! News’ broadcast of the Oscars red carpet that Gaga will premiere the hotly anticipated clip Thursday at 11:30 p.m. ET on E! News.

Lady Gaga’s official Web site announced that more details about the premiere will be made public Monday morning. The video, which is reportedly shy of 10 minutes long, was shot in California in February and was directed by “Paparazzi” director Jonas Aklerlund. The clip features collaborator Beyoncé as well as Gaga’s pals Semi Precious Weapons.

Gaga, who appears in the video in a number of characteristic getups (including phones on her head, said the video picks up where “Paparazzi” left off. “What I like about it is it’s a real true pop event,” she told Phoenix’s 104.7 KISS FM last month. “And when I was younger, I was always excited when there was a big giant event happening in pop music and that’s what I wanted this to be.”

In the video, Beyoncé reportedly breaks Gaga out of prison for what has been described as a Tarantino-inspired clip that even features the truck that Uma Thurman’s character drove in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill.” When Gaga and Beyoncé collaborated on B’s “Video Phone” clip, there were visual nods to Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”

“I feel so bad for the ‘Bad Romance’ video ’cause the ‘Telephone’ video’s so much better,” Gaga said. “[Beyoncé is] really a great friend of mine. We have a lot of fun working together. We’re so very different in our approaches, but somehow when we come together it’s really magical. I’m very excited for everyone to see the video.”

Are you excited for the “Telephone” video? How will you celebrate the premiere on Thursday? Let us know in the comments below!

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‘I think if people knew her like I knew her, they would love her like I do,’ Corgan tells Rolling Stone.
By Jocelyn Vena

Billy Corgan (file)

Photo: MTV News

While Billy Corgan was mum about his relationship with pop star Jessica Simpson
when he spoke to The Chicago Tribune last month, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman was a bit more forthcoming to Rolling Stone about Simpson, who recently appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and discussed ex-boyfriend John Mayer’s controversial comments about her in Playboy.

“If I go, ‘Oh, we’re just friends,’ then it’s like, ‘Did they go out, did he dump her or she dump him, what happened?’ It has nothing to do with any of that. Sometimes people just like being around each other, and good things come out of that,” he told the magazine. “My goal in life is to love whoever I think is worth loving, and I think if people knew her like I knew her, they would love her like I do. It’s really simple.”

He had harsher words for his former bandmates in the Smashing Pumpkins. “Rather than break up the band, what I should have done is chuck James [Iha] out,” Corgan explained. “I should have just said to Jimmy [Chamberlin], ‘You go to rehab, and we’ll continue, and James, get the f— out of here.’ Instead, I fell on my sword for James, for what I thought was a friend.”

He also opened up about his career now and his ongoing work on the Pumpkins’ Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, a planned 44-track collection he’s gradually releasing over the course of three years via free download from his Web site.

“There’s a lot of days where you feel forgotten,” he said. “Do I belong in the conversation about the best artists in the world? My answer is yes, I do. I’ve been too productive for too long, and despite what anybody wants to strip away from me, I am influential. I am. So all the Pitchforks in the world [referring to the popular indie-rock Web site] can try to strip me of every ounce of dignity, but I belong.”

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Pop star discusses her past, fame and fashion with the New York Times.
By Joel Hanek

Lady Gaga

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

As she melds her pop music with performance pieces, Lady Gaga has managed to cultivate a sense of authority in art and fashion that goes beyond her enigmatic nebula of glamour and wigs. She did her best to maintain that authority, while also getting very personal, in an interview with the New York Times, fulfilling her new promotional duties for the M.A.C. AIDS fund and Viva Glam.

“It’s hard knowing who to trust with your personal life,” Lady Gaga revealed to fashion reporter Horacio Silva in a piece that will run in this weekend’s T magazine. “When you cry in your room at night, you don’t always know who to call. So I am very close to my family.”

The singer also touched on betrayal and the need to move on from elements of her past life, including drug use. “I left [my past] behind because I had to,” she said. “For many reasons, like drugs. It’s no secret that I have had problems with drugs in the past. And some places represent to me things in terms of my mental and physical health, so you learn to move on, to preserve what your mission in life is, and my greater mission is my fans.”

Lady Gaga has consistently used the concept of fame as a motif in her art and music. “I believe in the glamorous life and I live one,” she said. However, the artist also expressed her distaste in “celebrities” and explained how she tries to challenge the paradigm of fame with her fans. “I think I have changed the way they look at and devour fame. It’s something that tastes a little too sweet but is not so difficult to swallow.”

After discussing her “spiritual guide,” the interview highlighted another unique thing about Gaga: She refers to herself in the third person.

“I talk about myself in the third person all the time. I don’t live my life in the way someone like you does,” Lady Gaga explained. “I live my life completely serving only my work and my fans. And that way, I have to think about not what is best for my vagina but what is best for my fans and for me artistically.”

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John Park, Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamor and Jermaine Sellers bid farewell as quirky girls take the lead.
By Jim Cantiello

Alex Lambert

Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

“American Idol” in 60 Seconds has fast become an MTV News institution, but it goes by so fast that it’s not always easy to catch every golden nugget. So, here we present to you Jim Cantiello’s bite-size recap of this week’s “Idol” high jinks.

This week’s “American Idol” had it all! Schedule changes, glass-shattering high notes and cameos from Jesus (and Vera Wang).

Week two of this year’s “Idol” semifinals will be remembered as the week that quirky girls emerged as the breakout stars of season nine. Platinum-haired Lilly Scott, unpredictable banshee Siobhan Magnus and aspiring recording engineer Katelyn Epperly all put their own unique stamps on popular songs. But it was Crystal Bowersox who dominated headlines — not only when her hospitalization for complications from diabetes caused a last-minute boy/girl schedule switcheroo, but when she returned to the “Idol” stage Wednesday with a passionate take on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “As Long as I Can See the Light.”

On Tuesday night, the boys’ standings were turned upside down. Last week’s train wreck, Alex Lambert, shot to the front of the pack with an irresistible segment that had the mumbly teenager overcoming his stomach-turning stage fright. Meanwhile, early-season fave Andrew Garcia stumbled badly with a forgettable James Morrison cover. (Note to “Idol” contestants: Avoid singing while sitting on stools.)

Thursday night’s results show opened with the top 20 lip-synching (terribly) and acting out the lyrics to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” Later, season eight’s polarizing widower, Danny Gokey, returned to perform a song from his brand new country album. An especially manic, quick-talking interview with Ryan Seacrest followed.

	‘American Idol’ Season 9 Performances

In the end, Seacrest read the names of four more eliminated contestants: a cappella group member John Park, Creed-covering Michelle Delamor, 16-year-old country kewpie doll Haeley Vaughn and cocky onesie-rockin’ Jermaine Sellers, who was flabbergasted Tuesday night after the judges called him out for his wonky vocals. Though he insisted that Jesus would protect him from elimination, Jermaine quickly learned that his Homeboy had different plans for him.

For those of you keeping score, seven out of the eight contestants eliminated so far this season have been minorities. Stay classy, America!

But what are you waiting for? Check out the latest episode of “American Idol in 60 Seconds” for my lightning-fast take on this week’s “Idol.” You may even find a tiny little bonus in there too.

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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‘I feel that I still did give my own style to it, but I maybe should have chosen a different song,’ she says.
By Katie Byrne

Michelle Delamor

Photo: Fox

While she didn’t get a lot of screen time before the semifinals, Michelle Delamor established herself as season nine’s resident diva with her first live “American Idol” performance of Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’.”

Unfortunately, she made an oddball song choice (an R&B version of Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open”?) that sent her packing Thursday, along with Jermaine Sellers, John Park and Haeley Vaughn.

Does she think lack of screen time did her in? We caught up with the 22-year-old from Miami on Friday (March 5) to talk about that and much more.

Q: On Wednesday, Kara said “With Arms Wide Open” was your best performance yet. Then during the results show, she took that comment back. Was that difficult?

A: You know what? It was a little bit disappointing, but knowing myself, I’m really a perfectionist, and I know that I didn’t do my best. I know that Wednesday was not close to my best performance. I understood where she was coming from. I was a bit disappointed that she had those things to say, but I couldn’t say that she was wrong for it.

Q: What was your thought process behind choosing the Creed song?

A: After my first performance, I had done Alicia Keys, and the judges all thought I needed to take a risk and try something they wouldn’t expect me to do, so that’s why I chose to do Creed, because I knew they wouldn’t expect that. It’s kind of like a rock ballad, and I’m not a rock singer. I thought I was taking a risk, and I tried too much to go by what the judges said. I wanted to make sure I did the right thing, and I was too caught up in my mind. I feel that I still did give my own style to it, but I maybe should have chosen a different song.

Q: At any point, did you question your decision to go with the Creed song?

A: I did. I really did question it. As a matter of fact, I think part of what messed me up a little bit is that I questioned it before I got up on that stage. When you’re not sure of the song that you’re performing, it’s gonna be noticed and people can feel that. I definitely would have done my next song. I would have reversed [the order].

Q: What were you planning to sing next?

A: I wanted to do “Come Together” by the Beatles, but Michael Jackson style. I feel like it has so much drive, so much intensity. It’s a song that I feel. I love it. My idol, my inspiration Michael Jackson, he covered it. And he did an amazing job, and I’ve just always loved that song.

Q: Do you think your lack of screen time in the early rounds led to your exit?

A: Actually, in the very beginning, they had made a whole commercial that said “Meet Michelle,” and I thought that was amazing. I was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” And then I saw that they didn’t really show me much, but I figured, “They know what they’re doing.” I knew that I didn’t really have a story. I kind of have a normal lifestyle back at home, not so much tragedy or anything like that. I don’t think that makes for good TV. [Laughs.] So I understood.

Were you sad to see Michelle go? Do you think her Creed song choice got her voted off? Let us know below!

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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‘I love this record,’ DJ Khaled says.
By Shaheem Reid

Drake

Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

Although Drake has had a string of hits on radio and in the club, from his own “Best I Ever Had” to collaborations like “Forever” and “Say Something,” the pressure was on for the first official single from Thank Me Later to deliver. And, judging from the reaction he’s getting from some of hip-hop’s biggest tastemakers, Drizzy has another smash on his hands with “Over.”

” ‘Over’ is real dope,” DJ Statik Selektah said. “He could have chose to run with a soft, candy-coated record, but he didn’t. The beat is crazy. I’m looking forward to his album!”

“I love this record,” DJ Khaled told MTV News. “It’s amazing! It’s special! Drake did it again! It’s a hit!”

“I think Drake’s record is dope,” said host of MTV2’s “Sucker Free” and Power 105.1 on-air personality DJ Envy. “I know he had a lot of pressure and the world staring at him, but I think he delivered. He did it his way — outside the box.

Drake’s song talks about how he’s dealing with his fame since coming on the scene last year.

“On a couple of different levels, it’s not what you might think somebody would do,” DJ Green Lantern said. “Its not like, ‘Let me make “Best I Ever Had” Part 2.’ It’s an everybody type of record.”

“I put him in the box with Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne — artists that love the craft,” Envy added.

“As I’m listening [to the song], I’m like, ‘Yeah man. It’s dope,” Green Lantern said. “In the sense of the general straight-listener sense, it’s a catchy song. It’s a catchy song that will stick in your mind, be on repeat and connect to people. ‘I’m doing me.’ That was the first part that stuck out to me. The ‘hood is gonna love the ‘I’m doing me. I’m doing me.’ That’s the ‘hood right there.”

Green says the record has ‘hood and pop appeal — it’s universal.

“As Drake said before, the hipsters and the hood f—s with him, so his single has to be across the board. The Jay Electronica lovers f— with Drake and the Lil Wayne/Gucci Mane lovers f— with Drake, so his single has to go across the board. It’s not a lot of people that could do that. Technically, the beat is different too — it’s a sample. I’m like, ‘This sh– is dope.’ ”

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