Look at him now: Chris Brown winning as rapper

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Brown is known pop singer, a slick bedroom crooner and at other times, a Euro-flavored dance singer. But it's his rapping that has taken his career to new heights.

With his hit single "Look at Me Now," Brown has dominated more than just the R&B territory: The boastful track, which co-stars Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, was Billboard's No. 1 rap song of 2011 and it's nominated for best rap song and best rap performance at Sunday's Grammy Awards, where Brown's competition includes Jay-Z, Kanye West, Dr. Dre and Eminem.

The song is just another example of Brown's rapping prowess. At last year's BET Hip-Hop Awards, Brown went toe-to-toe with other hip-hop acts during one segment, and was so strong he left 50 Cent wowed.

"Chris particularly was impressive," said 50 Cent. "He rapped better than the rappers. I'm going to give it up. I'm watching the show (like), 'How did they let that happen?'"

50 Cent is not the only member of the hip-hop community impressed by Brown: "(Chris) did a mixtape that really blew my mind and I didn't know that was him rhyming," said Questlove of The Roots.

But Brown isn't the only singer who has ventured out to rhyming: Usher rapped on his 1998 hit "My Way" and Trey Songz has released rap mixtapes. Others who have spit a few bars in song include Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, Monica, Erykah Badu, R. Kelly, Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, Tyrese, Chrisette Michele and Miguel.

English-based R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius said her first-ever single featured her rapping under the name Ms. Parker, and Brandy — as her alter-ego Bran' Nu — rapped on two songs from Timbaland's "Shock Value II" album, and even had plans to release a rap album before she scrapped the project.

Mary J. Blige also has a rap alter-ego: Brook Lynn. Brook Lynn first appeared on Blige's 2005 album "The Breakthrough." Blige says she's not sure other singers will find success as rappers, though.

"I don't know if it will translate to what a real hip-hop artist would do like 50 (Cent) or Jay-Z or Common or Kanye," Blige said.

But rappers have had luck with singing over the years, from Nelly to Ja Rule. West used the Auto-Tune on most of his "808s & Heartbreak" album, to mixed critical and commercial success. And Nicki Minaj's latest hit — the David Guetta song "Turn Me On" — features the animated rapper belting semi-high notes.

There are also acts like Lauryn Hill, Drake and Missy Elliott — arguably the most respected singer-rappers in the game — who are often praised for blending the two.

"I think you have to come out as a hybrid," said rapper J. Cole, who sings his own hook on the song "Work Out."

"(With) Drake, some people look at him as a rapper who sings, some people look at him as a singer who raps, but he came out that way so nobody's really right or wrong, and he can win forever in either world," Cole continued.

Brown's "Look at Me Now" spent eight and 10 weeks at the top spot on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap songs charts, respectively. Mark Pitts, the president of urban music at RCA Music Group who signed Brown to Sony at age 16, said he initially didn't want to see the singer rapping.

"It took me a minute to really appreciate ('Look at Me Now'). I didn't want to like it because I didn't want him rapping," Pitts said.

Rapping is a departure for 22-year-old Brown, who debuted on the scene in 2005 as an R&B-pop heartthrob. Pitts said that past Brown songs where a rapper is featured most likely had a rap verse from Brown first, but they were never used. Pitts, who has overseen the careers of the Notorious B.I.G., Diddy and Usher, says he once thought singers and rappers should stay in their own lanes.

But Brown helped change his perception.

"It's a different age now," Pitts said. "I'm not surprised by anything from (Chris) anymore. He's not in one category. It works for him, and not everybody can do that."

Brown's CD where "Look at Me Now" appears — "F.A.M.E. (Forgiving All My Enemies)" — is nominated for best R&B album at the Grammys; his upcoming fifth disc, "Fortune," will most likely feature rapping, Pitts said. Brown has received respect from the rap community, and often appears on hip-hop tracks. But not all singers are poised to have a similar triumph.

"It's definitely difficult for an R&B singer to be accepted as a hip-hop rapper, but I know it's possible," Common said. "If you do it well, it will be accepted."

50 Cent agrees, adding that musicians are often typecast.

"In music there becomes a cut-out of what they'll accept from you and what they won't," he said. "We can take a hit Drake song and I'll deliver it and people will be like, 'Man, get this (expletive) out of here.' They'll be like, 'We want the old 50 (Cent).'"

But Pitts says he's encouraging his newer singing acts to rap.

"It doesn't really bother me (any) more. It used to bother me. But why fight it? If it sounds good, it sounds good," he said. "As long as you're not trying to be someone else, I'm cool with it."

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Online:

http://www.chrisbrownworld.com

http://www.grammys.com

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Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

View the original article here at Yahoo News!

Review: Lady A delivers another winning collection (AP)

By MICHAEL McCALL, For The Associated Press Michael Mccall, For The Associated Press – Mon Sep 12, 1:21 pm ET

Lady Antebellum, "Own The Night" (Capitol Nashville)

At a time when young country stars typecast themselves into roles that border on caricature — men brag about how rural they are to hard rock beats, women speak of empowerment with an aggressive sneer — Lady Antebellum presents an engaging anomaly steeped in sophistication and subtlety, rather than stereotypes and superficiality.

The trio — Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood — address issues about relationships with an engaging honesty rare in any musical genre. They've been rewarded with multiplatinum, crossover success; their 2009 No. 1 smash "Need You Now" had them winning top awards at the CMAs, ACMs and the Grammys.

Their third album, "Own The Night," doesn't attain the heights of their 2009 album, also titled "Need You Now," but it's a consistently winning collection that plays to their strengths. After an across-the-board success, Lady A could have overthought their next move. Instead, they draw again on their songwriting depth and appealing vocal blend. The group mixes lively songs that don't insult anyone's intelligence with moody narratives that probe the relationship complexities of young adults, as on the album's first hit, "Just A Kiss."

Producer Paul Worley, who previously worked with the Dixie Chicks and Martina McBride, is the perfect foil for the trio. Worley's touch, with lush orchestration and rousing guitars and rhythms, serves the band's talents and themes well. Together, the team represents how country music can use its strengths — songwriting and strong-yet-earthy vocals that explore real-life situations and emotions — in a way that carries universal appeal.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: "Wanted You More," a simmering drama about a break up, displays how the band uses piano, strings, drums and voices that whisper and soar to express quiet heartbreak, and an explosive emotional release.

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Charlie Sheen's "winning" ways get roasted on TV (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – He may have looked like he was "winning," but actor Charlie Sheen took it on the chin on Saturday night at a Comedy Central TV roast where his sex life, drug use and talent drew punches -- and punch lines.

Sheen, once TV's highest paid actor on the comedy series "Two and a Half Men" before he was fired in March by the CBS network, has seen numerous ups and downs in recent years.

He was arrested on charges of assaulting his former wife Brooke Mueller, who turned out for the Comedy Central roast. He saw his drug and alcohol use make headlines around the world. And after his firing, Sheen went on a public rant against his old bosses.

The actor, 46, posted videos of himself online saying he had "tiger blood" and was always "winning" against rivals. He dated two women at one time he called his goddesses, and some onlookers wondered if he had become mentally unstable.

"This is hard. How do you roast a meltdown?" joked comedian Jeffrey Ross, dressed in military costume to look like a caricature of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"How much blow can Charlie Sheen do?" asked former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Jon Lovitz, "Enough to kill 'Two and a Half Men.'"

Rocker Slash ushered Sheen onto the Comedy Central stage, and host Seth MacFarlane introduced the roasters -- an odd mix of celebrities including Ross, Lovitz, actor William Shatner, actress Kate Walsh, "Jackass" stuntman Steve-O and former world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson.

While many of the jokes used language too strong for print, as is typical of these programs, the roasting of Sheen was fairly lukewarm compared to others.

Through it all, the actor, dressed in a gray suit and red tie, sat in his chair and took the hits, mostly laughing, sometimes rolling his eyes.

"It's true I've hung around a lot of shady characters," Sheen said when he took the microphone for his turn to speak, "but to have you all here on one night is really special."

The Comedy Central roast airs on September 19.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Will Dunham)

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Ladies of US pop winning with wacky, weird tactics (AP)

NEW YORK – Whether it is being encased in an egg or wearing slabs of meat, there never is a question whether Lady Gaga will make a spectacle of herself at an awards show; the only question is just what kind.

So when the MTV Video Music Awards came around this year, Gaga did not disappoint. Although she dressed somewhat conservatively in short black hair, a dingy white T-shirt, a black blazer and pants, it was whom she embodied that made headlines: a man, whom she called Jo Calderone. The temporary gender switch marked yet another act in Gaga's strange pop odyssey.

What actually made the VMAs so noteworthy, however, was that Gaga was not the only oddity who graced the stage. In one corner there was Katy Perry, sporting pink hair and a giant yellow cube on top of her head. And then there was Nicki Minaj, who wore a colorful surgical mask, a rainbow-colored wig, a mini-tutu made out of cubic designs, with an attached string of stuffed toys.

It was not too long ago that pop's top ladies were likely to try to out-sex each other, from plunging necklines to gyrating stage performances.

But Gaga, Minaj and Perry are part of a group of contemporary pop stars who are finding success by defying the conventional definition of sexiness with oddball tactics and wacky outfits, recalling pop stars from the past, from Cyndi Lauper to Annie Lennox to Grace Jones.

"All three are emblematic of the millennial generation, who are constantly remixing and reshaping their identities," said MTV president Stephen Friedman, speaking about Perry, Gaga and Minaj.

"It used to be all about the jocks and the beautiful women, and now the nerd is the new jock," Friedman continued. "The currency is about being smart and funny and different, and I think that's what they're playing into: (it) is how can they be different than what you can expect the day before."

Ke$ha, who was absent from this year's VMAs, has also rebelled against the norm. She burst on the scene with her sideshow style singing about brushing her teeth with Jack Daniels; she now wears a necklace of her fans' teeth. She wears her disheveled look with pride: At last year's VMAs, Minaj sported a fitted dress and pink wig, Perry also sported a sexy dress with pink and purple highlights in her hair. Ke$ha rocked a trash bag.

"People are like, `Oh, maybe you should tone the homeless thing down?' It's just not going to happen," Ke$ha said from Council Bluffs, Iowa, where she performed her "Get $leazy Tour." "I like looking homeless sometimes. I like looking like a drunken grandma sometimes. I like looking like a tribal warrior from the future sometimes, and I'm not going to stop playing with my style for anybody."

Being the "weird" girl has definitely enhanced these ladies' platinum profiles. But Gaga, Minaj and Perry did not always appear to be oddballs.

Gaga started off with a "Jersey Shore"-esque tan and straight blonde extensions. The weirdest part of her look was oversized yet trendy sunglasses. Her music matched her style: Her debut CD, "The Fame," is filled with mostly safe-sounding pop songs that are club-friendly and radio-ready.

As Gaga became edgier (her "Paparazzi" video featured her dancing in crutches), so did her music. Her follow-up disc, "The Fame Monster" featured songs like the "Bad Romance," with bizarre lyrics like, "I want your ugly, I want your disease." The photo that graces her latest album, the top-selling "Born This Way," features her as a hybrid of a person and a motorcycle; on it, she sings of Judas, of being a government hooker, and in German.

"You look at Lady Gaga and she's reinvented herself more times in one year than Madonna did in 20 years," Friedman said.

Minaj evolved from an image as an oversexed street rapper to an animated R&B-pop singer and a bona fide pop star, with a penchant for Barbies and wild outfits and wigs that make her seem cartoonish, by design. Though Perry's first breakout hit was "I Kissed a Girl," the singer has infused her sexuality with an often silly, farcical persona that makes her an accessible, fun .

Ke$ha says their wackiness is a reflection of their confidence and individuality.

"I feel like the way I dress and the way I speak and the way I sing and the kind of music I make: it all comes from me," she said. "I'm connected to people because I'm not just parading around like I'm the sexiest thing on the planet, 'cause I'm not."

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Online:

Lady Gaga: http://www.ladygaga.com/

Nicki Minaj: http://mypinkfriday.com/

Katy Perry: http://www.katyperry.com

Ke$ha: http://www.keshasparty.com

__

Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

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Royals' Quebec visit appears to be winning gamble (Reuters)

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – Anti-monarchist protesters failed to disrupt the visit of Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate to Quebec, which was the most politically sensitive portion of their Canadian royal tour.

A group estimated by local reporters at about 200 people used loudspeakers on Sunday to decry the royal family and call for sovereignty for the French-speaking province, but they were kept far away from the couple in Quebec City.

The royal family's Canadian visits in recent years have often avoided stops in Quebec, where many still see as a raw wound Britain's defeat of France in 1759 giving it sovereignty over Canada.

Hundreds of demonstrators protested the Queen's visit to Quebec City in 1964, and groups favoring Quebec's separation from Canada had vowed to give the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a rough ride.

Despite those concerns, William and Kate chose to visit both Quebec City and Montreal as part of a nine-day tour of Canada that monarchists hope will restore flagging Canadian interest in the royal family.

Protesters at events in Montreal on Saturday were also outnumbered by well-wishers.

The couple visited a youth shelter in Quebec city before attending a ceremony honoring the "Van Doos", an infantry regiment based in the provincial capital that has done extensive duty in Afghanistan.

William, in brief remarks in French, acknowledged his weakness in speaking the language used by 83 percent of Quebec residents who would become his subjects if he becomes king as the British monarch is also Canada's head of state.

"Thank you for your patience with my accent, and I hope that we will have the chance to get to know each other over the years to come," he said.

After Quebec, William and Kate will travel to Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories and Alberta, where they are expected to receive warm greetings as they did in earlier stops in Ottawa.

The couple will visit California after leaving Canada.

(Writing by Allan Dowd in Vancouver, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Royals' Quebec visit appears to be winning gamble (Reuters)

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – Anti-monarchist protesters failed to disrupt the visit of Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate to Quebec, which was the most politically sensitive portion of their Canadian royal tour.

A group estimated by local reporters at about 200 people used loudspeakers on Sunday to decry the royal family and call for sovereignty for the French-speaking province, but they were kept far away from the couple in Quebec City.

The royal family's Canadian visits in recent years have often avoided stops in Quebec, where many still see as a raw wound Britain's defeat of France in 1759 giving it sovereignty over Canada.

Hundreds of demonstrators protested the Queen's visit to Quebec City in 1964, and groups favoring Quebec's separation from Canada had vowed to give the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a rough ride.

Despite those concerns, William and Kate chose to visit both Quebec City and Montreal as part of a nine-day tour of Canada that monarchists hope will restore flagging Canadian interest in the royal family.

Protesters at events in Montreal on Saturday were also outnumbered by well-wishers.

The couple visited a youth shelter in Quebec city before attending a ceremony honoring the "Van Doos", an infantry regiment based in the provincial capital that has done extensive duty in Afghanistan.

William, in brief remarks in French, acknowledged his weakness in speaking the language used by 83 percent of Quebec residents who would become his subjects if he becomes king as the British monarch is also Canada's head of state.

"Thank you for your patience with my accent, and I hope that we will have the chance to get to know each other over the years to come," he said.

After Quebec, William and Kate will travel to Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories and Alberta, where they are expected to receive warm greetings as they did in earlier stops in Ottawa.

The couple will visit California after leaving Canada.

(Writing by Allan Dowd in Vancouver, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Ashton Kutcher says 'Men' job like winning lottery (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – It took U.S. network CBS's chief executive Leslie Moonves seconds to make the afternoon's first "Two and a Half Men" joke, telling the Madison Avenue crowd gathered at Carnegie Hall for the network's upfront that he wouldn't be up on stage too long.

"Tops, two and a half minutes," he said.

About 45 minutes into the presentation, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"Deep cleansing breathe," she said. "Well, it's been an educational few months for us. Thanks to a tweet ... we all learned the square root of 6.25." Tassler was referring to Kutcher's tweet that he sent out after THR confirmed he would be joining the CBS comedy.

"We could not be happier to actor, producer and multimedia mogul Ashton Kutcher joining the cast of 'Two And a Half Men,'" she said.

With all the images of Charlie Sheen scrubbed from the preceding "Men" video clip, the brand new co-star took the stage with Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones.

"It's awesome to be here," said Kutcher. "I could not be more excited. I never in my 13 years of show business received more e-mails and phone calls congratulating me for this job. It's almost like I won the lotto. And I kind of did."

Kutcher is making $700,000 per episode plus incentives for "Men."

Standing next to the 6-foot-plus Kutcher, Cryer joked: "Did you have to get a tall guy?"

And then he suggested a new name for the show: "One and Two Half Men."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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