August 2005

Eminem getting sued again - Posted by Denz on Saturday, August 27 2005

A Michigan trucker and his wife have sued Eminem in St. Louis, Mo., for injuries they suffered in the crash of his Anger Management 3 tour bus. Eminem was not aboard the bus when it swerved on a highway outside Kansas City, Mo., July 13 and sparked a seven-vehicle pile up. The suit filed by the couple Thursday seeks unspecified damages from the rapper, the bus driver and the tour bus company, "Entertainment Tonight" reported Friday. The couple's suit said they suffered a variety of injuries to their ribs, backs and necks when the bus sideswiped their truck. Neither the rapper nor bus company commented on the suit.

Special Eminem edition of XXL - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, August 23 2005

Eminem's Shade 45 radio channel and XXL Magazine have teamed up to release a special edition issue dubbed XXL Presents Shade 45. The one-time issue focuses on Eminem and his Sirius Satellite radio channel, Shade 45. Em graces the cover alongside Shady Records artists, Stat Quo and Obie Trice. In the cover story, Slim speaks on the emcees that have influenced his rap style and the new generation of rhyme slingers. "I took from all of them: Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane. Just took a little bit from each one and put 'em all together. And by the time you're done, you got something that's never been heard before. And that's what I think about this whole generation of next MCs coming up," Em revealed in the story. Meanwhile, in another feature, 50 Cent discusses what heads perceive as the over-saturation of G-Unit. "People may look at what they see from G-Unit at this point and feel like it's over-saturation. No. You know what it is? You still view G-Unit as a group. They not looking at G-Unit as a record company, as this is Def Jam," Fiddy shared in the story. The issue also features a Q&A with Em, 50 and Dr. Dre together along with a joint interview with G-Unit's Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Spider Loc, a piece on D12 and features on newcomers Mobb Deep and M.O.P. Readers also get to meet Shade 45's DJs like DJ Whoo Kid, Gomez Brothers, Lord Sear, Rude Jude, Felli Fel, DJ Muggs, Clinton Sparks and Cipha Sounds. "Typically, custom publishing projects do not work, since the consumer gets turned off to the overall advertising message," stated XXL executive Publisher Jonathan Rheingold. In the case of XXL Presents Shade 45, since Shade 45 is a truly authentic and uncensored rap radio channel, the marriage with the XXL brand made sense. Therefore, we were able to create a magazine that the fans will want." After years of trailing The Source as the top selling Hip-Hop publication, XXL is now #1 on newsstands with an ABC audited circulation of 315,000 copies and outsells other music publications such as Vibe, Rolling Stone and Spin on newsstands. XXL Presents Shade 45 is on newsstands now. The issue comes with a free Eminem poster.

Extra concert - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, August 23 2005

50 Cent is to play an extra concert in Dublin following the dramatic cancellation of Eminem’s sell-out Slane gig, it has been announced. 50 Cent, who hit the charts with his song In Da Club, will play a show on September 17 in Dublin’s Point Theatre, in addition to the concert organised at the venue for September 18 next. Tickets for the concert, priced €60 and €54.50, will go on sale on Thursday August 25 at 9am. 50 Cent was due to play a host of venues alongside Eminem across the UK and Ireland, including Slane Castle in Co Meath, before Eminem’s Anger Management Tour was cancelled at short notice. The superstar rapper has been working with Irish director Jim Sheridan in New York City’s Bronx area filming ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – a movie named after his famed album of the same name. Sheridan’s film stars 50 Cent – whose real name is Curtis Jackson – as a drug dealer who tries to turn his back on crime to pursue his passion in rap music. The rapper proved a lure for the filmmaker with his controversial past including imprisonment, several brushes with death, crime and drugs. 50 Cent, who comes from Southside Jamaica, Queens in New York, had several run-ins with the law before he turned toward rap in the mid-’90s. He survived a stabbing at a Manhattan studio before being shot nine times in front of his grandmother’s house in Queens in 2000. The rapper, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday on the set of the movie, hit the big time after Eminem signed him in a major contract deal and the release of In Da Club from the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album followed. His big screen debut is due out in the US in November.

Eminem hospitalised - Posted by Denz on Friday, August 19 2005

Eminem has been hospitalised for dependency on sleep medication, his label said on Thursday, two days after the recording artist cancelled a European tour due to "exhaustion" and "other medical issues." The back-to-back announcements come weeks after the Detroit Free Press reported that the Grammy-winning rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, might retire at the end of his "Anger Management" tour, which also featured his protege, 50 Cent. Eminem, who turns 33 in October, flatly denied such plans, but has said he wants to focus more on producing artists for his Shady Records label. The North American leg of the tour wrapped recently. "Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, is in the hospital under doctors' care," Interscope Records said in a statement. "He's being treated for dependency on sleep medication." A publicist at the Universal Music Group label declined to give further details, including information about where and or for how long the rap star had been hospitalised. On Tuesday, Eminem said through his label that he was cancelling the European leg of his tour, scheduled to run from September 1 in Hamburg to September 17 near Dublin, citing "exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues." Those dates were not expected to be rescheduled, the statement added. Eminem became a smash sensation in the last six years with a series of Grammy-winning albums, despite critics who condemned many of his lyrics as homophobic, misogynist and excessively violent. His current release, "Encore," toned down the rhetoric, and included an anti-war single. He won an Academy Award in 2003 for co-writing a song that appeared on the hit movie "8 Mile," a semi-autobiographical release in which he also starred.

European tour Cancelled - Posted by Denz on Wednesday, August 17 2005

Eminem has cancelled his European tour due to exhaustion. The 10-date trip, also featuring hip-hop stars such as 50 Cent and D-12, was due to start in Germany next month and wind up in Ireland on 17 September. "Eminem is currently being treated for exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues," a statement from his record company Interscope said. No further details about the singer's condition have been issued and the shows are unlikely to be rescheduled. The 23-date US leg of the tour ended on Saturday in his home town of Detroit, Michigan. I don't think the Rolling Stones or U2 would cancel a section owing to nervous exhaustion Lord Henry Mountcharles Slane Castle owner The Anger Management 3 tour was also due to take in the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. The owner of Slane Castle, in Ireland, where Eminem had been due to entertain 80,000 people, said he was "not very happy" at the cancellation. Lord Henry Mountcharles said it was "a great disappointment" that the record company issued a statement without informing him. "In all the years that Slane has been running, we've never been confronted by a scenario like this," he said. "I don't think the Rolling Stones or U2 would cancel a section owing to nervous exhaustion. "I don't deem that I've had a proper explanation." Retirement rumours In July, Eminem dismissed reports that he was retiring from the music business, saying he was taking a break to produce other artists. "When I say I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break from my music to go in the studio and produce my other artists," he told MTV. "When I know my next move, I'll tell everyone my next move. Not some reporter who writes a story about 'this is Eminem's last album'". Reports about his retirement came about after Proof, his bandmate from D-12, told a Detroit newspaper that the rap star would call it a day after the final gig of his European tour in September. His manager said there was "no official decision" about Eminem's future, but added his last album Encore was "certainly the cap on this part of his career".