50 Cent Denies Beating His Ex-Girlfriend

Read yesterday's report for more details about the charges here.

Justin Timberlake Sparks Controversy With Nude Video

(Radio.com) With his latest music video, Justin Timberlake has logged an entry in the ongoing public debate about what constitutes art by featuring a trio topless, and at times nude, female dancers.

Timberlake, along with his frequent collaborator and producer Timbaland, appear in the video fully clothed. The dancers are never in the same scenes as the men and appear to have been shot completely separately.

The nearly 7-minuteclip is simply shot on sound stages, with some post-production elements and a smoke machine as the only high tech elements to speak of. The stark setting suits the lyrics; watching the clip certainly does enforce a sense of tunnel vision while watching.

This treatment is what generated such controversy around Robin Thicke's uncensored video for "Blurred Lines," with some commentators remarking that the problem with the nudity was not the nudity itself but the fact that the men in the video were dressed — which suggests a position of power over the naked women.

Timberlake's clip is significantly more artful in its presentation, but even so it's an interesting and unexpected choice for him. The clip has already caused a stir on YouTube, with over 20,000 likes and over 1,000 dislikes and a rash of comments from users discussing if the video is pornography or art. more on this story

Toby Keith Talks About This Weekends Tornado Relief Concert

(Radio.com) As an Oklahoma native, Toby Keith is all too familiar with the devastation tornado season can bring. This year, however, the devastation was more severe than usual. On May 20, a category EF-5 tornado hit Keith's hometown of Moore, Okla. and killed 24 people. His sister's house was hit, as was his sister-in-law's.

While Blake Shelton helped host the televised relief concert Healing in the Heartland shortly after the tornado hit (which raised over $6 million), Keith and fellow Oklahoma resident Garth Brooks felt, for them, that it was too soon (Shelton's concert took place May 29).

"I talked to Garth and he said, 'It's too soon for me. Are you doing this concert?' And I said, 'No, I'm not,'" Keith explained in a recent interview with Radio.com. Brooks told him, though, that when he was ready to do a concert, to let him know.

"As soon as I knew he was going to participate with whatever I came up with, then I called Willie [Nelson] and Ronnie Dunn and Sammy Hagar, and from there it started growing," Keith said. "They'll take all the money we can give them."

Dubbed the Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert, the event takes place Saturday, July 6 in Norman, Okla., and according to Keith, "it's a monster. A whole football stadium got sold out in a matter of minutes. It's wonderful to know that those people care and want to come in and do this for my hometown. I'm very blessed."

Since the initial lineup was announced, additional artists have stepped up to show their support. These include another Oklahoma native, Carrie Underwood, who will perform via satellite.

Keith said she isn't the only one. "We might have some more local Okies on the show or Nashville guys that step in," he said. "Right now that's a good way to start and try to figure out how to get everybody on stage to play for an hour." more on this story

Rap Rules The Charts This Week

(Radio.com) For the second straight week, rap not only tops the U.S. album charts, but also makes a hat-trick of the top three spots, continuing a solid few weeks for the genre after a quiet start.

This time, it's Wale who takes the cake, scoring the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with his third studio album, The Gifted. The Gifted is the D.C. rapper's first No. 1 album, selling 158,000 in its debut week, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan.

His previous best was a No. 2 debut for 2011′s Ambition, while debut album Attention Deficit peaked at No. 21. That said, The Gifted doesn't eclipse Ambition in first-week sales; the latter sold 164,000 in November 2011, beat out only by Justin Bieber's Mistletoe.

Sales of The Gifted were supported by lead single "Bad" featuring Tiara Thomas, his highest-ranking single on the Hot 100 to date with a No. 21 peak so far. The song has also found the top five on the Billboard's R&B and Rap charts, though it has yet to unseat Ambition's "Lotus Flower Bomb," which hit No. 1 on the R&B chart.

Kanye West and J. Cole are Nos. 2 and 3 this week, but not in the same order the two rappers were last week, when West's Yeezus sat on the chart throne.

This week, it's J. Cole's Born Sinner that wins the waning battle between the two artists, moving 84,000 its second week out. That's a 72 percent drop from last week's 297,000, but it's not nearly as large as Yeezus' fall to No. 3 with sales of 65,000 — an 80 percent cut in sales. more on this story

DJ Jazzy Jeff & Mick Release New Summertime Mixtape For Free

(Phomnimedia) DJ Jazzy Jeff & Mick (formerly known as Mick Boogie) celebrate the 4th of July with the release of the 4th installment of their popular Summertime series.

The free mixtape features classic music from Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Will Smith, Pete Rock, Camp Lo, Little Brother, Guy, Souls of Mischief and more.

Mick had this to say, "Jazzy Jeff and I are so thrilled to once again unleash a Summertime mix into the world. This is our fourth year! Jeff created something timeless in the 90's with Summertime and we are so excited to keep pushing it further and further to new generations. Enjoy it and see us in a city near you!"

FSHARP have launched new site for the summertime brand Summertime.FM. Download for free or stream the mixtape here.

Selena Gomez Macy's 4th Of July Performances Go Online

(popmusiclife) Selena Gomez was one of the featured performers in New York Thursday for Macy's 4th of July fireworks spectacular. Gomez sang two songs, including "Come And Get It" and "Slow Down."

The televised broadcast of the Macy's event was hosted by Nick Cannon; it included performances from Pitbull, Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Cher and Tim McGraw.

"Happy Birthday America!!! Hope everyone is enjoying the day," posted the pop star before the show. You can watch video of her performances here.

Beck Releases New Single, 'I Won't Be Long'

(Radio.com) Earlier this week, Beck released a new single, "I Won't Be Long," via YouTube. It's the second such song the artist has revealed recently, following "Defriended," which debuted this past June.

According to a press release, Beck premiered the song during a set at Paris' Days Off Festival on July 2, passing out stickers to the crowd with information on accessing the new tune online.

Like the previously issued "Defriended," there are no plans as yet for either song to be included on any upcoming Beck albums. A limited edition 12-inch vinyl version of "I Won't Be Long" is scheduled for a July 8 release date, and will include a special extended mix that clocks in at just shy of 15 minutes.

Beck's appearance in Paris is just one of a handful of "special acoustic sets with minimal accompaniment" for the artist this summer, which also include stops at Bob Dylan's AmericanaramA touring fest in New York (July 27) and the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island (July 28). Stream the new song here.

Jimmy Eat World Cover Taylor Swift

(Radio.com) Fan footage of Arizona rockers Jimmy Eat World covering Taylor Swift's 2012 hit single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," has hit the Internet.

Jimmy Eat World and Taylor Swift actually have something of a history. Back in 2011, Swift invited Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins onstage in Phoenix to perform a rendition of the band's 2001 single, "The Middle."

Swift isn't the only pop singer Adkins has covered recently. Video footage from the U.K. finds the singer tackling an acoustic version of Rihanna's "Only Girl (in the World)."

The U.S. leg of Jimmy Eat World's 2013 tour in support of new album Damage runs through most of August, wrapping up with dates in Indianapolis (August 17) and Chicago (August 18) before the band heads over to Europe in September.

Check out Radio.com's recent interview with Jimmy Eat World, in which they discuss their long history and the new album and a clip of them performing the Taylor Swift song at their recent Cleveland concert here.

Tim McGraw and Dixie Chicks Shows Calgary Stampede Shows Cancelled

(Radio.com) The annual Calgary Stampede has had to cancel headlining concerts featuring Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks, Carly Rae Jepsen, and rock band Kiss. These were set to take place July 10-13 at the Calgary's Saddledome, which was severely damaged during major floods that devastated the Canadian city last month.

"Unfortunately we have just determined that the four concerts scheduled in the Saddledome cannot proceed due to the damages the facility suffered during the recent flooding," Stampede CEO Vern Kimball told the press on Tuesday (July 2).

"Given the size of the four shows and that they were all intended for indoor setup with tailored effects and lighting, there was no feasible alternative," Kimball continued.

The Saddledome's damage is so extensive, in fact, that it could potentially affect the upcoming season of the Calgary Flames, for whom the arena is home. The NHL team's season is set to begin Oct. 6. A Bruno Mars concert scheduled for July 17 at the venue has also been postponed.

"Electrical, potable water, sanitation and at the end of the day personal safety would be compromised if we made any attempt even on a restricted basis to afford the building for the use of these concerts," Flames president Ken King said of the cancelled Stampede concerts. "We're regretful that it couldn't happen, but not due to lack of effort." more on this story

Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail Dissected

(Radio.com) In this week's episode of REWIND, we dissect what we know so far about Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail, which was released (having already gone platinum) July 4th in stores after an early release for Samsung Galaxy users.

Last month, Hova sent fans on a NYC scavenger hunt to find album details including the tracklist. Now, we know the LP includes collaborations with Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Nas.

In addition to A-list collabs (and Nirvana lyrics), Jay-Z created controversy with the lyrics to "La Familia," which seem to take a jab at Lil Wayne, who's certainly fond of calling himself the rap game G.O.A.T. Jay's lyrical beefing with Weezy is no new thing, though.

On 2011′s Watch the Throne, Jay calls out Weezy on "H.A.M," rapping, "You ain't got my lady money." Wayne's reply came on The Carter IV track "I'm Good:" "I got baby money/Kidnap your b****, get that how much you love your lady money." Jay gets the last word (for now) on "La Familia": "Wanna kidnap wifey, good luck with that bruh/You must be going to hide your whole family/What you think we wearing black for?"

Beef aside for more highbrow matters, Jay scored the ultimate product placement for Magna Carta Holy Grail. For the month of July, the album will be on display next to one of four original copies of the Magna Carta in England's Salisbury Cathedral.

Also on deck for this episode of REWIND: DJ Jenny Boom Boom of Hot 93.7 (a Radio.com station) weighs in on the Jay-Z/Weezy's sub-disses and explains why Kanye West's marketing plan is changing as he readies the release of a music video for "Black Skinhead" on July 4, as well as a censored version heading to radio. Check it out here.

Atoms For Peace Release Official 'Club Amok' Footage

(Radio.com) New video footage has surfaced from Club AMOK, an exclusive Atoms for Peace concert in Los Angeles last month. The June 14 warm-up gig was the hottest ticket in town, with only a few hundred fortunate fans able to squeeze into the intimate club Fais Do Do to witness Thom Yorke, Flea and the band's inspired show focused on this year's Atoms for Peace album, AMOK.

Videos of the band performing AMOK album tracks "Default" and "Dropped" were released online this week, with the energetic "Dropped" in particular being one of the show's highlights, featuring a dazzling display of Yorke's now-beloved onstage dance moves.

Atoms for Peace have also added another U.S. date to the band's world tour schedule. The group will be performing at the Nashville War Memorial Auditorium on October 3.

Also on their tour itinerary this summer are music festivals Austin City Limits and Treasure Island in San Francisco. Watch the videos here.

Lil Wayne Tour Invigorated Far East Movement

(Radio.com) The members of Far East Movement decided to challenge themselves on their forthcoming album. While on tour with Lil Wayne, the energy they felt from the crowd each night invigorated them, eventually inspiring their new single, "Turn Up the Love."

"Everyone says, 'Turn it up, turn it up,'" Kev Nish explained to Radio.com. "We felt the love from the audience [and] we said, 'Let's challenge ourselves. Can we make a club song that doesn't talk about any type of bottles or anything else in the club?' So we did."

"Turn Up the Love," like many of Far East Movement's tracks, features another artist. While Cover Drive provides the vocals on this one, the band has worked with everyone from Pitbull and Tyga to Snoop Dogg and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder in the past. When asked what their criteria for collabs are, they joked that they just pick them out of a hat or search on Craigslist.

All kidding aside, the guys said they're picky when it comes to collaborations. "We have to be a fan, and that artist's brand [has to] convey the message and the style that we're trying to convey," Kev explained. "As writers, it's truly an honor to have other people sing your hooks. That's like a dream come true being producers and writers in the music industry."

Far East Movement finds the inspiration for those monster hooks from life experience. Whether it's something they heard at the club or while watching TV, each track comes together differently.

"We record a lot of things we see and hear off of our phones and then take that into the studio, make the sound, start writing," said Kev. More from the group.

One Direct Concert: Two Hours Of High-Pitched Squeals

(Radio.com) Two hours of high-pitched squeals. That's what you get when you go to a One Direction show. Tueday night (July 2) at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the British boy band had the crowd screaming at decibels way beyond what's considered healthy.

Fifteen minutes before the show started, a mere mention of their name caused turned the crowd up to 11. The trailer for their upcoming Morgan Spurlock-directed documentary, This Is Us (out August 30), played on the two screens surrounding the main stage. Everyone screamed and screamed and screamed. Oh yeah, and then they screamed some more.

Raising their pitch ever so slightly when their favorite member popped onscreen — something the mostly female crowd did throughout the night. Harry Styles seems to get the loudest endorsement, but funny guy Niall Horan is a very close second.

The constant screaming made it more than a little hard to hear the guys sing, which for the most part they do very well. But let's be honest, a lot of these ladies and a few gentleman don't really care if they hear them sing. They've heard these songs a million times. They just want to get a chance to see the guys in the flesh. Even in the upper level, little girls started to sob when one of the guys waved in their general direction.

And the fivesome get it. A 1D concert is less about the music and more about the experience. Their show is a variety hour filled not only with their hits like "Live While We're Young," "Kiss You" and "What Makes You Beautiful," but also video skits of the guys having fun in their London digs.

The best clip is The Hard Day's Night-inspired video that shows the guys in disguise taking to the streets of London to have a little fun with unsuspecting Directioners. Harry and Liam Payne dress up like an elderly couple to wreak havoc on local drivers, while Zayne Malik & Niall pretend to be street buskers singing a very, um, interesting version of "What Makes You Beautiful." It's Louis Tomlinson, though, that melts heart with his fat suit and sign asking for "Free Hugs"; he reveals his true identity to a nice little girl, who hugged a perfect stranger (be careful kids, most of them are not in fact 1D members in disguise). More.

Sebastian Ingrosso Talks Beginning and End of Swedish House Mafia

(Radio.com) Swedish House Mafia ruled the charts and airwaves last summer with their hit "Don't You Worry Child." Nominated for a GRAMMY as Best Dance Recording, the song was the EDM trio's second No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart following their previous single "Save the World."

In addition to being a hit on the dance floor, it also became the first song by a Swedish act to break into the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 since Robyn's "Show Me Love" in 1997.

Sebastian Ingrosso recently sat down with New York's 92.3 NOW (a Radio.com station) in promotion of his new solo single "Reload," and among other topics, he talked about how the band first came together.

As he explained it, he and his former bandmates, Axwell and Steve Angello, had studios within blocks of each other and would typically congregate at the local 7-Eleven each morning.

"We always met there, had a coffee and everybody went back to their studios," Ingrosso said. "We were talking and one night me, Axwell and Steve said, 'Maybe we should do some shows together. Just to have fun.'"

Much like the idea to collaborate together, the band name came just as serendipitously. Ingrosso said that DJ culture wasn't big at the time in Sweden, and a bunch of people scoffed at the three men. "They said, 'Who do they think they are, Swedish House Mafia?' And we said, 'That is exactly what we are.'"

With several hits under their belts and tours that took them around the world, popularity became too much for the group, and they eventually decided to part ways.

"It's because Swedish House Mafia became so big, and we knew becoming big, big commitments also come with," Ingrosso said. "I think that living in different places in the world, we couldn't really commit to what we should commit to – to our fans, and maybe do an album and another tour. So we thought maybe we should take a break and do the things we wanted to do."

The group's final gig together took place this past March at the Ultra Music Festival.

Though Swedish House Mafia has officially disbanded, Ingrosso didn't entirely rule out the possibility of a reunion. "You can never say never," he said, "but it's ended." more.

Singled Out: Marcus's We Are Life & Love

Today Marcus tells us about the song "We Are Life & Love" from his brand new album "Catch 22". Here is the story:

This is obviously a special song for me, as they all are. But there is a nice story behind "We Are Life & Love"...

It was one of the first songs I wrote. The idea of a "happy" song came from a dear friend of mine whom I met when I was about 15. This friend is the one who helped me rediscover my love of playing music - drums, at the time. I started very young at music school and, somehow, at about 12-13 years old, I wasn't into music as much as I was originally. And because my parents were musicians, the just a bit rebel teenager I was didn't wanna be like mom and dad, of course. Short story short, it took me a few years to find music again, thanks to Marc, (cheers buddy) who helped me get there.

A few years passed and I paid my dues as a drummer in different progressive and metal bands. Wanted to try something else, played a little guitar, had a pretty voice like mom. Hey - why not try and write a few songs? So I did, with great help on the lyrics from Mary-Noelle Dana, another important character of this story.

The first three songs were more like the usual stuff I liked, kinda folky-metal-pop with progressive influences. If you listen to the album they are No Evil, Skyzophrenia, Song For Apologies (tracks 2, 9, 3).

I recorded basic demos of those and wanted to meet with my friend Marc to get his feelings about the songs. He told me they were good and that I needed to continue to work on them. But his main comment was that it was pretty dark, and those were the colours I liked the most, at the time anyway. He encouraged me to try to write a more "friendly sounding" song.... He told me about the Beatles (did I mentioned he's a Brit ?) and their anthems about love...Sure they did a lot more than just that, but there were always positive messages. I do love the Beatles..! So with the usual purpose of writing something very different but with melodies that could be appreciated by anyone, I took his advice and made it a challenge...

I had chords, riffs, a structure with lots of changes and rhythms but few words to go with them, only this gimmick thing :"Sing it to me in tune you sing, sing it to me in time again..." So I went down to Mary-Noelle's and told her, as clichéd as it may sound, that I wanted to write something about life & love. I knew she'd come up with something special, with meaning, and fitting perfectly with the melodies. Which she did =)

Only a few months later I started working on the recording of We Are Life & Love, about 4 years ago, and it is this first version which we used on the album. I re-did the guitars and vocals later, but we kept the original orchestration untouched. We Are Life & Love sings about the songs we love, the ones that live through the ages, the ones we love more and more as we grow along with them. So here it is, I hope you'll like it, hopefully the album as well. Listen to it here and get a copy of the album here.

We even made a concept out of it last summer with the "We Are Life & Love Tour (de Paris)", 3 days, 3 itineraries of live performances in the streets of Paris. Check it out here.

Wait there is more!