The-Dream Appointed Executive VP of A&R at Def Jam

The multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer talks new title, upcoming projects and more.

The-Dream made his name producing a formidable catalog of hits for artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Mariah Carey, and now he's stepping into a new role where he'll be grooming the next generation of stars. The singer/songwriter/producer has been appointed the executive vice president of A&R at Def Jam Records.
In the new position, The-Dream will be responsible for recruiting new talent as well as overseeing the label's current roster. He will also produce music for Def Jam artists and expand his own Radio Killa Records imprint.
“I am committed as I have been previously to bringing the power of belief in the artist back to the forefront,” The-Dream said in a statement. “I share a unique view of an artist and as well as the business of music. I, with the help of many others, have ran a successful business for the last five years in the midst of the ‘Digital Change.’ My concentration and effort will be to the artist to succeed in their dreams and goals. I’ve been a part of watching and participating in the success of many great women and men, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion to name a few. Music means more than just a download, it’s life to the culture and also the people who listen. This is a new exciting yet critical time for music — ’You Meet Change with Change!’”
Barry Weiss, Chairman and CEO of Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown, added that he views The-Dream as a unique asset. “The-Dream is a gifted songwriter and producer who writes from a unique cultural point of view. This rare ability sets him apart from all other writers and producers out there.”
Projects currently on the hitmaker's slate include new albums from Rihanna and Pusha-T as well as his own long anticipated fourth album The Love IV.

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Pharrell Hits the Studio With Jay-Z and Frank Ocean

The producer is collaborating with his hip hop brothers.

Famed rapper and producer Pharrell Williams announced that he's back in the studio with Jay-Z andFrank Ocean. As he watched Jay's headlining Barclays concert, featuring a duet with Beyonce, the i am OTHER creator tweeted the news.

"Can't wait for y'all to hear what I'm working on with big bro @S_C_ and lil bro @frank_ocean," posted the star.

There's no word whether the trio is doing a joint album or just a single. Jay and PhaReal, as he sometimes calls himself, released the party track, "I Just Wanna Love U" back in 2000 and, more recently, the producer celeb did "Sweet Life" with Ocean.

However, Pharrell has quite a few additional collaborative records lined up, including one with Mac Millercalled Pink Slime and God Unwilling with Lupe Fiasco. The music mogul and entrepreneur continues to push his success through multiple ventures.

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Big Sean Calls Sex Tapes "The New Mixtapes"

The rapper had considered releasing his own.

Making an appearance at Temple University's Homecoming, rapper Big Sean stopped by Philly's Hot 107.9 to talk about the recent release of his new mixtape, Detroit. Prepping for his second studio album, Hall Of Fame, the G.O.O.D. Music star claims he doesn't care about meeting other people's expectations when it comes to his music, but joked that he would've taken X-rated measures to promote himself if his mixtape hadn't performed well. Thankfully, it did.

"If it didn't do good, which it did, I was just going to drop a sex tape. Because sex tapes are the new mixtapes," explained the rising hip hop celeb.

The performer also debunked rumors that he had a sex tape with Nicki Minaj. After the two collaborated on Sean's "Dance (A$$)," he joked to Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club that Nicki felt his "Big Sean" and rumors flew that he had a sex tape of the two getting it in. The rapper eventually explained that he doesn't have an X-rated film with Nicki and that the two are just friends.

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Chris Brown: I'm In Love With Two Women

Breezy says he's "stressed" over his conflicting feelings for Rihanna and Karrueche Tran in new film short.

Did anyone really think the Chris Brown/Rihanna/Karreuche Tran saga would die down after yesterday'sstatement from Breezy that he was splitting with Tran to pursue his "friendship" with Rih Rih? We certainly didn't. And sure enough, earlier today, in a bizarre turn, Brown released a short film clip confessing the love triangle.
The video, directed by David Alan, shows a candid Brown talking to the camera in the back seat of a car, interspersed with pictures of him, Rihanna and Karrueche. "I'm a little drunk so I'm going to be honest," Brown says. "I'm stressed out. You share a history with somebody, then you tend to fall in love with somebody else and it's kind of difficult. Is there a such thing as loving two people? I don't know if it's possible, but I feel like that... I'm being real. I don't want to hurt either. I'm not trying to be a player, I'm not trying be a dog, none of that. My moms raised me different... It's too much sometimes."
If tweets are any judge, Karrueche seemed hurt by Chris' video. An hour after the clip emerged, she tweeted, "Wtf is going on? All I'm saying is...you don't mess with people's genuine feelings. You just don't! Life moves on. So let's all."
The surprisingly candid video also contradicts the tweet Rihanna posted just an hour before, seemingly asking for privacy: "Ain't nobody bidness... but mine and my baby!"
Sorry, Rih Rih: Thanks to Breezy's TMI video, it's the world's business now. Click here to check it out, and tell us what you think in the comments below.

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Roscoe Dash Expecting Payment for Co-Writing Kanye West Song

After not receiving proper credit, rapper says issue is being corrected.

Roscoe Dash is clearing the air after he made headlines recently for claiming that he wrote songs for Kanye West and Wale for which he never received credit. In an interview with Sway on Sway in the Morning, Dash gave an update on where the situation stands with both artists.
The 22-year-old rapper from Atlanta said he co-wrote the song "To the World" from the G.O.O.D. Music album Cruel Summer, but was left out of the credits. After first discovering the omission, Dash vented his frustration on Twitter.
"Can't do favors for n----s bcuz no matter how humble and generous u r to ppl n----s will take everything u have ... Even n----s u look up to," he wrote.
According to Dash, the record label has since told him he was left out on accident.
"I felt like if there was some type of error, some typo or whatever, I felt like they should have reached out to me and let me know that. You know what I’m saying? So for me to get all hyped up because I knew the project was coming out and be like, 'Aww man, I can’t wait to get home and support it.' For me to go support it and see that I wasn’t a part of it just made me feel some type of way," he said.
Dash said the situation is currently being worked out and that he expects to be paid for the work.
Similarly, the "All the Way Turnt Up" rapper said miscommunication led to him going uncredited for co-writing the chorus to "Lotus Flower Bomb," Wale's hit single with Miguel. Dash said he talked to Wale about the situation for the first time recently and that the Maybach Music rapper simply didn't remember that the two had written the song together.
"When I talked to him about it, he said 'I didn't know you wrote it. If you wrote it then I'm gonna make sure you get what you need to get for it," Dash said.
"When I said something about it, it wasn’t for the attention," he added, referring to his decision to be vocal about his difficulties on Twitter. "It wasn’t for any type of publicity…it was really because I feel like there’s so many people who wanna do what we do and feel like they can do what we do and it’s easy…And they don’t really know half of the things we really go through so I just wanted to put that out there for them to see that firsthand."
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Cee Lo Green: Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey Feud Is Bogus

The Voice star thinks drama is a ploy to boost ratings on American Idol.

Everyone's talking about Nicki Minaj vs. Mariah Carey at American Idol, but is the backstage drama for real or something that's been drummed up to boost ratings? That's the question that was posed to competing reality singing competition judge Cee Lo Green yesterday, and the "Forget You" singer is just a little bit skeptical.
"This is Hollywood, California. Hardly anything's legit," Cee Lo said of the ongoing fracas when caught byTMZ. Yesterday, Mariah Carey called Barbara Walters of The View and said she had hired extra securityafter Nicki allegedly threatened to shoot her.
While all the extra attention to Idol surely won't harm ratings, Cee Lo said that he's not worried that the high drama will distract from his own show on NBC, The Voice.
"I'm not intimidated," he said. " I think it's entertainment for everybody."

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Roc the Mic: Jay-Z's Illest Live Moments

Tonight (October 5), Jay-Z closes out his epic eight-show run at Brooklyn's brand-spanking-new Barclays Center, which he's part owner of. It'll be another triumphant night in a career full of them: Hov's live shows, filled with hits, all-star guests and landmark moments, are the stuff hip hop history is made of. Here, in honor of Jay's latest win, we run down his biggest onstage moments. Click on — it's a whole lot cheaper than a Barclays skybox. —Alex Gale

Nicki Minaj: I Didn’t Threaten to Shoot Mariah Carey

The Young Money star denies reports she made violent threats on American Idol set.

Following her heated behind the scenes argument with Nicki Minaj at an American Idol audition earlier this week, Mariah Carey called in to Barbara Walters of The View this morning with a claim that Nicki had threatened her with violence. The Grammy-winning singer repeated a claim — previously made, anddisputed, by people in her camp — that Minaj was overheard saying "If I had a gun I would shoot the b---h."
Carey told Walters that the incident made her "very concerned" and "uncomfortable emotionally." She said that in response to the alleged threat she has hired extra security.
Yesterday, when news of the fight first broke, American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe told TMZ that the charges that Nicki threatened Mariah were simply untrue.
"The statement [that Nicki made a death threat] is absolute rubbish.  It's absolutely not true in any way, shape or form," he said.
After the statements on The View, the Harajuku Barbie took to Twitter to mount her own defense.

"Hey yAll. Lets just say nicki said smthn about a gun. ppl will believe it cuz she's a black rapper. Lmao. I'll then hit up Barbara n milk it," she wrote. "Ironically no camera or mic heard the gun comment tho. Lol @ the struggle. Not even the producers believed u. Say no to violence barbz."

Producers had reportedly managed to broker a peace between the two proud pop stars yesterday, but apparently all is still not well in Idol land.

"I thought we resolved it yesterday but I see u want ur pity party to continue," Minaj wrote.

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The Top 10 Los Angeles Anthems

Dr. Dre, Game and Snoop Dogg may have crowned Kendrick Lamar the new king of L.A., but they all had one thing that he doesn't — a true hometown anthem. Until now. Earlier this week, K-Dot leaked "Compton," a triumphant duet with Dre produced by Just Blaze. "Ain't no city quite like mine," the hook declares, before morphing into a Roger Troutman–inspired vocoder outro. Here, inspired by Kendrick and his upcoming major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, we're counting down the top 10 L.A. anthems to standd the test of time. Get your W's ready. —Alex Gale

Creed Frontman Says T.I. Saved His Life

Rock star Scott Stapp recalls how Tip rescued him from suicide attempt.

T.I. isn't just a rapper and an actor, he's also a life saver. The King of the South single-handedly rescuedScott Stapp, frontman for the alt/Christian rock band Creed, from a suicide attempt, according to the rocker's new memoir.

Stapp had been on a binge at the Delano hotel in Miami when he climbed over the balcony in his room and fell 40 feet, fracturing his skull and enduring other injuries. He lay bleeding on the terrace of the hotel below him for two-and-a-half hours until a man walked in and discovered him.

"A guardian angel showed up and it was the rapper T.I.," Stapp said in an interview about the memoir with VH1. "He immediately took care of the situation and saved my life."

Stapp said he and Tip had met a few years earlier recording songs inspired by The Passion of the Christ. They bonded over their shared love of Alabama football and the link resurfaced in their chance meeting that night at the hotel room.

“As I’m laying on the ledge, blood fell to [T.I.'s] feet and he looked up and he had an Alabama hat on and I said, ‘Roll tide,’” Stapp recalled. “And then he looked at me and put two and two together and really saved my life."

Remarkably, this isn't the first time T.I. has intervened to prevent a suicide. In 2010, he talked a man off a ledge in Atlanta after he happened to observe crowds gathering outside a 2-story building.

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