Chuck D and Sway
Photo: Dave Goodson

Since revealing our list of the Greatest Hip-Hop Groups of All Time, fans and artists have been telling us exactly what they think. Now we've compiled a new list — the Greatest Hip-Hop Groups of All Time: Reactions and Recollections.

(Click here for our top 10 plus the honorable mentions that the Brain Trust couldn't quite agree on.)

So many hip-hop heavyweights sounded off on our latest list that we broke up the reactions into two parts. Check back on Wednesday for some words from Nas, the Game, Erick Sermon and more. But first up, we talked to the remaining members of our top pick, Run-DMC. You might be surprised that one of the MCs doesn't agree with our #1, but they're both pumped.

(See Run-DMC's Run hook up with Public Enemy's Chuck D and share their perspectives on the big list.)

"Every day I'm competing with life, trying to make great things happen," said Run-DMC's Rev Run. "My energy is always up, trying to make something new happen for me, my brother, my family, my friends. This is great. Another win. I'm a competitive person, so to hear I'm #1, this is great. ... But you never know what can happen. Sometimes Public Enemy, they're #1 on people's list. Thank God this time I'm #1."

"How does it feel to be a part of the greatest group ever? It's a really good feeling," Run's partner DMC gushed when he heard about the top spot. "Wow, that's big. To me, the greatest group ever was the Cold Crush Brothers, but that was before records. Cold Crush over Run-DMC, for sure! Their mixtape in '82 was the greatest thing me and Run ever heard. The reason why Run-DMC was so def, I was going to school up in Harlem [New York] and would buy Cold Crush tapes for $8. Me and Run knew if we gonna be in this game, we gotta be better than that. That's why we made 'Here We Go,' 'It's Tricky.' Our records were routines. That's why we're so tight onstage. We took it from them. I told Grandmaster Caz, 'If there weren't no Cold Crush, we might not have been def.' I mean, we were still going to be def, but it was on that level. ... I could give a lot of props to [Grandmaster] Flash & the Furious Five, Treacherous Three, Funky Four + 1.'

"Grandmaster Flash, [with] Jam Master Jay, we took [the 'Master' name] from him," Run added about the trio's other inspirations. "[Cold Crush] put us so high as if we did so much, but we got all that from Tony Tone; it came from Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Somebody once said we weren't old school — we were the liaison from old school to new school. I love that. We're the middle. We took some of their styles and made it popular. Cold Crush, Fantastic Five, Funky Four + 1. A little bit of Kool Moe Dee and them."

As much as groups before them influenced Run-DMC, the trio definitely had an impact on the hip-hop acts that followed them.

"I would not be mad if Public Enemy went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before me," DMC said. "Chuck D is my idol. The sound, the voice. Chuck said the reason he was so tough was because he studied Run-DMC albums. If you look at great groups live, it started with Cold Crush, then Run-DMC, then Public Enemy. Chuck was older than us. He used to say he would sit at the side of the stage with Eric B. when we were touring together. They would stick around to see our show, and Eric would tell Chuck, 'There's no way we could f--- with that.' I can't comprehend the accolades we get." Run said that on the road, he, DMC and JMJ came up with their best project ever, 1986's Raising Hell. "I remember we wrote it on the road during [the] King of Rock [era]. And because we were on the road together, we were around each other even more. We had a tour, Fresh Fest. That album came out the best because we were together the most during that time. I'll come up with a flow or D would come up with a flow. Take for instance 'It's Like That.' I came up with 'It's like that' and D came back the next day saying, 'And that's the way it is.' "

Through Raising Hell, Run-DMC may have gained their most success, but their entire body of work cements their legendary status.

"In the rap game, bringing black and white people together with 'Rock Box,' 'King of Rock' and 'Walk This Way,' " Run said about Run-DMC's greatest contribution to hip-hop. "I guess that's the biggest thing we did: brought more people together other than just the 'hood. We showed that music is universal and we could collaborate. It was a show of unity."

MTV News talked to a few members of our other greatest groups too. Ever so humble, Outkast are grateful just to be felt.

"Thank you for putting us on the list," Andre 3000 said. We appreciate it."

"It's an honor knowing people appreciate what you do," Big Boi chipped in. "Most of the time, we just leave it up the fans, we don't trip on the ratings or nothing like that. People ask us all the time, but there were many before us, like Run-DMC on down to EPMD, so you really can't knock them out. Without them, there would be no us. For people to be into what we're doing still is great."

Chuck D is cool with our list — for the most part — but he said the Beastie Boys and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five should have absolutely been in the top 10.

"Y'all need the Beasties on there, man," Chuck said with a smile. "And Flash, they're getting ready to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... N.W.A brought a lot of different personalities. Cube is one of the greatest MCs of all time, if not the greatest. Then you have Dre. Number one, you've got [N.W.A's] Ren, who is like the Scottie Pippen of rap, who never ever got the respect he deserved. Run-DMC, they're the Beatles. [Public Enemy], we call ourselves the Rolling Stones. De La Soul is the Who. ... Fugees, incredible group. Nobody put together the actual dynamics like Wyclef and Lauryn. Everybody could do their own things, but it's noting like coming together as a team."

You want to see Justin Timberlake flip out of his usual lovable character, try disrespecting one of his favorite groups ever, A Tribe Called Quest. JT had gotten some bad info that Tribe were not in the top 10, and it didn't sit so well with him. ("Tribe better be on that top 10, that's all I'm saying," Timberlake said. "That's all I'm sayin'!").

He was cool with #1 and #2 though. "Run-DMC, N.W.A, it's crazy how much [music] is thrown back to groups like that," Timberlake said. "You're talking to a white boy from Tennessee. I used to listen to them all the time. That's how's you know it's not just a cultural thing; it's a worldwide thing, hip-hop. Outkast, I remember I was 14 years old and had [the 1994 Outkast album] Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and played it all the time, from front to back. My whole generation is influenced by groups like that. I don't know what it's worth for me to talk about it. Maybe you should talk to somebody like Jay-Z or Kanye West. I'm a singer, but these groups, they inspired a certain swagger that comes along with my music as well."

We took Justin's advice and got in touch with Mr. West too. Kanye wasn't afraid to admit he was influenced by some of the groups on the list. "I used to love [Public Enemy]," 'Ye said. "More so than PE having an impact on me, it was my parents having an impact on me. [My parents' teachings] connected with the stuff [Public Enemy] were doing. I could play that music for my father, and even though they would curse sometimes, he'd be into it because it was about making some type of change. I think Tribe is my favorite group of all time. Pharcyde, I like them a lot. Far Ride to the Pharcyde is my favorite rap album period.

"[Outkast at #4], I think it's incredible that a group that is so young ... for them to be ranked so high," Kanye added. "They impacted me. We have a lot of similarities: trying to make a different sound; not making stuff for the radio but for the people; being very stylish and understanding that's a part of hip-hop. Big Boi is dope-boy fresh. I don't think people understand how fresh Big Boi is. He was the first to wear throwback jerseys.

"Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time," Kanye continued. "We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that."

Guru from Gang Starr gave props to our #7 act, EPMD, for not only boosting his group, but for always coming with something fresh. "They were one of the first to stand out with in-house production," Guru remembered. "Their production went right along with their flow. It was all in house. They were some of the first with that slow flow that really made a difference in the game. Second of all, those dudes were instrumental in snatching Gang Starr and bringing us on tour with them, similar to what Gang Starr did for M.O.P. Even though we weren't getting the marketing and promotion, they felt us and brought us on tour. We were on tour with them, the only ones without a tour bus. They made constant classics. It was the epitome of a two-man group — similar to Run-DMC, where the voices were different but similarly powerful."

Check back on Wednesday for more reactions to the controversial list.

• Greatest Hip-Hop Groups Of All Time
• Greatest Hip-Hop Groups: The Postgame

• Kanye West
• Justin Timberlake
• OutKast
• Run-D.M.C.
• Public Enemy

Omarion's <I>21</I>
Photo: Sony Music

Well, Axl Rose didn't make good on his holiday promise: delivering Chinese Democracy before the end of the year. But a few artists — and by "few" we mean "not many" — are rushing in their efforts before last call ends in 2006. Omarion, Matisyahu, Switchfoot and the rest of the Forget-Me-Nots are hoping you haven't put your year-end top-10 lists in ink just yet.

But while those artists will be duking it out in the CD racks this week, expect another item to soak up a lot of the attention: Good Charlotte's "Fast Future Generation" DVD. The band is hoping consumers pick up the long-awaited flick when they make their post-Christmas returns Tuesday (December 26) — after all, fans have been waiting for the film since it premiered at Sundance way back in January.

While we won't know for another week who's going to be entering 2007 with a smile and who'll be mumbling "good riddance, 2006" under their breath, we do have some new year's resolutions to offer each of them:

Good Charlotte's "Fast Future Generation" DVD: No, this isn't their take on "Fast Food Nation" — it's a rockumentary immortalizing the band's 12-day tour through Japan in September 2005. Stitching together concert footage with the Madden brothers and the gang on the streets of Tokyo and beyond, the DVD was directed by Nylon magazine Editor in Chief Marvin Scott Jarrett. Featured songs include "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "The Anthem" and "Predictable," sung in Japanese.

New Year's Resolution: Get that Good Morning Revival LP out in March — with or without exclamation point.

Omarion's 21: The gist of the ex-B2K singer's new LP is that he's all grown up, but there's actually a second implication to the title: It's the highest number in blackjack, a game the classily dressed O appears ready to play on the album cover. Pre-release contests involved a phone call from O and autographed copies of the CD, but everyone will be able to enjoy production by Pharrell and Bryan-Michael Cox, as well as songs like "Made for TV," "Ice Box" and "What Are We Doing."

New Year's Resolution: Don't forget to bring copies of 21 on the road during the Scream Tour with Yung Joc and Ne-Yo.

Matisyahu's No Place to Be: If Israel is no place to be, then why are you releasing a CD/DVD package immortalizing your concert there? Why, Matis, why? Well, actually, the audio portion of the set encompasses four new studio recordings and three fresh remixes, while the 90-minute video has a show shot in Tel Aviv coupled with interviews and street performances the Hasidic MC staged in Jerusalem. The CD boasts a few production luminaries too: dance-hall kings Sly & Robbie, avant-garde master Bill Laswell and even a remix churned out by Texas' esteemed Swishahouse rap label.

New Year's Resolution: Maintain kitsch factor while not becoming a jam-band-festival mainstay and addressing the Israel/Palestine conflict without ticking too many people off. Now that's called walking a tightrope.

Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity: "Like a puppet on a monetary string/ Maybe we've been caught singing/ Red, white, blue and green/ But that ain't my American dream." That's not a bad stanza from singer/songwriter Jon Foreman, and one you'll hear on "American Dream," featured on his band's sixth LP. The San Diego quartet is hoping production by Tim Palmer (U2, Pearl Jam), executive production by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band) and songs like "Faust, Midas, and Myself" and "Burn Out Bright" do the trick.

New Year's Resolution: Stay spiritual but distance themselves from soft Christian artists like Matt Redman and Steven Curtis Chapman, who also have LPs dropping this week. This is another tightrope, albeit a slightly thicker one thanks to the success of acts like P.O.D.

Various artists' The Family Values Tour 2006: Feeling Korny? Look no further than the CD and DVD surrounding this year's umpteenth metal festival, which features them alongside loud-rocking partners Deftones, Flyleaf, Deadsy, 10 Years, Dir en Grey and Stone Sour. The CD features those much-discussed guest-vocal appearances paid by Deftones' Chino Moreno, Stone Sour's Corey Taylor and Army of Anyone's Robert Patrick during Korn's sets, while the DVD chips in dressing-room footage, bandmember chats and outtakes.

New Year's Resolution: Perform in an airborne jet. Get a street named after them. Record "Unplugged." Oh wait, they did all that this year. New resolution: Get some rest.

N.W.A's - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge: Seventeen classics by the trailblazing rappers are cobbled together to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary. But the real news here is the deluxe edition: It's hitched with a bonus DVD corralling unreleased interviews with Ice Cube and DJ Yella, not to mention a spicy unissued clip capturing Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Yella and MC Ren arguing in the studio. Videos and "street" versions of four tracks cap off the disc.

New Year's Resolution: Go spelunking for more unreleased songs to tack onto future collections and reissues.

Various artists' 15 Years on Death Row: Tangentially related to the above — both packages feature epistles by noted writer Soren Baker — this one culls 13 previously released tracks by Tupac, Snoop and Dr. Dre. The deluxe version of this release also has a DVD, but all 14 clips have already seen the light of day.

New Year's Resolution: See above.

Gang Starr's Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr: Also featuring notes by Baker and also available in deluxe form with a DVD, this set pulls together two songs originally released on soundtracks, so there's at least something rare here. The DVD has 11 videos by the hip-hop duo.

New Year's Resolution: Sigh — see above again.

Incognito's Bees + Things + Flowers: Just when you thought there wasn't any lovin' left for acid jazz ... London's long-running jazz/soul/funk project sinks its teeth into songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Roy Ayers and America this time around, chalking up three new songs and fresh versions of four vintage Incognito tracks while they're at it. A 16-piece string section ices the cake.

New Year's Resolution: Try not to be so incognito.

Song Title of the Week:

"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" from Matt Redman's Beautiful News

New Releases:

· Incognito - Bees + Things + Flowers (Narada Jazz) · Matisyahu - No Place to Be (with DVD of live material; Epic/Or/J-Dub) [Buy Now] · Omarion - 21 (Epic/ Sony Urban) [Buy Now] Read: "Boy To Man: Omarion Grows Up On The 'Personal' 21" · Matt Redman - Beautiful News (Sparrow) · Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity (Columbia) [Buy Now] Read: "Life, Death, Social Entropy? Switchfoot Get Weighty On Oh! Gravity" · Various artists - The Family Values Tour 2006 (Firm)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Steven Curtis Chapman - Now & Then (Sparrow) · Barbara Cook - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Earth, Wind & Fire - Beautiful Ballads (Columbia/Legacy) · Enigma - Love Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collection (Virgin/ EMI Music Catalog Marketing) · Gang Starr - Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr (deluxe edition with DVD also available; Capitol/ EMI Music Catalog Marketing) · John Hammond - Southern Fried (Water) · Julio Iglesias - Romantic Classics (Burgundy) · Gladys Knight - Beautiful Ballads (Columbia/Legacy) · Isley Brothers - Beautiful Ballads, Vol. 2 (T-Neck/Legacy) · Patti LaBelle - Beautiful Ballads (Epic/Legacy) · Angela Lansbury - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · N.W.A - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge (deluxe version with DVD also available; Capitol/Priority) [Buy Now] · O'Jays - Beautiful Ballads (Epic/Legacy) · Bernadette Peters - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Chita Rivera - Legends of Broadway (Sony Classics) · Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - The Real Deal Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Epic/ Sony Legacy) · Various artists - 15 Years on Death Row (two CDs; version with DVD also available; Death Row) · Various artists - Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky (Capitol)

Music DVDs:

· Good Charlotte - "Fast Future Generation" (Epic/Daylight) Read: "Good Charlotte's 'Future' And Jennifer Aniston's 'Friends' Get Sundance Started" · Guns N' Roses - "DVD Collector's Box" (MVD Video) · Various artists - "The Family Values Tour 2006" (Firm)

Coming Attractions:

January 2: · Carly Simon - Into White (Columbia) · Unwritten Law - The Hit List (Rocket Science) [Buy Now] · Various artists - L-Tunes: Music From and Inspired by "The L-Word" (Columbia)

January 9: · Green Day - 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (enhanced; Reprise) and Kerplunk (Reprise) [Buy Now] · Mario - Go! (J) [Buy Now] · Mos Def - Tru3 Magic (Geffen) [Buy Now]

January 16: · America - Here & Now (Burgundy) · The Smithereens - Meet the Smithereens! (Koch) · Various artists - "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" soundtrack (Atlantic)

• Good Charlotte
• Omarion
• Matisyahu
• Switchfoot
• N.W.A.

Ozzy Osbourne has been taken out of the Wexham Park Hospital intensive-care unit and placed in a private clinic to recuperate from the injuries he sustained in an ATV crash on December 8, according to a statement from the Osbournes. The former wildman of rock fractured his collarbone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck in the accident, which occurred on his Buckinghamshire estate in southern England. Last week, Sharon Osbourne said it would probably take Ozzy six months to fully recover. ...

Hip-hop's greatest storyteller, Slick Rick, will headline his own "Welcome Home" concert in Brooklyn, New York, on January 9. The old-school icon was recently freed from an INS detention center after 17 months while he awaited deportation. Several of Slick Rick's legendary peers are expected to perform at the event but none have yet been confirmed. ... Gang Starr's DJ Premier and Guru are sorting through tracks for a greatest-hits collection due next year. In 1999, the seminal hip-hop duo released the double-disc Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr, but this collection would include newer tracks, B-sides, remixes and at least one new track. ...

Perhaps inspired by all those Priceline.com commercials, in which he sang alongside established rockers, William Shatner is working on a new music album, and he's beaming up some talented artists, including Henry Rollins and Joe Jackson, to help him out. Ben Folds will produce the project, which will likely come out next year. The former Starship Enterprise captain has been in Nashville recording the LP and recently weighed in on the project via his Web site: "I am attempting excellence in music. I feel like I'm almost there, but I'll have to wait for all of you to tell me if I have reached excellence or not." ... Singer/guitarist Justin Hawkinsof British hair metal revivalists the Darkness will address England on MTV Europe on Christmas Day at 3 p.m., the same time the queen of England delivers a speech to her subjects on BBC1. Over the past year, the Darkness have become rock icons across Europe; in North America they remain an acquired taste. ...

On the heels of Rob Halford's return to the band, Judas Priest will release a box set called Metalogy on March 9. The box will feature three or four CDs and may include a live DVD. Judas Priest are working on new material with Halford as well. Tim Owens, who sang on the last two Priest records, is now a member of Iced Earth, whose new album, The Glorious Burden, will be released January 13. ... Murderdolls singer Wednesday 13 will launch a line of merchandise next year that will include shirts, bags, stickers and patches. The product line will feature "The Thirteen Dead Kids" logo, cartoon renderings of 13 dead children drawn in red and black. Wednesday 13 came up with the idea during the downtime that followed this year's tours with Iron Maiden and Stone Sour. ...

The Presidents of the United States of America are re-releasing their self-titled debut album (featuring "Lump" and "Peaches") with five bonus tracks (including a new song called "Some Postman") and a DVD. Titled Extra Super Double Bonus Thrill Pack, the collection is due February 16. ...

12.22.03

Someone alert The Source. Eminem has a secret side of him that many of his fans would be surprised to see: sketch artist. Eminem's uncle, Todd Nelson, is putting up for auction a number of pencil drawings and sketches (and lyrics) the rapper apparently created between the ages of 16 and 19. The items are being sold through a Chicago auction house in the spring. ...

Ruben Studdard has settled his lawsuit against 205 Flava Inc., which he claimed unfairly profited by using his unauthorized image to sell clothing through its Web site. The clothing company, which responded by revealing that it paid the singer to wear 205 jerseys on "American Idol," thus violating rules of the show, has been negotiating with Studdard since November and will now partner with 19 Entertainment, the company behind "American Idol," to license and market its clothes. Neither party would reveal exact details of the settlement. ... DMX is set to produce and star in two new movies, adding to an already impressive résumé that includes roles in "Cradle 2 the Grave" and "Exit Wounds." Hollywood's premiere Ruff Rider will battle a Hong Kong gang leader in "Past Tense" and play an architect in "Winners." ...

A new batch of punks has been added to the lineup of the next Vans Warped Tour, including Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, NOFX, Thursday, Lillix, From Autumn to Ashes, Bad Religion, Story of the Year, Yellowcard and Bouncing Souls. The 10th anniversary of the tour will launch June 24 in Houston. ... AFI are bringing Coheed and Cambria, A Static Lullaby and Thursday around with them for a tour that starts February 18. Coheed and ASL will open through February 24, with Thursday filling in for the latter February 25 through March 9. More dates are expected to be added. ...

In a series of interactive Nokia commercials leading up to the 2004 Sugar Bowl (January 4), Snoop Dogg will try to discover which celebrity guest is trying to steal the championship trophy. Fans who help Snoop uncover the criminal will have the opportunity to win prizes that include Nokia phones, a trip to the 2005 Sugar Bowl, or the grand prize of $100,000. The commercials, which were directed by Guy Ritchie, will start airing Saturday. ... On Friday, Kevin Eckenrod was sentenced to 25 months in prison for impersonating Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti. He was arrested and charged in April for stealing more than $1,000 while kissing a misinformed Creed fan. The 40-year-old swindler has a criminal record of keeping over 30 aliases, and has amassed more than 60 criminal charges in Florida within the last 10 years. ...

Henry Rollins will launch a spoken-word tour called Shock and Awe My Ass on January 13 in Tempe, Arizona. The 32-date trek ends February 29 in Asheville, North Carolina. ... After Powerman 5000's 1999 album, Tonight the Stars Revolt, the band recorded a caustic, explosive metal album called Anyone for Doomsday? but decided not to release it weeks before it was to hit shelves. More than two years later, frontman Spider seems to have had a change of heart, and Powerman are now selling the album on their Web site. In a post, Spider wrote, " 'Bombshell,' the original single from Anyone for Doomsday?, has reared its head in several movie soundtracks and compilations and has even become the theme song for WWE wrestling stars the Dudley Boys. This monster refused to die, and it became clear to me that it is finally time to unleash these tracks for our diehard powerfans." ... The Shins will ring in the new year with 14 U.S. tour dates beginning January 31 in Seattle. The outing, which starts in London on January 20, is bookended by two television appearances ("Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"). ...

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Slick Rick
• Gang Starr
• Henry Rollins
• Judas Priest

Releasing a solo album isn't exactly a dangerous move for Destiny's Child singer Beyoncé Knowles, whose guest star-studded debut, Dangerously in Love, was pushed forward two weeks in an effort to quash piracy. The disc features appearances by Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Luther Vandross, Sean Paul and Big Boi of Outkast.

Beyoncé isn't the only artist this week to release a disc pumped with guest spots.Eclectic funk-hop group the Black Eyed Peas test both ends of the sonic spectrum on their second record, Elephunk, recruiting Justin Timberlake and hard rockers Papa Roach.

Former indie darling Liz Phair makes the full transition from naughty hipster to foul-mouthed Sheryl Crow wannabe on her fourth album, Liz Phair, which features lyrics such as "You feel like my favorite underwear/ And I'm slipping you on again tonight." R&B singer Blu Cantrell, who once slipped out of her underwear for a photo session that ran in Blacktail, magazine, worked with Lil' Kim, Fat Joe and Sean Paul on Bittersweet.

The Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium is a fiery prog-rock concept album about a man who overdoses and slips into a coma. The group features former At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler (vocals) and Omar Rodriguez (guitar). Another sonically extreme disc is the Locust's Plague Soundscapes, which features 23 short and turbulent songs that may cause ear-bleeding.

Son Volt member Jay Farrar's third solo album, Terroir Blues, pokes the gray matter and pulls the heartstrings with a mix of experimental instrumentals and alt-country laments. S.T.U.N., an energetic California political punk band whose name stands for Scream Towards the Uprising of Nonconformity, lash out at complacency on Evolution of Energy.

Now let's take a look at what else is scrambling for your hard-earned cash.

Out Tuesday, June 24:

• Becky Baeling - Becstacy (Universal)
• Beyoncé - Dangerously in Love (Columbia)
  Read: "Beyonce Pushes Up Release Date Of Solo Debut"
  Buy Now: Dangerously in Love (Columbia)
• Black Eyed Peas - Elephunk (Interscope)
  Read: "Black Eyed Peas Exhibit New Breed Of Elephunk On Upcoming LP"
  Buy Now: Elephunk (Interscope)
• Michelle Branch - Hotel Paper (Maverick)
  Read: "Michelle Branch Ignores Sophomore Jinx Like She Ignored Death Threats"
  Buy Now: Hotel Paper (Maverick)
• Blu Cantrell - Bittersweet (Arista)
• Cash Kola - Life in General (Wonder Boy)
• Brian Culbertson - Come on Up (Warner Bros.)
• Delerium - Chimera (Nettwerk)
• Dixie Witch - One Bird, Two Stones (Small Stone)
• Entombed - Inferno (Koch/Music for Nations)
• Everman - Everman (BEC/Tooth & Nail)
• Jay Farrar - Terroir Blues (Act/Resist/Artemis)
• Gang Starr - The Ownerz (Virgin)
  Read: "Gang Starr Returning With Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, Fat Joe"
  Buy Now: The Ownerz (Virgin)
• Harry Gregson-Williams - "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" score (DreamWorks)
• Iconz - Ya Lookin' at 'Em (Koch/In the Paint)
• Javon Jackson - Easy Does It (Palmetto)
• KRS-One - Kristyles (Kela/In the Paint)
• The Locust - Plague Soundscapes (Anti/Epitaph)
• Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Beneath (Koch)
• Lumidee - Almost Famous (Universal)
• The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (GSL/Strummer/Universal)
• Michael McDonald - Motown (Motown)
• Allison Moorer - Show (Universal South)
• Motion City Soundtrack - I Am the Movie (Epitaph)
• Willie Nelson & Friends - Live and Kickin' (Lost Highway)
• Liz Phair - Liz Phair (Capitol)
  Buy Now: Liz Phair (Capitol)
• S.T.U.N. - Evolution of Energy (Geffen)
  Read: "S.T.U.N. Count Down To Revolution"
  Buy Now: Evolution of Energy (Geffen)
• Three 6 Mafia - Da Unbreakables (Hypnotize Minds/Columbia)
• Ui - Answers (Southern)
• Vendetta Red - Between the Never and the Now (Epic)
• Watashi Wa - The Love of Life (Tooth & Nail)
• Various Artists - "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" soundtrack (Columbia)
  Read: "New Tracks From Nas, Pink, Nickelback On 'Charlie's Angels' Disc"
• Various Artists - RAGGA Originators Round 2 (Jammin/Lightyear)
• Various Artists - Salsa Around the World (Putumayo)
• Various Artists - World's Greatest Air Guitar Album (Hollywood)

July 15:

• Da Brat - Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz (So So Def/Arista)
  Read: "Da Brat Discusses Pain Of Past Breakups, Goes To 'Chuch' On New LP"

• Beyoncé
• Black Eyed Peas
• Michelle Branch
• Gang Starr
• Da Brat

Gang Starr
Photo: Gregg Delman

Guru and DJ Premier have been moonlighting on separate projects for the past five years, but now that the two longtime friends are back together as Gang Starr, it's "like a homecoming," Guru says.

"You went on your little vacation, but you come back home with a bunch of skills and other things to add to the table," the MC explained Wednesday. "When we do Gang Starr it always gets more and more intense."

Since their last LP of all new music, 1998's Moment of Truth, the pair have kept busy with side projects like Guru's Jazzmatazz and Premier's various production jobs, never calling it quits as a collective despite many rumors. Their new album, The Ownerz, drops June 24.

"We were also making sure a lot of things were at least fairly stable at our label," Guru explained of the group's long hiatus. "It seems like every time we put a record out, there's personnel changes and all kinds of turmoil going on at whatever label we're at. At this point we're not just trying to throw a record out. We want our just due. We're still hitting a few bumps and impediments in our path, but right about now it's too serious to just sit back and let people make decisions for us. We had to put a few things on hold and talk to some people and get them in perspective."

They also had to send out invitations to some buddies they wanted on The Ownerz, including Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, Fat Joe and M.O.P.

"That was exciting for me," Guru said of working with Jada on their current single, "Right Where You Stand." A video for the cut is already playing and finds the three competing in a fight club where the weapons are words and mics, not knuckles.

"I got all the LOX stuff," Guru continued. "He's one of the forefront of the new school. That song 'Right Where You Stand,' it's sort of a way to shut the critics down who have this thought that when a rapper gets older, his stuff is wack. It's the opposite for us. That's my fountain-of-youth flow. To match it with Jada's, it's two generations on a Premo track, both killing it and coming real strong."

"I feel like with how hip-hop sounds right now, it's sort of like renting a car," Premier added, referring to the album title. "We feel like music is being driven around like a rent-a-car, it's a temporary ride. We want the long ride. I want to be able to say that I own this and I could do whatever I want with it at our own cost. We feel like we still represent the purity and tradition of real hip-hop music, so we call ourselves rightful owners. We're fiends. I like to get that fix of good hip-hop music, and a lot of it is not really present these days."

Gang Starr said they're already thinking about their next LP and plan to start recording in October. In the meantime, they'll continue to assist the plethora of upcoming artists they've taken under their wing and they'll also be working with a few established acts. Premier is gearing up to go into the studio to work on new albums by Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z.

• Gang Starr
• Snoop Dogg
• Jadakiss
• Fat Joe

Common
Photo: MCA

There probably won't be pyrotechnics or scantily clad back-up dancers at Common's upcoming Electric Circus tour— but with a bill that includes Gang Starr, rap-activist Talib Kweli and Grammy-nominated duo Floetry, special effects won't be necessary. Intelligent rhymes, raw beats and an unmitigated love of hip-hop seem to be a sure bet.

Common will be promoting his new album, Electric Circus, on the tour, which kicks off on February 26 in Washington, D.C., and wraps up in Denver, Colorado, on March 23.

Meanwhile, tourmate Talib Kweli is using the opportunity to further spread the word about his November 2002 release, Quality, as well as his new single, "Get By," for which he just shot a video in Brooklyn with director Jeremy Rall. Kweli recently returned from South Africa, where he shot another video, this time for Les Nubians' new song, "Temperature Rising."

Female R&B duo Floetry will be touring in support of their self-titled debut.

Hip-hop legends Gang Starr have yet to release their new album, The Ownerz (due in March), but they'll give audiences a taste of their new music when they perform the song "Skillz," the first single off the LP.

Common, Talib Kweli, Gang Starr and Floetry tour dates, according to an MCA label spokesperson:

• 2/26 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 2/27 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
• 2/28 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
• 3/1 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 3/2 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropole
• 3/4 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
• 3/5 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
• 3/6 - Detroit, MI @ State Theater
• 3/7 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
• 3/8 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
• 3/9 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
• 3/12 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
• 3/14 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
• 3/15 - Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
• 3/16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 3/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
• 3/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
• 3/20 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
• 3/21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cajun House
• 3/22 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
• 3/23 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium

• Common
• Gang Starr
• Talib Kweli
• Floetry

Gang Starr
Photo: Virgin

Gang Starr's man behind the mic, Guru, is contemplating a post-MCing life a couple of years down the road. He wants to spend more time raising his kids and is hoping that his independent label, Ill Kid, takes off (he's sold 100,000 copies of the label's first release, Baldhead Slick & the Click), but he still has some unfinished business.

Guru and his longtime partner, Gang Starr's sole beatmaker, DJ Premier, are gearing up to rattle the streets one more time this year, with the release of their sixth album.

"We're in the works on Gang Starr," Guru said Sunday in New York. "We got like five joints done. We're gonna have M.O.P. on there. I got one with Crumb Snatcha, he's from Boston. We got another, "Militia," on there with Bumpy Knuckles and Big Suge from Boston. A couple of other special guests, but I don't wanna mention too many. Possibly D'Angelo, though."

Guru said the LP, which is their first full-length of new material since 1998 and still untitled, won't veer too far left from the group's much-lauded beaten path.

"[We're going to have] some straight-up Gang Starr tracks, bangers. Still with the scratching [on records] and all that. You know how I like to write about certain things going on in the industry — there's still a lot of Hatorade, it's corny to me — and of course, all the things affecting brothers coming up in the streets. Being that I'm a little older and more experienced, I could see a lot of things going on and I can kick it to brothers and let them know without preaching. It's gonna be a lot of that. It's gonna be some rugged street joints. But everything's got a message with Gang Starr. Gang Starr represents three things — street knowledge, intellect and spirituality."

And while this year is all about smashing things up with his partner Premier, Guru said 2003 will see him trying another solo effort. A fourth installment of Jazzmatazz is being mapped out.

"I'm renegotiating a new deal [with Virgin records]," he said. "I wasn't happy with the way the last one was marketed and promoted. I had like seven platinum artists on my last album — they got on there not for money but because they had love for Guru. We did some slammin' albums and it was the most critically-acclaimed work outside of Gang Starr.

"That project didn't even go gold," he continued. "I put a lot of time, blood, sweat and tears in it. That's like letting someone hold your kid and they abuse your kid. I gave them my hard work and they didn't do nothing with it."

• Gang Starr
• M.O.P.

P. Diddy and David Bowie
Photo: Warner Bros.

"What's changed but the name?" P. Diddy asks in his new single, "Bad Boy For Life." Well, apparently he's also devised a new creative formula for making hits.

"No, we're not doing a remake," Diddy told MTV News earlier this month. Diddy was in his Daddy's House studio working with David Bowie on a new version of Bowie's 1985 cut "This Is Not America" for the "Training Day" soundtrack.

"I am moving forward as a producer and as an artist," PD explained. "I just don't want to sample a record and call up David and we just do the same thing and somebody raps on it. It's a totally different track."

"I'm in the studio recording with Sean," Bowie said, backing up his collaborator. "We're doing live vocals. It's not really so much like a sampling kind of affair. The first time we did it we had a lot fun, it was kind of cool, but we might as well have phoned in our performances, because it was done 2,000, 3,000 miles apart. This time, really, it's like a nice thing."

Bowie was referring to "Been Around the World," off of Puff Daddy's No Way Out LP, where Puff jacked the track from Bowie's "Let's Dance."

"This version's definitely got a menace," Bowie said of "This Is Not America." "The beats will be very interesting because it's definitely moved on from what you'd expect. There's a fast techno flavor to it. It's got an aggression to it that really reflects the movie, which I think is a good thing."

"This Is Not America" originally appeared on the soundtrack to the Sean Penn/Timothy Hutton film "The Falcon and the Snowman."

"Training Day" stars Denzel Washington as a veteran police officer trying to school his rookie partner, Ethan Hawke, about the gritty streets they watch over. The movie's director, Antoine Fuqua, suggested the Bowie/Diddy collaboration.

"He had this idea to do something that kind of followed the theme of the famous David Bowie track," PD said. "So when I listened to it, I was like, 'you know I am interested in doing it,' but I just want to do something that's now.

"And also," he added, "I wanted to make sure it helped out with the movie. 'Cause right now when people do soundtracks I just think at times it's just a bunch of records, nobody is making a record in mind for the soundtrack like it used to be."

Diddy, like the rest of us, will get to see if his peers follow his thematic cohesiveness when the soundtrack hits stores on September 11 and the movie arrives in theaters 10 days later.

Although the soundtrack is still being put together, most of the songs have been submitted. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, who also appear in the film, will be heard with "Cops DR2" and "I Can't Take It," respectively. Meanwhile, C-Murder and Trick Daddy combine for a remake of N.W.A's groundbreaking "F--- Tha Police" with "Watch the Police." The soundtrack's producers have also dug in the vault for Tupac and the Outlaw's "Letter to the Pres." Gang Starr, Pharoahe Monch, the LOX, Nelly and Cypress Hill will also be featured.

• Diddy
• David Bowie
• Snoop Dogg
• Dr. Dre
• N.W.A.

Gang Starr
Photo: MTV News

Fresh off "Hustlin' Daze," their collaboration on Jazzmatazz: Street Soul, Gang Starr's Guru and DJ Premier plan to take to the slopes in Killington, Vermont, next month to headline the third annual Brooklyn, Vermont, urban-style and snowboarding festival.

The three-day "BKVT" event is scheduled for January 19-21 at Killington Resort, and will include performances by DJ Hurricane, Tony Touch, the Beatminerz' DJ Evil Dee and turntablist crew the 5th Platoon, according to organizers at Fridge magazine.

Gang Starr will play at the fest's Hip-Hop Lounge January 21, with supporting acts to be announced. Artists who have braved the cooler climates of previous Brooklyn, Vermont, fests include Eminem, GZA, Black Star and Pharoahe Monch.

The event will also feature professional snowboarding demonstrations and an exhibition of urban and sports fashion.

Guru wrapped a stint on the Roots' Okayplayer tour in November, and has tentative plans to mount a spring European tour in support of Street Soul, which is the third in the "Jazzmatazz" series.

In an interview with the rapper posted on Gang Starr's official web site, Guru said he and DJ Premier will likely head into the studio in the summer to cut the followup to 1998's Moment of Truth.

• Gang Starr

Sonicnet Music News

Gang Starr rapper Guru, who fused hip-hop with jazz on his two previous "Jazzmatazz" collaborative LPs, went after R&B artists for his third, "Guru's Jazzmatazz: Street Soul," due Tuesday.

"The 'street' represents hip-hop, and the 'soul' represents black music, like jazz, funk, R&B, and soul," he said. "The reason I came up with 'Street Soul' is because I'm looking at all the black music today, and even in rock and roll, everything is touching on hip-hop."

Guru's two previous "Jazzmatazz" albums -- 1993's "Jazzmatazz," the first volume in the series, and 1995's "Jazzmatazz Volume II: The New Reality" -- featured such jazz artists as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, and Bernard Purdie. For "Street Soul," Guru's monotone rap is joined by soul artists Isaac Hayes, Angie Stone, and Macy Gray, as well as soulful rappers the Roots.

"I put a wish list together," Guru said. "I named people whose music I love and [whom] I've met and had a chance to build friendships with over the years."

Guru, born Keith Elam, said he views "Street Soul" as a statement about the pervasiveness of hip-hop culture.

"It's the voice of the urban youth -- worldwide now, too," he said. "Rap and hip-hop is an expression. It's a way to let society and others know what's really going on, basically. What kind of problems we're having in our community, what we're angry about. Politicians want to blame the violence on the music, but they're wrong, because if they were to analyze it correctly, they would understand that what we're saying is that there are some problems that need to be addressed."

Guru traveled to the artists' home cities to record most of the tracks for "Street Soul."

"I kept everybody in their environment, so they were comfortable," Guru said. "We were able to just focus on the creativity."

On the jazzy track "Plenty," Guru and Erykah Badu demonstrate an easy chemistry as they engage in flirty repartee. The track was recorded near Badu's Dallas home.

"Man, it was like a 40-minute drive outside of Dallas in farm country, past cows, horses and down this dirt road," the Brooklyn-born Guru said. "In the middle of a field there's a house, and they converted the house into a studio -- I had never seen anything like it. They had a genuine Indian tepee in the back.... It was really ill. Then you walk in, and there's candles and incense and the pure Erykah Badu spirituality. We recorded in a circle with the drummer in a booth facing us, two keyboardists on my left, a bassist on my right, and Erykah and I facing each other."

Guru played to Hayes' strengths on "Night Vision," a pensive, foreboding track recorded with the soul legend in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

"I wanted him to stay right in his element, so I said, 'How about we use one of the old Isaac Hayes songs from 'Shaft' or something?'" Guru said.

"Night Vision" contains a sample of Hayes' "Walk From Regio's," a song from the original soundtrack for "Shaft."

"He was in 'Shaft' mode anyway, because that's when he was working on [the soundtrack to the remake]," Guru said. "I was like, 'I could rhyme over one of those and get him to talk... about street life in his own slang.'"

Hayes, who's working on a new album for Virgin and is about to release a cookbook, "Cooking With Heart And Soul," said he enjoyed the experience.

"He saw to it that there was a comfort level for me," Hayes said. "Guru's generous in that respect. It was easy to go down that particular vein of music."

Guru, 37, is the father of a newborn son, but don't expect him to stop rhyming anytime soon. He'll be taking "Street Soul" on the road, beginning with a performance on October 17 at S.O.B.'s in New York.

• Erykah Badu
• Gang Starr
• Isaac Hayes

MTV Exclusive: Gang Starr Photos

• Gang Starr

• Jadakiss
• Kool Herc
• Gang Starr
• Tony Touch
• Big Punisher