Author: JD
BACK!!!!! @XSlasvegas NEXT MONDAY
I couldn’t really hit the clubs and DJ last month due to my TV show schedule but gotdamnit!!! I’m back! Vegas
For Michael Jackson And Sony/ATV, A Billion-Dollar Thriller Looms
Thirty years ago, Marty Bandier was preparing to offer an eccentric Australian billionaire $50 million for ATV, the music publishing catalogue home to the Beatles and others. He probably would have succeeded in purchasing it–had it not been for Michael Jackson. Bandier learned this for himself when he arrived in London and met the aforementioned mogul, Robert Holmes a Court, who informed him the catalogue was off the market. Bandier immediately upped his offer by $500,000, but was told another bidder had included something unique: a charity performance at Holmes a Court’s home in Perth. The well-connected Bandier pressed on, saying he could bring just about any big act to Australia. “No, no, you don’t understand,” said Holmes a Court. “I’m selling this to Michael Jackson.” Full Coverage: The 13 Top-Earning Dead Celebrities Bandier, who told me this anecdote while I was reporting my book Michael Jackson, Inc., eventually linked up with his desired catalogue: today, he’s the chief of Sony /ATV, a joint venture between the electronics giant and Jackson’s estate. The entity, created in the mid-1990s as part of a deal that earned Jackson over $100 million, is now estimated to be worth about $2 billion–and earlier this month, Sony decided to initiate a sale process. Bandier reportedly sent a memo to his employees earlier this month saying Sony had triggered a clause in its agreement with the Jackson estate that could lead to one side buying out the other, or to an outside buyer coming in and purchasing half or all of Sony/ATV sometime in the coming months. When I contacted Sony/ATV last week and asked for a comment from Bandier regarding the state of the sale process, representatives referred me to a Sony; a spokesperson there declined to comment. Some have speculated that the Japanese conglomerate is looking to sell its stake for the same reason it sold its New York headquarters for $1.1 billion in 2013: to raise cash. John Branca, the co-executor of Jackson’s estate, told me that it’s too early to know who all the bidders would be, but that the estate would be among them. Said Branca: “We intend to buy the company.” That’s a remarkable statement, considering the state of Jackson’s finances in the years before he passed away. The singer had accumulated nearly half a billion dollars in debt, most of it high-interest and taken out against his half of Sony/ATV. But since his death in 2009, the Jackson estate has pulled in over $1 billion in pretax earnings, enough to pay off his personal debts and more. He earned $115 million over the past year alone, easily garnering him the top spot on our Halloween-spooky list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities. “This major disaster gave him a chance to shine,” says Josh Rubenstein, National Chair of Trusts and Estates at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. “Jackson’s untimely and dramatic death, with all the drama surrounding it, also creates this allure.”
T.I.’s new Atlanta soul food restaurant was the scene of a shootout
T.I.‘s new Atlanta soul food restaurant was the scene of a shootout with a group of customers, leaving one man injured and also arrested for drugs … TMZ has learned. The shooting went down outside Scales 925 on Sunday night. According to cops, the incident started inside the restaurant on an upper deck patio … where a group of 5 or 6 men started arguing. Staffers threw the men out, but police say the fight continued in the parking lot … and that’s where one man in a red shirt whipped out a handgun and shot the victim once in the leg. We’re told the victim escaped from the scene in a friend’s Porsche. Police were responding to a 911 call about the shooting when they pulled over the Porsche. Cops say they found the victim bleeding, but he also had a duffle bag with 240 grams of marijuana and $6,000 in cash. The victim was booked for reckless conduct and possession of marijuana. He told cops he did not know the shooter. The entire incident was captured on restaurant surveillance cameras. We’re told T.I. was NOT at the restaurant nor anywhere near it at the time of the shooting. Police are searching for the shooter. Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz3ph8dZDTj
5 Things We Need From Usher’s Upcoming Album by @YKIGS
Usher just released his new song “Chains” to raise awareness for the victims of social injustice and police brutality. Not only does the song remind us that Usher is still one of the biggest names in music, but it also brings up a very important question: Where is the new album? With over 75 million albums sold worldwide, it should be safe to assume that Usher has reached legendary status. His debut album “Usher” is often forgotten about, but there’s no denying the impact he had on the next 3 albums to follow. Many artists would come before and after Usher during the mid 90’s, but he was always the last man standing. No one was able to dominate the charts like him with the albums “My Way”, “8701” and “Confessions”. With 7 number one hits under his belt from 1997-2004, there’s no doubt that he was the face of R&B. However based on the post-Confessions era for Usher, some have started to question his legacy. His albums “Here I Stand” and “Looking 4 Myself” were both disappointments commercially (relatively speaking) and although “Raymond V. Raymond” was a success on the charts, his decision to explore different genres like on songs like “OMG” definitely disappointed his original audience. Since the release of “Looking 4 Myself”, Usher has been rather quiet musically. Usher’s last couple of singles (“Good Kisser”, “She Came To Give It To You” and “I Don’t Mind”) all had moderate success, but we’re still waiting for him to take over the charts like so many times before. There’s no doubt that he can still do it. At the end of the day, he’s still Usher. So here are 5 things that we need from Usher’s upcoming album: 1. Age Appropriate Lyrics – Leave the stripper anthems to Chris Brown and Trey Songz. Although “I Don’t Mind” was Usher’s biggest hit in 3 years, the song did nothing for his legacy. Usher’s strength is that he’s able to connect with his audience through his storytelling. When you heard songs like “U Got It Bad” and “Burn”, you could feel what he was going through. His first hit “You Make Me Wanna” was about a scenario that we’ve all been through and that’s what made it easy to believe him as an artist. 2. A Sound That Pushes the Genre Forward – Let’s face it, it’s not 2004 anymore. To anyone that’s expecting Usher to make a sequel to “Confessions”, keep on dreaming. You shouldn’t want that anyway. Usher’s key to success has been that he’s always stayed ahead of the curve. Usher was one of the first R&B artists to rap on their own song on “My Way”, “U Don’t Have To Call” still sounds ahead of its time and “Yeah!” started the trend of Crunk&B music. 3. Consistency With His Sound – To Usher’s credit though, he has attempted to push the genre forward with his later albums. “Looking 4 Myself” will probably be remembered as the album where he went completely Pop, but he should be celebrated for merging the EDM and R&B together on songs like “Climax”, which is actually one of the best Usher songs ever. However, the problem is that Usher keeps releasing generic Dance-pop as his singles and that decision confuses everyone. The common listener probably had no idea about songs like “I Care For U” because they just assumed that the rest of the album would sound like “Scream”. I mean that’s what he was performing at all the award shows. 4. Vocals – Even though Usher has been killing the game for over 20 years, you rarely hear anyone who would consider him one of the top male vocalists. He’s almost underrated in that aspect because he can sing with the best of them. We need him to bring his A game because it is needed right now. Rappers have basically pushed R&B singers out of the way with their autotuned melodies. Usher has the ability and credibility to turn the tide and push vocals to the forefront again. 5. A Reunion With Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox – Yes, we just told you it’s not 2004 anymore but the superproducers have played such a huge part in Usher’s career that it’s almost necessary to have them involved with this upcoming album. Usher’s ballads have stood the test of time and very few do it better than JD and B-Cox. It’s been a few years since they’ve had a hit, but their work on the latest albums for Jagged Edge and Mariah Carey prove that they still know how to create great R&B songs when called upon.
#VeganEggDay!!
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WORLD’S FIRST ECSTASY SHOP TO OPEN IN AMSTERDAM ON MONDAY
WOW!!!!! Just when you thought that the liberal clubbing capital of Amsterdam couldn’t get anymore lenient or progressive in its drug policy, the Dutch Liberal Democrats youth wing have announced that for one day they will be opening the world’s first MDMA shop in order to highlight the need for harm reduction over prohibition. With the shop set to open its doors at 11am Monday morning at 10 Rosmarijnsteeg in Amsterdam’s city center, the progressive political group’s intention is to display “why regulation is better than leaving the distribution to illegal street dealers”, and to keep within the confines of the current law they will be handing out placebos*. They explained on their site MDMJA.nl: “We can prevent minors from buying, make sure there is no overdose in pills and educate people on ways to minimize the risks involved with ecstasy-usage.” Open only for a single day, the shop aims to bring the conversation of MDMA decriminalisation to the Dutch parliament, in the hope that they can educate people at a grassroots level of the dangers of drug use. The group require 40,000 signatures on their site MDMJA in order to bring the issue up for debate. Last year it was reported that three people died as a result of MDMA consumption at ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event), and the country, which is widely known for its decriminalisation of cannabis, has often lead the way in conversations about drug harm reduction and progressive addiction programs. [Via: Pulse]
