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Eminem has prank called fellow rapper LL Cool J on a show hosted on his own satellite radio station, pretending to be a listener before revealing that he's back in the studio working on new material. Listen to the prank here on The Celebrity Truth.
The rap superstar put on a voice as 'Jason from Miami' during the show on Shade 45 and asked LL to play a game of 'Name That Tune', where he would rap a couple of bars and LL was to guess which songs of his they were.
Listen to the call, courtesy of MTV, below.
Photo courtesy of Universal. Taken by Eli Reed.
There was a version of the remix of Usher's "Love in This Club" on tap that was almost completely different than the one actually released. We almost heard Usher trying to have sex in the nightspot with Mariah Carey instead of Beyoncá.
"At the time, it was conveyed to me that it was supposed to be Usher, Mariah Carey and me," Plies told us about how he laid two verses for a remix to the hit single. "Obviously, that was a no-brainer as far as putting down what I had to do. ... I sent two verses to them. Then I get a call from a friend of mine at a radio station that they was getting ready to go with the record, but the version they had didn't have me on it."
Of course, the version that went to radio featured Usher, Beyoncá and Lil Wayne.
"For me, I never allow myself to ever take anything personal in this business," he explained about not making the record. "I know a lot of times [there's] so much political stuff tied into a decision. It was good [for] me, because I got a call from Usher, and he let me know he was clear about the situation. He loved the verse, he loved the record, but on their end, they ended up going with the version they went with. For Usher to even consider me to be a part of the situation, that was good enough for me."
And there are a handful of other singers who didn't miss a chance to work with the Fort Myers, Florida, native. Janet Jackson recently lent her vocals to his hit "Bust It Baby Part 2" without Plies even knowing, and Jamie Foxx, The-Dream, Trey Songz, Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday also appear on his Tuesday release, Definition of Real. His debut, The Real Testament, came out less than a year ago.
In addition to describing a "Bust It Baby" as a woman who gives him his best sexual experience, Plies describes his working with Ne-Yo as "another blessing."
"To have the dude that has forced his will on this game, whether it's from the songwriting side or singing his own #1 records ... for me, he's a person I always wanted to work with," he said of Ne-Yo. "He's just a person I didn't think I would get a chance to work with this early in my career."
Plies recalled when he and Ne-Yo met by chance — and the two turned out to be part of a mutual-admiration society.
"He approached me and told me he loved what I was doing musically," Plies said. "It was weird for me, because I probably told him nine of his records I was a true fan of. We agreed that at some point we wanted to work together. To have the opportunity to work with somebody I respected from a distance, see his journey to where he's currently at, not only was it a great feeling, it's something that was a part of my life that ...," he trailed off, taking time to get his thoughts together. "I thanked him so much for helping me provide for my family. I know he gets tired of me texting him. I appreciate it. I think it's important for me to remain as humble as possible and let the good things and bad things help mold me."
The worst thing Plies has experienced since being in the music industry is his big brother's incarceration. Big Gates, nee Ronnell Lawrence Layatte, was arrested in 2006 for his involvement in a shooting at a Gainesville, Florida, nightclub shortly after a Plies performance. Plies' brother, who also helps guide his career, still has at least one more year in prison before he can come home.
Plies' song "Die Together" addresses his sibling, whom he has no problem declaring he looks up to. "It's basically saying, 'This is our bond,' " he explained. "We know we gotta die one day, but when it is our turn, you can take us together."
Plies said his brother has only heard a portion of the song during their phone calls, because it's too emotional. "He made me stop playing it," Plies said. "I played it for him over the phone. Soon as I recorded it, that night, he called. I said, 'Bruh, I gotta let you hear this. It's the best record I ever did.' He said, 'Man, you always tell me that.' Probably halfway through the first verse, he said, 'Man, cut it off. Bruh, I can't tell you the last time I cried, but I can feel [tears coming on]. Just play it for me when I get home.' I feel I succeeded with everything I was trying to get across."
"Somebody (Loves You)," which samples Patti LaBelle's classic of the same name, also talks about losing loved ones to the prison system. "[It says,] 'I wish I could hug all my homies who lost trial.' It's important for me to make that kind of music," Plies said.
His next single is another record dedicated to sexy women — "Please Excuse My Hands," featuring Jamie Foxx and The-Dream. Plies already has his next album, titled The Realest, slotted for a December 16 release.
See Also
Aristotle. Nietzsche. Buffy? The blonde heroine of the campy television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," as well as other works by director and writer Josh Whedon, will be the focus of a three-day academic conference held at Henderson State University beginning Friday.
The television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar won cult fame and critical praise during its seven seasons on The WB and UPN networks.
Since it ended, the series has spawned enough academic books on the philosophy surrounding the roles of friendship and feminism to fill a bookshelf stretching 15 feet long at the college in Arkadelphia, said Kevin Durand, an associate professor of philosophy at the school.
"It has staying power," Durand said. "It's like I tell my students in philosophy a lot of times: We're not so much about necessarily finding all the answers as wanting to ask better questions. 'Buffy,' I think, does that. 'Buffy' never really leaves you with nice, pat answers. You have even more questions than when you started."
Durand said more than 90 academic papers will be discussed at the conference. He expects about 150 people to attend and discuss the vampire slayer and Whedon's other works, like the television series "Firefly" and "Angel." Another point of discussion will be a lesser-known part of Whedon's work - his screenplay for the hit animated film "Toy Story."
Among the papers: "Buffy and Feminism," "Buffy and Identity," "Gender Stereotypes and the Image of Domesticity in 'Firefly,'" "'Firefly:' The Illusive Safety of Big Damn Heroes" and a Durand favorite by a British scholar, "Hero's Journey, Heroine's Return: Buffy, Eurydice and the Orpheus Myth."
"That one just sounds cool," he said.
Durand, who contributed an academic paper at each of the two previous Buffy conferences, often focuses on how power plays into the "Buffy" series. He said much of the fictional heroine's strength came from others and her willingness to work with friends in her fight against creatures of the night.
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On the Net:
Academic conference: http://www.slayageonline.com/SC3/index.htm