Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 January 2004 — Page 21

FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2004

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE C5

The Source wins one over Eminem Director of The Italian Job' to receive award

from African American Film Critics Association

Electronic Urban Report The ongoing saga of Eminem and The Source continues. And this time, you can score one for The Source. That’s because the judge who blocked the release of an early Eminem recording featuring allegedly racist lyrics has now reversed himself and given the magazine the go-ahead for limited extracts to be heard. Manhattan federal Judge Gerald E. Lynch had issued a temporary injunction against The Source which wanted to include a CD of the old Eminem rap with its February issue. Now the magazine is cleared to use up to 20 seconds of the recording. In November, The Source, in what’s seen as ongoing attack against the Detroit rapper, unveiled the recording, in which Eminem can be heard making offensive comments about Black w'omen. In papers filed on Dec. 15, Em’s legal reps argued The Source’s desire to distribute the recording amounted to copyright infringement. Eminem has apologized for making the recording after splitting up with a Black girlfriend as a 16-year-old. However, The Source asserts that the recording was made after the rapper became a legal adult. Ushers new album is his most personal to date Since everybody else’s business seems to be out in the streets we figured it was about time for some dirt on Usher to surface. No, it’s not on a police report or in the issues of some tabloid; the revelations will take place on Usher’s upcoming CD “Confessions.” For this selection he has teamed up with the likes of Jermaine Dupri and R. Kelly for production purposes. “It’s just aconglomerateof’good energy for a good record,” Usher told MTV about the LP. “Hopefully it’ll be a little bit of what everybody wants to hear right now; a little bit of R&B, a little bit

of hip-hop/R&B-feeling type records. But this is definitely a

classic R&B album."

The singer has selected “Burn" as the first official single. He’s currently going through video treatments and hopes to start production on that clip soon. “Confessions” is skedded to be

released in March.

Trick Daddy avoids jail time Florida-based rapper Trick Daddy avoided a jail sentence by pleadingguilty to cocaine and gun charges. But he w as sentenced to make 2+ appearances to speak to children about the dangers of weapons and illegal drugs ... i.e., the dangers of becoming just like

him.

Assistant State Attorney Stacy Click said that Trick Daddy, 29, whose real name is Maurice Young, will speak at high schools in troubled neighborhoods. “I hope that these youngsters will learn lessons from his life that they don’t want to happen in their own lives,” she said. Click said under a plea bargain, the most serious felony charge, aggravated assault with a firearm, was reduced to a misdemeanor, improper display of a deadly weapon or firearm. Trick Daddy also pleaded guilt)’ to two felonies: possession of a firearm by a felon and possession

of cocaine.

Carl I A*\\ is has to do 200 hours of community work Since it seems fashionable for celebrities to hang out at the police station, why not make room for one of the greatest Olympians

of all time?

Carl Lewis has pleaded no contest to a charge related to an accident in w'hich he crashed his Maserati eight months ago. Lewis was also ordered to

perform 200 hours of community w’ork and attend close to two dozen alcoholics anonymous

meetings.

Lewis was arrested by the California Highway Patrol on April 21, after he lost control of his car on a freew'ay south of downtown Los Angeles. Lewis was not injured, but he allegedly failed a series of sobriety tests, officer Joseph Pace said at the time. The drunk driving charges were eventually dis-

missed.

The 41-year-old had a career that spanned two decades and included Olympic gold medals in the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996

Olympics.

Kanye West is well on his

way*

Once upon a time Chicago native Kanye West was producing beats for underground cats that most people have never heard of. Now West is producing beats

V’*

_ \

as a member of the Roc-A-Fella camp and is a solo artist on the

rise.

Funny how things change. His current radio blazer is “Through the Wire." More than a dozen media outlets have named his “College Dropout" CD, which is due Feb. 3, as one of the most anticipated albums of 2004. In addition to “Through the Wire,” he’s also featured on Twista’s “Slow Jamz," giving him the two hottest singles on the Nielsen SoundScan national radio chart last month. The album features appearances by several of West’s past collaborators including Jay-Z, Mos Def, Freeway, Ludacris and Twista. More P.Diddy and Farnsw orth on television “Making the Band" is single handedly responsible for Bad Boy’s Da Band, becoming a household name and for the debut album attaining the number One spot on the Billboard charts. Now, after a lot of televised fussing and fighting, MW is picking up the third season of “Making the Band.” The new season will feature Sean “P.Diddy” Combs and of course, the wily wild ones he put together, Da Band. The show started taping in Atlanta in November. By the way, Da Band’s debut album, “Too Hot for TV,” has moved 460,385 units to date. “View’ers have been enjoving watching the behind-the-scenes machinations of P.Diddy doing w r hat he does best, as well as seeing the band struggle to become a cohesive unit,” said MTVs Carol Eng, senior vice president of original programming. “We anticipate another compelling season as we find out what P. Diddy has in-store for the group living and working under his wing.” Outkast and Rosa Parks close to agreement Rosa Parks may have her day in court. She is close to reaching a settlement with Outkast over the song “Rosa Parks."The settlement would end a five-year battle between the two parties. Under terms of the settlement, Outkast’s record label, Arista, will produce CDs and DVDs aimed at educating hip-hop fans about Parks and the struggle for civil rights in Montgomery, Ala. Arista attempted to settle the suit by holding a benefit concert to honor Parks, with the proceeds going to charity, but Parks rejected the offer. Parks' lawyers are also trying to determine a financial settlement relating to damages Outkast’s song may have done to “A Tribute to Rosa Parks,” a project which has sold over 1 million copies.

NEW YORK (AP) - F. Gary Gray, director of “The Italian Job," will receive a special achiev ement award from the African American Film Critics Association. “With this year's release of The Italian Job,' former music video director F. Gan Gray demonstrated strong growth and a solid command of the filmmaking process with a stylish remake of the

196.9 caper classic," Gil Robertson, a syndicated columnist and one of the group s v ice presidents, said. The critics chose “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as the top film of 2003, followed by “Lost in Translation’and “In America." The Italian Job,” starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Thcfon and Mos Def. came in seventh on the group's top 10

list. The rest of the list, in order: “Dirty Pretty Things." “The List Samurai," “Finding Nemo," “Tupac: Resurrection. “City of God ” and "Mystic River.” The African American Film Critics Association, which consists of print, broadcast and online movie rev iewers, aims to draw attention to movies with appeal to Black audiences, or to works that come from Black filmmakers or star Black actors.

Industry expected to improve as digital music, portability take hold

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Online nusic piracy isn’t likely to vanish ioon, but the rise of paid online iervices and the growing popularly of portable digital music playts portends greater demand for ligital music next year and better bit lines for t he embattled recordng indust rv’, music executives said. Taking a mostly positive out00k on an industry racked by a hree-vear slide in CD sales, ex■cutives for recording companies ind Internet music retailers told mndreds at a conference in Uniersal City’ that online music sales hould take off’in 2004. “What we see is an explosion of nterest in this space. Its a really xcitingtime,’’said Sean Ryan,vice (resident of RealOne’s music diviion, which owns the Rhapsody ligital music service. The recording industry feels it las made progress in 2003, after wo years of trying to develop an inline digital music model that mild appeal to a majority of muie fans - many of whom believe hey should be able to listen to nusic on their computers and burn opies for personal use for a fracion of a CD’s cost. The year has seen a rash of new

Onapster

online music senices, offering music for subscription, download or both. Apple Computer’s fTunes Music Store, which launched in April and sells individual song downloads for 99 cents, has sold more than 17 million song downloads as of last month. Ryan said demand for portable music players and the ris^ofhome networking devices, which allow people to also enjoy digital music and movies on their entertainment centers and stereos, will also drive digital music. “That’s where people want to consume, in their stereo, in their home theater system and eventually in their car and cell phone as well,” Ryan said. That alone may not help the industry make up for lost revenue from the millions of songs illegally

downloaded using software like Kazaa, nor add up to the kind of profits made off’ CDs. About 70 percent of U.S. households don’t get their music over the Internet, according to a study by Dallasbased market research firm Parks Associates. Many of the panelists said they were bullish on the chances for digital music sales to pick up next year, but conceded that the industry has to be willing to change as it embraces the online music business model. “I don’t think we can look at the old models ofhow we made money in the past and say we can duplicate them in the new world, that’s not going to work,” said Courtney Holt, head of new media and strategic marketing at Interscope A&M Geff’en Records.

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