Kardinal Offishall Gets Konvicted And Designs Video Game Console

http://www.konvict-muzik.chilli-online.net...

Toronto dancehall MC Kardinal Offishall has signed to R&B artist Akon's Konvict Muzik label, which will release Offishall's new Not For Sale album sometime this summer.

Akon will produce the album, which is set to feature contributions from De La Soul, Rihanna, Lil Wayne and Clipse. The partnership with Konvict means American distribution for the new album, as Offishall's 2005 album, Fire And Glory, was only released in Canada by Virgin Records.

"[Offishall] reminds me of myself and that's why I think we get along so well," Akon told andPOP.com in November. "He just produces the kind of music he wants to make and that's the way it should be. He's smart with his career decisions and looks out for his music."

The two men previously collaborated on Akon's' "Kill Di Dance" from 2005's Illegal Alien, Vol. 1 mixtape.

Offishall (real name Jason Harrow) recently contributed his skills and image to Nintendo's "The Art Of Wii" contest. Six Canadian artists, including IllScarlett cover artist Adrian Forrow, were commissioned to slap a fresh coat of paint onto the video game giant's iconic Wii system. The consoles, including one co-designed by Offishall and artist Allistair Lee, can be viewed here.

—Natalia Manzocco
CREDIT: Chart Attack

- Click Here For Kardinal Offishall Photos

POPSCREEN: T-Pain ft. Yung Joc

"Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" - Dir. Benny Boom
Published On Friday, April 27, 2007 4:38 AM
The Harvard Crimson
By SANDERS I. BERNSTEIN


Sure, the title “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” is ridiculous. But that’s not really important. Neither the song nor the video works because of innovation, or technical perfection, or even grammatical propriety. They work because they channel their club-hit influences so well.

The video, like the track, is not particularly original. Just as the song recycles the lyrics of wildly successful tracks including “Snap Yo Fingers” and “Walk it Out,” the video is replete with the apparent prerequisites for any commercial rap video: darkly-lit shots of a club where beautiful women dance around the singer, with money raining down and Cristal in the cups.

But just as the song is an undeniably catchy fusion of pure pop-rap-bubblegum ridiculousness (the phrase “I’m gonna buy u a drank” has never sounded so smooth), the music video too achieves success. There’s one particularly memorable image where, as T-Pain sings “I got money in the bank,” money appears on-screen, dripping with liquor. No longer are money and dranks separate considerations; in T-Pain’s world, you have money-dranks. In the ultimate display of making it big, crisp Benjis serve as Solo cups. Who wouldn’t want to attend T-Pain’s party?

And that’s the secret to the success of T-Pain and Young Joc. It’s a fantasy, pure and simple.

Both artists (and the video’s viewers, living vicariously through them) can “make it rain” like Adam “Pacman” Jones without worrying about a single repercussion. And that’s why the club scene gets recycled in so many guises, in so many songs, and in so many videos. Getting your drank on is simply too appealing.

Spotlight Lyrics: T-Pain - Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin') Lyrics

AKON DENIES STEALING LOON'S TUNES

R+B singer AKON has slammed allegations that he stole a song from rival rapper LOON. Loon claims that Akon fused stolen vocals from his hit song Who Is That, with those of another artist, T-Pain and the Locked Up hitmaker. But, manager of Akon's record label Konvict Muzic, tells AllHipHop.com, "Given Akon's current track record of making writing and producing hits, it is very unlikely that he would have 'stolen' a record form Loon. T-Pain had no knowledge of what was happening once the song got leaked." But Loon's representative remain stands by his allegations, saying, "Why does Konvict Records feel they need to steal hits from Loon? "Loon is a bonafide hit song writer so let's expose these people and give Loon his bona-fide dues."

Spotlight Lyrics: T-Pain - Bartender featuring Akon

T-Pain "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')"Takes Over the Airwaves and Cell Phones

http://www.konvict-muzik.chilli-online.net/index...

Konvict/Jive Records recording artist T-Pain dominates the music airplay and ringtone charts with his break out single "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" from his upcoming sophomore release Epiphany.

This week "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" beats out artists such as MIMS, AKON, Avril, and Beyonce as the #1 ringtone on the Billboard Hot RingMasters chart for the 2nd week in a row. The ringtone sold 182K this past week alone and has sold nearly 800K ringtones to date. In radio airplay "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" is ensconced at the #1 position in four separate charts #1 at R&R Rhythmic - beating out Fergie, Timbaland and Bow Wow , #1 at Mediabase Rhythmic, #1 at R&R Urban - knocking AKON out of the top spot, and #1 at Mediabase Urban.

His new single "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" features Yung Joc and borrows from four different snap records to create one hot track. "Basically, these days lots of people begin their relationships in the clubs," explains T- Pain. "Whole conversations begin with some guy buying a young lady a drink. I wanted to make a song for those folks."

After catching the ear of songwriter and producer Akon, he was quickly signed to Akon's label Konvict Records and rapidly followed in his footsteps to the top of the charts. T-Pain's previous singles from his gold-selling debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga have sold in excess of 6 million ringtones to date. The sophomore album Epiphany is produced, written and arranged by T- Pain.

Fans of Gwen Stefani, Akon face off

http://konvict-muzik.chilli-online.net/index.php...


By Mike Osegueda
McClatchy Newspapers

Gwen Stefani is huge. There's no denying it.

Her name carries history (No Doubt, anybody?), success (20 million albums sold -- good enough?) and is even a brand (she peddles shoes, clothes and purses).

Yet, as her Sweet Escape tour continues, her name might not even be the biggest on the bill.

It's her opener (and recent collaborator) Akon who has a vice grip on the charts, with hits like "Smack That" and the recent chart topper, "Don't Matter." All told, he has had three No. 1 hits off his 2006 album "Konvicted."

His knack for oh-so-catchy hooks even gave Gwen a boost on her latest single, "The Sweet Escape."

So just who is bigger at the moment, Gwen or Akon? A Gwen fan and an Akon fan try to settle the argument.

Gwen Fan: I can't wait to see the fabulous Ms. Stefani live on stage.

Akon Fan: Umm, that's cool. I'm leaving after Akon is done.

GF: Akon?!? Oh, you mean the guy who sings backup for Gwen on her new single. Akon -- that's his name, huh? I just thought it was Seal Jr.

AF: You know who he is. He's the guy who finally helped Gwen break the 1 million sales mark on that new album of hers. That "Sound of Music" thing wasn't doing a whole heck of a lot. Except for making me gag.

GF: Oh, and you're one to talk? You like Akon. Or should I say A Con? He's a fake. Is he trying to bring back that Roger & Zapp voice effect? He sounds like a robot. As for that "Don't Matter" song, Bob Marley heard it and turned over in his grave.

AF: No, not a robot; more like a machine. Maybe you didn't notice that all three of the singles from his recent album -- "I Wanna Love You,""Smack That" and "Don't Matter" -- went to No. 1. And peep this: Those three songs have totaled 45 million plays on MySpace.

Mark that on your scorecard. 'Cause it's official.

GF: I'm supposed to be impressed that some 15-year-old with a MySpace account listened to Akon over and over and over and over and over for two weeks because "Don't Matter" was, like, her song with the guy she's crushing on?

You wanna talk real numbers? Between No Doubt and her solo albums, Gwen has sold 20 million records. We're talking people spending money to listen to her music, not just singing along to their MySpace.

AF: Yeah, but most of those sales came with No Doubt. That's not the Gwen we know today. Now she's trying to be some hip-hop diva.

Real talk: Without "Hollaback Girl" being as big as it was a couple years ago, she'd be Fergie.

GF: Oh, no, you did not say the F-word! First of all, Akon has just ridden the coattails of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Young Jeezy onto the charts.

Is "Don't Matter" the only song he's ever done by himself?

And second, Fergie!?! That's a low blow. I know this is a heated debate, but I didn't go as low as to compare Akon to T-Pain. I'm not that rude.

AF: It's good that we can agree on the uselessness of Fergie and T-Pain. That's a start.

A Sexy Flashback: Chilli takes it off for Maxim Magazine

In the October 2005 issue of Maxim magazine Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas made countless male fans happy as she took it off and strip down to her swimsuits. All I said was, “what the hell took you so long,” it was about time she reminded the media why she was dubbed “Sexy,” in the R&B group TLC…



Three Alarm Chilli
The “sexy” piece of Crazy Sexy Cool TLC has come back from the death of band mate Lisa Lopes and the Usher breakup by starring in a UPN show and, um, not having sex. Yet.

Is your show, R U the Girl with T-Boz & Chilli, going to give us a revamped TLC? We’re not forming a new TLC. There will never be anybody new in our group to replace Lisa, ever. Whoever the winner is will get a chance to perform on a new single for our greatest hits record and perform with us live in concert.

How does yours differ from other reality shows? One thing you get to see is how silly T-Boz and I really are. We’ve been called the black Laverne and Shirley.

Have advisers ever tried to curtail that TLC attitude? When we first came out, [former manager] Pebbles used to tell us, “Y’all better not curse.” But for the most part we’ve always been outspoken. You could tell when we came out—we had condoms all over our clothes. The very first TV show we were supposed to do was In Living Color. It was huge back then. They asked us to take off our condoms, and we said, “No way.”

In Living Color dissed TLC? Can you believe that? Someone else might have backed down. “A’ight, this is In Living Color, so we should take off our condoms.” We were like, “Forget it.” I didn’t watch In Living Color for at least six months, I was so mad.

Among others acting roles, you’ve done House Party 3 and The Parkers. What was your least favorite role? I was on That ’70s Show as the sexy nurse. I like that show, but I hated my character. I was like, “I will never do anything like this again in my life. I feel crazy.” I can’t remember the guy’s name on the show, the little guy who looks like the dude from CHiPs?

Fez? Wilmer Valderrama? Yes! He was dreaming he was in the hospital, and I was the sexy nurse. I said yes before I saw the script. Then I was like, “Oh, what do I have to wear?” TLC’s always been sexy, but always tasteful. It’s never, like, slutty and just yech. And they had me in one of those little white dresses and white fishnet stockings.

Yeah, sounds awful. How upsetting was your public breakup with Usher and his subsequent Confessions CD? First of all, Confessions was not about our relationship. Period. I was in the studio with him when he recorded a lot of those songs, including “Confessions.” The only thing probably about me was a remix, way after the album was out.
Who are you going out with now?
I am so on the market, it’s crazy.

You hitting your hometown ATL clubs? Ooh, I’m not a club person. The club scene is boring. It’s like, “God, y’all still doing this?”

So where are you gonna hook up with someone? I’m hoping he’ll read this article and see the show and be like, “OK, I gotta find Chilli!”

What’s it going to take to land you? I’m so afraid to be in a relationship and have someone cheat on me. I don’t want anybody who’s gonna come up here and think we’re gonna be sexin’, ’cause, you know, I’m celibate. I’m not celibate just because I don’t have anybody in my life; it’s a spiritual thing.

How long have you been celibate? Since I’ve been away from Usher. That was my last boyfriend, so I haven’t been with anybody since. Guys wanna go out on dates, but I haven’t met anyone who’s blown me away.

Sexy Rozonda Chilli Thomas's Maxim Shoot
Uploaded by chillionlinenet

With her album on the horizon surely we’ll be seeing a lot more spreads for Miss Thomas, so what’s the verdict? What magazines do you want to see Chilli appear in this year?

Anyway, here’s some screen caps from Chilli’s Maxim Video shoot…
Click on one of the following images to view the full size:


For more screencaps, go to the Gallery:
http://www.akon.chilli-online.net/photos/...