MTV REPORT – 5 Female Pop Stars Who Can Surprisingly Rap

Credit: Getty Images

It’s jarring when pop singers decide to spit a few rhymes.You never immediately think, “Ohh, that’s a good idea! Do that again.” Usually you want to ban them from microphones forever. However, on rare occasions, it’s surprisingly good. This is not a list of the top feMCs in the game. Far from it. We’re giving you the lady poppers who have dared to rap and weren’t so bad. It makes us respect them more and, heck, it even makes them sexier. Some have even gone on to use the whole rap thing in their careers. Check out the list of these bold ladies below.

1. Katy Perry

Credit: Getty Images

We already know Katy Perry is fearless–she married Russell Brand and has dyed her hair every color on the rainbow, but we didn’t know she had it in her to rap. Last month she covered Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s “N***as in Paris” during a live performance at BBC Radio 1. “This is about to get real embarrassing,” she said before launching into it. While she censored all the expletives and made it a little too clean, the rendition is really not “embarrassing.” She even brought out the rapper in her complete with a Yankees fitted on. Not bad at all.

2. Selena Gomez

Credit: Getty Images

It’s hard to keep a squeaky clean image growing up a Disney star, but Selena Gomezmanaged to do just that. No nude photos leaked, no scandals–nothing of the sort and she knows it. “Selena G, I’m known for my modesty,” is a line from this MTV EMA promo she did last year. She did it all with a bandana and flannel on–bleeped out expletives included. Selena G, if we’re allowed to call her that now, probably took some pointers from Nicki Minaj after she covered “Super Bass.”

3. Taylor Swift

Credit: Getty Images

Taylor Swift aka T-Swizzle–yes, that’s what she called herself–was surprisingly good at her attempt at rap. She did a song called “Thug Story” with T-Pain and premiered it as the opening of the 2009 CMT Music Awards. With lyrics like “I’m so gangster you can find me baking cookies at night/You out clubbing but I just made caramel delight”–you can’t go wrong. She had everything in the video from the cars to the bling–no video babes though.

4. Miley Cyrus

Credit: Getty Images

In 2009, Miley Cyrus decided she wanted to leave Twitter and stop “living for people.” What better way to announce that than a rap video? Cyrus made the song and video to explain to her fans why she left the social networking site. Let’s just say she should stick to singing more.

5. Amy Heidemann of Karmin

Via YouTube

Of course the other half of Karmin can pull off a rap song! Heidemann didn’t seriously attempt rap until the duo’s cover of “Look At Me Now” and look where it got them. Her rap skills have gone from covers to originals since she started out. She can probably teach the rest of these ladies a thing or two since she’s one of the very few people who can rapBusta Rhymes‘ verse without a stutter.

Watch: Trailer for Whitney Houston’s ‘Sparkle’

MARY J. BLIGEBurger King Chicken Ad

Mary J. Blige says she never signed off on the controversial fried chicken ad that she shot for Burger King — at least not the version that was blasted on the Internet.

Mary J. tells TMZ, “I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip.”

Mary also says, “I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out.”

The spot — which Burger King has since yanked from its YouTube site — features Mary singing about a new crispy chicken wrap. The ad drew tons of criticism on Twitter for playing off a stereotype about African-Americans and chicken.

Google and Viacom: YouTube copyright lawsuit back on

Viacom has accused Google of “massive intentional copyright infringement”

A lawsuit by media giant Viacom against Google over copyrighted videos on YouTube can be heard in court again.

Viacom has accused Google of “massive intentional copyright infringement”.

In 2010, a lower court dismissed Viacom’s $1bn (£630m) case against Google, which owns YouTube.

But a court of appeals said the dismissal was based on a mistake, as a jury could have reasonably found that YouTube knew of specific copyright infringements.

Google took over YouTube for $1.76bn in 2006.

Viacom owns popular cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

Viacom had claimed that “tens of thousands of videos” based on its copyrighted works had been posted on YouTube, and that both YouTube and its owner Google had known about it but had done nothing about it.

Google and YouTube had argued that they were entitled to “safe harbour” protection under digital copyright law because they had insufficient notice of particular alleged offences.

The court in Manhattan in 2010 agreed with this.

But the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals has now reinstated the case.

 

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Google+ relaxes real name policy
• Google – good or evil?
• Google wins Viacom copyright case

KATT WILLIAMSI Make $28,000 a MONTH!!!

In between custody battles, tractor stand offs, and being arrested … comedianKatt Williams somehow rakes in $28,000 a MONTH — this according to new legal docs.

You may recall … Katt won back custody of his 8-year-old adopted daughter from his former nanny in December — after a protracted legal battle — and just filed new documents in the case, updating L.A. County Superior Court on his financial status.

In the docs, Katt lists his average monthly income as $27,778 — money he claims to make as a freelance comedian.

Katt’s got some serious disposable income too — according to the docs, his monthly expenses are only $7,000 … leaving him roughly $20K a month to blow on whatever he wants, like bail.

Comedian money — what a joke.

Michael Jackson’s Kid They FAKED My Dad’s Voice on ‘Michael’ Album

Michael Jackson‘s daughter Paris made a bombshell announcement to friends … telling them the MJ album released in the wake of the singer’s death did NOT contain MJ’s actual voice … it was an imposter.

TMZ has learned … the announcement was made during an online video chat with several friends in 2010 … just before the “Michael” album was released, which contains several previously unreleased tracks allegedly performed by Michael Jackson.

The video chat was recorded … and Paris joked about the footage eventually “leaking” to the Internet.

Paris had made the announcement in the midst of rumors that MJ’s parts on the “Michael” album were REALLY performed by an MJ sound-alike named Jason Malachi … but both Jason and Sony denied the allegations.

During the video chat, Paris played one of the songs from the album, “Hold My Hand” … and one of her friends asks why the singer doesn’t sound like MJ.

Paris replied, “It’s NOT him … the whole album isn’t even him!! Go online … go on YouTube and look up Jason Malachi. That’s him!!”

She continues, “I should know if it’s him or not because he would sing to me all the time.”

TMZ has learned a recording of Paris’ video message is being shopped to various media outlets … and we’re told “Offers are on the table.”

Syria votes on new constitution referendum amid unrest

Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version

BBC’s Jim Muir: “People have started voting… but there are also reports of shelling and shooting in many parts of the country”

The Syrian government is holding a referendum on a new constitution as violence continues around the country, killing at least 20 people.

The new constitution calls for a multi-party parliamentary election within three months.

The opposition has boycotted the vote, calling it a farce and demanding President Bashar al-Assad stand down.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said “there’s every possibility” Syria could descend into civil war.

But she warned “outside intervention” could exacerbate the situation. “I think that as you try to play out every possible scenario, there are a lot of bad ones that we are trying to assess,” she told the BBC.

Activists say more than 89 people died across Syria on Saturday.

‘Laughable’

The Syrian government has pressed ahead with organising the referendum despite the unrest, setting up more than 13,000 polling stations for 14.6m voters.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Lina Sinjab BBC News, Damascus

The streets are filled with billboards encouraging people to vote for the constitution but the polling stations I visited were nearly empty.

At one school, two people showed up to vote in the 20 minutes I was there, although Ahmad Baalbaki, who was supervising the process, said 300 people had cast their vote.

Muneira, a housewife, says she voted “yes”. She hasn’t read the constitution but she supports the president.

In a central square, a pro-Assad rally is taking place in support of the constitution.

Nearby, a group of young men and women were handing out booklets to encourage people to vote.

One of them, Husein Saqer, said:”People don’t want to vote because they see no difference between this one and the other constitution, but we are here to tell them to vote”.

Voting began at 07:00 (05:00 GMT) and polling stations are due to stay open for 12 hours.

State television showed people voting in Damascus and various other places, and it all looked fairly normal, the BBC’s Jim Muir reports from neighbouring Lebanon.

But, he added, in many other parts of the country, it is far from normal, with explosions and shooting reported from the east, west, north and south – in areas where violence has been going on for months.

At least nine civilians and four soldiers were killed in the embattled city of Homs, the UK-based activist group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

Violent clashes were reported in the central city of Hama, the north-western province of Idlib and in Daraa province, south of Damascus.

The vote is on a new constitution that would allow for more opposition to Mr Assad’s Baath Party, but it has been rejected out of hand by critics of the government.

One group described the new constitution as fraudulent and the referendum as a farce.

It pointed out that the regime had never respected the old constitution, which enshrines freedom of speech and peaceful demonstrations and bans torture.

Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version

Hillary Clinton: “I think there is every possibility of a civil war”

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed doubt about the timing of the vote: “On one hand you say you are holding a referendum and on the other you are attacking with tank fire on civilian areas.

“You still think the people will go to a referendum the next day in the same city?” he said at a news conference in Istanbul.

The US has dismissed the referendum as “laughable”.

Friends of Syria

The Observatory said Saturday’s deaths included 24 civilians in the embattled city of Homs and that 23 government soldiers were killed in clashes with rebel groups across the country.

The Red Cross has been trying to evacuate more people trapped in Homs’s Baba Amr suburb but admitted it had made no progress on Saturday.

Among those it is trying to help are two injured Western journalists, Edith Bouvier and Paul Conroy. It also wants to retrieve the bodies of another two journalists, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, who were killed last week.

Footage of mourning in the Khalidieh district of Homs was broadcast on YouTube

Hundreds of armed rebels from the Free Syrian Army are holding out in Baba Amr.

Meanwhile, international pressure is mounting on Mr Assad to end his government’s 11-month crackdown on opponents.

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general who has been appointed the UN and Arab League’s envoy to Syria, called for all parties to co-operate in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

On Friday, a meeting of the “Friends of Syria” group was held in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

Delegates from 70 countries issued a declaration calling on the Damascus government to end violence immediately, allow humanitarian access, and permit the delivery of relief supplies.

The UN estimated in January that 5,400 people had been killed in the conflict. Activists say the death toll now is more than 7,300.

The Syrian regime restricts access to foreign journalists and casualty figures cannot be verified.

5 Ways Young People Can Bounce Back From Economic Setbacks

Getty Images

It’s hard to become the leaders of tomorrow without jobs today. The International Labor Organization estimates that around the world, there are nearly 75 million unemployed youth — a new “Lost Generation,” in the words of panelists discussing the problem at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. Nobel-winning economist Peter Diamond, Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh, and other panelists talked about the mismatch between our education system and the job market, as well as potential solutions such as corporate incentives for hiring young people and a youth stimulus package. As for the millions who are young, unemployed, and frustrated, they want less talk, more action, and most importantly, more results.

While the U.S. is hardly the worst country when it comes to youth unemployment, there is no denying we have problems. Approximately 18% of young people are out of work in the U.S. Two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Obama’s handling of youth employment, reports Generation Opportunity, a non-profit that educates young people on the challenges facing America. Youth unemployment affects not just those out of work, but Americans of all ages, and the economy as a whole. The White House Council for Community Solutions estimates that each unemployed youth costs society $37,000 each year.

If you’re young and worried about your future, the last thing you should do is sit back and wait for others in Washington, D.C., or Davos to sort things out. Here are five pieces of advice to be proactive and maximize opportunities now and down the line, no matter what economic setbacks you face today.

1. Create multiple income streams. With all the layoffs taking place and the fact that many companies aren’t even hiring, it’s imperative that you have a backup plan. One way to offset months of joblessness is to create additional revenue streams. By finding freelance work using sites like elance.com, you can manage multiple side projects and capitalize on your technical abilities.

(MORE: Consumers Expected to Spend $11 Billion on the Super Bowl)

2. Approach your job search as you would a new client. Most job seekers submit standard resume templates and regurgitate old cover letters— and it’s highly ineffective. If you want to prove your value to a company, demonstrate your knowledge of their business needs and then build your resume and cover letter to reflect how you can support them. By displaying the return on investment they’ll get from hiring you, you will have a major advantage over other applicants, especially if your value is greater than the cost of hiring you. Also, figure out what distinguishes you from others applying for the same jobs. As The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman wrote in a recent op-ed column about stubborn unemployment in the U.S., “average is over.”

3. Have a positive attitude and be confident in yourself. Out of 20,000 new hires surveyed for the book Hiring for Attitude, 46% of them failed within 18 months, and of those, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons. There are millions of other job candidates in the same boat as you. With a positive attitude, it’s far easier to attract new opportunities, ace an interview, and last at a company longer than six months. People want to hire and work with those who are optimistic, likable, and eager.

4. Become a lifelong student. To survive and thrive in this economy, you have to constantly stay relevant. As business author Harvey Mackay puts it: “You don’t go to school once for a lifetime, you’re in school all of your life.” Learn as much as you can about your field, your industry and the world by subscribing to blogs and major news websites. Spend some time at the Khan Academy’s website, where you can learn anything from hedge funds to economics to statistics. You can also search for free online tutorials using Google, and find lectures from popular teachers at MIT and Stanford on YouTube.

(MORE: U.S. Beef Prices Rising Thanks to Drought in Southwest)

5. Find mentors and start building relationships with them. According to the 2011 Global CEO Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 98% of millennials see having a mentor as necessary to their career development. Yet a lot of young people I speak with are afraid to tap into the people around them for answers, connections and resources. Aside from the people who you are already associated with, get in the habit of using social networking sites to reach out to respected industry leaders, experts, and authors. Don’t immediately ask them to help you get a job. Instead, figure out ways to support them in their goals. Do free work for them, or promote them on your blog or social networks in exchange for their mentorship. Even if some of your messages are ignored, you are bound to receive at least one positive return email — and one is all it takes to move in the right direction.

Dan Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennial Branding, a full-service personal branding agency. He speaks on the topic of personal branding, social media and Gen Y workforce management for companies such as Google, Time Warner, Symantec, CitiGroup and IBM. Subscribe to his updates at Facebook.com/DanSchawbel.

Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/02/01/5-ways-young-people-can-bounce-back-from-economic-setbacks/#ixzz1lAD20teo

Lil Wayne, D.A.Jay, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Young Jeezy, Jayharno, Nicki Minaj, Dappy, Gotye, Tyga and More!!!

allowfullscreen></iframe>