Five things you didn’t know about Jay-Z

PLUS WIN HIS LATEST CD

Businessman, philanthropist, rapper or Mr Beyoncé - call him what you like but there’s no denying the star power of Jay-Z. He recently released his latest album, The Blueprint 3. We give you a few Jay-Z facts you may not know.

1 He has sold more than 30 million albums and has won eight Grammy Awards.

2 He was named one of the world’s most influential people in 2005 by Time magazine.

3 According to his mother, Gloria Carter, the young Jay-Z (born Shawn Corey Carter) beat out drum patterns on their kitchen table.

4 His 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, was included on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

5 Last year he and his wife, singer Beyoncé, were named the highest-earning couple in Hollywood by financial magazine Forbes. Their joint earnings were estimated to be more than 160 million dollars (about R1 billion).

WIN
Tell us what you think of YOU’s music page Pressplay and you could win one of five copies of Jay-Z’s new album, The Blueprint 3. SMS the word BLUEPRINT, your name and address to 34923 by 5 pm on 8 October. Each SMS costs R2.

aKing to know

We’re so in love with aKing, rising kings of SA rock, and their hit Against All Odds we just had to find out more about them.

THE BAND
Laudo Liebenberg: vocals and lead guitar
Hunter Kennedy: rhythm guitar and vocals
Hennie van Halen: bass
Jaco “Snake” Venter: drums

What’s your favourite meal?
Laudo: A fillet steak with chimichuri (an Argentinean marinade) sauce.
Snake: A seafood pizza-burger-pie.
Hunter: A burger.

What would you save if your house was on fire?
Snake: Probably my housemates - heaven knows they won’t be able to do it themselves.
Hunter: The person lying next to me.
Hennie: My prized vinyl collection. I would face open flames to protect them.

What’s your favourite TV show?
Laudo: Arrested Development and Frisky Dingo.
Hunter: Top Gear.

Who is your favourite band/singer?
Laudo: Travelling Wilburys.
Snake: There are too many. Probably anything with Dave Grohl in it.
Hennie: I really love The Shins.

What’s your idea of happiness?
Laudo: Being able to do what you love until the day you die.
Hunter: Success and love.
Hennie: I’m generally content with life as I live it.

I wish I’d never . . .
Laudo: Started smoking again.
Snake: Jumped out of our tour van at 80 km/h. Maybe if it was going slower . . .
Hennie: Owned a car.

Three words to sum you up
Laudo: Mister Laudo Liebenberg.
Hunter: Very Very Very.
Hennie: Mister Short Cuts.

Music reviews

ONE LOVE by David Guetta
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin
On his fourth album the French DJ cements his status as a man who knows how to get a party started. He has worked on vocals with some of the biggest names in the business including Kelly Rowland, Akon, Kid Cudi and the Black Eyed Peas. All the tracks are brilliant dance and house numbers.

LOVE & WAR by Daniel Merriweather
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin
He might call Australia home but Daniel Merriweather is big news in the UK after his second album, Love & War, opened at No 2 on the UK charts. It spawned the singles Change, a hip-hop-tinged duet featuring rapper Wale, and Red, a slower love song. There’s plenty of variety on the album. Definitely worth a listen.

WAIT FOR ME by Moby
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Sulaiman Philip
This album is a return to the form that gave Moby huge success with 1999’s Play. Fans will love Shot in the Back of the Head, Hope Is Gone and Jltf, a beautiful track that blends piano with melancholy lyrics. Moby, not known for his strong voice, farms out the vocals to friends, all of them unknown and ripe for discovery. A great electronica offering.

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Best I Ever Had
WEBSITE YouTube.com
Canadian rapper Drake (22) has been on everyone’s lips since his mixed tape, So Far Gone, produced the hit Best I Ever Had. In the music video directed by Kanye West, Drake coaches a basketball team of voluptuous girls clad in revealing pink uniforms. But he’s not much of a coach - all he does is get them to do stretches. He’s now landed a record deal and Jay-Z calls him “the newest and most exciting artist”.

DVDs of the week

I LOVE YOU, MAN
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Willem Möller
Comedy. 2009. 101 min. With Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. Director: John Hamburg. 16L.

Estate agent Peter (Rudd) has always been successful with relationships and is happy with his girlfriend, Zooey (Jones). But when he asks her to marry him and she immediately calls all her girlfriends with the news it dawns on him that he has been useless at making male friends and doesn’t even have a buddy he can ask to be his best man. With Zooey, his mom and his gay brother setting up “man dates” Peter starts looking for a “bromance” – but he’s so socially awkward with men that disaster follows disaster. Then he meets eccentric investor Sydney (Segel) and they hit it off, especially after discovering they both love the band Rush. But when they start to get close Zooey becomes jealous.

The clever script puts a sly, fresh twist on the romcom formula and with both Rudd (Role Models) and Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) in top form and relishing the comic chemistry between them this is a very funny and entertaining comedy.

HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Lara Atson
Teen drama. 2009. 98 min. With Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus and Emily Osment. Director: Peter Chelsom. PG.

She has the best of both worlds – by day she’s a regular schoolgirl and at night she’s a music star. But when life spirals out of control for Miley Stewart – aka Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) – her dad (Billy Ray Cyrus) decides to take her back to the family farm. There she connects with an old childhood friend, Travis. But a relentless reporter is hot on her heels, looking for a scoop – and there’s more trouble when Hannah is invited to her hometown for a benefit concert. Miley must now decide whether she can be both her regular self and superstar Hannah Montana. Which will she choose?

This fun flick features most of the cast from the hit TV series and tweens will love getting down to songs such as Hoedown Throwdown which comes complete with dance instructions. A must-see for fans. Bonus: lots including a music video.

We love Paula DeAnda

Roll the Credits singer Paula Dacia DeAnda (19) began singing as a youngster and would belt out tunes at family braais, weddings and charity events. “I’ve been performing since I was six; I just went out there and sang! It’s so crazy my dream of being an artist is now reality.”

She’s working on her second album, Stunned, due out later this year or early next year. Roll the Credits is the album’s first single and is already a huge hit. The album will include a duet with Sean Kingston called There’s Nothing.

The artists she’d most love to collaborate with are rappers Bow Wow, Ludacris and Nelly.

Obsessed with Sean Kingston

- His real name is Kisean Jamal Anderson and at 19 he has the music biz in his pocket.

- The Fire Burning hitmaker’s second album, Tomorrow, has just hit SA. “I called it Tomorrow because the album is about how much I’ve grown since my debut (2007’s self-titled album). These songs are about me being hopeful and looking towards the future. I’m not just about Beautiful Girls or Take You There. When people hear the album I want them to say, ‘This is who Sean Kingston is’.”

- Sean collaborated with Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte and former Fugees member Wyclef Jean on Tomorrow. But his ultimate dream is a duet with Kanye West. “I think it would be huge. The chemistry would be crazy,” he says.

WIN
Ten readers will each receive a copy of Sean Kingston’s CD Tomorrow. To enter SMS the word SEAN, your name and address to 34923 by 5 pm on 1 October. Each SMS costs R2.

CD reviews

BATTLEFIELD by Jordin Sparks
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Annelene Moses

On her second album Jordin, the youngest American Idol winner, makes it clear she’s here to stay. Her mature voice heats up the strong lyrics which are spiced with a rock edge. The title track is not the only winner on this album - listen to Takes More and Watch You Go before she slows things down with melodic ballads.

LOVE THAT MUSIC by Timothy Moloi
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin

Soweto-born singer-songwriter Timothy Moloi blends genres, including jazz, R&B and gospel, on his debut album of 12 uplifting songs. From the catchy Give Me Your Love and the lively house rendition of Burn Out to the melodious Friday Morning, the album will broaden Moloi’s fanbase. Look out for the hidden track, Pretty Necklace.

FOR(N)EVER by Hoobastank
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Mariette Pool

American rock band Hoobastank are back! Unfortunately this, their fourth album, doesn’t deliver anything quite like the 2003 megahit The Reason. Critics haven’t been flattering and rightly so. The songs are mostly about bad girlfriends (All About You and The Letter, a duet with Vanessa Amorosi). The saving grace is Sick of Hanging On, one of the few rock songs in true Hoobastank style.

WIN
Ten readers will each win a copy of Jordin Sparks’ Battlefield. To enter SMS the word SPARKS, your name and address to 34923 by 5 pm on 1 October. Each SMS costs R2.

MOST DOWNLOADED: Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus (iTunes.com)
The first single off Miley’s second EP, The Time of Our Lives, is a peppy, upbeat, autobiographical pop track about moving from Nashville to the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. The song was released at the end of July, a week ahead of its original release date, because it was leaked on the internet.

And a good thing it was too! Party in the USA is Miley’s best charting single to date, peaking at No 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and No 1 on its Hot Digital Songs list, beating her previous winner, The Climb. “It’s an all-American song. It’s about my roots,” she says. “I’m like, ‘This is to represent where I am from. I’m so proud of it’.”