Beckhams Offered Movie Package

David Beckham has gained himself a movie role and the trendsetter will be playing a superhuman assassin who can shoot bullets around corners.

Apparently, the England ace, famous for his ability to bend shots during soccer, will be featured as a lethal gunman who overcomes being half blind in British gangster flick, ‘Red Light Runners’, reported to cost around GBP8 million.

David’s role is central to the movie. The other characters give him a big build-up, though he only briefly appears on screen.

His pop sensation of a wife, Victoria has also been asked on board. The producers want her to sing a gritty gangster song on the soundtrack.

Michael Madsen who will not only act in the film but also co-produce it, Martin Kemp, Sara Cox and quite possibly Mickey Rourke will join the famous husband and wife.Bosses want to start filming at the end of the year and look forward to David signing the contract soon.

They are being tight-lipped about details of the script but one source said “If you imagine ‘Reservoir Dogs’ set in London then you’re some way to getting the picture. It’s going to be massive.”

David has already briefly appeared in a hit movie. He had a cameo role at the end of smash box office movie, ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ which sees he and Victoria walking through Heathrow airport.

Meanwhile, the offer to Victoria is important. Important because she is without a solo deal at the moment, what with label Virgin dropping her a while ago, so it’s good if she accepts the offer to sing once again.

In addition, the movies’ producers have stressed the Beckhams must come as a package. If Victoria sings on the soundtrack, then David must take the part.

Purportedly, producer Clark already has plans for the sound of Victoria’s track to go with the movie. He says “We’d like to have Victoria work with Marco Pirroni from Adam And The Ants and Sex Pistols’ drummer Paul Cook and get a really gritty tune for the soundtrack. It will most likely include contributions from Gavin Rossdale of Bush and Siobhan Fahey of Shakespear’s Sister. They’ll take her in a direction that would blow her fans away.”

No word at the time this article was written whether the Beckhams have accepted the offer or not.

Mario Is Just A Friend With The Ladies

Lucky boy. Young ladies are staking an early claim on this 15 year old crooner, Mario Barrett, the latest artist to be discovered by record guru Clive Davis.

“Girls will be outside my window” marveled the Baltimore native, who goes only by his first name. “They’ll watch me go in the house”.

For about a year, Mario has crashed at his manager’s pad while being home-schooled and groomed for success. “I’ve had some crazy experiences with girls” said Mario, who’s looking for “a certain special someone”.

“They call the house” he continued. “I don’t know what these girls are thinking”.

Why are these girls crazy over Mario? Well, word has it that he is touted as the next big thing by Clive Davis, 69, president of J Records. This was what Clive had to say. “The last time I got as excited about someone who has such worldwide potential, for many years to come, was with Alicia Keys”.

For months, the founder of Arista Records has been trotting out Mario at expensive media showcase parties across the globe. And he placed Alicia to work on Mario’s self-titled debut. She wrote and produced two of its 11 tracks, ‘2 Train’ and ‘Put Me On’.

“Working with Alicia was off the hook” said Mario, who co-wrote two of his own songs. “She taught me a lot. She told me to be myself on stage, and not to let the business change me.”

Mario’s debut track, entitled ‘Just A Friend’, is riding high on the Billboard charts.

Daniel Bedingfield Works With Mariah Carey

Daniel Bedingfield, who scored a No 1 hit with ‘Gotta Get Thru This’ is collaborating with Mariah Carey on future tracks. The two artists are both signed to Island Def Jam in the US.

US producers, The Neptunes are lined up to produce the tracks. Daniel, who has also contributed a track to H & Claire’s debut album, says “I see myself very much as a writer. Barry White, Sting and Ms Dynamite are also on my list of people I would like to write with.”

Daniel is currently putting the finishing touches to his debut album, ‘Gotta Get Thru This’ due for release in August. His new single, ‘James Dean’ is released on 5th of August. The singer is also expected to tour later in the year.

Nick Lachey Working On Solo LP

MTV.com recently reported that the lads from 98 Degrees are taking a break before recording their next album. So chances are, that would probably mean one of them will most likely try his hand at solo stardom.

So who’s doing just that? It is none other than Nick Lachey, who is currently working on his first solo record. But don’t worry, he insists the group is not breaking up.

He worked with several producers in England and Los Angeles including Linda Perry who recently helped Pink out on her latest record.

While the project is still in the beginning stages he hopes to do a duet, maybe collaborations, but he knows this one will be a lot more rock than pop. “Yeah, it’s going to be a little more, where 98 Degrees wasn’t and more in a guitar-driven area. Different but not so crazy so much so that people are shocked by it. Am just trying to evolve, do something new.”

His solo record is expected out early next year.

Truth Hurts When You Face It

Shari Watson, popularly known as the ‘Addictive’ singer, Truth Hurts, recently had to face the truth herself. Supposedly, her brilliant catchy single illegally used a sample from an Indian movie soundtrack.

Although Dr. Dre didn’t produce the song since he is the CEO of Aftermath Records and executive producer of the album, his name was listed in the lawsuit.

DJ Quik produced Truth Hurts’ number, thinking it was brilliant to use the sample from the Hindi song, ‘Thoda Resham Lagta Hai’, which I must say is a very clever and unique thing to have done. Anyway, the Hindi song was sung by Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar and it’s lifted from the movie ‘Jyoti’.

Although the lawsuit has been submitted, it may not head in the court’s direction afterall because Dr. Dre is currently in settlement talks with Indian label, Saregama India Limited.

Marc Anthony On Love And Separation

As you would’ve probably already heard, Marc Anthony, hitmaker of material like ‘I Need To Know’, recently split up with his spouse.

Commenting on his separation from wife, a former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, Marc Anthony said “We’re all right. We’ve always been all right. First and foremost, I know there has been so much speculation and I just want to say that we’re really good friends and I genuinely love her and she genuinely loves me.”

“But sometimes what happens is, you know, you think you’re fine. You really do think you’re fine. But then in reality, while we were separated, we realized that we had a lot to work on. That’s where we are at. We just absolutely adore each other. There’s no question about it. She e-mails me all the time and sends me pictures of the baby. I’m constantly calling and checking up on them and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Love Triangle Surrounding Mya, Jay-Z And Blu Cantrell

Sources are now maintaining that Mya, who once was linked to Master P’s brother, Sylk The Shocker, is now dating Jay-Z. It’s said that the two actually met when Jay-Z worked on a song called ‘Best Of Me’ on Mya’s previous album ‘Fear Of Flying’, but that it was not until this year at Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy celebrations that the rapper made his moves on the beautiful singer.

Sources claim that the two became “pretty close” over the past few months and that Jay-Z had been paying frequent visits to the singer in Miami where she is recording her upcoming CD.

However, reports also floated up this past weekend that suggest Jay-Z and Blu Cantrell are an item. The two were spotted at multiple New York hotspots apparently “holding hands and cooing”, as the article placed it.

Jay’s publicist, Lizzie Grubman said “I never comment on Jay-Z’s personal life”. Mya’s publicist, Simone Smalls of Susan Blond Inc., issued a firm “No comments”. Blu’s publicist at Arista, on the other hand, said “I do know that they are friends and that they are hanging out and spending some time together, but I wouldn’t say that they are dating”.

3 Little Workaholics

Dubbed 3 Little Workaholics, the girls from 3LW are so busy as they have no less than three extracurricular projects on their plate before releasing their second album, not the least of which is sure to cause quite a fuss.

Adrienne Bailon, Naturi Naughton and Kiely Williams will launch a clothing line called F.U.S.S. (Funky Urban Sassy Style) in spring 2003. Although the brand is still in its formative stages, it promises to be just as alluring as the young ladies involved in its creation.

In September, the girls said that they’ll serve as hosts for a week of programming on the UPN Network during sweeps week, introducing shows and providing some between-show banter. They added that there’s talk of them starring in their own sitcom.

Then there’s their musical tangents. In addition to providing backing vocals on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s new single, ‘Get Up and Get It’, the ladies have lent a hand to labelmates, Best Man, singing back-up on ‘Hold Me Down’, which will appear on the latter’s as-yet-untitled album expected to drop this fall, according to an Epic spokesperson.

All this before 3LW release their new album, ‘A Girl Can Mack’, scheduled for a 24th of Spetember. Best Man reciprocates in kind, appearing on one of the album’s tracks, ‘Ain’t No Maybe’ which the girls said might just be the follow-up to their current single, ‘I Do (Wanna Get Close to You)’.

Still Not Over Exhale

As the new millennium sets in, R&B has taken on a new rhythm and rhyme, where lyrics, melody and talent once again matter. You might say it’s gone back to the future. What better time for the blossoming fresh sounds of three “sistas” to breathe new life into the music scene!

So, are you ready to Exhale? Meet Tasha Belton, Tiko George and Toya Watson, the first ladies of their label, Real Deal Records and R&B’s hottest tantalizing trio.

Luther Vandross, Mary J Blige, Michael Jackson, N’Sync, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Chante Moore and Whitney Houston.

The above list of artists these ladies of song enjoy are as diverse as R&B is today. They represent the past, feel today’s trendsetters and are prepared to map the music of the future.

“We have the attitude of TLC combined with a more traditional R&B flavor, like En Vogue, but we’re still funky fresh,” explains Toya.

Their new ballad of a single, which they are busy promoting all over Stateside, is entitled ‘Still Not Over You’ and is simply brilliant. It is already out in stores so make sure you go grab your copy and give these fine ladies your support.

Head on down to their label site to view them http://www.realdealrecords.com

The Neptunes = N*E*R*D

You would’ve already heard of The Neptunes if you’re one who’d like to be abreast with all things current in the music industry. And if you’ve heard of them, then you must have heard of N*E*R*D. Simply put, they’re the same guys. The Neptunes = N*E*R*D. To them, The Neptunes = Batman while N*E*R*D = Bruce Wayne.

The Neptunes/ N*E*R*D, made up of Pharell Williams, Shay and Chad Hugo, reign as today’s most successful hip-hop production team. Over the last five years, they have helped propel the talents of a number of artists, their punctuating beats and syncopated rhythms fueling a unique sonic aesthetic.

Now, working with Britney Spears for her next full-length release, The Neptunes’ N*E*R*D and the album ‘In Search Of’, mixes everything from hard hip-hop beats to black psychedelic pop to classic rock to new wave. The album brings a beguiling new sound to the pop landscape.

Some of my personal faves are ‘Rock Star’, the possible single ‘Bobby James’, ‘Lap Dance’, ‘Provider’, ‘Tape You’ and ‘Baby Doll’.

Head on down to their official page http://www.n-e-r-d.com and you’ll be able to preview edits of their full LP.

‘Rock Star’ will be released on the 22nd of July in the UK.