U2 & Karen O. have been confirmed to play their respective Oscar nominated songs at this year's Academy Awards which take place on March 2.
Speaking of U2, the band are aiming to release their still-untitled, Danger Mouse produced, 13th album this summer. The band say the delay in the record came from when they got a call from Hollywood big-wig Harvey Weinstein to craft a song for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Bassist Adam Clayton told The Hollywood Reporter, "This was the one project you just couldn't say no to. For our generation, South Africa was a real illustration of how music could affect change in the world, and it was a rite of passage in terms of our political awareness."
Savages have confirmed they will release new material in the form of an EP, later this year.
Nas is teaming up with Xbox to release a dramatic autobiographical series called Street Dreams, which will be about how the rapper came up in the Queensbridge Projects. While the project is still being casted and scripts are being worked on The Wackness director Jonathan Levine will direct the series. No word yet as to when the project will air, however, Nas did tell Rolling Stone that he will release a new album later this year.
Also on the biopic front is Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton has signed on to direct the upcoming Tupac Shakur film. Singleton, who directed Tupac in Poetic Justice, tells Variety, "Tupac was the guy who I planned to do a lifetime of films with,” Singleton said. “His passing deeply affected my life as well as countless people in this world. His life story is important to my generation.” The film will be about Pac's rise until his 1996 murder. No release date has been set, nor has a lead been casted in the project.
