Paul Giamatti has joined the cast of Straight Outta Compton, the N.W.A. biopic that will arrive next summer. In the film Giamatti will play the iconic hip-hop group's manager.
Roger Waters will be going to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month for the world premiere of his concert film Roger Waters The Wall. The film, which was shot in three cities will feature his full massive concert from his 2010 / 2011 world tour where he brought Pink Floyd's The Wall back to life using new technology.
Speaking to Stereogum, Geoff Rickley talked about the fall of Thursday and how his band became more of a job than something they loved. He said, "We used to joke around, Tucker [Rule, drummer] and I. In between songs, he'd do this" — Rickly mimes sticking a punchcard into a machine — "and that would mean he was punching the clock that night. If the guy that’s the engine, in the middle of the band, is like, 'This is just a job,' you feel it resonate through the whole band. Alternately, sometimes, I'd be getting water and looking at him, and he'd be laughing and going, 'You are so not happy.' When you’re interfacing with the crowd, it’s hard to be the public face. You're like, ’Ugh, I have to pretend this is awesome because there are at least 10 people here who really want to see this. And tonight, I really don't want to do that.'" Thursday broke up in 2011.
Speaking to BBC's Zane Lowe, Nas opened up about the deaths of Tupac and Biggie saying, "Those two things hit me real hard, because I knew both of them. I knew Biggie more, but what they meant to the art form can never be redone, can never be replaced. And when those two guys passed away I thought [it] was the end of rap.” He also talked about hip-hop today and his notorious 2001 feud with Jay Z saying, "Today’s music industry it’s really about money now and back then during that period, when you talk about me battling with Jay, it was about something else. It was not just about being the top guy in rap. It felt like we were leaders of nations. Not that we were egotistical as, “I’m the leader.” No, not in that sense. I mean what you felt surrounding us was – there was an importance in what we were doing that mattered more than just success.
It was more than just, “Oh my record’s going to sell,” or… Yeah we need the records to sell to make money. That was something we thought about, but put that aside. When Pac made “Dear Mama,” and these records and then he had to switch up to get in war mode, these were chess moves. This was real… today it’s a whole other world. I’ll just leave like that."