Game Lines Up An All-Star Production Cast For 'The R.E.D. Album'

via MTV

Game said he got just about everybody he wanted for his upcoming The R.E.D. Album — he has some of the finest tracks featuring guests from all over the hip-hop hemisphere.

"I feel great about this album," he said recently after going over tracks at Dr. Dre's house. "It's back full-force Aftermath and I'm conjoined with Star Trak." (Pharrell Williams is one of the LP's executive producers.) "I got this colorful movement over here where it's beautiful music on this side [with Star Trak] — then when I need to go dark or super grown and sexy, I got Dre over here. The combination is crazy — mixed in with a Cool & Dre track and RZA track and all the sh-- I been doing. The only person I'm upset I didn't work with on this album is DJ Premier. I feel his sh-- would have been perfect for this all-star producer cast that I have. One Premier track would have did me just fine. I would have murdered that sh--. But we ain't get it in, 'cause he was doing a whole bunch of sh-- for Christina Aguilera. I'm just Game. So I gotta just wait for the next album."

The Compton MC said he lets the fans know from the start of the album that he's not playing.

"They got the intro to the album, which is titled 'Infrared,' " Game said of Cool & Dre. "It's one of them joints that Shaheem (Reid) is gonna love. All the real hip-hop fans, to hear me rap, how I'm rapping on my intro, it's gonna f--- people up. Before you get to #2, you gonna already know I'm serious. I'm spitting. I go in. I done played this for RZA, Dre, Pharrell — all the people who heard this is like, 'N---a, that's crazy!' I haven't spit like I'm spitting on the intro since '300 Bars.' I touched every topic. Everything involving me, I touched."

We'll get a prelude to Game's work with Cool & Dre on a song called "Shake," as it's one of the highlights on his upcoming Gangsta Grillz mixtape with DJ Drama, All Red Everything. Game tells a mayhem-filled story over the beat that incorporates the looped word "shake" throughout.

" 'Shake' is bad, man," Game said. " 'Shake' is crazy. Cool & Dre brought it in and I went through the 'shakes.' I told the story, cutting myself off right before the 'shake' came in [on the track]. I didn't write none of that down. I went in and said the whole sh-- straight through.

"You know what it is about them?" he asked about Cool & Dre. "They are more like my brothers. I can go in with the any moment and make a song. The streets is gonna f--- with it."

Rihanna: MTV 'Rated R' Album Preview

MTV News previewed the album on Tuesday (November 10) and Rihanna's description is certainly accurate.

After the intro, Rated R kick starts with "Wait Your Turn" and the Young Jeezy-assisted "Hard." The material matches the artwork that's been released for the project so far, with Rihanna posturing as the bad chick.

"Tougher than a lion/ Ain't no need in trying/ I live where the sky ends, yup, you know this," Rihanna sings in a near-rap flow on "Hard." "Never lying, truth telling/ That Rihanna reign just won't let up/ The hottest bitch in heels right here."

In what will probably be referred to by fans as the "Chris Brown song," Rihanna reveals a softer side of herself on the ballad "Stupid In Love."

"I still love you, but I can't do this/ I may be dumb but I'm not stupid," she sings on the Ne-Yo-penned record.

"Stupid In Love" recounts a story of distrust over lies, raging emotions, and lamenting a lost love.

"The dunce cap is off/ You don't realize what you lost 'til I'm gone/ I was the one," Rihanna croons.

The pulsating "Russian Roulette" follows, but it's the next series of selections — "Rock Star," "Firebomb," and "Rude Boy" — that fit the Rihanna archetype of big, bombastic tracks that flaunt her sex appeal.

"Rock Star" features former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. With its mix of drum kicks and guitar licks, Rihanna revels in her rebellion. "I got my middle finger up/ I don't really give a f---."

"G4L" is another posture record (the acronym is short for "gangster for life"), while "Te Amo" is the Barbados singer's paean to her international audience.

The album once again turns somber, with the Will.i.am-assisted "Photographs," where Rihanna laments over a lost relationship.

"It shoulda been me and you/ now all I got is these photographs," she sings.

"The Last Song" is just that, after the Justin Timberlake-helmed "Cold Case Love."

"Love" begins with a sparse melody and gradually builds through each verse before it crescendos with a full production flourish.
(source)

Track list for Rated R:

01. "Mad House"
02. "Wait Your Turn"
03. "Hard" ft. Young Jeezy
04. "Stupid In Love"
05. "Russian Roulette"
06. "Rock Star" ft. Slash
07. "Firebomb"
08. "Rude Boy"
09. "Photographs" ft. Will.i.am
10. "G4L"
11. "Te Amo"
12. "Cold Case Love"
13. "The Last Song"

Michael Jackson: O2 London show merch made available for purchase online

According to MTV News

Just a week before Jackson was slated to kick off his 50-date This Is It concert series at the O2 Arena in London, the merchandise that would have accompanied his attempted return to form went up for sale online.

Hats, T-Shirts, belt buckles, you name it, with many sizes and designs to choose from. Get the official Michael Jackson merch now, before it's all gone, or before it's on Ebay.

For the official Michael Jackson London O2 Arena 'This Is It' show merchandise link, click here