Pharrell Williams and Jennifer “J-Lo” Lopez recently met in Puerto Rico to record a reggaeton song, a first for both artists. Last week, the Latina and the Virginia rapper, who is also half of the Neptunes production team, met to work with LunyTunes, a popular group of reggaeton producers. Lopez is reportedly working on a Spanish album with husband Marc Anthony, an accomplished singer and actor.
50 Cent, The Game, Mariah Carey and Destiny’s Child were top winners at the 2005 World Music Awards, which were held in Los Angeles on Wednesday. 50 Cent snagged the award for best-selling pop male artist, while rival The Game won the best-selling new male honor. Destiny’s Child won accolades for best-selling pop group, best-selling R&B group and best-selling female group of all time. Carey and her Emancipation of Mimi emerged victorious with the best-selling R&B artist, female entertainer of the year awards and best-selling pop female artist. Usher, Gwen Stefani and Eminem also won awards at the show, which was held at the Kodak Theatre in L.A.
Public Enemy front man Chuck D has written a new song addressing the natural disaster in New Orleans, Alabama, Mississippi and the issues that surround the region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In “Hell No We Ain’t Alright,” Chuck D sends a barbed message to government officials, the media, the military and even the Hip-Hop nation. The lyrics for the song were written on Sept. 2, the same day Kanye West rapped the treatment of African Americans suffering in the catastrophe live on the NBC television network. The rapper reportedly recorded the track over Labor Day weekend and is expected to distribute it shortly. Chuck D and Public Enemy have been long running activists in the rap community. Below are the lyrics to “Hell No We Ain’t Alright,” as written by Chuck D.
“Hell No We Ain’t Alright”
New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright
Now all these press conferences breaking news alerts
This just in while your government looks for a war to win
Flames from the blame game, names? Where do I begin?
Walls closing in get some help to my kin
Who cares?While the rest of the Bushnation stares
As the drama unfolds as we the people under the stairs
50% of this Son of a Bush nation
Is like hatin’ on Haiti
And setting up assassinations
Ask Pat Robertson- quiz him…. smells like terrorism.
Racism in the news/ still one-sided news
Saying whites find food/
prey for the national guard ready to shoot
‘Cause them blacks loot
New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright
Fires, earthquakes, tsunamis
I don’t mean to scare/ Wasn’t this written somewhere?
Disgraces all I see is black faces moved out to all these places
Emergency state, corpses, alligators and snakes
Big difference between this haze and them diamonds on the VMA’s
We better look/ what’s really important
Under this sun especially if you over 21
This ain’t no TV show/ this ain’t no video
This is really real/ beyond them same ole “keep it real”
Quotes from them TV stars drivin’ big rim cars
‘Streets be floodin,’ B/ no matter where you at, no gas
Driving is a luxury
Urgency
State of emergency
Shows somebody’s government
Is far from reality….
New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright
I see here we be the new faces of refugees
Who ain’t even overseas but here on our knees
Forget the plasma TV-ain’t no electricity
New worlds upside down-and out of order
Shelter? Food? Wasssup, wheres the water?
No answers from disaster/ them masses hurtin’
So who the f**k we call?–Halliburton?
Son of a Bush, how you gonna trust that cat?
To fix s**t when help is stuck in Iraq?
Making war plans takin’ more stands
In Afghanistan 2000 soldiers dyin’ in the sand
But that’s over there, right?
Now what’s over here is a noise so loud
That some can’t hear but on TV I can see
Bunches of people lookin’ just like me…