News of the Week: March 9, 2004 Fans mob Jessica Simpson, Beyoncé's band thwarts a carjacking, The Grey Album sparks a protest, and scholarship money is given away for Women's History Month.
Would They Have Topped Nevermind?
In his last interview before his death, Kurt Cobain revealed that he wanted to leave his band, Nirvana, to make music with his wife, Courtney Love, according to Uncut Legends magazine. "I'd like to [collaborate with Courtney], but to tell you the truth, I would rather just quit my band and join Hole, you know — only because when I have played music with them, there's a level of connection that's a little bit higher than with anyone else I've ever played with," said Cobain.
The British magazine is planning to publish the interview on March 16, in honor of the 10th anniversary of his death. The legendary rocker killed himself at 27 when he was home in Seattle recovering from a drug and alcohol overdose.
Eight months before he died, Cobain revealed that he also thought about combining Nirvana and Hole into one band. But while he found playing with Love "totally satisfying," he worried that the collaboration would never work because of the couple's fame. "We're already so intertwined with each other. Most people don't think of the band Nirvana, they think of Kurt and Courtney and it gets in the way. People would just overlook the music and look into other things."
America's Next Top Model: The Uncut Version (Not!)
One scene you won't be seeing during this week's episode of America's Next Top Model is a steamy love session between the wannabe runway queens and a group of Italian boys. UPN made Tyra Banks cut the much-hyped scene in light of the FCC's recent crackdown on indecency after Janet Jackson's Boobgate.
Banks recently talked up the episode during an appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. "My girls on the show were doing the nasty. There's eight people making out at the same time, kind of in the same vicinity," she said. "I don't want to say orgy — but I just said it." Instead of watching the action, viewers will get the teary-eyed aftermath when one of the models confesses her dirty deeds to her boyfriend.
Voting Is for Young People
The Yale graduate who designed the controversial Urban Outfitters T-shirt with the slogan "Voting Is for Old People" must not live in California. That's where four government officials proposed an amendment that would give voting rights to teenagers as young as 14.
The plan, originally called "Training Wheels for Citizenship," would give 16- and 17-year-olds a half vote and 14-year-olds a quarter vote in state elections. Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, one of the lawmakers behind the plan, explained that today's Internet-savvy teenagers would vote responsibly because they are more informed than many adults.
Many Republicans disagree. "There's a reason why 14-year-olds and 16-year-olds don't vote. They are not adults. They are not mature enough. They are easily deceived by political charlatans," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes R-Murrieta. Another colleague called the plan "the nuttiest idea I've ever heard." Maybe he's not familiar with voting laws in countries like Austria and Germany where 16-year-olds are allowed to cast a ballot in local elections.
California students view the plan as an opportunity to make their voices heard. "If we could vote, politicians would see us as votes, not just kids, and they would take our issues seriously," Berkeley High School student Robert Reynolds told the Associated Press.
Sounds Like a Sopranos Episode
Music videos that feature police officers spying on rappers aren't just fiction. Miami police have been targeting some of hip-hop's most popular artists in a massive surveillance effort. According to an article that appeared in The Miami Herald, police begin watching rappers including P.Diddy, 50 Cent, DMX, and Ja Rule, as soon as they arrive at Miami International Airport. Their undercover work goes on to include stakeouts of the musicians' hotels, video shoots, and nightclub outings.
The police claim they are only trying to protect the rappers. Critics, however, complain the officers are buying into racist stereotypes that all hip-hop artists are criminals and thugs. "Some people see gangs and hip-hop artists as being synonymous. That's a mistake. The recording industry is a legitimate American enterprise, not a gang," said the president and chief executive officer of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Benjamin Chavis. Members of Miami's law enforcement disagree. "A lot, if not most rappers, belong to some sort of gang. We keep track of their arrests and associates," said Miami police Sgt. Rafael Tapanes.
Miami police have a six-inch-thick file, given to them by the New York Police Department, which lists every rapper who has an arrest record. It starts with 50 Cent and ends with Ja Rule. The NYPD gave the binder to Miami police during a "hip-hop training session" in May that included cops from other cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles. "They were trained on what to look for in the lyrics, what to look for when they go to hip-hop concerts, what radio stations and TV stations to monitor to keep abreast of any rift between these rappers," Tapanes explained. Perhaps 50 Cent and P. Diddy should pick a less high-profile hotspot to vacation in like Acapulco, Mexico.
