Missy Elliott appeared on Ciara's album, and now the singer is returning the favor — by singing and rapping on Elliott's upcoming LP. "The one thing nobody really knows is that before I was doing the singing, I was rapping," Ciara said on Thursday. "I wasn't in the studio or anything, but I used to sit on the porch and freestyle with the guys, my little cheesy raps." Upon hearing about this, Elliott knew what she had to do — coax Ciara to rap for real. "Missy made me do it," Ciara said. "It sounds weird right now, but I'm just doing a little bit. I hope it's OK, but I trust her." Their as-yet-untitled song together is potentially Missy's first single, Ciara said. "It's about music, how music makes you feel and makes you lose control. It's uptempo, it's dance, it's crazy." Lindsay Lohan was forced to halt filming on her latest movie after spraining her ankle Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The film does not have a title yet, and is being shot in New York. A Lohan rep told the paper that the teen queen sustained the injury while shooting a scene that required she hop from a taxi in stilettos. Mariah Carey's not going to let "Glitter" bring her down — she's hoping to bounce back with her next movie role, which just might be a part in an upcoming ensemble pic called "Ladies Night," about a group of women who spend a night on the town discussing everything from careers to sex and love. The project's being produced by "Monster's Ball" producer Lee Daniels, whom Carey called "amazingly talented" and "very edgy." "We'll see what happens," Carey said recently. "It'll be great. I'm sure whatever he does is going to be special." Irv and Chris Gotti appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday (March 18) for a pretrial hearing in the Murder Inc. money-laundering case. Their lawyers began the process of trying to sever their case from that of Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and the other defendants in the case who are charged with more severe crimes, such as murder. Chief Judge Edward Korman granted them the opportunity to make such an application, which will be heard at the next hearing. The Gottis are due back in court on May 13. Meanwhile, everything's coming up roses for Inc. princess Ashanti, who's unveiling a flower-themed window at New York's Macy's Herald Square on Sunday to promote her role in the upcoming "Muppets' Wizard of Oz," airing in May on ABC. The department store's Broadway windows will feature six scenes from the film recreated with thousands of live flowers. The re-telling of the L. Frank Baum classic also stars Queen Latifah, Quentin Tarantino, Kermit and Miss Piggy. Jay-Z's been busy in his new post as head of Def Jam, and has a few new signings under his belt already. Seventeen-year-old Detroit native Tierra Marie, who will be executive produced by Sean Garrett ("Goodies," "Yeah!," "Lose My Breath"), will release her debut on Roc-A-Fella/ Def Jam in the spring. Another new teen signed to Def Jam is 16-year-old Barbados-based Rihanna, who will be produced by Vada Nobles (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill). Her first single will be "Pon de Replay." Want to save embattled New York punk institution CBGB? Then eat lots and lots of chocolate. The Big Apple's West Village chocolate specialty store Chocolate Bar is launching a limited-edition line of CBGB's gourmet sweets this May, including the Punk Rock Box (a 16-piece truffle collection with iconic imagery stamped on the goodies themselves), and CBGB Retro Bars (2.25 ounces in two flavors). Both come with a postage-paid petition to save the venue, while the truffle box also includes a steel logo keychain and a collection of the club's stickers. You can preorder at www.chocolatebarnyc.com. |
