Rio Ferdinand, star of the England national soccer team and Manchester United, has recently announced that he will launch a celebrity version of British television craze, Pop Idol, a show where people lip sync popular music, that focuses on Hip Hop.
Ferdinand‘s show will pit celebrities against each other lip syncing Hip Hop classics, with the proceeds benefiting anti-gun charities. The national team defender wants Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson to be judges, and the show has Jimmy Carr and Coleen McLoughlin already slated to appear.
Rio previously presented World Cup Wind-Ups on ITV1 in 2006.
A staple in the Hip Hop game now, 9th Wonder’s productions have always stood out as soulful bangers to vibe to. Using his keen ear and a clean sample, 9th can capture the right mood whether it’s a heater for Jay-Z or a Soul drop for Erykah Badu.
In a recent interview, 9th Wonder provided insights surrounding his sound, as well as his stance on the black music industry.
“My sound is making people feel good, like on a warm summer day. And I’m not ashamed to say I do it.” 9th went on saying, “I just wanna preserve black music, that’s my biggest thing. There’s a lot of soulful people, loving people, but sometimes the music business reflects other things…I’m trying to get 30 year olds to act their age.”
That last comment being a reference to the craze for Soulja Boy, 9th Wonder gives his take on the division of musical humility. “I’m trying to get my generation to act our age. We got 35 year old men doing the Soulja Boy! You shouldn’t be doing what your 14 year old nephew or niece is doing.”
Lastly, DXnext artists U-N-I [click here to read…] are slated to appear on MTV‘s Sucka Free tomorrow morning. The channel will air the video to “Beautiful Day” from the unsigned Inglewood, California-based group. “We’re very excited,” member Thurzday told HipHopDX of the opportunity.
The duo will also be performing with The DunkXChange, a sneaker and Hip Hop traveling event this weekend, with dates in Boston and New York.
Reported by Jake Spilman, Edwin Ortiz and Jake Paine
