LOLLAPALOOZA 2010: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, LADY GAGA

Well, the rumors were true. Soundgarden, Green Day and Lady Gaga are headlining Lollapalooza this year (August 6-8 in Chicago's Grant Park). I am pretty sure this is the first show that Soundgarden has announced, and it is appropriate as they are one of the only bands (along with Tool) to be a Lolla headline act more than once (in 2991 and 1997), Also on the bill: Arcade Fire ,Social Distortion, Jimmy Cliff, the Black Keys, Devo, Cypress Hill, The Drive-By Truckers, and many more.  Find out more at the festival website.

CYPRESS HILL ALBUM FEATURES TOM MORELLO, DARON MALAKIAN AND MARC ANTHONY

I used to think of Cypress Hill as the AC/DC or Ramones of hip-hop, but that comparassion doesn't exactly work.  Both of those bands are great at one thing, and Cypress Hill does two: menacing sounding hip-hop and rock/hip-hop hybrids. So, it is no surprise that their next album, Rise Up, features Tom Morello, as well as System Of A Down leader Daron Malakian, as well as some dude from Linkin Park. They have also always been proud of their Latino roots, and they nod to that with some other guests: Mr. J-Lo Marc Anthony and Cheech & Chong even make an appearance. The album also features Everlast and Pete Rock. It's their first record for Priority Records: they were (allegedly) signed  by Snoop Dogg, who now is the public face of the label. Rise Up comes out April 6.

SLASH'S ALBUM SOUNDS PRETTY COOL

In September, I wrote about how Dave Grohl is playing on Slash's upcoming solo album. Also guesting on the album: Flea, Chris Cornell, most of Guns N' Roses (other than Axl, obviously), Iggy Pop, Cypress Hill, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf and Adam Levine of Maroon 5. And Fergie. And Nicole Scherzinger, the girl who (allegedly) actually sings for the Pussycat Dolls. This should be a cool album, Slash deserves it after having to deal with Axl and then the guy from Stone Temple Pilots.

VH1'S HIP-HOP HONORS

I was glad to see one of my favorite groups of all time, de la soul, get their due at the Hip-Hop Honors. It took Q-Tip, Estelle (John Legend's protegee), Cee-Lo, Public Enemy with Mos Def and EPMD to pay tribute to them. The only problem was that each segment was too short (no pun intended).  It's just too bad that PE and Mos Def's collab was like, one minute long. 

And they need to honor EPMD next year! They are way more influential than some other artists who have been honored. But it was also great to see Cypress Hill and Slick Rick get honored.  I wasn't as big of a fan of Naughty By Nature or Too $hort. 

Anyway, great show, I remember working at the first Hip-Hop Honors, and there was some initial skepticism about Video Hits 1 doing a hip-hop awards show. But it was awesome, and they've done a great job on all the subsequent ones. (Although tough to beat the original lineup, which included PE, Run-D.M.C. and KRS-One). 

CONGRATS TO DE LA SOUL

VH1 just announced the artists who will be celebrated at this years' Hip-Hop Honors: de la soul, Slick Rick, Cypress Hill, Naughty By Nature and Too $hort. de la is one of my favorite acts in any genre, so I'm glad to hear they're getting their props, as I think they're quite underrated. And my wife's favorite MC is Slick Rick, and it will be nice to see him get some love - dude hasn't had an easy ride. This should be a great show, but they'll never match the first one, which honored Run-DMC, Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy.