SONG REVIEW! Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard

Pittsburgh rap star Wiz Khalifa, who had us bopping with Black & Yellow, gives some solid career and life advice on his new song Work Hard, Play Hard: “The quicker you’re here, the faster you go / That’s why from where I’m from the only thing we know is work hard, play hard”. The song is the first single from his highly anticipated second CD, O.N.I.F.C., which should be released later this year. Work Hard, Play Hard features an openly banger of a beat full of enough bass to set off an earthquake and instantly addictive synth lines before flipping into a more openly pop hook. Vocally Wiz follows the instrumental’s lead, laying down line after line aimed at letting the world know that all that hard work has paid off very, very nicely: “I got so much money I should start a bank / so much paper right in front of me it’s hard to think.” Listen to the track HERE!

DRUM Beat 2012 moves to a new home

Lira

The DRUM Beat concert for 2012 will be moving to a new location. The inaugural DRUM Beat concert held at Mofolo Park, Soweto, in April 2011 was a family-friendly music spectacle. This year the festival moves to 1 and 2 June and at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in the City of Ekurhuleni and will be a bigger and more exciting musical experience. DRUM Beat Ekurhuleni will showcase prominent cross-genre artists on the main stage, jazz stage and piano lounge. The programme will be predominately jazz-oriented with a twist of Afro-pop and dance music. Confirmed appearances on the bill include Lira, Sibongile Khumalo, Asanda Bam and Trio (Steve Kekana, Babsy Mlangeni and Joe Nina) - the names of other artists will be announced later. Tickets are available now at www.ticketbreak.co.za

New Thirty Seconds To Mars CD in the works

Thirty Seconds To Mars

Rockers Thirty Seconds To Mars have announced that they are currently working on their 4th studio album, the follow-up to 2009’s global hit This Is War. The new album is a “dramatic departure from the past”, says singer and songwriter Jared Leto, describing it as being “very orchestral, narrative, interactive and even more electronic than previous projects”. Leto is once again producing the album along with several other talented producers including the return of Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Killers). The trio are working out of their studio in the Hollywood Hills dubbed 'ICAASS' (International Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound) or 'The Lab' for short, as well as incorporating site specific recording in locations as far reaching as India, Africa, Yosemite, the California desert and Europe. The band plans to re-launch their successful event dubbed The Summit and plans to launch The Summit 2.0 as an app which will allow fans to be a part of live recording for the album through Facebook, Twitter and a new technology platform called VyRT.

Rihanna: 'Talk That Talk' documentary

Rihanna

Barbadian hottie Rihanna has released a documentary about the making of her latest album, reports Digital Spy. The star has uploaded Road To Talk That Talk to her official Vevo page, which sees her making her sixth studio album throughout the summer of 2011. The video reveals that Rihanna recorded the album's title track 'Talk That Talk' during her North American Loud tour, using a makeshift studio on a bus. After listening to the track with her team, Rihanna exclaims: "I just love that record. I'm excited." Later scenes see Rihanna travelling on a private jet back home to Barbados. Upon her arrival she is heard talking to her mother on the phone about meeting up because she wants to drive her car. Rihanna's sixth studio album Talk That Talk reached number one in the UK and number three in the US upon its release. Riri recently confirmed that 'Where Have You Been' will be the fourth official single. Watch part of the doccie HERE!

Full On Fresh with 5FM’s DJ Fresh

5FM resident DJ and music maestro DJ Fresh (born Thato Sikwane) spills his guts on winning awards, criticism, crying in movies, and of course, music!

DJ Fresh (Credit: 5FM)

Congratulations with the MTN Radio Award for best commercial afternoon drive show! What does this award mean for you? It is flattering to get some sort of acknowledgement. Generally I’m not keen on accolades and awards because it’s all about the listeners for The Fresh Drive. Being trusted with a radio show is enough of an award.

How do you feel about the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) that cried foul about the manner in which the event is organised and the NCRF coordinator and CEO of Jozi FM Mpho Mhlongo who said the event was managed by a "bunch of white judges" and MTN, and "does not care about black community radio stations"? I think the guys that submitted award-wining submissions got awards. Full stop. Maybe they should apply again next year. The awards are based on certain criteria of standards, not on colour. And if they feel the bar is set too high they can start their own awards based on mediocrity.

You have just released the awesome CD Cheese of the Day, will you be releasing anything else soon and who would you like to work with on future albums? Right now Euphonik and I are put together a Club Culture CD. It’ll be out in May. When it comes to collaborations I’m looking more for fresh new vocalists, rather than any big names.

What is your favourite Cheese Of The Day song? I was raised on 80s and 90s music, a lot of which we’ve now decided is cheesy so it’s difficult to pinpoint just one song.

Can you remember the first ever song your played as a DJ? I remember it was February 1987 and I was about 13 or 14 but it‘s a blur because I was so nervous and excited.

What caused your longest on-air pause? I generally avoid radio pauses but cases that involve abuse of children can stump me. I get so worked up that I end up having nothing to say – big, pregnant pause.

How are the DJ Fresh scholarship students doing? We don’t have as many now as in beginning. We’ve had to streamline the process and want to restructure. Generally they’re doing as well as they possibly could. Some of the kids struggle because as much as the education is taken care of, they still have issues like transport and food at home. It’s overwhelming because as much as kids want education it’s not actually their biggest need. It ends up getting emotional sometimes so we’re trying to restructure to give them more than just an education.

We hear you are quite movie buff with a large DVD collection. What is your favourite movie? Scarface is my favourite movie of all time. I recorded it on TV1 in the 80s and I then bought the original on VHS, then bought the DVD, then the special anniversary edition. I have memorabilia, including money clips and a fragrance as well as 11 Scarface t-shirts. I immersed myself in it because it’s about ambition gone wrong. I use it literally as an example of how not to let ambition cloud your focus.

Have you ever cried while watching a movie/DVD? Ja. Flip! My tears are never far. Feel-good movies make me cry/ I probably cried hardest during The Champ which I saw when I was a kid. I was 10 at the time and cried like a little bitch.

You have quite a lot of tattoos (we like tattoos!) - does it mean anything special or is it just designs you like? The tattoos of my kids are because they have meaning – they’re my kids. The rest are just designs I liked. I had ideas and the tattoo artist tailor made them. I’m a strong believer in custom-made tattoos. If they’re not customised they can look like all the others.

WIN! EMI and The Beat are giving 5 readers the chance to win the The Fresh Drive presents Cheese of the Day CDs. Just answer this easy question and send your answers with contact details HERE QUESTION: Name the one movie DJ Fresh is nuts about?

Alanis Morissette readies new album

Alanis Morissette

Back in the 1990s, Alanis Morissette had us singing and rocking along with gems You Oughta Know, Hand in My Pocket, and Thank U to name a few, and then she just drifted away, disappearing quietly from the music scene. But now she is back! Rolling Stone reports that Alanis has been writing song which caring for her newborn son, Ever Imre Morissette-Treadway, with husband Mario Treadway. Track titles include 'Havoc', 'Spiral', 'Guardian' and 'Celebrity', and they quote some particularly harsh lyrics from the latter: 'I am a tattooed sexy dancing monkey'. She said of the song 'Yes, it was inspired by specific people. But I'll never talk about that, 'cause it's just rude.' Last year Alanis said she's recorded 31 songs for a new album. It'll be her first album since 2008's Flavors Of Entanglement, which was inspired by her break-up from actor Ryan Reynolds.

Oh Baby Baby Baby! Justin Bieber writes baby song

Justin Bieber

Canadian singer Justin Bieber is set to release a song about the woman who claimed she had his baby, reports music-news.com. Justin has written a track about Mariah Yeater, who alleged he was the father of her son Tristyn five months ago. The 18-year-old has denied the accusations and will sing about them on his forthcoming LP, Believe. "I'm going to be talking about everything I'm going through,' he told Heatworld.com. "I've written a song about that whole situation with that girl who said she's having my baby - Mariah Yeater. I've written about my mom, loads of things I'm going through." Justin, who recently released his new single Boyfriend, believes he is great to his girlfriend Selena Gomez. He enjoys spending time with her and spoils her whenever possible. "Yeah, I think I'm a great boyfriend because you have to be honest and patient with girls... 'Cause sometimes they can give you a headache,' he said. 'If you spend time doing things from the heart, then girls like that kinda thing. Presents are just something from the store."