Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 72

Michael Jackson: King Of Pop, Rock And Soul–And Hip-Hop?

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Click for full photo gallery: The Albums Of Michael Jackson

Though many refer to Michael Jackson simply as “The King of Pop,” his full nickname—dreamed up by longtime pal Elizabeth Taylor—was “The King of Pop, Rock and Soul.” Perhaps another genre should be tacked on: Hip-hop.

Jackson’s influence on the rap world, including the members of the Forbes Five, can be seen in the copious sampling of his work by artists from Jay Z to Kanye West and in frequent shout-outs to the si...

Inside Jay Z’s Cohiba Comador Cigar Venture

Stroll into the Nat Sherman Townhouse in Manhattan and the first thing you’ll notice is how quickly the scent of smoke engulfs your body, attaching itself to the back of your throat like a bitter, invisible paste. In the rare instance that none of the sales associates or patrons is actively puffing, the aroma still pervades the store as if baked into the faded rugs and set for timed release.

Other attention-grabbing details include the sheer quantity of cigars—thousands of individual sticks pr...

I Want To Work For Diddy: Meet Sean Combs’ Real Revolt Recruits

Back in 2008, a program called I Want To Work For Diddy made its debut on VH1. As its title suggests, the program follows a handful of Millennials as they perform outrageous tasks in order to win approval—and, eventually, employment—from Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The contestants had plenty to worry about, given the difficulty of Diddy’s marching orders in that reality show and others. In Making The Band, for instance, he famously ordered some of his charges to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn and pic...

Forbes Five Hip-Hop Rich List 2014: Preview & Contest

Hip-hop’s top moguls have spent the past two decades accumulating massive fortunes–so much so that FORBES started keeping tally, beginning with the first Hip-Hop Cash Kings package (measuring annual earnings) in 2007 and continuing with the first Forbes Five special report (measuring net worth) in 2011.

For the latter, the one constant has been constancy. Sean “Diddy” Combs has captured the wealth crown in each of the list’s three years; he’s always been followed by Shawn “Jay Z” Carter, Andre...

Animal Ambition: 50 Cent Talks Inspiration For New Album

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50 Cent is gearing up to launch Animal Ambition, his firstalbum since leaving Interscope, the label that catapulted him to superstar status starting withGet Rich Or Die Tryin’a decade ago.

Though the public will have to wait until June 3rd to hear the record in its entirety, 50 Cent gave FORBES a sneak peek of his musical approach in a recent interview at SiriusXM’s studios in midtown Manhattan.

“I started with concepts, so I’d know I wou...

What Michael Jackson, Beyonce And Jay Z Have In Common

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Click for full photo gallery: The Albums Of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’s postmortem fortunes got another boost yesterday with the announcement that Epic Records will releaseXscape, an album of all-new material by the King of Pop, on May 13th.

Xscapecame together after Jackson’s estate granted Epic chief Antonio “L.A.” Reid unlimited access to the singer’s musical archives. Reid selected eight tracks on which Jackson had already recorded vocals and passed them along to...

Why Mariano Rivera’s Successor Will Hurl Cash At Lynyrd Skynyrd

On September 22nd of last year, Mariano Rivera made his usual journey from the bullpen to the mound at Yankee Stadium, with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blaring in the background. This time, however, there was something notably different: the heavy metal band was there at the ballpark, playing the song live.

It was all part of a 50-minute ceremony to honor Rivera, whose entry into the baseball Hall of Fame is even more certain than a Yankee victory upon his arrival on the rubber on any day duri...

Birds Of Tokyo Talk U.S. Transition–And Perform–At Forbes

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At first glance, the name “Birds of Tokyo” seems a bit of a mystery–as though something got lost in translation. But for the five-piece alt-rock group from Perth, Australia, ambiguity was the goal in picking its moniker.

“We wanted a name that didn’t really sort of give you an idea of what we’ll sound like,” explained frontman Ian Kenny in a recent visit to FORBES. “We want a banner that we can tread under and be whatever we want. … We k...

Why Wu-Tang Will Release Just One Copy Of Its Secret Album

Somewhere on the outskirts of Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an engraved silver-and-nickel box with the potential to spawn a shift in the way music is consumed and monetized.

The lustrous container was handcrafted over the course of three months by British-Moroccan artistYahya, whose works have been commissioned by royal families and business leaders around the world. Soon, it will contain a different sort of art piece: the Wu-Ta...

Will Tumblr Become The Next MySpace For Music?

Last June, British rock group Arctic Monkeys released an animated YouTube video for the song “Do I Wanna Know?” The sparse, somewhat macabre visuals matched the track’s brooding tone—and attracted over 45 million views.

That tally still seems to be growing steadily, thanks in part to an unlikely ally: Tumblr. Fans on the microblogging site continue to share slices of the video, chopping them up into still images and animated gifs by the truckload.

“There are hundreds of thousands of posts on Tu...