UPDATED:3-23!
FROM J-14 MAGAZINE APRIL 2001. ISSUE.

At first, according to Britney, a duet between Thr Material Girll and the "Lucky" songstress was totally in the works. "It is definitely going to happen," Brit had said. "She's really wonderful!I grew up listening to her in my room, and I was so happy when she said that she admired me. I just love her." Although Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg says that the powerhouse pairing is "just one of the many things Madonna is thinking about in the future," the truth is that those plans completely fell through due to both ladies having full schedules. That doesn't mean it can't happen in the future. Madonna is so impressed with Brit's success, she even sleeps in a Britney T-shirt for luck. "Can I just say that I find it really irritating that everyone beats up on Britney," says Madonna. "I want to do nothing but support her and praise her and wish her the best.

Backstreet Boy's Ex Hopes 'Hit List' Takes On New Meaning

When Willa Ford's debut single arrives on radio later this month, the 20-year-old singer is hoping teen pop fans can look past her dating history.

Ford (born Amanda Williford) is a former girlfriend of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and was prey to their fans when she toured North America with the group in 1999.

"Backstreet [mania] freaked me out," Ford said in the April issue of Teen People. "I saw signs like 'Die [Willa].' It was scary."

The singer also has been viciously dissed on the Internet. There are at least five anti-Willa Ford Web sites, with such names as Say No to Willa Ford and Willa Da Witch. The sites, obviously maintained by Backstreet Boys fans, call Ford a "talentless freeloader" and "psycho."

Ford is not the only one to receive harsh treatment for hooking up with a heartthrob. When MTV News has reported on boy band members' relationships such as the marriages of Backstreet Boys Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson last fall hundreds of fans have responded with sneering e-mails about the women.

At least Ford's days of scorn should be over. She and Carter broke up in October.

Now the Ruskin, Florida, native is preparing to clear her next hurdle: dodging comparisons to Britney Spears. Ford whose single "I Wanna Be Bad" follows in the not-that-innocent vein addresses the Spears issue on another track, "Tired," according to Teen People.

Ford's debut album, Willa's World, is due July 10 on Lava/Atlantic Records. DJ Skribble and Anthony Acid are among the producers on the record.

LIL' BOW WOW
IT HAS BEEN YET ANOTHER DAY OF BAD RUMORS. When I enter Alebra I. class on March 7, 2001.....I heard one of the most stupidest rumors I have ever heard."LIL BOW WOW WAS RAPED BY HIS DRIVER," a friend of my said. This rumor spreaded all over my school because when school was over my sister(who is a junior heard the same thang) was also talking about it. I search for the truth that day by watching TRL(which I do every day), Loging on to MTV.COM, BET.COM AND J-14. I have not heard anything about this stupid rumor(to be able and say if it was true or not). So this is just a rumor, but this should not be taken lightly at all. It's not funny so do not spread such crazy things abput people....even if there famous. I do not approve of this and no one should. I put this on this site because I do not want everyone to think that this rumor is true, because again it is false. LIL BOW WOW is doing quite find and he is still burning up the charts. (do not spread this false rumor around...rape is a serious issue and who
ever started it...should have glue put right on there mouths). Thank you. (this has been written by me DEBRIELLE. LASSITER.)


FROM J-14 MARCH. 2001 ISSUE. UPDATED 3/9/01!

PINK
Fame hasn't really changed Pink much. "I'm the same silly girl I was five years ago," the fuchsia-haired phenom reveals. "I'm still very outgoing. I don't hold my tongue. Nut at the same time, I'm kind of spoiled. I'm moody, I guess. Not in a bad way, but I could be feeling two completely different ways at the same time....I'm a book by myself." And fans seem to be intrigued to find out the latest on the "YOU MAKE ME SICK," singer. "It's funny recently, I was eating the sloppiest chicken sandwich I've ever had," she recalls. "It was all over my hands and my shirt, and these people kept coming up and asking for my autograph. I was thinking, 'Do they see me eating this chicken sandwhich?' But most of the time, the fans are really great." When fans do get to meet Pink, chances are they have a chuckle. "I love to laugh and make jokes. I just need to be careful how I joke around."

JODECI
LOS ANGELES After nearly two years of "coming soon" promises by the bandmembers, a new Jodeci album is finally taking shape.

The North Carolina quartet has eight songs in the can and another 40 contenders, members K-Ci and JoJo said Wednesday while attending the Soul Train Music Awards. The follow-up to 1995's The Show, the After Party, the Hotel should be finished by August and on shelves just before the ball drops on 2002, the brothers, born Cedric (K-Ci) and Joel (JoJo) Hailey, said.

Jodeci, who debuted with Forever My Lady in 1991, also includes brothers Dalvin and DeVante DeGrate.

JoJo said in August 1999 that Jodeci would regroup to record their next album as soon as he and K-Ci finished their tour late that year. But the project was delayed, as K-Ci and JoJo focused on X, released last year, and Dalvin recorded and released his solo debut, Met.A.Mor.Phic.

DeVante also has kept busy, recording his solo debut and producing music for other artists, even lending Michael Jackson a hand on his forthcoming album. His solo album is still in the works and no release date has been set.

K-Ci & Jo-Jo are expected to stage a spring tour in support of X. The duo announced one date so far, a May 18 stop at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

K-Ci spoke out Wednesday for the first time about allegations he exposed himself during a Los Angeles concert in December, saying, "If y'all know K-Ci, y'all know K-Ci didn't do it." (See "K-Ci Denies Alleged Indecent Exposure.")

NAPSTER: UPDATED:3-23!
FROM MTV.COM

The record industry plans to turn up the heat on Napster. An RIAA spokesperson told Reuters Thursday that the organization will file a court complaint accusing the file-sharing service of failing to comply with a recently revised injunction requiring the removal of copyrighted songs.

"It's clear that Napster is not complying with the court's order," RIAA spokesperson Jano Cabera told the news service. "We're going to file a noncompliance report to the court next week."

Napster continues to claim that it's doing everything it can to comply with the injunction by blocking songs on lists submitted by record labels and other copyright owners. In a report filed to the court on Tuesday, March 20, Napster said it has blocked 202,000 songs since its last filing on March 12, bringing the total number of blocked songs to 228,569.

In the report, Napster also said that, at record labels' request, it has blocked songs that haven't been officially released yet from artists including Janet Jackson, Jon B and Run-DMC. Additionally, Napster reports that the average number of files shared by each user has dropped from 220 to 110 in the wake of its filtering efforts.

As it did in its first compliance report, Napster again accused the labels of trying to hamper its efforts by submitting inaccurate file names.

Throughout Thursday and Friday, traffic on Napster's many servers varied wildly. The number of users on individual servers was frequently down to less than 5,000, though the number occasionally leapt closer to pre-filtering levels of close to 1million. A report issued Friday (March 23) by Webnoize, an Internet research firm, claims that daily Napster usage is down 25 percent since the company implemented more stringent filtering techniques on March 14.

According to MTVNews.com's latest Napster poll, 28% of those surveyed said they're still using Napster, even though songs are getting harder to find, while an equal number said Napster's hardly worth their time anymore. Another 20% said they don't think much has changed in their Napster experience, but 10% said they've moved on to other file-sharing services like BearShare (to weigh in, check out our current Napster poll HERE).

While Cabera did not say when it would file its complaint, Napster said on its Web site that the RIAA is required to file a response to its compliance report on March 27. The next court hearing is set for April 10.

Having blocked 10.6 million file names representing about 60,000 songs, Napster claims it has now done everything in its power to comply with a federal court's order that it prevent copyrighted material from being traded through its servers.

But in a compliance report delivered to the court in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company accused record companies and the Recording Industry Association of America of not holding up their end of the bargain.

The company reported to the court that it has blocked 6 million file names. Another 4.6 million files have been blocked since the report was filed, a Napster spokesperson said on Thursday morning (March 15).

While detailing the work it has done to block users from finding copyrighted songs, Napster reiterated something it has claimed all along. Its database of millions of blocked files is riddled with duplicate names for the same song. Because the possibilities for alternate file names are virtually limitless, the company said the only way to make absolutely sure no copyrighted files are traded is to shut down the system entirely.

The company's report also accuses the labels and the RIAA of misinterpreting U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel's injunction and not doing their part to provide the file-sharing service with both song titles and various file names.

The recording industry disagrees. "We believe the court's intent is clear," RIAA spokesperson Amy Weiss said on Tuesday. "Napster is required to stop infringing. Stall tactics are unacceptable."

Napster's report asked the court for a "prompt resolution" to the dispute over who is ultimately responsible for identifying copyrighted files for removal.

Napster CEO Hank Barry said Monday that many of the 135,000 file names submitted by the labels Friday were duplicates, and that Sony Music which alone sent Napster 95,000 song titles failed to provide file names for nearly half of those titles. Without file names, not only do the lists fail to comply with the injunction, Napster claims, but they present Napster with "impossible levels" of information to wade through.

A Sony spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The report also responds to the labels' request that it block files that contain any title that has been identified as one of the works the labels own, regardless of the artist recording it. For instance, Sony has requested blocking Bob Dylan's "I Want You" by title only. Napster argued that would require blocking other songs with the same by other artists. Blocking the Dylan song might filter out different songs by the likes of Elvis Costello, Melissa Etheridge and Marvin Gaye.

But Napster said it is going ahead and implementing filtering measures that result in the exclusion of songs other than the one intended by the copyright owner. By blocking the file "Metallica - Enter Sandman," Napster will also screen out covers of the song by other artists, including Pat Boone and Motorhead, none of which it claims have been requested for screening. The report also accuses Metallica of effectively submitting songs by Creed who, like Metallica, have a song called "Unforgiven" the Rolling Stones and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In addition to its filtering process, Napster said it has instituted a "Police BOT" software program that patrols the service's index for file name variations, which are then analyzed by a Napster employee, who will block "reasonable file name variations."

The report claims the cost of implementing filtering so far has been 2,700 hours and $150,000 in salary. Napster projects that the work of its 12-person compliance team will cost nearly $1 million.

Napster does appear to be making some progress in terms of blocking files with correct song titles, though users appeared to be continuing to find ways to work around that. A search for Eminem's "Stan" Wednesday yielded no hits. A search for his "The Way I Am" brought up no exact matches, but dozens of files labeled "The Way That I Am" did appear. Likewise, a search for Nelly's "Country Grammar" returned "Country gGrammar," "Country 1Grammar" and "Counrty Grammar."

At least one method of side-stepping Napster's screening bit the dust Tuesday. Aimster, which claimed to see an increase of 25,000 - 50,000 new users a day in the weekend following Napster's file-screening announcement, removed its Pig Encoder download from its site Tuesday. It pulled the program which changed file names from "Stan" to "tanS," for instance voluntarily at Napster's request, according to Aimster CEO Johnny Deep.

A Napster spokesperson said Wednesday that the company received a "fairly large" number of additional song titles and file names Monday night and Tuesday, though she did not know the exact number or the sources. The compliance report claims that 130,000 song titles and artist names were delivered on Monday (March 12).

Napster also announced Tuesday that it is teaming with Gracenote, a music-file recognition service, to bolster its screening capabilities. Gracenote, which can identify CDs when Internet-connected users slip them into their computers, claims to have a database with 3 million variations on more than 9 million artist/song-title pairs. For instance, it has 50 variations on spellings for 'NSYNC, according to the report.

DESTINY'S CHILD THEY WILL SURVIVE!
Hits like "Say My Name" and "Jumpin' Jumpin"' have sent the ladies of Destiny's Chld to the top of the charts, but big changes in the group had some wondering what the future would hold. Beyonce and Kelly, who have known each other since they were both 10 years old, have remained constant parts of the lineup, but Michelle Williams is the newest member. "It was hard at first, but I can turly say they're my sisters," Michelle says. The three have written songs together for the new album SURVIVOR. The first single was the female power anthem "Independent Women (PART I)," which was part of the CHARLIE'S ANGELS soundtrack. Expect more bouncy beats and positive lyrics on Survivor. Laughs Kelly, "It's gonna be really tight!"

FROM MTV NEWS:LIL' KIM AND FOXY BROWN FEUD? UPDATED: 3/9/01

In the wake of the shooting that took place outside the offices of New York hip-hop radio station Hot 97 on February 25, Foxy Brown wants to bury the hatchet with rap rival Lil' Kim.

"I really don't know how it started," Brown told MTV News on Monday (March 5) of the feud, which is believed to have fueled the shooting incident. "But Russell [Simmons] and I, we got together, and I said, 'Russell, I want to call a truce.'

"I want to have a sit-down with Kim," she continued. "I don't care what it is. Let's just end it. We can even do a collaboration. We're bigger than this. If it has to start with me, let it start with me."

Brown claimed that Simmons (chairman of her label, Def Jam/Def Soul) extended an olive branch to Lil' Kim's camp, who "weren't responsive."

Calls to Lil' Kim's manager were not returned as of press time.

The bad blood between the two MCs, according to Brown, goes back to when she was the target of a Sean "Puffy" Combs jab on Lil' Cease's "Play Around" that referred to Brown's style as being similar to Lil' Kim's. Kim perpetuated the verbal assault on her 1999 album, The Notorious K.I.M., declaring Brown "ain't a star, and [her] record company know that."

The latest litigious lyric the one that has police detectives looking into a possible motivation for the Hot 97 shooting is Brown's barb on Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang Bang," released last year, calling Kim's album "weak" and "lame" and claiming, "my name still reign."

On the afternoon of February 25, as Lil' Kim and her entourage were exiting WQHT's studios after finishing an on-air interview, they encountered Capone and his crew, who were entering the building, according to police. An argument erupted, which ended in more than 20 shots being fired from five different weapons and one man suffering a gunshot wound in the back (see "Police Looking For Second Getaway Car In Lil' Kim/Capone Shooting").

Detectives are still investigating the case and no arrests have been made, according to a police spokesperson.

In November, Noreaga explained his group's part in the Foxy/Kim rift, saying, "Fox and Kim had beef, whether we was gonna do 'Bang Bang' or not. Fox would have been on someone else's record spittin' the same thing. So what I'm sayin' is we ain't got no beef, we just representin'. ... Let the females cat fight, and whatever happens, happens. ... But if she needs us to be in her corner to make sure ain't nobody gonna jump in, we'll definitely be there" (see "Lil' Kim Present At Hot 97 Shootout, Police Say").

Despite the verbal volleying, Brown said on Monday that she never paid much mind to the rivalry with Kim. "It didn't bother me, 'cause I was OK with myself," she explained. "I didn't have to ridicule anybody to feel better about myself. ... It's not important to me. I don't worry about what Kim does. I set the tone for what Foxy does."