Just earlier this afternoon, Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group held a press conference, revealing a wealth of information regarding the record label. A number of powerful figures in the music business were present, with CEO of Warner Bros. Music Lyor Cohen even speaking on Ross’ behalf, the first time he’d done so since introducing Roc-A-Fella nearly two decades ago.

Among the revelations, foremost was the slew of release dates officially unveiled. Ross’ own much hyped, but delay-plagued, God Forgives, I Don’t, was given a drop date of July 31st. Also revealed were the dates for MMG’s next collective effort, Self Made Vol. 2, releasing June 26th, co-Bad Boy handled French Montana’s Excuse My French on July 17th, and lastly, signee Meek Mill’s debut for the label, Dreams & Nightmares, coming August 28th. Ross discussed each record, declaring Vol. 2, “much better than the first,” and stating that a single for his own project would hit airwaves, “extremely soon.”

Last, but not least, it was officially announced that former B2K singer Omarion had joined up with MMG. The crooner declared, “A lot of people have been wondering, ‘what’s up with Omarion? Is his career over?’ I’ve never been a fan of popular opinion, but from now on, when you see me, understand that it’s Maybach Music.” Ross was quieter regarding rumored signings of artists such as Mase, Dom Kennedy, and Nipsey Hu$$le, simply saying he prefers to, “le[t] the rumors circulate”.

Many have been wondering – for quite some time now – when The xx will roll around with their sophomore album. It appears that time may finally be upon us. Well, almost, at least. The restrained British indie rockers have announced a slew of shows throughout Europe, which, we can only hope, means they have an album to tease or promote. Also shared by the band, via their facebook, was the ambiguous image above. A sliver of the album cover, perhaps?

05-14 London, England – Electrowerkz
05-15 London, England – Chats Palace
05-18 London, England – Battersea Arts Centre
05-29 Bordeaux, France – Le Rocher De Palmer
05-30 Toulouse, France – Le Phare
05-31 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound
06-08 Turin, Italy – Traffic Festival
06-09 Porto, Portugal – Primavera Sound
06-15 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside Festival
06-16 Hultsfred, Sweden – Hultsfred Festival
06-22 Scheessel, Germany – Hurricane Festival
06-23 Neuhausen, Germany – Southside Festival
06-27 Haervic, Norway – Hove Festival
06-29 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-07 Gdynia, Poland – Heineken Open’er Festival
07-14 Joensuu, Finland – Ilosaarirock Festival
08-09 Sibinek, Croatia – Terraneo Festival
08-10 Budapest, Hungary – Sziget Festival
08-11 St Pere, France – La Route du Rock
08-18 St Polten, Austria – FM4 Frequency Festival
08-19 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Lowlands Festival
08-31 Laois, Ireland – Electric Picnic
09-07 Isle of White, England – Bestival

We previously reported that Damon Albarn had declared both Gorillaz and Blur dead, expressing his intentions to let both projects remain dormant. I bet against this, as did many, aware of Albarn’s potential for changing plans. In an interview with Metro, the singer’s already shedding doubt on his prior certainty, saying, “Some days I feel one way and other days I feel the other. If you don’t see something as a career but an important part of your life, you don’t know how you’re going to feel about it.”

He was more open about the future of Gorillaz, opening, “When Jamie [Hewlett] and I have worked out our differences, I’m sure we’ll make another record. … We’ve been through too much together for it to be that big of a mountain to climb. We’ve just fallen out like mates do sometimes. I’m not the only person to fall out with mates and then make up again– everyone does it.”

There you have it, reason to hold onto some hope for two great musical projects, not that there was really any reason to truly fear.

The hype surrounding 2pac’s addition to the Star Wars canon just doesn’t seem to stop. Following reports that the hologram may go on a tour with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, the former finally spoke on the possibility with a TMZ reporter. He was excited about the idea, but made it clear he was only “thinking about it.” As of now, as many seem not to realize, the “hologram” is in fact 2D visual trickey, and Dre wants to perfect the representation into a true, 3D hologram.

Dre elaborated, saying, “I’m not sure right now, because right now, it’s a technology that’s happening where the hologram could be 360 degrees. Right now, it’s flat. It just looks like it’s three-dimensional from the front. But working on some new and different things for the future. Everybody’s in love with it right now, we’re having fun.”

Many have suggested this technology could lead to the resurrection of many fallen greats’ likenesses, and it’s clear Dre has considered this too, “Hopefully, different artists are able to bring out their favorite artists. Hopefully, we can see Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye. We’ll see what happens.” Uh oh. This really could the beginning of a new, odd chapter in live music history. Check out the entire street “interview” below.

Now that 2pac’s first “appearance” as a hologram has become a world trending, pun haven of a future meme, many people have wondered one thing: where there be more after this week’s Coachella appearance? Well, the Wall Street Journal reports that, “Representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg plan to discuss logistics for a tour involving the two performers and the virtual Tupac, according to a person familiar with the discussions.”

If this tour materializes, it’d raise a lot of questions. Would the focus still remain on Dre and Snoop, performing most of the show, with Pac arriving at the end each night? One has to imagine they’ll update beyond the same two songs used thus far, but then, the technology has been priced between $300-400,000, a big pricetag for two tracks. One doubts they’d shell out change for ten songs, or anything of the sort, but then, perhaps it’d depend on just how huge the tour demand grew.

Regarding the project, Ed Ulbrich, the man behind it all, said, “This is just the beginning. Dre has a massive vision for this.” However, beyond the possible expense, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Journal notes that the event of a tour, “is likely but not guaranteed” and “could fall apart for any number of reasons.”

What do you think? Many still debate the nature of the “hologram” (itself actually a 2D visual trick), whether it’s the right rememberance of the fallen giant, and so on. Nonetheless, Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, granted Dre her approval, and enjoyed the performance. Would you pay to see a show focused on a hologram of 2pac? Or would you rather he support Dre and Snoop with an all stare lineup of guests, similar to the Coachella shows? If it all comes together, we shall see.

That’s right. Perhaps having Premo spin for Shady 2.0′s infamous BET Cypher rubbed off on Eminem. According to DJ Premier, speaking on Sway in the Morning, he’s headed to Detroit for some serious recording sessions with none other than Marshall Mathers.

If this actually leads to released material, this is great news for fans of Slim Shady and hip hop alike. While the MC’s lyrical skills have improved steadily over the past few years (save some lazy guests appearances), his taste in music has seemingly degraded, preferring to work with mainstream pop rap producers, rather than true beatsmiths.

Hence, Premo could be exactly what Mathers needs. Chances are we won’t hear any tracks from these sessions for months, but perhaps we finally have a reason to get excited over Eminem again.

When we reported on Dr. Dre’s plans to feature a reanimated Nate Dogg, in the form of a hologram, this writer joked about the idea of a 2Pac appearance – I hardly thought it could really happen, with all the red tape surrounding any decision regarding Shakur’s legacy. Well, it seems just that is set to occur, as L.A. radio station KROQ confirms, with Pac’s image set to appear for a rendition of “California Love”.

Weird, huh? The concert is also said to boast Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Warren G, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, and even fellow weed connoisseur Wiz Khalifa, according to Rolling Stone. This should be more than huge, can it live up to the hype?

This isn’t exactly breaking news, but it’s not every day you get to write about a deceased man entertaining an audience. TMZ reports that Dr. Dre intends to make damn sure his close friend and West Coast ally is remembered during his Coachella performance. He’s gone so far to ensure this that he’s having Nate Dogg perform alongside him. Only, as a hologram.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen technology like this, with Will.I.Am showing it off on the news, Mariah Carey performing concerts around the world with it, and so on. Nonetheless, it may be the first major use to raise the question of what it means to project an artist no longer living. It’s exciting, and it’s practically touching that Dre so badly wants to perform with his old friend, but wouldn’t you feel a bit odd, rapping on stage next to a Star Wars rendering of a friend you lost?

Ultimately, of course, it’s up to Dre, and one can only imagine he shelled out serious change for the toys to make it happen, so it’s certainly important to him. Word is, that Nate will perform multiple songs, with Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, and the whole G-Funk crew. Also rumored to appear is Eminem. Stay tuned for more, if a video of the performance is released, it will be here.

This only raises the question: where’s 2pac’s projection? Actually, they probably just couldn’t get past legal issues with that one. For that matter, if Suge Knight’s still has any say regarding Pac’s material, one doubts he’d share it with Dre…

Yesterday we reported the depressing news that Havoc had launched a tirade against Mobb Deep partner Prodigy, calling him gay, fake, and even claiming he’d had consensual sex with multiple men during his recent prison sentence. Ouch indeed.

Many hoped the tweets were the result of a hack, but this was followed by confirmations by respected voices, such as Sway Calloway. However, after a period of industry meltdown, Havoc issued this statement to RapRadar:

“Just getting back into NY after my Easter weekend with family and friends in Jersey. I left my phone at a gas station yesterday evening while on my way to Jersey after a glorious Knick’s game. To all Mobb Deep fans: it’s business as usual! It’s Mobb Deep all day!!! My twitter account @THEREALHAVOC will be down until further notice. The only other real account is @PRODIGYMOBBDEEP. Ignore the rest. One!”

You’d think it would end there. Of course, it didn’t. Radio show The Breakfast Club was suspicious of the situation, as are many fans. They did some digging, and somehow came up with audio (listen or download here) which they say features an angry Havoc dissing Prodigy. Truth is, it does indeed sound like him, and, more disturbingly, close Mobb affiliate N.O.R.E called in to offer his opinion that it was in fact Havoc.

If this is true, why the change of story? Perhaps the reaction in the hip hop community was so strong that the duo were pressured to make the appearance of unity, or the label responsible for their approaching album dug in their claws, many reasons are possible. To this writer, all this seems far fetched, but the call does seem genuine. A strange turn of events indeed, stay tuned for more. If anything, at least we can rejoice that this doesn’t seem like the end of Mobb Deep after all.

UPDATE to the Update: Havoc has called into the show to denounce the alleged audio recording. Oddly, however, the story behind the stolen phone has switched from a gas station to a Knicks game. “I guess this is great promotion, man, this is crazy,” Havoc mused. Could the whole thing have been a risky, bizarre publicity stunt by the duo? Again, this writer doubts it, but the media world seems unwilling to accept the beef as entirely false.

To offer some personal speculation, the last of Havoc’s alleged tweets claimed the beef was over something Prodigy had said about him in his autobiography. Knowing prideful rap artist’s tendency for misunderstandings, perhaps Havoc overreacted to something he misread, and responded angrily before the offensive words were cleared up, then finding it easier to deny his rash words entirely, rather than explain. Stay tuned as events continue to unfold.

Pulp is about to begin its first American tour in over thirteen years. We surely don’t need to tell you that’s no minor event, but to make matters more exciting, it could, quite possibly, lead to new songs from the revered britpop group.

In an interview with Shortlist Magazine, frontman Jarvis Cocker hints at this possibility, saying, “It took us long enough to relearn the old songs, so we’ll have to see about that. But I’ve got ideas. I keep my little notebook, I’ve always got that with me. Hopefully there’s more stuff than nonsense in there.”

Personally, this writer doubts much of anything the man who brought us Different Class jots down would be completely unrecordable, and if 2001′s We Love Life, which easily outranks their prior effort This is Hardcore, is any sign, the band has life in them yet. American tour dates are below, and stay tuned.

04/10 – New York, NY: Radio City Music Hall
04/11 – New York, NY: Radio City Music Hall
04/13 – Indio, CA: Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – San Francisco, CA: The Warfield
04/19 – Pomona, CA: Fox Theater
04/20 – Indio, CA: Coachella Music Festival
04/23 – Mexico City, MX @ Palacio de los Desportes
05/04 – Murcia, ES: Estrella Levante SOS 4.8
07/06 – Turku, FI: Ruisrock
07/08 – Tunari, RO: B’estfest
07/13 – Azzano Decimo, IT: Fiera Della Musica