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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > April > 27
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Stripper joke pays off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you were wondering, R&B newcomer T-Pain’s inescapable single “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” isn’t about personal experience at Atlanta’s many adult entertainment spots. The recent Top 10 hit wasn’t even supposed to be on his debut album, “Rappa Ternt Sanga.”
“It was a joke,” the artist told Buzz days before his sold-out appearance Thursday at the Roxy, with R&B pinup Chris Brown. “I made it for my homeboy. I took him to his first strip club … and afterward, when I was in the studio in Atlanta, I just started making fun of how he was acting. He was a little drunk. And he just had these lustful eyes. Anyway, my making fun of him just started sounding real good to my [label executive].”
T-Pain’s talent with the catchy hook has caught the attention of R&B singers Joe and Charlie Wilson, rap acts E-40, Eightball & MJG, Trillville, Too Short and Trick Daddy, and pop stars Britney Spears and Nick Lachey — all of whom he says he’s worked with recently.
“It’s a good time for me right now,” said the Tallahassee native, born Faheem Najm. “I don’t know what the secret is to my hooks, other than I try not to make them super-complicated. But Cee-Lo, Devin the Dude and Andre 3000 — those are the best and most creative hook-men, ever!”
Local heroes
It was at a local showcase that Atlanta superstar Usher was discovered. Same goes for R&B singer Monica. Who knows, maybe the same magic dust will fall on hometown talents Suga Suga or Malachi — two of the four acts performing at the BMI Urban Showcase tonight at Vision nightclub. Producer and rapper Lil Jon and fellow BME exec Hot-107.9’s Emperor Searcy host the competition that will also include Leo of California and the Philadelphia band Thunderkatz. Judges include songwriter/producers Jazze Pha (Ciara), Sean Garrett (Beyoncé) and DJ Toomp (T.I.), as well as Block Enterprises CEO Russell “Block” Spencer.
The evening is to begin with the unveiling of Karl Kani’s Live Life & Love Denim collection and swimwear from Atlanta Beach.
Usually this kind of event is closed to the public, but anyone over 21 is invited to this one. Tickets will be available at the door. For more info: www.bmi.com.
Tiffany blue plate special ushers in line of jewelry
Box lunch, anyone? Sixteen Atlanta movers and shakers were invited Tuesday to Bluepointe restaurant, where Tiffany & Co. hosted a lunchtime sneak peek at the new Frank Gehry jewelry collection. Once the female guests — including Laura Turner Seydel, Vikki Locke, Lila Hertz, Stephanie Hughley and Barbara Babbit Kaufman — were seated, waiters produced edible blue-iced cakes in the shape of Tiffany’s famous box, made by Bluepointe pastry chef Lisa Smith.
After polishing off the raspberry-filled goodie, followed by lobster salad and sea bass, each guest was presented with an authentic blue box containing a piece of Gehry jewelry: sterling silver dangling earrings or cuff bracelets.
Gehry, world-renowned California architect and designer of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, recently turned his attention to small-scale design, and he is the first outside designer to work with Tiffany and Co. since Paloma Picasso launched her iconic X’s and O’s 26 years ago. Tiffany’s vice president Tom Carroll worked for two months with New York management to free up the Gehry baubles early for the luncheon. The jewelry, with prices starting at $135, rolls out over the coming months at Tiffany stores.
At the recent Beverly Hills Tiffany/Gehry gala, celebs like Felicity Huffman, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Patti LaBelle oohed and aahed over the contemporary collection. Atlanta’s official launch comes in July.
Blinding light hits Hatcher
In a freak accident on the set of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” Teri Hatcher suffered an eye injury when a light bulb exploded Tuesday, People magazine reported. “Glass lodged in my right eye and proceeded to scratch my cornea,” Hatcher told the magazine. “I was taken to a wonderful eye doctor and am now wearing a most glamorous eyepatch over the right half of my face.”
Hatcher, 41, said she should be back to work in two days and was trying to see the humor “in the oddity of it all.”
Redneck resurrection
Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy, whose sketch comedy “Blue Collar TV” show was canceled this season by the WB, is getting a new series on CMT this fall, “Foxworthy’s Big Night Out.” The show, with an initial 12-episode run, will be shot at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre starting in June.
“Jeff really defines that Southern brand of comedy that plays so well with our audience,” said Paul Villadolid, CMT’s head of programming.
Foxworthy’s buds Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, who were on “Blue Collar TV,” won’t be joining him. “This was intentional,” Villadolid said. “We didn’t want to remake ‘Blue Collar TV’ for CMT.” The new show will feature stand-up, sketch comedy and country acts.
“We were never a good fit with the WB,” Foxworthy told Buzz. “With CMT, it’s kind of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. We’re a better fit.”
Nothing in my pockets …
Illusionist David Copperfield magically avoided getting robbed Sunday. Copperfield, 49, was walking two female assistants to their tour bus after his show in West Palm Beach, Fla., when four teens pulled up in a black car, a police report said.
Two armed robbers allegedly demanded the group’s belongings. One woman handed over $400 from her pockets, and the other gave up her purse with several hundred dollars, her passport, plane tickets and cellphone. Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cellphone. “Call it reverse pickpocketing,” Copperfield told The Palm Beach Post.
Four teenagers later were arrested, charged with armed robbery and held without bond, police said. The women’s property was recovered.
Celebrity birthdays
Musician Sheena Easton is 47; Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley of Kiss is 55; radio personality Casey Kasem is 74.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Marylin Johnson, Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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