Dupri, Aoki, more playing Vegas clubs
There’s much news to report on several musicians who are playing Vegas clubs this weekend.
■ Have you run into trouble dealing with your mortgage lender? So has Jermaine Dupri – but his bill was probably slightly higher than yours at $193,000.
Dupri fought back, though.
TMZ on Saturday reported Dupri’s Atlanta mansion was headed for a foreclosure auction on Sept. 4, while the mortgage company was demanding that money.
But at the 11th hour, Dupri told a judge his payment was a smaller $90,000. The judge halted the auction. Dupri paid, and now he’s haggling with the lender over what future mortgage payments are supposed to be.
Dupri – DJ, rapper, singer, and producer of Mariah Carey, Bow Wow, Kris Kross, Da Brat and other entertainers – performs Saturday at Wynn club Tryst.
■ Steve Aoki is turning out to be one of the only famous DJ-producers delving deep into the political campaign.
The influential co-producer of party anthems “Warp,” “No Beef” and “Turbulence” has campaigned for President Barack Obama.
But the San Franciscan put that allegiance aside to travel to Tampa, Fla., during the Republican National Convention to help registration groups sign up young voters of all stripes. Even in interviews, he urged young Americans to vote regardless of affiliation.
Aoki performs Monday at XS in Wynn, where he and Afrojack filmed the crazy video for “No Beef.” He returns to DJ Sept. 22, Sept. 28 and Oct. 26 at Surrender.
■ Swedish DJ-producer Avicii will be the first electronic artist ever to headline New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
USA Today reports Avicii’s Sept. 27 gig there sold out in two minutes. So a second date, Sept. 26, was added. Seldom-recognized fact: That voice singing, “Oh sometimes, I get a good feeling” on Avicii’s platinum international megahit “Levels” is a sample of Etta James’ “Something’s Got A Hold On Me.”
You can see Avicii mix his original hits “Levels,” “Silhouettes” and “Fade into Darkness” tonight at XS, then Saturday at Encore Beach Club. He returns to perform Sept. 29 at Marquee and Oct. 6 at Marquee Dayclub.
■ Jamaican dance hall-reggae singer Sean Paul’s huge hit, “Got 2 Luv U” (featuring singer Alexis Jordan), has been a virtual Vegas tourism ad for the past year.
The official sparkly music video – recorded at the Hard Rock Hotel, Bellagio and glamorous spots on the Strip – is closing in on 100 million views on YouTube. But if you count all the remixes and unofficial videos for the song, it’s surpassed that number by a few million.
Sean Paul performs Saturday at Hard Rock’s Vanity nightclub, then Sunday at Hard Rock’s Rehab pool party.
■ And No Doubt reunited and released its new dance-ska single “Push and Shove,” with help in co-creating/mixing by Diplo (under his other performance name, Major Lazer).
Diplo (again as Major Lazer) also co-produced Snoop Dogg’s upcoming album “Reincarnated.” But since “Reincarnated” is a collection of reggae songs, it’s not filed under the Dogg name but under Snoop Lion. (All these fake names, right?)
Diplo performs Saturday at Surrender. He returns to DJ Sept. 24 at XS.
Doug Elfman’s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
