It was an incredible feat for two 17-year olds, particularly considering they had only been making music for a year. While their success engendered its share of haters, the doubts were instantly quelled upon the release of their debut album, Skinny Jeanz & A Mic. A critical and commercial success, the LA Times praised Ben J and Legacy’s innate “catchiness and charisma,” while XXL magazine hailed the Boyz as “the breath of fresh air that rap needs.”

While the  world may have initially known them as jerks, the group’s second smash single, the Ray J-aided slow jam, “Tie Me Down” went multi-platinum and was the groups second Top 5 record at rhythmic radio. Revealing their pop gifts and versatility, the collaboration still dominates radio even a year after its initial release. They were up for a BET Award for best group and even snagged Teen Choice Award nomination. Subsequent tours with Chris Brown and Sean Kingston revealed the hysterical fervor of the group’s fan base. Several mall performances even worked the crowd into such a frenzy that law enforcement had to shut them down.

But it’s 2011, and rather than the rest on their laurels, Ben J and Legacy are back with their sophomore album, Too Cool To Care for May 10th release on Shotty/Asylum/Warner Bros. Records. The new album reflects the group’s continued evolution, as they harness different genres (electro, alternative rock, R&B) and blend them with their hip-hop roots and trademark wit and confidence. As they said from the start: New Boyz do new things. “We still support the movement, but we wanted to show our creativity without being tied to jerkin’,” Legacy said. “Too Cool To Care is about how we’ve always gotten criticism from those who want to hate on our fashion or our style. But we’ve always done our thing. The album has crazy pop tracks, rock songs, and electronic songs. We’re testing our boundaries.”

“Break My Bank” combines the best of both worlds: fluid raps layered atop island crooner and labelmate lyaz’s instantly memor able hook. The result is a summer jam that conjures palm trees, white sand beaches, fluorescent waters and pink drinks with umbrellas in them. An instant smash, in just two weeks the single was added to 50 radio station playlists and closed in on pace to be Asylum’s fastest record to #1 on any airplay chart.

Their first single “Backseat” is their attempt to bridge all these influences. Produced by Indie-dance duo The Cataracts and featuring their starlet Dev, the song marks the group’s foray into pop territory while keeping roots in hip-hop inspired fun. The “Escalade-based bager,” described by Entertainment Weekly on its rise up the charts, “is how dance parties start–and how babies accidentally get made.”

Elsewhere on the album, the group proves they can step away from the house-party functions and into a glitzy nightclub, concocting electro-club bangers like “Zonin.” But don’t be misled by the eclecticism. Even hardcore hip-hop heads, who view skinny jeans as the sign of the apocalypse, will be converted by the DJ Khalil-produced “Tough Kids” with its rapid-fire raps, raw boom-bap drums and Hendrix-style guitars.

“We wanted to show that we’ve grown up a little bit It’s not something out of left field, but want to show the world that we’re the New Boyz and we always do new things,” said Ben J. “The first album was more jerkin’ oriented. It let the world know who we are. This album is focused on expressing ourselves to the girls. We’re always trying to get the ladies.”

Their first album made them voices of their generation, but their second explains exactly who the New Boyz are. They’re children of the iPod age, able to switch style as easily as they switch their skinny jeans. The notions of traditional hip-hop mean nothing to them. They’re dedicated to pushing past genre and aesthetic boundaries. They’re perennially on the quest for the new. And if you don’t like it, that’s all good–they’re Too Cool To Care.

But the fun doesn’t completely mask the quarter’s work ethic and serious commitment to working toward power-pop greatness. One clear standout in their growing catalog is “Catching Up,” a call to action-themed track that became a fan favorite after the band performed it in the set of their Suddenly headline tour in the summer of 2010. It appears on the new album, and these particular lyrics definitely have the ring of “mission statement” about them, too. “I’m done hanging out/Talking ’bout what I want/No fun sitting here/Thinking maybe next year,” sings lead vocalist Zach Porter. “I don’t wanna be/Looking back at 23/Saying to myself: Got a lot of catching up to do.”

Older listeners accustomed to pondering what they might regret in middle age or on their deathbeds might laugh to think of Porter imagining the regrets he could end up harboring at age 23–which for him, like the other members of Allstar Weekend, is still three years down the line. But the band members were conscious about keeping the threshold for possible disappointment and remorse that young.

“That was a lyric that we were actually discussing: Should it be ‘I don’t want to be looking back at 23,’ or 33, or 43? But we kept it young, at 23. Because I’ve seen so many of my friends now–after high school, after we set what we wanted to do with our lives and we went to our colleges and whatnot–that are just kind of doing nothing.. Either they lost their sense of direction or were maybe too scared to actually go after something in their life that they really desire. ‘Catching Up’ is a wake up call to people to step out of that comfort zone, take a risk, and go for what you really want.”

If youth is often said to be wasted on the young, it’s definitely not being wasted on Allstar Weekend, who have somehow managed to be both determined and carefree in going for the gold. They started the band while attending the same San Diego high school–though some of the close friendships date back to middle school–and happened into a series of lucky breaks, making their own luck all the while.

Break number one, in their minds, was landing their managers, Stefanie and Richard Reines, while they were still in high school. This carries both practical and symbolic importance, since these managers also happened to be founders of the group’s favorite indie record label, Drive-Thru Records, a Los Angeles-based imprint that had signed a good number of the band members’ favorite local pop-punk groups. At the same time, Allstar Weekend knew that striving after indie cred was not the path for them, when, however had they might rock, their hooks were so unabashedly pop and their instincts so unabashedly commercial.

Break number two came when they made a fateful decision to drive up to L.A. from San Diego, on a whim. “Every time we’d walk out of one of those venues in San Diego, there’d always be people handing out free CDs  and flyers. So we started handing out at various shows,” says Quiseng. “We ended up handing a flyer to a casting director at Disney, who gave it to someone from Radio Disney. And then overnight we got this email saying: ‘We checked out you stuff online and enjoyed it. I have this competition, and I need one more band. Do you want to come into the studios and join the contest?’ We went in and we were super-nervous, talking over each other. But hearing our song blasting on the radio in Zach’s car was such an experience, I can’t even explain how much we were freaking out.”

And then, Quiseng hastens to add, “We actually ended up losing the competition”–but, as Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, and other famous contest losers would tell you, that’s not always such a fatal thing. The Radio Disney exposure led to a series of showcases for major labels, and going with Hollywood Records, “where we wanted to be from the beginning,” was big break number three.

Allstar Weekend  have continued to be embraced by Radio Disney in a huge way. The station’s studio is “practically out home away from home,” says Quiseng. But, of course, the group differs from a great deal of the other fare heard there, first of all by beingt a band, not a solo artist, and then by not being attached to any TV or movie property. Their level of musical accomplishment at the mutual age of 20 is so great that it may be hard for some observers to believe they really are a self-made outfit, and not something put together by some mad, brilliant Svengali. But, as far as they’ve come, they’re not that far removed from their parents’ garages, in years or in spirit.

And before they were a garage band, they were a bedroom band. Because  before Allstar Weekend even formed, singer Porter and guitarist Nathan Darmody had joined forces just to become songwriters. The fact that writing was first love, and remains an ongoing one, may account for the ultimate underlying strength of Allstar Weekend as a song- and not image-based band. It also gives Allstar Weekend the gift of longevity as a band that will long outlast their beginnings at Disney.

“I think some people forming bands go out wanting to make a statement, or become a character, or embody some kind of image,” says Porter. “But we were never trying to be a grunge band, not trying to be a metal band, not trying to be an indie-rock band. Before we were even a band, Nathan and I wanted to be songwriters, and we’re still trying to write catchy songs that people can relate to, and just be who we are.

Among the four of them they agree that guitarist Darmody and drummer Michael Martinez are the most natural, long-standing, and accomplished musicians of the group. Bassist Quiseng admits: “I had dabbled in guitar, but I had never picked up a bass. I just really wanted to be in the band with these guys because they were close friends. So Nathan taught me everything I know, or at least showed me the basics of playing bass, and I just practiced and practiced until I was ready to join them.” Porter had done a similar amount of work to excel as the band’s frontman. “I wasn’t born a singer,” he says. “I remember for years, my parents told me, ‘Zach, this is a pipe dream. You need something to fall back on.’ But I kept at it. It’s a matter of drive and determination and passion.”

Those are all qualities that show up in spades in the 11 songs on Suddenly Yours–along with, of course, the aforementioned fun. The album’s first single, “Come Down With Love,” is one of Allstar Weekend’s hardest-rocking tracks yet, and one–befitting the virus metaphor–with a distinctive ear-worm quality. “I think it’s a more powerful song than we’ve ever written before,” says Porter, “and will definitely be a big step in how people view us,” That song, which the band recently sang to Demi Lovato on the Disney Channel’s hit sitcome Sonny With a Chance, is one of four never-before-heard songs that didn’t appear on the previous EP.

The other newbie tracks are “Catching Up,” the love-struck “Can’t Sleep Tonight,” and “Here With You.” The last number, whih Allstar Weekend have been known to break out acoustically in radio visits and other more intimate settings, is a sincere-sounding but slightly tongue-in-cheek ode to a Masxim pin-upgirl that Porter had on his wall in high school. (“As soon as I moved out, my brother stold the poster,” the singer points out.)

Other songs here are already familiar to diehard fans, like “Dance Forever,” a hit digital download from its initial release on Suddenly EP last summer. It’s a no-brainer to guess that that breakout song is, well, danceable, but the influence of their childhood heroes, blink-182, is more impossible as becoming superheroes. In the tune, addressing his own innate modesty in the face of these no-so-fantastical fantasies, Porter sings, “I’m only five-foot-eight…” But, he jokes, not only have they achieved most of the other goals in the song, but “I’m five-foot-eight and a half now. I’ve stepped up my game!”

The album’s closer, “The Weekend,” may seem like a simple party-pleaser of a rocker, but the band’s seize-the-day philosophy is embedded even in a song that initially sounds like it’s only about seizing a Saturday. “The general theme, besides the weekend, is that whether or not you like what you’re doing in school or like you job, there are always going to be times where you can be yourself,” says Porter. “And it may not be in you job, but there will be moments in life where you can shine as the person you really are. I think people maybe forget that or don’t even know that.”

Allstar Weekend’s ultimate aspiration is to be unforgettable, themselves. For the time being, they stay after every concert to meet every last fan who can stick around–a process that can last as long as four or five hours. These epic meet-’n'-greets are a ritual they won’t be able to do forever, but “it’s really important to do it now,” says Porter. “Because every night on this headlining tour that we’ve been doing, our goal above everything is to make it a night that everyone there can remember the rest of their lives. And having that face-to-face interaction is vital to that, so we take it really seriously.”

“We’re so busy now and we have such little interaction with our old friends or even our family while we’re on the road, the fans are the ones that can almost relate to us the easiest, or understand us the most, at this point. They’re the ones who see us the most! So it’s a really great relationship.” Right now, to a fan base that has emerged almost instantaneously, Allstar Weekend are “suddenly yours,” but they’re counting on that developing into “forever yours.”

But for Rise Against, this particular endgame might just be their beginning.

As the title of the band’s sixth full-length studio album–and the moniker of the album’s title track–Endgame, is indicative of both a world that has run its course, and perhaps ushering in an entirely new start.

“It’s about a dangerous time in civilization, the end of life,” says vocalist/guitarist Tim McIlrath. “What if the life that we’re living right now is this unsustainable bubble that cannot go on and perhaps does not deserve to go on? What if he world we created is a place that is so unnatural and ugly that it is a world that needs to come to an end, so that we could have a world that is better for everybody? It sounds very utopian, but it’s not about a perfect place, but maybe some of these things we/re doing, they need to come to an end.”

McIlrath, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Zach Blair have been making these striking personal and political statements, and providing prompts of great magnitude throughout their remarkable catalog by offering songs that aren’t just merely sung, but very much thought about.

And it’s thought that has made Rise Against such an important bank to its ever-expanding fanbase. For the Chicago-based punk group, the creation of dialogue and discourse with listeners has allowed for a response and career trajectory that’s been overwhelming positive since the band’s launch over a decade ago.

Rise Against’s previous effort, 2008′s Appeal to Reason, further escalated the noteworthy attention already generated by prior successes, including The Sufferer and the Witness (2006) and Siren Song for the Counterculture (2004), which had provided such hits as “Swing Life Away,” “Ready to Fall,” “Prayer of the Refugee” and “Savior.” And Endgame simply picks up on such highlights.

Endgame was largely assembled in the latter half of 2010. The band opted to return to production veterans Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colo., and mixed with Chris Lord-Alge, who also worked on Rise Against’s previous two albums.

The album’s first single, “Help Is On The Way” was inspired by McIlrath’s recent visit during a retreat in New Orleans.

“It was a post-Katrina New Orleans, and I was down at the Gulf, going to the Lower Ninth Ward, seeing the damage and meeting people,” he recalls. “It was so eye opening to see how important the city was and to realize that a city like this existed within American borders at all and to see how much it was hurting was something that was really emotional and dramatic.”

McIlrath notes that the song stems from a lot of the imagery that remains embedded in his thoughts.

“I wanted to paint a picture of what happened down there and what is happening down there, and even though New Orleans is moving away from the spotlight a little bit, there’s still a lot recovery that people don’t see that takes place every day and it’s still an important place in America and in the world. It’s a place that should not be forgotten about. It’s a hopeful title in a sense, but there a couple different things, as in help is on the way but it never came. It still needs a lot more help, it still needs to happen.”

On Endgame, Rise Against also shifts the spotlight to homophobia via “Make it Stop,” a topic McIlrath says really hasn’t been addressed in the rock scene. The Catalyst for the song occurred in September 2010, after a wave of gay teen suicides. According to McIlrath, the band received e-mails from gay fans who had contemplated suicide due to the harsh climates in which they live and the harsh world that judges who they are.

“That’s something I’ve seen firsthand,” he says. “It’s bummed me out to create this community of fans, where you want everybody to feel accepted, but then to realize that there are people that don’t feel accepted, even at your own shows, even at a Rise Against Show, where we go out of our way to let you know that if you are here, you belong here, no matter who you are. It’s a place where everyone is welcome. But we’d hear from fans about homophobia in the scene, or even hear from fans who are unsure about how Rise Against feels about homosexuality. That was what alarmed me the most, was to have a fan that even had a question in their mind about where we stood on it. I guess I looked back on our career and Rise Against had never made a definitive statement.”

The definitive statement Rise Against makes on Endgame, is that the band is open to any sexual preference. “It’s something that we certainly don’t judge,” McIlrath says. “I felt there needed to be a song, which came from our world, because I feel that the rock world stays pretty silent. I wanted to put water where the fire was. I wanted to do a song that, first, lets fans know that we don’t tolerate bigotry in our audience and, second, empower fans who are coming to grips with their own sexuality, empower them to be proud of who they are an that we accept them, and create a community that accepts them.”

Endgame also features “Architect,” a song inspired by the forefathers and historical figures of civil rights and activism, including Thoreau, Malcolm X and Howard Zinn.

“They were designing a world in which we would be able to live in,” McIlrath says. “They fought for the design of everything that we can enjoy as Americans and people in the world today. The song is posing the question: Is our generation producing those architects now? It’s wondering if our generation is so overcome with cynicism and apathy that we are in danger of not creating these architects. Every right that we enjoy as Americans, somebody was out there with a picket sign to get it.”

And McIlrath sees Endgame‘s “Survivor Guilt” as a sequel to “Hero of War,” which appeared on Appeal to Reason, hailing from the perspective of a ghost of a soldier who fought for his or her country.

But it’s important to note that the spectrum of material presented on Endgame is counterbalanced with a number of personal subjects, including the song “This Is Letting Go” which is based around a story McIlrath had penned.

“The songs to me are a selection of who we are as people,” says McIlrath. “We’re not 100 percent political or 100 percent personal. We’re people with many different cares and passions. Many different things make up our daily lives. I don’t consider myself any more political than those out there who care about the world they live in.”

And as for the pressure in following up its string of successes–which now includes three gold-awarded albums and gold singles-McIlrath says it’s all internally generated.

“The pressure that we feel is he pressure that we put on ourselves,” he says. “We try to step up our game on each record and create something that’s relevant, new and fresh, and is still Rise Against. I want to give my perspective, and from the punk community, take in what’s happening, interpret that and put it into a song, letting the world know how we feel about it. Thats the goal behind a lot of the music.”

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”)

Writers: Moira Buffini (“Tamara Drewe”); Based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Imogen Poots, Judi Dench

MPAA Rating: PG-13

In a bold new feature version o Jane Eyre, director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) infuse a contemporary immediacy into Charlotte Bronte’s timeless, classic story. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the iconic lead roles of the romantic drama, the heroine of which continues to inspire new generations of devoted readers and viewers.

In the 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre (played by Ms. Wasikowska) suddenly flees Thornfield Hall, the vast and isolated estate where she works as a governess for Adele Varens (Romy Settbon Moore), a child under the custody of Thornfield’s brooding master, Edward Rochester (Mr. Fassbender). The imposing residence- and Rochester’s own imposing nature- have sorely tested her resilience. With nowhere else to go, she is extended a helping hand by clergyman St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell of Focus Features’ The Eagle) and his family. As she recuperates in the Rivers’ Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past…

Aged 10, the orphaned Jane (played by Amelia Clarkson) is mistreated and then cast out of her childhood home Gateshead by her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed (Golden Globe Award winner Sally Hawkins). Consigned to the charity school Lowood, Jane encounters further harsh treatment but receives an education and meets Helen Burns (Freya Parks), a poor child who impresses Jane as a soulful and contented person. The two become firm friends. When Helen falls fatally ill, the loss devastates Jane, yet strengthens her resolve to stand up for herself and make the just choices in life.

As a teenager, Jane arrives at Thornfield. She is treated with kindness and respect by housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax (Academy Award winner Judi Dench). Jane’s interest is piqued by Rochester, who engages her in games of wit and storytelling, and divulges to her some of his innermost thoughts. But his dark moods are troubling to Jane, as are strange goings-on in the house- especially the off-limits attic. She dares to intuit a deep connection with Rochester, and she is not wrong; but once she uncovers the terrible secret that he had hoped to hide from her forever, she flees, finding a home with the Rivers family When St. John Rivers makes Jane a surprising proposal, she realizes that she must return to Thornfield- to secure her own future and finally, to conquer what haunts both her and Rochester.

A Classic Novel, A Unique New Adaption: Jane Eyre Revisited

For over 150 years, Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre has been one of the world’s most popular books. A mainstay of school reading lists. It has been translated into virtually every language. A story with protagonist whom Bronte saw as “a heroine as plain and small as myself,” it continues to inspire generations and to influence storytellers.

The power of the story and the popularity of the 1847 novel have led to a host of adaptations of the book; there have been 18 feature versions (dating back to 1910, and most recently 1996), and 9 telefilm versions. The team behind what would become the 2011 version, Jane Eyre, was motivated to reach a world filmgoing audience while also honoring the novel.

Producer Alison Owen, an Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner, offers, “If you say to someone, ‘What’s the definitive film version of Jane Eyre?’ no one really has an answer. Having made a number of movies from or about women’s fiction, I wondered, ‘Why not?’”

“We’re a company that is rapidily building a healthy reputation for being able to successfully convert well-known written works into big- and small-screen entertainment. Taking on Bronte seemed like the natural next step up the literary ladder,” adds produre Paul Trijbits. “It’s a book we already knew had an enormous fan base, so the responsibility was also a major consideration. We wanted to move this interpretation forward into the 21st Century whilst maintaining the story’s haunting beauty.”

Owen and Trijbits’ Ruby Film & Television began on the project, which they took to one of the U.K.’s most prolific film funding organizations, BBC Films, to begin the development process.

Owen adds, “It’s timely in that Charlotte Bronte, seen as ‘the darker sister’ when compared to Emily and Anne Bronte, is being rediscovered much like Jane Austen was nearly 20 years ago.”

“As a producer, I make sure to have general meeting with my favorite writers all the time; right after I’d thought about Jane Eyre, I was meeting with Moira Buffini. I happened to mention it and it turned out to be one of Moira’s favorite books, if not her favorite.”

Buffini seized on the chance to adapt the book, and she and Owen quickly outlined their vision for a full-on-big-screen approach to the story. They knew it had to differ from adaptations that had gone before. Buffini’s approach was to draw out the gothic elements of the story, and make them engines of the piece.

“Moira wanted to make it dark and spooky on an intensely romantic journey. That was her take, which I wholly supported,” recalls Owen.

Further, as the novel would be adapted into a two-hour movie, Owen found that “what was brilliant about the script Moira delivered was the structure she’d chosen. The book is quite difficult in some ways to translate to film. Everyone remembers the sections of Jane’s childhood, of Jane being a governess at Thornfield and falling in love with Mr. Rochester, and then bolting.

“But from then on, there’s another set of characters introduced- the Rivers family. You can do that in a novel, but it’s harder to do two-thirds of the way throught a movie. Moira’s stroke of genius was that instead of abbreviating or loosing this part entirely, which previously adaptations have done, she put it right at the beginning – and turned the novel’s early sections of the young Jane at Lowood and her initial days at Thornfield into flashbacks. Therefore, midway through the third act, we catch up with Jane and you get the emotional punch of being in real time at the end as she comes to terms with everyone and everything.”

Buffini comments, “I hope this will please the many who love the book; while we may not be faithful to the original structure, our version does include every key stage of Jane’s story. Giving  the complete picture was also meant to help the uninitiated- those coming to this story for the first time- to understand and identify with Jane all the more.”

CHARLOTTE BRONTE: AUTHOR OF THE NOVEL

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was born in Thornton, Bradford in Yorkshire, the third of six children.

Her mother died in 1821. In 1824, she enrolled at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge. There, she and her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Emily, were mistreated and malnourished. They were taken out of the school the following year, but the damage had been done and Maria and Elizabeth died of consumption.

In 1829, Ms. Bronte began to write such stories as The Search After Happiness, History of the Year, and the Angrian and Glass Town sagas. The latter chronicles encompassed correspondences and writings of fictional characters in their towns and kingdoms.

Educated at Roe Head, she returned to teach there from 1835 to 1835. She subsequently spent time in Brussels, studying with her surviving sister Emily, and then teaching English.

A book of poems was published in 1846 under two pseudonyms; Ms. Bronte had contributed 19 poems to it. She had also by then written a novel, The Professor, which went unpublished; and began work on the novel Jane Eyre. Published in 1847, the latter quickly became a bestseller. Her subsequent novels included Shirley (1849, but not published until 1857) and Villette (1853).

Ms. Bronte married Arthur Nicholls in 1854; she died nine months later, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church.

KEY PLAYERS: CAST AND CREW

Mia Wasikowska: Star of Tomorrow, Today

Just one year ago, only the savviest talen spotters would have recognized the name “Mia Wasikowska” among a list of up-and-coming actresses. But having previously appeared in several shorts, television programs and indie features, Wasikowska suddenly is everywhere. She stars as Alice in Tom Burton’s worldwide hit, Alice in Wonderland; was nominated as one of MTV’s 2010 “Best Female Breakout Stars”; plays a lead role in Gus Van Sant’s upcoming Restless; made the cover of Vanity Fair; played the pivotal role of Joni- so named bu her lesbian parents, after Joni Mitchell- in Lisa Cholodenko’s Oscar-nominated Focus Features release, The Kids are All Right; and plays the inspiring literary heroine in Cary Joji Fuckunaga’s Jane Eyre. And all that before she turns 21. Indeed, Wasikowska’s rapid fame has even caught her by surprise – “It feels really weird seeing me on a movie poster,” she told UK’s The Guardian.

Michael Fassbender: A Classic Character

In Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender brings a new twist to the character of Edward Rochester, a figure who remains as enigmatic and unforgettable as he was in 1847 when Charlotte Bronte’s novel was first published. Indeed, Fassbender joins a long line of celebrated actors, including Orson Welles and George C. Scott, who’ve put on Rochester is a brusque, brooding, but ultimately good man. In her Elle profile of Fassbender, Karen Durbin includes the actor’s take on this literary titan: “A Byronic character burnt by experience, arrogant but also eloquent and introspective. He’s world-weary and jaded, sensual, self-destructive; yet there’s a good sense of humor in there, and at the end of the day a good heart. He sees the freshness and beauty in Jane when everybody else looks past her.”

Judi Dench: From Stage to Screen

Dame Judi Dench, who plays Mrs. Fairfax in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s new film Jane Eyre – based on Charlotte Bronte’s book – is one of the most acclaimed screen actresses of the past decade; however, Dench was and is a reluctant movie star. Essentially a late bloomer when it comes to film acting, Dench told The Times of London, “I’m more comfortable on stage, where there is an audience to tell a story to, as opposed to a film set where you are not in charge at all. On stage you can hear an audience’s reactions. Within two minutes of a play starting you know how the evening will go. On film you’re more reliant on the director. The moment he leaves you, you’re like a child learning to walk.” Dench has taken huge strides as a cinematic performer – with an Oscar to show for it – but her mastery of screen acting is undoubtedly rooted in the confidence she gained from her work on stage.

Cary Joji Fukunaga: Beginnings

As the story goes, after attending a screening of the restored version of Orson Welles’ Classic Touch of Evil, Jane Eyre director Cary Joji Fukunaga met the great editor Walter Murch, who oversaw the restoration. Murch invited Fukunaga, who had grown up in East Bay and attended U.C. Santa Cruz, to sti in on the sound mix for The Talented Mister Ripley and then gave the erstwhile directo simple, sage advice: “Travel.” “There was no reason I should be rushing out to intern at a company just because I wanted to make movies,” recalled Fukunaga to Time Out New York. “I should be having experiences in the world and be able to comment on them when I ended up directing films.” So, before attending graduate film school at NYU, Fukunaga spent a year traveling the world, returning with an internationalist cinematic agenda. He told Filmmaker magazine, “I love what Michael Winterbottom’s been doing recently. He’s making films all over the world and investigating all these different cultures. Ideally, that’s what I’d like to do.” Fukunaga’s first filmic border crossing was to Mexico, where he made Victoria Para Chino, a riveting, tragic short about 17 illegal Mexican immigrants who die of suffocation while being smuggled across the border to Victoria, Texas. With a budget of only $5,000, Fukunaga made us feel not only the desperate, stifling heat of the immigrants’ locked trailer but also the larger social injustices that resulted in this tragic true story. The film went to numerous festivals, including Sundance, won a silver medal at the Student Academy Awards and announced Fukunaga as one of the film world’s most promising young directors- a status he cemented with his breakthrough feature debut, Focus’ 2009 release Sin Nombre.

Diddy Dirty Money

We’re abroad on tour when I met her, the woman of my dreams. We spend the night together, but never get her name. When I wake up, she’s gone.

I’m fatuated with her, really blown away, A couple of months go by, and I bump into her again on tour overseas. We get together, and we’re inseparable for three months. We go to New York, Miami, and all the places where I get it poppin’.

Then, suddenly, we have a misunderstanding and she just breaks out on me. But absence makes the heart grow fonder. We’re two different parts of the world and she’s remembering all the good times while I’m thinking if I had another chance I wouldn’t lose her again. One night in London, I get offstage at 9:45pm and I hear that she’s in Paris. It’s one of the foggiest nights, so I can’t take my plane, I can’t drive. The only way I can get to her is the last train to Paris…

This episode, inspired by a real-life encounter from his past, is the starting point of the new album Last Train to Paris by the Sean “Puffy” Combs’ new group Diddy-Dirty Money. With dark, atmospheric beats and a cinematic back story, the new project represents an entirely new side of the rap impresario. Fans may think they know him, but as he prepares to unleash his latest smash, they are about to experience an entirely nwe Combs, and an entirely new sound. Diddy-Dirty Money is about to redefine dance music for the new decade.

Europe didn’t just provide an evocative backdrop for the story that is Last Train to Paris, it also inspired the sound. Though Combs is known for his contribution to hip hop, he is also passionate fan of dance music, often traveling to global hot spots liek Ibiza and Berlin to take in new sounds emerging from techno scene. Blending elements of UK grime, Mediterranean techno and the 808s of American hip hop, the album represents a new sound that Combs calls “train music.”

COMBS QUOTE TRAIN MUSIC

No stranger to the finer things, Combs amassed a crew of some of the top names in music to help him bring his vision to life. TI, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne all lend guests vocals, but the biggest contribution comes from band member Dawn Richard and Kalenna. “Dawn and I aren’t background singers simply standing next to Diddy,” says Kalenna. “Diddy-Dirty Money isn’t just more of the same. It’s an organic group that grew out of a shared passion for music.”

Kalenna started writing songs at 11, when she would accompany her father- a rapper and army man- into the studio. As a military daughter, she moved ofter, living in diverse locations including Alaska, Germany and Hawaii. In music, she found a hone for herself even as “home” was constantly changing. “Growing up, I understood how music can take you away and help you escape,” she says. “At the same time I began learning how music brings people together; how it can heal and comfort.” She eventually channeled her talent for songwriting into a successful career penning hits for Jill Scott, Jennifer Lopez, Timbaland and multi-platnium producer Rodney Jerkins.

Dawn Richard will be recognizable to fans as a member of the group Danity Kane, formed via the MTV series Making the Band 3. The New Orleans native grew up watching her father perform. A musician, choir director and former member of R&B group Chocolate Milk, he instilled in her a love of music, even as her tastes evolved. “I was more into alternative music,” she says, naming influences including The Cranberries, Sheryl Crow and Green Day. “I saw myself as the leader of a rock band with pink haire, singing the music I love.”

When Combs paired Richard and Kalenna together to write songs for Danity Kane in 2009, he know immediately that he had a powerful new songwriting team, describing them as “kindred spirits.” With so many far-reaching influences between them, combining forces as Dirty Money is nothing less than “divine intervention,” says Richard. “We mirror each other. We’re all perfectionists with a strong work ethic. We push and challenge each other.”

The trio’s unmatched creative chemistry reveals itself in the latest blockbuster single “Hello Good Morning”. The group premiered the single in front of 25 million viewers on American Idol on March 31st. The high-energy track, with its urgent, atmospheric beats, was perfectly suited to an explosive performance with spectacular special effects. Idol producers even issued a warning to viewers about the intense strobe lights used onstage.

Ross, who also lent vocals to the lead single “Angels,” is just another member of the extende4d Dirty Money family. Lil Wayne was passionate about the new sound being crafted, and dropped verses on “Strobe Lights,” a teasing, funky club banger, and “Shades,” a trippy track also featuring Bilal. Mario Winans produced the 80s-influenced “Give My All To You” while Rodney Jerkins produced the international party jam “I Want Your Love.”

“I’ll even take off my shades,” sings (yes, sings) Combs on “Twisted,” hinting at a new emtional core to his sound. The multilayerd track represents some of the many influences of Last Train. With a soaring synth riff that reflects the head-trip that is falling in love, he recalls a post-millennial Prince. Other tracks veer from tribal drums to church organs to gritty instrumentals, all combining to form the new sound.

While Combs has had unsurpassed success in many different realms, from fashion to spirits to film, the lush soundscape of Last Train represents a renewed commitment to music from the the multitalented impresario. By opening up a chapter of his own life to tell the story, he’s crafted an album that is expressive and exciting. Sure, this album will make you dance, but Dirty Money is more than just dance music. It’s a movement.

For Alyssa, music comes about as naturally as breathing. The singer/songwriter was raised in a music-steeped household in San Antonio, Texas. During her childhood, Alyssa’s father was a drummer for groundbreaking Tejano band, and at the age of six she stood backstage and gazed out at stadium-sized crowds as he performed. The experience didn’t exactly ignite her passion for performing, though. “I was so shy!” Remembers Alyssa with a laugh, “my parents would dress me up and make me sing but I hated it.”

Somehow, her love for music overcame her fear of performing. By the time she was a teen in San Antonio, Alyssa uploaded a few homemade videos of herself singing cover songs like Rihanna’s “Take a Bow.” She taught herself to play guitar, and soon one video lead to dozens, and a rapidly-growing fan base around the globe. “People would message me and say that they had a horrible day and my songs changed their day,” Alyssa recalls. “It’s pretty touching. After a while I had to stop reading all of my messages because it got so overwhelming, but I always tried to open the ones from soldiers in the service.”

Since she received so many responses to her videos, Alyssa at first neglected her most famous admirer: Pharrell Williams. The platinum-selling artist and producer even tried contacting Alyssa’s high school to get in touch with her, but “they didn’t know who Pharrell was! They just thought it was some shady guy trying a hold of me,” laughs Alyssa. Finally, her mother spotted a MySpace message from Star Trak headquarters in Los Angeles. She impressed them with “Hey Love,” one of the first songs she ever wrote (now featured on the album, a perfectly Alyssa tune: breezy but strong, intricate and approachable.

“Finding a new talent like Alyssa is so exciting to be me,” says Pharrell Williams. “There are a lot of young singers out there who can carry a tune, but Alyssa is the real deal. She is a true musician with an incredible voice.” Once signed, William’s manager and the head of Star Trak, Yaneley Arty, asked Alyssa who her dream producer might be. Without hesitation, she answered, “The guy who produced the last Jason Mraz album.” At the time, that “guy,” Martin Terefe-an accomplished producer known for his work with James Morrison, Train, Craig David and Cat Stevens-had a fully booked recording schedule, though he agreed to meet with Alyssa. After meeting with her for an hour, however, Terefe gave Alyssa an offer she couldn’t refuse: he’d open up his schedule, if she agreed to stay in London and begin recording immediately.

Next thing she knew, Alyssa and her mother had relocated to London, where she worked closely with Terefe over a period of seven weeks. Terefe developed Alyssa’s naturally sunny sound, enlivening her pop sensibility with notes of funk and soul. Most importantly, he encouraged Alyssa to write from her own experiences.

“The songs reflect what I was going through at that time,” says Alyssa of the resulting album, In Love Again For the First Time. “Because it’s my first album, the songs are very naive and personal. They are about long-distance love, missing home, and the tone is very easy-going.” Alyssa has a natural ability to breath vivid imagery into everyday matters of the heart. Her first experience of homesickness ecame “Raincloud Gray,” a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning artist and songwriter KT Tunstall. “One Of Us,” featuring Pharrell, is a sassy, danceable track dedicated to a young crush. “Stay” is an atmosperic ballad that plays like a love letter to her long-distance boyfriend. “Hold Me Tight,” a duet with Jason Wade of LifeHouse, is a moody, orchestral song.

From the shy girl who watched her father perform from the wings, to the confident young woman about to release an incredibly personal collection of songs to the world, Alyssa has come a long way. When she looks forward to the coming year, she can’t wait to step out on stage. “I’m really growing up as a person and an artist,” says Alyssa. “I have a shy personality but when I’m performing, I calm down… I’m excited to tour and to interact with my fans. They’re always asking me, ‘When are you going to come to London or Paris?’ and I can’t wait to do hat for them.” Though it’s been an incredible, globe-hopping year that has brought In Love Again For the First Time to life, Alyssa Bernal’s journey is just getting started.

           Sadly, on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died in his home from cardiac arrest. It was a shock and was greatly upsetting to family, fans, and friends. “The King of Pop” would no longer dance or sing again.

            Even though Michael Jackson has died, his legacy can still be celebrated and remembered. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is Ubisoft’s new video game. This game is made for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and the PSP.

            In this game, up to four players can participate at one time. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is a dancing game, similar to the “Just Dance” video game series. Players have to follow Michael’s dance moves accordingly.

            This game includes twenty five of Michael’s legendary songs. Some of these songs include “Thriller”, “Black or White”, “Billie Jean”, and many more. This is the first game that has been made official since the videogame “Moonwalker” of 1989.

            Fans are already raving about the brand new game. Many people are anxious to learn Jackson’s legendary moves. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is already in stores for interested gamers.

22 year-old Harry Butler disagrees with this stereotype. “Look man, music is music, okay? Like we all have to understand that we’re all brothers, I mean I’m still down with OPP, I live the Hard Knock Life, why does rap music have to be a “black” thing? Dude i was in the club the other day. Right when i walked in there, everybody was looking at me like i was crazy for being the white boy in the ‘black club’.”

Others have opposing feelings toward rap music and hip hop culture. “Hip hop… Rap music all that needs to be outlawed. I want to be able to go to sleep without having the fear of some Snoop Doggy Doggs or Gucci men runnin’ these peaceful streets. I can’t even believe they call it music. Makes me sick!” Clayton Bigsby had these words for hip hop.

Either way you look at it, we all can agree, hip hop is a culture like rock n roll that causes controversy with people.

Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is the second studio album by rapper Kid Cudi. The album was originally known as Cudder: The Revolution of Evolution, before being renamed. The album hit stores November 9, 2010.

So far, the album has received good reception by critics, scoring 8 out of 10 by Spin magazine. Music critic Matthew Cole noted elements of rock music on the album and wrote that it “finds Cudi burrowing deeper into the black hole of spacey psychedelia, fusing the clinical, synthetic hip-hop of 808s & Heartbreak with rock sounds derived from Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Zappa”. However, Benjamin Boles of Now magazine, wrote that it “suffers and shines due to inconsistency.

The first official single, “Erase me” featuring Kanye West debuted June 30, 2010, and was in the top 5 downloaded songs on the album. On October 25, 2010 the second single, “Mr. Rager” was officially released digitally through iTunes. The album is currently number 1 on iTunes top albums.

Cudi stated that “Man On The Moon II is dark by nature and instead of bringing you into my dreams like my first album, I’m bringing you into my reality, good and bad. It will explain more of who I am as well as pushing the envelope musically.”

Here is a track listing of the album:

1. Scott Mescudi vs. the World
2. REVOFEV
3. Don’t Play This Song
4. We Aite (Make Up Your Mind)
5. Marijuana
6. Mojo So Dope
7. Ashin’ Kusher
8. Erase Me
9. Wild’n Cuz I’m Young
10. The Mood
11. MANIAC
12. Mr. Rager
13. These Worries
14. The End
15. All Along
16. GHOST!
17. Trapped In My Mind

“We all kept thinking: ‘How are we going to win a band show without a band,’” adds Adam of their lack of a rhythm section. “So when we got there, it was all a little overwhelming and I just wanted to make it to the top 5. I didn’t think we were gonna get very far in it.”

But thanks to fan votes, not only did they make it past the top 5, The Clark Brothers went on to win the 2007 competition, beating out 10,000 contenders for the title and scoring a recording contract with 19 Recordings/Interscope Records in the process. Says Austin: “It was amazing and at the same time, humbling. We just felt very honored that from all the bands, people picked us.”

Call it a fluke, but the way the brothers see their television discovery, it was all a matter of fate and faith. In fact, there are two things Ashley, Austin and Adam have never doubted: that music runs in their blood and wherever it may lead them, that’s the path they were meant to take. Such has been their mantra from a very young age where the siblings, three of 11 born to preacher parents, began playing and touring North America.

Over time, the brothers had ostensibly gone their seperate ways, at least professionally, until Ashley orchestrated the basement reunion that would lead to the formation of Sons of Sylvia, the name change (inspired by their mother) signifying “a clean, fresh start,” according to Ashley.

What followed their Next Great American Band win were months of nonstop writing as the guys continued on their musical journey Destination: unknown. “We took everything we love about country music and put it into this record,” Ashley explains. “And after writing, like, 300 songs, we weren’t ready to stop there, so we thought we’d take a leap of faith and do something totally new and different.” The result? The hard-driving “John Wayne,” in which Austin does to the dobro what autotune did to the pop chorus. Indeed, distortions abound on this track, Ashley proves his vocal range has no limits and Adam takes the mandolin to another dimension. Upping the ante on “50 Ways,” the brothers deliver undeniable hooks while upping the BPMs on their stringed instruments. But it’s on the anthemic. “Love Left to Lose,” which Ashley co-wrote with their cousin, hit maker and OneRepublic frontman, Ryan Tedder, that these Sons wear their hearts on their sleeves, while making their audience’s melt. Or at least that’s been the case as nightly sing-alongs have sprung up on Carrie Underwood’s tour, which S.O.S. is opening.

“Love Left to Lose” is a special song because Ashley and Ryan have a really cool history of living and traveling together before Ryan made it big,” says Adams. “And now we’re on the same label! It’s so weird how our lives are a series oof strange events like that – impossible situations over and over again, becoming possible.”

Recorded in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, Canada, featuring production by Jack Joseph Puig, Ryan Tedder, Jeff Trott, Brian Howes, Gerald O’Brien, Catt Gravitt, ahnd Mike Shimshak along with co-writes by them and Lindy Robbins, Revelation is the beginning of a newly-charted course for this immensely talented group. And Ashley, who has been on a stead diet of the Beatles, U2, Elvis and The Doors and considers himslef a “late bloomer,” is gladly leading the charge – with gusto and swagger. “I think in my heart, I’m more of a rocker,” he says. “For a long time, it was like I couldn’t always express myself orhow I really fee. Now, I want to go wild and dance around the stage.”