britneybaby
Feb 21st, 2006, 12:37 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11432948/site/newsweek/
Married to the Mobs
Celebrity hubby Kevin Federline launches a rap career.
Michelle Kole
Feb. 27, 2006 issue - It wasn't enough for Kevin Federline to be the tabloids' most hated man. When he left his pregnant girlfriend for Britney almost two years ago, the rags deemed him a heartless scoundrel; more recently he's endured accusations regarding his loyalty to Spears, and even his devotion as a dad. But it's all getting old. So Federline, 27, has taken on a brand-new thankless role: white-boy rapper. "Sure, there'll be the initial shock and awe," says Federline, sitting in the Malibu, Calif., studio where he's recording his debut album. "But they've already said so much s--t about me it can't get worse. 'He hates his children, he treats his wife like dirt, he gets high all day.' If I was that bad, you think anyone, let alone Britney, would put up with it?"
The bigger question is, who will actually tolerate K-Fed's rapping? Judging by the reaction to Federline's first single, "PopoZo" (he calls it "a Brazilian ass-shaker"), far more people than you might think. The ex-backup dancer for both Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake doesn't have a record deal yet, but when he put out the single on the Internet, his Web site, Kevinfederline.com, got 2 million hits in eight days. "If my album has even half that attention, watch out," says Federline, who plans to release his debut—deal or no deal—by this spring. "That means everybody out there who loves me still loves me, and everybody out there who hates me—well, they're secretly buying it, too."
Let's admit that a good deal of the attention may be morbid curiosity: how bad is K-Fed's crash-and-burn? Hard-core rap fans have already crucified him in blogs, but casual rubberneckers may be disappointed to hear that most of his tracks (though nothing's gone through final mastering yet) could compete with a lot of today's club fodder. Kelly Clarkson needn't worry: this album is not a pop affair. Federline turns out to be a vocal chameleon who gets down and dirty a la Ludacris, emits nasty growls a la Lil Jon and even gets defensive and emotional a la Eminem—all atop super-augmented dance tracks. Federline plays off his tabloid image: "Just a California kid doing what I do/Smashin' in the Ferrari and breaking all the rules." Or: "Ever since I'm married everybody follows me/Go ahead, take a look at what you can't be." But he chose not to have Britney sing on the album. "We have collaborated," says Federline. "But I'm not gonna put the songs on this album because it's, like, 'Respect me first, then I'll show you what I've done with my wife'."
Federline, who today is wearing a beanie, giant diamond stud earrings and a fleece pullover, is laid back in an "I never have to work another day in my life" way. He met Spears—for whom he was not a backup dancer—in a Hollywood club. They were married about six months later, and she gave birth to their son, Sean Preston, last September. Federline is most animated when he talks about the minutiae of child rearing (he has two other kids with his ex, Shar Jackson). "WD-40 takes crayon off walls, but that orange citrus oil, Goo Gone?" He shakes his head. "Man, I got gum out of the carpet with that s--t." Parenting in the spotlight has proved a messy undertaking in more ways than one. Who hasn't heard about the Britney-drives-with-baby-in-lap debacle? Federline seems less than bothered by most of the scrutiny, but it's a whole other thing when the paparazzi focus on his son. "The day we came home from the hospital," he says, "we had 40 cars behind us, and there were another 50 lining the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, all trying to get a shot inside the front window. It felt like they put a ransom on my child. OK, they didn't take my child, but they did put a price tag on his head."
Though he still manages to get out once in a while with the wife, Federline says, "It's not like it used to be. Everybody crowds around. I don't have the freedom to run out on the dance floor. When my wife's there, she doesn't care. She'll run out there and she'll be, like, 'Come on!' But it's a display now. It's like, ugh, give me a bottle of Jack Daniel's and let me think about it." Not that Federline doesn't want to dance again—he'd just like a bigger stage, in front of a paying audience. "I want to do a global tour at least once," he says. "Anything after that will be hard, especially if my wife is out on tour. I'll just stop and follow her around. I don't care. I mean, I'll still make music because I want to, but I'll do it when my kids are at school. It'll be my job to look after them." And, as always, the tabloids will be looking after him.
Married to the Mobs
Celebrity hubby Kevin Federline launches a rap career.
Michelle Kole
Feb. 27, 2006 issue - It wasn't enough for Kevin Federline to be the tabloids' most hated man. When he left his pregnant girlfriend for Britney almost two years ago, the rags deemed him a heartless scoundrel; more recently he's endured accusations regarding his loyalty to Spears, and even his devotion as a dad. But it's all getting old. So Federline, 27, has taken on a brand-new thankless role: white-boy rapper. "Sure, there'll be the initial shock and awe," says Federline, sitting in the Malibu, Calif., studio where he's recording his debut album. "But they've already said so much s--t about me it can't get worse. 'He hates his children, he treats his wife like dirt, he gets high all day.' If I was that bad, you think anyone, let alone Britney, would put up with it?"
The bigger question is, who will actually tolerate K-Fed's rapping? Judging by the reaction to Federline's first single, "PopoZo" (he calls it "a Brazilian ass-shaker"), far more people than you might think. The ex-backup dancer for both Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake doesn't have a record deal yet, but when he put out the single on the Internet, his Web site, Kevinfederline.com, got 2 million hits in eight days. "If my album has even half that attention, watch out," says Federline, who plans to release his debut—deal or no deal—by this spring. "That means everybody out there who loves me still loves me, and everybody out there who hates me—well, they're secretly buying it, too."
Let's admit that a good deal of the attention may be morbid curiosity: how bad is K-Fed's crash-and-burn? Hard-core rap fans have already crucified him in blogs, but casual rubberneckers may be disappointed to hear that most of his tracks (though nothing's gone through final mastering yet) could compete with a lot of today's club fodder. Kelly Clarkson needn't worry: this album is not a pop affair. Federline turns out to be a vocal chameleon who gets down and dirty a la Ludacris, emits nasty growls a la Lil Jon and even gets defensive and emotional a la Eminem—all atop super-augmented dance tracks. Federline plays off his tabloid image: "Just a California kid doing what I do/Smashin' in the Ferrari and breaking all the rules." Or: "Ever since I'm married everybody follows me/Go ahead, take a look at what you can't be." But he chose not to have Britney sing on the album. "We have collaborated," says Federline. "But I'm not gonna put the songs on this album because it's, like, 'Respect me first, then I'll show you what I've done with my wife'."
Federline, who today is wearing a beanie, giant diamond stud earrings and a fleece pullover, is laid back in an "I never have to work another day in my life" way. He met Spears—for whom he was not a backup dancer—in a Hollywood club. They were married about six months later, and she gave birth to their son, Sean Preston, last September. Federline is most animated when he talks about the minutiae of child rearing (he has two other kids with his ex, Shar Jackson). "WD-40 takes crayon off walls, but that orange citrus oil, Goo Gone?" He shakes his head. "Man, I got gum out of the carpet with that s--t." Parenting in the spotlight has proved a messy undertaking in more ways than one. Who hasn't heard about the Britney-drives-with-baby-in-lap debacle? Federline seems less than bothered by most of the scrutiny, but it's a whole other thing when the paparazzi focus on his son. "The day we came home from the hospital," he says, "we had 40 cars behind us, and there were another 50 lining the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, all trying to get a shot inside the front window. It felt like they put a ransom on my child. OK, they didn't take my child, but they did put a price tag on his head."
Though he still manages to get out once in a while with the wife, Federline says, "It's not like it used to be. Everybody crowds around. I don't have the freedom to run out on the dance floor. When my wife's there, she doesn't care. She'll run out there and she'll be, like, 'Come on!' But it's a display now. It's like, ugh, give me a bottle of Jack Daniel's and let me think about it." Not that Federline doesn't want to dance again—he'd just like a bigger stage, in front of a paying audience. "I want to do a global tour at least once," he says. "Anything after that will be hard, especially if my wife is out on tour. I'll just stop and follow her around. I don't care. I mean, I'll still make music because I want to, but I'll do it when my kids are at school. It'll be my job to look after them." And, as always, the tabloids will be looking after him.