Kanye West: Timberlake is my competition

Kanye West: Timberlake
is my competition

NEW YORK — Kanye West considers a certain “SexyBack” singer his biggest rival. “My biggest inspiration and biggest competition is Justin Timberlake,” the 29-year-old rapper tells XXL magazine in its October issue, on newsstands Sept. 11. “He’s the only other person that gets an across-the-board response and respect level — black radio, white radio.” “If Justin hadn’t come out and killed the game, I can’t say that my album, singles and videos would be on the same level that they’re on,” he says. “We push each other. I look at me and Justin like Prince and Michael Jackson in their day.” A sly dig at 50 Cent? Earlier this month, the 31-year-old gangsta rapper, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson, promised to quit his solo career if West’s new album, “Graduation,” outsells his upcoming CD, “Curtis.” Both albums are due out Sept. 11. West, a six-time Grammy winner, tells XXL that he’s “never cared about being No. 1.” Record sales, he figures, aren’t as important as how the music connects with people. “I feel like my lyrics are, if not THE, then equal to, the realest lyrics out,” he says. “I connected with so many people without talkin’ about guns and drugs. ... It’s harder to go to work 365 days than shoot a person in one day.”

Laura Linney, boyfriend
annouce engagement

NEW YORK — Laura Linney and her boyfriend, Marc Schauer, are engaged, a spokeswoman for the actress said Tuesday. It will be the second marriage for Linney, who was previously wed to David Adkins. Linney, 43, co-stars with Scarlett Johansson in “The Nanny Diaries,” in theaters Friday. Her wide-ranging film résumé includes Oscar-nominated roles in “Kinsey” and “You Can Count on Me.”

‘Sopranos’ strip club
auctions off poles

The Bada Bing is being stripped. Owners of the Satin Dolls strip club in Lodi, N.J. — which doubled as the Bada Bing in “The Sopranos” — are selling off stripper poles and other fixtures featured in the HBO series. The 19-year-old club, which brags about its Bada Bing connection on its Route 17 marquee, is being renovated. Susie Quigley, who runs the club’s special events, said the relics will be auctioned on e-Bay this week. They include the 12-foot brass stripper poles “featured in almost every single episode,” she said, along with a pool table, disco ball and 10 barstools on which Tony Soprano, Paulie Walnuts and the rest of the gang sat. And don’t forget the fluorescent purple men’s room sign. Quigley refused to estimate how much the poles would fetch, but noted the club has been released from its contract now that the show about a fictional Jersey mob family has ended its eight-year run. Manny Costeira, the developer who owns the building in Kearny, N.J., that was used as Satriale’s pork store — a familiar hangout for Tony and company — is turning the place into a condominium. Bricks from the facade are being sold for about $100 each. “I’m a big fan of the show,” he said, “but I don’t know if I’d run to buy a stone off the pork store.”

Today’s birthdays

Author Ray Bradbury is 87. Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 87. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is 73. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 72. Writer Annie Proulx is 72. Rockabilly singer Dale Hawkins is 71. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 68. Actress Valerie Harper is 67. Football coach Bill Parcells is 66. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 62. Actress Cindy Williams is 60. Musician David Marks is 59. Country singer Holly Dunn is 50. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 49. Country singer Collin Raye is 47. Actress Regina Taylor is 47. Country singer Ricky Lynn Gregg is 46. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 46. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 46. Rock musician Gary Lee Connor (Screaming Trees) is 45. Singer Tori Amos is 44. Country singer Mila Mason is 44. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 44. Tennis player Mats Wilander is 43. Rapper GZA/The Genius is 41. Actor Rick Yune is 36. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 35. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 34. Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) is 34. Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 33. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 29.