newsmakers

newsmakers

Rap singer Nate Dogg dies at age 41

LOS ANGELES

Singer Nate Dogg, whose near-monotone crooning anchored some of rap’s most seminal songs and helped define the sound of West Coast hip-hop, has died at age 41.

Nate Dogg, whose real name was Nathaniel D. Hale, died Tuesday of complications from multiple strokes, said attorney Mark Geragos.

Nate Dogg wasn’t a rapper, but he was an integral figure in the genre: His deep voice wasn’t particularly melodic, but its tone — at times menacing, at times playful, yet always charming — provided just the right touch on hits including Warren G’s “Regulate,” 50 Cent’s “21 Questions,” Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” and countless others.

Jermaine Jackson gets a book deal

NEW YORK

A long-rumored memoir by Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine finally is coming out.

Touchstone announced Wednesday that Jermaine Jackson’s “You are Not Alone: Michael: Through a Brother’s Eye” will be released this fall. Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, promises a “faithful and loving portrait” but one with “no subject off limits.”

Jackson spoke in 2003 of wanting to write a memoir, and reports surfaced again after Michael’s 2009 death.

Sisters Janet Jackson and La Toya Jackson also have books out this year.

Spacey’s film clears Chinese censors

HONG KONG

The director of Kevin Spacey’s Chinese production “Inseparable” says the film has cleared the country’s censors, and its financial backers are discussing release dates with local distributors.

Chinese-American director Dayyan Eng told The Associated Press in an e-mail that Spacey enjoyed his shoot in the southern Chinese city Guangzhou. Eng says the two-time Oscar winner explored the city’s restaurants and took him and other crew members to them.

In “Inseparable,” Spacey plays an American expatriate who befriends a Chinese man bogged down by work and marital problems, played by Chinese- American actor Daniel Wu.

Associated Press