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NEWS : STORIES
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05.10.2005 8:17 AM EDT
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Tom Green Digs Deep To Unearth His Hip-Hop Roots
Canadian comedian set to release solo rap debut LP this fall.
by
Chris Harris
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Tom Green (file)
(Photo:
Getty Images
)
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For anyone who has wondered what comedian Tom "My bum is on your lips" Green has been up to, there's an answer at long last: the goateed Canadian has been prepping his return to the hip-hop realm.
On Monday, the Canadian arm of Sony/BMG
revealed that it would release Green's as-yet-untitled solo rap debut this fall. Drew Barrymore's rapper/actor/talk-show-host ex has been working on the album with Mike Simpson, one half of the legendary producing duo the Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys, Rolling Stones).
"The world knows the comedy skills of Tom Green, but his rap 'skillz' are known almost exclusively in Canada," Sony/BMG Canada president Lisa Zbitnew said in a prepared statement. "This record is about to change all that."
Long before Green took unrelenting parental abuse and best-friend ridicule and turned it into a lucrative television and film career, the roadkill-humping actor — famous for "The Tom Green Show" as well as comedic roles in the films "Road Trip" and "Freddy Got Fingered" — was a founding member of Canadian hip-hop group Organized Rhyme. The act released Huh!? Stiffenin Against the Wall in 1992 through A&M Records, and a single from that disc, "Check the O.R.," earned Green's crew a Juno Award (Canada's answer to a Grammy) nomination.
"It is time for me as an artist, and a human being, to dig deep down into my soul and be completely honest," Green said in a press release. "For the past several years, I have grappled with a hidden truth. Now, it is finally my time to be honest. It is time for me to be honest with the public, with my friends, with my family, and most importantly, with myself. I am a rapper."
Given Green's proclivity for pranks, one can't help but question the sincerity behind Monday's "return to rap" announcement. Skepticism even surrounded the comedian's 2000 revelation that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer; Green wasn't joking, though, and successfully underwent treatment for the disease (see "MTV's Tom Green Battles Cancer").
Green is set to embark on a five-city tour of the Canadian province of Ontario beginning June 7 at London's Call the Office; Dust Brother Simpson will join him on the road, manning the decks during each live gig as DJ EZ Mike.
This report is provided by MTV News
 
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