Results tagged “gym class heroes” from J-14 Magazine

Today marks not just World AIDS Day but the 11th anniversary of the Staying Alive, an AIDS/HIV awareness campaign and foundation started by MTV. The Staying Alive Campaign started in 1998, and the foundation was founded in 2005 as a charity to educate young people about HIV/AIDS prevention, erase the stigma of the diseases, and launch a community response to support awareness, management, and prevention.

As the 2009 Staying Alive ambassador, Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy traveled to South Africa, India, and the Philippines to gain a better understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic overseas and to help spread the word about awareness and prevention. As someone who lost someone close to them at a young age due to the AIDS virus, Staying Alive is a cause very close to Travis' heart.

"I did some red carpet interviewing for Staying Alive at the AMAs last year," Travis told J-14. "Afterwards I talked to Georgia Arnold, who is the head of Staying Alive, and was like, 'What else can I do? There's got to be something else I can do aside from talking to celebrities about whether or not they're protecting themselves. When I was younger I had someone really really close to me die from AIDS, and there were all these stigmas attached to it. I felt like it was my way of not paying a penance but giving back."

While in South Africa, India, and the Philippines, Travis not only met some amazing Staying Alive grantees, he also gained a better appreciation for what still needs to be done to alleviate stigmas and increase awareness both overseas and here in the United States. The trip was documented for Travis' documentary, Unbeaten Track, and he also wrote a song when the trip was completed called "One At A Time."

"I wanted to keep the cheese-factor to a bare minimum but also make the song something that was going to stay in people's heads and that people would want to download, not only because it's for charity but for the fact that hopefully it'll get people talking," Travis tells J-14.

"One at a Time" is available now on iTunes and all proceeds benefit Staying Alive. Travis' documentary Unbeaten Track airs tonight on MTV (check local listings).

Photo: Courtesy of Ben Spence

Members of your favorites bands have teamed up to spread a little happiness in the world -- in the form of a new music video called "Open Happiness."

Yup, those familiar faces are Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, Brendon Urie from Panic At the Disco, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes, Cee-Lo Green, and Janelle Monae. The purpose of their collaboration? "To come together and create a song to uplift and inspire." Awww...

What do you think of the video for "Open Happiness"?

Keri Hilson's new album, In A Perfect World is out now! J-14 got to hang out with her backstage during her tour with Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and Gym Class Heroes to talk about her new album.

J-14: What's your favorite song off the album?
Keri: My favorite song on my album -- that's very hard to do! I could probably narrow it to a top three. They would be "Slowdance," "Intuition," and "Alienated."

J-14: Why do you like those three?
Keri: "Slowdance" displays, I think, great vocal ability. I know women will relate to "Intuition" because it's really how we feel about new love and it's about the point at which you're about to allow yourself to be loved. And then "Alienated," is a lost love story. It's talking about someone you miss and I use space as a metaphor throughout the whole song and it's just fun and it takes you a different place.

J-14: What would be your perfect world?
Keri: My perfect world would mean that I'm happy, every day of my life, but we all know that that's not possible. It's not reality. So in a perfect world, we all have something we would change if only we could.

J-14: What are your three must haves for the road?
Keri: I'd have to say candles, my wardrobe -- I'm kidding! Let's see. My candles, I have to have my iPod and my workout shoes.

J-14: What are the top 5 songs on your iPod right now?
Keri: They would be Atlantic Star's "Always," Estelle's "Come Over," Bobby Brown "Tenderoni" -- what else am I listening to right now? Oh! Kanye's "808's & Heartbreaks." The whole album! Let's see, what else am I feeling? There's a lot of good new music.

J-14: Anyone we should keep an eye out for or something?
Keri: Keri Hilson. This album! I do listen to my own music. I am a fan of my own as I've been blessed to have a consumer ear sometimes so I can listen to my music and feel how someone else would feel listening to it even though I've lived with these songs, some of them for a couple of years now. I can kind of take myself back to my fan days and say "Wow, I can appreciate that. I like that. That's different I've never heard any artist talk about that or say it quite that way!"