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The ‘Candy Shop’ rapper - real name Curtis Jackson - says he is glad he has taken his time working on ‘Before I Self Destruct’ because he now believes it is as good as his first record, ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin”.

He said: “I had more time to work on this record. I usually put an album out every two years, so this is almost an additional year.

“This record could potentially be the one to top Get Rich or Die Tryin’. I think it could impact as hard, but not necessarily sell as much.”

50 - who grew up in a tough New York neighbourhood - also spoke about gangsta rap, insisting it is still relevant to modern society.

He added to BBC Newsbeat: “People are still living under these circumstances. They identify with it because they have similar struggles or have experienced something similar. They enjoy gangsta rap with a different intensity.”

The singer insists he isn’t prepared to alter his style to make it less intense.

He said: “If we just follow trends then we’re all doing the same thing.

“If Black Eyed Peas’ ‘Boom Boom Pow’ is hot, do we all go and make a ‘Boom Boom Pow’?”

However, frontman Tom Smith insists that despite the group’s dark lyrics, he is “not entirely serious”, and says the new songs will feature some of the band’s most pop moments yet.

He said: “I think we’ve always been non-commercial in the sense that a lot of our lyrics are dark, nasty even, but through the music we make we’ve been able to get that kind of message into people’s homes.

“It’s like with the song on the album called ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’.

I’m not being entirely serious with the lyrics in that - its my rubbish, sick sense of humour I guess - yet that image on face value is pretty gross, despite being wrapped up in possibly the most ludicrously full-on pop song we’ve ever written.

Tom also told how the band’s latest album ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ takes inspiration from science fiction.

He added to website Drowned in Sound: “I saw a correlation between the music we were making and watching films like ‘Blade Runner’- then as soon as Chris started writing on keyboards it reminded me of ‘The Terminator’ theme in that a bleak, almost sci-fi theme was creeping in.”

The singer - real name Elly Jackson - admits she is concerned about the pressure to make an album as good as her self-titled and is thinking about experimenting with a different musical direction in order to avoid comparisons.

She said: “I might have to go the other way, be slightly ‘less’ otherwise I might end up looking like a clown.

“Maybe I’ll go acoustic. Or dancehall. I really like dubstep too. But I’m also into songs that are long and epic.”

The singer admits she is ambitious and wants to build on her UK success to sell records around the world She added: “I’d like it to be a worldwide thing. It would be great to sit there at 40 and go, ‘F**k, I sold 10 million records.’

“But It’s not just about money, it’s about creating something that loads of people want to buy. I’m not interested in making money for a niche”

The Madness frontman insists that age isn’t taking its toll on his performances as he can still pull off his old dance moves - with a little help.

He said: “There’s all sorts of robotic knee braces you can get now, yes, and they do it for you, you just get in this huge harness and it dances, and you get out at the end and you just have to recharge the batteries for the following performance.”

The ‘One Step Beyond’ stars have played several high-profile concerts this year but the singer says Glastonbury festival was his favourite.

He added to Absolute Radio DJ Geoff Lloyd: “It’s been great. Yes, there’s been some real highlights. Glastonbury was one of them, which was a really great day out, and we’ve been doing festivals all round Europe, which have all been tremendous. I mean, you mentioned earlier about a younger generation wondering who this funny band are, but seeing us, the reaction’s been really great, yes, across the generations.”

Madness are set to play a historic London concert next month when the whole of Regent Street is closed down for a special performance to mark Absolute Radio’s first birthday party in conjunction with the Regent Street Festival.

For more information, log on to www.absoluteradio.co.uk/birthday.

The ‘Brianstorm’ rockers admit they were left confused when the Queens of the Stone Age singer invited them to his Rancho De La Luna studios in Joshua Tree, California, to work on tracks for their new album ‘Humbug’.

Drummer Matt Helders said: “It was something we’d talked about, but we didn’t necessarily think it would happen. We’d met Josh a couple of times from playing with them. He listened to the demos and said, let’s do this, come to the desert.”

Frontman Alex Turner added: “We thought we were going for a knickerbocker glory, for dessert somewhere. As if the first two albums were the starter and the main course. He’s like, I’ll take you for dessert. All of a sudden, there’s cactii.”

Although they enjoyed their surroundings, the group admit it made them act strangely.

Alex added to XFM: “Jamie Cook, our guitarist, disappeared for about a day and a half on the motorbike, then he returned in a poncho with a sort of strange pink dust on his shoulders.”

The Blink 182 frontman could not contain his grief as he struggled through the performance in Hartford, Connecticut, which had been arranged before his friend - whose real name was Adam Goldstein - died on Friday.

Singer Mark Hoppus also broke down when he discussed the group’s grief at Adam’s death.

Earlier in the evening, Travis - who was traveling with Adam when their private jet crashed last year, injuring them and killing four people - had questioned whether he would be able to perform.

Writing on his Twitter account, he said: “Don’t know how i am gonna play 2night but i am for AM. My brother is gone.i love u and miss u, i’ll never forget all the good times we had.

“I’ll never forget everything we’ve been thru and every time i play the drums i’ll think of you. U were an amazing friend/DJ/human being. Rest In Peace my brother (sic).”

Mandy Moore, who dated Adam, has also released a statement.

It read: “I am absolutely heartbroken. For those of us lucky enough to have known him, Adam radiated a contagious exuberance for life and also personified the very definition of a true friend.

“To say that he will be missed beyond words is an understatement. My heart goes out to his loved ones.”

Adam was found dead in his New York apartment on Friday afternoon.

The 36-year-old musician had battled drug addictions in the past, and it has been reported prescription medications were found at his apartment.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne has said there was no sign of foul play.

The 22-year-old Florence and the Machine singer says her mother thinks her concerts are “too loud” and wishes she would give it all up and go back to university.

Florence revealed: “My mother came to a gig recently. She said she enjoyed it, but it was too loud and she wishes she could hear what I was saying. She doesn’t like the music industry.

“She’d much rather I was doing something else, but she does say that when she sees me on stage she understands why I do it. But she so wishes that I was just at university.”

Florence dropped out of London’s Camberwell College of Arts in December 2006, when she was just 19 years old.

She enjoyed her time there, but knew she would never make it through the course because she had enrolled for all the wrong reasons.

The fiery redhead told Britain’s You magazine: “I went to art college because loads of amazing people I knew had gone there. It was always an ambition of mine to get an art degree. Or to be an art college dropout!”

The sexy R’n'B trio - consisting of Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams - are planning to get back together in 2010.

Michelle said: “It definitely will happen. We’re sisters, we love each other and we want to work on the future of Destiny’s Child.”

The ‘Survivor’ hitmakers split in 2005 to pursue solo careers.

Rumours they were reforming began circulating earlier this month, when it was revealed they were contractually obliged to produce another album.

A source said: “They still have another album they owe their label, Columbia Records, on their contract.”

The trio will reportedly head back into the studio to record their new album when ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ singer Beyonce finishes her current tour to promote her latest solo album ‘I Am. Sasha Fierce’.

The rockers were stunned when Damon Albarn – who created the animated group with artist Jamie Hewlett – contacted them to praise their work and invite them to collaborate on a track for the ‘Dare’ hitmakers’ forthcoming third album.

The Horrors bassist Rhys Webb said: “Damon got a copy of our album ‘Primary Colours’ really early, contacted us out completely out of the blue and told us how much he liked it.

“It was kind of a strange email saying, ‘Would you guys be able to come down to my studio at some point?’

“We had no idea really what it was about but thought that would be great to go down there, have a chat, it would be nice to meet . We went down to the studio and he said, ‘We’re working on the new album and we’ve not collaborated with a guitar band before and you’re album is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in a long time. Would you be up for working on a track?

“Gorillaz have always been diverse and experimental and I think as a band moving forwards, that’s very much they way we approach music.”

The group were more than happy to contribute to the album, particularly after hearing what Damon had been working on.

Rhys added to BBC 6 Music: “He played us a lot of tracks he’d been working and musically and they were just in a really similar place to where we were at the moment - rhythmically and the instruments that were going through the sound - so it made perfect sense for us.

“We had such a good time working with him.”

Tracks from the rapper’s long-awaited ‘Blueprint 3’ LP were posted on the internet last week but the ’99 Problems’ star insists he doesn’t mind.

He said: “I may be the most bootlegged artist in history. It’s a preview.

I’m excited for people to hear the album. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done, so enjoy it.”

Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – is particularly delighted by the leak because he has received such good feedback on the record.

He added to MTV News: “My pager is actually ringing right now, so people are probably calling me and telling me they pretty much like it.

“I can tell by the way my pager rings if a song is good or not. It’s really going crazy right now.”

Meanwhile, the rapper has announced plans to play a headline solo show at London’s Roundhouse venue on September 17 as part of his stint in the UK supporting Coldplay.

‘Blueprint 3’ is scheduled for UK release on September 11.