Earlier this week, we shared the rampant rumors that Beyonce was pregnant with her second child. Today, Eonline has confirmed through sources close to the singer that she and Jay-Z are indeed expecting another baby.
Much like the parents of the creepy undead toddler from Pet Semetary learned, Nick Lachey and his bandmates in 98 Degrees found out the hard way this week that some things are better left dead. Meanwhile, Jay-Z‘s involvement in the The Great Gatsby soundtrack paid huge dividends. Here’s a look at those two stories and the rest of the big news from this week’s Nielsen SoundScan chart:
VH1 prides itself on being a mashup of pop culture, so it seems only fair that we turn our attention to mashups of the musical variety! Although sometimes frowned upon for teetering towards copyright infringement, blends done with exquisite skill create a track that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Done right, a mashup enhances both songs, allowing us to discover new sonic possibilities contained within sounds that had become stale and boring. If that ain’t art, we don’t know what is.
Since the advent of cheap audio editing software and websites like YouTube, it’s become much easier to create and share “revisions” of well-loved tunes. These DJs work hard on their tributes, and so we’d humbly like to offer a showcase for some of our favorites. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Remix Rewind!
To get us started, we tapped Jay-Z to head-up our inaugural post. Mr. Shawn Carter helped spark our love of mashups back in 2004, when his Black Album was expertly mixed with the Beatles‘ White Album by DJ extraordinaire Danger Mouse, creating (what else?) The Grey Album. The best of two (very different) worlds blew our 16-year-old mind at the time. So now we’d like to check out 10 other awesome uses of Hova’s verses and beats. Enjoy!
Nary a day goes by when someone doesn’t accuse Jay-Z of being a member of the Illuminati. We don’t have any solid confirmation one way or the other as to whether those allegations are true, but new information has come to light that might just make that whole argument moot. What if … take a deep breath … Jay-Z was actually a TIME TRAVELING VAMPIRE FROM 1933?
Noted “Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald” enthusiast Meghan O’Keefe and I take on The Great Gatsby and debate each track on this epic soundtrack. How did Beyonce do on her cover of Amy Winehouse? How does Florence Welch compare to Lana Del Rey and Sia?
Jay-Z talks about his soundtrack for The Great Gatsby, unreleased Bob Dylan lyrics are going up for auction, and Kanye West has some sort of big news for June 18.
It’s getting warmer and warmer outside and if you haven’t started working on your beach body you better get stared. Here is 75 minutes worth of hip-hop tracks perfect for your next visit to the gym. Read more…
Also in today’s First Dibs, Blue Ivy Carter shows off her style in Paris, and 2 Chainz (2CHAAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNZZZZZZZZ!) beats a drug rap.
For most of you, today is simply Saturday, April 20. However, we just KNOW there are a bunch of you out there who have been counting down the days on your calendar for today, particularly those of you who smoke the occasional (or not so occasional) joint. Yes, today is 4/20, a day that marijuana enthusiasts the nation over celebrate with blunts, spliffs, bongs and vaporizers. As a way to acknowledge this the intersection of ganja and music, we thought we’d do some lyrical analysis of musicians across a variety of genres— we’re talking everyone from Jay-Z to The Beatles, from Lana Del Rey to Rihanna—to find out what they do when they get high.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé spent their fifth wedding anniversary celebrating in Cuba, apparently unaware that United States citizens cannot legally travel to Cuba without very specific permission from the government. Since returning, the Carters have caught some flack for their romp down in Castro’s backyard, which inspired Hova’s latest song, “Open Letter.”
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
