by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Grammys 2013: VH1 You Oughta Know Artists Take Home 7 Awards

VH1 You Oughta Know Alumni Win 7 Grammys

You know how you always hear attendees at awards shows say that it’s just nice to be nominated? While that sentiment certainly holds true for our pack of amazing VH1 You Oughta Know alumni who earned themselves 17 nominations at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, the reality of the situation is that it feels even better to win. That’s why we here at VH1 are bursting at the seams with pride tonight that our You Oughta Know family took home SEVEN GRAMMYS (!!!) at tonight’s ceremonies, including honors in two of the Big Four Categories: Record Of The Year (Gotye‘s “Somebody I Used To Know”) and Album of the Year (Mumford And SonsBabel).

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by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Grammys 2013: Gotye And Kimbra Are Still BFFs Almost 2 Years After Release Of “Somebody I Used To Know”

Antipodean artists Gotye and Kimbra duetted on the mammoth hit “Somebody I Used To Know,” a song that became one of the biggest international smashes in recent memory. The pair are nominated at the 2013 Grammy Awards in the Record Of The Year category, and they stopped by our area on the Grammy Night Live carpet to share their thoughts with VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown host Jim Shearer. Read more…

by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Grammys 2013: VH1 You Oughta Know Artists Earn 17 Nominations

VH1 You Oughta Know Artists Score 17 Grammy Nominations

Now that the BeyBowl is safely in the rearview mirror, we now turn our attention towards the 2013 Grammys, which will be airing live from Los Angeles this Sunday night, February 10. Just today, we learned that our You Oughta Know alumnus Bruno Mars is set to perform alongside Sting (which makes PERFECT sense when you consider that “Locked Out Of Heaven” sounds exactly like an old Police song), which is yet another in a long line of performances that we’re looking forward to on Sunday. And while we’re on the topic of You Oughta Know artists…

Our You Oughta Know alumni scored an impressive 17 nominations when the 2013 Grammy nominations were announced back in December, including four nominations in the big four categories. Our February 2012 YOK artist Gotye picked up a nomination for Record Of The Year for his song “Somebody I Used To Know,” a song that he performed for a standing room only crowd in our 20th floor lobby earlier this year; our May 2012 You Oughta Know artist Ed Sheeran scored a nomination for Song Of The Year for his haunting ballad “The A Team”; our July pick, The Lumineers, were nominated for Best New Artist; and our YOK friends from way back in 2010, Mumford & Sons, picked up a nod in the Album Of The Year category for their massive new LP, Babel.

Here’s a complete list of the 2013 Grammy awards that our awesome YOK alums are nominated for this weekend:
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by Bené Viera

Gotye’s Voice May Have Been Taken Off T.I.’s “Memories Back Then” But Peep The “Somebody That I Used To Know” Bassline Sample

A lone woman on a track with three great emcees outshines her male peers. Allow us to introduce you to Kris Stephens. T.I.‘s “Memories Back Then” featuring B.o.B, Kendrick Lamar and Kris Stephens on the chorus should’ve made Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head. Originally the banger was titled “Somebody That I Used To Know” with a sample from Gotye from his song of the same name, according to Hip Hop Wired. It’s assumed a sample clearance is why we have the new version with vocals by T.I.’s artist Kris Stephens. And no shade to Gotye at all because we adore him, but we couldn’t imagine this track without Kris’s sultry voice. Read more…

by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

The Numbers Are In: Adele, Gotye And Jack White Top Year-End Sales Charts


Nielsen SoundScan numbers are in and the final tallies have been arrived at, and so it seems that 2012′s biggest sellers are Gotye, Jack White and of course Adele. Is anybody surprised?

Taylor Swift put up a good fight late in the year, as did One Direction (who have two albums ranking in the top five) and Mumford & Sons. But once again none could top Adele, whose much beloved 2011 album 21 sold another 4.41 million copies this year to top year-end album sales for the second year in a row (just as she did on iTunes). The blustery Brit’s staying power is impressive, but we can’t imagine that there are enough people left of this earth of ours still sans 21 to enable her to keep this up for a third year. But perhaps she could put out a new album that might earn her another two years at the top?

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by Bené Viera

Music’s Biggest Breakout Stars Of 2012

We’re three days away from ending 2012– the year the Mayan’s math didn’t quite add up–with a bang. Before we bid this year adieu we’ve documented the Best Ofs for the past 12 months; so during the next predicted Apocalypse rears its false head, we’ll reminisce on the Crunkest Songs of 2012 or 2012′s 8 Most Underated Singles or the Best Songs of 2012.

Our countdown continues with the 12 of Music’s Breakout Stars of 2012. It’s been a glorious year musically with diverse projects by promising new artists. While Frank Ocean‘s stardom is no surprise, who would’ve expected PSY to sing with Bieber‘s manager Scooter Braun? Meek Mill sketched his name in cement as one of hip-hop’s brightest stars this year transitioning from mixtape storyteller to mainstream success. How good 2013 will treat these breakout stars is unforeseeable, but with raised glasses let’s all toast to the year of stars coming out (no pun intended). Read more…

by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

The Best Albums Of 2012 (According To Your Friendly Neighborhood VH1 Staffers)

VH1 Best Albums Of 2012

Last week, we successfully bought you the VH1 staff’s favorite songs of 2011 without any bloodshed, and we’re happy to report that no one’s brain exploded while trying to narrow down the amazing albums of 2012 into a concise list. Again, what VH1 staffers enjoyed in 2012 was a rich and vibrant tapestry of genres, created both by newcomers and veterans.

As far as consensus is concerned, there were 23 LPs that appeared on multiple ballots, but only 6 that appeared on four or more lists: Miguel‘s Kaleidoscope Dream (7 ballots), Emeli Sandé‘s Our Version Of Events and Frank Ocean‘s channel ORANGE (6 ballots apiece), Kendrick Lamar‘s good kid, m.A.A.d. city (5 ballots), Taylor Swift‘s RED and Macklemore & Ryan LewisThe Heist (each with 4 ballots).

Now, on with the show!
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by Lacey Seidman (@Lacezilla)

For The People, By The People: The Top 40 Most-Watched Videos of 2012

Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t. After taking a deep-dive into this year’s VH1.com streaming data, we’ve come up with a list of the Top 40 Most-Watched Videos of 2012. All you favorites are below, and there are even some underdog surprises that we didn’t expect to rank so favorably. So yeah, consider this an early New Year’s gift, and start re-living all the music video glory that took place in this incredible year of the apocalypse.

40. Gavin DeGraw “Sweeter”
39. The Fray “Heartbeat”
38. Gym Class Heroes “The Fighter featuring Ryan Tedder
37. Bruno Mars “Grenade”
36. Adam Lambert “Never Close Our Eyes”
35. Daughtry “Crawling Back To You”
34. Tamia “Beautiful Surprise”
33. Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
32. Ellie Goulding “Lights”
31. David Guetta “Titanium (Ft. Sia)”

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by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

The Best Songs Of 2012 (According To Your Friendly Neighborhood VH1 Staffers)

vh1-favorite-songs-of-2012

When we began compiling our Best Songs of 2012 list, there were many differing opinions, and after briefly toying with the idea of pitting all our staff against one another in a Hunger Games fight-to-the-death scenario against the backdrop of Times Square, we conceded that the most diplomatic and least murderous thing to do would be to each submit our own list. You know, in the name of preserving a civil work environment and whatnot (not to mention our longstanding policy of avoiding contact with the human resources department). So while we didn’t battle it out in a conference room or some such nonsense, each one of us faced an internal battle — choosing our favorite songs of the year.

As far as consensus is concerned, there were 21 songs that appeared on multiple ballots, but only eight that appeared on three or more lists: Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “Call Me Maybe” (4 ballots), Frank Ocean‘s “Pyramids” (4 ballots), fun.‘s “We Are Young” (4 ballots), Gotye‘s “Somebody I Used To Know” (3 ballots), P!nk‘s “Just Give Me A Reason” (3 ballots), Usher‘s “Climax” (3 ballots), Azealia Banks‘ “212″ (3 ballots), and Miguel‘s “Adorn” (3 ballots).

(Btw, before we get into this, we’d like to note that we put together the following Spotify playlist for your listening pleasure: VH1 Staffers Pick Their Favorite Songs Of 2012. It’s sequenced in alpha order by artist first name, so we wholeheartedly recommend you hit Shuffle while listening to this 92 track playlist. Now, on with the show…)

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