If an artist wins the Grammy for Song of the Year, they’ve immediately been granted permission to stunt on everybody for at least a year with “Hi, I’m Grammy winner [insert name], and my song was, well, better than any other song that year.” It’d be pretty obnoxious but the Recording Academy acknowledging your song as the best one for the year is clutch. Read more…
2012 was the year of being or getting #turntup. Crunk songs encouraging partying, drinking and the good life were the soundtrack to turning up. French Montana‘s “Pop That” instructed women on how to, err, pop their booties at a party or club. It easily was one of the summer’s most popular anthems. In the same vein was Juicy J‘s “Bands A Make Her Dance” which suggests rolls of money secured by a rubber band will indeed make a girl dance. Not that we frequented the strip club or anything, but word on the street is strippers made this their unofficial theme song.
Other crunk songs had less to do with booty popping or stripping and more to do with intimacy–straight grown and sexy style. Take for instance Kelly Rowland‘s “Motivation” that inspired a body roll whether you were at your desk at work or in your car at a red light. Fun.‘s “We Are Young” isn’t your typical crunk song, however, if the DJ played this song at a party you witnessed the crowd going wild. So without further ado, here’s 16 of the year’s crunkest songs. Shout out to the artists for enabling our turned up ways. Read more…
Another day, some more Best Of 2012‘s! The enthusiasts over at Popdust keep close tabs on all of pop music’s going-on’s and their list is accordingly thorough, including all the big names as well as a handful of gems we hadn’t expected but are happy to see make the cut. have done a heroes job and turned their list into a YouTube playlist as well as a Spotify playlist so you really have no excuse not to enjoy it. Their top 10 looks like this:
Black Girls Rock founder Beverly Bond created magic when the former DJ started BGR to inspire young girls of color. What started out as a non-profit for youth empowerment and mentoring, while also promoting positive images of black women in the media, has expanded into an annual BET awards ceremony honoring black women in arts, entertainment, education and other fields who are using their gifts to change the world. This year’s seventh annual star-studded event held at Paradise Theater in the Bronx, NY was hosted by actresses Tracee Ellis Ross and Regina King–whose wardrobe changes gave us life! Read more…
There’s a bloody war occurring in Fun.’s “Some Nights” video. Director Anthony Mandler recreates images of the Civil War, which could easily represent any war in history. The premise of the cinema-like video is that war tragically takes a toll on life and love. One minute life can be as pleasant as watching horses in the pasture or dancing with a girl, as the opening scene shows, and within a flash the boys and men are off for battle. Read more…
Since Jay-Z’s press conference in Philadelphia last week we’ve been on pins and needles anticipating the announcement for the lineup of the Made in America festival he’s curating and headlining on September 1 and 2. Jigga man delivered on the goal he’d set for himself asking, “Is it going to push the culture forward?” With such a diverse selection of musical acts crossing multiple genres, we’d say the answer to Jay’s query is unequivocally, “Yes!”
For the two day festival on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philly, music lovers can enjoy the tunes of Pearl Jam, Afrojack, Odd Future, Skrillex, Miike Snow, Dirty Projectors, X, the Knocks, Calvin Harris, Jay’s artist Rita Ora, Prince Royce, Janelle Monae, Santigold, Passion Pit, Wale, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, the DJ set by Savoy and the return of D’Angelo. Let’s not forget Hov will also hit the stage as the headliner. As with everything he does, Jay-Z took his job as curator seriously, and created a highly anticipated festival.
Oh, can we talk about Jay sangging R&B singer D’Angelo (who hasn’t released an album in 12 years) for a minute? Over the weekend D’Angelo made headlines when a GQ profile hit the net with him looking rather scrumptious. The singer is working on an album, and whatever Jay did to get him to perform at Budweiser’s Made in America, we salute you, Jay. As diverse as the list of performers is, even more acts will be announced next week. Jay-Z can check off successful curator from his bucket list.
Official “Made In America” Lineup Announced [Complex.com]
[Photo: Getty Images and GQ magazine]
Watch Janelle Monae Cover Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”
Janelle Monae played a truly sexy, sultry cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” at her concert last night in Papantla, Mexcio. And despite the fan made hand held phone footage, it’s easy to see how wonderfully Monae performed the iconic song, and that you would have had chills coursing down your spine had you seen it live. [CoS]
M83 Is Releasing A Remix EP For Their Track “Reunion”
From Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 will be releasing a seven song EP of remixes of their track “Reunion,” including versions by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and The Naked and The Famous. M83 uber-fans rejoice! [Paste]
Obama Looks To The Music Community For Support
President Obama has a wishlist of musicians he wants to support his re-election campaign including Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, John Legend and Alicia Keys. What can we say? The guy’s got serious style. [NME]
Lana Del Rey’s People Get Sassy
Gawker has been unable to retrieve a comment from Lana Del Rey about the backlash from the weekend’s SNL performance, and her publicist has given a coy middle finger to the request by asking if Brian Williams has commented yet. Sassy. [Gawker]
“We Are Young,” the anthemic single from New York indie pop outfit fun., was released in September without a great deal of fanfare, but quickly exploded in popularity when the song appeared on a December episode of Glee. The Gleeks consequently stormed the iTunes store en masse, rocketing the song straight to #1 in the Alternative category. And now, with the group’s second LP, Some Nights, due for release in February, there’s an official music video to whet your appetite.
Directed by A-list music video helmer Marc Klasfeld (Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie”), the video combines flash mobs, food fights, Inception-style slo-mo explosions, a Janelle Monae cameo and a katana-wielding teen who has clearly played one too many games of Fruit Ninja. In short, it’s pretty much exactly like the New Year’s Eve party we went to a few nights ago.
Coldplay Announce Mylo Xyloto Tour Dates For North America!
Excited much? Coldplay have announced the first round of tour dates for Mylo Xyloto rounds of North America. We’ll be lining up, camping out and generally doing whatever we can to get our tickets — will you? [Neon Limelight]
Janelle Monae Is Getting Ready To Drop Not One, But Two Albums In 2012
If you love Janelle Monae, have we got news for you! The “Tightrope” singer has been m.i.a recently because she’s been working on not one, but two (!) albums for release in 2012. So far this is all the information that’s been released, so keep your ear to the ground for updates! [Prefix]
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
