Taylor Swift News, Taylor Swift Videos, Taylor Swift Photos

August 24th, 2011 | 8:30 pm by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Last Lap: Lil Wayne Threatens To Kidnap Beyonce, Inception Star Covers Nirvana, And More

LIL WAYNE SPRINGS A LEAK, THREATENS TO KIDNAP BEYONCÉ
Where’s the beef? On Lil Wayne’s just-leaked Tha Carter IV, that’s where! According to Blackbook, Weezy’s new track “It’s Good” features this bar directed towards Jay-Z: “Talkin? ?bout baby money, I got your baby money/Kidnap your b****, Get that ?how much you love your lady?” This is apparently in retaliation to a verse that Jay sung on “H.A.M.” that dissed Young Money. First Game disses Jay, now Wayne? Sh*t’s about to get real, son! [Blackbook]

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT PAYS HOMAGE TO KURT COBAIN
The 20th anniversary of Nevermind is just around the corner, so Nirvana-mania is clearly in bloom (drum roll). At a concert in Seattle last night, the Inception star played a cover of “Lithium,” which he punctuated with this off-the-cuff dedication: “You know it seems like everytime people bring up Nirvana, people wanna talk about how Kurt Cobain killed himself. But I gotta say, it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter that he’s dead, it doesn’t matter how he died, his songs are f***ing awesome, that’s what matters.” [Everybody Loves Our Town]

August 10th, 2011 | 6:15 pm by Nick Minichino

Last Lap: Wednesday’s Odds And Ends In Music News

Jennifer Lopez Will Return To American Idol
So said Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, in so many words, this morning on Ryan Seacrest‘s morning show: “I believe we?re still waiting for the official announcements but I am delighted to say that all three judges, along with the brilliant host of American Idol, [are] back for the next season.” [EW Inside TV]

Taylor Swift Premieres Fifth Speak Now Video
“Sparks Fly” is a pretty straightforward tour-advertisement video, but it’s a good advertisement, and anyway, what do you want? She’s already released four high-concept clips in the last year! Sidenote: we’re curious what Sara Marcus would say about Swift’s penchant for writing on her body. Is that in dialogue with riot grrrl? [Vimeo]
Read more…

August 5th, 2011 | 9:25 am by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Taylor Swift Wins Some New Fans By Covering “Lose Yourself”

Taylor Swift catches a lot of heat for her prissy tendencies (not to mention her constant state of surprise), but is there a secret gangsta persona hiding beneath her precious exterior? Earlier this year, Tay made viral waves when she demonstrated during a radio segment that she not only knew the words to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” but that she could spit them in Minaj’s trademark lickity-split style.

Now, thanks to our friends at Vulture, we find out that Taylor Swift’s knowledge of hip hop history extends beyond today’s Top 40. At a recent performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, T-Swizzle broke out her acoustic guitar and, much to the delight of the crowd, tore into the first verse of Eminem‘s Mitten State anthem, “Lose Yourself.” And you know what? Even the most vehement Swift haters would agree that she didn’t totally embarrass herself; her performance, while understandably less intense than Em’s in 8 Mile, is delivered in a manner that’s both playful and convincing. Color us impressed. Next stop: “Yonkers”!

Taylor Swift Can Rap the First Verse of ?Lose Yourself? [Vulture]

July 13th, 2011 | 2:00 pm by Lacey Seidman (@Lacezilla)

VH1′s Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far, Part II: #50-11

Yesterday, we introduced you to the upper reaches of our Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far list, serving up the #100-51 videos that you’ve been clicking on most so far this year. Although a hefty portion, consider that first installment just an appetizer for today’s first course and tomorrow’s main entree. Going a bit deeper into the list, we now give you #50-11, inching closer and closer to #1.

Get More: Train, Hey, Soul Sister, Music Videos

50. Train, “Hey, Soul Sister”
49. Goo Goo Dolls, “Notbroken”
48. Jennifer Lopez, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”
47. Jennifer Hudson, “Where You At”
46. Beyonce, “Run The World (Girls)”
45. My Chemical Romance, “SING”
44. Adam Lambert, “If I Had You”
43. Fitz and The Tantrums, “Money Grabber”
42. Kid Rock ft. Sheryl Crow, “Collide”
41. Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are”

July 12th, 2011 | 12:00 pm by Lacey Seidman (@Lacezilla)

VH1′s Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far

As we parallel park into July and officially hit the curb of this year’s halfway point, it’s time to take a quick look back at what the past six months have taught us. Not conventional life lessons, however; we’re talking about stuff that’s a little bit less intense and also involves YOU! That’s right, in the first installment of our Top 100 Videos of 2011… So Far, we’re spilling the beans on the #100-51 most clicked-and-viewed videos on VH1.com. You’ll see that this pi?ata-like list of content contains tasty treats and slippery surprises alike! We’ve got brand-new videos that just recently launched, some VH1 Classic leaning clips (hey there, Megadeth), repeat offenders, and of course, effervescent, essential vids from the music video cannon. So take a look at the first fifty videos below and don’t forget to come back later this week as we continue on our quest to discover what artist snags the #1 spot!

100. Jack Johnson, “From The Clouds”
99. Chris Brown, “Deuces”
98. Ke$ha, “Tik Tok”
97. Bruno Mars, “The Other Side”
96. Beyonc?, “Video Phone (Extended Remix)”
95. Usher, “OMG”
94. B.o.B, “Airplanes”
93. Taylor Swift, “Mine”
92. Sara Bareilles, “King Of Anything”
91. John Legend & The Roots, “Wake Up Everybody”

June 27th, 2011 | 3:00 pm by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Song Of The Summer Countdown: Will Katy Perry Claim Her Third S.O.T.S In Four Years?

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For the first time since we started counting down this year’s Song Of The Summer, someone other than Adele is sitting in the proverbial cat bird’s seat. Weirdly enough, though, “Rolling In The Deep” has been usurped by another song that audiences first heard back in 2010.

While we’re plenty excited that Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” knocked Adele out of the top spot, we can’t help but lament the fact that Katy Perry is still ruling the airwaves with songs from her Teenage Dream album. If you’ll recall, that record came out way back on August 24, 2010, but last year’s Song Of The Summer, “California Gurls,” was released even further back (May 11, 2010, to be exact). And if you flip the calendar back to the summer of 2008, Perry’s first smash single, “I Kissed A Girl,” was that summer’s biggest party jam.

So, folks, you tell us: What exactly is it about the summertime that makes you want to listen to Katy Perry? Why does her particular blend of breezy pop music make you want to roll your windows down and turn the singles from Teenage Dream up? Let us know in the comments, and check back here next week to see if Katy can fend off the likes of Britney Spears, Pitbull and Lady Gaga to keep the top spot in VH1′s Song Of The Summer countdown!

June 20th, 2011 | 7:27 pm by Nick Minichino

Last Lap: Monday’s Odds And Ends In Music News

Renee Graziano Styles Ghostface Killah
In case you missed yesterday’s Mob Wives and haven’t caught up with Liz Black‘s recap yet, make sure you do! Staten Island’s own Ghostface Killah met up with Staten Island’s own Renee Graziano in one of the episode’s few lighter moments for Graziano.

Jeremih Covers Adele‘s “Rumour Has It”
“Down On Me” songster Jeremih tried his hand at a cover of “Rumour Has It,” from Adele’s still-chart-topping 21, for Billboard today. He even dropped a bit of “Ice Ice Baby” and “Under Pressure” into a breakdown.
Read more…

June 6th, 2011 | 4:00 pm by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

2011 Song of the Summer Countdown: Adele Continues To Roll Deep

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Welcome to Week Two of VH1′s Song of the Summer countdown. Each and every Monday from now until Labor Day, we’ll be utilizing ~~today’s most advanced data collection techniques~~ Microsoft Excel to chart the competition of what will become THE song that people will think of when they remember the summer of 2011.

Last week, Adele‘s monster smash, “Rolling In The Deep,” captured the top spot, scoring 87 of a possible 100 points. (For a reminder on how the scoring system works, click here.) Somehow, the English songbird managed to increase her stranglehold on the #1 spot in this countdown this week, racking up 91 (!!!) points and proving that no matter what medium people use to consume music these days, they’re using it to listen to Adele.

However, lest you think that Adele has got this summer on lock only two weeks in, there are a number of new songs that cracked the charts this week for the first time: Jason Derulo‘s “Don’t Wanna Go Home,” DJ Khaled‘s superstar-laced hit “I’m On One” (which features Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne), Coldplay’s “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” (which was just released on Friday) and Taylor Swift‘s bid for power pop domination, “The Story Of Us.” Oh yeah, and Adele’s powerful anthem of lost love, “Someone Like You,” managed to crack the Top 20, too.

May 24th, 2011 | 8:01 pm by Nick Minichino

Taylor Swift Grows Up In “The Story of Us,” But Boy Trouble Still Follows Her Around

Taylor Swift may have just released a music video two weeks ago on CMT, but while country radio has taken to “Mean,” it’s “The Story of Us” that’s been picking up steam on pop radio. So here we are, with “The Story of Us,” which literally just premiered on MTV. In fact, if you’re reading this in the first half hour it’s been posted, turn on MTV right now to see Sway interview Taylor Swift live on air and ask fan questions that have been submitted since Friday through MTV.com or via Twitter (using @MTVNews and the hashtag #AskTaylor).

But if you missed the special, you can still watch the new video, above. It’s more in the schooltime vein of “You Belong with Me”, though Swift has graduated (geddit?) to some sort of Gothic collegiate campus, though she’s still having boy trouble. Look how sweet she is:

May 23rd, 2011 | 1:30 pm by Nick Minichino

2011 Billboard Music Awards: Highlights and Lowlights

HIGHLIGHT: The use of remixes in performance segments. Even excluding the two Britney Spears features (records that we like, but which could be industry warning signs), Ke$ha‘s performance featured a segment of the Cirkut remix of “Blow,” and Cee Lo Green‘s medley included an extended version of the spaghetti-Western break that Danger Mouse sampled for the “Crazy” beat, plus an electro remix of “Forget You.”

LOWLIGHT: Britney’s feature spots themselves. It’s hard to know what to make of her enervated performances, especially when her companion was practically using his arm as a seatbelt on her when they were in the audience, and while her father is insisting she’s mentally unfit to give legal testimony, but she was handily shown up by both Rihanna and Nicki Minaj (who first came out dressed as a member of G.I. Joe nemeses C.O.B.R.A. only to have that armor stripped off her by someone in a chicken suit, and then replicated the lapdance choreography she performs on tour). This does not bode well for her upcoming tour, but more than that, we’re just worried about her!

HIGHLIGHT: Cee Lo, on the other hand, was in fine form, and we salute his continuing stylistic tributes to Elton John. ?Apparently the Muppet-”Crocodile Rock” Grammys homage wasn’t a one-off, judging by Green’s bedazzled outfit and glasses (not to mention the piano, which he didn’t appear to play at all).