Obsessively blogging about pop music, pop videos, pop stars, and pop culture from inside the MTV headquarters in Times Square. We also have a slight Jonas Brothers problem. And a little fixation with Tokio Hotel.
If you were going to explain to an alien what a "pop song" was, you could do worse than to play them Outkast's "Hey Ya." It's got an indelible melody, an easy-to-remember chorus and... handclaps. But the real secret of its success is the way it delivers a really morose message about heartbreak and breaking up underneath the sugar rush of its music.
So kudos to New York band edibleRed for basically stripping the glossy shine off of the original and sticking to the sadness. The cellos, the sad-girl-for-life singing, and the creeping pace all accentuate the broken heart at the center of this modern standard.
+ Project Runway winner Christian Siriano just launched a new makeup line for Victoria's Secret Beauty and he wants to give you a downtown makeover, and not in the hot-tranny-mess way. (NYMag)
+ Kylie Minogue, touring North America next month, is looking (what'd you say, Christian?) fierce on the cover of Instinct magazine. (We Are Pop Slags)
+ Big Boi is coming out with another solo album, but Andre 3000 fans don't fret. Outkast will also release another album of crazy soon after. (AllHipHop)
+ Hip-hop power couple Ashanti and Nelly called it quits this week. Truly a sad day. Even more sad than Michael Jackson not being buried for the last two months, though that comes in at a close second. (Rap-Up)
+ Just another caaaaaasual travel day for Lady Gaga, wearing nothing more than a g-string onesie. Comfy and caaaasual. (Bossip)
+ Mariah Carey has covered Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" and is releasing it as the official first single off her forthcoming album "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel." (Neon Limelight)
Tomorrow, as the Jonasphere well knows, the Jonas Brothers will release their new "Paranoid" video, off their upcoming Lines, Vines And Trying Times album. (I've seen the video, and I could tell you all about it, but I'd get dragged off to MTV prison, which is in the basement of 1515 Broadway and consists of the "Ice Ice Baby"master tape, an empty Real World hot tub, and the ghost of Domenico from That's Amore!)
Anyway, "Paranoid," as the title suggests, is all about the full-on freak-outs that ensue from mental moments and major mind games. But the Jonas Brothers aren't the first ones to tread such psychological territory. Kanye West, The Clipse, Black Sabbath, The Avett Brothers all have published musical material on the topic of paranoia. However, we came up with five of our favorite paranoia-inducing videos below. Read on, won't you?
1.) Rockwell -- "Somebody's Watching Me"-- The granddaddy of all paranoia songs and videos is by '80s one-hit-wonder generator Rockwell, who's also the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. The 1983 single is still a classic (you've heard an updated version of it in that Geico ad), and yes, that's Michael Jackson on the hook. But bro, if you think your dog is turning into a pig, then I cannot help you. Also, if you turn on your shower and blood comes out instead of water, you need to call a plumber. Oh yeah -- unsurprisingly, Rockwell also had a song called "Obscene Phone Caller." (Ask your parents about the olden days before caller ID.) + Watch the old-school "Pop-Up Video" version of "Somebody's Watching Me."
2.) Radiohead -- "Paranoid Android" -- Most Radiohead songs are chilling enough to leave you rocking back and forth in the fetal position in a dark corner for a fortnight. But Radiohead's video for "Paranoid Android" makes paranoia look at least a little cute in a Beavis & Butthead sorta way! Watch for a mouse and a rat going at it in the pet store, two guys doing it in an alley, and a cartoon cameo by the band in the bar... right about when a teratoma comes out of a dude's stomach. Cute! + Watch the "Paranoid Android" video.
3.) Geto Boys -- "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me" -- If you slept on this 1991 hip-hop staple, then WAKE UP. (You're excused if you weren't born yet.) Both the song and video detail hip-hop life before ringtones and Rocawear. The lyrics say it right there: "I'm paranoid, sleeping with my finger on the trigger," and the video is a pretty literal interpretation of the psychological fear caused by gangs and drug warfare. "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me" has been sampled, referenced, and/or cited by Biggie, Outkast, and The Game, to name a few, and while the video's a bit grainy, it's still an underground classic. + Watch the "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me" video.
4.) Garbage -- "I Think I'm Paranoid" -- Director/photographer Matthew Rolston directed the video for Garbage's 1998 single, "I Think I'm Paranoid." (Miley fans, he also directed "The Climb.") And while the black-and-white video appears straightforward (the band is trapped in a box!), it was actually inspired by the Beatles' 1963 With The Beatles album cover. Oh, and Shirley Manson looking amazing, as usual, but no surprises there. + Watch the "I Think I'm Paranoid" video.
That is absolutely the LAST time Kelly Clarkson gets invited to Sunday brunch at the country club, Mumsy! She's OBVIOUSLY more the dancing-on-bars-at-Coyote Ugly type. I NEVER!
Watch Kelly assert her right to fall hard -- sometimes literally -- in this unslutty anthem and the brand-new video for the second single from her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted.
Check out "I Do Not Hook Up," directed by Bryan Barber (Christina Aguilera, Outkast). And seriously, come correct and buy Kelly Clarkson dinner first.
Kid Cudi tells a story in his exclusive MTV Spring Break video about being invited to an Christmas dinner in Atlanta by the mother of his dream collaborator, Andre 3000. It's a shame he never married Erykah Badu, because if he had, it would mean that Kid Cudi had technically been in contact with Andre 3000's baby's mama's mama-in-law, which would be a great segue into a "Ms. Jackson" remix.
Aside from flagging down collaborators, Kid Cudi uses the interview to hype up his debut album, Man On The Moon, and to get down to basics about the hottest thing on the beach: the girls. He also manages to bash one of music's biggest names, only to declare him "the best," seconds later. Only in Panama City Beach ... Click play below to see who he disses and to get the inside scoop on how Kid Cudi gets down when Kanye's not around.
+ Behold the amazing awkwardness that is a recent interview Flo Rida did with quite possibly the hokiest British interviewer we have ever seen. (Holy Moly!)
+ OMG thankyouthankyouTHANKYOU Brazilian baby Jesus for giving us this New Moon movie poster!!! (Pretty Boring)
+ Just call him Andre 3000MPH: the Outkast crooner was cold busted for speeding down I-75 in Atlanta going 109 mph in his Porsche Carrera. Slow your roll, girl! (Socialite Life)
+ Aww... Miley Cyrus misses her hometown of Franklin, TN, which is evidently teeming with musicians like Paramore, Nick Carter, Michael McDonald, and my CCM-crossover SUPERSTAR fave Amy Grant. Don't you hate whenever you go home, you always randomly run into people at Wal-Mart that you haven't seen in forever? Just saying. (Gabby Babble)
This week, we're taking a look back at los Artists of the Week quien aren't Américains. So let's revisit some of our most talented foreign friends, non?
Kate Nash: The sometimes-sweet, sometimes-sour British singer-songwriter played plucky piano and extolled the virtues of her favorite baked goods. Meanwhile, several of you applauded yourself for knowing about the British first. Watch Kate Nash's Artist of the Week videos here.
Calle 13: Puerto Rican duo Residente y Visitante got lyrically, metaphorically, bombastically political in their Artist of the Week spots, which were centered around the importance of voting in the 2008 American presidential election. Watch Calle 13's Artist of the Week videos here.
Paddy Casey: The disarmingly soulful Irish singer-songwriter painted broad strokes of Bob Dylan with his hit, "Addicted to Company," and won us over with quirky covers of Outkast and Blackstreet. Watch him warm up a stool in his favorite pub and gain the support of a church choir in his Artist of the Week videos.
Yelle: The quirky, flirty French Tecktonik hip-hop tart engaged in universal boy-issue lament set to hyper computerized blips and beeps and Casio beats. Watch Yelle's Artist of the Week videos here.
Y'all, I'm like sitting here up to my knees in Puffs Plus (the extra-aloe kind), bawlin' like a bambino over the last-ever afternoon episode of TRL, which aired today.
But it's most fitting that the princess of TRL, Britney Spears, whose 2003 performance of "Me Against the Music," came in at #7, right beneath TRL's crown prince, Justin Timberlake and the rest of consummate TRL boy band *NSYNC, who made it to the #10 spot for their 1998 performance of "Tearin Up My Heart." Meanwhile JT's 2002 solo performance of "Like I Love You" won him the distinguished honor of the #1 top TRL performance ever.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pull myself together and then go downstairs and loot! (Maybe the photo booth hasn't been swiped yet!) See you Sunday!
What kinda world would we be living in if Soulja Boy (Tell 'em) beat out Slim Shady on TRL's all-time greatest hip-hop hits countdown? No world I'd wanna live in, that's fa show. The way I see it? Soulja Boy's lucky to have even made it onto the shortlist of the show's best-ever hip-hop videos. But the question remains... WHERE THE HULL IS LIL WAYNE? (BTW, mazel tov on that baby boy, Weezy!) I demand a recount! Damien? Get on that!
Anyway, Eminem's "Lose Yourself" found its way to #1 on today's countdown, Jay-Z's classic swagger track, "Big Pimpin'" locked up #2, Outkast's "Hey Ya" -- the song that inserted "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" into the pop culture lexicon for forevskies -- and Missy Elliott's mesmerizing "Get Ur Freak On" video made #8.
Watch the highlights below, check out the rest of TRL's greatest hip-hop videos here, and don't miss some very special out-of-studio experiences on tomorrow's show, at 3:30pm ET.
Diddy may not have had many kind words for dissed -- and dismissed -- Danity Kane-er, Aubrey O'Day (whom Puff blasted as "raunchy" and "promiscuous" on last week's MTB Live Finale) but he's been full of praise for the newest member of his Bad Boy family, Janelle Monae. And he's not the only one. Monae's atypical blend of hip-hop, soul and old-school cabaret first attracted the attention of Outkast's Big Boi -- landing her two songs on his CD plus a memorable guesttrack on the Idlewild soundtrack.
'Course, now that she's been signed to the Bad Boy label, Monae's ready to break out and show everyone why Diddy's already touting her as the next Billie Holiday. And judging by her first music video, "Many Moons," the faux-hawked singer's already living up to the hype. Check it out, but don't be fooled by Monae's uptight, choir girl garb -- or put off by her futuristic alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather.
Monae may sing like she's from the year 2719 (seriously, that's her thing) and dress like she works at a funeral home, but girl throws down like she's on Warped Tour. Hence this totally amahzing footage of Monae taking a mosh-dive at Afro-Punk.
+ Bonus: Compare "Many Moons" to Outkast's B.O.B. and note the similarity of the crazy-intense opening drums. It's like the music video equivalent of three Venti espressos!!
