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.
Rye Rye is radical. Ryeisha Berrain — the Baltimore she-rapper and remix-master who looks like Teyana Taylor trick-or-treating as Santigold — has been blowing minds with her frantic freak-out MC style since she was 16. Nevermind that she’s only 18, now. Rye Rye’s club rhythms, schoolyard rhymes and unstoppable energy won her a spot on the Fast And The Furious soundtrack and instant notice from M.I.A., who took the Technicolor young talent under her wing and on the road. The two turned out to be a perfect match, and Rye Rye was soon the first artist to be signed to M.I.A.’s personal label, N.E.E.T.
In addition to releasing, distributing, and creating the artwork for Rye Rye’s upcoming debut album, M.I.A. has given the young artist personal support and attention above and beyond the call of duty. On the topic of M.I.A.’s newborn baby, Ikyhd, Rye Rye tells Rap-Up.com, “I think she’ll be a fun parent. I’m just thinking about how she acts with me. She act like I’m her child sometimes.” Lucky Rye Rye.
With M.I.A. at her back, this electric new lady MC can’t lose. Listen to Rye Rye’s lead single, “Bang,” featuring M.I.A. on the mic and Blaqstarr on the knobs.
Also! In the video below, FADER Magazine catches up with Rye Rye and a very pregnant M.I.A. in the studio, sneaking an exclusive peek at the record in progress. Watch!
The name Amanda Blank may not immediately ring any bells in your head, but you know all of her friends. The foul-mouthed Philadelphia rapper who creates performance art as part of Sweetheart, frequently collaborates with the likes of Spank Rock, Diplo, M.I.A., Santigold and Ghostface Killah. Now, for the first time, she’s striking out on her own, repping Philly with a set of club-clobbering dance singles.
Her debut album, I Love You, is due out on Downtown Records on July 19, but lusty leading single “Might Like You Better” has been fouling up the MySpace airwaves for ages. The chorus does not recall Romeo Void’s 1980s classic “Never Say Never,” from which the lines “I might like you better/ If we slept together” are borrowed, but instead rides a pounding beat to orgasmic euphoria. In other words, sex doesn’t sell Amanda Blank. Amanda Blank sells sex. That sounds dirty and illegal, but so do her songs. And that means, among other things, that this ultra-stylish cheesesteak-city-spitter is about to be all up in your radar, not to mention your business. You don’t mind, do you? Course not.
I had a conversation recently with one of the bands who played MTV Spring Break 2009 — probably better not to tell you which one — and among the glory stories, was one of waking up on the beach between two beautiful women, both of whom were rubbing his head affectionately. If that’s what the morning is like at Spring Break, can you imagine the night?!? Well, you won’t have to imagine anything much longer. Tonight FNMTV returns to take you directly to the thick of this year’s Spring Break at its baddest!
I can’t promise that you’ll get your head rubbed. That’s up to you. But I can absolutely guarantee that you’ll be throwin’ elbows and your head back as the crowd gets down to live performances by…
You’d have a hard time coming up with a lineup that good on the bestseller rack at a record store. But then, I guess you’d also have a hard time finding a record store! OH SNAP! But who needs one when all the hottest action on earth is cookin’ out in that Panama City Beach sunshine, just waiting for you to join in?
Keep an eye on Buzzworthy next week for more tastes of what’s to come, including exclusive reports from Lil Wayne, Young Money, Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Jim Jones, and 3OH!3. Then tune in tonight at 8pm ET to see what it’s all been building up to! And just because I know you’re a glutton for instant gratification, here’s Jim Jones doing “Na Na Nana Na Na,” live from Panama City Beach!
Plenty of American Idol winners (and losers) have come and gone on Buzzworthy. We’ve given that super tall alien-looking swimmer with the bong his share of coverage, too. But never before have we featured a buzz video from an Olympic athlete! Well that all changes today.
Canadian crunk-rocker Trouble Andrew, aka Trevor Andrew, was one of the best snowboarders ever until he blew out his ACL. After the injury, instead of getting all bummed and giving up on life, Andrew moved down to Philly to shack up with his now-fiancée, Santigold (formerly Santogold). With her help, he transformed his fallen athletic career into explosive musical output.
His songs are sly and bass-heavy, half-rapped, half-sung, over spaced-out punk loops. First single and Santigold collab, “Bang Bang,” is pulsing and underworldly. It sounds like The Raveonettes in a night-time video game car chase.
The latest single, “Chase Money,” with its staccato bass line and synths, has sort of an ’80s vibe. The sleaze is fully intact when Trouble Andrew asks, “Does your money love you, does your money #$@% you?” But there’s also a more wholesome message. There’s more to life than color contacts and cash. Just like there was more to life than Olympic snowboarding. There’s Santigold. There’s music. There’s love. Check out that video:
+ According to Us Weekly, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s marriage is on the verge of disintegrating. According to People, they’re more in love than ever. Tabloids … can’t live with ‘em, can’t not look at the pictures. (Usmagazine.com)
+ Lily Allen’s in deep shiznit with her record label. (Something about leaking her cover of Britney’s “Womanizer” online?) Fortunately, Lily’s a big girl and she’s willing to step up and take responsibility — by placing the blame squarely on Mark Ronson’s shoulders. (AceShowbiz)
+ Here’s your official 2008 JoBros recap! And as an extra special bonus, we’ll even throw in our fave memories from the weekend we actually got PAID to hang out with our most favorite band ever. (Jonas Brothers Fan)
+ And speaking of recappage packages, revisit the craziest (and most cringeworthy) moments from Season 4 of The Hills in preparation for Monday night’s finale! (Remote Control)
+ Taylor Swift isn’t gonna to let a little thing like having her wisdom teeth (painfully!) extracted keep her down. At least, not for long. (Celebrity MySpace)
+ Akon is way too diplomatic accuse Christina Aguilera’s of stealin’ Lady Gaga’s style. But he’s not above pointing out a few (ahem) latent similarities. (Rap-Up)
Last week, we told you all about our crazy red carpet adventures at the 2008 mtvU Woodie Awards. And in addition to stalking Locksley’s publicist, making moony-eyes at Boys Like Girls‘ Martin Johnson and gulping down a seriously unhealthy amount of mini sliders, we also managed to score killer seats to the show.
Which means we had an un-frickin’-believable view of Lykke Li and All Time Low’s performances, Paramore’s acceptance speech (Oh, like you didn’t already know they won) and Santogold’s Aladdin-meets-Purple Rain parachute pants.
So check out a few more pics from the show (and yes, that’s Hit The Lights making the most of the beer pong table) and tune in tonight on mtvU to catch the entire thing!
Meanwhile, for those of you who demand instant gratification (as in, you can’t wait another SECOND without knowing whether or not There For Tomorrow got wood) here’s a list of all the big winners.
What’d you guys do Wednesday night? Nothing? Sounds like fun! Hey! Wanna know what we did?? We went to mtvU’s 2008 Woodie Awards, flirted with Boys Like Girls on the red carpet, got rejected (and un-rejected!) by the All American Rejects, found out Paramore’s favorite movie and sat with Locksley and Andrew McMahon of Jack’s Mannequin.
Okay, rewind. We’ve (occasionally) been known to exaggerate (or, as we like to call it, “make the story better’) so we should probably back up and start at the beginning. Which brings us back to 5:45pm yesterday, the time we arrived at the mysteriously dark/freezing place called New York’s Roseland Ballroom, grabbed our press pass and saw Santogold (looking super cute n’ cozy in a gray hoodie and hoop earrings!) rehearsing on stage with Spank Rock.
Note: There were no pictures allowed inside before the show (Not that they would’ve come out, anyway — mysteriously dark place, remember??) so you’ll have to settle for this red carpet shot of Santogold wearing a shiny, silvery dress by Marc Jacobs that appears to be made from 100% Reynold’s Wrap (though Santo swears it’s actually way “softer” and more skin-friendly). And she’s posing with Lykke Li. (LOVE her!) Read more…
Okay, we know what you’re thinking: Why would we be heading off the to the red carpet right now if the 2008 Woodie Awardsaren’t airing til NEXT Wednesday, November 19th?The short answer is, the show’s being taped tonight (HOLY CRAP! What are we gonna wear??) which means in a less than an hour, we’ll be rubbing elbows with Vampire Weekend, chatting it up with Hayley Williams from Paramore – that is, assuming she’s feeling chatty — and catching live performances by Santogold and Lykke Li! Wheee!
So wish us luck, and stay tuned for a recap later on this week! Oh, and keep your heads in the game by checking out our fave videos from all five “Left Field Woodies” nominees (that’s No Age, Chromeo, Yelle, She and Him and The Cool Kids) … after the jump.
From a Grace Jones-soundalike on horseback, to “A Punk” prepsters, Talkboxing two-steppers, and an all-American pop-rock band with a penchant for holding grudges — that’s Santogold, Vampire Weekend, Chromeo, and OneRepublic, for the uninitiated — we’re taking a look back at the MTV Artists of the Week who’ve become the breakout artists of 2008.
+ Santgold: The electro-pop shapeshifter graduated from A&R chick to the reason all those record industry types and music bloggers were tapping away furiously on their BlackBerrys. Less afraid of Spandex than M.I.A., Santogold took a head-on approach to her Artist of the Week videos, getting behind the wheel of some old-school bumper cars in Coney Island. Watch Santogold’s MTV Artist of the Week videos here.
+ Chromeo: Forget the Naked Cowboy. Dave 1 and P-Thugg totally ruled Times Square, pumping their thinking man’s sexy-chromatic hits through the heart of NYC from atop a Big Red Bus. That’s one small step for keytars, one giant leap for Arab/Jewish relations. Watch Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork” and “Momma’s Boy” videos.
Last week, we told you all about the 2008 Woodie nominations and encouraged you to do your civic doodee and hit the polls. And this week, we’re upping the ante by hitting you with a list of the evening’s all-star performers: UWS darlings Vampire Weekend, Swedish popper Lykke Li, hoodied hotties All Time Low and Santogold-en girl, Santi White.
(Credit: Lyndsay Siegel, Ben Ritter)
And since we know three weeks is a long time to wait (the Woodies aren’t until Wednesday, November 12th) we’re ever-so-graciously helping you pass the time by posting our favorite videos from each Woodie-inducing artist. Enjoy our vershe of an early-fall mix tape, and if you haven’t already, check out the official Woodies Blog, and vote for your fave would-be Woodies now!
