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  1. 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.

    Contact us as buzzworthy@mtv.com and follow us on Twitter at @MTVBuzzworthy.

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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.

5.) Rihanna -- "Disturbia" -- In Rihanna's "Disturbia" video, obsession manifests itself in freaky-deaky tarantulas, wigs, wolves, and a creepy dude in an eye patch. And S&M-y corsets. Paranoia never looked so supernaturally sexy! + Watch the "Disturbia" video | Watch Rihanna's "Disturbia"/"Seven Nation Army" performance from the 2008 VMAs.

First of all, big up to Gucci Mane. Say aye. Second of all, it's really hard to write about the exclusive OJ Da Juiceman interview below because dude says everything so right that it's difficult to improve upon it.

His word choice is impeccable, his cadence is mind-boggling, and he never pauses. Never once stops to think. It's as if he's been programmed by scientists to be the perfect hip-hop specimen.

The Southern mixtape stylist is out hyping a new single called "Make The Trap Say Aye" and the album it came from, The Otha Side Of The Trap (buy 10 of them, he suggests). Featuring plenty of Gucci Mane cameos and production by The Game and Lil Wayne, The Otha Side Of The Trap is loaded with bangers and real clean cuts -- again, OJ's words.

Catch OJ Da Juiceman saying "Aye!" live on a 25-city tour, already underway. And get all the Juice you need below.

Have you seen the (VERY, VERY NSFW) introductory video over at NipseyHussle.com yet? Good lord. It has got to be just about the most wildly glorifying and insanely over-the-top "nice to meet you" clip I have ever seen in my whole damn life. And my friends, after watching, I am now officially and deeply SOLD on some Nipsey Hussle.

It opens with solemn words from The Game, who, as you know, is not a dude to be taken lightly. He describes the West Coast newcomer as a resurrection. "Feel like you lookin' at Dre and Dogg all over again," The Game trumpets, imagining himself in the role of the mentor.

Anyway. Nipsey Hussle, who takes his name from TV poet laureate Nipsey Russell, got his first big break when he jumped on The Game's LAX tour back in '08. After being taken under that inked-up wing, he put out a barrage of violent mixtapes (Bullets Ain't Got No Name, Volumes 1 and 2) that quickly got folks to shouting about Nipsey being the West Coast's new spokesman.

Obviously it was right about then that the East African transplant sold his Los Angeles clothing shop and got to full-time rapping. The new jack West Coast rhymer doles out unflinching hardcore realness, bringing more than just braids to back up The Game's highfalutin claims.

Now Nipsey is hard at work on South Central State Of Mind, his first original full-length featuring cameos by, guess who, Snoop and The Game. Second single "Roll The Windows Up," a '90s-style drop-top popper with the Slauson Boyz on the fills, is in circulation now. Have you heard it? Are you in on this resurrection s---? Get a look at Nipsey Hussle on Mixtape Monday below, watch his "Hussle In The House" clip after the jump and tell me you aren't sold.

Read more...

After a long week of smiley emoticons and exclamation points, it's high time we talked about some stuff that just plain old sucks.

It's not hard to make a good album cover. Pretty much all you need is an unassuming photo and an inoffensive font. If you're an artist, all you have to do is draw a picture and put your name on it. That's why it's so hard to understand how these bands went so horribly wrong.

I won't actually presume to call this the "Top 13 Worst Album Covers Ever" because, like most things, there are just too many bad ones out there to even bother rating. But I will confidently say that I have no idea what these bands were thinking when they sent their cover art to press. Feel free to add your own least favorites below. And tiny eyes, beware. There's some slightly NSFW/ LIFE stuff in here too...

Kevin Rowland - My Beauty: Kevin Rowland, you of Dexys Midnight Runners/ "Come On Eileen" fame, I have never heard your music, and I think it's safe to say that it's because your album cover is offensive to women.

Boned - Up At The Crack: Really, Boned? If that's your real name.Can I ask you a question? WHY?

Jim Post - I Love My Life: Jim Post, I don't believe you. Look at your miserable face and creepster cop 'stache.

Mike Bones - A Fool For Everyone: Apparently Mike Bones is such a fool (for everyone) that it put him in the hospital. I suppose that's his excuse. That, or apparently basing the idea for his album cover off Kevin Rowland's. (See above.)

Brad Paisley - Play: I guess you sorta gotta hand it to whoever taught that stupid guitar how to ride a swing. That's actually amazing, Brad Paisley.

Vanilla Ice - Vanilla Ice Is Back: The only way this album cover could be worse is if it was true.

+ MORE INCREDIBLY AWFUL ALBUM COVERS -- SOME NSFW/ LIFE AFTER THE JUMP!

Read more...

You hear all the time about how hard the latest rapper is -- come up from the projects of Queens (50), the streets of L.A. (Game), the suburbs of Pennsylvania (Asher Roth!), or some such undesirable place. K'Naan grew up in The Lake Of Blood (aka Wardhiigleey), a district of Mogadishu only a stone's throw from the heart of the Somali Civil War. He also did a Nelly Furtado collab. Tough.

The Somali MC, who learned English from Nas and Rakim CDs sent back by his New York City cab-driving dad, isn't afraid to rub his individuality in your face (Bundle up my whole style is so cold/ I glow like old guys who go bald/ My flow got no front in the vocal/ Your flow got no button it's so old!). But he's more interested in spreading positive politics and educating through entertainment. Look:

I'm from the most risky zone - oh/ No place is more shifty global/ More pistols, Russian revolvers/ We shootin' all that is normal.But it ain't just because we want to/ We ain't got nowhere we can run to /Somebody please press the undo/ They only teach us the things that guns do.

Listen close and learn the new global "ABC's" the same way K'Naan (whose name means Traveler) did: through hip-hop.

Keyshia Cole is proud of where she came from. Not because she liked coming of age in foster care and serenading drug dealers on the streets of East Oakland, Cali, but because she knows her real-life success story (the one-time 'hood singer is now a two-time Grammy nominee, twice-platinum selling artist, and a former MTV Artist of the Week) is nothing short of inspirational.

And with her third album, A Different Me, Keyshia's ready to show her fans how much she's grown (look for the upcoming single, "Make Me Over") without losing herself in the process -- translation: new clothes, different hair, same ol' Keyshia.

Check out this exclusive interview and find what the new(-ish) Keyshia's all about, plus get ready to see some amazing collabos; sure, "Game's Pain" was off the hook, but we're talkin', like, Resurrection-of-Tupac amazing. And mark your calendars -- Keyshia's latest LP drops December 16th, just in time for your annual family gift exchange! (Hint, hint.)

This week, The Game follows up his super-heavy, political video, "My Life," with an educational soul jam for the ladies, featuring Ne-Yo on the hook. In "Camera Phone," a thug and a gentleman -- The Game and Ne-Yo -- lay out a few much-needed lessons in modern sexiquette. For instance:

"If I'm on her screen saver/ that mean later we gone. If I let her take a picture/ she gonna roll wit' me."

See? I did not know that. Well, maybe the screen saver bit goes without saying, but this is the first I've heard of the picture/roll correlation. Good to know, The Game. Thanks for the tip. May I... take your picture?

And hey, do the ultra-high-class club scenes in the "Camera Phone" video look familiar to you, too? Maybe that's because TV star and first-time director Kevin Connolly picked up a few stylistic skills while playing "E" on Entourage! For real: he directed The Game's new video. And you can find "Camera Phone" on the bonus CD that comes with the deluxe edition of The Game's August release, LAX.

Let's get right down to it: The FNMTV holiday extravaganza is the music world equivalent of a two-hour special where the cast of Gossip Girl flies to Australia with the cast of Twilight only to crash halfway on Lost. It's like if George Clooney came back to ER and he was engaged to Brad Pitt AND Angelina. And they adopted more kids. Last but not least, it's like Michael Jackson's Off The Wall, in the sense that it's off the wall.

Host/ new dad Pete Wentz does double-duty tonight, introducing blockbuster video premieres AND performing with Fall Out Boy. THAT FALL OUT BOY. And when he's not talking, Travis McCoy will be filling the gaps with a little ee-err ee-err as the house DJ!

Finally, if you don't mind having your head explode, try thinking about the fact that we also have brand-new videos from Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. AND even her brother Trace AND Metro Station! Pop.

Tonight's FNMTV Video Premieres:
Britney (kind of a big deal) Spears - "Circus"
Miley (maybe you've heard of her?) Cyrus - "Fly On The Wall"
The Game featuring Ne-Yo - "Camera Phone"
Metro Station - "Seventeen Forever"
Secondhand Serenade - "Your Call"

DO NOT NOT WATCH FNMTV. THIS IS THE EPISODE OF THE CENTURY (until the next one...).

Tonight. 8pm ET. MTV. Go.

Huge announcement: Big brother Pete Wentz and FNMTV are coming home for the holidays and mom is FREAKING out. As you can probably guess, the video premiere extravaganza happening December 5 is getting kicked into major overdrive to make it worthy of the most wonderful time of the year. Not only is Fall Out Boy gonna perform (*jaws drop*), but Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes has signed on to spin records between super exclusive premieres of Miley Cyrus’s “Fly On The Wall,” Metro Station’s “Seventeen Forever,” The Game’s “Camera Phone” and our old buddy Secondhand Serenade’s “Your Call.”

As you probably remember, California-native Secondhand Serenade (aka John Vesely aka Blake Lewis doppelganger) did a stint as a guest blogger a few months back, where he talked us through the creation of his latest album, A Twist In My Story. Well we got along so well – exchanged phone numbers and everything – that John sent us a sneak peek of his ‘FNMTV’-bound video, “Your Call,” and it is INSANE in the best way. Vesely’s sings his face off on a fantasy hillside dotted with tattoo-faced angels, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! He was born to tell you he loves you. It's probably a good idea to let him.

Watch the sneak peak below, brace yourself for a seismic FNMTV event and, if you have any sense, bookmark this entry. Any minute now you’re gonna find yourself in a turkey coma with a hunk of November still ahead of you. Secondhand Serenade is just the thing to push you through until FNMTV returns with a vengeance, this December 5!

+ Holy withholding! Beyonce has pushed the release date on her two new singles -- "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies" -- back one week, thereby depriving the world of her latest bootylicious offerings until October 14th. Rumor has it Michelle Williams' new album, Unexpected, is to blame for the delay. (That Grape Juice)

+ Jonas Brothers scoop! Their new-ish song, "Lovebug," was reportedly inspired by a bizarre combo of Miley Cyrus, The Beatles, and Juno's illegitimate child. (MTV News)

+ Is Diddy un-making the band?? We're traumatized by whispers that Danity Kane is thisclose to breaking up. (Remote Control)

+ The Game is ordered to attend 36 anger management classes before February of 2009. Which is kinda funny in a "Seriously, don't f--- with him" sorta way. (HipHopDX)

+ Britney Spears' former assistant, Alli Sims, yearns for the glory days when she was mooching off of Brit and living vicariously through her boss' fame. (Scandalist)

+ T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" (off his new LP, The Paper Trail) continues to dominate the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Meanwhile, Metallica and Demi Lovato lead off the albums charts respectively with the first and second top-sellers. (Billboard)

+ Outkast's Big Boi to become the new poster-boy for Coca Cola. Classic! (The Boombox)

+ American Idol's David Archuleta to guest star as a "reality contestant" on Nickelodeon's iCarly. TOTAL stretch. (MTV News)