53rd Annual Grammy Awards Predictions

It is January and that means Grammy prediction time! The nominations, which were revealed last month, have been dominated by Eminem's staggering 10 nods, followed by Bruno Mars at seven, Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum, and Lady Gaga with six, while B.o.B and John Legend share five nominations each. With so many big names in music competing against each other, it will be very interesting to see who ends up the big winner of 2011. But until February 13th arrives, here are some predictions of mine for the winners of the upcoming ceremony.

Record of the Year

Nothin' On You - B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars

Love The Way You Lie - Eminem featuring Rihanna

F*** You - Cee-Lo Green

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

New Leads in Notorious B.I.G.'s Murder Case Reignite Investigation

Although it is nearly 13 years since the murder of Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G., the Los Angeles Police Department and federal authorities are pursuing new leads in the murder that sent shockwaves throughout the music industry. According to CNN, new information discovered a few months ago have allowed authorities to reopen the case in search of the perpetrator who is believed to be a lone gunman dressed in a suit and tie at the time of the shooting.

Biggie Smalls was in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 attending party when he left in his black SUV, only to be gunned down at a traffic stoplight. His murder came just months after the murder of hip hop rival Tupac, who's murder remains unsolved as well. The district attorney of Los Angeles, the LAPD, and the FBI are optimistic that the new details will help lead the authorities to the killer, and provide closure for the family and fans.

Are We Post-Rock 'n' Roll?

It is no surprise that the music tastes of the purchasing public has changed over the years. The 1960s were marked by soul and rock, while the emergence of psychedelic pop/rock coming at the tail-end of the decade. The 1970s had disco, while the 1980s had some of the biggest hard rock and heavy metal bands sell huge. The 1990s solidified the presence of superstars Madonna, Michael Jackson, and superbands Metallica and AC/DC, and hip hop became a formidable force of the 2000s. Notably during these various periods of evolving sounds, rock remained a significant portion of music sales. But if 2010 is any indication, rock n' roll may be a thing of the past, at least for the UK.

Of the top 100 best selling singles of 2010 in the UK, an astoundingly pitiful three songs classified as rock made it to the list. A number that small is unsurprisingly the record for the fewest number of rock songs on the list in fifty years. The most successful rock song of the last year happened to be Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," a track whose resurgence in popularity three decades after its release is due to Glee's cover of the 1981 hit. Although rock albums performed somewhat better than the singles released, it begs the question, is rock on its way out?

Sean Garrett: "Beyonce's Album...Biggest Yet"

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Producer and songwriter Sean Garrett, who has been a frequent collaborator of Beyonce's, has dished some minor details about Beyonce's new album. Actually, he really only said one thing, but it is what he's said that has provoked greater anticipation for the 16-time Grammy Award winner's fourth studio album. When speaking with younghollywood.com, Garrett said, "She don't like me to say much about her record but I will tell you this: Beyonce's new album is going to be, in my opinion, her biggest album ever."

While that statement is not much of a detailed revelation, the calibre of what he has said is enormous considering the incredible successes she's had in her career. She is the only female artist to earn six Grammy awards at last year's ceremony and has had a very illustrious solo career, not to mention her time with Destiny's Child.

Beyonce's new album remains untitled, but she has also been in the studio with Ne-Yo and The-Dream, two artists who have penned some of Beyonce's largest hits of her career. Check out Sean Garrett's brief insight on her new album below.

Drake and Florence + The Machine to Collaborate

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When word leaked that Kanye West had teamed up with 11 different artists on "All of the Lights" on his recent album, with Elton John and La Roux's Elly Jackson among the list, most were scratching their heads. The final product, while one of the strongest songs of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was more of a Kanye/Rihanna collaboration than anything else. Hopefully, the news of a Drake and Florence and The Machine collaboration will yield more artistic originality as the pairing of hip hop's newbie and British Indie band is certainly an unusual one.

The two met during Florence Welch's critically acclaimed performance of their hit song "Dog Days Are Over" during the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. After that meeting, the two have been in communication about working on her band's follow up album. She has even gone so far to name Drake as one of her favorite hip hop artists, and accompanied the Canadian emcee at his UK show at the Apollo in London. She also told People Magazine that Drake and hip hop influence her music.

Nicki MInaj Performs "Moment 4 Life" on Ellen

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Nicki Minaj's promotional tour continued today on The Ellen Degeneres Show today as the 26 year-old performed her urban radio single and fan favorite "Moment 4 Life." Interlaced with electric guitars and live instrumentation, the performance features Nicki's rhyming and vocal skills with the occasional quirky facial expressions that have become a staple of her performances. Flanked by dancing barbies, she's replaced the eye-catching avant garde costumes for a much more subdued and appropriate black dress with a blonde wig. The performance was entertaining and she sure knows how to preserve the magic of the recorded tracks in her live performances.

The track is rising up the charts, moving into the top 10 on the Billboard Rap Songs list, while the Drake-assisted song has had a music video filmed with a release expected any day now. Check the performance of the song below.

Kanye West & Jay-Z's H.A.M. To Debut Tomorrow

While pop fans have eagerly anticipated the release of Britney Spears's new song, hip hop fans are filled with excitement as well as Kanye West and Jay-Z are scheduled to release tomorrow the first single from their collaboration album, Watch The Throne. Details about the album have been kept under wraps for quite sometime and the only component of the song to be released is the ornate single cover which Kanye released via twitter last week. Expectations are obviously high for the new music, as both are often regarded among the most successful hip hop artists ever, and it seems only fitting to apply the royalty reference of the album's title to an album between the two.

New Music: "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears

Although Jive had announced the online debut of the song at midnight tonight, Britney Spears's lead single from her upcoming seventh studio has leaked hours earlier on the internet. "Hold It Against Me" features production from Dr. Luke and Max Martin and vocals from a nearly 30 year old Spears (scary how time flies by, right?) and is practically identical to the demo leaked last week. It is a pulsating dance number, the ideal pop confection for new Britney music, with a little dubstep-type breakdown during the third verse that would be perfect for a dance-off in the music video. Its iTunes release time is midnight, so expect it to make a very high debut on the Billboard Hot 100 next week.

Listen to the Britney cut below: