This is by far the most valiant effort brought forth by Rihanna with this album in terms of music videos and shows the West Indian dancing and gyrating in suggestive and provocative moves, which actually enhance the video's fluidity. It has an authentic island feel to it and brings Rihanna close enough to her island roots to evoke 2005 memories when Rihanna was known as "that girl with the Pon-de-whatever song," but still reflects the boldness that this Rated R-era has ushered in. Great video, visually stimulating, aesthetically pleasing, and a definite A- or A in my book.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Rihanna's "Rude Boy" Music Video Premiere
The world premiere of Rihanna's third single, "Rude Boy," for her album Rated R hit the web a moment ago. Directed by Melina Matsoukas, the video incorporates dance-hall elements to compliment the caribbean theme of the video and tone of the song.
Sade to Debut at #1 on Billboard 200
If that isn't great enough news for the band's FOURTH decade of music, the lead single and title track is performing phenomenally, currently at #29 on iTunes and currently rising. The album has been receiving acclaim from critics as some of their finest work to date.
I couldn't be more excited to see the success for their new album and the album maintains the earthy and mellifluent soul vibe that had ushered in their success from the 1980s, and clearly continues to this day. I will be posting an album review shortly. To purchase the album or the single from iTunes, click here.
UK Haiti Charity Single Shattering Records
What happens when you combine Simon Cowell and the UK's top pop stars in the midst of a natural disaster: a recipe for a record-shattering charity single which has proven to live up to the hype it has created. The remake of R.E.M.'s 1993 song "Everybody Hurts," which includes vocals from respected artists Leona Lewis, Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Mika, James Blunt, Jon Bon Jovi, Alexandra Burke and Susan Boyle amongst other huge names, was released a day early (Sunday) due to high demand and that push-up seems to be paying off.
The touching single has sold more than 200,000 copies of the single in its first two days of sales, and is on-pace to be one of the fastest selling singles of this century and perhaps of all time. All proceeds from the sales of the single will go directly to charities supporting relief efforts in Haiti.
The song will undoubtedly end up at number one the UK Singles Charts this upcoming week due to the remarkably strong sales and such success couldn't go be for a better cause.
Monday, February 8, 2010
"Rude Boy" Music Video Stills
Stills from the set of the music video for Rihanna's third U.S. single off of her platinum-certified album Rated R has been posted online by Def Jam showing the Bajan princess striking up an assortment of different poses in front of a green screen.
The dance-hall queen inspired music video features Rihanna sporting different costumes intended to evoke a Caribbean mood and rhythm, which she has described as being "unlike" the other music videos from the Rated R era. This video is described to utilize a lot of color and visual effects, differing from the darker toned music videos that have accompanied the previous two singles.
Fashion-wise, the music video does look like it will be laying the fierceness on extra thick, the aesthetics look amazing, and the long brown hair from the pictures bring back memories of the pre-Good Girl Gone Bad Rihanna, with her heavy Bajan accent and undeniable island appeal.
The video will see its premiere Thursday, February 11th on RihannaVEVO, the YouTube channel for Rihanna music videos. I am quite excited!
Below are more images on the video set.
The dance-hall queen inspired music video features Rihanna sporting different costumes intended to evoke a Caribbean mood and rhythm, which she has described as being "unlike" the other music videos from the Rated R era. This video is described to utilize a lot of color and visual effects, differing from the darker toned music videos that have accompanied the previous two singles.
Fashion-wise, the music video does look like it will be laying the fierceness on extra thick, the aesthetics look amazing, and the long brown hair from the pictures bring back memories of the pre-Good Girl Gone Bad Rihanna, with her heavy Bajan accent and undeniable island appeal.
The video will see its premiere Thursday, February 11th on RihannaVEVO, the YouTube channel for Rihanna music videos. I am quite excited!
Below are more images on the video set.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Lady Gaga Dedicates Tat to Her Fans
The tattoo was needled on the singer's arm just one day after her Grammy wins, consisting of the words "Little Monsters," a nickname appointed by Gaga to her fans during her Fame Monster Ball tour this year. Hollywood's Shamrock Social Club tattoo parlor greeted the singer with the tattoo, which she posted on her twitpic page, with an attached message reading "look what I did last night. Little Monsters forever, on the arm I hold my mike." In music news, the video for "Telephone" has been shot and has received a premiere date of Febrary 10th (next Wednesday). For images on the scene, click here.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
52nd Annual Grammy Awards Winners
Whether or not the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards was a referendum on male singers of the past year is debatable, but there is no debate as to which gender dominated the awards yesterday evening. With female artists doing their damage on most of the major awards, the ceremony was marked by a mixture of intriguing performances and record-breaking feats with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon and Lady Gaga all taking home at least two awards for the night. But the ceremony was clearly dominated by two female artists who couldn't be any different musically.
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Beyonce emerged from the ceremony as the big winner in terms of the number of awards, winning a record-breaking six golden gramophones, the most trophies awarded by a female artist in one night. The most prestigious of the awards won by Beyonce was Song of the Year, in which the #1 hit single, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," received its due honor. When accepting her award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Halo," the nervous singer thanked her family and her husband, while expressing her amazement at the awards she has won.
While Beyonce may have taken home the most awards, some of the biggest awards of the night made for some record-breaking news. Country-pop sensation Taylor Swift took home the coveted Album of the Year award for her enormous hit album Fearless, which garnered the most sales of any album in 2009 and has spent an astounding 53 weeks within the Billboard 200 and counting. At 20 years old, she was the youngest artist to earn the ceremony's most prestigous award. The singer-songwriter was a winner of four awards and her appreciation and organic excitement was most evident upon accepting the two primetime televised awards she won.
Other big winners of the night included Kings of Leon, whose "Use Somebody" earned the Tennessee rock group three awards, including Record of the Year, while Jay-Z three awards, one for "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" and two for "Run This Town," sharing the latter two awards with R&B/pop singer Rihanna and a noticeably absent Kanye West. The Black Eyed Peas also took home three awards, including Pop Vocal Album. Lastly, dance queen Lady Gaga earned two awards at tonight's ceremony, taking home awards for Best Dance Recording for "Poker Face" and Best Electronic/Dance Album for The Fame.
The ceremony's performances were the highlights of the show, with Lady Gaga opening the ceremony, singing her hit song "Poker Face", before joining Sir Elton John on the piano with smeared black makeup on their faces adding to the performances artistic premise. Energetic and proof of her inherent talent, the performance was met with resounding applause and cheers from the crowd.
Beyonce took the stage to sing a mashup of her song "If I Were a Boy" and Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know," while Pink paraded her mastery of trapeze artistry with a physically demanding performance of "Glitter in the Air" off of her album Funhouse. The Black Eyed Peas performed their hit song "I Gotta Feeling," but not before they energized the crowd with an abridged performance of their new single "Imma Be," which had raced to number one on iTunes shortly after the performance.
While the show included many more performances, the 3-D glasses-assisted Michael Jackson tribute, which included vocals from Michael Jackson in "Earth Song" and additional vocals contributed by singers Usher, Smokey Robinson, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, was one of the highlights and most highly anticipated performance of the night.
The ceremony lasted about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
While Beyonce may have taken home the most awards, some of the biggest awards of the night made for some record-breaking news. Country-pop sensation Taylor Swift took home the coveted Album of the Year award for her enormous hit album Fearless, which garnered the most sales of any album in 2009 and has spent an astounding 53 weeks within the Billboard 200 and counting. At 20 years old, she was the youngest artist to earn the ceremony's most prestigous award. The singer-songwriter was a winner of four awards and her appreciation and organic excitement was most evident upon accepting the two primetime televised awards she won.
Other big winners of the night included Kings of Leon, whose "Use Somebody" earned the Tennessee rock group three awards, including Record of the Year, while Jay-Z three awards, one for "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" and two for "Run This Town," sharing the latter two awards with R&B/pop singer Rihanna and a noticeably absent Kanye West. The Black Eyed Peas also took home three awards, including Pop Vocal Album. Lastly, dance queen Lady Gaga earned two awards at tonight's ceremony, taking home awards for Best Dance Recording for "Poker Face" and Best Electronic/Dance Album for The Fame.
The ceremony's performances were the highlights of the show, with Lady Gaga opening the ceremony, singing her hit song "Poker Face", before joining Sir Elton John on the piano with smeared black makeup on their faces adding to the performances artistic premise. Energetic and proof of her inherent talent, the performance was met with resounding applause and cheers from the crowd.
Beyonce took the stage to sing a mashup of her song "If I Were a Boy" and Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know," while Pink paraded her mastery of trapeze artistry with a physically demanding performance of "Glitter in the Air" off of her album Funhouse. The Black Eyed Peas performed their hit song "I Gotta Feeling," but not before they energized the crowd with an abridged performance of their new single "Imma Be," which had raced to number one on iTunes shortly after the performance.
While the show included many more performances, the 3-D glasses-assisted Michael Jackson tribute, which included vocals from Michael Jackson in "Earth Song" and additional vocals contributed by singers Usher, Smokey Robinson, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, was one of the highlights and most highly anticipated performance of the night.
The ceremony lasted about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
52nd Grammy Awards 2010 Predictions
Today marks one of the biggest days in international music as the biggest stars on radio, iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, and music software convene to honor the winners (and not the nominees) of the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Whereas previous ceremonies have been dominated by critically acclaimed but commercially mediocre artists, some of the most successful artists in music have garnered substantial nominations, from Kanye West to Taylor Swift, Beyonce to Lady Gaga, Rihanna to Jay-Z, and Kings of Leon to Metallica. With any awards show, a little predictive input is always some fun!
Below is a list of a few of the major categories and MY winner predictions and the reasoning behind such predictions.
Record of the Year
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Arguably the most critically praised and commercially successful song of the past year, "Poker Face" is Lady Gaga's pièce de résistance, solidifying dance-pop's domination on radio and in the record stores, while lyrically ambiguous enough to garner varying interpretations as to the song's meaning. However, "You Belong with Me" would not be a surprising upset in this category.
Album of the Year
I Am... Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. This particular album has received very favorable reviews from critics and has been a particularly strong album contender for this cateogory for quite sometime. In particular, this category often goes to an album that has received substantial praise from the critics and public, while also retaining an ability to be likable across different cohorts of listeners. Fearless by Taylor Swift is once again a close second for this category.
Song of the Year
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings - Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. This is a songwriters' award but since Beyonce has songwriting credits, she will be a receiver of this award, should she win (which I think she will). This song far exceeded expectations and, coupled with the widespread popularity of the music video, became a pop culture phenomenon. I find it hard to believe that this song, with its substantial cultural impact, would be denied the honor of Song of the Year. However, a close second in this category is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.
Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings
PREDICTION: The Ting Tings. While The Ting Tings have not achieved the success here as they have in their native UK, they managed to score two songs on the top 30 songs on pop radio, with "That's Not My Name" reaching 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, an impressive feat for a group that had virtually no promotion in the US for any of the singles (with the NOTABLE exception, of course, of the use of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" on an iPod commercial over a year ago). This category is a little tricky, with a potential upset coming with Keri Hilson or MGMT in this category.
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Hometown Glory - Adele
Halo - Beyonce
Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Sober - Pink
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. This song has become one of country music's most successful songs in the past decade, peaking just shy of the peak spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at #2. Furthermore, it has become Swift's breakthrough song in pop and adult contemporary radio formats, while attracting critical appeal and fan jubilation. "Hometown Glory" is a very likely candidate for this award as well, as she did take two awards last year, even at the young age of 20 just one year after her debut album was released in the UK. This would not be a surprising victory for this Brit at all.
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
This Time - John Legend
Love You - Maxwell
Make it Mine - Jason Mraz
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Seal
All About the Love Again - Stevie Wonder
PREDICTION: "All About the Love Again" by Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder has always been a Grammy favorite and this song will likely be no exception, giving the R&B/Rock/Pop musician another award to fill his already (rightfully) crowded mantle of golden gramophones. A close second is possible with Maxwell's "Love You."
More award predictions will be added shortly as we near showtime Sunday evening!
Below is a list of a few of the major categories and MY winner predictions and the reasoning behind such predictions.
Record of the Year
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Arguably the most critically praised and commercially successful song of the past year, "Poker Face" is Lady Gaga's pièce de résistance, solidifying dance-pop's domination on radio and in the record stores, while lyrically ambiguous enough to garner varying interpretations as to the song's meaning. However, "You Belong with Me" would not be a surprising upset in this category.
Album of the Year
I Am... Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. This particular album has received very favorable reviews from critics and has been a particularly strong album contender for this cateogory for quite sometime. In particular, this category often goes to an album that has received substantial praise from the critics and public, while also retaining an ability to be likable across different cohorts of listeners. Fearless by Taylor Swift is once again a close second for this category.
Song of the Year
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings - Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. This is a songwriters' award but since Beyonce has songwriting credits, she will be a receiver of this award, should she win (which I think she will). This song far exceeded expectations and, coupled with the widespread popularity of the music video, became a pop culture phenomenon. I find it hard to believe that this song, with its substantial cultural impact, would be denied the honor of Song of the Year. However, a close second in this category is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.
Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings
PREDICTION: The Ting Tings. While The Ting Tings have not achieved the success here as they have in their native UK, they managed to score two songs on the top 30 songs on pop radio, with "That's Not My Name" reaching 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, an impressive feat for a group that had virtually no promotion in the US for any of the singles (with the NOTABLE exception, of course, of the use of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" on an iPod commercial over a year ago). This category is a little tricky, with a potential upset coming with Keri Hilson or MGMT in this category.
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Hometown Glory - Adele
Halo - Beyonce
Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Sober - Pink
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift
PREDICTION: "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. This song has become one of country music's most successful songs in the past decade, peaking just shy of the peak spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at #2. Furthermore, it has become Swift's breakthrough song in pop and adult contemporary radio formats, while attracting critical appeal and fan jubilation. "Hometown Glory" is a very likely candidate for this award as well, as she did take two awards last year, even at the young age of 20 just one year after her debut album was released in the UK. This would not be a surprising victory for this Brit at all.
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
This Time - John Legend
Love You - Maxwell
Make it Mine - Jason Mraz
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Seal
All About the Love Again - Stevie Wonder
PREDICTION: "All About the Love Again" by Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder has always been a Grammy favorite and this song will likely be no exception, giving the R&B/Rock/Pop musician another award to fill his already (rightfully) crowded mantle of golden gramophones. A close second is possible with Maxwell's "Love You."
More award predictions will be added shortly as we near showtime Sunday evening!
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