‘The X Factor’ Season 3 New Judges Confirmed: Kelly Rowland & Paulina Rubio

Sam Lansky
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Kelly Rowland Paulina Rubio Split

Well! After all that speculation, our Season 3 judges for The X Factor have been unveiled — and there were some unexpected choices! (Well, one unexpected choice. Kelly Rowland had already been revealed, sort of.) The final judging panel will include Rowland alongside returning judges Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato, as well as Latin superstar Paulina Rubio. 

It’s been a bumpy ride for The X Factor: Season 1 saw the more-or-less incoherent Paula Abdul team up with the hugely unlikable Nicole Scherzinger and the authoritative-but-not-particularly-great-television L.A. Reid, resulting in mediocre ratings; Season 2 brought out the big guns with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato replacing Abdul and Scherzinger, but not even Spears could save the show’s ratings. Now, it seems, Cowell’s going for interesting characters: Lovato has proven her mettle as a capable and empathetic judge with a lot of insight to share, while Rowland already has experience judging The X Factor in the UK (where she proved to have a ton of character), and Rubio — while a lesser-known commodity in the United States — is enormous in Latin America and has been a judge on The Voice in Mexico.  More »

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DMX’s ‘It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot’ Turns 15: Backtracking

Carl Williott
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
dmx its dark and hell is hot

Backtracking is our recurring look back at the pop music that shaped our lives. Our friends may come and go, but we’ll be spinning our favorite albums forever.

DMX ’s debut is a landmark hip-hop album, but it’s also a pop album (as in, popular), which is utterly hilarious. It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, released on May 19, 1998, went straight to No. 1 its opening week, and it went 4x Platinum in just over two years. That’s despite the fact that it was a sociopathic, off-putting collection of shouted rhymes about righteous vengeance and nihilistic violence paired with grimy, foreboding beats. So how did such a carnival of misery and carnage become such a mainstream hit?

Teenage boys, mainly. DMX’s debut may have been the product of a grizzled 27-year-old street hustler, but it was an album for kids half his age. Pubescent males know not about subtlety, and the album had a mindlessly overt potency. When my friends and I were 14, the album’s energy matched ours (the motherfucker was barking!), and the CD’s fury broke through our relentless clatter of imbecility.

But the album had appeal beyond the mallrats because DMX (real name Earl Simmons) and primary producer Dame Grease created a suffocatingly dark stomp that was a whisker shy of being a concept album, with hooks that were just as badass as the MC. And that’s how it became the bleakest of pop beasts. More »

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The Wanted’s Reality Show Gets Premiere Date: Morning Mix

Bianca Gracie
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
The Wanted Promo Photo 3

Did you hear?

:: E! has set the premiere date for The Wanted Life, the new reality series that follows British boy band The Wanted and their chaotic lives. The new series will air on June 2 at 10 p.m. [Zap 2 It]

:: Following the news that he’ll be returning to The Voice, Cee Lo Green is also planning to release three projects this year! Backstage at Billboard Awards he said there will be new albums from Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley and Cee Lo himself. [Billboard]

:: The Saturdays‘ Rochelle Humes has given birth to her first child, a daughter named Alaia-Mai. The singer took to Twitter to announce the news, writing “Mum is doing great & baby is amazing! We are both overjoyed! Thanks for your love X.” [Daily Mail]

:: J. Cole has just released the grim album cover for his forthcoming Born Sinner (dropping June 18). He explained the album’s theme to MTV: “I like my album themes to be metaphors because it gives me the freedom to speak about something else that’s going on in my life, so the Born Sinner thing is not about church, it’s not even about religion. It’s using that as canvas to get other messages across and that’s what the album will be.” [Rap Radar]

:: Coachella, arguably the most-hyped of all music festivals, has announced its 2014 dates. The festival will take place over two weekends: April 11-13 and April 18-20. Better start booking flights now! [Pitchfork]

:: Avril Lavigne‘s unexpected relationship with Nickelback‘s Chad Kroeger is about to become official. The singer sat down with MTV to talk wedding plans, saying that it’s going smoothly. She’s also planning to debut her fifth album in September. No word if there’ll be a duet with her future husband. [MTV]

After the jump, find out which music acts you can catch on TV today. More »

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Beyonce’s “Grown Woman” Leaks: Listen To The Full Song

Carl Williott
May 20th, 2013 // 3 Comments
beyonce mrs carter tour tumblr

Finally! Whether it’s to distract from the (apparently false) pregnancy reports, or just because Beyonce was sick of people harping about her ubiquity being paired with a dearth of new music, somebody has posted new Beyonce music. Yes, “Grown Woman” has hit the Web, and we can finally hear how it sounds in full, separated from Bey’s ultra-fierce Pepsi ad.

It’s a frenetic, globetrotting dance track with a tribal rhythm, chants and a descending bass line that sounds like a sped up version of the one in Justin Timberlake‘s “Pusher Love Girl.” A feisty Bey declares “I can do whatever I wawnt,” and that includes giving us a song that sounds nothing like what anyone was expecting. It’s almost like this track is destined to be the theme song to the next Women’s World Cup or something.

“Grown Woman” was reportedly co-written by The-Dream and produced by Timbaland. Hear it below. More »

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Mary J. Blige Gets Slammed With $3.4 Million Tax Lien

Bianca Gracie
May 20th, 2013 // 1 Comment
Lifetime Celebrates The Premiere Of "Betty & Coretta" With Cast

Looks like Lauryn Hill isn’t the only R&B singer with tax troubles. R&B icon Mary J. Blige has just been struck with a major bill by the IRS — $3.4 million to be exact, according to TMZ. The tax service claims the singer did not file taxes from 2009-11.

As MTV points out, that’s not the only hateration and taxation for the singer. She owes an additional $901,769.65 in back taxes to the state of New Jersey, as well as outstanding debts stemming from lawsuits against her charity for failing to pay back several hefty loans.

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Will Smith Says He’s Kicking Around New Music Ideas With Kanye West

Carl Williott
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
King Kanye & The Prince
kanye west will smith studio

Remember when Kanye West was photographed in a Brazilian studio with Will Smith back in February? While we were giddy at the prospect of a collaboration between the two, we figured it was just some meaningless vacation jaunt. But it turns out the Fresh Prince and Yeezus really have hit the studio together to work on some new material.

“I’ve been messing around with Kanye, we went to the studio a couple times,” Smith revealed during a press junket for After Earth. “I might get the bug. I’m not gonna do it unless I’m truly inspired, but Ye’s been pushing me a little bit.” We’re not exactly sure how new, angry Kanye would combine with He of Gettin’ Jiggy, but we want to find out. Watch Smith in the interview snippet below. More »

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