After tributing the recently deceased Robin Gibb and Donna Summer, Beyonce decided to pay homage to both a living legend and another we are still mourning, Lauryn Hill and Whitney Houston. Bey opened “Halo” with her own perfect take on “I Will Always Love You,” and also put her own spin on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill track “The Ex Factor.” The performances came out of Bey’s four-night stint at Revel Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, where fans certainly did revel in the glory that is Beyonce — who, like most new mothers, can rock a barely-there red sequined leotard that might as well be underwear. Did this woman seriously just give birth a few months ago?

Beyonce — “The Ex Factor”

Which was your favorite? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments.

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.

On May 28, 2002, The Eminem Show was unleashed upon the world. And the swift cultural embrace (five straight weeks at #1) and widespread success of the album ended up being one of the last moments of the musical monoculture. Everyone from Entertainment Weekly to the notoriously stingy Pitchfork loved it, and it became that year’s highest selling album (7.6 million units sold).

It was fitting that it entered a popular culture in flux, since it was born of a musician in transition. Eminem started out as a homophobic, misogynistic, bile-spewing provocateur, and is now a fame-averse father and supporter of same-sex marriage who has overcome addiction (and somewhere in between hugged Elton John). The fulcrum of that evolution was The Eminem Show, which found the Slim Shady persona fading into the background as Marshall Mathers explored problems as, dare we say, a mature person would. So how does it hold up a decade later?

The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) remains Eminem’s masterpiece, but The Eminem Show is his most personal album. It found the MC focusing his vitriol inward for the first time: Instead of prodding and provoking, he was figuring out why everything was prodding and provoking him. The record is chock full of war themes and deadly serious militaristic beats as Em raps about his own battles: with fatherhood, fame, his mother and, well, groupies. Album opener “White America” is a screed against conformity and censorship, and the mentions of democracy and the White House immediately signaled that this was a (slightly) different Eminem.

Eminem, “White America”

Things got lighter with the bouncy Dr. Dre-circa-2001 “Business” and the dis track “Square Dance.” “Soldier” closes out the unassailable (and, at the time, surprisingly serious) first five tracks of the album — a run that saw no gimmicky pop takedowns, just furious rhymes dismantling internal and external conflicts. The biggest curveball of that opening salvo was “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” in which Eminem got introspective without sounding completely psychotic for once. (It’s also notable for being probably the only dis track aimed at the disser’s own mother.)

Eminem, “Cleanin’ Out My Closet”

Eminem plumbed similar emotional depths on “Hailie’s Song,” and despite the whiny, remedial singing, the one-two punch of personality and a singalong chorus helped him stick the landing.

These inward-looking moments may not be as poignant as “Stan” or as much of a mindf**k as “Kim,” but they showed Eminem could strip away the characters, the winks, the sensationalism and still turn out a catchy hook with some killer rhymes. And because he dropped the charade, he sounded purposeful and direct throughout the album.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he cleared his system of all the outrageousness and of-the-moment pop culture slams. Case in point: first single “Without Me,” whose “nobody listens to techno!” proclamation now invites winces. Oh and hey, remember Osama Bin Laden?

Eminem, “Without Me”

Eminem also went back to the chauvinist well for a pair of tracks: the filthiest of the filthy “Drips” (featuring some legendary genitalia-centric verses) as well as womanizing ode “Superman.” But the thing about “Superman” — and Eminem songs in general — is that the polished lightness of the music and Em’s knack for magnetic hooks serve as the implied wink-and-nod that makes it easier to swallow the more off-putting lyrics.

Eminem, “Superman”

It’s easy to forget that in 2002, Eminem was still at the top of his THE game when it came to rapping. After stalling three-quarters of the way through, The Eminem Show closes out with some of his most furious lyrical exercises to date. On “Say What You Say” he teamed up with Dr. Dre to deliver  a Mobius strip of a chorus, and Eminem sounded as invigorated and intense as ever on the Nate Dogg-assisted “‘Till I Collapse.”

The album closes out in virtually perfect fashion with another curveball: “My Dad’s Gone Crazy.” Having Eminem’s effortless, playfully obscene rhymes run circles around his daughter Hailie’s adorable yelps may have been a stroke of genius. It may have cost Hailie a few years in therapy too. But at least it was for a good song.

The Eminem Show is Eminem’s most introspective and nuanced work, the result of a supremely talented MC maturing and expanding thematically. But he may have run out of things to say after this and “Lose Yourself”. Its follow-up Encore was warmly received and sold 3.5 million copies in 2004, but the rhymes felt stale. Then there was the roundly panned (even by Eminem himself) Relapse (2009), which was more shtick than substance. (It’s worth noting that this Eminem “bomb” still debuted at #1 and went double Platinum.)

Eminem then accepted his role as one of hip-hop’s elder statesmen, grooming acts like Yelawolf the way Dre groomed him. A more grizzled, less poppy Eminem returned with the solid Recovery in 2010 and last year’s Hell: The Sequel with Royce da 5’9”, which served as a grittier, more rhyme-heavy counterpoint to Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s lavish Watch The Throne. Though he’s gloomier these days, Eminem’s sense of purpose thankfully seems to have been rekindled.

But a decade ago, The Eminem Show straddled the line between caricature and drama, between “serious” issues and dick jokes, between the personal and the universal. It was playfully dark the way that Kill Bill was cartoonishly bloody, and because of these dichotomies, it has held up surprisingly well. Though popular culture was about to splinter into countless niches, in 2002 Eminem removed the funhouse mirrors, ditched the parlor tricks and said exactly what he wanted to say on The Eminem Show, and we all listened.

How do you think The Eminem Show has held up? Sound off in the comments, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Justin Bieber is launching a full-on call to the dancefloor — even though he’s still too young to gain entrance into the clubs. While his new album Believe is still but a few weeks from release (get on that, Internet), his Ludacris-featuring opening track “All Around The World” found its way online today (May 25), and its arguably Bieber’s most dancey track yet. In fact, is this an Enrique Iglesias/Chris Brown leftover? Because it sure sounds like it to us. See for yourself below.

Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris – “All Around The World”

“All around the world / People want to be loved / all around the world / They’re no different than us,” sings the 18-year-old pop star on the heavy dance-ready tune, produced by Bieber’s frequent collaborators The Messengers (“Never Say Never”, “Mistletoe”).

Bieber could practically be a house artist on a beat-driven, rave-y banger like this. It’s a clear example of how he’s taking baby steps to “swaggy” adulthood through the evolution of his music — keep the content G-Rated, but make the beat something the older club-going crowd can enjoy. So far, it’s working.

What do you think of “All Around The World”? Does it make you want to pick up Believe on June 19? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.

Fans of electronic music, get ready for some news that will literally make you short-circuit: Daft Punk have gone into the studio with Giorgio Moroder. If you’re asking yourself who Giorgio Moroder is, first thing’s first — slap yourself. Hard. Second, wise up to the fact that the Italian producer revolutionized modern dance music in 1977 with “I Feel Love” (and these other Donna Summer hits), and kept the floors and charts filled with smashes like Blondie’s “Call Me”, Irene Cara’s “Flashdance…What a Feeling”, Phil Oakey’s “Together In Electric Dreams” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”.

Alas, it doesn’t seem like the Grammy/Oscar winner was enlisted to write or produce for Daft Punk. Rather, he’s contributed a rap of sorts. What?

URB reports the following:

During a one-on-one interview at International Music Summit in Ibiza, the producer behind genre-defining songs such as “I Feel Love” and “The Chase” revealed that he recently went into the studio with the French duo.

The robots asked the Munich Machine to go into a vocal booth and speak about his life. In the studio were multiple microphones of various vintages from the ’60s to today. When Moroder asked the engineer why they had so many mics, he replied that the mic they would use would depend on what decade of his life he was speaking about. When Moroder asked if anyone would know the difference, the engineer replied “They will know.”

Disco has been in the news lately, though not all of it has been headlines to get up and dance over. Moroder’s former muse Donna Summer passed away last week at the age of 63. A mere three days later, Bee Gees legend Robin Gibb, 62, died. Both had been battling cancer in recent years.

Donna Summer's classic album covers

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In addition to 72-year-old Moroder, Chic member-turned-hit-making-producer Nile Rodgers stated earlier this year that he’d been collaborating with Daft Punk as well.

Excited, DP fans? Intrigued, at least? Let us know your thoughts below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!

No Doubt will drop their first album in over a decade on September 25, but we’ll be getting a taste of the group’s new tunes much sooner than that. The SoCal band will perform at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, their first live performance since 2009.

“You may have heard the rumors… and yes, we will be performing on the Teen Choice Awards in July!” the band wrote on their Twitter page. The 2012 Teen Choice Awards air July 22 at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. The Gwen Stefani-led group were previously nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, and won “Choice Music: Tour” for their 2004 Singles Tour.

Songs on No Doubt’s as-yet-untitled album include “Push And Shove”, which the band previewed during their premiere webisode chronicling the making of their sixth studio album.

gwen stefani: always in style

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Will.i.am brings his act to Londontown in his video for “This Is Love”, the Steven Angello-produced single off his forthcoming solo album, #willpower. The Black Eyed Pea starts things off slowly, playing a will.i.am-branded piano in front of the city’s Tower Bridge. Eventually, clubgoers pop up via will’s laptop (do they have Skype in nightclubs now?) and Dutch singer-songwriter Eva Simons, rocking the most intense, gravity-defying mohawk we’ve ever seen, provides some fierceness on the hook.

Though the video starts off promising with an interesting outdoor locale, Will.i.am’s low-key piano-playing, the random, confusing club scenes and the giant distraction that is Eva’s hair never really gels together. “This Is Love” comes off like a bunch of separate concepts were thrown into one video. And maybe we’re just a little bit more cautious with our personal computers, but we really wouldn’t recommend leaving a laptop out in the rain like that. Then again, this is will.i.am — we’re sure he can afford to get a new will.i.am-branded PC.

You may have been surprised by Phillip Phillips‘ American Idol win on Wednesday, but the singer’s father, also named Phillip Phillips, revealed an even bigger shocker: the 21-year-old Georgian actually underwent a total of eight kidney surgeries during his tenure on the 11th season of Idol.

“He’s been doing [well], but it’s just grueling hours and it’s just amazing what he’s done through the journey,” the senior Phillips told People. “Eight operations since we started American Idol… He’s hitting 50 percent, but he’s still up there swinging away.”

In addition to snagging the Idol crown this year, Phillips achieved another victory yesterday when his coronation song “Home” rose to the top of the iTunes download chart. Today the plucky guitar jam is still sitting in the peak position at the online music retailer.

Phillip's goofiest 'Idol' Faces

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But according to People, before Phillips can head out on the annual Idols Live Tour, he still needs to undergo another surgery:

The younger Phillips, 21, suffered with a build up of kidney stones and underwent multiple operations to remove them. In the next few weeks, after another surgery to reconstruct his kidneys, he is expected to make a full recovery in time for the Idols Live tour.

“I’m going to get some surgery done, so I’m going to get all better for the tour,” the singer told reporters following his Idol triumph the other day. “It was very tough [getting through the season]. I had great doctors and great people surrounding me [who] really helped out, so it’s just a blessing to be here.”

Will you be heading out to see Phillip and the Season 11 singers when they hit the road this summer?