Sometimes there are music-related lists that you come across that are so silly, and so obviously street-team-aided in their construction, that you just have to share them. (Especially on news days that have Tokio Hotel’s TRL debut as their “highlights,” ahem.) So behold MTV UK’s “Ultimate 50 Popstars” list, which was voted on by “the fans”–a surprising fact when you realize that both Jojo and Jessica Simpson apparently have big enough fanbases to have cracked its lower reaches. The list itself is an early-oughts-heavy grouping of pop kids from now (Leona Lewis (No. 27), Justin Timberlake (No. 4)) and then (Britney Spears (No. 1), TLC (No. 32), S Club 7 (No. 18)) that makes little sense, although it does allow U.S. readers to be reminded of the fact that they really do like McFly (No. 2! Seriously!) and Busted (No. 17) on the other side of the pond. And that they prefer the freaking Pussycat Dolls (No. 29) to the Sugababes (No. 36), a piece of trivia that should make any poptimist shudder. List after the jump. MORE »
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MTV UK’s “Ultimate 50 Popstars” Reveals Ocean-Sized McFly Appreciation Gap
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Why Don’t Rappers Realize Indie Rock Is Cool?
Why do “top-notch rappers” always work with “cheesy rock’n'rollers?” Loving popular rap while hating popular rock must be difficult for those who want to keep it real while keeping it eclectic. That rappers don’t seem to show the same disdain for mainstream pap like Maroon 5, Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani that their white hipster fanbase does must stick in the craw of folks who know that the Flaming Lips are so much better than what’s on the radio. Is it that Timbaland just hasn’t heard the Flaming Lips? Does he need a critic’s guiding hand? Or are they just being commercially cagey? And if the final product is good, is it ok to like it? Does that mean you like harlots like Nelly Furtado now? Thank to that accursed Roots feat Patrick Stump devil of a song, Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley must wrestle with the pop guilt/bullshit that any self-righteous indie snob who puts Kanye West in his top ten list must eventually face. MORE »
Akon Not The Konvict He Claims To Be
Akon, you’ve got some explaining to do! The Smoking Gun is claiming that the omnipresent autotune addict behind “Locked Up” and Konvicted has been lying about his criminal record. While Akon claimed in interview after interview to have written his first album, Trouble, during a three-year jail stint for running a car theft ring (where he both owned chop shops and personally pulled people out of the cars), it now looks like he spent a few months in jail for stealing a single BMW before charges were dropped. I wonder if he was lying about the secret country hit and the polygamy too. MORE »
Sneaky, Sneaky Akon Claims To Have A Secret Country Hit
It’s not fair. Akon gets to have multiple wives. I don’t. Akon gets to hump teenage girls on stage and throw teenage boys off. I don’t. Akon gets to write a hit song about how he didn’t respond to the press furor about his wanton ways because he was on tour with Gwen Stefani. I don’t, and I wasn’t. I bet you don’t get to do any of these things either. Now Akon says he’s about “to break into a genre that no black artist, producer or writer ever broke into, ever”: Country. I’m worried he’s going to do this by going back in time to the early sixties and killing Ray Charles. Based on his claim to already have a hit single under an alias, I keep checking Charles’ Wikipedia page to see if he already did. MORE »
It’s A Tough Day To Be Boney James
Will the last smooth jazz station to leave the air blow out the candles? Houston’s own The Wave has flipped formats from the soothing sounds of Paul Hardcastle and Candy Dulfer to a contemporary hits format which according to the station manager will feature tracks from “Alicia Keys, Beyoncé,… MORE »
Lawsuits
Linda Perry To Warner Music Group: “What’s Up With The Money You Owe Me?”
Linda Perry, the former 4 Non Blondes frontwoman who went on to produce songs for Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Gwen Stefani, is suing Warner Music Group for royalties she believes she is owed on James Blunt’s Back To Bedlam, which came out on her imprint Custard Records. MORE »
The Grammys: The Strange Assortment Of Celebrities Gets Stranger
Those of us tuning into Sunday night’s Grammy telecast–which I will be liveblogging once again! coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET!–are not only going to be subjected to a Sgt. Pepper tribute, they’re going to have to sit through Yet Another Kid Rock Performance At A Major Awards Show, Because The Four Other Ones That We’ve Sat Through In Recent Years Just Weren’t Enough. And the music business wonders why it’s in trouble! Also on the docket: The long-rumored Tina Turner/Beyonce showdown, a Cher sighting, Prince not performing but presenting (wha?), and an appearance by Jason Bateman, who I am hoping uses his time at the pulpit to confirm those Arrested Development movie rumors that have been floating around. Sure, Bateman’s appearance isn’t as exciting as the Rihanna/Time collaboration, but it’s definitely in my top five things I’m looking forward to on Sunday night. Yay, music business! Full release after the jump. MORE »
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“American Idol” Tells Its Atlanta Contestants To Take Their Broke Asses Home
Last night’s American Idol took place in Ryan Seacrest’s hometown of Atlanta, which prompted his parents to show up. I wonder if the producers made Mama and Papa Seacrest learn the words to Fergie’s “Glamorous,” the richness-glorifying lyrics of which I guess were supposed to distract people from the recession talk lurking underneath every other network’s Super Tuesday coverage. MORE »
The People’s Choice Awards sort of took place last night, with a “strike-friendly, pre-taped program” airing on CBS. And hey, a few music awards were given out! You may not be surprised to learn that people really like Justin Timberlake–enough to even give Timbaland’s crummy Scott Storch dis track that JT warbles on a bit the Favorite Hip-Hop Song award. Click the Justin photo (which, we should add, is not from last night) for the full list of winners, but not before you steel yourself for the fact that the words “Rascal” and “Flatts” appear in said list more than once. [AP] MORE »
The People’s Choice Awards sort of took place last night, with a “strike-friendly, pre-taped program” airing on CBS. And hey, a few music awards were given out! You may not be surprised to learn that people really like Justin Timberlake–enough to even give Timbaland’s crummy Scott Storch dis track that JT warbles on a bit the Favorite Hip-Hop Song award. Click the Justin photo (which, we should add, is not from last night) for the full list of winners, but not before you steel yourself for the fact that the words “Rascal” and “Flatts” appear in said list more than once. [AP] MORE »
