Idolator

The OneRepublic-vocalist-produced "Karma" by the new boy band NLT seems to be catching a little bit of fire, or at least has a viral-marketing team that knows about the world of pop-music blogs behind its push. The song is an early-'00s-informed bit of pop-radio playlist filler, and the group, which is apparently something of a redemptive product for B2K svengali Chris Stokes, seems to be the Mach 2008 version of the classic boy band. It's made up of four just-shy-of-20 dudes who are just cute enough and just threatening enough, and who have as one member someone named "V." Watching this video, I noted that NLT also carried on important boy-band traditions, as if to honor the boys to men who have traveled in the streaming-girl-strewn path they hope to ride an Escalade down. More »

The upcoming issue of Vanity Fair will take a look at the predilections of disgraced boy-band maestro Lou Pearlman—currently cooling his jets in a Florida jail while awaiting a trial on bank fraud charges—and you may be shocked to hear that his interests in young men went beyond their abilities to sing, dance, and make the little girls cry. In addition to allegations that he was "definitely inappropriate" with the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter and a description of his clumsy pickup techniques (one person recalls him spreading his legs while wearing a white terrycloth robe and matching underwear, then uttering the not-quite-Mae-Westian come-on "You're a smart boy. Figure it out."), ex-members of lesser boy-band lights recall events that echo the very special Gordon Jump episode of Diff'rent Strokes: More »