Idolator: Lil Mama

Teen Choice Awards Pick A Couple Of Age-Appropriate Winners For Once

Maura Johnston — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EDT

As opposed to last year, when the Teen Choice Awards spread the wealth among a bunch of olds (Fergie, Timbaland), this year's slate of music-related winners was highly concentrated. By which I mean that if a nominee in one of the Fox-produced event's music categories wasn't associated with the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, or Chris Brown, it didn't stand a chance of emerging from the evening with a surfboard. (But hey, at least this resulted in good news for Lil Mama.) Music winners after the jump.

_ Choice Music Single: Jonas Brothers, "When You Look Me in the Eyes."
_ Choice Hook-Up: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, "No Air."
_ Choice Music Male Artist: Chris Brown.
_ Choice Music Female Artist: Miley Cyrus.
_ Choice Music R&B Artist: Chris Brown.
_ Choice Breakout Group: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Music Love Song: Jonas Brothers, "When You Look Me in the Eyes."
_ Choice Music R&B Track: Chris Brown, "Forever."
_ Choice Music Rap/Hip-Hop Track: Lil Mama featuring T-Pain and Chris Brown, "Shawty Get Loose."
_ Choice Summer Song: Jonas Brothers, "Burnin' Up."

The Jonas Brothers also won "Choice Male Hottie" and "Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male" as a single entity, which is something of a neat trick that I'm sure will serve as some sort of impetus for their inevitable breakdown/breakup. Other music-related winners in non-music related categories, all of whom have something to do with some sort of music-related TV show during some point in their career:
_ Choice TV Show Comedy: "Hannah Montana."
_ Choice TV Reality Music Competition: "American Idol."
_ Choice TV Actress Comedy: Miley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana."
_ Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: David Cook, "American Idol."
_ Choice Male Hottie: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Female Hottie: Vanessa Hudgens.
_ Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Carrie Underwood.
_ Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Most Fanatic Fans: David Archuleta.

Teen Choice Awards Winners [AP]

Ice-T Hated Soulja Boy Well Before Their YouTube Beef

Anthony Miccio — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Grandpa Ice-T and young Soulja Boy may have quashed their beef, but a clip of Ice-T bitching about Soulja last October ("Soulja Boy? The fuck is that? It's garbage! And if the dude doesn't like it, I'll punch him in his face.") that recently popped up on YouTube just may reignite it. Not only does it add a violent threat to the mix, it also casts serious doubt on Ice-T's claims that he was being goaded into dissing Soulja Boy on the mixtape that started it all. Even if Soulja ignores this cane shaking, Lil' Mama ("'My lip gloss be popping?' Get the fuck out of here.") and Mims ("We came all the way from Rakim to 'This Is Why I'm Hot'...) may step up to the star of Surviving The Game with some sequel beef.

Dissing Lil' Mama, Ice? Are you afraid of cooties? Did you completely forget the B-boy days?

I will never get tired of this clip.

Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy [YouTube viaMissinfo.TV]
Crank Dat Ice-T [YouTube]

Just Go Ahead And Give The Best New Artist Grammy To Duffy Already

Dan Gibson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times is taking a midseason look at the contenders for the Grammy Awards' fourth or fifth most prestigious award: Best New Artist, which has been given in the past to such luminaries as Paula Cole, Arrested Development, and A Taste Of Honey. Looking at all the exciting music produced by those who qualify for the award, it's really anyone's guess who will take home the prize next February. No wait, the winner's definitely going to be Duffy, isn't it?

Things obviously haven't going so well for last year's winner, Amy Winehouse. But the award has turned a bit of a corner after a rough run in the '90s, with recent winners including Carrie Underwood, John Legend, and Maroon 5. Still, the winner often seems to be a little predictable once the nominees are announced (did anyone think Ledisi was going to win in February?), so take your best guess (Duffy) of who will win (Duffy) from this list (Duffy) compiled by Martens.

Leona Lewis

The Ting Tings
Katy Perry
Vampire Weekend
Estelle

Santogold

She & Him

MGMT
Lil Mama
Duffy

From that list, I think you can immediately forget about She & Him; Merge probably doesn't carry the clout to pull of a win in a major category, even if the voters are taken in by what Martens describes as "a '50s-influenced sound, evidenced by Disneyana in songs like 'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?' " Leona Lewis is generally the sort of act that does well at the Grammys, but without Clive Davis around to work the system in her favor, her pretty girl/good singer act might not be enough. MGMT, the Ting Tings, and Vampire Weekend are unlikely to stand too much of a chance besides a token nomination between them since one "rock" act usually grabs a nod (2008 example: Paramore).

Perhaps most intriguing is Santogold. Santi White been around the business for awhile and is doing an excellent job of turning her album into this year's version of Moby's Play, which can't hurt executives who are wondering where their next revenue stream might come from. Although Santogold's record itself seems on the verge of being too edgy for the notoriously stogy Grammy-voting bloc, she might be in the right place at the right time to pick up a few votes from those who want the Grammys to look hip.

Still, Martens hits the mark perfectly when describing Duffy's chances of taking home the award.

Duffy's vintage soul should be Grammy gold, if voters don't shy away from lauding a U.K. soul star two years running. On her debut, "Rockferry,"...Also working in Duffy's favor is her early success. Nearly two months after the album was released, it's still in the top 20, which is an impressive feat for a newcomer....

She's a perfectly inoffensive choice. Like Winehouse, Duffy's retro-themed tunes recall an era more than stand on their own. There's a bit more of a vagueness to an act like She & Him, a sense of familiarity that one can't quite place, but Duffy's appealingly sweet sense of song-craft works to her advantage.

Familiarity, vagueness, inoffensive appeal? Sounds like someone should clear a place on her mantel back in Wales.

Grammys midway Part 1: Estelle, Katy Perry and an early look at 2008's notable new artists [LA Times]
Grammys midway Part 2: Duffy, Zooey, Santogold and more [LA Times]

Lil Mama Gets Real, Encourages T-Pain To Join Her

Maura Johnston — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EDT

Lil Mama told SOHH over the weekend that her album VYP—which has fallen off the Billboard charts after just two months in stores—was completely botched by Jive. "My fan base is out of this world and the youth really look up to me and I know for a fact my album wasn't promoted correctly because people would come up to me like, 'Oh your album is out?' Or, 'This is the second one?' " Well, perhaps the ultimate recognition-booster in today's frenetic music world—a single with T-Pain—will help lift her profile. "What It Is (Strike A Pose)" is certainly deserving of it; it's a pretty straightforward track that has a big chunk of of old-school charm. Also: I'm pretty sure T-Pain is actually singing without AutoTune enhancement—you can actually hear him inhale at one point! [YouTube via THIS IZ HIP-HOP / SOHH via RealTalkNY]

WEEN To Tour With Lil' Mama, MC Lyte

Anthony Miccio — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Puerile stoners will be in for a surprise on June 28, when WEEN kicks off a "Don't Judge Me...EmPower Me" tour with help from Lil' Mama and MC Lyte. "Our tour begins in New York City at a most opportune time given the unprecedented national debate about the leadership of women in American society. WEEN's fast growing network of artists, executives and professionals will deliver vital and exciting information to thousands of young women on June 28. After many months of preparation, we are enthusiastic about the launch and our goal is to provide young women with the tools necessary to make informed professional and personal life choices," said Gene Wee...sorry, Valeisha Butterfield, founder of the Women In Entertainment Empowerment Network. In advance of the tour, WEEN held an "I AM WEEN" event in March, at which they gave away prizes including "a funky WEEN couture T-shirt." I know some folks from college who'd kill for one of those.

The Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) has emerged as
the premiere organization for the education and empowerment of women
worldwide. WEEN is spearheaded by stars and executives from the
entertainment industry and advocates for the balanced, positive
portrayal of women in entertainment and in society. WEEN will launch
the "Don't Judge Me...EmPower Me" national tour at the Hammerstein
Ballroom in New York City on June 28, 2008 at 1:30pm.

Entertainment icons and executives will discuss health, financial
literacy, leadership, career development and relationships with
thousands of young adults in a series of intimate, interactive panel
discussions. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. is the presenting sponsor and
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the supporting sponsor.

...Joining the "Don't Judge Me...EmPower Me" kick-off in New York City is
LeToya Luckett, Lil Mama, MC Lyte, Melyssa Ford, La La Vasquez, Lil
Mo, Julissa Bermudez, Free, BET television personality Alesha Renee,
Vibe Magazine Editor-in-Chief Danyel Smith, Primetime Omnimedia CEO
Marilyn Crawford, Universal Motown Executives Shanti Das and Phylicia
Fant, 5WPR executive Tracy Nygen, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
Director of Talent Relations Jasmin Franjul, Model Agent Davida
Williams, Dr. Nicole Roberson, Dr. Catrise Austin (Dentist), Activist
Maria Davis, Lynn Richardson of Wealth n Real Estate, Lori Gibbs of
Genworth Financial.

Sounds great, but I think the group needs a catchy slogan. How about "Push th' little daisies, and make 'em come up?"

Ween Online [Official site]
Ween - Push Th' Little Daisies [YouTube]

Madonna Does Her Part To Save The Pop Charts

Maura Johnston — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Madonna's Hard Candy was last week's top-selling album, shifting 280,000 copies in its first week of release and leaving every other commercially available offering in the dust. Candy was the only album on this week's chart to break the six-figures-sold mark; Mariah Carey's E=MC², the runner-up to Hard Candy, sold 95,000 copies.

Biggest Debuts: As we mentioned, last week was a pretty great one for new releases, with lots of excellent albums dropping in the pre-paycheck, post-tax-return rush. So how'd they all do? Let's run down the list:
The Roots, Rising Down: No. 6, 54,000 sold (No. 2 digital, 15,000 sold)
Portishead, Third: No. 7, 53,000 sold (No. 3 digital, 15,000 sold)
Lil Mama, VYP: Voice Of The Young People: No. 25, 19,000 sold (not on digital albums chart)
Estelle, Shine: No. 38, 15,000 sold (No. 16 digital, 3,700 sold)
SantogoldNo. 74, 9,500 sold (No. 13 digital, 4,000 sold)
Robyn: No. 100, 7,100 sold (No. 25 digital, 2,800 sold)

All of them were out-debuted by Madge, Lyfe Jennings' Lyfe Change (No. 4, 80,000 sold), and Def Leppard's Live From The Sparkle Lounge (No. 5, 55,000 sold). So what have we learned? You can't stop Def Leppard. The Lil Mama record maybe should have come out when "Lip Gloss" was hot, if only to be the beneficiary of not-as-bad-as-they-are-now record sales. All the Fader covers and Bud Light Lime ads in the world can't help shift copies of an album, even when they do wonders for RCRD LBL's Google Blog Search hits. And holding a record back from U.S. release for an extended period of time, then hoping that Perez Hilton's breathless, syntax-challenged endorsement can be the foundation for a marketing campaign, is a lousy strategy—no matter how good the album is.

Notable Jumps: Natasha Bedingfield's appearance on American Idol last week goosed sales of The Album That's Really Called NB No Matter How Dumb Record Executives Think Americans Are—its sales totals jumped 199% week-over-week, and it shot from No. 97 to No. 24 (19,000 copies sold) on the chart.

Dropping Off: Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World was off 64% week to week, falling from No. 4 to No. 31 (17,000 sold); Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold had a 61% drop, tumbling from No. 5 to No. 41 (14,000 sold); and Flight Of The Conchords was down 57%, although its chart drop was a mere 14 places (No. 3 to No. 17, 22,000 sold).

Nickelback Award For Inexplicable Durability: An executive decision: This category is going to be held down by Alvin & the Chipmunks until they scurry out of the top 20. (They're at No. 14 this week with 23,000 copies sold.)

The top 20, with last week's sales in parentheses:
1. Madonna, Hard Candy (280,000)
2. Mariah Carey, E=MC² (95,000)
3. Leona Lewis, Spirit (84,000)
4. Lyfe Jennings, Lyfe Change (80,000)
5. Def Leppard, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (55,000)
6. The Roots, Rising Down (54,000)
7. Portishead, Third (53,000)
8. Mudcrutch (38,000)
9. Now 27 (31,000)
10. Tim McGraw, Greatest Hits 1 & 2 (29,000)
11. Taylor Swift (29,000)
12. Steve Winwood, Nine Lives (26,000)
13. Juno soundtrack (26,000)
14. Alvin & The Chipmunks soundtrack (23,000)
15. Carly Simon, This Kind Of Love (23,000)
16. Jack Johnson, Sleep Through The Static (23,000)
17. Flight Of The Conchords (22,000)
18. George Strait, Troubadour (22,000)
19. Colbie Caillat, Coco (19,000)
20. Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Best Of Both Worlds Concert Tour (22,000)

This week's top 10 digital albums, with sales totals in parentheses:
1. Madonna, Hard Candy (73,000)
2. The Roots, Rising Down (15,000)
3. Portishead, Third (15,000)
4. Augustana, Can't Love Can't Hurt (11,000)
5. Leona Lewis, Spirit (9,400)
6. Flight Of The Conchords (7,500)
7. Juno soundtrack (6,700)
8. Mudcrutch (6,700)
9. Mariah Carey, E=MC² (6,500)
10. Def Leppard, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (4,900)

Lil Mama Revels In The Pain Of "L.I.F.E."

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Lil Mama's VYP: Voice Of The Young People has a lot more drama (and meta) than her previous singles would imply, so it's a good thing that "L.I.F.E." spotlights the side of Lil Mama that can't be appeased with lip gloss. The side of her that dresses up like a pregnant teenager with an abusive thug of a boyfriend and a mom sprawled on the couch with a bottle of Jack! The ballerina may be a bit much, but it's refreshing to see a rap video that doesn't celebrate the joys of yay-slinging. [YouTube]

Record Labels Realize That Putting Long-Delayed Albums In Stores May Boost Sagging Sales

Maura Johnston — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:00:07 EDT

Usually we've used our "upcoming releases" tag to highlight albums that have been in eternal limbo, but today is a brighter day. Because today, we've found out about a few long-awaited albums that finally have release dates. Alas, none of them have that week-long Raconteurs lead time—the dates mostly fall in the later part of the spring—but hey, any glimmer of hope in the record industry these days is something to cheer, right? After the jump, news on now-really-upcoming-for-sure (we think) releases by Lil Mama, Lil Wayne, and Al Green.

Lil Mama, VYP—Voice Of The Young People
Release date: April 27.
Reasons for delays: Less-than-stellar performance of second single "G-Slide/Tour Bus"; unsuccessful search for a title that is at least a little bit better than VYP.
Odds that this album will get bumped back in the near future: 9-1. If Jive is smart, they'll accelerate their timetable so America's Best Dance Crew, which features the lip-gloss-loving star as a judge, is still fresh in peoples' minds when they stumble across VYP on the way to the Wii aisle at Best Buy.

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Release date: May 13.
Reasons for delays: "I'm taking my time with it," Wayne told Billboard. "And I'm giving artists I respect and people I want to do songs with—not songs the label fixed—an opportunity to collaborate." And hey, the Kanye track did come through, so...
Odds that this album will get bumped back in the near future: 3-1. Weezy works on his own timetable.

Al Green, Lay It Down
Release date: May 27.
Reasons for delays: Probably something to do with Green and ?uestlove perfecting the blend of "fresh milk from the cow's titty" that Green has said Lay It Down will contain.
Odds that this album will get bumped back in the near future: For the love of God, and people who need new baby-making music, I'm going to make them long. Please, Blue Note, don't prove me wrong.

[Photos: AP]

Chris Brown Is Still Flogging The "New Michael Jackson" Thing For All It's Worth

Maura Johnston — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:30:01 EST

And now he's dragging Lil Mama along with him, as evidenced by the "Scream"-biting video for "Shawty Get Loose," the latest attempt to let the Top 40-listening masses that the pint-sized rapper has other songs besides "Lip Gloss." Whoever had the idea that ~~ripping off~~ paying homage to a video that's most well-known for its '90s-music-biz budget-breaking aplomb—and trying to perform that tribute on what's clearly a pretty tight budget—was the best way to reinforce the CB/MJ connection seems kinda misguided, you know? Especially given that at this point in time, calling Lil Mama the "next Janet Jackson" sounds like a way to doom her future career prospects. (At least wait until her album has a release date!) [YouTube via ONTD]

Lil' Mama Demolishes Everyone In Her Path

mjohnston — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:30:45 EST

"Everyone needs T-Pain, Maura. Haven't you figured that out?" Jess asked me when I griped about the new Lil Mama single, which features T-Pain and Chris Brown, to him. And I can see his point in a way; Lil Mama's follow-up single to "Lip Gloss," the not-bad-at-all "G-Slide (Tour Bus)," was one of those songs that managed to hit only in the alternate pop universe of TRL, and her album's been pushed back so much, she probably won't be very lil by the time it comes out. So starpower can only help her career. But!

Is it just me, or does Lil Mama simply demolish T-Pain when it comes to flow? I swear there was one part during T-Pain's first verse that caused me to have a vision of him running behind the song, panting all the way. Lil Mama, meanwhile, is namechecking Twista in her verses, which almost sounds like a dare for a future duet that would be a lot more fun to listen to than "Shawty Get Loose (Remix)," which also has the most generic Chris Brown chorus ever committed to tape. Perhaps T-Pain's presence on the song is actually a very shrewd move on the part of Lil Mama's label to position her as a fleet-tongued young lady ready to slay any dragon in her path, even if said dragon's fire is vocoder-assisted, but I dunno.

Lil Mama Feat T-Pain, Chris Brown - Shawty Get Loose (Remix) [YouTube via Blender]

No. 9: And Now Lil Mama On The Care And Presentation Of Your Lips

jharv — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:00:11 EST

Though maybe balm might be more important now that the weather is chapping the hell out of 'em.

With days until Dick Clark's rockin' bells, Lil Mama finishes out the year one more semi-success who spun MySpace audio player ubiquity and blanket "omg awesome!" comment-box testimonials from just about anyone who wasn't anti-bubblegum by nature (a.k.a. a bad person) into the Top 10, and then... well, not much. Good clippings and an appearance in the Hot 100's upper echelon is a comfortable enough finish to the year for some crit-fed Canucks or even a no-hope singing contest also-ran. But when you're an obvious kid-world star languishing in Billboard's wings; when your cutesy (a flow fierce enough to flash rougher rap roots but still Disney safe; the wikky-wikky "what'cha" hook; the ecstatic pivots and hiccups in the maybe-you-like-lip-gloss-a-little-too-much bridge; the high-school setting and cosmetological life-lessons) but club-hardened (the beat as blank as it is loud) sound was why crits have yet to retire the much-abused "crossover"; when even your self-styled look was bang up to 2007's neon-popping... well, it's got to make you want to send irritated texts to your spooked label for dropping the socially networked ball. Still, while I am bummed over Mama's unintentional inability to keep the momentum of "Lip Gloss" going (and keeping hope alive for '08), this remains the year's gold (or your favorite metallic shade) standard for teen sass set to big ol' booms, maybe only as deep as a single coat of watermelon-flavored extra-shine, but twice as tasty.

Lil Mama - "Lip Gloss" [KoVideo]
Lil Mama [MySpace]
Idolator's 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness