Thanks to hackers and YouTube, pop fans are now able to listen to a slew of unfinished demo material that was probably never meant for public consumption. It’s great (for us…not the artists). Sometimes, a demo ends up being way more awesome than the finished product. Sometimes, a demo never sees the light of day and it’s a massive injustice! Check out a list of some of my favorite demos and unreleased jams after the jump. Continue reading
After releasing the exceedingly dreary ballad, “The Art of Letting Go” back in November (which was essentially radio poison), it seems that Mariah Carey has learned from her mistake and is going to attempt to win back the airwaves with the next offering from her upcoming 14th studio album. If Erik Bradley is to be believed (he works for Chicago radio station B96), Mariah’s next single, due in February, is “EXTREMELY RADIO FRIENDLY!” That’s music to my ears! The caps lock means that he’s sincere! We don’t have any concrete details about the track yet, but some fans (or Lambs, as Mariah lovers are affectionately known) are speculating that a couple of beats posted to Instagram by longtime Mimi collaborator Jermaine Dupri recently could be for her new project!
Take a listen to the two possible Mariah instrumentals here and here. What do you think? Are you excited for Mariah’s next single?
Shakira has been been keeping a pretty low profile since about 2011, but she’s about to make a big splash with the release of “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” a duet with Roc Nation’s golden girl, Rihanna! “Can’t Remember to Forget You” is produced by frequent Shakira collaborator John Hill (“She Wolf,” “Men In This Town”) and will serve as the lead single from her upcoming tenth studio album. A Joseph Kahn-directed music video has already been shot and the song is due for release on Monday, February 13th. Check out a supposed snippet of the song after the jump! Continue reading
My personal top 10 songs of 2013 are listed after the jump! Get into it. Continue reading
Nobody loves to hype artists on Twitter more than Dr. Luke, and it’s a good thing, too! I love finding out about who the good Doctor is working with! Who could forget the day when Luke so legendarily tweeted Rihanna, “damn… you sound so good!!!!,” before anybody had any idea they were working together, setting the Internet ablaze with speculation and wonder all with a mere 29 characters??
Luke’s latest tweets about Robin Antin’s girl group G.R.L. aren’t quite as life-changing, but they’re certainly informative! Apparently, Luke’s been recording with G.R.L. since yesterday, and today, they finished up a track written by none other than Ester Dean! You may know Ester Dean from the movie, “Pitch Perfect” (she was the butt of all those tasteless lesbian jokes), but you PROBABLY know Ester Dean from her impressive list of pop super hits, like: Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?,” Katy Perry’s “Firework,” and Selena Gomez’s “Come & Get It.”
Ester’s worked with Robin Antin’s groups in the past, so her involvement with this project isn’t exactly unexpected, but it certainly is exciting! As I previously reported, G.R.L. has also spent time in the studio with Max Martin and Cirkut, so this is shaping up to be quite a debut! Now if only they’d release some music…
Lea Michele released a preview of her debut single, “Cannonball,” today, and all I gotta say is – don’t these pop girls know they can record a Sia song without trying to emulate her trademark marbles-in-mouth delivery and phrasing to a T? It’s an epidemic! See: Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” Celine Dion’s “Loved Me Back to Life,” Katy Perry’s “Double Rainbow,” Rita Ora’s “Radioactive,” etc. But I digress.
Otherwise, “Cannonball” sounds promising! It doesn’t scream “hit” to me and I probably would’ve preferred something uptempo, but Lea’s vocals are great and the hook seems sufficiently catchy/empowering. Lea also unveiled the artwork for her new album (seen above) – it’s called, “LOUDER.” She looks a bit damp, but I’m still looking forward to it! Caps lock title and all!
“Cannonball” will be available on iTunes tomorrow, December 10th, the same day “LOUDER” goes up for pre-order. Check out a preview of the song via Soundcloud below!
Get excited – nominations for the 2014 Grammy Awards are announced tomorrow night on “The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!” on CBS! It’s so exciting, there are two exclamation points!! And you know LL Cool J is hosting again! There will be performances from Lorde, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Robin Thicke, and more, but since the hour long show will almost certainly be comprised of 45 minutes worth of commercials, you’re probably better off just skipping it altogether and checking out the nomination list on the Grammy website after it airs!
Full disclosure: I am not good at predicting the Grammys. And I’m not just saying that so that I’m less embarrassed when most of my predictions end up being wrong – I literally have no idea what’s going on. But IF by some miracle I end up being mostly right, or like, I totally end up calling some SURPRISE nomination or something, my triumphant victory roar will be heard ’round the world! Here we go – my nomination predictions for “the big 4” categories are after the jump! Continue reading
I’ll waste no time – here’s what you need to know:
I lost track of Glee during season 3, but Lea has some killer pipes, so I’m anxious to hear what she’s come up with in the studio!
Just after winning four American Music Awards on Sunday night (an impressive tally, even though they’re fan voted), America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift sat down backstage with Billboard’s Keith Caulfield to chat a little bit about her new album. And surprise! Things are running “ahead of schedule.” Continue reading
Rejoice, Britney fans! Britney Spears’s new album, “Britney Jean” is now streaming for free on iTunes! It’s a Thanksgiving miracle. My full review will be out soon – all I’ll say is that will.i.am lied about “just guiding” the album, as his electro STINK is all over it (he has production credit on 7 of the 10 songs on the standard edition). I long for Dr. Luke and Max Martin.
Stream “Britney Jean” on iTunes now! The album will be officially released in the U.S. on Tuesday, December 3rd. Check out full writing and production credits here.
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