August 19, 2011

Linda Perry Calls Katy Perry’s Single-Focused Music “Microwave Popcorn”

During a recent interview, writer Heath Daniels asked Grammy-nominated veteran songwriter Linda Perry what she thought about changes in the music industry over the last twenty years. The 4 Non Blondes frontwoman and writer/producer for big-name artists like Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys had some biting words for pop star Katy Perry. “Who wants a f*cking Katy Perry record?” asked Linda, doubtful that fans of the other Perry actually purchase her full-length albums when they can just consume her singles piecemeal.

“Not saying that Katy is bad; she’s great for what she does, but she’s not reinventing the wheel, she’s not giving substance, she’s just giving microwave popcorn for you to feast on right at this moment.”

These comments could not have been made at a more interesting time. Earlier this week, Katy Perry tied Michael Jackson’s billboard chart record for having five #1singles from one album. Katy Perry is only two (mainstream) albums into her career, and she’s certainly churning out fun-loving hit singles like wildfire.But does her music have a shot at holding up like The King of Pop’s, whose albums, as full bodies of work, are often considered classics? Linda Perry thinks not. While she did concede that it’s fine Katy’s “not looking to change the world musically,” the interview concluded with her saying that music focused on the quick buck is”part of the reason why the music business is in turmoil.” Touché.

Linda Perry: ‘Katy Perry is why the music industry is in turmoil’ [NME]

Tags: , , Linda Perry, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson

August 17, 2011

Last Lap: Wednesday’s Odds And Ends In Music News

Two Tracks From Black and White America Leak
The Lenny Kravitz tracks “Boongie Drop” and “Sunflower” likely hit the web early because they feature Jay-Z and Drake, respectively. Black and White America will be released August 30. [Billboard]

Will Smith Comeback Album May Be In The Works
Producer La Mar “Mars” Edwards tells XXL that he’s working not only on a Will Smith album, but also with T.I. and with Ashanti. [XXL]
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Tags: , , Drake, Will Smith, Lenny Kravitz, Kiss, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z

August 17, 2011

Katy Perry Ties Michael Jackson’s Astonishing Billboard Chart Record For Most #1 Singles From One Album

We should have known better: never underestimate the chart prowess of Katy Perry. Back in May, we predicted that Perry’s single “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” would continue the chart run of singles from the album, and sure enough, Thursday will mark the 66th straight week in which a Teenage Dream single was in the top ten of Billboard‘s Hot 100. Two weeks ago, though, we cast doubt on the prospect of “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” hitting #1—and in so doing, tying what once seemed like an untoppable Michael Jackson record: five #1 singles from the same album, set with “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” and “Dirty Diana,” all from Bad, in 1987 and 1988.

That was before the Missy Elliott remix. On this we’ll defer to the Village Voice, where, in April, Maura Johnston pointed to the late-release remix as a growing chart-goosing tactic and noting its particular success for Perry with “E.T.” (#42 before its Kanye “remix”; #1 soon after). Then on Friday, Chris Molanphy explained in his chart column “100 & Single” exactly how Perry was juking the stats: releasing a Missy Elliott remix of “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” last Monday, as the song was peaking on the Airplay chart but falling on the Digital Sales chart (the two figures combine to determine the Hot 100), and furthermore discounting all versions of the track to just 69¢ at iTunes and Amazon’s mp3 store.

It worked. “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” nearly matched LMFAO‘s “Party Rock Anthem” in Digital Sales this week (with the remix accounting for 25% of the downloads) and remained atop the Airplay chart. Despite huge gains in airplay and especially sales for Maroon 5‘s “Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Christina Aguilera, the single could not (yet?) match up to Perry’s single (nor could either of the other songs we predicted might compete; Bad Meets Evil‘s “Lighters” has stalled at #5, and The Throne‘s “Otis” is already out of the top 10). So it came down to LMFAO, who simply could not extend their reign atop the Hot 100 to a seventh week. This news may leave Michael Jackson fans thinking the electro duo should have named their album Sorry For Not Party Rocking Enough.

Tags: , , Katy Perry, Michael Jackson

August 16, 2011

Candid and Truthful or Crazy In Love? Jay-Z Calls Wife Beyonce The “Second Coming” of Michael Jackson

Back in June, the world mourned as the two-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death hit the calendar. If he was still alive today, he, like Madonna, would be celebrating his 53rd birthday in just two weeks. It’s a universal truth that MJ was one of the top entertainers to ever grace us with his talents, if not the best, so whether you’re a superfan or just casually appreciate his impact on the culture-at-large, it’s always a bit off-putting to hear people compare him to other artists (or, to be fair, compare other artists to him).

On Sunday afternoon, before partying the night away at Liv in Miami, Jay-Z called into Southern Florida’s urban radio station 99 Jamz to discuss new album Watch The Throne, and did just that. He didn’t have the audacity to compare himself or other half of The Throne to the King of Pop though; instead, he graciously compared MJ to his otherother half, wife and international superstar, Beyoncé. Making the disclaimer that the comparison could be construed as blasphemous “because Mike was such an innovator,” Hova took the time to carefully explain that what he’s learned from her is similar to what he’s learned from MJ, and that it’s his wife’s work ethic that makes him feel like she’s “the second coming” of the deceased entertainer. “You know, the hard work and dedication that she puts into her shows. It just makes you want to work harder at your own craft. She’s like a machine,” said Jay in the interview.

Like the King of Pop, Beyoncé’s career began as the lead singer of a group, Destiny’s Child. Now a solo artist for about eight years, the experienced and stunning star has achieved many successes, including 16 Grammys (13 solo, 3 with Destiny’s Child), the RIAA’s top certified artist nod for the decade between 2000 and 2010, and ranked #52 on our list of VH1′s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Those achievements noted, it’s no secret that Queen B is catching a tough break with the singles and sales for her latest album release, 4, so it’s absurdly sweet of her “Crazy In Love” hubby to speak about her so enthusiastically while she battles to reclaim the domination she’s seen on past projects. But Jay’s also been around the block too many times and rocked too many rhymes to not be aware of the power in his proclamation, and minimally, should know that his words would be press fodder during her week of intimate New York shows. Because of that reality, perspective is important to maintain here, so like Jay says on WTT track “Welcome To The Jungle,” rest in peace to the leader of The Jackson 5.

Jay-Z Calls Beyoncé ‘Second Coming’ Of Michael Jackson[RapFix]

Tags: , , Destiny's Child, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, Beyonce

August 3, 2011

Is Michael Jackson’s Bad Chart Record Safe From Katy Perry?

Back in May, when Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” was announced as the artist’s fifth single from Teenage Dream, we predicted that her chart record as the longest occupant of the Billboard Hot 100 top ten would continue, and sure enough, that single leapt to #4 last month, and has not fallen below that mark since. Our sophisticated Song Of The Summer tracking system (a spreadsheet is sophisticated, right?) could have told you that: Perry just racked up her fourth week on top. But now Perry seems within reach of a much more rarefied record: five #1 singles from the same record, tying the record set by Michael Jackson with Bad (and never repeated). Billboard announced yesterday afternoon that Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” had, in its ninth chart week, completed its climb to #1 on the Pop Songs chart, which measures radio airplay. Radio tends to lag behind sales chronologically, but oftentimes an airplay gain like this can be the much-needed push for a single to hit #1. As it turned out, it wasn’t enough this week; an almost comically appropriate cast of characters has, it seems, protected Jackson’s record for now (and possibly going forward). The motley crew:
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Tags: , Bad Meets Evil, Katy Perry, Lmfao, Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Jay-Z

August 1, 2011

MTV Memories: How YO! MTV Raps First Made Hip Hop Mainstream

With MTV officially celebrating its 30th birthday today, music nostalgia is in the air. But for each music fan, the initial introduction to MTV’s music programming was unique and personal, and likely rouses up flashbulb memories to this very day. Speaking only for myself, that initiation process started with YO! MTV Raps.

After being on the air for almost seven years, MTV first aired YO! in April of 1988. While other television outlets like BET were showcasing African-American culture at the time, MTV, quite frankly, wasn’t really in the business of having black artists’ videos on the channel. And hip hop, specifically, was certainly not yet used as a vehicle of pop culture; if it wasn’t an indisputable, mainstream force like Michael Jackson, you probably wouldn’t see African-American artists on-air besides an occasional crossover video from Run DMC and Jazzy Jeff. Unless you witnessed hip hop music and culture bubbling within New York City’s five boroughs or other domestic regional pockets first hand (or watched Video Music Box), the genre probably hadn’t really made its way into your world yet.

From it’s inception, YO! MTV Raps curated an balance of hip hop via in-the-moment self-exploration. Since hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Doctor Dré and Ed Lover didn’t have quite enough content to populate the show’s segments at first, videos from other genres like reggae, funk, R&B and soul were peppered-in to help hip hop’s still-developing definition expand its scope. From that fundamental, harmonious and educational coexistence came more of the same, and soon light-hearted videos like Digital Underground’s “Doowutchalike” and “Humpty Dance” were seamlessly airing beside Public Enemy’s political anthem “Fight The Power” and sonically dynamic “Passin’ Me By” from The Pharcyde, and the South’s sexually-charged posse 2 Live Crew were showcased just as much as funky artists from Queens like A Tribe Called Quest. Additionally, lyrically savvy Juice Crew member Big Daddy Kane would spin alongside the West Coast’s gangster juggernaut N.W.A., and strong female voices like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Roxanne Shanté: all women who didn’t need to sell sex to survive.

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Tags: , , , , Yo! MTV Raps, Special Ed, Roxanne Shanté, Big Daddy Kane, The Pharcyde, Digital Underground, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Run Of Run-DMC, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, Tupac, N.W.A., 2 Live Crew, Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Michael Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest

June 23, 2011

Leave Me Alone! “I Wanna Go” And The Anti-Paparazzi Music Video

To say that paparazzi are a recent development in celebrity culture would display an alarming lack of historical knowledge; the hugely popular Confidential was the flipside of Hollywood fan magazines in the 1950s, and it was hardly the first scandal sheet—merely the most notable. That being said, the Internet, with a potential for reproduction beyond anything Walter Benjamin could have ever imagined, has had a not-insignificant hand in shrinking the range of the monoculture while simultaneously increasing its scope and depth of focus. In this way the eye of the paparazzi turned towards musicians as much as towards actors and actresses. What was once a shortcoming of fame only faced by music megastars like Elvis, John Lennon, and Michael Jackson, was now a problem facing basically any ingénue in the music industry. (It’s no coincidence that the coverage skews young and female.)

In some cases, paparazzi coverage can be advantageous to one’s exposure and public image. (See Molly Lambert‘s excellent piece on Blake Lively at Grantland and Anne Helen Peterson‘s follow-up. Or think about how concerned Brooke Hogan really sounded when she sang about the paparazzi on “About Us” while she was regularly appearing on our own Hogan Knows Best.) The strongest anti-paparazzi statements in music videos tend to come from artists whose tabloid coverage has directly affected their lives and/or livelihoods. Lindsay Lohan‘s “Rumors” certainly feels much stronger in retrospect, seven (!) years of life, drama, and tabloid coverage later. Just today she wryly remarked that her house arrest gave her the opportunity to do some much-postponed decorating.

Which brings us to Britney, the most vocal opponent of paparazzi in music video since Michael Jackson. MTV News helpfully gave us a rundown of paparazzi appearances in her videos, noting six examples, one from each album, starting with Oops…I Did It Again, and without even including “I Wanna Go” (the cameras-as-alien-probes imagery in “Hold It Against Me” stands up for Femme Fatale). Her relationship with the tabloid media has never been entirely pleasant, and the relentless coverage of a series of personal and, later, legal struggles she faced in 2006 and 2007 didn’t exactly endear her to paparazzi (or vice versa).

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Tags: , , , Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears

April 18, 2011

Rolling Stone Compiles Their “100 Greatest Artists” List

Sorry, Michael! The doggone #1 spot is mine!

Following last May’s update to their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” Rolling Stone will be issuing an update to the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time,” originally published in two parts in separate issues of the magazine in 2004 and 2005.

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Tags: , , The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses

April 15, 2011

Saturday Is Record Store Day

This Saturday, April 16, Record Store Day celebrates four years of promoting brick and mortar, non-corporate-owned music sellers. Since 2008, an increasing number of artists on both independent and major labels have concocted exclusive releases and recordings and made them available for sale only through independent record stores on the third Saturday of April, as a means of helping them continue to survive in today’s complex retail landscape (dominated by big box stores and digital downloads). In conjunction, many shops host in-store performances or giveaways. There’s always a good reason to visit your favorite local independent record store, but Record Store Day’s exclusives and artist appearances provide a hefty additional incentive.

Record Store Day’s list of exclusive releases is exhaustive, but also a bit overwhelming, so here are some of your best bets (including a bunch from You Oughta Know artists):
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Tags: , , You Oughta Know, Storytellers, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Laura Marling, Gorillaz, The Civil Wars, Mumford & Sons, Adele, Lady Gaga, Foo Fighters, Regina Spektor, My Morning Jacket, White Stripes, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson, Kings of Leon

March 10, 2011

2011 SXSW Guide: Neon Hitch Picks Her Fave Acts

neon-hitch-over-you

Like Lady Gaga, SXSW artistNeon Hitch is an eccentric-looking singer and songwriter who makes danceable pop. Unlike Lady Gaga, she has a legitimately eccentric background. Neon Hitch (real name, not made up by a producer) grew up traveling in a Gypsy caravan with hippie British parents and performed as a trapeze artist in circuses and freak shows. At 16 she ran away to India without ever having gone to school, but not before her dad gave her CDs by Michael Jackson, Madonna and the Spice Girls — three of her biggest influences. How Neon went from circus act to co-writing Ke$ha‘s “Blah Blah Blah” to signing with a major label for a solo debut (no release date yet) is beyond us. But it’s a good thing she’s excelling as a pop star. Her resume would be a mess without it.

After the jump, Neon’s SXSW picks.

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Tags: , , , , , Madonna, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Neon Hitch, James Blake, Skrillex

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