Amplifier
  • Leaks don't just hurt artists' album sales and make record execs cry -- according to Eminem, the premature release of unfinished music is killing his creativity. Killing it!

    In a new Complex story where Em and Royce da 5'9" break down the making of their new Bad Meets Evil album, Hell: The Sequel, Em talked about his five-day work week (he takes the weekends off), his process ("I just kind of go where the pen takes me"), and how Bruno Mars wound up on "Lighters" ("Bruno's voice is crazy. ... [He's] got so much appeal because of the way he sings and the way he delivers"). During a discussion of "Take From Me," producer Mr. Porter explained the song was partially about leakers, and how much it sucks when Em and Co. "have to sit and read [online] comments on how bad the song is" after something unfinished unexpectedly makes its way to the masses.

    This kicked off the following expletive-laden (sorry!) Slim Shady monologue:

    "My music -- it's never has been and never will be, a money

    Read More »from Leaks Are Squashing Eminem’s Creativity, People!
  • Since Michael Jackson isn't around anymore to star in his own music videos, his label held a contest asking fans to send in lip-dubs for "Behind the Mask," the third single and one of the better songs from the posthumous Michael collection. If you're one of the hundreds of people that submitted a fan-made tribute, it's probably a thrill to see yourself for a split-second in an official Michael Jackson music video. But for everyone else, there's nothing really distinguishing this from the millions of other Jackson tribute vids all over YouTube.

    However, we will give credit to whoever edited the finished "Behind the Mask" together, as they do a stellar and seamless job weaving the clips together into one cohesive video. Multiple moonwalks by multiple Jackson wannabes are fluidly pasted together, and a bunch of strangers seemingly interact with one another's movements. It's also cool to see what Jackson fans' living rooms look like.

    Things get a little strange when we start to see pets

    Read More »from Michael Jackson’s ‘Behind the Mask’ Video: You’ve Been Hit By a Smooth Editor
  • Two men in their early 30s have been arrested near British singer Joss Stone's isolated U.K. farmhouse, allegedly with swords, rope, and a body bag in their car. Police believe the two were plotting to rob the 24-year-old star, or at minimum "cause her some really serious harm," the Telegraph reports.

    Police began investigating the pair's red Fiat Punto after neighbors reported seeing a suspicious car on their quiet country roads. Cops first arrested the duo for weapons possession Monday morning; the charges were later escalated to conspiracy to rob and murder.

    Investigators have not identified the two men who drove 250 miles to rural Devon from Manchester, and refuse to confirm what exactly was found in their car, but U.K. papers are reporting the pair also were in possession of floor plans and aerial photos of Stone's property. Police are still trying to determine their motive -- whether they resented her success or simply targeted her for her money, or had some other grudge

    Read More »from Alleged Plot to ‘Cause Really Serious Harm’ to Joss Stone Foiled
  • Even though Morrissey has been spending his time writing the War and Peace of rock biographies, the former Smiths singer still cleared out enough room on his schedule to record his next album, the follow-up to 2009's Years of Refusal. Moz's next disc doesn't have an album title or a release date yet (or even a record label), but the BBC still got their hands on three new tracks and debuted them on the radio yesterday. And... they sound like Morrissey songs.

    Morrissey's been sticking to a rigid blueprint since the release of 2004's You Are the Quarry, and all three tracks here -- the awesomely titled "Action Is My Middle Name," "The Kid's a Looker," and "People Are the Same Everywhere" -- are pretty much what we've come to expect from him in the past decade. The songs won't bring Morrissey any new fans, and they aren't enough to lure excommunicated members back to the Cult of the Smiths, but for those who stuck with Morrissey all these years, it's a rewarding listen as usual.

    Check

    Read More »from Check Out Three New Morrissey Songs
  • Two days after E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke in his Florida home, his boss (and the Boss) Bruce Springsteen has spoken out about his condition. In a statement posted on his official website, Springsteen said:

    "By now, many of you have heard that our beloved comrade and sax player Clarence Clemons has suffered a serious stroke. While all initial signs are encouraging, Clarence will need much care and support to achieve his potential once again. He has his wonderfully supportive wife, Victoria, excellent doctors and health care professionals, and is surrounded by friends and family. I thank you all for your prayers and positive energy and concern. This is a time for us all to share in a hopeful spirit that can ultimately inspire Clarence to greater heights."

    An additional note from Clemons' family indicates they "appreciate your concern" and requests fans direct messages of support to notestoclarence@clarenceclemons.com.

    Lady Gaga had asked her fans to

    Read More »from Bruce Springsteen Asks Fans to Inspire ‘Beloved Comrade’ Clarence Clemons
  • Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will embark on their first tour with new drummer Jake Morris (replacing Janet Weiss, who departed for Wild Flag) in September. The shows will also be Malkmus' first with his longtime backing band since his reunion with Pavement wrapped up in November. The tour should feature plenty of material from Malk's upcoming album Mirror Traffic, due out August 23rd and produced by Beck. Tickets for the shows go on sale this Friday, June 17th, so check out the Matablog to see if the Jicks are coming to a town near you.

    If you haven't heard it yet, check out Mirror Traffic's first single "Senator," which perfectly (and accidentally) encapsulates the entire zeitgeist around Anthony Weiner and meat-tweeting. Politicians should be required listen to this song as a warning after they're inaugurated:

    [Photo: David Becker/WireImage.com

    Read More »from Stephen Malkmus Announces Non-Pavement Tour
  • Okay, so Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George is better known as a member of SWV (that's Sisters With Voices, of course) than as a competitor on Survivor: Tocantins. But we enjoyed watching her struggle to not-starve alongside legendary villain Coach in the wilds of the Brazilian Highlands almost as much as this team-up with Chris Brown.

    Brown sampled the group's 1993 hit "Right Here" for "She Ain't You," and wisely invited the trio to appear on the song's remix. Wisely, since after losing a considerable chunk of his female audience for obvious reasons, he's doing a decent job of luring them back with one of the '90s most beloved girl groups. Because this is pretty awesome:

  • Justin Timberlake has a pair of big summer movies coming out in the next few months, so naturally every journalist at his press junkets wants to ask JT when he's going to sing again. Because it's been five years since Timberlake released his epic FutureSex/LoveSounds, and his fans are getting restless. It doesn't matter how many Oscar-nominated films Timberlake stars in, because at the end of the day it's all about when the next "My Love" is coming out. The music questions must be getting on Justin's nerves, because now he's making pretty definitive statements like this:

    "I don't have a single song ready to go," Timberlake told Playboy. "People keep asking me when a new song or album is coming out, and I don't know what to say. Music is not my focus right now. It may be someday. It could happen next month or next year but right now it's not where it's at for me."

    Timberlake used to at least toy with the idea of making more music to whip fans into a frenzy, like when he said he'd write

    Read More »from Justin Timberlake Is Only an Actor Now. Deal With It.
  • You may say you hate Britney Spears' "Till the World Ends," but your brain might love it. (Don't deny it, folks, it's awesome!) Using advanced scans, Emory University researchers have discovered teenagers' brains have specific reactions to certain songs -- songs that are massively successful. It's sort of like the ultimate lie detector test meets the most accurate focus group ever assembled.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that scientists spent an hour playing 120 song clips for each of the experiment's 27 subjects between the ages of 12 and 18 and checked out what lit up in the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain associated with reward, pleasure, and anticipation. The result: "Brain responses correlated with units sold" in a "statistically significant" way. Your brain simply reactions to certain songs more than others. That's information struggling record companies would kill for -- imagine being able to scientifically predict which tracks would send consumers to the record

    Read More »from Can Teenage Brains Sniff Out a Hit?
  • Three of the biggest wordsmiths in rap -- Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Nas -- saw new tracks magically appear on hip-hop blogs like Nah Right yesterday. (Well, Nas premiered his song through his Twitter account, but for the sake of this introduction just forget that little detail.)

    The most notable leak comes courtesy of Lil Wayne, whose "Dear Anne (Stan Pt. 2)," his sequel to Eminem's obsessive fan saga "Stan," hit the Internet. The Dido sample that paced Slim Shady's hit is gone, but Weezy keeps the fan-mail format intact over a foreboding toy piano melody. Whereas Eminem assumed the personality of a crazy and abusive fan for his track, this is more like Wayne delivering a personal testimonial to a fan named Anne, who may be Stan's daughter. According to MTV, this Swizz Beatz production was initially offered to Eminem, but Slim turned it down and Wayne claimed it for his own. Like most sequels though, the track is ultimately disappointing. "Dear Anne" won't wind up on Tha Carter IV;

    Read More »from Yo! Amplifier Raps: New Songs From Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Nas

Pagination

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News for You

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  • Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle

    BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125 million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria, Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland. ...

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    Another day, another domination for Taylor Swift: She was the red hot winner at the Billboard Music Awards.

  • Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

    By Jane Lee SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders. A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras. ...

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