Blog Posts by Tiffany Lee

It's a lifelong dream of mine to be personally rendered into a video game—especially a fighting one. So of course, I was rife with jealousy at Florida-based powerpop band We The King's interactive music video for their latest single "Say You  Like Me."

Part of an ongoing trend of interactive music videos, this is another notch in music innovation's belt. The surprisingly seamless combination of live-action and animation takes you through several levels of game play where you can chose to play with any of the four members--even the drummer (the drummer!) can get the girl at the end. It's no Call of Duty, but when a hot girl gets kidnapped by a gang of cartoon villains, you'll call it your duty to save her. My favorite part? At the end when the girl is freed, you have the option to play her against the boss character. Heck, I would want to beat him up too if I were in her position!

If karaoke has taught us anything, most people from Asia are not shy about singing their hearts out to any kind of song at any age in front of any audience. As part of the mid-autumn festival celebrations, China's Hunan TV has aired one of the more bizarre Lady Gaga covers to date: A choir performance by Lao Lai Qiao GAGA, translated as "Old Folks Going GAGA."

Opening with tutu-ed girls playing traditional Chinese instruments made of glass, they make way for the plain-clothes gang of old folks singing jovially to the tune of Gaga's "Bad Romance." Providing their own lyrics in Mandarin Chinese, the old folks have moving sets and gently choreographed dance moves to make for an odd, but adorable performance.

The Internet has been buzzing for some time now about a polarizing singer named Lana Del Rey--and by "buzzing," I mean hating. Styling herself as a vintage glamour-girl with a sultry voice and dangerously seductive songs, she's been described by some as sort of a rebirthed Stevie Nicks with a touch of Kate Bush. But some haters are all wound up about the singer's past persona as the wide-eyed Lizzy Grant, and about what Grant has allegedly done to transform herself into Del Rey. Almost all artists get a good stylist and public relations person, but many people are accusing Grant of going under the knife. The change from Lizzy to Lana is so glaring to some, many listeners can't get past her '40s-pinup-style makeover to appreciate the music she has released.

Lana has been questioned about her backstory of growing up poor and living in a trailer park as well. It seems that many rock snobs are more concerned with "outing" her and taking away any street or "indie" cred the singer may

With the country in the throes of economic despair, it seems few artists have stepped forward to be the bards of the burgeoning protest movement. One of those few contributions is Everlast, whose latest video for "I Get By"  addresses America's issues head-on. He may not seem like a Joan Baez, but he has recorded an entire album that takes on topics that many musicians nowadays are eager to ignore.

The House of Pain alum, also known as Erik Schrody, is a rapper known for combining blues and country with hip-hop, three genres of music that have historically served well as political soapboxes. In his "I Get By" video, Everlast and his ski-masked crew grafitti-bomb the city in posters, cleverly altered street signs, and even some gallery-worthy installation pieces. Two of the most impressive pieces in the video are a hydraulic shopping cart and a coin-operated horse ride modified to look like an oil pump. The video as a whole is a fitting reflection of modern protest, and of a climate in

Move over, Pete Wentz. This other "Boy" is in it to win it--"it" meaning all the ladies' attention. Once frequently overshadowed by Fall Out Boy basisst Wentz's brooding, emo good looks (the frenzy over which I personally never understood), Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump has now given himself and his sound a makeover for his solo debut. And can I just say how much I love a well-coiffed man in perfectly tailored suit?

Sans his old newsboy caps, striped scarves, and mutton-chops, the sleek and chic Stump 2.0 has moved on to a soulful new styleof rock, exploiting his intense, acrobatic vocals to their full potential. And 'o and behold, his new album is called Soul Punk, so you know exactly what you're getting into.

With his new sound, Patrick is breaking away from brand of pop-punk Fall Out Boy made famous. In particular, Stump's single "This City" has a much broader appeal and demonstrates the musician's talent and range. The remix of the song--which has Lupe Fiasco throwing

She may be 89 years old, but the undeniably adorable Betty White is hardly slowing down. Up to try pretty much anything, the "Hot In Cleveland" star has now taken a hand in rapping. Pairing up with British singer Luciana Caporaso, a.k.a. just Luciana, on a remix of her single "I'm Still Hot," the spry actress throws down some seriously sassy rhymes.

In the dance beat-driven song, White drops lines like, "I may be a senior but so what? I'm still hot," "I'm still Betty from the block / I left my Emmys in my beatbox!" and my favorite, "I will get you sweaty because I'm the big Betty!" While this whole project may be completely out of character for the Golden Girl, White still loved the opportunity.

The project was put together by The Lifetime Program (not the channel, but a life insurance company for whom White is a spokesperson), a portion of sales from the song on iTunes will be donated to the Los Angeles Zoo.

And yes, there's a music video too! The clp, of course, features White on a

While he wasn't a musician, I could never leave Steve Jobs out of a summation of this week's music news. The man and the company he represented had much responsibility in setting the music industry on the right trajectory in the face of the digital revolution. Not just with the iPod and iTunes, but in the three basic legs that support the industry: Production, distribution and enjoyment.

You'd be hard pressed to find an artist who hasn't used an Apple product somewhere in the recording and engineering of their music. Simple programs like Garageband have made it easy and for artists to record their music that otherwise didn't know how to or couldn't afford to. iTunes provided a solution to rampant file-sharing programs like Napster that threatened to dissolve the record industry completely and taught the industry to "not fear the mp3."  At the same time, artists at all levels found greater exposure through iTunes than they ever could have with physical distribution. Everyone wins. On

From hip teen, to glamorous star, to full-blown dominatrix, Rihanna has had her share of image revamps--some vamp-ier than others. In the latest issue of British "Vogue," the singer attempts to explain the motivation behind her choices.

The singer has been under fire a number of times this year for her racy and/or violent music videos that have in-so-far has included tying up and torturing reporters and shooting an abusive lover. Rihanna told "Vogue" of her performances, "That's not me. That's a part I play... It's a piece of art, this all these toys and textures to play with."

Is this a case of Sasha Fierce? Chris Gaines? One of Nicki Minaj's countless alternate personalities? Rihanna hasn't made any clear difference between her "artist" self and "true" self to distance herself from dissenting critics, including, watchdog groups and angry parents.

Rihanna continued, "See, people--especially white people--they want me to be a role model just because of the life I lead." Surely her