It’s been a minute since we live-blogged an awards show around these parts. I gave some consideration to doing some commentary on the Billboard Music Awards, but got pulled into another direction-a move that turned out to be a wise one (since all of the clips I saw from the show and all of the commentary I saw on social media was lukewarm.) I have a love-hate relationship with the BET Awards (to say nothing of my largely HATE relationship […]
Posts tagged "Rihanna"
The Viewfinder: “Man Down” by Rihanna
I feel like it was just last week (OK, maybe it was two weeks ago) that the video for “California King Bed” premiered and now Rihanna is back with a somewhat controversial clip for “Man Down”, the reggae-spiced single from her platinum Loud album. I hate to be the spoiler, but the basic concept of the video is that Rihanna winds up shooting a man who tried to sexually assault her, running in contrast to the song’s lyrics, in which […]
Grace Jones Can Still Rock You Like a “Hurricane”
Before there was Rihanna, there was Grace Jones. The Jamaican-born model was a sensation starting in the late Seventies, bringing an exotic island flair to the music industry with funked-up reggae jams like the classics “My Jamaican Guy” and “Pull Up to the Bumper”. She also was wildly adventurous when it came to cover material, tackling music by Roxy Music, The Pretenders and Tom Petty, among others. She was a fashion icon as well as an acclaimed actress, with well-received […]
Chris Brown Leads 2011 BET Awards Nominees
Following his crocodile tear-stained “tribute” to Michael Jackson on last year’s BET Awards, the cable network has announced that singer/actor Chris Brown has received the most nominations for this year’s ceremony. Brown, whose career looked to be over after an assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna, has completed an unexpected comeback this year. His fourth album, F.A.M.E., has already spawned five hit singles and was recently certified Gold for sales of over 500,000 copies. He’ll be vying for the Video of […]
Spin Cycle: “Turtleneck & Chain” by The Lonely Island
It’s pretty fair to say that Andy Samberg has been one of the best things to happen to “Saturday Night Live” in the past ten years. A show that had become completely buzz-less picked up steam when Samberg started out with his Digital Shorts. Aided by his buddies Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer and celebrity cameos from everyone from Natalie Portman to Adam Levine, Samberg has provided plenty of watercooler moments over the past five years. Compiling those skits with […]
The Viewfinder: Rihanna’s “California King Bed”
While I think many people still think of Rihanna as a pop singles artist, her albums have gotten progressively stronger and stronger. Loud is a pretty solid piece of work. I’ve not listened to it as much recently, if only because I’ve been deluged with music from everywhere else, but seeing the video for the set’s fourth single, “California King Bed”, reminds me that I need to give the record a re-listen. A straight-up pop/rock ballad (I could see Pink singing […]
Chart Stalker 4/21/11: Grohl’s Revenge
Dave Grohl, for me, has always been one of the most likeable guys in rock. There are no “Grohl is a tool” stories (that I’m aware of)-he looks and acts like a fairly normal guy, and I think he holds the same appeal for most other music fans. Which is why I, like so many other music fans, am extremely psyched that the Foo Fighters score their first #1 album EVER with Wasting Light‘s entry this week. 16 years after […]
The Viewfinder: Kanye West “All of the Lights”
So, um…what happened to the “Monster” video? A rough cut of the clip was floating around the net a month or so ago, but there was never an official release. Did “Monster” just not gain traction on the radio? Was the internet chatter about the video’s alleged misogyny enough to kill the video? (I don’t see that happening, but ya never know). Did the mercurial Kanye just have a change of heart? Who knows? At any rate, the third video […]
Popblerd! Presents: Your 2011 Grammy Awards Live Blog (& Drinking Game)!
award shows / Country Music / hip-hop / Indie Rock / music / news / pop culture / Pop Music / rock music / soul music
Some folks go crazy over the Academy Awards. Some folks go nuts over the Super Bowl. For me, unless a New York City team is in the World Series or Super Bowl, my most exciting pop culture event has to be the Grammy Awards. It intrigued me as a kid-it was probably the first award show I ever saw. I believe it was the 1980 ceremony, and all I remember is that The Doobie Brothers were performing, I was watching […]
Popblerd!’s 2011 Grammy Preview: Rap
Another year, another time to kvetch over the Grammy Award nominations, right? It may be music’s biggest night, but it’s hard to find a Grammy Awards that’s not fraught with controversy and/or boring as hell. The nomination process always results in head scratching decisions, and this year’s are no different. Katy Perry nominated for Album of the Year? Weird. Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” scratched off of the Record of the Year nominees? Uber-weird. No Lil Wayne nominations? Big Boi passed […]
Hear Here!: Avril Lavigne’s “What the Hell”
I’d completely forgotten about Avril Lavigne until a month or so ago. Not that I was ever a big fan of hers or anything, but she was omnipresent for four or five years, and then she kinda just disappeared. Then I spotted her on the American Music Awards, followed by her appearance (via cleverly executed sample) on Rihanna’s latest album. It was so weird-like my brain had willed her out of existence. I didn’t even have any songs of hers […]
Popblerd! Presents: The Top 40 Albums of 2010 (40-35)
We’re counting down the Top 40 albums of 2010 on Popblerd. The first installment looks at albums by artists ranging from Rihanna to The XX.